Are War Hound Space Marines Gladiators?

6/12/2013

If you've been following the ongoing saga of the War Hounds Space marines Project Blog, you'll know that I've been thinking a lot about how they look. When my friend Rob suggested the War Hounds have an element of gladiator to them; they fight in tournaments against one another, they are brutal hand-to-hand fighters and they fight to the death when in combat - it got me thinking about gladiators!.
What do you think of the War Hounds as having an element of Gladiator to them? Would love your feedback before I stuff this up completely!

1 Comment

Rob

6/12/2013 09:13:07

Ok, here's what I reckon. Go for it, BUT:
Anything you do needs to be a bit of an ominous precurser rather than full-blown. Canon tells us that the War Hounds already had a reputation for ferocity, and relentless standards orf martial excellence with severe penalties if one fell short. However the the full gladiatorial drive (as well as the Nails) came from the slave pits where Angron spent his formative years. Lhorke (the first dreadnought of the War Hounds), noted that things became much more savage (for the worse) when Agron took over, and eventually tried to murder Angron to end the devolution of his beloved legion. If you walk the right line, I think you can hint at what lay in the War Hounds geneseed, without turning them into World Eaters. What do you think?
Here's a quote:
"The War Hounds had a preponderance of close combat weaponry habitually carried by its rank-and-file. In addition to the use of the ubiquitous combat blades or gladius, even Legionaries attached to reconnaissance squads and vehicle crews commonly carried chainblades, flay-cutters and mono-serrated bayonets, back-up knives, hatchets and cleavers. In dedicated assault units this profusion of bloody killing tools was added to by a weapon that dated back to the techno-barbarian tribes of Terra, the broad-bladed Chainaxe. "
Also:
"To disobey an officer's order in battle was a death sentence to be carried out without delay. Trial by combat soon became the Legion's preferred route for settling disagreements within its ranks..."
So I think you have a solid mandate, mate :)

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