Of Space Wolves and Collecting

[Hfran Morkai]

Hail fellow Wolves.

 

I'm interested in the collecting method(s) you use in creating your Great Companies and and curious to see how many of us are truly archaic with our collections.

 

I used to plan out my Great Company in full for some reason (Though never got close to it, even before my restart) but now have designed a list for 1500, will collect and paint that and simply add additional units that appeal to me for my collection as opposed to working to a goal, even if it leaves a fairly ineffective force.

 

Yourselves?

[Loki-LaughingDeath]

There are some collectors out there, that the majority of their army is Second Edition Metals.....

[MaveriK]

There are some of us like myself who aren't collectors by choice, but it just happens in time.. so the army just grows. For me, I started around second edition therefore I still have second edition wolf models. It keeps my army different and unique. The only thing that I wish I have in my collection is a Ragnar Blackmane from the Black Library limited edition diorama set. Either than that, I think I'm good :blink:

[Max_Dammit]

I have every SW model ever made under citadel. I just keep building, i want to have every unit in the dex and be able to build every list possible.

 

I have almost no interest in other army's, id like to do some orks one day and have some nids i hate and never use.

[Night Runner]

I have had three reincarnations of my SW army. I had a Rogue Trader 1st edition Space Wolf army, possibly the only one back then, then I sold it and built another when the 2nd rule book came out. It took me 3 years to build up and paint, then I sold it during my hiatus from gaming, just keeping a few models. Now I am busy with my third army. Unlike Max_Dammit, I never kept or bought every single SW model, which now I am starting to regret a little, but I have always been selective. Besides, I am a model builder first and foremost and I don't just build Space Wolves, so something has to give and a compromise reached.

 

With regard to building great companies I don't design any. I always start with 2 or 3 Grey Hunter units and build according to how I develop my playing style, although with time I do tend to acquire at least one of every option in our current codex. Otherwise this time I want to remain within 3000pts and no more.

[Theis]

I just started playing 40k right as 5th was released. So, archaic isn't really an option here.

 

From a collecting standpoint though, personally, I just built a list, which was an all terminator Loganwing as a break from my Chaos Marines, started building the army to go with the list, and then just began to realize that with a new model or ten I could radically alter the list. Then I did that again, and again.

 

With the latest codex there are just so many potential lists that I've been painting nothing but grey for a year now. With the Iron Builder I'm participating in at the FLGS, which I'm using as an excuse to fill in some missing pieces, I can now field pretty much everything in the codex, or soon will be. Total painted is something like 85 figs in power armor and 30 in terminator armor, the last time I counted. By the time I'm done with everything I have primed and base coated, that will be around 115 and 42. Then there's 12 thunder wolves, 28 bikes, 2 attack bikes, 4 speeders, 4 rhinos, 4 razorbacks, a couple of land raiders, 5 dreads, 2 preds... The only thing I don't have is pods, vindicators, or whirlwinds.

 

The unfinished stuff I'm working on now is really just a couple of rune priests, some power armor wolf guard, wolf scouts, some objective markers, and the last of those 28 bikes. Bjorn and Ragnar are the next two characters on the bench.

 

So, really, there was no plan, there was just, this list sounds cool, and as I play it, I'm working on the next list that sounds cool, which is just a small tweak of the last list, and the next thing I knew I was looking at the shelf I keep the army on and it occurred to be just how little I was missing from the 'dex. So, I figured out exactly what I didn't have, bought it, and... God I hope I'm done soon.

 

Don't get me wrong, love the army, love the ability to pull anything out of the 'dex and field it, there's and endless amount of variety, but a year of dark grey paint... has really been worthwhile, but I'm ready to paint something different, which will probably be January sometime. There's some switch or other in my head that refuses to let go of a project once I've started it.

 

The future projects I'm planning are a little smaller. ;)

[jjfelber]

Then there's 12 thunder wolves

 

Game-Workshop ones or off-brand?

[Theis]

Space Marines on dark elf cold ones. I used warriors of chaos cavalry legs, space wolf everything else. I am not particularly happy with how that turned out, mostly from a size perspective. The lords are on carnosaurs. Those turned out much better.

 

I am most likely going to redo them all at some point in the next year. I'm hoping when Forgeworld gets to the Space Wolf focused IA that is supposed to be in the pipeline somewhere, they'll put out some models. If they don't then... dunno. None of the third party ones thrill me. Mythicast's hold the most appeal for me, but they wouldn't be much less expensive than buying ten more carnosaurs...

[Wolf Guard Nostromo]

I've been collecting wolves since second edition, and while I do have a couple of other forces (notably 3k of Grey knights and a decent force of nids), my real force has always been the Wolves of Russ which I have built in a largely structureless way to be honest, particularly to start with. I have tended to build the army in waves, so buy a few few packs/units, maybe 500 points ish, paint them up, then go for whatever I fancy when I finish that or what the force seems to be missing, and then continue on like that. I have tried to get all the different models in the range during that time, and currently do to my knowledge with exception of Canis, who I never will.

 

I suppose my weakness is always wanting the pack or unit I currently don't have, and thus, if I don't get and plan the army in small bits I always end up with more than I can, or want, to model and paint. As I've been collecting longer and, I suspect, got older, I also take more time on each individual unit to make it that bit different. Very few of my newer generation of wolves are 'straight from the box' (Im currently converting a land speeder typhoon which has been hijacked by skyclaws using a storm model) while most of my old ones are 'as made', which goes someway to suggesting that my collecting style definitely refined with time.

 

Having said all that, I've always spent quite alot of time with each release of a new codex (all two of them since I started + that horrible half SM codex period!) in re-shaping my force to the new set-ups - I don't mean getting new units, but simply updating and converting what I have to suit the current style. In some ways this is a shame, as it means I lose some of the more classic units, but it does mean my force is constantly evolving which makes it interesting to collect and play. It also means I've always got lots of remodels/repaints going on so can rarely put all the boots on the ground, though this rarely seems to be a problem. Old, yes, but archaic, I don't think so :tu:

[clanfield]

i started my wolves in rogue trader and had a full company and mucho support jet bikes etc , when the big change happend in 2nd i refited my infantry and iv been trying to get back to my old strength scince then realy i find that as the editions have rolled by the some of the older figure are the new black so i keep em all

im way past buying every release that comes out ....honest well maybe im not so good at that (ooh look wolfy stuffs shiney)and now its pretty big old collection

and theres always some new squad or speeder to be wanted,or new color scheme to try iv even considered makeing a second great company ...ahh the light its soo bright:)

[TheReverend]

Space wolves were my first army back in he day (15 years ago now...) and i have always been a bit of a magpie, so that army grew and grew and grew, and before i knew it i had a full great company with at least one of every codex entry in the collection (and a few extras, such as one of the first Land Raider crusaders when they came out but weren't in the SW codex).

 

And every army in between then and now has been the same. huge. but more recently, when i decided to start another SW's army i realised i had boxes and boxes of mini's i never used, just for the sake of collecting. so this time round i have only brought the minis that made me want to buy them (such as that awesome games day wolf priest) or mini's that i will definitely play in games. My collection is growing again, but at least this time i can say i've used every mini in at least one game and have enjoyed painting every mini in the collection (some times in the past it became a chore to paint yet another tactical squad...)

 

Just my thoughts

 

Rev

[wolfpack]

For all intents and purposes I suppose I am a collector...I have had a few other armies at various points (DE, IG, Nids and WH) but have continued to expand on my lads

 

I too began my Wolves in RT (circa 1989/90)...and at that time had a mere 3K list...not much given the points analysis back then but when 2nd edition arrived my list exploded to 8k+...over the years I have had to rebuild and remodel as the dex changes forced me to...ridding my collection of items that were no longer available to the Sons of Russ...I am at the point now where I have 15K+ [nearly a complete company (including a few extra squads) with support and mecha] for me it is simply a matter of sitting down and fleshing out the units I have and establishing which company/companies I am going to use as a build model for my lads...

 

I have each of the specials and many of them oop originals not to mention a model of the RT Russ and several 2nd edition mech kits...I suppose my collection gives me a bit of leeway when it comes to my final build choice...the draw back at this point for me is that I have so many units I do not have an established list points wise...i.e. 1k, 1500 and so on...which heralds many decisions when it comes to establishing my fighting force for each game/tourney...

 

As many of my models are in various aspects of completion, and as I have not had the ability to game much due to location and time constraints I have not had the opportunity to play as much as I would like...however I have had several chances at much larger games than standard tourney or points regulated games...and have become very enthralled with the APOC rule set and the diversity it grants...giving me a chance to field most if not all of my lads as a battle force with the ability to breakdown the units and see how each performs against various opponents...granting me also the ability to use different tactics with like equipped squads to discover their strengths and faults...

 

For now I continue to enlarge my force although with a bit of constraint now...there are only a few items I need to include in my collection at this point to have all the current codex choices...and of course add a few items that are only found in FW's rule set as well...