Making all twelve Wolf Lords - Grand Annulus Finished!

[Krakendoomcool]

Hello fellow Space Wolf enthusiasts,

For myself and a lot of others the idea for making all the wolf lords represented on the Grand Annulus has been around as long as the grand Annulus. It was a fantasy. A lot of those Wolf Lords only had a couple of sentences dedicated to them. That didn’t stop me wondering what they might look like, what equipment they might have, how their Great Company would fight on the battle field etc.

The release of ‘Curse of the Wulfen’ bridged the gap between the far off dream and something achievable. Not only were there two great interpretations of previously unseen (officially) Wolf Lords but there were rules to play as four of the great companies. There was a lot more info in there about the Wolf Lords and Great Companies.

Long story short. I’ve been making those Wolf Lords. I’ve seen a few people attempt this. I’d love to know if anyone else has made them all. I’d love to see your guys versions of these Wolf Lords. I’ve made all twelve and have been painting them. I’ve painted ten so far. Would love to know if you think I’ve made them how you imagined or I’m way off or whatever.

The new codex is coming. There may be a new Grand Annulus in there. I’ve seen Bulveye (Wolf Lord 13 - I haven’t made him - yet) talk on bolter and chainsword. Is he coming back do we think, is this based on rumours? If there is a new Grand Annulus coming I want to show you my wolf lords before they’re all out of date. Spoiler alert, I know a couple are dead already.

Essentially I want to show you my Wolf Lords. I want to see your Wolf Lords. I want to know what’s happening going forwards. I’m very interested in the Wolf Lords and the Great Companies.

Edited April 29, 2020 by Krakendoomcool

[Honda]

Pics or it didn't happen. ;)

 

Would love to see what you've done, especially since I'm just a new wolfling.

[Boytoy]

I'm quite interested to see how your versions differ from the conversions offered in Curse of the Wulfen. 

[Krakendoomcool]

Hello fellow newbie, I'm new also (to posting on here).

Pics would massively improve this thread, great idea. As I'm new to this I will attempt to put some pics up here. I'm guessing you would prefer pics not links so that is what I will try and do now. I'm no Van Saar when it comes to tech though.

I hope that worked. For fun can you guess which 4 Wolf Lords i'm representing in those pictures?

I will be updating my Gallery to get them all on there soon also.

I will post some pics of Egil Ironwolf and Svenbloodhowl for you to have a look at.

In the meantime for anyone really interested I've started a blog chronicling the work in progress of these models. Im explaining in laborious detail the conversion work and why I made the decisions I made for the various Wolf Lords. So you can check that out here:

www.krakendoomcool.wordpress.com

I'm interested in other people's Wolf Lords. You don't to a project like this without getting a bit obsessive about the subject matter.

Any Bulveye conversions I'd be super into. Or any tips on how to make him. I'm struggling to get him going.

Any of the other named Wolf Lords, I would love to see your versions.

Any Wolf Lords at all. Conversions are more that welcome!

[Krakendoomcool]

Cheers for the like Honda,

Ok here is Egil Ironwolf and Sven Bloodhowl for you Boytoy:

What do you think of them? Not a massive deviation from the ones offered in curse of the Wulfen. I basically still wanted them to be recognisable as those characters. I know the Wolf wings are going to divide opinion but in an army of Firehowlers where everyone has a jump pack he needs to stand out somehow.

Here's Harald I had a lot of fun painting this guy:

And here's another new one:

One of the big challenges with doing these guys was trying to make sure that all twelve look significantly different and that they represent the character they are based on. If you look at one of them and know who I'm trying to express then I've achieved what I set out to do.

[NKWulf]

damn good job

[PeteySödes]

These are great! I haven't made a WL yet, just the various priests and a WGBL. Looking forward to getting to it though, hopefully I can make one as characterful as these!

[Wispy]

bran (damn, you matched FW's prototype really well)

ragnar

erik

engir krakendoom

 

quite like krakendoom and erik, btw. 

 

dunno who the last guy with the beard is, with the combi plas. The terminator armour makes me want to say Bjorn Stormwolf, but the lore describes him, as heavily scarred. Gunnar Red Moon then? Has a long fang look to him.

Edited March 27, 2018 by Wispy

[Honda]

So far, these two are my favorites, because <two chainaxes> for the win and <winding up to blast someone into the Underverse>. But they're all really great.

[Krakendoomcool]

Thanks everyone.

FearPeteySodes:

Your WGBL looks awesome. I mistook him for a Wolf Lord. He is a good Ragnar proxy for a game too. If that's your WGBL then i'm really looking forward to your Wolf Lord. I must check out your priests.

Wispy:

Great detective work. I was gutted as I'm sure many of us were that Bran was never released. But we are blessed (by the allfather) to have that pic. So that is obviously what I based mine on. I'm super pleased you got Engir Krakendoom. And your right about the Long Fang influence for Gunnar, that is what I was going for. That and the company badge was my style inspiration. Both those guys are described as big from my memory so I can see where the Bjorn idea comes from. I didn't know about the scars on Bjorn (i knew this thread was going to turn up great info). Can you remember where that comes from? I can then do some more research and further conversion/paint work if necessary.

Honda:

Those two are my favourites too.

Here's some more pics of the details on Gunnar's long fang and company badge influences and Engir's sea monster trophies...

Thanks for your feedback.

[Wispy]

 

 

I didn't know about the scars on Bjorn (i knew this thread was going to turn up great info). Can you remember where that comes from? I can then do some more research and further conversion/paint work if necessary.

i got it from lexicanum, which they cite War Zone Fenris: Wrath of Magnus, apparently its a more recent development where he got digested by a Tzneetch daemon and had to cut his way out. Super scarred by the stomach acid.

 

Before that, I remember one of the codexes calling one of the wolf lords ugly. I thought it might be Bjorn but i can't recall.

[Boytoy]

Absolutely amazing stuff here. Your free handing is so clean and crisp, and your Krakendoom is breathtaking. Love all the sea trophies he's got. I also really like what you did with Bloodhowl's base. Great way to give him some height

[Krakendoomcool]

Thanks for the info Wispy. I will be borrowing my Thousand Sons player friend's copy of Wrath of Magnus asap. I guess I've got the option of pre and post stomach acid incident for my Bjorn. Here's a look at pre (half painted):

Although while digging through my photos I've found an earleir version which looks quite ferocious too:

If anyone could get out of an enormous daemon stomach its this guy! As he likes loud noises I've gone for the Brian Blessed head option from the thunderwolves kit.

I'm getting tempted to chop him up again. Although I don't know if any of you have attempted to convert models holding two handed weapons before, it's a nightmare of tangents and points in a 3D space. Let me know what you guys think of these two options. Also the acid scar idea.

Thanks for the like Honda (newbie - I mean moderati)

Thanks Boytoy. Krakendoom's company badge is slightly crushed in as I used one of the shoudler pads with a little detail on the bottom rather than a plainer one with more space, it's a touch like a pitbull rather than a wolf. I've been putting them all on jagged rocks at various angles. The rocks are made from plasticard, foamboard and polyfiller. With Sven I thought he could be jumping off the rock face.

For completeness here is the other Wolf Lords to make up the twelve.

That's the twelve then. I'm halfway through painting Bran and Bjorn although may alter Bjorn further depending on what we think.

[MaveriK]

Warlords of Fenris. Nicely done!

[Guest]

Shouldn't this be 13 now that Bulveye is back?

[Krakendoomcool]

Cheers Maverik, FearPeteySodes and DantayVI (I'm slowing getting through your thread btw).

Cheers Jarl Caldersson. So Bulveye IS back then. Is this in a novel at this point, which one(s) I'd be interested. I want to get upto speed. Do we think he's gonna be in the next codex. That would be pretty epic. Russ, Bulveye and the 13th Company all coming back.

I'd been considering making Bulveye as I had a blank space on my little Grand Annulus mock up...

My research (at the time) had told me he was the Wolf Lord in charge of the 13th company when they disappeared. So my interest was really just more theoretically he could come back. If he did what would he look like, I could make him.

As the Wulfen had just come out of the warp at the time I was thinking maybe a sort of Wulfen look, half dressed armour etc. But I don't know if he has gone Wulfen or what state he is in now that he's back.

Was considering using this as a starting point for Bulveye. This shot is me just doing a size comparison.

This one would be a pretty ambitious conversion. There is a well known piece of art of Bulveye fighting a Thousand Son. He looks a bit like this Khorne guy and has a double handed axe.

I'm thinking now maybe I should be looking at the 30k range and using those parts for a Bulveye conversion. Would give him a different look to the other 12.

I would appreciate any tips, ideas, pics or comments on a possible Bulveye conversion or rumours.

[Guest]

One of the Old Guard broke away from his pack, his face as craggy as the bedrock of the Fang, beard and hair flowing in unkempt waves. The axe in his hand smouldered as blood steamed from its blade.

‘Wolf Lord Bulveye?’ the Rune Priest called out.

‘You must be Njal Stormcaller,’ he replied, voice touched with hoarseness. ‘The one Halvar told me about. From the future. A strange saga – one that I still find hard to believe.’

 

-Ashes of Prospero, pg 262 on ebook.

[Krakendoomcool]

Sweet! Cheers Jarl Caldersson. That's a bit of a teaser of him coming back. I'm super pumped for him returning now.

[Jackalwolf]

Excellent project! A true labor of love. You did forget one though :)

[Krakendoomcool]

Ha thanks Grieux, although I don’t think I can get it right. In the timeline when Bulveye returns, two of my existing ones are dead by that point.

 

But I’m going to continue to make him. The savage, 30k, lost in the warp, 13th company Wolf Lord idea is too good to pass up. After all making Wolf Lords is something I love to do. I clearly do.

 

Been thinking about the ashes of Prospero (I’m going to buy that book ASAP, Jarl Caldersson should be getting a cut of the sales). Wondering now if the return of Bulveye and 13th company is a lot more likely than Russ returning for the new codex. It’s a huge event, and they can then do another huge event by bringing Russ back in the future.

[Ryltar Thamior]

Looking forward to seeing what you do with that AoS khornate figure! And honestly, this thread is full of win. I keep scrolling back up and looking at your efforts and marvelling. The paintjobs include some very unique and characterful elements, and you've done a superlative job iwth posing and really 'bringing things to life' at the assembly stage. Bravo. 

I'm particularly taken with that Ragnar - as it nicely 'updates' the old metal miniature with a more lifelike pose whilst still uber-recognizeably being the same 'figure' so to speak. And a very nice, characterful addition with the Corsair parts [and shield sculpting] on Krakendoom.

Have you perhaps considered doing your own versions of other characters and suchlike from the Wolves' dramatis personae? I'd be rather interested to see your take on a rune-priest or an iron priest for instance - or, for that matter, how you'd render Njal and such (and, for that matter, what your imagination can do with the concept of thralls and other native Fenrisians]. I'm also uber-eager to see your take on a 30k-era Wolf Lord [even if he's actually 'flashed forward' into the 42nd [or whatever we're up to now] millennium :P] 

Also, I know that true-scaling isn't everybody's horn of mjod, but I'd be genuinely interested in seeing you take on something in that vein as you expand your seriously characterful hero-driven Wolf project [which is, of course, exactl how Space Wolves *should* be in my mind - 'heroes' , one and all]. 

Pursuant to your request to see peoples' wolf-lords .. while this chap wasn't initially modelled as one [instead having a narrative role in our ongoing Horus Heresy era shenanigans], he's done duty on the table-top as Logan Grimnir, and imo definitely has the stature for it :P 



Further pictures available here [i don't think I've got any painted pictures of him on-hand, unfortunately - and he's presently at a mate's place following a game]; and there may be some inspirational value from some of our other efforts in this area [disregard paintjobs - i've .. improved a reasonable amount over the intervening year or so!] - such as the Huscarla [because obviously, your next step is making some stunning looking Wolf Guard to go with the Wolf Lords you've done such a stirling job with :D ], the chap with the throwing axe, and this lone-wolf. 

With regard to your Wulfen project ... take a look at this miniature from our Unification Wars project. This'd definitely get you your [literally] half-armoured, half bare aesthetic - as well as a significant power, bulk, and mass to the resultant miniature. 

I'm also presuming that as applies 13th Company, you've considered dipping in to the *old* look for them from the Eye of Terror campaign, with the mis-matched hodge-podge of scavenged armour marks, 'liberated' traitor plate, etc. etc. etc.

And, for that matter, the imo far superior look of the old metal Wulfen as compared to the modern plastics. 

Anyway, that's enough out of me. I hope I didn't overstep the mark with any of my suggestions or by posting the above image rather than a simple link to a thread. 

Keep up the excellent work! 

[n.b: I don't believe in credit-stealing. All teh above-cited miniatures were the result of a collaborative process between myself and my partner-in-artistry, Umbral. By which I mean we each came up with a whole swag of "would it be cool if we" ideas, batted them around, and then he executed them. Although the vast majority of my more recent power-armoured output, which is building up to a Gothi, is largely if not always entirely own handiwork]

[Honda]

Have you perhaps considered doing your own versions of other characters and suchlike from the Wolves' dramatis personae? I'd be rather interested to see your take on a rune-priest or an iron priest for instance - or, for that matter, how you'd render Njal and such (and, for that matter, what your imagination can do with the concept of thralls and other native Fenrisians]. I'm also uber-eager to see your take on a 30k-era Wolf Lord [even if he's actually 'flashed forward' into the 42nd [or whatever we're up to now] millennium

 

 

This gets my vote :)

[Krakendoomcool]

Thanks Ryltar Thamior,

 

A big part of doing these Wolf Lords was trying to emphasise the differences between them. I’m really pleased it comes across.

 

I’m pretty explicit on the blog when I’ve taken someone else’s idea. That Ragnar is Tommie Soule’s (he is in the forge section painting an nmm Guilliman right now) Ragnar recreated by me. The two key ideas he had that I think I never would have had are the use of the original Ragnar’s (‘luckily’ I’m old enough to have a lead Ragnar from first time around) shoulder pad. The other key piece being the use of the Sternguard head. Ragnar was my first Wolf Lord and I wouldn’t have thought of these things back then.

 

The Wolf Lords vary in how many stolen ideas they have. Sven is basically a collage of several other peoples ideas. Where as some like Krakendoom are more my original ideas. I could put the work in progress and list of inspiration up on here if people are interested for the converted Wolf Lords.

 

I have done other Space Wolves. These Wolf Lords are the latest and I’d say I’ve been getting better. Being a Space Wolf player you get so many bits I basically took the 5th edition codex and wondered if I could just bits box all the characters a lot of them didn’t have models back then (don’t get too excited they aren’t on this level). I then wondered if I could just bits box a Space Wolf for each piece of artwork in that codex. So I have some stuff, I generally find in the time it takes to do one thing I’ve planned ten more things. But like the Wolf Lords some of the models work as they are.

 

Truescaling looks great, it’s not something I’ve tried myself. I’ve got enough on my plate with my whole army on 25mm bases.

 

Your Truescale Logan is great, he’s definitely the biggest Wolf in the Pack. I’ve had a quick look through your stuff. I particularly like the truescale lone wolf with Arjac’s legs. Also the leaping Dark Eldar reminded me of my Sven.

 

Of course you haven’t overstepped the mark. This is actually the kind of response I had in mind when I started the thread. Although I’ve got ten done I’m still making them and still making decisions. For example Bjorn as he is or go back to the earlier version with the axe out to the side. What colour hair for Bran, do I paint him with a redmaw(blood on his chops) etc.

 

Bulveye is one I feel like I’m way off beng comfortable with. The half armoured look is extremely hard to pull off imo. You’ve done a great half armoured model btw. I’m leaning towards Cataphractii terminator armour. If I give him a double headed chainaxe he is going to start looking like Bjorn...

 

I’ve been on here (b&c) two weeks. It’s great and a real eye opener. I’m going to keep putting Space Wolves up.

 

Honda: I’ll get some Rune Priests pics up (somewhere on b&c). Don’t expect the kind of effort as these Wolf Lords. Although look at Kjarl Grimblood. I modelled him so he could be used as a Rune Priest counts as. He has the gift (keep it under your hat).

[Ryltar Thamior]

Something you might like to consider as applies runepriest conversions - or, for that matter, more 'interesting' WOlf Lords [not as actual wargear, but you konw ... aesthetics] - is how to render their Choosers of the Slain. I mean, there's the 'traditional' psyber-eagle approach as seen on the original Njal model and such; however coz Rule Of Nordic Symbolism, I reckon a raven would be more fitting. Or, for that matter ... two :P 

In which case, the rather large one from the Empire GEneral plastic kit shield might be viable. Although I'm personally looking at doing something with the razorwing flock from the DE range; and, for that matter, the hunting hawk from the Deathwatch White Scar biker. 

Also, I hope you didn't think i was making an accusation RE "credit-stealing"! I sincerely apologize if that's the implication that was taken from my post's disclaimer; I just put that there in strict application to my own bits and pieces because I'd feel guilty if I didn't acknowledge my comrade. Nothing to do with your work. 

Although I'd personally be interested in seeing more of what goes into your creative process, and if you've done the leg-work to find cool projects that're worth taking inspiration from then hey - it makes my research efforts that much more efficient if you're posting it :P 

I've also found hat WIP posting is quite handy; as the people both here and on Ammobunker are surprisingly good at seeing stuff i might have missed and offering suggestions for improvement *before* I then notice the same stuff while painting lol. 

 

[Krakendoomcool]

I’ve got that raven from the white scars deathwatch guy. The white scar was an early failed Engir Krakendoom (on bike). I’ve seen people do birds flying around, it can look good. Lost a bit of interest in the chooser of the slain after it was no longer needed as a model on the battlefield. But your right, still a good aesthetic.

 

I realised you were talking about your model your friend made, but it did remind me I needed to mention where my ideas came from. I’d had a couple of compliments about Ragnar that suggested I was getting all the credit.

 

I’ll do some WIP posts. It will highlight the other projects I’d found. I’d been assuming everyone had seen everything already. Then again, I hadn’t seen all the great space wolves right here on bolter and chainsword. If I had you’d see my Wolf Lords looking like collages of all the Wolves in this forum.