Allies and 13th Co....

[Grimtooth]

There have been more then a few threads lately regarding our steadfast brothers who have spent more time in the field then any Space Marine, including Bjorn the Fel-Handed. Yes, I speak of what goes bump in the night that has the Traitor Legions checking under their beds, the 13th Company. Now, I am not talking about the rubbish that has been pushed recently of "lost companies" or jarls that have gone against their oaths of fealty, but those Wolves tasked by Russ himself to follow and hunt down the Red Cyclops and his sorcerous sons within the maelstrom known as the Eye of Terror.

 

With the introduction of allies, suddenly a very viable option comes into play as how to incorporate a 13th Company force into your Wolves list without using a incomplete wishful fandex or SW codex units with just different names. Having the ability to play a completely different codex, preferably as battle brothers, as our old 13th Company is an awesome opportunity.

 

In my opinion that role can only possibly be filled by using the Blood Angels codex. Why might you ask? Let's look at what the BA have to offer:

 

Assault oriented army: BA are a fullblown assault oriented army. Yes there are ways to play them differently, but when looking to match what the 13th Co was also known for, the BA codex fits the bill.

 

Wulfen: While the SW codex has a watered down version of Mark of the Wulfen, there is no true representation of the Wulfen present in the SW list. This void is filled by the Death Company nicely and even the control a Reclusiarch has over them as a stand in for a Wolf Priest.

 

Mark of the Wulfen: MoW in SW army should be different then a MoW in a 13th Co army. The Red Thirst rule allows us to represent that within our counts-as 13th Co units.

 

From the warp: the 13th Co have been in and from the warp for 10k years, showing up when they are needed, right where they are needed. Use of droppods and the Descent of Angels rules for those units with the rule fills this role.

 

So let's examine just how we can use that specific codex to incorporate a 13th Co into our SW lists.

 

1. Determine how you want to play your 13th Compan force.

 

First and foremost, you need to ask yourself how much the 13th Co will be involved in your list. Is it just a small force, coming to assist their younger brethren from a different era? Is it a larger portion of the 13th Co making a dedicated excursion into real space to thwarth a Chaos attack with the modern day SW? The choice is yours, however some planning and allotment of points from your planned list will makes thongs easier. For example,

 

1500 Primary SW Force

500 Allied BA played as 13th Co

 

Could represent a small 13th Co assist to a main force.

 

1000 Primary SW Force

1000 Allied BA as 13th aso

 

Could represent an equal force representation.

 

500 SW Primary

1500 Allied BA as 13th Co

 

Could represent a rescue type force coming to aid modern SW.

 

2. Designate your units within character and fluff

 

If you are old school, you will stick with the convention that the 13th Co did a lot with very little. This meant no vehicles, no TDA, and limited unit selections. If you ally in BA to count as 13th Co to then go ahead and bring in Storm Eagles and Sang Priests, I would just suggest allying in BA to play as BA as you are not playing them as a 13th Co.. The limited ally FOC also helps in this regard. Here are some ideas for you to incorporate BA played as 13th Co into your force that sticks along the old fluff lines:

 

BA Librarian: Rune Priest of the 13th Co. Having different psychic powers sets him apart from our SW rune priest which was reflected in the old rules.

 

Reclusiarch: Wolf Priest of the 13th Co. With the control they have over Death Company (which would count as Wulfen), this would represent the fluff of Wolf Priests being the only real authority that Wulfen still respect in their bestial state.

 

Sang Guard: Storm Claws of the 13th Co. Close combat badasses and have rare gear that would be set aside for the senior members of the 13th Co.

 

Death Company: Wulfen. Nothing else to add.

 

Assault Marines: Grey Slayers of the 13th Co. The basic troop choice of the 13th was similarly armed and able.

 

Drop Pods: The only dedicated transport or vehicle allowed from the BA codex. These along with some jumppack units represent the 13th Co seemingly appearing on the battlefield from the warp. This was one aspect that the 13th Co were known for and how many played them when they all had the very old Scout rule.

 

Bike/Attack Bike Squad: Storm Claw biker packs were a main staple of any 13th Co force as they were the only visible mechanical remenants of vehicles within the force and were very effective when used correctly.

 

Hope you enjoyed this quick and easy guide to incorporating what I think is the best option for incorporating BA as a counts as 13th Co into your SW force.

[Krake]

You really but some though into this and it sounds awesome.

 

From the hobby side of things, the 13th Company can really be filled with wacky conversions from all the power armored kits, and certainly not limited to space wolves and chaos bitz.

 

The Blood Angels codex also seems to be the best fit for the 13th Company. It brings a different play style to the space wolves bits, and because of the conversion and perhaps a somewhat more greyish paint scheme, it shouldn't be the difficult for opponents to understand.

"See those funny looking space wolves, the ones with chaos pointy bitz and all - they'r using the blood angel codex"

 

Now I don’t recall if the 13th company still has dreadnoughts, cause the Furioso dreadnought could work very well as an pre-heresy wulfen -nfused dreadnought.

Also if you fancy the idea of deepstriking/warp jumping assault marines aka Grey Slayers, there is also the option for vanguard vets. Sure they might not have as fancy a load out as the sang.guard but the assault after deepstrike seems fairly brutal...

 

Just my two cents, and again great idea

[Mr. Danvers]

Looks like someone had the same idea as me.

 

With the addition of allies into 6th ed, I was also having a think about what options were open to us and had a flick through the BA codex and pretty much came to the same conclusions as you Ramses. DC into Wulfen seemed the obvious one. Also, using the allies would allow me to take the close combat dreadnought I've always wanted for my SW, even though they now apparently aren't as good in 6th.

 

It'll be interesting to see what people come up with in their lists. I for one am going to try it out in the near future :).

[Baluc]

Looks like someone had the same idea as me.

 

With the addition of allies into 6th ed, I was also having a think about what options were open to us and had a flick through the BA codex and pretty much came to the same conclusions as you Ramses. DC into Wulfen seemed the obvious one. Also, using the allies would allow me to take the close combat dreadnought I've always wanted for my SW, even though they now apparently aren't as good in 6th.

 

It'll be interesting to see what people come up with in their lists. I for one am going to try it out in the near future :cuss .

 

If you were to take a Space Wolves Contemptor you could take lucius drop pod. It would be an elite and a fast, but it could assault the turn it lands, and has better armour, better weapon skill and two dccw. All 40k Legal.

[skeletoro]

Is TDA really a big no no? I had been considering fielding a squad of cataphractii outflanking in a land raider with a wolf priest as a 13th company rescue Death Star. (Using the regular dex rather than allies) Is this completely against fluff?

[Wulfebane]

generally, TDA and heavy armor like LRs are unavailable to the 13th Co. Not only are tanks hard to come by in the warp, but TDA has always been limited and a coveted resource for every chapter (except apparently the GKs).

[Xeenos]

Well, when the 13th first appeared they were low on supply and were making use of what they find along the way. There are two easy ways to say they have LR or TDA.. either they took it from other Marines, Chaos or whatever. Or as its been awhile sense the 13th crusade event, and the SW have 'left' some supply behind for the 13th.

 

In my army if i ever get it done, i have a squad of the old Wulfen models that im going to use as my Wolf Scouts, i thought it fitting, given the 4+ save as a fair bit of the armor has been discarded. They also get the BEL which i think fits for a group of Wulfen coming up behind their prey to help their brothers. I know using allies is in the rules, but it feels kinda cheese. Cant say i much like that two FoC thing either.. 8 Rune Priests? Really?

[Emperors Immortals]

Wow Brother Ramses, glad to see some original hunters of Old Squinty!!! God that takes me back.....anyhoo BA has to be a viable dex for use, we also have very fast rhino chassis vehicles, though rare to be sure if needed they could be said to have been tinkered with for maximum hunting efficiency.

 

Out of interest, do 13th co get much play these days?

[Brother Crazywolf]

Ramses... Thanks for the ideas. Now to raid the bits box and stuff. I think it will get under my firnd's skin that I am using his dex and mine... lol.