In the company of wolves - Grey Slayer #1 040718

[Honda]

First a stor-, uh, saga...

I've never much been interested in the Space Wolves. I have friends that fielded them, my oldest son grew up to love them, but there really wasn't much there for me.

Then "Prospero Burns" came out and everything I ever felt or thought I knew about the Wolves changed. Everything.

That book opened up the world of the Rout to me and the little modeler and storyteller inside of me I hardly knew where to start. When I heard that FW was going to come out with the IA book on the assault on Prospero, it seemed prudent to wait just a little bit to see what that entailed. I was quite enamored with the idea of a Wolves/Custodian/Sisters of Silence force.

So I waited and collected bits. And waited. And waited.

Eventually, the fire burned down, I became less and less interested in the HH, nor did it take over the world, other projects came up, yet the embers were still there in the ashes...waiting.

Years passed. I continued to read Prospero Burns. I'm now on my 4th or 5th reading as I type.

I should also mention that our group is very much immersed in Narrative gaming and we do have an ongoing story arc in progress. It revolves around a Black Templar crusade, allied with Grey Knights, joined by Custodes, and a few other allies.

Between the Dark Imperium story line, the Custodes codex, and the soon to be released Space Wolves codex, I felt like now was the time to blow on those embers and see what kind of heat came forth.

There were certain aspects of the Rout that have always intrigued me, in particular the Wulfen (I was there when the Eye of Terror brought them forth), Wolf Guard terminators, and Wolf Scouts. I see a certain sort of synergy there and those three types of units are what I intend to explore in this effort.

I'm not really planning on building an army (Famous Last Words #229), so I see a couple units of Wulfen, a couple of units of Terminator Wolf Guard, a unit of Scouts, and eventually a Leviathan. This force will mostly be an allied force associated with my Templars and give me the chance to model up some ideas I've seen over the years that I want to attempt.

There is a lot of talent in this forum and the likes of Dantay, Maverik, and others have fanned my creative flames and given me something to aspire to. Hopefully, my limited efforts will be worthy of your esteemed consideration.

Some of you will remember this image:

This was before we got skinny legged dog boys with ice fingers. I will attempt to return my Wulfen back to their original concept. The above image is always how I saw them and so that is what I will attempt.

My Wulfen will be called, the Ulfhednar. For those unfamiliar with the name, it means:

in: Ulfhednar.

[MaveriK]

Beautiful work and nicely executed my friend. Your wolves will be of worth both on the tabletop and on the imaginations of many. May your sagas be great, make us proud and bring on the murder-make!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job. Will you use the models as Wulfen in-game?

[Vantius]

What bits did you use for these conversions?

[Honda]

Will you use the models as Wulfen in-game?

 

 

Yes, I will. Assuming that Wulfen are Elites, then I'd most likely field this force as a Vanguard detachment, though a Battalion is also possible.

 

What bits did you use for these conversions?

 

 

Ulfe #1 is made from the Age of Sigmar Slaughter Priest that came with the WD, a pair of terminator lightning claws, and a Wulfen head.

 

Ulfe #2 is made from a Primaris Sergeant, Wulfen head and arms, the head piece from a Necron wraith and some bit from an Eldar Crimson Hunter cockpit.

 

They weren't that hard to put together and worth the effort if you are considering.

 

Glad you guys like them.

 

Cheers,

[Honda]

Hail brothers, here's Ulfe #3

As you can see, I'm still fiddling with the angle of the thunder hammer. Also, I haven't glued the shield on the arm yet in case it looks like it will interfere with painting.

I have Ulfe #4 in progress and a potential Grey Slayer or two, based on a Primaris Intercessor, on the work table.

So I've been digging deeper into the lore of the 13th Company, which I am really enjoying. It seems like a natural for what I was planning on building, except I haven't seen anything from the Eye of Terror list that indicates that Wolf Guard can be included. That would lead me to think that 13th Co doesn't do WG in the upcoming codex. I think I can get around that by creating a brigade and vanguard detachment, but I'll just have to wait and see.

Actually, in the current/existing Wulfen codex thingie, can termies and Wulfen be in the same formation and operate as a 13th Co. formation, or do people just take the formations they want and call it "13th Co."?

Another interesting tidbit is the heavy use of Rune Priests to keep the Wulfen focused and I was wondering if in the new codex we see a similar, yet counter arrangement as the Thousand Sons, with a Rune Priest attached to each unit of Wulfen. That would seem like an interesting unit and combination of abilities.

Anyway, I can see the first pack of Wulfen coming together soon and I'm looking forward to getting some color on them.

Cheers,

[Kasper_Hawser]

I really like the first one with the oversized gauntlets, which i know is from the terminator kit wolf claws. It reminds me of Kratos from God of War, and that guy just reeks of testosterone.

 

Second guy looks a little...... peaceful to be honest. Almost like he is in the midst of a discussion instead of a slaughter. Still nice looking though.

 

for the third guy, may I suggest he holds the hammer pointing downwards at an angle, while the face looks more to the left over the shield. Basically as though he is defending rather than charging with the hammer, which isn't a bad pose either. Just my suggestion.

[Honda]

Well, here we go again. Leading off tonight's show is Ulfhednar #4 featuring the ever popular "Platoon" pose along with the "I told you I'd tear your head off if you said that again!"

And branching out some after doing some more research on 13th Company. So here is my first Grey Slayer.

I've also started thinking about a Rune Priest. I want to give him a very "shamanistic" look, so lots of beads, pelts and stuff so he looks very intimidating and not so clean.

Also, some ideas for Ulfe #5 are floating to the surface.

Cheers,

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Ulfhednar looks great! What did the Daemon (or mutant, or xeno) say to make him tear off the horned head?

[Honda]

What did the Daemon (or mutant, or xeno) say to make him tear off the horned head?

 

 

He said, "Your shoelace is untied, Hah, made ya look. I hate that joke."

[Honda]

"I recognize my failure and will take steps to correct"

 

I am working on a Rune Priest. I have a right arm lined up, know what I'm going to do with the left.

 

My question is, I was going to use a GK Stave as a basis for his Rune staff, cutting off the GK skull and halo and replacing it with something suitably wolfy, like the wolf skull bit from on top of Greigor's backpack. However, I was going to leave the power cable bit on and then I began to wonder.

 

Could a Rune Priest's staff weapon be built from force weapon components or should it only be from natural elements, like wood, bone, etc?

 

Thanx in advance...

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

Personally I'd go with more natural elements, but I could see an argument made for runed up weapons (the 13th Company Rune Priest remains one of my favorite GW models ever made)

[Dantay VI]

More natural elements would be good, however you could go down the force weapon route.

 

Something made from scavenged T-Son sorceror staffs or the fact that the SW's were only 2 centuries old when the 113th disappeared into the eye of terror. The rune priest could be Terran and his staff, Terran in origin. Therefore his staff is not made of Fenrisian iron-oak, or it was hand crafted by the rune priest, therefore lacks some of the accoutrements seen on his younger 40K kin.

 

Njals staff was reputed to be so powerful because of its age and the users who preceded him iirc

[Honda]

Rune Priest? Never heard of him. :P

Ok, here's the first of my Ulfhednar. I think I like him. The wolf pelt breaks things up and I'm pretty happy with how that turned out. The armor was a pain because I decided that I didn't want a uniform grey, I wanted blotchy, beat up "I've been wearing you for 10,000 years" armor. So I put some thin darker grey (VMC Black Grey) mottling on, then wanted it to light up a tad, so I did the same thing with VMC Lt. Grey.

I think I got close to what I was after. The overall effect is more noticeable on the Grey Slayer that I'm also working on. The downside is that it makes painting the armor a bigger chore.

I'm not sure I'm going to put them all on this kind of base, so it's just a proxy. Right now I'm leaning more towards a lighter desert effect, more Prospero-ish.

Anyway, let me know what you guys think.

Cheers,

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Did he fashion the left pauldron from a Necron war machine's wreckage? That looks AWESOME, but I hope his use of Living Metal won't end up biting him in the posterior (literally so, if a Necron leader is able to remotely take control of the pauldron, reshape it into a weapon, and then order the Living Metal to attack the one who dares take liberties with Necron relics).

[Honda]

(literally so, if a Necron leader is able to remotely take control of the pauldron, reshape it into a weapon, and then order the Living Metal to attack the one who dares take liberties with Necron relics).

 

 

 

Gah, I didn't even  think of that and I should know better. I was just thinking, "Oh, that looks kind of cool and adds a bit of story.

[Krakendoomcool]

This looks great Honda, particularly like the dark colour scheme. It is far removed from the Thundercats look. More of a natural look than that cartoony look. He looks scary.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

 

(literally so, if a Necron leader is able to remotely take control of the pauldron, reshape it into a weapon, and then order the Living Metal to attack the one who dares take liberties with Necron relics).

 

 

Gah, I didn't even think of that and I should know better. I was just thinking, "Oh, that looks kind of cool and adds a bit of story.

If it's any consolation, the AdMech and the Iron Hands make the same damn decision all the damn time.

 

At least he's not wearing something Chaos-tainted.

[bloodhound23]

I do remember that iconic image, and cheers for you to trying to go for that old-school Wulfen feel. I think you've done a great job so far. 

[Krakendoomcool]

Love Prospero Burns, my first foray into reading 40k/30k. So it really suited me personally the way the book starts at the Fenrisian Villager level and builds up. Let's you appreciate how badass the Space Marines are compared to regular humans.

What a super team Rune Priest led Wulfen units would be! I too look at those Sorcerer Rubric units with a hint of jealousy.

Good to see you using the artwork for inspiration. So many people must do it this way.

With regards Rune Priests I've definitely gone down the 40k path. I.e. it's a force weapon in the 41st millenium so it's gonna have cables and all sorts. Tech to augment the psychic ability. Don't know if this is fluff accurate for Rune Priests or not, it's my interpretation. I also have an Ork army so same there with the Weirdboy. If i don't make it look like it's tech augmented I've basically got a Shaman from Warhammer Fantasy.

This guy is my long serving Rune Priest. He led the line for years before I made my first Wolf Lord.

I'm really annoyed with myself on this one. He had a staff with another wolf skull on the front face (3 altogether). It had some tassles and lucky charms, rune stones etc dangling from the back. When 6th edition (i think) came out suddenly a staff was terrible when facing other Terminators, which he seemed to do every game (those persky Thousand Sons sorcerer lords clad in TDA). So I chopped it off for a force axe. Now in 8th it wouldn't matter, could have kept the staff...c'est la vie.

Ok here is another one. This is if you've just written an army list that contains a power armoured Rune Priest that you don't actually have.

He's fully made from Wolf Pack parts, your basic sprue. Even the psychic hood is just a space marine shoulder pad with a couple of semi circles gouged out. I really like the imagery of swinging a two handed Rune Sword, but I also like casting a spell with the hand. As he's fully made from Grey Hunter parts I need some way of indicating he's actually a Rune Priest.

Guitar wire or tentacle maker green stuff will do the wires down the torso as all librarians seem to have, as seen on the terminator one. You could totally go more shamanic/feral especially if yours are 13th company Rune Priests.

[Dantay VI]

Rune Priest? Never heard of him.

Ok, here's the first of my Ulfhednar. I think I like him. The wolf pelt breaks things up and I'm pretty happy with how that turned out. The armor was a pain because I decided that I didn't want a uniform grey, I wanted blotchy, beat up "I've been wearing you for 10,000 years" armor. So I put some thin darker grey (VMC Black Grey) mottling on, then wanted it to light up a tad, so I did the same thing with VMC Lt. Grey.

I think I got close to what I was after. The overall effect is more noticeable on the Grey Slayer that I'm also working on. The downside is that it makes painting the armor a bigger chore.

I'm not sure I'm going to put them all on this kind of base, so it's just a proxy. Right now I'm leaning more towards a lighter desert effect, more Prospero-ish.

Anyway, let me know what you guys think.

Cheers,

Absolutely phenomenal work there Honda.. Really like it

[Honda]

"It takes a lot of discipline to be this grey" - #14 from "Things Amlodhi Never Said" - K. Hawser

Ok, quite a bit of fiddly work done to get my first Grey Slayer to this point. He's pretty close, but there's some touch ups needed (jewel in the crown/tiara). I like how he's a mass of grey from a normal distance, but as you get closer more details that make him an individual start to surface. That is the overall effect I want my wolf horde to convey. That is how they were described in "A Thousand Sons" and "The Burning of Prospero".

On to pics...also, blotchy grey is blotchy.

Yeah, that 13th Co insignia was entertaining. Fortunately, I get some more practice before too long.

Next up...not sure. I'm a wolf so wherever my nose leads me. :)

Cheers,

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

I like him, he's very brutal looking.

 

I may have some old 13th Company decals if you want them. 

[Honda]

Ok, some clean up around the face and crown. I may do some touch up to the chipping, but he's farther along than he was and he looks better.

I like him, he's very brutal looking.

Seriously, thank you for saying that.

I am striving for a "brutal" look. I want my wolves to not be pretty or cartoon-ish, I want them to look like how they are described in the books. Others look down at them because of their perceived barbarism, but there is a savageness and brutality to them that I'm trying to capture. That's part of what is taking so long with each figure, trying to impart some brutality to them.

It's quite a challenge.

I may have some old 13th Company decals if you want them.

Thank you for the offer, but I prefer to paint my insignia, even if they don't look as good as decals. Some of that has to do with maintaining the desaturated look to the figure. Decals are usually too bright for me and the other part is that I don't want their iconography to look like it came off of the Artificiers workshop. If anything, I want it to look like two guys without art degrees are finger painting their stuff on because that's the only option they have.

It also gives my limited abilities an excuse. :P

Cheers,

[Krakendoomcool]

Your really ploughing your own furrow here. Totally different. I’m getting the impression of a group of savages hunting by moonlight.

 

Im slightly lost on the armour. You said it’s blotchy grey. I can see maybe red and white little lines too. Is this battle damage, warp taint, lack of resources in the warp for repair and replace, camo?