Karkadraks are monstrous lizard-beasts clad in thick scales, whose destructive rampages are almost impossible to stop. Only the strongest Chaos Lords can dominate a Karkadrak, but those who succeed become truly deadly line breakers.
Ogroid Theridons serve as fearsome shock troops to the armies of Chaos, found wherever the fighting is thickest, carving swathes of ruin through the enemy ranks with staggering strength and skill. Once rulers of a mighty empire that stretched across the Realm of Beasts, the goroans were enticed into Archaon's service by promises of a new homeland, free from orruk invasions – a realm that came to be called the Eightpoints. Now better-known as ogroids, they raise dark citadels, forge mighty weapons, and serve as overseers in the shadow of the Varanspire.
Daemon Princes were once mortal champions of Chaos, elevated to eternal daemonhood as a coveted reward from their mercurial patrons. Each of these corrupt monstrosities is a walking testament to the infernal power of Chaos, an immortal warlord blessed with manifold malevolent gifts throughout their long and treacherous Path to Glory. A Daemon Prince soars or strides across the battlefield like an omen of doom, unleashing all the warp-forged weaponry, monstrous strength, and unholy sorcery at their disposal.
The Blade of the First Prince was one of Archaon’s loyal Varanguard – a champion of the Eighth Circle known as Atarus – until he renounced the Everchosen and swore fealty to the Dark Master. Destroyed and reborn by Be'lakor's sorcery, he became Eternus – the chosen agent of the First Prince. The lord of traitors now rides at the head of Be'lakor's legions, crushing rivals in battle and commanding a vast network of spies and agents. Even death cannot halt his machinations, for each time Eternus is slain, he is reborn in a flash of black lightning – a cruel parody of Sigmar's Stormcast Eternals.
Exalted Heroes of Chaos are battle-tested warriors whose deeds have caught the notice of the gods – and now seek to make a true name for themselves. Determined to win glory and divine favour, they seek out towering monsters and challenge storied champions, for only by slaying a truly worthy foe can an Exalted Hero prove their own might and earn a place in eternity.
Chaos Chosen are elite devotees of the Ruinous Powers, champions who have garnered enough dark rewards to stand above their brethren. Armed with wicked soul-cleaving weapons, these ambitious heralds of ruination fight at the forefront of the Chaotic hordes, inspiring and terrifying those around them with acts of brutal violence.
When covert operations are required, Primaris Space Marines go to battle clad in Phobos armour, a lighter variant of Mark X armour designed for stealth and agility. Armed with a variety of specialised wargear, these lethal squads use surprise and overwhelming force to end any skirmish as quickly as it begins – whether pursuing independent missions as a Phobos Strike Team, or securing vital objectives on a wider battlefield.
Once soldiers of the Astra Militarum, these brutal killers have rebelled against the Imperium, heeding the promises of power offered by the Chaos Gods. The deadliest veterans of the Traitor Guard are known as the Blooded, and put their training and equipment to terrible use, fighting against those who were once their allies. Often pressed into service in the armies of the Chaos Space Marines, the Blooded are all too eager to claim dark glory on far-flung killzones or warp-marked battlefields.
Foul warbands afflicted by a gruesome techno-organic plague, the Gellerpox Infected are nightmarish meldings of festering flesh and malignant machinery. These hideous beings may once have been loyal servants of the God-Emperor, plying the void beneath the safety of a geller field – such days are long gone, wiped away by supernatural sickness and a gleeful compulsion to spread their infection across the stars.
On the ruined agri world of Moroch, amongst prefab colony habs, archeotech mines, and fronteris compounds, the ambitious Traitor Guard of the Blooded have all but overthrown their shocked Imperial overseers. Yet loyalist reinforcements have arrived in the form of an elite Phobos Strike Team, whose Space Marine operatives have commenced a hit-and-run campaign to take down the traitor forces one bloody gunfight at a time. Now, transhuman warriors battle degenerate, Chaos-worshipping renegades through the ruins of Moroch’s blasted frontier, each seeking nothing less than the wholesale annihilation of their enemies.
The war in the shadows escalates! Amidst ruined cityscapes, carnivorous jungles and hidden strongholds, new kill teams join the fray. From the gruesome Gellerpox Infected to the noble Elucidian Starstriders, each band of warriors brings their own method of war to every desperate battle – in struggles that seem more varied and deadly than ever. Expert assassins and saboteurs slip through patrols of enemy sentries, hoping to complete their bloody tasks and slip away before they are detected, while bands of grizzled warriors faced with impossible odds choose to make their last stand, taking as many of the foe as they can with them to the grave.
The Nachmund Gauntlet – a relatively stable realspace corridor through the tumultuous warp storms of the Great Rift – is one of the most strategically important locations in the Imperium. It would be a dangerous place even without the countless millions of pirates, criminals, heretics, and traitors of a dozen and more species fighting relentless wars for supremacy and wealth. Among these are the Heretic Astartes – traitor Space Marines in thrall to the Chaos Gods – and the Corsair coteries – Aeldari who seek a life of independence and freedom and care little for others.