This gives a little bit of a jump forward as to what will appear in my future lists for anyone who's read the Space Wolf codex, short and sweet little excerpt just to move the story along a little later on
A few hours passed and the surviving wolves moved on from the site of
the battle. Before doing so, they set the creatures’ corpses alight to
ensure that any others would be unable to track their scent, they moved
on swiftly to avoid detection. Yet one body still stirred amongst the
corpses of the wolves, arising from unconsciousness, somewhat groggily
the wolf shook himself. Looking all around he could only see broken
bodies, of his brothers and the creatures he knew to be his enemies. The
very sight of this awoke something feral and ferocious within the
marine, his fists shaking with fury, his fangs grinding. Then he
stopped, glancing to his fallen chain sword, he reached over to it
picking it up, thumbing the activation switch a small grin drawing
across his lips as it roared to life once more. Looking up at the sky he
threw back his head, and howled at the sky.
“My name is Jaegor, I am
a son of Russ and a warrior of the emperor’s chosen! I swear on this
day I shall avenge my fallen pack, I shall avenge them or I shall die
trying!”
Tuesday, 22 April 2014
The First Onslaught
Here the Wolves meet their first foe in battle, except since they completely skipped the Tryanids emergence into the galaxy they have no idea what they actually are... not the first time thats going to happen in the campaign either... anyway on with the story
Emerging from the blizzard the wolves trudged into the remains of a deserted cluster manufactorums. The snow beneath their feet crunched until one foot fall was met with a gruesome, far more solid crunching noise. Brother Skarl lifted his foot to see a human skull, now shattered into many pieces under the marine’s foot. Ferrus placed a hand on Skarl’s shoulder.
“Careful lad, we’re hunting some vicious predators, not a pack of mindless drones.” He glanced to the skull then turned back to walking. Skarl grunted an affirmative, steadying his bolter in his hands, thumbing the fire mode switch to full auto and followed suit.
The wolves advanced towards what they thought was the centre of the cluster, the buildings towering over them on all sides, coming to a fork Ferrus gestured to one of the Grey Hunter packs and pointed down the left most fork. With a low growl the squad acknowledged and disappeared down the fork. Occasionally an electronic beep would ring through Ferrus’ helm as the squad signalled ‘all clear’. Ferrus scowled, he could smell a dangerous foe, a worthy challenge and yet they seemed to be alone.
Once more the wolves came to another division in their path, Ferrus halted, removing his helmet and taking a deep sniff of the air. The left path was covered in debris and looked impassable, leving the central and right paths available. For a second he paused on the central path, but before he took so much as a step towards it an ominous voice whistled through the air.
“The right path brother, take the right path.” Ferrus shifted his gaze to the rightmost path and started walking towards it, his remaining Grey Hunter pack began to follow.
“Wait.” The pack stopped in their tracks. “Circle round and catch them by the flank.” Turning to face the pack he glanced at each of them in turn, grinning ever so slightly, revealing his fangs in doing so. “We shall show them the true power of the sons of Russ.” The younger pack members looked at Skarvald, who in turn met with Ferrus’ gaze. For a moment their eyes locked almost like predator and prey, then Skarvald broke off, nodding and gesturing for the squad to advance down the centre pathway. Ferrus waited until the pack disappeared down the fork looking around and sniffing deeply. A howl grew rising up through his throat, frustrated he turned and faced the path and ran headlong into the unknown.
Skarl held his bolter ready, slowly edging around the corner, peering round as he did. The sight that he saw made him recoil at first, looking once more he sized up the aberrations snacking on the corpses. The creatures were small at least relative to the wolf, it’s hide was a colour akin to bone with blue shell like armour, at least comparable to that worn by the scouts of the chapter in thickness bound to it’s flesh and in place of it’s form arms were a pair of two deep blood red appendages, currently tearing the remains of what Skarl could only presume were human corpses. Looking back at the rest of the pack, he brought his bolter level with his chest, while signalling for another Grey Hunter to move up and take position. The pack’s flamer bearing brother Gungir strode up and took up position, the others swiftly followed suit. With everyone in position Skarl raised his chain sword as the rest of the pack took aim. Suddenly the small creatures heads came up from the corpses, turning their attention to the wolves and began stalking towards them. It was in this moment that Skarl lowered his chain sword and the wolves opened fire, the creatures exploded as bolter rounds ruptured their armour then exploded or burnt as the river of liquid promethium washed over them, yet a great number still charged through the sea of fire, lashing out with their bladed arms at the nearest Grey Hunter. Skarl let loose a feral howl as he swung with his chain sword cutting one creature in two as three more took it’s place. At last he thought battle is joined.
Skarvald stopped along with the rest of the squad, the sound of bolter shots, chains swords and some alien noises unlike anything they had ever heard suddenly echoed all around them. The lead Grey Hunter loosed a snarl and ran for the nearest building, Skarvald nearly called for him to stop, holding himself from doing so he instead followed, figuring that it was better to get a better view of the field before they too were ambushed. Swiftly ascending the building the squad spread out as they reached the rooftop, some taking over watch positions, some sniffing at the air trying to locate their new foes racing from one spot to another hoping to get a better scent. A shout rang out as Skarvald spotted their brothers fighting off some strange creatures. The battle seemed to be relatively even despite the wolves being greatly outnumbered, with a great many creatures falling before a wolf disappeared from view. The pace of battle suddenly intensified followed by a loud roar coming from the same direction as the battle. For a second nothing changed, then large numbers of the creatures and wolves were cast aside and thrown into the air by a force unseen by the wolves. Slowly the source of the force became clear, a far larger creature with four bladed appendages stood proud amongst the melee, slicing left and right many fell before it, yet some wolves still held the fight. Russ’ beard Skarvald was taken aback by the creature, this disturbed him as he had fought far larger and fearsome creatures yet this, this thing felt like it was getting inside his head and crawling around. Shaking himself, he steadied his weapon and ordered the rest to ready their weapons, no matter the foe, we shall bring it down.
Ferrus stormed through the ruins, picking up pace as he went. The sound of battle was echoing around him, his hearts were racing and yet he could not find his quarry. Loosing a howl in his frustration, he kept running in the direction he thought the battle was taking place.
“Can you feel it brother? The rush of battle is all around you, how is it that you can lose your way in a place such as this?” Ferrus ignored the voice, focusing on the scent he could now follow with certainty that he was on the right track. “This world, this is your crucible Ferrus, it shall make you or destroy you. The choice is in your hands however.” The voice laughed and Ferrus drew his Frostblade, swinging round and slashing at where he thought the voice was coming from only to cut through nothing but air. The voice turned to laughter and faded away. By the All Father I shall not break, Ferrus quietly thought reciting a prayer in his head as he forged his way forward.
Elsewhere Skarl and his squad found themselves fighting a losing battle, the smaller creatures lay dead heaped upon the snow, however the larger creature and it’s slightly smaller companion still cut swathes through the wolves. His brothers lay battered and broken around him, steeling his heart he swung his chainsword at the larger of the two foes. It cast aside the blow as if it was nothing, Skarl snarled in defiant fury as the creature swung two of it’s blades directly at him. Dodging the first blow the second caught him squarely in the chest slicing through the ceramite plate, cutting through the carapace in his chest. Skarl screamed in pain, dropping his chainsword as he fell to his knees, the creature lumbered forwards bringing down another blade, just as Skarl brought his bolter level and squeezed a shot off, widely missing. I shall enter the jaws of Morkai proudly Skarl thought as the blade cut through his shoulder.
Skarvald watched as the last of the Grey hunter pack fell, gripping his bolter tighter. Across the roof top a shout came up across the roof, sprinting to his fellow Grey Hunter he quickly noticed something moving amongst the shadows, then spotted Ferrus sprinting in the direction of the remaining creatures. Skarvald opened fire on the new threat, which stepped out from the shadows of the building, causing the rest of the Grey Hunters to open fire also. The creature fell in a shower of bolter fire and plasma bolts, leaving Ferrus to charge the larger creature.
Ferrus charged across the debris, as a creature exploded to his right. Lunging at the largest of the creatures, his frostblade slicing large cuts in it’s torso. In turn the creature lashed out repeatedly striking Ferrus, mostly Ferrus caught them with his storm shield though several blows got through wounding him several times. The creature caught Ferrus’ helm with a back swing causing him to spin and fall on his back, the creature was about to deal the death blow as the creature howled. Looking up at the creature Ferrus saw it swinging it’s arms wildly, noticing two grey blurs attached to each, blinking the blurs became shapes and slowly resembled wolves, each having sunk it’s jaws into an arm in an act of defiance. Behind him came a ferocious howling cry as the second Grey Hunter squad ran between Ferrus and the creatures.
“See how your brothers would lay down their lives for you?” The voice once more echoed around him. “Will they still be so devoted once your choice is made?” The rapport of bolters once more filled the air and the creature flung the wolves out of sight, it’s cry curdling with rage, it charged at the Grey Hunters flattening one too slow to dodge with a sickening crunch as it stepped on him. Once more the dance of blades began until only Skarvald remained on his feet. Staring the creature down Skarvald drew back his sword, recalling what he had seen just a few minutes before.
“I will not die on my knees!” He screamed as he brought his sword to bear, only to find that the creature had lost interest in him, and was walking away. Skarvald just stood ready for a second before running over to Ferrus. “Are you ok, My lord?” Ferrus, shook himself and stood surveying the battlefield, the majority of the downed wolves were moving though somewhere dead beyond doubt. Sheathing his sword he turned to Skarvald.
“I’m bloodied, but not beaten brother.” He turned back to the creature lumbering away from them. “We shall meet this foe in battle again, this I know and when we do I shall claim victory in the name of the All Father.”
Emerging from the blizzard the wolves trudged into the remains of a deserted cluster manufactorums. The snow beneath their feet crunched until one foot fall was met with a gruesome, far more solid crunching noise. Brother Skarl lifted his foot to see a human skull, now shattered into many pieces under the marine’s foot. Ferrus placed a hand on Skarl’s shoulder.
“Careful lad, we’re hunting some vicious predators, not a pack of mindless drones.” He glanced to the skull then turned back to walking. Skarl grunted an affirmative, steadying his bolter in his hands, thumbing the fire mode switch to full auto and followed suit.
The wolves advanced towards what they thought was the centre of the cluster, the buildings towering over them on all sides, coming to a fork Ferrus gestured to one of the Grey Hunter packs and pointed down the left most fork. With a low growl the squad acknowledged and disappeared down the fork. Occasionally an electronic beep would ring through Ferrus’ helm as the squad signalled ‘all clear’. Ferrus scowled, he could smell a dangerous foe, a worthy challenge and yet they seemed to be alone.
Once more the wolves came to another division in their path, Ferrus halted, removing his helmet and taking a deep sniff of the air. The left path was covered in debris and looked impassable, leving the central and right paths available. For a second he paused on the central path, but before he took so much as a step towards it an ominous voice whistled through the air.
“The right path brother, take the right path.” Ferrus shifted his gaze to the rightmost path and started walking towards it, his remaining Grey Hunter pack began to follow.
“Wait.” The pack stopped in their tracks. “Circle round and catch them by the flank.” Turning to face the pack he glanced at each of them in turn, grinning ever so slightly, revealing his fangs in doing so. “We shall show them the true power of the sons of Russ.” The younger pack members looked at Skarvald, who in turn met with Ferrus’ gaze. For a moment their eyes locked almost like predator and prey, then Skarvald broke off, nodding and gesturing for the squad to advance down the centre pathway. Ferrus waited until the pack disappeared down the fork looking around and sniffing deeply. A howl grew rising up through his throat, frustrated he turned and faced the path and ran headlong into the unknown.
Skarl held his bolter ready, slowly edging around the corner, peering round as he did. The sight that he saw made him recoil at first, looking once more he sized up the aberrations snacking on the corpses. The creatures were small at least relative to the wolf, it’s hide was a colour akin to bone with blue shell like armour, at least comparable to that worn by the scouts of the chapter in thickness bound to it’s flesh and in place of it’s form arms were a pair of two deep blood red appendages, currently tearing the remains of what Skarl could only presume were human corpses. Looking back at the rest of the pack, he brought his bolter level with his chest, while signalling for another Grey Hunter to move up and take position. The pack’s flamer bearing brother Gungir strode up and took up position, the others swiftly followed suit. With everyone in position Skarl raised his chain sword as the rest of the pack took aim. Suddenly the small creatures heads came up from the corpses, turning their attention to the wolves and began stalking towards them. It was in this moment that Skarl lowered his chain sword and the wolves opened fire, the creatures exploded as bolter rounds ruptured their armour then exploded or burnt as the river of liquid promethium washed over them, yet a great number still charged through the sea of fire, lashing out with their bladed arms at the nearest Grey Hunter. Skarl let loose a feral howl as he swung with his chain sword cutting one creature in two as three more took it’s place. At last he thought battle is joined.
Skarvald stopped along with the rest of the squad, the sound of bolter shots, chains swords and some alien noises unlike anything they had ever heard suddenly echoed all around them. The lead Grey Hunter loosed a snarl and ran for the nearest building, Skarvald nearly called for him to stop, holding himself from doing so he instead followed, figuring that it was better to get a better view of the field before they too were ambushed. Swiftly ascending the building the squad spread out as they reached the rooftop, some taking over watch positions, some sniffing at the air trying to locate their new foes racing from one spot to another hoping to get a better scent. A shout rang out as Skarvald spotted their brothers fighting off some strange creatures. The battle seemed to be relatively even despite the wolves being greatly outnumbered, with a great many creatures falling before a wolf disappeared from view. The pace of battle suddenly intensified followed by a loud roar coming from the same direction as the battle. For a second nothing changed, then large numbers of the creatures and wolves were cast aside and thrown into the air by a force unseen by the wolves. Slowly the source of the force became clear, a far larger creature with four bladed appendages stood proud amongst the melee, slicing left and right many fell before it, yet some wolves still held the fight. Russ’ beard Skarvald was taken aback by the creature, this disturbed him as he had fought far larger and fearsome creatures yet this, this thing felt like it was getting inside his head and crawling around. Shaking himself, he steadied his weapon and ordered the rest to ready their weapons, no matter the foe, we shall bring it down.
Ferrus stormed through the ruins, picking up pace as he went. The sound of battle was echoing around him, his hearts were racing and yet he could not find his quarry. Loosing a howl in his frustration, he kept running in the direction he thought the battle was taking place.
“Can you feel it brother? The rush of battle is all around you, how is it that you can lose your way in a place such as this?” Ferrus ignored the voice, focusing on the scent he could now follow with certainty that he was on the right track. “This world, this is your crucible Ferrus, it shall make you or destroy you. The choice is in your hands however.” The voice laughed and Ferrus drew his Frostblade, swinging round and slashing at where he thought the voice was coming from only to cut through nothing but air. The voice turned to laughter and faded away. By the All Father I shall not break, Ferrus quietly thought reciting a prayer in his head as he forged his way forward.
Elsewhere Skarl and his squad found themselves fighting a losing battle, the smaller creatures lay dead heaped upon the snow, however the larger creature and it’s slightly smaller companion still cut swathes through the wolves. His brothers lay battered and broken around him, steeling his heart he swung his chainsword at the larger of the two foes. It cast aside the blow as if it was nothing, Skarl snarled in defiant fury as the creature swung two of it’s blades directly at him. Dodging the first blow the second caught him squarely in the chest slicing through the ceramite plate, cutting through the carapace in his chest. Skarl screamed in pain, dropping his chainsword as he fell to his knees, the creature lumbered forwards bringing down another blade, just as Skarl brought his bolter level and squeezed a shot off, widely missing. I shall enter the jaws of Morkai proudly Skarl thought as the blade cut through his shoulder.
Skarvald watched as the last of the Grey hunter pack fell, gripping his bolter tighter. Across the roof top a shout came up across the roof, sprinting to his fellow Grey Hunter he quickly noticed something moving amongst the shadows, then spotted Ferrus sprinting in the direction of the remaining creatures. Skarvald opened fire on the new threat, which stepped out from the shadows of the building, causing the rest of the Grey Hunters to open fire also. The creature fell in a shower of bolter fire and plasma bolts, leaving Ferrus to charge the larger creature.
Ferrus charged across the debris, as a creature exploded to his right. Lunging at the largest of the creatures, his frostblade slicing large cuts in it’s torso. In turn the creature lashed out repeatedly striking Ferrus, mostly Ferrus caught them with his storm shield though several blows got through wounding him several times. The creature caught Ferrus’ helm with a back swing causing him to spin and fall on his back, the creature was about to deal the death blow as the creature howled. Looking up at the creature Ferrus saw it swinging it’s arms wildly, noticing two grey blurs attached to each, blinking the blurs became shapes and slowly resembled wolves, each having sunk it’s jaws into an arm in an act of defiance. Behind him came a ferocious howling cry as the second Grey Hunter squad ran between Ferrus and the creatures.
“See how your brothers would lay down their lives for you?” The voice once more echoed around him. “Will they still be so devoted once your choice is made?” The rapport of bolters once more filled the air and the creature flung the wolves out of sight, it’s cry curdling with rage, it charged at the Grey Hunters flattening one too slow to dodge with a sickening crunch as it stepped on him. Once more the dance of blades began until only Skarvald remained on his feet. Staring the creature down Skarvald drew back his sword, recalling what he had seen just a few minutes before.
“I will not die on my knees!” He screamed as he brought his sword to bear, only to find that the creature had lost interest in him, and was walking away. Skarvald just stood ready for a second before running over to Ferrus. “Are you ok, My lord?” Ferrus, shook himself and stood surveying the battlefield, the majority of the downed wolves were moving though somewhere dead beyond doubt. Sheathing his sword he turned to Skarvald.
“I’m bloodied, but not beaten brother.” He turned back to the creature lumbering away from them. “We shall meet this foe in battle again, this I know and when we do I shall claim victory in the name of the All Father.”
Period 1 - Pictures
Here's the pictures of the first period's models, they don't look anywhere near as good as my Khador models, but thats partly as the majority of these were painted when I first got into the hobby so are rather messy to say the least. Also you'll notice that despite being Space Wolves I chose to paint the models bright red, (this does lead to a lot of people walking over mid game saying "ah so you're playing Blood Angels then?" lol) given the need to write background I had to be creative hence the explanation in the fluff (very daft explanation granted, but we're talking about an entire company of time displaced Space Wolves from M32, who happen to be in M41 so relatively speaking it's slightly more believable than some of the established fluff :P).
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| Wolf Lord Ferrus Stormwolf |
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| Grey Hunter Squad Hundur |
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| Grey Hunter Squad Brenna |
Period 1 List/The Wolves Descend
This is the list I chose for the opening two games of the tale, the stipulations were that the General (in this case Ferrus) had to be included and the usual two troops choices as per 40k's rule set
Wolf Lord (100) (Ferrus Stormwolf). Runic Armour (20), Frost Blade (25), Storm Shield (30), Saga of the Beast slayer (10), Fenrisian Wolf x 2 (20), Wolf Tooth Necklace (10)
Grey Hunters x 10 (150), Flamer (free), Plasma gun (free)
Grey Hunters x 9 (135), Flamer (free)
Total: 490 Points
As you can see I went a little crazy in tooling Ferrus to the teeth straight from the get go, just seemed fitting given the nature of the character, being that he plans to try to get into combat a lot (6th edition really doesn't help him much), however given that I'm playing space wolves I do have the best possible (basic) troops available in the form of Grey Hunters, if only I'd had 5 points free to get that second Plasma gun... I mean last Grey Hunter.
And following on from the previous post here is the next installment of the ongoing story of Ferrus and his Great company.
Part 1
The Thunderhawk dove through the clouds, the icy ground in front rushing up to meet it. The pilot pressed several buttons and pulled by on the controls, the Thunderhawk quickly responded, levelling out and rising to avoid the jutting outcrops just feet below. Peering out of the forward viewing port Ferrus stole a glance at the port side wing. As he suspected it had sustained heavy damage from their earlier entanglement.
“Is there anywhere we can put down?” The Grey Hunter piloting the craft glanced at several screens before shaking his head.
“I’m afraid not Milord, the ice is either too patchy or the surface is far too uneven to attempt a landing given the state of the ship.” Ferrus sighed, gathering his thoughts. Their descent from the battle barge had been uneventful, the machine spirit had located what it believed has a locator beacon and the pilot had followed that marker. Upon reaching the location the wolves had been rather surprised to not find any evidence of the forges or manufactorums, instead they were greeted by a large open area, with no sign of any form of anything. Before questions could be asked the sky was filled with green lights flashing past on all sides.
Taking evasive manoeuvres the pilot managed to dodge the majority, however a number of shots made their mark. Slowly hits began to pile on the Thunderhawk, slowly cutting power to systems and severely hinder the pilot’s ability to control the craft. In a last ditch attempt to save them from being shot out of the sky, Ferrus ordered the pilot to make towards the atmosphere, before cutting the engines and gliding back to Orpheus on the planet’s gravity. For the most part the plan had worked, the Thunderhawk was still flying, though the manoeuvre hadn’t come without cost, one of the engines was intermittently cutting out due to sudden burst of power and the Thunderhawk’s hull was starting to give way in areas that had been shot. Coming back from his thoughts Ferrus had a realisation, he stood and gestured for the Grey hunter to follow him, punching the button for the shipwide vox caster.
“Brothers, our ship has taken us as far as it can and we must now take our leave. Gather your equipment and mount up in the rhinos, we shall use them to reach the surface.” The vox cut out and the Grey hunter quickly walked from the cockpit towards the ships holding bay. Ferrus stopped and knelt for a moment, silently thanking the Thunderhawk’s machine spirit for it’s loyal service. Ferrus then rose and strode towards the holding bay also, picking up his Storm shield and Fang as he went.
Entering the holding bay Ferrus cast his eyes over the room, his men were mostly on board the rhino’s, bar two. Ferrus called them both over, pointing at two panels on the wall.
“Those panels are the controls for the magna grapples holding our rhinos in place.” Both Grey hunters nodded. “When I give the signal, you are to shoot those panels with the Rhino’s stormbolters, not before else there’s no telling where we will be dropped.” The grey hunters looked at each other for a moment a little unsure of how to respond. “It’s that or someone stays behind and manually operates them and I’d rather not waste anyone’s life in such a sacrifice. Seemingly satisfied with this, the Grey hunters turned sprinting to the Rhinos, Ferrus followed, leaping into the lead rhino. Donning his helmet, he clicked his vox on once more, linking to the other rhino. Counting quietly in his head Ferrus waited before bellowing “Now.” With that there was a whrring noise, followed by a series of gunshots, explosions and finally a whistling. Turning to the grey hunter sat to his left Ferrus nodded and the grey hunter twisted the lever in front of him and on the screen in front of him, the stormbolter swung around letting loose a barrage of shots, several finding their mark, then the screen turned to white as the rhino fell.
For a few seconds everything was peaceful, except for the rushing air passing round them and the wind whistling around. Then came an almighty thud as the rhino and the ground beneath connected. The rhino kept moving forward with momentum, the tracks not fully gripping and suddenly the screen showed an unpleasant sight. From what Ferrus could make of what he was seeing their rhino was sliding towards a large crevice in the ice, likely far too deep for the drop to be one that even the Emperor’s finest could survive. The Grey Hunter nearest the rear hatch kicked it down and leapt from the Rhino, swiftly followed by the rest of the Rhino’s occupants, including Ferrus. The rhino kept going, falling into the crevice with several loud bangs and metallic smashing noises, followed by a somewhat subdued explosion. Allowing his men a moment to catch their breath Ferrus unlocked his helmet and took a deep breath of the air. The planet smelt like Fenris, almost felt like it too, he smiled to himself, turning to the Grey Hunters who were now getting to their feet.
“We have arrived brothers, now we shall deliver the All Father’s wrath upon the heretics that dare wrest control of one of his sacred planets. For Russ! For the All Father!” The Grey Hunters cheered in unison, Ferrus began walking along the path their Rhino had left in the snow. “If we head this way we should find our brothers, then together our enemies.” Ferrus paused his voice dropping to a guttural growl. “They shall know fear.”
Wolf Lord (100) (Ferrus Stormwolf). Runic Armour (20), Frost Blade (25), Storm Shield (30), Saga of the Beast slayer (10), Fenrisian Wolf x 2 (20), Wolf Tooth Necklace (10)
Grey Hunters x 10 (150), Flamer (free), Plasma gun (free)
Grey Hunters x 9 (135), Flamer (free)
Total: 490 Points
As you can see I went a little crazy in tooling Ferrus to the teeth straight from the get go, just seemed fitting given the nature of the character, being that he plans to try to get into combat a lot (6th edition really doesn't help him much), however given that I'm playing space wolves I do have the best possible (basic) troops available in the form of Grey Hunters, if only I'd had 5 points free to get that second Plasma gun... I mean last Grey Hunter.
And following on from the previous post here is the next installment of the ongoing story of Ferrus and his Great company.
Part 1
The Thunderhawk dove through the clouds, the icy ground in front rushing up to meet it. The pilot pressed several buttons and pulled by on the controls, the Thunderhawk quickly responded, levelling out and rising to avoid the jutting outcrops just feet below. Peering out of the forward viewing port Ferrus stole a glance at the port side wing. As he suspected it had sustained heavy damage from their earlier entanglement.
“Is there anywhere we can put down?” The Grey Hunter piloting the craft glanced at several screens before shaking his head.
“I’m afraid not Milord, the ice is either too patchy or the surface is far too uneven to attempt a landing given the state of the ship.” Ferrus sighed, gathering his thoughts. Their descent from the battle barge had been uneventful, the machine spirit had located what it believed has a locator beacon and the pilot had followed that marker. Upon reaching the location the wolves had been rather surprised to not find any evidence of the forges or manufactorums, instead they were greeted by a large open area, with no sign of any form of anything. Before questions could be asked the sky was filled with green lights flashing past on all sides.
Taking evasive manoeuvres the pilot managed to dodge the majority, however a number of shots made their mark. Slowly hits began to pile on the Thunderhawk, slowly cutting power to systems and severely hinder the pilot’s ability to control the craft. In a last ditch attempt to save them from being shot out of the sky, Ferrus ordered the pilot to make towards the atmosphere, before cutting the engines and gliding back to Orpheus on the planet’s gravity. For the most part the plan had worked, the Thunderhawk was still flying, though the manoeuvre hadn’t come without cost, one of the engines was intermittently cutting out due to sudden burst of power and the Thunderhawk’s hull was starting to give way in areas that had been shot. Coming back from his thoughts Ferrus had a realisation, he stood and gestured for the Grey hunter to follow him, punching the button for the shipwide vox caster.
“Brothers, our ship has taken us as far as it can and we must now take our leave. Gather your equipment and mount up in the rhinos, we shall use them to reach the surface.” The vox cut out and the Grey hunter quickly walked from the cockpit towards the ships holding bay. Ferrus stopped and knelt for a moment, silently thanking the Thunderhawk’s machine spirit for it’s loyal service. Ferrus then rose and strode towards the holding bay also, picking up his Storm shield and Fang as he went.
Entering the holding bay Ferrus cast his eyes over the room, his men were mostly on board the rhino’s, bar two. Ferrus called them both over, pointing at two panels on the wall.
“Those panels are the controls for the magna grapples holding our rhinos in place.” Both Grey hunters nodded. “When I give the signal, you are to shoot those panels with the Rhino’s stormbolters, not before else there’s no telling where we will be dropped.” The grey hunters looked at each other for a moment a little unsure of how to respond. “It’s that or someone stays behind and manually operates them and I’d rather not waste anyone’s life in such a sacrifice. Seemingly satisfied with this, the Grey hunters turned sprinting to the Rhinos, Ferrus followed, leaping into the lead rhino. Donning his helmet, he clicked his vox on once more, linking to the other rhino. Counting quietly in his head Ferrus waited before bellowing “Now.” With that there was a whrring noise, followed by a series of gunshots, explosions and finally a whistling. Turning to the grey hunter sat to his left Ferrus nodded and the grey hunter twisted the lever in front of him and on the screen in front of him, the stormbolter swung around letting loose a barrage of shots, several finding their mark, then the screen turned to white as the rhino fell.
For a few seconds everything was peaceful, except for the rushing air passing round them and the wind whistling around. Then came an almighty thud as the rhino and the ground beneath connected. The rhino kept moving forward with momentum, the tracks not fully gripping and suddenly the screen showed an unpleasant sight. From what Ferrus could make of what he was seeing their rhino was sliding towards a large crevice in the ice, likely far too deep for the drop to be one that even the Emperor’s finest could survive. The Grey Hunter nearest the rear hatch kicked it down and leapt from the Rhino, swiftly followed by the rest of the Rhino’s occupants, including Ferrus. The rhino kept going, falling into the crevice with several loud bangs and metallic smashing noises, followed by a somewhat subdued explosion. Allowing his men a moment to catch their breath Ferrus unlocked his helmet and took a deep breath of the air. The planet smelt like Fenris, almost felt like it too, he smiled to himself, turning to the Grey Hunters who were now getting to their feet.
“We have arrived brothers, now we shall deliver the All Father’s wrath upon the heretics that dare wrest control of one of his sacred planets. For Russ! For the All Father!” The Grey Hunters cheered in unison, Ferrus began walking along the path their Rhino had left in the snow. “If we head this way we should find our brothers, then together our enemies.” Ferrus paused his voice dropping to a guttural growl. “They shall know fear.”
Ferrus Stormwolf
Hi everyone, as promised, here is the introduction to the Leader of my Space Wolf army for the 40K tale of gamers - Ferrus Stormwolf
Not the best fluff ever written, but it's the first footstep on a longer journey
Ferrus Stormwolf
Great men are often born from small beginnings, no more is this the case than the great Wolf Lord Ferrus Stormwolf. Originally picked out from one of the many indigenous tribes in habiting Fenris, Ferrus was unique. His small stature and fierce temper quickly earned him the nickname “cub”, along with his childhood friend Tor, they were taken to the Ashiem to face the trails that would change them, from man to one of the legendary Sky Warriors. For many weeks they endured the trials, until the final trial was finally upon them, the implantation of the Canis Helix. Tor was first to face the challenge and Ferrus watched on as his friend writhed in agony, screaming to the top of his lungs, before falling silently to the floor. A moment passed and he was thought to be in the jaws of Morkai, only for him to stir and arise anew. Then it was Ferrus’ turn. As with Tor there was great pain, but also there was a great vision, a planet burning, armies marching and putting torch to settlements everywhere. Keeping these visions to himself, Ferrus joined Tor in their new pack and truly began to learn the art of battle.
It was at this time that Ferrus’ unruly nature came to the fore, often charging wildly into battle, inciting other pack members to fight him, many of his peers looked down upon such actions, bar one. Thorvald, one of the Great Wolf’s Wolf Guard bodyguard separated Ferrus from his pack having him placed with other trouble makers in the Skyclaw packs. Here surrounded by brothers just like him, Ferrus started to see things differently and whilst he still had his fierce pride and let his wild bestial side control him, he soon learned to tame it and in turn earn the respect of his brothers, to the point where they began to look to him for guidance, even in the heat of battle. On one mission to a far off planet Ferrus and his squad came to the aid of a Long Fang squad that found itself flanked and rapidly out numbered, throwing their weight into the fight alongside their elder brethren, the wolves repulsed the ambushers, making them pay dearly for their attempted deception. This action earned Ferrus a strong kinship with the leader of that Long Fang Pack, Lief Frostfang.
Sometime later at both Thorvald and Lief’s recommendation, Ferrus was placed back in his pack, now as a Grey Hunter, rejoining Tor and his surviving brothers. Ferrus took it upon himself to hone his skills, he wished not be ruled by the beast within, but to use it to his will, in doing so he would become the leader he was meant to be. Many years past and Ferrus grew in skill and reputation, it was during this time that Tor’s latent abilities awoke also, in the midst of battle with an ork horde Tor forced the ground beneath their feet to open and swallow a whole mob of orks, before unleashing a barrage of lightning from his fingertips at the Nob who was attempting to cut down Ferrus. This left Ferrus with something of a hole in his pack, as was the practice Tor was taken in to train his powers and wasn’t to be seen for sometime. More time passed and still Ferrus grew more, then during a mission to a remote world when on a patrol alongside a handful of PDF troops Ferrus was ambushed by the hated enemy, Thousand Sons Chaos space marines. Having sent out a call for aid through the vox Ferrus’ pack and the PDF soldiers took defensive positions not giving an inch, only to be greeted with various munitions and heretical spells being flung at their position. Then in a flash of light and a crash of thunder three drop pods fell from the sky. One containing Lief Frostfang and his Long Fang pack, the second held Tor, now a fully realised Rune Priest along with a further Grey Hunter pack and the final pod opened spewing a group of Wolf Guard resplendent in their terminator armour, led by none other than Thorvald. With this change in events Ferrus ordered his squad to charge, battering the cursed chaos marines, leaving nothing but piles of dust. Once the battle seemed won, Ferrus ran to his companions, eager to see them after such a long time apart only to witness Thorvald take a round that punched straight through his armour and left blood gushing from the hole. Ferrus was stunned and in that moment lost all that he had worked so hard for, giving in to his beastial side , tearing the remaining Thousand Sons to pieces. His brothers looked on with horror as Ferrus then fled into the wilderness growling like a rabid beast, the curse of the Wulfen had seemingly taken hold.
During this time Ferrus became more and more animalistic, haunted by what he believed was the spectre of Thorvald, slaughtering all wildlife he came across with just his bare hands. Meanwhile the Thousand Sons made more incursions, tearing a hole in the materium large enough to allow deamon spawn through, though the wolves fought to suppress these incursions, they were nowhere near as effective without the leadership either Thorvald or Ferrus had to offer. However, this was to lead to the Thousand Son’s downfall, in their incursions they had over stretched and repeatedly Ferrus had come across and dispatched various groups as they came into the materium, eventually leading him to the site of a great battle being waged by both forces. Having gathered enough energy, the Chaos Marines had summoned a Greater demon of Tzeench, a demon with the power to bend fate to it’s will, making it almost impossible to defeat by conventional means. After many hours of fighting the combined forces of the wolves and the planet’s PDF were exhausted and as the demon was about to land the killing blow on Tor it dissolved back into the warp, having had it’s heart torn out by a now highly focussed Ferrus. With the demon gone, the marines followed suit and the PDF troopers cheered at the victorious Ferrus, coated in the demons red blood.
It was then that Ferrus’ remaining pack mates and Tor, coated their armour in the Demon’s blood also, as a mark of respect to their friend and as a reminder of their camaraderie.
These events then put Ferrus at the right hand of the Wolf Lord Jaegor Thunderblade, as a part of his Wolf Guard retinue. Now armed with the Frost Sword Lightning Fang (more commonly known as Fang) and a Stormshield created by Hald the Stern (a well reknown Iron Priest of the Space wolf chapter) he fought both on the battle field with his blade and in the Great Hall alongside his Lord with his mind, against some of the more crude Lords of his brethren. It was at this point that he first faced the Xenos race known as the Eldar and swiftly Ferrus became known to them as the Ravager, his ferocity in battles against them was unmatched and when his lord fell at the blade of a Wraith Lord it was Ferrus who threw himself at the construct hacking with his sword and shattering the soul gem containing the essence of the construct destroying it utterly. With Jaegor dead, a new Wolf Lord was required and all motioned in Ferrus’s favour. So the motion was carried and the Great Company of Ferrus Stormwolf was born, their armour was painted red in honour of the great victory that had brought Ferrus back to the fold, though the greatest test was yet to come.
During the time since the last battle the Thousand Sons had not been idle, the Traitor Primarch Magnus the Red had been preparing for an assault upon the Fang and launched his attack having drawn away the majority of the great companies, including Ferrus’s. When Ferrus’ ship arrived back in orbit around Fenris he ordered his men to the Drop pods and launched to harass the then retreating legion back into the warp. After the attack Ferrus put forward his wish to hunt down the Thousand Sons, in the way of the Great Hunt, though many other Lords wished to go in his place Ferrus was adamant and it was made to be so. Before leaving the Fang, Ferrus was once again reunited with an old friend, Thorvald the Relentless. Now encased inside a dreadnought, after an age of being repaired after his near fatal wounding, Throvald accompanied Ferrus on his hunt.
Having left realspace, the engines of Ferrus’s battle barge experienced a major malfunction, being in the warp Ferrus was sure that he knew the cause, yet was ill equipped to deal with it. Outside the ship the immaterial form of a certain greater demon awoke, in doing so, the unknowing agent stowed away on the ship also awoke from their slumber. After what felt like a few moments, the navigators began reporting glitches in the ship’s systems, eminating from the engines, with that Ferrus ordered the ship to drop into realspace, just as the Demon’s puppet almost completed his attempts of sabotage, forcing the engines close to their operating capacity causing a chain reaction to blow up the ship. What happened next is confusing to say the least. In pushing the engine at the exact point as they were cut the result of the saboteur’s meddlings managed to push Ferrus’ ship far off it’s intended course and with the malfunction far later than intended also. Upon entering real space Ferrus found his ship to be somewhere in the Segmentum Obscurus, only to be greeted by a somewhat sketchy vox message, due to the damage to the ship.
“This is a P-one order. Issued from terra High Council. Recipient: Chapter Master of the Space Wolves, Chapter Master of Angels of Illumination, Chapter Master of Angels Revenant. You will be aware of the growing concern about the unexpected silence from Forge World Orphius (#GRJ/SS/245622A3447113). Orders from High Council: Investigate. Expect Xenos involvement. Campaign progression at your discretion. Retake Forge World at all costs, failure to retake forces Exterminatus. Other forces are mobilised to aid and assist. Emperor guide you.”
Ferrus turned to the navigator and nodded, with that their course was set. The great company of Ferrus Stormwolf was mobilised and it was going to take back Orphius. In the name of the great all father, the light of the emperor would be delivered to the forge world anew.
Not the best fluff ever written, but it's the first footstep on a longer journey
Ferrus Stormwolf
Great men are often born from small beginnings, no more is this the case than the great Wolf Lord Ferrus Stormwolf. Originally picked out from one of the many indigenous tribes in habiting Fenris, Ferrus was unique. His small stature and fierce temper quickly earned him the nickname “cub”, along with his childhood friend Tor, they were taken to the Ashiem to face the trails that would change them, from man to one of the legendary Sky Warriors. For many weeks they endured the trials, until the final trial was finally upon them, the implantation of the Canis Helix. Tor was first to face the challenge and Ferrus watched on as his friend writhed in agony, screaming to the top of his lungs, before falling silently to the floor. A moment passed and he was thought to be in the jaws of Morkai, only for him to stir and arise anew. Then it was Ferrus’ turn. As with Tor there was great pain, but also there was a great vision, a planet burning, armies marching and putting torch to settlements everywhere. Keeping these visions to himself, Ferrus joined Tor in their new pack and truly began to learn the art of battle.
It was at this time that Ferrus’ unruly nature came to the fore, often charging wildly into battle, inciting other pack members to fight him, many of his peers looked down upon such actions, bar one. Thorvald, one of the Great Wolf’s Wolf Guard bodyguard separated Ferrus from his pack having him placed with other trouble makers in the Skyclaw packs. Here surrounded by brothers just like him, Ferrus started to see things differently and whilst he still had his fierce pride and let his wild bestial side control him, he soon learned to tame it and in turn earn the respect of his brothers, to the point where they began to look to him for guidance, even in the heat of battle. On one mission to a far off planet Ferrus and his squad came to the aid of a Long Fang squad that found itself flanked and rapidly out numbered, throwing their weight into the fight alongside their elder brethren, the wolves repulsed the ambushers, making them pay dearly for their attempted deception. This action earned Ferrus a strong kinship with the leader of that Long Fang Pack, Lief Frostfang.
Sometime later at both Thorvald and Lief’s recommendation, Ferrus was placed back in his pack, now as a Grey Hunter, rejoining Tor and his surviving brothers. Ferrus took it upon himself to hone his skills, he wished not be ruled by the beast within, but to use it to his will, in doing so he would become the leader he was meant to be. Many years past and Ferrus grew in skill and reputation, it was during this time that Tor’s latent abilities awoke also, in the midst of battle with an ork horde Tor forced the ground beneath their feet to open and swallow a whole mob of orks, before unleashing a barrage of lightning from his fingertips at the Nob who was attempting to cut down Ferrus. This left Ferrus with something of a hole in his pack, as was the practice Tor was taken in to train his powers and wasn’t to be seen for sometime. More time passed and still Ferrus grew more, then during a mission to a remote world when on a patrol alongside a handful of PDF troops Ferrus was ambushed by the hated enemy, Thousand Sons Chaos space marines. Having sent out a call for aid through the vox Ferrus’ pack and the PDF soldiers took defensive positions not giving an inch, only to be greeted with various munitions and heretical spells being flung at their position. Then in a flash of light and a crash of thunder three drop pods fell from the sky. One containing Lief Frostfang and his Long Fang pack, the second held Tor, now a fully realised Rune Priest along with a further Grey Hunter pack and the final pod opened spewing a group of Wolf Guard resplendent in their terminator armour, led by none other than Thorvald. With this change in events Ferrus ordered his squad to charge, battering the cursed chaos marines, leaving nothing but piles of dust. Once the battle seemed won, Ferrus ran to his companions, eager to see them after such a long time apart only to witness Thorvald take a round that punched straight through his armour and left blood gushing from the hole. Ferrus was stunned and in that moment lost all that he had worked so hard for, giving in to his beastial side , tearing the remaining Thousand Sons to pieces. His brothers looked on with horror as Ferrus then fled into the wilderness growling like a rabid beast, the curse of the Wulfen had seemingly taken hold.
During this time Ferrus became more and more animalistic, haunted by what he believed was the spectre of Thorvald, slaughtering all wildlife he came across with just his bare hands. Meanwhile the Thousand Sons made more incursions, tearing a hole in the materium large enough to allow deamon spawn through, though the wolves fought to suppress these incursions, they were nowhere near as effective without the leadership either Thorvald or Ferrus had to offer. However, this was to lead to the Thousand Son’s downfall, in their incursions they had over stretched and repeatedly Ferrus had come across and dispatched various groups as they came into the materium, eventually leading him to the site of a great battle being waged by both forces. Having gathered enough energy, the Chaos Marines had summoned a Greater demon of Tzeench, a demon with the power to bend fate to it’s will, making it almost impossible to defeat by conventional means. After many hours of fighting the combined forces of the wolves and the planet’s PDF were exhausted and as the demon was about to land the killing blow on Tor it dissolved back into the warp, having had it’s heart torn out by a now highly focussed Ferrus. With the demon gone, the marines followed suit and the PDF troopers cheered at the victorious Ferrus, coated in the demons red blood.
It was then that Ferrus’ remaining pack mates and Tor, coated their armour in the Demon’s blood also, as a mark of respect to their friend and as a reminder of their camaraderie.
These events then put Ferrus at the right hand of the Wolf Lord Jaegor Thunderblade, as a part of his Wolf Guard retinue. Now armed with the Frost Sword Lightning Fang (more commonly known as Fang) and a Stormshield created by Hald the Stern (a well reknown Iron Priest of the Space wolf chapter) he fought both on the battle field with his blade and in the Great Hall alongside his Lord with his mind, against some of the more crude Lords of his brethren. It was at this point that he first faced the Xenos race known as the Eldar and swiftly Ferrus became known to them as the Ravager, his ferocity in battles against them was unmatched and when his lord fell at the blade of a Wraith Lord it was Ferrus who threw himself at the construct hacking with his sword and shattering the soul gem containing the essence of the construct destroying it utterly. With Jaegor dead, a new Wolf Lord was required and all motioned in Ferrus’s favour. So the motion was carried and the Great Company of Ferrus Stormwolf was born, their armour was painted red in honour of the great victory that had brought Ferrus back to the fold, though the greatest test was yet to come.
During the time since the last battle the Thousand Sons had not been idle, the Traitor Primarch Magnus the Red had been preparing for an assault upon the Fang and launched his attack having drawn away the majority of the great companies, including Ferrus’s. When Ferrus’ ship arrived back in orbit around Fenris he ordered his men to the Drop pods and launched to harass the then retreating legion back into the warp. After the attack Ferrus put forward his wish to hunt down the Thousand Sons, in the way of the Great Hunt, though many other Lords wished to go in his place Ferrus was adamant and it was made to be so. Before leaving the Fang, Ferrus was once again reunited with an old friend, Thorvald the Relentless. Now encased inside a dreadnought, after an age of being repaired after his near fatal wounding, Throvald accompanied Ferrus on his hunt.
Having left realspace, the engines of Ferrus’s battle barge experienced a major malfunction, being in the warp Ferrus was sure that he knew the cause, yet was ill equipped to deal with it. Outside the ship the immaterial form of a certain greater demon awoke, in doing so, the unknowing agent stowed away on the ship also awoke from their slumber. After what felt like a few moments, the navigators began reporting glitches in the ship’s systems, eminating from the engines, with that Ferrus ordered the ship to drop into realspace, just as the Demon’s puppet almost completed his attempts of sabotage, forcing the engines close to their operating capacity causing a chain reaction to blow up the ship. What happened next is confusing to say the least. In pushing the engine at the exact point as they were cut the result of the saboteur’s meddlings managed to push Ferrus’ ship far off it’s intended course and with the malfunction far later than intended also. Upon entering real space Ferrus found his ship to be somewhere in the Segmentum Obscurus, only to be greeted by a somewhat sketchy vox message, due to the damage to the ship.
“This is a P-one order. Issued from terra High Council. Recipient: Chapter Master of the Space Wolves, Chapter Master of Angels of Illumination, Chapter Master of Angels Revenant. You will be aware of the growing concern about the unexpected silence from Forge World Orphius (#GRJ/SS/245622A3447113). Orders from High Council: Investigate. Expect Xenos involvement. Campaign progression at your discretion. Retake Forge World at all costs, failure to retake forces Exterminatus. Other forces are mobilised to aid and assist. Emperor guide you.”
Ferrus turned to the navigator and nodded, with that their course was set. The great company of Ferrus Stormwolf was mobilised and it was going to take back Orphius. In the name of the great all father, the light of the emperor would be delivered to the forge world anew.
Opening Salvo
Hi all, my name is Jonathan, some of you may have seen my other blog: http://khador-riseofthemachine.blogspot.co.uk, if you haven't not to worry, for those of you who have this blog is going to be far more general in nature, so not soley focusing on Khador or even Warmachine and Hordes, I aim to share on many other systems and armies, such as my Space Wolves for Warhammer 40K, the Middenheim Empire army of Warhammer Fantasy, even delving into the somewhat unknown systems such as Mordheim and Necromunda (I say unknown simply as a certain company chose to not support them more than anything, but the less I go there the better.)
As with my previous blog there will be breakdowns on models and units in game, but for the most part this blog will be more hobby than gaming focusing on the other sides to the hobby that are so appealing, so keep your eyes peeled for updates from the field of my progress in the 40K tale of gamers, the ongoing struggle in the old world through the eyes of a Middeheim witch hunter and various scrapes that occur when one of my RP personas jump into their respective universes.
Hopefully I should be able to get a few guest writers on now and again to share their experiences as ultimately that's what the hobby is for me, a collection of shared experiences through the medium of gaming. So please feel free to share your experiences here, that is what this blog is all about, learning from others and retelling your greatest experiences in the hobby.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the ride :)
As with my previous blog there will be breakdowns on models and units in game, but for the most part this blog will be more hobby than gaming focusing on the other sides to the hobby that are so appealing, so keep your eyes peeled for updates from the field of my progress in the 40K tale of gamers, the ongoing struggle in the old world through the eyes of a Middeheim witch hunter and various scrapes that occur when one of my RP personas jump into their respective universes.
Hopefully I should be able to get a few guest writers on now and again to share their experiences as ultimately that's what the hobby is for me, a collection of shared experiences through the medium of gaming. So please feel free to share your experiences here, that is what this blog is all about, learning from others and retelling your greatest experiences in the hobby.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the ride :)
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