Black Legion

Black Legion
Battle Cry	"We have are returned! Death to the False Emperor!" Luna Wolves: "Kill for the living, kill for the dead!" or "Lupercal!" Sons of Horus: "For the Warmaster!"
Number	XVI
Original Name	Luna Wolves, later Sons of Horus
Original Homeworld	Cthonia
Current Homeworld	None; operate out of the Vengeful Spirit
Primarch	Horus Lupercal
Champion	Ezekyle Abaddon
Strength	Larger now than it was during the Horus Heresy, that's like 100,000+.
Specialty	Flexible organization, Veteran Elites, Destroying Enemy Leadership in decapitation strikes
Allegiance	Chaos Undivided
Colours	Black with gold trim (Pale green as the Sons of Horus, grey as the Luna Wolves)

"I recognize in thieves, traitors and murderers, in the ruthless and the cunning, a deep beauty - a sunken beauty."

– Jean Genet

"Just because I'm a murdering, thieving, cowardly, traitorous sort doesn't mean I can't do my job properly."

– James A. Owen

The Black Legion (Legion XVI) are one of the nine Space Marine legions which betrayed the Emperor during the Heresy. Their Primarch was Horus. Originally called themselves the Luna Wolves before changing their name to The Sons of Horus. After the HH they changed their name to The Black Legion, possibly due to being ashamed to carry the name of one who failed to conquer the Imperium, or as a sign of mourning, together with the black armor. Opinion likely differs between warbands. Canon has now been muddled further with the new ADB novel series, where Abaddon officially dissolved the Sons of Horus, and merged its old forces in with Abby's friends from the other Legions into an entirely new Legion. This narrative making it clear that anybody who joins the Black Legion is NOT just changing the name of the guy who is signing the paycheck, but rejecting their previous Legion or Chapter identities and committing to fighting the Long War.

The Black Legion are often depicted as the "vanilla" Chaos Space Marine legion, similar to how the Ultramarines are with the loyalists. They, like their Blue counterparts, tend to place an emphasis on being the baseline for other Legions, diverging in that they place a greater focus on elite units (ie, Possessed, Chosen, and Terminators). However, for a long time they were mostly overlooked fluff-wise, because, like the Ultramarines, they weren't that interesting being the 'middle-of-the-road' Chaos Marines. They had their own Codex Supplement in 7th Edition.

HMKids have done a good job for their theme; it's full of energy and fury towards the False Emperor and his slaves!

History

OK. Chainsword? Check. Bolter? Check. Power Armor maintained and ready? Check. Well, off to the next Black Cru...wait, what? He did what again? Against whom? Awww fudge. Another crusade foiled well, I guess we're going to Terra now!

Pre-Heresy

When they were still loyalists, they were known as the Luna Wolves. This epithet they earned during the pacification of Luna, the first real battle of the Great Crusade. When the Selenar gene-cults conceded defeat, they asked the Emperor to "call off his wolves." They were the first legion to be reunited with their primarch when Horus was found on Cthonia, and thereafter recruited exclusively from their primarch's adopted homeworld. Under Horus' leadership, and often fighting directly alongside the Emperor, the XVI Legion won many victories and brought many worlds into compliance, earning the status of greatest and most powerful Legion during the Great Crusade. After the triumphant conclusion of the Ullanor Crusade, Horus was given the title of "Warmaster" by the Emperor. This gave him almost complete control of all the Space Marine Legions and the Imperial forces. He renamed his Legion the Sons of Horus, and ordered them to repaint their armour from grey-white to to a green, or maybe green-grey, colour scheme that no one seems to know how to paint properly. Forge World paint theirs a deep teal colour, but there are examples of green-grey, sea green, jade, and Wehrmacht-style feldgrau out there too. Some older art even takes the lazy approach and uses straight grey or steel, making them look like Iron Warriors with a fetish for eyes instead of chevrons.

The Heresy

After Horus was severely wounded by an anathame on Davin, he received visions from the Chaos gods who told him that the Emperor would cast him and his brother Primarchs aside once he had attained full godhood. After seemingly being easily convinced by them, Horus turned traitor. He corrupted half of his brother Primarchs, the majority of the Imperial army and half of the Adeptus Mechanicus to his side. He purged his legion of its loyalist elements at the Battle of Isstvan III, sending thousands of his sons down to die. Unfortunately for him, this proved to be a waste of both time and lives that would have been better served striking for Terra, and was therefore arguably Horus' first mistake of the war. Isstvan III was followed by the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V, where the Sons of Horus, Death Guard, World Eaters, Emperor's Children, Iron Warriors, Night Lords, Word Bearers, and Alpha Legion all but exterminated the Iron Hands, Salamanders, and Raven Guard. After this, the Heresy began in earnest. As they so often had been during the Great Crusade, the Sons of Horus were the backbone of the traitor forces. They forced the Manachean Commonwealth and Coronid Deeps into Dark Compliance, seized the Knight World of Molech, burned the Forge World Ohmn-Mat, defeated Shadrak Meduson's Shattered Legions force at Arissak and the Aragna Chain, conquered the fortress world of Beta-Garmon, and all but annihilated the Space Wolves at the Battles of Trisolian and Yarant. The Legion didn't get everything its own way, however. A detachment sent to secure Rangdan weaponry from Advex-Mors was smashed and chased off by the Dark Angels tasked with guarding the xenos artifacts, losing 50 elite Justaerin Terminators and most of the artifacts they had hoped to recover. The Battle of Dwell proved that the Shattered Legions still had fight in them, for Horus was nearly assassinated at its climax. Their homeworld of Cthonia was besieged by the Imperial Fists, severing the pipeline of new recruits from that world and forcing the Sons of Horus to recruit from new worlds. By the Siege of Terra, however, the Sons of Horus believed themselves on the verge of victory. At this point, they were openly worshiping Horus and had big plans on ruling the galaxy. After Horus' defeat, the Sons and their followers fled to the Eye of Terror. Why did they do this instead of, you know, saying "Well Horus is dead but so is your Emperor" and continuing to attack the Imperial Palace where they might have won? Well, there are several reasons. A primarch dying tends to turn his legion from a coherent fighting force into a mob of nigh-suicidal berserkers, as can be seen with the Iron Hands, Blood Angels, and the White Scars (who snapped out of it because the Khan was only mostly dead). Moreover, Rowboat Girlyman, the Dark Angels, whatever was left of the Space Wolves and Raven Guard, and the Blood Angels going through the Black Rage were hot on their heels (the Iron Hands and Salamanders were still scattered and couldn't do much to help, the Khan was in a coma, and the Scars and Fists were all but bled dry by their losses at the Siege); the whole reason Horus wanted to finish it decisively was to avoid this exact scenario. It of course didn’t help that many of their daemonic allies were banished back to the Warp, leaving them akin to a small, weedy child that had their trousers pulled down on the school playground. It also didn't help that by this point in the siege the Alpha Legion, Emperor's Children, and Iron Warriors had fucked off, the World Eaters were an uncontrollable mob, the Death Guard was in disarray after Mortarion's banishment, and there weren't enough Night Lords, Word Bearers, and Thousand Sons present to be of any consequence. The Sons were the only organized resistance left, their dad was dead, Abaddon was melting down, and every loyalist force in the segmentum was gunning for them.

Post-Heresy

When the Traitors fled to the Eye of Terror, the blame game for the failure at Terra began. The Sons of Horus, being... well, the Sons of Horus took the brunt of this blame, proceeding to retreat to the world of Maeleum, where they built a fancy tomb for Horus's body and sat around feeling sorry for themselves. They didn’t even bother to select a new commander - after all, who could possibly succeed where Daddy failed? It also didn’t help that pretty much anyone competent died during the Heresy and Abaddon was nowhere to be found.

The bitterness between the Traitor Legions broke out into open war once the Emperor's Children decided they needed more slaves for their Slaaneshi-related shenanigans. Being the Legion that had ran away first at Terra, the Children began to raid other warbands for their slaves and resources, culminating with sacking Maeleum and taking the body of Horus (and Worldbreaker) for Fabius Bile's genetic experiments. Strangely enough the Iron Warriors and the Emperor’s Children themselves recieved no such scorn from the other traitors, despite the former largely abandoning the siege when Perturabo threw a shit-fit, and the latter spending most of the siege turning civilians into meth.

The former Justaerin captain Falkus Kibre, with the assistance of several other Chaos warbands, eventually managed to track down Abaddon and the Vengeful Spirit deep within the Eye of Terror, and told him about the theft and cloning of Horus. He knew all this allegedly in a "you found me because I wanted to be found" kind of way. Abaddon was planning on taking command of the Sons of Horus at this point, returning from his self-imposed exile of hunting monsters and thinking about who he is. His ultimate vision: creating a pan-Traitor Legions army with himself and the Cthonians as the head. This new force would be open to any traitor Marines, regardless of previous rivalries or Chaotic alignments, Slaanesh dude and Khorne dude calling each other bro, etc. Chaos Messiah then used the Vengeful Spirit to crush the Emperor's Children at the Battle of Harmony, with Abaddon personally killing the clone of Horus with his own Talon in an act of symbolism and such.

Abaddon unified the Sons of Horus soon after and dubbed them the Black Legion. The black is either to show mourning for Horus, or segregation from him. Either way is fine. Possessed became huge in the Legion, although not without a rocky start, as daemons were pissed when Astartes would switch gods. Unaligned daemon beasts are probably the best way to go. The Sorcerers got a hold of this quickly enough and formed a regulated possessed guild known as The Tormented, not so open market anymore. Next they began boosting their numbers like crazy, made friends with other cool dudes that liked black armor and hated the Imperium, and curb stomped a Death Guard upstart company that was pirating Abaddon's intellectual property and graphic design work, largely ending the Slave Wars.

The new ADB novels indicate that the Black Legion is an open institution for anyone who is serious about waging the Long War against the Imperium (and not just raiding / pillaging / winning favour with the Chaos Gods / feeling sad about it) and is strong enough to prosper. The founding members came from a variety of different legions.

The Black Legion was the first to "come out" of the Eye of Terror (not counting those of the Night Lords, Word Bearers and the Alpha Legion who never went inside Slaanesh's pink folds) to assail the Imperium after the Great Scourging. In their first Black Crusade they killed Dorn allegedly, picked up goth Excalibur, and caused a number of the High Lords of Terra to get hemorrhoids from the butt clenching. After the Crusade the Black Legion broke up and the warbands did their own shit. Until the Second Black Crusade. Abaddon knows that his forces are not large enough or organized enough to break through the massive quantities of Imperial forces that stand between him and Terra, and thus plans to cause enough chaos (heh) to allow legions of daemons to enter realspace and overwhelm the defenders of the Imperium. This has received a mixed reception among the fanbase.

A Black legionnaire in the thick of combat on Cadia. Why's there a head in his armpit?

Prior to Talon, there had only ever been five awesome members of the Black Legion: Horus Lupercal, Araghast the Pillager, Neroth, Kain, and Eliphas (who wasn't even originally from the Black Legion). And the middle two are kind of iffy on the cool factor. Neroth is a whiny bitch, but he makes up for it by shitting free doombolts. Kain knows better than to speak given most of Chaos' shitty Abaddon admiring script, which makes him cool. With the new fluff we've gained an impressive cast in the Black Legion's founders, taking in a former Thousand Sons sorcerer, a World Eaters Havoc, an Emperor's Children swordmaster and a Fallen Angel.

Due to his massive fail factor, it was thought to be only a matter of time before someone overthrows Abaddon. We betted on Eliphas, a revived Araghast, or Huron Blackheart...probably Eliphas (it's in his name after all, Eliphas, the Inheritor of the Black Legion)...but still...BRING ARAGHAST BACK!

Culture

The Luna Wolves had a culture that was based primarily on that of the hive gangs of their home planet, Cthonia. That’s basically it. Despite being the “protagonists” of the heresy, GeeDubs never bothered to give them much unique culture or identity.

There are two informal institutions of note in the Luna Wolves: the Mournival and the Warrior Lodges. The Mournival was a group of four captains who acted as advisers to Horus. They were selected based on their temperaments, each of them supposedly embodying one of the Four Humors, bodily fluids that in ancient times were said to govern the emotions of men. The aggressive Abaddon embodied the Choleric temperament, the light-hearted Tarik Torgaddon the Sanguine, the rational Garviel Loken the Phlegmatic, and the morose "Little" Horus Aximand the Melancholic. The Warrior Lodges were based off the totem-animal cults of the planet Davin, which was conquered by the Luna Wolves and the Word Bearers (who would later create similar societies in other Legions as a means of spreading Chaos corruption). They were secret societies where the Luna Wolves could associate outside of the chains of command and speak freely without fear of reprisal. Several in the Legion, such as Garviel Loken, disapproved of their secrecy, a suspicion that turned out to be justified when Traitor Marines started using them to conspire in secret.

The Black Legion, however, has no overarching culture, being a collection of whatever warbands from whatever Legions pledge their loyalty to Abaddon and paint their armor black (“From shame and shadow recast, in black and gold reborn.”). This is as Abaddon intends, as he believes that Chaos Space Marines should have the freedom to follow the traditions of their forefathers or defy them as they please. As of the First Black Crusade, Astartes from every Traitor Legion served in their ranks along with a number of Fallen Angels, and a Dark Mechanicum Magos held a place on Abaddon's council. The only thing that unites them is a dedicated conviction to the Long War. Several Sons of Horus warbands refused to join the Black Legion and continued to wear their original colors. The Black Legion refers to these remnants (FAIL) Warbands as the "Thrice-Cursed Traitors" and destroyed or absorbed several after killing their leaders, though some, like the True Sons, continue to exist independently as Sons of Horus Warbands. It is possible that Abaddon barely tolerates them so that a stable source of Horus derived geneseed exists.

Leadership

While Abaddon is the undisputed Master of the Black Legion, even he has lieutenants that assist him in leading its disparate factions.

The Ezekarion

Beneath Abaddon is the Ezekarion, the co-founders and senior warlords of the Black Legion. They are Abaddon's closest brothers and advisers, providing him counsel in the Long War and are the only ones allowed to call him by his first name. They've also gathered some hanger-ons over the years. Known members include:

• Falkus Kibre: Former Brother-Captain of the Justaerin Terminator Squads in the Sons of Horus's First Company, now the leader of the Aphotic Blade/Bringers of Despair. He's essentially the First Captain of the Black Legion.
• Sargon Eregesh: Former Chaplain of the Word Bearers Brazenhead Chapter, now the Lord-Prelate of the Black Legion. He's essentially the Chief Dark Apostle of the Black Legion. He was captured at some point prior to the 13th Black Crusade, where he went insane from captivity (well, more insane).
• Iskandar Khayon: Former Captain of a line Company in the Thousand Sons First Fellowship under First Captain Ahzek Ahriman, now the Lord-Vigilator of the Black Legion. Basically, he's Abaddon's premier hitman, eliminating those who threaten the Warmaster's plans but refuse to face him in open battle. He surrendered to the Inquisition just before the 13th Black Crusade, to deliver a message to the Emperor: the Long War is about to end.
• Telemachon Lyras: Former Captain of the Emperor's Children's 51st Company, now Herald of the Warmaster and commander of the Shrieking Masquerade, a warband of Chaos Raptors. His former company abandoned Khayon's at Terra, and Khayon took vengeance by making Lyras dependent on Khayon's presence to feel anything. Though Khayon freed him later, the two formed a rivalry which threatened the Black Legion's stability at one point.
• Lheorvine Ukris: Former Captain of the World Eaters 50th Company and commander of the War God's Maw. Probably the closest thing to a friend that Khayon had, he was killed by the Blood Angels under Thalastian Jorus on Mackan during the 7th Black Crusade, but no shame on that because that group almost got Abaddon.
• Ashur-Kai Qezremah: Former Librarian of Khayon's company and former mentor, later the void-seer of the Vengeful Spirit, the Chaos equivalent of a Navigator. He was taken by the Warp Ghosts (one of which was Qezremah's future self, it's complicated) as payment for leading the Black Legion through a Warp storm to launch the First Black Crusade.
• Ceraxia: A Magos of the Dark Mechanicus who was made Mistress of the Armoury. Yes, a woman has a position of leadership among the largest coalition of Chaos Space Marine Warbands. Impressive. Ceraxia is a giant scorpion-taur cyborg with multiple arms à la a Shokan who dwarfs the frames of her CSM allies (such was her grandeur that upon meeting, Iskandar compared her to a certain ancient multi-armed goddess with golden faceplate and all). Mere woman she is not. Just like mere men the others are not.
• Valicar Hyne: A former Captain of the Iron Warriors, later Master of the Black Fleet.
• Vortigern: A Fallen Angel who was Captain of the cruiser With Blade Drawn, leader of the Black Lions and the most cheerless of the Ezekarion bar none. Yes, one of the Fallen is part of the Black Legion's leadership. Oh, to see the reaction of the Dark Angels.
• Amurael Enka: Former Medicae Quintus of the Sons of Horus, later the de facto Chief Apothecary of the Black Legion. Some wild daemons of Khorne sliced him in half, forcing Abaddon to place him in a Chaos Dreadnought.
• Ilyaster Faylech: Former Apothecary of the Death Guard who defected from the Legion Host and helped Khayon try to kill its warlord, Thagus Daravek.
• Moriana: A former Inquisitor who helped found the resurrectionist faction of the Inquisition and spread the Cult of the Saviour Emperor after the Horus Heresy. After succumbing to the temptation of trying to harness Chaos as a means of resurrecting the Emperor and founding the Horusian faction, she became a dedicated servant of the Chaos Gods and a powerful seer Abaddon occasionally consulted, telling him of Drach'nyen and the Blackstone Fortresses. A member in name alone, as she answers only to the Chaos Gods themselves. Moriana is divisive among the Ezekarion, with some (Iskandar, Amurael, and Lheorvine) openly mistrusting her, while others welcome her for their own reasons (Sargon and Ashur-Kai valuing her prophetic visions, while Telemachon allies with her as a means of advancing his own ambitions and also to piss off Khayon). Everyone else doesn't care enough to voice their own opinions.

Chosen of Abaddon

The Chosen of Abbadon are the top four generals of the Black Legion. It's a title that Abbadon bestows on his top lieutenants. The roles of the Chosen are complementary to one another, ensuring the synergy of the Black Legion command. The Chosen of Abbadon have a lot of political power in the Legion and usually a chosen general of Slaanesh, for example, will claim command over all Slaaneshi Astartes in the Black Legion. Not necessarily a part of the Ezekarion but definitely another branch of the Black Legion government. The current four are:

• Devram Korda: Lord Ravager. Serving as the vanguard general that first makes landfall on a planet about to be curb stomped. Previously a senior sergeant in the Sons of Horus 13th Company, under Luc Sedirae. Leads the invasion fleets and is the captain of Abbadon's chosen elite bodyguard. He has a very, very impressive resume.
• Ygethmor the Deceiver: Lord Deceiver. Serving as a Chaos fortune teller and all things esoteric. Looks through the Warp and decides where to attack next and such. A lot of people tried to kill him, some people said they killed him, further complicated by the fact that Ygethmor is a title, not a name, so there are several Ygethmors out there. Jokes aside he is very powerful.
• Threxos Hellbreed: Lord Purgator. The guy that scrapes the bottom of the barrel after a planet has been conquered for every single resource and every drop of blood. Dragging Imperials in chains and erecting Chaos shit. Also functions as the admiral of the Black Fleet and usually as the head of the Khorne Marines of the Black Legion known as the Hounds of Abbadon. Role was formerly held by Urkanthos the Black, who ascended to a Daemon Prince during the Fall of Cadia and was killed by Celestine.
• Skyrak Slaughterborn: Lord Corruptor. The propaganda guy. Keeps Chaos Lords in line. Kind of like Abaddon's hype man at times. Skyrak is very Nurgle.

Other Important Figures

Important figures in the Black Legion who aren't part of the Ezekarion or Chosen. May just be members of the Ezekarion who had yet to join by the time the Black Legion books were taking place. Also Chaos Lords not in high command but still leading Warband forces.

• Zaraphiston: Abaddon's favourite sorcerer and a former Thousand Son. Isn't Iskandar Khayon.
• Haarken Worldclaimer: Herald of Abaddon. Chaos Raptor Lord who arrives at a planet to announce that Abaddon's coming and the world will be conquered in eighty days. Definitely not a Night Lord, oh no no no.
• Obsidius Mallex: Leader of the Black Legionnaires deployed to the seventh Blackstone Fortress. Looks like a discount bargain bin Abaddon with a Thunder Hammer.
• Delvarus: Former World Eater and Possessed Marine, who was charged with the defence of the Vengeful Spirit up until Thagus Daravek tore him several new ones.
• Lord Akhorath Zeid: A Lord-Discordant of the Black Legion. Makes use of Daemon Engines and fights more carefully. Currently he is helping Typhus with his Invasion of Charadon. He has mostly had the God bothering Chaos forces take the brunt of damage while he reaps the rewards. He maybe a Chosen of Abaddon but it is not clear. He also fights Imperial Knights while on his Hellstalker. During the Book of Fire,he went on to betray Typhus and set himself as a major chaos lord in the Charadon Sector. Lord Zeid establishes himself a base and makes a brutal and cunning showdown with Imperial Forces. It took the Head of the Sisters of Battle and the Princeps of House Raven dropping a void ship on him and his followers to end his reign. However no body or remnants of Akhorath Zeid were found. This fucking bastard might still be alive.

On the Tabletop

The Devolution of the 16th legion, from brutal spartan warriors, to a laughing stock lead by a cretin.

30k

The Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus are an aggressive legion based on hitting hard, hitting fast and keeping up the pressure on the opponent. They have 3 special rules, Edge of the Spear letting you re-roll 1's for reserve rolls, Death Dealers increasing the Ballistic skill of a unit shooting at an enemy unit within 12" and Merciless fighters where if your unit outnumbers your opponents in, you get an extra attack at Initiative stage 1. These rules create a very clear, but effective strategy of dropping units down into your opponents front lines, shooting them, and the tearing the survivors to ribbons. You can also take a Dreadclaw Drop Pod as dedicated transport, just for shits and giggles.

7th Edition

The Black Legion had their own 7th Edition supplement, which was essentially the same as the base Chaos 'dex with the exception that everything that can must take "Veterans of the Long War." The book gave them some formations, relics, and a few unique missions. It should be noted that this book offered the only way that Chaos can get an Eternal Warrior character without incredibly lucky rolling on the Chaos Boon Table. The rules from said supplement, however, have since been recollected and expanded upon in the "Traitor Legions" supplement. This retains the usual elite-focused army by making Terminators and Chosen troops, while giving them permanent hatred against Loyalist scum. And their decurion gives them first turn deep strike!

8th edition

With the changes of 8th, the Black Legion has become a bit more of a bland legion, becoming even more the Ultramarines of Chaos. Their Legion trait Black Crusaders gives them a small bonus to leadership and the ability to treat rapid fire weapons as assault weapons if they advance, being a more aggressive mirror of the Ultramarines tactic. They've lost the ability to take Chosen or Terminators troop choices (even if Abaddon is taken) and their trait leaves much to be desired. They got a bunch of new things in Vigilus ablaze, like new warlord traits and stratagems which has given them a nice bonus, but the other traitor legions also got their own update with the Psychic Awakening supplements. The primary reason to play Black Legion is for the big man himself, Abaddon, as he is the single best non Primarch character in the game. PERIOD. He can re-roll all hit rolls for Black Legion units, has a 12" Fearless bubble around him, has a Strength and Toughness of 5, reduces all damage to him by half (rounding up) and has every Mark of Chaos, so can benefit from every God specific stratagem and psychic power so you can buff him to unbelievably strong levels. Most Black Legion strategies can be summed up as "Abaddon gets juiced on chaos magic, steam rolls through the enemy army, and has his back up dancers finish off any units he missed".

9th Edition

The Chaos Space Marines have yet to receive a 9th edition Codex, but have fallen far behind their Loyalist counterparts. For some reason, it was announced that all marines, including Firstborn and Chaos Space Marines, would be moving up to two wounds at the start of 9th edition. This was then changed so that they would be eventually moving up to two wounds. Over a year into 9e, Chaos Space Marines have yet to receive this FAQ-tier change since its announcement, and have fallen behind just about everyone with a Codex, putting them on par with Genestealer Cults and Tau as factions which are simply unequipped to play the current edition. (It happened! CSM will be going to 2 wounds sometime in 2022, not to mention that both Tau and GSC are good now.)

Daily Rituals of the Black Legion

04:00 - The Black Legionnaires rise up from their spiked beds.

04:30 - Mutation Checks. Each Black Legionnaire is checked on their mutation levels.

04:50 - Morning Meal. A light meal is made by the Legion's serfs. The meals are triple-portioned and laced with weed to honor Slaanesh, seasoned with some blood from the serfs themselves to honor Khorne, prepared via complicated and overly-intricate recipes to honor Tzeentch, and lovingly healthy for one's gut flora to honor Nurgle. Failure to cook properly will result in said serf being flayed alive and his/her skinless body forced to walk for a hundred miles until they die of exhaustion, pain, shock and blood loss. Their dead bodies are promptly used as sex toys by any Slaanesh worshipers.

05:00 - Morning Prayer. A prayer is done for each Chaos God, thus it is extra long.

09:00 - Morning Firing Rites. The Black Legion hone in on their shooting skills upon captured Imperial citizens.

10:00 - Battle Practice. The Black Legion fight and train within gladiatorial rounds.

12:00 - Tactical Indoctrination. The Black Legion are tasked on which planet to invade Cadia, it's Cadia, who to kill, who to take prisoner, and for what end.

14:50 - Midday Break. A short break is accompanied with cookies made from the remains of puppies and beverages distilled from the tears of crying children.

15:00 - Evening Firing Rites. The marines gather in the shooting range to practice on the skinless Serfs who somehow survived this long, captured Inquisitors, and cardboard cutouts of Sigismund

16:00 - Battle Practice. The marines grab their melee weapons of choice and proceed to slash, bash, and beat the shit out of captive loyalists and xenos alike. Each marine is forced to fight in four different ways, first they must do over-da-top flourishes to honor Slaanesh, then they must massacre their opponents as brutally as possible followed by eating their heart to honor Khorne, outsmart their opponent while causing an aneurysm to honor Tzeentch, and finally to befriend their opponent and indoctrinate then to honor Papa Nurgle.

17:00 - Evening Prayer. A prayer is held which is just as long, although more varied depending on each Marine's preference, so it generally resembles a massive just as planned brawl and orgy disease fest.

21:00 - Evening Meal. A feast is made by the Legion's serfs. Chaos Burgers are ordered in the dozen. Occasionally they’ll receive 5 million pizzas which the Angry Marines has prank delivered to them and then they’ll either have to kill the delivery boy or pay up.

22:00 - Bitch at the Emperor. A special one hour period is held exclusively for the Black Legion to bitch at the Emperor and why he stinks. Big E just laughs at this and gives them the (psionic) middle finger.

23:00 - Bitch at Abaddon. A secret special one hour period is held by fellow Black Legionnaires to bitch at Abaddon's failures and incompetence. Publicly called 'Free Time' to avoid Abaddon's wrath. Some Marines will put on performances where they pretend to have their arms drop off.

24:00 - Rest Period. The Black Legionnaires rest in their spiked beds.

Notable members

• Horus: The Warmaster, the Breaker of Tyrants, the Favoured Son, the Eye of Terra, and the reason the Imperium can no longer have nice things. He was the first second primarch found (if Alpharius is to be believed), and quickly became Daddy's favorite warlord. Under his leadership, the Luna Wolves tallied a record of compliances and victories that was second to none, which made him the obvious choice to take over the Great Crusade when the Emperor returned to Terra to work on his super-secret Webway project. This caused a great deal of insecurity in Horus, who believed that A. Sanguinius would have been a better choice for Warmaster and B. that the Emperor clearly didn't trust or love him enough because he hadn't told Horus why he was leaving. This, combined with his desire for everlasting glory and his ingrained attitude that he was better than baseline humanity, was the lever Erebus used to manipulate Horus into turning on the Emperor, falling to Chaos, and starting the galactic clusterfuck known as the Horus Heresy. Though his intentions were good, Chaotic corruption turned him into a frothing lunatic whose mind and body were literally disintegrating by the end of the Heresy, due to the Chaos gods mainlining him with warp juice. He was permakilled by the Emperor in an epic and manly duel aboard the Vengeful Spirit at the climax of the Siege of Terra; Horus mortally wounded his father, but the Emperor rallied long enough to mortally injure him in turn and then obliterate his soul with a psychic attack so that the gods couldn't resurrect him. This didn't stop Fabulous Bill from cloning him back to life, though Abaddon murdered the clone as part of his ascension to Warmaster.
• Maloghurst: Equerry to the Warmaster during the latter stages of the Great Crusade and most of the Horus Heresy. He was known as the Twisted, initially because of his talent for politics and scheming nature, though the nickname became literal when he was shot down by noncompliant douchebags during the Sixty-Three Nineteen campaign and permanently crippled. Despite this, he people to keep calling him "The Twisted" because he thought it was funny. Maloghurst happily followed his gene-father right over the edge during the Heresy and became his enforcer and internal affairs guy, learning how to do sorcery along the way. Sacrificed his life to kill an uncorrupted shard of Horus' soul that had been severed during his fight with Leman Russ at Trisolian. While becoming senile due to Warp corruption, Horus kept calling for him during the Siege of Terra.
• Abaddon the Despoiler: Also known as Failbaddon the Armless. First Captain of the Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus and Full Moon of the Mournival during the latter stages of the Great Crusade and the entirety of the Horus Heresy, later the chosen Warmaster of Chaos after Horus' death. He was a Cthonian gangbanger who never evolved out of his brutal, might-makes-right mindset, which meant that he was fully onboard when Horus decided to kick the Emperor in the balls and take over. As the Heresy wore on, though, he became increasingly disillusioned with his gene-father, especially when Horus went full-tilt into Chaos worship, and grew to despise him for his corruption. He seized control of the remaining Sons of Horus during the Legion Wars and renamed them the Black Legion, repudiating Horus as a weak fool. Has been on the rampage for the last ten thousand years, waging the Long War against the Imperium with varying levels of success. As of 8th edition, finally got his shit together and conquered Cadia, triggering the formation of the Great Rift, though now he has a resurrected Roboute Guilliman to deal with.
• Tarik Torgaddon: Second Captain of the Luna Wolves, Gibbous Moon of the Mournival, and one of the XVI Legion's most bro-tier Astartes. He had a weird sense of humor and liked to mess with his friends for the lulz, making him one of the more relatable Astartes characters ever put on paper. Told Eidolon to shut the fuck up at one point and also backtalked Horus once or twice. He was a member of the warrior lodges and even tried to convince Loken to join, but quit when the rest of the lodge proposed making Loken the fall guy for the Luna Wolves killing a bunch of civilians in the aftermath of Horus' incapacitation at Davin. He was sent down to die at Istvaan III, but survived nearly the entire battle until Little Horus killed him in a duel. His gene-seed was stolen and used as part of the ritual to summon the Ruinstorm at Calth, creating a daemon called Tormageddon. His soul remained free and appeared to Loken while he was recuperating on Luna, eventually convincing his friend to rejoin the war. Loken ultimately killed Tormageddon at the Siege of Terra.
• Hastur Sejanus: Fourth Captain of the Luna Wolves and Garviel Loken's predecessor as the New Moon of the Mournival during the Great Crusade. Was one of the most bro-tier members of the legion and a particular favorite of Horus, who valued his combat prowess, diplomatic skills, and even-handed mindset. He was killed by some pissant claiming to be the Emperor of Mankind during the Sixty-Three Nineteen campaign, which enraged Horus to no end and was probably one of the first triggers for his falling to Chaos. Erebus used an illusion of Sejanus to manipulate Horus while he was in a coma on Davin. Is probably named after a Lovecraftian demigod and a famous Roman general who commanded Emperor Tiberius' Praetorian Guard.
• Horus Aximand: AKA Little Horus. Fifth Captain of the Legion and Half Moon of the Mournival during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. He was a wise and level-headed Astartes, despite his melancholic disposition. Despite his loyalty to the Emperor, he was corrupted by the warrior lodges and followed his primarch into heresy. He killed Tarik Torgaddon and saw Abaddon (apparently) kill Loken at Istvaan III. This gave him the closest thing to PTSD a Space Marine could experience, and he suffered from hallucinations and feelings of guilt thereafter. Got his face sliced right the fuck off by Hibou Khan of the White Scars and later had it reattached, making him look more like Horus in the process. Died at the Siege of Terra when Abaddon's gambit at the Saturnine Wall went horribly wrong; Loken found him terrorizing Arkhan Land and Little Horus had a nervous breakdown upon seeing a man he thought was dead. Loken gutted him with a chainsword after telling him he'd always been "the wrong Horus" and took his relic power blade, Mourn-It-All.
• Garviel Loken: Tenth Captain of the Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus, the last New Moon of the Mournival, and one of the most bro-tier Astartes in the legion after Sejanus and Tarik Torgaddon. He ascended to the Mournival after Sejanus was killed and was told by Rogal Dorn to serve as Horus' "naysmith", basically the guy who tries to keep his commander's head out of the clouds. Sadly, this ended with Loken being alienated from the legion as Horus led them slowly into turning against the Emperor. Survived the virus bombing of Istvaan III and the firestorm thereafter and led the loyalist Luna Wolves in fighting their backstabbing brothers. He managed to survive an ass-kicking from Abaddon and the final bombardment of the planet, but went a little crazy afterward, roaming the ruins and killing zombies while calling himself Cerberus. He didn't snap out of it until Nathaniel Garro came and picked him up. He spent a little while on Luna feeling sorry for himself until Torgaddon's spirit came along and gave him a kick in the butt. Became a Knight-Errant after this, fighting for Malcador throughout the Heresy, and got to tell Horus personally to fuck off when Horus tried to get him to rejoin the legion at Molech. Was slated to become one of the first Grey Knights, confirming that he was a latent psyker, but turned the job down because he wanted another shot at Horus. During the Siege of Terra, he led a kill team during the battle for the Saturnine Wall and personally killed Tybalt Marr, Tormageddon, and Little Horus.
• Tybalt Marr: Eighteenth Captain of the Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus. He and his best friend, Nineteenth Captain Verulam Moy, were referred to as the Either and the Or, since they looked and thought so much alike that they were basically twins. Moy was killed during the clusterfuck on Davin, which broke Marr to the point where he joined the warrior lodges and fell to Chaos along with his legion. He defeated Shadrak Meduson in battle some time after the Drop Site Massacre and convinced Horus to put in him charge of a task force to hunt down and wipe out the Shattered Legions. He and Meduson played a brutal game of cat-and-mouse for the rest of the Heresy until Meduson's fellow Iron Fathers hung him out to dry at the Aragna Chain, whereupon Marr captured and executed him. Marr was killed at the Siege of Terra when the Saturnine gambit failed and he got ambushed by Loken's kill team. Marr was stunned to see Loken alive, having believed him killed at Istvaan III; in turn, Loken shoved a bolter in his mouth and blew his head off.
• Falkus Kibre: AKA the Widowmaker, leader of the Justaerin Terminators during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy under First Captain Abaddon. He happily followed his primarch into rebellion against the Emperor and served as his personal escort during the Drop Site Massacre. Joined the reformed Mournival alongside Tormageddon as the replacements for Loken and Torgaddon. By the time of the Siege of Terra, he was little more than Horus' attack dog. He tried to intervene when Maloghurst did some sorcery to bring Horus out of his post-Trisolian coma, only for Horus to grab him by the neck until he chilled out. Accounts of his fate diverge at the Siege of Terra; Saturnine says he was killed by Nathaniel Garro, whereas other fluff portrays him as still being alive during the Legion Wars and serving as the leader of the Bringers of Despair ten millennia later.
• Araghast the Pillager: Chaos Lord and Khornate champion of the Black Legion who tore shit up in Dawn of War. Claimed to have conquered a thousand worlds and liked trolling the Blood Ravens. Got SINDRIIIIIIII'd by Eliphas and left to die at the hands of Force Commander Hairgel and his Blood Ravens. Also rocked a bitchin' helmet that made him look like a Norscan who got lost in the warp.
• Eliphas: Formerly a Word Bearer who was punished with a thousand years of damnation for losing to some Ultramarines during the Heresy, he emerged as a Chaos Lord in charge of a kickass warband. His fortunes waxed and waned throughout the Dawn of War series, going from a Chaos Lord of the Word Bearers to a mere champion of the Black Legion after he fucked up on Kronus and got popped like a blood blister. Most fans still think he's cooler than Abaddon, though.
• Ygethmor the Deceiver: Chaos Sorceror and one of Abaddon's Chosen. Was in charge of the Chaos forces during the 2006 Medusa V global campaign. His stated goal was to capture the planet for Chaos, while his secret goal was to become a Daemon Prince. He accomplished neither; his forces got booted off the planet and he was decapitated by an Autarch (although she died in the next assault phase). Iskandar Khayon claims that "Ygethmor" is a title meaning "threader of the Warp" in Cthonian and that there have been multiple Ygethmors, though who knows if that sneaky bastard is telling the truth.
• Neroth: Sorcerer of the Black Legion who spends most of the Retribution campaign keeping an eye on Eliphas on Abaddon's behalf. Likes setting shit on fire and trolling people for the lulz.
• Haarken Worldclaimer: Herald of the Apocalypse and Proclamator of Abaddon's Reign. He is a Chaos Raptor who is probably an ex-Night Lord and is basically Abaddon's hype-man, since his job is to show up at a planet and tell everyone there that the Despoiler is coming to wreck their shit. Failed hilariously in this goal at Vigilus, but is still tearing around the Nachmund Gauntlet and raising hell.
• Iskandar Khayon: Former Thousand Son who decided his legion was lame now that everyone was dust-bots and joined Abaddon's new boy band instead. Claims to have kicked Magnus' ass personally to make him bitch down to the Warmaster. Has a big tiddy goth Dark Eldar gf, a bitchin' sword made out of shards of Sanguinius' own weapon, and a Yugioh deck of bound daemons he can summon and dismiss whenever he wants. He let himself get captured by the Inquisition so that he could tell them the Long War was coming to an end.
• Lheorvine Ukris: Former World Eater and snarky mofo who somehow managed to keep his shit together despite being a World Eater and ultimately joined the Black Legion after stomping Emperor's Children asses on Harmony. Got his shit kicked in by some Blood Angels on Mackan during the 7th Black Crusade.

The Traitor Legions and Warbands of Chaos
Chaos Legions:	Alpha Legion - Black Legion - Death Guard Emperor's Children - Iron Warriors - Night Lords Thousand Sons - Word Bearers - World Eaters
Legion Offshoots:	Apostles of Contagion - Bloodborn - Broken Aquila Foresworn - Mouldering Claw - Plague Fleet - Prodigal Sons The Consortium - Warband of Subsector Aurelia
Fallen Chapters (Including Judged):	Adharon's Reavers - Blood Gorgons - Company of Misery Corpus Brethren - Crimson Slaughter - Deathmongers Death Shadows - Invocators - Lords of Decay Oracles of Change - Red Corsairs - Shriven The Brazen Beasts - The Flawless Host - The Scourged Skyrar's Dark Wolves - Steel Cobras - Voidrippers
Unknown/ Other:	Apostles of Minthras - Claws of Lorek - Disciples of Destruction Dragon Warriors - Extinction Angels - Hakanor's Reavers - Punishers The Cleaved - The Purge - The Pyre - Sons of Malice - Sons of Vengeance The Reborn - Violators - Warp Ghosts - Bleak Brotherhood