Modeling the Mark of the Wulfen

[SerEightBall]

Alright brothers, I need your input on these boys. I've collected enough bits now to get creative with some of my kit-bashing and I'd like to finally make some designated MotW dudes for my Grey Hunters, instead of "umm....wolf-head guy has the Mark", or "mohawk guy has it" as I deploy them. So I want to examine some aesthetic ideas and some fluff concerns just so I know my Chainsword from my Catachan on this one.

 

There are a couple of things I wanted to AVOID:

1. Green stuff: While I do enjoy using it, I don't want to sink a whole lot of time into troops models, and I want to limit myself to the bitz I have (more on that in a minute). That or I'm just lazy.

2. Werewolves: mainly for reason 1, but also my budget and the fact that I've never found third-party werewolf bitz that didn't make me cringe. Also because these aren't Wulfen, they're grey hunters who have had their canis meter turned up a little too high.

3. Bare-heads: I hate most of the Space Wolf heads. Either the hair is too wild or the beards are too short.

 

So here's what I was thinking. As mentioned, I wanted them to stand out from the pack. These guys are a little off so it can't just be a different marking. An easy answer is having them with two chainswords/axes/combat knives. Obviously not all that original but I like it (As long as I never enter a tourney with a wysiwyg nazi who won't let me shoot a bolter with them). I can also say that's what Kelly meant by "claws and teeth" in the MotW rule description. And two chainswords are bound to rend somebody's armor sometimes.

 

This is where it gets complicated: I love the 13th Company. While my army styles itself more closely to Bran Redmaw's GC, my color scheme is closer to heresy-era with some adjustments/newer armor. I must also preface by saying I am not making a 13th Company or 30k Wolves, nor am I attempting to use any of their rules. That being said I came into a load of CSM bits from a buddy of mine and I know 13 Co. is fond (or forced, more likely) of swapping their broken armor for pieces stripped from their enemies in the Warp. My question here (and probably the main question of this thread) is would an M41-era Space Wolf ever be caught dead wearing pieces of heretic armor? Would Logan ever allow that in the chapter? Even if we clawed off the spikes n' stars and pissed on it first? I'm not worried about the Inquisition or the Codex Astartes-thumpers. This is about honor among brothers. I'd like to think it's something of an homage to the legendary Thirteenth and a dirge for the marked wolf's descent into bestial savagery. And is it not also the Mark that wards off the taint of Chaos? So he should be able to resist any corrupting influence from the armor as well.

 

The other idea is that the MotW models actually ARE from the 13th Company, and have either been hiding out under the Fang or found a crack/portal in the Warp to join their brothers in a time of need. I know that one's far-fetched, has probably never appeared in canon, and would really jam this Space Wolf purist at my FLGS, but I figured I would throw it out there.

 

So if those ideas get shot down I guess I could just give them some blue face-paint and call it good. Or I'll do what I want because it's my army and it's a cool idea. But I really would like some input and what you guys do for your MotW.

 

(TL;DR: I want to model my MotW guys with extra melee weapons and with Chaos bitz like the 13th Co. has so will I be kicked out of the Fang for heresy and/or being a chum?)

 

And my apologies if this thread belongs elsewhere or the topic has been beat to death the forums are hard to search from my mobile.

[MithrilForge]

iirc there was a pic of a wolfguard with "the mark of the Wulfen" in the codex, he simply had a nice red diamond tattoo done over one eye,i think it looked cool and is prob really easy to do without taking up too much of your time,you could do that as well as the extra chain wpn

anyways good luck with whichever way you go...and show pic's please when its done.

cheers Mithril

[SerEightBall]

Yeah and I know that the Mark of the Wulfen is literally a Mark that the Wolf Priests give to the marines they see heading in that direction. I just wanted to do something more...excessive.

 

We're also doing a contest at my store to celebrate the new C:SM. Basically it's a "build your own chapter" where we build and paint five marines, either from a new chapter you make up, or from an existing chapter with some things to set them apart, then write a short backstory about them, so that's part of the motivation here besides just wanting to get them on the board. There was going to be a prize but I think it's me and another guy who are actually doing it so it'll be more for bragging rights, I guess.

[Cpt_Reaper]

How about attaching some combat knives onto the gauntlets of said marked marines? One blade laying flat? Or two or three upright like the blades of lightning claws? Maybe something to show them tied to the gauntlet or physically melded to it?

[Valerian]

Here are two of my MotW models.

Arnolth Eagle-eye (Wolf Guard with MotW):

Grey Hunter with MotW:

Grey Hunter with MotW in his pack (just to the left of the guy with the Flamer):

As you can see, I simply use the bone-on-black skull shoulder pad to 'Mark' them out.

I don't think using the Chaos Space Marine parts would be acceptable. As you noted, only the actual 13th Company uses those parts, and it is out of necessity.

Valerian

[Urauloth]

I'm toying with the idea of giving mine one all-black arm, gauntlet to pauldron. I also really like the red tattoo/warpaint on the model in the codex, and I see no reason why, if you don't want unhelmeted grey hunters, you couldn't simply apply a similar mark to the faceplate of the helm. Then again, you did mention you wanted to distinguish them with conversions rather than colours.

 

Consider chainsword/pistol arms from different kits. CSM chainswords are much bigger and more brutal looking, and most of them lack any chaos-specific iconography. The pistols have all kinds of chaos stuff on them, but swapping a pistol or pistol hand is very easy. CSM arms have old Mk.II armour gauntlets, and some of them have chaos star arrows on the trims, but not all of them, and its easy to remove them from the ones that do.

 

Templar sword and pistol arms, meanwhile, are wrapped in chains. The weapons themselves take a small amount of filing to remove the icons, but it isn't hard.

[d@n]

The best way to model motw models is to use the head and arms from the ghoul king model, out of the zombie dragon kit. It's just impossible to find the bitz. The easiest Is to just paint a tattoo on his face.

[SerEightBall]

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys, I do like the chaos chainswords, so I'll definitely throw those in. I have a few of the Black Templars weapons so we'll see if those can fit anywhere.

 

So I will save my more overt chaos bits (backpacks, legs, etc.) for a future project or if we ever do get a thirteenth co. supplement.

 

And kit bash wise, I'll probably try to cover them with as many knives and such as I can practically fit on them. I do like the Wolf skull shoulder pad idea in addition to the conversion. I'm already using it on a few other models, but painted separately. Well let's s see what I can throw together tonight and I'll let everyone know what I come up with.

[hendrik]

in IA the doom of miamar the following paint shemes reoccur on individual wolves:

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb281/amorfatipictures/iamotw_zpse3816f47.jpg

which obvoiusly is a reference to the red maw, a symbol frequently associated with the wulfen.

It is my opinion that this painting sheme is used to mark out certain individuals who bear the mark of the wulfen/are wolfbitten

[Rarurak]

I just use the wolf icon banner to mark my MOTW guys i don't use any other icons so they stand out. The red maw idea is pretty awesome too!

[SerEightBall]

Yep the Redmaw markings are exactly what I was thinking of doing for the guys. I already did it on my Wolf Lord, and I was probably going to do it for any of the other more "elite" models: special gunners, HQ, etc. Obviously, doing it on the whole army would be overkill, but that's probably what I'll do for them on top of the kitbash.

 

Next I'll pick up a box of assault marines next week and use the legs for the "headlong rush" pose. Just another option to make them unmistakably unique.

[Reede]

These are what I got to model my Wulfen
http://mythicast.com/shop-now/#!/~/product/category=4788118&id=3051274

 

It took a while for the models to come, but they eventually did. Haven't gotten a chance to paint them up yet though. 

 

Also, the resin isn't amazing, as there are certain areas it goes over the detail a bit, but overall I think they look really cool.

[SerEightBall]

Wow those actually don't look half bad. I like what they did with the remnants of power armor on 'em. I'll stick with my plan for this batch, but for a future project that may be something I revisit.

[Brother Mjollner]

http://maxmini.eu/conversion-bits/head-swaps/feral-heads-bits

 

http://maxmini.eu/conversion-bits/head-swaps/Werewolf-heads-bits

 

Try these...

 

BM.

[SerEightBall]

...those are the ones that sort of turned me off from third-party werewolf bits. Beard guy in the middle of link 1 is alright Maybe it's the way they're painted. Out of everything, I like the EoT Wulfen the best, but it's not really an option.

 

I'll try to get the assault marine box this week and get some WiP up for you guys.

[Urauloth]

The maxmini werewolf heads are... yeah. They really don't do it for me. Same with pretty much all third party 13th company stuff I've seen to date, which is sad, because it seems like a corner of the market with plenty of good oppotunities.

 

I will admit to having a fondness for the puppetswar werewolf arms, but I've never seen any wulfen heads I like.

[Blacksad]

I've used the grenade-throwing arm in combination with a bolter and the red tattoo over the eye to mark my wulfenmodels, aswell as fiery red / orange hair in contrast to the greys for the other marines in my army.

 

they don't use ccw's, so why give the model ccw's, right? :)

[SW1]

I've avoided using the PA wolf head and was thinking of using it with a red maw for my wulfen. But then got hold of the Mantic zombies (edit: might have been ghouls rather than zombies) and did this ...

 

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee214/SW1-SWC/WH40K/Space%20Wolves%20-%202013%20ETL%20II/150620132661_zpsd57e104b.jpg

[Wolf_Brother]

Ser,

 

In your OP you mentioned you didn't want to use Werewolf heads but you did mention you liked 13th company models and might end up going that way. A really really close match is Puppets War Wild Wolfman Heads and Arms. I know someone mentioned the arms in a previous post but didn't mention the heads.

 

I am currently building and painting a Redmaw Great Company army and I have both of the Puppets War pieces for my Mark of the Wulfen marines. I don't have them modeled yet so I can't give you a photographic reference, but the style reminds me of the old school black and white Wolfman movies, much like the 13th company models. 

 

 

 

p.s. I don't know the linking or pricing policies for this message board or I would have given you both.

[SerEightBall]

Thanks for the info, those are probably the better werewolf heads out there, I'm still just not sold on making them werewolves at all, just because of the ambiguity in the codex, on whether they go full Wulfen or not. Before, it was simply the trait that made one more submissive to the Canis Helix and viscous and wild in battle, so the Wolf Priest would Mark them out. Then in the current codex there's the mention of "horrific transformations" (pg.12) and "Claws and teeth." And it's even more of an anomaly that Bran Redmaw undergoes his full transformation with more or less control.

 

And on the other hand, when the 13th Company shows up during EoT, it seems like nobody knows what to make of the wulfen, being something of legend and mystery to the Imperium and the even the Space Wolves themselves.

 

And as far as the claws and teeth thing goes, the Space Wolves already have long, sharp teeth/fangs, thick skin, and by that I would assume claws/nails harder and more pronounced than your regular Astartes would have. And like I said before, I'll probably say they're using the teeth of their dual-chainswords/axes.

 

So really I don't know, there is just too much ambiguity and retcon, I'd like to just stay on the safe side of "not wulfen" as far as my army is concerned (not that what you guys have shown doesn't look great) but that's why I started this thread in the first place, because I wanted ideas and advice on what the MotW would actually be. So I appreciate all of the responses so far.

 

I am thinking of a compromise though. Has anybody found good Viking heads out there? I'm talking braids, beards, long hair, etc. kind of like what we have featured on the codex cover? There are the one or two decent ones from the Chaos Marauders box I've used on some other models, but any third-parties? I know it's hard to sculpt around backpacks, shoulder-pads, and all that.

[-Volsung-]

To answer one of your previous question concerning looted armor, the answer I would give is: no.

 

41st Space Wolves neither have the desire nor the need to loot old, outdated, and potentially tainted, pieces of chaos armor. 

 

The only reason the 13th company did so is because it's either that or walk around in broken armor. Necessity dictates that they had to loot to survive.

 

I doubt the Space Wolves would even loot armor from fighting loyal Imperial Astartes chapters, like the Red Hunters or the Grey Knights. 

 

Consider that most armor and weapons the Space Wolves used are likely manufactured on Fenris, with the sweat and tears and joy and pride through the hands of skilled Fenrisian chapter serf laborers, under the guidance of the Iron Brotherhood. 

 

It's a matter of pride. Could you imagine your Wolf Lord walking around wearing Thousand Son helmet? That'd be equivalent to an all-american US marine deciding the AK-47 is better than his M4 (and it might just be). 

 

Now, that being said, I am making a point that this is a general notion. Each Space Wolf has his individual motives and quirks.

 

Space Wolves might be worried about the taint (both physical and psychic) lingering in Chaos armor (just think about how much pus, piss, boils, warts, tentacle juice, and mutant bodily fluids gets excreted underneath that armor. The Warp does crazy stuff to your armor...)

 

But there has been looting. Lukas the Trickster has an Eldar targeting mount on his plasma pistol, for example. And Logan's axe was a Chaos Champion's axe which he claimed after defeating him, then reforged it to remove the taint. 

 

Now, in terms of modeling. If you remove all the spikes, then the armor just looks like any other armor, so no problems there. I use Chaos marine arms because they wear leather-looking gloves that looks really cool with Space Wolves. 

[Mammon]

I took a more restrained approach to my Marked Grey Hunters. Anvil Industries makes some Chain Axes which are suitably large and aggressive looking. Combined the axes with the painted helmet schemes hendrik listed to make some intimidating "You-Wish-the-Twilight-Werewolves-were-this-hot" berzerkers.  

[DosRory]

Hey, here is my Grey Hunter with MOTW.

 

Basic SW kit with WHF Chaos Maurauder arms and chains from flails with a bit of green stuff for fur on the arms.

 

I paint my MOTW black instead of the blue to make them stand out in a squad as well as give them a Death Company feel I was looking to achieve.

 

I know you didnt want an exposed head, but thats the only MOTF model I have a pic off. I find my TWC MOTW with a helm to look crazy menacing and intimadating look. (I dont actually spend points on MOTW on TWC, but having that one black figure gives the unit extra character.)

 

 

 

Hope this can help.

 

-Dos