Crusade!

So this project is going to ramble a bit as we jump around to avoid getting burnt out painting the same colour schemes over & over again, but to start with let’s take a look at scions of Fenris, going back to basics as the Great Company of Ragnar Blackmane (note I did consider going back to my 3rd edition army which was a take on Erik Morkai’s Great Company, but A/ I wasn’t too fussed on the model I had converted up when contemplating returning to them and B/ I was digging the idea of returning to the first special character I ever brought but updating him).

First step was seeing what was already built from the last time I was bitten by the bug of the Canis Helix. In this case (apart from the aforementioned Wolf Lord conversion) there were a trio of metal characters (the Wolf Guard with Lightning Claws pictured on the right above), the old Gamesday Wolf Priest (why didn’t this ever get a wider release again?) and the Rune Priest with Force Axe, a pack of Wolf Guard Teminators (where sadly the Asssault Cannon-wielding member can no longer be split off to act as a Pack Leader for Grey Hunters 🙁 ), and a heavily kit-bashed pack of Wolf Scouts, constructed from the Scout kit with liberal application of parts from the Chaos Marauder Horsemen kit and various Space Wolf parts

Next up I wanted to see what I could come up with for Ragnar himself. now the standard model was great in it’s day. Sadly that day was 25 years ago and by todays standards is woefully lacking, even when looked at in comparison to the Astartes characters who remain from 2nd Edition 40k (your Dante’s, Abbadons, Biles and the like). Thankfully GW sseem to have anticipated this to some extent, as the current Space Wolf upgrade sprue includes exactly the Frostblade chainsword that is so characteristic of Ragnars design, and the wonderfully dynamic Krom Dragongaze model features a number of elements that echo his fellow Wolf Lord, so that converting a decent stand-in for Ragnar requires a fairly minimal amount of work – swap the Frost Axe for the Frostblade, a head from the Grey Hunter kit for the distinctive topknot (although not as impressive ass it is typically depicted) and a different back-pack (one note I did consider going for the distinctive twin standards but on bast form they have just been a pair of blank banner poles…).

Now there are some things that will be changed during the painting stage, but overall not a bad take I feel at this point.

But these need a solid core work around. Well the Wolves are fortunate to have two of the most effective and flavourful Troops options in the game – steadfast Grey Hunters and hot-headed Blood Claws, with fire support from Long Fangs. Now this is what I had from bits I had ben building over the years – 3 packs of Grey Hunters, Greigor Fellhand to act as a Wolf Guard Pack Leader for the Wolf Scouts, and what was a single pack of Blood Claws, but some changes to their weapon options mean the Power Axe and Power Fists will need splitting off

For now though this is how  they looked all primed up. In amongst here there are some additional Wolf Guard in power armour, both to serve as WGPL’s and as a unit in their own right, and at the back some primed up Grey Knights and Custodian Guards.

One thing I wanted to make use of in  this project  was coloured primers to try and save time on the painting side as i’d  found the Army Painter range a boon when I was painting up my Infinity forces. inthis case I’ve primed all ofthe Wolves – even the Wolf Priest – in Wolf Grey, the Grey Knights in GW Chaos Black, and the  Custodians with AP Leather Brown to give the gold of their armour a warmer base (but we’ll come back to that later…).

Ok, so these were my test models for the Space Wolves; 2 Blood Claws both painted exactly the same way the none hit with a wash of Nuln Oil and the other with a wash of Agrax Earthshade. Overall I felt that the Nuln came out much harsher whilst the Agrax better complemented the reds & yellows that form so much of the incidental spot colouring on the Wolves.

For now though we’ll call this a wrap. When we return we’ll take a closer look at the Packs from this initial build, have a chat about kit bashing Wolves (and marines in general) and how a pack goes from primed to ready for the tabletop.