How do 40k World Eaters even survive more than 5 seconds outside of combat? GW has painted them as perma-maddened berzerkers who have no self control, how do they remain functional when in a ship crossing the void to the next battle? Are they in fact relatively normal until the point of battle? Onboard a ship do they manage to control their hunger to kill by keeping a throng of slaves beneath decks to vent on, or do they have more clear minded brothers to sequester them when they are lost to rage in an isolation chamber? Could a warband even recruit and bring new blood into their warband from children? How do they restrain themselves in the company of other legions and warbands when joining their expeditions? How do they, if in an independent warband ship, not kill all the crew and slaves?
Could a warband land on a violent and populated planet and set up a refuge, and satiate their hunger when away from immediate war in the rest of the galaxy while taking sons from the most warlike Human tribes present while using slaves, servitors and whatever else?
I want to make a WE warband, but it's annoying that from what I've read they're the least realistic traitor legion in terms of non-combat activities.
>>44692160
It's set in the first few centuries after The Horus Heresy, so there's a pretty far way for them to fall, but the main character in The Talon Of Horus notes how chilling it is to see a Word Bearer incessantly slamming his head against the wall over and over and over again with complete and utter lucidity and not a hint of berserk abandon or frothing lunacy in his eyes. The WE was basically just trying to calm The Butcher's Nails from aggravating his brain chemistry.
This could possibly serve as inspiration for your own interpretation.
>>44692160
I think khorne brings them back to the brass citadel where they fight each other, cultist, xenos chaos worshippers, and daemons until the blood god desires more skulls
>>44692160
I would say the rage is a spectrum. Some are full rage all the time at the end of battles placed in stasis; others after the carnage ends require a little bit of slave slaughter to stay functional while others can suppress the urge to rend and tear while outside of combat where they let go and maim slaughter.
In terms of recruiting I like to think that they don't actively recruit the sane headed after a battle take the geneseed of the Fallen and tend to sell it to peps like Fabius to create more marines; while getting recruits from other csm that feel and fall to khornes calling.
The HH books treat their berserk fury as something they succumb to in combat, outside of combat they're functional human beings, in fact even after he gets the nails Khârn is a shrewd, intelligent and collected person.
There's two parts to the thing
A) World Eaters are splintered marauders. They tag along other groups or just fast travel to warzones like Orks
B) Chaos Legionaires can respawn if the Gods like them enough, particularly Khorne's, so there's little incentive to refrain.
>"I realized they were stronger than me, because they could stand it. These were not monsters. These were men, trained cadres — these men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who have children, who are filled with love — but they had the strength — the strength! — to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling, without passion, without judgement. Without judgement! Because it's judgement that defeats us."
Maybe they're moral, upstanding members of society who merely have the ability to go full berserk when needed?
>>44692160
Some elements of the WE are really blood mad berzerkers. They are often isolated from the rest of the armies, though.
Most of the rest of the legion, however, is only very angry but still with enough control to not go on murder sprees throughout the ship or battlefield. Some even remember how to use weapons, vehicles and strategies other than rushing forward.
>>44692412
>Chaos Legionaires can respawn if the Gods like them enough
I thought this privilege was reserved to their mortal Champions and nobody else.
>>44692453
Yes, but you have to be truly favored by the gods in order for it to happen. This usually means they're a champion of their particular god.
>>44692741
Any World Eater that still lives 10k years (including warp shenanigans) after the Heresy could and should be considered a Champion of his God. You just can't have THAT much luck without divine intervention.
Honestly all Veterans of the Long War should have Chaos Lord stats.
>>44692452
no they're insane. they were recruited from the most violent peoples of Terra, and implanted with a gene seed that makes them even more aggressive. all this was before they found angry ron and had butcher's nails hammered in their heads.
When the GC first set out from Terra War Hound members would constantly kill each other aboard their ships.
Would it be plausible to have a fully veteran warband led by a World Eater with the Nails, but is gifted oddly with a placid calm, possibly the effect of the warp on the Nails? IIRC however the Nails are resistant to psychic energy but w/e
So a Chaos Lord who is similar to a Blood Angels' Chaplain who has sympathy for his lost brothers, while simultaneously despises the Imperium and coralls the completely rage-lost berserkers with other World Eater brethren who share a similar, but lesser, control of their anger. Uses stasis devices for the worst among them, and the chaos lord manages all the ship's crew and menial slaves while segregating away his warriors to prevent them destroying the ship - if a journey is too long to the next battle he indulges them with a great supply of imperial slaves below decks, etc.
>>44695547
it would be extremely painful
>>44695643
painfully bad or 2011 bane maymay pain because butcher's nails
>>44695960
U U U U
Berzerkers make more sense as mercenary/auxiliary troops who just join the warlord that promises the most blood and skulls.
>>44692160
A World Eaters warband is an absolutely valid idea. You can give nuance and humanity to everything, even a bunch of psychopathic mass murderers to whom violence is literally a religion.
>>44692252
This is a good piece of inspiration. And a good read in general.
I liked the berserker in charge, who was actually really quiet, stoic, and unsentimental. I also like the one minor character who was constantly sparring and carefully observing how both the Nails and the latent warp energies caused ebbs and flows of strength and adrenaline.
You could have these guys basically making a science out of violent mayhem, or you could have them be really spiritual, kinda meditative, tuning their impulses for maximum effectiveness in battle. Maybe it's true that, once they hit the battlefield, all conscious thought flies out and absolute berserker instinct takes over, but a veteran warband who's survived constant engagements will have come to understand the individual strengths of each soldier and each squad, even these guys.
As to their instincts, think of it like this: Violence and aggression are the primary provoking factor of the Butcher's Nails as well as the latent daemons which cling to the souls of Khornate warriors. This means that off the battlefield, they may be deliberately placid, saving their energy outside of controlled sparring environments where the blood can flow freely yet be cut off to prevent unnecessary casualties (not necessarily hard, seeing as how these are astartes who can survive insane amounts of punishment anyway). The presence of slaves and shiphands would be of minimal distraction, since they aren't warriors and might be kept deliberately docile and non-aggressive through use of drugs, conditioning, plain old fear, etc.
Berserkers are a retarded concept anyways, and w40k setting the dial up to 11 on everything makes it even dumber.
>>44698989
Continued:
When coordinating with another warband or legion? Well, if anything, being in the presence of other warriors might be a cause for genuine enthusiasm. Greater numbers means violence on a greater scale, and while they may not LIKE the Noise Marines and Sorcerers they're deploying along with, with their ridiculous doctrines and warpcraft, the spectacle of bloodshed will please Khorne all the greater, in the end -- plus, there's always the knowledge that you'll inevitable reap greater foes, and while simply killing those charlatans would bring a certain satisfaction, shaming them, in the eyes of gods and warmasters, is infinitely sweeter.
>>44692160
>How do 40k World Eaters even survive more than 5 seconds outside of combat? GW has painted them as perma-maddened berzerkers who have no self control, how do they remain functional when in a ship crossing the void to the next battle
Outside more mundane activities, I believe that they are capable of entering a trance to reflect on their rage and tune into hearing the bloodcall better.
>Are they in fact relatively normal until the point of battle
They are perfectly sane outside of battle. More than that - they are perfectly sane in the midst of battle. It's just that their sanity has abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with how you understand sanity. But Bloodgod thinks otherwise, and, you know - you're just a dude and he's a God, so...
And actually answering your question - yes, they are perfectly capable of doing the dishes and washing their clothes. How does this mix with the "eternal rage and fury" thing? It does. Just don't try to understand that without having all of your beliefs, dreams and aspirations replaced by endless bloodlust. It's an entire different philosophy and life outlook, not just some random anger bursts.
> Could a warband even recruit and bring new blood into their warband from children
I believe that is what they do.
>How do they restrain themselves in the company of other legions and warbands when joining their expeditions
Other than immersing in training, sparring sessions and meditating on the nature of their quest for skulls - they also sometimes DON'T restrain themselves.
>taking sons from the most warlike Human tribes present while using slaves, servitors and whatever else
How do you think they survive?
>>44698989
>>44699091
This, very much.
>>44699079
Fuck you.
Also an entire army painted in World Eaters colors is going to look sweet as hell. Red + Gold is a hard combination to go wrong with.
>>44699472
You have no realcannon to back your skulgun "KHORNE NOBLE WARRIOR" bullshit up.
>>44692160
Haha, you fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is “Never get involved in a land war in Asia,” but only slightly less well known is this: “Never attempt to make rational sense of 40k fluff!”
I imagine they're something like a perpetually pissed off dude with tourette syndrome, only 8 feet tall, in power armor and genetically augmented. Easily angered but still able to function...relatively speaking.
I imagine some of them ARE completely lost and just frothing animals and might be locked up between battles. Putting them back in their cage might be quite complicated and risky but it gives an outlet for the saner ones to vent the excess rage.
Alternatively some might be able to restrain themselves to be functional and stable (as much as a chaos marine can be), it's just in battle they choose NOT to restrain themselves. Considering they aren't necessarily frothing mad to the point of stupidity by default in Black Crusade in their playable option it seems like Khorne Berserkers are perfectly capable of not acting retarded.
>>44700432
Red/Gunmetal supremacy.
>>44702064
They're both pretty good and fit the demonic look of chaos marines very well.
