Fluffy Space Wolves

[Black Sheep]

Hi all, first time posting here and coming back to the hobby after many years. I've decided to jump back in with a Space Pups army after I fell in love with the fluff found in the new Codex. However, I do have a question. As a person who likes to stay true to the fluff, I cannot figure out how a person is supposed to use a homebrew Wolf Lord in an existing Great Company list without violating the fluff. It would seem to me that if a Wolf army used Blackmane's badge, any Wolf Lord HQ would necessarily be Ragnar Blackmane, and likewise for any other established Great Company.

 

Of course, most Great Companies don't have models or rules established for their respective Wolf Lords, so a Wolf Lord for one of their Great Companies could be kitted out as the player sees fit. But still, it does seem to put a damper on creating my own Wolf Lord, fluff 'n all, if I want to use the badge and fluff of an existing Great Company. Am I right in my thinking, or have I missed some fluffy niche that homebrewed Wolf Lords can occupy in the existing Great Companies' fluff? In which case, I suppose I'll need to think up some new mythological wolf I can free-hand on shoulder pads.

 

Cheers,

 

The Black Sheep

[Growler67]

Of the 12 Wolf Lord icons to choose from and the names of the current Lords, respectively, there is nothing preventing you from choosing an icon that you like from a particular company. Just include in your fluff when your Lord was leading that company, either before or after the current name printed in the Codex.

[Black Sheep]

That's certainly true. I'd just hate for someone to nerdrage on me at an event when I pull out a Terminator-armoured, Landraider mounted Wolf Lord sporting Harald Deathwolf's badge! :P

 

Cheers,

 

The Black Sheep

[jester262]

this is what I do. I play Ragnar's company. I play with a generic wolf lord in my games unless it's something big like apoc. Fluffwise he's Ragnar's second in command. I figured that was the easiest way to get around that.

[Schertenleib]

As the fluff explains it... When a new Wolf Lord is chosen for a Great Company that Lord then chooses the colors and heraldry for the Company. The 12 current emblems are things from Fenrisian Mythology that are commonly used anyway. So any Wolf Lord that has a soft spot for tanks and transports would understandably choose the Ironwolf icon as his company badge.

[TiguriusX]

You can also claim your generic Wolf Lord is actually one of the top wolf guard serving as commander for a task force.

 

He has superior stats because he is a superior SW. If his Wolf Lord kicked the bucket he would be the prime candidate to replace him as the next Wolf Lord.

 

Ragnar Blackmane was still a badass when he was "simply" a Wolf Guard in Berek Thunderfists Great Company

[old git]

The fluff in the current codex is exactly that, ie the current fluff. Your wolf lord could be from 2-300 years in the past (or 2-3000 if you like). As has been mentioned, new lords often adopt popular symbols from Fenrisian mythology as their emblem, or the one that most suits their character. As such the symbols of the current wolf lords have no doubt been used many times previously. This has two advantages (for me at least); it allows you to use the available decals, thus not having to paint several dozen freehand designs, and allows you to be as creative as you like when coming up with your own fluff.

[stinkenheim]

When a new wolf lord is selected he is free to chose any emblem he wishes.

The 12 used by the current group are very common designs from fenrisian folklore and so are often used as badges for the companies, they are not restricted to just the current lords.

Often a newly elected lord will keep the previous insignia as a mark of respect for the previous lord.

 

Basically it's your call, if you want to use a symbol already used then you can.