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"In this year of Ulric's Grace, there were great sigils and portents of doom and destruction. The statue of the Wolf was heard to howl for death, and there were many children born with twisted feet or hands or other such Mutations. Great beasts were seen to fly through the air and block out the sun and a Famine and Plague did grip the coastal villages. Even as these Ails did pass, reavers emerged from the seas with sails of Blood and Death and laid waste to a temple and three towns upon our coast, killing or enslaving those who did not flee and plundering what little they could. They wore strange armour and fought beneath the banner of the wolf, as if mocking our Faith."

—The Chronicle of Middenland, depicting the bloodthirsty ravages of the Chaos-worshipping Norscans[3a]
Chaos Marauder

A Norscan Marauder howling as he enters the fray.

A Chaos Marauder, also known simply as a Marauder, is one of the numerous barbarian Human warriors of the north, usually drawn from the tribes of Norsca, who are dedicated to the worship of Chaos. Their predilection for violence, theft and bloodthirsty savagery earned them this name from the civilised inhabitants of the Old World.

However, amongst their own people, they are known simply as "warriors," and in the rare times of peace, they often serve their clans as guardians and hunters. 

Role

"I saw a northern village they'd passed through, and oh, it was a charred ruin just as you'd expect—but no worse than after an Orc attack or something. Far as I could see, they're no different from any other marauders. Bad for you if you get caught by them, bad for business if you wanted to trade with someone they've marauded, but otherwise no different to Orcs, or even foreigners like those Tileans and Bretonnians. A nasty lot, those Tileans. One of them married my sister, and a right tricksy charmer he was."

Kastar Handlin, travelling merchant[2a]
Norscans

A fearsome band of barbaric Chaos Marauders

As befits their barbaric reputation, these axe-wielding Human barbarians of the various Northmen tribes often charge into the fray within great howling mobs without care for armour or tactics. They have little fear of dying in combat, for to fight and die under the gaze of their Dark Gods is considered the greatest death one can achieve in their lifetime.[1a]

The vast majority of these tribal Marauders are usually members of the bloodthirsty Norscan tribes that have come south either due to the need for plunder or to attract the favour of the Chaos Gods. As such, each warband is usually led by a powerful and highly-independent tribal chieftain, brutal warriors whose bodies are covered with the scars and trophies of many battlefields.[1a]

Chaos Marauders are a hardy and adventurous lot that often roam the northlands of the Old World in search of glory, plunder or adventure. The other main ethnic groups that comprise the tribes of the Northmen, the Kurgan and Hung, are generally nomadic horsemen and mounted archers rather than Chaos Marauders.[1a]

In comparison to the soft-bellied Men of the south, the Norscans have endured a great many hardships. These warriors have braved harsh blizzards with nothing but scraps of flea-infested fur, hunted and eaten many deadly creatures with nothing but their bare hands and teeth, and whose adventurous nature has led them to many dangerous yet amazing places where no civilised man would ever dare to venture.[1a]

In battle, Chaos Marauders are experienced and natural fighters, born into hardship and brought up in a world where surviving each day is no small victory. Only the strong and capable prosper, for the weak are always weeded out and killed, either by the elements or by the blades of their fellow Northmen. They have no time for plough or sickle, for their tools are the axe, the sword and the shield. What their own lands cannot provide, they simply take from the realms of lesser peoples.[1a]

Marked Chaos Marauders

While they may often fight for the glory of Chaos Undivided or venerate multiple Chaos Gods, Chaos Marauders may dedicate themselves to one of the four great Ruinous Powers: bloodthirsty Khorne, scheming Tzeentch, depraved Slaanesh and pestilent Nurgle. Those who bear the Mark of one of the Chaos Gods will change mind, body and soul to better match their patron's nature and will.

Marauders of Khorne

Khornate Marauder

A Khornate Chaos Marauder faces a soldier of the Empire.

Amongst the savage Northmen there is barely a tribe whose warriors do not include those who honour the Blood God in some way. The lifestyle of Marauder societies from Troll Country to the wild Eastern Steppes dovetails neatly with the behaviour the Blood God expects from His followers. Marauders who choose to worship Khorne simply view His patronage as a practical consideration, for those who pay tribute to their dread lord quickly find themselves blessed with strength and ferocity. However, every lowly devotee of Khorne finds themself on a road to an all-consuming bloodlust that only the most strong-willed can resist, and only the very best can hope to sate.[4]

In battle, Chaos Marauders who bear the Mark of Khorne will often dual-wield axes, for a Marauder's hand devoid of a weapon is useless in the eyes of Khorne.[4]

Marauders of Tzeentch

Marauder of Tzeentch concept

Concept art for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning depicting a Chaos Marauder who worships Tzeentch.

Tzeentch is a popular god among the tribal shamans of the Northmen and the Sorcerers of Chaos, but tribes who worship the Great Eagle as their sole patron are uncommon. Most Marauders prefer the bloodiness of Khorne, the glittering prizes of Slaanesh, or the resilience gifted by Nurgle. What Tzeentch's warbands lack in numbers, however, they make up for with cunning. They make use of guile in unison with their brawn, using tactics more akin to guerrilla warfare to destroy their enemies. Carrying totem banners of powerful magic into battle, they are perfectly capable of causing immense suffering to their enemies.[4]

In battle, Chaos Marauders bearing the Mark of Tzeentch will often favour spears engraved with arcane sigils, glimmering with the blessings of the god of magic himself.[4]

Marauders of Slaanesh

When the tribesmen of the Serpent sweep down from their northern climes to raid fairer lands, they, more than any other Chaos Marauders, debauch themselves with rape and pillage. Before raids and battles they quaff vast quantities of alcohol, and the consumption of rare hallucinogenic plants and roots is commonplace. This renders them mostly oblivious to pain or fear and encourages them to luxuriate in even the greatest dangers.[4]

Where the servants of Khorne care nothing for the pain and misery they inflict, Slaanesh's blessings ensure their weapons are sharp to satisfy the cruel inventiveness of their twisted minds to toy with their victims before dispatching them.[4]

In battle, Chaos Marauders bearing the Mark of Slaanesh will often favour the use of a Hellscourge, a living whip of pure torment blessed by the Dark Prince and laced with poison, the better to indulge the Northmen's darkest passions for inflicting pain.[4]

Marauders of Nurgle

Many Chaos Marauders offer sacrifices to the Lord of Decay as precaution against illness, but there are those that completely entrust their souls to his care. When epidemics ravage the northern tribes, some chieftains and shamans decree that their only chance of survival is to devote themselves to the Plague Lord. In return for their lives, they champion Nurgle with sword and flame against rival tribes and the hated realms of the south, the marks of their survival borne by their pallid, pockmarked skin likely to also be branded with his three-circled mark. The sweet stench of decay clings to the polluted bodies of these pallid Northmen.[4]

In battle, Marauders bearing the Mark of Nurgle will often favour two-handed greatweapons, for they have become so resilient that shield-bearing becomes the least of their concerns.[4]

Chaos Marauder Types

Aside from the standard hordes of Chaos Marauders, the tribes of the Northmen are capable of fielding a wide variety of grizzled troops.

  • Marauder Champions - Marauder Champions are among the greatest warriors in a Marauder tribe, second only to the chieftain himself.
  • Marauder Berserkers - Marauder Berserkers are crazed and highly dangerous warriors who work themselves into a frenzy before every battle.
  • Marauder Hunters - Marauder Hunters are outcast Northmen tribesmen who have become expert survivalists and skilled ranged warriors.

Notable Regiments

  • Icehorn Marauders - This powerful regiment of Chaos Marauders has the ichor of the Dark Gods flowing through their veins from the god-touched wilderness of the Northern Wastes.[4]
  • Princes of Perfection - The Princes of Perfection are Marauders of Slaanesh who wield spears into battle and are utterly dedicated to achieving martial perfection.[4]

Trivia

The Chronicle of Middenland quote used at the top of the page is an almost direct homage to an entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, detailing the sack of the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne off the coast of northeastern England in A.D. 793 which initiated the Viking Age of Norse raids and settlement in the British Isles and much of the rest of Europe. The passage reads:

"This year dire forwarnings came over the land of the Northhumbrians, and miserably terrified the people; these were excessive whirlwinds, and lightnings; and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air. A great famine soon followed these tokens; and a little after that, in the same year, on the 4th before the Ides of January, the ravaging of heathen men lamentably destroyed God's church at Lindisfarne through rapine and slaughter."

—Giles 1914, ASC 793, Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

Miniatures

Sources

  • 1: Warhammer Armies: Warriors of Chaos (8th Edition)
    • 1a: pg. 32
  • 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Bestiary of the Old World (RPG)
    • 2a: pg. 10
  • 3: Liber Chaotica (Background Book)
  • 4: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)

Gallery

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