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This thread is dedicated to all of the largely overlooked Chaos bands that have a ton of potential (Magma Hounds, Bleak Brotherhood Bloodblessed, etc.), but which are rarely mentioned in fluff, similar to many SM chapters. One that is of particular interest to me is the Invocators, who focus heavily on summoning daemons. The closest comparison that I can think of to them is the Word Bearers, but from what I've read, they don't have the elaborate theology and religious ceremonies and ritual of the WB. Anyone have any theories on this and/or know where I can find fluff on them beyond the codex and the 40K wiki Chaos warband list?

Well, for starters I wouldn't really trust the 40k Wiki as it is less policed than Lexicanum. For all we know they could be someone's custom army that they've added themselves.

EDIT- they're on Lexicanum too. That's all there is to them.

To my knowledge you need either a really powerfull artifact or you know the rituals to summon daemons.

Since they don't seem to be ritualistic i think they got something that is quite powerfull.

their name prior to their fall was the "Clerics of steel" that to me suggests they likely do engage in rituals and the lilke

 Grimtuff wrote:
Well, for starters I wouldn't really trust the 40k Wiki as it is less policed than Lexicanum. For all we know they could be someone's custom army that they've added themselves.

EDIT- they're on Lexicanum too. That's all there is to them.

Well the first time I heard about them was in version 2.0 of the 8th ed. CSM codex, and that strikes me as pretty canon. As for the other featured warbands, from what I can tell, nearly all of them cite official GW sources, so I'm willing to believe that most of them are canon. Thanks for that info though, I didn't know that Lexcanum was better. Also, I always thought that the 40K Wiki had two sites, one for official canon and another for fanon.

The Invocators were first introduced in the 2017 CSM Codex. In the 2nd edition book they kept the exact same description & introduced a painted model in the gallery (wearing all purple instead of the blue/purple fade shown in the art). In the 2017 edition they were also mentioned as being one of the warbands that considered Possessed to be the most blessed of all warriors (p65), but in the 2019 edition that passage was removed to make way for a couple of paragraphs about Greater Possessed.

The closest analogue to them would clearly be the Word Bearers (like Possessed, Daemon-summoning, pre-fall name with religious connotations).

Cleris of Steel would infer a relationship with the Mechanicum. They may have a technological artifact that allows them to summon demons. Like a Adeptus Mechanicus version of the sta gate. A artifact they found as loyal SMs that corrupted them. Technology that deals with the warp is strictly controlled and often forbidden, as a interesting aside.

 Red Marine wrote:
Cleris of Steel would infer a relationship with the Mechanicum. They may have a technological artifact that allows them to summon demons. Like a Adeptus Mechanicus version of the sta gate. A artifact they found as loyal SMs that corrupted them. Technology that deals with the warp is strictly controlled and often forbidden, as a interesting aside.

That's an interesting theory, and might well be true. If so, they might now have a close relationship with the Dark Mechanicum, and may also explain that why even though they like daemons, they don't seem to put much emphasis on possession, unlike the WB and a bunch of smaller bands, some of whom are almost exclusively filled with possessed CSM. Depending on how powerful this artifact might be, the Invocators might theoretically be able to massive numbers of daemons with very little effort.

 ArcaneHorror wrote:

 Red Marine wrote:
Cleris of Steel would infer a relationship with the Mechanicum. They may have a technological artifact that allows them to summon demons. Like a Adeptus Mechanicus version of the sta gate. A artifact they found as loyal SMs that corrupted them. Technology that deals with the warp is strictly controlled and often forbidden, as a interesting aside.

That's an interesting theory, and might well be true. If so, they might now have a close relationship with the Dark Mechanicum, and may also explain that why even though they like daemons, they don't seem to put much emphasis on possession, unlike the WB and a bunch of smaller bands, some of whom are almost exclusively filled with possessed CSM. Depending on how powerful this artifact might be, the Invocators might theoretically be able to massive numbers of daemons with very little effort.

They are specifically noted in the 8.0 codex in the Possessed Chaos Marines blurb, as I posted above. Not sure how you took "not much emphasis on possession" from that.

 Marshal Loss wrote:

 ArcaneHorror wrote:

 Red Marine wrote:
Cleris of Steel would infer a relationship with the Mechanicum. They may have a technological artifact that allows them to summon demons. Like a Adeptus Mechanicus version of the sta gate. A artifact they found as loyal SMs that corrupted them. Technology that deals with the warp is strictly controlled and often forbidden, as a interesting aside.

That's an interesting theory, and might well be true. If so, they might now have a close relationship with the Dark Mechanicum, and may also explain that why even though they like daemons, they don't seem to put much emphasis on possession, unlike the WB and a bunch of smaller bands, some of whom are almost exclusively filled with possessed CSM. Depending on how powerful this artifact might be, the Invocators might theoretically be able to massive numbers of daemons with very little effort.

They are specifically noted in the 8.0 codex in the Possessed Chaos Marines blurb, as I posted above. Not sure how you took "not much emphasis on possession" from that.

Must have missed that. Well, that just makes them even more awesome.

I'd love for there to be more lore on Skyrar's Dark Wolves. Being traitorous Space Wolves is a really cool concept, and it would be fascinating to delve into their daily lives to see a twisted version of the culture established by Leman Russ. Would they have Norse equivalents to the Chaos gods, like how the Space Wolves call the Emperor the All-Father? What about Chaos Wulfen? The possibilities are endless.

HonestlyI'm kind of hoping that eventually we start to get index Astartes articles for chaos, not holding my breath on that though, there's a reason chaos was given rules for renegade chapters in =vigilius ablaze

 Red Marine wrote:
Cleris of Steel would infer a relationship with the Mechanicum. They may have a technological artifact that allows them to summon demons. Like a Adeptus Mechanicus version of the sta gate. A artifact they found as loyal SMs that corrupted them. Technology that deals with the warp is strictly controlled and often forbidden, as a interesting aside.

The Clerics of Steel were an Abyssal Crusade chapter. Based on the detailed descriptions of how chapters fell during the Abyssal Crusade, it's more likely that the chapter was simply overwhelmed by forces in the Eye of Terror and forcibly converted, similar to what happened to form the Magma Hounds, Corpus Brethren, and Vectors of Pox.

BrianDavion wrote:
HonestlyI'm kind of hoping that eventually we start to get index Astartes articles for chaos, not holding my breath on that though, there's a reason chaos was given rules for renegade chapters in =vigilius ablaze

yeah, except that we got the Renegade triats limited to gods in 4 / 5 cases.
Meaning that homebrew renegade chapters and others that might have similar enough abilities to justify the traits are out of luck.

Because screw fun.
Altough i can understand it in regards to purge trait and slaanesh stratagem.

Not Online!!! wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
HonestlyI'm kind of hoping that eventually we start to get index Astartes articles for chaos, not holding my breath on that though, there's a reason chaos was given rules for renegade chapters in =vigilius ablaze

yeah, except that we got the Renegade triats limited to gods in 4 / 5 cases.
Meaning that homebrew renegade chapters and others that might have similar enough abilities to justify the traits are out of luck.

Because screw fun.
Altough i can understand it in regards to purge trait and slaanesh stratagem.

legion traits being limited to gods though has precidance though. the emperor's children is limited to Slaaanish, world eaters to Khrone. no one has ever taken issue with that. most people took it as logical because those legions where khornite and slaanishi. the same applies for those renegade chapters.