Realm of Chaos

The Realm of Chaos is effectively The Warp in Warhammer Fantasy/Age of Sigmar, complete with the abandonment of real-world physics. Time? Gravity? A Chaos God craves not these things. It serves as the home of the four major Chaos Gods and their forces, as well as any mortals unfortunate enough to have found themselves there. It's described as a 'landscape,' but likely makes even less sense than the Mortal Realms do in terms of physical layout.

The Realm of Chaos is divided into domains ruled over by the Gods because Chaos might be unpredictable and messy, but it apparently likes to keep its own house in order. The Realm of Chaos itself can't be used as a playing field on the table top like the Mortal Realms, but places so corrupted by Chaos as to be indistinguishable from them are detailed in Time of War: The Blasted Wastes.

Realm of Chaos might also refer to the supplement books for WHFB, and now AoS with the soon-to-be released Realm of Chaos: Wrath and Rapture. It might also refer to the 1989 Bolt Thrower album that was produced with participation from GW themselves.

The Books Themselves

It should be known that the title Realms of Chaos was used not once, but three times, each equally as focused as the others on the machinations of Chaos and their champions.

The Original Books

Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness and Realms of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned were the forefather tomes released during Warhammer Fantasy Battles 3E and when 40K was still known by Rogue Trader which codified all of Chaos and its interdimensional menace. While it did indeed contain rules to include both during organized play, the main draw of these books were the inclusion of its own independent wargame, one in which the various armies of Chaos clashed with each other again and again, with the victors gaining the gods' favor, here exemplified in a d100 table, as well as new mutations, exemplified in a staggering d1000 table. Ultimately, the goal of all characters is to reach daemon princehood, but those who gain too many mutations and not enough favor in the eyes of the gods becomes all gribbly and stuff while those who get a proper mixture of gifts and mutations ascends to the vaunted status of Daemon Prince.

As with anything else this neckbeardy, there was a clusterfuck of rules to get around, which they explained via a flowchart.

The 6E Release

During the 2013 Advent release schedule, GeeDubs decided to release a small game known as Realms of Chaos: Path to Glory, released in 40K 6E and (then brand-new) AoS with sequel releases the following year. You still had warbands to fight each other for the gifts of chaos, but now you weren't dealing with massive rolls to tell what happened to your dudes.

Wrath and Rapture

Scheduled to come out in 2019, Wrath and Rapture seems to be giving you a wargame between the daemons of Khorne and Slaanesh. So far, it's confirmed that they'll be bringing out new models for the Flesh Hounds led by Karanak alongside the bloodletters and the Fiends of Slaanesh, with daemonettes led by a new named herald named the Infernal Enrapturess, who uses a harp for he musical ministrations of doom. All in all, the game was forgettable, but it gave people to buy packs of daemon models before they were released as separate sets.

The Warp in Age of Sigmar

The Great Horned Rat has moved in with an entire city of his friends and Slaanesh was sooooo yesterday, as the Prince's lot's mostly empty with everyone trying to find the lazy fucker. The Realm of Chaos is otherwise much the same as it was just prior to WHFB's The End Times, but fully located in the Warp as opposed to being a blighted hellscape on the material plain.

• Blight City: Home to everyone's favorite rat-men, and formerly Skavenblight; it was relocated to the Realm of Chaos upon the Great Horned Rat's ascension, being dragged there by GHR himself. The city itself is a hodgepodge of factories, mines, highly dangerous machinery powered with volatile warpstone, and is just generally an unpleasant place to live. It is as much a danger to the Skaven as it is a shelter. Technically it still "is" Skavenblight but the GHR decided that it needed a face-lift after it was brought into the warp. Of course, having prime real estate in the immaterium wasn't enough for the rat men, so they dug too deep, and too greedily, and fucking sank half of their city back into reality. Rather than being the "Oh shit" moment it would be for almost any other race, the Skaven immediately used this disaster as an opportunity to gain access to basically anywhere they want. It should be noted that this "sinking back into reality" doesn't just automatically create realm gates to the other realms. Instead, the Skaven literally tunnel through the warp, and are the only ones insane enough to then use said tunnels. A few hundred rat-men might be lost forever in the space between spaces, but what's a drop in the ocean, eh?

• Brass Citadel: Khorne's portion of the Realm of Chaos, decorated just like the teenager power-metal fantasy that you'd expect. His domain is described as an "unending battlefield of brass and blood," with rivers of boiling blood, raging volcanoes, bloodstained fields, blackened skies, bone piles, and bloodied corpses. Thinking about it, Khorne apparently was just really into Aqshy, and decided it just needed more of a "gore" motif. At the center of his domain, covered in spikes, blood, and visions from Todd McFarlane's trapper-keeper is Khorne's totally-not-compensating-for-anything Brass Citadel, so large that it could give Rogal Dorn a half-chub. Inside is all manner of forges, prisons, secret shrines to MLP, and of course his Skull Throne. Khorne doesn't just "let" his followers into this place, instead only allowing entrance to the defeated. Weakened due to banishment from the mortal realms, the defeated warriors of Khorne are made to crawl through a moat of boiling blood and disembodied screams. They then need to present to the Gatekeeper and speak their true name, and who bested them, before they're allowed to enter where (presumably) Khorne gives them a chain-axe spanking for being so thoroughly shit at daemon-ing.

• Crystal Labyrinth of Tzeentch: True to form, Tzeentch wasn't content with only having a portion of the Realm of Chaos as his domain, and also had the Halosphere as his power generator and doormat. This land was called the Thousand Portals, and was just one of the outer bastions of the Crystal Labyrinth of Tzeentch. That is, until the Seraphon came along and ruined things by settling there. The Labyrinth itself is a seemingly endless maze of glass towers, crystalline mountains, curtains of light, and lots of other shiny shit that isn't gold. Except it also has rivers of gold, in forests also made from crystal. It would be enough to completely mind-fuck your average mortal, with the landscape shifting depending on how the light touches it. In fact, everything about this place only works, or reveals its proper function, under specific and esoteric circumstances. Just as planned. Accessible from the Halosphere under the right stars alignment.

• Garden of Nurgle: Papa Nurgle's home away from Ghyran, the Garden of Nurgle is an overgrown park reserve for all the disgusting but cheerful things that he brews and creates. The air alone is so toxic that any living thing, except perhaps for Nurgle worshipers, will turn inside-out the moment they breathe it in - and they'd better pray/gurgle to Nurgle for it to end at that. In the book "Hallowed Knights: Plague Garden", it's described as being seven separate gardens, stacked upon one another, like an inverted version of the hanging gardens of the Lantic Empire. Papa Nurgle even has a fortress of his own called Nurgle's Manse. It's dilapidated, crumbling, and a blight on the eyes to look at, but that's just Nurgle being the humble fellow that he is. It's here that he jauntily sings and chuckles to himself while concocting diseases that strip the skin from your dick whenever you sneeze. Much like Nurgle himself, when Nurgle's power rises the boundaries of his realm swell and collapse. When this happens, all his fetid, nasty shit (probably literally) spills into the other Chaos Gods' realms to ruin their day.

• Varanspire: Archaon's giant middle finger to the Mortal Realms, the Varanspire is built on the literal doorstep of the eight other realms on the Allpoints. So confident is he in his ownership that he renamed them to the 'Eightpoints', because Chaos is nothing if not thematic. It's so massive that its walls encroach into the mortal realms, and can be seen with the naked eye from the other realms. This angers Khorne. The creatively named Varanguard, Archaon's personal minions, also make their pilgrimage to the Varanspire when they hear Archaon's call. Those who get an A+ in these tests earn a special spot at the big kid's table in one of Daddy Archaon's eight circles, and receive a horrific pet/horse blob/war mount thing.
  • It also has its own unique mineral called Varanite, infused with the corrupting power of Chaos. This realmstone is so powerful that merely touching raw Varanite can mutate the curious victim into a horrifying abomination or, in Morathi's case, transform a mortal into a full-blown deity.

On the Tabletop

While you can't fight in the actual Realm of Chaos, you can set the game in the Blasted Wastes. These are parts of the mortal realms where Chaos has taken hold and twisted the landscape, creating something not unlike the domains of the Chaos Gods. Presumably this is so Chaos players can also have a "home-ground" realm to use rules for, since playing in the "actual" Realm of Chaos would probably start with rolling a d6, and losing that many units to the eddies of the warp.

Foundry of Rage

Or is it the Foundry of Blood? The supplement description seems confused. Everything is on fire, the acrid smoke and loud noises hurting your wizards' delicate eyes and ears, making it harder to cast. Khorne loves this place, and his armies do too. Seriously, if you're playing against a Khorne army on this field then you may as well concede defeat before you even start.

Blood, Brass, and Toil

After rolling to see who goes first, the two turn rolls are added together and if they total 8 or more, Khorne starts the barbecue and the forges on the board alight. Any unit within 1" of a terrain feature suffers a mortal wound, and it gets worse from there as the match progresses. With every passing round, the proximity to take a mortal wound from a terrain feature doubles and your army becomes less effective at a distance. Unless you're playing a Khorne army, in which case you can ignore basically all of this while you pound your opponent into a fine paste. All of these effects are applied before modifiers, and last until the end of the battle:

• 2nd Round: Units within 2" of a terrain feature suffer a mortal wound. Command abilities reduced to a max of 8".
• 3rd Round: Units within 4" of a terrain feature suffer a mortal wound. Units can't shoot or cast spells at targets more than 8" away.
• 4th Round: Units within 8" of a terrain feature suffer a mortal wound. Units can't shoot or cast spells at targets more than 4" away.

Call to Chaos: Path to Glory

Khorne warbands playing in the Foundry of Rage in "Path to Glory" campaigns gain one additional Favour Point if they claim a victory but lose D3 Favour if they lose. One would assume Khorne also screams at them until the flesh flies from their bones, but this isn't specified in the rules.

Foundry of Rage Triumphs

1. Brazen Skull: Equipped to a HERO in your army, can be "used" by shattering it at the start of any of your Hero phases. Forces your opponent to cast with only one die until your next Hero phase. Weirdly, this isn't specified as a "once per battle" use item, and could theoretically be used all the time, forever, to irritate the hell out of Tzeentch players.
2. Bloodforged Standard: Choose a unit standard, banner, or icon bearer, or a model with the keyword TOTEM. As long as that model is alive, re-roll saves of 1 for its unit.
3. Phial of Forgefire: Choose a HERO in your army to carry this. It can be opened once per battle and inflicts D3 mortal wounds on an enemy unit within 8".
4. Call of the Forge: Once per battle, after rolling for turn order, pick a terrain feture on the field. Every unit within 8" of it suffers a mortal wound.
5. The Crimson Watch: Once per battle, at the start of your Hero phase, roll three dice. Up to that many Bloodletters can be added to your army as a unit. Must be setup within 8" of a HERO, and not within 3" of an enemy unit.
6. Mark of the Molten Brass: Applied to a General in your army. Each time the General piles in, roll a dice before attacking. On a 4+, each enemy unit within 3" suffers a mortal wound.

Mount Hedon

Slaanesh's Mortal Realms playground, completely awash with her/his/its perfume/cologne, which drives anyone that smells it insane. Except for Slaanesh units, which are so constantly dosed up on the stuff that they barely notice it anymore.

Overwhelming Fragrance

At the start of each battle round, after rolling for the turn order, players take turns marking units with six dice showing one to six on their face. Units can be marked more than once, each number can only be used once, and you stop once you've assigned all six. Once you've placed all six dice, roll a seventh; whichever unit's number matches the roll is affected by the mist. Roll two dice and add the unit's bravery, the resulting number determines what happens to the unit:

• 8 or less - Ecstatic Catatonia: Remove the entire unit from the battlefield. Slaanesh units suffer D6 mortal wounds instead, because they like this sort of thing.
• 9-11 - Sadistic Glee: Roll a dice for every model in the unit, on a 4+ the unit suffers a mortal wound. Slaanesh units only suffer mortal wounds on 6's.
• 12-14 - Pavane of Slaanesh: Everyone does a little dance. For the rest of the round, the unit can't move, make attacks, cast, or use abilities. Battleshock tests for this unit are ignored. Any time the unit suffers a wound, or mortal wound, roll a die. on a 5+ (4+ for Slaanesh), the wound or mortal wound is ignored.
• 15+ - Excess of Violence: The player whose turn it is rolls two dice and moves the unit that many inches toward the nearest enemy.

Call to Chaos: Path to Glory

Slaneesh warbands playing on Mount Hedon in Path to Glory campaigns gain one additional Favour Point if they claim a victory but lose D3 Favour if they lose.

Mount Hedon Triumphs

1. Hedonic Flacon: Choose a HERO to carry this. Once per battle in your Hero phase, roll two dice for each enemy unit within 6" of that model. If the result is higher than a unit's bravery, it suffers D3 mortal wounds.
2. Obfuscatrix: One use only ability. Choose a HERO to carry this. Pick an enemy unit within 12" at the start of your Hero phase and roll two dice. If the combined result is higher than the unit's Bravery, it will immediately attack the nearest friendly unit to itself, either with all of its missile weapons or all its melee weapons (the unit doesn't pile in.) Your opponent still rolls all dice, however, you get to choose who it attacks - and individual models can be targeted. A unit cannot attack itself, only other units.
3. The Blissful Host: Once per battle, at the beginning of your Hero phase, roll three dice. Add a unit of Daemonettes with that many models to your army. Must be setup within 6" of a "HERO" model, and not within 3" of an enemy model.
4. Witstealer: Choose a HERO to carry this. At the end of the Combat phase, roll a dice for each enemy "HERO" that was wounded but not slain by the model carrying Witstealer. On a 4+ the enemy "HERO" suffers a mortal wound.
5. Enrapturing Gaze: Choose a HERO to have this ability. At the start of each Combat phase, pick an enemy unit within 6" of the model with Enrapturing Gaze and roll two dice. If the result is higher than their Bravery, that unit can't pile in or make attacks this phase.
6. The Silken Standard: Choose a unit standard, banner, icon bearer, or a model with the keyword TOTEM to carry the Silken Standard. If your opponent takes the first turn in a battle round, the unit can destroy the standard before your opponent's turn starts. Doing this grants the unit a free turn - Hero phase, Movement, Shooting, etc. - before your opponent starts theirs. In the combat phase, only the empowered unit can attack. The unit still acts as normal during the rest of your turn.

Putrefax Sump

Nurgle's sandpit, if "sand" in this context was a bubbling pit of disease and an oppressive miasma clung in the air. Very cosey. Nurgle units will have a pretty good time of things, basically everything else will rot away within rounds. Or maybe they'll come back from the dead. Papa Nurgle can be generous, after all.

Seething and Multiplying

After rolling for turn order in a battle round, add the results of the two dice together:

• 2-3 - Living Whirpool: Until the next round, roll a die each time a unit moves, runs or charges. On a 1, the unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. Doesn't affect NURGLE units, units that are entirely within 1" of a terrain feature, or units that can fly.
• 4-6 - Horrific Writhing: Roll a die for each unit that is not entirely within 1" of a terrain feature, and which cannot fly. If the result is equal to, or more than the unit's save, it suffers D3 mortal wounds. NURGLE units only suffer a single mortal wound.
• 7 - The Great Hatching: Roll a die for each wounded model on the battlefield, on a 1, 2, or 3, their unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. Heals D3 wounds if the unit is NURGLE.
• 8-10 - Volatile Expulsion: Roll seven (yes, Seven) and add the results together. Each unit that is within that many inches of the center of the battlefield suffers D3 mortal wounds.
• 11-12 - Grandfather's Bloom: Both players roll off, the winner selecting any unit on the Battlefield. That unit is immediately removed and set back up anywhere on the battlefield that's more than 7" from enemy models. Once the unit's been setup, roll a die (add 1 if it's a NURGLE unit). On a 1-4, the unit suffers D6 mortal wounds. On a 5-7, the unit is restored to irs starting strength (wounds healed, slain models returned.)

Call to Chaos: Path to Glory

Nurgle warbands playing in Putrefax Sump in Path to Glory campaigns gain one additional Favour Point if they claim a victory but lose D3 Favour if they lose. Papa Nurgle doesn't love them any less, however - he's not angry, just disappointed.

Putrefax Sump Triumphs

1. Sump Gas: Choose a MONSTER to be fed Sump Gas for the next battle. When that monster is slain, it erupts with a radius in inches equal to the model's wounds (e.g. 12 wounds = 12".)
2. Poxfly Bite: Choose a HERO to bear this. Ignores wounds and mortal wounds on a 5+.
3. The Sons of Putrefax: Once per battle, at the start of your Hero phase, roll three dice. Combine the results and add a unit of that many Plaguebearers to your army. Setup within 7" of a HERO, and not within 3" of enemy models.
4. Death's-head Pods: Choose a unit to carry the pods. Once per battle, they can be used as a missile weapon in your shooting phase. Each model in the unit gains 1 missile attack with 14" range, hitting on 5+. Each successful hit deals a mortal wound.
5. Rancid Oilskin: Choose a HERO in your army to carry this. Once per battle during your shooting phase, select a visible unit within 7" and roll a die for each model in the unit. The unit suffers a mortal wound on every roll of 6.
6. Coronet of Filth: Choose a HERO to carry this. Once per battle during your hero phase, pick an enemy unit within 14" and roll a die for each model in the unit. Each result that equals or exceeds the unit's Save deals a mortal wound.

Crystalline Shores

Do you like spells? Do you like spells that cast more spells, which in turn give you more spells!? Then you're probably a Tzeentch player - you'll fit right in here.

Sparkling Shards

Like a playground without a sharps disposal, the Crystalline Shores are covered with sharp shit that you'll catch Chaos from. If you roll a double when casting, you can roll a third dice and add the result to the total. If the third dice makes the total 15 or more, the Wizard deals D3 mortal wounds to each enemy unit within 18".

Firetide

After rolling for turn order, add the results together. If the total is exactly 3, 6 or 9, the Firetide rolls in:

• 3 - Tide of Pinkfire: Each unit on the battlefield that cannot fly suffers D3 mortal wounds. TZEENTCH units only suffer a single mortal wound.
• 6 - Tide of Bluefire: The player taking the second turn in this round picks an edge of the battlefield and rolls a dice. on a 1, the tide comes in from that edge. On a 2 or 3, the tide comes in from the edge to the left, on a 4 or 5, it comes in from the edge to the right. On a 6, it comes in from the opposite edge. Any unit that cannot fly within 18" of the affected edge suffers D3 mortal wounds.
• 9 - Tide of Change: Roll a dice for each unit on the field. On a 5+, return D3 slain models to the unit. Return D6 models for TZEENTCH units.

Call to Chaos: Path to Glory

Tzeentch warbands playing on the Crystalline Shores in Path to Glory campaigns gain one additional Favour Point if they claim a victory but lose D3 Favour if they lose. Either occurrence is Just As Planned.

Crystalline Shores Triumphs

1. Globe of Swirling Flame: Choose a HERO to carry this. Once per battle, during the shooting phase, can be thrown at a visible enemy unit within 9". Roll nine dice, dealing a mortal wound to the unit on each result of a 6.
2. The Flickering Boatmen: Once per battle, at the start of your hero phase, roll three dice. Combine the result and add a unit of that many Horrors to your army. Setup with 9" of a HERO and not within 3" of an enemy model.
3. Arcanovore: Choose a WIZARD to be followed into the next battle by the Arcanavore. Once during the battle, immediately after another WIZARD within 18" successfully casts a spell, your WIZARD can immediately cast the same spell. No casting roll required, cannot be unbound.
4. Sigil of Flight: Choose a unit standard, banner or icon bearer, or a model with the keyword TOTEM. As long as that model is alive, its unit's move characteristic is 12 and can fly.
5. Gift of Sorcery: Choose a HERO, it becomes a WIZARD for the duration of this battle. Can cast up to one spell in each of your Hero phases but cannot unbind spells. They know Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield. If all your heroes are already WIZARDS, re-roll this result.
6. Enchantment of Animation: Choose a unit in your army. Once during the battle in your shooting phase, pick one of the unit's melee weapons (weapon type, not single model). They can immediately attack with it as though it were a missile weapon with 18" range.

Total War: WARHAMMER

So, remember how the Realm of Chaos in WFB can't be entered by any mortal at least without turning into a Daemon (these guys don't count)? Well, not anymore, thanks to a Kislevite Prince's stupidity. While Be'lakor is torturing Ursun, the Kislevite Prince enters the Realm of Chaos to try and free him, only to be corrupted by Chaos to the point he shoots the God-Bear in the heart when he finds him. Ursun roars in pain (though he doesn't die from this) and by that he weakens the border between Materium and Immaterium. In-game, this is represented by some sort of small Chaos Gates spawning every 30 turns or so. They can be closed (but you have to fight a small Daemon army after that), they can be traversed (you essentially get the ability to teleport to any other Gate and fast-travel with these), and they can lead to the Chaos Realms.

Each realm is somewhat unique in its abilities to fuck you over. Khorne's Domain forces you to battle with every other faction in there, Nurgle's one actively poisons and weakens your army, Tzeentch's lands have teleports that can lead you to an another random teleport in an annoying pattern. But by far Slaaneshite Circles of Seduction is the most interesting realm, as the Prince of Pleasure themself will offer you giant campaign buffs if you leave his domain everytime you get to another circle.

And yeah, any army can enter those Gates. That means that you can stumble across some Orcs & Goblins in Khorne's realm, or meet two-headed turkey in his god's archenemy's garden.

The Nine Realms of the Age of Sigmar
		Hysh
	Ghur		Chamon
Aqshy	Realm of Chaos			Ghyran
	Shyish		Azyr
		Ulgu