Updated Space Wolves Rumours

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

On a personal level I will be very happy to see the back of the Murderfang which I always felt was just very silly and the end of Grimnar's hateful sleigh.

 

I know some people like those models though so you have my sympathy as it isn't nice to see a model you like bite the dust.

 

I wonder if Bjorn will stick around until Russ returns as having Bjorn be sacrificed in some way to facilitate Leman's return would be a very cool narrative beat.

 

I'm quite a fan of Njall so hopefully he gets a Primaris glow-up - though hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.  

[StrangerOrders]

4 minutes ago, The Praetorian of Inwit said:

On a personal level I will be very happy to see the back of the Murderfang which I always felt was just very silly and the end of Grimnar's hateful sleigh.

 

I know some people like those models though so you have my sympathy as it isn't nice to see a model you like bite the dust.

 

I wonder if Bjorn will stick around until Russ returns as having Bjorn be sacrificed in some way to facilitate Leman's return would be a very cool narrative beat.

 

I'm quite a fan of Njall so hopefully he gets a Primaris glow-up - though hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.  

I guess the question becomes, unfortunately, how GW's marketing runs the calculus on it.

 

Bjorn has a fair bit of brand recognition among Space Wolves players and is a good hook of 'oh look, super cranky old man'.

 

On the other hand, its the old Dread Chassis and hyping up Russ is valuable.

 

But GW really hates killing characters, especially major ones.

 

And extra but, the Space Wolf Dread is quite possibly the newest Furibundus Kit. That is sometimes a factor and sometimes not.

 

Then you gotta factor whether it sells or not.

 

My gut is that they pull a Seth, axe the model but do not comment on his absence nor reflect it on the lore.

 

I have a gut feeling that GW will go on a Divergent chapter-specific dreadnought binge in the future once they are done converting old dread designs to Redemptor chassis, especially if the initial refreshes sold/sell well. And I do not see a world where SWs get a Primaris Dreadnought that doesn't include a Bjorn update.

Edited October 15 by StrangerOrders

[Borbarad]

On 10/14/2024 at 9:46 PM, Scribe said:

 

Chaos getting the short end, again?

 

Shocking.

Even more crazy if you consider that the SW can still access the regular space marine roster of units. 

 

The EC army list meanwhile will be carried by their overtuned, new elite unit; just as Eightbound did for WE.

[HeadlessCross]

9 minutes ago, Borbarad said:

Even more crazy if you consider that the SW can still access the regular space marine roster of units. 

 

The EC army list meanwhile will be carried by their overtuned, new elite unit; just as Eightbound did for WE.

I love Eightbound because in terms of role (and partly fluff) they're just fancier Possessed with a bespoke unit entry, which is all the rage for GW LOL

[Dark Shepherd]

11 hours ago, Halandaar said:

On the subject of Dreadnoughts, I'm surprised we haven't seen upgrade frames for them to be honest. A character-sized sprue with a custom sarcophagus cover, a couple of detail plates for the hull, a few wolf tails/pelts and some claw bits for the hand is all it'd take to turn a Redemptor into Bjorn without the big investment in making a whole new kit.

 

Also, expect Wulfen dreadnoughts to get the Death Company treatment (i.e. they're now just Brutalis Dreads with a single Space Wolf component on the hull)

A Blizzard Shield on the new upgrade sprue annd hey ho you can make the generic SW dreadnoughts. Maybe even one set of different talons (to cover Bjorn in a standard Redemptor)

 

Not saying Id like that level of minimalism/loss of axes. And tbh I hate that idea of how they might make Bjorn.

 

I think Bjorn is iconic enough to be redone at some point

[killersquid]

I'd love to see some form of lone wolves return.

[Muck1ng]

 

Updated Helfrost weapon maybe?

[Bouargh]

2 hours ago, Muck1ng said:

 

Updated Helfrost weapon maybe?

 Could be, at least it looks like a very reasonable hipotesis.

[Azaiel]

Bjorn has been one of my favorite characters in 40k so I sincerely hope hes not "Yarricked". I always liked that he was the basically the only imperial link to the far past which was otherwise shrouded in mystery and legend. And it fits so well with the Space wolf way of storytelling in their Sagas. A 10,000 year old link to the past who can truly tell how it was walking alongside Russ etc.

 

Now we have a Guilliman and Belisarius etc who link 40k to the heresy so the novelty has somewhat run off, but still. GW could do Bjorn justice by granting him a new Dreadnought chassis, I hope it looks more like the box dread most of us have a fondness for and not as a redemptor with a wolfpelt on.

[Frogian]

its a pity they didn't design the brutalis sprues with a space wolf one in mind - so only one sprue replacement needed for bjorn/murderfang arms and a replacement front of the body. 

[Special Officer Doofy]

3 hours ago, Azaiel said:

GW could do Bjorn justice by granting him a new Dreadnought chassis

 

I'm not super into the specifics of the lore, is that a thing they can do? Take the entombed person from one dread to another? One as old as Bjorn?

 

Edit: grammar. 

Edited October 16 by Special Officer Doofy

[Bouargh]

24 minutes ago, Azaiel said:

Bjorn has been one of my favorite characters in 40k so I sincerely hope hes not "Yarricked".

 

Still could be maintained in Stasis and Phased out like that.

 

Without being "Yarricked" (I like this analogy of yours) I would be worried if I were in Logan´s shoes: should the Primarch make a come back, then the Great Wolf figure would be downgraded to a mere Great Company Wolf Lord ("Capitanized again" in a way).

Without talking of "Yarrickization", it could be a kind of "Titusization" ("Step down from your rank of Captain to the one of Primaris Lieutenant, you thou came back after 200 years away from the Chapter!" "It is no excuse that it is no fault of yours if you were held hostage and then affected to DW in order to occult any great Imperium´s familly dirt"). Could be seen as profesional bullying or a kind of harassment...

 

But maybe an avenging Logan going back to pure managment from the front line would relief the dude from the burden of administration and politics.... and finally please him?

 

 

[mecanojavi99]

8 minutes ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

 

I not super into the specifics of the lore, but is that a thing they can do? Take the entombed person from one dread to another? One as old as Bjorn?

The sarcophagus in which the marine is entombed can be moved to other chassis, it's not like Hell Brutes where the marine is literally fused to the Dreadnaught.

 

A bigger problem would be using the Redemptor chasiss, since they slowly "deplete" the marine inside like a battery and that's with a Primaris marine, not a Firstborn one, because I very much doubt Bjorn can cross the Rubicon.

 

If GW wanted they could hand wave it by saying that Bjorn's new Redemptor chassis was handcrafted by the SW master of the forge so it wouldn't kill him or something like that, but it's not as simple as moving him from one to the other.

[mecanojavi99]

4 minutes ago, Bouargh said:

 

Still could be maintained in Stasis and Phased out like that.

 

Without being "Yarricked" (I like this analogy of yours) I would be worried if I were in Logan´s shoes: should the Primarch make a come back, then the Great Wolf figure would be downgraded to a mere Great Company Wolf Lord ("Capitanized again" in a way).

Without talking of "Yarrickization", it could be a kind of "Titusization" ("Step down from your rank of Captain to the one of Primaris Lieutenant, you thou came back after 200 years away from the Chapter!" "It is no excuse that it is no fault of yours if you were held hostage and then affected to DW in order to occult any great Imperium´s familly dirt"). Could be seen as profesional bullying or a kind of harassment...

 

But maybe an avenging Logan going back to pure managment from the front line would relief the dude from the burden of administration and politics.... and finally please him?

 

 

Logan can still be the "Chapter Master" of the SW even with Russ return, similar to how during the Heresy you had both Primarchs and Chapter Masters.

[Karhedron]

25 minutes ago, mecanojavi99 said:

Logan can still be the "Chapter Master" of the SW even with Russ return, similar to how during the Heresy you had both Primarchs and Chapter Masters.

 

Calgar and Azrael are both still CMs (with good rules to boot) even in the presence of their respective Primarchs. No reason for Logan to be any different.

[Marshall Bretton]

Yeah I'd be very upset if Bjorn went away, he is such an iconic character. If he does go then they won't be able to do it quietly given how linked in to the story of Russ and the legend of his return Bjorn is. It would have to be some awesome self-sacrifice to save the primarch or something.

 

If they do keep him then I would love an updated model, but I don't know how it would work with the new design. We shall have to see

[Bouargh]

2 hours ago, Karhedron said:

 

Calgar and Azrael are both still CMs (with good rules to boot) even in the presence of their respective Primarchs. No reason for Logan to be any different.

 

I should have probably expanded my idea.

In most, not to say all, cases, Chapter masters are indeed maintained, and the Primarch being back did not send them back at lower ranks, but I interprete this through the fact that the Primarch is a head figure of what used to be the mother Legion, i.e. a sum of Chapters, at the tme and under 41st Millenium era. Lion El Jonson is therefore a head figure for all Dark Angel successors and not only for the Chapter that kept the heraldy and name of the initial Legion.

In the case of SW, there are no succesors chapters. So the SW Chapter is basically the remains of the initial Legion. Leman Russ has no other assets to rule over.

 

You will of course note that, in a exercice of pure bad faith, I voluntary ignored the Ultima Fundation chapters, the Primaris ones that claim being affiliated to a SW bloodline (out of here Wolfspears!...) ... 

 

In order to save the face, I could eventually conceed that the Supreme Wolf is already maintaining his Company leadership rank (über Captain), only adding to his command the House of Russ (if called like that) which include the priesthood and other assets (I imagine the recruitment rooster, administrative assets, one or two crypts fully loaded of dark secrets...). His fellows Wolf Lords borne him lealty, probably because they are too happy that someone else does all the Lexmechanicum dirty work...

 

But is it really important? After all my initial aim was more intented being very 2nd degree...     

[darkhorse0607]

While I don't know much about the Space Wolves, I think it's ok to point out that even with the Primarchs being back (loyalists I mean), GW doesn't actually have them hanging around their chapters as much so it gives them an easy answer to maintaining Chapter Masters

 

Guilliman was around the Ultramarines for the Plague Wars, but he largely has been doing other things with the Crusade, Pariah Nexus, etc. Even during the Plague Wars he was more in overall command rather than functioning as a specific chapter (or multiple) master

 

The Lion has made contact with the Dark Angels, but GW also has him forest walking all over the place, meaning that they still need Azrael to manage things while he's gone or busy doing whatever it is he's doing

 

Logan will probably be the same thing. Russ will return, but he will be out doing whatever else (maybe with a company or something) while the chapter continues to function as it has

[Indy Techwisp]

7 hours ago, Bouargh said:

You will of course note that, in a exercice of pure bad faith, I voluntary ignored the Ultima Fundation chapters, the Primaris ones that claim being affiliated to a SW bloodline (out of here Wolfspears!...) ... 

 

...are there that many Firstborn Spacewolves left?

 

I swear we've had like 4 or 5 different lore bits where someone's blown up half of Fenris, nearly always decimating the chapter in the process.

 

 

 

Edited October 16 by Indy Techwisp

[Indy Techwisp]

5 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

Logan will probably be the same thing. Russ will return, but he will be out doing whatever else (maybe with a company or something) while the chapter continues to function as it has

It'd be even easier to justify SW keeping their Chapter Master if Leman comes back as the Apex Wulfen or something. 

[TopToffee]

43 minutes ago, Indy Techwisp said:

It'd be even easier to justify SW keeping their Chapter Master if Leman comes back as the Apex Wulfen or something. 

Please god no.

Edited October 16 by TopToffee

[Indy Techwisp]

13 minutes ago, TopToffee said:

Please god no.

 

For as much as I joke about it, Wulfen Leman Russ wouldn't be a good idea imo.

Man needs to come back to 40k with his mind intact so he can suffer alongside his brothers so he can better interact with the setting in an interesting way.

[Orange Knight]

I predict Bjorn will be the 1st named Redemptor Dreadnought. He's too iconic and recognisable. 

 

I also predict that quite a bunch of units will still exist via upgrade sprues, similar to the Death Company in the case of the Blood Angels. 

 

I do also think, however, that some of the SW units are just bad - both in terms of models and theme. I wouldn't mind a shake up and some replacement. 

[Xirix]

In terms of firstborn Space Wolves remaining, there's a good chunk.

 

Blood Claws, Bjorn, Wolf Guard Termies, Grey Hunters, Thunderwolf Cavalry, Iron Priest, Wulfen.

 

That's not even counting the other special characters and their big flyer thing.

[Arendious]

Perhaps if we get Russ back as an Odin-like figure we can have Bjorn take the role of Mimir.