Creating my Battleleader

[milmaa]

Hi there fellow Space Wolves,

 

I'm not 100% sure if I should post here or in the P,C & A section, but i figured since it concerned wolves I'd try here, feel free to move it if necessary.

 

I'm a returning player starting from scratch, so I'm planning my army at the moment! When i played in 2nd edition i had a particular Blood Claw who was very sucessful and had numerous kills with his power sword. He eventually made it in to my Wolf Guard where he was typically decked out with 2 power swords and a bolter. I didnt care much for the cost points wise or the use of 2 swords and a bolter tactically, it was more to tie in with the background story i had with him.

 

Today upon return to the 40K game I want to create a project to bring him back as a Wolf Guard battle leader! Now I've not played a game since 2nd and well i dont care that his load out of 2 sowrds will be expensive, like I say its more for the story behind him. I have been reading the codex (thats all i have at the moment until i get some more money together) and I fancy giving him 2 frost blades in the form of swords. I notice no further option to be able to give him a bolter or bolt pistol, but thats not too worrying as he is a fierce close combat warrior with little reason to shoot!

 

This leads me to a question that i'm having difficulty with! Not knowing the new GW range after many years absence I'm hoping you guys might be able to help me find 2 blades that i can use when making my model?! I know there alot of swords about but i'm looking for a couple not to dissimilar from eachother (they are a rewarded to the character as a set) but something that differs from the normal looking power swords.

 

Of the things i've seen I really like the Emperors' Champion blade, the Ravenwing bikers blade, and some of the Eldar blades look nice too.

 

Even if i have to model the hilt so it looks Space Wolf like, and add a blade from something I'm not bothered!

 

I hope you dont mind me asking for your input on this, thanks for reading

 

-Marty

[Kenmichi]

If you're looking for a Wolfy/Viking type sword you could scratch build 2 Claymores out of plasticard, or a pair of Bastard swords (long and skinny with big hilts and wide guards).

 

Also if I may propose a suggestion, take only one Frost Blade. You only get a single +1 Strength bonus and can only attack with one weapon or the other, meaning a simple power weapon would be an additional waste of points. On paper your model will have a Frost Blade and regular sword but you can paint the model as having two special and unique weapons, this way you maintain your bonus attack and save yourself 25 points which can get your Battle Leader a nice saga, runic armor, a WTN, or even a jump pack.

 

[edit]Additionally the old 3E Space Wolves box set actually included 2 Broad Swords and is available via GW's site as a bitz. That's another popular Viking sword.

[Stormshrug]

I realize you're not overly concerned about optimization, but I doubt many opponents would care if he was modeled pair of Frost Blades that "counted as" a Frost Blade and a regular CCW, especially since they are a set (and, presumably, are really more a single weapon in two parts than two unique weapons). You could even toss a Bolt Pistol on a holster on his hip and have that be the "second" weapon, for rules purposes.

 

The only reason I suggest this is, depending on your rules interpretation, that second Frost Blade may or may not confer a stacking +1 Strength bonus, potentially making it a rather pricey CCW. I'm a huge fan of having fluffy, consistent characters, but I do find that you can usually have them without sacrificing much in the way of optimization.

 

Regarding the weapons, the Nemesis Force Weapon Halberd looks like it could be remodeled into a decent sword. There's also just the sword version, though I'm not as partial to it for the idea of a paired weapon, since it seems like double-edged weapons would be less effective for dual-wielding.

 

-Stormshrug

[utilityzero]

there are tons of "plain" swords from the chaos warriors and marauders box sets that would make a great fill-in, and since you can throw a bp holster on his hip to be this actual second weapon, the sword won't affect him at all.

 

the BT swords are nice, but i don't think they look SW/viking at all.

[milmaa]

Thanks alot for the input guys!

 

I hear what you saying about the 2 CCWs, I'll go down the route of having the Bolt Pistol holstered away and the 2 swords counting as a single Frost Weapon.

Whats left then is the sword its self, like Stormshrug said about double edged blades being dual wielded I tend to agree. So I'm not thinking should the swords match up so they become 1 single double edged weapon, as well as being able to be parted and used one in each hand. That might send me down the plasticard route, something I've never used but with abit of practice it should be ok.

 

I've been looking around and I really like the sort of Uruk Hai swords from LoTR. Those straight blades with the little spike bit at the top!

 

Many thanks again for the input!

 

-Marty

[Stormwulf133]

May I suggest waiting until the new blood angels are released to see what stuff they get up close on their sprue?

[Tybrus]

My thoughts are as follows...

 

Question: Will he be mounted on a TWM, or Bike or anything, or even jumppack?

Reason: The weapons I would use would be diffent for each of those.

 

Comments based on current information: Based on what you have said you want a foot sloging close combat monster, that was gifted a pair of swords for some great act? If this is the case I would model him with some assult legs to show a charging forward motion, arming him with two duel sided short swords. When using two blades its common to use two lighter blades to allow for a faster reaction time. A Space Wolf that LOVED close combat would love the close in "Feel" of the shooter blades that allowed him to move in quickly on more heavyly ared foes, and made very fast, well aimed strikes with powerblades that slipped right through any armor, and then he is already moving on to the next target before the first body hits the ground. But thats just how I would picture such a wolf and would model him... For what its worth...

[milmaa]

Keep it comming guys :) all input is welcome!

 

@Stormwulf - I'm in no major rush as i'm starting 40k from scratch and that means forking out alot of money for the game/ SW troops/ paints/ modeling gear! I'm currently looking for a new job so that will also slow me down! So there may well be some nice stuff on the Blood Angel sprues that i could use!

 

@ Tybrus - I totally agree, the pose is something i'll have to think carefully about. I've not done much converting before so this will be totally new to me! I've been looking at hundreds of pics for converted marines to look for pose ideas or ideas for body parts that i can use. The assult marine legs might be a great base to start with. If i was really confident in my cutting skills i would also look at the Wolf Guard with Lightning Claws model as a base. I'll have a closer look and research cutting heads off :D

 

-Marty