#hobby2024

It was a combination of things really. Being tabled twice didn't help, but wasn't the core of it. I know Deathwatch aren't exactly the hotness, and the army I'd put together certainly wasn't optimal, but I also wasn't quite prepared for how ineffective it felt.

I appreciate the league allowing non-fully painted armies to be used (I wouldn't have been able to use the Deathwatch otherwise). It certainly reduced the spectacle of the game considerably - it's the first time in a long time I haven't taken any pictures of my games.

And I think I much prefer the Crusade side of things, which wasn't the vibe I was getting at all this time around. I produced a couple of lore bits for my results like before and, while I don't expect everyone to get deep into it, there wasn't really any kind of interaction.

On top of all that, a new round of rules changes dropped, and I still haven't had the brain power to absorb all of those as well.

With an army I knew inside out, I might have stuck it out. But as it turned out, I got covid again at the end of the month so probably wouldn't have got those games in anyway!

My first purchase when I was making tentative steps back into the hobby in early 2016 was actually the Deathwatch: Overkill board game. I loved the models in the box, especially the new Genestealer Cult ones, but like a lot of things I rushed out to buy in that period it was destined to remain shrink-wrapped before being sold on.

The thought stayed with me however, and under the impression that the old Start Collecting boxes would soon be disappearing I grabbed the Deathwatch one the following year. This time it was mainly to get hold of the Artemis model that reimagined the scaled-up one from the now defunct Inquisitor game, but I loved the idea of the Deathwatch as a potential project at some point.

And that point appears to be now. Who would be best to deal with the encroaching Necron threat than the forces of the Ordo Xenos themselves?

Regardless of whether the units were actually any good or not, I decided that I wanted the core of my first 1000 points for the league to be based around the contents of this box.

I had enough odd pieces that I've collected over the years in my bits box to combine with the Veterans kits to stretch 15 marines out of them rather than just the 10 you get in the box. I've built up two squads of 5 - one shooty, with various combi- and heavy weapons, and the other melee with a pair of heavy thunder hammers and shields for the rest. The other 5 can wait for the second part of the league. I've also put Artemis on a 40mm base (which actually suits him better I think) so I can run him as a generic Lieutenant or Captain if I so fancied. This might be the case here - as the only character in the list to start with, I want him to be able to be earning XP and upgrades as the league goes on.

The dreadnought got suitably blinged up. It was nice to use all the 'normal' space marine paraphernalia - I tended to avoid putting all the scrolls and purity seals on my Space Wolves so it felt right to add all these extra bits to these veterans. The lascannon also adds some much needed anti-tank to the army.

The supporting units rounding out the (current) initial list are a Spectrus Kill Team (Phobos-armoured marines), a Terminator squad, and a gorgeous Corvus Blackstar. The utility of the Infiltrators makes them difficult to leave out (plus I have so many of those models), and being able to take three heavy weapons in the Terminators was also too good to pass up. Unfortunately they're going to need their bases bumping up a bit when I start painting them as they are currently comically towered over by their Primaris brethren.

The other thought behind running the Ordo Xenos/Deathwatch was being able to include an Inquisitor and agents in the list, particularly Kyria Draxus. The agents also meant, alongside building some of my own proxies for a Jokaero (an Ad Mech Technoarchaeologist, perfect for hunting for blackstone) and a Daemonhost (made from the Blackstone Fortress Rogue Psykers), I could run two more reimagined Inquisitor models - Sergeant Stone and Damien-1427.

The very first White Dwarf I owned featured a battle report for Epic, the game I was playing regularly at the time as a kid with my brother, and included a plucky little Blood Angels Thunderhawk that could. My brother soon ended up with his own tiny flying castle for his Space Wolves (this self same one pops up again later on).

It was only a few issues of White Dwarf later, however, that my love for this gravity-defying box was sealed.

Another Epic battle report, this time an Imperial Guard army fighting against Eldar. Included in this Imperial force - amongst the artillery, super-heavy tanks, titan, and lines of infantry - was an entire company of Space Marine Scouts and their transports, three Thunderhawk Gunships. The plan was for them to start off the board and drop in behind enemy lines and cause chaos. And boy, did they.

Other than perhaps in Space Crusade, I wasn't really playing as Space Marines at the time. I played as Orks against my brother in Epic, and 2nd edition 40k (and my own Space Wolves army) was still a few months out, but this battle report really cemented how I thought about how they operated. A rapid-deployment strike force, dropping in and seizing crucial objectives from under the noses of their enemies.

During that era though, there was little chance of a Thunderhawk making an appearance outside of Epic, especially when a Land Raider was pretty much the biggest vehicle available at the time. There were, of course, exceptions...

When I got back into the hobby a few years ago, the current resin Forge World Thunderhawk Gunship was still fairly new. I remember going to our very first community meetup at Warhammer World in 2018 and seeing it both soaring over various dioramas in the exhibition hall and, most tantalisingly, the built kit in the display cases in the Forge World shop. It looked incredible. I wanted one so badly, and there was no way I could afford one. It had become my holy grail model, and a pipe dream.

Then, in April 2021, a built and primed 40k scale Thunderhawk Gunship popped up on eBay, for roughly the price of one brand new. It was ideal - the thought of prepping the resin, building it and priming it seemed like a nightmare to me - it looked like such a good deal, not that I could afford it. Thankfully someone else thought it was a good deal, and I was spared.

Not long after that, the plastic Thunderhawk for Aeronautica Imperialis was (superbly) teased, to be released a few months later. I played a demo game of AI at Warhammer World and was smitten, so I snapped up a copy of the game and a Thunderhawk of my very own. Turned out it was a little bit bigger than the original.

I was still very much having Thunderhawk Thoughts though. The first Crusade game of 40k I ever played I themed my army around deploying from a Thunderhawk. With them being Sons of Morkai, I also had a name for that Thunderhawk as well from the very handy insert from the Deathwolf audio drama.

And so we move on to February of this year. Someone in our community discord mentions buying a built Storm Eagle off eBay so, thinking of the one from a few years back, I idly do a search for Thunderhawk Gunships.

And there it is. The same one from 2021, still just primed, back up for sale. Dusty, and with a little bit of damage from where the previous seller shipped it to the current one. Put up for sale that very day. There couldn't be a better chance to finally own one.

So I bought it.

A few days later a lovely man arrives in a van and hands me a big box with not just a chunky resin plane in it, but a custom wood and acrylic flight stand as well. I've no idea when I'm going to paint it, or even how I'm going to store it, never mind transporting it so I can play with it.

Jorik Andhrimnir couldn't make planetfall quick enough. The High Skjald had spent the long journey from K'shan in solitude and was eager to atone for his failure there. He felt the fury in him rise when he found only Erlend at the rendezvous point, the lone survivor of the Sons of Morkai vanguard force meant to meet him, the rest already lost to the ongoing bloodshed. As the Wolf Guard led them out to join up with the bulk of his Great Company's fighting force, all hell broke loose.

Wave after wave of putrid daemons crashed over their defensive position, seemingly drawn to two key points like flies to corpses. The Wolfspear gun barrels glowed red hot, and shell casings tumbled as they grew more desperate to keep the line intact. A beast was felled by a precise shot from the Shadowstalkers pack leader, just as it threatened to overwhelm a flank. Stormbringer's mighty warsuit was brought down as a swarm of the smaller creatures tore at him with filthy claws. Blades ran slick with ichor.

With his last power pack loaded, Ivar of the Beasthunters burned a shot into the distended maw of one of the leader daemons, and as it dissolved so did the remainder of its allies. The day was finally won, but Jorik knew that his journey to redemption was only just beginning.

No sooner had Jorik cleaned the filth from his sword than he felt the charge of energy in the air, followed by that now familiar, horrible stench. But there was something else; a terrible, shadowy presence shifting at the edge of his senses. He took a brief moment to gather himself before leading his men into the darkness.

---

Stormbringer could only look on as Be'lakor sent the High Skjald and his Incursor pack sprawling with a single sweep of his ethereal blade. Pushing his motive systems to their limits, he dipped his massive plated shoulder into the exposed side of the daemon, forcing him to the ground.

Now fully lost to rage, he hammered his fist over and over into the creature's form, striking tangible matter and misty nothingness in equal measure. When the anger lifted he stared blankly at the bare floor beneath him and found himself doubting if his foe had ever really been there to begin with.

The last thing he remembered was a sinister laughter echoing all around him, before the massive rotten bulk of a Nurgle greater daemon barrelled into his prone form and the world went black.

Erlend stalked back to the Wolfspear lines, drew his blade, and pointed in turn in the direction of each of the hideous egg-like structures he had discovered in the ruins. The High Skjald nodded and wordlessly dispersed his forces ready for the assault.

---

The battle raged. The Beasthunters again showed how they earned their deed name, a precise volley of las fire bringing down the winged tyrant even as it swooped to attack. A train of carnifexes crushed Stormbringer, engulfing the forces in the middle in flame as his ammunition stores exploded. When the last of those monsters was brought down, the First Fang putting a custom bolt round through its one eye, there was only one final obstacle to overcome.

Jorik and Erlend led the Reivers through the crashing waves of psychic energy and into the chief synapse creature, even as its foul powers were dropping whole packs of their brothers left and right. When the Wolf Guard finally drove his blade into its brain parts it was as if a weight was lifted from across the whole sector.

The marines had already begun to move on to the next battle as the first of the too long, chitinous limbs started to pierce the skin of the spawning sacs. Then the melta charges detonated.

Jorik was not too proud to accept help from a brother and, when the gauntleted hand reached down through the rubble on top of him, he offered his own in return, masking the pain where the fractures hadn't fully knitted together yet.

Now back on his feet, he spat blood as he cursed the tech adept who had passed the intel for this region his way. They had found no signs of the promised tunnels in the areas they had been informed to search before the Tyranids had swept through. Where they were heading in such a hurry was anyone's guess, but trying to hold them back was like trying to stem the tide of the Worldsea back on Fenris. He'd carve out what remained of that adept's guts and feed them to the wolves if he ever saw that sniveling -

He stopped himself when he caught the distant sound of rumbling engines and anti-gravitic thrusters heading in their direction. Reinforcements had arrived.

Jorik knew the Sons of Morkai; he had trained with them, fought alongside them, formed bonds. He didn't recognise any of the faces in this mechanised relief force, but he did know his sword arm was still not right, and his brothers were weary, with patched up gear. When their Wolf Priest, Ironoath, took point he was happy to step aside. The Wolfspear vanguard had already gathered intel on the nearby Ork horde - chatter about "Da Big Boom" - so the munitions dumps in this sector seemed the obvious target.

When battle was joined, Jorik had to watch on as the Morkai vehicles raced into the hail of fire and shells like a wyrmboat crashing into a storm, the smoke and chaos swallowing them whole. Great flashes of light and cracks of thunder were visible in the front as it swept towards his position. The munitions were gone. These weren't the Sons of Morkai that Jorik knew. He'd need to have a quiet word with Ironoath about how best to approach the next storm.

The plan was to protect the already overrun defences nearby by using the large mobile contingent of his force to draw some of the marauding xenos away, and then counter. Relatively simple as plans go, mused Jorik, but weren't they all? As the assorted vehicles of the Sons of Morkai were starting to reach their lines, he could make out several large, indistinct shapes in the dust clouds they were kicking up. The Morkai Repulsor driver, Marek, hailed his vox. He hadn't appreciated being 'bait', and there was a hint of incredulity in his voice. "Four Norn, Jorik?"

---

Svend pulled Ironoath from the Lictor's clutches, and he and his pack drove the beast back into the ruins with a volley of pistol fire. The priest might be long in the fang but his saga wasn't over yet, thought Svend. The explosions on the other flank meant nothing good was happening over there, but he knew it was the allotted time to withdraw and regroup. He just hoped their plan had been worth the blood spilled.

Galdur Rimescryer rested on his axe at the cliff edge and surveyed the scarred city below. The short, squat warriors they had ceded the ground to were bustling around the open vault doors, loading esoteric looking machinery into their troop carriers. They had fought well - they were determined, disciplined and well-armed.

The rune priest hated them.

He wanted to muster the full power of Fenris and send a mighty storm sweeping through the streets, flipping their vehicles and dashing their abhuman bodies against the ruins. The runes etched into his axe glowed brighter and brighter as his anger grew, and he took a moment to calm himself. He looked back at where Jorik was resting with his men. His time leading these Wolfspear had been a long and gruelling one, thought Galdur, but there remained a steel in his brother's eyes, a determination to push on.

He turned his gaze back to the battlefield and recalled the reports of a Shield Host in the region. He had never had the pleasure of fighting alongside the mighty Custodes, but Galdur knew that if they could somehow arrange an alliance it would be a step towards bringing this campaign to an end.

Ironoath removed his helmet, the Wolf Priest trusting in his natural senses rather than relying on the information it fed him. It was so quiet. After the weeks of near-constant fighting that had led the task force to this point, it was almost unnerving.

It was an unusual spot for the meeting. In response to their approaches the Custodes had simply messaged back with these co-ordinates, and nothing else. If Ironoath didn't know better it would have been perfect for an ambush. When Erlend and his scouts reported back that there was no sign of the mighty warriors, and knowing their fearsome reputation, he couldn't shake the feeling that maybe they had been spared.

---

New Rules

The Dark Angels supplement rocks in with a choice of three detachments - the general one from the index and one each for the Deathwing and Ravenwing - plus Crusade rules set around hunting for the Fallen. Three detachments sounds about right considering they'll also have access to the seven from the main Space Marine codex, and I think most new codexes have retained the one from the initial index release. The two others being based around the two formations that set the Dark Angels apart was to be expected, even if the Ravenwing perhaps share a bit of overlap with the Stormlance detachment from the main codex, kind of like a Stormlance+.

In this case, I'd expect the Champions of Russ detachment to be retained in the Space Wolves codex, maybe tweaked a little bit (like it has been in yesterday's Balance Dataslate, perhaps…). With the two other detachments likely leaning into what makes the chapter unique, I'm expecting one of them to be something along the lines of Wolfkin. Another Stormlance+ detachment, I can picture it based around the Thunderwolf Cavalry and Fenrisian Wolves, and maybe the Wulfen as well. I'm thinking this is where the classic Wulfen Stone relic from the past would pop up again as an Enhancement.

If the wolves and Wulfen are indeed clumped together like this, it then becomes difficult to tell what the second detachment could be. The Great Companies already operate as archetypes well served by the other main detachments - Morkai's vanguard, Dragongaze's veterans, Ironwolves' vehicles, etc. - so it depends what aspect of the chapter they want to lean into. There are the dreadnoughts, the walking ancients with Bjorn et al. They could do a "savage" one, all Blood Claws and assault troops. Or there's the vicious hunters, based on Reivers and the Hounds of Morkai. I'm leaning more towards the latter but looking at the number of Reivers I own that's definitely wishlisting.

The Dark Angels Crusade rules are pretty much ported straight over from the previous edition so I can see the deed names and the boastful agendas doing the same for the Space Wolves, If they want to tie it into the new Space Marine Oathsworn campaigns, I think we could see them introducing the idea of Great Hunts from the lore. Setting out on a search for Leman Russ and recovering relics on the way, it'd be perfect for Crusade.

New Models

So this is the bit everyone is looking forward to.

The Dark Angels got a whole suite of new models. New Deathwing Knights and a new Belial model made sense after the new, bigger Terminator models were introduced. There's a new Asmodai as well, so along with Belial they are clearly replacing the old Finecast or metal characters. No news on Ezekial or Sammael as yet, but surely they'll see new models too. Then there's a new upgrade sprue with Ravenwing and Deathwing bits on, and on top of that a whole new unit: the Inner Circle Companions.

New models getting introduced is a part of the reason why I think the new Space Wolves codex is a way off. There are a large number of characters in Finecast. There are Terminators and Terminator-armoured characters. What to do with the non-Primaris marines? Let's go through the datasheets from the index and see if we can work out what's likely to happen.

Reborn, Reforged

Arjac Rockfist and Njal Stormcaller - Finecast characters, in Terminator armour, I think these are locked in to get smart new models. A new Njal model will be superb.

Wolf Guard Terminators - Speaking of Terminators, I'm fully expecting a full new kit for the Wolf Guard in the same vein as the Deathwing Knights, rather than just being upgrade bits for the standard kit. A mix of assault weapons, shields, fists, combi-weapons, etc. this could also be used to build up Terminator pack leaders and battle leaders (assuming they make it into the codex).

Upgrade Sprue - Lots of Space Wolf heads, runic weapons and armour, pelts - I can see this looking similar to the existing Grey Hunter/Blood Claw sprue.

Unmoved

Bjorn the Fell-Handed/Murderfang/Venerable Dreadnought - Even though the smaller dreadnoughts have drifted away, I think this kit will continue. The Bjorn version in particular is very fancy.

Ragnar Blackmane, Hounds of Morkai - New(ish) Primaris kits (or upgrades to kits), no change here.

Fenrisian Wolves - I think this kit still holds up, can't see why they'd want to change it (apart from the reason given further down).

Stormfang Gunship/Stormwolf - Again, no reason to remove this dual-purpose flyer kit.

Ulrik the Slayer - Blessed with a fairly new (2016), and excellent, model, I think you could put a note in the lore about him not wanting to put himself through the Primaris process or suchlike to justify not needing replacing.

Wulfen - Another kit with no reason to need updating, these will stay.

Uncertain Wyrd

Blood Claws/Grey Hunters/Long Fangs - Along with the Wolf Guard, the core identity of the Space Wolves for the past 30 years. With the introduction of Primaris marines, and the idea of "Claw Packs", "Hunter Packs" and "Fang Packs" in the recent codex to cover their integration into the chapter structure, could it be the end for these key units? The Tactical and Devastator squads managed to survive the chop from the last edition, could these do the same?

The current kit can create Grey Hunters, Blood Claws and Wolf Guard out of the box, with upgrade bits for the previous scout kit in order to make Wolf Scouts. Long Fangs don't really have their own kit, more of an amalgam of bits from the Space Wolves box combined with the Devastator sprues.

An updated version of this kit that allows the same (with the Long Fangs served from the refreshed upgrade sprue) is entirely conceivable. As is the idea I had that I can't currently get away from - Blood Claws just become Assault Intercessors, Long Fangs fade away, and a new "Hunter Pack" unit is introduced which is essentially an Intercessor squad with carbines and chainswords, a midway between standard Intercessors and their Assault variant. Very much up in the air for these units.

Harald Deathwolf, Canis Wolfborn and the Thunderwolf Cavalry - The futures of these models are surely intertwined. Two Finecast character models - if they get replaced in plastic then you would think that the cavalry kit will be replaced and upgraded to match. I can see there potentially being new cavalry kits and, if I had my way, Harald would become a dual kit so you can make either the Wolf Lord himself, or a more general leader model on wolfback.

Krom Dragongaze - In the Dawn of Fire book The Wolftime, it's Krom who is the first to see the potential of the new Primaris marines and integrate them into his Great Company. It's easy to think therefore that he could get a new Primaris-ised version, but I could just as easily see his model quietly retired and replaced by having to add upgrade bits to the standard Primaris Captain kit.

Logan Grimnar - Another decision to make. Logan is another character in Terminator armour, so surely he'd get a new model to match the scale of the other new Terminator-armoured characters? In which case, what happens to the much-maligned, butt-of-many-jokes, Stormrider Chariot model? It's either back down or double down I feel, a new Logan Grimnar on his own or a brand new, even larger, wolf-pulled anti-grav chariot-sled to taxi him around.

Cut Threads?

Cyberwolf - A Finecast model, it doesn't serve a grand purpose in the army currently, and I just can't see this being part of the new codex, unless they drastically update the Fenrisian Wolves kit and include this as an optional build.

Iron Priest - This is a lovely kit, but I can certainly see it being phased out and just being replaced with a standard Techmarine.

Wolf Scouts - It could well be they include head and arm options in a new upgrade sprue, but the existing scout datasheet works just as well for these (just without the nod in the lore to these being veterans in the Space Wolves, rather than initiates in other chapters).

Wolf Guard - If there isn't a new Grey Hunter/Blood Claw kit to allow for mixed equipment, these can pretty much be replaced with Sternguard/Vanguard/Bladeguard units, maybe given a Wolf Guard keyword that works in one of the new detachments.

Skyclaws - I do wonder if these will just become Jump Pack Intercessors going forward, like the old Assault Marines did.

Lukas the Trickster - I feel like he will be a Finecast character too far, but happy to be proved wrong.