Warhammer 40K: What in The Warp Happened To Chaos In 8th!

Lets talk about how Chaos has been given short shift in the recent lore.

Chaos is one of the largest and most popular factions in Warhammer 40,000 and the closest the setting has to a main “bad guy”(sure Nids are going to eventually destroy everyone, but that’s just what they do, they are more amoral then evil). A great portion of the setting has always focused on the Chaos VS Imperium story, and Chaos has always had its ups and downs. At the end of 7th Edition however, Chaos finally had its big victory, destroying Cadia and opening the Great Rift. It seemed like their time had come and then 8th… and Chaos has fallen to new lows. Let’s take a look at what happened.

Chaos Rising

For better or worse the major retcons at the end of 7th Edition places Chaos as the major victor of a ten thousand year campaign. Magnus’ wrath was unleashed on Fenris. Abaddon’s years of toil and seeming defeat all came together to strike a seemingly mortal wound to the Imperium of Man, splitting the Galaxy and the forces of the Corpse God in two.

This was what it had all been building too it seemed, world after the world fell to the Chaos Forces, the Astronomicon went out. Daemon hordes attacked Holy Terra and breached the Imperial Palace. Mortarion and the Death Guard launched their attack on Ultramar. Most worrying, of course, the 13th Black Crusade and the Despoiler were driving hard on Terra, cutting a swath through the failing Imperial defenses. It seemed as if half the Imperium might well be lost and the rest forced into a desperate battle against an empowered Chaos threat that was winning a tide of battles.

Then It All Went Nowhere

All of this was set up either at the end of 7th Edition or in the very early parts of 8th Edition. Then… then it all just went nowhere. No seriously, in the nearly three years of 8th, I’m having real trouble thinking of a Chaos plot line that’s gone anywhere. The attack on Terra by Daemons was a footnote that didn’t really amount to anything, the Astronomicon came back on. The cut off Dark Imperium hasn’t fallen to Chaos, it is just kinda there and fine. Fenris got better. Ultramar withstood the Death Guard and its hard to see lasting effects there. Ahriman wanting to get the Ynnari’s powers to bring back the Rubric Marines? I haven’t heard of that in a while. All of Chaos’ grand plans seem to have just fizzled in a string of defeats and Imperium victories. Sure worlds were lost at first, but if anything between the Primaris, the Custodes and Guilliman the Imperium is stronger than it’s been for thousands of years. 

Maybe the most disappointing aspect of all this is Abaddon. He was rehabilitated in Gathering Storm into a credible threat, the true Warmaster of Chaos. He has even been getting a lot of focus in the Horus Heresy books. People expected great things of him in 8th and it seemed like his drive on Terra would be a major story. And yet what he got was Vigilus. The sole major thing Abaddon has done in 8th is attacked a system and get defeated, returning to his old Saturday Morning Cartoon villain ways. Indeed since Vigilus is set very close to the start of the post Great Rift timeline this isn’t even a recent event. Apparently, after being driven back from the Vigilus system Abaddon has basically done nothing for 200 years. More or less since the initial gains when the Great Rift opened Chaos has spent a couple of hundred years getting its butt kicked by the Imperium.

Lack Of Novels/Lore

The abandonment of Chaos has been exacerbated by a real lack of novels or major stories from a Chaos perspective during 8th. Now 40K has always been Imperium-centric, but there has been a fair share of novels and lore books dealing with Xenos and Chaos forces in the past. The Horus Heresy novels, of course, deal heavily with the fallen Marines. But the current “main plot line” the post Great Rift story has been driven almost exclusively by Imperium based novels (and a few Ynnari). While Chaos has a few books coming out here and there, and a handful of short stories, they don’t have any real “voice” in the main developing plot line. Even the Codex/PA lore has boiled down to X Chaos dude is going to a do a Bad Thing ™ then he gets stopped. Chaos has become the punching bag of 40K and it’s hard to see them as a credible threat.

As we approach the 3rd birthday of 8th Edition, I think it’s time for Chaos to get into the driver seat once more. Abaddon has a nice new mini, let’s let him do something dramatic with it.

Let us know what you think about the state of Chaos in 8th, and where GW should take them in the years ahead.

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.