The Champions of the Scions of Gorechild

Hey there Chaos fanatics and cultists! I have been doing a good share of painting and modeling for my up and coming World Eater Khorne Bezerker army. The other day I posted some pics of my new Khorne bikers. Today, I wanted to share with you my Khorne Bezerker Chaos Champions.

First, I must confess that I have never been much good at creating extensive backgrounds for my armies. I have seen 40K people create all kinds of complex and compelling story lines for their forces- conflicts that they have been involved in, great deeds that they have performed, praises and rewards earned, and the lasting hostility of embittered foes. I think it is amazing, but I have never been able to do that so well. Some of my Plague Marine champions have names, but that is about it.

Last fall, I had been so inspired by Campaign of Fire that I tried my hand at writing a campaign of my own. I did indeed finish it, but I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to play it. I did however, generate a bit of background for my Bezerkers in this campaign, who are called the Scions of Gorechild. Since I had Kharn, I wanted to reflect his presence or influence with this particular warband. Being the Scions of Gorechild, it may be pretty apparent that they are indeed quite bloodthirsty and savage.

The Scions of Gorechild are led by Lord Korlath. This arch-traitor was present at the gates of the Imperial Palace itself, taking part in the darkest battle of the Horus Heresy. He remembers the bitterness of that defeat, and he has vowed to drown the galaxy in the blood of those that follow the false emperor. His warband contains both "old school" World Eaters, renegades from other traitor legions, and other more recent Space Marines that have since yielded to the call of Khorne. After these new traitors prove their worth and their loyalty to Korlath, the lord has his surgeons preform the psych-surgery on these new recruits, making them Khorne Bezerkers. With such warriors at his call, Korlath has led many assaults against the Imperium. He seeks neither plunder nor conquest- he and his warriors simply want to spill the blood of those that worship the false emperor. With his twin lightning claws, he leads his Bezerkers into battle, collecting skulls for the skull throne.

Well, that takes care of the Lord, but what about his champions? Well, I have crafted 6 such champions- if I take that many squads, or perhaps one would head up a squad of havocs or something. For each, they have been placed on a skull base from Armorcast I think... I had put ALL my Khorne Daemons on such bases, and I discovered that I had a few small bases left so- bam! That made them for my champions. Let's take a look at these guys:

Valten: This champion of the Scions is shrouded in mystery. Even many in the scions itself are unsure of this champion. He certainly was not a member of the World Eaters originally, and it is unclear to many in the warband just when Valten joined them. He has, however, proven to be a strong asset to Lord Korlath. Valten has an uncanny knowledge of modern Imperial defenses, and has given his knowledge to Lord Korlath, enabling the Scions to plan devastating raids on Imperial worlds. Valten has also been a fierce if coldly calculating warrior in battle, defending his Lord while laying waste to whole cities. Currently, Inquisitor Bonniface of the Ordo Malleus has been seeking Valten specifically. Just why Valten is of such interest to the Inquisition remains a mystery also, however, it may have something to do with his cloak and power fist- both bearing the markings of the Ultramarines. Is Valten a vicious killer who stole trophies from an Ultramarine that he murdered or is he maybe, just maybe, an Ultramarine who succumbed to the lure of Chaos?

Gladiator: This champion has been at the side of Lord Korlath since the days of the Great Crusade. He is simply called "Gladiator"- his real name has been forgotten in the millennia since, known perhaps only by Lord Korlath and, perhaps, Galdiator himself. In the days of the Great Crusade, Gladiator had been deeply inspired by the story of Angron's fight in gladiator duels, and Gladiator became one of the first to embrace Angron's psycho-surgery and the Butcher's Nails. Gladiator became a savage, maddened fighter, a prototype for what the legion would become. His "luck" in battle is legendary, almost equalling Kharn himself in "near misses". Lord Korlath believes that Gladiator is indeed blessed by Khorne. In battle, Lord Korlath often orders Gladiator and his men into the very front of the line, knowing that Gladiator's blood lust and skill with his blades will ensure that the enemy will be overwhelmed and destroyed.

Eratex: He is certainly defined by his singular, overwhelming hatred for the Space Wolves, more than any other in the warband. Eratex was present when Angron fought Leman Russ so many thousands of years ago. Eratex has never forgotten the shame and frustration of that day, and when the Horus Heresy came Eratex yearned to destroy the dogs of Russ once and for all. Although that victory did not happen during the Heresy, Eratex still feels that anger and rage. He joined Lord Korlath when he promised that his warband would seek out the sons of Russ and make them pay. The Scions of Gorechild did indeed make bloody war on worlds protected by the Vlka Fenryka, and Eratex was always the first to hurl himself at his hated foe. In the intervening years, Eratex has taken many trophies from his fallen enemies. In order to increase his anger and blood lust, Eratex wears one of these spoils into battle, and he imagines that every foe is a hated Space Wolf. Woe for any mortal to be on the other end of Eratex's sword!

Sincline: Khornate warbands are fragile things, with groups forming and breaking apart quickly, with members of the same warband falling upon each other just prior to the dissolution of the warband. Sincline has been in many such warbands, and has killed friend and foe alike, for Sincline believes in Khorne's mantra: "I care not from where the blood flows, as long as it flows". It was only a matter of time before Khorne blessed him for his devotion. In a savage battle, Sincline lost his left arm (and his weapon) to a Dark Angel Chaplain. Enraged, Sincline took a nearby rock and slammed the Chaplain in the head. Knocking him to the ground, Sincline continued to rain blows upon his enemy, and ended the fight by ripping off the Chaplain's arm AND head! After the battle, Sincline refused to have a mechanical arm grafted on. However, Khorne had indeed blessed Sincline, and within a night in the warp Sincline grew a new and much stronger daemonic arm! Eventually, Sincline's former warband broke up, and he came to be with the Scions of Gorechild. Sincline quickly rose in Lord Korlath's esteem, and has become one of his champions, earning himself the name "The Strong Arm of Korlath". But Sincline knows it is only a matter of time- this warband will also break up in violence. It is simply the way of Khorne.

Ignav: Lord Korlath knows the old saying: keep your friends close and your enemies closer. At one point, Ignav had been the second in command for Lord Korlath. However, Ignav had his own ambitions, for he sought to show Khorne his strength and be worthy of leading the Scions of Gorechild. He had performed many deeds to get the Lord of Skulls' attention, in order to receive his blessings. Finally, confident that he was ready, Ignav challenged Korlath to single combat in the arena on Korlath's ship. Korlath knew this was coming, and welcomed the chance to once again show his dominance. They fought without armor or weapons- only bare hands. The fighting was vicious, but it was clear that Korlath was going to emerge the victor. At this point, Ignav tried to run- a mistake and a clear sign of weakness. Korlath grabbed the fleeing Ignav, and cursed him: "I will not kill you, for you are a coward, and your skull is NOT worthy of being laid upon the throne of skulls. You will be my slave- doing my will without honor, without glory. You are lower than a mortal, and your very soul belongs to me!" Locked in a dungeon, Ignav had to live with his disgrace. Over the decades, Ignav began to mutate. He never quite became a spawn, but he lost most of his intelligence and ambition, though his mutations made him a vicious combatant, nor did he lose his cunning in battle. Seeing Ignav's fate, Korlath decided to allow him to fight once more- Korlath knows the value of example, and Ignav is the perfect example to ensure discipline within the Scions of Gorechild.

Praevarik- during the days of the Horus Heresy, Praevarik was the loyal second in command to
Korlath. However, while most of Korlath's followers became bloody minded bezerkers, as did most of the World Eaters, Praevarik believed that Khorne did not simply demand blood- he demanded martial skill, honorable killings, bravery, and more- he lamented the legion's decline into bloodthirsty madness. This attitude set Praevarik at odds with the rest of the Scions, and many have challenged him for being weak. In such duels, Praevarik proved them wrong, quickly killing all who fought him. Despite his "unorthodox" views, he retained the favor of Korlath, due to his skill with a blade and his long-time loyalty. While Praevarik refuses to kill unarmed civilians (since they cannot fight back, they are not worth fighting), Korlath uses Praevarik as a battering ram against Imperial forces. Praevarik views Space Marines as dishonorable fools, worth being put to the sword and flamer.


For the record, I used some pieces of The Foresaken Fantasy set for some of the bits on my Champions. The box is a bit pricey (thanks to my wife for getting it for me), but there are a TON of cool bits in this kit- I will be using more in the future. It is awesome for conversions!!

Well, that's my stab at creating a background, for now. I'll need to develop more background for the Scions... We shall see. Hope you enjoyed this bit of fluff (and the pics as well). Until next time...

Review In Brief: Betrayer

Hey there Chaos fanatics! I'm sorry I've been away for quite so long- it has been very busy here at the Chaos estates, no doubt. However, I have been working on my Khorne Bezerker army- I'll have pics when I feel that I have more special models to show- my World Eaters are doing very well, and I am looking forward to taking to the field with them again soon.

Speaking of World Eaters, I finished Betrayer by Aaron Dembski Bowden a few weeks ago. I read it on my shiny new iPad- it really is an amazing device (see my review of Digital White Dwarf here ). At any rate, how was Betrayer, you may ask? Well, let's find out, shall we?

"Aye. Piss on Angron's grave when he finally lies dead" - Gharte of the World Eaters

I have said it before, and I will say it again right now- ADB may well be the best writer at Black Library right now. It always seems to be a toss up between him and Abnett, and this book has only added to that- especially since this book is, in so many ways, a continuation of Abnett's fantastic Know No Fear. Indeed, it as a worthy follow-up to that story, as well as a story that expands on the entire Horus Heresy line in so many ways (though I'm contemplating calling it Lorgar's Heresy, considering the events of these books).

Basically, Betrayer continues the story of Know No Fear: a secondary group of Word Bearers has teamed up with the World Eaters to continue the assault on the Ultramar region, engaging in Lorgar's "Shadow Crusade" to plunge the region into anarchy, thus cutting off Guilliman from the rest of the Imperium. However, as always with Lorgar, he has something else up his sleeve. He is planning to sacrifice all in order to... save Angron's life?! What the...?

Exactly. It's surprising twists and turns like this that make the book so damn exciting. It is a great conciet to put the Word Bearers with the World Eaters- seeing Angron and Lorgar together (with amazing character beats for each), at first I kept hearing the Odd Couple theme. However, while their interactions were often amusing, they quickly became full of portent (knowing how the Heresy ends up). Further, the two legions are not, how shall I say... well coordinated. They despise each other, with the exception of Kharn (surprisingly level-headed) and Argel Tal (great to see him again), who both can see that things aren't so good with the rebellion and their respective Primarchs, no matter how things may seem.

So- the real star of the book is Angron, and what a character he is. ADB does the incredible- again- he takes what was always a rather 2 dimensional Primarch and makes him a full person- a WOUNDED full person at that. More than any other Primarch's portrayal, this one felt raw, emotional, realistic (if that is possible in 40K). Without filling in all the blanks, ADB shows that Angron is the "broken Primarch", ruined by the world he landed on as an infant (which we now learn is called Nuceria, in the Ultima Segmentum of all places!). All he ever knew was violence, bloodshed, tragedy, and loss. He never had a chance to develop normally- literally, thanks to the Butcher's Nails surgically implanted in his head, a device that makes him crave violence. This has made him angry, twisted, and bitter. Even his own legion is frustrated by his unpredictability and the fact that he is "damaged goods". It has also given Angron a rather unique view- he feels that the Emperor is a sham, a con artist just like any other would-be tyrant. In the words of Angron during a flashback:

"We fight because the Emperor wants every world in his hands. All he knows is slavery, painted in the inoffensive cloak of compliance. The very notion of freedom is a horror to him... We offer them compliance, or we offer them death".

That is powerful stuff- Angron has put his finger on the very contradiction that brings down the Imperium of 30K. This is what causes Chaos to engulf half the legions and the Imperium. And Angron calls it before just about anybody. Simply amazing. Angron is very sympathetic throughout, and you can't help but root for him, even if you know how this will turn out. Quite a literary feat indeed.

I really, really don't want to spoil the details of the story, as if you are a HH fan, this book has it all. I really like how ADB is tying his story to so many others in the HH series- (and even from other things like The Emperor's Gift and Ravenor, believe it or not) it really is exciting to feel this momentum and how the HH is so very complex. ADB is a juggler in this story- he has so many balls in the air at once and you fear that he may just drop them- but he doesn't, with a climax that is exciting, while tying up some threads while creating whole new ones. Everyone gets their moments: Lorgar, Kharn, Argel Tal, Guilliman, Erebus. The action is frantic at points, always exciting but clear to follow. Plots are furthered: what's the deal between Erebus and Lorgar- just who is playing whom exactly? Who is John Grammaticus and his guys, exactly- the biological children of the Emperor, perhaps? And Kharn? And... well, there's so much more, but again, I don't want to spoil.

The ending is just fantastic- incredibly fitting and fulfilling. Indeed, there is a great symmetry about where things start and where they end up, with a degree of irony for Lorgar and Angron alike. I loved it, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. Just a note of caution- you need to read several HH stories to get this one fully, including: Legion, The First Heretic, After D'eshea, Butcher's Nails, and of course Know No Fear (D'eshea in particular- a short story). I mean, you can follow it if you haven't, BUT you'll get more out of it if you have, that's all I'm saying.

So, I give this 4 out of 4 Marks of Chaos. I cannot recommend this one enough. If you are a 40K fan at all, this book is just essential reading. I know you will enjoy it immensely.

I'm currently in the middle of Ahriman: Exile, and its quite good, I must say. I'll let you know when I'm done with it. Until next time...

Building my Khorne Bezerker Army Part I

Hey there Chaos fanatics! How's it hanging? I'm doing just fine- a bit busy with work, Warhammer, and all that other fun stuff. As I had promised previously, I was going to begin to show off my latest hobby mission, the Khornate World Eaters army for 40K.

I discussed earlier as to why I wanted to try my hand with the followers of the blood god, and I'd like to elaborate. I wanted an army that functioned quite differently than my Plague Marines. The Death Guard are solid at firefights while also being tough in close combat. With World Eaters, I'd have to rely most extensively on close combat. They are also different from my Chaos Daemons- the Daemons are close combat, but they can deep strike in fairly close and go from there. As for my Dark Eldar, well... they have a ton of speed to get up the battlefield. Thus, Khorne Bezerkers represent a far different challenge: they must get to close combat, but they have no fancy tricks in getting there. In this new edition where transports are fragile and there's overwatch when charging, a Khorne Bezerker force is actually quite a challenge, one that I am looking forward to getting to grips with.

Then, there's the look, which is, again, quite different from what I'm used to. I loved the Plague Marines because of the startling imagery- rotting, bloated marines looking all kinds of nasty. When GW released the metal box (2003/4-ish? I forget) I didn't care for the look- I liked the metal from 3rd, but that was a heck of a way to build the army. I decided instead to use the plastic as a base and went wild from there. I'll save it for a different article, but suffice to say I did a ton of conversions, putty work, and more. For this Khorne army, I love the plastics. They have such a range of motion, cool helms, and great, heavy looking chain weapons. Thus, I didn't' have to convert nearly as heavily as I did with the Plague Marines.

However, being a Chaos fan and a long time converter, I simply can't NOT convert or kit bash ANY, now can I? Of course I did some work in this regard. As I assembled the Bezerkers I mixed and matched a ton of parts from other kits. I've been collecting all things Chaos for so long, that I have a ton of useful bits. I used parts from Khorne Bezerkers (natch), Chaos Space Marines, the ye olde mutation sprue (I still love that sprue), Old Fantasy Chaos Warriors, Possessed, Spawn, and more. I decided to give many of them axes (chainaxes* or not- doesn't matter- Khorne Marines should have huge damn axes!!). I used fantasy axes to accomplish this, sometimes using the whole arm (patchwork armor taken from fallen warriors and welded together), or I just cut off the hands and swapped. I also used a few fantasy helms, just to shake things up. I used Possessed bits to make some of the Bezerkers stand out (I am working on dedicated Possessed, which will obviously be much more mutated).

Putting it all together, I have been very pleased with the results thus far. The Bezerkers look solid- they have motion, big ass axes, a bit of variation... Yep, I'm very, very happy. They look vicious, as the followers of the blood god should. I feel that (thus far) I have captured the Khorne look, as distinctively as I captured the Nurgle look.

So, you have been looking at pictures of my first squad. The squad has a Champion and two plasma pistols. They also have a Rhino to bring them to the fight. In a future article, I'll discuss my approach to the vehicles (why do they have those doors? Haha- a long story for another time). I'll also delve into my painting techniques (it was tough to get that type of red- I was being very picky). I will post again with shots from my second squad, as well as others as I finish them.

Hope you've enjoyed- comments and criticisms are welcome. Until next time, my friends...

*Note: I think Khorne Bezerkers should have big blades and axes. This whole chainaxe is an upgrade  thing sucks- each individual model may purchase? That's like saying some Plague Marines get Plague Knives, but other don't have to- what the? Whoa- that sucks for converters/modelers- plus, there aren't that many chainaxes in the box. How about this, all my Bezerkers buy it, or none do? No half measures- would that satisfy WYSIWIG?