Codex: Gellerpox Infected (2018), p14 — Nightmare Hulks

Some warp-born mutations are more pronounced than others. Those referred to as Nightmare Hulks have reached the apogee of transformation that a mortal frame can withstand before it bursts apart in a fountain of gore or becomes a Chaos Spawn.

Each over ten foot tall and weighing well over a ton, Nightmare Hulks are so far past the limits of normality that only the tiniest shreds of sanity and intellect are left to them. Such lumbering mutants are much prized in the vassal hosts of Chaos, for they are past notions of fear, and exist simply to rend and tear in the manner of a frenzied beast. Many a headlong charge against an Imperial fortress has been led by a line of rampaging Nightmare Hulks; eyes bulging and muscles straining, heedless of their own force's casualties, they smash into bunker doors and crush ferrocrete with their jagged claws and grasping tentacles.

The sheer hideousness of the Nightmare Hulks is a weapon in itself, for they boast all manner of diseased deformities, growths, and disgusting features. Extra mouths gnash, tentacles writhe, plentiful folds of skin sway and bulge ominously as if something inside was writhing its way out. The sight of these monstrosities alone can drive a spike of crippling fear into even the most stalwart of hearts. Many are the foes that dropped weapons and fled in horror at the approach of something so gruesome and unnatural.

Permanently enraged, Nightmare Hulks hurtle towards the nearest foe, eager to smash their victims to bloody paste. Some carry crude weapons, but most prefer to attack with their powerful claws, throttles with their sucker-lined tentacles, or even swallow adversaries whole. The largest and most powerful of their kind are known as Colossal Hulks, and their ferocity is second to none.

The Hullbreakers

Aboard the New Dawn, the outbreak of the Gellerpox virus did not affect all crew members equally. Most of the infected became Gellerpox Mutants, while some simply devolved into sentient flesh puddles. A select few, however, rippled with warp-enhanced muscles, growing into Nightmare Hulks. These massive mutants were strong enough to punch through the plasteel of the hull, hence their new name -; the Hullbreakers.

Only Vulgrar Thrice-Cursed can command the lumbering behemoths. They are sent to clear out resistance, smash down locked bulkheads and rip through the walls to get those that hide from the glory of the infected Geller field generator. The Vox-Shamblers have begun to identify each of the Nightmare Hulks by their names. Gnasher-Screamer is an amalgamation of several crew, their mouths eternally shrieking or chomping. Big Spike once stuck his armoured protrusion through a plasteel door and skewered three men with the same blow, and the Writher is named for his profusion of disturbingly waving tentacles.