Just started painting Space Wolves

[Captain Denaro]

I have a quick question about SW pack markings - recently I picked up some Wolves off ebay with the intention of creating an allied detachment for my vanilla marines. I've always loved SW but am codex through and through, so have never had the chance to put together a SW force before.

 

Anyway, I now have 10 Grey Hunters, 5 Long Fangs, 5 Wolf Scouts led by Njal Stormcaller and have just painted my first GH.

 

My question is must the pack marking be the same on the units right shoulder? One of the GH's has a moulded vertical claw marking and another has a skull and cross bones symbol. I'm not too confident about replicating these freehand on the others or trying to remove them. Can they have different markings?

[Squark]

Not always. If a warrior feels he has performed a suitably heroic feat, he may replace the pack marking on his shoulder with an honor mark, symbolizing his accomplishment. There's no hard and fast rules for honor markings (Although social pressure ensures that no one uses them for unworthy things), so you can use those symbols just fine. Paint wise, honor markings use a blue-grey shoulder pad with the design being a color based on what type of pack you're part of; Blood claws have yellow honor markings, Grey Hunters have red, Long Fangs use White, and Wolf Guard use black honor markings. Wolf scouts, already being black on blue-grey, don't bother with this nonsense.

 

I use honor markings to mark out particular models I have some sort of little story behind, or on models that periodically change packs.

 

For the record, though, both of those markings can be found on the Space Wolf Transfer sheet, so if you have any local Wolves players, they probably have some spares.

 

Great company markings... Less so, as we go through most of those a lot faster.

[macas]

Will these help

http://images.wikia.com/warhammer40k/images/f/f6/Blood_Claws_Pack_Markings.jpg

http://images.wikia.com/warhammer40k/images/5/5e/Grey_Hunters_Pack_Markings.jpg

http://images.wikia.com/warhammer40k/images/4/40/Long_Fangs_Pack_Markings.jpg

http://images.wikia.com/warhammer40k/images/a/a7/Wolf_Guard_Pack_Markings.jpg

[Captain Denaro]

That's great thanks for the replies and links. I painted the company marking freehand - I'm going to make them all Bran Redmaw's company and I'm actually pretty pleased with how it turned out. Still have to decide on a pack barking though.

 

Squark - you write that on occasions members change packs. Just wondering under what circumstances this would be?

[Valerian]

That's great thanks for the replies and links. I painted the company marking freehand - I'm going to make them all Bran Redmaw's company and I'm actually pretty pleased with how it turned out. Still have to decide on a pack barking though.

 

Squark - you write that on occasions members change packs. Just wondering under what circumstances this would be?

Members don't change packs, some of his models change packs; there is a big distinction in the wording.

[Captain Denaro]

Gotcha, that makes sense.

[Squark]

Yeah. Fluff-wise, membership of the pack only changes if you're raised to the Wolf Guard or if you become part of one of the auxilliary parts of the Great Wolf's Company (That is, Rune, Iron, and Wolf Priests, Wolf Scouts, and Dreadnaughts. All of them leave their original great company and are technically now part of the Current Great Wolf's company, with their deployment being decided by the Great Wolf based on the tasks and needs of each Great company. In practice, Priests and Scouts tend to be attached to particular companies for long periods of time, since it encourages better working relationships between the various parties).

 

And, anyway, I don't really swap models out much anymore, since I've now got enough Grey Hunters that I can just use a different pack if I want different special weapons.

[Valerian]

Squark, your list is accurate with the exception of Wolf Scouts, whose packs do actually belong to the Great Companies.  Wolf Scout packs were part of the Company of the Great Wolf back in the 2e codex, but that has been retconned since 3e.  Otherwise, everything else you said is fluff-accurate.

 

V

[Captain Denaro]

I just have another question if I could pick your brains? I've painted 6 of the 10 GH's (it's taking much longer than I'd hoped) and was wondering how they and the LF pack should be equipped?

 

The Wolves will mainly be used as part of an allied contingent with my C:SM force, certainly to start with anyway: WS and GH in Rhino probably as out flankers (GH led by a WGPL with Saga of the Hunter if Njal isn't bring used) or as a "specialist" Tac squad if Njal is on the table ie objective grabbing/holding.

 

At present the GH have one flamer, one power fist and one plasma gun. To me these seem no brainers - free flamer, check; power fist armed marine who isn't a character and therefore can't be singled out for Challenges, check; plasma destruction, check. The plasma will be dropped if the WGPL is joined with them.

 

After that I have an option of a plasma pistol, power sword or wolf claw. I suppose my question really is, do I want them for close combat or a back-field shooty unit? Any advice from experienced SW players would be welcome.

 

Incidentally, the LF squad will be 3 ML and single LC. I was going to arm the pack leader with a flamer as a ward for any charging units.

 

Also which model should I give the Wolf Standard too? Should it be on an un-upgraded model or not?

[-Volsung-]

Post pictures! 

 

Not sure how equipment would work with allies, I'll leave that to my more experienced board members.

 

But post pictures on the paintjobs!

[Grimtooth]

The free flamer is not a no brainer as you have just made one GH useless at ranges other then template. Ppinions vary, but if going with 10 GH, stick with the same weapon types.

 

The debate on powerfists on GH goes back to last edition. With power axes now ap2, unweidly, and specialist weapons you can get your hidden ap2 killiness with enhanced strength while getting an additional attack due to having two ccw.

[stinkenheim]

I find my pack works well with a flamer and meltagun, makes it a jack of all trades unit as opposed to being highly effective against one particular type of enemy. The fact that the grey hunter still has a bolt pistol means that at units outside of template I'm only losing 1 bolter shot from unit.

I'd agree on the axe though, similar level of damage (admittedly no instant death), but almost half the points means that the wolf banner effectively becomes free.

[Grimtooth]

I find my pack works well with a flamer and meltagun, makes it a jack of all trades unit as opposed to being highly effective against one particular type of enemy. The fact that the grey hunter still has a bolt pistol means that at units outside of template I'm only losing 1 bolter shot from unit.

I'd agree on the axe though, similar level of damage (admittedly no instant death), but almost half the points means that the wolf banner effectively becomes free.

Depends on playstyle.

 

I am not a fan of jack of all trades but master of none. I believe in redundancy and close support. So when I fire my two melta shots at a transport, there will be another GH unit right there to open ip with rapid fire bolter and dual plasmas on disembarking passengers or rapid firing bolters and dual flamers. With the exception of an occasional outflanking GH pack, my units always move in at least teams of two.

[Valerian]

I'm with Ramses on this.  I've got two double Meltagun packs, a double Plasmagun pack, and only one that is mixed with Flamer and Melta.  The only reason that I have that last one is that I had that Flamer painted long, long ago, and added the second special weapon only recently (in 5e), and just didn't feel like trying to pop the Flamer off and risk screwing up the nicely painted model.  

 

Additionally, I really like the Power Axe for the hidden Hunter SCCW in 6e.  It is pretty cheap and you get 3 attacks when Charging or on a successful Counterattack.  Since it is AP2, you don't really need the Power Fist in the unit.  

 

As far as the Wolf Standard, it is up to you.  I've got some on models with MotW, at least one on a model with the Power Axe, and another one on an un-upgraded Hunter.  It really doesn't matter so long as you're careful with your positioning and protect it.

 

 

V

[Urauloth]

How useful do you find the wolf standard? I can't decide if I want them in my GH packs or not. They seem like a great modelling opportunity, if somewhat inconvenient (since it prettymuch means sourcing command squad banner arms) but I'm largely unfamiliar with the prevailing opinions on how useful they are in 6E.

[Valerian]

Reroll any 1s in an entire assault phase? They're the best deal in any codex.

 

V

[Grimtooth]

Best deal in any codex and the one thing I hear the most complaints about personally so it must be a great thing.

[Captain Denaro]

My painting is pretty amateur but I'll post a few pics when I'm finished. I've still 3 more GH's and their Rhino to paint before I start the LF 's and HQ. For Wolf Standard I'm just using the backpack with wolfs skull on top. Not terribly impressive but will stand out enough for my purposes.

 

That's some food for thought you've given me. I'm keen on the flamer still as I think it'll fit the squads role of coming on as outflankers (or in a Drop Pod even) disembarking and rapid firing at point blank range, then sitting back and await any assaults. I think the template will benefit in those circumstances, provided I can get close enough that is. More than likely I'll only have the one special weapon though, as I intend to run the WGPL here, so I'll have to choose carefully.

 

My thoughts regarding the power fist were partly influenced by the fact that GH's can't pick melta bombs but I can see the logic of the power axe instead.

[Urauloth]

If you haven't built the fist/axe hunter yet, seriously consider magnetising him. Magnets on power weapons/fists became a lot more useful in general when 6E made power weapons all start doing different things, but axe/fist seems like one of the most useful potential swaps.

 

If you plan to drop pod your hunters and rapid fire a target the flamer is probably a solid choice, but to do serious damage you'll want more than one template. I don't know what you plan to give your WGPL, but consider a combi-flamer to double up on your template firepower.

[Squark]

While command squad standards are certainly the easiest conversion, they're not the only possibillity; Grey Knight Halberds (1-handed) and Warding Staves can both make good... whatever you call the rod you hold the standard with, and the backpack standard of the Wolf that Stalks the Stars on top works pretty well. And of course, there's always raiding fantasy player's bits boxes for unused standards.

[Captain Denaro]

Got my Grey Hunters finished and have uploaded them to the site. Not sure how to directly add the pics to the page but here's the links if anyone's interested. Some of the symbols I painted free hand and am pretty pleased with how they turned out tbh. I might actually redo the decals now.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/gallery/image/113435-space-wolf-grey-hunter-pack/

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/gallery/image/113436-space-wolf-grey-hunter-pack/

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/gallery/image/113437-space-wolf-grey-hunter-pack/

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/gallery/image/113439-space-wolf-grey-hunter-pack/

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/gallery/image/113440-space-wolf-grey-hunter-pack/

[Rift Blade]

Nice! Keep it coming.

[Urauloth]

Seems to me what you do is go to the image, select the medium thumbnail size, right-click and select "view image" then copy the url and paste it into the image tag in the new post options here. Should net you this result, if you don't mind me taking liberties with your images:



Anyway, for feedback on the minis: you say your painting is amateurish, but imo they're a pretty nice tabletop standard and the company markings look great. I like the way you built the plasma gunner, the combo of the wolfskull backpack and fur pelt legs really makes him stand out.

What are you going to do with the bases? I assume they're still in progress.

[Captain Denaro]

Thanks for the feedback, yes I'm pretty pleased with the plasma gunner.

 

Now that you write it, the bases are a work in progress ;-)

 

Bases have never been my strong point. I used to just use sand then paint with dark green and dry brush with a very light/fluorescent green, but recently I've changed to Dark Angels green paint with wee grey chips to add a bit to it. Admittedly it's nothing special and any suggestions on how to "pep" it up a bit EASILY would be greatly received.