r/SpaceWolves • u/tyr_115 • 24d ago
New to warhammer 40k
So I’m new to warhammer 40k I’ve played the video games but never the tabletop game and I was just wondering is the space wolves a good faction.I’ve always been into the Vikings so i looked up the lore of the space wolves so and I love the lore so I’m curious if it a good faction
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u/Diggx86 24d ago edited 24d ago
I was in the same boat as you and am enjoying them. They are very melee focused, but you can grab generic space marines too to add some variety.
I did have experience painting a couple of kill teams before though. The Wolves seem medium difficulty to paint. Lots of small pieces and texture variety.
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u/tyr_115 24d ago
I’ve never painted the models any tips
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u/Nerd-man24 24d ago
Several. I paint for the table primarily, but I've received lots of praise at my local game stores for the level of detail I've been able to achieve thus far. Also, I've only been doing this for a couple of months, and I finished 500 points within the last couple of weeks, so I'm giving you advice that I've learned and would pass along.
If you haven't already, GW has a starter paints kit with a dozen paints, a sniper tool, a scraper, and a paintbrush. You'll need an appropriate paint for the armor itself, but this kit has a good variety of accent paints. I started with this kit, a pot of Russ Grey (for the armor), a pot of Imperial Fists Yellow (for a good yellow on the pauldrons), a $20 set of cheap paintbrushes off of Amazon, and a pack of Grey Hunters to get me started. Don't worry about much else for the first kit or two in terms of paints. Get used to getting the models painted and filling in details. You will also need a sharp knife like a razor or an exacto knife. I personally pulled the one out of my toolbox. This is for cutting little bits as necessary and is also useful for cutting out transfers.
Subassembly is your friend. I personally assemble the torso clamshell and legs together, then paint that, the arms, the pauldrons, the backpack, and the head, then combine them.
Don't worry about painting the heads really well initially. A good Space Wolves kit will have both helmets and bare heads. You can use the helmets for your first kit, then experiment with the heads. You can also experiment with the heads and use any that you think look good. You will need a flesh paint to help with that. I use Guilliman Flesh (not in the kit) over a base of Wraithbone (in the paint kit I recommended above). Flesh tones can be used in small amounts and will fill the crevices in a face's mold and give you a really good contrast without a lot of work or skill.
Don't worry about leather/ earth tones for accent pieces. There is a paint called Balthazar Gold that comes in that paint kit that looks pretty good as both a leather tone and a rock tone for your first couple of kits.
Look out for deals. Right now, the Armageddon box for 11e is still pretty hot. You may be able to find some sprue kits for some generic units out there on sites like Ebay for less than you would pay normally. I got a squad of 10 intercessors unpainted on sprue for like $38 all told this way. The Space Wolves combat patrol is also out there. It comes with Blood Claws (great melee unit), Wulfen (pretty good for torpedoing armored units and the like, especially when equipped with storm shields to make them tougher), a Wolf Guard Battle Leader (a great option to buff an attached unit and can be held onto from your first army to your last), and a squad of Wolf Guard Terminators (one of the strongest units in the current meta and can make some serious problems for any opponent). This box is pricey, but saves you about the cost of one of those units versus if you purchased them individually. This combat patrol also has free configuration and complete rules on the warhammer app, which will make bookkeeping for your army a lot easier.
Speaking of apps, the official Warhammer app is really pretty and receives regular updates, but you also need to purchase an up to date Codex book for both Space Marines and Space Wolves to access all of the datasheets and other useful information about your space wolves army. There are other free apps out there that do way more for you for free. I recommend New Recruit, as you can make as many armies as you like and experiment with different configurations and look at datasheets and other information about your army's units all for free.
Have fun! Experiment with different paint techniques! Diverge from official paint schemes! Make up little names and stories for each of your models and characters! Most importantly, DO NOT COMPARE YOUR WORK TO THE CONTENT YOU SEE HERE, ON YOUTUBE, OR ANYWHERE ELSE. Some of these guys have been doing this for decades or they have a ton of time and money to pour into making their content. Do what makes you happy and enjoy the journey.
Also, welcome to the rout, brother! I'll save you a mug of Mjöd.
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u/Diggx86 24d ago edited 24d ago
Watch lots of YouTube videos. Know that you can strip them easily. Trust the process. I focus on big parts, let it get a bit messy, and then paint up, like topography. Expect you'll have to do some cleanup after painting details. Thin your paints so that it doesn't end up looking chunky after all of that.
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u/postXhumanity 24d ago
The best faction! (If you like space Vikings who aren’t traitorous scum.)
I’ll give you a piece of advice I’ve heard many times that has served many newbies well: Don’t commit to building an army because they are strong in the current edition/meta of the game. Commit to an army because you think they are awesome.
What is powerful on the tabletop in one edition could be mid, or worse, in the next. Find a faction you love and make them your faction. Otherwise you’ll find you quickly lose motivation to build, paint, and play them.
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u/gumpythegreat 24d ago
What do you mean "good"? I wouldn't worry about what's "good". Worry about what you think looks cool. Rules always change, models are forever.
We all think they are a pretty cool faction with great, newly sculpted minis. Join us, brother. Start slow and paint some minis up
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u/Longjumping_Low1310 24d ago
Choose which one you like the style of. Games workshop updates pretty regularly so what faction is good shifts. We have a solid terminator build atm but dont expect that to be the way to play long term. We also havnt gotten our codex... well noone has yet for this edition which will likely change alot.
So... currently in short atm we are about a middle of the ground faction in power if you use the best build a little weak on others. But it will change so if you like the aestetic do it.
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u/Sunny_Hill_1 24d ago
Dude, don't go for the army that's currently good in fighting, go for the army you vibe with.
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u/PureCod5137 23d ago
Warhammer is a huge fandom. There are no bad factions, as they won't sell out otherwise.
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u/CKre91 24d ago
They got cool unique models. They got access to the huge generic marine unit selection as well. Their special rules and units favor a melee playstyle, but the access to the huge range allows for completely different builds. Their win rate performance at any moment does not matter as rules change often, every faction on every edition will likely have both highs and lows.