Pictures of Chaos From 230 BCE to Warhammer 40K in 1987 AD

A further exploration of chaos in the setting and some rambling about chaos as a cosmology and how it snuck into Rogue Trader - because it is fun to ponder such things!

I’ve done my talk to the Warhammer Conference and next is the Games Workshop Research day. Thanks to both events for hosting me talking! As such I thought in this post I’d share some of the images (and thoughts) behind the topic; Chaos in the Warhammer setting. (I’ve written on this topic before btw)

Why this? In the book one of the largest sections I’ve written is a timeline of all the key elements of tabletop gaming pre-Warhammer 40,000 Rouge Trader, the years leading up to its release and post release progression up to 2nd edition in 1993. It’s an interesting ride which I punctuate with several ‘Inflection Points’. These are key lessons for people working in game development (or indeed any creative area, or just folks interested!)

In the timeline there’s a few threads I’m focused on, such as major moves in the business world (like the development of plastics for miniatures), developments in GW’s science-fiction range (as at the time fantasy dominated SF in the tabletop gaming space because of D&D’s popularity) and chaos. Why chaos? Chaos is a common binding of the SF and fantasy settings of Warhammer and has become, imho, one of the key elements that identifies Warhammer from other SF or fantasy settings. Many of the core aspects of it were set around the period of 1983-1993 as such I track them too in the timeline.

The topic of chaos as a cosmological concept, of course, pre-dates Warhammer - it pre-dates the country I’m writing this in - it goes right back into early human history and I’d be not at all surprised to find evidence of it in pre-historical art too.

As such I have explored it in a few ancient cultures, one being the Achaemenid Persian empire. They worshiped a supreme deity, Ahuramazda (also written ‘Ahura Mazda’ and known as Horomazes) who represented order and truth;

“When Ahuramazda [the supreme god] saw this earth in disorder, then he gave it to me . . . Because of Ahuramazda I put things in order again . . . After Ahuramazda had created me king of this world, I did what was fitting by the will of Ahuramazda” Cited by; Llewellyn-Jones, L (2022). Persians: The Age of The Great Kings

(Image - A stone carved relief of Ahura Mazda presenting a symbol of royal sovereignty to Ardashir I, the image shows both mounted on horses. Photo by Wojciech Kocot, via Wikipedia)

The god Ahura Mazda is set against the forces that would lead to the opposite - disorder, chaos and lies. These are represented by demonic entities such as Angra Mainyu, who seek to create this chaos. Angra Mainyu was also written as ‘Ahriman’, the chaotic spirit of destruction in this ancient belief system.

(Image - Ahriman, Arch-Sorcerer of the Thousand Sons, stood on a daemonic Disc of Tzeentch wielding a powerful magic staff. Image via GW)

Then I looked at how the concept of chaos arrived in pop-culture. There’s many routes and representations of chaos, but I focus on the ones that the creators of titles like D&D and Warhammer have themselves cited. One example being the works of Michael Moorcock, especially his Elric series. Here’s a quote:

“Know you not that two forces govern the world—fighting an eternal battle?” Elric replied. “Law and Chaos. The upholders of Chaos state that in such a world as they rule, all things are possible. Opponents of Chaos—those who ally themselves with the forces of Law—say that without Law nothing material is possible. “Some stand apart, believing that a balance between the two is the proper state of things, but we cannot. We have become embroiled in a dispute between the two forces.” Michael Moorcock, Elric: The Stealer of Souls

Here’s a couple of images I have that show a depiction of Elric, taken from a Conan comic where he and Elric end up joining force. It’s a fun outing by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith (and others).

(Image - a comic depiction of ‘The Chaos Pack’ of warriors fighting for the forces of chaos. Photo by author, taken from Conan the Barbarian Vol.6, 1978 printing.)

(Image - a comic depiction of Conan and Elric fighting the forces of chaos. Photo by author, taken from Conan the Barbarian Vol.6, 1978 printing.)

What interests me about these depictions, compared to where chaos ends up in Warhammer, is how the game is developed, so the narrative role of chaos changes. As I’d written before:

From here I follow its [chaos’] development into the 2nd Edition, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Warhammer 40,000 and, of course, the Realm of Chaos books, to name a few. What is key here that I am interested in is how the concept warps (pun!) within Warhammer to become something unique to the setting; the prior depictions of chaos are manifested in opposition to order, one balances the other. What Warhammer evolves towards is a setting where what order there is, is no longer an equal and counter-balanced opposite, but held by flawed human-like beings (the big E being the main one) and even then we are never sure if it is simply a deviation of the same ‘stuff’ as Chaos. That there is no harmony, just a seething mass of disorder poised to down the islands of order at any moment. This iteration of Chaos seems not to emerge fully-fledged but is gradually honed by a number of creators and the combined gestalt of the GW process.

So here is a page (from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay) that shows the Warhammer setting when the concept of a balance was still within it. There are three Gods of Chaos and three Gods of Law. Both are covered in the single page. Yet from here the creators would advance to add Slanesh into the pantheon, while of Malal would fade from view. Yet the forces of Law are almost frozen in state; there would be no equivalent of Realm of Chaos for the Gods of Law.

(Image - From Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition, 1986. Photo by author.)

So a year later Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader would release and while Chaos was not very present within the book, the elements it would use (the warp, for example) were. Plus the key opening flavor text says something I feel is important:

Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim darkness of the far future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

(Video by author, showing a section from a couple of pages inside the cover of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader showing the opening narrative setting quote. This book was released in 1987.)

What I find both interesting and precinct about this text is that it foreshadows the role of Chaos to come. For there are no references to Gods of Law, no balance of confusion with understanding. The gods cited thirst for carnage and slaughter alone. I therefore read them as gods of disorder and chaos. The passage, placed prominently as the first bit of narrative text you arrive at, sets the scene for the game and ends up foreshadowing the scene for the setting itself.

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