The Night Hawks Chapter

Home World
The Chapter calls home to Korak Prime, a secluded system on the edge of the Maelstrom. The binary system of Korak is fraught with unpredictable, if short-lived, warp storms which periodically cut the region of space off from the rest of the Imperium. Korak Prime exhibits a unique orbit within the system and follows a figure-eight pattern around both stars. This unique orbit causes periods of harsh draught when the planet passes between the stars. The people of Korak Prime live simple lives with much time spent rationing their limited supplies as the arrival of inter-system supplies is less than regular. The annual dry period forces the populace to roam the surface in search of fresh surface water to bring back to their home villages.

This lifestyle has moulded the Night Hawks into the chapter as they are today. Following in the traditions of the White Scars, the Chapter focuses on rapid deployment and hit and run tactics. While the White Scars prefer to launch lightning fast strikes, the Night Hawks have perfected the art of hitting targets of opportunity before rapidly redeploying without the need to re-supply. A small contingent of Night Hawks cannot only change the tide of a battle but that of a war spanning an entire continent.

Beliefs
The people of Korak Prime are a spiritual people believing that the path of survival begins within oneself and practice an ancient form of numerology. Imperial anthropologists have traced the roots of these practices to the Gyptians of ancient Terra. The Night Hawks take portions of these beliefs with them through their transformation from tribesman to Space Marine. The number 9 has become sacred to the Chapter and shapes their organization. The ancient Gyptians believed that the planetary aspect of the number 9 was the moon; symbolic of the night. The Nine is the number of the unconscious and is seen as a regulator, resolving any discrepancies between the seven (experience) and the eight (instinct). Because of this, the Nine can be seen as the interface between the inner and outer self. Only by understanding the inner and outer self can one truly hold the corrupting taint of Chaos at bay.

Village elders routinely wear a simple tabard emblazoned with the heraldry of the village’s people. Upon recognition of veteran status, a Night Hawk dons a tabard bearing the Night Hawk crest.

The symbol of the Night Hawks is a winged talon wielding a sword. This symbolizes the Chapter’s doctrine of swiftly bringing might to bear.

Combat Doctrine
The Night Hawks are often tasked with undertaking prolonged missions behind enemy lines where abnormal weather systems or warp interference may prevent re-supply from orbit or even beyond system space. Preferring to operate at night, in contravention of the standard brightly armoured shock troop renowned across the Imperium, the Night Hawks prefer the subdued nature of their chapter colours. The fear induced on an unsuspecting enemy hit by a Night Hawks’ attack far surpasses that caused by a brightly coloured uniform.

Organization
At full strength, the Chapter is made up of 9 companies. The 1st company is comprised of ninety veterans of the Chapter who ride Mars-pattern hover bikes in contrast to the standard tactical dreadnaught armour worn by codex chapter’s first companies. Captains of the Chapter’s companies form their command squads from members of the 1st as opposed to members of their own companies. Veterans of the company can best prove their worth and learn first hand those skills which may someday be required if their station rises to that of captain. The 2nd through 6th companies are made up of bike and assault bike squadrons totalling 90 marines. These marines form 10 man groups dubbed ‘Murders’ reminiscent of the tactical squads of codex chapters. The 8th company, or the “Hand of Eden", consists of 50 versatile Argonaught Land Speeders and the 100 crew required to operate them. The 9th company consists of the initiates of the Chapter who sit at the crossroads of the journey to master their inner and outer selves.

Due to each marine being issued a Space Marine bike and the large component of Argonaughts which make up the 8th company, the Chapter has formed a strong bond with the Adepts of Mars. Over 30 techmarines are currently present within the Chapter and routinely accompany the Night Hawks to battle operating Argonaughts and performing field repairs during prolonged deployments.

Maintaining such a vast stock of equipment requires a vast portion of the chapters allotted wargear and as such tanks and drop pods are a rare commodity. Such ancient relics are held within the chapter armoury for all but the most dire of circumstances.

Gene-seed
Imperial records indicate that the Night Hawks Chapter was founded during the ninth founding early on in M33 from the White Scars’ gene-seed. The gene-seed appears stable if not more-so than that of the White Scars. Any apparent uncontrollable ferocity periodically displayed by the White Scars has not translated to the Night Hawks. Whether this is attributable to the meditations of the Marines or the stock in which their initiates are chosen is unknown.

Battlecry
“You are your own undoing!”

Armoury
The Night Hawks Chapter utilizes equipment not common to the Adeptus Astartes. Included among this list is the Mars-pattern hover bike. This STC was recovered from the 3rd moon of Korak Secundus late in M40. Following centuries of review by the Adepts of Mars, production on these bikes began and preliminary shipments were directed to the Night Hawks’ for use among the 1st company.

The Argonaught-varient land speeder was created in M38.657 on the forge world of Aritek. The adept Primalus had a shortfall of the materials required to create the anti-grav plating which provides the land speeder with it’s low altitude flight abilities. The A ground-based land speeder variant was thereby created in an attempt to fulfill the battlefield role of a light assault vehicle. It was quickly realized that the lack of anti-grav plating and the systems required for it greatly increased the available cargo capacity of the vehicle. Though falling out of favour in the eyes of many of the Astartes, the Night Hawks found this new variant to compliment their combat doctrine almost perfectly. The drawback of being ground-based was of little concern as the Chapter utilized them as a long-range support vehicle capable of carrying their much needed supplies; the benefits far outweighing the costs. The reduction in materials required to construct the variant also weighed heavily in its favour as the Chapter already devoted much of its resources to bikes.

Awesome use of bits to bring the jetbikes together. They look very slick!

I thought I'd share what took me away from painting this time... My creative juices were flowing and I have created what I will call the "Ambit Pattern Jetbike". I realize marines no longer have them but that concerns me little. Game terms will ee them used as normal bikes so it's no big deal. I may just have to create a command squad to ride them as well since I do like the look (but only have so many drop pod intakes and searchlights to use). This will also leave me with enough spare wheels to use for other ideas I have for my speeders.

Presenting the a Space Marine librarian on an "Ambit Pattern Jetbike"



The force staff is hacked off of a terminator librarian arm and I've attempted to GS the cables to blend it in. A conveniently places purity seal hides most of it! I also created the force hood from a SM shoulderpad as I did on my runepriest.

This will serve as my captain on bike (although I think I'm going to scrounge a stormshield from somewhere to strap to the rear):


Quick instructions:
1) The bike is assembled as a normal bike with the front wheel and fender removed as well as the rear wheel.
2) An old IG tank searchlight (I believe from the old russ sprues) which may exist on the current ones although I am uncertain, is assembled.
3) The lense is shaved off and a drop pod fan is attached. This fits nicely under the bike farring.
4) On the rear the openings are closed off with plasticard, a tube cut and a further drop pod vent attached.
5) Attached to a flying stand to a height you see fit.
6) Attach purity seal tassles (ok this isn't manditory but how cool is that?!)

There you have it!

I hope this proves helpful to someone.

I also started the conversion I plan to do a few times on my speeders for the bike army I'm making. Eventually it will have four wheels. I'm also deciding if the missile pod on top should be shortened and brought together as I'm not sure if I like the splayed look.


Best news though is I took the plunge into buying an airbrush so that will get utilized on my first basecoat once the bike army is constructed. The biggest reason I never started bikes before Is I didn't want to paint them so that should be solved now.

And some MIG weathering powder is in the mail. I haven't used it before but it should be a good experiment.

I think the "splayed" look would be better. Putting the two pods into the middle would unbalance the model IMHO. It's a nice concept build though! I like it.

E.

I really like it, it has this "D'oh, why haven't I thought of this" feeling.

The missile pod's look good the way they are, in my opinion.

I'm taking a stab at writing some Chapter History for these guys. I'll probably split this thread in a bit though when I have some time. I'm also thinking up a name and as always, suggestions are welcome on this stuff (it might be ludicrous as it is).

Origins
The origin of the <><><> Chapter is shrouded in mystery. Earliest Imperial records describing the actions of the Chapter date back to M34. Inquisitorial databases postulate that the Chapter carries the Geneseed of Lion 'El Johnson; however their diminished size and the close ties the Chapter holds with Mars have all but eliminated the Geneseed tithe or any hope of prying eyes analyzing the genetic code. To onlookers, the Chapter appears to choose when and where to follow the Codex Astartes. Traditional company strength and make up does not adhere to the Codex and instead focuses on the men and tools required to conduct operations as per their doctrine.

The <><><> specialize in prolonged missions behind enemy lines where abnormal weather systems or warp interference may prevent resupply. Prefering to operate at night, in contravention of the standard brightly armoured shock troop renowned across the Imperium, the <><><> prefer the subdued nature of their chapter colours. While the White Scars and the Ravenwing of the Dark Angels specialize in lightning fast strikes bringing forth immense amounts of force to a single target in battle, the <><><> are able to prioritize targets of opportunity and set the pace of entire wars through their ability to rapidly redeploy without the need to resupply.

Chapter Organization
The Chapter's companies function as heavily armoured scout companies with the equipment and firepower to match such a role. At full strength, the Chapter is made up of 10 companies. The 1st company, as per the Codex is comprised of one hundred veterans of the Chapter. The 2nd through 7th companies are made up of Space Marine bike squads and assault bike squadrons. The 8th company dubbed the "Matron of Death" and 9th company "the Hand of Eden" each consist of 50 of the versitile Argonaught Land Speeders and the 100 crew required to operate them. The 10th company consists of the initiates of the Chapter while they learn the traditions and tactics of the Chapter peroforming advanced recon and scout missions.

Due to each marine being issued a Space Marine bike and the large component of Aronaughts which make up the 8th and 9th companies, the Chapter has formed a strong bond with the Adepts of Mars. Fully one quarter of the 8th and 9th companies is made up of techmarines who typically function as operators when deployed. The techmarines have spent years studying the ways of the machine spirit and perfecting their ability to conduct field repairs on the Chapter's equipment during prolonged deployments.

Silent Night
Late in M40 a major portion of the Chapter was deployed within the Stalvek system attempting to stem the tide of a chaos uprising supported by the Thousand Sons across 5 inhabited planets and 2 moons. A warp storm enveloped the system and did not dissipate for close to 150 years. Despite the renowned ability for the members of the <><><> to deal with such situations, the sheer strength of their opponent and the duration of the warp storm would bring near annihilation to most of the Chapter. When the warp storms cleared, of the 5 deployed companies and 50 members of the 1st including a large contigent of the 8th, 9th and 10th, solely 28 marines endured. Holed up in a supply depot on the 2nd moon of Stalvek prime the 28 marines had the resources required to part the chaos tide on that moon long enough for the remnants of the Chapter to perform an extraction and leave the system when the warp storm abated. Faced with such loses the Chapter remains operational but is at a diminished strength while attempting to rebuild.

Nice background story that goes with your marines. I suggest maybe adding in dreadnaughts as heavies on the new sky pigeon transport. Very well done paint job on your space wolves and conversion as well(couldn't reply there for some reason). Keep up the good work mate!

Very nice background Theambit! Simple & to the point (something which I struggle with). Any chance that the name of your Landspeeder variant came from that Star Trek movie? Or quite possibly the ATV brand named Argo?

Obviously, you have not thought of a name. Any names you were kicking around?

What's a sky pigeon? Do you mean the storm raven? If I had storm ravens kicking around it would mean that the army would have easy ways of relocating and reaching orbit which goes against their style. This is the Space Wolf thread so that's why you couldn't find it. I just renamed it for this bike army stuff until I had enough to warrant making a new thread. I also don't think dreadnoughts really keep up with the army. They're more of a foot slogging type thing. Someday I would love a dreadnought army but I don't think they can keep up with my bikes and speeders. Maybe whirlwinds would make an appearance at times but I may just write it up that their armory is pretty barren as they allocate their materials to bikes instead. They're not a seige force so they have not much use for tanks. Should I use them in-game they may deploy along with forces from my Blood Angels

Wolf if I could write more in-depth I would! A large portion of my work day is reviewing and writing technical reports so I tend to be too direct. Is the argonaught the downed ship in Khan? Cool if it is! I was trying to think up some names and Argo crossed my mind and I thought Argonaught sounded way more fitting. I'm not sure if that name is taken by an Imperial aircraft though.

Not sure about names though. Night Ravens or something to that effect perhaps. I'm also thinking a darker green colour scheme though I'm not completely decided.

Point of interest: the Argo was the ship of Greek myth which Jason sailed in his tragic quest for the Golden Fleece. The Argonauts were his crew.

Now that you mention what you do for a living, I can understand your writing style a lot more. The stuff that I get caught up in is defining the culture of a Chapter. But what you have set up is a very nice framework which can be built around easily. What cultural influences did you have in mind for these guys? They seem to resemble Dark Angels w/ a Mechanicum vibe going on. Is that essentially it? Having a culture in mind can be beneficial when trying to come up with a name.

As for the Star Trek reference, the Argo was the stupid dune-buggy from the last Next Generation movie, Star Trek: Nemesis. The movie basically rips off the Wrath of Khan and is just dumb. But I wasn't sure if the name was inspired from it. But as Didi mentioned, the story of the Argonauts may provide some inspiration for names. But I guess you'd have to like the Greek theme.

I took the time to post this up on Bolter and Chainsword and those guys ripped through it and gave me lots of new ideas and restraints. Apparently I'm going to have to change them up to be a White Scars offshoot since I don't want to hunt the fallen. I've also thought up some background for the culture of the planet. Still trying to plug some holes with the large quantity of tech marines actually deployed to a company since usually they're not attached.

Anyway B&C guys are a big help so the next update will probably redefine the stuff I wrote already. The other thing I'm getting help from them on is where all these jetbikes are coming from. I was thinking of saying that the entire 1st company was on jetbikes instead of terminator armour and that command squads are taken from the 1st. So we'll see what those guru have to say about that.

I realize I can do whatever I'd like but I still want it to fit with the canon as it is (at least the best I can)

After a large amount of feedback on B&C I've updated the origins of the chapter. I removed the mystery behind the geneseed as apparently that is a lazy plot device. I also added more reasoning behind why they fight as they do and why the planet was chosen for recruits. Also currently going with Night Hawks as a name.


Origins:

Imperial records indicate that the Night Hawks Chapter was founded early on in M34 from the White Scars gene-seed. The Chapter calls home to Korak Prime, a secluded system on the edge of the Maelstrom. The binary system of Korak is fraught with unpredictable, if short-lived, warp storms which periodically cut the region of space off from the rest of the Imperium. Korak Prime exhibits a unique orbit within the system and follows a figure-eight pattern around both stars. This unique orbit causes periods of harsh draught when the planet passes between the stars. The people of Korak Prime live simple lives with much time spent rationing their limited supplies as the arrival of inter-system supplies is less than regular and all but unreliable. The annual dry period forces the populace to roam the surface in search of fresh surface water to bring back to their home villages. This troubled life paired with the conflict which inevitably errupts between adjacent villages has created a robust populace ideal for initiation into the ranks of the Night Hawks.

This lifestyle has molded the Night Hawks into the chapter as they are today. Following in the traditions of the White Scars, the Chapter focuses on rapid deployment and hit and run tactics. While the White Scars prefer to launch lightning fast strikes, the Night Hawks have perfected the art of hitting targets of opportunity before rapidly redeploying without the need to resupply. A small contingent of Night Hawks cannot only change the tide of a battle but that of a war spanning an entire continent.

The Night Hawks are often tasked with undertaking prolonged missions behind enemy lines where abnormal weather systems or warp interference may prevent resupply from orbit or even beyond system space. Preferring to operate at night, in contravention of the standard brightly armoured shock troop renowned across the Imperium, the Night Hawks prefer the subdued nature of their chapter colours. The fear induced on an unsuspecting enemy hit by an Night Hawks attack far surpasses that caused by a brightly coloured uniform.

---------

From what I understand, explaining my jetbikes is going to be a problem but oh well. I'll just open with a non cannonical caveat. The fluff folks also weren't happy with the techmarines in the speeders but I think I can likely explain that enough. I think I'm going to explain the Argonaught as a land speeder variant that has had the anti grav plating removed for storage and ease of field repair. Realistically I'll explain it as being available to any chapter but since it is old and antiquated (can't fly) no one else wants it. I'm sure that it is easier to explain why no other chapter *wants* the machine than explaining why other chapters can't have the *better* toys (storm ravens and baal preds).

Ah so these were the same ones from BnC, awesome. For the buggy how about mounting the missles on the sides?

Oh I totally forgot to upload a picture:


I tried them on the side and it looked too wide. The other problem was with them on the side (and using the rear jet exhaust) there was no 'increased capacity' for storage as I was attempting to explain with the fluff.

I think this looks more sleek than the wide tail fins that were there before. All of the weapons are magnetized though so I can always through them out with better ideas.

That Landspeeder is looking really nice! I like the missiles where they curretly are; it looks nice and compact. I was thinking that you could explain this variant by saying that the vehicles often operate in dusty atmosphere which easily clogs the traditional speeder air intakes. Also, you could explain the excess Tech Marines as a consequence of your Chapters rocky relationship with the Adeptus Mechanicus. Perhaps they had a falling out at some point and the Mechanicus have chosen to snub them, thus making it difficult for them to maintain their vehicles (requiring them to switch from the hovering variant landspeeder to this 4 wheeled one). Maybe the falling out had to do with the Chapters refusal to turn over the one of their valued (or sacred) hover bikes?

The increased Techmarine presence could be explained in that your existing Techmarines were going to have to train up a large group of Marines to make up for their lack of support from the Mechanicus.

Just an idea....what do you think?

Great ideas! I'll have to ask the fluff nuts on B&C... training your own techmarines might be heresy who knows. I could just say they found the bikes and didn't want to get rid of them! I mean what space biker gang would want to give up their sweet rides?

definitely sounds good to me though. I'm sure at some point some of the fluff will end up non canon but I want to stay as true as I can.

I had a read through an old Index Astartes and was motivated to re-organize and re-write a lot of this. I'm hoping it makes a lot more sense and has some more entwined background between sections.

I also just finished all of my bikes up. There are 21 bikes sitting on my desk; man was that a task and a half! I'm going to try to get the last two speeders together before my 4th raven wing battleforce shows up which should let me do a 1500-1750 army I think (though I prefer 1500 I'd like to have options). I'm also getting more magnets in the mail. My better-half borrow the camera for a trip so I can't show you any photos but I'd like to share my method of attaching special weapons to the attack bikes which looks good and is very convenient and easy. I suppose you'll all have to wait.

The Night Hawks Chapter

Home World
The Chapter calls home to Korak Prime, a secluded system on the edge of the Maelstrom. The binary system of Korak is fraught with unpredictable, if short-lived, warp storms which periodically cut the region of space off from the rest of the Imperium. Korak Prime exhibits a unique orbit within the system and follows a figure-eight pattern around both stars. This unique orbit causes periods of harsh draught when the planet passes between the stars. The people of Korak Prime live simple lives with much time spent rationing their limited supplies as the arrival of inter-system supplies is less than regular. The annual dry period forces the populace to roam the surface in search of fresh surface water to bring back to their home villages.

This lifestyle has moulded the Night Hawks into the chapter as they are today. Following in the traditions of the White Scars, the Chapter focuses on rapid deployment and hit and run tactics. While the White Scars prefer to launch lightning fast strikes, the Night Hawks have perfected the art of hitting targets of opportunity before rapidly redeploying without the need to re-supply. A small contingent of Night Hawks cannot only change the tide of a battle but that of a war spanning an entire continent.

Beliefs
The people of Korak Prime are a spiritual people believing that the path of survival begins within oneself and practice an ancient form of numerology. Imperial anthropologists have traced the roots of these practices to the Gyptians of ancient Terra. The Night Hawks take portions of these beliefs with them through their transformation from tribesman to Space Marine. The number 9 has become sacred to the Chapter and shapes their organization. The ancient Gyptians believed that the planetary aspect of the number 9 was the moon; symbolic of the night. The Nine is the number of the unconscious and is seen as a regulator, resolving any discrepancies between the seven (experience) and the eight (instinct). Because of this, the Nine can be seen as the interface between the inner and outer self. Only by understanding the inner and outer self can one truly hold the corrupting taint of Chaos at bay.

Village elders routinely wear a simple tabard emblazoned with the heraldry of the village’s people. Upon recognition of veteran status, a Night Hawk dons a tabard bearing the Night Hawk crest.

The symbol of the Night Hawks is a winged talon wielding a sword. This symbolizes the Chapter’s doctrine of swiftly bringing might to bear.

Combat Doctrine
The Night Hawks are often tasked with undertaking prolonged missions behind enemy lines where abnormal weather systems or warp interference may prevent re-supply from orbit or even beyond system space. Preferring to operate at night, in contravention of the standard brightly armoured shock troop renowned across the Imperium, the Night Hawks prefer the subdued nature of their chapter colours. The fear induced on an unsuspecting enemy hit by a Night Hawks’ attack far surpasses that caused by a brightly coloured uniform.

Organization
At full strength, the Chapter is made up of 9 companies. The 1st company is comprised of ninety veterans of the Chapter who ride Mars-pattern hover bikes in contrast to the standard tactical dreadnaught armour worn by codex chapter’s first companies. Captains of the Chapter’s companies form their command squads from members of the 1st as opposed to members of their own companies. Veterans of the company can best prove their worth and learn first hand those skills which may someday be required if their station rises to that of captain. The 2nd through 6th companies are made up of bike and assault bike squadrons totalling 90 marines. These marines form 10 man groups dubbed ‘Murders’ reminiscent of the tactical squads of codex chapters. The 8th company, or the “Hand of Eden", consists of 50 versatile Argonaught Land Speeders and the 100 crew required to operate them. The 9th company consists of the initiates of the Chapter who sit at the crossroads of the journey to master their inner and outer selves.

Due to each marine being issued a Space Marine bike and the large component of Argonaughts which make up the 8th company, the Chapter has formed a strong bond with the Adepts of Mars. Over 30 techmarines are currently present within the Chapter and routinely accompany the Night Hawks to battle operating Argonaughts and performing field repairs during prolonged deployments.

Maintaining such a vast stock of equipment requires a vast portion of the chapters allotted wargear and as such tanks and drop pods are a rare commodity. Such ancient relics are held within the chapter armoury for all but the most dire of circumstances.

Gene-seed
Imperial records indicate that the Night Hawks Chapter was founded during the ninth founding early on in M33 from the White Scars’ gene-seed. The gene-seed appears stable if not more-so than that of the White Scars. Any apparent uncontrollable ferocity periodically displayed by the White Scars has not translated to the Night Hawks. Whether this is attributable to the meditations of the Marines or the stock in which their initiates are chosen is unknown.

Battlecry
“You are your own undoing!”

Armoury
The Night Hawks Chapter utilizes equipment not common to the Adeptus Astartes. Included among this list is the Mars-pattern hover bike. This STC was recovered from the 3rd moon of Korak Secundus late in M40. Following centuries of review by the Adepts of Mars, production on these bikes began and preliminary shipments were directed to the Night Hawks’ for use among the 1st company. The hover bike is not a true jet bike and is not capable of attaining heights of more than 1 metre above the ground's surface. What the hover bike does achieve is the ability to traverse uneven terrain with greater ease than a standard bike. The hover bike is also incapable of traversing bodies of water with a depth greater than 1 m as the gravimetric displacement field employed by the bike does not work with fluids.

The Argonaught-varient land speeder was created in M38.657 on the forge world of Aritek. The adept Primalus had a shortfall of the materials required to create the anti-grav plating which provides the land speeder with it’s low altitude flight abilities. The A ground-based land speeder variant was thereby created in an attempt to fulfill the battlefield role of a light assault vehicle. It was quickly realized that the lack of anti-grav plating and the systems required for it greatly increased the available cargo capacity of the vehicle. Though falling out of favour in the eyes of many of the Astartes, the Night Hawks found this new variant to compliment their combat doctrine almost perfectly. The drawback of being ground-based was of little concern as the Chapter utilized them as a long-range support vehicle capable of carrying their much needed supplies; the benefits far outweighing the costs. The reduction in materials required to construct the variant also weighed heavily in its favour as the Chapter already devoted much of its resources to bikes.

Very nice IA article Theambit! I really like the inclusion of the planets culture and how it's affected the Chapter. I also love the way that names we know nowadays change in the 41st millennium!

Are they a crusading chapter or do they basically defend a particular area?

I realize this is a completely different thread than my original, but I've tossed the bikes into the closet for now. I've had a new desire to work on my chaos army (which was never mentioned here I believe). Since I seem to stray from topic to topic in the non-tau realm of the hobby I'm going to keep my smaller projects all in one thread (the Space Wolves, Tarkonis Guard, Dystopian Wars, Retired Orks etc. will keep their own topics as they're rather large multipage resources that I link to in my signature).

As for the chaos army, I really wanted to have a daemon prince ever since I started the hobby. After looking through a lot of online images months back I decided that I needed something to make a small unique force that I could add to my existing marines. I've gone down a road where I've sold off all of my xenos and have a large collection of marines and guard now. I've also sold off a lot of my old painting that was sub-par to my current level and worked toward having multiple 'small' armies that can work together and mix and match. As an example, my drop pods, terminators and devastators are all Space Wolves, my tanks and assault marines are all Blood Angels, my fast attack (speeders/bikes) are all Night Hawks and someday I will have tactical marines that are all roman-esque ultramarines or custodes. I see no reason why select groups of marines would not form multi chapter forces and it actually looks cool on the table to see multiple chapters present. Of course I pick 1 codex to pull rules from at any given game and basing all of my models the same helps them mesh well.

Further to this, I really liked my space wolf conversions as it was quite fun to do and I love the look of the beefy shoulder pads. I've ordered a bunch of chaos terminators and conversion parts to make Tzeentch terminator sorcerers which will be my obliterators. I've also put together a few dreadnoughts though none have seen paint. This way, my dreadnought detatchment (see above) will be thousand sons. I dislike tentacles and spikes and the more pre-heresy look of my models will help them in this regard. I don't believe there will be any issue with my Tzeentch dreads looking good beside my loyalist marines in a battle since they're just imperial models painted to the same scheme as my daemon prince. Recent recruits right? The oblits also won't be super chaos like and also should be fine to use along-side loyalists. Giving everything (not the daemon prince) an egyptian look but not painting thousand sons scheme will also help to give the image in chaos games and not pigeon-hole me when they're substituted in. I realize some die-hards may be against this but the hobby keeps getting more expensive.

Anyway onto the model (click to zoom in)


I'm really trying to work on my gold trim and I tihnk it's a sweet contrast with blue. The wings were done with adeptus battlegrey and 2 washes of badab black which gives it some easy texture. I went pretty heavy on the washes here which seemed to turn out alright (the blue is done with astronomicon grey and a blue wash). Since I've never painted blue really (aside from a librarian) I sort of went for a really bright look. I'm not usually a fan of bright colours on 40k models but daemon flesh should stand out I think.

I have a 2nd prince to paint up as well and will post him eventually too. Enjoy.