Vandrad Alfgeir Kollsvein was chosen as Jarl of For-Twa when his predecessor fell in battle storming the palace of the renegade Deacon Lothar Marbad. It was Vandrad that led the assault in the wake of that loss and it was Vandrad that threw the Deacon from the balcony of his palace to his death on the marble paved courtyard below. There was no opposition to Vandrad's promotion and he took the Blackmane as his sigil - the savage wolf being an apt symbol for Vandrad and his Great Company's style of warfare.
As Jarl of For-Twa, Vandrad's saga was quickly filled with the legendary deeds of himself and his Great Company, such as the Scouring of Demeter, the Siege of Tethys and the defeat Archon Mormacar Foros of the Kabal of the Murderous Refrain just a few amongst many. Then in 726.M41 For-Twa was declared lost in the warp. Something had gone wrong during their transit to the Antissa system to turn back an Arch Enemy invasion and the Vlka Fenryka reeled from the loss of an entire Great Company. There were many grim whispers about the loss, to a Fenrisian there isn't a worse death than to be lost at sea, no glory in a death outside of battle. Over time a new Great Company was raised anew, it was a hardship on The Rout but it would not be the first or last time that they had had to recover from such losses.
In 883.M41 reports reached The Aett that the Knights Sanguine had been betrayed by a Great Company of the Vlka Fenryka. The Knights Sanguine had fought a century long battle to scour Antissa IV of the Arch Enemy when it had become clear that the aid promised by the Space Wolves was never going to arrive. The reports listed the perpetrator of this fell act as a Vandrad Gorebeard. The Blood Angels demanded satisfaction for the loss of one of their successor chapters, the forces committed to Antissa having been the last of the Knights Sanguine's dwindling strength.
Vandrad spent the best part of the next century raiding shipping routes and forge worlds within short warp transits of the Maelstrom. The atrocities carried out by him or under his order were as terrible as the great deeds of the Vandrad of the Vlka Fenryka's sagas were great. Denounced by Logan Grimnar and The Rout. Hunted by The Blood Angels. Scourge of the Imperial Navy. Jarl Vandrad Gorebeard continues to be a thorn in the side of the Imperium. A bloody, merciless reaver, his Great Company although thinned in numbers from the strength that left the Aett over two centuries ago is still formidable. Vandrad's fleet has grown, those vessels captured in their raids pressed into service against their former masters and he has gathered his strength at Antissa IV, the scene of the betrayal of his sacred oaths.
It was a coin toss between the Imperial Logs section and the Chaos Logs but my Space Wolves have sworn an allegiance t Khorne so it is right that they should find themselves in this particular forum!
A couple of years ago I put together an army I named 'The Gorewing' (the project log for those is in my signature). A terminator army using the Space Wolves rules. I parted company with those and have spent the last couple of years in the wilderness with 40k flitting between armies but none of them have ever quite stuck.
I really love the Space Wolves imagery, especially this edition. Then after the Prospero Burns and Battle of the Fang books from Black Library, which really added some depth to the Space Wolves lore, it became obvious I'd have to do a Space Wolves army. With a slight twist of course!
The Dornian Heresy from Bolter & Chainsword with its alternate 40k history has Leman Russ and the Space Wolves fall to Khorne as they are disgusted when the Emperor sides with the sorcerers of the Thousand Sons at the Council of Nikea (alternate history remember). The fluff for that is quite good but the one thing that's always haunted me from a hobby perspective was this one image in the pdf book.
Taken from the Dornian Heresy. Image property of the original artist. All rights reserved
Ever since I saw that picture I've had an urge to do an army based on it. There's already plenty of feral savagery in the imagery of the Space Wolves but that picture takes it to a new level and I wanted an army to follow that theme.
So I was keen to put together an army for the NAG Ard Boyz tournament in March, luckily for me there was no painted requirement, just pure unadulterated gaming. After playing the Gorewing my first temptation was to go for a Logan-wing Wolf Guard army. I'm not one to resist such temptations! I decided rather than the very small elite force that I did for the Gorewing (Logan, 2 Terminator Squads each in a Land Raider and two Lone Wolves) I'd go for a foot-slogging Terminator horde.
Vandrad Gorebeard (couints as Logan)
10 Wolf Guard Terminators - 2 x Cyclone Missile Launchers, 2 x Combi-Meltas
10 Wolf Guard Terminators - 2 x Cyclone Missile Launchers, 2 x Combi-Meltas, Power Fist
10 Wolf Guard Terminators - 2 x Cyclone Missile Launchers, 2 x Combi-Meltas, Power Fist
From there the army is going to grow into a full Space Wolves army with lots of Grey Hunters etc. It's very much going to keep the foot-slogging theme. I know that's not exactly the meta game at the moment but it feels right for a renegade Great Company to have a much greater reliance on good old fashioned trudging across a battlefield rather than having a fleet of rhinos and razorbacks with purring engines at the ready.
So I'll finish the epic first post with some WIP pictures to get things started.
This is a Wolf Lord / Wolf Guar Battle Leader I put together for a narrative campaign that I've been playing. His name is Hauk Greyfell (everything important has to have a name!)
The torso is from the FW Space Wolf Terminators conversion kit and the rest of the parts except the shoulder pads (whic are from the Chaos Terminator sprues) are from the plastic Wolf Guard sprues.
And some WIP pictures of Jarl Vandrad Gorebeard.
Vandrad is made from another of the FW torsos with a shoulder pad from the same kit and the Chaos Terminator Lord legs. A Wolf Guard thunder hammer arm with the hammer head swapped for the axe head this has given him a nice open pose and an axe with a longer haft so that it looks like it could be wielded one or two handed much like Logans axe in the rules. The Storm Bolter and the other shoulder pad are from the Wolf Guard kit. I've also used the Wolf Guard cloak but I've trimmed it right down and given it a more ragged look but cutting triangles out of it and hopefully giving it a look more akin to the cloaks on the Warhammer Fantasy Chaos Warriors.
I've started painting Vandrad now so I'll pop another WIP picture up in a moment
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Originally Posted by Fizzy
Except now, I`m like a badly burnt piece of bacon, not used to the sun I am...
