newb pup questions

[nightwing1511]

So I've been into 40k for near a decade, and I've always been interested in the Wolves, but have never really thrown myself into it. With a new codex coming soon I figure now is as good a time as any.
With that, I'm planning a great company, and was hoping for input from those grey of pelt and long of tooth.

I have been reading around here, various wikia, and the dex, and these are the questions I'm left with. Sorry if they're whelpish, for mine is a mane of summer red and little experience.

1) The priesthoods are attached to the Great Wolf's company, right? So would a rune priest, for example, bear the sigil of the Wolf Who Stalks The Stars, or of the company he is attached to?

2) I read somewhere that a Hunt can sometimes get cut off or stranded, and they are called lost, and typically just fight till there's no fight left. Is it plausible for such a group to hold up in a fortress and endure for a few centuries, or would that be unwolflike?

3) Are the bits from a box of wolves easily compatible with the FW heresy era armour?

4) Helmets?

5) How useful are skyclaws? Do they work, should the be avoided, etc? Swiftclaws?

Thanks folks, look forward to your thoughts

Edit: Spelling and smartphone typing issues...

[skeletoro]

So I've been into 40k for near a decade, and ive always been interested in the Wolves, but have never really thrown myself into it. With a new codex coming soon I figure now is as good a time as any.

With that, I'm planning a great company, amd was hoping for input from those grey of pelt and long of tooth.

I have been reading around here, various wikia, and the dex, and these are the questions im left with. Sorry if theyre whelpish, for mine is a mane of summer red and liytle experience.

1) The priesthoods are attached to the Great Wolf's company, right?

yep.

So would a rune priest, for example, bear the sigil of the Wolf Who Stalks The Stars, or of the cany he is attached to?

I am not sure the answer to that is well established.

2) I read somewhere that a Hunt can sometimes get cut off or stranded, and they are called lost, and typically just fight till theres no fight left. Is it plausable for such a group to hold up in a fortress and endure for a few centuries, or would that be unwolflike?

anything is possible in 40k! Sorry, can't bw much more help than that.

3) Are the bits from a box of wolves easily compatible with the FW heresy era armour?

4) Helmets?

yes, definitely. Not cataphractii though. Not sure about tartaros. But power armour definitely.

5) How useful are skyclaws? Do they work, should the be avoided, etc? Swiftclaws?

Thanks folks, look forward to your thoughts

they're not terrible by any means. Not much point getting more in depth than that though - new codex could change things...

Welcome to the fang.

[nightwing1511]

Thank you, brother. Swift answers are nice :P

[Dantay VI]

1). Yes all Priests belong to the Great Wolfs Company, but they do not have to bear the Great Wolfs Markings as they can be assigned to other great companies for extended periods of time and may bear the company markings of those whom they have been assigned to. I personally prefer not to give them company markings at all and runes for Rune Priests, skulls for Wolf Priests etc or a wee bit of personal heraldry. 

 

2). Yes, it does happen. Sometimes they are away for a long time and choose not to return, or they are at the back end of the galaxy and prefer to stay there and fight, crusade style. At other times, a company may request to leave the Aett permanently as their oaths are to Russ and the Allfather. If they can prove to the Great Wolf that tey ar still loyal and have honourable reasons tor leaving their home, then they go with his blessing. If he disagrees or they leave without permission, they will be hunted down and destroyed by the full might of the chapter. Think of a young wolf leaving his pack to go out on his own and start a new pack for instance.

In theory, this could mean that the Space WOlves are way in excess of Chapter size, but Sssshhhh!! The less the Inquisition knows the better!

 

So for a break-away company, creating a new lair from which to strike out at the traitorous scum and xenos who oppose us is perfectly feasible. Remember though you leave with what you have, the rout never give away anything for free! So tanks, would be a commodity and the only dreads and priests which travel with you would be those who are swayed by your argument to leave the Aett :)

 

3). I should imagine for Space Marine armour, inter-mixing wouldn't be a problem, but terminators may be an issue. I lost a bit for my Tartaros terminator and used a SW power fist no problem because of the rounded shoulder pads. Not sure how the waist lines would match up. As long as you swap arms whole-sale it should be fine. I'll put a pic up later today of a SW terminator,beside a tartaros and a cataphractii for size comparisons.

 

4). Helmets are no problem on Marines, but a definite no-no on the cataphract and tataros, a they only have half helms which slide in. You could use cut down Space Marine helm, or bare heads though. Later models have full helm, such as the Justaerin, which I converted and used, and I reckon the butchers and death guard too.

 

5). Sky Claws are fun, but like any unit ending in claw, they are subject to the headstrong rule which means that they must forgo shooting and charge an enemy unit if it is within 6 inches, so they really need a character model to accompany them and stop them getting dragged all over the board or in fights they cant win. However this may change in the new Space Wolves codex.

I love them for their  unpredictability 

[nightwing1511]

By helmets, I more meant, do you guys like helmets? Should I use them, or just go all out in the beardy, braidy, toothy heads?

[Baulder]

By helmets, I more meant, do you guys like helmets? Should I use them, or just go all out in the beardy, braidy, toothy heads?

Depends on you. Some folks hate SM without helmets but then the SW are often pictured without helmets. Personally, I have a mix. I like helmets but adding models without helmets helps to make the army and models unique. 

 

Also welcome to the Fang.

[Leif Bearclaw]

1. Well, my Priests bear the company badge, same as everyone else.

2. Yeah the lost companies. I personally like to think that there's at least dozens of them roaming around the galaxy, being self sufficient and awesome. Why should the Unforgiven be the only guys to be stealth Legion?

3. Already answered by yes, all marine PA bits are fully interchangeable, as far as I'm aware.

4. I don't like bare heads on Terminators. Tbh I'm not especially fond of them on PA, especially FW armour marks where the funky helmets are among the most disitnct features. That said, the bare heads are quite a strong motif among the Wolves. So I tend to go for around a third of the troops without helmets, so 3/4 in a squad of 10.

5. Not a fan of skyclaws. They suffer from the same issues and blood claws. Swiftclaws are the only 'claw' unit I'd consider, because the bikes give them the toughness to offset their poor WS.

[Konnavaer]

Just my opinion on this matey but you are welcome to it, and also welcome to The Rout

1. As skeletor says, yep. And I would echo that the sigil the priest carries is down to your interpretation, we don't mix well with established rules for that kind of thing anyway *cough

2. I think part of the fun of 40k is setting up your own narrative for things so I say hell yeah, if they are holed up I would imagine that could bring out all sorts of interesting tensions and arguments between the more hot blooded wolves and those who might be a little more even tempered!

3/4. AFAIK yes. and for the helmets question I model roughly half of my wolves bare headed, I like the aesthetic, feel it fits the 'feel' of the wolves and also just like painting faces

5. I have just picked up a unit of skyclaws having knocked around the idea for a while, this post http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/288423-bloodclaws-skyclaws-and-swiftclaws/ will hopefully prove useful to you as it did for me.

Hope this helps brother !

[Valerian]

1) The priesthoods are attached to the Great Wolf's company, right? So would a rune priest, for example, bear the sigil of the Wolf Who Stalks The Stars, or of the company he is attached to?

You'd be fine to go with any of three choices here, with The Wolf Who Stalks, the symbol for the Great Company they're attached to, or Personal Heraldry. I prefer the Personal Heraldry, myself, but most of the Priests that we have available already have predetermined shoulder pads, unless you're kit-bashing from the plastics.

 

2) I read somewhere that a Hunt can sometimes get cut off or stranded, and they are called lost, and typically just fight till there's no fight left. Is it plausible for such a group to hold up in a fortress and endure for a few centuries, or would that be unwolflike?

There's an old article on this that I'll copy in a bit of fluff for you, if I can find it easily. Essentially, it has been theorized that Lost Companies can endure by recruiting from whatever local human population happens to be nearby where they've been stranded.

 

4) Helmets?

I prefer that all of my Marines wear helmets, so there are only a few that don't have them.

 

 

5) How useful are skyclaws? Do they work, should the be avoided, etc? Swiftclaws?

I prefer Swiftclaws to Skyclaws, but I'm hoping all Claws variations get fixed in the upcoming codex.

[Vykryl]

I only have responses for 1 and 4.

 

1. I use a mark I found in a history book for my priests. I wanted an emblem that sets them apart from the various Great Companies and found one simple enough I can paint it. Find something that suits your tastes

 

4. I've only put helmets on my Wolf Guard so far. I like the bare heads but wanted more than pack markings to distinguish them between pack types. I put the wolf helmets on my power armor Wolf Guard as I like them better than standard marine helmets or the beaky helmets. Not sure what I'll do when I get to making some Claws, I only started 40k a year ago

[Dantay VI]

http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb456/dantay_xv/P1000839.jpg

 

http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb456/dantay_xv/P1000840.jpg

 

There you go, a shot of a GW terminator with a tartaros and a cataphractii terminator by FW. And a picture as to why you can't put helmets on them.

 

However

 

http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb456/dantay_xv/P1000841.jpg

 

With a little chopping you can get a SW head in on a regular cataphract (left) on the right is a Justaerin teminator with a few minor mods, but you can get full helmets in there!! Hope that helps!

[nightwing1511]

So what I'm feeling, is a Great Company traversed the Eye of Terror into the Halo Stars beyond, chasing threat after threat. The original group, numbering near 300, were eventually separated from their fleet.. Being as far out as they were, and on the far side of the Eye of Terror, communication with the Fang became impossible.

Upon conceding this, Wolf Lord =][=redacted until I think of a cool name=][= set up company refuge in a nearby fortress. The Company, knowing that they'll be considered Lost, now fight their way around the system, culling orks, raiding necron tombs, fending off Eldar pirates and trying to close the warp rifts spewing daemons into reality (my local meta).

They've been at this for somewhere about 3 centuries, and recruiting in this system is scarce (and the Wolf Priest thinks it's a bit sketchy to recruit away from Fenris) so the company will be Vet heavy, with only one, maybe two packs of Claws.

[skeletoro]

about the claws, gotta say after my last game, they tear up orks unless you're facing really disfavourable odds. The high init and 4-7 attacks per model, plus the poor armour saves for the orks... yeah. Orky no like.

 

That said I haven't closely inspected the points costs to double check this observation for a fair fight.

[Vash113]

So I've been into 40k for near a decade, and I've always been interested in the Wolves, but have never really thrown myself into it. With a new codex coming soon I figure now is as good a time as any.

With that, I'm planning a great company, and was hoping for input from those grey of pelt and long of tooth.

I have been reading around here, various wikia, and the dex, and these are the questions I'm left with. Sorry if they're whelpish, for mine is a mane of summer red and little experience.

1) The priesthoods are attached to the Great Wolf's company, right? So would a rune priest, for example, bear the sigil of the Wolf Who Stalks The Stars, or of the company he is attached to?

2) I read somewhere that a Hunt can sometimes get cut off or stranded, and they are called lost, and typically just fight till there's no fight left. Is it plausible for such a group to hold up in a fortress and endure for a few centuries, or would that be unwolflike?

3) Are the bits from a box of wolves easily compatible with the FW heresy era armour?

4) Helmets?

5) How useful are skyclaws? Do they work, should the be avoided, etc? Swiftclaws?

Thanks folks, look forward to your thoughts

Edit: Spelling and smartphone typing issues...

Did you once upon a time post on the Eldar board of Tau Online? Your user name name looks familiar...

1. As others have mentioned any of those options is possible, or none at all if you want to just cover the shoulder pads in pelts or something.

2. It is possible for a Great Company, whether on a Great Hunt or just under normal circumstances, to get so far from the Fang they simply decide to go it on their own from then on as long as the company lasts. Whether or not they can recruit and rebuild is less certain as there's some question as to the viability of the Space Wolf gene-seed with non Fenresian stock and whether or not that contributed to the loss of the Wolf Brothers. However the chapter serfs, bondsmen and Skaerls serving aboard the company ships could potentially be used as a viable source of recruits instead so there are ways the company could endure for quite some time. As to whether they would hole up somewhere, that has more to do with the character and tactics of the Wolf Lord leading the company, some Wolf Lords might choose a fighting journey back towards Fenris, others into the outer limits of the galaxy, while it could be practical to choose a stronghold from which to launch raids and patrols of a particularly contested area, it's up to you really.

3. Again as others have mentioned the bits are indeed fairly compatible across GW and Forge World ranges.

4. Space Wolves with their acute senses are perhaps the only marines with an, IMO, valid reason to go into battle without a helmet on but like Valerian I prefer to have most of my troops helmeted, the only models of mine without helmets are a few characters and some Blood Claws and Sky Claws... the youngsters are too stupid and brash to know better.

5. The problem with Skyclaws is cost and unit size vs the benefit of speed, in general I don't think Sky Claws are that useful, I have a small pack of them for light harassment but mostly they accomplish very little, but a larger pack or two could be quite an effective flank attack force, if you feel like shelling out the points for those jump packs instead of transports. Swift Claws are another matter, bikes are pretty darn good lately and should not be sniffed at, while Swift Claws are not going to be as good as regular marine bikers they can be quite a useful and hit quite hard and the extra toughness gives them some added staying power the Swift Claws just don't have.

[Baulder]

Have you looked at letting the dice decide your fates, this could help you build a fluffy fun great company;

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/289124-space-wolves-great-company-creation-tables/?do=findComment&comment=3644476

 

But do not use those old chaos dice for this, lest your company be damned for eternity 

[nightwing1511]

whats a Tau Online?
Never heard of it :P

 

 

Have you looked at letting the dice decide your fates, this could help you build a fluffy fun great company;

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/289124-space-wolves-great-company-creation-tables/?do=findComment&comment=3644476

 

But do not use those old chaos dice for this, lest your company be damned for eternity 

 

Thank you, that'll do nicely :P