Qrab's Chaos: The Dog Brothers (218 pts)

Greetings!

Another month and another increase in my painting output. For January I painted 10 whole models! (Just never you mind that 8 of those models are chaos hounds).

One option from the 3rd Edition Chaos list that I've always liked is the Beastmasters with Chaos Hounds. Back in the days when I was scouring eBay, I managed to pick up two of the Marauder Miniatures Beastmasters and their Hounds, as well as a bunch of the original (if somewhat smaller) Citadel Chaos Hounds.

When it came time to put together a list for this challenge, it was a no brainer for it to include some Beastmasters. As it happens, 2 Animal Handlers with light armor and 8 Chaos Hounds costs 218 points. Because two or more Beastmasters and their pack can join up, this month's "unit" gives me some flexibility; I can deploy them all as one unit, or split them into two smaller units if needs be. And, with both the handlers and the hounds having T4 and W2, even the small units are relatively durable.

Unfortunately, when I was prepping & basing the models for the challenge, I neglected to position them so they could be ranked up, so for the time being I'd deploy them separately. I have about 10 hounds spare, so there's a project for another day.

To my knowledge, Marauder Miniatures weren't given names like many of the old Citadel models were, so I had to improvise for these two handlers. Because both handlers are the same model, I figure they must be brothers ... the Dog brothers. First up is Iyan and his pack:

Dog brother Iyan with his Black Skaven cloak and Skaven tail whip.

Next up is Iyan's brother Nyk and his pack:

Dog Brother Nyk with his White Skaven cloak and Skaven tail whip.

Painting the handlers was pretty straight forward, but painting the hounds was a little challenging. The Marauder hounds are pretty good, with plenty of detail to work with (but with some challenging mold lines). The Citadel hounds, on the other hand, are pretty plain, and in some cases poorly cast. Regardless, I had it in my mind that they'd have light colored skin that transitioned to darker colors down their legs and feet. To achieve this look I started with a base coat of Vallejo Model Color Deck Tan and then applied a series of glazes using different colors. When their backs became too dark, I highlighted it back up using a Deck Tan glaze. All in all, I think they turned out alright.

To finish off this month, here's a shot of what I've painted so far (I reckon it's a total of 613 points):

The army so far...

With February as the next month I've got a decision to make. Of the models I have left, I can paint the front rank of Marauders (5 models) or the unit of Thugs and the Troll (11 models). Hrm...