ISSUE 28

9th August 2014

Editor: Jes Bickham
jes@whitedwarf.co.uk

Assistant Editor: Matt Keefe
mattk@whitedwarf.co.uk

Senior Staff Writer: Adam Troke
adam@whitedwarf.co.uk

Staff Writer: Daniel Harden
dan@whitedwarf.co.uk

Production Lead: Rebecca Ferguson
rebecca@whitedwarf.co.uk

Digital Editor: Melissa Roberts
melissa@whitedwarf.co.uk

Lead Designer: Matthew Hutson
matt@whitedwarf.co.uk

Designer: Kristian Shield
kris@whitedwarf.co.uk

Designer: Ben Humber
ben@whitedwarf.co.uk

Photo Editor: Glenn More
glenn@whitedwarf.co.uk

Photographer: Erik Niemz
erik@whitedwarf.co.uk

Photographer: Martyn Lyon
martyn@whitedwarf.co.uk

Distribution Lead: Andy Keddie
andy@whitedwarf.co.uk

Publisher: Paul Lyons
paul@whitedwarf.co.uk

And so the recent Space Wolf releases reach an appropriately epic climax with arrival of none other than Logan Grimnar, the Great Wolf himself, atop his chariot Stormrider. It’s a magnificent centrepiece miniature and a suitably stirring rendition of one of the greatest heroes of the Imperium.

To celebrate all this Fenrisian splendour, Dan, Glenn and I repaired to the White Dwarf hobby room for a Battle Report where the Tau and Eldar gang up on the sons of Russ. One thing’s for sure, there was a lot of blood left in the snow once the dust settled…

I’ve also written a report on my experiences at May’s Throne of Skulls event; I adore these gaming weekends as they provide a perfect nexus of beautifully-painted armies, terrific opponents and laugh-out-loud fun games.

And with that, I hope you enjoy the issue!

Jes Bickham - White Dwarf Editor

Of all the heroes in the Imperium few are better known and none more beloved than Logan Grimnar, Chapter Master of the Space Wolves. He is a warrior born, bloody-handed executioner of the alien, heretic and traitor. In Grimnar the legacy of Leman Russ lives on.

Logan Grimnar is the Great Wolf of the Space Wolves, the Chapter Master of one of the most feared and respected of all Space Marine Chapters. He has endured centuries of tireless warfare, leading his warriors from the front with the courage and ferocity of his forebears, cementing a legacy and reputation that precedes him. Among the Space Wolves, Grimnar’s word is law. To his foes it is death.

Clad in Terminator armour, Grimnar towers over his Wolf Guard, a powerful and imposing warrior in spite of his advanced years. In one mighty fist he grasps the hilt of the Axe Morkai, a weapon prised from the lifeless hands of a champion of Chaos. The twin heads of the Axe Morkai still seethe with the barely contained power of its enchantment, this baleful weapon now serving a new master.

Grimnar is drawn into battle on an ancient relic of the Chapter known to the Fenrisians as Stormrider. Styled on the warships of Fenris and powered by archaic suspensor systems and anti-gravitic repulsors, it follows in the wake of two massive Thunderwolves, Tyrnak and Fenrir. Where it passes death soon follows.

Left: Grimnar has led the Space Wolves Chapter for centuries. His face is lined by age and endless war.

Centre: The Axe Morkai, a baleful weapon won from a champion of Chaos. Grimnar had it reforged but even now it rebels against its captivity.

Right: To wield his axe with both hands, Grimnar wears his storm bolter fixed to his wrist.

Upon his shoulders Grimnar wears a thick cloak of wolf fur, taken from the beast known as Fellclaw, and upon his noble brow sits Fellclaw’s gilded skull, a fitting crown for the Wolf King of Fenris. His ornate Terminator armour is hung with fetishes, from rune stones and wyrd totems designed to protect, to trophies plucked from the Chapter’s most hated adversaries. Even on Grimnar’s breastplate, practically hidden beneath the thick braids of his beard, you can see a stylised rendering of the Wolf that Stalks the Stars, the totemic icon worn by every Wolf King since Leman Russ himself.

On Stormrider’s flanks are friezes of carved gold, depicting the sagas of the Wolf King, from the battle against Akor Doomflayer that won him the Axe Morkai to his defeat of the many-headed Kraken that rose up from the depths of Fenris. Ceremonial shields further recount the great deeds of the Wolf King. Beneath Grimnar’s feet lies the centre stone of the Grand Annulus. Arguably the most valuable relic on all Fenris, this stone is only removed from the Great Hall within the Fang in the direst of circumstances, when the Chapter Master will lead his warriors into battle stood upon the very icon that represents his own mighty king, Leman Russ.

As a multi-part plastic kit, Logan Grimnar is a masterpiece, capturing the ferocity of the Space Wolves, with Tyrnak and Fenrir charging forwards, the keel of Stormrider smashing through the icy rocks in its path. The majesty of Logan Grimnar is indisputable as the wind sweeps his wolf cloak behind him. Every part of this model is embellished with details accentuating Grimnar’s legend and drawing you in to the character and history of one of Warhammer 40,000’s best loved heroes. AT

Left: Grimnar’s triumph on Armageddon is commemorated in this gold plaque. In it the Great Wolf is depicted vanquishing the champion of Chaos within the River Chaeron.

Right: The other flank of Stormrider shows Grimnar’s triumph over the Kraken of Fenris. Some who behold Stormrider speculate that the alien appearance of the Kraken hints at an otherworldly origin.

Left: Tyrnak is the son of Fellclaw, a mighty blackmaned Thunderwolf, taken at infancy and tamed by Grimnar.

Right: Fenrir is Tyrnak’s pack sister. Few have the strength of mind to cow a Thunderwolf, especially the get of a Blackmane. Such is the loyalty of Fenrir and her brother that they will tear apart any that dare to rouse Grimnar’s ire.

Companies of Fenris is a comprehensive painting guide for the Space Wolves, including stage-by-stage painting guides, background information and uniform guides for four of the Chapter’s Great Companies.

Paperback | 160 pages
Also available in iBook edition

If you’re looking at your bare plastic Space Wolves wondering how to paint them, then wonder no longer, for Companies of Fenris is here to help.

The first half of this weighty 160-page tome focuses on the four Great Companies of Logan Grimnar, Harald Deathwolf, Sven Bloodhowl and Egil Iron Wolf, providing new background on each of them, illustrations of their unit and Company markings and pictures of each army arrayed for war. Seeing how different each great Company can look is very inspiring, from Egil’s dark and brooding tank-heavy army to Sven’s tattoo-covered warriors. There are excellent illustrations and conversions of both these Wolf Lords, too, the first time they’ve ever been shown outside of the special edition collections that went on pre-order last week.

The second half of the book features page after page of stage-by-stage painting guides including everything from Grey Hunters and Stormwolf Gunships to Logan Grimnar and Ulrik the Slayer. If you’re familiar with our interactive iPad painting guides you’ll know just how in-depth these stage-by-stage articles are and, with 88 pages full of them, you’ll have everything you need to paint your Space Wolf army to completion. With guides on painting fur, plasma weapons, bone, metal, lightning claws and more besides, Companies of Fenris is a great resource, even if you’re not painting Space Wolves. DH

To find out more about Games Workshop eBook products and to download them, visit blacklibrary.com/games-workshop-digital-editions.

Logan Grimnar’s Great Company is the most prestigious in the Space Wolves Chapter, every member a hero of countless campaigns. Champions of Fenris recounts their impressive saga and provides full rules for using them in your battles.

Hardback | 80 pages
Also available in eBook and iBook editions

Champions of Fenris is one of those books that, even if you’re not a follower of Russ, you need in your collection. Every page is full of new background about Logan Grimnar’s Great Company, beginning with the saga of the High King himself. Covering over 600 years, it tells the tale of his induction into the Chapter, his great deeds within Asvald Stormwrack’s Great Company, his ascension to Wolf Lord and, finally, Great Wolf. Logan Grimnar’s tale is nothing short of epic, the stuff of legends.

As part of Logan’s saga, Champions of Fenris details three of his greatest campaigns: the War of the Wolf, Vengeance for Gnosis and the Tombs of Midgardia, where he led his Great Company against Chaos Space Marines, Eldar and Necrons respectively. The sagas are enthralling and punctuated with new, never-before-seen artwork, including new illustrations of Logan himself (the one of him in the snow standing over a pile of broken Black Legionnaires is a personal favourite).

Champions of Fenris also includes a new Force Organisation chart for using Logan’s Great Company in your battles, plus seven new formations, new Warlord Traits and an armoury full of Fenrisian relics for your heroes. There are also six new missions to use them in, three historical scenarios and three Eternal War missions. To field the Champions of Fenris is to field an army of elite warriors the likes of which the galaxy has never seen. DH

You will need a copy of both Warhammer 40,000 and Codex: Space Wolves to use the contents of Champions of Fenris.

To find out more about Games Workshop eBook products and to download them, visit; blacklibrary.com/games-workshop-digital-editions

Arjac Rockfist is the personal champion of the Wolf King Logan Grimnar. A mountain of muscle clad in Terminator armour, Arjac leads the most elite Wolf Guard squads in missions of utmost import, meting out his master’s judgements with every hammer blow.

The Shieldbrothers are the guardians of the Chapter Master of the Space Wolves, stoic warriors who will lock shields and fight to the death to protect their liege. While none question their willingness to die for their lord, all agree they would rather kill for him. Spilling out from their Land Raider Crusader, they raise shields high to ward off the blows of the enemy before slaughtering the foe with axe blade and hammer blow, with Arjac Rockfist stood like a mountain at their centre.

This set contains Arjac Rockfist in Citadel Finecast, five plastic Wolf Guard Terminators and a Land Raider Crusader. AT

The Great Wolf is surrounded by the keenest minds within the Space Wolves Chapter, warriors whose wrath on the battlefield matches his own.

Logan Grimnar has not triumphed through centuries of constant war and bloodshed without learning to heed the counsel of his war leaders, for the Great Wolf must be both warrior king and diplomat. To that end he seeks out those who instinctively understand the beating heart of the Chapter. With the foresight of Njal Stormcaller and other Rune Priests, the tireless fortitude of Ulrik the Slayer and the technological savvy of an Iron Priest he is well equipped. In times of direst need Grimnar will summon these leaders to the battlefield where they form a war council fit for the Wolf King of Fenris, the keenness of their minds and the power of their weapons bolstering his own.

Grimnar’s War Council contains four character models all produced in Citadel Finecast: Ulrik the Slayer, Njal Stormcaller, a Space Wolves Rune Priest and a Space Wolves Iron Priest. AT

By David Annandale
Hardback | 176 pages

Battered and broken survivors of the Isstvan V massacre attempt to rally on the death world Pythos.

Having recently read David Annandale’s Chains of Golgotha novella, I was expecting great things from Maledictus. I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

The story follows a Grey Knight strike force sent to the agri world of Squire’s Rest, a planet caught in the path of the Red Waaagh! With no daemonic threat present, Justicar Styer is dubious about his deployment. Until a radical Inquisitor makes her presence known, that is. While the action towards the end of the book is classic Warhammer 40,000 at its very best, it’s the dialogue that really makes this book shine. Every interaction is spot on and not a single word is wasted on frivolous conversation. The story gets to the point and makes it extremely well. DH

This title is also available as an eBook. For more information: blacklibrary.com

In his latest column, rules sage Jervis Johnson shows us that not all games need to be epic in scale, as he presents rules for ‘No Time for Peace’…

One of the great things about the games we play is how flexible they are. They can be used to play anything from a small battle between a few dozen combatants, right through to a full-scale apocalyptic onslaught with hundreds of warriors supported by towering war machines and monstrous creatures. They can also be used to play games that test your skill as a commander, or to faithfully recreate a narrative battle where every unit has a backstory and where the scenery faithfully recreates a location from the game’s background. Last but far from least (for this month’s column at least!), you can play games that can be completed in a single lunchtime, right up to ones that will take the best part of a weekend to complete, and everything in-between.

This month’s column focuses on the former, namely games that can be played comfortably in a lunchtime, with the aim being a test of your generalship. Lunchtime games are nothing new to our hobby – I’ve been fighting such battles since I first started playing, and over the years we’ve published quite a few scenarios and missions designed to be completed in under an hour. Nonetheless, there are always new people joining the hobby, and so I have no qualms about tackling the subject again. It would be a great shame for anyone to miss out on such an enjoyable and challenging aspect of the games that we play.

The trick with planning a lunchtime game is to come up with something that limits the size of a battle while not fundamentally changing the rules of the game. There is a temptation to modify some of the game rules to speed things up but I think this is a mistake, as it can change the way the game plays, and mitigates one of the great strengths of quick lunchtime games, which is to try out new tactics before using them in a full-scale battle. Instead I think it is better to just limit the size of the forces involved, and make sure that the game’s victory conditions will ensure a quick game.

By way of an example, this month’s column includes a new mission for Warhammer 40,000 that can be played over the course of a single lunchtime. As another benefit of lunchtime games is that they give you more chances to play games, I’ve designed it so that it can be played as a series of games if you want. This should also make it of interest to you grognards (French for ‘old gits’ – Ed) out there who are hardened veterans of games like 40K in 40 Minutes, and the other ‘quick-play’ scenarios we have published in the past. Players of our other games will find it a simple matter to convert the mission into a scenario for their preferred game system. And with all of that I will shut up, and let the mission do the talking…

WAR WITHOUT END

War Without End is a simple variant of No Time For Peace that allows you to fight a series of games. The aim is to create an army that can win as many games in a row as possible. This simple change makes picking an army much more challenging – it is easy to come up with an army that can win one game, much harder to create one that can win game after game.

The series can consist of any number of games. When playing War Without End, the winner of the last game in the series is not allowed to change the army they used for the next game that they play. The loser can change their army as desired. At the end of the series, the player who was the winner for the longest consecutive row of games is the overall winner.

If you have a group of players, then randomly select two players for your first game. The winner must always be one of the two opponents in the next game, until beaten and replaced.

Jervis Johnson is the beating heart and improbably tall figurehead of the rules team, and over his many millennia with Games Workshop he’s had a hand in the design of most of our classic games.

NO TIME FOR PEACE

No Time for Peace is a new Warhammer 40,000 mission that can be completed in under one hour. If desired it can be played as a series – over the course of several lunchtimes for example. It is highly recommended that it be used in this way, as it provides the players with the challenge of creating a small battleforce that is flexible enough to take on whatever is thrown at it.

The Armies

Both players must pick a 500 point army that consists of exactly five units, none of which have a total points value of more than 100 points. Dedicated transports count as one of your five units. This aside there are no restrictions on what can be taken, and players can use Unbound armies, detachments or formations if they wish to do so.

The Battlefield

Use the Deployment Map included with this mission. Then, set up terrain as described in Warhammer 40,000: The Rules. The long edge of the battlefield should be 3-5 feet long and the narrow edges 2-4 feet long.

Objective Markers

After terrain has been set up, but before determining where to deploy, the players must place 6 Objective Markers that are individually numbered 1 through 6 on the battlefield, using the rules for Placing Objective Markers in the Warhammer 40,000: The Rules.

Deployment

Each player rolls a D6, re-rolling ties. Whoever scores higher can pick one of the table corners as his table corner. The other player uses the diagonally opposite table corner. The table edges within 15” of your corner are considered to be your table edge for all rules purposes.

The players then take it in turns to set up one unit at a time, starting with the player that won the roll-off. All models must be set up within 15” of their corner of the table. Units can be placed in Reserve if desired.

First Turn

Each player rolls a D6, re-rolling ties. Whoever scores higher takes the first turn.

Tactical Objectives

Each player generates 3 Tactical Objectives at the start of his first turn.

Game Length

The mission lasts for 4 turns, or until one player scores more than the required number of Victory Points (see below).

Victory Conditions

If the player who goes first scores 6 or more Victory Points, they win the battle immediately and the game ends. If the player who goes second scores 5 or more Victory Points, they win the battle immediately and the game ends.

Otherwise, at the end of the game, the player that has scored the most Victory Points wins the battle. If the players have the same number of Victory Points, the game is a draw.

Primary Objective

Achieve as many Tactical Objectives as possible (see Warhammer 40,000: The Rules). If, at the start of a player’s turn, he has fewer than 3 Active Tactical Objectives, he must generate a number of new Tactical Objectives until he has 3.

Secondary Objectives

None.

Mission Special Rules

Mysterious Objectives, Night Fighting, Reserves, Tactical Objectives.

Rapid Deployment: Both players can start rolling for the arrival of reserve units from their first turn.

An alliance of the perfidious Eldar and upstart Tau has made landfall on Fenris with aims unknown; mobilising for war, can Logan Grimnar himself stop the predations of the foul xenos forces? For this Battle Report, Dan took control of some Battle-forged Space Wolves, while Glenn joined his Ulthwé Eldar with Jes’s Tau for an Unbound invasion force…

Jes: For the new Space Wolves’ inaugural Battle Report, we thought it would be fun for the Sons of Russ to fight two threats on their home turf, hence an extra-terrestrial alliance full of big guns and Monstrous Creatures. Dan, as Wolf Lord incumbent, thought it only fitting that Logan Grimnar himself, aboard Stormrider, would attempt to quash the alien threat. We rolled the Deadlock Maelstrom of War Mission, with Vanguard deployment (you can see how we deployed below; see the sidebar for more info and what was kept in Reserve).

Deadlock sees each side start the game with six Tactical Objectives – here’s what we drew, with Dan getting the first turn…

Space Wolves: Secure Objective 4, No Prisoners, Unleash The Wolves, Scour the Skies, Hungry for Glory, Supremacy.

Eldar and Tau: Secure Objective 1, 3, 4 and 6, Hold the Line, Witch Hunter.

PREPARING FOR WAR

Deadlock uses six objective markers, which we spread out thusly:

Objective 1 sat centrally amid the ruins of the crashed Aquila Lander. Objective 2 sat directly opposite in Dan’s deployment zone and near to the table edge. Objective 3 was placed to the far right in Jes and Glenn’s deployment zone, behind the ruins, while Objective 4 was on the extreme left of the alien deployment area, by a bubbling crater. Objective 5, meanwhile, was placed atop the smashed Skyshield Landing Pad, which we decided to use as ruins, and Objective 6 was popped in the tall ruins on the other side of the table.

Dan deployed first. A squad of five Grey Hunters sat on Objective 5, while Logan Grimnar and his Thunderwolves deployed centrally by the Skyshield, ready to charge to Objective 1 and any who got in their way. A Stormfang and a Stormwolf containing 10 Blood Claws and a Rune Priest waited in Reserve, along with a Drop Pod filled with 10 battle-hungry Grey Hunters.

Alien-wise, Jes kept a Broadside far back and to the centre, covered in front by 12 Fire Warriors and a Cadre Fireblade. An ion accelerator-toting Riptide started in the ruins near Objective 6, while a heavy burst cannon-equipped Riptide sat to the left of the Broadside. Three Stealth Suits (with a fusion blaster) sat in Reserve. Glenn put his Wraithknight near Objective 3, while the Avatar and Wraithlord went up front to meet Logan, and two squads of three Windrider Jetbikes were kept in Reserve. Let’s fight!

Space Wolves Turn 1:

With a roar, Logan Grimnar and the Thunderwolves pelted a full 12” forward to meet the Avatar (the alien Warlord), passing close enough to Objective 2 to score it, while the Grey Hunters on the landing pad held Objective 5. The Drop Pod came crashing down behind enemy lines and the disembarking Grey Hunters slaughtered eight Fire Warriors with shooting – including the Fireblade! They passed their morale test, however, and Dan rolled two on a D3 for the Supremacy Tactical Objective.

Victory Points scored:
2 (Supremacy)

Xenos Turn 1:

The Wraithknight moved to capture Objective 3 – a Skyfire Nexus – while the Avatar forged ahead to clash with Logan Grimnar. The Riptide in the ruins stalked forward to grab Objective 6 and shoot Grimnar, who shrugged off two Wounds with the Belt of Russ (which gives a 4+ Invulnerable save), while the Wraithknight, Wraithlord, Fire Warriors and nearby Riptide (which nova-charged its heavy burst cannon) turned their guns on the Grey Hunters in their midst; miraculously, two survived, having Gone To Ground! They passed their morale check and the Wraithlord, enraged, rolled a double 1 to charge them… the Grey Hunters survived the first turn, denying Jes and Glenn First Blood.

In the Assault phase, the Avatar charged and challenged Logan Grimnar for an epic showdown; the combat was a draw, with two Wounds suffered apiece (even though the Avatar hit and wounded six times!). At the end of the turn, the Avatar recovered a Wound thanks to It Will Not Die.

Victory Points scored:
2 (Secure Objective 6 and Secure Objective 3)

Space Wolves Turn 2:

At the start of Dan’s turn he discarded the Scour the Skies objective and drew Blood and Guts in its stead. The Stormfang and Stormwolf both arrived from Reserve, the former zooming in near Logan Grimnar and unleashing all its weapons at the Broadside at the far end of the table. The doughty Tau battlesuit and its missile drone were destroyed, giving Dan First Blood. The Stormwolf moved a full 36” to intercept the heavy burst cannon-armed Riptide near Objective 4, wounding it once with shooting. The two remaining Grey Hunters by the Drop Pod kept their heads down, having Gone To Ground last turn.

The Thunderwolves charged into the fight with the Avatar, hoping to help the Great Wolf out. Alas, the Avatar felled the Space Wolf hero, causing two Wounds which even the Belt of Russ failed to save. A tragedy! The Thunderwolves struck in grief, and caused a further Wound on the Avatar.

OBJECTIVE 5

Dan: Deploying the Grey Hunters on the Skyshield Landing Pad proved to be the most foolish and also the smartest mistake I made during the game. I deployed them with the full intention of claiming the objective, completely forgetting that they’d be generated randomly! I think that’s known as a schoolboy error. Russ smiled on me, however, when I drew the Secure Objective 5 card, which sat next to them. I then got Supremacy and Ascendancy, both of with the Grey Hunters helped claim by being in close proximity to the objective. While there is a degree of luck in what cards you draw, having units near objectives at all times can really pay off when high-scoring cards come up.

Of course, at one point I moved the Grey Hunters off the objective, which allowed one of the Riptides to sneak in and steal a point in turn four. Silly Dan!

Victory Points scored:
2 (No Prisoners, First Blood)

Xenos Turn 2:

The enemy Warlord was dead, nabbing the xenos a Victory Point. Drawing another Tactical Objective (the Deadlock mission requires players to have five Tactical Objectives on turn 2), the aliens got Behind Enemy Lines. The Stealth Suits failed to arrive from Reserve, but both squads of Jetbikes roared into play, one moving to hold Objective 1, the other to help the Riptide near Objective 4. The Wraithknight stayed on its Skyfire Nexus to shoot at the Stormfang with its scatter lasers, but to no avail. The ion accelerator-armed Riptide headed away from Objective 6 to score Behind Enemy Lines by using its jet pack in the assault phase to get within 12” of the table edge.

The Fire Warriors shot and killed the cowering pair of Grey Hunters near the Drop Pod (the Wraithlord destroying the Pod itself in close combat), clearing the xenos deployment zone for Hold The Line. The nearby Riptide nova-charged its heavy burst cannon and activated its velocity tracker to try and rid the skies of the encroaching Stormwolf, but failed to scratch it, suffering two Wounds from Gets Hot rolls for its troubles! Back in the centre of the board the Avatar slew a Thunderwolf and its rider and avoided all damage in return – the survivors ran but were caught in a Sweeping Advance, and so combat continued into turn three…

Victory Points scored:
4 (Hold the Line, Behind Enemy lines, Secure Objective 1, Slay the Warlord)

Space Wolves Turn 3:

Although Grimnar was dead, Dan still had everything to play for, and discarded Hungry For Glory, drawing Secure Objective 5. At last the Grey Hunters on the Skyshield could do something! The Stormwolf entered Hover mode and disgorged the Blood Claws and the Rune Priest, who moved off on his own, and Dan finally got a Psychic phase, destroying a Jetbike with Living Lightning. The Stormwolf itself shot everything at the Wraithknight, taking a Wound off.

In the Assault phase, the Blood Claws charged the nearby Riptide. They caused 23 hits… but only one Wound! The Riptide failed to save it, but killed two Blood Claws in return; they fled 8”. The Rune Priest charged the Jetbike squad and killed them all, scoring Unleash The Wolves, while the Avatar and Thunderwolves fought on. Another warrior of Fenris died, while the last survivor caused a Wound on the living god with his thunder hammer, concussing it!

PRIORITY TARGET

Dan: Shooting works differently in the new Warhammer 40,000, each type of weapon being fired and the Wounds resolved before the next gun is fired. This helps eliminate those weird multi-coloured dice rolls where green dice are bolters, red are plasma, blue are the sergeant’s precision-firing pistol and so on.

When my Grey Hunters shot at Jes’s Fire Warriors, I made full use of this rule, hammering the unit with bolter fire and killing five members of the squad. I then opened fire with my two plasma guns, scoring another three Wounds. Unfortunately for Jes, his Cadre Fireblade was the next closest target and despite his mates trying to save his life, he was killed outright. Had I fired the plasma guns first, he would have survived.

HOVER MODE

Dan: Having fought against a Stormraven in my last few games, I was really keen to try out Hover mode with the two Space Wolf flyers. While it’s a bit of a risk dropping down to the battlefield, it does give you increased manoeuvrability, which proved very handy in taking objectives. Both Jes and Glenn expected them to stay in the air where they were safe from the majority of their guns, so when they descended to the battlefield they made it their mission to destroy them both. Amusingly (well, for me, at least), they destroyed neither, the Stormwolf’s Ceramite Plating protecting it from the Stealth team’s fusion blaster and the Avatar’s Wailing Doom. Armour 12 all round makes these two very survivable.

Victory Points scored:
4 (Secure Objective 5, Secure Objective 4, Unleash the Wolves, Blood and Guts)

Xenos Turn 3:

The far Riptide nova-charged its jet pack and started on the long trek to Objective 5 and the Grey Hunters, missing them with overcharged ion accelerator fire. The Wraithknight shot again at the Stormfang, removing a Hull Point, while the other Riptide stripped a Hull Point off the Stormwolf with its heavy burst cannon. In the Assault phase, it charged the hovering transport, but failed to hit with a Smash Attack! The Fire Warriors failed to shoot the Rune Priest while the Wraithlord killed three Blood Claws with its flamer. Alas, it rolled badly to charge them, and the tenacious warriors stayed put near Objective 4. The Avatar finally killed the last Thunderwolf, and regenerated another Wound!

Victory Points scored:
0!

Space Wolves Turn 4:

Dan replenished his Tactical Objectives with Secure Objective 2 and 6, and Ascendancy. The Stormfang entered Hover mode and moved to Objective 6, shooting but not hurting the Avatar. The Rune Priest had more luck; although Living Lightning was negated by Deny The Witch, he successfully activated his Force Axe, charged the Riptide and killed it. The Grey Hunters foolishly moved off Objective 5 to shoot at the surviving Jetbikes, killing one, while the Stormwolf shot everything at the Wraithlord, vapourising it.

Victory Points scored:
1 (Secure Objective 6)

Xenos Turn 4:

The tardy Stealth Team arrived 8” from Objective 4 and failed to hurt the Stormwolf with a fusion blaster. The Fire Warriors finally felled the Rune Priest, while the Wraithknight and remaining Riptide shot and killed all bar one of the Grey Hunters on the landing pad. The Riptide then used its Thrust Move to claim Objective 5, while the last surviving Jetbike rushed in to claim Objective 4.

Victory Points scored:
3 (Secure Objective 4, Secure Objective 5, Witch Hunter)

Space Wolves Turn 5:

Time was getting short… Dan discarded Secure Objective 2 and drew Behind Enemy Lines – very fortunate as the Blood Claws moved within 12” of the alien table edge and shot the lone Jetbike off Objective 4 for good measure. The Stormwolf and Stormfang concentrated fire on the Avatar but caused only one Wound. With the Blood Claws holding Objective 4, the Stormfang on Objective 6 and the lone Grey Hunter on the landing pad grabbing Objective 5 from the Riptide thanks to the Objective Secured special rule, Dan also scored two points from Ascendancy.

Victory Points scored:
3 (Ascendancy, Behind Enemy Lines)

Xenos Turn 5:

With the score 12-9 in Dan’s favour, it was time for decisive action. Drawing Secure Objective 1 and 2, the Wraithknight then moved forward to claim the former (killing the Blood Claws with its suncannon in the process), while the Riptide nova-charged its jet pack to boost behind enemy lines to grab the latter. The Stealth Team killed the lone Grey Hunter on Objective 5. The Avatar charged the Stormwolf, but Glenn chose not to Smash Attack, and failed to damage it. And with that, Dan rolled to see if the game ended: the result was a 2, and with the Riptide also scoring Linebreaker, that meant the final score was… a draw!

Victory Points scored:
3 (Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 2, Linebreaker)

Final scores:
Space Wolves 12, xenos 12!

SMASH AND GRAB

Glenn: In the new edition of Warhammer 40,000, the Smash special rule now only confers one Attack at double the model’s Strength. You also always need to roll to hit a vehicle in combat, regardless of whether it moved or not. This combination of changes makes a big difference to whether you decide to Smash or not. Jes chose to use Smash with one of his Riptides on Dan’s Stormwolf, but with the Riptide only slightly better at fighting (yes, than a plane with no arms), he failed to hit and wasted the attack. As a result, I didn’t Smash when the Avatar came into contact with the Stormwolf and failed to do any damage at all, even with six Attacks. Before, Smash Attacks were a no-brainer. Now it’s a little more risky.

NEVER SAY NOVA AGAIN…

What follows is an actual transcript of the game:

Jes: Should I nova-charge my Riptide? It’s only got one Wound left.

Dan: Do it!

Glenn: Don’t listen to him, you’ll just kill it. Never nova-charge a Riptide, they’re already good enough.

Dan: Always nova-charge them. None of my pilots will live to see 25.

Erik: How’s the game going, guys?

Jes: Nova-charge?

Erik: Yeah!

Glenn: It’s a trap, Jes!

Jes: OK, I’ll leave it. But if I had nova-charged… (Jes rolls a 3)

Dan: Told you.

Jes: NOOOOOO!

IMMOVABLE OBJECT

Jes: The Eldar/Tau alliance’s Warlord was the Avatar, and Glenn rolled on the Personal Traits table, scoring a six – Immovable Object! This was chiefly notable as it gave the Avatar It Will Not Die, an incredibly useful ability which saw the Avatar recover three Wounds over the five turns played, keeping the god-construct alive until the very end. In fact, the Avatar would have been killed by the end of Turn 2 in the combat with the Thunderwolves had it not recovered a Wound earlier through It Will Not Die – all of which is a long way of saying that Dan very nearly scored Slay the Warlord several times throughout the game. Had he managed to, he’d have won the game 13 Victory Points to 12… the Avatar of Khaine is now Glenn’s most valuable entity!

THE THEORETICAL SIXTH TURN

Ever finished a game and wondered what would happen if you continued for another turn? We certainly did. In our ‘what if…’ scenario, Dan drew the Big Game Hunter card. With only his flyers left and the Avatar and the Riptide both in their sights, he’d be victorious if he could kill just one of them. But which one? The Avatar had become his nemesis, but the Stormfang’s multi-meltas couldn’t hurt it. In the end, logic won out and Dan went for the Riptide, though he barely hurt it. Then the Stormwolf’s helfrost cannon fired, stripping it of a Wound and causing it to take a Strength test. Jes looked dubious, Dan looked nervous. Jes rolled a 6 and the Riptide froze like a popsicle. Victory would have been Dan’s!

TIME TO LICK OUR WOUNDS

Dan: Now that was a close game. When Glenn and Jes first announced they’d be teaming up, I was especially concerned about the Wraithknight. In the end, it was the Avatar that made a tough battle into a nightmare for the Sons of Russ. Poor Grimnar, I knew him briefly… For me, the stars of the show were the Stormfang and the Stormwolf. Granted, I missed a lot of twin-linked shots with them, but they both proved to be reliable, resilient and easy to use, a combination that makes them very forgiving for impetuous generals like me who like to throw caution (and Blood Claws) to the wind and get stuck in. I was also immensely impressed with the Thunderwolf Cavalry. I took them because they looked cool and their fight with the Avatar was epic. They actually caused more Wounds than Logan did! Had it been any other unit they would have pulverised it, but such are the fortunes of war.

BIG BAD WOLF... IS DEAD!

Jes: Utmost respect to Dan, who hurled Logan forward from turn one just to get stuck in, like any self-respecting Space Wolf. It was unfortunate that the Avatar smashed him up, as the fight could have easily gone Grimnar’s way… but what a hero Glenn’s Avatar turned out to be! Dan just could not kill him, thanks to both his Invulnerable save and his Warlord Trait. The same couldn’t be said for my Cadre Fireblade, alas. Nasty plasma guns!

Even though Dan lost his Warlord early on, he played a canny game and the draw was a hard-fought one. The game also demonstrated for us yet again what a great addition Tactical Objectives are to the game; even with a big hitter like Logan Grimnar out of the running, victory is still within reach – and I agree with Dan, the real stars of the show were the new flyers. They’re tough, nasty and festooned with horrible guns. Brilliant!

’Eavy Metal is our regular feature celebrating beautifully-painted Citadel miniatures. Curated by the members of the renowned ’Eavy Metal team, we feature their models along with those of select guests.

Despite toiling all day as a member of the elite ’Eavy Metal team, Tom Winstone still finds the energy to paint in his free time too.

Tom: When I paint models, I really like to get inside the background, and bring something from their history or imagery to the fore. The first time I saw this Dark Elf Sorceress I remember thinking she would look good on ice-blasted terrain or with snow swirling around her. On top of that, I always get the impression that the Dark Elves are the most cold, calculating and cruel not just of the Elves but of all the creatures in the Warhammer world.

I chose colours that would portray that coldness, without being clichéd. The main thing that people have commented on is the tone of her skin. Basically I wanted to paint it very pale indeed – alabaster, almost, but with enough of a contrast in tones that it was believable. To that end, I spent a long time painting her face. The Sorceress has eye make-up, a little rouge on her cheeks and lips that match her skirts. I wanted to keep the colour palette to an absolute minimum, so I avoided contrasting colours like gold. Those could have warmed up the model and changed the overall effect. She also has tiny magenta highlights in her hair, if you look closely. These connect the hair, skirt and lips together, unifying the model.

Darren Latham is a former ’Eavy Metal painter, Golden Demon winner and a Citadel miniatures designer. He knows models.

Darren: When Edgar Ramos was sculpting Belegar Ironhammer I used to sit right beside him. As he worked on the model, I remember thinking that I would have to paint one, so when a hero painting challenge happened in the office it was the perfect excuse. I made a couple of little alterations to put a personal stamp on the model (I wanted to see Belegar with an axe, for starters) and then got painting.

When I am painting a model, I like to challenge myself to do something different, so I decided that I would go for a copper finish, since we don’t see it all that often. Using Screaming Bell as my basecoat I painted his armour in a warm tone, keeping the armour clean, like it had been burnished to a fine finish. Nowadays I usually paint metals using a non-metallic technique, so it was refreshing to reacquaint myself with metallic paints – I find it is a taxing but rewarding challenge to try and get the finished paint as smooth as possible, although it takes me a long time to do it.

To offset all that warm copper and balance the paint job, I picked a cool blue for the gems and his shield. AT

To see more models chosen by the ‘Eavy Metal team, be sure to pick up issue 8 of Warhammer: Visions, on sale on Saturday the 6th September.

Jes once again attends a Throne of Skulls event at Warhammer World. This time, he left his Tyranids at home – with an army of four Imperial Knights freshly painted and ready for war, how did our intrepid editor do?

Jes has been painting day and night since Christmas to get his four Imperial Knights done. Now he’s finished? “Two more!”

Sir Ranulf the Righteous, Seneschal of House Terryn, stood triumphant, his hulking armoured form towering over the battlefield. He had the precious relic in his grasp, safe from the clutches of the perfidious Eldar. His companions had already eliminated the most pertinent threats, Madrigal the Night’s Watchman having cleaved a loping Wraithknight in twain with his reaper chainsword, while Sir Andragon the Intemperate had reduced a Fire Prism battle tank to a smouldering pile of xenos slag. And yet, as Ranulf turned to move his prize to safer ground, a keening wail pierced his audio sensors; looking up, he saw two Nightshade Interceptors scream into view and hurtle over his head, their Crimson Hunter pilots turning the flyers with an acute sharpness that human pilots could never attain. Doubling back on themselves, the last thought Ranulf had was that his pride had undone him; a micro-second later, stuttering bright lance and pulse laser fire knifed through his titanium hide with a surety born of alien vengeance. The resultant detonation was nothing short of apocalyptic. Amid the warlord’s smoking ruins, the relic lay unharmed, waiting once again to be claimed…

Above: James Curtis’s Hive Fleet Kraken advances en masse towards the Imperial Knight lines. Clever deployment meant that James’s Venomthropes provided most of his army with cover saves, making the alien beasts devilishly tricky to remove with repeater battle cannon, heavy stubber and thermal cannon fire. Held in reserve was a flying Hive Tyrant and Mawloc, while an infiltrating brood of Genestealers and a Broodlord provided some early assault shenanigans.

And so ended my final game of the May 2014 Throne of Skulls event at Warhammer World, against Pete Blake’s gorgeous Eldar army. (Worry not, loyal servants of the Imperium, I won the day by a single Victory Point in the end, purely because I had drawn First Blood; we had both also scored Linebreaker and Slay the Warlord.) As ever, Throne of Skulls proved to be a terrific celebration of painting and gaming. 98 proud individuals brought along their favourite armies for two days and five games of Warhammer 40,000, the weekend culminating in an awards ceremony with certificates up for grabs for the best painted armies, the winning players of each faction, most favourite player votes and much more besides, including the coveted Throne of Skulls statue itself for the overall winner.

The reason I adore Throne of Skulls, however – this is my third time – is that winning is not the be-all and end-all. (This may strike my opponents as somewhat ironic since – spoiler alert! – I won all of my games in the May event.) As ever, the real joy is in meeting new, like-minded people, having great games with them, and drooling over spectacular armies. (Sharing a pint or two on the Saturday night pub quiz is always a hoot as well.)

Last time I attended Throne of Skulls I took my beloved Tyranids and had great joy in playing with them; this time I wanted to do something different, however, and pledged to paint up a new army just for the event. Having fallen in love with the Imperial Knight I decided to build and paint an entire army of them – handily, four fit into 1500 points (the standard army size for Throne of Skulls) quite nicely. The May Throne of Skulls was also special as two old friends of mine, Dean Garnham and Neil Shiplee, had bought tickets too, and we’d all planned our weekend out months in advance. Friday night saw us getting a couple of practice games in, with Neil’s Grey Knights narrowly losing to my Knights (two were felled). Dean’s Iyanden Eldar army, however – stuffed as it was with wraithcannon-toting Wraithguard, Wraithknights and Wraithlords – methodically tore my towering titans apart for a very well-deserved victory.

Above: Rowan’s Blood Angels disembark for a first turn drop pod assault; a ferocious amount of combi-meltas to the side and rear plus five plasma guns to the front meant I was in very real danger of losing an Imperial Knight before I’d managed to do anything. Fortunately, luck was on my side, and not poor Rowan’s, as a plethora of ones meant only a couple of Hull Points were removed.

THE ARMY

My army list was quite easy to write, as you don’t get many Imperial Knights in 1500 points… I took a House Terryn household of three Imperial Knights accompanied by the Freeblade Madrigal.

Warlord Sir Ranulf the Righteous, Knight Errant
– 370 points

Sir Andragon the Intemperate, Knight Paladin
– 375 points

Sir Barascus the Bold, Knight Paladin
– 375 points

Madrigal the Night’s Watchman, Knight Errant
– 370 points

Come Saturday, my first opponent proper of the weekend was Rowan from north London, who proved to be a consummate gentleman and a terrific opponent. He had brought along a handsome Blood Angels strike force, notable for a couple of drop pods filled with combi-melta wielding super-troops, and Mephiston, the Lord of Death himself. Alas, Rowan’s two bold plans of the day were undone by poor dice rolls: a first-turn all-out melta and plasma assault on one of my Knights was hamstrung by a series of ones, while Mephiston – who had successfully cast his Sanguine Sword psychic power for S10 attacks – was similarly stymied by the fickle nature of the dice gods. From there, the Imperial Knights of House Terryn (accompanied by the freeblade Madrigal the Night’s Watchman) mopped up the Blood Angels survivors. Ever gracious in defeat, Rowan’s terrific attitude served him splendidly over the weekend, as he picked up a certificate for arguably one of the most important awards given at Throne of Skulls – the Emperor’s Laurels, granted for receiving the most favourite opponent votes. Rowan shared it with six other attendees, and had this to say:

“In my first game I was up against Jes’s beautiful Imperial Knights – all four of them! They were terrifying but my Blood Angels did what they do best, and charged in head first anyway. It was a great game, full of heroic acts, but the highlight was Mephiston single-handedly engaging two Imperial Knights in combat! Despite causing an admirable three Hull Points of damage, the Lord of Death was eventually squidged underfoot and Jes won the day.”

Game two of the weekend saw me facing my favourite faction, as James Curtis’s Tyranids swarmed forth, intent on destruction. Surrounded by Termagants, Tervigons, Hive Tyrants and an infiltrating Broodlord that nearly managed to bring down a Knight with its rending claws, House Terryn fought stoically against a tide of claws and chitin. The climax came with James’s two Hive Tyrants braving close combat with Imperial Knights.

Next up was Stuart Keen and his wonderfully converted Tzeentch Chaos Space Marines army, the centrepiece of which was three thunder hammer-wielding Helbrutes and a trio of Obliterators built from Space Marines Centurions and converted to carry every weapon available to the thrice-cursed Daemonspawn. One of the Helbrutes smashed an Imperial Knight to pieces in close combat but the unit of the match was Stuart’s Chaos Cultists, who managed to survive to the end of the game and ran rings around House Terryn!

And so ended the first day’s games. The evening saw Dean, Neil and I, along with Rowan and his friend Steve (another Tyranid player), enter the Bugman’s pub quiz. We didn’t win but it was brilliant fun, our highlight being Rowan guessing that it is in fact the Blood Angels 5th Company that are known as the Daemonbanes.

Sunday’s first game saw me face the first of two terrific Eldar armies. Rob Edmonds had brought a beautifully-painted Iyanden Eldar force – you can see some pictures on these pages, including a Dark Eldar Razorwing as an alternative Crimson Hunter – and it hung in right to the bitter end. Highlights included one of my Knights charging a unit of Wraithguard and suffering significant damage due to overwatching D-scythes – Rob was quite adept at rolling sixes for armour penetration! – and then the Spiritseer leading the unit surviving for a miraculous three turns and taking a further Hull Point off with his witch staff.

Finally, we end where we began, with Pete Blake’s gorgeous scarlet and cream Eldar force. While Pete suffered some terrible luck when his Wraithknight completely failed to hit an Imperial Knight in the turn it charged and was chopped into wraithbone chunks for its trouble, canny concentration of fire with a Fire Prism, shuriken cannons and Crimson Hunters saw my Warlord toppled and the game in the balance. The game finished at the end of turn five, but had it continued, Pete would almost certainly have won as he had Eldar jetbikes tactically placed to retrieve the relic at a moment’s notice.

All that remained was the awards ceremony, with Tom Sutton and his Tyranids being crowned the champion of the weekend. I was inordinately pleased to win an ‘Artisan’s Apprentice’ certificate for a best-painted army nomination, and the ‘Seneschal of the Order’ award for being the highest-scoring Imperial Knight player. Also, to my immense surprise, I was a close second to Tom. The Throne of Skulls is awarded to the player with the highest ‘margin of victory’ – basically, a measure of how well a given player does compared to the other players in his faction. Tom had won all his games and garnered enough favourite game votes to outstrip his Tyranid compatriots with a margin of victory of 8.86 – while I had scored 8.72, apparently the closest result yet in a Throne of Skulls. Blimey!

And yet, as I’ve said, it was the people and the armies that make Throne of Skulls so enjoyable, not the winning or the losing – and the events team at Warhammer World had hosted another cracking event. Dean and Neil headed back to Essex with varying fortunes – Dean had won two games, Neil none – but both had had a great time. I’d also made some new friends, with Rowan and Steve promising to return soon for some friendly games, and what can be better than that? JB

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

Players are able to report heroic acts in Throne of Skulls, and the most heroic act in the May 2014 event was fittingly epic. Paul Atkins’s Iron Hands Sergeant McMetal, faced with nothing to lose, attacked an Imperial Knight with a melta bomb, destroying it! The resultant explosion scattered the full 12” into another Knight, promptly detonating a second war machine of the Imperium. As if that wasn’t incredible enough, the plucky sergeant managed to survive all the devastation! Truly, he was a hero of the Imperium, destined to live on in legend.

See warhammerworld.games-workshop.com for details of and tickets for all forthcoming events at Warhammer World.

Paint Splatter provides handy tips and stage-by-stage painting guides for the week’s new releases. This week, it’s the Great Wolf himself, Logan Grimnar.

Riding into battle on the war chariot Stormrider, Logan Grimnar is an impressive model and the perfect centrepiece for a Space Wolves army. We caught up with Aidan Daly to find out how he painted the High King of Fenris.

Aidan: Before painting Logan Grimnar, I built the model in seven sub-assemblies for ease of painting. I built Logan, Stormrider, Tyrnak and Fenrir to completion and left the base and the chariot hafts separate. While you don’t have to paint a model in sub-assemblies, I find it much easier with large models like this that have lots of different textures to them. The Grand Annulus on the chariot would be hard to paint with Logan standing on it, for example, and it’s much easier to drybrush the fur on the Thunderwolves when they’re not attached to the rest of the model.

I painted Logan Grimnar using the same colours as the rest of the Space Wolves army, but chose to paint the chariot using the infantry colour scheme rather than weathering it like a tank. After all, it doesn’t touch the ground so it’s unlikely to get as dirty. I imagine it’s well maintained too, so I spent extra time on the gold to really make it shine. My top tip is to leave Logan’s face until last. As the focal point of the model, it’s hard to get a feel for how light or dark it should be if the area around it isn’t painted. Paint it last and highlight until you’re happy with the result. DH

Logan Grimnar is the High King of Fenris and the Chapter Master of the Space Wolves, now available as a plastic kit. Riding into battle on a mighty war chariot, he is more kingly than ever before. Keen to find out more, Dan went in search of Ollie Norman, the sculptor of the kit.

Ollie Norman is known among the design team for really getting into the character of the models he’s working on. He didn’t go so far as sharpening his teeth, but he does have a lovely fur cape…

“Sculpting Logan Grimnar was one of the biggest challenges I’ve had since joining the Design Studio,” says Ollie. “Working on a special character is a real privilege, but working on one previously sculpted by Jes Goodwin is exciting and terrifying in equal measure – Jes’s work is exceptional, so whatever you do has to be one step better.

“Darren Latham was the lead designer on the Space Wolves project,” says Ollie, “and he was determined to make something big out of Logan Grimnar. Space Wolves are loud and proud and we wanted him to be the model people saw first in an army. Interestingly, our inspiration came from the Space Wolves’ most disliked allies, the Dark Angels. Sammael rides into battle on the Jetbike Corvex, a relic of the Great Crusade. He’s an impressive centrepiece miniature because of it and we wanted to do something similar for Logan.”

The natives of Fenris have a long history of seafaring, which has influenced the design of new models such as the Stormfang Gunship. Darren and Ollie headed in the same direction with Stormrider, Logan’s chariot. “We wanted it to look like a ship, one that was both high-tech and primitive at the same time,” continues Ollie. “It has a prow and a keel like a boat and even a figurehead, but it’s kept in the air by high-tech anti-grav gizmos like those on the Land Speeder. It was ridden by Leman Russ when he first addressed the Chapter as their Primarch, so it needed to epitomise the look and feel of Fenris, while being Imperial at the same time.

”One of the biggest challenges was joining the Thunderwolves to the chariot,” says Ollie. “No one, not even a Space Wolf, is getting a lead round a Thunderwolf, so I explored the idea of cybernetics instead. Each wolf has mounting points on their shoulders, which attach to the yoke of the chariot. As the Thunderwolves move, the pistons and gyros in the yoke constantly flex in sympathy with their movements.”

“Space Wolves are proud warriors and unmitigated braggers,” continues Ollie, “and I love the idea of Logan displaying his greatest victories as he rides to war. The two gold friezes on Stormrider show him defeating Akor Doomflayer, a Champion of Khorne, whose blade he re-forged as the Axe Morkai, and fighting a Kraken with his bare claws.” Ollie also re-introduced a Space Wolf icon – the Spiritwolf. “Space Wolves are very spiritual and superstitious,” explains Ollie, “so I mounted Spiritwolves on the chariot to protect the centre stone of the Grand Annulus from evil spirits and magicks. And, yes, that is the real thing set into the chariot’s base, not a replica. The Grand Annulus is an iconic Space Wolves image and I desperately wanted to show it, or at least part of it, on a model. Now, wherever Logan goes in the galaxy, so does the stone. When Logan goes into battle, he does so standing on a piece of Fenris.”

Of course, no conversation about the new Logan Grimnar would be complete without mentioning the Great Wolf himself. “I referenced Jes’s model heavily,” says Ollie, “using modern technology to bring even more life, movement and depth to him. Details that were previously transfers, such as his shoulder pad and leg greave, are now sculpted detail and I really went to town on the Axe Morkai. I wanted it to look possessed, like it was constantly straining against its new shape. The ’Eavy Metal guys did a great job painting it to look like cracked lava. Logan’s greaves feature wolf heads at each corner, representing the pack yapping at his heels, while his chest plate shows the Great Wolf howling at the stars. I added a gilded scarab to his belt, too, a nod to the Space Wolves enmity towards the Thousand Sons.”

When quizzed about the golden wolf’s head perched on top of Logan’s cape, Ollie had further insight to share. “The problem with sitting something on top of Terminator armour is that it can look like it’s the model’s head. I sculpted the wolf head with the paint job in mind, intending it to be gold rather than fur. While it draws the eye, it doesn’t distract you from Logan’s face, which is framed by his flowing white beard. The gold also makes it more crown-like – fitting, really, considering Logan is the king of Fenris.” DH

Join us for a round-up of the week as we share comment, opinion and trivia on the all latest releases, plus other fun tidbits that have cropped up in the White Dwarf bunker. This week: our Battle Report army lists, Tyranid nastiness in Weapon of the Week and much more.

THE XENOS ALLIANCE

THE TAU EMPIRE

HQ
Shas’vre Lastra: Cadre Fireblade.

TROOPS
Team Gu’vras: Twelve Fire Warriors.

ELITES
Team Turu’gah: Stealth Team with fusion blaster.

Shas’vre Vedic: Riptide with heavy burst cannon and velocity tracker.

Shas’vre Carrac: Riptide with ion accelerator.

HEAVY SUPPORT
Shas’vre Dastak: Broadside with velocity tracker and missile drone.

750 points

THE ELDAR WARHOST OF ULTHWÉ

HQ
The Avatar of Khaine: Avatar of Khaine.

TROOPS
Cosmic Mistral: Windrider Jetbike squad with shuriken cannon.

Starbreeze: Windrider Jetbike squad with shuriken cannon.

HEAVY SUPPORT
Ancient Doom: Wraithlord with two flamers and ghostglaive.

Twins of Legend: Wraithknight with two scatter lasers, suncannon and scattershield.

762 points

ALIEN MENACE

Jes: I wanted to use both of my painted Riptides to give some much-needed manoeuvrability. Nova-charged Thrust Moves enable Riptides to get pretty much anywhere they want, which was borne out by Shas’vre Carrac stealing Objective 5 late in the game. Otherwise, a healthy base of Fire Warriors led by a Fireblade gave me the ability to push out a massive 39 pulse rifle shots per turn! Or, at least, they would have if those pesky Grey Hunters hadn’t murderised the Fireblade on turn one…

Glenn: Quite frankly, I just wanted to take all my favourite models in my half of the army! The Wraithlord, Wraithknight and Avatar of Khaine are quite literally my favourite models ever, which left me with precious few points left to play with. Luckily, Windrider Jetbikes are cheap and incredibly fast, so a pair of small squads equipped with shuriken cannons gave me both speed and firepower.

The Wraithknight’s suncannon was also key for me – in my experience it’s the perfect tool for removing power-armoured super-soldiers!

THE SPACE WOLVES

HQ
Logan Grimnar: High King of Fenris on Stormrider.

Hrofgir Iceshard: Rune Priest (Psychic Mastery level 2) with runic armour, force axe and a plasma pistol.

TROOPS
The Deathwolf’s Initiates: Ten Blood Claws.

The Wolf’s Bite: Ten Grey Hunters with two plasma guns led by a Wolf Guard Pack Leader armed with a power fist.

Jorek’s Hunters: Five Grey Hunters with a meltagun led by a Wolf Guard Pack Leader.

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS
Icesword: Stormwolf assigned to the Deathwolf’s Initiates.

Thunder of Fenris: Drop Pod armed with a deathwind launcher assigned to the Wolf’s Bite.

FAST ATTACK
The Blackwolf Brotherhood: Three Thunderwolf Cavalry led by a Pack Leader armed with a thunder hammer and storm shield.

HEAVY SUPPORT
Frostclaw’s Revenge: Stormfang equipped with multi-melta sponsons.

1500 points

SPACE WOLVES TACTICAL OBJECTIVES

The Space Wolves have six new Tactical Objectives, most of which revolve around close combat and challenges. Unleash the Wolves was one of the first cards I drew and, when combined with Blood and Guts, helped me score a hefty four victory points in Turn 2.

THE WOLFTIME

Dan: With so many new units to choose from, plus the huge variety inherent in a Space Wolves army, I was really spoilt for choice when picking my army list. When it came down to it, though, Logan Grimnar was a must-have. Great model, epic saga, ferocious rules, what’s not to like?

I also needed a heroic bodyguard for Logan, opting for a unit of Thunderwolf Cavalry. I had a feeling Glenn would be taking his Wraithknight and my plan was to aim Logan and the Thunderwolves right at it and take it down before it could do too much damage. The Avatar was an unexpected roadblock.

I firmly believe in the merits of a Battle-forged army over an Unbound one, which was why I picked my army to fit the Wolves Unleashed detachment. Not only would this give me the Objective Secured rule, but I would also benefit from the Cunning of the Wolf special rule, enabling me to bring in reserves more reliably. With the Drop Pod arriving automatically on Turn 1 and at least one of my flyers guaranteed to arrive on Turn 2, I was confident I could get my Space Wolves where I needed them quickly.

Overall, I went for a balanced, manoeuvrable, reliable force that I hoped would give the xenos a good kicking. And, fingers crossed, I’d helfrost a few of them, too.

This beautifully-painted rendition of Araloth by Joe Gallagher is our Reader’s Model of the week. Here’s what he has to say about painting him: “Working from a Skull White undercoat, I painted his cloak a mix of greens, blending up to Ushabti Bone for a pastel effect. I then used Caliban Green to shade it and White Scar on the very edges for highlights. For the horns I used Ushabti Bone, adding Abaddon Black at the top of the horns and White Scar towards the bottom, smudging (with a clean, damp brush) any hard edges to blend the colours together.” Sounds simple when you write it like that…

If you’ve painted a miniature that you think is worthy of a place in White Dwarf then why not send a picture to:

team@whitedwarf.co.uk

If it’s something we can use, we’ll be sure to get in touch.

Adapted to overload the electrical systems of other races’ war machines, the shockcannon is a fittingly horrible Tyranid weapon. “It’s really apparent what it’s designed to do,” says Jes, our resident Hive Mind. “The pointy end punctures enemy armour while electrical charges shoot down the grotesque fleshy sinews like a gruesome biological taser. Yum.”

Jes’s House Terryn Imperial Knights are jolly blue indeed. “It’s a really simple three-stage scheme,” says Jes. “A basecoat of Kantor Blue, followed by a thick edge highlight of Altdorf Guard Blue, finished off with a fine Fenrisian Grey highlight. Doing this last stage over three Knights made me cry.”

While chatting about Logan Grimnar, Ollie Norman had some cool information to share about his Thunderwolves. “Tyrnak and Fenrir are the children of Fellclaw, the ferocious Thunderwolf killed by Logan, whose pelt he now wears as a cape. Tyrnak is the male of the two siblings and has dark, almost black fur. He’s a real bruiser, bigger than an average Thunderwolf, with a shorter, broader snout and an oversized canine tooth. Fenrir is his sister and I designed her to look more lithe and cunning – she’s definitely the brains of the pair, though she’s taken a bit of a mauling from a Tyranid monster judging by her scars. It was fun to build upon the history and character of the two Thunderwolves at the same time as Logan.”

Notes from the worlds of Warhammer. This week: heroic sagas.

CAPTAIN TYCHO

Captain Tycho was one of the finest warriors of the Blood Angels. As Captain of the Third Company he fought in countless engagements, from Armageddon to Gehenna, defending the Imperium from Orks, Necrons, Tyranids and more besides. His saga was cut tragically short when, on Armageddon, he succumbed to the Black Rage. Consumed by visions of his Primarch’s death, Tycho led the Death Company at Hive Tempestora. His body was found in the aftermath, surrounded by dead greenskins.

VOLKMAR THE GRIM

Volkmar is the Grand Theogonist of the Cult of Sigmar. Having fought in countless wars across the Empire, he was finally struck down and killed by Archaon. Despite being brought back to life by the Daemon Be’lakor and chained to his battle standard, Volkmar’s spirit was undiminished and he slew his Daemonic captors with the chains around his wrists. The next year, Volkmar led an army into Sylvania to destroy Mannfred von Carstein. Though Volkmar almost succeeded, he was taken captive by the Vampire. His fate is unclear.

EL GROBI, THE BLACK GOBLIN (OR IS HE?)

From the Border Princes to the World’s Edge Mountains, El Grobi is one of the most feared Goblin assassins around. He has slain Vampires (apparently), Orc Chieftains (allegedly) and Elector Counts (supposedly). It’s rumoured that he’s the famed Black Gobbo, though none have lived to see his face, their eyes poked out with poisoned blades, deadly throwing knives or, in the direst circumstances, dirty fingernails.

The White Dwarf team is a font of hobby knowledge, a metaphorical repository of useful facts. If you have a question about Warhammer 40,000 or Warhammer, need a bit of painting advice or you’re after a few tactical tips, drop us a line: team@whitedwarf.co.uk

SANCTIC OR MALEFIC

The Exorcists Chapter of Space Marines are known for possessing their Battle Brothers (albeit briefly) with a minor Daemon. So, would their Librarians use Sanctic or Malefic psychic powers?
- Liam ‘voices in my head’ Brown

GROMBRINDAL SAYS

Whoa there! Daemons? I’m not touching this one with a Night Goblin’s Squig prod. Andy Clark can take this question.

Andy: I imagine they’d use Sanctic powers as they excel at battling and banishing Daemons. However, some of them have to be skilled at summoning Daemons, too, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to possess their Battle Brothers in the first place. I reckon only the Chapter’s Chief Librarian and his immediate subordinate are privy to such knowledge. You wouldn’t want loads of Librarians running around the battlefield with such dangerous knowledge. Or maybe you would…
- Grombrindal (and Andy)

For most warriors, a hole the size of a fist in the front of their face would be a problem. Not so for this Skeleton Warrior, whose head is now 20% roomier than it used to be. Perfect as a Skellie’s head, it also looks great littering a model’s base.

It’s taken her several weeks of hard graft, but Nat Ann Slinn has finally completed the Treeman for her Armies on Parade display. We think you’ll agree, it was definitely worth the wait. “I used a lot of Glazes on him to tie him visually to the rest of the army,” explains Nat. “I highlighted areas like the leaves right up to Screaming Skull before glazing them with Lamenters Yellow and Waywatcher Green to tie the colours together and make the leaves look really vibrant. I even glazed the bark with greens and purples to make it look as though light were shining through the translucent leaves and reflecting off the bark beneath.”

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