The Worldeaters were easily converted to following the Chaos god Khorne due to their marshall pride and their belief that The Emperor and The Imperium had become soft and decadent. They have totally devoted themselves to fighting as close combat troops, feeding upon the berzerk rage of Khorne and distaining ranged weapons as the weapons of weaklings. They arm themselves entirely with pistols and close combat weapons, huge chainaxes and chainswords becoming their favoured tools of bloodshed. The Worldeaters have split into separate squads, each following its own Champion of Khorne. They have become so engrossed in their fighting rage that any chance for them to operate as a cohesive Legion is long past.
Codex Chaos 2nd ed.
The Worldeaters were created in the First Founding of the Legions and still regard themselves as such. It is the later foundings under the false "Emperor of Mankind" which have turned from the true path and become decadent and depraved. Even before the Heresy the Worldeaters were noted for their savagery. They were censured by the Emperor for their use of psychosurgery on new recruits to turn them into frothing madmen. Nonetheless the Worldeaters were invaluable terror troops in the Great Crusade and fought at the forefront of all the greatest campaigns. It was a simple matter for Horus to pervert the Worldeaters' bloody Legion rituals to the worship of Chaos. Under his corrupting influence the Worldeaters quickly became devoted to Khorne the blood god. Once renowned for their unswerving loyalty to the Emperor, the name of the Worldeaters became a byword for carnage and terror during the Heresy. They always fought in the vanguard of the Traitor Legions and their Legion records show it was they and not the Sons of Horus who first breached the walls of the Imperial palace. The Worldeaters retreated from Terra only grudgingly and fought their way to the Eye of Terror, carving a bloody swathe through anything that tried to stand in their way. The Worldeaters continued and strengthened their blood traditions while in exile, tying themselves ever closer to Khorne and his demons. All pretense of forming balanced, tactical forces fell away as the Worldeaters armed themselves entirely with pistols and close combat weapons, chain-axes and chainswords becoming the favored tools of bloodshed. In battle the Worldeaters' squads charged directly into close combat, roaring their praise of Khorne as they pounded forward. As more and more of the Legion's officers became fully-fledged champions of Khorne or were possessed by demons all discipline broke down. Finally, at the end of the savage Skalathrax campaign an individual who became known as Kharn the Betrayer, an exalted and utterly insane berzerker-champion of Khorne, set upon his brethren with such bloodlust that the whole Legion tore itself apart in a great battle which lasted days and nights without end. By the time the smoke cleared the Legion had been shattered into dozens of warbands of crazed berzerkers, which now move relentlessly through the Eye of Terror seeking out battle and bloodshed. Some of these warbands are hundreds strong; others are no more than a lone champion leading his Berzerkers on a quest for carnage. Such warbands will join their forces with any Chaos lord who is gathering his forces for conquests, asking nothing more than to spill blood and take skulls for their lord Khorne. However even Chaos lords must be wary in case their own heads are added to the tally of the fallen.
My Favorite Web sites
