Red's Vlka Fenryka - Ragnar Lothbrok's Hird

[RedInventor]

I have the Itch. You all know the one I am talking about.  The Itch to start something new, and work some plastic/resin into something awesome.  I recently returned from deployment and I am desperately craving some hobby time.  I've seen my wife, seen my kids, but now I just need to decompress and build something.  

After much debate, I decided to start a Heresy Space Wolves army.  I bought the Betrayal at Calth set as my first step, since it seemed like an inexpensive way to start my force.  I also purchased a Space Wolves pack box and a Space Wolves Upgrade kit.  Then I read the boards and realized this force isn't that great.  So I plan to upgrade in the future.  In the meantime, I am without my airbrush and about 90% of my hobby supplies, which is limiting, but it provides a great opportunity to work on my brush, converting, and sculpting skills.  

On deployment, I became a bit obsessed with the History Channel's docu-drama, Vikings.  The show inspired me to do a Space Wolves army, and I plan to convert a few of the models to represent m favorite characters from the show.  Those of you who know the show, I hope you can have an idea of where I am heading.  Those who don't, hurry up and check it out.  It's bada$$.  Who wouldn't love vikings running around beating on their neighbors?

 

I really want this army to be fluffy yet competitive.  I have rarely ever actually played 40k, and when I have, it has mostly been against my friend's Orks.  Almost every time, he creamed my Space Marines, although I will say it was fun deepstriking termies into the middle of his army.  Clearly, I don't have much in the way of battle experience though.  I am predominantly just a painter and modeler.  I do hope to one day enter an Armies On Parade type of competition (if they are still happening).  That being said, I still want this to be a playable army against both 30k and 40k opponents, with an actual chance of winning.  The people I used to play with have all moved away and now I have no home group to play against or throw ideas around with.  Thus I am hoping that I can borrow some of your experience and expertise to aid me in building my legion and perhaps I can inspire those here who have greatly inspired me in the coming months as my form of thanks.

 

Well enough of my gabbing, lets get to the list and ideas...

 

[RedInventor]

+Vlka Fenryka: Ragnar Lothbrok's Hird (1500 pts) +

 

+HQ: Legion Praetor (202 pts) +

-[Cataphractii Terminator Armor, Combi-melta, Paragon Blade (Axe), Digital Lasers, Iron Halo, Mastercraf a Single Weapon] 

==> Jarl Ragnar Lothbrok

 

+HQ: Legion Centurion (125 pts) +

-[Artificer Armor, Crozius (Power Axe or Maul), Plasma Pistol, Refractor Field, Melta Bombs]

***Consul [Chaplain]

==> Wolf Priest Floki the Shipbuilder

 

+ELITES: Legion Contemptor Dreadnought Talon (205 pts) +

***Legion Contemptor Dreadnought [Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon with inbuilt Graviton Gun, Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon]

==> Tostig the Undying

 

+ELITES: Legion Cataphractii Terminator Squad (252 pts) + 

[4x Legion Terminators, 2x Pair of Lightning Claws, Chainfist, Combi-melta, Powerfist, Heavy Flamer]

***Legion Terminator Sergeant [Grenade Harness, Combi-melta, Powerfist]

==> Pack Leader Bjorn Ironside

 

+TROOPS: Legion Tactical Squad (325 pts) +

[19x Legion Space Marines, Legion Vexilla, Take an additional Chainsword or Combat Blade]

***Legion Sergeant [Artificer Armor, Power Axe, Melta Bombs]

==> Pack Leader Rollo "The Bear", Vexilla carried by Erik Giantsblood

 

+TROOPS: Legion Tactical Squad (200 pts) +

[9x Legion Space Marines, Legion Vexilla, Take an additional Chainsword or COmbat Blade]

***Legion Sergeant [Artificer Armor, Heavy Chainsword, Melta Bombs]

==> Pack Leader Torstein One-Arm, Vexilla carried by Arne "One-eye"

 

+TROOPS: Legion Tactical Support Squad (190 pts) +

[4x Legion Space Marines, Plasma Guns]

***Legion Sergeant [Artificer Armor, Melta Bombs]

==> Pack Leader Leif

 

The initial idea is to have the Chaplain with the blob, praetor with the terminators, and run the other two squads as harassment and scoring units.  The contemptor is there to beat things up and hopefully get shot at.  The list is terribly immobile/slow and can't take on air or heavy armor well.  I do have a rough plan though for once I complete all of these guys.

The plan is to get some armor from my friends at forgeworld; I am thinking 2 Spartans, a Typhon, and a Caestus or Fire Raptor.  If I don't go with the Caestus I will also get a couple rhinos to move the small tactical and tactical support squads around.  If I get the Caestus I will add another 10 tacticals to the small squad and get some Apothecaries to buddy up with them in the Spartans.  All the while my Praetor and his friends will ride in the Caestus (hopefully go to 8 Cataphractii if that is the case).  I am not too sure if I will keep the Tactical Support Squad and Contemptor in my future lists with armor added.  If you guys have any advice on the current list or the future list please let me know, as I said earlier I don't have much experience in good list writing.

That's about it for now, hopefully tomorrow I can get some good lighting and post some pictures of the current conversions I am working on.

-Thanks for reading

[Dantay VI]

Hi RedInventor and welcome to the Aett.

You took the army list down. It is okay to post it, just make sure you remove the points totals

Like you I am primarily a modeler and painter, as I only get in 3-5 games per year, so tactically I am not the sharpest tool in the shed.

I love love love Vikings. I like the idea of basing the army off of the characters. I would also recommend Bernard Cornwells books, such as the last kingdom, the pale horseman etc.. This is based on a Saxon who is captured as a child by the Vikings and the covers (not completely accurately) the Viking invasion of England. The BBC also made a series based on the first book which was pretty good, but not as gritty as Vikings. It might be worth looking up "The last Kingdom" BBC iplayer will only have he last few episodes on it now.

Out of curiosity, wouldn't Athelstan be better suited to being a Chaplain? I know he is silently guiding Ragnar and Floki hates it. Using the Chaplain as an outsider to the army and having a different spirituality could be an interesting dynamic to the armyand fluff-wise a source of tension between the 2 characters. Maybe Floki as an Iron Priest/ Consul Praevian so he can maintain machines or with cortex controller uses thallax etc (him creating images of the gods to fight alongside Ragnar who believes he is the son of Thor?)

I am sure if Vykryl is here, he would also suggest the book Long Ships, which is the inspiration behind his Space Wolves army. His thread on here is pretty good too, some really nice conversion ideas.

List wise, everything seems compatible between 30 & 40K, the only issue is stormshields. They are super rare in 30K, only Imperial Fists and Salamanders make great use of them. Ultras have units too, but I think they are just glorified boarding shields. But as you haven't included them it is a bit of a moot point just now.

Tanks wise, the relic plasma predator is ace, as it offers decent light/medium vehicle killing power plus can kill marines and terminators pretty reliably, plus it never gets hot. Scorpius is also good for a whirlwind dropping ap3 all over the board so it can also lay down the hurt. Sicarans are champs though, putting out 6 twin linked autocannon shots which ignore jink and has a hull mounted heavy bolter. Give it HB sponsons and you have another 9 HB rounds flying at the enemy, alternatively for tank killing go with lascannons, but I reckon facing orks, HB is the way to go. It will help cut transports down and mow down troops as well

The thing with relics is that you are going to need Rune Priests to gain access to them. Which is cool, as you now have a way of introducing the blind Seer into your lists.

Fire Raptors are gorgeous models, I have one built and another in a box. It looks good and it is a beast against infantry and light/medium vehicles.

I know the kit is supposed to be a pig, but the Storm Eagle could be a viable alternative and give you some tank killing power as it totes twin linked multimelta and 2 twin linked lascannons plus a missile launcher. It can also carry troops if required. I also recently got a Caestus so I am keen to try it out. Need to get to my cardstock so I can make some longship figureheads for it.

Modelling wise, there are plenty of kits and bits to steal from. My 2 favourites are the dwarves and chaos marauders. If you want brutal weapons which look almost ork-ish then beastman kits are the way to go. Marauders and Chaos Warrior straddle the line, but my main preference is Dwarfen weapons as these really show the artisan side of the Vikings as well as being brutally effective weapons.

Sorry for the rambling. I look forward to seeing what your models look like. I will be following this :)

[RedInventor]

Yeah sorry I had to fix the formatting problem I was having, but it's back up now.  

[Dantay VI]

Hi RedInventor. Added a bunch more in my first post above, also Secret weapons do 2mm brass etch runes, which could come in handy, rather than make them 200plus has used them to great effect, but as they are a tad pricy for me I try freehanding them instead.

[codyrstuart]

First off, welcome to the Aett.

 

Second off, love the use of the Vikings characters. I echo Dantay, though. Floki I feel would be more suited for a Rune Priest, since he is intuned to nature (he goes crazy and talks to trees). While talking about inspiring reading, Eaters of the Dead is always a classic (essentially Beowulf without having to read Ye Olde English).

 

As far as unit you may want to add, in addition to the Sicaran and Plasma Predator, you may want to look at the different flavors of Rapier platforms and Vindicators. All of them are great additions, but some do their jobs better than others (i.e. Laser Destroyer Vindicator vs. Laser Destroyer Rapier). Just figure out which one you want and have fun!

 

Hurry up and get some work posted!

[DanPesci]

Welcome!!!

 

Love the vikings theme.

 

My 40k lone wolf has gone by the name 'Tostig' for the last couple of years now, great to see him in dreadnought form too :D

[beefeb]

Lovely, the vikings series is exceptionally good....I recently started a SW army and like you, the Vikings series was a part of the final push to do it.

[RedInventor]

Thanks everyone for the comments and good book suggestions. I have been going through viking books like it is going out of style so I am happy for the recommendations. Seems like I will have to divert some hobby funds to get some new books

Dantay: Thanks for all of the recommendations. Sicarans seem like they would be a sound investment as well as the other things I am looking at. You will have to keep me posted on the Caestus. Also I think I am just going to freehand the runes as well, the practice would be good and I would rather spend the money on more models.

Codyrstuart: I love the ways vindicators look and I think I might get a couple to join the typhon. Maybe some sicarans as well.

DanPesci: Tostig was awesome and I feel like Dreadnought is perfect for him since that likely means he has outlived most of his companions. Lone Wolf isn't a bad idea either.

Beefeb: Glad you pulled the trigger, I bet GW never expected the Vikings TV show would bring them money. lol Can't wait to see what you work up.

Here are some of the WIP shots for some of the sculpting I have been up to, it's been about a year so my skills need some sharpening:

I'll start with Jarl Ragnar

There is still a lot more work I need to do with this guy but I think he is my best sculpt so far. There isn't much room for sculpting hair on this model though. I am thinking about sculpting the back of his cape with fur or just doing the leather strap things on his pauldrons and between his legs. Either way though I am going to try some free hand on the inside of his cloak.

Next is Floki. I had a lot of inner debate as to whether or not he should be the Chaplain. I had many of the same thoughts as you guys, but in the end I went with Chaplain for a few key reasons. First and foremost, he is 100% dedicated to the Viking way and the Gods. He is constantly trying to root out Christain influence every where in the army. Second, I thought about making him a Rune Priest but he has very little in the way of powers. He is extremely dedicated to the Gods but they don't seem to talk to him much. He just doesn't give me the Psyker feel, where as Dantay mentioned the Blind Seer and I think he will definitely make an appearance at some point. The Iron Priest idea though isn't half bad...

My thought here, is to paint Floki's face paint on the wolf helmet just as he wears it in the show. Once again I am not sure if I should sculpt some fur on the back cape. I am also thinking about adding some tools on his belt if I can find room for them.

Next up is Rollo:

Didn't quite get the sculpt right but I think it looks okay.

Next is Torstein:

I don't like this sculpt and I have redone it a few times, so it is what it is. lol

Next is Leif:

The starting head I used was a mistake because it was rough sculpting what I wanted onto this guy. Overall I am pretty happy with the sculpt though.

Sorry for the poor picture quality, as I said earlier I don't have most of my hobby equipment and that includes lights. Maybe I can convince the wife that we need to pick one up but hell a desk would be useful too.

Well thanks for looking, your thoughts are welcome!

-Red

[Rayray]

I fully admit, seeing the thread title had me feeling like this might have been on the cheesy side, but that work is inspirational and awesome. Ragnar and rolo look fantastic, and leif looks pretty good as well

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

I approve, and will be keeping an interested eye on this!

[Dantay VI]

Looking good so far... Nicely executed.

 

I would suggest a visit to a bits site and  take a look at the TWC heads, some of these would work in pretty well with your Vikings theme.

 

 

This head but with blond hair might make a pretty good Bjorn without too much adjustment.

[Vykryl]

I don't know the Vikings show as I don't watch tv, can point you to a few good books if your interested. Dantay is correct in that I highly recommend the Long Ships as a must read viking novel. His other point about dwarf bits is excellent as well. The small axes scale well to marines for close combat weapons as an alternative to chainswords, larger ones for power and Frost Weapons. The etchings and knot work fit right into a viking theme.

 

Like your models so far, good job on the hair and beards.

[Slave to Darkness]

Ahh nice to see someone else tackle the Vikings crew. If you want a good bare head for Floki have a look at the Fantasy Empire Militia sprue, theres a head in there with a receding hairline and some facial fuzz. Ive used it on my Floki the Trickster mini and it looks ok.

[RedInventor]

Thanks everyone for the compliments and advice! I decided to do a little painting today just to get a feel for how these are going to look all done up.  Once again sorry for the garbage phone pics.  Well on to the goods, eh?

Here is Ragnar, I still have quite a bit left to paint, but I am building him piecemeal since there are a lot of nooks and cranny's that I can't reach easily.  I added a little tattoo that no one will really be able to see but I mostly wanted to see if I could do tattoos.  I still don't know if I should sculpt some fur on or not.  Any advice in that area would be much appreciated.  He was a challenge mostly in the fact that I am used to having a lot of different paints and now I only have a few (don't have brown so that's tricky).  I am relatively pleased with him so far though.

Here is a AM Techpriest Dominus I painted up for fun as well:

 

Well I hope you enjoyed looking and I would love to hear what you guys think.  If you have any opinions on the fur please let me know as well.

Thanks, 

Red

[Dantay VI]

Ragnar looks really cool, have you any plans on incorporating a raven symbol on him, such as he wears on his top?

 

Quality of pictures are fine, where are you thinking to put the fur?

[RedInventor]

Thanks Dantay! Yeah I tried to paint a raven on his chest plate but it is such a small area. I might try again or i might do the inside of his cape with a raven design. Like maybe have a knowtwork raven in the corner with some knotwork on the edges. I do't know for sure yet.

As for the fur, i was thinking of sculpting over the leather strap things, or making the back of the cape fur. Thoughts?

[Dantay VI]

Both ides would work.

 

I like to use shields and do knotwork on my tanks, so I regularly surf the web for ideas

 

 

I have set up my own wee gallery to store pictures in. It is a lot of dragon, wolf and some eagle & raven too.

 

 

Your ideas for furs sounds good and something I have considered too. I haven't done fur except for my Logan counts-as and that is because of the wolf cloak he has.

 

 

 

[RedInventor]

Well I tried my best at some knotwork thanks to your link dantay and now Ragnar is almost done, I had to get back to work so progress has slowed a bit but Ragnar is almost complete!

Here is a shot of the raven I tried to add and there is knotwork along the cape.  It is much harder than I thought it would be so kudos to those of you who are good at freehand because it is not my specialty.  Luckily for me the cape isn't all that visible unless you are looking for it.

Here is the fur I sculpted on the back of his cape.  I think it turned out okay, definitely looks better in person.  I tried to go for a more natural wolf look on it and I am not sure how it turned out.

 

Anyways all that I have left on Ragnar here is some highlighting, weathering and base.  I am planning on doing a deeper snow type base like you can find at grudinglyread.blogspot.com except for I will be using woodlands scenics snow and their realistic water vice bicarbonate of soda and pva.

Well I would love to hear your guy's thoughts and opinions and thank you all so much for the support/ideas so far.

 

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

I think thats freaking amazing.

 

WLK

[Dantay VI]

COlour me proud & jealous at the same time, that looks freaking epic!!

[DanPesci]

Awesome work

[Slave to Darkness]

Thats a sweet looking ragnar.

[codyrstuart]

Holy lord... that's very impressive work.

[RedInventor]

Thank you all for the compliments. I will have some better pictures with his base in the next few days. Hopefully Floki and the sergeants will be done before the new year. I also have received a fair sum of Christmas money thus far and I have been contemplating what to get. So far the total is about 850 USD which translates to about 568.92 GBP. I have written up a 3000 point list to work for any all thoughts would be appreciated.

+++ Vlka Fenryka Varied (2997pts) +++

 

++ Legiones Astartes: Crusade Army List (Age of Darkness) (2997pts) ++

 

+ HQ (302pts) +

 

Legion Centurion (125pts) [Artificer Armour, Melta Bombs, Plasma Pistol, Refractor Field]

····Consul [Chaplain]

 

Legion Praetor (177pts) [Cataphractii Terminator Armour with Combi-bolter and Power Weapon, Combi-Weapon, Digital Lasers, Paragon Blade]

 

+ Troops (585pts) +

 

Legion Tactical Squad (325pts) [19x Legion Tactical Space Marines, Legion Vexilla, Take an additional Chainsword or Combat Blade]

····Legion Tactical Sergeant [Artificer Armour, Melta Bombs, Power Weapon]

 

Legion Tactical Squad (260pts) [14x Legion Tactical Space Marines, Legion Vexilla, Take an additional Chainsword or Combat Blade]

····Legion Tactical Sergeant [Artificer Armour, Heavy Chainsword, Melta Bombs]

 

+ Elites (785pts) +

 

Apothecarion Detachment (110pts)

····Legion Apothecary [Artificer Armour]

····Legion Apothecary [Artificer Armour]

 

Legion Terminator Squad (675pts) [9x Legion Terminators, Terminator Armour with Combi-bolter and Power Weapon]

····Legion Spartan Assault Tank [Armoured Ceramite, Flare Shield]

····Legion Terminator Sergeant [Grenade Harness]

 

+ Fast Attack (265pts) +

 

Legion Storm Eagle Assault Gunship (265pts) [Twin-linked Multi-melta, Two Twin-linked Lascannons]

 

+ Heavy Support (650pts) +

 

Legion Sicaran Battle Tank (155pts) [Heavy Bolters]

 

Legion Sicaran Battle Tank (155pts) [Heavy Bolters]

 

Legion Spartan Assault Tank (340pts) [Armoured Ceramite, Flare Shield]

 

+ Lord of War (410pts) +

 

War Machine Detachment (410pts)

····Legion Typhon Heavy Siege Tank [Armoured Ceramite, Lascannons]

 

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I hope everyone is having a great holidays and Merry Christmas!