Next Space Wolf codex?

[spacewolf407]

Anyone have any opinions on when GW will be releasing the next SW codex? The current one has been out for almost 4 years now and I'm just curious as to how GW usually schedules the release of its codexes.

[dragon950]

Best guess for the next SW codex is another 4 years, but I'm just using data from the last gap between codexs.

[spacewolf407]

Good to hear. I feel the current codex is still very competitive compared to other armies.

[eyeslikethunder]

Took them around 10 years last time

 

 

But the release schedule since 6th seems to have speeded up. If it continues we might actually get one before the end of 6th ed

[spacewolf407]

Yes, I have noticed as well that GW has been releasing codexes every few months or so. In any case I think other armies deserve new codexes such as eldar, black templar etc.

[Marshall Bretton]

as far as i can see they seem to be intending to bring all of them up to date on 6th ed, however as an edition could last several years it may take that long for some of the books to get an update, im still going to point out fliers though, we are still one of the only books without flier or flier defence, so maybe they intend to update us sooner

[eyeslikethunder]

So outstanding codexes are eldar orks space marines guard Maybe sisters and Templars

 

At current run rate we could get one in 2014. But suspect it will slow

[maverik_girl]

I have to agree with Mav when he once said to me, if and when the new SW codex arrives, it may come out around the same time, the forge world heresy one comes: The Razing of Prospero. I mean from a marketing perspective and to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. It's the best way to milk our wallets......

[Ghostwolfalpha]

With the new pace GW seems to be setting, I think we could see a new book in about 2-3 years.

 

As much as I would love a new dex with updated units and such, other armies need it way more then we do. That way when they get their new codex, they will stop belly aching about their old book when we beat them. I personally hope for a vanilla space marine codex soon. They seem to try and update it with each edition and with allies it can make for awesome themed armies.

 

I also hope that the Tyranid will get a new codex, they are a fun army to fight. It always feels epic and cinematic to me, but all they do is complain about their book. (Which I will admit is half overpriced bullet magnets)

[Brother Crazywolf]

I am not in that much of a rush. Wouldn't mind some balancing to update us with the 6th edition rules, but otherwise pretty happy. I would ssy get everyone up to date and then go for round two like Ghostwolf said.

[Forté]

Didn't they bare 6th in mind when writing this codex? I vaguely remember hearing that. Don't forget that they are always working a huge time ahead of release dates. White Dwarf is three months for example.

[Wulfebane]

They should just take the current one and make it digital with updated rulesets for the time being. Then when it's time for our new codex, they override the content with a patch.... goes for all the codices, imo. I mean, it can't be that hard for a huge global corporation to convert 10 or so books that are ALREADY printed into digital formats, given the amount of errata they have.

[Apahllo]

 

as far as i can see they seem to be intending to bring all of them up to date on 6th ed, however as an edition could last several years it may take that long for some of the books to get an update, im still going to point out fliers though, we are still one of the only books without flier or flier defence, so maybe they intend to update us sooner

I was surprised the wolves didn't get access to the birds of the space marines when vanilla did. Storm ravens would fit right in for the space wolves where as the talon is very unlike our combat style. Hopefully we can fly into battle in ravens soon and stop relying on aegis lines and rune priest rerolls to deal with flyers.

[Rift Blade]

I agree with everyone else that it will be some time before we get a new Codex. I'm still very happy with our current Codex versus other newer  Codexes, even without any love for dealing with flyers. It would be nice to see some updates &/or tweaks to our codex rules like maybe amending Behind Enemy Lines so we could assault the turn we come on(SM Vanguard can still do this can't they?) or maybe allowing us to have our Primarch's vehicle back (I've kept both of mine & will continue to hang on them Space Wolf crew & all) but I still believe in miracles to! LOL!!!

[Marshall Bretton]

with any luck we will at least get a white dwarf with a flier or anti flier rules

 

i would like an update to acute senses as well given it is now almost useless for all our units, updating the rule is unlikely as it is a brb rule, but maybe a new rule specific to wolves

[Grimtooth]

Hate to break it to you all, but any new codex that comes out for the Wolves is going to homogenize the hell out of us. Look at what 6th, the FAQ, and errata have already done to things that were key elements to making the Wolves the Wolves.

[Forté]

Bit we'd get a shiny flyer....

[Wulfebane]

 

Bit we'd get a shiny flyer....

Wtb flyers built around the conceptual embodiment of Sleipnir.

[Marshall Bretton]

if your flier is shiny you are not playing sw properly :p

 

but yeah a sw themed flier would be epic (as long as it isn't stupid like a flying longship.....although....)

[Reichfaust]

but yeah a sw themed flier would be epic (as long as it isn't stupid like a flying longship.....although....)

 

I must admit, I am still mulling over buying a Caestus Assault Ram and putting some viking-style round shields along the sides of the vehicle... I think it could look pretty darn awesome! :D

 

Anyways, as for a 6th edition codex... Here's hoping we get the Leman Russ back! I know we can now technically get it through allies, but I'd love to see it back in the main dex... Or at least some other kind of unique Space Wolves vehicle (We're basically the only codex without one!). Maybe a unique Land Raider pattern or something, that would be cool. "Land Raider Russ" has a certain ring to it! ;)

[Forté]

Do love seeing what happens when you use sarcasm on a Worldwide forum ;)

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

Seeing as I'm just getting back into my wolves, I hope it is not redone for ages, after what happened to my Thousand sons......

Plus having to fork out £30  (or more depending on when it is done) for another update would not be pleasant..

[DanPesci]

Id be very surprised to see a new SW codex this edition. As folk have mentioned above, theres others who need new codices more, eldar and templars being top of that list for me. Orks & Tyranids a close second.

An update to help us deal with flyers etc would be nice, but im not too bothered as i dont play competitively and my mates i play with have little to no flyers. Ive found space wolves more than adequate for dealing with both the new dark angels and chaos codices (albeit, i havent come up against any multiple hellturkey lists).

If anything, a new codex may well mess up my whole army setup if they were to say nerf grey hunters a bit although itd be nice to see blood claws become worth taking for once. Leman Russ tanks would obviously be cracking too ;)

[DarkMark]

BramGaunt, a rational clued up poster, had this to say on a thread discussing when the next C.SM might arrive:

I'd be willing to make a wager that we'll see a Space wolves Codex
rather then a Space Marine one. The cover of Blood of Asaheim is by
Raymond Swanland, who happened to make all Codex Cover artworks so far.
The Codex Cover Art for Blood Gorgons (I think it was this one´) had the
Chaos Space Marines Cover art long before the Codex came out, so I think
we've been presented with the Space Wolves Cover already. Might be
pretty close.

There's certainly some logic behind his line of thinking, so who knows?* GW love a quick fix release these days, and SW certainly fit into that category.

*excluding GW

[Squark]

I don't see Space Wolves getting updated for a couple of reasons.

 

1) Unlikely to sell models to new people; At the moment, Space Wolves are already a popular army that sells well. An updated space wolf codex is more likely to hurt sales of existing models than anything else, owing to the fact that the current 'dex is widely considered to be stronger than the current 6th edition baseline for balance (We'd be looking at 16 point Grey Hunters who'd have to pay full price for each of their special weapons, for starters). A codex that's in most ways a straight up nerf to the existing codex is going to sell horribly. To expand on this, look at the release of each of the specialist marine chapters (Space Wolves, Dark Angels, and Grey Knights are the three I can draw experience from; I have no idea what the 5e blood angels release was like); The majority of the new releases were updates of old kits; Space Wolves and Grey Knights got their own boxes for infantry models, while Dark Angels got updated versions of the Ravenwing and Deathwing models. Sure, each release had a few brand new units (the Dreadknight, Ravenwing Landspeeders and fliers, Thunderwolf Cavalry and Fenrisian wolves), but a lot of the income comes from the bread and butter models. Combined with 1), and you've got basically a dead slot in the update schedule, especially compared to the opportunity cost of updating a codex that's popular but suffering more heavily from age ('Nids and Tau have aesthetics and fluff a lot of people like, but the codexes have a good number of problems).

2) Limited number of new models; Barring an update of C:SM prior to the release, any new models you sell to a specialist marine chapter's player base are generally going to be at least partly specific to that chapter (Sometimes you get things like the Stormraven that go mainstream, but that's the exception, not the rule, compared to Saguinary Guard, Death Company, Dreadknights, Thunderwolf Cavalry, and the Ravenwing fliers and speeders). The issue is, well, what can you add to the Space Wolves 'dex that'll sell well. Having done some thinking about this, the only two real holes in the codex at the moment that I can see are

a) Lack of a flier; This is problematic, because, well, what fits for us? Frankly, given our lack of history of hording schematics, the two stock fliers are actually the best fits; The Stormraven works in every marine codex as a "Thunderhawk-lite," while every time I've tried to come up with a flier that fit the Space Wolves temperament (That is, heavily armed for it's size and loud*, with an emphasis on mobility, and works well in packs), I ended up redesigning the Stormtalon. Really, unless you go with the oft-joked about "Flying Longboat," I can't think of a unique flier for the wolves.

b) An assault vehicle to get the now-cheaper blood claws from point a to point b. Again, something of a design conundrum. Open-topped doesn't work, because the design goal is to dump blood claws in our opponent's face, not have grey hunters doing drive-by shootings. So, are we talking our own variant on the rhino chasis? How does it work? Why hasn't it been shared with the rest of the imperium? On the plus side, given GW's fondness for 2-in-1 kits, this could also have a gun platform variant, although that would probably end up feeling like a baal-predator ripoff.

Now, I'll admit this is probably enough for the mechanized portion of the Space Wolves in a new release. But, mech is only part of the playerbase- Foot wolves are pretty popular, both because they're cheaper to build, and because of the decreased power gap between mech and infantry in 6th. At most, footsloggers are going to buy a pair of the new flier. GW wants to sell more than that. But what can you give Foot Wolves that we don't already have? A monstrous creature akin to the Dreadknight or the forgefiend won't fit, and borders on the mech side of thigns again. The current Space Wolves box is versatile enough that new wolf guard variants are just going to be kitbashed, while if command squads are added, we're probably just going to raid existing kits for the handful of parts we need.

 

So, yeah, I don't see us getting an update any time soon.

 

 

*See our codex's gushing about, well, every single Space Wolves vehicle in it.