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Issue 2 Summer 2012
TTThhheee EEEyyyeee ooofff TTTeeerrrrrrooorrr
Includes
Resources and
Information
on the Occulis
Terribilis
The Nemean
Campaign
With
Index Astartes
Articles for
the Steel
Dogs, the
Lions of Alba,
and the
Heralds of
Light
Painting and
Modelling
Articles
And
An Interview
with Author
Aaron
Dembski-
Bowden
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Introduction & Contents
This is the second issue of the Legio Imprint, the
B&Cs semi-regular attempt to show the board members all the stuff they miss by hiding in their
particular corners of the forum and show off some new stuff into the bargain.
This issue focuses around the Eye of Terror, the centre
for so many of the events of 40K (especially power-
armoured events). Theres a lot to the Eye of Terror, and no e-zine could really be up to the task. Still, the
B&C did its best, with fluff articles, modelling
tutorials, painting tutorials, special rules, and a fully
realized campaign with background, scenarios and
advice for adapting it to your needs. Theres also an exclusive interview with Black Library luminary
Aaron Dembski-Bowden, where he talks about the
inner workings of the Black Library.
The issue is divided into two major sections. First is
the Eye of Terror section, which provides background
information on the Eye and many of its denizens.
Theres an exploration of just what the Eye of Terror is, overviews of the Black Crusades and the Astartes
Praeses, and a variety of Eye-related modelling
articles. There are also three different sets of special
rules one for the various Chaos Legions and one each for the Exorcists and Iron Hands Chapters both of whom make their homes near the Eye.
Second is the Nemean Campaign section, which covers
a B&C-created campaign around the Eye of Terror a war prompted by honour, pride, and vengeance. Heady
stuff and all created on the B&C. In addition to the background articles on the Chapters and the campaign,
theres also a complete set of scenarios, a battle report, and a guide to adapting the campaign for your
purposes.
Theres lots of original fluff, original ideas, original interpretations and original artwork, and even what
youve already seen before has been polished and added to. Hopefully youll enjoy reading it as much as the team enjoyed producing it. Thanks to everyone
who worked so hard on this and to all of you who will
now read it.
Octavulg Editor
THE EYE OF TERROR
Introduction & Contents 1
Interview: Aaron Dembski-Bowden 2
THE EYE OF TERROR
An Introduction to the Eye of Terror 6
The Black Crusades 12
Beast Marines Tutorials 17
A Guide to Creating Mutations 23
Renegade Chapters 26
Paths of Glory: Chaos Legion Rules 34
The Making of Magmatrax 41
The Astartes Praeses 47
Codex: Exorcists 55
Codex: Iron Hands 60
THE NEMEAN CAMPAIGN
The Steel Dogs 68
The Heralds of Light 79
The Lions of Alba 88
Going on a Lion Hunt:
The Nemean Campaign
97
The Battle of Jamshyds World 105
Aftermath 112
Credits & Acknowledgements 115
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What is the process of
writing and researching a
novel for the Black Library? Um. I'll cover that later. If I do it
now, I'll have to write "See Question
1" about four times.
Youve mentioned a GW Archive in the past. Could
you explain it to us? Sure. On a practical level, dealing
with the archive goes a little like this:
To:
myeditors@gamesworkshop.com
From:
me@middleofnowhereinireland.com
Dear whomever gets this email,
I need X information for novel Y. Can
you send everything they have in the
archives about it? Ta.
Then, the very next day you get a
chunky A2-sized envelope with a
whole bunch of colour photocopies
relating to everything you asked for.
I'm usually aware of exactly what I'll
need, so I'll list off specific references
like "I know Slaves to Darkness has
some jazz on the old units Chaos
Marines used in the 80s... Can you
send me a copy of those pages?"
Essentially, the archive is everything
Games Workshop and its subsidiaries
(Black Library and Forge World)
have published. Frex, for the novel I'm working on right now, I wanted to
see what Forge World had done on
the Marines Errant - because there's a vague subplot where the Night
Lords are essentially hanging out
with the Red Corsairs when Huron
has a crack at killing the Chapter off
[Yes, this interview was a while ago.
Sorry, A D-B Ed]. A day later, colour photocopies from Imperial
Armour 9 landed on the doorstep.
It occasionally includes stuff that's not
yet published, though you tend to have
to be in GWHQ to get a look at that.
But I saw the Blood Angels codex ages
before it hit the shelves, for example.
And I saw the photocopied pages of the
next codex release, like, months and
months ago. That's a rarity, but it's nice
to pretend you're as cool as the Design
Studio guys for a few minutes while
you read that stuff.
Are Black Library novels
included in the Archive? Yeah. Though we get all of them for
free, anyway don't usually need to ask.
Does the archive give you
access to super-secret
background material no one
else sees? Not so much. It gives you access to
stuff no one has seen in a long time
(Black Legion Chaplains and
Techmarines with Spawngoads...
Dreadnoughts called 'Chuck'...), and it
gives you an occasional glance at
something unreleased if it pertains to
your project.
That said, the Horus Heresy meetings
are the exception that proves (okay,
completely breaks) this rule. In those,
we're sat around a table with Alan
Merrett, the overseer of Games
Workshop's entire intellectual property.
And he's not just the IP manager; this
is also the guy that invented most of
the Horus Heresy's events as we know
them today. So at HH meetings, we're
able to see any relevant new codices
while they're still basically printed
Word.docs, and we're the ones
deciding the Imperium's history.
That's... I mean, Jesus, even typing that
to explain it feels cool. When you're sat
in the room, it's absolutely killer. The
Legio
Imprint
Interview:
Aaron
Dembski-
Bowden
by
Librarium
Staff and
A D-B
One of the Black Librarys most popular authors and one of the
B&Cs most prolific luminaries, A D-B graciously agreed to answer
some questions after the application of sufficiently gratuitous flattery.
His answers are interesting and provide insight into both the Black
Library and Games Workshop.
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other guys are a bit cooler and more
collected about the whole thing. I can
barely remember my name at the time,
though.
How much older material is
contained in them (like the
Starchild theory, for
example)? Everything, ever.
Though, as I recall from my tender
youth, the Starchild cra uh, theory, wasn't exactly widespread.
Could you walk us through the
editorial process on a Black
Library novel? The full deal goes like this:
1. Synopsis pitch.
2. First draft.
3. Editor feedback, usually storyline-
based and typo catching.
4. Second draft.
5. Copy editor gets it; catches typos
and stuff.
6. Lore reader gets it; sends back
feedback on any background
discrepancies.
7. Production turn it into a formatted
.pdf file.
8. Final edit, where you check it over
again yourself. The most boring
part. You're usually sick of the sight
of it by now.
9. Print.
Does a negative or positive
reaction to a book get noticed
at the Black Library? Okay, now I need to tread carefully.
Like any career situation, what you
know isn't always what you can safely
say. I'll try to be brief and to the point.
My gut instinct answer is that Yes, it's
noticed, and No, it doesn't really have
that much impact. Online reviews are
often not exactly well-considered or to
the standards once kept by professional
critics. That's not to say they're
worthless I spend an insane amount of time reading my own reviews (very
unprofessional of me), and on forums
discussing the (thankfully,
almost always very positive)
reviews I get there. But a lot of
writers really don't much care,
and they're probably right in
feeling that way. Reviews by
your Average Joe can range
from 'insightful' to 'missing the
point by a ball-aching mile', and
all too often, it's the latter.
Again, while I've been more
fortunate than luck should allow,
it's a general thing inherent in
the semi-anonymous and
opinionated nature of online
reviews. Look at any Amazon
review of a TV show, book or
movie that you like. Now check
out all the people that missed the
point by a bajillion miles.
Yeah, exactly. It's not always
sane, let alone valid.
Black Library is like any other
publisher, in that its editors and
staff have opinions of their own.
You've got mass-marketed,
hugely advertised stuff that a lot
of them might think simply
sucks, and you've got lesser
known authors that they really
wish would break out of the pack.
I will say this: in the past, BL haven't
had a great record with heavily
advertising certain authors. In recent
memory, they made a fuss out of a
couple of authors in particular who've
ended up receiving very mediocre
reviews. They do notice that, but they
also know reviews are fleeting. Give
something an amazing cover and a
great blurb, and it'll attract a lot of
interest no matter what previous novels
the author has done. That's just the
nature of the game in any publishing,
but especially licensed fiction. The
fanbase orbits the concepts, not the
authors. At least, that's how it goes at
first.
So, yeah, they notice. But no like any other publisher things sell whether they're great or just average; it's
marketing that decides as much as
anything. They work hard to ensure
everything is as good as it can be, but
it's not exactly a disaster if it's not.
That has nothing to do with Back
Library's production, really. It's
inherent in all types of media.
You might be reading this and thinking
I'm very sceptical. I'm really not. I'm
just honest.
How detailed a plot/concept
are you given to work with? I assume it's the same for all the other
authors, but I'm never given anything
to work with in that sense. I pitch ideas
and wait for a reply. The notable
exception was Helsreach, when the
first few releases for the Space Marine
Battles series were loosely chosen by
editors. Nick Kyme briefed me on that
by saying "How about a novel focusing
on Helsreach?" and left it at that.
I always choose what I want to do, in
the sense that I'll email my editor Nick
Our subject in both his forms
DaemonPrinceDargor
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Kyme and say "I wanna do this", and
he'll always say "Finish what you're
doing first, then send me a synopsis."
Is there any official instruction
for what to do when you run
into really big gaps in the fluff
(like how Chapters are
founded, or what colour Ork
blood is this week)? This is a tough one.
I guess this is different for every
author. I consider myself bound to the
codices, but I don't consider myself
beholden to any other author's work.
Like, it's my choice if I want to
acknowledge their work in mine (and
vice versa), and if I do it, I think it's
because their perception of the setting
matches mine, or they add something
great to the shared universe. But I've
run across a few instances where I
could've referenced another author's
novel and chose not to, because I didn't
like the work, or I felt it wasn't really
in-line with my views on 40K. And
that's something that, to a degree,
everyone involved in the Intellectual
Property will do. In codices, it's called
retconning. The erasing of former
ideas, or simply not mentioning them
again.
What you've got to bear in mind is that
love it or hate it Games Workshop's attitude to the setting really is that
"Everything is true and nothing is
true". When gaps or clashes occur in
the sourcebooks, some people will
consider it lazy, while others will 'get
it' in the sense that a lot of the time,
this is simply how GW want things to
be. My 40K isn't going to be exactly
the same as your 40K, and that's a
statement that every single 40K fan can
say to another fan with absolute,
complete, 100% surety. Some people
consider that a flaw. Others, like GW,
a feature.
Canon doesn't really apply to 40K the
way it does to Star Wars, because the
setting itself is founded to give people
the chance to make their own stories,
battles, crusades, wars, and so on. It's
not canon in that sense, which is why
the imaginary distinction of "Codex
Canon" being a different tier of truth to
"Black Library Canon" and "Forge
World Canon" is a fallacy. GW brass
don't see it like that. It's all just people
telling stories in the setting, whether in
a novel or on the tabletop the difference is that the Dev Studio will
often give more of a framework for the
setting as a whole, and the novels offer
more specific, focused frameworks on
certain factions. But canon is... well,
it's not what it is in other licenses.
In my less witty moments, I call it
"loose canon".
Yeah, I'm priceless.
But there's a consensus, of course.
Sometimes, something is established
and shouldn't be conflicted. Something
I'm pretty proud of is the feedback I
tend to get regarding my attitudes to
the established source material. I stick
to it because I love it, and I know it
from 20 years of reading and playing
it, since I was a tiny little goober with a
copy of Space Crusade.
Ultimately, the fans can judge what
they like, and what they consider
"truth". Sometimes it'll be Forge
World's consensus that becomes the
main one; sometimes the Dev Studio's;
sometimes Black Library's. It all
depends on the topic and how it's
presented.
To what extent do the authors
work together? We don't, really. No more than any
other authors all working for the same
publisher. I have nothing but love for
Chris Wraight and Matt Farrer, and we
talk over email, but we don't work
together in the sense that we're always
going over our facts as a pack. Projects
are rarely related enough to make it
necessary, and we're all confident in
our respective grasps of the setting.
The guys I talk to most are Dan Abnett,
Nick Kyme and Jim Swallow, and it's
not usually about work with any of
them. When work comes into it, it's
almost always Horus Heresy related.
We have a pretty active group email
thing going on, too. Though it's usually
just used to congratulate Graham on
whatever award he's won that week.
Does the Black Library
discourage you from exploring
certain themes, such as
religion, romance, or the full
depths of the horror of the 41st
Millennium? We're not allowed to show explicit sex,
obviously. You have to be verrrrrrry
cautious with some aspects of
romance, too, and I once got in trouble
for a daemon saying "My kind will
rape your holy world, mortal", or
something like that.
I'm using 2011 to shop my non-40K
work around (if I can find the time)
and while I'll always love writing for
40K, it's great not to be second-
guessing every scene where something
mature happens. GW has a varied
demographic (which falsely translates
as "BL fans are mostly kids", which is
wrong), and although I hate it,
sometimes BL seems to cater for the
lower age range of that demographic.
That said, legally, they probably have
to. It can feel a bit stifling sometimes,
yeah.
What inspires you to write
about the armies you have? Write what you love. Luckily, I love a
lot.
I try not to write what I play, though.
There's an immensely annoying and completely invented trope where sometimes authors of licensed fiction
will big up their favourite factions just
to make them look better than X, Y and
Z other factions. It's patently nonsense,
but it makes a great soundbite, and it's
something instinctively childish,
malevolent, and plausible if you have
no respect for the person you're
insulting when you say it. We tend to
think the worst of people we dislike,
after all. So I try to avoid that by
simply not writing about the Black
Legion.
That'll change in time, and I'm sure my
reviews will say "OMG ADB made BL
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the best when really Failbaddon is a
loser", but whatever. I'd argue that if
you use that many capitals in a
sentence, you need to be punched in
the spine, anyway. And don't put 'Fail'
in anything like that. It's chimpish.
What aspects of the Heresy
would you most like to write
about? I wanted to detail how it all began, and
show a different perception of Lorgar
and the Word Bearers at their lowest
ebb, before they became the
charismatic crusaders of the Heresy. I
was lucky enough to do that when I
pitched The First Heretic. I'd also like
to carry on with that, showing the
Word Bearer Legion really coming into
its own with the assaults on Calth,
Terra, and whatever else they did in the
Age of Darkness. I'd love to do a novel
about the War in the Webway, though
if I ever do, it'll be a million years
away (I'm just saying I like the
concept, not that I have plans). My
next HH novel will almost definitely
be a World Eater novel, and that's
something I've always wanted to get a
hold of. Doing that is almost a dream
come true. It should go without saying,
but I'm saying it anyway, that I'd like
to do a Night Lords novel at some
point. But the series is young. There's
plenty of time.
In less local news, obviously I'd love to
have done something big in the sense
of either one of the big events or the
most popular legions (Blood Angels at
Signus Prime; Space Wolves at
Prospero) but I joined the team very
late, and they were understandably
taken by then. But getting to do a
Blood Angel, Dark Angel or
Ultramarine novel would be absolutely
amazing. I doubt that's specific to me it's surely the kind of thing any 40K
fan would say.
Whats your favourite Black
Library book? Why? Legion, by Dan Abnett.
Quite simply, it's brilliant, brilliant sci-
fi. The revelations meant nothing to me
(and really, I think people place too
much importance in them as truth,
when they don't really seem to be at
all), but it was beautifully written, and
I love the characters. It also bled a 30K
feel, rather than a 40K one, and I don't
think it's unfair to say that not all of the
HH series has necessarily nailed that.
It's an important part of the theme, and
one that can end up pretty difficult to
do. The characters were unique and
fascinating, the prose was awesome,
and the storyline was killer. Really,
you're not going to get much better
than that.
Ultimately, I like human characters in
40K, and I love how they contrast to
the Astartes. That's what makes Space
Marines in this setting so rich and
interesting for me: their strange,
awkwardly loyal distance from the
humans they were never given a
chance to be. There wasn't a lot of that
in Legion, but enough to tease and
make for great reading.
Will you be including a Squat
in your next book, or are you
saving it for a special
occasion? This may not be a popular opinion, but
I always thought they were a bit stupid,
anyway. Those trikes, man. Gah.
I miss Genestealer cults, though. Those
were rad.
And on that suspiciously pro-Hive
Mind note, the interview concluded.
My eternal thanks to A D-B for doing
this, and I hope you all enjoyed it. A D-
Bs novel Void Stalker is out now, and I dont know why you havent bought it yet.
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What is the Eye of Terror? The Eye of Terror dominates the
north-west of the galaxy. It is the
heart of Chaos in our universe.
Twenty thousand light years across,1
and visible from ten thousand light
years away,2 it was born in the final
years of the Dark Age of Strife,
heralding the birth of the Imperium,3
brought into being by the Fall of the
Eldar.
The Fall of the Eldar Explanations vary for the Eldars fall. Some sources say they fell into Chaos
worship when they discovered it
through their use of warpgates.4
Others say that they turned to the
worship of Chaos when they grew
complacent and bored in their
supremacy over the galaxy.5
Whatever the reason, across the Eldar
Empire, those who felt the pull of
Chaos in their souls fell dead and their
souls were subsumed into the being
known as Slaanesh.6 This catastrophe
blew the Warp Storms around Earth
away and reshaped the Warp,
allowing humanity to return to the
galaxy.7 Slaanesh, meanwhile,
annihilated the majority of the Eldar
pantheon Khaine survived as scattered fragments at the core of
Craftworlds,8 the Laughing God
survived by concealing himself in the
Webway where his Harlequins lurk to
this day,9 and a few sources say Isha,
Goddess of Healing, was taken as a
prisoner and bride by Nurgle, trapped
in his garden forever as a victim of his
various plagues and pathogens.10
1 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third
Edition, Mk II 2 Warhammer 40,000, Fourth Edition
3 Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness
4 Ibid
5 Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition
6 Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness
7 Ibid
8 Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition
9 Ibid
10 Codex: Chaos Daemons
Geography The Eye of Terror was the result of this
tumult.11
A rupture at its very heart
spews forth raw Warp energy into our
universe,12
and this energy makes the
region violently unstable. Daemons can
safely manifest within the confines of
the Eye,13
and the reality-twisting
effects of the Warp have resulted in
space and time being deformed in alien
and terrifying ways.
There are a variety of different worlds
within the Eye. The Crone Worlds are
the original core worlds of the Eldar
Empire, and the Eldar must still mine
them today in order to build soul
stones.14
They also hold many artefacts
of pre-Fall Eldar Civilization.15
Some,
like Belial IV, are inhabited only by
ghosts.16
Others have become daemon
worlds, where screeching warpspawn
caper through the graveyard of a great
civilization.17
Many of the inhabited worlds within
the Eye of Terror are Daemon Worlds,
found toward the heart of the Eye of
Terror.18
Daemon Worlds have been
corrupted by Chaos, and are now
shaped by the whims of whatever
Chaos power controls them, heedless
of physical laws.19
Worlds with
surfaces of living flesh; flat worlds;
night worlds where no light is ever
seen;20
worlds with fire for skies;
oceans and rivers of blood or where the
moons and stars scream.21
Tales of
11
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 12
Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition 13
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Fourth Edition 14
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 15
Ibid 16
Codex: Eye of Terror 17
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 18
Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition 19
Codex: Chaos Daemons 20
Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition 21
Warhammer 40,000, Third Edition
The Eye of
Terror
An
Introduction
to the Eye of
Terror
by
Octavulg
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these horrors are brought back to the
Imperium by the crews of Inquisitorial
null-ships,22
or dragged from captured
prisoners and tomes by the Ordo
Malleus. Daemon Worlds are as varied
as the powers of Chaos the only constant is the insanity behind them.
The Fringe Worlds along the edge of
the Eye lead a precarious existence.
The Eye of Terror is not stable, and so
they may be drawn in or expelled from
it without warning. Worlds closer to
the edge of the Eye may even be
something observers might recognize
as normal, though often they are
simply dead worlds, uninhabited even
by the creatures of Chaos.
Eldar Craftworlds are even known to
be drawn into the eye by physical or
metaphysical forces Maugan Ras home world of Altansar was drawn
into the Eye itself,23
and Ulthw is
trapped in its orbit.24
What Lives There? The inhabitants of the Eye are no
better, as twisted and malformed as the
worlds they live on. Billions of mutants
inhabit various daemon worlds,
screaming tormented praises to gods as
mad as their worshippers.25
Perhaps the most infamous of the
Eyes inhabitants are those who once served the Imperium. The Eye of
Terror provides a haven for the
treacherous and the black-hearted.
Most prominent of these are the Traitor
Legions, who fled there in the wake of
the Horus Heresy. The twisting
influence of the Warp twists time such
that many of the original Legionaries
still survive to nurse their hatred of the
Imperium.26
Indeed, ships fleeing
Horus defeat at Terra still arrive in the
22
Warhammer 40,000, Fourth Edition 23
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 24
Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition 25
Codex: Eye of Terror 26
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Fourth Edition
Eye to this day.27
They are bolstered by
more recent traitor Space Marines,
formerly of the Adeptus Astartes,28
fallen Imperial Guard regiments and
cultists,29
and the arcane forces of the
Dark Mechanicus and Traitor Titan
Legions.30
But the Eyes most numerous inhabitants are Daemons, and to
understand them, one must understand
the Warp.
What is the Warp? The Warp is a parallel reality to our
own Chaos is the Warp, and the
Warp is Chaos.31
Human ships travel
across the galaxy by entering the Warp,
where the distance to their destination
is shorter, then returning to realspace.32
The natural ebb and flow of the Warp
can make travel easier or more difficult
by speeding or slowing ships.33
Warp
storms are created by these natural
movements and tides, coming together
and breaking apart over time.34
Older
sources suggest that warp storms are
the powers of Chaos, accumulations of
power grown large enough to achieve
sentience.35
As powers grow larger,
they can protect themselves from the
natural flow of the Warp and maintain
their existence.36
Emotions also feed
the powers of Chaos,37
and the use of
psychic powers creates disturbances
and currents in the Warp.38
Indeed,
much of the ebb and flow of the Warp
27
Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition 28
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Fourth Edition 29
Codex: Eye of Terror 30
Adeptus Titanicus 31
Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness 32
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 33
Warhammer 40,000, Third Edition 34
Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness 35
Ibid 36
Ibid 37
Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 38
Codex: Chaos Daemons
may be a response to emotions and
actions in our universe.
Daemons are created from the
accumulated energy of a Chaos power
more capable and larger powers can
thus create more daemons.39
Some
small Chaos powers elect to stabilize
themselves by taking daemonic form,
trading the chance at more power for
the certainty of continued existence.40
Daemons are reflections of the powers
that created them Khornes are bloodthirsty, Slaaneshs depraved, Nurgles pestilent, and Tzeentchs
mercurial.41
The gods most favoured
servants will be rewarded with more
and more power indeed, on some worlds, Greater Daemons are
worshipped as gods themselves.42
Most of the time, Daemons do not
concern themselves with humanity.
They are occupied participating in wars
between the Chaos powers and other
daemons within the Warp and the Eye
of Terror, wars prompted by obscure,
incomprehensible or even ridiculous
motivations.43
The Chaos powers can
reclaim the energies committed to a
particular daemon at any time,
ensuring the loyalty of their followers
(though, treacherous as such creatures
are, betrayal is still possible).44
Daemons cannot generally manifest
themselves in our universe the walls between universes must be weakened
by a warp storm or the beliefs and
rituals of cultists in order to allow a
daemon entrance to our world.45
Alternatively, daemons can possess
mortals, committing a portion of their
power to controlling the mind and
spirit of their host.46
Some mortals
succumb to this willingly, while others
39
Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness 40
Ibid 41
Codex: Chaos Daemons 42
Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition 43
Ibid 44
Codex: Chaos Daemons 45
Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness 46
Ibid
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are left trapped as witnesses to the
horrors their body commits.47
Talented psykers such as the Librarians
of the Adeptus Astartes can project
their minds into the Warp in the form
of a subtle body or mist flesh, like the mirror of a daemon projecting its
psychic existence into our physical
realm. Such a journey is hazardous in
the extreme, for injury to the subtle
body is suffered by the physical body
and to die whilst in the Warp is to be
condemned to damnation and torment
at the claws of daemons.48
Just as daemons struggle to maintain
their physical form in our material
realm, the immaterial realm is
anathema to mortal beings. For an
ordinary man to even look upon the
Warp is to jeopardize his sanity.
Starships are encased in protective
shields known as Gellar fields
generated by ancient engines from the
fabled Dark Age of Technology, and
these fields are all that prevent Warp
creatures from consuming those who
sail the swirling energies of the
Immaterium.49
Even the best Gellar
fields have been known to fail without
explanation, leaving crews to be turned
into gibbering maniacs and devotees of
dark and terrible influences.50
It is only thanks to the mutants known
as Navigators that mankind can travel
the Warp. Navigators possess a third
eye in the centre of their forehead
which enables them to look upon the
Warp.51
Every Navigator perceives the
Warp differently and any attempt to
describe what they see is futile for it
requires colours and shapes beyond
mortal comprehension.52
Navigators
are treated with fear and suspicion for
it is said that to look in a Navigators Warp Eye is to invite madness and
death.53
47
Codex: Chaos Daemons 48 Graham McNeill, A Thousand Sons 49
Warhammer 40,000, Fourth Edition 50
Codex: Chaos Daemons 51
Space Fleet, White Dwarf #140 52
Codex: Chaos Daemons 53
Space Fleet, White Dwarf 140
Conclusion Thus is the Eye of Terror a twisted realm of twisted creatures serving
twisted purposes. It is here that the
death of mankind waits, and here from
which our darkest urges march forth to
destroy us.
Notable Worlds and Sites Agripinaa An Adeptus Mechanicus Fortress World located south-east of
Cadia,54
Agripinaa produces munitions
for the Cadian Gate.55
Altansar This Craftworld is home to Maugan Ra, Exarch of the Dark
Reapers.56
He guided them in an
escape from the Eye of Terror during
the 13th
Black Crusade, though they are
now mistrusted by other Eldar due to
their lengthy time within the Eye.57
Altansar is now located near Terra.58
The Arx Gap An alternate exit from the Eye of Terror in the north-east,
59
the Arx Gap is less stable than the
Cadian Gate.60
Abaddon escaped
through here to start the Gothic War.61
Belial IV A Crone World in the east of the Eye on which can be found an
Eldar relic a black crystal sword
forged from the energy of death.62
Belis Corona A dead world on the Imperial side of the Cadian Gate which
supports massive naval dockyards.63
The Benighted A Daemon World in
the western Eye of Terror.64
54
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 55
Codex: Eye of Terror 56
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 57
Ibid 58
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 59
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 60
Codex: Eye of Terror 61
Battlefleet Gothic 62
Codex: Eye of Terror 63
Ibid 64
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition
Cadia The Fortress World that secures the eponymous Gate. Home to
the famous Cadian regiments, and the
site of much of the action of the 13th
Black Crusade.65
Caliban (Ruins) The destroyed former home world of the Dark
Angels,66
on the northern edge of the
Eye.67
Chincare A rogue system68
where a
creature of Chaos was destroyed by
Inquisitor Eisenhorn.69
Citadels of Flesh A Daemon World
in the eastern Eye of Terror.70
Cylia A Daemon World near the
centre of the Eye.71
Dhegh A Daemon World near the
centre of the Eye.72
Eidolon A world in the northern Eye
of Terror.73
A former Eldar Maiden
World, now the site of constant battles
between the four Chaos powers.74
Fools Paradise An Imperial Guard
world of note,75
but also apparently the
site of Alpha-grade Daemonic
encounters.76
The Forbidden Vault A Daemon World in the western Eye of Terror.
77
Fulgrims World Daemon World of the Emperors Children Primarch and
65
Codex: Eye of Terror 66
The Unforgiven, Index Astartes I 67
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 68
Ibid 69
Codex: Eye of Terror 70
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 71
Ibid 72
Ibid 73
Codex: Eye of Terror 74
Bloodquest 75
Codex: Imperial Guard, Fifth Edition 76
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 77
Ibid
-
10
the goal of questing Emperors Children. Location unknown.
78
Helix A Daemon World near the centre of the Eye of Terror.
79
Il-Kaithe A Craftworld near the south-west of the Eye of Terror.
80
Constantly battling against the forces
of Chaos, their colours are purple and
green. They are famous for the talents
of their Bonesingers.81
Infinitum A Daemon World near the centre of the Eye.
82
Kathalon A Daemon World ruled by Vangashhagash the Ever-Bloody, it takes the form of a burning lake
crossed with bridges of iron and bone,
and is the site of an endless battle
between the forces of Khorne and
Tzeentch.83
78
Children of the Emperor, Index Astartes I 79
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 80
Ibid 81
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 82
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 83
Codex: Chaos Daemons
Kdasks Labyrinth A Daemon World in the south-west of the Eye of
Terror.84
LOquis A Crone World in the western Eye of Terror.
85
The Loathsome Orb A Daemon
World in the southern Eye of Terror.86
Mahrdouk A Guard world of note to the south-west of the Eye.
87
Medrengard Home to the Iron Warriors, Medrengard is a bleak slave
world in the north-east of the Eye88
and
is dominated by physically impossible
fortifications.89
It lies close enough to
the edge of the Eye that it can
sometimes be mapped as outside which may just be a product of the
Eyes unpredictability90
84
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 85
Ibid 86
Ibid 87
Codex: Imperial Guard, Fifth Edition 88
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 89
Bitter and Twisted, Index Astartes I 90
Warhammer 40,000, Fourth Edition
Medusa The home world of the Iron
Hands,91
Medusa lies on the north-west
edge of the Eye.92
Nemesis Tessera Site of a fortress built to guard against the denizens of
the Eye of Terror. Nemesis Tessera is
now under the control of the
Inquisition.93
The Perilous Stair A Daemon
World near the centre of the Eye.94
Plague Planet The new home of the Death Guard, it was remade in the
image of Barbarus by Mortarion.95
Sickness and pestilence are the norm,
and the clouds bring death, prompting
the population to pray to Nurgle for
relief.96
Planet of Sorcerers New home of the Thousand Sons. Saturated with
magic and volcanically active, it is
91
The Iron Hands, Index Astartes III 92
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 93
Codex: Eye of Terror 94
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 95
The Lost and the Damned, Index Astartes III 96
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
The Eye of Terror Colrouphobic
-
11
covered in monolithic sorcerers towers, the tallest of which is the
Tower of the Cyclops.97
From the
Tower, Magnus can peer through the
Warp across the Imperium, directing
the raids of his Legion toward targets
which particularly interest him.98
Purgatrex A Daemon World in the north of the Eye of Terror.
99
Rubicon Straits An anomaly.100
Scelus A Dead World in the west of the Eye, Scelus is the former home of
the Sons of Malice.101
Sentinel Worlds Anomalous worlds in the south-west of the Eye,
quarantined due to alien artefacts.102
Sicarus Daemon world base of Lorgar and centre of Word Bearer
operations.103
97
Masters of Forbidden Knowledge, Index Astartes IV 98
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 99
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 100
Codex: Eye of Terror 101
Ibid 102
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 103
The Dark Apostles, Index Astartes IV
Skalathrax A freezing daemon world covered in black cities.
104 Site of
the battle of Skalathrax, where Khrns actions shattered the World Eaters and
Emperors Children and earned him the title The Betrayer.105
Thracian Primaris A Hive World of twenty-two billion with five Ramilies
Star Forts and eight million PDF
defending it.106
Capital of the Helican
sub-sector.107
Titan of Pain Daemon World near
the centre of the Eye of Terror.108
Tzix Daemon World in the south of
the Eye of Terror.109
Ulthw An Eldar Craftworld that wears the colours of mourning (black
and yellow) due to being trapped in
orbit around the Eye of Terror.110
Currently located near the western
edge of the Eye.111
104
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 105
Ibid 106
Codex: Eye of Terror 107
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 108
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 109
Ibid 110
Codex: Eye of Terror 111
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
Viest Plague world in the northern
Eye of Terror.112
Volscar A Guard world of note, almost within the southern Eye of
Terror.113
World of Immortal Sorrows Crone World ruled by Slaaneshi Daemon
Prince Elyssarsirath, where daemons torment the souls of fallen Eldar in a
massive golden forest beside rivers
made from the tears of Eldar
children.114
Xana II Renegade Forge World.
Produces the Hell Talon, Hell Blade,115
and the Idolator-class escort.116
Yme-Loc Eldar Craftworld near the
Eye of Terror.117
Known as talented
artists, they frequently make use of
heavy grav-tanks and Titans. Their
colours are grey and orange.118
112
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 113
Codex: Imperial Guard, Fifth Edition 114
Codex: Chaos Daemons 115
Imperial Armour: Apocalypse 116
Battlefleet Gothic 117
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 118
Ibid
-
12
Introduction It is the nature of Chaos that infighting
and rivalry keep the Chaos Space
Marines from permanently uniting.
However, once or twice in a
millennium, a truly great Champion of
Chaos arises in the Eye of Terror.
Through his implacable will and the
favour of the Ruinous Powers, this
Champion welds together an unsteady
alliance between the infernal regions of
the Eye of Terror and sallies forth
against the Imperium.
How the Champion brings such a
Black Crusade together will depend on his nature and his patron God. Some
use manipulation, others extortion,
while others dominate or intimidate.
Whatever the method, the Champion
must use all of the considerable powers
at his disposal.
Unsurprisingly for the servants of
Chaos, a Black Crusade can vary
wildly in terms of the size and
composition of Traitor forces.
Depending on the Champions goals and objectives, such a force can range
from a few hundred renegade Astartes
to a dark tide of countless thousands of
Chaos worshippers.
The Black Crusades of Abaddon the
Despoiler are some of the most
momentous events in the history of the
Imperium and yet, other than his two
most recent, relatively little is known
of these cataclysmic wars. Below is a
time line recording the known
Crusades of both Abaddon and several
other mighty chaotic war leaders.
The Death of a Primarch
c.30.M31 An unnamed Black Crusade that
threatened to engulf Cadia. Before the
Crusade could properly begin, Rogal
Dorn and three companies of Imperial
Fists assaulted the Chaos anchorage in
the Pelenos Belt and did enough
damage to avert the attack, with Dorn
making his last stand on the bridge of
the Chaos Battleship Sword of
Sacrilege.1
If this account refers to a general Black
Crusade, or specifically to one of
Abaddon's Black Crusades is unclear,
but a date is not given other than it was
'soon after' the disappearance of
Corax.2 The Primarch of the Raven
Guard is known to have disappeared
approximately one year after the 2nd
Founding (ca. 21.M31).3 Even if one
allows 50 to 60 years to be 'soon' in
Imperial terms, this would still place
this Black Crusade 700 years before
the date given for Abaddon's First
Black Crusade, suggesting that it must
have been a separate event.
Abaddons First Black
Crusade 781.M314 After years of inactivity following the
Scouring, Abaddon suddenly erupted
back into the Imperium at the head of a
diabolical horde.5 Since the Imperial
defences at the Cadian Gate were not
yet established he was able to easily
rampage around Imperial space.6
During this time Abaddon assaulted the
Tower of Silence on Uralan and, after
being led into the crypts below it by a
golden-skinned stranger, recovered the
daemon sword Drach'nyen.7 Abaddon
was eventually forced to withdraw
after a bitter battle against the
1 Emperors Fist, Index Astartes
Volume II 2 Ibid.
3 Claws of the Raven, Index Astartes
Volume IV 4 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third
Edition, Mk II 5 Ibid
6 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Second
Edition 7 Ibid
The Black Crusades are the fury of Chaos unleashed upon the
Imperium. Led by fell champions, they strike down the
righteous and harry the godly. In this article, Strike Captain
Lysimachus unearths information on known Black Crusades
and provides some thoughts on their general nature.
The Eye of
Terror
The Black
Crusades
by
Strike
Captain
Lysimachus
-
13
combined strength of several Titan
Legions and Space Marine
Chapters.8
After this the Cadian Gate was
fortified, and the naval port of
Bellis Corona and the fortress on
Nemesis Tessera were created.9
Further to this, the Astartes
Praeses program was begun and
the Liber Astartes, compiled in
M.37, listed twenty Chapters that
were founded over the following
centuries.10
Abaddons Second Black
Crusade 597.M3211 This war lasted only five years,
but was stymied assaulting Cadia,
the path of attack reaching fewer
than 1000 light years from the Eye
of Terror.12
The Host of Tallomin
Undated13
This apparently took place during
the Age of Apostasy (though the
exact date is unknown) and was
led by a Daemon Prince named
Tallomin. The "Wolf Warriors"
were involved in Tallomins defeat and destruction.
14
Abaddons Third Black
Crusade 909.M3215 A longer campaign than
Abaddons previous Crusade, Traitor forces went about three-
quarters of the way from the Eye of
Terror towards Armageddon.16
8 Ibid
9 Ibid
10 Ibid
11 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third
Edition, Mk II 12
Ibid 13
Liber Chaotica: Khorne. Though undated, the Crusades mentioned in Liber Chaotica are presented in chronological order. 14
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 15
Ibid
Abaddons Fourth Black Crusade The Devastation of
ElPhanor c.001.M3417 Abaddon attacked and destroyed the
Citadel of Kromarch on El'Phanor.18
The Citadel only had a single gate three meters thick and made of
16
Ibid 17
Ibid. The Second Edition and first Third Edition Chaos Codices imply that this occurred during the first Black Crusade, but this source specifically dates it as the fourth. 18
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Second Edition
adamantium. Impervious to
bombardment, it was destroyed by a
single blow from Drachnyen when Abaddon led a charge against it.
Though the Citadel fell in less than a
day, nine-tenths of Abaddons forces were killed in the attack and Abaddon
was repelled by the Imperial
counterattack.19
The Tide of Blood Undated Led by the Daemon Prince,
Doombreed, this Crusade was basically
a declaration of war against the
Adeptus Astartes.20
The Warhawks and
19
Ibid. 20
Liber Chaotica: Khorne
Black Legionaire Firenze
-
14
Venerators Chapters were "lost" as a
result of the Black Crusade, though
Doombreed was defeated.21
Its date is
unknown.
One source does date a Bloodtide to 034.M38,
22 but this may be a
recurrence of the phenomenon
associated with the Bloodthirster
Kajagganath,23 and its placement in the Liber Chaotica would suggest
otherwise.
The Black Crusade of Jihar
the Lacerator 599.M3624 Jihar the Lacerator was a follower of
Slaanesh whose very presence caused
the Warp to scream, driving those who
heard it insane.25
Jihar slipped through
21
Ibid 22
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 23
Codex: Grey Knights 24
Tactica Imperialis 25
Ibid
the Cadian Gate with only a small
retinue,26
but the swarms of mutants on
the worlds he targeted in Adriadas Gloom (to the south-west of the Eye)
provided him with many new recruits.
Forty-three Imperial Guard regiments
were involved,27
and the Crusade
ended only when the 13th
Mordant
Regiment slew Jihar in battle only to be subject to Exterminatus due to
concerns of Chaotic taint.28
Abaddons Fifth Black
Crusade 723.M3629 This attack reached approximately
15,000 light years from the Eye.30
26
Ibid 27
Ibid 28
Ibid 29
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 30
Ibid
Abaddons Sixth Black
Crusade 901.M3631 This Crusade took a similar path to the
Fifth, and came even closer to Fenris.32
Abaddons Seventh Black Crusade The Ghost War
811.M3733
Chaos fleets flooded out past Cadia but
then disappeared, giving the Crusade
its name. Raids continued for years,
and Abaddon succeeded in reclaiming
the artefact known as the Hand of
Darkness.34
Imperial records of this Crusade are
somewhat confusing. One star map
shows the attack path going almost due
east from the Eye, out to as far as
20,000 light years away, the furthest
31
Ibid 32
Ibid 33
Ibid. 34
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Second Edition
Marines Exemplar engage Hellaynneas Horde Lord Tybault
-
15
from the Eye that Abaddon ever struck,
but this same source includes the Battle
of Mackan, a planet south of the Eye.35
At Mackan, Abaddon led a charge of
Khorne Berzerkers into a heavily
fortified Blood Angels position and
although only a handful of Berzerkers
survived, they overran the position and
the Blood Angels were unable to
recover the bodies of their comrades.36
Abaddons Eighth Black
Crusade 999.M3737 Little is known of this Crusade except
that it only reached about 500 light
years south-southwest of the Eye.38
The Dominion of Fire Mid-
M3839
Angron led an army of fifty thousand
Berzerkers out of the Eye of Terror and
they rampaged over three dozen star
systems for nearly two hundred years.40
They were followed by numerous other
warbands and it took four Space
Marine Chapters, two Titan Legions
and over 30 Imperial Guard regiments
around seven centuries to cleanse all
the worlds across the 70 Sectors that
fell during this time.41
Abaddons Ninth Black
Crusade 573.M3842 The only known engagement of this
Crusade is recorded as taking place in
35
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 36
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk I 37
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 38
Ibid 39
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Fourth Edition. This campaign is not specifically titled a Black Crusade, but is significantly larger than the the First War for Armageddon, which is titled as such, suggesting it should be included. 40
Ibid 41
Ibid 42
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
165.M37,43
when Abaddon ravaged the
world of Antecanis in order to deprive
the Imperial shipyards at Cancephalus
of workers.44
Abaddons Tenth Black Crusade The Conflict of
Helica 001.M3945 The tenth Black Crusade flooded out
on the opposite side of the Eye to the
Cadian Gate, attacking Helica and the
capitol world, Thracian Primaris.46
The
Chaos assault was fatally delayed when
the Iron Warriors attacked the Iron
Hands on Medusa.47
Abaddons Eleventh Black
Crusade 301.M3948 This attack headed east of the Eye, but
failed to make it as far as the
Seventh.49
Abaddons Twelfth Black Crusade The Gothic War
139-160.M4150
Abaddon and his forces sneaked out of
the Eye of Terror via the Arx Gap,
after a three year campaign of raids to
silence Imperial monitoring stations.51
He then attacked the Gothic Sector
from his flagship, the Planetkiller.52
Using the artefacts the Hand of
Darkness and the Eye of Night,53
he
was able to capture and corrupt
Blackstone Fortresses, of which three
in concert were able to turn the
43
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition. Since it is contradicted by at least one source, which is consistent with several other sources itself, this date may well be in error. 44
Ibid 45
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 46
Ibid 47
Ibid 48
Ibid 49
Ibid 50
Ibid 51
Ibid 52
Battlefleet Gothic 53
Ibid
Tarantis star nova, destroying the
whole system.54
The Black Crusade ended at
Schindelgeist, although Abaddon fled
with two of the Blackstones.55
It took
eight years to finally cleanse the
Gothic Sector of the last raiders and
traitors.56
The First Armageddon War 444.M41
57
This Crusade was led by Angron and
was repelled only by the combined
efforts of Logan Grimnar of the Space
Wolves58
and a full Company of the
fabled Grey Knights.59
Abaddons Thirteenth Black
Crusade 999.M4160 The most recent of Abaddons attacks on the Imperium opened with an
outbreak of plague zombies spread by
derelict ships launched from the Eye of
Terror.61
These were followed by
Chaos Space Marine raids, growing in
force and coupled with an outbreak of
heretical cults lead by a figure
matching the description of Cypher.62
The full force of the Cadian Regiments
was mustered on Cadia in preparation
for what seemed an inevitable
onslaught. This assembly turned into
open warfare when the Volscani
regiment attacked their brothers, killing
much of the Cadian command
structure.63
When the Chaotic forces finally arrived
in strength, the Imperial Navy fought a
54
Codex: Eye of Terror 55
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 56
Battlefleet Gothic 57
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 58
Liber Chaotica: Khorne 59
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 60
Codex: Eye of Terror 61
Ibid 62
Ibid 63
Ibid
-
16
desperate battle which only
delayed the inevitable. The
Chaos forces established
themselves in the Cadian
system, and have yet to be
dislodged.64
The forces of Chaos came
close to breaking the
Cadian Gate and devastated
the surrounding systems,
including the total
destruction of Macharia, a
world in the Cadian system.
This Crusade is still
ongoing, in that the games timeline has not yet
advanced past 999.M41.65
The Black Crusade of
Vulkarth Undated This crusade evidently
involved the Adeptus
Astartes and multiple
incursions, but beyond that
nothing is known.66
Analysis There are five general
points of interest which can be drawn
from what we know about Black
Crusades (some of which Games
Workshop has been kind enough to
explicitly tell us).
First, and most obvious, is that not all
Black Crusades are led by Abaddon.
Indeed, they do not always seem to be
led by people (or things) of particular
influence or note sometimes a bunch of Chaos adherents just decide to go on
a rampage.
Second, the Crusades vary in scale.
The First War for Armageddon and
Abaddons Tenth Black Crusade targeted single systems, while the
Dominion of Fire and several of
64
Ibid 65
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Fourth Edition 66
Codex: Space Marines, Third Edition
Abaddons Black Crusades ravaged massive tracts of the Imperium.
Third, the Black Crusades vary widely
in type. The Gothic War was chiefly
focused on naval engagements, and
seemed to rely mostly on raiding rather
than attempting to seize territory. The
First War for Armageddon focused on
attacking a single planet on its surface.
And many of the other Black Crusades
were total wars involving planetary and
interplanetary warfare.
Fourth, the Black Crusades can vary in
composition Angrons excursions seem to be dominated by the forces of
Khorne (unsurprisingly), while
Abaddons Crusades are more
cosmopolitan.
Finally, the Black Crusades seem to
vary in organization. The Dominion of
Fire was as much an infestation as a
coordinated military campaign.
Meanwhile, the 13th
Black Crusade
was dedicated to pursuing specific
objectives. Even the organized
campaigns have disorganized hangers-
on along for the easy ride out of the
Eye. Of course, this is Chaos.
Organized and under the control of one
leader would defeat the point.
Strike Captain Lysimachus is a much-
noted presence in the Liber Astartes,
and serves as a Lexicanium in the
Librarium.
Achaeus the Kinslayer, Warlord of Khorne Cheexsta
-
17
Introduction There are two tutorials in this article. Despite their marked similarities, there are
some notable distinctions, so both have been included. horrains tutorial seems to produce Beastmarines with an emphasis on the marine (as befitting his loyalists), while Firefighter Xs produces ones with an emphasis on beast (as befitting his Khornates). Firefighter Xs uses more tools and parts and is somewhat more complicated, while horrains is simpler. And, of course, it is very possible to blend both approaches.
Beastmen, for those unfamiliar with them, are genetically-divergent humans who
are fiercely loyal to the Imperium, but due to their appearance are treated
with suspicion. And, of course, there are enough renegade Beastmen to further
confuse matters. Though not very bright, loyalist Beastmen are dedicated and
tough (much like Ogryns), driven to atone for their deformities through service to
the Emperor. They are technically not mutants, since their genetic quirks breed
true, but rather are abhumans like Ogryns or Ratlings. However, they are still more
variable in form than those two subspecies.
Beastmen were originally available as part of Imperial Guard armies, and were
(briefly) available again thanks to a White Dwarf article in third edition that
offered alternate doctrines to represent genetically enhanced (or deviant) Guard
regiments. They also made appearances in the ranks of the Lost and the Damned
(as goat-headed mutants).
As horrain put it: Basically, these are Beastmen in power armour, but due to the nature of their existence they have to salvage the majority of their war gear and
thus look pretty beaten-up. Glad we got that clear.
horrains Tutorial For this you will need:
-A complete Beastman model, either a Gor or Bestigor
-A complete Space Marine from the belt up (head, torso halves, arms and
backpack).
-Additional gubbins for added excitement and character
-A razor saw, knife or other cutting implement and plastic cutters
The Eye of
Terror
Beast
Marines
From the
Work of
Horrain
and
Firefighter
X
Beastmen may have fallen into obscurity in modern 40K, but many
older players still remember them, and they still loom large in Fantasy.
In this series of tutorials, horrain and Firefighter X created excellent
techniques for making power-armoured Beastmen surely some of the
most fearsome denizens of the Eye of Terror.
Horrains Beastmarines do their best to look intimidating. And succeed.
-
18
Step 1: Once you have your sup plies collected, you need to cut the Beastman in half, just below the nipple (see
picture).
When I do this step I like to use a razor saw, since it lets
me be quite accurate about where I make the cut. If you
use a knife, be careful the plastic is pretty thick and
you risk doing yourself an injury. [Firefighter X used a
Dremel cutting blade. An effective option, if riskier
Ed].
Step 2:
Once you
have the
top of the
torso cut
off, you'll
want to remove what remains of its overly-
pronounced shoulders. For this I used a pair of
plastic cutters.
Step 3:
Next you want to start shaping the back of the body
section. The basic goal is to round off the back so
from the models belt it goes straight up, and curves in to meet the front of the model toward the top. The
idea is to make a rounded ball joint similar to that on
the standard Space Marine legs. Leave the front of the model
alone for now.
Step 4:
Next up is to grab a standard marine torso, both front and
back. We need to cut off the belt and the stomach, but leave
the chest. This is because the Beastman model already has a
belt, and two looks weird. [But so stylish Ed]
The front of the torso should end up looking like
the image to the left. Note that youll need to cut the back torso part as well as the front.
Once you have your torso shaped you can start
trimming the body's front section to match the torsos shape. This step is pretty hard to capture in photos the process is basically trimming the body until it fits
smoothly with the torso. The end result should look
something like the image to the right.
Step 5:
Now once that's all done you can go ahead and glue
the body to its base and glue the torso together and
then to the body. Because the marine torso
is largely untouched, the standard Marine arms and
backpack should fit with no issue. For this model, I used regular arms from the Space Wolves
sprue, but you can also use arms from either the Gor or Bestigor kits, as the scale between the
two sets of arms is pretty much identical.
Step One: Before (L) and After (R)
Step Two
Step Three
Step Four
Step Four
Step Five
-
19
Once you have attached your arms and backpack your model should look similar to this.
Step 6:
Now we run into our first problem you'll notice a large gap between the models spine, and the backpack. We can't leave our Beastmarine in this state, because its pretty ugly (and/or comical, depending on your outlook on life). This is where the extra credit gubbins come in handy.
Personally I like to glue a shield in this gap, as it looks pretty cool, and helps bring them back to
their Fantasy roots. One of my Wolf Guards is
carrying his combi-weapon in this void. You could
also use a variety of pouches or grenades.
In this case I have used a square shield from the WFB
goblin kit.
Step 7:
Now the last stage, here we need to give this guy a
head. On the Gor kit you'll notice a bunch of different
horns, unfortunately using all of them is pretty tricky,
as there are two main types, the straight horns, and
the ones shaped like rounded goat horns.
The problem with the rounded horns is that they are tricky to fit due to the marine
shoulder pads, so I tend to not use them unless the pose allows. You'll more
than likely need to only use the straight horns.
This guy is the leader for my Long Fang squad, so I have used Bestigor parts over
the standard Gor.
You should now have a Beastmarine. Congratulations, and thanks for reading.
horrain maintains a website at www.horrain.com. This was his first tutorial.
Step Six
Step Seven
horrains Beastmarines
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20
Firefighter Xs Tutorial My idea originally came from horrains tutorial. I took his ideas and expanded on
them, changing some things and making
them my own.
Tools:
- Dremel with cutting blade, grinder, &
sander wheel.
-Super glue & Zap Kicker
-double sided file (flat/rounded)
-clippers/cutters (heavy and normal)
-pin vice (for drilling)
-pin rod
-X-Acto knife with new blade
Parts: -Bestigor Champion body (any Bestigor
body will do)
-Bestigor arms & axe haft
-Berzerker torso, shoulder pads,
backpack, & bolt pistol.
-Ork Nob Choppa arm
-Ravenwing Banner flag
-Wooden toothpick (glaive handle)
Step 1: Using the Dremel, saw the
Bestigor body in half, about
1-2 mm above the belt line.
It should end up looking
like this:
Step 2:
Using your clippers, file,
and knife trim down the
rest of the waistline. Be
careful here get it as close to the top of the Bestigor's
belt as you can. Also remove any fantasy items from the model that you don't want
(like pouches and weapons that are moulded onto the mini). Pay special attention to
the Bestigor's leg and armour details. You want to preserve them.
Tools
Parts
Step One
Step Two
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21
Step 3:
Glue the Berzerker torso together and, using
your knife, remove the entire "belt" from the
model. Leave the round Khorne icon at the
front of the model.
Step 4:
Use the Dremel grinding bit to dig out the
rest of the Bestigors waistline and dig a groove in the front of the belt buckle (to
make room for the Khorne icon you saved
on the Berzerker torso earlier). Follow this
up with the Dremel sander bit. The goal here
is to get the waistline smooth and flat.
Step 5:
You should be left with two halves that look
similar to this after you clean up the mini.
[Firefighter Xs original tutorial suggested
choosing either Marine arms or Beastman
arms. This tutorial assumes you will use
Beastman arms the procedure for Marine
arms is identical to that in horrains tutorial
Ed.]
Dryfit the Beastman arms to make sure they fit,
then drill out holes in the Bestigor hands and
clip away the axe handle.
Step 6:
Position them on whatever you will be using for
use for the new glaive handle. Use clippers or a
Dremel sanding bit to cut away the shoulder pads to make room for attaching the Berzerker pads. Follow the mould line on
the inside of the Bestigor arm when trimming.
Step Three
Step Four
Step Five (A)
Step Five (B)
Step Six
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22
Step 7: At this point use your clippers and remove the ponytail from the Bestigor head.
Step 8: Clip the chainaxe head and pommel away from the hand,
preserving the finger details. Drill out a hole for the
toothpick to slide through the whole hand. Attach the
pommel to the end of the new handle.
Step 9:
Position the axe arm & the bolt pistol arm where you
want them. Glue on the
axe head. Drill the pistol
barrel holes out (it
pleases Khorne, and you
dont want a cranky Blood God). If you have
an uneven join between the Berzerker torso and the
Bestigor legs, use some bitz (such as pouches or
holsters) to mask it. Glue the horns to the Bestigor
head, attach the backpack, attach the head, and go
collect some skulls!
Firefighter X is a keen World Eaters player. He
reconciles killing, maiming and burning with
firefighting through a firm separation of his work and
home lives.
Step Seven
Step Eight
Step Nine
Some Other Beastmarines
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23
Introduction Blessings of the dark gods or the
stigmata of the damned; many and
varied are the gifts that those in the service of Chaos may find bestowed
upon them, either as a result of
exposure to the Warp in places such as
the Eye of Terror, or more directly as a
sign of their patron gods favour.
Dangerous are the roads these men
walk, for while the gifts of the gods
may seem bountiful, the denizens of
the Immaterium ultimately care not for
their mortal playthings. One mutation
often leads to more, and they are often
as random as they are beneficial.
Countless aspiring champions of Chaos
have ended their existence as one of
the pitiful, mewling messes of flesh
known as Chaos Spawn, their bodies
overcome by the changes wrought
upon by their patron.
Nevertheless mutations are signs of
favour and promise, and for the most
part are welcomed. To the servants of
the Emperor of Mankind, however,
there is no clearer indication of how far
a man has fallen from His light than
the mark of the mutant.
Gifts of the Gods Mutations are generally purely
cosmetic in current editions of 40K,
and so with a few exceptions they will
have no influence on the way
miniatures are used in game. However
they are still a great way to
individualise the miniatures in your
army as well as allowing you to let
your imagination, converting and
painting skills shine.
For those looking for the quickest and
easiest ways to model mutations, kit-
bashing and cut-and-paste converting
are probably the best ways to go.
Quick and easy should not be
interpreted as less impressive, though,
as it is now quite easy to combine kits
from various armies in both the 40K
and Fantasy ranges produced by
Games Workshop. For example; the
Chaos Mutations sprue, the Possessed
Chaos Space Marine sprues and even
parts from the Chaos Spawn kit can be
used to bestow heads, arms, tentacles
and even legs and torsos touched by
the Warp upon your models with
minimal effort.
Some cool mutations garnered from a variety of sources are described below,
as an indication of how easy they will
be to create; they have been given
difficulty ratings using the following
scale:
Easy: These mutations are generally
quick and easy to create and require
little modelling skill to achieve.
Intermediate: These mutations require
a little more time and patience to
produce, generally due to the
involvement of green stuff or painting
techniques. As with all hobby
techniques, using green stuff may take
a little practice to get right.
Advanced: These mutations are likely
to be the most labour intensive or
complicated ones, although that
shouldnt dissuade you from giving them a try.
Safety Note: Creating many of these
mutations require the use of a hobby
knife, sculpting tool, razor saw or
hobby drill. Care should be taken when
using sharp tools of this nature and all
cuts should be made on a stable,
protected and level surface, away from
the body.
Crusty Armour Easy often associated with the followers of Nurgle, even ceramite
plating is not immune to the corrosive
The Eye of
Terror
Mutatis
Mutandis:
A Guide to
Creating
Mutations
by
Pig of
Sparta
Mutations are the gifts and curses of the Chaos Gods. However,
the infinite variety and twisted imagination of daemonically
inspired physical deformity can be somewhat tricky for mere
mortals to accurately portray. Pig of Sparta takes on this
challenge with a collection of mutation tutorials and some
discussion of inspiration for great mutations.
-
24
and decaying effects of his virulent
contagions.
This is a very easy mutation to show:
apply small amounts of super glue to
the miniature in a random pattern,
before dipping it in some modelling
sand. Tap off the excess sand and
allow the glue to dry before
undercoating.
Horned Armour Easy Many a Champion of Chaos has been pleased to find bestial horns
emerging from his body.
To recreate this mutation on your
miniatures, take the part of the
miniature you desire to have a horn
burst forth from and drill a hole in it
using a pin vice. Score the edges of the
hole using a modelling knife, before
inserting a trimmed down horn of your
choice.
Skull Head Easy disturbing to say the least. This warriors flesh has peeled from his face and head, leaving nought but a
grinning skull exposed. All the better
to terrify his enemies.
A very easy mutation to effect, simply
select a skull you like the look of and
using guitar string, green stuff, parts
from the Tomb Kings or Undead
fantasy ranges or even scrap sprue,
create a spinal column neck to join the skull to the torso of your miniature.
Alternatively you could use green stuff
to sculpt a hood or cowl to allow the
skull to float disconcertingly in mid-
air. You could also use small balls of
green stuff to add eyeballs for a truly
disturbing look. If youre confident with green stuff you could try sculpting
flames coming from the eye sockets or
even the whole head.
Boils and Sores Intermediate those who are infected by Nurgles plagues often exhibit symptoms of their maladies in the form
of weeping sores and boils.
Both of these mutations begin as small
balls of green stuff, placed on the area
of the miniature that you wish them to
erupt from, but they are made using
different methods.
For boils, use a sculpting tool to divide
the ball of green stuff into three parts.
Then blend the edges of the green stuff
into the surface below, before using a
paper clip or other thin, pointed object
to poke a small hole in roughly the
centre of each boil. You can even
burst some or all of the boils by using the paper clip to open them up from the
hole in the centre.
To make sores, smooth the green stuff
onto the surface below before using the
paper clip to make uneven holes in it.
Soul Armour Intermediate while not strictly a mutation, suits of armour worn by the
followers of the dark gods have been
observed to contain what appear to be
the bound souls of those slain by the
wearer, allowing him to enjoy their
torment for as long as he lives.
To bind souls into a suit of armour, begin by smoothing a layer of green
stuff onto the areas you wish them to
be visible. Once you have done this,
use a pointed sculpting tool, paper clip
or the tip of a hobby knife to create a
pair of eyes, followed by a mouth in
suitable tortured expressions. Simply
repeat until the whole of the area is
filled with tortured souls.
Daemonic Visage Intermediate either through possession or exposure to the warping
nature of Chaos, the faces of many
warriors take on aspects, features and
skin tones of their patrons daemons.
This mutation can be achieved either
using a head from one of the various
types of daemon miniatures
(Bloodletters or Daemonettes will be
Skull Head GooseDaMoose
Skull Head Pig of Sparta
Sores Fallout1983
Boils Fallout1983
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25
the easiest to use) or using the heads
from the Possessed Marine sprue.
Alternatively you could use one of the
many helmetless Space Marine or
Chaos Space Marine heads, or possibly
even those from the Warriors of Chaos
or Chaos Marauder frames. Simply
paint the desired head to reflect the
miniature's allegiance. For example red
tones would signify Khorne, pallid
tones Slaanesh, rotting greens for
Nurgle and blue/grey tones for
Tzeentch.
Bejewelled Armour/Flesh Intermediate most commonly associated with the followers of
Slaanesh, dazzling gemstones emerge
from armour plates and flesh.
Place a small ball of green stuff in the
place where you want the gem to be.
Then, using a sculpting tool; smooth
the edges of the ball into the surface
beneath to create a bump.
Next, using the tip of a sharp hobby
knife, draw the shape of the gem into the green stuff. Hold the knife at an
angle from the centre of the gem
outwards so that you push the
surrounding armour up slightly, this
also helps to produce a rounder shape
to the gem as well.
Finally, use the knife to make some
cuts into the armour or flesh to make it
look as though the gemstone is
bursting through it.
Beast Marines Occasionally the body of a Chaos
worshipper may be completely
reformed by his patron god, taking on a
twisted parody of both beast and man.
horrains Beast Marines have been discussed elsewhere in this issue, but
they arent the limit of the possible mutations available.
The Fantasy Skaven range holds some
interesting possibilities Stormvermin and Rat Ogres both have potential.
Likewise, the Lizardmen range has
Sauruses, Kroxigors and Salamanders.
The Ork and Goblin range can provide
deformed and twisted arms by the
score, and the various Undead ranges
can provide lots and lots of rot and
putrefaction.
In 40K, the Dark Eldar range is also
adding more strange and twisted
creatures to serve the Haemonculi, and
those could serve equally well as
mutated servants of Chaos. Kroot are
sufficiently alien, and Vespids even
more so both would provide good mutation fodder, especially the Vespids
with their insectoid features. The
Tyranid range also offers possibilities
(especially older Tyranids).
Sources of Inspiration The above examples are but a tiny
fraction of ways you can personalise
your Chaos Space Marines with
mutations. Further inspiration can be
found in a variety of places: from the
novels of the Black Library, to the
Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader
Rulebook (with its notorious random
mutation tables); from the hallowed
halls of the Bolter and Chainsword to
an internet image search.
Many feel that for sheer alien
twistedness there has been little to
match the models of the Rogue Trader
era. While they can be hard to come by
in these times, the Stuff of Legends
website provides pictures from old GW
catalogues that can provide inspiration.
Old White Dwarfs are also a good
source of ideas.
One thing to remember is that
mutations dont have to be big no-eyes is just as effective a mutation as a
giant daemon head or a tail. Another is
that mutations dont just have to be organic becoming living metal or stone is still weird and chaotic. A
remarkable amount can be done with
colours alone bright yellow people simply arent normal.
Keep your mind open and youll be amazed at how much you can do with
simple concepts, skills, and tools.
Ultimately, by its very nature Chaos is
random but inspired. The only real
limit to mutating models is your
imagination.
Pig of Sparta is a noted modeller and
painter on the B&C. He lives in the
UK, and enjoys long walks on the edge
of the abyss in which the Devourer of
Worlds dwells.
Bejewelled Armour John Thompson
Daemonic Visage Pig of Sparta
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26
Introduction In the wake of the successes of the
Great Crusade the Imperium of Man
was born. It seemed like an age of new
hope, and yet it very nearly died in its
infancy as it was torn apart by the civil
war that would become known as the
Horus Heresy. Under Warmaster Horus
fully half of the Adeptus Astartes, the
Emperors champions of mankind, fell to Chaos. In the aftermath of the
almighty siege of Terra the battered
remnants of the Traitor Legions fled to
the great Warp storm known as the Eye
of Terror.
Seven years after the death of Horus, in
accordance with the Ultramarine
Primarch Roboute Guillimans teachings in the Codex Astartes, the
old Legions were broken into Chapters.
Each would be limited to one thousand
marines and would be completely
autonomous. Even if an individual
Chapter was corrupted, any internecine
struggle would be weighted in favour
of the Imperium since the vast majority
of Space Marines would be untainted.1
The galaxy is a vast place and the
lumbering mechanisms of the Adeptus
Administratum have been known to
misplace records of entire armies and
planets for years or even centuries. For
many in the Imperium the notion that
an entire Chapter of the celebrated and
heroic Space Marines could renege on
their oaths of allegiance is virtually
unthinkable. When it does happen, no
doubt the Inquisition and other Space
Marine Chapters swiftly limit the
spread of information. For this reason
no complete records exist, but secret
Inquisitorial archives suggest fully 50
Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes have
1 Codex: Space Marines, Fifth Edition
succumbed to Chaos since the Heresy.2
This suggests that almost five per cent
of marine Chapters have turned
renegade. Whilst this is a huge
improvement on the Heresy, it still
seems surprisingly high. Given that
Marines are meant to be heavily
indoctrinated, the resources invested in
their creation and the threat that they
pose if they turn renegade, it may seem
surprising to some that the Imperium
continues to support the existence of
Space Marines when approximately
one Chapter in twenty will rebel.
Enemies Within What must be borne in mind is the
extent of the threat of Chaos and its
corrupting influence. We have no solid
figures but, given their far lower level
of indoctrination and discipline plus
their wider experienc
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