Warriors of Chaos
Remember when the followers of the Dark Gods were badass Viking warriors in awesome looking plate armour and weren't emo Space Marines under the thrall of an an armless failure?. Remember when they were led by compete fucking crazy motherfuckers who wrestled fucking Bloodthristers to the ground as a bloody initiation ritual and rode around on chariots pulled by skinless bears and rode horses fed on human flesh and watered down blood and had awesome beards rivaled only by Dwarfs? We do too. These are the Warriors of Chaos (formerly Hordes). The granddads of the Chaos Space Marines and the original Champions of Chaos.
Brief Foreword
Nostalgia aside, you can't truly call yourself a fan of Chaos or Warhammer in general without having at least a cursory knowledge of these guys. These guys are the very essence of Warhammer; baroque plate armour, skulls, Vikings, mutations, Michael Moorcock, J.R.R Tolkien, Hieronymous Bosch, H.P Lovecraft and Heavy Metal; everything that was put it put together and left to boil to produce the two most grimdark settings in the history of mankind is encapsulated in these guys. The first goddamn edition of Warhammer Fantasy had one of them displayed proudly on it, for Odin's sake (the now legendary Harry the Hammer, the TRUE reason why Warhammer is called Warhammer, check out Harry's new model, it kicks ass). Like it or not, these guys were what forged Warhammer for a lot of people. To this day, no game based on it feels complete without dark armoured marauding warriors of the Nordic or sci-fi persuasion. So read on, an see their glory in full.
Overview
In the beginning, the Old Ones came to the Warhammer World and set about doing their crazy magical genetic engineering bullshit. Then, for whatever non-reason the Polar Gates at the top and bottom of the world that they had constructed to ward off the Chaos Gods gave out and the world was corrupted and consumed by the powers of the Gods. The Old Ones fucked off, and left races of Dwarfs and Elves and Slaan. But a fourth creation also that was not fully equipped to resist the influence of Chaos, and of course, this was Man. Mankind was unfinished, and the warpstones that flew from the Northern polar wastes and caused the acceleration of physical and cultural progress and, most importantly, of the human mind. The races of men gained a vigor and fire from the power of Chaos that drove them to great heights of glory and caused them to surpass the manufactured races of the Old Ones. In many ways, the history of Chaos is the history of mankind in the Warhammer world. It was only fitting that some tribes amongst Humanity would come to worship the Four Great Gods.
The most notable of these, was the Norsii. Who would later be feared by all of the Old World as the fierce Norse, the most brutal and devout worshipers of Chaos. But they were joined by their cousins as well, the brute Kurgan of the Eastern Steppes and the squat and ferocious Hung. These are the three Great Races of Men, for it is they alone who are favoured by the mighty Gods. Together, they are the Northmen. And they shall make the World tremble.
On the tabletop game, the Warriors of Chaos tend to be unstoppable close combat powerhouses (as they should be, they're VIkings), with little in the way of ranged fire support. Very melee oriented, even their sorcerers can be thrown into CQC and be expected to hold their own. They have very powerful magic that can be used to supplement their incredible power. They have extremely powerful Lord choices who might very well be the most powerful generic lords in the game. They have a pretty high points cost, though, so you're going to be outnumbered. But on the other hand, that shouldn't bother you too much because they're badasses. The problem is that you have a predictable play style and are more or less ineffective if you cant get into CQC. Movement phases are important, especially in fantasy. So think about how you move your forces. Despite it being a predictable play style, it's still easy to grasp and simple to use. Which also makes the Warriors a good starting army. Also, because of the low model count since these guys have a large point cost, it doesn't cost that much by GW standards to put a good army together. So, if you like Vikings in spiky armor, get the Warriors.
The Men of the North
The Daemon Norse
"From the harsh snowlands they come. Blond of hair they are, and blue of eye, and tattoos upon arms and face and chest. Their eyes are mad with bloodlust, for blood they thirst for, driven forth on the whims of the Gods they seek to appease. Clad in but few garments and wielding clumsy, brutal axes and maces, they rage against the civilized lands of the south, burning, pillaging, looting all before them to offer up as sacrifice to their uncaring masters beyond the gates of hell in the Northern Wastes." - The Liber Chaotica, as penned by Richter Kleiss, Priest of Sigmar, declared insane
With an intro as over the top as that, you know what the fuck you're getting.
The Norse of Norsca are the most brutal, fierce and savage followers of the Chaos Gods in the Warhammer world. They are the tallest, most physically strong race in the Old World, raised amongst a culture that respects only strength and the ability to kill and closeness to the Primordial Gods. All of Norsca is in the thrall of Chaos, corrupting the mountainous wasteland with the essence of change that seeps not only into man and beast but the very ground itself. Mutations are common among the Norscans, seen as signs of blessings from the Chaos Gods. Mighty warbands prowl the mainland and the horrific mountain ranges that connects the lands of the Norse to the Chaos Wastes. The seas about Norsca are filled with massive longships mastered by the terrible Chaos Champions and their kinsmen who stride the seas searching for either artefacts, purchase by which they may wage war against the weak southlings as demanded by their Gods, or merely any other ship to vent their rage upon. When the call to war is given, the Norse are always at the forefront, tearing down all opposition and cleaving the way into the weak lands of Sigmar. The Norse are always on the warpath, launching brutal sea raids upon the heavily fortified coast of the Northern Empire.
It should come as little surprise that the Norsemen are the most fiercely devout followers of Khorne, the God of War and it is from the Norse that the majority of Khorne's followers are derived. Many Norse Champions of Chaos go on to be the most favoured of Khorne's warriors. In fact, Khorne's own consort, Valkia the Bloody, has risen from the brutal clans of the Norscans.
With such a track record, it was obvious that the Imperials would deny any idea that the Norse are even remotely human. Most theories tend to focus on their favour from the Dark Gods and use that as the bedrock for all kinds of insane theories about them. Some say that they're the half-breed spawns of man and daemon. Others say they're half-giants and kinsmen to the Ogres. Yet others claim they are living creatures of ice. You can forgive the Imperials for making these odd, odd theories given what they deal with. But the truth, shaded in the fantastic as it is, is not nearly as interesting.
Contrary to what the Imperials like to believe, they ain't the first ones to settle in the Reik basin. Hell, even the Brettonians and the Khemri have held a portion of the land that would later become the heart of the Empire. And the ancestors of the Norse were no different. Known as the Norsii, they were a tall, extremely muscular and powerfully built race of savage men who lived north of the Forest of Shadow. Whereas other tribes of men worshiped Taal and Ulric, the Norsii venerated primal gods of blood and decay that were nothing more than watered down versions of the Chaos Gods. Their brutal and savage faith compelled them to acts of evil that alienated the other tribes from them and drove them away from their lands. The only people to truly contest the Norsii were the almost equally savage and bellicose Teutogens. The wars between the Norsii and Teutogens raged for a time until some decided to move further North to find a better land, especially with the Greenskins rampaging at the time. The Norsii would continue to live in the Reik adhering to their dark traditions until the rise of Sigmar Heldenhammer, who led the Unberogens to conquer and assimilate all other peoples of the land. The Norsii and some other peoples did not enjoy the prospect of serving under what they perceived to be an upstart, albeit brave and lucky, warlord. The Norsii would thus migrate to the far North, facing all manners of foes on the way, ranging from Greenskins to Gospodars (Kislevite tribes) to Ungols (another Kislevite tribe, but very Hunnic) to Beastmen and others. Finally settling on the lands adjacent to the Chaos Wastes and the fierce Kurgan tribes of the Eastern Steppes. The conflict they had endured with the other races and their intermingling with the Kurgan tribes and their rededicating of themselves to the monstrous Gods they had always revered eventually led to the creation of the vicious warrior race that would come to be the most feared servants of Chaos: The Norse. The fact that the Norse subsequently came down as a Horde under the command of a Daemon Prince raised from their own kind during the reign of Sigmar and nearly destroyed that which the warlord had wrought also likely did not endear themselves to the Imperials.
If it's not already obvious, the Norse are badasses. They are so fucking devoted to the Gods and favored by them that they make the Word Bearers give taciturn nods of approval. Though some tribes are more fanatical than others. The tribe forms the very core of the Norse identity, they are not a unified nation by any means, so they have no concept of nationality. A Norscan will never call himself a Norscan. He will identify himself based on tribe and parentage. A Varg will see his loyalties extend only to his immediate tribe and to a much lesser extent, others under the same confederation. After all, even amongst the various so called High Tribes, multitudes of lesser tribes and families will exist. The under the Aesling High Tribe, there exists many other lesser clans owing alliegance to it; such as the Gorehunt, the Snaegr, Skrae and Untam. The various Norscan clans are divided into two main blocks for easy reference: the Northern tribes and the Southern tribes.
The Northern Norscan Tribes
The Northern Norse tribes tend to be the most devout and ferocious of the Norscans. A trend which is universal among the three Northern races of the Norse, Kurgan and Hung. As the Northern tribes of these races are often closest to the dread Chaos Wastes and thus, to the gate that leads to the Realm of Chaos. Due to this, the North Norscan tribes tend to display more terrifying Chaos mutations, are more likely to receive the Marks of the Gods, and are deeply affected by Chaos, even among the Norse. They often fight amongst each other for land and favor and will also wage terrible war against the Kurgan for the same reason, as well as for the hell of it. They are a merciless lot who kill for the love of killing. The tribes are as follows;
- Aeslings: The most dreaded and terrifying and powerful of the Norse High Tribes are the Aeslings. They are the most savage and brutal men of Norsca. Even among the other Northernmost Northman tribes they are held in fear. Only favour from the Gods and strength and excellence at arms are valued. Thus, they are a people who respect only strength and infants who do not measure to their standards of physical perfection and murdered outright with little fuss. While reprehensible, this combined with their constant warfare on others has forged a race who are undoubtedly some of the greatest warriors of all the Northmen. Amongst the Aesling tribes, it is Khorne who is worshiped above all other Gods and it is not uncommon for tribes to dedicate themselves solely to him, which is infact very common. Needless to say, these guys are the World Eaters of Warhammer Fantasy. And that's all were gonna say. Valkia rose up from this tribe, which should prepare you for how awesome the Aeslings are. No relation to the Aethling tribe mentioned in the opening lines of Beowulf. We think.
- Vargs: Another Northern tribe. These guys are also quite badass and batshit crazy. With an added twist that they absolutely despise the Kurgan, a hatred of such magnitude it rivals the rage Angry Marines hold for Cultist-Chan. No one knows why the hell they want to kill them so badly, but when they do reach the East, they tend to fuck shit up. The Aeslings and Graelings tend to sell their services to the Vargs on these trips for the promise of fighting, also. Basically, no one questions it because this constant, counter productive infighting amongst cousins helps to keep the Northern race strong. The Varg are the sickest fucks of the Norse and tend to be the most willing to solely dedicate themselves to Slaanesh. Which is funny because they are ugly, hairy, frost bitten, short-tempered barbarian savages who detest frilly and fine things and love fighting. But then again, Slaanesh caters to many desires, so hey. These guys are like the Emperor's Children of the Nose. No relation to Varg Vikernes. We think. Engra Deathsword rose up from these people.
- Graelings: The last of the Northern Norse tribes, they don't gravitate to one God over another, but are still pretty cool guys. They tend to attack everyone, Kurgan and other Norse. But they also raid the Hung as well. But they are in fact the best of the Norse to fight the Dark Elves and have come into conflict with them in the past many times and defeated them, which is pretty badass too. One of Archaon's generals, Haargroth the Blooded, rose up from the Graelings. So that's pretty awesome too. They're kinda of like the Chaos Undivided legion of the Norse.
Southern Norse Tribes
In comparison to their Northern cousins, the Southern Norsemen are a milder people. While they still owe their highest fealty to the terrible Chaos Gods. But while they raid and kill like all their kin, they are more interested in songs of valor and adventure and heroism than the mindless slaughter embraced by their kinsmen who lie closer to the Realm of the Gods. But that said, during the Chaos Incursions of the Norse, the Southern tribes heed the call to war as readily any other; for it is demanded by their evil gods. Refusing the call to war is grounds for being sacrificed on the bloody altars of their cousins. Yet, this has not kept from the tribes o South Norsca to being held in esteem by their masters. The Sarls, Skaelings, Baersonlings and Bjornlings are in themselves devout of the Chaos Gods and many great champions of Chaos have risen from them, such as Wulfrik the Wanderer, Valnir the Reaper, and Lord Mortkin.
- Skaelings: Are sea-raiding marauders. They claim to worship a daemonic sea god who lives under the sea and make human sacrifices to it. Alongside the Chaos Gods of course. Khorne is held highest in their pantheon, as he is in almost everyone's Chaos pantheon. Their colours are blue and red according to the Liber Carnagia (3rd edition rulebook fo WHFRP), blue for the sea and red for Khorne and BLOOD.
- Baersonlings
- Sarls: Wulfrik came from this clan. And as far as the WoC army book goes, he's one of the most devout of the Chaos Gods. So, the Sarls are pretty hard core.
- Bjornlings
See Also
Warhammer/Tactics/Warriors of Chaos - A guide on how to lead these awesome barbarians to glory and bloodshed and the notice of the Gods.