Ready for another 40k flashback? We’ll be going into the Realm of Chaos with the Lost and the Damned books from way back in the day.
Released in 1990 as a follow up to the book Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, The Lost and the Damned goes into a ton of lore and great views of old models. We’ll be stepping back in time on this one so buckle up!
The Realm of Chaos Background
The Realm of Chaos: Slaves of Darkness reprint was a show exclusive from Warhammer World recently, but the original came out in 1988. Lost and the Damned came out two years later (in 1990) and had a big format change in those two years. Slaves of Darkness has a lot of background lore on Grey Knights and the Inquisition, plus things from Warhammer Fantasy.
The Lost and the Damned goes more in-depth to the Emperor, the battle of Terra with the Emperor vs. Horus, the Horus Heresy, the Eye of Terror, the Star Child, and much more. (Realistically, now that we have twenty plus years under our belt from when this was released, this book is probably full of lore discrepancies).
Lost and the Damned is about 300 pages and was written by Brian Ansell and Rick Priestley. Other authors and artists lent their talents to this book as well. As expected the book starts with an introduction to the Realm of Chaos- The powers of Chaos, the background of Nurgle and Tzeentch, and more lore regarding the wars. At this point, Warhammer Fantasy and 40k were still combined together and just starting to separate into their own entities. A lot of the book has great artwork and lore, showing where the games that are enjoyed today really all began.
Blowing the Dust off of Some OG Models
After the lore, the book goes into some amazing images of the old models for the Chaos champions, including the Great Unclean Ones, dioramas of different battles, Tzeentch Sorcerers, spawns, the different glyphs and banners for each model. There were some other instructions for players on fielding certain types of armies. This all included Ogres, Centaurs, Cultists, Undead Champions, etc.
40k Lore and the Fateful Showdown of the Imperium
Later, the book goes into lore regarding the Emperor, the birth of Slaanesh, and the Primarchs. You might remember the fateful showdown between Sanguinius, Horus, and Big E. Well, this book also showcased classic artwork of the beginning battle between father and son. After, the book goes into the lore/story behind the “Star Child”. There are some rules that we haven’t seen in years! Chaos Armies of Nurgle and Tzeentch also have their rules and point values towards the back. If you’ve got one of these, don’t expect this book to be a decent substitute for a codex at your next tournament.
Check out the full video review on this little hobby gem!
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
