"Priest say Emp-rar say 'Hillmen big, Hillmen dumb, Hillmen not hoo-man.' Mebbe. Mebbe. But priest not say Emp-rar say 'Why me enemies no dead, where me meat, Emp-rar hungee.' Hillmen do good for Emp-rar, me tink."

During the later stages of the Damocles Gulf Crusade, Imperial forces stumbled across the high-gravity world of Barma, a mountainous planet bristling with rocky peaks and lined with deep, lush river valleys. An indigenous race of primitive but tenacious Ogryn had, to very nearly everyone's surprise, been mounting a successful campaign of resistance against a well-armed but beleaguered Tau garrison for decades. Lacking the strategic assets needed to mount a full-scale campaign, the Officio Tactica settled for covertly arming the Ogryn with more advanced weaponry and equipment. Barma, and her native Hillmen, settled comfortably into the Imperial fold not long after the end of the Crusade.

Barman Hillmen are not necessarily smarter than their Ogryn kin, but considerably wilier and more patient; they delight in finery and baubles (especially anything that compliments their flaming red hair), have an excellent eye for rough terrain, and are more than willing to throw their weight around with "lowlanders", their pejorative term for the smaller Human subspecies born under lower-gravity conditions. Generations of Hillmen have joined the Guard in a semi-mercenary fashion, using their great strength and tenacity to conduct guerilla, security and mop-up campaigns in even the roughest terrain. Off the front, their natural skills at handling Grox and other large beasts of burden make them a valuable asset to Imperial supply lines.

Though they are offered more advanced weapons, the Hillmen delight in their simple slings and in a great innate ability for throwing things. Anyone who has seen a Hillman throw a barrel of Promethium a distance of nearly half a kilometer can vouch for their effectiveness.