13th Company in 5th Edition

[Grey Slayer]

Hi guys. I'm a long time reader and very infrequent poster but I thought I'd share my thoughts on a topic close to my heart: the lost 13th Great Company. (note: kinda long post, sorry)

 

I've been a Wolf player since almost the start of 3rd edition but did a mass transfer to 13th Company when the Eye of Terror Codex came out because I just thought it was plain awesome. Now granted I didn't win a great deal of battles but they were always good fun to play with regardless. Now that we finally have our new Codex and are up-to-date with all the latest goodies I thought it was time to return to my beloved 13th and see how I could fit them into the new Codex structure. I've browsed this forum and a few others and taken ideas from all over, as well as adding my own and trying to primarily stick to the fluff in the IA article. I'm keen for any comments and constructive criticism the brothers of the Fang can provide.

 

Army List:

 

HQ:

Wolf Lord, Rune Priest, Wolf Priest – All as per Codex: Space Wolves

Storm Claw Battle Leader – As Wolf Guard Battle Leader

Elites:

Lone Wolf – As Codex: Space Wolves

Storm Claws – As Wolf Guard Pack, no Rhino or Razorback transport

Shadow Hunters – As Wolf Scouts

Troops:

Grey Slayers – As Grey Hunters, no Rhino or Razorback transport

 

Fast Attack:

Wulfen – As Thunderwolf Cavalry

Storm Claws Bikers – As Swiftclaw Biker Pack

Fenrisian Wolf Pack – As Codex: Space Wolves

 

Heavy Support:

Long Fangs – As Codex: Space Wolves, no Rhino or Razorback transport

 

*All units that can are encouraged to take a model with Mark of the Wulfen*

 

Mark of the Wulfen:

Though all members of the 13th Company are afflicted by the Curse of the Wulfen the Curse's effects change from Wolf to Wolf and over time. Some that fall to the level of Wulfen claw their way back to sanity while others shift between stages. A model with the Mark of the Wulfen generally represents a Wolf who is either in the process of succumbing to the Curse or is on his way back from that bloodthirsty state. A Wulfen (TWC) with Mark of the Wulfen is an especially fierce and maniacal example of his kind and can be even more dangerous than his Wulfen brethren.

 

Warp Gates:

It is not known for certain how the 13th Company makes its way around the Eye of Terror. It is known that lacking solid supply bases they are forced to scavenge from their defeated enemies for replacement weapons, ammo and armour. It is also known that they do not maintain any vehicles heavier than bikes and have limited suits of Tactical Dreadnought Armour. They would have had at least one Strike Cruiser or Battle Barge initially but whether they still maintain it or it has been destroyed, abandoned or captured is a pure conjecture. What is known is that their Rune Priests have developed the power to create warp gates, tunnelling through the immaterium for quick and comparatively safe passage between locations and possibly worlds within and outside the Eye of Terror.

 

These gates spring up seemingly from nowhere, often in the middle of enemy lines, disgorging howling Wolves in the midst of the foe. Some have even witnessed these gates lingering on the battlefield, possibly as a line of retreat for the Wolves, and have been seen to spit warp lightning at nearby enemies. Some canny foes have discovered that sustained fire at the gates will cause them to collapse upon themselves, reducing further threat and possibly removing an escape route for the Wolves.

 

13th Company units whose reference squad can use Drop Pods are able to select Warp Gates as a dedicated transport option. The Gates count as Drop Pods in all respects and must be represented by a suitable model on the tabletop. Fell free to get creative with your representations of the Gates as long as they are roughly the size and shape of a standard Drop Pod.

 

(I'm pretty sure I got this idea from one of Grey Mage's posts so cheers for that.)

 

Grey Slayers:

These warriors make up the core of any 13th Company warband. Warriors who have hunted through the Eye of Terror for millennia, killing and looting the traitor legions as they go and all the while resisting (mostly) the fierce pull of the Curse of the Wulfen. Wise in the ways of war but still fierce in battle they are a great asset to the Wolf Lords who lead the packs through the Eye.

Storm Claws:

Equally skilled at war as the Grey Slayers, Storm Claws are even more fierce and equip themselves to face their foes head-on, almost eschewing ranged weapons entirely and instead taking up Wolf Claws and Frost Blades to cut the heart out of the traitors. Storm Claws are the Wolf Lord's bodyguards and companions as well and the greatest among them are often chosen to lead raids in the Lord's stead.

 

Some Storm Claws also go to battle in the holy suits of Tactical Dreadnought Armour, of which the 13th Company was given very few. These brothers are truly fearsome on the battlefield, able to wade through the punishing rain of traitor's fire before rending them with claw, blade and fist.

 

Storm Claws Bikers:

Though normally cunning and stealthy, some Storm Claws feel the call to slaughter more strongly than their brethren and mount up on roaring Space Marine Bikes to better close with the enemy. These brothers throw caution to the wind and charge headlong at their foes at full speed, sometimes making passing slashes with their swords and axes while other times using their massive bikes as battering rams. These are the Storm Claws Bikers and they gather together in packs to race, encourage and outdo each other in battle.

 

Wulfen:

Wulfen are those Wolves that have fallen fully to the curse. These poor brothers are gathered together by the Wolf Priests into packs of ravening savages who charge forward as soon as they scent their prey. They care little for shooting but will use whatever is in their hands to beat or slice at their foe.

*Wulfen are recommended to be represented two-up on a large diameter base, each base the equivalent of one Thunderwolf Cavalry model*

(Thanks to the guys who commented here: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...howtopic=183310)

 

Wulfen Lords (and Storm Claw Battle Leaders):

Even the mightiest heroes can fall to the Curse of the Wulfen and no matter how hard they resist, some of the Lords leading the various warbands have fallen. The curse has fully overtaken these brothers and has twisted their bodies into huge, bestial forms to rend their foes with tooth and claw.

*Instead of riding Thunderwolves; Wolf Lords and Storm Claw Battle Leaders have the Wulfen Lord trait with the same game effects. You should make the model suitably big and bestial and use a large base as if he were on a Thunderwolf*

 

Shadow Hunters:

The 13th Company has always been known for two things: ferocity and cunning. None are more cunning than the Shadow Hunters. Though the 13th do not have Scouts per se, the Shadow Hunters in their stripped-down power armour and with their long blades fill practically the same role. When the 13th Company go on a hunt it is the Shadow Hunters that lead the way, silently slipping past enemy traps and despatching sentries. They also specialise in demolitions and more than one traitor compound has been ready to repel the Wolves at their door only to have their ammunition silos explode behind their supposedly impenetrable walls.

*These are my own addition. I felt a little sad that there's no option for the stealthy push forwards that the 13th Co. used to be great at and it makes sense to me that they would have some specialist stealthers anyway*

 

 

I've also written up a little homebrew fluff for Jorin Bloodfang (aka Logan Grimnar): (all changes are in name/fluff alone, for game effects he uses all the same rules as Grimnar, I just changed some names to have a more "Bloodfang" feel to them)

 

Points: As Grimnar

Statline: As Grimnar

Special rules: As Grimnar except - Howl of the Hunter replaces Living Legend, Master of the Hunt replaces The High King, Wulfen King replaces The Great Wolf

Equipment: As Grimnar except - Fellclaw replaces The Axe Morkai

 

Howl of the Hunter: Jorin Bloodfang has led the Wolves' 13th Great Company through the Eye of Terror for 10,000 years pursuing the hunt for the renegade legions. Once per game Bloodfang can cry out a blood-curdling howl that calls to his brothers that the enemy is near and to redouble their efforts. **See Grimnar's Living Legend for details**. Note: this also affects allied non-Wolf troops, though it terrifies them they know that such fearsome warriors are actually after the enemy, not themselves, and encourages them to fight all the harder in the face of such ancient heroes.

 

Master of the Hunt: Jorin Bloodfang is the leader of the most fierce and brutal Space Wolf Great Company and has fought alongside Leman Russ himself. He has led the hunt through the harsh and twisted worlds of the Eye and now back out at the beginning of the 13th Black Crusade. **See Grimnar's The High King for details**.

 

Wulfen King: Jorin Bloodfang has gathered some of the greatest of the company's warriors in his own retinue. **See Grimnar's The Great Wolf for details**.

 

Fellclaw: Gifted to Bloodfang by Russ himself, Fellclaw is a mighty power claw encrusted with runes enchanted by powerful Rune Priests to strike with the strength and speed of a lightning bolt, with it Bloodfang can slash at his foes with the claw's talons or attempt to crush them in his grip. **See Grimnar's The Axe Morkai for details**.

 

Note: I'm not sure how much of Grimnars rules I can actually get away with printing here so to play it safe I didn't put any.

Note2: This can be done for most of the special characters in the book if you can find an equivalent 13th Company hero and you're really keen to use special characters. Personally I'm not fussed, I like to make my own.

 

 

 

So there you have it. That's basically what I'll reference when building my army lists in future. If anyone has tips, comments or suggestions please let me know.

[Durfast Spiritwolf]

Excellent work - I especially like the idea of using DPs to represent Warp Gates (whether it's your's or GM's).

 

I think that the biggest challenge to a 13th Company force under C:SW is the loss of 'scout' and 'move through cover' given the fact that the army cannot have transports less bikes.

 

Regards,

[Valerian]

Excellent work; well thought out and well-written.

 

I personally would have done three things differently:

 

1. No vehicles at all is a large drawback, to offset this I would give the whole army Move through Cover and Scout again. However Scout would grant the move only, and would not get the option to Outflank.

 

2. Saga of the Hunter would increase to 35 points, and the Hero with this Saga would grant the Outflank ability to any unit he attaches to (still only 1 per army for either Wolf Priest or Storm Claw Battle Lord.

 

3. Instead of Warp Gates (Drop Pods), I would simply add the Gate of Infinity psychic power from the Space Marine Codex to the choices from our Codex.

 

Regards,

 

Valerian

[Grey Slayer]

Thanks for the props Durfast :D

I used to really enjoy creeping up on the enemy with scount and move through cover and am sad to go without them. I personally prefer footslogging armies and scout gave us a little extra boost that made it more viable.

 

@Valerian: Cheers! I agree with you wholeheartedly on all three points, especially making Saga of the Hunter more viable.

 

My original idea for this build/list/restriction thingy was to try and regain some of the fun spirit of the 13th while staying totally legal rules-wise and even playable (though perhaps not incredibly competitive) in tournaments. I'm not a tourney player myself but I hope the ideas here will help inspire other 13th Company players who were left behind in the tournament world, even if this just gives them an idea or starting point to work from as well as being useable by those among us who's local gaming group frowns upon homebrew rules or who just prefer to stay legal.

 

I am planning on attempting to write up a homebrew list for the 13th that isn't tourney legal, just to mess around with and see how it fares against my mates' armies. The aim is to make the list balanced and fluffy (at least, as balanced as the EoT one was...) and take back that silent but vicious hunters style that the current codex can't quite manage. I'll certainly take your ideas to heart in the process and ask that anyone else feel free to weigh-in on how they think it could work. I'll try and get a coherent build up soon to see what people think of my non-codex ideas.

[Jonas Stromclaw]

List looks good. The droppods as warpgates idea was originally proposed by Decoy, which should be tons of fun to model. Umm... I know there weren't any in the EoT list but why no dreads, or at least venerable dreads? They can go most places TDA can and their heavy weapons are the same as long fangs so you can't say they'd run out of ammo. Just want to know your reasoning.

[Valerian]

Slayer,

 

My recommendations are what I would do to replicate 13th Company among friends (who like the homebrew creativity). For a totally Space Wolves codex legal attempt, you've done as well as can be done with what we've been given.

 

When you work on that other project for your homebrew attempt at a list, please let me know; I'd love to see what you come up with. I'd be happy to offer my perspective on anything you come up with.

 

Regards,

 

Valerian

[Durfast Spiritwolf]

List looks good. The droppods as warpgates idea was originally proposed by Decoy, which should be tons of fun to model. Umm... I know there weren't any in the EoT list but why no dreads, or at least venerable dreads? They can go most places TDA can and their heavy weapons are the same as long fangs so you can't say they'd run out of ammo. Just want to know your reasoning.

 

I think that it's more a question of maintenance. As they get 'older' dreadnoughts spend an increasing amount of time dormant in the care of the Iron Priests of the Great Wolf's Company.

 

So, I don't think that covert operations in the EOT would be conducive to the maintenance of a dreadnought, least of all a venerable one.

 

In addition practically the whole GC are wolf-touched and I'm not certain that the occupant of a dreadnought is immune to the dangers of the Curse.

 

Regards,

[Niiai]

Hi, I have neaver heard of any of this before.

 

How do the 13th Company look? I realy like the idea of getting them in through a warpgate! Wow cool.

 

Could I use regular wolf models and just use a warpgate instead of a pod?

[Grey Slayer]

So it's Decoy who I owe the idea to, cheers Jonas. Still not sure how I'll model them though. Does anyone have any reference pics of a warpgate beyond a big round thing or swirly optical illusion?

 

As for Dreads, Durfast pretty well has it covered. I figure the 13th being an aggressive and reasonably stealthy Great Company the Dreads would quickly fall behind. Since the 13th don't appear to have any Iron Priests there'd be nobody to maintain them in the EoT; Wolves can maintain their own equipment fairly well and scavenge for spair parts and ammo but it takes some uncommon expertise to keep the Old Ones running. Plus on the tabletop in an army without any other vehicles with any sort of armour rating Dreads would be easy pickings for enemy tank-hunters.

 

Niiai, the 13th Company look like this: Take all the awesome that comes with your regular Wolves, double it, roll back the paint scheme to the classic grey of the original legion with none of the fairy blue tint of today, add some armour plates and trophies taken from the bodies of Wolf-slaughtered traitor legionnaires and there you have it :P Seriously though, they do have the original grey of the legion at the time of Russ, sort of a mid-level grey like Fortress Grey, they also replace armour and weapons damaged beyond repair with what they can scavenge from those traitors they've killed in battle.

 

Pretty much this:

http://kofler.dot.at/40k/units/Space_Wolf_13th_Company_Grey_Slayers.gif

 

They also have those who have fallen fully to the Curse, Wulfen:

http://kofler.dot.at/40k/units/Space_Wolf_Wulfen_Pack.gif

 

Run a quick search, here or on Google, there's plenty of stuff out there on them. Or get your hands on a copy of Codex: Eye of Terror (well old now) or even better the Index Astartes article in some WD who's number I forget...

 

I'd personally say it would be unfluffy to send regular Wolves in through a warp gate but there's certainly nothing stopping you, if you think it's cool then go for it. The 13th seem to use the technique more out of necessity than any love of tearing holes through warp/realspace barriers and would probably use drop pods if they had the choice.

 

 

Valerian, I'll be happy to let you know when I manage to compile a readable version of my ideas.

[Niiai]

Wow! Cool! Had I know'n this before I would try to paint my troops like this. They realy rule. The bad thing about using mellee through warpgates/DP is that you can't charge in that round. :-/

 

I am afraid my SW are (lich purple, blue ink, and highlighted with warlock purple) for the main arias and (blazing orange highlighted with blasing yellow) for the details. I use (a very manny stepped procedure to make a matt brazz/gold higlighted with gold) for the metal arias.

 

I have not painted the mark symbols yet, I have not decided on the motive. Those Colours rock at least. A bit more visual then the grey. They are a company under a rune priest or something, but it looks realy good.

 

I relay like those 13th colours though. :-) Espesialy the looted red pover armour leg. :D

[Durfast Spiritwolf]

Now imagine a LF squad armed with meltaguns warpgating near a gaggle of armoured vehicles - ah, the joys of C:EoT

[Jonas Stromclaw]

So it's Decoy who I owe the idea to, cheers Jonas. Still not sure how I'll model them though. Does anyone have any reference pics of a warpgate beyond a big round thing or swirly optical illusion?

I dont have any pictures, but how I figured on doing it was getting a nice droppod sized sphere of styrofoam from hobby lobby, spray paint it black and do either swirly blue or red paint with same colored pipe cleaners sticking out to be warp lightning.