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I have a feeling it'd help people understand 40k a little better if we all put our collective knowledge about traitor legions together and contribute what we've learned about them. More specifically, how this should translate to the tabletop. If any errors are made, point them out. Cite your books, format your responses however you like, but if you're not sure what exactly I'm talking about, here's an example:

Having read the Word Bearer's Omnibus I learned that the Word Bearers don't have Chaos Lords, but rather have Dark Apostles which maintain control (excluding the Council of Sicarus, the effective lords of the legion while Lorgar's away) and next to the Dark Apostle they have a Coryphaeus (greek for chorus leader[?] Used in modern speech as chief or principal of a group) who oversees military action for the Dark Apostle, essentially the General of the Host, which is what they refer to their companies as. Hosts can range from several hundred to several thousand, but generally the Word Bearers try to manage them by training the First Acolyte, the third and final member of a Host's command, to become a new Dark Apostle and either take over a Host in the event of a Dark Apostle's fall, or, if all goes well, break off with what extra resources the host has to begin an entirely new Host of his own.

Other notable features of this legion include:

-They don't use Sorcerers. Something about keeping the warp sacred, I think...

-Their Dark Apostles (and by extension their Acolytes) are implied to almost, if not always, be a psyker. How else are you going to be the spiritual leader if you can't even commune with the Warp? Makes sense to me.

-Out of all legions, they are the most likely to summon daemons/have daemons already summoned.

-They worship the pantheon itself (Chaos Undivided) and have only a light tolerance for those who only worship one god. As far as renegades that don't worship, it's convert or die. Their name implies that they will usually (if they don't already hate you for something) try to convert you to their ways before fighting you.

-Even though they worship all gods equally, they do allow those of lower rank leniency to follow a specific god (However regulated. They seem to worship Slaanesh through sadism and masochism and detest the idea of decadent behavior.) This definitely applies to Marks, but most likely doesn't apply to cult units (berserkers, plague marines, etc.)

-Their most frequently summoned daemon is the Chaos Fury (by a wide margin, if the novels are anything to go by)

-They have plenty of resources at their disposal and are one of, if not the second most powerful traitor legion next to the Black Legion.

-They have a high opinion of themselves, even for a traitor legion. They get offended easily, treat other astartes like people, people like punching bags, and xenos as abominations that must die.

How to represent all this on the tabletop

Do's include:

-Use the Dark Apostle! You could use the rules for the actual Dark Apostle in the codex, or use it under the Sorcerer rules instead if you want him to be the daemon-summoning, face-melting type.

-Use possessed! They're the Word Bearer's Favorite!

-Convert and mutate! The Word Bearers love mutation and you'd do well to add a few noticable mutants to your army outside any possessed you might include.

-Use cultists! The Word Bearers love seeding other planets with their cults, and love using their cultists as meatshields for their marines once the fight starts.

-Run a Coryphaeus using the rules for a Chaos Lord, just like how you could use a First Acolyte and/or Dark Apostle model under Sorcerer rules or Dark Apostle rules (if you don't want to play with house rules).

-House rules! The Word Bearers (much like any legion) have access to some very strange and unique things, the only limit to what special machines, artifacts, powers they might have is your own imagination. Go wild.

-House rules! Field a Coryphaeus or First Acolyte, or even a unique Dark Apostle model of your very own as your own Independent Character!

-Ally with Daemons. Don't just summon them, don't even just have them ally with you---Warp Storms are something that the Word Bearers actually work to summon... Try making Daemons your main detachment sometime.

-Use anything! The Word Bearers have access to pretty much anything that they desire and as such can be seen using any unit in the Chaos Space Marines book in any amount. Next to the Black and Alpha Legion, they're probably the least limited legion in that regard. Exceptions are as follows:

Don'ts include:

-Don't use a Chaos Lord. The Word Bearers don't have any of those.

-Don't use a Sorcerer. See above. (exception to both if they're in different colors. The Word Bearers have entertained guests before.)

-Don't always use the Dark Apostle model. He's the boss---he shouldn't be in the average fight. Instead try a First (or Second, Third, etc.) Acolyte model instead.

-Don't field Berserkers, Plague Marines, or Noise Marines unless they're part of a separate legion. The Word Bearers don't allow their own to go full tilt in one direction like that.


Lastly, keep in mind all of this is subject to change as I don't work for Games Workshop and 40k lore is expansive to the point where it occasionally contradicts itself. Hopefully I've got everything about the Word Bearers straight.

You can use Lord as Coryphaeus.

In the HH books, Word Bearer Chaplains (= Dark Apostles) can take Burning Lore, making them psykers.

Good move by FW.

Nice idea. But maybe refrain from using houserules as much as possible. Not everybody gets to use them and if your going houserules, the best is still...use a fandex.

And to add to word bearers. Consider using Crimson slaughter. No veterans kinda sucks, but getting possessed as troops is big enough of a boon to disregard that. You other get a better apostle thanks to the maul.

Or consider using the FW HH book five(?). That's probably closer to a 40K Word Bearers army than the current dex is. Due to possesed contemptors and like Ashiraya said, psyker chaplains.

Also, include possessed vehicles.

Don'ts:
Don't include daemon engines (?) Since it's considered punishment among daemons.

I enjoyed your article and i too enjoyed the word bearer omnibus. I think using too many house rules pretty much takes away from the game...it never hurts to proxy a different model with a different dex stat line though. (dark apostle fig with a chaos lord points/stat line)

In a way i kind of miss the old chaos dex that had the extra rules in the back so you could half ass play the other legions besides the big popular ones(thousand sons ETC). I remember iron warriors could take imperial guard heavys and i believe the word bearers had access to any demon, but could only use mark of undivided/

The novella Daemon World has a (ex) Word Bearer who is definitely a sorcerer. Goes by Karnulon a.k.a. Arguleon Veq

Night Lords and Iron Warriors are where most of my knowledge lies after 20+ years of playing them in various incarnations.
Night Lords- Not a fan of chaos at all with the exception of a few individual warbands, which I will let someone else detail. They like most of the legions broke apart after the Heresy and were the last of the Legions to make a run for the Eye and not even all of them did that. The most charismatic of leaders is required to hold these warbands together and most bands consist of a ship or two and their complements. They will come together in times of need however and fight as a Legion, especially when it comes to something to do with their primarch who for some reason they still revere as a father figure, even though he really didn't like them very much. They look down on anyone using chaos as if it is a crutch, although several prominent commanders have succumbed to its influence. Those commanders are followed but not well received by the rank and file. Chaos gets its claws into everything so many marines have been marked and simply don't even know it but it isn't a case of cult type behavior. Just what seems like personality quirks, thus very subtle for the most part. They are tragic in that most of them know they are the bad guys, they don't like it, but they are who they are.

On the field- Atramentar - terminator units are somewhat rare in the Night Lords. You will not see them in any great numbers and rarely full squads.

They will strike from the shadows, and commit terrorist-like attacks which do not show well on the table rules wise. In 30k they get equipment that causes fear which is of limited use. Infiltration is the best rule for them to have out of whats available. They also like jump packs, bikes and are avid users of aircraft as transports to get them there. Storm Eagles, Dread Claws, and Caestus Assault Rams would be normal for them along with Thunderhawks and Storm Wings.

They do have armored elements as well, with full formations in the heresy, but I wouldn't expect to see their use outside a full on assault type scenario. They have their share of dreads and contemptors and not all of them are insane.

I would never use marked squads and definitely no cult squads. At most commanders with marks. Daemon engines would likely almost be non-existent except for the oddball corrupt warband.

Icons of vengeance, dirge casters, pinning weapons are things I think ruleswise have gimmicks that match the Nightlords (basically anti-leadership/disruption abilities).

Deepstriking fear causers like mutilators, raptors and warp talons fit as unit types (I don't think nightlords care so much about these are the kind of 'daemons').

I'd also take squads with large numbers of well equipped marines to represent their tendency to attack in overwhelming force.


I think the most important thing to remember is although there may be general trends to warbands, anything is possible so feel free to do whatever you see fit and feel free to bend the fluff to suit your own warband.

It was my impression that cultists are ok too. In that they are prisoners or cults or whatever that are let loose on the population to cause chaos prior to their attack. They aren't affiliated with the night lords per se, but you would see often see cultists causing havoc when the night lords take to battle.
As for their fate after the battle...well, that's not part of the table top ^^

 King Pariah wrote:
The novella Daemon World has a (ex) Word Bearer who is definitely a sorcerer. Goes by Karnulon a.k.a. Arguleon Veq

I would argue that Veq is Karnulon, it's likely that Veq killed Karnulon for his craft to get to Torvendis but that's for a another time . But Karnulon was certainly a sorcerer.

The Word Bearers are heavily mired in Sorcery. You can tell from the Horus Heresy series that it's quite a big part of their identity. Marduk himself uses sorcery to replace his commander in Dark Heart in the Mark of Calth anthology. The Book of Lorgar contains what I can put in simple terms as spells. The warp flasks, supplicants on the Furious Abyss, the rituals I would put down as forms of sorcery. I don't think the Dark Apostle in the codex is a true representation of the stature that someone like Jarulek or Marduk have.

The Chaos Codex seems to have moved any from undivided saying the the Word Bearers now each venerate a single aspect of the Pantheon.

In the Word Bearers series they use things which are like Dirge Casters that emit howls and wails and Daemon sounds that demoralize the slaves they have working for them.

 Naberiel wrote:
You can use Lord as Coryphaeus.

Good idea! Edited that into my original post.

In the fluff they are varied and distinguishable. On the table top? Ever since the 5th edition Codex it's been something like:

World Eaters - Angry Red baddie Space Marines. They like corn, or something...

Iron Warriors - Bitter Siver baddie Space Marines. You can't crash into them, because hazard stripes.

Emperor's Children - Pink and black baddie Space Marines. They like punk rawk n stuff.

Death Guard - Gross green baddie Space Marines. They're harder to kill.

Thousand Sons - Blue robot baddie Space Marines. They like magic.

Night Lords - Fast Batman baddie Space Marines. Batmaaaan!

Word Bearers - Red Jehovah's Witness baddie Space Marines.

Alpha Legion - Green and blue baddie Space Marines.

Black Legion - Black dickless incompetent baddie Space Marines.

Basically, you could have identical armies of any of these. All that would be different is paint scheme. Hell, with Chapter Tactics and all even loyalist Marines have more to differentiate them now.

Nobody? Maybe at this level I'm in a niche inside of a niche. Oh my. Whatever the case, here's a little extra I can throw out, this time about the Iron Warriors. I haven't read the Iron Warriors omnibus, but after reading 2 novels and 1 short story featuring their 40k tactics and infrastructure, here are a few things I've noticed:

-Iron Warriors follow a Warsmith. This could be someone that looks like the CSM Warpsmith model, or your standard Chaos Lord under a different name. Pretty much the biggest differences, aside from their obvious theme of vehicles, mechs, and daemon engines, are as follows:

-They use mortal slaves to fight for them. Be it human, mutant, or xeno. An able body is a slave and a slave will be used for whatever they need, labor or soldier. That said, they could have all manor of infantry but more than likely what will be seen is a meager human or humanoid with a lasgun equivalent. So instead of cultists, you may want to run some Renegade militia themed to the pantheon (no plague ogryns or preachers of nurgle, sorry!) as allies instead of running cultists. I'm not sure if the Iron Warriors even use cults, as they seem to be more intent on seige and mechanical weaponry anyways.

-Use the Warpsmith! For obvious reasons, this would make a classic Warsmith. Hopefully you've noticed by now that there's a differentiation between Warsmith, who is the Lord of an Iron Warriors... company? And a War*p*smith, who is just a chaos techmarine. In any case, he was basically made for you Iron Warriors players and should be picked up pretty much as soon as you start your army.

-The Iron Warriors seem to have very few actual marines. Perhaps that's why they rely so much on others to perform the lion's share of the fighting for them, leaving their marines to only do what work no others would be able to do. Also, if you're going to follow this route (and you should) you really owe it to yourself to upgrade them with Games Workshop's Iron Warrior's Upgrade kit. It turns your basic Chaos Space Marines into proper Iron Warriors. Cost shouldn't be much of an obstacle considering you won't have that many marines to buy it for.

-Obliterators. In case you didn't know, Iron Warriors are pretty much famous for using Obliterators. They probably have more Obliterators than anyone else. And by the way, I don't know if Mutilators are a retcon or what, but I'm pretty sure they're both the same thing... Even if the obliterators somehow forgot how to make a sharp piece of metal.

-Make use of anything with a vehicle profile in the book. As much as you want. Honestly I'd pick a Forgeworld Dreadnaught over a Helbrute for these guys if only because it fits the whole theme of armor better.

-Don't use Dark Apostles. The Iron Warriors don't worship the warp.

-Don't take Chaos Daemons or Possessed. They don't seem to make any use of daemons outside of fusing them to weapons, machines, and other controlled constructs. I don't think they trust them.

-You can take cultists, but that'd be more of a hasty defense of factory workers than it would be an actual assembly of heretics. In any case, I would at least use alternative models to the Chaos Cultists, seeing as how their chaotic look doesn't jive with the uniform theme the Iron Warriors have.

-I'm not sure what their stance on sorcerers are, but signs point to no. My guess would be that they don't really use chaos in that way at all.

And that's pretty much all I know about the Iron Warriors. I'm sure most of it was stuff you already knew but hey, maybe you learned something.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@ Lord Corellia

Unfortunately that has indeed been the case in recent years.

But with the Warpsmith and Dark Apostle models, we've been given 2 solid new tools with which to create actual post-heresy legion armies that look and play at least something like how they're depicted.

It just takes some renaming, rule bending, or in worst case scenario, house rules

For Iron Warriors, they are big on (a) siege work and (b) dark mechanicus shennanigans.

You should probably look at including artillery - the Defiler is both a siege artillery piece and a good linebreaker engine, so is not a bad idea narratively.

Iron Warriors use some sorcerers, but they're generally distrusted and only used out of necessity.

Might also be interesting to point out that lots of Iron Warriors from the assault companies worship Khorne - could be a reason to give some units a MoK or to include some Berzerkers.

I don't like how the Alpha Legion have taken most of the things that used to define the Fallen. Like extensive use of regular humans, trying to incite rebellions, etc, and not hanging around for a stand up knock down with the Imperium.

I wouldn't say Oblits are ubiquitous with Iron Warriors. They are a relatively recent addition to the codex in general.

They have just as many marines as any other Legion, they just enjoy heavy weapons more so actually this would be one of the few legions that has a lot of havoc squads. This legion would definitely field more heavy armor and warmachines than anyone else and likely would have captured and repaired Knights as well.

They also seem to be fairly frivolous with the lives of their marines as long as they do their duty to the Legion. And yes, they make extensive use of slaves and foot trooper fodder. The Siege Army list from Baddab would be a perfect list to play IW with in 40k.

 Silverthorne wrote:
I don't like how the Alpha Legion have taken most of the things that used to define the Fallen. Like extensive use of regular humans, trying to incite rebellions, etc, and not hanging around for a stand up knock down with the Imperium.

Have taken?

They were pretty much like that from 3rd edition.

 Quarterdime wrote:

-Don't take Chaos Daemons or Possessed. They don't seem to make any use of daemons outside of fusing them to weapons, machines, and other controlled constructs. I don't think they trust them.

The old 3.5 book actually says that Iron Warriors do have possessed, but they are unique in that they harness Daemonic energies to power cybernetic enhancements. So technically it fits if they are modeled properly.

Thousand Sons should ONLY have psykers and Rubric Marines on the tabletop. Any Thousand Son without psychic powers was turned to dust. Sooo:

Chaos Sorcerer to lead the army. No Chaos Lords, Warpsmiths, Dark Apostles, etc. They're dust.
Fancy Chaos relics are good to upgrade with. Tsons Sorcerers love to collect that stuff.
No CSM besides Rubric Marines. That includes Raptors, Bikers, Havocs, etc. Cultists are okay though, with Mark of Tzeentch or otherwise. Tsons frequently manipulate regular humans to do their bidding.
Daemon engines and Tzeentch Daemon allies can be taken, although they probably shouldn't be in too large numbers. Tsons aren't big daemon fanboys and would be wary about losing control of them.
Vehicles... they don't seem to use them much in the fluff, but Rhinos, Predators, and Land Raiders can probably be taken in moderation.
Sadly, a fluffy army of Tsons is pretty much guaranteed to suck on the tabletop, due to Rubric Marines being central to the army, and sucking so badly.

World eaters.

I was gonna follow op and write what to do and what not to do, but gw can't write and the chaos dex sucks the big one.

So basically if you want to just play hh traitor stuff and it's much much better at representing chaos and the Legion's than anything gw can do.

I think for world eaters the best advice is to take them as small, warbands that work as mercenaries in larger forces.

World Eaters are frequently seen working as line breakers in Iron Warrior forces and in the vanguard of Black Legion campaigns.

 fallinq wrote:
Thousand Sons should ONLY have psykers and Rubric Marines on the tabletop. Any Thousand Son without psychic powers was turned to dust. Sooo:

Chaos Sorcerer to lead the army. No Chaos Lords, Warpsmiths, Dark Apostles, etc. They're dust.
Fancy Chaos relics are good to upgrade with. Tsons Sorcerers love to collect that stuff.
No CSM besides Rubric Marines. That includes Raptors, Bikers, Havocs, etc. Cultists are okay though, with Mark of Tzeentch or otherwise. Tsons frequently manipulate regular humans to do their bidding.
Daemon engines and Tzeentch Daemon allies can be taken, although they probably shouldn't be in too large numbers. Tsons aren't big daemon fanboys and would be wary about losing control of them.
Vehicles... they don't seem to use them much in the fluff, but Rhinos, Predators, and Land Raiders can probably be taken in moderation.
Sadly, a fluffy army of Tsons is pretty much guaranteed to suck on the tabletop, due to Rubric Marines being central to the army, and sucking so badly.

That's pretty on the nose for Thousand Sons, even though a lot of people don't like to hear that for some reason. I mean honestly, they're the most frequently-allied traitor legion in the fluff, perhaps even the most frequently allied CSM in warhammer 40k period. There's practically a demand for you to ally them with Tzeentch Daemonkin or whoever else if you want to play them, so I don't see what the big deal is. There is one thing, though... There had to be SOME Thousand Sons wearing Terminator armor at the time the Rubric was cast. No mention of them, though.

Black Legion:

Originally the 3rd largest legion, their Primarch was Horus whom they now either despise as a weakling or revere as a hero depending on the source. First to flee the Siege of Terra they copped the blame for the failure (even though the Emperors Children played no part at all during the fight). Their Primarch was cloned which sets off a series of wars between the Black Legion (still called "Sons of Horus" at this time) and the other Traitors. Upon destroying the Horus clones (they appear to be poor facsimiles of Horus, the novel Talon of Horus features one of them) the new Warmaster, Abaddon the Despoiler renames the Legion and sets them on course to continue the Long War, which they continue to wage into the 41st Millennium.

They've risen from being the scapegoat of the other Legions, to being the architects of the Black Crusades and represent the largest threat to the Imperium of all the Traitor Legions. Equal opportunity employers, they will recruit traitors from other Legions, or recent renegades from thinblood post-heresy chapter foundings. All are welcome to serve the Warmaster, so long as they forsake their previous allegiance - this is achieved by repainting their armour to the trademark black and gold of the Black Legion. By the end of the 41st Millennium they have risen to become the largest of the Traitor Legions, outnumbering the second largest legion by a factor of 10:1.


Technically an "Undivided" legion, they differ from the Word Bearers significantly in their dogma. Where the Word Bearers view Chaos as a Pantheon and despise those who turn to a single god, the Black Legion view the individual Gods as facets of the Pantheon, worth of individual worship in exchange for - often temporary - boons. It is not uncommon for a Black Legionnaire to have devoted individual worship to several of the Gods over the course of the Long War. Chaos is often viewed as a tool to use, rather than an object of worship, by many among the Black Legion - including the Warmaster himself.

Their main rivals among the traitors would be the Emperors Children (for playing no role in the Siege of Terra, the cloning of Horus and the subsequent slave wars) and the Word Bearers (for ideological differences in regards to the prosecution of the Long War). No particular rivalry with any Loyal chapter, viewing first founding chapters with slightly less disgust than later foundings. The Blood Angels hold a special hatred for the Black Legion, due to Sanguinius meeting his end at Horus' hands, and later atrocities committed by the Black Legion on the Blood Angels. The Black Legion however hold no particular hatred towards the Angels beyond the contempt they feel for all Loyalists.

---

Black Legion appealed to me because basically everything available to Chaos Marines is a viable choice when you're looking to create a themed force. The Black Legion includes examples of all four cult troops (Bezerkers, Noisemarines etc etc), some recruited from their original legions, others created in the millenia since. Note that these cult troops will not keep their original colour schemes, at most they will keep one shoulderpad red/purple/whatever but the remainder should be painted black.

Some ideas for Black Legion themed units:

- Possessed - The Black Legion are capable of exorcising the possessed, allowing Legionnaires temporary access to the power of the warp with considerably less risk than possessed from other legions. Somewhat contradictory however, Black Legionnaires view possession as a great honour.

- Defilers - Originally created by the Black Legion, the original Daemon engine fits a Black Legion army like a glove.

- Chosen - Several sources refer to the Black Legion as a "Traitor Elite", their forces often feature large quantities of Long War veterans and Aspiring Champions, attracted to the black due to its reputation as the primary prosecutor of the Long War and eager for the glory promised by the Warmaster.

- Terminators - For much the same reason as Chosen. In fact I don't see why they don't just make terminator armour an option for Chosen rather than having two separate entries for almost identical units. Terminators often featured in the Crusade-era Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus 'Speartip' attacks which were a favourite tactic of the Legion.

- Cultists/Guard allies/IA13 R&H/Dark Mechanicum - The Black Legion makes use of billions of slave troops and auxiliary forces. A Black Crusade is a huge undertaking and even the largest Traitor Legion will only make up a fraction of the total numbers involved.

- Big dog Abaddon - The Black Legion are the Warmasters own. He's more expensive than a Land Raider, but that topknot is worth at least 50pts by itself. Glorious.

I personally liked the 3.5 Codex forcing you to sacrifice some options to take others. Khorne worshippers couldn't be in an army led by a Slaaneshi character, for example. Another one I remember is Iron Warriors being able to take 1 fast attack choice and 4 heavy support in a standard FOC. This was, of course, years before the unbound shenanigans.

I thought it added flavour to the army and played by the fluff. Sure, it limited you in some ways, but I like it a lot more than "I'm playing Black Legion painted silver/ red/ blue/ green/ etc" like the newest 'Dex is.

In the Black Legion supplement, everyone MUST take VotlW and Chosen become troops.

Worth considering.

Alpha Legion: Use Ultramarines out of Codex: Space Marines.

 Psienesis wrote:
Alpha Legion: Use Ultramarines out of Codex: Space Marines.

With allied IG vets to represent their highly trained, special ops level cultists.

 fallinq wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
Alpha Legion: Use Ultramarines out of Codex: Space Marines.

With allied IG vets to represent their highly trained, special ops level cultists.

... or the gullible IG regiments they've conned into serving their ends by dressing up as Ultramarines.

Is 40K Alpha Legion's battle cry still "For the Emperor"?

For my black crusade army I assembled some of my AL with aquilla breastplates.