The Dogs of War: a HH PLOG

[SvenIronhand]

16th Company "Dogs of War" 

"The day will not save them. And we own the night!"
-Praetor Zekyr Valac, leading an night attack in the Battle of Tar-Namib.

 

The 16th Company “Dogs of War” of the 16th Legion “Sons of Horus” were many things. To the loyalist forces, they were relentless hunters, who tracked and tore into their prey with wild abandon. Night-terrors given flesh. To forces within their own legion who had thrown their lot in with the powers of the Warp, they were a rogue, uncontrollable element. Something to be eliminated, to be thrown to the wayside. And to themselves? That’s harder to say.

 

A multitude of types existed within the 16th Company. Daemon-hunters, ruthless gang-killers, and sincere soldiers of the rebellion all found their place here. The company itself was solidly Horusian, to the point of hunting down loyalist Sons of Horus on Istvaan III and waging his war on the desert world of Tar-Namib among other planets. But, its officers were wary of daemons and pacts with them. Herein lies a contradiction. To be soldiers of Horus, but to refuse the powers behind him?

 

Unthinkable.

But the Dogs of War dared to do the unthinkable.

Tar-Namib 

"This world is doomed to damnation. I feel it in my bones."

-Centurion Baruman, upon disembarking onto Tar-Namib
 

Tar-Namib was a Mining World in the Ultima Segmentum, mere light years from Molech. Horus deemed the planet strategically vital, its resources needed for sustainment of the March to Terra. While the main body of the Legion fought for the Warmaster's power, the 16th landed troops, led by the honored Praetor Zekyr Valac, on what they thought to be a soft target. They encountered loyalist elements from the Shattered Legions there, loyalists who had made dark pacts of their own. And so began a life-and-death struggle for the world, far from the eye of their fathers.

Scouring sandstorms. Thunderheads the size of continents. The Ruinous Powers. All these things awaited the Dogs of War. But did they think to fall back? Never. 
--- --- --- 

So I'm making the jump into Heresy, one of my 40,000 projects. This guy right here is my first. Nothing too elaborate. Washed, chipped, and based. I never claim to be the best painter.

Tar-Namib is going to be the "main storyline" so to speak. Most of the minis are going to be based for a desert world. 

Edited November 23, 2020 by SvenIronhand

[Pearson73]

I really like the background you've got here, both for the company and the battle zone, shattered legions resorting to dark pacts matched against savage hunters from the Warmaster's own?

 

I also like the shade of green, I think it's spot on, though perhaps the layers are a little thick? Are you thinking of red eye lenses? Will the company be strongly affiliated with the lodges? It sounds like certain elements might be, but then others might also be a bit warier.

[SvenIronhand]

Veteran Brother Sylas, KIA Manufactorum Whadi

The 1st Battle of Manufactorum Whadi

"We expected a simple speartip operation, and got Murder in its place."
-Excerpt from a after-action report.

The first objective of the 16th, after securing a landing on Tar-Namib, was Manufactorum Whadi. Ten thousand souls called this great, windswept factory-city home, converting raw materials into useful compounds, such as ceramite. It was ostensibly only defended by a Imperialis Militia garrison of about eight hundred and fifty fighters. By all accounts, the 16th expected a easy victory, to steamroll the Militia with the shock-and-awe warfare their Legion specialized in. Thus, Praetor Valac held his heavier assets in reserve, leaving overall operational command to Consul Baruman and his Lupus Dei squad. 

This proved to be a misstep on his part. Hard-bitten as they were, the attackers were not equipped to face up to what lay in wait for them. Veteran Brother Sylas was the first to fall, cut apart by sustained bolter fire. From out of the shadows, stepped the Raven Guard, led by the Esoterist Korophae Kaed. A running gunfight commenced between the Veteran Squads sent to take the Manufactorum and these newfound defenders, with the 16th clearly on the backfoot. Worse still, reports came in of obvious maleficarum, of gibbering, long-armed creatures snatching battle-brothers from out of the shadows. Whether this was the work of Kaed is unknown, but it is likely. 

Seeing that the operation was likely to fail without his intervention, Baruman called for a fighting retreat and threw himself at the foe. Plunging into the heart of the battle with him at their head, the Lupus Dei confronted the daemons that had claimed so many of their brothers. Cutting them down, sending them screaming back to the Warp with blazing combi-bolters and arcing power fists, they cut a path for the 16th present to retreat. Bloodied, but vengeful, the 16th swore to return - but refocused on another target. 

[SvenIronhand]

Completed the first Veteran Squad. This is probably going to be the last update in a while, so I figured I would talk about my plans. 

The Rite of War I'm going to be building my force around is going to be Pride of the Legion. Lots of Terminators, lots of Veterans. 

[Marshal Vespasian]

I like the desert basing a lot. I think the look of the force could be improved by picking one color for baserims and sticking with that. Kind of sets off the model from whatever it's standing on.

Love the amount of thought and work you have put into the story. That stuff is always pretty tricky for me.