# Serpion5 joins the Pack [Space Wolves]



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

So to be frank, I do not like space marines. They are bland, boring, generic poster boys with cookie cutter characters and sweet fuck all in the way of actual themes. 

With one exception. The Space Wolves. Ever the only chapter of Space Marine that could hold my interest, and now my discipline has finally cracked. With the inevitable re-release of the SW codex (Codex: Vlka Fenryka???) I decided to make a go of an army from the codex, using the models, and running around a theme of my own concoction. 

However, I did not want to just do generic Space Wolves either. They're too feral for my liking. Awesome in their own savage way, but not quite what I was after. The models were fine and the codex gave me all the options I needed, but the theme needed to be tweaked. So I decided that I would not be doing Space Wolves persay, but rather a lesser variant. Not quite wolves. More like Space... Coyotes? 


So, there cometh my theme. Space Coyotes. A small chapter, scavenger by nature and cunning when on the hunt. 

I have already formed a loose basis for fluff to motivate the list building, and it calls for natural similarities between the Wolves and these guys. Namely, the presence of large vicious furry pets. 

So to begin with, a simple kit. A Fenrisian wolf kit, to represent my first Coyote Hunting Pack. 











The kit was remarkably simple, with each body being in two sections, and each head also in two sections. 











The completed pack.


----------



## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

Thats pretty neat that you chose Coyotes. Did you know anything about them before you chose that? My God Father is one of those older guys, and he always tell me stories about how more vicious they were compared to wolves and so and so forth.


----------



## Breaman (Jul 21, 2014)

Interesting idea, sir! I'm excited to see how the models turn out. I've always liked the idea of doing variant animal themed chapters. Please keep us posted!


----------



## Warpath (Nov 27, 2007)

Sounds like a great theme, and I am a big fan of armies like this. What more can we expect? How do you intend to portray the scavenger side of the theme?


----------



## Haskanael (Jul 5, 2011)

would love to see how this progresses


----------



## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Brother! :good:


The heads are in two parts as well? Most interesting....
I figured these little doggies would build like the old WFB wolves. You know, two halves of the body with a head and a tail to attach.
Guess I was wrong :laugh:


If I ever get the Sons on the go again, I want to add some of these.
"Here boy! Here! Heel. Heel! Drop it. DROP it..... Fluffles, put the Ork head down......!"


----------



## The_Werewolf_Arngeirr (Apr 3, 2012)

I seriously Despise that Kit. for the same price you get twice as many direwolves from the Vampires, or you can get 10 wolf riding goblins. infact im pretty sure hellhounds if you can find them from WoC are 10 for that price aswell.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

ckcrawford said:


> Thats pretty neat that you chose Coyotes. Did you know anything about them before you chose that? My God Father is one of those older guys, and he always tell me stories about how more vicious they were compared to wolves and so and so forth.


Aww, they're just big ol fluffy puppies. :laugh: 

But seriously yes, I've done some research into coyotes, animal and myth. :good: 



Warpath said:


> Sounds like a great theme, and I am a big fan of armies like this. What more can we expect? How do you intend to portray the scavenger side of the theme?


Mostly via tactics and loadout. Since my chapter will represent one at diminished strength, they will have resorted to hit and run guerrilla tactics and there will be significantly less in the way of vehicles and war machines with an abundance of trained coyote packs added in. 



The_Werewolf_Arngeirr said:


> I seriously Despise that Kit. for the same price you get twice as many direwolves from the Vampires, or you can get 10 wolf riding goblins. infact im pretty sure hellhounds if you can find them from WoC are 10 for that price aswell.


This is true, and I did weigh my options. In the end though, these were the best kit for the job. They were the only ones I could really tie a coyote feel to, most other canine kits are either too fel or too wolf. Plus, I just plain like the models better.


----------



## Nacho libre (Feb 23, 2013)

ahh more space puppies... i approve.


----------



## The_Werewolf_Arngeirr (Apr 3, 2012)

Serpion5 said:


> This is true, and I did weigh my options. In the end though, these were the best kit for the job. They were the only ones I could really tie a coyote feel to, most other canine kits are either too fel or too wolf. Plus, I just plain like the models better.


fair enough, i use my WoC hounds, and if the new SW dex is worth my time and has more variations away from the SM dex ill finish my GS work on them.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

The coyote pack is primed and waiting for my free time this weekend, assuming I get any. 

Making use of a spare half hour this evening, I made a start on prepping the next additions to my greater pack. 

First, some troops. 










And a leader. 










I didn't get a whole lot into it tonight, but this is a start. One of the most prominent things I wanted to do was replace the useless staff the psyker carries with a decent weapon, namely a sword. 










Hopefully more to come over the next two or three days. With any luck I'll have a painted sample or two done over the weekend. :good:


----------



## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Serpion5 said:


> I didn't get a whole lot into it tonight, but this is a start. One of the most prominent things I wanted to do was replace the useless staff the psyker carries with a decent weapon, namely a sword.


Having just looked at a picture of the sprue he comes on, I hadn't realised the arms were separate in on piece like that.
Consider your idea stolen, and jotted down :good:


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Tawa said:


> Having just looked at a picture of the sprue he comes on, I hadn't realised the arms were separate in on piece like that.
> Consider your idea stolen, and jotted down :good:


You bastard! :training:


----------



## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

You love it really :laugh:


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

The completed squad. 










I went with both plasma guns and an axe for my first grey hunters. The next squad will likely be the same, mostly because I have a habit of taking double redundancies with almost everything (tyranid things).


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

SATURDAY! Got some painting done today, the coyote pack I bought first. Was rather simple. 

I used a coat of Rakarth flesh over the bottom, and balor brown on the fur over top. After this, I drybrushed calthan brown over the top and gave the lot an agrax earthshade wash. 




















At the same time, I began putting the base coats on my infantry units. Since I wasn't doing actual space wolves, I kept the librarian's armour the traditional librarian blue. The other marines I went with a desert colour scheme, so the best for the job seemed to be jokaero orange. The next step was picking out the shoulder guards and kneepads where I could with a flat red. After this the model was washed with re-something fleshshade. 



















The next step was to pick out a colour for the bases. I used the citadel texture blackfire earth. This ended up being a remarkably similar shade to the armour, so I differentiated it by using a carrouburgh crimson wash instead of fleshshade. 










While this was drying I picked out the wolf tails and pelts on the marines with balor brown and an earthshade wash, visible in both pics. 










Next came a few minor fiddly details to finish up the day. These being the red and white for the maw and teeth of each wolf, and blue for the frost axe and librarian's sword.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

SUNDAY! More painting. 

But before that, some grass tufts. Because there are still grass tufts in the desert.  










After this, there was no real direction to go, so I started picking out details in any order they occurred to me. Weapons were metal with a black wash, eyes and weapon blades were Temple Guard blue with a guilleman glaze. Trinkets and bones were rakarth flesh with a black wash. 










The chest glyphs, and those little diamonds they have were just white with a blue glaze to add to the contrast by the eyes. 


Towards the end of the day, I finished off the coyotes by picking out the eyes with white and then giving them a black wash before patching up the fur around them and red rimming the base. 












Thus is my progress so far.


----------



## Iraqiel (May 21, 2008)

Nice stuff Serpion, it really looks good and very different to the Space Wolves colours. Tell me, have you thought of a fluff alternative for their new frost crystal weapons?


----------



## revilo44 (Sep 17, 2010)

loving the wolfs serpion, cant wait to see how this log goes


----------



## Archon Grimherald (Apr 10, 2014)

Love the Coyote look and feel. my one critique would be coyotes have patches of black and grey and silver along with the reds but thats just me. the marines look lovely i like the desert bases they rock.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Iraqiel said:


> Nice stuff Serpion, it really looks good and very different to the Space Wolves colours. Tell me, have you thought of a fluff alternative for their new frost crystal weapons?


I'm going to take a look at their new rules and models before I even make a decision to include those or not. If I can't reason it in, I won't worry. 



Archon Grimherald said:


> Love the Coyote look and feel. my one critique would be coyotes have patches of black and grey and silver along with the reds but thats just me. the marines look lovely i like the desert bases they rock.


True, but I just figured they'd lose that in a mostly desert environment. I may revisit them at some point though, even if it's just a few to break up the scheme a little. 


Thank you. :victory:


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Apologies for my delay, a local tourney had me scrambling to get my tyranid army sorted. 

But, that's been sorted and now it's back to the coyotes. I've put together the next tactical squad. bringing me up to two troops selections. I've assembled them with more or less the same weapon loadout as the first squad, difference being this sergeant will carry a sword rather than an axe. 










Next thoughts, I'm leaning towards something heavy support.


----------



## Macas (Jun 29, 2011)

Looking good so far


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

I wasn't expecting to get any work done today, but initial plans fell through and I was left with nothing else to do. 

So, the above squad received their basecoat. 










Also, I bought a dreadnought in among the tyranid scramble and built it, completely forgot to take pics of it in that stage though. :fool: 

Anyway, it got its basecoat today as well. 










Enjoy! More progress to come as I make it. :biggrin:


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Test post...


----------



## scscofield (May 23, 2011)

Sorry Serp, you failed the test.


----------



## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

scscofield said:


> Sorry Serp, you failed the test.


:laugh:


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Okay, next... 










A generic character. Space marine commander and tons of spare SW bits meant my Coyote Lord was going to be easy. 

I went with the Thunder Hammer and the Stormbolter. Because... why not? 




























Could be a Wolf Guard Battle leader or a full blown Wolf Lord counts as at this stage, I'll decide for final once I start putting together a more detailed army list. For the time being my goal is to get a few units for each force allocation, then I can start to put together a cohesive force.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

And now... More coyotes. 



















I changed the heads around from the first five, it doesn't make a great deal of difference but at least I'm not making packs with perfect twins. :so_happy:


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Got to some more painting today, my focus being the finishing touches on my librarian and his squad, as visible here: 










and here: 










My original plan was to have two coyotes accompanying each of the characters, but a double check of the rules revealed this to be impossible. So at the moment I'm up in the air as to whether I will add a Battle Leader to allow for them or whether I simply leave this squad without. 

In the meantime, I also managed to get elements of the rest of the army to various stages of progress, none of these are yet complete however: 










Til next time. 

I'm thinking I'll add landspeeders.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

As I said. Beginning the first of what may end up being two or six landspeeders, will see how I go. 










Now I know that speeders in general aren't all that popular and there's even less certainty in regards to their weapons. I've seen the double melta combo, and I've seen the heavy bolter assault cannon duo. 

I decided to go a different direction and threw on the typhoon missile launcher instead. Because shut up. 



















Fast moving missile launcher platforms was the angle here. I didn't bother with upgrading the second weapon, figuring it will only ever snap shot anyway and I don't intend to put these near enough for a flamer to be worthwhile.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Got some painting time today, decided to focus on the two vehicles I have, being the dreadnought and the land speeder. 

Started off by getting the landspeeder to the same basecoated stage as the dread. 










And then splashed paint on until they looked like this... 



















I also managed to complete the remaining five coyotes to the same standard as the first five. This leaves me at this stage with only the second grey hunter squad and the force commander still to be completed. I'll be able to work on them and most likely a second land speeder probably next weekend. :good:


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

New infantry addition. 










The tricky part with these guys is that there is no set squad size, it could be anywhere between two and six models and be perfectly legal. To add to the confusion, the box only includes one missile launcher, and I want at least two. So for the time being, I assembled the two heavy bolters and the one missile launcher I could, as well as the ancient. This left me with a spare torso and legs. 










After a while of pondering the codex for options, I made the last model into a single wolf guard. My plan is to buy another long fangs box which will allow me to complete both units. 

The powerfist I used here was actually a spare from my brother's tempestus scions. I think it suited well. 










Any thoughts on where my list is headed? I haven't actually used these guys in a game yet.


----------



## venomlust (Feb 9, 2010)

Awesome plog. Hopefully there's a unit of Thunderyotes somewhere down the line!


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

venomlust said:


> Awesome plog. Hopefully there's a unit of Thunderyotes somewhere down the line!


Thanks. 

Now there's an idea, not sure if I'll be able to pull it off though. We'll see how I go.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

New update. 

I bought a second box of Long Fangs, used one to complete the second rocket launcher from my first squad and the remaining four to complete a squad of Wolf Guard, which for fluff purposes in my army I will simply call veterans. 










Five Devastators on the left, five Veterans on the right.


----------



## Haskanael (Jul 5, 2011)

im realy enjoying the spin you put on this, looking forward to seeing more


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Haskanael said:


> im realy enjoying the spin you put on this, looking forward to seeing more


Thank you, good to know I'm not the only one who thought this was a good idea. :laugh: 

Another update, some painting done on the new squads. Neither completed yet. 



















This puts them roughly on par with the second Grey Hunter squad and my force commander.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

I purchased two more grey hunter box sets. One of these will be a troops choice, to be constructed later. But first, a second long fangs squad using the remaining weapons from the devastator sprue and then the remainder to complete my veteran squad.









Here, the second devastator squad, not yet based as the bases were still drying having had magnets glued inside. 










Another powerfist for my wolf guard squad, and then four simple bolt pistol and chainsword wielders to take the first wounds and make up the numbers. It is unlikely that I will always field the full squad of ten, but I feel that this setup has given me ample options depending on the size of the game.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

IT'S ALIVE! 

Yes, with the shiny new tyranids and Christmas and an assortment of various other interferences, I finally found some time to paint these bastards again. 

So this time, my aim was to get the remaining infantry models as far along as I could. 

The before shot, showing the various stages. At this point the only complete squad is the one at the top right of the pic: 










So after some frantic basecoating at first, and then some detailing, I managed to get my force commander and his squad completed. This gives me two completed squads with characters, to go with my coyotes and the two vehicles from earlier posts. 



















Apologies for the lack of close ups, the lighting at my local gw was not optimal and getting a good angle to light ratio was difficult. 

The remaining infantry are now at the basecoated stage, including the first layer of shading and texture paint to the base.  










So no more annoying grey or undercoated models blighting the look of the army. Hopefully I'll have enough time over the break to get most if not all of them finished. 

:so_happy: 

Any thoughts, feedback are welcome.


----------



## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

These are looking good! I don't know how I never saw this log before!


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

The Son of Horus said:


> These are looking good! I don't know how I never saw this log before!


 
Thank you sun of Horace.  


Heads up boys, we're going mobile! 










Rhinos, razorbacks, these can be either as I decide my list from time to time. Most often they will be rhinos except for the times I want to or need to make up for a lack of anti tank firepower.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

This one's alive again chaps. :good: 

Today my local gw announced a sm painting comp using the new upgrade sprues. With a bit of clipping, snipping and re-gluing, I had myself a coyote priest. 










Painting is in progress, but this one will be slow as I'm having to bust out my old competition painting skills to do this. In retrospect, I wish I had opted for another librarian instead of a chaplain figure. :laugh: 

This lighting isn't great, but the armour was done with Kantor Blue and several shades of nuln oil. When I'm a bit further along, I darken it some more and put highlights on the edges. 

I will also get some work done on the aforementioned rhinos and try to get some pics of them up here too.


----------



## Haskanael (Jul 5, 2011)

that looks interesting, good luck on the competition


----------



## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

Best of luck in the comp, @Serpion5

Have you considered theming additional units around other wild canines? 
- thylacine
- dingo
- African painted dog
- hyena (yes, technically these are closer to cats genetically, but they fit thematically)


----------



## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Good to see some more progress mate :good:


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Kreuger said:


> Best of luck in the comp, @Serpion5
> 
> Have you considered theming additional units around other wild canines?
> - thylacine
> ...



I briefly considered dingoes, but I didn't think the fluff would be as interesting. I'm going to keep it at just coyotes for now.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

*You will need allies*

I have contemplated a few options for allies to this list. 

The first of such is a bunch of old grey knights I found a while ago and finished today. 



















One or two squads of knights accompanied by a brotherhood champion, per the standard allies chart.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

It lives! 

My new image host seems to have eaten the last few posts worth of pics, so I've gone back to using a scraps folder on deviantArt. 

A small update this time. 










This is the third grey hunter squad. This makes three completed and one still only undercoated. 

I also managed to complete the wolf guard models from earlier in the thread, however to include them in the army is something I am second guessing at this point. Yesterday marked my first game with this army, and to be honest I was disappointed with how the wolf guard performed. 

I've realized the army lacks anything in the way of a fast, hard hitting combat unit and so I decided I needed an equivalent of either assault squads or bikes. Naturally skyclaws and swiftclaws lost a bit of appeal due to their lower stats, so I decided instead to build a wolf guard squad or two with jump packs instead. 

I bought a vanguard veteran squad, and two skyclaw boxes. My plan is two squads of seven, and a character with jump pack to go with. Pics will be posted once they are assembled. :good:


----------



## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Looking good, Serp! :good:

Nice to hear/see your progress with this force.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Didn't get as much done as I wanted today, but got the basecoat on a squad of wolf guard. 










Work resumes next week so this may slow me down. I will try to keep some progress going, at least fortnightly if I can manage that.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

More Wolf Guard work done today. 










I decided to go not with white as per usual veterans, but a pale bone colour to more suitably tie in with the warm colouration of the rest of the scheme. Contrast will still be provided by blues and greens in the power and frost weapons, as well as the eye lenses and aquila glyphs and so on. 

Also there's a land raider now. =D 











I today weighed options for a plastic techmarine. My optimal estimate put the SM Devastator sergeant as the best candidate for this conversion. Pics will follow if/when successfully completed. :good:


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

No more painting done yet, but two more characters built. 



















On the left we have a new wolf lord, bearing jump pack, frost axe and plasma pistol. On the right a techmarine/iron priest. The latter is made from the devastator kit as the basis, then using the vanguard thunder hammer, grey hunter bolter and a shoulder pad with cog symbol from the land raider kit.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Small update, nothing finished but progress made on multiple fronts.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Less done today than I would have liked. However, Veteran Assault Squad Gamma is completed.


----------

