Chaos Champion

An aspiring champion.

The Warriors Of Chaos, Chaos Space Marines, and various Chaos Cults of Warhammer Fantasy, Age of Sigmar, and Warhammer 40000 all devote themselves to the Chaos Gods of the shared Warhammer universe. But some of these foolish mortals aren't just small batteries of emotions that empower the Four, some actually get something back.

The path of a mortal who wants to become something more than they are is fraught with challenges. Too much attention from the Chaos Gods too soon, or not enough willpower, and they become a Chaos Spawn (which has become quite a prolific Meme in the Warhammer community as a result) Wait a minutARGHGRAAGGGAGAGAGGAG. Too little, and you run the risk of being XP points for another Chaos aspirant. But those who do succeed become living supermen, able to roam wherever they want doing whatever they feel like (so long as their Chaos God approves, although its a self-fulfilling prophesy as the only ones likely to get blessings want to do their master's bidding anyway). The rewards of pleasing their patron does come with some extra goodies however, usually in the form of Daemon Weapons such as the extremely elusive Dark Blade or Ether Lance, Warp-Forged Armour and even possession.

Beyond Championhood lies becoming a Daemon Prince.

The process of becoming a Chaos Champion has been the subject of many games put out by Games Workshop over the years, primarily Path to Glory and Chaos in the Old World.

In the Blood Bowl universe, the role of Chaos Champions is far less difficult (arguably), and far less rewarding; they are simply the managers of Chaos-sponsored teams, and the star players.

Before Chaos Undivided was largely removed from the game, it was something of a hard mode for Chaos Champions. But in more modern Warhammer lore the role is reserved solely for an individual who has been blessed to lead all of Chaos in their shared goals: Archaon, Abaddon, and Be'lakor.

Types of Champions

There are a number of different types of Champions, each more ambitious then the rest.

Common Champions

• Aspiring Champion: The most common type, an Aspiring Champion leads a squad of Chaos Space Marines, Chosen, Raptors, or Havocs.
• Terminator Champion: An Aspiring Champion who has somehow acquired a suit of Tactical Dreadnought Armour, often through killing the previous owner themselves. These champions lead squads of Chaos Terminators.
• Possessed Champion: Leaders of the Possessed, these Champions are often possessed by a powerful daemon and horribly mutated beyond even their brethren.
• Plague Champion: Plague Marine squad leaders, often the most horribly infested as well as the toughest to defeat.
• Noise Champion: The most dedicated to Slaanesh and leaders of Noise Marine squads. They commonly brandish rare sonic weaponry unavailable to most.
• Skull Champion: Leaders of Berzerker squads and seen as the most bloodthirsty as well as the best trained type of champion.
• Aspiring Sorcerer: Sorcerers in training before becoming true Chaos Sorcerers, leaders of Thousand Sons units.
• Biker Champion: Leaders of Bike squadrons, often highly bloodthirsty and obsessed with speed.
• Exalted Champion: A new option added in the 8th Edition Chaos Space Marine codex. Unlike other units designated as champions, they operate alone without commanding a squad. This represents the point where the Champion must prove his own worth. Effectively a throwback to 3.5E Chaos Lieutenants although not quite as powerful.

Chaos-aligned Champions

• Champion of Nurgle: Disease and death are the most potent forces in the galaxy and the Champion of Nurgle embodies all of these. They are swollen and bloated, often little more than moving pus sacks and disease transmitters. Their bodies have been dulled to pain and as such can endure much damage before they die.
• Champion of Khorne: The most bloodthirsty and savage fighters, Champions of Khorne lust after the spilling of blood and the roar of battle to satisfy the desires of Khorne. They are experts in many weapon forms which others could not master but do not fight in a graceful manner, preferring to bludgeon their way through enemies. Only the greatest battles can sate their thirst for blood.
• Champion of Slaanesh: Desire is a strong emotion and Slaanesh is the embodiment of this, with his Champions reveling in their pleasures. They take joy from the ending of life on the battlefield, a perverse pleasure for which the desire is constantly increased. The senses of the Champion are increased beyond recognition and their minds are so fast to react that they fight in a blur which many enemies cannot even see, let alone defend against.
• Champion of Tzeentch: Highly powerful psykers make up the ranks of the followers of Tzeentch, and his most deadly followers are the greatest of these. The enhanced powers Tzeentch grants his Champions allows them to project Warp powers which no loyal follower of the Emperor would dream about. They often wear charms and pendants to protect themselves from the powers of the Warp; although the dangers are lessened they are still there. Often the Champion is merely a piece in a larger scheme and useful pieces are the best protected.

Skeletor's less badass cousin.

Skeletal Champions

Some Chaos Champions who are killed do not receive rest. Skeletal Champions are Undead Chaos Champions, damned to roam the world for one additional year plus a day. Their soul is consumed by their patron, save a small amount of their essence containing all their skills and just enough willpower to serve the wishes of their master as a puppet. In theory a skeleton being directly controlled by a Chaos God themselves with all the martial prowess of one of their Champions should be terrifying, but SCs suffer stat loss and as a result they are much less impressive than the meatbag versions.

This exists to allow Path to Glory players to continue playing despite technically losing and is essentially the consolation prize for not turning into a Spawn in that they get to keep mucking about even though they have reduced stats. There is absolutely no mention of any individual Skeleton Champions in the lore (at least Chaos ones technically), and the closest being, Krell, was specifically passed over for this "honor". Like much of the original Path to Glory mechanics and lore, one can argue that they no longer exist in canon.

Nonhuman Champions

In the older lore of Warhammer Fantasy, Chaos was what TVTropes calls "Equal Opportunity Evil" and would happily accept member of any race in to its worship. As a result, by using Path to Glory to custom-build your army, your personal Chaos army could include Chaos-worshipping dwarfs, elfs, gnomes, orcs, goblins, hobgoblins and skaven, as well as a variety of monsters normally seen in the ranks of the other factions. But playing a Chaos Champion of a race other than human? That was more of a mixed bag.

There were no explicit rules to play an elven, dwarven, orcish, etc Chaos Champion. Theoretically, you could just use the generic Chaos Champion stats and make it up with fluff. But, Realms of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned did give mechanics for playing Beastmen, Chaos Minotaur, Chaos Centaur and even Dragon Ogre Champions on the Path to Glory! So it definitely was something that Games Workshop considered.

Of these four options, Beastmen and Minotaurs got the most attention. Beastmen Champions got their own unique Chaos Retinue table, which looks like this:

01-020: 2d6 Beastmen (If the Beastman Champion has the Mark of Chaos, these are also Marked by the same Patron; Khorngors, Pestigors, Slaangors or Tzaangors - otherwise, they're just normal beastmen)

21-40: 2d6 Beastmen

41-60: Beastman Hero

61-70: Beastman Shaman

71-80: D6 Centaurs

81-85: D3 Dragon Ogres

86-98: D6 Minotaurs

99-100: Other (Roll on the Human Chaos Champion retinue table)

Minotaur Champions not only got another unique Chaos Retinue table of their own to use, but also some unique rules; they are, ironically, the least mutation-prone of any Chaos Champion in this edition; when generating them, the basic minotaur starts with only a 10% chance of having 1 Chaos Attribute, and this chance increases by 5% per 5 levels. Only minotaur champions generated at levels 15 (D3), 20 (D4) and 25 (D3+1) start with potentially more than 1 Chaos Attribute.

01-01: D6 Beastmen (if the Champion has a Mark of Chaos, they share his Mark, otherwise they're generic Beastmen)

11-20: D6 Beastmen

21-25: Beastman Hero, potentially Chaos-marked (if the Champion has a Mark) and/or with beastmen followers.

26-30: Beastman Shaman

31-25: D4 Centaurs

36-40: D3 Dragon Ogres

41-80: D6 Minotaurs

81-90: Other Followers (Roll on the Human Champion Retinue Table)

91-00: Monsters - Roll another D100 and compare to the results below.

01-04: Chimera

05-08: Cockatrice

09-11: Dragon

12-15: Giant Eagle

16-20: Giant

21-23: Gorgon

24-27: Griffin

28-31: Hippogriff

32-35: Hydra

36-39: Jabberwock

40-43: Manticore

44-48: Giant Spider

49-52: Giant Scorpion

53-55: Treeman

56-59: Wyvern

60-63: Chaos Hounds

64-68: D6 Giant Rats

69-73: D6 Skeletons plus an Undead Chaos Champion

74-78: Snotling Swarm (D4 Bases)

79-83: Warhounds

84-88: D4 Ogres

89-92: D6 Fimir

93-97: D4 Zombies plus an Undead Chaos Champion

09-00: Roll twice on this chart.

Centaur Champions, in comparison, are the most mutation-prone Chaos Champions, since a big part of their lore was that they were even more physically screwed up than the average beastman. Even a basic centaur has a 50% chance to start with d3 Chaos Attributes, whilst any higher-leveled Centaur always has at least D4 Chaos Attributes, making the likelihood of becoming a Chaos Spawn instead of a Daemon Prince much higher than even that of a Beastman Champion. Centaur Champions of Nurgle gain +1 Toughness and Chaos Attribute, whilst those of Tzeentch gain D3 Chaos Attributes and a random magic item. To determine their followers, Centaur Champions use the Beastmen Followers Table, with one caveat: a Centaur Champion can swap any followers result he doesn't like for a herd of d6 Centaurs.

Dragon Ogre Champions are always warriors, never sorcerers, and had the second-lowest chance of starting with Chaos Attributes of any of the playable Champions in that edition: a "starting level" dragon ogre had a 25% chance of having d2 Attributes, and even a 25th level dragon ogre will only have D6+1 Attributes. By comparison, a 25th level Beastman champion will have D6+3, and a 25th level Centaur champion will have D6+2. Only Minotaur champions had less. A dragon ogre champion always starts with a number of lesser dragon ogres as his initial followers; when he wins further followers, he can roll on either Beastmen or Minotaur follower tables to generate them as he prefers.

Sadly, this awesomeness largely began to drip away around the time of 6th edition. Only the beastmen and minotaur champions remained viable in the armies, with centaurs and dragon ogres reduced just to special troops and rare monsters.

Retinues of Chaos

An idea that has been integral to the forces of Chaos throughout Games Workshop's history is that a Chaos Champion is a kind of cult figure, attracting lesser followers of Chaos who wish to bask in their glory and follow them, at least until they develop the strength to break away and pursue the champion's lifestyle themselves. Lorewise, a Chaos army is not a single homogenous force, but instead a vast coalition of different Champions, often interlinked into personal hierarchies, who have chosen to pool their collective followers together alongside newly-attracted "hangers on" to crusade against the forces of order.

When the Realms of Chaos duology introduced the Path to Glory minigame, it naturally provided a table to roll on to generate followers as your Chaos Champion gained in power and notoriety. In fact, it gave two tables, as "The Lost and the Damned" would subsequently retcon the original table from "Slaves to Darkness" in order to represent new models brought out since its release.

The original Slaves to Darkness retinue table looked like this:

01-30: 2d6 Beastmen

31-35: 2d4 Dwarfs

36-38: Chaos Sorcerer

39-41: Chaos Warrior

42-46: D6 Dark Elves (can be either Warriors or Assassins)

47-51: D6 Goblins

52-53: D4 Harpies

54-73: 2d6 Humans

74-78: D6 Hobgoblins

79-80: D4 Minotaurs

81-82: D4 Ogres

83-87: D6 Orcs

88-92: 2d4 Skaven

93: 1 Troll

94: 1 Wizard (if Champion of Khorne, replace with Human Hero)

95-99: 2d6 Giant Wolves

00: Other - Roll a D4 to determine which of the following D10 tables to roll on.

1

1: Giant Bat

2: Bear

3: Boar

4: Chimera

5: Coatl

6: Cockatrice

7: Cold One

8: Dragon

9: Eagle

10: Fimir

2

1: Giant Frog

2: Ghoul

3: Giant

4: D6 Gnomes

5: Gorgon

6: Griffon

7: D6 Halflings

8: D6 Half-Orcs

9: Hippogriff

10: D6 Hobhounds

3

1: Hydra

2: Jabberwock

3: Giant Leech

4: Liche

5: D6 Lizardmen

6: Manticore

7: D6 Pygmies

8: Giant Rat

9: Skeleton

10: D6 Slann

4

1: Giant Snail

2: D6 Snotlings

3: Giant Spider

4: Treeman

5: Troglodyte

6: Vampire

7: D6 Warhounds

8: Wyvern

9: Zoat

10: Zombie

Races in a Champion's retinue are not subject to racial Hatred, Animosity or Fear against fellow members of the retinue - your Chaos-sworn dwarfs are perfectly content to coexist with your Chaos-sworn orcs and vice-versa. This represents the Champion's force of will and the uniting powers of Chaos. Those rules still apply to members of the appropriate races outside of the retinue.

The Lost and the Damned version of the table looks like this:

01-20: D6 Beastmen

21-30: D6 Chaos Marked Beastmen (same Mark as the Chaos Champion; for Champion of Chaos Undivided, treat as regular beastmen)

31-35: 2d4 Dwarfs

36-38: 1 Chaos Sorcerer

39-41: 1 Chaos Warrior

42-46: D6 Dark Elves (Warriors or Assassins)

47-51: D6 Goblins

52-53: D4 Harpies

54-60: 2d4 Brigands

61-65: D4 Chaos Cultists and a Cult Magus (randomly Chaos Sorcerer or Chaos Warrior)

66-71: 2d4 Mercenaries and a Mercenary Captain

72-73: D6 Human Runaways

74-75: D4 Centaurs

76-77: Dragon Ogre

78-79: D4 Minotaurs

80-81: D4 Ogres

82-86: D6 Orcs

87-91: 2d4 Skaven

92-93: 1 Troll

94-00: Other - Roll a D4 to determine which of the following D10 tables to roll on.

1

1: Giant Bat

2: Bear

3: Boar

4: Chimera

5: Coatl

6: Cockatrice

7: Cold One

8: Dragon

9: Eagle

10: Fimir

2

1: Giant Frog

2: Ghoul

3: Giant

4: D6 Gnomes

5: Gorgon

6: Griffon

7: D6 Halflings

8: D6 Half-Orcs

9: Hippogriff

10: D6 Hobhounds

3

1: Hydra

2: Jabberwock

3: Giant Leech

4: Liche

5: D6 Lizardmen

6: Manticore

7: D6 Pygmies

8: Giant Rat

9: D6 Skeletons

10: D6 Slann

4

1: Giant Snail

2: D6 Snotlings

3: Giant Spider

4: Treeman

5: D6 Troglodytes

6: Vampire

7: D6 Warhounds

8: Wyvern

9: Zoat

10: D6 Zombies

Naturally, as Warhammer Fantasy got simpler and less reliant on RNG, this rule got toned down. The last major mechanical depiction of it was in their 5th edition army book, "Warhammer: Realm of Chaos". To represent this nature of the Chaos army as a coalition of warbands, the player had to start by choosing one character and then purchasing associated troops equal to or greater than that character's point cost. Then they picked another character and did the same again, repeating the cycle until they ran out of points.

Notable Chaos Champions

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Chaos Undivided

• Archaon, Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar
• Abaddon, Warhammer 40K
• Fabius Bile, Warhammer 40K
• Huron Blackheart, Warhammer 40K
• Mordrek, Warhammer Fantasy
• Vardek Crom, Warhammer Fantasy
• Wulfrik the Wanderer, Warhammer Fantasy
• Marakarr Blood-Sky, Age of Sigmar

Khorne

• Arbaal, Warhammer Fantasy
• Haargroth, Warhammer Fantasy
• Kharn, Warhammer 40K
• Valkia the Bloody, Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar
• Korghos Khul, Age of Sigmar

Slaanesh

• Dechala, Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar
• Doomrider, Warhammer 40K
• Lucius, Warhammer 40K
• Sigvald, Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar
• Styrkaar, Warhammer Fantasy
• Syll'Esske, 40K and Age of Sigmar
• Vandred, Warhammer Fantasy
• Glutos Orscollion, Age of Sigmar

Nurgle

• Festus the Leechlord, Warhammer Fantasy
• Feytor, Warhammer Fantasy
• Glottkin, Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar
• Typhus, Warhammer 40K
• Valnir, Warhammer Fantasy

Tzeentch

• Aekold Helbrass, Warhammer Fantasy
• Ahriman, Warhammer 40K
• Egrimm van Horstmann, Warhammer Fantasy
• Melekh, Warhammer Fantasy
• Vilitch the Curseling, Warhammer Fantasy

Malal

• Kaleb Daark, Warhammer Fantasy

Nuffle

The Champions and Lords of the Warriors of Chaos

Aekold Helbrass - Arbaal the Undefeated - Archaon - Asavar Kul - Beorg Bearstruck - Bödvarr Ribspreader Dechala - Egil Styrbjorn - Egrimm van Horstmann - Festus the Leechlord - Feytor - The Glottkin - Gutrot Spume Haargroth - Harald Hammerstorm - Lord Mortkin - Kaleb Daark - Kayzk the Befouled - Krell - Maggoth Lords Melekh - Mordrek the Damned - Sayl the Faithless - Scyla Anfingrimm - Sigvald the Magnificent Skarr Bloodwrath - Slambo - Styrkaar of the Sortsvinaer - Tamurkhan - Thorgar the Blooded One - Throgg Valkia the Bloody - Valnir - Vardek Crom - Vandred - Vilitch the Curseling - Wulfrik the Wanderer