Chaos undivided and the matter of faith

[Rasclomalum]

There once was a Mark of Chaos Undivided. If you go far back enough, according to my Internet research, there was a time when Word Bearers could take no marks except the Mark of Chaos Undivided. This is touched upon in the Word Bearers trilogy, which among other things contains a few instances where people are chided for leaning too heavily towards one particular God. You do it the Word Bearers way, you are a polytheist or a pantheist or whatever prefix+theism best describes it.

 

Don't get me wrong, I understand the idea behind marks. They are blessings granted by the Gods, and thus you can't have marks and apotheoses happen without divine intervention. A mark of Chaos Undivided could therefore be seen as an absurdity, unless you get all of them like Abaddon did. Daemonhood is trickier since there are supposedly undivided Daemon Princes such as Lorgar, but I lack sufficient fluff knowledge and can only assume his ascension was a one of them joint Chaos ventures because, face it, he was the Ruinous Powers' poster boy before Horus. Anyway, it seems apparent that the very idea of Chaos Undivided is leaving the fluff for good.

 

Though I'm usually Slaaneshi I sometimes have a problem with this. Oh, I know, if I wanted an undivided warband I could just take no marks whatsoever and call it a day. Something about it just feels lacking though. I guess I'm too conditioned to think that a mark is a sign of devotion, and there's undeniably a part of me that would appreciate an upgrade for those who prefer to scream "For the glory of Chaos!" instead of "Blood for the Blood God" or whatever. 

 

So anyway, I think the word "mark" is the problem here. Undivided marks are only bestowed to Warmasters and Everchosen. So don't call it a mark at all. Call it Faith Undivided instead, and let it grant Fearless, Stubborn, a reroll of Leadership tests, Zealot, ATSKNF by another name or whatever is suitable. 

[Lucio]

Zealot is the most appropriate upgrade choice, though rather than calling it a Mark, it could be that they are a Disciple of Chaos Undivided, someone who chooses to dedicate themselves with passion and fire to the cause of Chaos itself.

[MaliGn]

I can see marks being removed altogether from standard csm in the future as a "streamlining" exercise. Replaced by an army wife dedication of sorts.

 

Unmarked troops represent the core that are less touched by the taint of the warp in a physical way, Marines are pretty resilient after all, and especially in the case of renegades it is apt. As for the more committed they are Chosen, or Possessed. While a particular legions fervour may garner them a dedication to one or other, they do this in exchange for power, if the deal is too bad, then that's ok for others.

 

There is also no reason why they could not invoke specific deities when issuing warcries, as they dedicate that particular kill to a god. Or utter a prayer to nurgle when injured, or whatever, I wish icons were not mark restricted to unmarked troops, this would suit my word bearers perfectly, although I have just built my possessed with the mark of Slaanesh. My interpretation is a little looser than others, although it stops short of cult troops.

[incinerator950]

I still want minor gods to make a pitch.

[Rasclomalum]

Zealot is the most appropriate upgrade choice, though rather than calling it a Mark, it could be that they are a Disciple of Chaos Undivided, someone who chooses to dedicate themselves with passion and fire to the cause of Chaos itself.

 

My point exactly. 

 

I can see marks being removed altogether from standard csm in the future as a "streamlining" exercise. Replaced by an army wife dedication of sorts. 

 

 

 

Well, since the game has evolved towards a point where running several detachments and bringing allies is establishing itself as a norm of sorts, the function currently provided by marks as an upgrade could quite easily be covered by a detachment wide chapter (well, legion) tactic. So, you've running a World Eaters detachment, all your eligible models now have the Mark of Khorne. Want Plague Marines to go with that? Ally in some Death Guard. Yes, it is quite conceivable and it would be clean and streamlined. I'm not sure it would go down too well though as you risk facing serious fluff problems what with several of the non-cult legions clearly toting marked marines in the books. 

 

I'd suggest that a workable solution would be to retain marks and cover the rest with legion tactics. No reason why you couldn't have both.