The Bloodspray Kabal

Although I thought up a back story for my Kabal/Corsairs, I have never bothered to really articulate it or share it until now. This seems like an appropriate place/time though, so here goes...



The self-styled Dread Archon Luseferous is head of the feared Bloodspray Kabal. Daring and obsessively proud of his reputation, this showman pirate was quick to listen to the jaded Duke Sliscus and throw his lot in with The Serpent when it came to his defining theft.
Luseferous himself led his corsairs in liberating the Heart of Darkness, one of three flagships wrested from Commoragh by Sliscus’forces that day. Only Luseferous knows the details of the vile pact he struck with the Carrion Brotherhead which saw Mandrakes in unprecedented numbers pull themselves screaming into reality from every shadow aboard the flagship of the Bladed Lotus Kabal. Whatever the price was, when Luseferous’ Trueborn bodyguard strode through the frost-lined corridors to the bridge, there was almost no resistance to their advance. Lusefereous continues as Captain of that ship to this day, fighting in exile alongside Sliscus’ Sky Serpents.
Luseferous’ astute politicking, linked with his consummate skill as a Naval tactician has ensured Bloodspray’s survival through centuries of close alliance with the unpredictable Sliscus. Careful manipulation of the many minor warlords who have flocked to Sliscus’s banner, coupled with the clandestine maintenance of relations with certain elements in mainstream Commoragh, have ensured that Luseferous remains too skilful, too well-informed, and too dangerous to be ousted on a whim of The Serpent. For his part, Luseferous nurtures the alliance, for it ensures that he remains free to pursue his favourite pastime of launching debauched raids into human and Tau space.
The Bloodspray Kabal thrives on the thrill of combat in deep space hunting in Wolf Packs under the cover of false signatures generated by their ships’ Mimic Engines. They savour the particular terror of the penned cattle as boarding teams rampage through troop transports and colony ships, massacring prey who have nowhere to run and delivering whole colonies of prospective settlers to the slave pits. As well as battling in the void, the Bloodspray corsairs delight in striking remote and newly colonised worlds, teaching the lesser races to truly fear what lurks in the dark. All their raids are characterised by their fascination with excess, degradation and perversion.
Unable to trust any True Eldar enough to take concubines, Luseferous takes his pick of the young and nubile captives taken by each raid. These poor unfortunates are separated from those marked for the arenas and are instead destined to wait on the whims and desires of the Dread Archon until he tires of his new toys and goes hunting once again. Alongside these expendable playthings, he maintains a harem of True Eldar women who have crossed him. Fearing their wrath if they were ever freed, these wretches are bound at all times, but keeps them alive to conceive trueborn children to strengthen his Kabal.
The Dracon Faustus is Luseferous’s lieutenant, albeit one kept on a very short leash. Faustus itches for greater power and status, which he sees as his (and the Kabal’s) right. Faustus despises his master’s balancing games with The Serpent and is already engaged in secret talks with the Bladed Lotus to depose Luseferous and return their stolen property.
The corsairs’ allies vary as often as the balance of alliances in the twisted politics of the Dark City, but some have found working with Luseferous to be of mutual benefit on repeated occasions over the centuries.


The partnership between the Wych Cult of the Red Grief and the Bloodspray Kabal is the result of the tumultuous liaison between Luseferous and the Succubus Triadne. As a direct result, a state of open warfare has existed between their two organisations on several occasions, and the fallout of their last tryst was sufficient to render Luseferous too paranoid to take any further lovers from among the Dark Kin. Nevertheless, the current cooperation between the Cult and the Kabal has proved productive, furnishing both groups with a wealth of fresh slaves.


Luseferous has secured the services of two Haemonculi for the Bloodspray Kabal, supplying them with a quota of the captives taken in each raid in return for their valued service. Sybia and Sessine are known to be Trueborn siblings, a brother and sister, although the name of their original Kabal is lost to all but the most well-informed. Both learnt their dark art under the master, Urien Rakarth, and they retain allegiance to his Prophets of Flesh coven. Although the two Haemonculi share a bond of blood, they harbour a deep hatred for each other, and a still deeper rivalry. Luseferous happily plays them off against each other, allowing each to strive to create new and hideous creations for his amusement.

And here is the man himself. I converted my Dread Archon from the Kabalite Warriors box set (with a few Tau bits, obviously). On the table, he counts as Duke Sliscus.

If anybody feels motivated to give feedback, it will be welcome.

Fantastic background, ties in really well with the existing fluff!

Mimic engines and dread archons, I take it you have delved in battlefleet gothic? I really like the white eyes on your archon conversion, really makes him look overflowing with pain.

Thanks Mushkilla. In the past I've always been one to make up my own colour schemes and fluff for my armies but I found when the new DE Codex came out I really liked everything I read, so I've tied myself a bit closer with this force. Even so, I wanted my own Warlord in charge of my army, even if he used the rules of a Codex special character.

I have toyed with Battlefleet Gothic, but never seriously. I really like the idea of fighting battles in space, but there just aren't enough players around to make it worth the investment. The fluff is all free to download though, from the GW Specialist Games Site

The idea for the white eyes came from an article in White Dwarf (army profile of the Red Grief cult, but I don't have the issue number or date to hand). I really liked it as an idea, particularly as I've never been any good at doing eyes with pupils.

Meanwhile, I've got some more photos now of some of the other named personalities in my army:

Triadne was converted from a Venom passenger, stood on a spare Raider prow to give height and dynamism to the model. I haven't actually fielded this model in battle yet, but I plan to arm her with a Venom Blade or Power Lance, depending on the needs of my list.

Sybia is fascinated by the interaction between the flesh of the lesser races, melding subjects together into hideous hybrids and two-headed monsters.

Sessine chooses to work at the interface between flesh and machine, building and moulding half-mechanised pain engines and parasite engines to support the Bloodspray Kabal's raids.

The two Haemonculi were slightly converted from classic metal Haemonculus models by the addition of spare vestigial arms from the Cronos/Talos box set.

Awesome stuff, nice to see the old haemonculus models being put to good use.