For now, here is the work so far on the Rune Priest, Master Einar Daemonslayer:

Here’s Einar’s Great Company Icon, that of Morkai – the Deathwolf

Quite possibly my favourite conversion of all time – that hand!

Terminator Wolf Guard including the new Pack marking visible on the left leg

Power Armour Wolf Guard, complete with new Pack marking

Icon of the Deathwolf

I’m a big fan of the icon, as I am the the fluff behind Erik Morkai’s Great Company.  I’m not sure I will keep the name – after all, I have several thousand years in which to base the army – but I will definitely be keeping the fluff!  There are a great deal of Wolf Scouts in the Company so my larger lists will include at least two Packs of them.  It would be three if I didn’t include the Wolf Guard!

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I’m very pleased with the physical modelling of the conversion.  It’s based on the Space Wolves Rune Priest first released as part of the 13th Company range during the Eye of Terror Campaign a few years back.  I’ve trimmed away the entire right shoulder and would have continued with the head but decided against it in the end!

Work completed so far

To make him stand out just that little bit more, I decided to use a resin sculpted base.  I had originally attempted to do something similar with all of the models in the army but it quickly proved to be impractical.  As a model that should stand out, I’m more than happy to include that extra detail!

The Rune Priest’s left hand came from a Space Marine Librarian Terminator model and seemed to fit the pose of the model perfectly.  The right arm is a converted Thunder Hammer / Frost Axe taken from the Space Wolves Pack boxed set.  The right arm of the original model is probably the bit I like least which is why I decided from the start of the project that it had to go.  That and I completely agree that Space Wolf characters should be unique!

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Wolf Guard Hrothgar, proudly displaying his Lord's icon

• Armour: Base-coated with Fenris Grey.  Layered 1:1 mix of Shadow Grey and Space Wolves Grey.  Washed watered down mixture of Fenris Grey and Scorched Brown in to the armour recesses.  Touched up with same mix as before.  Still needs to be highlighted with Space Wolves Grey.
• Gold: I used a 50/50 mix of Scorched Brown and Shining Gold, layered with Burnished Gold.
• Wolf Pelts: Scorched Brown, followed by Bestial Brown drybrush and then Bleached Bone drybrush.  Underside of Pelt was painted with Calthan Brown.
• Bone: Khemri Brown followed by a 1:1 Khemri Brown / Bleached Bone mix, finally overbrushed with Bleached Bone.
• Red: Mechrite Red followed by Red Gore.
• Yellow: Tau Sept Ochre followed by a 50:50 mix of Iyanden Darksun and Golden Yellow.
• Base: Scorched Brown followed by Bestial Brown drybrush.
• Silver: Boltgun Metal.
• Black: Chaos Black highlighted with a 50:50 mix of Chaos Black and Shadow Grey.

Another view of the Wolf Guard, no less terrifying!

Details of the Wolf Guard's tank-busting punch

The long Painting War continues.

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Since the type of game is determined only after the armies are chosen, it’s not possible to modify an army toward being better at either mission type.  With that in mind, I always try to choose an army that would do well at both.  The game was determined a draw, far better than the tabling I experienced the last time I played a Kill Point game!

My list was far more compact that time, with emphasis on a counter attack tactic.

• Rune Priest equipped with Wolftooth Necklace, Chooser of the Slain and the Murderous Hurricane and Tempest’s Wrath psychic powers.
• Wolf Priest equipped with Wolftooth Necklace and a Plasma Pistol.
• 5 Wolf Scouts armed with a Meltagun.
• 1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour carrying a Frostblade.
• 1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour carrying two Wolf Claws.
• 1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour carrying a Chainfist and a Storm Bolter.
• 1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour carrying a Power Weapon and a Combi Plasmagun.
• 1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour carrying a Power Fist and an Assault Cannon.
• 5 Grey Hunters carrying a Power Fist, Melta Gun, Mark of the Wulfen and Wolf Standard.
• 10 Grey Hunters carrying a Power Fist and two Plasma Guns.
• 5 Long Fangs with four Rocket Launchers.

Total possible Kill Points: 7

The Blood Angels list was:

• Captain Tycho.
• 3 Sternguard carrying 2 Combi Plasmaguns and 1 Combi Meltagun.
• 3 Sanguinary Priests with Jump Packs
• 10 Assault Marines carrying 2 Meltaguns, a Power Weapon and Meltabombs.
• 10 Assault Marines carrying 2 Flamers, a Power Weapon and Meltabombs.
• Drop Pod.

Total possible Kill Points: 8

The game ended immediately after turn 5.  When we totted up the Kill Points it showed a Space Wolves victory by 1 Kill Point.  However, a quick check of the Space Wolves FAQ later and that result became a draw.  As usual against Dom, a hard-fought battle!

The first tactical point to bring up is my decision to split up the Wolf Guard.  After assigning one to each of the Packs that I had I was left with a lone Wolf Guard model that I should have realised would earn Dom a Kill Point if it died – which it did!  In retrospect, the Wolf Guard may have been better served as a unit in their own right.  The Blood Angels only had three distinct units on the board whereas if I had kept the Wolf Guard together, I’d have had at least five.

I infiltrated the Scouts toward Dom’s deployment zone because I wanted to force him to make a choice.  His options were either to commit his squads to an assault on my table edge completely or split one of them off to deal with my Scouts, allowing my other units to deal with him piecemeal.  Dom chose to commit fully to the assault and then return for my Scouts if there was time.  The game ended before he had the chance which was lucky for me – it could easily have rolled on for another couple of turns!

“Escorting units off the table” is a tactic whereby a broken unit is followed by an enemy unit right up to the fleeing unit’s table edge.  Dom was able to escort my remaining Grey Hunters from the table by keeping an assault squad paced with them.  It’s a very effective tactic as not even And They Shall Know No Fear can ignore it.

“Going to ground” is also something new that Dom tried during the game.  At the cost of being unable to do anything in their next turn, a unit being targeted by the enemy can choose to Go to Ground and gain a 6+ cover save.  It’s important to note that it’s a cover save and not an invulnerable save as there are some weapons that ignore cover!

I’m not sure how well the game would have gone if it had been an Objectives mission due to the fact that I had no transportation at all.  Taking the Wolf Scouts out of the list would bag me enough points to put in a couple of Rhinos, or maybe even a Rhino and a Razorback to accommodate my ten man and six man Packs.  Something to look in to, methinks!

Thanks for reading.

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Wolf Guard in Power Armour and a BIG axe!

The method I used to paint this Wolf Guard is:

• Armour: Base-coated with Fenris Grey.  Layered 1:1 mix of Shadow Grey and Space Wolves Grey.  Washed watered down mixture of Fenris Grey and Scorched Brown in to the armour recesses.  Touched up with same mix as before and then highlighted with Space Wolves Grey.
• Gold: I used a 50/50 mix of Scorched Brown and Shining Gold, layered with Shining Gold.
• Hair: Scorched Brown
• Wolf Pelts: Scorched Brown, followed by Bestial Brown drybrush and then Bleached Bone drybrush.
• Flesh: Tallarn Flesh base-coat washed with watered down Brown Ink.
• Bone: Khemri Brown followed by a 1:1 Khemri Brown / Bleached Bone mix.
• Red: Mechrite Red.
• Yellow: Tau Sept Ochre.
• Base: Scorched Brown followed by Bestial Brown and Bleached Bone drybrush.  Super-glued down some static flock and then dabbed on some water / PVA glue mix before dipping in modelling snow.

This model is by no means finished but I have covered the basic techniques I’ve used so far.  A similar scheme was used on the following two models:

Sternguard Wolf Guard Conversion

And finally:

Terminator Amour with a Powered Armour Head!

Check back next week for more progress shots of the Space Wolves!

Thanks for reading.

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The story plays out in a similar way to Episode V The Empire Strikes Back from the Star Wars saga in that it has a very strong Second Act feel to it.  The story focuses on a few characters whose arcs come together really well toward the end of the book.  To date, the novels have dealt mainly with the Legions of the Astartes as they come to terms with Horus’ treachery.  Nemesis deals with individuals and the role they play in the shadows of the Heresy.  It felt almost gritty when compared to the other books and it was certainly a welcome change.

For me personally, I wasn’t familiar at all with the various factions within the Officio Assassinorum as they are played in the WH40K game and it was really interesting to see the characters within those clades taking on very real personalities.

The clades typically work alone so when each of them supplies one of their own to join the Execution Force the disagreements and sometimes outright conflict that breaks out between them is very believable and adds a real edge to the events in the story.  Toward the end of the story, it was quite easy to forget that they were all stone cold killers given their development throughout the book.

The book weighs in at a chunky 508 pages which seems to be more and more the norm for these novels.  It’s extremely well written and even the incidental characters and locations are dealt with fully.  There are a couple of surprise appearances as far as characters and events are concerned (for me at least!) but it all fits together seamlessly.

I would have to say that James Swallow is definitely one of my favourite Black Library authors.  It was great to get back in to another Heresy novel that I couldn’t put down!  For something that began as a single sentence mentioned in one of the very early WH40K rulebooks, the Heresy has blossomed into an IP in its own right, easily as popular as WH40K.  The novels have done an amazing job of filling in the blanks from that era, making it really come to life.

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The first event that really affected the game was the opening move from Dom.  Having won first turn and then retaining the initiative, he proceeded to deploy two Dreadnoughts via Drop Pods right in the middle and behind my lines.  Apart from the psychological result from this aggressive move – which was severe! – my Razorback and Predator were destroyed by the magna-grapple on each Dreadnought.  My Rune Priest was embarked on the Razorback and so was pretty much confined to my corner of the board for the game.  So what did I learn from this?

• Blood Angels are FAST.  Just about every game I have played against Dom and his Astartes has been fought close to or in my deployment zone.  As  my list stands, I don’t have the firepower to deal with Drop Pod Assaulting armies once they deploy.  I need to develop some defensive tactics for the early turns of the game!
• Relying on winning the first turn or successfully stealing the initiative is pinning my hopes on far too little.

In my first turn I deployed a Pack of four Terminator Wolf Guard in a Drop Pod behind the Blood Angels’ lines.  In response, a Chaplain and five Death Company Marines – all with Power Weapons – raced in to assault me.  Striking at their Furious Charge Initiative of 5 they were able to wipe out the Wolf Guard before they got chance to strike back.

• Death Company Marines are brutal.  No other word for it.  Ideally they need to be dealt with at range.  Failing that, they should be charged with overwhelming odds but diverting that much from your army to deal with just six Marines is pretty excessive…  Firepower at range it is.

One of the Blood Angels Dreadnoughts was caught between my Scouts and my Long Fangs.  Both Packs were capable of taking out the Dreadnought at range whereas only one of the Packs could see other targets.  Foolishly I chose to take out the Dreadnought with the Long Fangs, denying the Wolf Scouts a target for the turn and leaving the Blood Angels Assault Marines untouched by the Long Fangs.

• Target priority is key.  Redundancy of firepower is a good thing but I need to check what other targets are available.  Talk about shooting yourself in the paw!

I suffered my first Perils of the Warp attack with my Rune Priest in this game.  Luckily he survived but it was still trouble.  There’s nothing available to help me deal with this so unfortunately it’s just one of those things.

• Perhaps I could take multiple Rune Priests.  The problem I have with that is that I see there being just one Rune Priest per Great Company.  I suppose I could say he has an apprentice – that wouldn’t be too unfluffy, would it?

And there you have it – not many lessons to learn but they were certainly big ones!  In our post-game chat, I told Dom that I thought my list was pretty much okay as it was but after reading over what I’ve written I’ve started thinking about other options.  Within two minutes of the game starting I began writing notes.  The first few words I wrote were

1. Defensive deployment and
2. Vindicator

I’ve used a Vindicator against Dom’s Blood Angels before and it single-handedly took out Dante and his full Honour Guard after they Deep Strike’d in.  A Vindicator would certainly allow me to defend my deployment should I lose first turn to the Blood Angels in future.  Then all I would need to do is defend that!

The high point of this game would be my freshly almost-painted Wolf Guard being the last warm body on the field, finally succumbing in glorious combat!

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Rather than recount the battle in its entirety, I will instead go over the highlights and any lessons I’ve learned during the game.  As always, the games against Dom are challenging matches with no quarter ever being asked or given – perfect for the Sons of Russ!

In the Space Wolves corner:

• Wolf Priest with Jump Pack and Melta Bombs
• Five Sky Claws with a Power Fist
• Rune Priest with Runic Armour, Chooser of the Slain, Tempest’s Wrath and Murderous Hurricane Psychic Powers
• Ten Grey Hunters with Mark of the Wulfen, Melta Gun and Power Fist
• Ten Grey Hunters with Plasma Gun and Power Fist
• Five Wolf Scouts with Melta Gun
• Two Long Fangs with a Bolt Gun and a Multi Melta
• Predator with Autocannon turret and Lascannon Sponsons

In the Blood Angels corner:

• Reclusiarch
• Five Death Company with a Power Fist and four Power Weapons
• Razorback with Extra Armour and Storm Bolter
• Ten Assault Marines with two Melta Guns and a Power Fist
• Ten Assault Marines with two Flamers, a Power Weapon and Melta Bombs
• Two Sanguinary Priests with Jump Packs

The Space Wolves advance in to position

I deployed across a fairly narrow front – something favoured by small armies.  I placed the Predator toward the rear of my lines, backed up by the two Long Fangs set up in cover nearby and the ten Grey Hunters and Rune Priest that were ready to advance on Objective number one.  My Wolf Priest and Sky Claws were in position, ready to make a run for Objective two in support of the second pack of Grey Hunters.

As it turns out, deploying the Long Fangs in cover near to the Predator was a good idea, as Dom forgot about them on more than one occasion and, later in the game, they were able to draw the Death Company toward them instead of allowing them to support the attack on my Objective toward the end of the game.  Result!

One interesting point that came up in the game was the close combat between the Reclusiarch leading the Death Company and my Wolf Priest and Sky Claws.  The Priest and Sky Claws charged in and because the Reclusiarch was fighting at Initiative 5 he struck first, killing my Wolf Priest.  The question was raised about the rules for the Wolf Priest and whether or not they still counted for the Sky Claws, as the Priest makes his unit Fearless and allows them to reroll missed Attacks.  Our resident rules advisor at the club told us that the rules were in force for the remainder of the Assault Phase and were then ignored due to the Priest’s death.  One to remember for the future!

The Reclusiarch was then laid low by the Rune Priest’s Runic Weapon.  Luckily, because the Rune Priest was already in combat at the start of the turn, I had been unable to use my psychic shooting attacks – perfect then for using the Runic Weapon’s Force Weapon rules!

Once again, the Rune Priest did not suffer any Perils of the Warp attacks, and the Wolf Scouts turned up as and when they were supposed to.  The Predator did well in slowing down the Death Company’s Razorback in the first turn.

If anything, this game has only enforced my need for mobility.  I have a Razorback waiting in the wings, along with plans to increase the number of Sky Claws in the Pack as the five man pack is quite weak by itself.

Once the dust had settled, we were both surprised to find that the end result was a draw, with several squads of Blood Angels and the six remaining Grey Hunters both fighting over a single Objective.  it was a terrific game that gave us both a lot to think about.

We have planned a rematch at 1500pts for this weekend.

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I’ve recently taken a break from all things Blog to sort out in my head what I wanted to achieve with it.  Although I enjoy posting, the RPB has quite often flown off on tangents that have made it unwieldy and difficult to maintain if left unchecked.  So over the hiatus I have made a lot of decisions with regard to the Blog – all of which have been addressed BEFORE this update has posted!

• The update schedule: This was all over the place.  I don’t think that’s too much of a problem, particularly if I’m having a busy run!  I will update at least once a week on a Sunday, plus the occasional finished post when it’s ready.
• Content: One of the biggest issues for me.  The Blog had no clearly defined reason for existence beyond functioning as a soundboard for my thoughts.  During the hiatus I decided that had to change.  I still want to talk about my interests but from now on the RPB content is going to have more focus.
• Galleries: I used to take the occasional picture but during recent months I’ve been snapping more and more!  There is now a Galleries section on the RPB.
• Community: I want people to have a reason to stop by and even contribute to the site.  I’ve added support for comments on articles and have approached my more regular readers with regard to them guest-authoring articles.

So there it is!  When you get down to it, blogging is supposed to be fun but the state of the RPB was just causing me irritation.  The changes I’ve made to the Blog have turned it back in to what it should be for me – an enjoyable hobby.  I’m hoping my readers will feel the same way.

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