Outlining the Concept!
Righto folks another update to the Red Wolves. At this point in the project's short life the main activity that will be occuring is hardlined planning. Like indepth planning for the advancements of this project. There will be quite a few example pictures (all 'borrowed' from GW and FW. Thankee kind sirs :drinks
so bear with me with this.
Many Mks of Power and Artificer armour have been created during the thousands of year Space Marines have walked among the stars. Most commonly within a Chapter a Space Marine will wear a single standard uniform Mk of armour. Among other Chapters it is noted that the uniformity of wearing a single Mk of armour is cast aside for a mismatch of numerous styles of armour, this, more often then not, is due to some historical precedent or tradition. Now before the release of the very nice FW armour Mks, the only armour open to us are the (going of the model's legs) Corvus and the Aquilla armours. GW afforded us some variety (looking at the standard SM Tactical Squad, with options for torsos from the Iron, Heresy, Aquilla and Errant Mks. Various helm Mks were offered to us, though the majority of these are the iconic Aquilla helm.
Now those that have read my
Index Astartes: Red Wolves article, will know that I hinted that the Red Wolves were initially a Space Wolves successor Chapter, then went on to flatly refuse it
. I have been a fan of the new Space Wolves kits since their release, the Red Wolves being the eventual answer to being able to use them in a non-Space Wolves army way. Now as far as fluff goes, these guys aren't Space Wolves, and the issue with making the models straight out of the Space Wolves kits along is as soon as their on the table, it'll be 'Oh, look Red Space Wolves.' This isn't something I want. So I devised a way to use the Space Wolve kits but still maintain the Chapter is Codex Astartes. This being some major kitbashing.
The aim is to integrate Space Wolves and Space Marine kits together to develop my own style of marine. Using the mixed kits, means I am keeping with the wolf motif of the Red Wolves, but also acknowledging them as Codex Astartes.
So we get our lovely Space Wolves Pack kit:
and our standard Space Marine Tactical Squad kit:
Now using a five tier system (I called it that because I got five different armour set ups that I liked that made each model different
k
I worked out the mixing of these 2 kits. For example:
Marine #1: SM legs, SW torso+arms, SM head+pack
Marine #2: SW legs, SM torso+arms, SW head+pack
Marine #3: SM legs, SM torso+arms, SW head+pack
Marine #4: SW legs, SW torso+arms, SM head+pack
Marine #5: SM legs, SM torso+arms, SM head+pack
This same 5 Marine style is repeated for Marines #6-#10, except #10 will be an all SW model, as #5 is an all SM model. Obviously as the style repeats a different Mk of legs, torso or helm is used so that no one model is the same in any squad. Obviously this leaves me with extensive spare bitz as I am only using 6 standard marine legs and 2 SW legs. So the remaining bitz can be used in kitbashing the next squad. I will be endeavouring to use this system on the entire 5th Company (bar, obviously, models made of metal) so that this will be a very unique army in my eyes.
Other units that will be undergoing kitbashing are my two Devastator squads:
and my two Assault Marine squads:
Now I come to more kitbashing converting concepts. I'm including two Sternguard units into my army. At the moment I only need two squads of five for my 2k list, but will need two squads of 10 for my 2.5k list. This means getting 10 extra Sternguard. I don't really forking out lots of money on blisters in order to get more Sternguard, and end up having doubled up models. So I will purchase the usual Sternguard:
Now I like the Sternguard Sergeant, but I don't fancy having two mirror squads. So after a look I found a suitable replacement Sergeant, and after a planned Bolter to Bolt Pistol hand swap, I think this model will make a suitable Veteran Sergeant:
The Sternguard Sergeant will gain the above model's Bolt Pistol, hopefully, in the swap, and instead be a Tactical Sergeant instead.
Anywho this still leaves me with my 10 spare Sternguard I need. So my next lot of models to go into kitbashing are:
MK IV MAXIMUS ARMOUR
and MK VI CORVUS ARMOUR
Between these kits and the SW bitz, I hope to whip up 10 suitably mixed Sternguard Veterans
As for their bolters. I was tempted by the Umbra Ferrox Bolters FW has:
But after some thought, and making a prototype bolter to mirror the GW Sternguard Bolters, I have decided to opt for the more homely (and cheaper) converted bolters.
Well I think I have bored you all to death with my ramblings. I would really love to get some feedback from all you Heretics and lurkers (I know your there :threaten
on what you think of the kitbashing concept or if you have any ideas.
Grish