I think, for the first time, we can draw a direct line of lineage from today to the universe of 40K!

From the description section for Black Crusade we have:

I swear to make war on the Imperium and its people, and I will go to my grave tearing down the walls of that benighted, decadent, and foolish empire. It is not I, in the end, who have betrayed the Imperium; it is the Imperium who has betrayed me. It is the Imperium who has betrayed us all.
– Commander Phineas Gage, Master of the Voidborn Deserters

He would appear to be a direct decendant of THIS Phineas Gage !!!

Mayhap that rail spike to the head started the chain of events that led to the fall of man?!

He probably is part of the direct line from that Phineas Gage. I mean, a rail road spike going through your head could explain why every Black Crusade has been a botched mission. Hell, the last one couldn't even get past Cadia.

Maybe all the tubes and whatnot in the heads/faces/bodies of Chaos Space Marines serve no function whatsoever. Maybe they're just cosmetic traditions. Like tattoos to Maori or neck rings to Kayan Lahwi.

Eskilius Quinn said:

No, Failbaddon is the reason why the Black Crusades have failed.

klaymen_sk said:

Abaddon's "failures" are a misconception, brought about by a lack of understanding of his immediate objectives as opposed to his long-term goals.

His long-term goal is to see the Imperium crushed and trampled, the Emperor cast down and obliterated, and the galaxy burned.

The individual Black Crusades are not witless attempts to achieve that goal over-and-over again, but rather serve specific purposes in a grand plan many millennia in the making, each moving one step closer towards that goal, any of which would see a Champion of lesser ambitions granted apotheosis. For example, the first Black Crusade saw the Daemon Sword Drach'nyen claimed by Abaddon, while the 12th allowed Abaddon to claim the Blackstone Fortresses and test the Planet Killer.

Also, technically, there are more Black Crusades than the thirteen that Abaddon has inflicted upon the Imperium; other powerful warlords have managed to muster massive forces to assail the galaxy in the form of Black Crusades.