10 Warhammer Factions That Have Yet To Appear In Games

Summary

• Dark Mechanicum, Leagues Of Votann, and Carcharodons Astra are epic Warhammer factions deserving more video game spotlight.
• Iron Warriors, Red Corsairs, and Night Lords are intriguing Warhammer factions with unique traits and storylines in need of more recognition.
• Ossiarch Bonereapers, Cities of Sigmar, and Emperor’s Children offer rich lore and playstyle potential, warranting inclusion in Warhammer video games.

Warhammer is full of varied and interesting factions, but not all of them have made it into a video game. Some might have had a character or two, but the faction itself doesn’t appear. Some might have had a previous incarnation of their faction in a game, but not the forty-second millennium or Mortal Realms version.

The Ultramarines. Black Legion, Stormcast Eternals, and Ork/Orruk hordes all rightly get a lot of attention, but they’re not the only ones deserving of the spotlight. From the Mortal Realms to the grimdark future, dozens of cultures, chapters, and creatures have never had much exposure outside the tabletop.

11

Dark Mechanicum (Warhammer 40,000)

Daemonic Artisans And Scientists

• Art by John Blanche and Sam Wood

The technology-obsessed Mechanicus exploded onto the scene in 2015 with their full Warhammer 40,000 army. They have their own successful strategy game series too, with another upcoming installment. But what about their Chaos equivalents?

The Dark Mechanicum are the remnants of the tech priests that followed Horus during the Horus Heresy, focused on forbidden esoteric science. They were fascinated by Horus’ offers of unlimited experimentation with AI, bioscience, alien technology, and more. Think of the Dark Mechanicum as every “science gone wrong” parable run amok: evil artificial intelligence, Daemon-possessed tech monstrosities, and splicing human and alien DNA.

10

Kharadron Overlords (Warhammer Age Of Sigmar)

Skyfaring Merchants And Adventurers

• Art by Cassio Yoshiyaki, Thomas Elliot, Catherine O’Connor

Despite a small appearance of three Kharadron Overlords in Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soul Arena, the faction as a whole has eluded any significant video game appearances.

These steampunk, skyfaring Duardin travel to war in vast fleets of airships loaded with cannons, while their troops wield steampunk rifles against monsters dozens of times their size. The Kharadron Overlords refuse to worship any god after being abandoned during the age of chaos. Instead, the Overlords live by a mercantile code, one that sees them aligned with the order factions but willing to raid and kill if necessary to achieve profit.

9

Iron Warriors (Warhammer 40,000)

Iron Within, Iron Without

• Art by Neil Roberts, Misha Savier, Stefan Kopinski

The Iron Warriors were the backbone of the traitor forces during the Horus Heresy and fought from the Dropsite massacre, until the siege of Terra. With Horus arguably losing the war by offending their Primarch, Perturabo, it was enough for the legion to abandon the siege.

In Warhammer 40,000, the Iron Warriors are an army of renegades, not truly aligned to chaos (although they do love to force daemons into their machinery). They refuse to bow to any master, and have eschewed any higher purpose than that of conquest and revenge. They only value strength, seeing weakness as worthy of enslavement or death.

8

Cities Of Sigmar (Warhammer Age Of Sigmar)

The Old World Reborn

• Art by Thomas Elliot, Alex Boyd

Despite the world’s destruction during the end times, the reforged races of man, elf, and dwarf would coalesce once more in the mortal realms of Age Of Sigmar. Now as part of Sigmar’s empire, they form the mortal forces that support the mighty Stormcast Eternals.

Being the Age Of Sigmar equivalent of Warhammer: The Old World’s empire, the Cities Of Sigmar utilise a mix of faith, steel and gunpowder with which to battle the storm god’s foes. Sporting a more fantastical aesthetic and including monsters in their ranks, the free cities definitely deserve an appearance sometime in the near future.

7

Leagues Of Votann (Warhammer 40,000)

AI Led Space Dwarves

The Leagues of Votan are the newest major faction added to the Warhammer 40,000 universe. They are composed primarily of the Kin (genetically modified humans), and Ironkin (sentient robots with their own personalities). They occupy the galactic core in a series of mining guilds and corporate enterprises.

Members are genetically modified to fit any role, and led by the giant AI supercomputers known as Votann. Of course, this being Warhammer, they’re obsessed with profit and will invade others if it seems financially ideal. They’ll even split planets apart to get to the resources inside.

6

Red Corsairs (Warhammer 40,000)

Pirate Kings Of The Maelstrom

• Art by Paul Dainton, Roman Tishenin

The Badab War is full of factions that deserve more spotlight. The war is ta ale of the Imperium’s bureaucracy creating another dire threat: Huron Blackheart and his piratical Red Corsairs.

The Red Corsairs are second only to Abbadon’s Black Legion in numbers, despite having existed for a fraction of the time. The Corsairs are raiders and reavers that have become a scourge on the Imperium, taking entire worlds as slaves and looting its cities bare. The warband even managed to deal a severe blow to the White Scars chapter following the opening of the great rift.

5

Ossiarch Bonereapers (Warhammer Age Of Sigmar)

Scions Of Nagash

• Art by Alex Boyd, Igor Sid

The Ossiarch Bonereapers form the elite of the death god Nagash’s undead hordes. They are forged from the sculpted bones of the dead, and given life by the corrupted souls of Nagash’s enemies. The Bonereapers offer an undead alternative to the more famous Stormcast Eternals, being one of the setting’s strongest factions.

They follow a strict caste system, with many Ossiarchs in civilian roles alongside the military might of Nagash’s legions. Ossiarchs have predetermined roles for which they’re forged, from the royal Mortarchs to the lowly Mornial. Those that fail in their assigned roles risk becoming Parrha, exiles and failures with the status of beasts.

4

Carcharodons Astra (Warhammer 40,000)

Hunters In The Dark

• Art by Diego Gisbert Llorens

The Carcharodons, or Space Sharks, are one of Warhammer 40,000’s most brutal space marine chapters. The chapter is aesthetically inspired by Polynesian cultures, bringing a unique visual flair to the world of Warhammer.

As a faction, the Carcharodons are very different from regular Space Marines, fighting more as a guerrilla hit-and-run force. Savage in the extreme, the Carcharadons are one of the most brutal astartes chapters. They prefer to brutalize their foes with chainaxes and close assaults, recruiting by demanding slaves from Imperial worlds. They prowl the edges of the galaxy, hunting the horrors that lurk in the dark.

3

Hrud (Warhammer 40,000)

Time Draining Horrors

Art by Tiernan Trevallion

The Hrud were once intended as Warhammer 40,000’s answer to the verminous Skaven, but eventually morphed into something much more eldritch and terrifying. The Hrud of today are hulking, spindly creatures, consisting of a hunched torso and several gangly limbs.

They possess the innate ability to age their prey to death, and the military power to route the Star Phantoms space marine chapter from their homeworld during one of their migrations. Despite this, the Hrud have never actually been given an army since their introduction in Warhammer 40,000’s third edition.

2

Night Lords (Warhammer 40,000)

Fear-Loving Psychopaths

• Art by Jon Sullivan, Victor Fernandez

The Night Lords are fear incarnate, a legion of psychopaths and murderers. Since their inception, they have relied on shock and awe, fighting guerrilla wars with the objective of forcing surrender through fear. In theory, this would limit actual casualties, but actually results in grisly and disturbing deaths for their victims. The warriors of the legion would even wear their foes’ skins on their armor.

Now, in the forty-second millennium, the Night Lords have shattered into disparate warbands of raiding sadists and psychopaths. Few among them retain any sort of honor or nobility, taking pleasure in the horrific murders they commit. Despite this, they actually have some of the franchise’s best novels.

1

Emperor’s Children (Warhammer 40,000)

Hedonists, Sycophants, and Murderers

• Art by Leszek Woźniak, Adrian Smith, Wayne England

The Emperor’s Children are one of the most despicable forces in service to chaos in the Warhammer franchises. Once some of the most noble of the Imperium’s servants, their pride and vanity dragged them into the service of Slaanesh, the Chaos god of pleasure and pain. Their Primarch, Fulgrim, was the one who put Guilliman out of action until the current setting.

Now in the forty-second millennium, the Emperor’s Children inject themselves with cocktails of drugs, use sound-based weaponry so loud it shreds people to atoms, and inflict excruciating pain on their victims. This cacophony of hedonistic excess is never sated, and they will never serve anything other than their Primarch, and their own immediate whims.