The Emperor's Hounds

As noted in my last post, one of my first projects for 2011 will be getting a painted, playable space marine army on the table before the current 40K campaign ends. Towards this goal, and riffing on a color scheme and background concept with which I made a faltering start nearly three and a half years ago, I present the "Emperor's Hounds" in their subdued livery (once again using the outstanding Bolter and Chainsword painter tool):

The early inspiration for the color scheme was that it was one on which I could experiment with the use of the Army Painter dip. Though I'm not sure that I'll make use of the dip over the new standby, GW's Devlan Mud wash, either method should allow for quick, satisfactory results. As noted in the previous post, developing the competence to, and tolerance for, painting quickly is a goal.

Fluff-wise I'm looking for these guys to be fairly generic marines. Alternately dubbed the Emperor's Hounds, Wolfhounds, Warhounds, Devil Dogs, etc., depending on who you talk to, they're going to be a fleet-based chapter that recruits on the move, and thus has no stable home world. By not opting for a single source of recruits, this opens up my options to include marines from all sorts of cultural backgrounds. It would be natural to make them a Space Wolf successor, but I think I'm going to skip the feral nature, keep the furry icons to a minimum, and opt for a lot of classic Rogue Trader-era imagery. Shark teeth painted on Mk. VI helmets, "KILL" and other friendly slogans written on bolters, and plenty of dirt.

With tactical squads forming the core of a marine army, even one as offbeat as I plan on assembling (more on that later), getting a squad of 10 power armored marines cleaned, assembled, and ready for a halfway decent day for priming will be my first task.

More to come.