"All mortal creatures must die. Only then can the galaxy be reborn anew."
- — Anonymous Purge Chaos Space Marine
The Purge is a Chaos Space Marine warband dedicated to the Chaos God Nurgle, the Plague Lord. They despise life in all its forms and have waged pitiless war against xenos and Mankind alike since the late 36th Millennium, consumed by their self-imposed quest to exterminate all living creatures.
Having seen first hand the dread threat of Chaos, they believe that the civilisations of the galaxy are hopelessly corrupt and that the only salvation lies in the sterility of death. The Purge know that they are too few in number to achieve this goal on their own, and hence they pray nightly to the god of plagues for a mighty pandemic that will destroy every sentient being.
Though The Purge see their purpose as pure, those who witness the pestilence and starvation they leave in their wake are under no illusion as to their true allegiance. When The Purge attack a world, famine, pestilence and death soon follow.
They are infamous for their conduct of genocidal campaigns and the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons on civilian and military targets alike. They recently played a major role in defending the other forces of Chaos during the Siege of Vraks by the Astra Militarum. Their current location is unknown.
Warband History[]
The Purge Warband Colour Scheme as displayed by Ghrouvas Marinnon, Sower of the Great Spoil.
Notable Campaigns[]
- Antecanis Massacre (165.M37) - The Purge is known to have participated in the Antecanis Massacre in 165.M37 alongside the Black Legion and other Chaos Space Marine warbands.
- Hell's Last Duke (931.M38) - The space hulk Hell's Last Duke ploughs into the surface of the world of Bereguel Tertia, causing an extinction-level event. Many of the world's most valuable dignitaries save themselves by taking to underground bunkers as the massive nightmare bulk of the space hulk burns through the atmosphere. Though they believe themselves to have escaped the worst of the disaster, the dignitaries soon learn otherwise when the Renegade Space Marines of The Purge emerge from the heart of the hulk and begin to hunt them down. The Space Marines of the Fire Lords Chapter receive the distress call and divert their Imperial Crusade to make planetfall upon Bereguel. Their Centurion Siegebreaker Cohorts bore holes into the rockcrete of the hulk, leading a massed assault right into the dark chamber that serves as its bridge. A close-quarters battle breaks out, and though the Fire Lords lose several of their Centurions in the process, the grisly death of The Purge's Chaos Lord Doluthec ensures the warband is left leaderless and eventually defeated.
- Siege of Vraks (813-830.M41) - The Purge were one of the Chaos Space Marine warbands that answered the call of the Chaos Lord Arkos the Faithless of the Alpha Legion to support the defence of the forces of Chaos entrenched on the Armoury World of Vraks from the assault of the Imperium of Man. After the Siege of Vraks ended with the fall of that benighted world to Imperial forces in a horrifically costly military campaign in 830.M41, The Purge fled off-world.
- Corruption of Bellru & Fealty II (884.M40) - Possessed Chaos Space Marines guide a fleet of The Purge's rusted plague ships through a squall of unnavigable Warp storms to seed the Agri-worlds of Bellru and Fealty II with vile diseases. Given their small numbers, The Purge spread an impressive amount of death and destruction. On each world, they send their plague ships plunging down into the oceans and onto land. The broken hulls empty out deadly spores into the atmosphere, infecting billions of inhabitants.
- Vaxhallian Genocides (926.M41) - In the year 926.M41, The Purge sought to vent their hatred of all living things, and chose the verdant Imperial world of Vaxhallia as their victim. The planet's surface was soon riddled with consumptive disease and crippling famine. Over the course of a single solar month, The Purge engineered the destruction of no fewer than 14 billion Imperial citizens, laying claim to the plague-ridden world.
- Ke'lshan Besieged (998.M41) - The Purge warband lays siege to the beleaguered T'au Sept World of Ke'lshan, which is recovering after a series of attritions caused by assaults from both the Imperium and Hive Fleet Gorgon. The Heretic Astartes' attempt to corrupt the world's atmosphere, turning it into a corrosive soup that would cleanse the planet of all life, are foiled at great cost by Fio'O Sho'Aun, renowned T'au artificer and weaponsmith, whose experimental Remora drone-fighters duel with airborne Blight Drones for control of the skies of Ke'lshan.
- Invasion of Medusa (Unknown Date.M42) - Alongside warbands of The Cleaved, The Purge and several other Nurglite Renegade forces, the Chaos Lord Typhus leads the Death Guard's 1st Plague Company in a shocking raid against the Iron Hands' Chapter Planet, Medusa, at the dawn of the Era Indomitus. The Iron Hands' clan companies drive off their attackers, but not before terrible damage is done, leaving regions of the planet as cursed quarantine zones.
- Battle of Örgvayr (Unknown Date.M42) - The Battle of Örgvayr was a conflict that erupted between the Kin of the Leagues of Votann's Greater Thurian League and the forces of Chaos near Warp Storm Örgvayr. The fighting began after the opening of the Great Rift in the Era Indomitus provided the servants of Chaos with greater opportunities to enter Kin space in the galactic core than ever before. Despite assaults by warbands of the World Eaters and The Purge Heretic Astartes upon the Thurian Cthonian Mining Guild harvester fortresses present on the volcanic Kin World of Törg, the Oathbands of the Thurian Kindred of Vôrtun were able to rescue both the miners and much of their valuable harvested raw materials under the command of Kâhl Ûthar the Destined, as well as slay the World Eaters Chaos Lord Hakatar. However, the conflict remains an ongoing one, and the Heretic Astartes and their allies continue to reinforce their numbers through the Warp storm. The northeastern region of Thurian space has now become a warzone known as the "Stormward Front."
Notable Members of The Purge[]
- Doluthec (KIA) - Doluthec was a Chaos Lord of The Purge warband. In 931.M38, he assaulted the world of Bereguel Tertia with the Space Hulk designated Hell's Last Duke. Though many of the world's most important dignitaries saved themselves by taking shelter underground, believing they had escaped the worst of the assault, the dignitaries soon learned otherwise when the Renegade Space Marines of The Purge emerged from the heart of the Hulk and began to hunt them down. The Space Marines of the Fire Lords Chapter diverted their forces from a nearby crusade front to the planet and confronted the Chaos Renegades with their Centurions. This battle resulted in the grisly death of Doluthec, and ensured the warband was left leaderless. It was eventually defeated by the Loyalists.
Warband Artefacts[]
- Orb of Unlife - Within this glassy sphere lurks a diluted variant of the Life-eater virus. Although quick to burn out when the sphere is broken, everything nearby finds itself consumed by the ravaging viral strain.
Warband Appearance[]
The Purge's corrupted power armour is filthy and dirt-spattered, as would be expected of followers of Nurgle.
Warband Colours[]
The Purge paints the helmet, shoulder plates and lower leg plates of its power armour grey-green and the hands and torsos black.
Warband Badge[]
The warband's badge is three black flies facing each other set 120 degrees apart on a grey-green background, which mirrors the standard sigil often called the Mark of Nurgle.
Sources[]
- Codex Heretic Astartes - Chaos Space Marines (8th Edition), pg. 51
- Codex Heretic Astartes - Chaos Space Marines (8th Edition) (Revised Codex), pg. 51
- Codex Heretic Astartes - Death Guard (8th Edition), pg. 22, "The Gorgon's Lair"
- Codex: Chaos Space Marines (4th Edition)
- Codex: Chaos Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 16, 25
- Codex: Leagues of Votann (9th Edition), pp. 16-17
- Dataslate: Centurion Siegebreaker Cohort (Digital Edition)
- Imperial Armour Volume Seven - The Siege of Vraks - Part Three, pg. 141
- Imperial Armour Volume Thirteen - Warmachines of the Lost and the Damned, pg. 25
- Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook (5th Edition), pg. 128
- Warhammer 40,000: Index Chaotica - Possessed, pg. 19
- Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Ablaze (8th Edition), pp. 73, 200
Gallery[]
