Primarch (Founder): Horus

Armour Colors: Black with gunmetal trims.

Legion Symbol: A gold-yellow eight-pointed star.

The Black Legion is the only Traitor Legion to have changed its name in its 10,000 years of exile. The legion was originally created during the First Founding as the Luna Wolves, but it was as the Sons of Horus that the legion fought in the Horus Heresy, serving as his praetorians throughout his campaigns. They were the first to remove the symbol of the Imperial eagle from their armour and banners and replace it with the Eye of Horus which became such a dread icon of Chaos to the Imperium. When Horus was defeated the other Traitor Legions blamed the Sons of Horus for beginning the rout from Earth by retreating into Warp Space with the body of their beloved Warmaster, leaving the horde leaderless below.

Although it is very difficult to be sure, it appears that once in the Eye of Terror the Sons of Horus fought ferocious battles with the other legions for possession of key worlds and resources, fighting to re-establish themselves as the prime legion. Although evidence is fragmentary at best, it seems that these internecine conflicts eventually culminated in the destruction of the Sons' final fortress by a combined force of other Traitor Legions. To add to the ignominity the Warmaster's body was removed and cloned, much to the disgust of the remaining Sons. Denied their Warmaster the Sons of Horus swore allegiance to Abaddon, Captain of the First Company, as their new Warmaster.

Black Legion Marines are proud and arrogant warriors, more so than any other legion. They also possess a higher number of Terminator-suits than the other Legions, allowing them to equip more of their number with the heavy Terminator armour, making each armoured marine the equivalent of a tank.

Primarch: Konrad, Night Haunter

Armour Colors: Midnight blue with gold-brass trims.

Legion Symbol: A bat-winged skull

When the Horus Heresy erupted, the Night Lords had no hesitation in joining Horus against the Emperor. The Legion had already earned a reputation for ferocity and savagery and there is compelling evidence that the Emperor was already planning to disband the Legion before the Horus Heresy made such action impossible. In any case, once they had sided with the Warmaster the night Lords embarked on a campaign of genocide and terror that has rarely, if ever, been equalled. Even after Horus had been defeated the Night Lords continued to attack the Imperium from their homeworld deep within the wilderness area of space known as the Eastern Fringes, though increasingly without any discernible plan or motivations for their stealthy more murderous attacks. Finally then Imperial assassin M'Shen managed to infiltrate their base and slay their Primarch and with this act the Night Lords quickly stopped being an organised threat to the Imperium.

The survivors made their way to the Eye of Terror, where they continue to take part in raids on the Imperium to this day. All of the evidence appears to indicate that they do not worship any of the Chaos gods and have instead become cynical, hard-bitten and frighteningly ruthless warriors who fight for the pleasure of fighting and the material rewards it can bring. Dome reports imply that this breeds a more contemptuous attitude towards their more dedicated brethren, be they fanatical Chaos Space Marines such as Khorne Berzerkers or zealous loyal Space Marines like the Dark Angels or Ultramarines.

Primarch: Perturabo

Armour Colors: Gunmetal with gold trims

Legion Symbol: Silver skull on a gold eight-pointed star of Chaos

The Iron Warriors once formed the Emperor's most able body of siege troops. The Iron Warriors' Primarch, Perturabo, excelled in siege and trench warfare above all else and his treatise on fortifications and their destruction formed the basis of several sections of the Tactica Imperium which is still in use today (!).

For reasons long forgotten, the Iron Warriors betrayed their oaths to the Emperor in the wake of the dropsite massacres on Istvaan V and declared their allegiance to Horus. After Isvaan the Chapter split up to fight on a dozen other worlds and contingents of Iron Warriors led assaults against the Imperial Palace. Wherever Iron Warriors fought they built huge evil citadels in their wake and held them against all comers. Even after Horus' defeat the Iron Warriors were only removed from Imperial worlds at a terrible price. The surviving Iron Warriors were driven back into the Eye of Terror, but their skills are still called upon for assaults on fortresses of the Imperium today, as the destruction of the Cadians' 'impregnable' bastion line on Magnot Four-Zero well demonstrates.

Iron Warriors Marines favour firepower and armoured assaults as opposed to close combat, although when they do engage in close combat they are often bloodily excessive. Iron Warriors Marines' armour is superior to most of the other Traitor Legions and they can sustain much more damage than others before being driven off.

Primarch: Alpharius

Armour Colours: Deep blue with gunmetal trims

Legion Symbol: A three-headed hydra

The Alpha Legion was the twentieth and last legion created in the First Founding. Though the youngest, or perhaps because of it, the Alpha Legion sought to outshine its brethren in all things, as if to prove their worthiness amidst the older Legions. Their pride led to a number of incidents where members of the Alpha Legion clashed with and even fought against members of the other Legions in existence at the time. In particular there seems to have been a strong mutual hatred between the Alpha Legion and Imperial Fists as they had clashed on more than one occasion prior to the Heresy.

When Horus made his pact with Chaos, the martial pride of the Alpha Legion was their downfall and they were among the first to join him. The Legion clashed with loyal Space Marines on Istvaan V and in the campaigns thereafter, any need for restraint forgotten. Even after the Heresy failed the Legion has continued to fight a covert war against the Space Marines and there are dozens of well-documented instances of their raiding parties sallying out from secret bases to catch the defenders of Humanity unaware: sabotaging bases, attacking shipping fleets and destroying small outposts with deadly efficiency.

Primarch: Magnus the Red

Armour Colours: Alternating blue-yellow with gold trims

Legion Symbol: A sea-dragon

The path of damnation for the Thousand Sons Legion was longer than most. Even before the Heresy they studied the arcane lore and sorcery despite the Emperor's warnings to stay clear of such matters. When Horus gathered his forces against the Imperium, the Thousand Sons at first tried to use their occult powers to warn the Emperor. Mistrustful of anything tinged by Chaos, the Emperor declared them heretics and sent the Space Wolves to devastate the Thousand Sons' homeworld of Prospero.

Fleeing this onslaught the Thousand Sons sought the patronage of the Chaos power Tzeentch, greatest wielder of magic among the Chaos Gods. Tzeentch favoured them well and the Thousand Sons escaped to the Eye of Terror, where they settled on the world which became known as the Planet of the Sorcerors. As ever with events that take place within the Eye of Terror, it is difficult to find confirmatory evidence, but it appears that as time passed many Thousand Sons declined into mutation and madness under the warping influence if the Lord of Change. The Sorcerors became increasingly disturbed by the degeneration of their brethren until they eventually risked undertaking the drastic Rubric of Ahriman which purged the Thousand Sons of those members which were considered 'unworthy', and which created the strangely robotic Thousand Sons Chaos Space Marines encountered today.

A number of special rules apply to Thousand Sons Marines as detailed below.

Fearless- Thousand Sons Marines never fall back and cannot be pinned therefore it is impossible to scare them away or force them into hiding.

All is Dust- For all intents and purposes, Thousand Sons are animated suits of power armour that have to be blown to pieces or hacked apart in order to disable them and release the trapped bodiless souls inside. As a result only high power ranged attacks will harm a Thousand Sons Marine although melee attacks will affect them normally.

Slow and Purposeful- Thousand Sons Marines advance in a slow methodical manner, laying down a constant hail of fire with their bolters. They may never charge into a melee although they will defend normally, but always count as being stationary when firing their bolters, even if they have moved.

Primarch: Fulgrim

Armour Colours: Deep red-purple with gold trims.

Legion Symbol: A raven's wing

The Emperor's Children were among the units assigned to crush Horus and his rebel Chapters on Istvaan V. During a parley the Legion's Primarch, Fulgrim and his highest ranking officers were corrupted by the decadent pastimes that Horus and his chaos worshippers offered. Drugged, pleasured beyond endurance and finally broken, they agreed to aid Horus. The rot quickly spread to the whole Legion and the Emperor's Children willingly embraced Chaos in all its indolent depravity. The Imperial Cult was quickly supplanted by the more gratifying worship of Slaanesh.

As one of the Traitor Legions, the Emperor's Children invaded Earth but took little part in the actual fighting around the Imperial Palace. When the assault failed the Emperor's Children fled into the Eye of Terror with the rest of the Traitor Legions. They were the first to begin raiding Imperial worlds for captives and plunder. Their excesses soon knew no bounds and simple raiding could not supply enough raw human material for their orgies of worship. At this point it appears that the Emperor's Children turned on the slaves and servants of the other Traitor Legions, an action which began a series of bloody wars within the Eye of Terror. If their was indeed a civil war it appears to have been resolved or temporarily forgotten, for their have been proven cases of the Emperor's Children Legion taking part in joint raids on the Imperium during the last several millennia.

It is worth noting that the Emperor's Children Marines are the only Chaos Marines who seem to show any interest or delight in sexual activities as it seems to strengthen their bond to the God.

Primarch: Mortarion

Armour Colours: Black with green-yellow shoulder pads and gunmetal trims.

Legion Symbol: Three skulls arranged in a triangle

When Horus led his attack on the Emperor, the rebel Death Guard Legion was marooned in the warp where a mysterious contagion began to spread from ship to ship. The stinking pestilence bloated the gut, distended the flesh and turned its victims rotten from the inside. Eventually Mortarion himself became infected and in his delirium called upon the powers of Chaos to aid the Space Marines. Mortarion's fevered ravings were answered by Nurgle, the Chaos God of Death and Decay, and Mortarion became Nurgle's Champion.

The Death Guard, newly dedicated to Nurgle, arrived in time to take part in Horus' attack on Earth and fought in all the major battles of the campaign. As the disease began to disfigure the Death Guard, their appearance changed into the disgusting form they still bear today and the once tall and noble Space Marines of the Death Guard became Plague Marines of Nurgle Following Horus' defeat, Mortarion led his Death Guard on a merry dance of destruction over a score of planets until finally retreating with the remnants of the Legion into the Eye of Terror.

Following their retreat from the material universe, it becomes difficult to say with certainty what happened to the Death Guard. However, it seems likely that Mortarion received Nurgle's ultimate reward and became a fully-fledged Daemon Prince, ruling over a Plague world in the Eye of Terror. From this dark and slimy orb Mortarion launches fleets of Plague ships into the warp to carry their contagions throughout the galaxy.

A number of special rules apply to Death Guard Marines as detailed below.

Fearless- Death Guard Marines never fall back and cannot be pinned therefore it is impossible to scare them away or force them into hiding.

Plague Knives- These weapons are daggers which drip which venomous slime, capable of killing mortal creatures outright. There is a high chance that any wounds caused to a mortal creature by one of these weapons will kill outright, even if only a minor scratch. They will NOT however affect: Undead, Daemons, Vampires, Androids, Robots, Fae, Faeries, Wraithguard, Wraithlords

Nurgle's Rot- A powerful contagion which has the same effects as a Plague Knife with the same limitations.

Primarch: Angron

Armour Colours: Deep red with brass trim

Legion Symbol: A planet being eaten whole within a large fanged maw

Even before the Heresy the World Eaters were noted for their savagery and were censured by the Emperor for their use of psycho-surgery on new recruits to turn them into frothing madmen. Nonetheless they were invaluable troops in the Great Crusade and fought at the forefront of all of the greatest campaigns. However their ferocity made it a simple matter for Horus to quickly pervert the World Eaters' bloody Legion rituals to the worship of Chaos, most notably the Chaos God Khorne, Lord of Skulls, Blood and Battle.

Once renowned for their unswerving loyalty to the Emperor, the World Eaters became renown for carnage and terror during the Heresy. They always fought in the vanguard of the Traitor Legions and their Legion records show that it was they and not the Sons of Horus who first breached the walls of the Imperial Palace. The World Eaters retreated from Terra only grudgingly and fought their way to the Eye of Terror, carving a bloody swathe through anything that impeded them. All evidence points to the World Eaters strengthening their blood traditions while in exile. All pretences of forming balanced, tactical forces has now fallen away and they are now entirely armed with pistols and close combat weapons, chain-axes and chainswords becoming the favoured tools of bloodshed.

There! All the Legions! Well most of them anyway. Remember, with your Chaos Marine try to rp in the style of Duke Nukem, Lobo, Venom or Carnage. They are cold heartless warriors with twisted morals who have no care in the world.

IMPORTANT!!!! Chaos Marines should not be used as 'everyday' cs!!! They are just too damn strong! Only rp with your Chaos Marine when other Marines are around. It is worth noting that Marines of the World Eaters Legion despise Emperor's Children and Thousand Sons therefore will not work alongside them unless unified by a powerful Daemon or Chaos Lord (such as Abaddon).

Oh yes...unless your Marine is of the Emperor's Children you should NOT by any means get involved in a relationship! Chaos Marines are cold, bitter warriors who no longer know of love or affection.

And on a final note...when using your Chaos Marine it IS a good idea to be brash and arrogant. Demand beer and food. If the barmaid gets snobby then DO attack her, threaten to kill her. If Knights and suchlike challenge you to a fight then by all means accept and play dirty! After all, whoever said Chaos was honourable?