Followers of Khorne and retreating

[Kol Saresk]

Geronimo!

[Drelthar]

In the older cannon, Khorne is the God of warriors and war. He admires martial skill and reserves his hatred for cowardice, rather than those who make a tactical retreat. In 40k the flavour of Khorne is shaped by the fact that his main followers are World Eaters, who are all Berserkers. Other Khorne followers may be highly disciplined. Indeed it's pretty easy to see a Space Marine chapter, obsessively dedicating their lives to martial pursuits and discipline being drawn into Khorne worship. Such followers would be the polar opposite of World Eaters, but Khorne cares not how the blood flows either.

 

It's also worth remembering that historically, commanders are more widely remembered than warriors for what they do in war. Napoleon could be seen as one of Khorne's greatest mortal heroes.

 

That's a well-explained and reasonable viewpoint, and thank you for drawing off of older lore for support. I'll adopt your view as my own, so thanks for posting!

[RolandTHTG]

For an Idea of how an Khorne-worshiping force can maneuver and withdraw without apparent consequences, the Gaunts Ghosts novels have the Ghosts repeatedly face off against the Blood Pact, a disciplined Khorne-whorshiping Traitor Guard army. The Blood Pact do withdraw if the battle is lost, one of the things that allows them to develop veteran units (and also eliminate rivals too fanatical to retreat). They also are good at placing ambushes, including one where their feigned retreat managed to effectively wipe out another Regiment. So there is canonical evidence for disciplined formations and occasional retreats by Khorne-worshipers.