Space Wolves: Blood Claws Pt.2

RRRRRAAAAARGH! They are complete! The second batch of Blood Claws are now ready for battle, which means that all of my infantry are painted in anticipation of my showdown with the ruinous powers next weekend.

Here is my Wolf Guard Pack Leader, who looks more than a little like Windsor Davies from the Carry On films. Once again - as with my last WGPL, he is brandishing a Power Fist for a bit of added Oomph.

I cobbled this chap together a looooooooong time ago, and I can only assume I was trying to arm him with a Combi-Flamer or somesuch... I will be using him as a Flamer-wielding Blood Claw.

He's quite owlish, I think... His hair reminds me of Night Owl from Watchmen, which is not the coolest look, if truth be told.

Here's a gruff soul, wielding a Plasma Pistol. One of my favourite things about the new Space Wolf Codex is the ability to trick out even the smallest unit with a few special weapons. Blood Claws can swap one of their Bolt Pistols for a Plasma Pistol and still have a Special Weapon (such as a Flamer) in a squad of just five men. It means they can quickly get expensive, but they are a lot more effective.

Cheer up! It might never happen!

Tadaaaaa! Six completed Blood Claws. Now, onto my Venerable Dreadnought and a couple of Drop Pods...

Space Wolves: Blood Claws Pt.1

These guys are being bashed out pretty quickly, as I have an impending battle next week, and I need a small squad of them ready and raring for action. As such, they are a bit rough around the edges.

This particular pack will all have red 'paint' (or blood, read into it what you will) daubed across their eyes, as a mark of brotherhood, and in an attempt to ward off maleficarum.

These three all have the same hair colour, but I shall intersperse the rest of the squad with different colours for variety. It just made batch-painting them somewhat quicker.

By my relatively slow standards, I am whizzing through these Space Wolves, and they have come as a welcome change from the Blood Angels with whom I spent ages adhering to the GW-prescribed method.

This was a Blood Claw model I fashioned whilst the old 5th Edition Codex was still lurking around. Of course, they've jibbed off the Mark Of The Wulfen rule, so now he just looks rather out of place...

His head was part of a set from MaxMini - I'm still not entirely sure whether or not they have crossed the goof rubicon, but I kinda like them.

Three down, three to go...

Space Wolves: Grey Hunter #5

And lo! With my fifth Grey Hunter, I have completed my squad! (I did five last year, so these were just rounding them out). I now have ten Grey Hunters in total, and a Wolf Guard Pack Leader to lead them into battle.

This squad have been fun (and quick) to paint. I'm moving onto some Blood Claws next, inspired by the pace at which I can paint these guys at, to a decent standard.

Here they all are - ready for battle!

Space Wolves: Grey Hunter #4

This is just a brief post, as I power my way through the last couple of Grey Hunters on my list of things-to-do. This grizzled veteran is a common-or-garden Grunter, with a simple, trusty Bolter with which to deliver the Imperium from the threat of Xenos or Maleficarum.

Just one more to do, before I plunge into a small squad of Blood Claws, which will provide me with the necessary two Troops choices that will allow me to field a battle-forged army.

Space Wolves: Grey Hunter #3

HURRAY! I got around to finishing the third of my Grunters (Grey Hunters)! This guy did not take an awful lot of time in and of himself, but it took a fair old while to do his banner. Said banner should provide a bit of interest to the squad, methinks.

Another grizzled veteran, obvs, this chap was nice and straightforward to paint, insomuch as he had an open stance, which allowed me to get to all the detail on his chestplate.

I'm enjoying painting aged faces at the moment. My Blood Claws will, naturally, be a lot more youthful and less white around the ears.

And so, onto the banner! The banner itself came from the Command Squad kit, and I painted it black before applying a black to grey gradient to the background with a bit of blending, and then a coat of gloss varnish. I then used an Imperial Fists transfer for the central moon motif, and a couple of numerals from the Space Marine transfer sheet to signify these guys being part of the 'Twa' of Hrothgar's Great Company - part of Bjorn Daemonsbane's 'Rout'. I then painted the moon over the Imperial Fist icon, and applied another coat of gloss varnish, before applying the wolves to each side of the moon. And then I painted the rest of it! AND BREATHE! I think it was worth the effort, mind...

Space Wolves: Wolf Guard Pack Leader

My Grey Hunter pack needed a bit of leadership, and so I opted to include a Wolf Guard Pack Leader, replete with a Power Fist - all the better for enhancing the richness of his own saga.

I wanted to add a few banners into the army, both for a bit more character and some added verticality. A lot of foot-soldiers doth not a variegated army make! Marching to the banner of the Ironwolf, these chaps make war with equal relish against the xenos, daemon and heretic alike.

Here is the aforementioned Power Fist - ideal for slowing you down in challenges! Hurray for the UNWIELDY special rule! Le sigh...

I also decided to equip him with a face, as these tend to be of great use among the ranks of the Adeptus Astartes.

Space Wolves: Grey Hunter #2

Crumbs, it makes a right difference, not having to paint feathers onto things! I've been able to bash this chap out fairly swiftly after the first one, and I am revelling in the smaller amount of detail on these dudes. Unlike regular Tac Marines, they have some nice individual touches, but also unlike my Sternguard, they don't require crazy levels of attention to detail.

Grizzled, white-haired stalwarts are the name of the game in my Grey Hunter squads, so I am trying to steer away from the red hair and youthful exuberance. Instead, composure and judgement shall rule over these guys.

There is some detail to be found in the nooks and crannies of these guys, but it's fairly subtle. Hurray! Onto the next one, as I barrel along...

Space Wolves: Grey Hunter #1

As previously mentioned, I have switched my focus now to Space Wolves, leaving behind the frippery and fancies of the Blood Angels. My primary aim is to round out my squad of Grey Hunters with a bit more character and a few extra weapons.

I quite fancied the idea of this Grunter as a dual-pistol-wielding sharpshooter, flying into battle with his twin guns blazing. And one for every occasion, too. A Plasma Pistol for those tough nuts that just need cracking, and a Bolt Pistol for when you don't fancy burning your paws.

(Don't mention it, but the arm is from a Wolf Scout! Hope nobody aims for it in the heat of battle! "Ha! Don't worry - I have a 3+ save! What's that...? Oh...")

Space Wolves: Rune Priest

I usually *hate* painting metal miniatures - the details are often scratchy, it's hard to get rid of mould lines, and the extra weight makes them hard to hold whilst you paint them.  But this chap was actually a joy to paint.

The details were lovely and crisp, and not *too* busy - it just gives a nice sense of depth to the model.

Like most of my Space Wolves, this Rune Priest is a venerable chap with some nice, braided white hair.  He's a bit mardy, though...

Space Wolves: Thunderwolf Cavalry

The tiny man on the huge wolf! Or that's how it seems, at least.  At the moment, I have this fearsome chap decked out as a Wolf Lord, but I may well reconsider that and paint his shoulder pads in a similar livery to his comrades.

The Thunderwolves are easy enough to paint (as are the Fenrisian Wolves) - it's painting the man sat atop it that is tricky.

Who doesn't like silly things in the grimdarkfuture?

Space Wolves: Wolf Guard Terminator #2

Another Wolf Guard Terminator for the archives, here.  This time with a little bit of additional firepower in the form of an Assault Cannon.  Annoyingly, I am now annoyed by the lack of barrel holes thanks to all your comments on previous posts ;-)

Ahhh!  There you go, from the side view you can just imagine the barrels being drilled out.

One more Wolf Guard added to the ranks.  Technically, I need another couple of Wolf Guard to make the unit legal (I have three, and you need five to unlock the Heavy Weapon), but we're getting there!

Space Wolves: Wolf Guard Terminator

I love Wolf Guard Terminators!  And who wouldn't? Not only can they form a rock-solid unit, but they're also chock-full of character.

I've been really enjoying spending time on my Space Wolves - I think they are my most satisfying army.

Lightning Claws never seem super-effective to me, but they're so iconic that I have to have a few, at least.

Space Wolves: Skyclaws

Following on from my Wulfen chap the other day, here is the rest of my Skyclaw pack as it stands.

Currently, they are just your bog-standard chainsword/bolt pistol guys, but I already have plans to improve them.

With the new vehicle damage tables in 7th Edition, Melta is the key! Its lovely AP1-ness is essential for me, as I go up against a lot of tanks.

Skyclaws are able to have two special weapons per squad of five now, so they will be my suicide squads.  Characteristically reckless, I would say.

And here they all are, together.  You can see Wolfboy poking his head through from the back row...