Space Wolves

History
MILK IN MY VIGINA

The Thirteenth Company
Space Wolf legend states that the group that came to be known as Thirteenth Company was sent by Leman Russ to pursue the Thousand Sons legion, after the failed attempt to eliminate the Chaos-supporting legion. They vanished from Imperial records, and their loss is honoured by a black stone in the Grand Annulus (the record of Space Wolf Great Companies).

'''Magnus through his arts, scryed the future, and seeing the treachery of Horus, used his sorcerous arts to send a message to his liege. The Emperor, however, did not believe that his son Horus who was much beloved could betray him, and instead sent Leman Russ, Primarch of the Space Wolves to bring the Thousand Sons to account of their actions, now suspected of attempting to spread discord and sedition between the Emperor and his sons. Russ took his Legion, and with all the Great Companies of the Space Wolves, fell upon the World of the Thousand Sons, Prospero, with the vengeful force of a mighty shower of comets.''

''Space Wolves attacked the Thousand Sons without provocation and on the field of battle, at its forefront was the Thirteenth company who with incredible ferocity fell upon their erstwhile brethren the Thousand Sons. The Thousand Sons could not stand against the righteous force of the Space Wolves, and inch by inch grudgingly gave ground, until they were surrounded in their own Fortress Monastery, and determined to stand to the last man. ''

''Meanwhile Magnus, Giant Cyclops lord of the Thousand sons knelt in his tower and wept as his sons were ripped away from him. In his anger and sorrow he called to all who would listen and one voice answered. Tzeentch the Manipulator, at the moment Magnus gave his soul Tzeentch granted the traitorous Mutant full mastery of the vagaries of sorcery, and Magnus with his new found power took the battle back to the Wolves of Russ. ''

''Appearing amongst the lines of the Space Wolves, Magnus was unstoppable, even the Feral brotherhood of the Wulfen were unable to stand before the heretical might of the Daemonically-infused Magnus. All fell before him until the great Primarch of the Space Wolves, Leman Russ, advanced upon his Brother. The battle between these two titans was fierce, and would fill several tomes. Magnus cracked the breast plate of Leman Russ and gouged a mighty rend in his flank. Russ was by far the stronger and by far the most skilled Primarch in hand to hand combat but still it took two days and two nights of combat before Russ took the battered body of Magnus, and raising him to the storm wracked skies, brought him down upon his knee. ''

''With a mighty crack, Russ broke the back of his foe, and the heart of his enemy. Magnus sunk to the floor, and as Russ raised his fiery sword Mjalnar to strike his enemy's heart, Magnus whispered a single word of Power and sunk into the earth's dark embrace. ''

''As Leman Russ howled his fury to the packs of the Space Wolves, the sorcerous-librarians of the Thousand Sons opened a vast maelstrom of energy, through which their forces fled. The Wolfkin, the Thirteenth Company of the Space Wolves, at a gesture from their Primarch, gave tongue to the chase and followed their foes into the very eye of the Warp. With a blinding flash, the swirling maelstrom of energy collapsed and the Thirteenth Company, passed from this plane and from Imperial history.'

'' Their reappearance at the beginning of Abaddon the Despoiler’s Thirteenth Black Crusade has brought them back into the spotlight. They appear to still be in pursuit of the goal Leman Russ set for them, and it was believed that Leman Russ himself was their leader, although this was never proven.

The Thirteenth Company's organization departs heavily from Space Wolf norms, due to the lack of reinforcements and 'fresh blood' supplying the Company, the inability to train members in specialist roles, the lack of heavy equipment, and the effect of having to exist within the Eye of Terror for ten thousand years.

The core of a 13th Company warband are the Grey Slayers. Similar to Grey Hunters but far beyond them in skill, they fulfil the same roles in battle.

Because of the impossibility of recruiting new brethren, there are no Blood Claws in the 13th Company. Each and every Blood Claw has long since advanced to a higher stage. The Company's assault specialists are the Storm Claws. They are equally experienced, but still more hot-headed and aggressive than the Grey Slayers.

The key to the 13th Company's movement through the Warp are the Rune Priests. Because the Eye of Terror has unlocked hidden psychic powers in many recruits, the Company has no shortage of these highly gifted individuals.

The Wulfen are the most drastic departure from a normal Space Wolf. The Space Marines who mutate into Wulfen bear resemblance to werewolves in the same way as Blood Angels suffering the Red Thirst resemble vampires. Any marine to suffer as a Wulfen becomes a half man, half wolf creature with a feral mind. The mutation normally manifests itself in the neophyte stage and Space Wolves must spend time in their training in a scenario designed to out those who have become Wulfen.

Though normal Space Wolves sometimes use individual Wulfen in battle, the 13th Company use entire packs. Each and every member of the 13th Company carries the Curse, and it manifests itself in the Space Wolves at different times. Thus even the Wulfen packs do not stay the same. It has manifested itself so strongly and so late because it reacts to the influence of Chaos; because of this side of their nature acting as a kind of spiritual defence mechanism, Space Wolves are exceptionally resistant to the malign influence of Chaos. It is believed that the 13th Company have only been able to survive living as loyalist marines in the Eye of terror so long precisely because of this trait.

The 13th company was introduced into play in the Eye of Terror Campaign. The 13th Company cannot be used with the normal Wolves, but this is only a balance issue. The story "Engage the Enemy" shows the Space Wolves going so far as to lie to the Imperial Guard.

They are said to be lead by a Wolf Priest nicknamed the Sternhammer who can control the Wulfen Guard Packs but only barely. In the book Wolf' Honour by Lee Lightner, elements of the company rescue Ragnar and company on the "shadow version" of Charys by intervening in an ambush by chaos raptors. They are led by wolf lord Bulveye, with Rune Priest Torvald as his right hand man.



Appearance
Prior to the Horus Heresy, the Space Wolves Legion wore grey power armour, with a red snarling wolf as the Legion symbol.

In the 41st millennium, Space Wolves power armour is a blue-grey, with other colours as highlights, most commonly red and yellow. The armour is often adorned with tokens taken from wolves, such as pelts, tails and teeth. Great Company symbols vary, but are taken from Fenrisian mythology and are always related in some way to the wolf. 13th Company retain the old, darker grey and red legion symbols, although the different warbands vary their precise markings along (albeit similar) red wolf themes.

Notable Members

 * Logan Grimnar - Chapter Master for the better part of the 41st millennium.
 * Ragnar Blackmane - Youngest Wolf Lord in the Space Wolves history and protagonist of the Space Wolf novel series. He is the only Space Wolf to become a Wolf Lord without becoming a Grey Hunter. Current champion of the Wolf Helm of Russ, which he presented to Ulrik as a sign of respect.  Prevented the return of the Thousand Sons Legion by casting the Spear of Russ into a warp gate.
 * Ulrik the Slayer - The Space Wolves' oldest Wolf Priest, and mentor to many of their greatest heroes. Ulrik has had a hand in training both Ragnar Blackmane and (allegedly) Logan Grimnar; however the chronology of the 40k universe actually makes this impossible with regards to Logan, not least because Logan reached the position of Great Wolf (leader of the Space Wolves chapter) before Ulrik was even promoted to Wolf Priest. This could be explained by the mention of a different Ulric (spelt diffenrtly to that of Ulrik the Slayer) though so far games-workshop have not commented on this.
 * Bjorn the Fell-Handed - The oldest Venerable Dreadnought in the Imperium. He fought alongside Leman Russ during the Horus Heresy and was the only member of Russ' retinue left behind by the primarch. He predicted that Russ will come again. There are currently no official rules for fielding him in battle, although he is mentioned in the current codex (and could conceivably be represented as a 'regular' Venerable Dreadnought).
 * Njal Stormcaller - The Space Wolves' Rune Priest, accompanied by Nightwing the Psyber raven. There are currently no rules for fielding him on the tabletop, and the current codex does not mention him.

Background Inspiration
The most recent incarnation of the Space Wolves is described as "a fantasy-style army in a science fiction universe". The backstory and 'character' of the army is inspired by barbarian mythology all this is commonly just presumed to be viking mythology.

They are reluctant to use some forms of 'advanced' technology in a desire to fight in the style of their Primarch and homeworld. This is, of course, reflected in the army list and specialist rules used by Space Wolf players. They are often (mistakenly) perceived to be an all-out assault army, like Blood Angels or Black Templars; this is however erroneous, for they have a much more flexible and balanced play style and a greater behavioural reliability than either of the above mentioned chapters. They do favour shorter-ranged confrontation than the traditional 'shooty' Codex chapters however.