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...")

Blood Angels: Sanguinary Priest

Rounding off my month of Blood Angels (even though it snuck into September), here's my Sanguinary Priest. This guy was a bit of a radical departure for me, insofar as I followed (most of) the Citadel Painting Guide in the Sons Of Sanguinius book, rather than just drawing inspiration or taking onboard advice or tips.

Obviously, I did a headswap, which made some things a little different, but otherwise I tried to remain faithful to the instructions. This was pretty hard for me, as throughout the whole process - which was done very much in a step-by-step and piece-by-piece manner - I was resisting the urge to just COVER EVERYTHING IN AGRAX EARTHSHADE! That would have made life so much simpler... But probably wouldn't have been so good for the whites.

I will say this much... I will never... EVER... start a White Scar army. Painting this guy's white power armour, with all of the different stages and layers was pretty painstaking. Not for me, thanks!

The Sanguinary Priest model is rich in detail, and whilst it's an expensive model (as all of the clampack characters are these days), it's a lot of fun to paint if you enjoy bringing out the hidden gems within the sculpt. The chains, vials and blood-drop gems provide lots of points of interest.

And of course, there is always the fact that these guys are none-too-shabby on the battlefield! I don't think I'll be painting another one of these anytime soon, but it was fun whilst I focused upon him.