newb help

[Hellstomper]

Okay after doing my homework I found myself drawn most to the Space Wolves. I purchased a 10 pack that I have not opened as I am wanting to do this correct. I also had purchase a Dark vengance set earlier this year to cut my teeth on learning to paint and build as I have NEVER had interest in models or painting. Now that I am comfortable with my basic skills and enjoy the crap out of building and painting I have a few questions to get opinions and direction.

 

1) I want to build  a good sized army but want to start with the 13th Company. I am going dark gray armor of course but would like opinions on shoulder markings and colors. What have you used or seen a the most recognizable look?

 

2) Most shameful here but it needs to be asked.....How many wolves/troopers make up or should make up the 13th as they do noit recruit or add to their ranks?

 

From an old new guy any help or suggestions are appreciated.

[maverik_girl]

Your lost company warband can be any size you wish them to be. As for the shoulder markings, solid blacks and reds look good, a mixture of both or just half with the grey.... not to mention pelts and other trophies.

[Ultramarine vet]

The actual shoulder pad of a Space Wolf is yellow. Though the 13th company may be different. I think its black instead. As for company size....maverik_girl is correct. Great choice by the way. :)

[Hellstomper]

Thanks, I am going back through older threads now....not lazy just figuring out how to narrow searches. I like the black and red instead of yellow not too sure about the chaos bits but I have a few chaos marines I might paint in gray and black to see how it turns out.

[Jarl of Wulfen]

When the 13th company was released GW put out boxes that were half chaos half loyal with a dash of wolf. When I assembled mine, I'd use one bit on each model that was chaosy. Legs, or a shoulder pad, or chest plate or power pack. I didn't go overboard. The company shoulder pads were black with grey trim. The 13th company logo is a red wolf head with a white crescent moon behind it. Some members use it as their avatar on the boards. I've changed my profile pic to the 13th company logo

[Vash113]

There's really no estimating the size of the 13th Company, barring casualties in the Scouring of Prospero the company could have stood as much as ten thousand strong. Time and space mean little in the Eye of Terror so for some members of the 13th barely a few years might have passed while for others it's been many thousands, most could have perished or most could still be kicking, there's no material on the subject. There could be as little as a few dozen, or as many as several thousand 13th Company Space Wolves still prowling about the Eye of Terror.

[Hellstomper]

That makes sense. I just did not want to plan a huge army and everyone point out there is a specific number. I have read Prospero burns and working on getting other SW heavy books.

[Vash113]

Here's some information on the 13th Company:
 

The 13th Company

 

 

“The Impure shall tremble

For no hard thing may touch them,

No iron of ancient forging shall harm

The bloody battle-hand of the Ulfhednar.”

-The Prophesy of Frode, from the Lamentation of Days

 

The 13th Company is a force shrouded in mystery, wearing the looted armor of chaos marines to replace damaged wargear, showing the bestial signs of the curse of the wulfen and appearing at seeming random to wreak havoc among the forces of chaos, the 13th Company is at the same time a terrifying and inspiring force.

 

Legends tell of the time before the Horus Heresy when the 13th Company had been part of the Space Wolves legion, though little remains of that time but the names of famous battles such as the First Siege of Methrix and the Battle of the Plains of Mo-Shan, the Fall of the Paramours of the Morpheus Rift, and the Crossing of Hangman's Void. The 13th Company are said to have chased the fleeing Thousand Sons into the Eye of Terror where they hunted the forces of chaos for 10,000 years, somehow surviving in the depths of the Eye of Terror despite the odds. Each marine in the company having acquired the skills of a Wolf Guard, and showing signs of the curse of the wulfen are both terrifyingly brutal and skilled warriors on the battlefield.

 

The 13th Company’s organization is little known, who leads them is unsure. Whether Jorin Bloodfang, the leader of the Company in the siege of Prospero still leads them is unknown, some wild theories even suggest that Leman Russ leads the Company from the depths of the warp, having manifested the true form of the curse of the wulfen as a giant werewolf of awesome power. However such theories are unsubstantiated and the truth may never be known.

 

Since their disappearance the 13th Company have emerged from the warp at times to hunt down traitors seeking to prey on the Imperium. On the warp spawned reflection of Charys the 13th Company hunted the Thousand Sons even as the sons of Magnus worked to bring the Space Wolves to their knees. Most recently the 13th Company has emerged in some apparent numbers to hunt the traitor warbands aligned with Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade. On multiple worlds across the scattered warzones bestial warriors have struck at the traitors in a whirlwind of blades and talons, slaughtering the oath-breakers even as they seek to butcher the warriors and peoples of the Imperium.

 

The continued existence of the 13th Company is not apparently a mystery to the Space Wolves, for certainly Logan Grimnar knows something of them, however whatever knowledge is possessed by the Great Wolf and the officers of the Chapter is a closely guarded secret.

 

Special Units

 

Storm Claws

-While it is certain that all members of the 13th Company have likely attained skills equal to those of Wolf Guard, the Storm Claws are equipped to fully utilize their ferocity and skill in close combat, both noble and stoic in their manner the Storm Claws tear into the forces of Chaos with skill and fury.

 

Grey Slayers

-The backbone of the 13th Company warbands the Grey Slayers are akin to the Grey Hunters of the Space Wolves, though the formation appears to have been created when the 13th Company faced questions of rank, with all survivors beginning to reach the skills of Wolf Guard and with no new influx of Blood Claws the 13th Company re-organized it would seem and Grey Slayers were the result.

 

Fenrisian Wolf Packs

-During the Great Crusade the Space Wolves went to battle alongside packs of Fenrisian Wolves. Since then the Space Wolves have taken to bringing the wolves of Fenris to battle only as the guards of officers. The 13th Company however still maintains whole packs of Fenrisian wolves that will take to the field with the company, bounding alongside the marines to rend and tear the forces of chaos apart.

 

Wulfen Packs

-The 13th Company includes entire packs of Wulfen kind, battle brothers that have fully succumbed to the curse of the Wulfen and manifested as bestial werewolves. Lead into battle by Wolf Priests the Wulfen Packs are deadly adversaries, utterly vicious and brutal in close combat and nearly unstoppable.

 

The 13th Company still includes Long Fangs, Rune Priests, Wolf Priests and Wolf Lords, and somehow the Rune Priests of the Company have learned to transport the warbands of the 13th Company through the warp with their psychic powers, how this is done is a mystery to the Imperium and there are many who would dearly wish to know the secret, and others who want to see the 13th Company purged as heretics and mutants.

 

Known Heroes

 

Wolf Priest Sternhammer, Warden of the Lost

 

A warrior known only as “Sternhammer” to the defenders of the Cadian Gate came to represent all the actions of the 13th Company during the 13th Black Crusade, falling on the foul forces of Chaos mercilessly and then withdrawing before any Imperial force could make successful contact. Sternhammer was reported to have been in a great many different warzones some light years apart from each other, leading a band of bestial warriors, like giant hunting hounds he would unleash upon the foe. He was reported to have saved the Cadian 143rd at Cadmus Binary. Alongside a powerful Wolf Lord the Wulfen Guard slew the Night Lord Sinax. Only a few days later and five light years away, Sternhammer was reportedly sighted once more, leading a boarding action that resulted in the scuttling of the Light of Fatidicus, so that the enemy would not capture it. 

 

More than a hundred victories were attributed to Sternhammer and his warbands, whether they were the same band, or many, and whether Sternhammer led them all himself is unknown, but the Defenders of the Cadian Gate take heartened and terrified at the mournful howls of the Wulfen.

 

The Pelt of Wulfen

-According to ancient legends the first Wolf Priest of the Legion cut this pelt from a terrible werebeast that he had slain in single combat. It is unknown whether Sternhammer is indeed that same Wolf Priest, or simply carries the pelt is a mystery, however the pelt grants Sternhammer incredible predatory skills.

 

Wolf Lord Jorin Bloodfang

-Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves 13th Company during the Horus Heresy.

 

Bulveye- Axeman of Russ

-Wolf Lord of the 13th Company, Bulveye and a warband of the 13th Company aided Ragnar Blackmane in recovering the Spear of Russ from the foul sorcerer Madox, staging a distraction to allow Ragnar and his companions to reach the stronghold of the Thousand Sons while most of the traitor forces were engaged with the 13th Company. Bulveye spoke of Russ as only a man who knew him in life could and together with his warriors spoke of ten thousand years of struggle within the Eye of Terror, fighting the foul forces of Chaos and the beasts within themselves.

 

Rune Priest Torvald the Reaver

-This mysterious Rune Priest arrived suddenly to save Ragnar and the Wolf Blade from an ambush by Chaos Raptors. Torvald then aided Ragnar in an assault on the stronghold of the Sorcerer Madox to recover the Spear of Russ and then mysteriously teleported the survivors to safety before vanishing once more. Torvald held back the scum of chaos while Ragnar and the Wolfblade fought Magnus and his cabal of Sorcerers for the Spear single-handed and though wounded survived. Torvald bore the Mark of the Wulfen though had not degenerated into a beastial monstrosity. With his help and the help of a warband of the 13th Company Ragnar recovered the Spear of Russ successfully despite the cost.

 

Rune Priest Oulf

-One of the 13th Company who chased the Thousand Sons into the Eye of Terror, Rune Priest Oulf unfortunately did not survive the endless conflict with the traitors.

 

Lone Wolf Haakon Grey Storm

-Haakon Grey Storm followed the Thousand Sons into the Eye of Terror alongside his battle-brothers of the 13th Company. Haakon's particular splinter warband suffered extensive cassualties until he was left as the sole survivor. Determined to continue the hunt despite the circumstances Haakon narrowed his hunt to the exiled Sorcerer Ahriman, the former Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons. Tracking his way across the daemon-worlds of the eye by consuming the brain-matter of slain heretic officers and psykers Haakon came close to locating Ahriman's hiding place until he was intercepted and slain by one of the Sorcerer Amon's own hunters.

 

Pack Leader Dagmar

-A Pack Leader of Bulveye's Warband who spoke with Ragnar and his companions during the Charys Campaign.

 

Wolf Guard K’arsso-Tolk

-Member of the 13th Company during the Horus Heresy.

 

Wolf Guard Halvdan Bale-eye

-Member of Wolf Lord Bulveye's Wolf Guard during the later days of the Great Crusade.

 

Wolf Guard Jurgen

-Member of Wolf Lord Bulveye's Wolf Guard during the later days of the Great Crusade.

 

Wolf Guard Johann

-Member of Wolf Lord Bulveye's Wolf Guard during the later days of the Great Crusade.

 

Wolf Guard Ranulf

-Member of Wolf Lord Bulveye's Wolf Guard during the later days of the Great Crusade.

 

Wolf Guard Lars

-Member of Wolf Lord Bulveye's Wolf Guard during the later days of the Great Crusade.
Killed in action. 

 

Rhino Saemundr

-Rhino in service to the 13th Company during the Horus Heresy.

[Valerian]

The 13th Company Index Astartes article from US WD283 would be a great resource for you.  In that article it is estimated that the size of the 13th Company would have been more or less the size of a contemporary Chapter (so roughly 1,000 Marines) that had all been touched by the Curse of the Wulfen.  There is no way of knowing how many of those original Space Wolves would have perished during the nearly 10,000 years that have passed since they disappeared on the heels of the fleeing Thousand Sons.

 

V

[Valerian]

PART I:

 

These fragmented pieces of text have been excerpted from Dionerius' Rise of Man, M31


...Among them were companies of savage creatures, their bestiality far outstripping even the barbaric Children of Russ. By the Space Wolves these were called the Wulfen, at times spoken of as the thirteenth company. They were feral of eye and febrile in nature, strong of limb and blanched by savage tattoos, able to tear a man asunder with their clawed hands and fangs. Eschewing weapons of distance they would stalk their foes as wild beasts, slinking in the shadows and hunting by night 'neath the light of the full moon. Variously, captains say the Wulfen were led by Hirkon Grail or Jorin Bloodfang, maybe when one was slain another took his place.

Fragment II


Now in the aftermath of the Siege of Terra there was a great confusion among the loyal followers of the Emperor, for they had lost their liege lord and were as knights without their king. [[Text lost]] Many voiced loud the thought in the hearts of all - give chase to the traitors and destroy them utterly for the woe they had wrought. The voice of Russ was raised loudest of all, [[Text lost]] but Guilliman and Dorn gainsaid his counsel. To enter the Occularis Terriblis would bring disorder on the surviving Legions, they said, leaving Man vulnerable to both the xenite and the apostate. It is said that Russ, as was so often the way, took his own counsel and sent forth the Wulfen to hunt down Abaddon and his followers. Others say that the thirteenth company pursued the heretics of their own accord, as hounds at the chase who heed not the calls of their huntsman. Others still maintain that the Wulfen had been tainted by the Dark Gods and were summoned by their call to join the traitor legions in the netherworld.

Fragment III


The Wulfen were never seen nor heard of again, passing into the void and becoming lost to the eye and ear of Man. It is said that upon the Space Wolves homeworld of Fenris the loss of the Wulfen was known by the wolves of Asaheim. The great packs gathered before the gates of the Space Wolves monastery in their thousands until every wolf in the world was there. That grey host howled of their loss for a hundred nights before returning to the hinterlands.

PART II:

 

From the Saga of Jorin Bloodfang


In time, the ranks of the 6th Legion
swelled to a great host.

And many bore the Mark
[FRAGMENT MISSING]

And so Russ banded them all into
one Great Company.

And to Bloodfang fell the honor
Of leading them to laurels and glory
In the name of Russ and the
All Father.

Bloodfang named [FRAGMENT MISSING]
Grail, Orkbane, Sigurd, Thorbrand,
and Grafield.

To each a retinue was granted.

And as a band of brothers the
13th Great Company
Reaved across the stars.

Neither xenite, or Apostate,
nor Fiend
Could stand before [FRAGMENT MISSING]
the Were was upon them.

But at the Gates of [FRAGMENT MISSING]
did Bloodfang rage
And plunge headlong into
[FRAGMENT MISSING]
Neither kin nor Master could
restrain him.

And beyond the Gates did the
Wulfen-kind pass.

At Asaheim, the Wolves did cry for
one hundred nights
To mourn the passage of their kin.

 

 

PART III:

 

The saga known as "The War of the Giants" purports to be a record of the fall of Prospero, one of the opening conflicts of the Horus Heresy. The Space Wolves were ordered to asault their brother Legion, the Thousand Sons, and to call them to account for the sorcerous actions of their Primarch, Magnus the Red. The saga states that the 13th Company was at the head of the assault on the Thousand Sons' home world and that the sheer ferocity of their attack smashed a hole in the traitor lines through which the remainder of the Space Wolves could penetrate. At the height of the battle, it is told that Magnus opened a portal, a means of escaping the destruction wrought by the Space Wolves, Magnus and the remnants of his Legion fled, but it is said that Russ ordered the 13th Company to give chase. In so doing, the left the realm of Man, never to return.

Fragments of other records suggest that the disappearance of the 13th Company did not occur until after the Siege of the Emperor's Palace, which saw the rebel Warmaster Horus finally defeated and the Traitor Legions routed back to the Eye of Terror. It is stated that in the wake of the galaxy-spanning civil war, which saw the Imperium brought to its knees by Horus's treachery, the Ultramarines' Primarch Roboute Guilliman sought to consolidate the forces of Mankind. But Leman Russ, headstrong and proud as he was, demanded that the Traitors not be allowed to establish a foothold within the Eye of Terror and that the Imperium should strike immediately. Though Guilliman and Dorn overrode him, it has been suggested that Russ may have dispatched the 13th Company with orders to hunt down Abaddon, the Warmaster's Lieutenant, and bring his head as a trophy to set before the Emperor. Other, less charitable theories suggest the Wulfen gave chase on their own accord, and some even whisper that the 13th Company had been tainted by Chaos all along and were seeking to join the ranks of the Traitors.

This legend bears up well to the little evidence that exists to support it, and the timing of their emergence from the Eye indicates that the Wulfen may be pursuing Abaddon.

 

 

PART IV:

 

The Wolf Brothers
(excerpted from the calleria M37)



...And ranging 'cross Yahals plain
The Eldar turned at bay.
They stood and fought, shed blood
And burned
A thousand men that day.

Then Wolf Brothers came
To slay them all,
Bloody swords raised, howling,
fangs gleaming
Answering the warriors' call.

No alien could stand against
So fierce a foe,
No trick would turn them aside.
On they came, unstoppable
To strike a deadly blow.

Turning, fleeing the Eldar ran
Through their portal
Beyond the reach of man.
Undaunted Wolf Brothers
Pursued them unto realms immortal

Though aliens were defeated,
Their fury tamed,
The ill-fated Wolf Brothers
Were lost, mourned
Never seen again...

 

PART V:

 

Tales are told of a thirteenth Great Company whose Wolf Lord took as his sign the pelt of the Wulfen, the legendary spirit of evil whose curse can still turn Space Wolves into monsters of that name. This Wolf Lord, his name has been lost to the ages, said that he could overcome anything, even the curse of the Wulfen, and that was why he took it as his totem. His hubris cost him dear; the Great Company vanished into the Eye of Terror during the Horus Heresy, and none know of its fate. Since then the Space Wolves have traditionally considered the number thirteen unlucky and a portent of bad omen.

 

 

PART VI:

 

The Space Wolves remained loyal to the Emperor throughout the Heresy and took part in some of its most renowned actions. From those times, ten thousand years ago, come few details of any certainty. It was a time of legends. It was an age of war. Such records as made have not survived, and only later did chroniclers of the Administratum describe the bloody events of those days. According to their own tradition, the Space Wolves were pivotal in one of the early campaigns of the war, when the entire Legion attacked and devastated the Thousand Sons Space Marines on their home world of Prospero. The Primarch of the Thousand Sons, the cyclopean giant Magnus the Red, is said to have fought Leman Russ whilst all around the rival Space Marines battled for supremacy. Eventually the Thousand Sons gave way and Magnus the Red fled with what remained of his forces. It was while pursuing the Thousand Sons that the Space Wolves lost the Thirteenth Company, the Wulfen. Since then the Space Wolves have never had a thirteenth Company nor has any Wolf Lord born the badge of the Wulfen.

The Space Wolves were not present during the final battle for Earth which ended the Heresy and doomed the Emperor to a living death in the stasis field of his Golden Throne. Afterwards, Leman Russ was to rage against events that kept him from his beloved Emperor. He led the Space Wolves deep into the Eye of Terror in pursuit of the renegade Space Marine Legions of Chaos.

With the enthronement of the Emperor came a different age, and they rule of the Imperium passed into the hands of the High Lords of Terra. Both the High Lords and the Primarchs feared the resurgence of Chaos. Many worlds were purged. On many planets the tainted were sought out and destroyed. Everywhere the rapidly expanding ranks of the Inquisition prospered.

Never again would the Imperium tolerate the possibility of Space Marine armies falling under the influence of the great enemy. The original Space Marine Legions were broken up into smaller Chapters and a code was drawn up to redefine their role and jurisdiction within the Imperium. The new Chapters that were created became known as the Second Founding. The Space Wolves were never a very large Legion and so were divided only once, creating the ill-fated Wolfbrothers Chapter.

[Hellstomper]

Thanks to all for all the great info!

At work now but will definitely be reading up and doing my homework this weekend. I also plan on building and priming if our cold spell lifts. I hate priming in the cold as I have to spray outside.......

[Ultramarine vet]

Good luck with your Space Wolves battle brother! :D

[Hellstomper]

I think having a hybrid wolf as a family member growing up brought me to the wolves a McKenzie wolf....it wasnt the nasty Timber we had.  :)

[Vash113]

I think having a hybrid wolf as a family member growing up brought me to the wolves a McKenzie wolf....it wasnt the nasty Timber we had.

Pics?

[Hellstomper]

I will have to see if my brother has some pics I can scan. That was back in the 90s and we did not have a digital camera :). I started testing colors today. I got my color scheme and now I need to decide if I like grimy black washed or a more clean look.