Hey all! Adam, from TFG Radio, here once again to wax nostalgic about the old days(some good, some bad).
It has been well document that my favorite faction is Chaos, Black Legion in particular. With over 25 years experience I have a lot of info in the old chaos addled brain of mine. Something that always makes me shake my head is the idea that, somehow, Abaddon is a failure, as it has taken him 13 tries before finally destroying Cadia. You poor, poor, deluded Imperial citizen. The Imperial propaganda machine does a very good job, but it is time to enlighten you.
It was the 2nd edition Chaos codex that stratified the back story for the traitor legions as we know them today. They mention the black crusades and how it only takes a strong chaos lord to launch one. Basically almost anyone could do it. They then mention that Abaddon, himself, has led 12 such crusades and that they range in soze from a few number of units to a large number of warbands. They mention him getting a couple artifacts but don’t really tell much else. Now, if Games Workshop had just stayed with this narrative, then people’s jokes about him would be right on. He just goes on big raids and can never seal the deal. Fortunately for chaos fans, Abaddon discovered the greatest power in the universe: the retcon.
When Third edition was released Games Workshop fleshed out a lot of the Black Crusades that Abaddon had embarked on. These weren’t just simple raids, or attacking planets for the sake of just attacking and destroying. All of them had a purpose, and were part of a intricate puzzle that, when it all finally came together, lead to the destruction of Cadia, and the creation of the Great Rift. Abaddon was literally playing the long game. What we now know is that he is not the bumbling cartoon villain he has been portrayed as in the past. He has a master plan, and only now are we seeing how it is coming all together. The advancement of the storyline, along with finally admitting that chaos won the Eye of Terror campaign, has shown the universe that patience pays off.
So just keep posting those memes, and say how Abaddon is a failure because it took 13 tries. Continue to to tell people how great the Imperium is and how awesome Space Marines are. We all know the truth, and to that end I will quote one of my favorite lines to all you Imperial sycophants, “Huddle close to your Emperor if he makes you feel safe. He cannot save you, for only haos is eternal…”
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I miss that old portrayal of Chaos for so many reasons but mostly just how insane they became with age. Forgetting most things, only storing a few treasured moments. It was all part of this feeling that no one truly knew what was going on anymore, not even the people who’d been there. The past was a weird bloody myth, the fighting pointless and cruel for reasons no one could be sure were even true.
By now the Horus Heresy is so fleshed out and with people just casually strolling around, knowing everything it feels like the whole point has been missed.
Yeah! I remember that story from one of the 2nd Ed Rulebooks, with the Chaos Marine going back over his memories of the past year, and finding only one worthy putting any effort into remembering longer than that. The idea that, even with maybe some time dilation, no one lives for 10,000 years without going insane to one degree or another.
“Abaddon definitely won and didn’t lose” he says in an article about denial. 😛