Imperial Hounds/Name pending

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

I'm thinking of starting Epic (managed to get a pair of FW warhound titans for £15 including postage) and decided to do a marine force for it with the Titans allied in, though I may do a 40k model of Chapter Master Zander Bomeith. There colors are dust red (think pre heresy thousand sons) with purple trim (and helmets in the case of Sergeants, and shoulders on terminators).

Not entirely sure on their name yet, Imperial Hounds was the first one, but after playing around on the chapter creator I'm thinking Azure Hounds (which actually came up) or Vigilant/Guardian Hounds (what came up was Vigilant Foxes).

Regardless of that, I have a rough idea of their history and combat tactics.

 

Part of the fitfh founding, the Successor chapter born of Dorn's Geneseed that was to become the Imperial hounds was assigned with four other new chapters to the Alesia cluster, an area of over a dozen systems situated on the Segmentum Obscurus-Ultima border near where they meet the Segmentum Solar.

The Imperial hounds were given the world of Quet'otlVish, of the Vishton system as their new home world. The Vishton system contained five other planets, of which two others, were of interest, Vishton's Hold, a small planet that has five mineral and ore rich moons, that would later become the Forge world of Vishton's Forge, and Vishtia a civilised world.

Vish'Qotle was Feudal/semi Civilized world, a world of crystal blue oceans and mighty mountain ranges, of tall Purple and red Forests and small yellow grass plains.

Using all their skill as sons of Dorn, they fashioned the the mighty citadel of Hojo's Artifice, named after it's architect, Master Techmarine Hojo Espeo.

 

The hounds however, do not exclusively recruit from Vish'Qotle, instead taking recruits from Vishtia and the other planets of the of the Alesia cluster, as do the rest of the Alesia watch chapters. The reason for this it to do with the fall of the Diamond Templars, the previous custodians of Alesia,Who had recruited from the second planet of the Alesia system, at the heart of the cluster. After just 800years of imperial service, the Templars homeworld was destroyed by a Thousand sons force, who simply virus bombed the planet after destroying the orbital defenses. Needless to say, the already stretched chapter was quickly worn down to but three companies, and finally destroyed by the heresy of Captain Bynnusoth, later the daemon prince Bynnthack the Vain.

 

The adeptus Terra after this, decided to assign the chapters to the cluster so that none would be over stretched to the level of the Crystal Templars again. It was at the first Conclave of Alesia, the centennial meeting of the chapter masters of the five chapters that guard the cluster, that the founding chapter masters decided that they would all would recruit from all the planets of the reach in addition to their Homeworlds, though only The Ravens Ascendant, as a fleet based chapter, would use this more then just easing the burden on their homeworlds after the chapter had taken heavy losses.

 

In 3078667.M35, The fourth company, under Captain Soloman Bulesyes embarked for the Kalvainus system to support the Ravens Ascendent seventh company against WAARGH DJOKALIP. They never reached it.

A brief warp storm had flaired up, and the chapter believed the fourth lost with their Strike cruiser "Implacable Vengance".

The Implacable exited the warp 1134027.M36, within the Ulramar. To the fourth, it had been two months.

Upon finding out their location and the date, Captain Bulesyes ordered a course back to Vish'Qotle.

They fought the Orks upon Pilate's World.

They fought the deathly Necrons at Evikon.

They fought alongside the Salamanders at Briear against the Night Lords.

They put down the rebellion of Cardinal Xenophon.

These and more, Soloman encounted on his journey to home. Finally, in 2034298.M36, battered and heavily damaged, with a skeleton crew and only a dozen battle brothers remaining of the Fourth, the Implacable arrived back in the Vishton system century later, Soloman Bulesyes was elected Chapter master.

 

Whilst the experience and lessons learned over the journey was shared with the chapter, the Imperial Hounds combat doctrine was one of fortifications and defence.

That changed when the Space Hulk "Dark shadow" exited the warp at the edge of their home system on the eve of the dawning of M37.

After a swift purge, the kill teams made an amazing discovery. Within the hold of what had once been a great warship intended for a Marine chapter that formed the entire left flank of the Hulk, was over a hundred suits of "Corvus" Pattern armour and over thirty land speeders.

The Chapter had always mainly been equiped in such armour, but the discovery ensured that the chapter would be defined in it.

Over time, more and more of the chapter learned to pilot land speeders, and by the end of the century, all companies had replaced one of their assault squads with a land speeder squadron.

 

At some point during the eighth century of M39 that captain Kliel Ahmdver of the fifth company was corrupted, falling to the whispers of Slaanesh, dragging his company with him. Incidentally, his was the company that used MK7 armour.

Upon his return to the chapter, he was able to convince his old friend Captain Topl Gwickva of the second to join him in a coup against Chapter Master Guibrian.

Fortunatly, there were loyal elements within the second, and they managed to warn the rest of the chapter of the corruption.

In the bitter fighting that followed, which saw the two traitor companies fighting the seventh company along with elements of the first and tenth and the rebuilding sixth, the traitors were broken and they fled, but not before Guibrian had fallen to Ahmdver's claws.

 

For the next thousand years, Ahmdver the light of Ecstasy and Agony, and his warband, the Ecstatic Wolves, plagued the northern Segmentum Solar.

Zander Bomeith, Captain of the fifth, was elected Chapter Master after the disaster of Valiun's ruin, which saw in addition to the casualties that Imperial Hounds, Ravens Ascendant and Minotaurs sustained the deaths of the chapter master, the captain of the first and Inquisitor Perigon killed by Ahmdver.

Swearing to avenge his forbears and end the stain to the chapter's honor, he led the entire chapter with the exception of the 10th and Third to the Fahchenstein System, where Ahmdver had made his lair.

They arrived to find an imperial fleet under the command of Inquisitor V'heen already locked in battle with the traitors, neither side having being able to brake the deadlock. The Hound's fleet dived straight at Ahmdver's flagship, the "Joyous Light" a battle barge he had stolen from the Raptor's three centuries after his flight.

With the traitor fleet shattering under the renewed assault, the "Joyous Light" was encircled by the Hounds fleet and was destroyed, but not before the Ahmdver and a hundred marines and hundreds of human soldiers boarded the Hounds flagship "Vigilance".

It was on the steps of the ships Chapel that Zander found Ahmdver over the ruined body of Constva, the chapter's High Chaplain.

Plasma pistol and Power axe met Demonically enhanced Lightning claws, and after a brief clash, it was over.

Ahmdver was thrown against a wall, his right arm blasted off at the shoulder by Zander during the duel, his helm and body a bloody wreck. Staggering over, dropping his pistol, Zander gripped his axe in both hands, and brought it down upon the traitors neck.

 

Zander Bomeith has proved to be a courageous, yet conservative chapter master, preferring to direct his troops plasma cannon fire and land speeder strikes over reckless assault, though like all sons of Dorn a serious and high insult to his or his chapter's honor can make him aggressive, such as the case was with Ahmdver.

The chapter makes heavy use of plasma cannon and lands speeders and is almost entirely in Mk 6 Corvus armour.

This is only the rough idea at the moment, and I am pretty sure half the names need improvement, help with that would be great.

[Orlunu]

I can't make myself read this right now, but I think that you will get more responses if you at least put a few line breaks in that textwall of doom. Will read it in chunks and give you some C&C when (if) I finish.