Da Wulf Boyz

The Counts As Experiment Continues...



So, a couple of things. I have been testing the waters a bit with Da Wulf Boyz. The first major tournament that is coming up that I could test the waters with my army is the NOVA open. So I got in touch with Mike Brandt through e-mail. I sent him the smae 8 page treatment that I sent to the Warmaster Challenge gang here. I wanted to see if this army would pass the test for a counts as army for the NOVA open.



So I sent off the e-mail and got a reply the same day from Mike at the NOVA. He was perfestly fine with the army and even offered me some advice, following is a quote directly from his e-mail to me.

"Thanks for sending me your pdf - you have a gorgeously converted and creatively thought-up army. I think the best advice I can give you to ensure this flies with all your opponents is to create a copy of your "guide" to attach to each of your army lists for your opponents and event organizers. It really is a fantastic tool for your army, and I think it helps clarify any additional questions that might arise."

With Mike`s advice I got to work and before the last tournament I went to I made up a 3 page army list for every opponent. It would list something followed by a detailed picture of the model. So I would have the Wolf Lord listed, list all his wargear then there would be a picture with every piece of wargear listed on the picture.

I also have a gallery of this army on the 11th Company's web forum. The 11th Company if anyone isn't aware is a Podcast that I enjoy a lot. I keep up on their forums and keep a gallery of my Wulf Boyz there and mentioned that the army was denied access to the Warmaster tournament and one of the hosts Pat got in touch with me and wanted to interview me on the army.



11th Company Podcast

Not sure when the interview will be posted I will let you guys know. But check out the podcast it is one of my favorites. The interview basically centered on the fact that Counts As armies have to jump through hoops that other standard armies that are just as confusing or more confusing get a free pass. I had a great time talking to Pat. The interview might be slpit up because I think we talked for 45 minutes or something like that.

While talking to Pat and through the forum with Neil the main host of the 11th company they both also said that the Wulf Boyz would be let into thier tournament that they were holding later in the year.

Lastly the only other tournament thus far that I have been told this army would be fine for is Astronomicon-Toronto. A friend of the orginizers is a follower of this blog and was looking forward to seeing the army next year at the event letting me know that armies like this are encouraged.

We`ll keep this experiment going all year if possible. Now Wargames Con was going on the weekend I started this project so I wasn`t able to e-mail them about the army but I did see this army that was there...







So next year I will e-mail them but from some of the shots I have seen from their event I don't think Da Wulf Boyz would have a problem getting through the door.

Till the next events...

Da Wulf Boyz

     So, the first day of the experiment is over. I took my Wulf Boyz to my first tournament today. It was a four game tournament at 1500 points. So I took my 1850 point list and trimmed it down to 1500 points. It made for an ugly list but I wanted to take it to start the year long test.

     So the first thing I did was talk to the tournament orginizer about the army. I brought two armies just in case there was an issue with the army I would have a back up army. The tournament orginizer had no issue with me bringing the army so the first hurdle was passed. Though this was a local tournament so I didn't fear the rejection.



     So random pairing put me up against the store ringer army played by the tournament orginizer. So already knowing he had no issues with the army we didn't go into the army to much. He made fun of me a little just to bust my chops but said he personally had no issues with the army.

     I massacured the ringer army and that put me up against a fellow Stratford Gaming Union member Bob. Bob has a big Nid army. Now he has seen pictures of the army just like everyone but he hadn't seen the army in person or on the table. He mentioned he really wanted to see the army in person. Bob is a Stratford Gaming Union member that is very much into the painting and conversion side of the game and his opinion on the models would mean a lot to me. He was very impressed with them. He has faced another players Space Wolf army enough that without me telling him anything about the army he was able to tell what everything was. I tied that game and so far 2 games, two people that had no issues. However both of these people have seen the army at least in pictures before hand so it was to early to tell.



     So, game three. After lunch I played a player Simon, local to the store we were playing in. However this would be the first true test. Simon has never seen a picture of the army nor has he seen anything about it till it hit the table. So Simon plays a very Raider/Venom heavy army. So I tried to hold out as best I could but the weight of fire just was to much and a few key failed saves ment he won the game.

     So onto his thoughts on the army. Now I will say I have played Simon before in a few games at tournaments but he is not part of my local group. But he does know me. I didn't describe anything about the army to him to start. I put the models on the table and without having to answer any questions other then Space Wolf rules questions he never asked me what each model was. The only model he didn't totally know was my Arjac. He knew it was a Wolf Guard in terminator armor, so when he asked I let him know it was Arjac, not just a no named Wolf Guard.



     So game four would finally be a total test. I played against a Player by the name of Shawn. Shawn is a player I know of but I have never met him nor have I every played against him. So finally a player I don't know and doesn't know me and has never seen the army or heard of me. Lets see how this goes? Not to go into to many deatails, Arjac and my Wolf Lord ate most of his army but at the end of the day he never asked me anything about the army, he knew what everything was. In fact when he was going to charge his librarian into a grey hunter squad he knew to move around the squad because the closest model to him at the time was the power fist model and the power weapon model. He never asked me where those models were, just knew to look for them and avoid them. He really liked the look of the army and said he would have been happy to play against it if it wasn't the second time he had to play against a Thunder Wolf list (Sorry Shawn).

Da Wulf Boyz

All Dresses Up With No Where To Go!

The Full 1850 Point Army and Display Board

     Well Last night I finally did it...I planned out an 1850 list that while not being a very competitive list would let me showcase a lot of very cool conversion ideas for my Counts As Wulf Boyz. Last night I painted the last model for the list. I included a lot of HQ models and a lot of different units. So this list was far from the usual redundancy lists that work so well in tournaments. Now I didn't care because this was a labor of love for me. Last year I went to the Warmasters Challenge, a 100+ person tournament in our area and while there I saw a lot of cool ideas and conversions. The coolest to me anyway was a Nid army that was based on a Zombie theme. So there were Corpse Carts, zombies, ogres and giants to represent various units. It was beautifully painted and I thought it was a very cool idea. So when I went home from the event last year I started planning my own Counts As army. Now I knew that the term 'Counts As' it seams is more and more becoming a dirty word in our hobby as far as tournaments go. It seems as tournaments get bigger and competition in these becomes more contested, and prize pools build that it seemed to me that taking a 'Counts As' army to an event would be like walking in with the plague.

Wolf Lord and Fenrisian Wolves

     So I went about planning my army out to mitigate as many problems as I thought I might have. One of the biggest issues usually with 'Counts As' tends to be a models size and footprint on the table. People are worried that others are modeling for advantage. So I made sure that every model I used was the same size or slightly bigger then what it was to represent. For my Rhino and Razorback I actually just ork'ified up the Rhino and Razorback models so they keep the same table presence. Each of my infantry is the same size as a space marine (although wider). My models are all on the bases they should be including the Thunder wolves. My Thunder Wolf Lord is the same size as Cainis who at the moment is the only Thunder wolf model to compare.

Arjak, Rune Priest and Wolf Priest

     For my troop, to keep confusion down, only models with special weapons look different. Meaning, if a Grey Hunter has a power weapon, it is a two handed weapon he has over his head and it has a blue tint to it. Where as every other Grey Hunter only has one handed weapons. The Melta Gunner is the only model in the Grey Hunter units with a two handed gun, as well his Melta Gun has a bright yellow 'danger' tank on it. The Banner guy sticks out and my Mark of the Wulven guys all have Cybok body parts. My Blood Claws all have Swords, No Helmets and yellow and red markings, all the Grey Hunters have helmets, axes and red and black markings. As well each Wolf Guard has Yellow and Black markings (all these marking colors are right out of the Space Wolf Codex for those units). So I matched everything to the Space Wolf codex where possible. My Long Fangs all have Rokkit Launchers in place of Missile Launchers and they have White and Black shoulders. The whole army is painted in a Shadow Grey, just like a Space Wolf army.

Long Fangs

     This being said, I made an 1850 list, painted to it and submitted it to the Warmaster Council for approval to bring my Counts As army to their event. Seeing some of the stuff last year I had no worries when I submitted my request. Little did I know there was a lot of back lash from last years events over 'Counts As' armies being confusing. So Da Wulf Boyz were judged to confusing for the event. The Council's request was that the Slugga's aren't Bolt Pistols and request that I change out about half of them per squad, along with any Shoota's to Bolters and the Rokkits to Missile Launchers. If I did these and a few other things I could bring the army.

Grey Hunter Pack and Rhino

     This brought a question to me, is my army that confusing, or have tournaments moved so far from the hobby aspect of the hobby we are in that counts as is dead in the tournament world. I decided I won't be making any changes to the army, I won't be attending this event I built the army for. I will however be conducting an experiment with the army. I am going to spend the next year, July to July, taking this army to as many events locally as I can. As well I am going to shop the army around to various big tournaments. I am going to e-mail the army to the various TO's of the big events (Adepticon, Nova Open, Astronomicon, ect...) and see if the army as it stands would be let into these events. I want to know is counts as dead to the tournament world? Along with this any event I go to I am going to speak to each of my opponents before and after each game with the Wolves and record their reactions to the army. I want to know is it as confusing as I have been told it is, did I spend a lot of money and time building a cool army that won't be able to see the light of day on a major event table?

Thunder Wolf Cavalry Lead The Charge

     Follow me on this Blog this year as I try to find out if Counts As is truly dead in the tournament world. I'll be updating this blog with my progress over the year. First stops, talking to the Nova Open guys as well as a tournament on the 9th here in a local store.

Da Wulf Boyz

DA WULF BOYZ IZ DED!



Well that statement isn't totally true. I have been working on this army for a long time now. This army has been a labor of love and at times pain. It is a counts as army but I had been doing everything in my power to see to it that everything was not confusing for people. For those that don't know I have been planning and building this army almost for a year and the reason for building it was to attend one of the largest events in the country. Here in Ontario there is an event called the Warmasters Challenge. It is a two day event with a double tournament on the Saturday and a Singles event on the Sunday.

Warmasters Challenge Web Site

Last year the doubles had 104 people for 52 teams involved. My Partner and I managed to get Best General in the event losing Best Overall by two points.



After seeing all the people and the events, the singles had over 100 people as well I was inspired by some armies I saw to work on a cool conversion army to take to the event this year. So over the past year I have spent a lot of money and time working on Da Wulf Boyz which you have seen here. I submitted a package to the staff of the Warmaster event letting them know what I am bringing and what everything is. With pictures of everything it ended up being an 8 page document detailing everything from why I started the army, to what I used to convert everything as well as reasons I chose different things.

However after sending that in I have received word that the army will not be aloud into the event. Reasons being it would be to confusing. The main points of contention are that I used Sluggas instead of Bolt Pistols (both of which have the same profile in game terms). The fact that I used Rokkit Launchas instead of Missile Launchers (Again both have the same profile in game terms). My one bolter that I have in the army is a Shoota (admittedly these do have different game profiles). And my Wolf Priest has a Maul for his Crozius. Now I have 3 power weapons in my army, all three look totally different then the other weapons because they have a blue color on them that sets them apart so anyone looking can see which is powered and which are not. As well the Wolf Priest is the only one in Black Armor so he is easy to pick out. Lastly were my two Meltaguns which are converted and I will provid pictures they are the only weapons built from scratch but they are the only two models carrying a two handed weapon. As well as their weapons have big yellow 'danger' tanks on them to signal them as Melta.









Now the council for the Warmaster event have said that if I converted some of these things over I would be able to bring the army. I will admit I was toying with the idea but time would be a factor as the event is 5 weeks away and in those 5 weeks I have 2 other 2500point tournaments I need to get armies ready for as well as a two week vacation with my family to put in there. However a comment I was sent about the army really put me off my want to change anything. One of the Comments I got back was and I quote from an e-mail "That is proxied, power-gamed shenanigans" Now lower you will be able to see my list which includes 13 Blood Claws on FOOT. only one, yes you read that right, one Long Fang Pack. As well as only two tanks, one Rhino and one Razorback. So for those counting my only anti-mech is one Lascannon and five Missiles in 1850. If this army list I post is considered power gaming I'll eat the whole army with salt. I was told this is a competitive event and they didn't want anyone confused by the army and complaining, later to be told that this was power gaming? As well I have provided a size comparison picture here you can see my stuff is the same size if not bigger then what they are representing.

1850 Pts - Space Wolves Roster

Total Roster Cost: 1849

HQ: Wolf Lord in Power Armour (3#, 270 pts)
1 Wolf Lord in Power Armour, 250 pts = (base cost 100 + Storm Shield x1 30) + Wolf Tail Talisman 5 + Wolftooth Necklace 10 + Thunderwolf Mount 45 + Frost Weapon x1 25 + Saga of the Bear 35
2 Fenrisian Wolf, 20 pts = 2 * 10

HQ: Wolf Priest in Power Armour (1#, 115 pts)
1 Wolf Priest in Power Armour, 115 pts = (base cost 100) + Wolf Tail Talisman 5 + Saga of the Hunter 10

HQ: Rune Priest in Power Armour (1#, 100 pts)
1 Rune Priest in Power Armour, 100 pts

Elite: Wolf Guard Pack (3#, 264 pts)
1 Wolf Guard Pack, 0 pts
1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour, 38 pts = (base cost 18 + Power Fist x1 20)
1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour, 38 pts = (base cost 18 + Power Fist x1 20)
1 Arjac Rockfist, The Anvil of Fenris, 188 pts

Troops: Blood Claws Pack (13#, 195 pts)
13 Blood Claws Pack, 195 pts = 13 * 15

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (9#, 200 pts)
7 Grey Hunters Pack, 150 pts = 7 * 15 (base cost 15) + Mark of the Wulfen 30 + Wolf Standard 10 + Meltagun 5 + Power Weapon 15
1 Grey Hunter w/ Mark of the Wulfen, 15 pts
1 Rhino, 35 pts

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (6#, 195 pts)
4 Grey Hunters Pack, 105 pts = 4 * 15 (base cost 15) + Mark of the Wulfen 30 + Wolf Standard 10 + Meltagun 5 + Power Weapon 15
1 Grey Hunter w/ Mark of the Wulfen, 15 pts
1 Razorback, 75 pts = (base cost 40 + Twin Linked Lascannon 35)

Fast Attack: Thunderwolf Cavalry (5#, 370 pts)
1 Thunderwolf Cavalry, 0 pts
1 Thunderwolf Cavalry, 85 pts = (base cost 50 + Melta Bombs 5 + Storm Shield 30)
1 Thunderwolf Cavalry, 80 pts = (base cost 50 + Storm Shield 30)
1 Thunderwolf Cavalry, 105 pts = (base cost 50 + Storm Shield 30 + Power Fist 25)
1 Thunderwolf Cavalry, 50 pts
1 Thunderwolf Cavalry, 50 pts

Heavy Support: Long Fangs Pack (6#, 140 pts)
5 Long Fangs Pack, 125 pts = 5 * 15 (base cost 15) + Missile Launcher x5 50
1 Squad Leader, 15 pts

Validation Report:
c-1. File Version: 1.20 For Bug Reports/www.ab40k.org; b-1. Roster Options: Special Characters; a-1. Scenario: Normal Mission; 1. Chapter: Space Wolves
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Composition Report:
HQ: 2 (1 - 2)
Elite: 1 (0 - 3)
Troops: 3 (2 - 6)
Fast: 1 (0 - 3)
Heavy: 1 (0 - 3)

Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com


















Needless to say I will not be converting the army for this event nor will I be attending the event. I will be taking a 1500 point version of the army to a local tournament this weekend and just having fun with it.

Lastly a little preview of the second banner (wolf standard) I am making for the second Grey Hunter squad.

Da Wulf Boyz, Display Board

Well I have been a bit burnt out on painting boyz so I thought since I need to keep pressing to get the army done, each day I need to get something done.

So today I did a bunch of work on the display board. I built this one out of the same foam as my other one for my Blood Angels. Which means that it can fit in my modular board in place of hte Blood Angels if I want.

So I painted this one first in black, then it has a dusting of two different greys on it.

Then I added the snow. In the picture I have just added it, and I'll have to wait a few more hours will I can knock off the excess snow. Also in the picture you can see the Ork Mek hut I am building for the board. It'll be painted up like a nice ork building when I am done with it. So here are some shots of it in the modular display board and then some WIP pictures.

Here is a picture of the Blood Angel board in the display board.



Next is a picture of the Blood Angel board out of the display board and the Ork Board in.



So here are some WIP shots of the Ork board.

Da Wulf Boyz

"There are no wolves on Fenris..."

Or so the now famous quote goes. However there are some here...well not really wolves but Da Wulf Boyz version of them.

This will be a small update for some small additions to the army.

Here I present my Counts as Fenrisian Wolves. Or as Da Wulf Boyz call dem...Da Attack Squigs!

You can run Fenrisian Wolves in packs in the Space Wolf Codex as well as use them as a wargear upgrade for models like your Wolf Lord. I don't have enough to run a pack yet but I have enough to be pack mates to my Lord on Thunderwolf.

Da Wulf Boyz

Hey guys, again it has been a while. I have been plugging away at these guys as I go but rather then show you every single troop model I finish off I wanted to stick to showcasing stuff you haven't seen. So showing you another Wulf Boy Grey Hunter doesn't impress much.

So the next few projects you will probably see here are my Razorback which you'll see today and then my Rune Priest and Wolf Priest models will probably follow.

So getting on to it, here is Da Wulf Boyz Razorback or as I think I will call it Da Wulf Boyz Lazor-buggie.

So I'll talk you through each shot and some of the things I did to make this project diffrent then the Rhino but in some respects the same.



So in this first side shot we can see I again added the wheels in. However this time I used the smaller Trukk wheels on the front and the larger ones on the back, this dipped the front end down a bit which I thought looked cool. Again, cutting the Rhino model up to get the wheels in there isn't a fun task and I cringe each time I hack that much plastic out of one of these model kits. The end result looks great I think but I always worry I'll mess something up. I kept the theme from the Rhino by adding a few Ork glyphs on the sides as well the red and black pattern on the front and back matches the pattern on the shoulder pads of the squad that will ride in the Razorback. You can also see from this side the head of the Ork driver peeking out of the one hatch.



On this side I took a huge risk that I am very happy paid off rather then ruining the whole model. I actually hacked off the whole back exhaust pipe of the Rhino model. Now if you look at the Rhino model you'll note that this will leave a big hole in the side of it. So using plastic card and the whole exhaust pipe from the trukk I fit it to the side so it looks like an Ork Mek has replaced the Rhino exhaust with a new one and patched the Rhino up with some sheet steal. I added some little rivits to give it a more realistic look.



So from the front you can better see the Ork driver. As well you are able to see that this time I left both the Rhino headlights off but added a Space Marine Searchlight and Ork Trukk light on top so it can still have the 'Searchlight' wargear if I want it. I also again put the Stikkbomb launcha on the top to represent the Smoke Launchers. I also chopped up a Trukk side plate to create the added windshield to the front of this. As well where the lights would go I again added more Ork glyphs. As well I was able to kit bash the standard Razorback prow with the more Orky Trukk prow.



On the back I kept to the theme started by my Rhino conversion, I added another shield on the back to make it look like it is a clan or squad sign. Each shield is diffrent so it has that feel to it, being on the back (main) door.



The top view gives you a better feel for the look of the Lascannon turret on the top.



This shot is mainly to just show that the turret is an actual working turret that I am able to turn 360 degrees as well as if I need to I can even take it out if I want to represent a 'weapon destroyed' result.



And lastly a close up shot of the gunner just for show.