Warhammer: Chaos in Our Time – Real World Origins of the Chaos Tribes – PRIME
Even a fantasy world can pay respect to great warriors of old – through Chaos.
As long as Warhammer has existed, the threat of Chaos has assailed every other faction. Striking out from the frozen north of the Chaos Wastes, these powerful warriors descend on the settlements of others to pillage and raze to their heart’s content, all in service of their dark gods.
While several tribes strike out from the Wastes, three great tribes stand above the others: the Norsca, the Kurgan, and the Hung. Each has a basis in a real-world group of warrior-conquerers, so here’s a quick exploration of the historical influences of the Great Chaos Tribes.
Norsca
As you can probably guess from their name, the Norsca tribesmen are based on the Norse raiders of Scandinavia, Denmark, and Sweden. Described in Warhammer canon as tall men caped in furs and horned helms, the Norscan peninsula that these warriors call home borders both the Sea of Claws and the Kraken Sea (see the map below). As such, the warriors conduct their raids from mighty dragonships, striking coastal towns before moving inland. Most of the greater chaos invasions of the Old World have been led by Chaos, and a Norscan Warlord led the warband that Sigmar Heldenhammer fought in the Time of Legends novels. The dragonships, coastal raids, and furred armor are all markers of what we think of as Norse warriors or Vikings (though the horned helms are an affectation that rarely existed in actual historical Viking armor).
You don’t have to do much digging to see the connection there, and just as we usually think Viking first when we think of a raiding army, the Norsca are the most common and prolific of the Great Tribes.
Kurgan
Equestrians of the steppes, the Kurgan nomads are raiders and peerless riders, some believing them born in the saddle. Before the time of Sigmar and the rise of the Empire of the Reik and its allies, the Kurgans had already established a massive empire of nomadic tribes, always on the move in search of battle. The tribe not only gave birth to two of the most prolific warlords of Warhammer history, Asavar Kul and Tamurkhan the Maggot Lord, but their war with the Empire also began the dark journey of Chaos’s most famous champion, Archaon.
Clad in light armor and riding powerful destriers, the Kurgans draw influence from ancient Scythian and Mesopotamian warriors, mirroring Germanic horse tribes. They may also draw influence from the Huns, though that leans more towards the Hung, who we’ll talk about in a moment, or Turkish warriors. One of the Kurgan tribes, the Khazags, is even named for a real-world Turkish warrior tribe called the Kazakhs.
Hung
A tribe of warrior horsemen that migrated north from Cathay, the Hung are an almost direct copy of the Hun and Mongolian tribal empires. Like the Kurgan, the Hung were incredible riders and conducted most of their raids from horseback, but where the Kurgans favored light and fast mounts, the Hung bred sturdy ponies for their endurance. Even more so than the Kurgans, they live in the saddle and carry everything they need to survive strapped to the back of their steeds. Like the ancient Mongols, there is no social or hierarchical difference between the genders, and women went to battle and served as leaders just as readily as their male counterparts. Their life is one of constant warfare, much like the Khans of old, and they terrorized Cathy (fantasy China) just like their Mongolian counterparts as well as the Dark Elves of Naggaroth who in turn built the line of far northern Watchtowers to give warnings of Hung invasions.
Did you have a favorite Chaos Tribe?
From the northern wastes they ride!
