My Next Army – The Space Wolves

I’ve been indecisive for quite a while now, trying to decide where I want to go next with the Warhammer 40,000 side of my hobby. As much as I’d like to own, collect, paint, and game with every faction they have, it simply isn’t feasible. At one point I owned every army in the game with the exception of Sisters of Battle. Most of my stuff spent years on shelves, gathering dust and being neglected from both a gameplay and hobby standpoint.

I finally decided that I would sell the vast bulk of my collection to help fund a few special armies that I could spend lots of time with. As of right now I own Tau Empire and Tyranids, and I have the beginnings of a Death Korps of Krieg regiment. I’ve fiddled with various power armored factions over the last few months, trying to make my mind up on which direction to travel. I really want one power armored faction to round out my collection; from there I will probably build up each army for solo Apocalypse games.

While I struggled to determine which faction of power armor it would be, Games Workshop kindly stepped in and made the decision for me. A return to Space Wolves is just what I need to get my 3+ game back on!

The Space Wolves and I go way back. When my group first started playing 40k, both of my younger brothers played, and one of them owned a Space Wolves army. We played several games with the old Wolves against my Iron Warriors, and had a ton of close games before he stopped playing. A few of those old Wolves are still in my collection of models, and I think I will be dusting them off to play the role of Wolf Guard to teach the new pups a thing or two.

I’ve played them myself off and on over the years, and I have a few models that have stood with me through the processes of buying, selling, and trading armies. An old pewter Bjorn the Fell-Handed still tells his tales in one of the tank bins, and a converted Ragnar Blackmane has been waiting in a box for over two years now. I’m excited to rebuild the army and get them going once more.

I think what most appeals to me about the Space Wolves is their fighting spirit. They don’t go to war for some bureaucracy that has forgotten why it is fighting in the first place. They don’t fight for fealty to the Emperor, although they do respect him as Russ’s father. They go to war as the champions of humanity. They do battle with the forces of evil simply to prevent them from destroying that which is good. They inhabit a world that is entirely black and white, right and wrong, and they will stop at nothing to see the Emperor’s justice delivered to those who harm the innocents. One of my favorite stories in the body of 40k lore is when the Space Wolves stand in the way of the Grey Knights when they begin to cleanse the population of Armageddon. Honor is more important than life to them, and they’d gladly lay that life down to defend their honor.

When battle is done and the enemy is defeated, their sagas of the fallen and the drinking of mjod take place. They don’t hang their heads in remembrance of those who lost their lives, because to them victory is more important than life, and death in battle is the ultimate end. This warrior mentality has always drawn me, and I look forward to diving into it again.

Look for the Wolves to start featuring in my painting progress reports and battle reports in the very near future!