Alakinsky's Great Company WIP Thread

[alakinsky]

Hello, Wolf Brothers and Sisters. It has been a long time since I have had a fully painted Space Wolves army. My last one was back in '04 or '05 for the 13th Company and my first GT. Since then, I have dabbled in the ranks of the Dark Angels and the Iron Hands and even committed the heresy of consorting with foul Xenos scum like the Ork, the Necron, and the Dark Eldar. I even stooped so low as to create WFB armies for the Vampire Counts and the Empire. I've always come back to Space Wolves, however, and they have always been my true passion in this hobby, ever since I first saw Codex: Space Wolves at my local comic and game shop in 1994. 

 

After working for GW as a retail store manager for about 18 months, I took a hiatus from the hobby for about 4 years and now I am back. The Curse of the Wulfen release has rekindled my interest for the hobby and a group of old friends has come together and we are playing again, too, albeit 500 point games for now.

 

My favorite Wolf Lord has always been Ragnar Blackmane, and my favorite army was what I called "Training Day" - 1 unit of 6 GHs and 5 units of 15 BCs on foot. The GHs sat at the back and drank mjod while the BCs ran up and punched/stabbed/clawed/bit/ate stuff.

 

The new formation for Blackmane's Great Company has got me excited. I also love drop pods and the idea of showing up in my enemy's face and forcing them to deal with multiple threats right away. My goal is to track my progress of getting a fully painted 2000 point army of Blackmane's Great Company, including some support units to round out my force. Here is my list so far:

 

Ragnar Blackmane

5 PA-WG (not fully sure on how they will be equipped) - Drop Pod

9 GHs & 1 WGPL (PW & combi-melta) - CCWs, 1 MG, 1 PW - Drop Pod

9 GHs & 1 WGPL (PW & combi-plasma) - CCWs, 1 PG, 1 PW - Drop Pod

9 GHs & 1 WGPL (PW & combi-melta) - CCWs, 1 MG, 1 PW - Drop Pod

8 BCs & 1 WGPL (PW & combi-melta) - 1 flamer - Drop Pod

4 Skyclaws & 1 WGSL (PW & combi-melta) - 1 flamer

4 Swiftclaws & 1 WGBikeL (PW & combi-melta) - 1 flamer

5 LFs & 1 LFA - 4 MLs, 1 LC

1 Landspeeder - HB

5 Wolf Scouts - 4 sniper rifles, 1 HB

 

That's roughly 1500 points, depending on the wargear options.

 

I would like to include at least 1 pack of Wulfen and more HQs. I really liked the old Space Wolf rule of 1 HQ for every 750 points and would like to find a way to represent that, even if it's not as specific HQs but just modeling wise.

 

I have a few drop pods built already and I have 1 squad of GHs painted and I'm working on a second. I'll upload pictures after I get home from work and can find some. (Speaking of which, is there a thread someone can point me to concerning photographing minis, editing the photos, and uploading them here? Thanks in advance!)

 

 

[Valerian]

Welcome to the Fang, brother.  Generally we discuss army lists over in the dedicated Army List sub-forum, but since this is going to be your consolidated WIP thread, we can let that slide, as you'll no doubt be sharing everything about your own work (lists, thoughts, painting and modeling, etc.) within this one.  

 

I too am a Blackmanes player from way back, and am exceptionally excited about our new Legendary Great Company Formation.  There are several Blackmanes lists already up over in the army list subforum, including one that I posted, so you should go check out the discussions there.  

 

Since you're wanting to get your 2k point army up and painted, it'd be great if you could get some of your models bought and built early, then pledge them in the upcoming ETL painting challenge (more on that later).

 

I'll have to see if I can find you a link to some pointers on using the B&C gallery functionality.  I had explained it in the past, but can't find the thread that post is in right now.  

 

I'll provide some brief list feedback in a moment.

 

Valerian

[Valerian]

Ragnar Blackmane

5 PA-WG (not fully sure on how they will be equipped) - Drop Pod

No issues here. Do you expect Ragnar will join his Wolf Guard in the Pod, or go in with the Blood Claws?

 

9 GHs & 1 WGPL (PW & combi-melta) - CCWs, 1 MG, 1 PW - Drop Pod

9 GHs & 1 WGPL (PW & combi-plasma) - CCWs, 1 PG, 1 PW - Drop Pod

9 GHs & 1 WGPL (PW & combi-melta) - CCWs, 1 MG, 1 PW - Drop Pod

I'd recommend that you give each pack 2x Meltas or Plasma Guns, rather than just one each. Combined with the Combi-Weapons on each Pack's WGPL, that'll give you good volume of special weapon fire when you land. You may need to drop the CCWs to find enough points (but depends on the rest of your list). Also, I'd give one of your basic Hunters in each pack a "hidden" Power Axe, rather than the Power Sword; they strike at I1, but hit harder, and are hidden, so unlikely to be removed before they can get their attacks in. The WGPLs might get challenged, so sticking with the I4 Power Sword is probably smarter than going Axe with them. Or, you could save points and not give them a special close combat weapon at all, letting them do their primary damage with their Combi-Weapon on the drop, and not worrying too much about whether they fight in a challenge or not.

 

8 BCs & 1 WGPL (PW & combi-melta) - 1 flamer - Drop Pod

No issues here, but I see that you left some room in the Pod. Is it to fit in Ragnar, or another HQ choice once your list grows a little? I'd seriously consider adding a second Blood Claw pack in a Pod like this one, and dropping the Swift Claws pack, below. It maximizes the advantage of the Claws of Russ Drop Pod assault (with free Pods!), and gives you more bodies on the field. Plus one more reason that I'll mention below.

 

4 Skyclaws & 1 WGSL (PW & combi-melta) - 1 flamer

No issues here. Small unit that I'd try to keep safe and hide through most of the game. Will be good for hopping around in your backfield securing near-side objectives, and perhaps protecting your Wolf Scouts and Long Fangs.

 

4 Swiftclaws & 1 WGBikeL (PW & combi-melta) - 1 flamer

We've discussed this in other threads recently, but Swift Claws are a little suboptimal, because they don't get the off-hand weapon for the extra Attack in close combat. Otherwise, they'd be great. Instead, I'd consider dropping these and adding another Blood Claw pack in a Pod, as mentioned above. If you happen to already have the models, then you could just make these guys your Wolf Guard, but on Bikes instead of in a Pod. As Wolf Guard, they'll get the extra Attack, for a total of 4 on the charge, and you can mix up their gear with additional Combi-Weapons, Storm Shields, and/or special close combat weapons. They'd make a terrific Reserve unit (lots of Mobility, and hit hard in Close Combat). In this case Ragnar could just join a Blood Claw unit in a Pod, rather than join his Wolf Guard.

 

5 LFs & 1 LFA - 4 MLs, 1 LC

No real issues, but the unit might be a little points heavy. You could always drop a model or two in this pack to pick up extra goodies elsewhere in the army.

 

1 Landspeeder - HB

5 Wolf Scouts - 4 sniper rifles, 1 HB

No issues here. You need the Speeder to meet minimum core requirements, and it is cheap as chips. The Scouts will be good as a long-ranged Base of Fire.

 

I would like to include at least 1 pack of Wulfen and more HQs. I really liked the old Space Wolf rule of 1 HQ for every 750 points and would like to find a way to represent that, even if it's not as specific HQs but just modeling wise.

When you grow beyond 1,500, you can always add Ulrik from the Lords of the Fang section and add him in with one of your Blood Claws packs with room left in a Pod for him. He's a terrific support character with his Preferred Enemy bubble (and Stubborn bubble).

 

Fitting in a Wulfen Murderpack, to meet your Auxiliary requirement to get the benefit of the Wolf Claw Strike Force Detachment's command benefit is going to be a bit of a challenge with this setup, as you can't take any Fast Attack drop pods to put them in. They can't borrow your Long Fang's pod, so they'll likely have to hoof it across the board. It might not be a big deal, as your opponent will be dealing with the other 4 or 5 packs that drop down in front of his lines on turn 1, but it isn't optimal, and your attack will be out of synch. They also won't be in range to benefit any of your other units with their Curse table for a couple turns. I'd consider leaving out the Wulfen for now, and just adding Murderfang in a Pod to meet your Auxiliary, and he can drop Turn 1 with the rest of your force. He's not too expensive, and can take on whole squads of enemy forces by himself.

 

Best,

 

V

[alakinsky]

^{Thanks for the advice! I have a ton of models already built and unpainted that I will pledge in the ETL, whenever that is. I really appreciate the advice on the Blood Claws and the Skyclaws vs. Swiftclaws. I have a pack of bikes that I converted into snowmobiles using the old Ork bike track, scout bikes, Tau landing gear legs, and plasticard that I love. I was so wiped out after work last night that I crashed when I got home and didn't take any pictures. With your advice, though, I'm going to swap out the Swiftclaws and make them WG on bikes and then pick up another unit of BCs in a pod and leave room for Ulrik.}

^{I want to do an Ulrik conversion using some parts from Krom but also trying to get the Wolf Helm of Russ to be on Ulrik's head rather than in his hand. I don't like how static the new model is and I wish it were more dynamic. 20 years waiting for a new model and they give us a 2nd ed posed guy? I love the character of the model and the idea of him being in kind of the teacher/reviewer/leader pose is a cool idea, but this is a guy who was saluted by Angron himself after he single-handedly killed 3 Berzerkers. To me, that deserves more than an "I'm a Johnny Badass" pose and more of a "I'm a Johnny Badass that's wrecking your sh*t} " pose. Anyway, that's just me.

^{Thanks again!}

[alakinsky]

So, here's some of my WIP models to go with my Blackmanes.

 

Here's 5 GHs I painted about 4 years ago:

 

And here's the other 5:

 

And here's why I want to run either Swiftclaws or put the WG on bikes:

 

And just for gits and shiggles, here's a Canis:

 

And a Wolf Lord on TWC:

 

[alakinsky]

I, Alakinsky, rise to the challenge of E TENEBRAE LUX and vow to complete

9 Grey Hunters - 210 pts

1 WGPL, Power Sword

1 Melta gun

1 Rhino 35 points

from Codex: Space Wolves of a total value of 245 points on or before August 15th, 2016. Success will bring eternal glory to the Vlka Fenryka, and failure will doom me to bear the Badge of the Oathbreaker until the year-end.

And now my watch begins...