List of Chaos Space Marine Warbands

The following is a list of all known Traitor Legions and Renegade Space Marine Chapters or warbands of Chaos Space Marines operating in Imperial space. The Traitor Legions are comprised of the original 9 Traitor Legions that betrayed their oaths of loyalty to the Emperor of Mankind during the ancient civil war called the Horus Heresy more than 10,000 standard years ago. The Traitor Legions were led by the Warmaster Horus Lupercal, once a Primarch of the Imperium and the Emperor's most trusted friend, son, and adviser before he was corrupted by the promises and lies of the Dark Gods and his own inner flaws. The Traitor Legions were the most powerful component of the Forces of Chaos which fought during the Heresy, which also included the myriad Daemons of the Warp, human Traitors from the Imperial Army, the Dark Mechanicus and Chaos Cultists drawn from across the galaxy. The flesh and Power Armour of these Chaos Space Marines warped and twisted into new, darker and inhuman forms under the influence of the Chaos energies they were exposed to, as well as their shapes, which morphed to embody the corrupted Astartes' new allegiance. Following their defeat during the final epic battle, known as the Battle of Terra, the Emperor pronounced judgement upon the Traitor Legions. They were declared Excommunicate Traitoris. The remnants of the 9 Traitor Legions fled, along with the other Traitor Imperial forces that now served Chaos, chased by the Loyalist forces into an area of the galaxy where the Warp bled into realspace, creating the permanent Warp Storm known as the Eye of Terror. Due to the nature of Chaos, and the temporal instability of the Warp, many of the very same Chaos Space Marines who revolted against the Emperor more than 10 millennia ago continue to fight their Long War against the Imperium today, having effectively been granted a tortured immortality by the will of the Ruinous Powers.

Renegade Chapters are made up of Chaos Space Marines whose Chapters or companies turned to Chaos after the end of the Horus Heresy, sometimes many millennia later. Some are not whole Chapters but simply warbands composed of a few tens or hundreds of Astartes drawn from the same original source and led by a charismatic commander or Chaos Lord. However, several of the Renegades listed here are simply Space Marine Chapters that have turned on the Imperium of Man or been unfairly declared Excommunicate Traitoris for one reason or another but still view themselves as loyal to the Emperor of Mankind if not to the corrupt edifice of the Imperium his servants have built over the last 10,000 years. These types of Renegade Chapters are certainly no friends of Chaos or the other enemies of Mankind, though their lack of allies can often lead even the best-intentioned Renegades down the ultimate path of corruption to the willing worship of the Dark Powers, if only to secure their own survival when they are beset on all sides by enemies.

Through the passing of the centuries since the Horus Heresy, the Forces of Chaos have been further swelled by those Space Marines who have turned from service to the Emperor of Mankind to pursue their own agendas. Freed from the Imperial dogma and traditions of their Chapter, these so-called Renegade Space Marines fully indulge the needs of their superhuman bodies and their militant minds. They most often become corsairs, pirates and mercenaries, using their unparalleled combat skills to garner wealth and power for themselves, rusing as tyrannical masters of pirate fleets and the masters of desolate frontier worlds. As they explore their new freedom from the discipline and strict purpose of the Adeptus Astartes, these Space Marines inevitably turn at some point to the Chaos Gods to gain more power to do as they will. From this point on, they are fated to walk the path of the Chaos Champion as much as any of the original Traitors of the Horus Heresy. These Renegades are hunted men -- loathed by all the other Space Marine Chapters, who consider it their foremost duty before the Emperor to destroy any Renegade Astartes lest their vile shame and dishonour leave a black stain upon all the Loyalist Space Marines who have never turned their face from the light of the Emperor or their duty to Mankind for their own selfish gain.

Though never equal in size or power to the original Astartes Legions, a modern Space Marine Chapter is a potent military force in its own right and when an entire Chapter turns Renegade it presents a grave threat to the Imperium. With all the resources of a Space Marine Chapter at their disposal, the Renegades of Chaos destroy Imperial armies, conquer Imperial worlds and despoil whole sectors of the Imperium. Such events warrant an extreme response from the Imperial forces, not to mention the other, Loyalist Space Marine Chapters. It is perhaps the greatest test of faith for a Space Marine to fight another Astartes and these internecine conflicts often have a terrible effect on other nearby Chapters. In these circumstances, such inter-Chapter wars tend to escalate quickly, engulfing many worlds with bloodshed. On occasion, those forces sent to deal with the Renegade Chapter may actually end up, in whole or in part, becoming corrupted and joining with those they were sent to destroy, just as happened to many among the Traitor Legions so long ago.

An example of just such an outcome infamously took place in the 34th Millennium during the Obscuran Uprisings. During the curse of 400 Terran years of anarchic separatist rebellions that shook much of the Segmentum Obscurus, at least 7 Loyalist Space Marine Chapters broke their oaths to the Emperor and took part in the looting and pillaging of hundreds of these Imperial worlds. Of these Chapters, 2 of them, the Sons of Vengeance and the Silver Guards -- had at first fought on the side of the Imperium but turned Renegade after their vicious retaliatory actions against the rebel Free Council of Hannedra II. It is believed these Chapters found great freedom in unleashing their full wrath at Hannedra II and they soon gave up any pretense of serving the Emperor in subsequent brutal actions unleashed across the Segmentum.

Please note: Fan-created Chapters must be posted at the Warhammer 40k Fanon Wiki and not on this page. A separate list also exists for Loyalist Space Marine Chapter here.

Q
No known Renegade Chapters starting with "Q."

X, Y, Z
There are no known Renegade Chapters starting with 'X', 'Y' or 'Z'.