Bought a Wolf Guard Terminator Army

It's pay day, so I decided to buy myself a Wolf Guard Terminator army!

I've got a mountain of cyclone missile launchers, melta guns, power weapons, pre heresy should pads and all manner of other Space Wolf accessories in more drug-dealer bags than I can keep track of. So the best way to tidy it all is to use it all.

I've ordered 6 Space Wolf Terminator Boxes from Wayland Games for all my Logan Wing troop choices.

They've got a discount code WAYTOGO for an extra 6% off which expires tonight. It's not a huge discount, but it gets a lot better when you're blowing a fair bit of cash on little plastic dudes.

I've already got a half assembled pack of Wolf Guard Terminators, but the extra box will allow me to make a decent Logan conversion, an Arjac conversion, maybe a Wolf Priest conversion and then a couple of spare Terminators for the bitz box.

After some discussion with James (mostly about making Storm Shields cost effective), here is my...

1500pts Logan Grimnar Terminator Army List:

Logan Grimnar

Wolf Guard Terminator Squad:
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-plasma and power sword.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with storm shield and power sword.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-melta and power sword.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-melta and Chainfist.
Drop Pod (carries 5 terminators)

Wolf Guard Terminator Squad:
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-plasma and power sword.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-plasma and wolf claw.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-melta and power sword.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-melta and Chainfist.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with cyclone missile launcher and power sword.
Drop Pod (carries 5 terminators)

Wolf Guard Terminator Squad:
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-plasma and power sword.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with storm shield and power sword.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-melta and power sword.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-melta and Chainfist.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with cyclone missile launcher and power sword.
Drop Pod (carries 5 terminators)

Wolf Guard Terminator Squad:
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-plasma and power sword.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-melta and wolf claw.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-melta and power sword.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-plasma and Chainfist.
1 Wolf Guard in terminator armour with cyclone missile launcher and power sword.
Drop Pod (carries 5 terminators)

Space Wolves Dreadnought:
extra armour, wolftooth necklace, heavy flamer and plasma cannon
Drop Pod (carries 1 dreadnought)


THOUGHTS
My all round Wolf Guard Terminator squad design was original based on a very successful Chaos Terminator configuration. But, instead of taking a combi-plasma and a lightning claw (wolf claw), for the same points Space Wolves have access to a power weapon and storm shield instead.

This depletes their short ranged firepower a little as well as their close combat potential, but makes the unit more survivable against lascannon blasts and weapons which ignore their armour save in close combat.

Mixing up the combi-meltas and combi-plasmas in each unit is just to keep the configuration fresh and appear less cut n' paste.

Not sure if it's wise running with 2 combi-plasmas and 1 combi-melta over 2 combi-meltas and 1 combi-plasma per squad.

I'm also toying with the idea of swapping out the Chainfist for a Thunder Hammer in some of the squads as well. But considering how poor my armour penetration rolls tend to be, I'm tempted to stick with Chainfists on all of the squads.

This isn't a tournament winning army, so I may just stop trying to be ultra competitive and just give them a fun combination of stuff to play to the army's character instead.

Let me know what you think.

I Really Like This List

Kudos to the GMorts Chaotica blog for catching my eye with this rather tasty looking Space Wolves army and a suitably agressive army list to match.

The guy got 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 loses and when you look at all the photos, you can see who he lost against and why.

The glaring weakness in the list is its lack of long ranged anti tank firepower, but up close and personal, its face beating potential is rather charming.

It needs a bit of a Space Wolves Blog style makeover, but the proverbial 'cake' is there. It just needs a little bit of 'icing' to make it good.

I quite like the Iron Priest and his servitor helpers running behind the army, quickly repairing and vehicle damage. I'm interested to know how effective he was or if those points would be better spent on more Grey Hunters.

Sadly there are no battle reports to go with these photos.
Anyway, here's the list for your perusal:

Chris' 1500pts Space Wolves List

Rune Priest: Living Lightning; Tempest's Wrath

Rune Priest: Living Lightning; Storm Caller
(note: this one needs different equipment, but nevermind)

1 Iron Priest
3 Servitors

Dreadnought with Assault Cannnon and Heavy Flamer
Dreadnought with Assault Cannnon and Heavy Flamer

6 Grey Hunters: Meltagun, Power Fist
Rhino with Extra Armour

6 Grey Hunters: Meltagun, Power Fist
Rhino with Extra Armour

9 Grey Hunters: Meltagun, Power Fist
Rhino with Extra Armour

Land Speeder: Multimelta, Heavy Flamer
Land Speeder: Multimelta, Heavy Flamer

Vindicator: Siege Shield
Vindicator: Siege Shield

THOUGHTS
My first thought when I saw this list was how much I'd love to fine tune it and give James a good kicking for all the times he's bunched his army together into a little fire base.

I'd start by swapping Tempest's Wrath on the first Rune Priest for Murderous Hurricane or even Jaws Of The World Wolf and give him a...melta bomb to make him legal.

Unless soneone can justify him to me, the Iron Priest can go home and give me his points to spend.

Extra armour for both Dreadnoughts is a must. Plasma cannons are tempting.

All 3 Grey Hunter packs like so:
1 Wolf Guard: powerfist, combi-melta
7 Grey Hunters: melta gun, wolf standard, wulfen
Rhino (no extra armour)

Land Speeders are good.
Vindicators are good.


It's still got the same flaws, it's just a little better at getting up close and personal now. Personally, I can't wait to build some Vindicators, Dreadnoughts and take it for a spin.

In the meantime, check out the rest of the photos at GMort Chaotica and say hi from the Space Wolves blog!

Rune Priest in Terminator Armour

I've finished my Rune Priest in Terminator armour.

I took the Space Hulk Librarian miniature and wolfed him up a bit with accessories and a great big wolf cloak from the Wolf Guard Terminators box.

I wasn't a big fan of the huge flowing cape, especially when all of my Pre Heresy Space Wolves have ragged Chaos Warrior capes.

So I went to work with clippers to shorten the whole thing, then cut triangles out of it with a modelling knife.

He got painted in the usual Space Wolves colours. His wolf cloak got a little more attention (an extra highlight) because he's a character and to help show the detail a little better.

I'm really pleased with him and can't wait to start work on my other tactical dreadnought armoured Space Wolves characters.

My only regret is that he doesn't have a beard. I can't even sculpt a beard! But then, a lot of the Space Wolves heads don't have beards, so I won't worry about it too much.

I nearly deviated from the main colourscheme to give him a different coloured wolf cloak, but James quickly steered me back on track.

When it comes to painting, James always says "Keep it simple and get it done."

It's good advice. You pick your colour scheme, decide how you're going to paint it and stick with it from start to finish.

Stay tuned for more Space Wolves Terminators. I've just finished assembling my first pack of Wolf Guard Pre Heresy Terminators and cannot wait to get them painted.

Pre Heresy Style Space Wolves Finished

My first pack of Pre Heresy style Space Wolves are finished! I'm really happy with the way they look, the way I'm painting them and the finished result.

Yes, they all have black (highlighted) hair. I also considered giving them all grey wolf pelts and wolf tail trophies. But I decided that the contrast of warm and cold colours would look better as an overall army theme. Plus the dark brown bits make hiding any hastily botched conversion parts much easier.

Sure, I wavered about having brown or grey wolf pelts. But the grey wolf pelts made any red icons look incredibly bright against a grey and light grey base coat. The darker brown seems to balance it all out. In fact, there are quite a few browns used on each miniature (plus washes), giving them a nice earthy feel.

My gaming buddy James will tell you that I've never been truly happy with any army that I've built for Warhammer 40K. It's either that the level of detail isn't high enough or they take far too long to paint.

These seem to be the perfect compromise of speed and quality to keep me happy. The base coat is nice and quick, then it's just detail painting -but no freehand icons, which were the bane of my life before. Just a little bit of red or gold here or there to brighten things up a bit.

I'll deal with pack markings later, but for now they're essentially grey Space Marines in medieval style armour with brown fur cloaks. It's a pleasantly serious change from my current colourful mardi gras Space Wolves army.

That's just my feelings on the army colourscheme. You might disagree and love the old 2nd edition paint scheme with all the red and yellow. But having read the recent Space Wolf fiction (The Wolf at the Door, A Thousand Sons, Prospero Burns), plain greys tie in with the modern vision of the Space Wolves and their new militaristic nature.

Even the Badab War books from Forgeworld are depicting Space Marines in a more militaristic nature with less outrageous colourschemes and I feel that in time many players will follow suit.

I'll continue to play my current Space Wolves army until my new Space Wolf army catches up with it, then I'll swap them over. Obviously, this could be a whole year away.

In the meantime, stay tuned for some heresy era Space Wolf terminators and more Grey Hunters as well as painting and conversion guides for all the miniatures in my new army.

From the Work Bench 3

Behold my latest batch of Pre Heresy Style Space Wolves! Although this time I've been having some difficulties.

For starters, it's difficult for any of them to hold a melta gun in 1 hand due to the sheer size of the weapon.

Also, it's hard for them to hold anything in two hands due to the restricting arm holes in the torsos.

So I've used a spare Space Marine left hand (thanks James!) and used it so that a Grey Hunter can casually hold it by the forward grip while waving his axe and shouting loudly.

Bland as it sounds, I can see myself doing this with all of my Grey Hunters. The melta gun nicely glues against the body for maximum strength too.

I've also discovered that the Wolf Standard bearer needs a particular pair of legs. Otherwise, he's not tall enough to hold the banner pole upright.

He needs the legs with the wolf tabbard down the front. These are straighter and therefore taller than the other legs, which gives him the extra height he needs.

However, power fists and combi meltas aren't a problem! The punching powerfist chopped off at the wrist (with all the wires attached) nicely fits on to and around one of the arm holes in the Chaos Warrior torso.

The Wolf Guard's pointing power fist is the easiest conversion at all. I simply cut the Chaos Champion's arm that's reaching forward off below the elbow armour, did the same to the pointing power fist arm and glued them together.

Meanwhile the Wolf Guard's combi melta is the storm bolter out of the Space Wolves box trimmed down to fit in a Chaos Warrior hand and the barrels chopped off, then replaced with a melta gun barrel and a bolt pistol barrel.

Now to get these flocked, undercoated and painted!

Storm Raven Swoops In!

The Storm Raven is here and it's not looking quite as ugly as we first thought. I never realised it could have twin linked assault cannons, plasma cannons or lascannons in the turret either.

In fact, I'm quite jealous that the Space Wolves can't have one. It's probably the first time I've had reason to complain that all Space Marine Chapters don't get to choose from the same motor pool.

Another pleasant surprise is the Blood Angels Dreadnought release to coincide. The 'Furioso' kit can be used to make a Furioso, Death Company and Librarian Dreadnought with a variety of arms and chassis for each type.

I'm particularly taken with the Blood Talons of the Death Company Dreadnought. They'd be perfect for Space Wolves Dreadnoughts -especially if you're doing a Bjorn The Fell Handed conversion.

Unless one of you fine individuals (yes, you!) will send me a pair, I guess I'll have to fight my way through the bitz sites and eBay to get my hands on them come February.

Both are already available to pre-order for considerably less at Wayland Games (gawd bless 'em) and should ship early February.

Storm Raven -£33
Furioso Dreadnought -£22

Hmmm, at that price I'm tempted to convert a Storm Raven as a Space Wolves objective or something. Heck, even to count it as a bastion for Planet Strike.

Either way, I should paint what I've got before buying anymore. I've got enough Pre Heresy Space Wolves on my painting table as it is...

If Forge World Could Make You Anything

"If Forge World could make you anything you wanted, what would it be?"

That's what James asked at the pub last night and it opened the flood gates to all sorts of ideas for conversion kits and extra components.

So I thought I'd present the question to you guys and see what everyone else is crying out for. Although Thunderwolf Cavalry is probably top of the list...

So tell us what you'd get Forge World to make for you!

As for Tyberos on the left, I'm thinking of converting him for my Pre Heresy Wolf Lord, provided the head is separate -Do you know if his head is detachable? Then I'll sell his arms on eBay to recoup some of his cost.

From the Work Bench 2

It's been a busy week on the Space Wolves work bench. I've converted this Space Hulk Librarian into a Space Wolves Rune Priest in terminator armour and painted a heap of Grey Hunters in my new Pre Heresy colour scheme.

The pre heresy terminator shoulder pads from Maxmini arrived from Poland in a matter of days and the quality of the parts and their casting was exemplary!

I fitted my spare Space Hulk Librarian with a pair of them shortly after converting him with a variety of Space Wolf bits.

I simply chopped the axe head off of his staff and replaced it with a skull and wings as well as a wolf tail. All the blood drops and other Blood Angels details were carefully scraped off with a Stanley Knife. Then I stuck on some Space Wolf bling and painting him in my Space Wolf colours.

He's even got a Space Hulk C.A.T. as his Chooser Of The Slain. All I need now is the big wolf cloak from the Space Wolves terminator box (when I buy some) and he'll look fantastic.

Yes, I'll sort the storm bolter barrells out at a later date...

I'm really loving my new Pre Heresy Space Wolves colour scheme. I'll show you photos of all the fully painted models when I've got a squad or two done.

40K Masters Results

The 40K Masters results are in and Alex managed to claw his way to 5th place with his Imperial Guard, but only encountered a single Space Wolves army along the way.

We'll have a chat with Alex later in the week about his game with Luke Nurser's Space Wolves which he crushed with relative ease if the 16-4 score is anything to go by.

Although having seen the two Space Wolves lists attending the tournament, the extreme min/max nature was something worryingly reminiscent of 4th edition. That said, it's the player, not the list which makes a good army, so for now we can only speculate.

Anyway, here are the final rankings from the two day tournament.

1st Josh Roberts (Imperial Guard)
2nd Neil Kerr (Chaos Daemons)
3rd Stu Robertson (Dark Eldar)
4th Peter Cooke (Blood Angels)
5th Alex Harrison (Imperial Guard)
6th Rob Buckley (Chaos Space Marines)
7th Filippo Cipriani (Tyranids)
8th Luke Nurser (Space Wolves)
9th Chris Green (Tyranids)
10th James Taylor (Chaos Space Marines)
11th Kiran Reddy (Eldar)
12th Richard Fielder (Space Wolves)
13th Gaz Jones (Dark Eldar)
14th James Ramsay (Imperial Guard)

In the meantime, I'm undertaking the Killswitch Challenge with sights set on the first UK 40K GT at the end of March.

1000pts Space Wolves Army List

Hey guys, Killswitch here with a new Army list, continuing our series of different point limits for our wolf brethren.

As the title suggests, 1000pts is today’s limit. It’s fairly common for starters or for local friendly pick up games, so I’m sure some of you out there would benefit greatly from a useful list to use in those types of games.

The main theme for 1000pts is Grey Hunters. Yes, I know they are in every list, but I want to concentrate on them above all else. I believe them to be the bread and butter for any and all 1000pt games, so I will concentrate on them.

Like before, first thing we need is a HQ. 1 will do, something simple and effective. Lets go with Lord on Thunderwolf with a Storm shield and Wolf claw. Simple and effective. Next we get to the fun part, the Grey Hunters.

I believe its safe to say, 1000pts tend to see us play up against Marine army’s, so lets use that as a base of thought when producing this list.

10 Grey Hunters with a Wolf Banner, 2 Plasma guns & Mark of the wulfen. All in a Rhino.

This will be your main assault unit, moving up and hitting midfield, using plasma from the inside of your rhino. The Lord should stay behind this unit to counter anything that comes near. In objective missions, they should be sitting on objectives, only countering anything that comes near.

Next up is out anti-tank units.

10 Grey Hunters with a Wolf Banner, 2 Meltaguns & Mark of the wulfen. All in a Rhino.

2 Units of these should do nicely. Now that’s 30 Marines in 3 rhinos which can push forward and really hurt anything that gets too close, aswell as put yourself in a decent position to hurt any type of army’s from Mech based to Horde. This type of approach should always start with mid-field control, explained in detail “here”.

That leaves us with 155pts to play with. Now, with all these Grey hunters moving up to put some hurt on our opponent, what about our home objective? In capture control, do we want one of those large Grey Hunter units sitting around doing nothing? Ofcourse we don’t. To handle this, we want a Razorback unit.

5 Grey Hunters with a Meltagun in a Razorback with either a Twin-linked lascannon or Lascannon & Twin-linked plasma gun.

This unit will not only give you an added long range weapon, but they can reliably sit on an objective where your other units wont. Bare in mind armour saturation. 4 AV11 vehicles is quite a fair amount in such a small pt limit.

The list should now look like this:

Wolf Lord: 195pts

Thunderwolf, Storm Shield, Wolf Claw.

10 Grey Hunters: 220pts

2 Plasma Guns, Rhino, Wolf Banner, Mark of the wulfen.

10 Grey Hunters: 215pts

2 Meltaguns, Rhino, Wolf Banner, Mark of the wulfen.

10 Grey Hunters: 215pts

2 Meltaguns, Rhino, Wolf Banner, Mark of the wulfen.

5 Grey Hunters: 155pts

Meltagun & Razorback with lascannon & Twin-linked Plasma gun.

35 Grey Hunters, Now tell me which army has the fire power to stop that advance ;) Combats decent, yeah your LD is a bit sucky but hey ho. It your that worried, drop the mark of the wulfen on the plasma unit and then take saga of the majesty on the wolf lord, sorted :)

Thoughts &comments, lets hear them.

The Killswitch Challenge

Utterly focussed on the 40K Masters, Alex has now challenged both Brad and I to make it into the 2012 40K Masters top 16.

When I laughed, he said that all we had to do was attend 4 tournaments in 2011 and come in the Top 5 every time. With 2 tournaments already on my calendar (the UK 40K GT and BOTCH in July), I need to attend just 2 more to throw down my power armoured gauntlet.

Unlike Alex The Traitor however, I shall be taking Space Wolves to all 4 events!

"But Adam, why on earth would you want to battle your way into the Top 5 in 4 tournaments to become one of the Top 16 players in the UK?" I hear you ask.

Well, not to fret, because this is actually a Win Win situation.

IF (that's a big 'if') I come in the Top 5 in all 4 tournaments, I have the glory of winning a Free ticket to the 2012 40k Masters where I'll battle it out with the best the UK has to offer. Sure, I'll probably get my arse handed to me, but I'll take as many of them down with me, screaming -all the way to hell.

If (and this is a more likely 'if') I don't come in the Top 5 in all 4 tournaments, then I'll make sure I buy a ticket for the 2012 40K Masters Open, which happens on the same day.

Because the Top 16 players are busy beating the bejesus out of each other, that fills the Open tournament with players who are likely to be more on my level, so I'll probably get a much more enjoyable series of games.

We'll keep you guys posted with which tournaments we're attending and let you know how we do...with photos and battle reports to follow of course!

40K Masters

So here we have the first Masters event of 40k within the UK. Developed by Josh Roberts (Current Number 1 player of the UK), he has embedded a 40k variant of the fantasy style Masters which has been held over the past few years.
Selection is interesting.

The top 16 ranked players, featured on Rankings HQ (for those of you who don’t know this website, check it out, its awesome) are invited to the 40k Masters event, with a free of charge ticket. Now some people may think this is very elitist, however in my opinion, it gives a little more meaning to having a rank, and gives players that incentive to do well, and hopefully we will see more rankings events around the UK.

It’s the first of its kind, and hopefully after its first success, it will become an annual event for all to look forwards to. There is much going in, which should make for an exciting event for those attending and those not. There will be interviews, possibly a podcast and plenty of online coverage made via the Rankings HQ team, so keep your eyes pealed for that. Not only this, but there is an Open event at the same time. This is for anyone, ranked or not, who wishes to still participate and have a laugh. I like this added touch, as it gives people the incentive & chance to come and watch some great games, as well as involving yourself by playing a few of your own.

I will personally be attending, as I have been ranked within the top 16. Unfortunately, as some of you know, I have sold my Wolves. It has gone to a great new owner, and I couldn’t be happier. He is very pleased with them, and I wish him all the best with my army. What this means however, is that I will not be participating with my Space Wolves. There are, however, 2 space wolf armies which I know will do fairly well.

I will personally be taking the dreaded Imperial Guard. Now, even though they do fairly well at high point levels, 1500 & 1750 (which is the format for the Masters, 3 game of each limit) aren’t too optimal. They do fairly well, but I know, with lack of experience, I would not do as well as I would with the glorious Space Wolves.

I hope that this event becomes a success, and hopefully will see some of our very own bloggers & readers try to attend next years, so we can take them down by storm, like Russ intended.

I’d also like to point out in this post, that I will be re doing my Space wolf army when I receive my pay check this month. It will be a fresh start, using all sorts of nifty resin kits & bases. I hope to bring you plenty of WIP’s and development diary’s as I build & paint them.

- Alex

Grey Knights Rumours - We Need More AP2

Grey Knights rumours have been flying around for months, but Games Workshop has now confirmed that Grey Knights will be released in April.

Unit abilities, stats, etc are all conflicted. But the rumours suggest that Grey Knights will be a super elite army with an emphasis on Terminators that butcher infantry.

But essentially the army is very much the same as before. Maybe a few more guys who are a little bit better in a 1500pts army, but the same fundamental strengths and weaknesses appear to be there:

Anti infantry firepower
Anti infantry close combat specialists
Anti psykers

Thankfully, there's still a lack of special and heavy weapons capable of destroying our transports. The high cost of Grey Knights also means that they'll struggle to claim objectives while being outnumbered by other Space Marine armies.

But the Storm Raven is in, as is a ridiculous unit called a Dread Knight, which is some kind of suped roided up Terminator in a Dreadnought type combat rig.

So what are the Space Wolves going to do about yet another close combat Space Marine army hammering on their door?

Space Wolves Counter Attack
The Blood Angels weren't as tough as we expected. But their power weapons combined with Furious Charge caused a lot of problems.

This time, with every Grey Knight waving a power weapon of some kind, close combat is out of the question. Their anti infantry firepower is superior as well.

However, with so few heavy weapons in the Grey Knights' hands, hiding in our transports seems like a solid strategy. Meanwhile our Long Fangs can pound them with missiles while our Rhinos can drive into position to bring our (marginally) greater numbers to bear and make every shot and charge into close combat count.

It's going to be a bit like Space Wolves VS Plague Marines where getting into close combat is a bad idea.

Take Out Their Transports
Seriously, I think we're going to have a tough time against Grey Knights. They essentially do what the Space Wolves do -but better.

Anyone who's been footslogging their Space Wolves this far will want to mount up very quickly.

Because the Grey Knights don't have much long ranged firepower for taking out tanks I can see the first few turns of a game with the Space Wolf playing knocking out their transports, then using Rhinos to bring greater numbers to bear on one Grey Knight unit at a time and eat this super elite army piecemeal.

It's still going to be a close run thing though. One Grey Knight charge and your Grey Hunter pack is as good as gone. You can forget Counter-Charge or Wolf Standards winning close combat when power weapons are hacking through our armour.

Melta Guns at the Ready
But one thing's for certain -we're gonna need a whole lot of melta guns!

Thankfully our armies tend to be brimming with the things, because we're going to encounter a lot of Terminators from the sounds of things.

The Dread Knight is also going to take a lot of melta guns to bring it down with its 2+ save.

I'm looking forward to using Jaws Of The Wolf on all those expensive Grey Knight Terminators. I know they have psychic hoods and aegis suits, but all it takes is 1 power to get through to really ruin someone's day. However, Rune Priest spam probably isn't going to work so well.

Time will tell whether Grey Knights will see us investing more points in our long ranged firepower to take them out from a distance or swarm them with Grey Hunters to overwhelm them up close.

Alternatively, Grey Knights could be so high in points and so small in numbers that we don't care and carry on doing what we do best!

On the bright side, I'm glad I don't play Chaos Space Marines or Chaos Daemons who could really feel the full force of this new Codex.

Finally - I don't believe that Psycannons are going to be Strength 7.

From the Work Bench 1

I thought I'd share what I've been working on lately, combining Space Wolves with Chaos Warriors to make my own blend of Pre Heresy Space Wolves.

I've had some real success and I've had some real disasters -even at this early stage in the army.

Remember my Space Wolf Bezerker conversion? Sadly it just doesn't work now.

To start with, GW reduced the size of the Beastman Gor arms I was using. They also blended the left arm and shield into 1 peice of plastic, making the left arms virtually useless for this conversion.

Finally, to top it all off, when positioned next to my Grey Hunters who are made from Chaos Warriors and Space Wolves, he looks like a puny weakling. Almost child like in his diminutive pose. It's a real shame when I was going to use these for my Blood Claws.

I also bought a box of Chaos Marauder Horsemen for their feral heads. Unfortunately these seem to be too small for anything other than Wolf Scouts.

So I've just wasted £15 for the Beastmen and £12 on the Marauder Horsemen. But at least I can save the Marauder Horsemen heads and their arms for when I make some more Wolf Scouts.

Anyway, here's a couple of Grey Hunters I've painted up. Judging by the latest GW artwork we're seeing, I reckon grey and red is going to become a popular scheme for Space Wolves this year -and not just because I'm doing it!

As you can see, these are a development of my Space Wolves character conversions. I've essentially used Space Wolf legs, heads and backpacks, Chaos Warrior torsos, hands and axes, then added Space Wolf bolters into one of the hands.

There's also the matter of the Chaos Warrior thigh armour covering the Space Marine legs.

This is tricky as hell, but I'll explain how to do all this in another tutorial once the first batch are finished.

Otherwise all you need to make these conversions is:
Chaos Warriors Boxed Set
Space Wolves Boxed Set

Simples!

I'm really pleased with my first Wolf Standard bearer. Not only did the thigh armour go on really easily after some careful trimming, I was very pleased with the pose.

Yeah, the banner is quite short. This is for storage and transportation. While I'd have liked to put the big flowing Chaos Warrior standard on, I simply don't have the time to paint a beautiful illustration on to it -much as I'd love to.

I had to carve the banner pole that's moulded into the back of the space wolves banner out with a modelling knife, then shorten (measuring very carefully) the length of the Chaos Warrior pole, before trimming down the section that went behind the wolf banner to ensure a good, flat fit.

Since this photo was taken, I trimmed the Wolf and Cross Bones symbol from the top of the banner and replaced it with an Ork skull. Each Grey Hunter unit will have the same standard, but with a different Xenos skull at the top of the pole.

Now that my army will have no Blood Claws (well they do suck!), I'll need 6 wolf standards and 6 skull trophies. So that'll be an Ork skull, Troll skull, Genestealer skull, Necron head, Chaos Marine helmet and a Tau helmet. Are Tau heads really trophies? I guess it'll have to do.

The C.A.T.
A little victory this week. I managed to get my hands on a spare C.A.T. from Space Hulk that was going for £2 on eBay.

He's now my Chooser Of The Slain and considerably sexier than a floating servo skull. Well, until someone makes a 28mm scale model of a Raven at least.

In the meantime I'm waiting on a huge order of pre heresy style Terminator shoulder pads from Maxmini and am looking into casting up a ton of melta guns. You just can't seem to get the damn things! Not in plastic at least. The metal ones aren't well cast and tend to chip a lot.

I need to make 30 melta guns for all my Grey Hunters and Wolf Guard. Wish me luck!

750pts Space Wolves Army List

In a new series of articles, I'll be looking into how to develop your lists which revolve around certain point limit. Every point limit requires different styles of play, army selection, and most of all, synergy.

Today I will be starting with a 750pts Space Wolves army list.

There are a lot of people nowadays who tend to play this point limit, whether it be in double tourney settings, or even a simple quick game. Campaigns which may tend to have a build up of pt limits, starting at 500pts and working their way up, or a local store mini tourney. This point limit tends to be quite friendly, for pick up games, or simply to try out something new.

Now, it's certainly not easy trying to cram anything at all in such a small point limit. I find it hard to fit what I want in 1.5k pts, never mind 750. Bare in mind, your opponents army will be just as small. In such a case, i think the best advantage is so take units which perform their own role on the battlefield, rather than spamming the same unit over (which you couldn't do anyway).

Lets start with the HQ. A Basic Rune priest is necessary in my personal opinion. Why you ask? Well in such a low point range, your bound to come up against other cheap Psykers. Librarians, Farseers trying to guide their war walkers, Tervigons throwing out FnP etc. Not only this, but Living Lightning tends to shine brightly. Your most likely to be facing plenty of AV 10-12, or a few High T creatures. This power alone will help you plenty, just like in most games, but even more-so now. There isnt much chance you will end up facing land raiders or AV 13 tanks, so those shots will be a bane to your opponents plans, especially with that juicy unlimited range.

2nd Power is down to you guys to decide. What do you feel you would most benefit from. I would personally use Jaws because I tend to end up facing Nids at such a low point level, or Orks which also are troublesome due to high numbers. Murderous Hurricane is also something to consider as the ability to slow down a unit can dramatically effect the game-play. Since its such a low point level, your guaranteed your opponent wont have many units, so that hurricane will certainly boycott your opponents plans.

Ok, so thats 100pts down, now what to do with the next 650pts? Id look straight to your troops. Now with such a low point level, don't expect to take your usual overdose of large packs of Grey Hunters, all fully geared to the teeth. It would be nice, but you will only be able to take one squad, and what do you do when you end up facing a unit of terminators on the off chance? Exactly.

2 Units of 5 grey hunters in Rhinos with a Banner and Meltagun comes to 250pts. This gives you 2 solid tanks to move up together and simply sit on objectives. 1 Can be your bunker for your Rune Priest, the other is simply the "Assist" as i call it. They perform as one. Never break away from one another, and keep them close. What do I do in capture & control I here you all say. Well I personally would go for the table, or just capture theirs, but thats down to you. Why such small troop units? Because such a low point level means you need to take more of the hard hitters in your codex, which I will go into next.

Long Fangs. 1 Unit of 6 with 5 Rockets comes to 140pts. This unit can provide frag support or simply split fire and crack open transports for your army to tear up. Simple fire support role and self-explanatory.

This leaves us with 260pts. Now this is the fun part, what do we take which can really help us with clearing our opponents out. Thunder wolves! They will be your lynchpin for this army, and will perform as your counter to everything that your opponent can throw at them. 4 Thunder wolves, 1 equiped with a storm shield, 1 with a Power fist, and 1 with a meltabomb. That comes to exactly 260pts. They will be the hammer which strikes hard against anything your opponent can bring to the table. They will be the rock solid wall which will advance forward and smash anything that stands in their way (hopefully).

The Str 10 power fist is your most reliable weapon to take down...well...anything! Race up to those wall of tanks? Go for it, for 750pts that wall wont consist of much. Horde orks? Those Thunder wolves will be racing through a unit at a time. Push them forward, use them the hammer they should be used at, utalise that wound allocations and throw them down your opponents neck. 750pts tend to be played on a 4x4 board, so you tell me which army can really stay out of the way of those Thunder wolves, without exposing themselves to your Long fangs fire lanes.

Now, what to do in Missions. Killpoints, move both rhinos behind the Thunder wolves, utilising their size as cover saves (hopefully you have modelled the thunder wolves appropriately to do this). Rune priest gives fire support along with the Long fangs. Rhinos stick together at all times, never getting out unless entirely necessary. Thunder wolves are spaced out and pushed down your opponents lines. Don't be too reckless, and try to go for the Killpoints which they will be able to take down quickly. Also, try to consider the combat rounds. Will it take you 2 rounds to kill that unit? Awsome, go for it. If you end up killing them in your opponents turn, it means they arn't getting shot up. Target priority is key to this army. When facing armies with plenty of medium Str weapons i.e. Scatter Laser War walkers or Hydra Imperial Guard, target those units which have maximum effect against your Thunder wolves. Even if you stun them, that will leave your hammer unit at close to full capacity to deal with your opponents forces.

Sieze ground. 3 Objectives tend to be the norm, perhaps 4. If your playing with 5, something going wrong. If your go first, place everything as for forward as you can, push middle ground, hold it and counter anything your opponent comes at you with. If you go 2nd, put those Rhinos in reserve and attach your Rune priest in your Long fang squad. You will need those rhinos fully capable close to end game to Tank shock your opponents units off objectives, and to be as fully mobile as possible. Thunder wolves will be your best counter to anything your opponent has, so try to hide them. If that's not possible, put them in reserve. Obviously, this isnt the best way to play if your opponent has hardly any anti-tank, baring in mind you have a storm shield, don't be afraid to rely on it.

Capture and control. Now this one is interesting. I would personally keep both Rhinos on your own objective, and push the Thunder wolves themselves. If you feel this wont work, then push one of the Rhino units with them. Splitting your forces is never a good idea, but in such a low point game, its one of the only viable tactics. I would concentrate on your opponents troops. By killing them, you wont have to worry too much about trying to contest your opponents objective, which is very hard if they have decided to camp for a draw.

Your army should look something like this now:

Rune Priest: 100pts

Living lightning & either Jaws of the world wolf or Murderous Huricane.

5 Grey Hunters: 125pts

Wolf banner, Meltagun, Rhino.

5 Grey Hunters: 125pts

Wolf banner, Meltagun, Rhino.

4 Thunder wolves: 260pts

1# Power fist, BP.

2# Storm Shield, BP.

3# Meltabombs, BP & CCW

4# CCW & BP.

6 Long Fangs: 140pts

5 Rockets.

Total: 750pts

KP: 7

Standard amount of Killpoints for such a small level of play and quite an interesting concept. Small units of Grey Hunters shouldn't be a worry for most, as the Thunder Wolves should be shrugging off most of the heat.

Don't forget, target priority and Mid-field control will be the deciders with this army, and most importantly, epic dice rolls.

Prospero Burns Review

A Prospero Burns review has been a long time coming. After finally getting a copy of Dan Abnett's latest Horus Heresy novel in the post and savouring every written word, I'm pleased to present a review of what could be his strongest work to date.

Prospero Burns was revealed back in summer 2009 and it's been a long wait for a Horus Heresy Space Wolves novel. But the wait has very much been worth it.

Considering the long list of people thanked for consults and suggestions at the end of the novel, an immense amount of work and research has been undertaken by Abnett in redefining the Space Wolves. He seems to have been determined to get it right, and he has truly nailed it.

A word of warning however. If you haven't read A Thousand Sons, you may feel a little lost. I also recommend reading up on Casper Hauser too.

The Wolves Redefined
This isn't Bill King's Space Wolves of old. Gone are the colourful comic book Viking heroes fighting for the glory of humanity. Gone are the banquets of ale and elk. The Wolves of Fenris are for all intents and purposes wolves. They're bestial, they're cunning, they're killers -and they're good at it.

Just as in A Thousand Sons, we see the Wolves from an outsider's point of view. A researcher named Kasper Hawser. Hawser has his own problems of course. Tormented dreams, a fragmented memory and to top it all off, he gets picked up by the Space Wolves. A man amongst Astartes is one thing, but we soon learn that a man amongst the Wolves of Fenris is another thing entirely.

Kasper becomes a Skjald, a story teller for the 6th Legion and in doing so must witness epic battles, small skirmishes, horrors beyond imagining and the final fall of Prospero.

A Literary Masterpiece
It takes a little while to get used to the way we bounce back and forth through Hawser's mind, from past to present and even recollections of the past occurring in present time. It's all beautifully written by Abnett who uses his greatest literary strengths (mostly conversation) to blur the boudaries between dreamscapes, consciousness and back again.

There's plenty of action. It's viscerally delightful, but if you're expecting Abnett's usual dose of war-porn, then you'll be sorely disappointed. Instead, he has served up a layered piece of literature that's wonderfully constructed with lashings of detail in just a few well chosen words. He's taken his time on this one and it doesn't just show, it shines.

Abnett uses all the senses of sight, sound and scent to immerse us in the brutal and bewildering world of Kasper Hawser. So please don't rush this book. Be patient and digest it at your leisure. Taste every delicious description. It's a wonderfully well written novel with much to be learned -and not only about the Space Wolves and Leman Russ, but also about Chaos and the Thousand Sons as well.

Conclusion
Many will be hesitant to read a Space Wolves book about a character who isn't a Space Wolf. However, I found myself so enthralled by the first hand accounts of Kasper Hawser, his growing friendship with the Vlka Fenryka and the rare appearance of the charismatic Leman Russ, that I completely forgot the final destination of the novel.

The sacking of Prospero is a backdrop to character development that's more involved with solving the riddle of Kasper Hawser than it is destroying the Thousand Sons legion. But what's to follow is even better.

After all, "There are no wolves on Fenris."

9/10 - Exceptional. Dan Abnett's literary talent is stronger than ever. Highly recommended reading for any Warhammer 40K fan looking for a well written novel to immerse themselves in. However, you should read A Thousand Sons first to lay the ground work.

Starting a Space Wolves Army

If you're looking to start a Space Wolves army, then the Space Wolves blog has everything you need for starting out from modelling and painting guides to conversions, tactics, army lists and even battle reports.

But what makes the Space Wolves better than any other army? Or better than any other Space Marine chapter?

FEROCITY!
The Space Wolves are unrivalled amongst the Space Marines when it comes to close combat. Blood Angels may have Furious Charge and Feel No Pain while Black Templars have their Vows to Suffer Not The Unclean To Live and similar, but Space Wolves have attacks -and lots of them!

Most importantly, the Space Wolves are incredibly versatile. With Grey Hunters forming the back bone of the army, Space Wolves can hold their ground, shoot, fight, receive a charge and charge headlong into the enemy. Grey Hunters excel at all of these battlefield roles and with plenty of upgrades to boost their close combat potential, there's nothing they cannot tear to pieces!

Meanwhile covering fire is provided by the ancient Long Fangs -veteran warriors with a keen eye and a stern morale who, armed with the deadliest weapons, can eliminate the biggest troop formations and the largest monstrous creatures and battle tanks with salvos of missiles from high vantage points. The old warriors can give a good account of themselves in a scrap as well!

HISTORY
As the 6th Space Marine Legion, the Space Wolves have a long and glorious history from the days of the Great Crusade when the Emperor walked amongst men to the darkest day of the Horus Heresy and beyond to the modern age.

In recent novels depicting the Space Wolves involvement during the Horus Heresy, the truly ferocious and feral nature of the Space Wolves has really come to the fore, blending viking honour with tribal superstition and an animalistic pack mentality.

Suffice to say that once the Space Wolves are assigned a mission, they carry it out without pause, hesitation or mercy. Often mistaken for ignorance, this clarity and singleness of purpose has served the Space Wolves well, despite a number of civil confrontations and conflicts as a result.

The Space Wolves Primarch Leman Russ, often referred to as The Wolf King, is a savage warrior with a hunter's cunning. Few can meet his terrifying gaze. In the book A Thousand Sons he unleashes an blood curdling howl that shatters glass for miles around while causing nose bleeds, brain haemorrhages and even instant death for any nearby psykers.

In every way Leman Russ embodies the sheer ferocity of the Space Wolves and to this day the Space Wolves search for their immortal warrior king, who departed with his finest warriors following a vision of the Emperor over a millennium ago.

Black Library writer Dan Abnett describes the Space Wolves:
"Space Marines are inherently tough, but Space Wolves are particularly dangerous. They are ruthless, they are savage, they are brutal. It begs the question; why would the emperor permit something quite so dangerous and untamed to exist? And that would be to take down another Space Marine Legion."

The Space Wolves also share a history with the loyalist Dark Angels Space Marines and the traitor Thousand Sons Chaos Space Marines, giving you plenty of opportunities to re-enact historical battles and add an extra dimension to your games of Warhammer 40K.

Essential Reading:
Prospero Burns
A Thousand Sons
Tales of Heresy (The Wolf At The Door)

PAINTING & MODELLING
Like many of the Space Marine Chapters, the Space Wolves have a unique style that's wide open to interpretation and personal customisation. So whether you want to build yours straight from the box, add fur cloaks or adorn them with huge axes and viking accessories from the Chaos Warriors, Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Marauder boxes, you can go as far as a very limits of your imagination!

As a wise man once said (actually it was my friend's little brother) "Chaos stuff looks awesome on Space Wolves!"

We've been using all kinds of extras to make our Space Wolves characters and Elite troops to stand out from the crowd in style, while devising our own colour schemes from the Horus Heresy through to the modern age.

Essential Guides:
How to paint Space Wolves
How to convert Space Wolf characters
How to convert Wolf Scouts

ARMY BUILDING & PLAYING
Space Wolves are quite unlike any other Space Marine Chapter. They're much more than just a bunch of vikings who spend all day drinking and feasting in their mountain fortress before going out and slaying the occasional beastie. They're a highly specialised fighting force.

Grey Hunters for the core of this close quarters army while veteran Long Fangs provide long range covering fire for the Space Wolves advance. Meanwhile cloaked Rune Priests lead the army through their conjoured storms that pelt the enemy with wind, rain and lightning bolts.

Most fearsome of all are the Wolf Lords, often riding enormous Thunderwolf mounts and swinging mighty frost axes while deflecting crushing blows from monstrous creatures with their weighty storm shields.

Despite their rather blunt and aggressive nature, a lot of finesse is required to get the most out of a Space Wolves army. Most elements need to work together in perfect synergy, which takes some practice.

But in truth there's nothing like a mighty hero slaying a towering abomination that's at least 10 times his size! It's one of the greatest thrills in playing this army.

Essential Lists & Tactics:
Top 5 Space Wolf Units
Space Wolves Grand Tournament army
Space Wolves Terminator army

CONCLUSION
So if you're thinking of starting a Space Wolves army, then the sons of Fenris have many things to offer every level of player. Awesome background, fantastic miniatures and a ferocious playing style. While you may not win every game of Warhammer 40K (just most of them!) you will have fun!

If like us, you've got some Christmas money to burn, then check out Wayland Games and Total Wargamer who stock the full range of Warhammer 40K at 20% discount.

Are you looking to start the new year with a new Space Wolves army? Or are you planning to expand your current Space Wolves Great Company with more units? Let us know!

Back To The Start

The Space Wolves blog is going back to the start!

I hope you're sitting comfortably and have some suitably cinematic music playing...

The blog has been going for little over a year now and it's come a long way since it's humble beginnings in Spring 2009 -but now it's time to start again.

2009: Back then, I knew the Space Wolves were 6 months away. The rumours were thick and fast, even before anything really emerged and having seen the cover art for Prospero Burns, I immediately set to with modelling knife and paint brush, keen to build some kind of army with no idea what the new Codex would actually bring.

I assembled a half built, half painted drop pod based army and immediately sold them upon release of the new Codex. My 'grey marines' simply weren't wolf enough. They took far too long to paint as well!

2010: My next batch of Space Wolves were based on the new Codex and the classic scheme of Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company. I also discovered the GW washes for the first time.

I wasn't sure about the pack markings -the yellow, red and all the gold. It all looked a bit 'mardis gras' for my liking! But, I carried on, continued to build up my army and now lead my colourful Space Wolves to victory on a regular (ish) basis.

A few months back I sustained a nasty back injury at work. I was unable to sit for long periods and I wondered if I could continue to paint my Space Wolves army. It takes a lot of time hunched over a painting table to get all those pack markings and company markings right.

I dabbled with Orks for a bit. They were quick to paint and looked good with a lot of washes.

Open War was approaching and having won 3rd place at Botch I was keen to kick some serious bottom once again.

James had trounced me with his 1750pts of Castling Marines which had led me to include 3 Rune Priests in my 1750pts Space Wolves army. The resulting battle, although close, will be forever known as the most boring game ever. However, my army was considerably improved and that meant one thing -I had 3 days to build and paint 3 Rune Priests!

Combining both Space Wolves and Chaos Warriors boxed sets, I created a trio of distinct characters and loved every minute of building and painting them. Most importantly, my back was fine -probably because I wasn't hunched over my desk, carefully painting tiny little squad markings.

James with his Dark Angels and me with my Space Wolves entered Open War as the team "The Lion and the Wolf". We had a blast, met lots of cool people and it really rekindled the passion we had for our armies.

James has over 9,000 points of Dark Angels. I have 2,000 points of Space Wolves painted in mardi gras colours. I love playing them, but I wish they were more simple grey and brown colours like Brad's Space Wolves. They're just too bright.

On the drive home from Nottingham, James and I were chatting in the car about the depiction of the Space Wolves in A Thousand Sons. My Space Wolves weren't what we imagined having read the book.

2011: How much have the Space Wolves changed since the Heresy? Why would they change at all?

They've always made their own armour and weapons. Always worn all manner of wolf pelts, runes and trinkets. And always rushed headlong, without helmets, into battle.

So after another beer fuelled evening of discussion with James, I decided upon a Heresy era Space Wolves army with fur cloaks, battle axes and beards!

Why would the Space Wolves change in any way since the Heresy? They're resolutely stubborn, traditional, superstitious, resentful of 'new' technologies and would no doubt favour a well balanced axe over a buzzing chainsword.

Most importantly, all my Grey Hunters, Long Fangs and characters would be made from blending Chaos Warriors and Space Wolves boxed sets.

This meant I wouldn't have tiny pack markings or company markings to paint! I'd have to come up with some other form of squad markings, like changing the colour of their cloaks.

This would also give me a chance to make something of the one off conversion I did a while back using Chaos Marauder Horseman heads, Beastman arms and Space Wolves bits. I think this guy would make an awesome Blood Claw, don't you?

As for the army itself, I'll essentially rebuild my current force from scratch and expand on it. Only this time I won't bother with Sky Claws - Russ wouldn't approve!

I'm still not a fan of Thunderwolf Cavalry. They seem silly to me. That said, if Dan Abnett writes them into Prospero Burns, I may stand up and pay attention.

You can expect great things in 2011 from the Space Wolves blog with conversion guides, painting tutorials and of course, battle reports galore!

As always, thanks for following and please continue to Spread The Word!