I picked up Deathwatch when it first came out, quickly flipped to the Space Wolves section, read it and realised that the person who wrote their rules knew absolutely nothing at all about the Chapter other than how to spell it.

So now that some time has passed, are there any recommended house rules that better reflect the nature of the Space Wolves chapter?

Other than it fitting just right with the fluff of the Space Wolves, how would you say it is completely wrong?

Just curious, since I don't see anything wrong with the Chapter as it is.

There are some oddities, like ranks in Performer, but other than that it's all pretty much accurate. Would be nice if the fluff was closer to the recent Wpace Wolves novels though, but that isn't so big a deal.

DJSunhammer said:

Space Wolves like their epic tales of battle.

That's what I chose to interpret it as, and gave my Rune Priest Performer (Storytelling).

And to not be off-topic, what is wrong with the rules for space wolves?

DJSunhammer said:

Given that all Space Wolves lore and history is memorised by the Rune Priests as epic sagas, rather than written down like everyone else does it, this (and the Total Recall talent) is one of the most character-appropriate advances a Rune Priest can take.

Really? Oh how times have changed...

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I guess there are just 9 pages about how Space Wolves are perfect out of the book...

I mean it would appear that the guy who wrote the Space Wolves entry hadn't really read: the Codices, the Chapter Approved, the novels. It is like all he read was, they like to drink and have a strong sense of smell. Give them drinking skillz!!

There is nothing that reflects Blood Claws, Grey Hunters, Long Fangs, Scouts of Wolf Guard in any of the rules for Space Wolves. The are just treated like generic marines who drink and have a big nose.

I was hoping that some fans had gotten around to making some more flavoursome rules but I guess not.

Cheers anyway!

I see what you mean. I've created some stats for Runic Armor, but beyond that I don't think the Space Wolves are missing anything. Things like Wolf Guard and Blood Claws are covered by character concepts, and don't need their own rules.

winternight said:

You mean other than some of those being covered by Alternate Ranks/Careers, and that every single unique thing about a Chapter can't be expected to fit into a few pages in the core book.

Same reason why Sanguinary Priests for Blood Angels weren't in the core book, but they were in Rites of Battle.

What page are Sanguinary Priests on? I don't remember seeing them in my book.

My bad, that's me mis-remembering. I could have sworn I'd read it in it, but turns out it was a fan-made thing I'd been using, and I didn't go find my books to check before posting. Teach me for saying something after not having a chance to properly play Deathwatch for a while!

Still, according to the First Founding book announcement, they're gonna have Chapter-specific Advanced Specialities and stuff in there, so I'd guess the unique natures of the different chapters could be covered there, which would probably make our Space Wolf friend a bit happier.

Just means we have to wait for it to be released! They say 4th quarter 2011, so hopefully that should be in the next month or two!

It's a roleplaying game so you character is what you make it. Want to be a Tactical Marine mark it down as a Grey Hunter and make your characters back story represent this, same for Long Fangs. If you want to be a blood fang take an assault without the jump pack.

You can take a jump pack still, since the fluff for space wolves says the blood claws are well known for taking any wargear that will get them to glory faster. Jump packs or bikes are included.

The Errata which dropped in a couple of combat talents for SpaceWolves did a good job of balancing the Chapter Exp List to Chapter Flavour, but otherwise I also think the list is fine and I see nothing out of place.

BloodClaws? Would not be seconded to the Deathwatch

GreyHunters, sure as sure and are not really any differant to what's presented

LongFangs, again, nothing here that cannot be used to say you're a long fang

Wolf Guard, is what my current "Devastator" option is (with the history of Former Scout Sergeant before going to Deathwatch).

Functionally the list is fine and yes the assumption is made that they are like other marines because, when it comes to Traits and Stats, IE: Mechanically in the Game (with the exception of the mass of social stuff) SpaceWolves ARE the same as other Marines. It;s hpw they are organised and act that is the differance..

It wouldn't surprise me to see a Blood Claw seconded to the Deathwatch. They can, after all, be raised directly to Wolf Guard if their Wolf Lord feels its appropriate. Also, Wolf Guard are not devastators, they are terminator elite, personal body guards to their Wolf Lord and pack leaders in the heirarchy of his great company. I hate to be really nit picky, but the Space Wolves are my favorite chapter.

I was considering a couple small special rules to to help give them a little more flavor, since the Blood Angels are the craziest, ragiest chapter in the book and the writers seemed to be struggling to find them a similar niche.

Special Rule: Unstable Gene Seed : You may choose a result on the altered stock table in Rites of Battle and add those changes to your character.

Special Rule: Scrapper : Space Wolves are comfortable using melee attachments on their guns. Starting characters may add any melee attachment of Rare quality or lower to any ranged weapon in their starting gear. Space Wolves get +5 WS when attacking with the attached melee weapons and do not take penalties to BS when firing a weapon with a melee attachment.

New Talent: Ferocious Charge : Space Wolves learn melee combat as blood claws long before they're handed jump packs. A charging Space Wolf does 1 extra damage against a single target or 1 extra Magnitude damage against a horde, plus 1 for every 2 degrees of success, when charging. This does not stack with any bonuses to charging with a jump pack.
Requirements: Space Wolves only

Deathwatch Space Marines are veteran marines from their Chapters. Ergo the vast unlikelyhood of BloodClaws being vetted to the DW. Yes BloodClaws HAVE been promoted to WofGuard directly, but those instances have been very very rare indeed (Something like 3 noted occasions and such a thing is ALWAYS a noted occasion).

Yes I am also aware that the WolfGuard are NOT the 40K tabletop chapter Codex Devastators (that honour indeed going to the Long Fangs). But with the background of Scout Sergeant, given that the WolfSouts are drawn from the Veteran Spacewolves and they can also use heavy weapons. It makes sense.

The Errata gives them added close combat traits anyway and anything beyond that is down to RolePlay factors surely?

Moirdryd said:

Considering the fact that Black Templars, Blood Angels, Storm Wardens, & even Ultramarines do not need to settle for "RolePlay factors" says no.

Moirdryd said:

Actually no, I don't see any sense in what you just said about the Wolf Guard. Might just be wording though.

Honir said:

These are really good Honir, thanks for that I might use a slight variation on Furious Charge as a different Solo Mode for the Space Wolves (though the addition of the Wolf Helm now doesn't totally negate their default Solo Mode).

Of course you can always fall back on "Its a roleplaying game, do whatever you like!" however it is just a bit sucky that whoever was designing the game seemed to fluff things so badly with Space Wolves.

For example the text talks about how potent the Canis Helix is and how Space Wolves are turned into hunkering beasts. Yep that sounds about right. This is later followed up by:

"In temperament, most Space Wolves are blunt and plain speaking, even to the point of giving offence to those not used to their ways. They abhor pretension and despise politicking."

Yep that also sounds about right... so what stats to the Space Wolves get? +5 Toughness or Strength sounds about right based on the first bit, +5 Perception also seems about right given their strong senses. So what did the designer give?

+5 Perception, ok looking good. +5 to Fellowship? Huh? Aren't they blunt and prone to causing offence? Where do you pull +5 Fellowship from? Oh right, the +5 Fellowship is because once you get to know them you realise they are a great bunch of guys but you can actually tell this up front?

It feels like to me that once they had done Blood Angels as a combat chapter, then the Mary Sue Chapter (sorry I meant Storm Wardens) as a combat chapter they realised they needed someone with some really soft skills so decided to shaft the Space Wolves.

That's a good point, but if anything I would go with WS rather than Str. Most of the novels for Space Wolves, mostly Battle of the Fang, portray them as skilled melee combatants rather than ravening berserkers. Berserking is just something that outsiders see on first glance.

winternight said:

They're also boisterous and sociable individuals, inclined to grand celebration, feasting and drinking, the recounting of glorious victories in epic verse or grand saga, not to mention showy examples of heroism and glory-seeking in battle, and are generally quite an up-beat and high-spirited group.

That all in mind, I can see why they were given a bonus to Fellowship.

winternight said:

No, they only offend people who are arrogant ****** bags. And, it's from the fact that the Space Wolves are considered THE good guys that any regular human would want coming to help them. Outside of the Ultima Segmentum, anytime a regular human hears marines are coming, they hope it's the Wolves, since they are actually heroes of the people rather than nigh-alien monsters that the rest of Marines are.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

And for this very reason other chapters would find them annoying, not endearing. This isn't a game of having tea parties with off-duty guardsmen, it's a game of pursuing missions for the Deathwatch. Somehow I doubt that a significant amount of missions are going to require drinking and wild parties. If they weren't going to be true to the Wolves predilections for close combat, they shouldn't have played up said predilections in the fluff entry. It gives players a misleading idea of what to expect from their character if they choose to be a Space Wolf.

DarknessEternal said:

¿Any source?

In the other space marine codex, is stated that almost ALL the marines are "THE good guys that any regular human would want coming to help them", and the exceptions are remarked (Mortifactors, Space Sharks, etc...) because they are, well, exceptional.

In Armaggedon, the planet considered the Blood Angels their true saviors, not the Wolves. In fact, the only source i have seen that states the Wolves are regarded as the ultimate good marines is... the various Space Wolves Codex. All other books (even the Ragnar Blackmane Saga) show the Wolves as more biased to gain glory than protecting inocent bystanders, and more than a bit proud of their superiority to humans. Hell, in "Into the Storm", is a Space Wolf who awakens a tyranid bioship, disobeying his sargent orders in his hunger for glory and prompts the Kraken tyranid invasion.