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I really enjoy playing with the SW army list, and I really dislike a lot of aspects of SW fluff. Since fluff is pretty important to me, I really need to come up with a way to use the SW 'dex while not being "standard" Space Wolves. How am I going to do this? I've thought of two ways:

A Lost Company.
A Counts-As.

The Lost Company is my first choice, because I don't just want to swap out "wolf" for "bear" or "marmot" and call it a day, but I'm not sure current SW fluff would support the level of departure I'm looking for. Essentially what I'd be looking at doing would be a Lost Company that left the Fang quite some time ago - perhaps at the election of the Great Wolf prior to Logan - to wage its own private crusade for a while, possibly due to displeasure at having its Lord passed over for the Great Wolf slot. If that's still too recent, then there's the old, "Oh, they got caught in the Warp," deus ex machina excuse that would allow plenty of time to pass in reality but not in the Warp. Either way, they pop out eventually, and soon enough they're fighting random enemies.

Now, here's where it gets even trickier in fluff terms: recruitment. Ideally, I'd like to breed some of the wolfier traits out of this Lost Company - the dwarf hair and fangs I'm particularly not fond of. So, let's say that, alone and unsupported, they started unsanctioned recruiting from a feral world near their area of operations, and for whatever reason - genetic mutation, maybe - the hair and fangs brought on by the Canis Helix don't express with these blokes. So far so good?

If so, the next big challenge is logistics. They don't have a Mechanicum supply chain, they don't have their old company forges at the Fang. Therefore, I'd say they're VERY vehicle-light, and possibly even doing something heretical like scrounging and attempting to purify power armor whenever they come across and defeat Chaos Space Marines. With no geneseed supply beyond what they've already got, they're essentially doomed to eventual extinction, but they could theoretically maintain a slow dwindle for quite a while. So far so good?

Finally, what are they doing out wherever they are? Why not just call it a day and go back to the Fang? Why operate essentially unsanctioned? Well, what I'm thinking here is that they simply weren't a good fit for the Space Wolves in the first place. Where the average Space Wolf is boisterous, these guys were taciturn. Where the average Space Wolf is an ale-swilling Viking, these guys were a little more introspective. Where the average Space Wolf thinks traditional ways of doing things are just fine, these guys contemplated innovation here and there, or at least admitted the merits of the Codex Astartes in a case or two. I'm thinking of giving them an atrociously bad combat record to reflect their not-quite-full embrace of the way of Russ. They left because of a dispute regarding the Great Wolf...taincy(?), and stay out because they're happier not feeling like the black sheep of the family, and the current Lord's probably not even a native Fenrisian at this point anyway.

If you read this far, then first of all, sorry for boring you. Second of all, anything I haven't considered yet? And if not, anything sound too stupid to exist?

I am liking the idea. there is a lot of people against SW successor like chapters since they say its not flufy, but i think this could work well.

personally i would make my own chapter since i enjoy that and find very different reasoning behind the combat styles and other issues. I just find myself having more fun with those type of things. but i think in regards to fluff this is good.
I would say thouthey need more diversion from the SW besides just some thought process stuff. i think you need more differences so that there is more of a reason for you not using just reg SW, does that make sense? maybe different color armor, or use certain rules (lone wolves? maybe?) as kinda countas for fluffy units that work with your fluff, make sense?

Yep you explained it. And it works.

It gets my approval.
If you need help just ask.
Plus Great companies can range from a couple hundred to a thousand Space Wolves.

Sageheart wrote:I am liking the idea. there is a lot of people against SW successor like chapters since they say its not flufy, but i think this could work well.

personally i would make my own chapter since i enjoy that and find very different reasoning behind the combat styles and other issues. I just find myself having more fun with those type of things. but i think in regards to fluff this is good.
I would say thouthey need more diversion from the SW besides just some thought process stuff. i think you need more differences so that there is more of a reason for you not using just reg SW, does that make sense? maybe different color armor, or use certain rules (lone wolves? maybe?) as kinda countas for fluffy units that work with your fluff, make sense?

I'd just make my own chapter, but I know I'd eventually get annoyed with referring to, say, Grey Hunters as Grey Hunters while in a game, but calling them something different in my fluff. I'm a little OCD like that.

I agree about the color scheme, actually. I was planning on going with a very, very, very dark gray, and maybe khaki pauldrons.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I'd hardly think you need to worry about coming up with a reason for these guys to not go back to the Fang. In the fluff you've written for their departure, you've basically written that this one Wolf Lord broke his oaths to Chapter and Primarch, essentially because he was butthurt that he didn't get to be prom queen. Among the Sons of Russ, that's kind of taboo. Your lost company could not want to return simply because they know they'd get laughed right back out of the Fang.

i mean in regards to whatyou call them, the grot armies taht are built on dakkadakka print out reference sheets to give out to the other player showing what you call each unit.

but i do like your fluff and if you want to go with it i wouldn't be a fluff nazi around it. i just think DIY chapters are more interesting usually, thou what you have now could easily leave room for the customization which is what makes a DIY chapter interesting.

Agreed with two posts above. Its your choice my friend. It is completely your choice. You can choose to make uber lore. And keep this as your reason. and the samething before.

Commander Endova wrote:I'd hardly think you need to worry about coming up with a reason for these guys to not go back to the Fang. In the fluff you've written for their departure, you've basically written that this one Wolf Lord broke his oaths to Chapter and Primarch, essentially because he was butthurt that he didn't get to be prom queen. Among the Sons of Russ, that's kind of taboo. Your lost company could not want to return simply because they know they'd get laughed right back out of the Fang.

Actually, Space Wolves take their oaths to Emperor and Primarch - not Imperium, not Chapter, not Great Wolf. Russ and the Emperor. That leaves plenty of room for interpretation about how best to go about fulfilling them.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
But, for the sake of argument, I'm interested in hearing some ideas on DIY chapters using the SW codex. Who's the Primarch? Why do they fight like Space Wolves? Etc.

I was briefly toying with the idea of a Dornian successor that, for whatever reason, somehow ended up with a Space Wolf training cadre when they were first formed - as I understand it, the batch of cadre officers from another, established chapter that train up the initial core of a new founding can have a profound impact on the tactical doctrines/culture of a brand new successor.

Attempting to bump this in the hope that some guys who run DIYs using the Space Wolf codex will shed some light on how/why their chapter is best represented by that particular ruleset.

Asherian Command wrote:Yep you explained it. And it works.

It gets my approval.
If you need help just ask.
Plus Great companies can range from a couple hundred to a thousand Space Wolves.

A thousand?
Maybe 300 or so but 1000 is a bit much.

Your explanation seemed valid enough to me. I wouldn't have questioned it further.