Fluff lesson

[UniWolf]

So I'm a pretty new player (about a year) and mainly chose to play/collect space wolves due to their apparel and style of fighting (not afraid to use a lascannon and loves a bit of close combat), but I don't know much the fluff as wasn't previously interested, but now I am. I know it will take reams of paper to explain everything to me so can anyone give me a list of books (in order preferably) to explain everything from the HH to present day? or feel free if you want to explain everything here.

 

[Karhedron]

These 2 sites will give you a good primer.

 

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Space_Wolves

 

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Space_Wolves

 

Space Wolves are one of the 9 "First Founding" Chapters. These are the Chapters that inherited the identities of the 9 Legions who remained loyal to the Emperor during the Horus Heresy. Despite similarities in equipment, they are organised quite differently to most other Chapters in the Imperium. This is due to their unique geneseed, the character of their homeworld and the influence of their Primarch, Leman Russ. The Space Wolves do not follow the Codex Astartes (the battle manual that defines how most other Chapters are organised and how they fight).

 

Space Wolf fluff has been revised and updated many times over the years in various books so if you come across people discussing apparently contradictory plot points, do not be too surprised.

[Quixus]

Karhedronuk gave a good summary.

 

I don't remember reading about a predilection for lascannons though, and they aren't the dangerous weapons either. Plasma weaponry was/is the dangerous one.

[Arentius]

Karhedronuk gave a good summary.

 

I don't remember reading about a predilection for lascannons though, and they aren't the dangerous weapons either. Plasma weaponry was/is the dangerous one.

 

If my memory isn't failing me the space wolves are the ones that invented the Predator Annihilator and it became so popular that other chapters started using it and the tech priests gave up calling it Heresy and said "oh yes...the STC said you can do this"

[Kasper_Hawser]

 

Karhedronuk gave a good summary.

 

I don't remember reading about a predilection for lascannons though, and they aren't the dangerous weapons either. Plasma weaponry was/is the dangerous one.

 

If my memory isn't failing me the space wolves are the ones that invented the Predator Annihilator and it became so popular that other chapters started using it and the tech priests gave up calling it Heresy and said "oh yes...the STC said you can do this"

 

 

Not sure about this, but I do remember at one point Space Wolves could use a specific brand of Leman Russ tank. A lot of veterans seem to pine for that tank back. The tank is named after our Primarch after all.

 

Here is a short summary for my part:

 

Primarch: Leman Russ

Legion Number: 6 or VI

Chapter Master - Logan Grimnar

Homeworld : Fenris, icy planet of mostly oceans, lots of sea monsters and giant fauna (Bears, Elk, and of course, Wolves)

Number of Great Companies - 12 at most, the 13th is famously MIA, some have returned but only the feral ones known as Wulfen.

Number of troops in great companies - Anything from 50 to 200, the Wolves don't pay much attention to the codex, although they do read it apparently when they have time.

Style of combat: Anything you want, the Wolves have it, from pure mechanized Ironwolves, to wolf wolf wolf wolf and more wolf Deathwolves. But as a chapter, they prefer to rip and tear with their chainswords but only if it best option, they don't blindly charge into combat.

Traditional rival: Dark Angels, relationship can be cold or warm depending which Wolf Lord is dealing with them. Ragnar has a friendly relationship with one Company Master at least. After any campaign fought together, traditional in universe as well as tabletop, to have a champion duel each other (not supposed to be lethal but it happens).

[Karhedron]

Not sure about this, but I do remember at one point Space Wolves could use a specific brand of Leman Russ tank. A lot of veterans seem to pine for that tank back. The tank is named after our Primarch after all.

Yes, we used to be able to field the Leman Russ Exterminator (the autocannon version) in 3rd edition IIRC. I still have one in my collection.

 

It was not great and is still one of the weaker variants of the chassis IIRC but it was a cool and unique thing to have. You can field one again in 8th (albeit at BS3+) since we can currently soup without much in the way of penalties but I have not found it worth doing. If we could run the standard battle cannon Russ, that would be a tasty addition.

[Kasper_Hawser]

 

Not sure about this, but I do remember at one point Space Wolves could use a specific brand of Leman Russ tank. A lot of veterans seem to pine for that tank back. The tank is named after our Primarch after all.

Yes, we used to be able to field the Leman Russ Exterminator (the autocannon version) in 3rd edition IIRC. I still have one in my collection.

 

It was not great and is still one of the weaker variants of the chassis IIRC but it was a cool and unique thing to have. You can field one again in 8th (albeit at BS3+) since we can currently soup without much in the way of penalties but I have not found it worth doing. If we could run the standard battle cannon Russ, that would be a tasty addition.

 

 

Good stuff, although would have looked odd compared to the usual SM armoury due to the non-rhino chasis design of the Leman Russ. And I guess dakka wasn't so over the board back in that edition.

 

Back to OP, touching on the Wolves during the horus heresy is quite a hot potato due to many Black Library authors having a curious take on the Space Wolves, starting with Dan Abnett in Prospero Burns. However, without going into the what and whys of the Legion, let me describe salient features of what HAPPENED that is undisputed from what I know of the timeline.

 

1) Earliest thing I can remember - The Campaign of Dulan. This is the infamous double team between the Space Wolves and Dark Angels against a human empire that refused to join the Imperium. Most of what you hear is still true, the fluff didn't change for the most part, Lion "sort " of kill stealed from Leman Russ, Russ got angry, they dueled and then brawled, Russ started laughing, Lion punched his lights out. Every thing else that happened in between, 

 

Best Source: Primarch novel Leman Russ. Also virtually every Dark Angel and Space Wolves codex refers to this incident.

 

2) Burning of Prospero: hoooo boy, where do I start without starting a raging discussion that still has no conclusion? I think I'll stick to the broadest details:

  - Wolves were ordered by the Emperor to arrest the Magnus the Red and probably his Thousand Sons to answer for ..... Magnus basically sticking his nose into the Emperor's webway project and unleashing virtual hell in the palace

  - Somewhere along the line (and this is where I'll get flamed or this thread spirals out of control, I pray not, I implore most of you not to do this, just saying what i believe), Horus changed the orders from ARREST to DESTROY the Thousand sons.

  - Somehow, the Custodes and Sisters of Silence detachment which were following the Space Wolves did not question this order or verify it.

  - Next, the whole cluster nonsense happened. Space Wolves fought, TS fought back, Custodes and SS helped, Leman Russ fought Magnus, broke Magnus back, Magnus magicked everyone to the warp. Space Wolves taste ash in their victory.

  - this is also where the famous 13th company who supposedly had more wulfen in them than anyone else, followed the TS into one of the escaping portals and became lost for 10K years.

 

3) Battle of Allaxxes

  - Basically, Wolves got their tails kicked by the Alpha Legion right after Prospero. The Alphas had more ships and fresh troops. The Custodes and SS contingent were gone by then. Alphas chase Wolves into a nebula.

  - Alphas traps Wolves into nebula. Unknown to both, both sides are observed by Dark Angels who have a secret base in the nebula. After awhile, the Dark Angels decide to help the Wolves when the Wolves were trapped, surrounded and almost dead. 

 

....... SKUB

....... SKUB

....... SKUB

....... SKUB

more SKUB until after Siege of Terra

 

 

Sorry, really difficult describing HH stuff, I think I'll leave it at this. Luckily, most of the post HH Wolves is not so controversial or debateable.

[Karhedron]

Perhaps the most surprising introduction of the HH novels is that the Wolves were not simply another Legion during the Great Crusade. They had a role as the Emperor's executioners and Russ seems to have some measure of oversight over his brother Primarchs. As well as their attempt to reign-in Angron, it is hinted several times that the Wolves were involved in the mysterious destruction of either the 2nd or 11th Legion and their Primarch. This is why it was the Wolves who were dispatched to Prospero to arrest Magnus rather than another Legion. Horus interfered with the orders to instruct Russ to destroy Magnus and his Legion instead. Russ did try to order Magnus to surrender when the Wolves reached Prospero but he did not realise that Magnus could not hear him due to Tzeentch's meddling.

This image of the wolves as executioners and instruments of vengeance initially did not sit well compared to their 40K interpretation where they are viewed as heroes of the common man (Logan Grimnar even clashed with the Inquisition over the purging of Imperial Guard regiments who fought in the 1st Armageddon War). The two images have been reconciled in more recent HH books. Russ broods over the destruction of Prospero and realises he was tricked by Horus. Along with Bjorn, the newest recruit to his Wolf Guard, he makes the decision that the Wolves must become more than just weapons. Thus he sets the Wolves on the path that turns them from executioners into defenders.

[Kasper_Hawser]

Perhaps the most surprising introduction of the HH novels is that the Wolves were not simply another Legion during the Great Crusade. They had a role as the Emperor's executioners and Russ seems to have some measure of oversight over his brother Primarchs. As well as their attempt to reign-in Angron, it is hinted several times that the Wolves were involved in the mysterious destruction of either the 2nd or 11th Legion and their Primarch. This is why it was the Wolves who were dispatched to Prospero to arrest Magnus rather than another Legion. Horus interfered with the orders to instruct Russ to destroy Magnus and his Legion instead. Russ did try to order Magnus to surrender when the Wolves reached Prospero but he did not realise that Magnus could not hear him due to Tzeentch's meddling.

 

This image of the wolves as executioners and instruments of vengeance initially did not sit well compared to their 40K interpretation where they are viewed as heroes of the common man (Logan Grimnar even clashed with the Inquisition over the purging of Imperial Guard regiments who fought in the 1st Armageddon War). The two images have been reconciled in more recent HH books. Russ broods over the destruction of Prospero and realises he was tricked by Horus. Along with Bjorn, the newest recruit to his Wolf Guard, he makes the decision that the Wolves must become more than just weapons. Thus he sets the Wolves on the path that turns them from executioners into defenders.

 

Ah, thanks Karhedrouk for explaining the executioner thingie so eloquently. Was wondering how I should describe the whole skubtastic executioner view thingie without going into another wild goose discussion and scare the OP. Have a cookie.

 

Between Post Heresy and the current 40K environment, 2 big items should be mentioned:

 

Battle of the Fang - This was basically Magnus payback for Prospero, at least that's what it looked like to most outsiders including the Wolves. In reality, he was sabotaging the Space Wolves research and development. The Wolves were making progress in stabilizing their geneseed mutations in order to increase recruitment rate, possibly even beyond using Fenrisian humans which for some reason, were the only bunch they found could be Space Wolves without going full yiff yiff yiff.

 

Long story cut short, Magnus baited most of the Companies into attacking somewhere else, leaving only one Company guarding the Fang when the Thousand Sons hit it. In retrospect, kinda awesome one Great Company managed to hold off what was probably a chapter strength Thousand Sons plus all their servants and auxiliaries and MAGNUS HIMSELF until the rest of the chapter returned home. Bjorn himself was very nearly killed. In the end, Magnus left as had already achieved his objective, but not before receiving an whopping from Bjorn, the current Great Wolf and the other assorted characters.

 

Possibly best novel by Chris Wright. The only weakness was that there were A LOT of character views in the book, from a Blood Claw all the way to Magnus himself.

 

2) During the Age of Apostasy (the same age which gave birth to Goge Vandire and Sebastian Thor), part of the galaxy including Fenris was cut off by warp storms. One idiot Cardinal got it into his mind to carve out his own empire and make himself emperor. It worked well UNTIL he tried to conquer Fenris. Yes, he tried to conquer a First Founding Legion homeworld. needless to say, he got his butt kicked. Quite similar to 1st Battle of Fang in the sense there was only one Great Company at home, but still made the invaders life a living hell until the a portion of the chapter fleet returned home.

 

That's the two that strikes out to me at the moment. No doubt there are more, which you can read in the codex from 5-7.

Perhaps the most surprising introduction of the HH novels is that the Wolves were not simply another Legion during the Great Crusade. They had a role as the Emperor's executioners and Russ seems to have some measure of oversight over his brother Primarchs. As well as their attempt to reign-in Angron, it is hinted several times that the Wolves were involved in the mysterious destruction of either the 2nd or 11th Legion and their Primarch. This is why it was the Wolves who were dispatched to Prospero to arrest Magnus rather than another Legion. Horus interfered with the orders to instruct Russ to destroy Magnus and his Legion instead. Russ did try to order Magnus to surrender when the Wolves reached Prospero but he did not realise that Magnus could not hear him due to Tzeentch's meddling.

 

This image of the wolves as executioners and instruments of vengeance initially did not sit well compared to their 40K interpretation where they are viewed as heroes of the common man (Logan Grimnar even clashed with the Inquisition over the purging of Imperial Guard regiments who fought in the 1st Armageddon War). The two images have been reconciled in more recent HH books. Russ broods over the destruction of Prospero and realises he was tricked by Horus. Along with Bjorn, the newest recruit to his Wolf Guard, he makes the decision that the Wolves must become more than just weapons. Thus he sets the Wolves on the path that turns them from executioners into defenders.

 

Ah, thanks Karhedrouk for explaining the executioner thingie so eloquently. Was wondering how I should describe the whole skubtastic executioner view thingie without going into another wild goose discussion and scare the OP. Have a cookie.

 

Between Post Heresy and the current 40K environment, 2 big items should be mentioned:

 

Battle of the Fang - This was basically Magnus payback for Prospero, at least that's what it looked like to most outsiders including the Wolves. In reality, he was sabotaging the Space Wolves research and development. The Wolves were making progress in stabilizing their geneseed mutations in order to increase recruitment rate, possibly even beyond using Fenrisian humans which for some reason, were the only bunch they found could be Space Wolves without going full yiff yiff yiff.

 

Long story cut short, Magnus baited most of the Companies into attacking somewhere else, leaving only one Company guarding the Fang when the Thousand Sons hit it. In retrospect, kinda awesome one Great Company managed to hold off what was probably a chapter strength Thousand Sons plus all their servants and auxiliaries and MAGNUS HIMSELF until the rest of the chapter returned home. Bjorn himself was very nearly killed. In the end, Magnus left as had already achieved his objective, but not before receiving an whopping from Bjorn, the current Great Wolf and the other assorted characters.

 

Possibly best novel by Chris Wright. The only weakness was that there were A LOT of character views in the book, from a Blood Claw all the way to Magnus himself.

[UniWolf]

ahh this all clears up a lot confusion I had when posts on other topics ahaha. As a matter of interest how long ago was the battle of the fang? While Magnus disrupted the wolves work to stabilise their gene-seed are we still working on stabilising it?

 

[Karhedron]

ahh this all clears up a lot confusion I had when posts on other topics ahaha. As a matter of interest how long ago was the battle of the fang? While Magnus disrupted the wolves work to stabilise their gene-seed are we still working on stabilising it?

 

The Battle of the Fang took place in M32 so only about 1000 years after the end of the Horus Heresy.

 

The attempt to stabilise the geneseed (known as the Tempering) was completely destroyed by Magnus and the High Wolf Priest  in charge of the project was killed. For more details, see below.

 

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Canis_Helix

 

It is notable the Bjorn disapproved of the project, believing the Wolves were created the way they were for a reason. No further attempt was made by the Space Wolves themselves to modify or stabilise their geneseed but Belesarius Cawl did both as part of the Primaris Project. The following excerpt from Dark Imperium has him discussing the state of the Space Wolves and Blood Angels geneseed with Roboute Guilliman.

 

‘What of those gene-lines with more deeply ingrained flaws?’ asked Guilliman. ‘The Blood Angels and the Space Wolves?’

 

Cawl’s research, and his own reading, had uncovered dangerous faults that the sons of both gene-lines in question had done their best to hide.

 

‘The corrected flaws in the new gene-stocks show no signs of regression to previous unstable states, whether in successor Chapters composed entirely of the new Primaris Space Marine type, or in already established Chapters. Elimination entirely of the more idiosyncratic traits of some gene-lines is, however, not to be recommended. They form part of the Emperor’s original vision, and are, in any case, crucial to their proper function. The improved gene-seed of Ninth and Sixth Legion stock is operating within acceptable parameters.'

 

Cawl believes he has fixed the geneseed although it is notable that the new Primaris Space Wolves have apparently still be recruited from Fenris. This means we don't yet know for sure how much has changed. Also it is worth noting that Cawl is extremely arrogant and his assertions of his success may not be entirely justified. For example, he claims to have also repaired the Blood Angel geneseed. But the most recent Blood Angel codex features a group of Primaris marines being overcome by some form of Rage during a protracted fight against the Alpha Legion. The level of violence they unleash is so massive that the BA's Sanguinary High priest Corbulo (effectively their chief apothecary) returns to Baal to report this alarming development to Commander Dante.

 

Clearly Cawl's "fix" to the Blood Angel geneseed is not a complete as he thought. Hopefully our new codex will shed some light on the Primaris Space Wolves and how they are coping. The novel "Ashes of Prospero" includes some hints that the new Primaris Wolves are not completely trusted by the existing Space Wolves. Hopefully we will learn more soon.

[Wispy]

I think the tempering is much more extreme then what Cawl did. Tempered Space Wolves were essentially un-wolfy - no beasty features at all. I think the money quote from Dark Imperium is this:

 

"Elimination entirely of the more idiosyncratic traits of some gene-lines is, however, not to be recommended."

 

The Tempering DID eliminate those idiosyncratic traits.

[PeteySödes]

I think the tempering is much more extreme then what Cawl did. Tempered Space Wolves were essentially un-wolfy - no beasty features at all. I think the money quote from Dark Imperium is this:

 

"Elimination entirely of the more idiosyncratic traits of some gene-lines is, however, not to be recommended."

 

The Tempering DID eliminate those idiosyncratic traits.

 

Where dd the "tempered" wolves appear? I thought most of the SW primaris info was infererence and 2nd/3rd hand accounts in the books?

[TiguriusX]

 

I think the tempering is much more extreme then what Cawl did. Tempered Space Wolves were essentially un-wolfy - no beasty features at all. I think the money quote from Dark Imperium is this:

 

"Elimination entirely of the more idiosyncratic traits of some gene-lines is, however, not to be recommended."

 

The Tempering DID eliminate those idiosyncratic traits.

 

Where dd the "tempered" wolves appear? I thought most of the SW primaris info was infererence and 2nd/3rd hand accounts in the books?

 

 

 

Battle of the Fang

 

The "tempering" was being done so SW could have successor chapters that didn't go wonky like the Wolf Brothers.  Plan was to surround the eye of terror with nothing but space wolf successors (theory being that a stabilized SW gene would be easy to increase ranks)

 

Magnus destroyed the project.  Killed the main researcher and the lab.  

 

Bjorn said afterwards he would have destroyed the research himself and disapproved of it.

 

The tradition of always leaving 1 company to guard Fenris comes from this time in our history

[PeteySödes]

Ah right right, I was getting my timelines crossed.

[Kasper_Hawser]

Sometimes I wonder what the Canis Helix really does apart from giving the Wolves their appearance as well as tendency to wolf out. In a sense, it doesn't seem all that much different from the Black Rage except that the Black Rage cannot be reversed yet a Space Wolf that succumbs to the wulfen, either temporarily or permanently, can still keep a modicrum of control.

 

I guess bas:cuss insane isn't that different from just feral insane, at least on the tabletop where both kinds can still be controlled by player. Also one drinks blood, the other eats meat. 

[PeteySödes]

Well they’ve always been described as having keener senses, acute senses was a rule after all. In the novels as well they tend to have a sort of an alpha mentality a step above a typical proud warrior type.

[Kasper_Hawser]

I guess untactful as it sounds, canine senses supplementing already enhanced Space Marine senses.

 

Normally I hesitate to make reference to 1d4 chan, but there is a very good analysis of Russ summarizing his flaws by comparing to his brothers, mainly Angron, Magnus and of course Lion. Just read the part on Russ and his Brothers. Even those people who are justified in thinking that Russ is nothing but a douchebag to his brothers will think twice after reading this.

 

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Leman_Russ#Russ_and_his_Brothers

[PeteySödes]

I guess untactful as it sounds, canine senses supplementing already enhanced Space Marine senses.

]

I guess but show me other chapters rules for acute senses. Doesn’t need to make sense, it’s true though.

[Dantay VI]

There is also the first battle of Armageddon, followed by the "months of shame", I suggest reading Emperors Gift for that.

While a Grey Knight novel, the Wolves feature heavily, and the Fang gets attacked again.

 

As for during the Heresy,  you have forgotten Wolfsbane where Russ went after Horus, and then there is Yarant, where the wolf cull occurs and the Raven Guard help the Wolves break out while Russ is in a coma.

 

Thinking of this, considering Horus is on his way to Beta Garmon, it must be a long fight for Russ to be able to wake up, join the Lion, go wandering around the galaxy, then be too late to arrive and help at the siege of Terra.

 

Interesting to learn what happens between Yarant and Terra, especially as Russ knows they are in the end-game of the Heresy.

[PeteySödes]

There is also the first battle of Armageddon, followed by the "months of shame", I suggest reading Emperors Gift for that.

While a Grey Knight novel, the Wolves feature heavily, and the Fang gets attacked again.

 

As for during the Heresy,  you have forgotten Wolfsbane where Russ went after Horus, and then there is Yarant, where the wolf cull occurs and the Raven Guard help the Wolves break out while Russ is in a coma.

 

Thinking of this, considering Horus is on his way to Beta Garmon, it must be a long fight for Russ to be able to wake up, join the Lion, go wandering around the galaxy, then be too late to arrive and help at the siege of Terra.

 

Interesting to learn what happens between Yarant and Terra, especially as Russ knows they are in the end-game of the Heresy.

 

Yea Im super pumped to get the "real" scoop. I took a break from the series for a few years and recently got back in. Wolfsbane was excellent IMO.

[TiguriusX]

If they do a decent job with the post heresy purge we SW should be featured prominently

[Havok13]

Anyone read the fluff in the new kill team reiver box? I've seen some bits on the internet that stated wolf Lord ragnar blackmane choose this team from experienced reivers in his company. Indicating that primaris are already part of all the space wolves cpmpanys. Can anyone confirm if they have bought the box set?

[The Saint Ragnar]

I am going to pick up the box set today or tomorrow as I am a sucker for box sets where it is basically the cost of the models. I will follow up then

[Wispy]

Emperor's Gift is a Grey Knights book but it's also the best Space Wolves book.

 

I remember a quote ADB interview about it, and it was really cool about it. I got the impression the editors decided Armageddon was about the Grey Knights and wanted it as a Grey Knights book and ADB was like 'it really isn't a Grey Knights story.'