Bloodbound warband
The Khorne Bloodbound gather in warbands for glory and slaughter. However, each member of a warband knows that cooperation can only last as long as there are foes to slay, for they are not pledged to each other but only to Khorne himself. In the absence of enemies, the warband will frequently rip itself apart. Whatever champion leads the warband has the difficult task of ensuring that there are always new targets for their followers in order to prevent their warband from imploding in fratricidal violence.[1a][2a]
When many warbands are gathered into a Warhorde under a Lord of Khorne, the same phenomenon is writ large. Despite being nominal allies, each warband sees the others as potential sacrifices to Khorne. Each warband's champion looks to ascend to the ranks of the horde's Gorechosen and so views other warband champions as potential rivals. It takes an iron will for the Warhorde's warlord to keep the horde together, and all but the mightiest lords of the Bloodbound find it impossible to keep a warhorde together for a significant length of time.[1a][2a]
Types
Warbands are simply like-minded groups of warriors, but there are a number of common types.[1a]
Bloodforged
Bloodforged warbands are brutal, heavily armoured linebreaking infantry, with Blood Warriors led by Skullgrinders and Wrathmongers.[1a]
Bloodmad Warband
The Bloodmad Warband is the most common type of warband within many warhordes, with an Aspiring Deathbringer and Bloodsecrator leading a mixed formation of Bloodreavers, Blood Warriors and Skullreapers. In battle, their fury can manifest as a blessed blood rain that shows Khorne's favour.[1a]
Dark Feast
Under the gaze of Slaughterpriests and Bloodstokers, the Bloodreavers of the Dark Feast engage in acts of horrific violence and cannibalism.[1a]
Gore Pilgrims
The zealots of the Gore Pilgrims are spurred on by Slaughterpriests and Bloodsecrators to the point where parts of Khorne's domain seem to manifest on the battlefield. The icons of the Bloodsecrators glow with even more infernal energy as the priests chant their prayers.[1a]
Red Headsmen
The Red Headsmen are driven to hunt enemy champions. With an ambitious Aspiring Deathbringer leading them and the work of a Skullgrinder lending their weapons the heat of Khorne's forges, these Blood Warriors are always looking to take the most worthy skulls.[1a][1b]
Skulltake
Skulltake warbands have the simple goal of taking as many skulls as possible. Massed Skullreapers attract Khorgoraths, who are driven onward by Bloodstokers to ever-greater feats of slaughter.[1a]
Slaughterborn
The Slaughterborn are scarred, veteran Blood Warriors and Skullreapers, so inured to blades that they ignore heavy wounds as they hack their way through the foe.[1a][1b]
Bloodstorm
When Wrathmongers gather together in huge packs, their destructive power grows greatly, as does their aura of madness and fury.[2a]
Brass Stampede
Possibly the most feared of all the Bloodbound warbands, the Brass Stampede is an unstoppable formation of Mighty Skullcrushers capable of trampling anything in their path, crushing the foe with all the force of an avalanche.[2a][3a]
Sources
- 1: Battletome: Blades of Khorne (2019)
- 2: Battletome: Khorne Bloodbound (2015)
- 2a: The Chosen of Khorne, pg. 30-31
- 3: Battletome: Blades of Khorne (2017)
- 3a: Warscroll Battalions, pg. 112-123