Factions - Chaos Space Marines

Of all the servants of the Dark Gods, the traitors and heretics who make up the Chaos Space Marines are the most powerful. Once, they were loyalist Space Marines, but now they are irrevocably damned. Driven by hate and obsession, for the promise of power they have sold their souls to continue their Long War.

The first Chaos Space Marines were members of those Legions that turned traitor against the Emperor ten thousand years ago. Under the leadership of their commanding Primarchs, they instigated the cataclysmic civil war known as the Horus Heresy. In its aftermath, these heretics escaped into the Eye of Terror, a huge warp rift far to the galactic north. The corrupting power of the warp spills into the galaxy in that region, and it is there that the Traitor Legions claimed worlds and raised their fortresses. From there, they continue to wage their bitter conflict against the Imperium. This Long War has lasted for ten millennia, with the traitors seeking to corrupt, conquer and despoil Humanity’s realm. Over that time, they have become tainted by the warp’s power and by the Dark Gods of Chaos that dwell within it. Some Chaos Space Marines openly worship the Dark Gods, wield sorcerous power or use unholy artefacts. Some even share their bodies with possessing daemons – supernatural servants of the Dark Gods – who cause them to mutate hideously.

The Long War is not only waged by the Traitor Legions, but also by Renegade Chapters of Adeptus Astartes who have turned traitor in the years since the Horus Heresy. Mortal cultists, mutants and turncoat soldiers also accompany warbands of Chaos Space Marines of all kinds, as well as battle tanks and daemon engines that are empowered by a malicious daemon bound to the vehicle’s iron chassis.