Pre heresy word bearers

The Word Bearers, originally known as the Imperial Heralds and the Iconoclasts, is the XVII Legion of the original twenty Space Marine Legions. They were the first of the nine Legions which betrayed the Emperor, becoming the first known Chaos Space Marines, pledging their allegiance to their Primarch Lorgar and to Chaos Undivided.

Known for their extreme religious fervor even before their conversion to Chaos, the Word Bearers are some of the most fanatical Chaos Marines, notable for using Dark Apostles, a corrupted version of Space Marine Chaplains, to inspire their Marines and their cultist allies in battle.

History

Unification Wars

The Primarch of the Word Bearers, Lorgar, vanished while still an infant, just like all of the other Primarchs. The earliest days say the XVIIth Legion stand apart from their brother Legiones Astartes in duty and outlook. They fought with utter devotion and a fanatical zeal. Their original recruits were drawn from the sons of defeated enemies, raised to know the crimes of their fathers and the price of the Emperor’s forgiveness. Thus while the other Legions went to war with righteousness, the XVIIth fought with the cold fury that only the condemned and redeemed could know. While other Legions took some time to acquire formal names, the XVIIth was named the Imperial Heralds almost immediately after their founding. This was due to their early role to deliver the Emperor’s ultimatum, delivered by a lone herald in black armour with a skull-faced helmet and a winged mace: submission or destruction.^[18b]

Upon defeating an enemy, the Imperial Heralds would empty their libraries and records of any contents deemed heretical or sorcerous. Condemned works, individuals, and buildings would be destroyed in the name of the Imperial Truth. The Imperial Heralds repeated this process all across Terra during the Unification Wars. This gave the Imperial Heralds a rarely-spoken nickname among the greater Imperium: the Iconoclasts.^[18b]

The Great Crusade

Eventually, Lorgar was discovered on a Feudal World named Colchis, which he had eventually unified in a series of brutal religious wars in response to his visions of the Emperor’s coming arrival. When the Emperor did arrive, as Lorgar had foreseen, the Primarch dropped to his knee, leading the population of his world in rejoicing and worship of the Emperor as a god. At the conclusion of these festivities, the Emperor bade Lorgar take his best warriors and induct them into his Space Marine Legion (at that time known as the Imperial Heralds^[7h]) and join him on the Great Crusade. Lorgar appointed trustworthy regents to rule over Colchis and devoutly complied with his father’s direction.^{[Needs Citation]}

Lorgar was an unusually pious Primarch. While other Legions were rapidly conquering planet after planet, the Word Bearers proceeded much more slowly, as they would build temples and shrines in veneration of the Emperor, who was also deemed the God of the Imperium by Lorgar, on each newly conquered planet. All forms of blasphemy and heresy that threatened the Emperor’s realm, all manner of ancient scrolls, books, artworks and icons were burned and smashed before the advancing ranks of the Legion. In their place, vast monuments and cathedrals, all dedicated to the Emperor, were erected upon the mounds of dead of those who had resisted conversion. The greatest Chaplains of the Legion produced enormous works on the divinity and righteousness of the Emperor, and Lorgar himself delivered countless speeches and sermons, converting millions to the Emperor with his words alone.^{[Needs Citation]}

One of the conflicts during the Great Crusade was a Corrinos Campaign where the Word Bearers fought with renegade Psykers that didn’t want to join the Imperium.^[18c]

A Legion Kneels

Despite being pledged to the Great Crusade for around a century, the Emperor had never once rebuked Lorgar or his Legion for their zealous worship even though such doctrine clashed with the Emperor’s Imperial Truth. However 43 years prior to the events of Isstvan V the Emperor brought his wrath to bear on the Word Bearers. The Emperor ordered the Ultramarines to utterly destroy the city of Monarchia, a perfect city that was testament to all that Lorgar and the Word Bearers stood for, and the capital of Khur. In the ashes of the city the entire Word Bearers legion gathered to be reprimanded by the Emperor, Roboute Guilliman and Malcador the Sigilite. The Legion in its entirety was forced to kneel in the ashes of their greatest achievement and re-pledge themselves to the Great Crusade and to the Emperor.^[7a]

In time, Lorgar came to realise that his worship of the Emperor as a god had been false. He still however maintained his view that faith was central to the human psyche and that it was still plausible that his views could be validated. His search began by investigating the Old Faith of his homeworld, which in his certainty that the Emperor was a god he had destroyed during the First Purge of the Brotherhood prior to being discovered by the Emperor. He returned to Colchis to seek the answers he so desperately needed and sought the council of Magnus the Red, the wisest among the Primarchs.^[7b]

The Pilgrimage

Encouraged by Erebus and Kor Phaeron, who had in truth already fallen to worship of the Ruinous Powers, Lorgar came to realise that all of the belief systems which featured in countless other human cultures across the galaxy shared a common origin and underlying message. He believed that because all the countless legends of divinity, from so many disparate cultures, all agreed on other powers than exist beyond the veil, that the human species’ most natural instinct could not be false. Thus he took The Pilgrimage, a mythological journey to the place where gods and mortals meet in an attempt to discover the universal truth of the universe and enlighten humanity and his father.^[7c]

The Word Bearers Legion rejoined the Great Crusade as a front for the Pilgrimage and scattered itself across the stars, bringing more worlds into compliance than any other Legion in the last fifty years of the Crusade. Lorgar himself joined the 1,301st Expedition Fleet and eventually came to Cadia where they received validation for their theories that all of the Old Faiths across the galaxy shared similar origins, and thus shared a universal truth. Ingethel, a native of Cadia was anointed by the gods as Lorgar’s guide in revealing the Primordial Truth and undertook a ritual to do so which elevated her to the ranks of the daemonic as Ingethel the Ascended.^[7d]

Ingethel the Ascended led the Serrated Sun Chapter of the Word Bearers into the Great Eye where the failure of the Eldar Empire was witnessed first hand. Ingethel informed the Word Bearers that the Eldar failed and suffered the Fall because at the moment of their ascension they were unable to accept the Primordial Truth. They gave birth to a god of pleasure and promise, yet they felt no joy.^[7e] Their new god awoke to find its worshipers abandoning it out of ignorance and fear, thus was the endless storm of the Great Eye formed, an echo of the birth-cries of the Eldar’s new god.^[7f] The nature of the Primordial Truth was revealed to the Word Bearers in the ashes of the Eldar Empire, they learned that in order for humanity as a species to survive they must not commit the same sins the Eldar did, they must instead accept Chaos.

The Pilgrimage ultimately proved that the Emperor’s Imperial Truth was in fact a lie and that gods truly did exist. Secretly pledging themselves to new Dark Gods, the Word Bearers hid their true allegiance for the next four decades.^[18b]

Lorgar and the Word Bearers spent the remaining years of the Great Crusade attempting to enlighten humanity about the universal truths of the universe, and began the long process of sending their forces throughout the rest of the Astartes Legions to establish Warrior Lodges and subvert them from within.^[7k]. Through this subterfuge they eventually managed to sway several Primarchs to their cause, the most notable being Horus Lupercal. Meanwhile, the Word Bearers avoided suspicion by loyally waging a great many campaigns, soon becoming one of the most militarily successful Legions in the Crusade and seemingly making up for their past failures. In command of the 2nd largest Legion after the Ultramarines, Lorgar’s campaigns against predominately Human empires became vicious, brutal, and seemingly spiteful, perhaps a way for the Legion to vent its hidden frustrations.^[7]

When it became clear that humanity could not be enlightened without bloodshed whilst it remained shackled to the lies of the Emperor, Lorgar and Erebus helped orchestrate the corruption of Horus himself, initiating the Horus Heresy.^[7g]

The Horus Heresy

After the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V, the Word Bearers abandoned all their past pretenses of loyalty. They openly preached the Primordial Truth, changed their armor to crimson red, and utilized Daemonically Space Marines known as the Gal Vorbak.^[8] At the time of the Horus Heresy, it is estimated that the Word Bearers legion numbered some 150,000 combat troops.^[11]

Ultramar

As the Heresy unfolded, the Word Bearer ship Furious Abyss set off for Ultramar right after its construction was completed on the Jovian moon of Thule. The Furious Abyss’s first kill was the Ultramarines ship Fist of Macragge as it was heading in for repairs in the Vangelis space port. The astropaths of the Fist of Macragge managed to send out a warning, ultimately received as a very powerful psychic scream at the Vangelis space port. Seeing visions of Macragge and the impending terror, Captain Cestus, Fleet Commander of the Ultramarines, quickly gathered a force of ships at the main Vangelis hub of Coralis. He managed to find seven ships: the Wrathful (which Cestus commandeered and commanded from) and her escorts, the Fearless, the Ferox, the Ferocious, the Fireblade, along with the Thousand Sons ship Waning Moon. Captain Vorlov of the ship Boundless also requested to join Captain Cestus, and was accepted. The fleet pursued the Furious Abyss and battled with it, suffering heavy casualties (all ships but the Wrathful and Fireblade were destroyed), ending when the Furious Abyss entered the warp to continue its journey to Ultramar. The Wrathful and Fireblade made the transition as well, but the Furious Abyss deployed a psionic mine which disturbed the Warp, causing the Fireblade’s Gellar Field to fail, and the ship was torn apart by the forces of the Immaterium.^[5]

When the Word Bearers launched their attack against the Ultramarines, the strike against Calth was led by Lorgar’s greatest champion, the former Master of the Faith, Kor Phaeron. He swore to utterly destroy the planet, and was very nearly successful. From his personal battle barge, now renamed Infidus Imperator, Kor Phaeron directed a full-scale invasion of the Calth System. Calth’s three sister planets were all destroyed, massive geo-nuclear strikes ripping them apart at the core. Its once gentle sun was laced with deadly metals and substances that increased the star’s radiation output tenfold; within a century after the Heresy’s end, the final elements of Calth’s atmosphere were burned off and the world left airless, its populace forced to live in gigantic underground caverns.

The war on Calth was devastating and horrific. The Ultramarines were shocked by the millions of cultists the Word Bearers used as human shields and disgusted by the hordes of daemons they unleashed. The Word Bearers, in turn, had underestimated the tenacity and resolve of their foe. In the end, Lord Kor Phaeron was defeated when reinforcements from Macragge drove the Word Bearers from the surface of Calth. Kor Phaeron retreated all the way to the Maelstrom, a turbulent region of the galaxy where the Immaterium of Chaos seeps through into the material realm of the universe. Meanwhile, Lorgar led his own Shadow Crusade in conjunction with the World Eaters, hoping to create a gigantic Warp storm to cut off Ultramar from Terra.^[21]

Following the Shadow Crusade, the Word Bearers were ordered to muster at Ullanor for Horus’ planned drive on Terra. By this point Lorgar had come to view Horus as weak for resisting the embrace of the Gods, and secretly planned to usurp him as Warmaster. Nonetheless, Lorgar, Zardu Layak, and a small force journeyed into the Webway to find Fulgrim under the guise of returning him to the war. After successfully binding Fulgrim with his True Name, Lorgar planned to use him in a coup to dispose of Horus. However in the end, Lorgar’s treachery was exposed and the plan fell apart. Lorgar was exiled from Horus’ sight, but 5,000 Word Bearers under Zardu Layak agreed to follow the Warmaster to Terra.^[27]

Terra

The Word Bearers under Layak would take part in the Siege of Terra.^[27] In the end, Horus was defeated, and the legions of Chaos were forced to flee. The Word Bearers were also forced to retreat to the Eye of Terror, and there they have remained, returning to the Imperium to raid, pillage, and destroy.

Post-Heresy

From the Daemon World of Sicarus, Lorgar watches over his Legion and orchestrates the vast corruption from within that the Imperium suffers at the hands of his cults and covens. Unlike many of the other Traitor Legions, the Word Bearers have remained a unified, if loosely organised, military force, the main ruling body of which is known as the Dark Council, which rules in Lorgar’s absence.^[6]

From the two primary bases of the Legion, Sicarus and the factory-world of Ghalmek, located within the Maelstrom, the Word Bearers launch twisted wars of faith against the Imperium. On each world they attack, they incubate a seed of heresy that will one day contribute to their ever-expanding web of cults. Sometimes however, this brings them into competition with the efforts of the Alpha Legion. Though the Alpha Legion and the Word Bearers have united several times to take part in the Black Crusades of Ezekyle Abaddon, they are more usually in states of bitter division and rivalry. However, these things are but distractions as their war against the Imperium of Man is total, and they do not intend for it to end until every icon of the Emperor lies shattered at their feet.

Notable Engagements Post-Heresy

• ???.M31 — The Cleansing of the Orbstar
• 344.M33 — The Blackstar Liberation
• ???.M36 — The Battle of Gerio^[32]
• 734.M38 — The Bissan Ambush
• ???.M41 — The Crusade of Fire
• ???.M41 — The Battle of Naemloch
• ???.M41 — The Kapua Campaign
• ???.M41 — The Scouring of Makenna VII
• ???.M41 — The Oceania Campaign
• ???.M41 — The Ur-Clemait Civil War
• ???.M41 — The Invasion of Tanakreg
• ???.M41 — The Siege of Thanatos
• ???.M41 — The Fall of Kanak^[42]
• 455.M41 — The Siege of Goddeth Hive
• 679-760.M41 — The Siege of Hermetica
• 777.M41 — The Achilus Crusade
• 888.M41 — Crusade of Wrath
• 946.M41 — The Battle of Eagle Gate
• 999.M41 — The Battle of the Boros Gate
• 999.M41 — The 13th Black Crusade and the Diamor Campaign
• 999.M41 — The sacking of Sabatine
• ???.M41 — The War in Gheldrith’s Eye^[44]
• M42 — With the formation of the Great Rift and Noctis Aeterna, the Word Bearers begin a wave of unprecedented activity in Segmentum Solar which included instigating large uprisings. Even by the 5th year into the Indomitus Crusade, a sizable force of World Bearers continued to operate perilously close to Terra.^[51]
• ???.M42 — The Battle of Gathalamor
• ???.M42 — The Invasion of Almace^[30a]
• ???.M42 — The Battle of Srinagar
• ~12.M42 — The Battle of Raukos
• ???.M42 — The Betrayal on Donatos
• ???.M42 — The Invasion of the Odoacer System^[30a]
• ???.M42 — The War of Beasts on Vigilus
• ???.M42 — The Talledus War. Kor Phaeron himself leads the invasion of Benediction.^[34]
• ???.M42 — The Charadon Campaign^[43]
• ???.M42 — The Battle for Budor V^[36]
• ???.M42 — The Battle of Besel V^[39]
• ???.M42 — The Nachmund Rift War^[46]
• ???.M42 — The Arks of Omen Campaign. Battling in opposition to the Black Legion.^[50]
• ??? — The Drakon Crusade^[31]
• ??? — The Thorados Crusade
• ??? — The War of Statues
• ??? — The Battle of Nepthys Madrigal
• ??? — The sacrifice of Gruelbowl
• ??? — The Battle of Irradium Alpha
• ??? — The War of False Prophets

Organisation

Great Crusade and Horus Heresy

During the Great Crusade and ensuing Horus Heresy, the Word Bearers Legion, 100,000 strong^[7a], was divided into many different Chapters, each bearing a name and icon representing one of the constellations of Colchis. Typically a Chapter consisted of several companies with an overal strength of 500-3,000 warriors. While each Chapter maintained a formal military structure consisting of a Chapter Master, Captains, and so on there was also a parallel hierarchy based around Chaplains and spiritual authority.^[49]

Known Chapters

• Ark of Testimony
• Asps of the Sacred Sands — Destroyed on Calth.^[19]
• Black Comet
• Bloodied Visage — 3,855th Expedition Fleet.^[23]
• The Brazenhead Chapter^[25]
• Broken Scythe^[18b]
• Burning Hand
• Crescent Moon — 3,855th Expedition Fleet.^[23]
• Crimson Mask
• Ebony Serpent
• Exalted Gate — Consumed by a unaligned greater daemon.^[19]
• Flayed Hand — Destroyed by an Ultramarines ambush under Ventanus on Calth.^[19]
• Graven Star — Destroyed in the caverns of Calth.^[19]
• Inscribed — Destroyed by an Ultramarines counter-assault on Calth.^[19]
• Iron Veil^[19]
• Onyx Maw
• Opening Eye
• Osseous Throne^[18b]
• Perpetual Spiral
• Quillborn — Specialists in ship-to-ship fighting.^[5a]
• Secret Boon
• Serrated Sun — Commanded by Argel Tal and included the original Gal Vorbak.^[18b]
• Star of Judgement^[18b]
• Sundered Tower
• Third Hand
• Tri-Fold Crown^[18b]
• Twisting Rune — Destroyed in the caverns of Calth.^[19]
• Unspeaking — Fought an Ultramarines company to mutual annihilation on Calth.^[19]
• Venomous Thorns^[40]
• Void — A reserve formation, the smallest Chapter of the Word Bearers.^[5b]
• Weeping Hand
• Weeping Veil

Unique Formations

• The Ashen Circle
• The Brotherhood
• Harbingers of Death — Bodyguards of Erebus.

Post-Heresy

The Word Bearers do not worship Chaos Gods individually. Instead, they are venerated and regarded as a Dark Pantheon of Chaos Gods. The sons of Lorgar view those who limit their worship to a single Chaos God with contempt and are partially at odds with the Emperor’s Children for their decadence. Word Bearers rely on Daemons as shock troops, meatshields, and as the bulk of their armies. Their elite Chaos Space Marines are used to accomplish vital tasks. The Word Bearers have been known to have a massive cultist base, and have used cultists and insurgents since the Great Crusade. However, unlike the Alpha Legion, the primary use of cultists is as cannon fodder and distractions.

The Word Bearers are notable for being the only Traitor Legion who still have a corps of Chaplains, now known as Dark Apostles. The Word Bearers follow the words of their Dark Apostles with total faith in battle. The Dark Apostles divine through many ways how a battle is to be fought and won, and the warriors of the Host obey unquestioningly. Before battle, the Word Bearers gather in ritual prayer, chanting hymns and cult doctrine to affirm their faith in the power of Chaos. Often these chants will be answered and it is common for the Word Bearers to fight alongside daemonic entities.

Alongside the Black Legion and Death Guard, the Word Bearers are one of the three traitor Legion’s that did not fracture in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy.^[29] The legion is ruled centrally from the Dark Council of Sicarus^[6]. This evil priesthood enforces a strict regime of worship of the Chaos pantheon upon their fellow Word Bearers and are also highly likely to be found leading the Legion in battle. Each is gifted an army of their own, known as a Host. The numbers vary, with the smallest typical size roughly analogous to that of a Space Marine Company, and the largest exceeding the manpower of a Space Marine Chapter.

The organisational make-up of each Host differs wildly as well, and can change depending on the whims of the Dark Apostle that leads it. Often they will suddenly alter the hierarchy of their Host for reasons known only to themselves. These changes often result in seemingly unwieldy or tactically inflexible formations. The Word Bearers themselves accept these changes without question.^[1]

The largest known Host numbered over two thousand Chaos Marines at its peak. The size of this force required that the Dark Apostle be served by two chief lieutenants, his First Acolyte and a champion, entitled as the Coryphaus. The role of the Coryphaus is to be the intermediary between the Dark Apostle and his host. This allows the Dark Apostle to be seen primarily as a spiritual and distant figure. Furthermore, the Coryphaus is essentially in charge of the majority of tactical decisions on the battlefield, freeing the Dark Apostle to commune with the Darker powers, fuel the hatred of the host and ponder strategic matters. Additionally, the Host possessed an Icon Bearer and an elite unit of over two hundred Terminators known as the Anointed.^[4]

The most commonly occurring structure is that roughly equating to a Space Marine company, with the Host broken down into units of about twelve warriors. Each is commanded by a champion of the Word Bearers who strives to become as devout a war leader as the Dark Apostle in the hope of one day being chosen to succeed him on the occasion of his death.

The Word Bearers then march into battle beneath their standards, bellowing catechisms of hatred at their foe as drums beat out a dolorous thunder. The relentless advance of the Word Bearers is a terrifying sight, as the monotonous chant and beat of drums can break even the strongest will. The unshakeable belief of the Word Bearers in the truth of their cause has seen them marching into certain death, yet unwilling to take a single step backwards. A battle ends either in victory or the utter destruction of the Word Bearer host.^[1]

Known Post-Heresy Sects and Sub-factions

• The 1st Host — Commanded by Kor Phaeron^[45]
• The 3rd Host — Commanded by Pridor Vrakon^[20][45]
• The 7th Host — Commanded by Ekodas
• The 11th Host — Commanded by Ankh-Heloth
• The 18th Host — Commanded by Sarabdal
• The 30th Host — Commanded by Belagosa
• The 34th Host — Currently commanded by Grand Apostle Marduk.^[4]
• The Blessed^[38]
• Bringers of Enlightenment
• The Brotherhood
• The Faithful^[43]
• The Foresworn
• Holy Sons of Lorgar
• Iconoclastic Brotherhood
• Ivory Fang
• Lords of Desolation
• Prophets of the Blighted Path
• Runic Blazon
• The Sanctified
• Screaming Mind
• Sons of Damnation
• Weeping Veil

Notable Elements

Word Bearers Armoury

Fleet

During the Horus Heresy the Word Bearers are known to have possessed the following vessels:^[2]

• Fidelitas Lex — Flagship of the Word Bearers Legion, shot down over Armatura.^[7i][21]
• Kamiel — Battleship.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Lorgar’s Spite — Battleship.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Destiny’s Hand — Battle Barge. Commanded by First Chaplain Erebus.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Infidus Imperator — Battle Barge. Commanded by Lord Kor Phaeron.^[1]
• Dominant Will — Cathedral Ship. Commanded by Kor Phaeron.^[45a]
• Infidus Diabolus — Strike Cruiser. Commanded by Dark Apostle Jarulek.^[4]
• Furious Abyss — Specially-built Abyss Class Battleship. Commanded by Fleet Captain Zadkiel. Crippled before it could strike at Macragge.^[5]
• Blessed Lady — Abyss Class Battleship.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Trisagion — Abyss Class Battleship.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Chronicle of Ashes — Gloriana Class Battleship.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Misericorde — Desolator Battleship.^[17]
• Covenant of Truth — Oberon Battleship.^[37]
• De Profundis — Flagship of the 1,301st Expedition Fleet.^[23]
• Flame of Purity — Infernus Class Battleship.^[35]
• Unending Reverence — lost in the Warp during the Pilgrimage.^[7j]
• Galthalamor — Retribution Class Battlecruiser.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Dark Page — Cruiser.^[23]
• Vox Deus — Cruiser.^[28]

After the Horus Heresy the Word Bearers are known to possess the following vessels:

• Dark Chorus — Desolator Battleship.^[14a]
• Inexorable Ruination — Battle Barge.^[14b]
• Infidus Imperator — Battle Barge.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Anarchus — Battleship under Ankh-Heloth.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Crucius Maledictus — Massive Bulk transport capable of holding Titans.^[6]
• Glory Eternal — Battle Barge.^[30a]
• Vox Dominus — Carrion-class. An extremely huge ship, commanded by Dark Apostle Nahren. Lost in the warp for a few seconds while most of the 3rd host were aboard, and returned to real space with all the ship’s crew dead and with the Garden of Nurgle taken root on the ship.^[20]
• Ayamandar — Styx Class Heavy Cruiser.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Infidus Diabolus — Strike Cruiser under the command of Jarulek/Marduk.^{[Needs Citation]}
• Firebrand — Vessel of The Blessed.^[38]

Notable Word Bearers

Heresy-Era

• Lorgar Aurelian — Primarch of the Word Bearers.^[1]
• Erebus — First Chaplain of the Word Bearers.^[1]
• Kor Phaeron — Black Cardinal and First Captain of the Word Bearers.^[1]
• Zardu Layak — The Crimson Apostle^[27]
• Amyric Kel — Techmarine^[18a]
• Argel Tal — Crimson Lord of the Gal Vorbak.^[5]
• Baelanos — Assault-captain of the Furious Abyss.^[5]
• Garand
• Ikthalon — Brother-Chaplain of the Furious Abyss.^[5]
• Jarulek — Dark Apostle.^[4]
• Kol Badar — Captain
• Morpal Cxir — Commander
• Deinos — Chapter Master
• Skolinthos — Chapter Master
• Rukis — Chapter Master
• Faerskarel — Chapter Master
• Foedral Fell — Commander
• Xaphen — Chaplain and later member of the Gal Vorbak
• Malforian — Weapon Master of the Furious Abyss.^[5]
• Maloq Kartho — Dark Apostle^[9]
• Nahren — Dark Apostle of the 3rd host, who fought along the Primarch Lorgar during the great crusade. Was left behind wounded along with Enusat at the Garden of Nurgle at the Vox Dominus.^[20] Was too infected to be saved and was mercy-killed by Marduk.^[22]
• Quor Gallek — Dark Apostle
• Sarabdal — Dark Apostle
• Apostle of the Unspeaking — Dark Apostle
• Quor Vondar — Sorcerer
• Sorot Tchure — Captain
• Reskiel — Sergeant-commander of the Furious Abyss.^[5]
• Sor Talgron — Dark Apostle
• Sor Bakphal — Dark Apostle
• Tanus Kreed — Dark Apostle during the Horus Heresy
• Valdrekk Elias — Dark Apostle^{[Needs Citation]}
• Zadkiel — Fleet Captain of the Furious Abyss.^[5]
• Hol Beloth — Officer during the Horus Heresy
• Barthusa Narek — Reconnaissance Marine
• Kurtha Sedd — Dark Apostle
• Tsorr’Kanath — Dark Apostle^[43]
• Iarto Khoura — Chaplain
• Inzar Taerus — Chaplain
• Sor Gharax — Contemptor Dreadnought
• Eduhkar — Contemptor Dreadnought
• Cyrnair — Contemptor Dreadnought
• Ishelun — Dreadnought
• Eriban — Dreadnought
• Toc Derenoth — The Unburdened
• Ker Vanthax — High Chaplain
• Volkhar Wreth — Predicant
• Kolos Undil — Bodyguard of Erebus
• Nimur Ennat — Captain of the 5th Heavy Assault Company, the Serrated Sun Chapter^[18d]
• Apis Merenkar — Legionary of the 7th Assault Company, Nimarros Tactical Squad, the Serrated Sun Chapter^[18e]
• Grindis Vahn — Battle Brother
• Ban Xisugal — Battle Brother

Post-Heresy

• Lorgar Aurelian — Daemon Prince
• Erebus — Dark Apostle and member of the Dark Council
• Kor Phaeron — Dark Apostle and Member of the Dark Council
• Paristur — Dark Apostle and member of the Dark Council
• Mothac — Dark Apostle and member of the Dark Council^{[Needs Citation]}
• Pridor Vrakon — Dark Apostle of the Third Host.
• Burias Drak’Shal — Former possessed marine and Icon Bearer for the 34th Host, now Chaos Dreadnought^{[Needs Citation]}
• Davroth — Warlord^[15]
• Drachmus — Warlord^{[Needs Citation]}
• Ekodas — Dark Apostle^{[Needs Citation]}
• Eliphas the Inheritor — Dark Apostle, leader of the Dark Crusade on Kronus.^[3] Defected to the Black Legion.^[13]
• Enusat — Replaced Ashkanez as first acolyte of the 34th host, left behind on the Vox Dominus at the Garden of Nurgle.^[20] Later rescued by Marduk and Sabtec.^[22]
• Erelek — Dark Apostle
• Sarabdal — Dark Apostle
• Garand — Warmaster of a Thousand Hosts.^[10]
• Iskavan the Hated — Dark Apostle. (Dec.)^[10]
• Jarulek — Dark Apostle. (Dec.) ^[4]
• Kol Badar — Coryphaus of Jarulek and then Marduk. ^[4]
• Kor Daradan — Dark Apostle
• Ankh-Heloth — Dark Apostle
• Kor Megron — Daemon Prince
• Kyrus — Chaos Lord
• Achorus’Hax — Chaos Lord^[32]
• Leyak — Dark Apostle^[16]
• Ashkanez — Acolyte Apostle and Kor Phaeron loyalist
• Maloq Kartho — Dark Apostle, now the Daemon Prince M’kar.^[9]
• Marduk — Dark Apostle, former First Acolyte of Jarulek.^[4]
• Moefranc — Chaos Lord
• Mor Jalchek — Dark Apostle
• Quor Karmain — Dark Apostle
• Sor Talgron — Dark Apostle and Chaos Dreadnought
• Sargon Eregesh — Chaplain and ally of Abaddon
• Gorath Hel — Dark Apostle
• Kar-Gatharr — Dark Apostle^[41]
• Rutial Glinthar — Sorcerer Lord^[47]
• Xhokol Hruvak — Master of Hounds
• Amatnim Ur-Nabas Lash — Chaos Lord^[30a]
• Angra Mainyu — Daemon Prince
• Periclitor — Daemon Prince
• Oriax — Dark Apostle
• Saqqara Ur-Damak Thresh — Diabolist
• Fraziel Urth — Warband champion^[47]
• Dontiac of the Ivory Fang — Brother, first into the Adaxis Breach^[26]
• Kor Loxiat of the Screaming Mind — bearer of the Creed Infectious^[26]
• Garagrakh the Bloody — Possessed, formerly Kor Dredron of the Sixth Star^[26]
• Anchorite — Dreadnought, loyal to the Emperor^[30b]

Unique Troops

• Dark Apostles
• Diabolist
• Anointed^[42]
• Anakatis Kul (Heresy-era)
• Gal Vorbak (Heresy-era, became Possessed Chaos Space Marines)
• Ashen Circle (Heresy-era)
• Mhara Gal (Heresy-era)
• Procurator (Heresy-era)^[48]

Related Articles

• Chaos Space Marine Legions and Warbands (List)
• Space Marine Forces (List)

Sources

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  • 45a: Chapter 2

• 46: War Zone Nachmund: Rift War, pg. 32
• 47: Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor — Prophecy
• 48: Warhammer Community: This Free Horus Heresy Mission Sees Ghastly Word Bearers Procurators Descend on the Blood Angels — The Scouring of Gilden’s Star PDF (Posted on 27/06/2022) (Last accessed on 27 June 2022)
• 49: The Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness Rulebook, pg. 97
• 50: Arks of Omen: Abaddon, pgs. 30-37
• 51: The Iron Kingdom (Novel) — Appendix

Несущие Слово

Происхождение
Лоргар, Примарх Легиона Космического Десанта Несущие Слово, был известен как один из наиболее щепетильных и посвященных последователей Имперского Культа. Его рвение в преследовании врагов Императора было несравнимо ни с одним из его братьев-примархов, и всем казалось, что это наиболее преданный среди них.

Этот персонаж формировался на планете Колхис, одном из первых миров, заселенных человечеством при освоении звездного пространства. Его континенты были усеяны странными, рассыпающимися сооружениями и ни одно исследование так и не смогло объяснить их назначения. Изыскания времен Великого Крестового Похода полагают, что первые поселения возникли здесь в 16-ом тысячелетии, но, возможно, это случилось еще раньше. Имперские историки и ученые уверяют, что Колхис был некогда очень развит технологически, но погрузился в анархию во времена Эры Раздора, а население регрессировало до уровня феодального общества.

Некоторые записи говорят о том, что общество было поднято из пепла Эры Раздора усилиями Лоргара, но это сокрыто в глубочайших тайниках Священной Библиотеки на Терре. Различные фрагменты этих записей встречаются в «Зерцале Истории», нравоучительном историческом описании Великого Крестового Похода, составленным историком Карпином. В своем описании Колхиса, Карпин говорит о касте жрецов, имевших самоназвание Завет, которые пытались воссоединить раздробленное общество, основываясь на вере в великого лидера, чье явление избавит мир от тьмы, в которой он находился. Обладающая суровым религиозным ритуалом, основная догма Завета стала гигантской единой церковной структурой, регулирующей каждую сторону ежедневной жизни на Колхисе. О прибытии Лоргара, Карпин повествует как о яркой комете, обрушившейся на наиболее крупный храм Завета, принесшей в себе юного Примарха, в то время как Лоргар делает косвенные ссылки на свое «странствие» к Колхису. Другая версия говорит о странном, златокожем ребенке на пороге крупнейшего храма Завета, просящем наставить его в его пути. Ребенок был принят в храм, получил имя Лоргар, и, влившись в общество в его стенах, стал быстро продвигаться в овладении множественными догмами и законами веры, проповедуемыми Заветом. Правда об этих событиях, как бы там ни было, никогда не будет известна, так как свет на это могут пролить только проклятые тексты, содержащиеся в «Книге Злобы», чьи трижды проклятые страницы никогда не должны снова быть открыты.

Однако шло время, Лоргар стал набожным членом Завета, неся пламенные слова веры в самые удаленные уголки планеты, где сила его ораторства и его харизма стяжали ему сторонников. Он поразительно быстро возвысился в иерархии, пользуясь любовью народа Колхиса, что привело к появлению у него врагов среди Завета, ревниво завидовавших его популярности и сомневающихся в его силе. «Зерцало Истории» пересказывает историю, поведанную Лоргаром Конраду Кёрзу, Примарху Повелителей Ночи, во время торжеств в честь победы на Борайнте, ознаменовавшей поражение Архи Еретика Дулорта. Лоргар говорил о странных снах и видениях, посещавших его в ранние годы. В них он видел могучего воина в сверкающей броне, бронзовом шлеме и с сияющим мечом. Гигант в синих одеждах, с единственным немигающим глазом, стоя позади него, говорил, что его повелитель придет на Колхис и что Лоргар должен быть готов к этому. Лоргар предположил, что этот могучий воин и есть тот божественный лидер, приход которого проповедовался Заветом, и, уговоренный своим ближайшим другом Кором Фаэроном, начал распространять слово о том, что явление бога уже близко. Народ толпами стекался послушать его, его сторонники следовали за ним везде, где он проповедовал. Это привело к тому, что его враги среди Завета решили больше не ждать, и провозгласили его еретиком, убоявшись сложившейся ситуации и его силы.

Сторонники Лоргара окружили его плотными кольцами, сражаясь и убивая солдат Завета, приходящих арестовать его. Сам Лоргар бился с силой и страстью за свое дело, и каждый раз, когда воины Завета являлись к нему, он сражал их. Его враги серьезно недооценили глубину веры в его слова, и Завет разделился на две фракции, каждая из которых упорно стояла на своих позициях и была уверена в том, что только она может спасти народ. Разгорелась священная война, охватывавшая все больше и больше людей, выбиравших стороны по мере того, как битвы становились больше и распространялись по планете. За шесть лет войны по всему Колхису было совершено множество зверств во имя святой праведности. Сторонники Лоргара имели численное превосходство, но они и возглавлялись Примархом, чья сила и мощь были невообразимы. Лоргар провел много битв, постигая искусство войны с ошеломляющей скоростью. Его вдохновленные слова поднимали армии на недостижимые высоты мужества и набожности, поддерживая их обещанием прихода спасителя, и жрецы Завета ничего не могли противопоставить этому. В конце концов, Лоргар привел своих людей к победе, взяв штурмом храм, где сам обучался, убив всех, кто там находился. Вместе с окончанием войны люди ждали явления обещанного Лоргаром спасителя и меньше чем через год после последней битвы, мощное небесное судно опустилось в храм во всполохах огня. Апокриф Скароса повествует, что Император и Магнус Рыжий высадились на Колхис с двумя отделениями космических десантников Тысячи Сынов, чтобы встретиться с могучим военным лидером. Лоргар пал на колено пред Императором, узнав в нем воина из своих видений, и принес ему клятву в вечной вассальной верности. Под руководством Лоргара, каждая частица религиозной структуры Завета была перепосвящена культу Императора, и население Колхиса возликовало, объединенное своим новым и чудесным богом.

Тщательно продуманные празднества и религиозные выражения преданности продолжались много месяцев, и подробное рассмотрение некоторых описаний отдельных наиболее ярких событий в «Отражении Истории» дают понять, что задержки в продвижении Великого Крестового Похода были вызваны длительной демонстрацией вассальной преданности Лоргара Императору, желавшему покорить галактику настолько мягкими методами, насколько это будет возможно. В завершении торжеств, Император предложил Лоргару командование Несущими Слово и приказал ему отобрать собственную преторианскую гвардию из наиболее храбрых и отличившихся воинов. Лоргар принял оказанную ему честь и объявил, что покидает Колхис, что бы занять место подле Императора. Он назначил нескольких наиболее праведных своих последователей управлять его народом во время своего отсутствия, облачился в свои доспехи и отбыл вместе с Императором и Магнусом.

Лоргар провел свой Легион через многие славные годы Великого Крестового Похода, наглядно искореняя и разрушая все формы богохульства и ереси, угрожающие царству Императора. Все разновидности древних свитков, книг, работ художников и икон сжигались на глазах у всего Легиона. Вместо их поднимались монументы и соборы, посвященные Императору, построенные на могилах тех, кто оказал сопротивление обращению. Величайшие капелланы Легиона неустанно проповедовали божественность и праведность Императора, а сам Лоргар провел бессчетное количество церемоний и произнес огромное количество речей, обращавших миллионы к Императору одними его словами.

Продвижение Несущих Слово было медленным, но тотальным. Ничему и никому не удавалось избежать крозиуса или болтера. Миры, отказавшиеся склониться перед волей Императора, очищались от всего живого. Медленное продвижение Лоргара по звездным мирам вызвало недовольство Императора, и он персонально высказал его Примарху. Он также проинформировал Лоргара, что его цель не установление веры, а война. Истинная миссия Космического Десанта — это перезахват и объединение галактики под знаменем Империума, а не пустая трата драгоценных времени и ресурсов в доказательство вассальной преданности и пиетета.

Лоргар был обескуражен. По возвращению на свою боевую баржу, «Верный Закону», Примарх отказался говорить о чем-либо со своими лейтенантами и капелланами. Он сбросил свой силовой доспех и облачился в рубище, его золотистая кожа стала пепельной, его волосы были взъерошены. Он оплакивал слова Императора месяц, а Легион Несущих Слово находился в бездействии в глубинах космоса, ожидая команды, любой команды, исходившей бы от их Примарха. Повелитель Человечества не собирался игнорировать реакцию Лоргара, и когда он был уже на грани того, что бы еще раз сделать Лоргару выговор, пришли сообщения о том, что Легион вдруг возобновил участие в кампании. Миры падали перед Несущими Слово как спелые грозди. Штурмы стали быстрыми и разрушительными; теперь Лоргар не требовал от своего Легиона производить умиротворение и спасение покоренных, как это было раньше. Разочарованный Примарх действовал только мечом, и холокосты на его пути стали бесчисленны. Умиротворенный тем, что он видел как прогресс, Император обратил свой взор на другие проблемы. Чего он не знал, так это того, что уже был предан.

Несущие Слово были первым Легионом, полностью совращенным хаосом, несмотря на то, что действительно Хорус был первым Примархом, кого коснулся Хаос, и его Сыны Хоруса были первым Легионом, поднявшим открытый мятеж. Когда Император выговорил Лоргару за его демонстрацию преданности, Примарх начал высматривать богов, более достойных своего преклонения. В Хаосе Лоргар обнаружил то, что он искал. Боги Хаоса, находящиеся за пределами смертного восприятия, всегда нуждались в подобных вещах, и были весьма довольны. Кроме того, они были настолько благосклонны к Лоргару, что его поклонение богам было возведено в ранг культа, безусловно, вторичного по своей природе. Гордыня Лоргара, также, не позволила ему стать чемпионом какого-то определенного бога, и вместо этого он отдал предпочтение поклонению Хаосу в его мириадах форм. Несущие Слово пришли в Хаос как в культ пантеона бесконечных богов и богинь, темных принцев и первичных сил, таящихся в темных глубинах Имматериума.

Позднее Лоргар будет говорить, что когда он обратился к Хаосу, с его глаз спала пелена, и он смог увидеть Императора тем, кем он был на самом деле; не его богом во всем, а непочтительным человеком, утратившим понимание того, что человечеству более всего необходимо религиозное доминирование, которое может вызывать только богоподобная личность, подобная ему самому. Полное подчинение Хаосу позволило бы человечеству остановить бессчетные орды чужих, пытающихся наводнить и уничтожить молодой Империум. Сначала Легион хранил свою новую веру в секрете, не подозревая о том, что Хаос коснулся уже многих членов их братства. Внезапное выступление Хоруса и его Легиона против Императора, и объявление войны всему Имперскому, послужило поводом для открытого выступления Несущих Слово на стороне Хаоса. Второй Легион, отделившейся от числа лояльных сразу же начал сводить счеты с теми, кто вызывал у них острую неприязнь — с Ультрадесантом, Легионом Робаута Жиллимана.

Когда Несущие Слово оказались в немилости у Императора, они с ревностью, переполняющей сердца, увидели, как он возвышает Ультрадесант как своих лучших воинов. Когда началась Ересь, и оковы лояльности были сброшены, Несущие Слово набросились на сынов Ультрамара с нескрываемой яростью. Ультрадесантники сначала были обескуражены нападением, но Лоргар дал им возможность отступить в Ультрамар, регион космоса, которым они правили и который обороняли. Финальная битва произошла на мире Калт. Известный своими орбитальными станциями, Калт был типичной планетой системы Ультрамар. Его жители были богаты и благодушны. Калт был раем на пересечении многих путей, который был потерян. Когда Несущие Слово атаковали Ультрадесантников, удар на Калт возглавлял один из величайших Чемпионов Лоргара, Магистр Веры, Кор Фаэрон. Этот могучий чемпион поклялся уничтожить планету, и это ему почти удалось. Со своей личной боевой баржи, теперь носящей название «Ненавидящий Императора», Кор Фаэрон руководил полномасштабным вторжением в систему Калта. Три планеты-сестры Калта были уничтожены, массированные гео-ядерные удары буквально разорвали их на части. Желтое солнце системы было обстреляно смертоносными металлами и веществами, увеличивающими солнечную активность, что вызвало резкое увеличение солнечной радиации. К концу Ереси последние элементы атмосферы Калта выгорели, и он лишился воздушной оболочки, а население с тех пор живет в огромных подземных укрытиях. На поверхности Ультрадесантники в сражении остановили Несущих Слово. Изменники превосходили их численно, в вооружении и кровожадности, но это не сломило Ультрадесант. Как ни выкладывались воины Кора Фаэрона, они не смогли выбить с позиций Ультрадесантников, многие из которых называли Калт своим домом.

Война на Калте была ужасающей и разрушительной. Древние каноны войны и воинской чести были попраны и попросту отброшены Несущими Слово — ими были пущены в ход все средства убийства и разрушения. Ультрадесантники были обескуражены миллионами культистов, которых Несущие Слово использовали в качестве живых щитов, и их едва не тошнило от орд демонов, выпущенных для ошеломляющего удара. Несущие Слово, в свою очередь, не ожидали такой стойкости и сопротивления от своего ненавистного врага. В конце концов, Кор Фаэрон потерпел поражение, когда с Макрагге прибыли подкрепления и выбили Несущих Слово с поверхности Калта. Кор Фаэрон отступил в направлении Мальстрима, вихревого региона галактики, где Имматериум Хаоса просачивается сквозь материю вселенной. Ультрадесантники оказались победителями, и их лидер, брат-капитан Вентан, в один прекрасный день поверг Колхис, символически захватив родной мир Легиона, однажды угрожавшего Ультрамару.

Пока Кор Фаэрон и его воины сражались на Калте, Лоргар повел остальную часть Легиона на Терру. Ужасы тех битв находятся вне смертного восприятия и занимают много места в Священной Библиотеке. Лоргар помог сокрушить царство повелителя, которому недавно служил ревностно и фанатично. Достаточно сказать, что Хорус потерпел поражение, и Легионы-Предатели обратились в бегство. Несущие Слово также отступили в район Глаза Ужаса, где и остались, возвращаясь в Империум для разбоя, грабежей и разрушения.

С прошествием времени зверства, совершаемые во имя Лоргара, поднимались на все новые высоты, и он был поощрен своими покровителями правом вступить в сообщество демонов. Теперь он действительно стал подобен богу, и крик рождения возвестил всему об этом, разнесшись по звездным путям эхом из варп-пространства. С демонического мира Сикар, Лоргар следит за своим Легионом, руководя мириадами его войн и стычек, дирижируя чудовищным разложением, раздирающим Империум изнутри руками его многочисленных культов и сект. В отличие от большинства других Легионов, Несущие Слово остались единым, хотя и свободно организованным, Легионом. Каждый из Чемпионов Лоргара сочетает в себе качества свирепого командира и жреца Хаоса, называемого Темным Апостолом. Каждая из данных им армий, называемая Воинством, приблизительно равна Ордену Космического Десанта и может быть смертоносной во время рейдов по Империуму.

С двух главных баз — демонического мира Сикар и мира-фабрики Гхалмек, расположенного в Мальстриме, Несущие Слово ведут свои нечестивые войны веры против Империума. На каждом атакованном ими мире они высеивают семена будущего совращения и всепроникающей сети культов. К счастью для Империума, культы Несущих Слово и Альфа Легиона конкурируют друг с другом. Несмотря на то, что эти Легионы иногда принимают совместное участие в Черных Крестовых Походах Абаддона, обычно они находятся в состоянии жесткой вражды и соперничества.

На мирах, которые они захватили, Несущие Слово строят поражающие воображение монументы, посвященные Темным богам, и воздвигают огромные соборы, где крики приносимых в жертву во имя Лоргара смешиваются с песнопениями и молитвами. Несущие Слово остались единственным Легионом-Предателем, соблюдающим каноны веры, хотя и в темной форме, и в строгом порядке соблюдают предписанные молитвы и ритуалы, что занимает довольно много времени. Все Несущие Слово обладают весьма обширными познаниями в ритуальном жертвоприношении, оккультных учениях и вероотступнических культах. В битве Несущие Слово яростны, двигаются вперед под ужасающими знаменами, посвященными Хаосу в мириадах его форм, и распевают катехизисы, провозглашая убийство врагов в сражении единственным путем к истинной праведности. Их война против Империума Человека тотальна и они не успокоятся, пока каждая икона предавшего их Императора не будет растоптана ими.

Родной мир
Колхис был когда-то технологически продвинутым миром, регрессировавшим до феодального уровня во время Эры Раздора. Возвышение Лоргара было для него одновременно благословлением и проклятьем. Благословлением — потому что это привело планету под сень Империума; проклятьем — потому что это же предопределило ее гибель через несколько столетий. Под правлением Лоргара планета начала было процветать, но после прибытия Императора, забравшего с собой Лоргара, она снова покатилась вниз. Когда Ультрадесантники начали бои за Колхис, они обнаружили опустошенный мир, с разрушенной индустрией и населением, отдаляющимся от цивилизации. Списав все это на учение Лоргара, Инквизиция приказала очистить планету и боевая баржа Ультрадесанта, «Октавий», подвергла Колхис бомбардировке циклонными торпедами. Геологическая структура мира была очень нестабильна, и в результате высокой сейсмической активности планета попросту рассыпалась на части. От Колхиса не осталось ничего, и даже место, где он когда-то существовал, держится в глубокой тайне.

Боевая доктрина
Несущие Слово в битве следуют словам своих Темных Апостолов с крайней преданностью и верой, а те, в свою очередь, истолковывают волю Лоргара самыми различными способами. Способы одержать победу могут быть найдены во внутренностях особо важных пленников, в особом расположении звезд на небосводе, или в положении гадальных костей. Темные Апостолы определяют как будет проходить битва, и воины Воинства повинуются их словам безоговорочно. Накануне битвы Несущие Слово проводят время в ритуальной молитве, распевании богохульных гимнов, подтверждая этим свою непоколебимую веру в мощь Хаоса. Часто такие ритуалы находят отклик, и вместе с Несущими Слово на поле битвы появляются ужасающие демонические существа, заключившие дьявольские пакты с Темными Апостолами. Несущие Слово поднимают свои проклятые знамена и идут в бой под распевание катехизисов, проклятыми иконами и песнями ненависти своим врагам, а устрашающие барабаны в это время выбивают печальный рокот. Неумолимое продвижение Несущих Слово и монотонные песнопения способны сокрушить даже сильнейшую волю. Ночью накануне битвы противник с содроганием слышит эхо исходящих отовсюду громовых раскатов барабанного боя, расшатывающего нервы и способного вселить страх в душу любого смертного. Непоколебимая вера Несущих Слово в то, что они единственные, кто может спасти галактику, заставляет их бесстрашно идти навстречу гибели и не позволяет им сделать даже шаг назад. Любая победа над ними достается ужасающей ценой, а их атаки прекратятся только тогда, когда они будут уничтожены.

Организация
Единственные среди других Легионов-Предателей, Несущие Слово сохраняют следы своей прежней дисциплины и веры. Эта вера искажена сверх всякого представления, их дисциплина теперь служит темным владыкам, но их организация носит отблески их былой славы. Различные военные банды Несущих Слово, называемые Воинствами, рассредоточены по Глазу Ужаса и Мальстриму, каждая возглавляемая могучим чемпионом, которого называют Темным Апостолом. Эти наводящие ужас воины выполняют сдвоенную роль капелланов и командиров. Ветераны тысяч лет, проведенных в битвах, эти могучие чемпионы являются квинтэссенцией Воина Хаоса. Эти кровавые убийцы заключили непередаваемую сделку с порождениями варпа, ритуально заменив Крозиус Арканум, бывший некогда символом их службы, его проклятой формой, содержащей внутри себя демоническое существо. Они являются характерным примером того, во что могут превратиться падшие Чемпионы Императора.

Каждое Воинство различно по своим размерам — оно может быть эквивалентно боевой роте Космического Десанта, а может приближаться по численности к полному Ордену, хотя такие формирования встречаются редко. Организационная структура Воинств также различна и целиком зависит от предпочтений Темного Апостола, который возглавляет его. Часто они могут внезапно изменить структуру организации по причинам, понятным им одним. Причина этих изменений скрывается в попытках переиграть Имперских тактиков, что приводит иногда к появлению неуклюжих и тактически негибких формирований, не отвечающих боевой обстановке. Наиболее часто наблюдаемая организация Воинства примерно соответствует организации роты Космического Десанта, с подразделениями численностью около двенадцати воинов. Каждое подразделение возглавляется Чемпионом Несущих Слово, стремящемся стать военным лидером, подобным Темному Апостолу, в надежде быть избранным наследовать ему в случае его гибели.

Верования
Укоренившиеся в вере в Лоргара, Несущие Слово являются герольдами новой эры религиозного обряда. Только объединенные учением одного бога и, соблюдая установленные им каноны поклонения, массы людей могут быть спасены от угрозы чужих и внутренней схизмы. Только одна сила в галактике способна решить такую задачу и эта сила — темное могущество Хаоса. Каждый воин Несущих Слово является миссионером, несущим с собой тьму Хаоса, проповедующим истинную веру тем, кто хочет его слушать и, уничтожая тех, кто отказывается от этого. Их вера проста: стань на путь Хаоса или умри!

Геносемя
Геносемя Несущих Слово изначально было чистым, но события, последовавшие за Ересью, привели к ослаблению некоторых позиций в их генетической структуре. Космические десантники Несущих Слово имели тенденцию к настойчивости, безотчетной вере и стойкости, граничащей с безумием. После Ереси их геносемя было сильно искажено, а некоторые негативные черты возросли до ужасающих пропорций. Несущие Слово не показали обычной тенденции к мутациям, хотя среди них есть личности, отмеченные подобным даром Хаоса — они весьма почитаются среди своего Воинства.

Боевой клич
Несущие Слово не используют какого-либо определенного боевого клича — они предпочитают маршировать на битву, снова и снова распевая пассажи из своих проклятых книг. Темный Апостол воинства выбирает перед битвой отрывок, и каждый воин выкрикивает его в ритм ударов огромных барабанов, которые сами Несущие Слово и тащат в битву, или пускают звук через усилители на своих силовых доспехов.

Pre-heresy FW’s Massacre noted their ‘observed strategic tendencies‘ as including: «Mass assault, policing actions, gnoetic purgation, suppression of ideological revolt.» That’s a start, if a broad one.

Massacre also comments on their «favour for massed forces and sledgehammer actions«, seemingly with aggressive infantry formations, which they kept together and at full strength where possible. It returns to this theme a few times, noting that their armour formations were largely support for the infantry companies and that a lot of their core tactics (called ‘often workmanlike in application‘, bit of shade there) were largely possible because of their high recruitment rate and speedy indoctrination, which of course we know was soon mandated by Lorgar.

Even pre-heresy the legion were supplemented with bonded mortal auxiliaries, sometimes professional soldiers but sometimes armed religious militias recruited from conquered worlds, which then gradually grew into the mad cultists of the heresy.

Their way of waging war was also… theatrical sometimes? As in they were always aware of the symbolic/propaganda/ implications of what they did. If they could raze a city in one day, they’d go for it. If they could burn the heart of an enemy’s belief system by destroying their central temple, they would. It’s both a propaganda thing dating to their pre-Lorgar days — which turned into an evangelical negative-image ‘hearts and minds’ kind of approach, «it’s about sending a message» — and gave them this sort of obsessive ritualistic focus on their acts that then bloomed during the heresy.

Different chapters had different specialisms above and beyond all this though. The Graven Star were mechanised linebreakers, the Tri-Fold Crown were attritional warfare specialists, the Serrated Sun were good at drop assaults, etc.

Hi all

For those of you who remember, I posted up a list for my first Pre-Heresy Word Bearers a little while ago. However, I now have an updated list of 3000pts to show share with you.

The reason I have made some adjustments is firstly to utilise the models I already have without having to purchase too much more, and also I have been given the challenge to have 3000pts ready for July as I will be participating in a campaign written by one of our very own battle bunnies. So here is the list I came up with:

I tried to make this list to be aimed at fighting xenos, as that is what the great crusade was all about, with lots of weapons that cause a lot of wounds, at not nessaserly a the hight strength or low Ap that you would need to fight power armour. Also I should add that the veterans would be with Erebus and Lorgar in the Storm Eagle, on certain battles but not so much as to make it overused. 

I am really looking forward to completing this list and I will give you guys/girls regular updates with pictures once I have completed each squad.

Let me know what you think, and if you would build the list any different. Also if you have you own Word Bearer list then please share below in the comments.

Take care

This is a companion article to our larger Start Competing: Chaos Space Marines article. In this article, we’re looking specifically at the Word Bearers traitor legion and how to manage their custom rules and strategies.

The underappreciated scholars of the Chaos Legions, the Word Bearers were punching bags for a long time but the 9th edition Codex: Chaos Space Marines gave them some new life in the form of sweet legion rules that make them a terror in melee combat. If you like the fanaticism of the Black Templars but want that in the service of the dark gods, the Word Bearers are for you.

Legion Overview

Strengths

• Fantastic Legion Trait: The Word Bearers have the strongest individual legion trait of any of the traitor legions from a pure power standpoint. Sure, there are other factors that keep them from being the most powerful legion, but they get a lot of mileage out of re-rolling all their hits on the first round of combat.
• Psychic Support: Word Bearers are the only legion to offer real support to their Psykers, with Warlord Traits, Stratagems, and Relics that benefit their psykers, plus a secondary objective that keys off them.
• Support for Daemonkin: Daemonkin get some huge buffs out of Word Bearers, specifically the Master of the Union Warlord Trait buff, which gives a single unit per turn +1 Strength and improves their AP by 1. The faction also gives you a way to make any character into a Daemonkin unit.
• Apostle Support: Word Bearers are also the only legion that offers real support to its Dark Apostles, in the same way.
• Melee: With tricks for buffing daemons and daemonkin, building and protecting powerful characters, and a legion trait that offers a powerful buff in the first round of combat, the Word Bearers push you hard into melee. That’s OK, though – melee is what Chaos Space Marines do best.
• Secondary Objective: The Word Bearers actually have a decent, playable secondary objective to work with. Yes, it’s unfortunately a Shadow Operations objective, but it’s very workable and competitive with Banners.
• Relics: Word Bearers have an incredibly strong set of Relics, with the Baleful Icon in particular being worth building around. 

Weaknesses

• Shooting: The downside to having great melee support is that your shooting support just isn’t there. This pushes you into a specific style of play with Word Bearers and can make certain matchups a little more difficult as your lists will tend to skew hard in one direction. And on the flip side, Word Bearers don’t have a ton of protection against shooting and can be vulnerable to being blasted off the board.

Rules

Legion Trait: Profane Zeal

Each time a model with this trait makes a melee attack, if that model’s unit made a charge move, was charged, or performed a Heroic Intervention this turn, you can re-roll that attack’s hit roll. Also, each time a model with this trait would lose a wound as the result of a mortal wound, roll one D6; on a 5+ that wound is not lost.

This is fantastic. It’s a huge output boost for your units in melee, turning units that hit on a 3+ from landing 67% of their attacks to 89% of them, while also letting you fish for 6s to proc abilities like Let the Galaxy Burn. Getting this defensively is also a big help, making your units dangerous to charge and gang up on. The mortal wound protection is also a very solid bonus, helping mitigate one of the biggest weaknesses faced by your Terminators, Chosen, and Possessed. Every part of this is useful.

Warlord Traits

The Word Bearers Warlord Traits are OK. Exalted Possession is the clear winner among them, and does exactly the kind of thing that I wish Word Bearers could just do to any CHARACTER as a stratagem.

1. The Voice of Lorgar. Add 3” to the range of this Warlord’s aura abilities (except for those from Psychic powers), and each time the Warlord chants a prayer or uses an ability in your Command phase that specifies a range, you can add 3” to the range of that ability or prayer. This is a neat way to get more range on your prayers and a cute trick for getting 12” distance on cursing vehicles with a Lord Discordant, but ultimately you just have more, better options to work with that will beat this out, and you can just take two Apostles to get better coverage if you really need it. That said, if you are taking this, it’s to combine it with the Baleful Icon for a 9” no re-rolls aura. C+
2. Exalted Possession. Your Warlord gains the DAEMON and DAEMONKIN keywords (if it didn’t already have them), gets a 4+ invulnerable save against ranged attacks, and gets +2” movement, and gets +1 Strength, Attacks, and Wounds. That’s a lot of bonuses, and it’s a damn solid upgrade on a character. This would be money on a Lord Discordant… if giving it to him didn’t mean making him 10 wounds and losing out on Look Out, Sir. But it’s fantastic on a number of other units, including Daemon Princes (who like the boost to Strength and movement) and Apostles/Masters of Possession (who can use the movement buff to keep up with Possessed or get to the middle of the table faster). A
3. Daemonic Whispers. Each time this Warlord chants a prayer that is heard, completes an action or psychic action, or manifests a psychic power, roll one D6; if the result is greater than the current battle round number, you gain 1 Command point. On average, if you get off one action/cast/prayer per turn, this will get you 2.5 CP per game. Your chances certainly go up if you can get off more, but realistically you’re likely spending 1 CP for this to get 3-4 back at most. That’s not a bad trade – it’ll likely pay for itself – so the question is just whether you want to make the tradeoff of pregame CP for more later. B-
4. Master of the Union. In your Command phase, pick one friendly WORD BEARERS DAEMONKIN unit within 6” and until your next Command phase that unit gets +1 Strength and each time a model in that unit makes a melee attack, improve the AP of the attack by 1. This is incredibly good, and you basically want to take it every time you take Word Bearers so you can buff units of Possessed. Combine it with Mutated Invigoration to get your units to S7 AP-3 attacks. A+
5. Diabolist. Your opponent can’t re-roll wound rolls for attacks made against this Warlord, and each time the warlord would lose a wound, roll a D6 and on a 5+ the wound isn’t lost. This is really solid, and a great buff on a Lord Discordant or Daemon Prince that wants to get stuck in combat. It also helps make up for the fact that the Baleful Icon doesn’t provide no-rerolls coverage to your Daemon Princes/Lord Discordants. A-
6. Hate-Fuelled Demagogue. In the Command phase you can pick a friendly WORD BEARERS unit within 6”. Until your next command phase, if that unit is a CULTISTS unit it gains Let the Galaxy Burn, and each time a model in that unit makes an attack, it’s considered to be engaged in Wanton Slaughter. This is a cute way to get more out of your Accursed Cultists, but since they don’t benefit from Profane Zeal, the value you get out of giving a single unit of Cultists exploding 6s to hit is minimal. It’s cool for giving a unit of Possessed exploding 6’s on turn 1 or turn 2, but Word Bearers aren’t really an army that gets in combat turn 1, so you’re realistically bringing an entire Warlord Trait for exploding 6’s on 1 unit for 1 turn. You’ve got so many better uses of pre-game CP in Word Bearers. C

Stratagems

The Word Bearers have a solid set of Stratagems, with a pair of surprising defensive buffs to keep characters on the battlefield.

• Cursed Despoilers (Battle Tactic, 2 CP). Used in the Shooting phase, when a Word Bearers CORE or DAEMONKIN unit that is engaged in Wanton Massacre is selected to Shoot. Pick an enemy unit within 12” and in range of an objective marker. Each time a HERETIC ASTARTES model in that WORD BEARERS unit makes an attack with a Rapid Fire, Assault, or Pistol weapon against that enemy unit, an unmodified hit roll of 4-5 scores 1 additional hit (this combines with Wanton Massacre to give you exploding hit son 4+). This is a pretty narrow Stratagem in terms of use – you get the maximum value on this out of either a big brick of terminators armed with combi-plasmas or Noise Marines. And while Noise marines that explode on 4s is pretty solid, spending 2 CP each time you shoot probably makes this too costly to build around. C+
• Fanatic Zealotry (Battle Tactic, 1 CP). Use in your Command phase to pick a CULTISTS unit in your army within 12” of a friendly WORD BEARERS CHARACTER. Until your next Command phase, you can re-roll charge rolls for that unit and each time a model in that unit makes a melee attack, you can re-roll the hit roll. This is pretty solid – 1 CP for both effects is a reasonable rate, and going from 50% hit rates to 75% is a big jump. Best used on a max-size unit of Accursed Cultists. B-
• Revered Hosts (Battle Tactic, 2 CP). Use in the Fight phase when a WORD BEARERS DAEMON unit is selected to fight. Until the end of the phase, each time a model in that unit makes a melee attack, you can re-roll the wound roll. This is fire, and it’s mathematically superior to Veterans of the Long War (+1 to wound) in every situation except for going up against targets with Toughness 10 or where you’d be wounding on a 6. It also can be used on Vehicles. Anyone else want to give a Lord Of Skulls full wound rerolls? A
• Vengeance for Monarchia (Battle Tactic, 1 CP). Use in the Fight phase when a Word Bearers unit is fighting. Until the end of the phase, HERETIC ASTARTES models in that unit can re-roll hits and wounds against ULTRAMARINES units. Welp, they couldn’t all be winners. Helpful if you ever go up against Guilliman, I guess. D
• Dark Pact (Epic Deed, 1 CP). Use in any phase when a WORD BEARERS INFANTRY CHARACTER model from your army dies. Instead of using other rules that trigger on death, you can choose to have that model make a dark pact. Mark where they were, then at the end of the phase roll a D6; on a 4+ they stand up as close as possible to where they were, but outside Engagement Range, with D3 wounds remaining. Each model can only be picked for this Stratagem once per battle. This is a nice little trick to have in your back pocket when you lose an Apostle or Master of Possession, particularly on your opponent’s turn. It won’t always work, but when it does it’ll be money. A
• Malevolent Covenant (Epic Deed, 1 CP). Use in the Psychic phase, when a WORD BEARERS PSYKER unit in your army fails a Psychic test. You can choose to have that PSYKER suffer 1 mortal wound. If you do, this Stratagem costs 1 CP instead of 2. In either case, that test is considered to have been passed with a minimum required charge, without a double, and cannot be denied by Deny the Witch tests. This is a very solid way to get something important though, but note that it requires you fail the test first – if your opponent just denies your cast, you’re going to be out of luck here. Still, it’s a good trick to have, and it’s better when you need to cast harder spells like Prescience – in fact, using it on your Legionaries to ensure a backfield Prescience goes off on a key unit is a great use for this. B+
• Apostle of the Dark Council (Requisition, 1 CP). Use before the battle (and only once, or twice if you’re playing a Strike Force or Onslaught battle). Pick one WORD BEARERS PRIEST unit in your army. They get +1 Leadership and the Dark Council ability, which lets them re-roll the dice to determine if their prayer was heard. When combined with the Dark Disciples, this makes it near impossible to fail a prayer (1/36 odds), and makes the whole process much more reliable. And having Ld 11 you can share with nearby units isn’t too shabby either, particularly if you’re going up against Chaos Knights or Chaos Daemons. Adding reliability to your prayers is so huge, and the only thing holding this back in some lists is that Word Bearers love bringing Daemonkin units that don’t benefit from a Dark Apostle.  B
• Hexagrammatic Ward (Wargear, 1 CP). Use in any phase when an attack is allocated to a WORD BEARERS model in your army (note that this is used before you roll your save roll, so you can’t wait to see if you make your invuln before using this). The Damage characteristic of that attack is changed to 0. You can only use this Stratagem once, or twice in a Strike Force or Onslaught battle. This is money for avoiding big hits, and will get you some real value on units like the Lord of Skulls, where casually shrugging off a railgun or two per game early will ensure you make it to the fight later on. It’s just a great ability to have in your back pocket against meaty high-damage attacks, though note that it won’t protect you from mortal wounds. A

There are several very, very good Word Bearers Relics and all of them do something interesting at the very least. The only dud in the group is the Book of the Reviler and there’s plenty here to consider.

• Eightfold-Cursed Crozius. Replaces an accursed crozius, accursed weapon, or power maul with one that’s S+2, AP-2, 3 damage, and each time you make an attack, if the bearer is a PRIEST and the target isn’t a VEHICLE or MONSTER, a successful hit automatically wounds the target. Obviously, you want this on an Apostle if you take it in order to get advantage of that powerful add-on ability. This is a very good weapon for a unit that mostly doesn’t want to be in melee and you will likely find you don’t have the CP to spare for it. B-
• Crown of the Blasphemer. Can be given to a CULTISTS model. This relic gives your unit a 4+ invulnerable save and once per battle, before making a saving throw for the bearer, it can use this relic. If it does, then it gets a 3+ invulnerable save until the end of the phase. This is a solid defensive buff option for a Lord Discordant or a Daemon Prince, but you’re probably better off investing your CP into offensive buffs for them. B
• Malefic Tome. Psyker only. The bearer knows one additional psychic power from one of the disciplines it can access, and it gets +1 to casts. This is huge – getting +1 to cast is a massive bonus that helps smooth out the variance for a ton of powers, pushing them from 50/50 propositions to something much more reliable. The only reason this might not go on your Master of Possession is because you’re giving him a Baleful Icon instead. Note that this gives you an extra power but not an extra cast, so this goes best on a Tzeentch psyker so you can use the stratagem to cast an extra power. A
• Epistle of Lorgar. PRIEST only. The bearer knows an additional prayer, and in your Command phase, if the bearer is on the battlefield, they can chant an additional prayer they know that hasn’t already been chanted by a friendly model this turn. This is also massive, giving you a dramatic boost on effectiveness for your Dark Apostle. Alongside the Tome, this also goes in every Word Bearers army that includes a Dark Apostle. A
• Ashen Axe. Replaces a power axe, exalted power axe, daemonic axe, accursed weapon, or axe of dismemberment with one that’s S+2, AP-3, 2 damage and each time you fight, if you destroy any enemy models with the weapon, roll 2D6. If you equal or exceed the Leadership of the destroyed model’s unit, then for the rest of the battle that unit fights last and can’t Advance or Fall Back. That is an incredibly nasty debuff, but it’s typically going to be contingent on rolling an 8+ or 9+ to make it work. If you could give this to a Possessed, it’d be perfect. As-is, it’s an interesting option for something like the champion in a unit of Chosen. B-
• The Armour Diabolus. The bearer has a Save Characteristic of 2+, and each time an enemy unit shoots or fights and the bearer was selected as a target of any of that unit’s attacks, then after those attacks are done, roll a D6 for each wound you lost: For every 4+ the attacking unit suffers a mortal wound, and if the bearer is destroyed by those attacks, before you remove it from play roll a D6 and on a 4+ the attacking unit takes D3 mortal wounds. This is OK. If you take it, it’s more for the 2+ save you can give to a Daemon Prince than anything else, which is nothing to sneeze at. The other stuff is just an added bonus. C+
• Baleful Icon. The bearer gets the Baleful Icon (Aura) ability – While a friendly WORD BEARERS INFANTRY unit is within 6”, each time a melee attack is made against that unit, your opponent cannot re-roll the hit roll, wound roll, or damage roll. This is really good protection for your units, and can combine with The Voice of Lorgar for an effective 19” bubble to prevent enemies from re-rolling hits/wounds/damage. Yeah, it’s only for Infantry, but that’s damn good protection for your Terminators and Possessed. This has a place in every single Word Bearers list. A+

Secondary Objective: Exalt the Dark Gods

Shadow Operations

If you pick this objective, keep an Exalt the Dark Gods tally and add 1 to it each time a WORD BEARERS unit from your army does the Exalt the Dark Gods (Action). One WORD BEARERS INFANTRY unit from your army can start to perform this at the end of your Movement phase if it is wholly within 6” of the center of the battlefield. WORD BEARERS PSYKER units can still manifest powers while performing this action without it failing. If the unit doing the action is a Dark Apostle or Master of Possession, it finishes at the end of your turn. Otherwise, it’s completed at the start of your next Command phase. In any case it only completes if the unit stays wholly within 6” of the center and no enemy units (excluding AIRCRAFT) are wholly within 6” of the Center. At the end of the game you score 2 VP for 1 tally, 5 VP for 2, 9 VP for 3, and 15 VP if you hit 4+.

This is decent. The fact that you can do it while casting and finish it at the end of your turn with a MoP or Dark Apostle makes it very achievable, and on most missions your objective will be to hold the center of the table anyways with units of Terminators and Possessed. The important thing to remember is that you can start the action with enemies that are wholly within 6” of the center; they just need to be gone by the end of the turn in order to complete it. This has enough play to consider over Banners, and the advantage is that it has more upside, making it a solid play in some missions and against some opponents. Just remember that a character’s Aura abilities stop working while they are performing an action! This may make it worth bringing a back-up Master of Possession, with the added bonus that it can still cast while the other Master of Possession does Psychic Actions like Interrogation (you can’t do a psychic action and a regular action with the same unit in the same turn).

Overall, this is an OK alternative to Banners, but not necessarily any better – it has more upside, but takes some planning to make it work, and you may find it’s just not worth giving up aura support to do the action with your army’s key characters. It’s best used on missions like Abandoned Sanctuaries, where you don’t have enough objectives you can safely hold to take banners.

Notable Units

Possessed

Possessed are the stars of the show in any Word Bearers army, and most competitive lists will start with 2-3 units of five, while recent successful lists run 5/5/10, or 5/5/however many fit. They’re already one of the book’s best units, but buffing them with Master of the Union and the Baleful Icon makes them even deadlier.

Master of Possession

Already a must-take in most competitive lists, the Master of Possession is doubly important in Word Bearers, where his ability to buff the army’s units of Possessed is of paramount importance. Current successful lists run a Master of Possession with the Baleful Icon and the Master of the Union Warlord Trait, using him as an incredible buff machine for nearby Possessed. He’ll need Pact of Flesh but the second power is more up in the air. Mutated Invigoration is great for taking down bigger targets, while Cursed Earth is more of a durability play.

Warp Talons

Don’t sleep on Warp Talons, the other, less appreciated DAEMONKIN melee units in the book. Warp Talons have even more speed and can be nasty trading pieces, and a +1 strength and AP boost is arguably even better on them since going from S4 to S5 is typically more meaningful than going from 5 to 6. They also love getting hit re-rolls to go with their wound re-rolls. Drop them on the table and treat them like tactical missile strikes, attacking weak points in the enemy line and trading up against more expensive targets. The ability to (sometimes) prevent Fall Back also helps your Word Bearers stay on the board in difficult shooting matchups.

Dark Apostle

Dark Apostles have a lot of great tricks in Word Bearers, and the most important of them is the Epistle of Lorgar, which gives them an extra prayer and the ability to double chant. While you can definitely build a solid Word Bearers list without a Dark Apostle, taking one with Apostle of the Dark Council, Epistle of Lorgar, Illusory Supplication, the Mark of Slaanesh, and Soultearer Portent gives you the ability to drop offensive, defensive, and movement buffs on units as you need, and you can pretty much guarantee you’ll get them off when you need them. The downside is that these prayers don’t do anything for your Possessed, so if you’re going this route your army needs to have a unit of Terminators to work with.

Dreadclaw Drop Pod

Dreadclaws aren’t particularly better in Word Bearers, but they do have one notable use, which is letting you drop into the middle of the table on turn 1 so you can get off a first-turn activation on the Exalt the Dark Gods Secondary objective, and that’s a pretty solid reason to consider one.

Playing Word Bearers

Successful competitive Word Bearers armies tend to be built around a large number of Possessed, with support from Warp Talons as additional fast DAEMONKIN threats. They’ll always be running a Master of Possession, but may not always run a Dark Apostle – it’ll depend on the list and what it’s trying to do. Although the Word Bearers’ trait activates even when a unit is charged, it’ll largely behoove a Word Bearers player to be aggressive, taking fast melee units across the table quickly and early.

Because Word Bearers have more support for Possessed and the ability to drop more free defensive buffs on a unit, they may opt for a large unit of Possessed with the Black Rune over a unit of Terminators as a unit to rush to the middle of the board and hold ground while bullying enemy units off objectives. In this capacity Possessed can be even more deadly and nearly as resilient. 

Sample Lists

Despite having a decent secondary objective, Word Bearers aren’t at the top of the competitive list for Chaos Space Marines – they sit about fourth, behind Emperor’s Children, Creations of Bile, and Black Legion. Still, there’s plenty to like about the faction and strong ways to build around them.

Dennis Boss’ Word Bearers

Dennis took this list to a 4th place finish at the RedFox GT in October, losing in the final round to Imperial Knights.

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Chaos – Chaos Space Marines) [105 PL, , 2,000pts] ++

Legion: Word Bearers

+ HQ +

Daemon Prince with Wings [11 PL, -1CP, 180pts]: Death Hex, G’holl’ax, the Decayed, Gifts of Chaos, Hellforged sword, Mark of Nurgle, Wings

Lord Discordant on Helstalker [9 PL, -2CP, 175pts]: 1. Flames of Spite, Aspiring Lord, Baleflamer, Chaos Undivided, Gifts of Chaos, Techno-virus injector, Ul’o’cca, the Black

Master of Possession [7 PL, -2CP, 120pts]: 4. Master of the Union, Baleful Icon, Cursed Earth, Mark of Tzeentch, Pact of Flesh, Stratagem: Relic, Stratagem: Warlord Trait, Warlord

+ Troops +

Cultists Mob [2 PL, 50pts]
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ cultist firearm: 9x Cultist firearm, 9x Frag & Krak grenades
. Cultist Champion
. . Autopistol and brutal assault weapon

Legionaries [6 PL, 115pts]: Chaos Icon, Chaos Undivided
. Aspiring Champion: Astartes chainsword, Bolt pistol
. 3x Marine w/ astartes chainsword: 3x Astartes chainsword, 3x Bolt pistol, 3x Frag & Krak grenades
. Marine w/ balefire tome: Balefire tome, Prescience

Legionaries [6 PL, 95pts]: Chaos Icon, Chaos Undivided
. Aspiring Champion: Astartes chainsword, Bolt pistol
. 4x Marine w/ astartes chainsword: 4x Astartes chainsword, 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades

+ Elites +

Possessed [14 PL, -1CP, 285pts]: Chaos Icon
. 9x Possessed: 9x Hideous mutations
. Possessed Champion: Black Rune of Damnation, Trophies of the Long War

Possessed [7 PL, 145pts]: Chaos Icon, Possessed Champion
. 4x Possessed: 4x Hideous mutations

Possessed [7 PL, 145pts]: Chaos Icon, Possessed Champion
. 4x Possessed: 4x Hideous mutations

+ Fast Attack +

Warp Talons [7 PL, 140pts]: Warp Talon Champion
. 4x Warp Talon: 4x Warp claws

Warp Talons [7 PL, 140pts]: Warp Talon Champion
. 4x Warp Talon: 4x Warp claws

Warp Talons [7 PL, 140pts]: Warp Talon Champion
. 4x Warp Talon: 4x Warp claws

+ Heavy Support +

Obliterators [15 PL, 270pts]
. 3x Obliterator: 3x Crushing fists, 3x Fleshmetal guns

++ Total: [105 PL, 2,000pts] ++

Standout Features

• A 10-model unit of Possessed with the Black Rune takes the place of a Terminator unit
• A Master of Possession with Master of the Union and Baleful Icon
• Nurgle Daemon Prince with G’holl’ax
• Flames of Spite + Ul’o’cca Lord Discordant 
• 3 units of Warp Talons

Playing This List

Dennis’ list trades out a 10-man unit of Terminators for a 10-man unit of Possessed sporting the Black Rune. The Icon here is an important add, since Possessed top out at Ld 9 (compared to 10 for the Terminators), and so are a bit more susceptible to losses. They’ll be supported by the Master of Possession, who uses the Baleful Icon and Master of the Union bonus to buff them, plus Cursed Earth and Pact of Flesh to keep them on the table. 

Flanking these possessed is an army of fast, deadly threats. There are two more units of 5 Possessed, three units of Warp Talons, and a Winged Daemon Prince and Lord Discordant kitted out to murder things in melee. Rounding out the list is some support from a unit of Obliterators who are likely to catch the occasional Prescience buff from the Balefire tome Legionaries.

Liam Callebout’s List

Liam’s list, which he piloted to third place at the Southampton Brawl in October, looks a bit more traditional, sporting a 10-model blob of Terminators, but packs a Dark Apostle.

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Chaos – Chaos Space Marines) [104 PL, 2,000pts, -6CP] ++

Legion: Word Bearers

+ HQ +

Daemon Prince with Wings [11 PL, 180pts, -1CP]: G’holl’ax, the Decayed, Gifts of Chaos, Hellforged sword, Mark of Nurgle, Warptime, Wings

Dark Apostle [6 PL, 110pts, -3CP]: 3. Daemonic Whispers, Apostle of the Dark Council, Epistle of Lorgar, Illusory Supplication, Mark of Slaanesh, Soultearer Portent, Stratagem: Relic, Stratagem: Warlord Trait, Warlord
. 2x Dark Disciple: 2x Close combat weapon

Master of Possession [7 PL, 120pts, -1CP]: Baleful Icon, Gifts of Chaos, Mark of Slaanesh, Mutated Invigoration, Pact of Flesh

+ Troops +

Cultists Mob [2 PL, 50pts]
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ cultist firearm: 9x Cultist firearm, 9x Frag & Krak grenades
. Cultist Champion
. . Autopistol and brutal assault weapon

Cultists Mob [2 PL, 50pts]
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ cultist firearm: 9x Cultist firearm, 9x Frag & Krak grenades
. Cultist Champion
. . Autopistol and brutal assault weapon

Legionaries [7 PL, 135pts]: Chaos Icon, Mark of Slaanesh
. Aspiring Champion: Astartes chainsword, Tainted chainaxe
. 3x Marine w/ astartes chainsword: 3x Astartes chainsword, 3x Bolt pistol, 3x Frag & Krak grenades
. Marine w/ balefire tome: Balefire tome, Prescience

+ Elites +

Chaos Terminator Squad [19 PL, 370pts, -1CP]: Mark of Slaanesh
. Chaos Terminator: Accursed weapon, Accursed weapon
. Chaos Terminator: Accursed weapon, Accursed weapon
. Chaos Terminator: Accursed weapon, Combi-bolter
. Chaos Terminator: Combi-bolter, Power fist
. Chaos Terminator: Combi-bolter, Power fist
. Chaos Terminator: Combi-bolter, Power fist
. Chaos Terminator: Combi-bolter, Power fist
. Chaos Terminator: Combi-bolter, Power fist
. Chaos Terminator: Accursed weapon, Combi-bolter
. Terminator Champion: Accursed weapon, Black Rune of Damnation, Combi-bolter, Trophies of the Long War

Possessed [7 PL, 145pts]: Chaos Icon, Possessed Champion
. 4x Possessed: 4x Hideous mutations

Possessed [7 PL, 145pts]: Chaos Icon, Possessed Champion
. 4x Possessed: 4x Hideous mutations

Possessed [7 PL, 145pts]: Chaos Icon, Possessed Champion
. 4x Possessed: 4x Hideous mutations

+ Fast Attack +

Warp Talons [7 PL, 140pts]: Warp Talon Champion
. 4x Warp Talon: 4x Warp claws

Warp Talons [7 PL, 140pts]: Warp Talon Champion
. 4x Warp Talon: 4x Warp claws

+ Heavy Support +

Obliterators [15 PL, 270pts]
. 3x Obliterator: 3x Crushing fists, 3x Fleshmetal guns

++ Total: [104 PL, -6CP, 2,000pts] ++

Standout Features

• A Dark Apostle with Epistle and Apostle of the Dark Council
• A Baleful Icon Master of Possession
• 3 units of Warp Talons
• A unit of Obliterators

Playing This List

Liam’s list is a bit more traditional in that it’s using Terminators for midtable control, but he’s still supporting them with 3 units of Possessed and two units of Warp Talons. The other trade Liam makes is swapping out the Lord Discordant for a super-buffed Dark Apostle – this Apostle takes Epistle and Dark Council for near-guaranteed double prayers every turn, and he’s thrown in Daemonic Whispers to get some extra XP out of the deal as well, since it’s basically free CP on rounds 1-3. 

Where to Read More

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