Lhorke's Primaris War Hounds

[Lhorke The First]

Hello folks,

 

I've had the DI primaris marines since their release a few months ago and have not been able to figure out what to do with them. I have been a World Eaters fan for a while now and I am currently working on an army for 30k. I thought creating a primaris chapter from World Eaters geneseed would be a cool project. I managed to get this intercessor painted up. Now, I am a mediocre painter on my best day so I tried to go with something pretty simple. Unfortunately he still looks pretty bland right now due to a lack of heraldry or weathering (I'm looking at buying the WE transfer sheet for the War Hounds symbols, and I'm currently trying to learn how to accomplish decent weathering). I'm also working on some fluff to go with the chapter as well. Anyway, I welcome any feedback or critiques anybody has because I could sure use it. 

 

Thanks,

 

Lhorke the First

[Silas7]

Looks like your off to a good start, keep it up.

 

Seems like you've taken a hefty lore challenge trying to come up with a reason for traitor geneseed getting the primaris treatment.

 

Good luck

[Lustrati]

Good start,

 

I am looking forward to the lore side as well, often thought of creating a chapter descended from one of the traitor legions, even before primaris it was a hard thing to pull off even more so with Primaris Chapters.

 

Stating that though who is to say Cawl didn't use traitor gene seed despite big G's orders, I mean lets face it big g has been out of the picture for 10,000 years so you do have some maneuvering room.

I wish you the best of luck,

[Lhorke The First]

I haven't made any significant painting or lore progress lately, but I did manage to get a hold of some reinforcements!

 

Initially I was a little hesitant to get this model because I wasn't sure if I liked it. Having just put it together I can safely say this is probably my favorite dread as of right now (still want to get a Leviathan). I love the size and it is relatively easy for a skill challenged hobbyist like myself to get some dynamic poses out of it.

 

I'm waiting on a World Eaters transfer sheet to come in the mail so I can raid it for War Hounds iconography. Hopefully I will start painting this monster on Saturday.

[CaptainStabby]

If you can get an order in before Pop Goes The Monkey gets totally :cuss down on shapeways you can get Warhound shoulderpads. Might help end around the need for transfers.

 

Looking good btw, super interested to see how these guys shake out.

[Lhorke The First]

Thanks CaptainStabby I will certainly take a look!

 

Here is a bit of lore I've been working on. Still pretty rough. Hopefully I will be able to post some lore on their background later. I just want to make sure it is relatively solid, or at least partially feasible first.

 Anyway, comments and critiques welcome. Thanks for looking!

“Captain.”

     “Report.” Arno Redmond listened carefully to the voice coming in over the vox. “The enemy is advancing once again. What are your orders?”

     “Thin their ranks as best you can, then redeploy your reivers before they come within optimal firing range of the main battle line.” Captain Redmond then spoke over the vox to all squad commanders. “Sergeants, are your squads in position?”

     “Affirmative.”

     The reply came simultaneously from the sergeants of the eight squads positioned on the ridge. “Hold. Open fire on my command.”

Redmond surveyed the blasted and burned out valley below the ridge. This had once been a prosperous agriworld. Now the fields were laden with craters, the crops burned, the cities leveled, and the skies gray with ash. The World Eaters had left little to fight for on this world. Yet the War Hounds fought on.

     Their reason to fight was simple. Revenge. Lord Cultro, once captain of the 18^th Company of the XII Legion commanded the frothing, psychotic butchers advancing on the War Hounds’ position. His continued existence, in their minds, was a stain on the honor of the true XII Legion. They had doggedly hunted him for two years, and finally they were about to close their iron maw over the traitors head. Redmond heard the staccato reports of bolt carbines some distance before his lines. With a thought he magnified the lenses of his helmet. Through the smoke and ash, he could just make out Sergeant Hondo and his reivers stealthily slipping away before the oncoming horde of berzerkers clad in blood-red plate. To Redmond’s satisfaction, Cultro was at their head, brandishing a great two handed chainaxe and moving impossibly fast in terminator armor. He noticed a score of power-armored bodies on the ground. The reivers had made the bastards pay for their advance. Good.

     “All squads, open fire. Blast them into ruin.” The ridge erupted in a blaze of muzzle flashes. From their carefully concealed and entrenched positions, intercessors picked off World Eaters with stalker bolt rifles. Hellblasters launched searing bolts of plasma into the horde, reducing armored mad men into molten puddles. World Eaters dropped by the dozens. With each step, the mob was reduced in size due to the precise, withering fire of the War Hounds. Yet on they came. Redmond knew that a portion of them would make it to his line. He was counting on it.

     Lord Cultro leaped over the barricades followed by what remained of his berzerkers. Intercessors made short work of a handful of World Eaters with their auto-bolt rifles. However, these bolts merely ricocheted off of Cultro’s terminator plate. He roared and with a swing of his chainaxe cleaved two marines in half. Captain Redmond sprinted as fast as he could clad in gravis armor. Behind him advanced the reivers, freshly redeployed from the valley in order to engage what remained of the World Eaters hand-to-hand. Redmond came face to face with Cultro, who immediately launched a furious salvo of blows with his axe. Redmond parried them with his power sword. Cultro delivered a powerful kick to Redmond’s sternum, knocking him onto his back. With Cultro closing in for the kill, Redmond let loose a fusillade of shells from his boltstorm gauntlet into his enemy’s faceplate. Cultro staggered backward, using both hands to wrest his damaged and inoperable helm from his head. Redmond used the brief reprieve to quickly close the gap between himself and his opponent. He delivered three furious blows with his gauntlet to Cultro’s head just as he managed to remove his helmet. He quickly followed this with a swipe from his sword, cleaving the terminator lord’s head from his shoulders.

     With Cultro dead, Redmond looked around in order to assess the situation of his forces. The vast majority of the World Eaters were dead. The rest retreating across the valley under fire from the intercessors.

     A sergeant hailed him over the vox. “Sir, the ridge is secure and the enemy broken. Your orders?”

     Redmond replied, “Ensure the enemy are dead. If there is any doubt, place a bolt through their head. Burn the corpses.” Redmond picked up the head of Lord Cultro and felt a great deal of satisfaction. The chapter master will be pleased to cross another name off of the list. 

[Company Master Holden]

Excellent work! I think the kill list idea is a great idea for giving them depth setting and the stage for some pretty epic confrontations with the World Eaters. Can't wait to see it finished!

[Lhorke The First]

Thanks Company Master Holden! And thanks everybody for the interest you have shown in my little project.

 

I've got a squad of Hellblasters at home ready to be assembled, so hopefully I will be able to get started on those tonight. I've been looking through my bitz box in order to find some cool Heresy era stuff to kit bash them with. I'm thinking about at least giving the sergeant a MK III helmet. Unfortunately my painting progress has been stalled because I have run out of two colors that are essential, so that will be on hold until I can make it over to my local store.

 

Also, does anybody have any good recommendations or advice on getting on achieving a really rich or deep blue? Right now I'm just using Macragge Blue spray, base coating the pauldrons ulthuan gray, and shading the recesses with nuln oil. It allows me to achieve a fairly clean look that looks good on the table top, but I know its not very dynamic.

 

Thanks,

Lhorke

[Lhorke The First]

I came home after work today and decided to start assembling my Hellblaster squad. I started out with the sergeant.

 

I kind of liked the 30th Anniversary Intercessor Veteran Sergeant, but not enough to justify spending $35. I decided to kitbash my own version which I think worked out ok since I wanted some Heresy-era touches. I used a MK III helmet with a crest instead of the MK X. I also swapped out the left shoulder pad for one with a crux terminatus. I haven't sat down and written up anything on him yet but I envision him as a veteran of the Great Crusade/Horus Heresy and utilized terminator armor before being recruited by Cawl for the Primaris program and placed into stasis. 

 

Anyway, thanks for looking. If anyone has a recipe for a really nice blue and wouldn't mind sharing, let me know.

 

Thanks, 

Lhorke

[Company Master Holden]

Lhorke, 

 

I was cruising around YouTube when I saw something that might help you get the dark, navy blue that you are looking for.

 

Basecoat your model with Kantor Blue. 

Recess shade with Nuln Oil.

Edge Highlight with Alaitoc Blue. 

Optional Edgey-edge highlight with Hoeth Blue. 

 

If it sounds like the color scheme of the Imperial Fists, well you caught me. Here is the video from Duncan that shows how he does it. 

 

[Lhorke The First]

Thanks for the lead Company Master! I'll probably be heading to my local store today to pick up some paints. This works out well because I've also got some Marines that I had been wanting to paint as Crimson Fists. I'm also hoping to make some more progress on the lore today.

[Lhorke The First]

Made some progress painting this week end. I mostly finished the gravis captain and based an intercessor squad. All still need some detailing, weathering, and emblems. 

I've also decided to include a Crimson Fists vanguard detachment in this army, so I base coated a MK II marine in Kantor blue. It is much darker than it looks in the photo.

 

[Lhorke The First]

I understand the rules will not support this, but it is really more for the lore/cool factor. Is there any reason lore-wise  that would prevent me from making my chaptermaster a dreadnought? Once again, I know the rules won't allow this so I will just run them as a plain ol' dread in games, but I think this would be very cool from a lore and modeling perspective. Here is the premise:

 

The core of officers in the War Hounds are survivors/veterans of the Horus Heresy that have been in and out of stasis over the last 10,000 years. However, the chaptermaster and a number of the captains are survivors of the Istvaan III Attrocity that managed to find a small ship worthy of travel and were picked up by an Imperial fleet. The chaptermaster, formerly a captain or veteran sergeant of the World Eaters (I have not decided yet) was so grievously wounded in the fighting that no option remained but to inter him in dreadnought armor. 

 

This raises some questions: How would these World Eaters survivors have been received by loyalists? Why would anyone besides his brothers be concerned enough about the chaptermaster to inter him in dreadnought armor? Where would this armor have come from? Another legion? How would these marines have spent the rest of the Heresy?

 

These are some of the major questions I'm currently attempting to answer in the lore I am working on.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Lhorke

[Idomeneus]

First off, these guys look great, well done. Lovely posing on the Redemptor.

 

As to the Chapter Master/Dreadnought thing, the main problem as I see it is that most dreadnoughts are shown as needing to be asleep most of the time. Therefore most are unable to oversee the administrative duties and day to day running of a Chapter. The older the dreadnought, the longer they have to sleep. There are two ways around this, the first is to claim that your Chapter Master has the equivalent of plot armour (plot caffeine?) so he can stay awake longer. The second is to have a Chapter Regent, who does all the boring stuff and the Chapter Master wakes up to break heads. Either way would be accepted by most reasonable hobbyists, especially if you convert a kick ass model to represent him, which I'm sure you will.

[Lhorke The First]

Thanks Idomeneus I really appreciate your feedback!

 

I like the idea of having a Chapter Regent to oversee administrative duties. Plus that gives me another opportunity to try converting a model. I think I will stick with using a dreadnought as a chaptermaster who is only woken up to lead the chapter in battle or to address particularly pressing situations. Now I just have to decide which dread to use. I don't want to use an ironclad or venerable dread because they would be dwarfed far too much by the redemptor. I like the contemptor for its ability to have many poses and weapon options. I really like the galatus and achillus variant for the Legio Custodes. Either of those with some small conversions would make for a really unique chaptermaster. I'll think on it for a bit and hopefully place an order in the next couple of weeks.

[Lhorke The First]

Hello all,

I managed to sit down earlier and write some lore on the chapter's background. It is still fairly rough and there is much more to come. Any feedback is welcome!

 

Wave upon wave of Primaris Space Marines have surged forth from their training grounds upon Mars to reinforce the beleaguered Space Marine Chapters of the Imperium or to forge new ones of their own. The proud new defenders of Mankind have been welcomed with relief and open arms by many. There are some among the Space Marines and the upper echelons of the Imperium who regard these more powerful astartes with suspicion. If they knew the true extent of Cawl’s work, it is likely they would openly oppose the project.

     10,000 years ago, Roboute Guilliman first came to Cawl with his plan to provide a new generation of warriors to defend the besieged Imperium. Cawl eagerly set to work, however, he was given restrictions. Under the direct orders of the Primarch, Cawl was forbidden from utilizing geneseed from the traitor legions in order to produce new astartes.

     Before Guilliman had expressly forbade the use of the traitor legion gene stocks, Cawl had been busy recruiting astartes for the impending project. Many of these were the more ambitious and dedicated brothers from among such notable legions as the Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, and Blood Angels. However, he found many willing recruits among those who remained loyal to the Emperor while their brothers and gene-fathers renounced him. These warriors no longer had a legion or chapter. Cawl offered them the chance to have this once again.

     The millennia ground on. Xenos and traitors beset the Imperium on all sides. Star systems descended into chaos. Imperial guard regiments were obliterated. Whole Space Marine chapters were lost. Guilliman had long ago been placed in stasis. Knowing the Imperium would eventually be overrun and no longer under the watchful gaze of the Primarch, Cawl began his work with the traitor legion geneseed. Furthermore, he revived several of the loyalists from stasis and began the experimental process of making them into Primaris marines.

     Among the first of these loyalists to become Primaris marines were several former World Eaters. Cawl had read of the brutally efficient savagery of the XII Legion during the Unification Wars and the Great Crusade. He felt such a force would be a tremendous asset to the Imperium, especially with a corps of veteran officers and sergeants to lead them. He therefore set about studying the Butchers’ Nails in order to discern how to safely remove them. It took several attempts to perfect the process, but he was eventually able to free the warriors of the cursed machines’ influence. However, this came with a cost. Removal of the devices irrevocably damaged the pleasure centers of the brain, rendering the former World Eaters incapable of feeling joy. This produced a stern and highly disciplined temperament among the veterans.

      With a core of veteran officers and sergeants in place, the training of new recruits began in earnest. No longer prone to reckless and rage driven outbursts in combat, the veterans trained the novices in waging war with a cold, brutal efficiency. No longer would they charge recklessly into the teeth of the enemy, heedless of their losses. The War Hounds were instead trained to devastate their enemies using precise, overlapping fields of fire. The removal of the nails has not eradicated the XII’s proclivity for close combat. Instead, they wait until the enemy has been crippled at range, then they close in for the kill, leaving none alive.

     Naturally, the presence of a newly formed chapter using World Eaters geneseed would not be readily accepted by many among the Adeptus Astartes and High Lords of Terra. Therefore these warriors were separated from other Primaris chapters training on Mars. Furthermore, their War Hounds heraldry was not permitted for use. Instead they trained in unadorned grey armor. It was not until the chapter as a whole ventured out from Mars for the first time in the 41^st millennium that the War Hounds donned their blue and white armor with the ancient icon of the XII Legion.

     The War Hounds retain the preference for close combat of the XII Legion. All battle brothers, veterans and novices alike, carry combat blades or chainswords into battle in addition to their primary weaponry. A number of the veterans retain their honored weapons from the Great Crusade, such as the brutal chainaxe. Aside from rank, veterans can usually be distinguished from the newer recruits by the archaic pieces incorporated into their MK X plate. They often continue to use their helmets or shoulder pauldrons that they wore through the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. The War Hounds also denote veteran status by encasing a warrior’s helmet in bronze. Many of them maintain their ancient bolters, bolt pistols, and blades. In the event that one of these warriors of old falls in battle, their ancient weapons and armor are passed on to those who succeed them in rank, becoming honored relics of the chapter.

     The culture of the War Hounds is largely defined by the Istvaan III atrocity. They see this as the point where the true warriors of the XII Legion were betrayed by their gene-father and weaker brothers. The deaths of thousands of loyalist World Eaters at the hands of their traitorous kin is still a source of rage to this day. This is of little surprise as a small number of veterans among the officers and sergeants are survivors of that treachery. Most notable of these is Chapter Master Ajax. These officers instill in the novice marines an intense hatred for any traitorous World Eaters, as well as warriors of the Emperors Children, Death Guard, and Black Legion. This hatred and desire for revenge is so pronounced that the highest ranking captains and the chapter master have created a document known as the Register of Damnation. This is a list of high-ranking World Eaters that must die in order for the War Hounds to have their revenge and regain their honor. The Register of Damnation includes infamous heretics such as Khârn the Betrayer. Angron, daemon primarch of the World Eaters, is at the top of this list. The chapter seeks his ruin so much so that they would readily commit the whole of their forces to see it done, even if it means their destruction.