Skulltakers

"There is no peace. There is only time wasted between battles."

- Ergathon of the Skulltakers, Champion of Khorne

The Skulltakers are an infamous Khornate warband of Chaos Space Marines. Formerly known as the Berserkers of Kharadon, this once-Loyalist Space Marine Chapter disappeared from the Imperium of Man from 153.M34 to 184.M39. During these five millennia the Berserkers of Kharadon turned to Chaos, and the bloody worship of Khorne, rechristening themselves the Skulltakers. With the Styx-class Heavy Cruiser Blood Dawn leading their fleet as its flagship, the Skulltakers have raided and plundered across the galaxy, killing indiscriminately and gathering skulls in the name of Khorne.

Notable Campaigns

 * Siege of Vraks (813-830.M41) - The Skulltakers were the largest Khornate warband of Chaos Space Marines who were drawn to the Imperial Armoury World of Vraks Prime to take part in the slaughter during the 17-year-long siege of that rebellious planet by Imperial forces. It is with some certainty that Warmaster Abaddon sanctioned the Skulltakers' presence on Vraks, as part of a long-term plan to disrupt the Imperium's defenses around the Eye of Terror in the years before the start of his 13th Black Crusade. Once upon Vraks, Zhufor committed his warband to the front, smashing into the Imperial siege regiments and hacking a bloody path into their trenchlines. But, lacking numbers, Zhufor could not allow his warband to become trapped in the attritional war and instead, allowed them to roam the surface of Vraks, killing and plundering wherever they could. As the Imperial siege closed in and it seemed that the Forces of Chaos might be defeated, Zhufor enacted a plan to take over supreme command of the Apostate Cardinal Xaphan's army. Sickened by reports from the front of cowardice and desertion in the face of the enemy, Zhufor sought to unify the various Khornate warbands under his leadership. He then moved to take over the entire Vraksian Traitor army -- which meant the removal of the reclusive Apostate-Cardinal Xaphan and his ineffectual cronies. After successfully overthrowing Xaphan and seizing control over Vraks Prime, Zhufor began his campaign of genocide in earnest. Late in the siege, Zhufor killed an Imperial Guard Commissar-General, taking his body as a gory trophy, which he mounted upon the spikes of his blood encrusted armour. He then hatched an audacious plan to summon the mightiest of the servants of Khorne. With the aid of the Khornate warband known as The Sanctified, Zhufor tempted his master's wrath and successfully summoned the Deathbringer - An'ggrath the Unbound, the Lord of the Bloodthirsters. The long carnage of the Vraksian war drew An'ggrath and his daemonic legions through the Warp portal created by the daemonmancers of The Sanctified. The mighty Bloodthirster turned the surface of Vraks into his personal slaughterhouse until the intervention of the Grey Knights and Lord Inquisitor Hector Rex. Wielding a powerful sword forged to destroy such daemon-lords known as Arias, Rex stopped An'ggrath before it was too late. An'ggrath's defeat was a bitter blow to Zhufor and his followers and soon after, they abandoned Vraks to seek out fresh battlefields. Zhufor left behind a strong rearguard of fanatics and daemons and, it is thought, used the Vraks Warp portal to cast himself back through the Immaterium. Where he and the Skulltakers will finally emerge next is not known.

Specialist Ranks

 * Blood Cult - Outfitted in the finest Chaos Terminator Armour, Lord Zhufor's personal cadre, the so-called Blood Cult are the most numerous and most dreaded of the Chaos Terminators who operated on Vraks Prime. They fought with inhuman skill and savagery, and were feared in equal measure by their enemies and their erstwhile comrades, whose blood they were more than inclined to spill when the Khornate battle-rage overcame them.

Warband Colours
The Skulltakers wear copper coloured Power Armour, the colour of spilt blood with brass or silver trim. They are known for their obsession of polishing their armour with the powdered bones of their slain enemies.

Warband Badge
The Skulltakers' badge symbol is a silver, double-bladed serrated battle-axe on a red background.

Notable Skulltakers

 * Zhufor (Chaos Lord) - Also called Zhufor the Impaler and the Butcher of Vraks, this infamous Chaos Lord leads the Skulltakers warband. Zhufor was not always a servant of the Dark Gods. Once, millennia ago, he was known as Balzach, a former Sergeant of the Storm Lords Chapter. During the sacking of the hive cities of Paramar, Sergeant Balzach was severely wounded and taken captive by the Traitor Marines of the World Eaters. Balzach was then drugged and subjected to torture and psycho-corrective surgery to alter his brainwave patterns in order to break his Imperial indoctrination. He was turned into a psychopathic killer and was reborn as Zhufor, joining the World Eater's ranks as a Khornate Berserker, hacking and slaying any who stood in his way until he rose to become the Chaos Lord of his own Khornate warband. In recent history, he led the Skulltakers and the majority of the Khornate warbands during the Siege of Vraks in the latter 41st Millennium. Following the dire events on Vraks Prime, Zhufor remains a grave threat to the Imperium, and is still regarded as one of Abaddon's most lethal lieutenants. Zhufor commands the Skulltakers from the Styx-class Heavy Cruiser Blood Dawn, which has been identified as leading many bloody raids against Imperial targets from out of the Eye of Terror. At the end of the 41st Millennium, Zhufor and the Skulltakers would serve at the forefront of Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade. Four attempts by the Imperial Assassins of the Officio Assassinorum to find and eliminate him in the name of the Emperor have all ended in failure -- and the death of the Assassins.
 * Gorfan - Gorfan is a Chaos Champion of Khorne and the commander of the Blood Cult, Lord Zhufor's elite bodyguard of Khornate Berserkers.