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I was wondering if anyone knows if the space wolves and salamanders ever fought alongside each other in the great crusade/Horus heresy/purging of terra as I know the two legions got on well and I'm thinking of picking up some salamander allies for my 30k wolf army but I want the army to be fluffy but afaik they never fought together in the heresy due to the salamanders getting devastated at the drop site massacre and the wolves being too far from the main action.

30k operates under a very simple mantra when it comes to making armies. Some element of every legion, fought both alongside, and against, some element of every other legion at some point during the Heresy. No exceptions. The thing about the Heresy and the size of the legions is that it's is actually quite difficult to make an army that DOESN'T fit the lore. Every legion had dozens if not hundreds of detachments across the galaxy, and while the majority of a legion's forces may have been described as gathering at a location (Istvaan or Calth or Prospero or Signus or where ever) it still leaves literally thousands of marines from that legion to be off doing other operations. There were 50,000+ Ultramarines not at Calth, there were 15,000+ Raven Guard not at Istvaan, and when Inferno comes out, I have no doubt that there will be whole Great Companies that weren't at Prospero. It would be no stretch of the setting in the slightest to have an expedition fleet that was made up of Salamanders and Space Wolves. Perhaps one force was the "primary" and the other simply a reinforcement. Perhaps they were a merger of two previous fleets that had been deployed. Perhaps they were both hunting the same Alpha Legion ship and crossed paths with one another. There are a hundred different reasons why they might be fighting alongside one another. Perhaps the commander of the Wolves owes a life debt to the Salamander commander. Perhaps the Salamanders are carrying some previous cargo that the Wolves have demanded that they never let out of their sight. Hell, maybe the Wolves have some crazy means to pick up on Vulkan's scent and the Salamanders are using them like hunting dogs! The point is, compared to 40k, it's absurdly easy to justify any kind of army and Forgeworld are making it easier and easier with each release.

Didn't Malcador send groups of Space Wolves to all loyalist legions in order to monitor them?

Also, after the Heresy there is the Scouring, which lasted much longer than the Heresy itself.

I would say you have three very plausible reasons that the two legions could be fighting together during the HH.

1. As Iron_Captain mentioned; Malcador sent several Wolf Packs to watch over each legion and keep tabs on their loyalty.

2. You could say that both Legions sent detachments to a far flung conflict prior to the Heresy and that they were too far out for either the Wolves to go to Prospero or the Sallies to answer the call to Istvaan. Neither of them know what is going on in the wider conflict and have continued to fight together without returning to their respective Legions.

3. After Prospero, the Wolves have been sent by Russ to harry the traitors and come across a detachment of Sallies that managed to flee Istvaan. For at least several years it was assumed that Vulcan was dead, so the Sallies have opted to fight alongside the Wolves to bring retribution to the traitors.

There are many other stories you could come up with but the short answer is that it is perfectly plausible that they could be fighting together during the Heresy. As for the Great Crusade, most legions would have fought alongside each other at some stage in the two centuries that it lasted.

 Iron_Captain wrote:
Didn't Malcador send groups of Space Wolves to all loyalist legions in order to monitor them?

Also, after the Heresy there is the Scouring, which lasted much longer than the Heresy itself.

I had considered that as an option but I wanted the wolves to be the main force as they are my favorite legion.
so far the scouring seems pretty likely as I had considered this the most likely scenario prior to making my post as I would like to pick up the primarchs for each legion at some point and both were still around after the death of horus and seeing as the scouring went on for years it is likely they fought together, however I don't really want to base my army around events after the heresy

Shattered legions are your friend, no Allies needed, take a space wolf HQ, take a sally HQ, mix and match the units you like, shattered legions has shaken up 30k quite nicely.

The way the lore is set up now, between small campaigns every legion fought alongside every other legion at some point, Except maybe the White Scars as they're outsiders.

The Great Crusade battle list on lexicanum doesn't list any Salamanders and Wolves named battles though.