Space Wolves

"The Sons of Fenris they are, hardened in the forge of their harsh world, eager for battle and honour. They are the grey warriors, ashen like the wolf, whose greatest joy is to hear the clamour of steel amidst the din of war."

- The Space Wolves Catechism

The Space Wolves are one of the original 20 First Founding Space Marine Legions, and were once led by their famed Primarch, Leman Russ. The Space Wolves are renowned for their anti-authoritarian ways and their embrace of their homeworld Fenris' savage barbarian culture as well as their extreme deviation from the Codex Astartes in the Chapter's organisation. After the Horus Heresy and the resultant Second Founding reforms of the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Wolves Legion was divided into two Chapters: the new Space Wolves Chapter, which was not compliant with the dictates of the Codex Astartes and retained the name of its parent Legion, and the second Chapter which took the name of the Wolf Brothers. The Wolf Brothers suffered from rampant mutation of their gene-seed not long after their Founding and were later disbanded. It is currently unknown if there are any other Successor Chapters of the Space Wolves in the Imperium.

Leman Russ
The Primarch of the Space Wolves, Leman Russ, grew up on the distant, icy Death World of Fenris, a snow-covered, geologically unstable world inhabited by primitive, warlike tribes of barbaric humans. Russ arrived on the frigid planet as an infant after his gestation capsule was flung across the galaxy through the Warp from the Emperor's secret gene-laboratory deep beneath the Himalayan Mountains on Terra by the whim of the Chaos Gods. Russ was raised to his genetically-accelerated adulthood by a pack of the massive, semi-sentient Fenrisian Wolves that still prowl the snowy lands of that deadly world. Russ was eventually discovered by a man named Thengir, the King of the Russ, who had organised a party of hunters to clear the Fenrisian Wolf pack from his lands. As most of the wolves were slaughtered, the young man who had run with the pack was captured and brought to Thengir who took him into his care, and gave him the name Leman of the Russ. The Primarch learned the ways of Mankind quickly, and many legends sprang up about him among the Fenrisian tribes. Upon his adopted father's death, the kingship of the Russ passed to Leman. Leman became a mighty leader, winning many victories for his adopted people, often fighting alongside packs of Fenrisian Wolves, led by two of his Wolf-brothers who had escaped Thengir's hunters.

The Allfather
The Emperor of Mankind eventually traveled to Fenris, after having heard word of the exploits of Leman Russ. The Emperor had realised that such feats could only be the work of one of his missing Primarchs. At first Leman Russ refused to pay the Emperor homage, going so far as to challenge him to a series of competitions to determine who was the better man. The challenges consisted of three different contests, one being eating, the other drinking, and the third a fist-fight. Russ managed to beat the Emperor at both eating and drinking, but the third challenge was more to the Emperor's liking. Having at first seemed like nothing more than a disappointment, a barbarian drunkard and boaster, the Primarch suddenly launched a furious attack. The ferocity and skill of this assault proved to the Emperor that this was indeed one of his sons, as Russ fought with superhuman speed and power. After having the disappointment lifted from his spirit by his son's ferocity, the Emperor stopped holding back and quickly found an opening in Russ' defences. The Emperor raised his Power Fist and knocked the Primarch out with a single blow that would have killed a lesser man. Leman Russ awoke later and blamed his loss on the immense quantity of alcohol he had consumed, but in the end admitted defeat and swore fealty to the Emperor. Russ was put in command of the Astartes of the VI Space Marine Legion who bore his genetic imprint, and he soon renamed them the Space Wolves. Russ and his Legion then set off on his own leg of the Great Crusade to reunite all of humanity beneath the wings of the Imperium of Man.

The Great Crusade
Leman Russ fought well during the Great Crusade, gaining a reputation as a cunning and fierce, if slightly unstable, Imperial warrior and Astartes leader. At the time, the warriors of Russ referred to themselves as the Vlka Fenryka ("Wolves of Fenris") or more simply, The Rout. Most Astartes of the VI Legion bristled at the title "Space Wolves", as it was what offworlders referred to them.

During a pacification war to bring a world into Imperial Compliance, the Dark Angels Legion aided the Space Wolves, and the leader of this particular planet insulted Leman Russ' honour. As such, Russ wanted to defeat the leader personally for the insult. The Dark Angels and Space Wolves, both lead by their respective Primarchs, assaulted the tower where the leader was located. Leman Russ burst into the throne room just in time to see the Dark Angels' Primarch, Lion El'Jonson, beheading the world's leader with his mighty blade. Angry that the honour was not his, Leman Russ marched up to the Lion and punched him in the jaw. This lead to a battle that lasted for a day or more, until finally Russ saw how immature their squabble was and started laughing. Lion El'Jonson took this action to be a direct insult to him because he mistakenly believed that Russ was mocking him with laughter and so he punched Leman Russ once more and knocked his brother Primarch into unconsciousness before leaving the planet in a dark mood with his Legion. This fight led to a bitter feud between the Legions (and the subsequent Chapters), which lasts to this day. Although recent events may finally have led to an end to the rivalry, it is still customary for selected champions from both Chapters to engage in a (usually) non-lethal duel whenever they meet in remembrance of this ancient feud.

The Horus Heresy
Just prior to the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the Space Wolves came into conflict with one of their brother Space Marine Legions once again. The Primarch of the Thousand Sons Space Marines, Magnus the Red, had ignored the Imperial proscription against the use of psychic sorcery that had been decided by the Emperor and the other Primarchs at the Council of Nikaea during the Great Crusade so that he could warn the Emperor in astral form that Horus had turned to Chaos. Magnus' psychic intrusion into the Imperial Palace on Terra had disrupted the Emperor's secret Imperial Webway Project and killed thousands of workers, Adepts and Servitors. To make matters worse, the Emperor refused to believe that his favoured son Horus had betrayed him and instead he believed that it was Magnus who had been corrupted by Chaos because of his continued use of sorcery. Leman Russ and the Space Wolves were then ordered by the Emperor to bring Magnus before him on Terra to account for his actions.

Fall of Prospero
However, the treacherous Warmaster Horus had other plans in mind. Ignorant of the changes in his brother Primarch since his corruption by the Chaos Gods, Russ was convinced by Horus' silver tongue to launch an all-out planetary assault on the seditious Thousand Sons rather than attempt to negotiate with them or bring their Primarch Magnus the Red back to Terra peacefully. Horus claimed that the Emperor wanted to punish Magnus, who had already shown himself disloyal by using the psychic sorcery that Horus knew Leman Russ found dishonourable in the extreme and had been absolutely forbidden by the edicts of the Council of Nikaea. The surprise assault upon the Thousand Sons' homeworld of Prospero was ferocious and brutally successful; however, many of the Thousand Sons, including Magnus himself, eventually gave themselves over to the Chaos God Tzeentch in order to save themselves and their precious collected arcane knowledge about the Warp and psychic power on Prospero from being destroyed by the Imperium. After agreeing to give themselves over to the Changer of Ways, the Thousand Sons escaped through his assistance into the Warp rift called the Eye of Terror and found a new home on the Daemon World known as the Planet of the Sorcerers. As a result of the Fall of Prospero, the two Legions came to bear a deep, abiding and eternal grudge against one another. This grudge is still very deep between the Space Wolves and the surviving Astartes of the Thousand Sons, who are now the Chaos Space Marines Traitor Legion dedicated solely to the service of Tzeentch.

Battle of Terra
During the Horus Heresy, the Space Wolves were far from Terra, fighting alongside the Dark Angels, and were unable to assist their Loyalist brethren in the defence of Mankind's homeworld during the Battle of Terra from the attack of the Warmaster's traitorous Forces of Chaos. Knowledge of the imminent arrival of the two Loyalist Legions, which would tip the balance in favour of the Loyalists, pushed Horus at the climax of the Battle of Terra into allowing the Emperor to personally teleport aboard his Battle Barge Vengeful Spirit in orbit over Terra in a desperate gamble to bring the terrible civil war to a swift conclusion. The two Legions arrived just after the battle concluded, with the Warmaster and the Blood Angels' Primarch Sanguinius (killed at the hands of Horus), already dead. The Emperor himself had been mortally wounded and interred within the arcane life support mechanisms of the Golden Throne by Rogal Dorn.

Post-Heresy
The Emperor's body had breathed its last breath, and his spirit achieved apotheosis and ascended into the Warp as a God after being interred within the Golden Throne. Leman Russ was devastated by his inability to save the Emperor during the final battle of the Horus Heresy aboard the Warmaster's battle barge. Following the conclusion of the Horus Heresy, the Imperium set out to quell the Chaotic uprisings against the Emperor's authority that still burned throughout the galaxy and restore order to itself. As word spread of the Warmaster's defeat throughout the Imperium, widespread fighting renewed. Revitalised by the news of the death of Horus and the routing of his Traitor Legions, the Loyalists fell upon the rebels with a vengeance. The Great Scouring had begun, as Imperial forces bled the rebels dry as they desperately turned on all within their reach in a final despairing orgy of destruction. The Space Wolves Legion spearheaded the Great Scouring, continuing to wage war on the Traitors for another seven years before the last rebel formation were destroyed or exiled to the isolated Warp Rift known as the Eye of Terror.

The Disappearance of Leman Russ
"Listen closely Brothers, for my life’s breath is all but spent. There shall come a time far from now when our Chapter itself is dying, even as I am now dying, and our foes shall gather to destroy us. Then my children, I shall listen to your call in whatever realm of death holds me, and come I shall, no matter what the laws of life or death forbid. At the end I will be there. For the final battle. For the Wolftime."

- Final words of the Primarch Leman Russ before his disappearance

Years later, at one particular “Feast of the Emperor’s Ascension" in honour of the day the Emperor defeated Horus and ascended to full divinity on the Golden Throne, Leman Russ quieted the great hall to speak, but then froze in place as his eyes glazed over as if seeing a vision. The assembled Space Wolves looked on in horror as their Primarch fell to his knees and called his elite Wolf Guard and closest retainers to him, all save the youngest, Bjorn the Fell-Handed. Giving his closest companions his instructions, Russ turned and left the Great Hall with his bodyguard in tow, leaving only Bjorn behind.

Every year afterwards, Russ' place was laid at the feast. Every year his drinking horn was filled should he return. For seven long, painful years the Space Wolves waited patiently for their lost Wolf-King to return, but when he failed to do so, Bjorn was elected the first Great Wolf and led the Chapter on their first Great Hunt to search for Russ. The Great Companies dispersed amongst the stars searching for their lord and Bjorn took his search to the Eye of Terror itself. There Bjorn was mortally wounded and entombed in a Dreadnought as the Space Wolves returned. Over the various Great Hunts many glorious victories have been won, each hunt beginning when Russ speaks through visions into the minds of the Rune Priests, granting his sons his wisdom from time to time and sending them on new Great Hunts to search for their lost Primarch. None have succeeded in this goal, but Russ assured his sons with his final words that he will return to them in time for the Chapter's final battle, what he called the "Wolftime."

The tale of Leman Russ' disappearance is retold every thousand years by the Dreadnought Bjorn the Fell-Handed, the oldest Astartes Dreadnought still in service in the entire Imperium. It is believed by some Astartes amongst the Space Wolves that Russ left Fenris and journeyed into the Eye of Terror to find the fabled Tree of Life, the only remaining font of uncorrupted Warp energy that still lies hidden somewhere within the Immaterium. Legend holds that the Tree of Life bears fruit said to be able to miraculously heal the Emperor and restore him to full life. Many Space Wolves also believe that the "Wolftime" that Russ spoke of before his disappearance is fast approaching for the Imperium of Man at the end of the 41st Millennium.

The Reformation and the Second Founding
Seven years after the death of the Great Evil One, Horus, the Second Founding occurred. The Horus Heresy had revealed weaknesses in the gene-seed of several Space Marine Legions. These defects had been exacerbated by the accelerated gene-seed cultivation techniques needed to keep the Space Marine Legions up to strength during the Great Crusade. The Ruinous Powers of Chaos were able to exploit the resultant physical and mental corruption and turned the Warmaster and the Traitor Legions under his command against the Emperor.

The first objective of the newly created military treatise known as the Codex Astartes (authored by the Ultramarines Legion's Primarch Roboute Guilliman) was to reorganize the Space Marine Legions into smaller military formations and expunge these weaknesses. The Legions were broken down into Chapters, an already extant Astartes military formation in some of the Legions that consisted of 1,000 Battle-Brothers of fighting strength. Never again would one man wield so much power over vast legions of superhuman troops at his command.

Never a very large Legion, the Space Wolves were divided only once, creating the ill-fated Wolf Brothers Chapter. The High Lords of Terra recognised the problems of genetic instability that would eventually plague the genetic seed of Leman Russ, giving rise in later times to the terrible curse of the Wulfen, and therefore decided against dividing and further spreading the Space Wolves' genetic base across the newly-Founded Adeptus Astartes. The Space Wolves' lack of Successor Chapters has often been noted as unusual given its status as a First Founding Legion with a history extending back to the legendary days of the Great Crusade.

Notable Campaigns

 * Great Crusade - Aghoru Campaign (Unknown Date.M31) - The Imperial Compliance of the world of Aghoru (officially codified in Imperial records as 28-16) was an action carried out by units of the Thousand Sons Legion that was achieved through diplomacy and was considered a success; secondary combat was initiated against apparent Warp denizen infestation (beings known to the local population as "Elohim") within the subterranean passages of a titanic peak that stood taller than Olympic Mons on Mars. The Thousand Sons forces were enhanced by a small unit drawn from the Space Wolves Legion.
 * Great Crusade - Ark Reach Cluster (Unknown Date.M31) - The Ark Reach Cluster had been discovered by the Word Bearers Legion's 47th Expeditionary Fleet; it was a group of binary stars occupied by a number of belligerent planetary empires that rejected the Imperium's offer to become part of the Emperor's growing demesne. This Imperial Compliance action of the Great Crusade was carried out through the combined efforts of the Thousand Sons working in concert with elements from the Space Wolves and the Word Bearers Legions. The first four star systems fell to the Word Bearers and Space Wolves. But the fifth and sixth world, known as Shrike, required the assistance of the Thousand Sons. The return to the XV Legion of the dreaded mutational "flesh-change" occurred at the conclusion of this campaign and helped to bring on the eternal enmity between the Space Wolves and the Thousand Sons whom regarded their cousins as "impure."
 * Great Crusade - Dulan (Unknown Date.M31) – As the Space Marine Legions pushed back the frontiers of the Imperium, each Primarch strove to excel in the eyes of the Emperor and none more so than Leman Russ, Primarch of the Space Wolves. Only Horus of the Luna Wolves and Lion El'Jonson of the Dark Angels could claim more victories than Russ and this was a constant frustration for him. It was on the world of Dulan where the Space Wolves were fighting alongside the Dark Angels that matters came to a head. They Tyrant of Durath had personally insulted the Emperor, sacrificing thousands of Imperial priests to his patron Daemon, and both Russ and Jonson desired the honour of slaying this heretic. The Tyrant Durath insulted Russ, causing him to demand the right to lead the attack on the fortress. Johnson ignored him and led his own carefully planned attack instead, killing the Tyrant personally. After the battle Russ confronted and attacked Johnson, and the two dueled for a day and a night. Russ eventually stopped attacking, seeing the humor of the situation, at which point Johnson knocked him unconscious. Now he considered honour to be satisfied. The prostrate Russ was carried from the fortress by his men and, when he regained consciousness, the Dark Angels had already departed to fight in the Alisore campaign. Russ swore he would avenge the stain on his honour and, to this day, whenever the Space Wolves and Dark Angels meet, one of their number is called upon to refight the ancient duel of the Primarchs in order that honour may be satisfied.
 * Horus Heresy - Fall of Prospero (Unknown Date.M31) - The Fall of Prospero was the name given by later Imperial scholars to the sanctioned Imperial military reprisal against the XV Legion's homeworld of Prospero at the start of the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium. The action was carried out by the Space Wolves Legion and elements of the Legio Custodes and the Sisters of Silence as a punishment for the Thousand Sons' flagrant violation of the Emperor of Mankind's edicts against the use of sorcery made at the Council of Nikaea. Though the Thousand Sons' Primarch Magnus the Red was aware of the impending assault and the vulnerability of orbital attack, he chose not act, as he felt that his sins warranted the Emperor's sanctions against him. The Space Wolves viciously bombarded the surface of planet and then launched a massive orbital strike with devastating results, slaughtering all life on the surface of Prospero. The battle finally concluded with Magnus and Leman Russ facing one another in personal combat, which resulted in the Red Cyclops being cast down and his back broken. Seeing his imminent demise near at hand, Magnus cast a mighty spell that took the great city of Tizca, his remaining Astartes and what precious archives of forbidden lore they could save, to their new homeworld known as the Planet of the Sorcerers, prepared by their patron Chaos God Tzeentch somewhere within the Eye of Terror.
 * Great Scouring (Unknown Date.M31) - As one of the largest remaining Loyalist Legions that emerged relatively unscathed from the Horus Heresy, the Space Wolves Legion played an instrumental part in the Great Scouring. This was the Imperium of Man's great counter-offensive against the Traitor Legions of the slain Warmaster Horus, following the end of this lamentable civil war after the Battle of Terra. Before actually being confined within the life support mechanisms of the Golden Throne, the Emperor had pronounced judgment on the Traitors: declared Excommunicate Traitoris, they were to be driven into the hellish region of the Warp rift called the Eye of Terror, which would hold them for all eternity. All records and memory of the Traitor Legions were to be expunged from the Imperial archives. Worlds such as Istvaan V and Davin were scoured clean of all life because of their corruption by Chaos. The Traitor Legions' associated troops from the Dark Mechanicus or the regiments and starships of the Imperial Army that had turned to Chaos were to be destroyed or driven into the Eye. It would be as if the Traitor Legions had never existed to sully the Imperium with their betrayal. The fighting would continue for another seven years.
 * First Battle of Garm (Unknown Date.M31) - In the aftermath of the Horus Heresy, the Thousand Sons attacked the Space Wolves' Shrine World of Garm, which was named for a famous Wolf Lord from the earliest days of the Space Wolves Legion who had given his life defending the Primarch Leman Russ from an attack by Magnus the Red. Leman Russ raised a cairn to Garm upon the place of his death and placed the Spear of Russ, the mighty weapon gifted to him by the Emperor Himself which had wounded the Traitor Magnus, atop Garm's tomb. The Space Wolves were able to fight off the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion and drive them from the world.
 * First Battle for The Fang (Unknown Date.M32) - Harek Ironhelm was the Chapter's Great Wolf during the 32nd Millennium. Ironhelm sought for many years to bring the Thousand Sons' Primarch Magnus the Red to battle. Several times Magnus appeared to him in visions amongst the ruins of devastated cities that had been laid to ruin by the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion striking from out of the Eye of Terror and taunted the Great Wolf for his inability to stop him. After many fruitless efforts to catch up with the Chaos Space Marines, Harek became obsessed, and took to searching worlds along the edge of the Eye of Terror itself. Eventually he found what he believed to be the Thousand Sons' secret base on the world of Gangava and launched a full-scale planetary assault against it. This was a deception intended to draw the bulk of the Space Wolves' forces from their homeworld, leaving it undefended; for in truth Gangava was held by a Chaos force allied to Magnus but it served only as a distraction, intended to draw the Space Wolves away from their homeworld so that a massive Thousand Sons' fleet could besiege Fenris itself. The Space Wolves' fortress-monastery, The Fang, was held by only a small force of Space Wolves and their Servitor-thralls. For forty days and forty nights the Thousand Sons assaulted the citadel. Bjorn the Fell-Handed, the most ancient of the Space Wolves' Dreadnoughts, was woken from his long sleep and took charge of the defence. The assault was held at bay as a force of Scout Marines under Haakon Blackwing escaped to Gangava to locate Harek. Shamed and furious, Harek Ironhelm returned to meet Magnus in battle on the slopes of the Fang itself. Although Magnus was terribly wounded, even Harek could not stand against the power of a Primarch who had been further exalted to become a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch. Harek was slain, but the Thousand Sons were ultimately defeated and scattered, the Traitor Legion's warbands forced to return to the Planet of the Sorcerers within the Eye of Terror.
 * Second Battle for The Fang (Unknown Date.M36) - During the Age of Apostasy's Plague of Unbelief, Apostate Cardinal Bucharis of Gathalamore launched an invasion of Fenris on his way to Terra. For three years, Bucharis laid siege to the Fang after the Space Wolves' fleet waged furious battles against the Renegade Imperial Navy forces of Bucharis. Some of the Space Wolves' starships managed to break through, such as the cruiser named the Claw of Russ. However, the fighting saw millions of Fenrisians fall to the invaders as the people of Fenris, the Space Wolves and even the Fenrisian Wolves of the wild waged war against their corrupted Chaotic attackers. Despite numerous efforts to break the siege, the Space Wolves could not get through, until returning from a five-year-long expedition to the Eye of Terror, Kyrl Grimblood and his Great Company smashed through Bucharis' fleet and then launched a devastating assault on the rear of Bucharis' siege forces, killing thousands and sending many fleeing into the wilds of Fenris to die horribly at the claws of the unforgiving creatures and the touch of the deadly weather. With Kyrl's efforts weakening the invaders, the Space Wolves launched a break-out counteroffensive and smashed through their attackers, routing them. Bucharis was forced to flee and while his defeat at the hands of the Space Wolves did not end his reign, others fought against the "Plague of Unbelief" he had unleashed and Bucharis was eventually defeated by a resurgent Imperium. Yet it is due to the efforts of Kyrl Grimblood that the ambitions of the Apostate Cardinal Bucharis were brought to a turning point and the Second Battle for the Fang was won.
 * First War for Armageddon and the "Days of Shame" (444-445.M41) - During the First War for Armageddon the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar lead 300 Space Wolves alongside 100 Grey Knights against the World Eaters' Daemon Primarch Angron and a diabolic horde of Khornate Berserkers and Khornate daemons. The Imperial forces eventually proved victorious after the Grey Knights banished Angron back to the Warp from whence he came. The Space Wolves continued to fight in the First War for Armageddon through to its conclusion. Although they had defeated all that the Forces of Chaos had thrown at them during this bloody campaign, the victorious soldiers of Armageddon were doomed from the start. They had gained knowledge of the existence of Chaos, a forbidden secret of the Imperium, and been exposed to its corruption. The Inquisition had no intention of letting the wider Imperium discover the true nature of the daemonic foe that had attacked Armageddon, or of the ways and means victory had been achieved with the aid of the Grey Knights; the Inquisitors present voted to sterilise and quarantine-for-life the remaining population of the Hive World even though it was generally considered untainted, and ignorant of the truth concerning the existence of Chaos. The valiant Imperial Guard, PDF regiments and other human defenders of the world were to suffer the same fate or be liquidated. The Inquisition ordered all of the people who had fought on the planet, except for the Space Marines, to be rounded up at gunpoint, sterilised to prevent any possible Chaos-induced mutations in their offspring and placed in Adeptus Arbites work camps across the galaxy, with their world to be re-colonised by people from other regions of the galaxy with no knowledge of the war. Over the strident protests of the Space Wolves and their Great Wolf Logan Grimnar, the Inquisition followed through with this plan, and the Grey Knights frigate Karabela still in orbit of Armageddon was ordered to disable the first Imperial Guard troop transport to leave Armageddon as it approached a Warp jump point off-world. Following this first incident, a months-long cat-and-mouse campaign took place between the Space Wolves and their human charges from Armageddon on one side, and the Inquisition and Grey Knights on the other. It was characterised by increasingly deadly fratricidal actions by both sides, and rapidly escalated into a full-fledged Imperial civil war between the Space Wolves and the Inquisition. Grimnar saw the Inquisition's actions following the war as betraying the very people who had honourably fought for their homes and for the Emperor, and if the Imperium did not protect those who fought for it, he did not believe it had any purpose. Finally, in an attempt to bring the conflict to an end, in 445.M41 the Inquisitor Lord Ghesmei Kysnaros ordered his growing Inquisitorial armada, including Grey Knights Chapter fleet vessels, to Fenris, the Space Wolves' lightly defended homeworld, in a last-ditch gambit to force those Astartes to comply with the Inquisition's wishes concerning the liquidation or imprisonment of Armageddon's survivors. Kysnaros' armada, including a multitude of Inquisition warships, Grey Knights vessels, and the entire Chapter fleet and strength of the Red Hunters Space Marine Chapter, arrived at Fenris and surrounded the planet in high orbit whilst targeting The Fang, the Space Wolves' fortress-monastery, for a devastating orbital bombardment. The planet was virtually undefended as the vast majority of the Space Wolves and their Chapter fleet were dispersed on missions across the galaxy. Kysnaros again asked for a parlay with any ranking Space Wolves present. A delegation consisting of Kysnaros, the Grey Knight Hyperion (who commanded respect amongst the Space Wolves as the "Bladebreaker") and Inquisitor Annika Jarlsdottyr, a native Fenrisian, arrived at The Fang for the meeting. The Space Wolves had awoken the Venerable Dreadnought Bjorn the Fell-Handed to deal with the Inquisitorial party. The ancient warrior who had once fought beside the Primarch Leman Russ during the Great Crusade immediately received the unbidden respect and reverence of the Inquisitorial delegation, and was thought to be a more temperate and wise representative for the Chapter than Logan Grimnar. Kysnaros asked for the Space Wolves' express obeisance to Imperial authority and the chain of command, and a Penitent Crusade to be undertaken to expiate the Chapter's guilt for their attacks upon the servants of the Inquisition. In exchange, the Inquisition and the Imperium at large would take no other action or censure against the Chapter. Before negotiations could go further, to the surprise of everyone, the Space Wolves' Chapter fleet under the command of Logan Grimnar translated from the Warp near Fenris. As the Inquisition delegation made haste to their flagship, a short, brutal fight ensued over the planet. Eventually Grimnar and his Wolf Guard teleported to Kysnaros' flagship's bridge, where the Great Wolf unceremoniously beheaded the Inquisitor Lord. Grimnar then proceeded to maul the last survivor of the Grey Knights' Squad Castian who had survived the conflict on Armageddon. To save his brother, Hyperion confronted Grimnar, and in the duel that followed, he used his psychic powers to crack Grimnar's ancient, venerated Frost Axe Morkai. As Hyperion then confronted Grimnar and twenty Space Wolves alone, Bjorn the Fell-Handed teleported to the bridge and put an end to the fight. Bjorn told Grimnar that the internecine war between the Chapter and the Inquisition on behalf of the survivors of Armageddon had to stop. The Inquisitorial force should be allowed to leave Fenris unscathed, and the Space Wolves should reach an understanding with the Imperium. He then addressed Hyperion and Inquisitor Jarlsdottyr, as the ranking Inquisition representatives present, and told them that no Inquisition vessel should ever again appear above Fenris. Additionally, the Space Wolves who had acquired knowledge of the existence of the Grey Knights would not be mind-scrubbed, as was customary, though the remaining Armageddon survivors would be handed over for mind-wiping and dispersion across the galaxy. The Inquisition accepted the terms, and shortly afterward, the Inquisitorial force left the system. Yet, as a result of what they continued to believe was a betrayal of the Imperium's core values, the Space Wolves have never again trusted the Inquisition and move to frustrate Inquisitorial designs at every opportunity. Since this time the Space Wolves have had little but hostility to show towards the Inquisition and few indeed are the Inquisitors allowed into The Fang in recent times.
 * Centius Prime (Unknown Date.M41) - The Space Wolves deployed a Land Raider Helios to defeat the Orks of Centius Prime.
 * Draxian Incursion (Unknown Date.M41) - The Space Wolves entered the fray against the forces of the xenos Draxians during the Draxian Incursion into Imperial territory on the world of Medes 841.
 * Hesperida Campaign (Unknown Date.M41) - The Space Wolves met the Forces of Chaos on the world of Hesperida. Portions of Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company saw action in this conflict.
 * Corinthus V (Unknown Date.M41) - Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company was deployed to the Imperial world of Corinthus V to aid the regiments of the Imperial Guard in throwing back the Forces of Chaos.
 * Magdelon Confrontation (Unknown Date.M41) - The Space Wolves deployed their Vindicators against the foe during the Magdelon Confrontation.
 * Second Battle of Garm (Unknown Date.M41) - During the 41st Millennium, the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion once again assailed the Shrine World of Garm. Led by the foul Thousand Sons Chaos Sorcerer Madox, a Chaos Cult uprising on a planetary scale provided the necessary cover for the sorcerer to steal the sacred Spear of Russ. Soon a great portion of the Space Wolves Chapter was deployed to Garm (11 Great Companies) to help quell these massive uprisings. One of these Great Companies was under the command of Wolf Lord Berek Thunderfist. During a climatic battle between the Chaos Sorcerer and Ragnar Blackmane, the young Space Wolf hurled the sacred Spear of Russ into a Warp portal to prevent the summoned Daemon Prince Magnus the Red from entering realspace and turning the tide of battle. Though even the Space Wolves' Great Wolf Logan Grimnar believed that Ragnar's actions had saved the Chapter from a potential disaster, many Space Wolves believed Ragnar had dishonoured himself and his fellow Battle-Brothers by losing one of the Space Wolves' greatest relics.
 * Third War for Armageddon (998.M41) - The Space Wolves fielded 5 Great Companies in the defence of the Hive World of Armageddon during the Third War for Armageddon and acquitted themselves admirably in the successful defence of this strategically vital hive world from the Orks of WAAAGH! Ghazghkull.
 * 13th Black Crusade (999.M41) - When Abaddon the Despoiler spilled forth from the Eye of Terror to launch the 13th Black Crusade, the Space Wolves were one of the first Chapters of the Space Marines to meet the challenge. Logan Grimnar and the Space Wolves were among the first Imperial defenders to arrive in the Cadian System to stem the tide of Chaotic filth. The entire Chapter deployed to support the Cadians, as the Space Wolves committed all 12 of their Great Companies against the Forces of Chaos. As Grimnar was among the oldest and wisest Space Marine commanders in the Imperium and possessed a stalwart reputation, he was elected to overall command of the Imperial defenders for the conflict. The Space Wolves are one of only four Space Marine Chapters to have fought in both the Third War for Armageddon and the 13th Black Crusade.
 * Battle of Kasr Tyrok-Cadia (999.M41) - The Dark Angels and the Space Wolves set aside their ancient vendetta as Supreme Grand Master Azrael and Great Wolf Logan Grimnar come to a mutual, but temporary, understanding. Both Chapters take to the field together, in the defence of Kasr Tyrok upon the world of Cadia against the a substantial force of Chaos mutants. The combined force of Dark Angels and Space Wolves smashed into the rear of the mutant mob, cutting them down without mercy, each Chapter sought to outdo the other in their skill at arms. As the last few mutants were dispatched their friendly banter soon turned to insults. Victory had been achieved, but the Sons of the Lion and the Sons of Russ soon depart ways, their long-time rivalry rearing its ugly head once again.

Chapter Organisation
The Space Wolves are known for their fiercely anti-authoritarian behaviour. They strongly resist the central command structure of the Imperium, organising themselves into Packs instead of the normal Squads and continue to refuse the dictates of the Codex Astartes, the standardised guide to Space Marine and Imperial Guard tactics created by the Ultramarines' Primarch Roboute Guilliman. The Space Wolves only accept some standard Imperial tactics that were considered useful for their own preferred style of warfare. As such, they have a reputation for being as ill-disciplined as they are fearless. It is often said that the best way to get a Space Wolf to do something is to tell him not to do it.

Wolf Packs
Instead of organising into the Tactical, Assault and Devastator Squads as the Codex Astartes dictates, the Space Wolves form their Battle-Brothers into Packs. Each Pack will generally be made up of Astartes who have fought together for some time and will work together as a pack of Fenrisian Wolves do on the hunt. For the Space Wolves their finely honed senses of smell and hearing are just as important to them as their keen eyesight. Packs will work together to sniff and sound out their foes, hunting their prey like the wolves of Fenris, identifying the locations of their comrades as much by their enhanced sense of smell as by any technological means. The Space Wolves have four primary types of Packs in the Chapter, including the Blood Claws, Grey Hunters, Long Fangs, and the Wolf Guard. There are also Wolf Scouts, who are an oddity among the Adeptus Astartes.


 * Blood Claws - A Blood Claw is a newly inducted Astartes of the Space Wolves Chapter and the equivalent of a Codex Astartes-compliant Chapter's Neophytes or Scout Marines. Still struggling to control the spirit of the Wulfen within, Blood Claws are notoriously savage and fiercely aggressive. These hot-headed young warriors cannot wait to prove themselves, charging in howling packs at the front lines of the enemy in their efforts to garner personal glory. They prefer to fight at close quarters and are armed with melee weapons such as Chainswords and Bolt Pistols. The Blood Claws are the shock troops of the Space Wolves and spearhead the majority of assaults. If they survive to become mature and capable warriors, they will eventually be elevated to the veteran ranks of the Grey Hunters.
 * Swift Claws - A subset of the Blood Claws, the Swift Claws are culled from the ranks of the Blood Claws when the Chapter needs a swift, hard-hitting assault force comprised of Bike Squads or Land Speeders. The young and ambitious Blood Claws are well suited to this role. In addition to forming a lightning assault force, Swift Claws will occasionally be tasked with a dangerous quest to track down and slay a particularly powerful enemy. Given the opportunity to sow the maximum amount of carnage and disruption possible, these young warriors apply themselves with particular relish in the performance of their duties. Some Blood Claws are so taken by this role -- not to mention the opportunities for raising havoc that come along with it -- that they demand the right to a permanent position as a Swift Claw. Unlike other Chapters that use their Bike Squads primarily for forward reconnaissance, the Space Wolves use their bikes in a demolitions and close assault role.
 * Skyclaws - Another subset of the Blood Claws, the Skyclaws are culled from the ranks of the Blood Claws when the Chapter needs a swift, hard-hitting assault force and thus serve as the Chapter's Assault Marines equivalent. This specialist unit is composed of the most headstrong troublemakers from each Blood Claw pack and are often "rewarded" by reassignment to a Skyclaw Assault Pack. Entrusted with a Jump Pack, this vital piece of wargear provides the young warrior with the opportunity to indulge in their desire to charge headlong into the thick of battle. The young and ambitious Blood Claws are well suited to this role. In addition to forming a lightning assault force, Swiftclaws will occasionally be tasked with a dangerous quest to track down and slay a particularly powerful enemy. Though considered a dubious honour by their more mature brethren, the Skyclaws are bound and determined to prove themselves in the eyes of their elders.
 * Grey Hunters - If Blood Claws survive long enough to mature into seasoned Astartes, they are promoted to the ranks of the Grey Hunters. These veteran Astartes are the equivalent of a Codex Astartes-compliant Chapter's Tactical Marines. The Grey Hunter packs form the greater mass of the Space Wolves' warriors. They are strong and resolute fighters, tempered by battle but as hungry for honour as any proud warrior of Fenris. They are experienced warriors, dour and sombre, proud of their skills, and rightly honoured by their younger brethren.
 * Long Fangs - Long Fangs form a cadre of veteran warriors within the Chapter. Hoary with age, proud and wise, they are quite literally endowed with long fangs, for as a Space Wolf ages his canines lengthen and his hair grows course and grey. After centuries of long wars, their esteem stands as a mountain, commanding awe and respect from those of lesser years. There are relatively few Long Fangs within the Chapter, for many warriors die in battle so only a minority survive to reach a venerable age. Their saga is almost complete. These veteran warriors are disciplined and steady even in the heat of battle, and hence entrusted with the Great Company’s heavy weapons. They are the equivalent of a Codex Astartes-compliant Chapter's Devastator Marines. Having fought and survived so many wars the Long Fangs are rarely unsettled even by the most serious set-back. There are many accounts within the Chapter's history that recount the deeds of the stalwart Long Fangs, who have held the field against overwhelming odds, even after all others have fled or been slain.
 * Wolf Guard - Some Space Wolves, having achieved feats of exceptional valour and martial prowess, may become members of the Chapter's Wolf Guard. These mighty Astartes can lead smaller forces of Space Wolves drawn from other Packs, serve as the Space Wolves' version of an Honour Guard for the most experienced warrior in a deployed Space Wolves force or serve as the Pack leader for a Great Company's squads, imparting their knowledge and experience to their younger charges and serving as the equivalent of standard Space Marine Sergeants. In addition to access to the best suits of Power Armour and the most advanced wargear available to the Chapter, the Wolf Guard are the only Space Wolves with the right to wear Terminator Armour. Unlike in other Chapters, entrance into the elite ranks of the Wolf Guard is not the result of seniority or Veteran status but is an honour earned directly through merit, through the display of extraordinary acts of courage and heroism under fire. Eventually, it is possible for a Wolf Guard to rise to the position of Wolf Lord, the mighty officers equivalent to standard Space Marine Captains who command one of the 12 Great Companies that comprise the entirety of the Chapter.
 * Thunderwolf Cavalry - Thunderwolf Cavalry units are a sub-group of the Wolf Guard. According to official Imperial records, the Thunderwolf Cavalry doesn't exist and the Space Wolves keep them as a closely guarded secret. Thunderwolves are giant Fenrisian Wolves that stand about the height of a Terran rhinoceros and are used as mounts by the most elite members of the Wolf Guard. Thunderwolves are used in the near-mythical Thunderwolf Cavalry, and are often augmented with adamantium jaws, Imperial bionics, and back-jointed metal limbs that end in razor-sharp blades. The havoc that these creatures are capable of wreaking is said to be startling to even a hardened Veteran Space Wolf. The taming of a Thunderwolf is often used as a ritual trial for a Space Wolves Astartes who wishes to rise into the ranks of the Wolf Guards.
 * Wolf Scouts - For some Space Wolves Astartes, the close-knit and boisterous brotherhood of the Pack (squad) is not well suited to their personality, as they yearn for the open spaces and isolation of the Fenrisian tundra. These Space Marines are selected to become part of a Great Company's Wolf Scout force, providing reconnaissance and disrupting enemy movements. These Space Marines are often already Veterans, as opposed to the raw Neophytes commonly used in other Chapters' Scout Marines Squads.
 * Lone Wolves - Over time, as Space Wolves Packs take casualties and gain experience, they pass through the ranks, and eventually the last few survivors make it into the vaunted ranks of the Wolf Guard. However, sometimes a Pack will suffer particularly harsh casualties, leaving a lone survivor who has not yet earned a place in the Wolf Guard. These last standing Lone Wolves will take on an air of vengeance and doom, determined to regain the honour of their Pack in combat or die trying. Those who succeed in their quests to seek out and slay dangerous or potent enemies and survive are accepted into the Wolf Guard, while the rest have at least earned an honourable death in combat like their Packmates.
 * Wolfblade - The Wolfblade is an ancient honour guard of Space Wolves that are sent to Terra to protect the ancient Navigator House of Belisarius, long-time allies of the Chapter. They train the Celestarch of Belisarius's House troops and lead them into battle. They act as his strong right arm when there is need. They slay his enemies in open battle and by stealth if need be. This pact's origins are lost to legend, but the most commonly accepted version of the story dates it from the time of the Great Crusade and the friendship between Primarch Leman Russ and Alexander Belisarius. Belisarius was a Navigator of genius, who aided Russ on many of his adventures. On the day of the Feast of the Founding they are said to have sworn a pact of eternal friendship. As a sign of this friendship, the Belisarius family agreed to provide Navigators for the Chapter in perpetuam, in return for the Space Wolves' martial aid. An entire Pack of Space Wolves would accompany the Celestarch of the House Belisarius as his bodyguard. Given the fractious nature of the Navigator Houses of the Navis Nobilite, and a commercial rivalry which, at that time, could result in conflicts as large as wars, this was an alliance of vast importance for the Navigators. The Space Wolves still enjoy a close bond to House Belisarius, an alliance between a Navigator House and a Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes shared only by the Blood Ravens, White Scars, and Blood Angels Chapters.

Specialist Ranks

 * Great Wolf - The Great Wolf is the Space Wolves' equivalent of a Chapter Master. The Great Wolf is generally considered only a steward of the Chapter rather than its true lord, since he is only awaiting the return of the Primarch Leman Russ who has always been the Space Wolves' only true leader. The Great Wolf leads the Chapter in Russ’ absence. Chosen from among the Chapter's Wolf Lords, the current Great Wolf is Logan Grimnar, who has lead the Chapter for over eight standard centuries as of 999.M41.
 * Wolf Lords - A Wolf Lord is the Space Wolf officer who is the equivalent of a standard Space Marine Captain and who commands one of the 12 Great Companies that comprise the full Space Wolves Chapter's military force. A Wolf Lord may be accompanied by the huge Fenrisian Wolves and is always protected by a contingent of Wolf Guard specifically loyal to him. The Chapter's Great Companies are led by the 12 current Wolf Lords, a number that includes the current Great Wolf, Logan Grimnar. Much of the time the attrition rate for Wolf Lords is fairly significant because of the Chapter's preference for close combat. However, some Wolf Lords have managed to see their thousandth year pass in service to the Emperor. Ragnar Blackmane is one of the Chapter's current Wolf Lords and is in fact the youngest Astartes to have ascended to the rank of Wolf Lord in the Chapter's history. The current Wolf Lords of the Chapter include:
 * Logan Grimnar
 * Harald Deathwolf
 * Bjorn Stormwolf
 * Egil Ironwolf
 * Krom Dragongaze
 * Ragnar Blackmane
 * Sven Bloodhowl
 * Kjarl Grimblood
 * Bran Redmaw
 * Engir Krakendoom
 * Erik Morkai
 * Gunnar Redmoon
 * Iron Priests - The Iron Priests are the Chapter’s equivalent of Techmarines. Sent off for training at Mars with the Adeptus Mechanicus like all Techmarines, the Iron Priests maintain the Chapter's equipment and forge all necessary replacement wargear. Iron Priests are traditionally attached to the Great Wolf’s Company and re-assigned to other fighting forces on a situational basis. Iron Priests also have a place in the transformation and initiation of new recruits.
 * Wolf Priests - Wolf Priests are a unique officer class within the Chapter. A combination of the roles of Chaplain and Apothecary found in Codex-compliant Chapters, the Wolf Priests administer to the physical and mental well-being of the Chapter’s warriors and also choose the Aspirants to the Chapter from among the feral barbarian tribes of Fenris. Ulrik the Slayer is a famous Wolf Priest who mentored many notable members of the Chapter, including Logan Grimnar and Ragnar Blackmane.
 * Rune Priests - The Space Wolves do not have Librarians as such because of their great abhorrence of psychic abilities, which they equate with foul sorcery; instead the Chapter maintains a number of Rune Priests -- potent psykers who examine the minds of all Aspirants to the Chapter for any sign of Chaotic taint or treachery. Armed and equipped differently from Librarians, Rune Priests do not wear the Psychic Hoods of Librarians, and do not always carry Force Weapons, what the Space Wolves prefer to call Runic Weapons. The Rune Priests, however, are actually quite potent psykers in their own right and as fierce warriors as any man born of Fenris.
 * Venerable Dreadnoughts - The Dreadnoughts of the Space Wolves are generally ancient and wise warriors, who spend a great deal of time in dreamless sleep beneath The Fang. They are only awakened from their deep slumber in times of great need. The Venerable Dreadnoughts of the Space Wolves may sometimes even lead forces of their fellow Astartes into battle in the absence of another capable war leader, or sometimes in deference to their ancient wisdom and extensive tactical experience.

The Great Companies
Instead of dividing into Successor Chapters as per the requirements of the Codex Astartes, the Space Wolves Legion continued to split itself into 12 Great Companies (a Great Company being closer in size to an entire normal Space Marine Chapter than the company of 100 Astartes that normally comprises a Chapter's constituent units), with a 13th Company named in honour of a large group of Space Wolves who had disappeared during the Horus Heresy. This 13th Great Company came to represent all the Great Companies in the Space Wolves' history that had been destroyed, lost on campaign or had recanted their oath of loyalty to the Great Wolf. Each of these was led by a Wolf Lord (Captain), who answered to the Chapter Master, the Great Wolf. Each Great Company is a free-standing body of troops in almost all respects; occupying its own territory in the massive fortress-monastery of the Space Wolves that is built inside a huge mountain known as The Fang, possessing its own equipment, forges and spacecraft, and following its own customs and heroes. Each Great Company takes its name from its current Wolf Lord, and also take the mythological Fenrisian symbol the new Lord associates with. When a Wolf Lord dies, another is chosen to replace him from the slain leader's Wolf Guard, causing the Great Company to reinvent itself. Thus, unlike the companies in other Space Marine Chapters, the Great Companies of the Space Wolves do not have fixed heraldry, but change through the ages.

Chapter Homeworld
Fenris is the Death World in the Segmentum Obscurus that is the homeworld and recruiting ground for the Vlka Fenryka, as the Space Wolves are known in their native tongue. It was also the homeworld of the Space Wolves' Primarch Leman Russ. Fenris is the location of The Fang, the Space Wolves' massive fortress-monastery, considered by many Imperial savants the greatest bastion of the Imperium of Man outside of the Imperial Palace on Terra itself. Fenris takes its name from the mythical Norse wolf fathered by the god of tricksters Loki that would assault the Norse gods during the Final Battle of Raganarok. Most of the names of locations on Fenris are also drawn from the Norse mythology and languages of Old Earth. Fenris is situated in the galactic south of the Segmentum Obscurus, at the end of the Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror, from which come the Forces of Chaos to raid and pillage. Fenris thus lies at the forefront of the Imperium's defence against Chaos. The Space Wolves maintain the vigil that began many millennia ago at the close of the Horus Heresy and watch over a hundred other worlds besides. Their demesne stretches far and wide across the scattered stars that girdle the Fenrisian star system, but it is the bitterly cold Death World at its heart that the Space Wolves proudly call home. A planet of fire and ice, dominated by extremes of climate, Fenris is listed in the Apocrypha of Skaros as one of the three most deadly and turbulent worlds inhabited by humanity in the Milky Way Galaxy. Its surface is mostly covered by water and its tiny land masses are no more than islands scattered sparsely upon the ever-churning sea. The single sizable continent, Asaheim, lies at the world's northern polar region. Fenris follows a highly elliptical orbit around its pale K-class sun, called the Wolf's Eye, that takes approximately 2 Terran standard years to complete. This period of time is known as a "Great Year" to the people of Fenris.

For much of each long year the world is remote from even this feeble star and its surface remains deeply frigid. The oceans, known as the Worldsea, freeze over as Fenris draws away from its sun and at its farthest point even the equatorial seas are covered with ice, making the planet appear to be a frozen snowball from orbit. The volcanic activity of the bleak mountains that punctuate the waters are stilled so that at the height of the Fenrisian winter a man can walk between the many isles upon which the Fenrisians dwell. Towards the end of the year, as the planet sweeps close to its sun once more, the Wolf's Eye swells in the sky and the brief spring warms the surface. During this period, the ice retreats to the world's poles and the gargantuan dwellers of the deep waters emerge to enjoy the bounty of sun-spawned plankton, bladefish and other short-lived aquatic fauna. As Fenris reaches the point at which it is closest to its sun, the passage of the planet near the star produces tidal forces that break and twists the sub-oceanic crust, exposing Fenris' molten mantle to the frigid waters. It is then that the time of fire and water has arrived.

With explosive violence the world is torn asunder. Blazing islands rise from the steaming sea spewing flames, with lava pouring down their slopes. Below the surface the waters boil into steam that engulfs Fenris with its sulphurous fumes. Great tidal waves scour the coastlines of Asaheim and the islands. Islands created in the upheavals of preceding years are cast into turmoil by this global transformation. Some endure, but many are broken apart or swallowed by the seas, engulfed in the churning waters and casting their unlucky inhabitants into the deeps. But the great lump of solid granite the Fenrisian tribesmen know as Asaheim always stands fast, a single, changeless continent on a world of fire, ice, ruin and torment. This extreme geography has resulted in the human population of Fenris becoming one composed largely of primitive, nomadic barbarian tribes. The tribes constantly seek secure territory, and as a result skirmishes and feuds over land between rival tribes are common. The people are hardened to the changes in temperature and environmental extremes, and so is the fauna.

Of the resources available on Fenris the most valuable is the land itself. No man knows how much the land will change with the turning of the Great Year. Sometimes old islands survive the changing seasons and good fortune may preserve a tribe's territory intact for many Great Years, but it is more likely that the archipelagos will be broken and destroyed, submerged beneath the oceans by the vast upheavals of Fenris' crust. When this happens there will be vicious wars between the tribes and only those who succeed in finding new land and establishing themselves on it will survive. Once the time of fire and water has passed, the Fenrisians must settle the newly formed lands quickly, for soon their supplies will run out. If they can find no new land they must resume their wars for the territories of other tribes. So it is that the life of a Fenrisian is one of constant seaborne migration and warfare. The people of Fenris speak their own distinct dialect of Low Gothic called Juvjk which is very similar to the ancient Scandinavian languages of Terra and represents the culture of the world's original colonists.

The Fang
Native Fenrisians are used to the pattern of destruction that engulfs their planet every Great Year and have learned to love the endless mutability of their lands with a fierce warrior pride. Only on the northern polar continent of Asaheim are the human populations of Fenris protected from the extreme climate. Here there are many unique creatures not able to live elsewhere on the world. These include massive ice bears, gigantic elk and shaggy mastodons as well as stranger creatures such as the snow trolls, shape-changing doppegangrels and the great white wyrms that burrow through the glaciers and fjords. The deadliest creatures are the native semi-sentient Fenrisian Wolves themselves, for their wits are as sharp as their teeth and the largest of their number is the equal of any of the great predators that slither and stalk through the icy Fenrisian wastes. Yet Asaheim is remote, surrounded by towering cliffs that rise thousands of feet into the air above the seas and separate it from the oceans. Its fabled land mass provides no refuge for those that live beyond its rocky confines. To a Fenrisian tribesman, it is truly the land of the gods.

The Space Wolves' fortress-monastery, known widely across the Imperium as The Fang and the Aett by its inhabitants, is a massive citadel built atop the tallest mountain of Asaheim. This mountain is known by many names, including The Shoulder of The Allfather, and volda hammarki, the World Spine. The Fang is the home base of the Space Wolves and extends into the surrounding mountain range as well as into orbit, drawing energy from the geothermic source of the planet's molten core. The complex includes huge ground-based anti-ship orbital defence laser weapons concealed as nearby peaks, docks at the summit for the Space Wolves' Battle Barges and Strike Cruisers, numerous shrines to the Emperor along the lower slopes, and massive fusion and geothermal reactors deep underground. Outside of Terra itself, the Fang is considered one of the most impregnable fortresses in the galaxy, constructed by the Adeptus Mechanicus during the Great Crusade using technology that has long since been lost. It has never been conquered, although the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion, the Space Wolves' most hated foes, did manage to briefly occupy the outer slopes of The Fang after luring the bulk of the Space Wolves' forces away during the First Battle for The Fang in the 32nd Millennium.

Recruitment of a Space Wolf
Like all Astartes, new Space Wolves are recruited in early adolescence, selected from the most able youths of the feral tribes of their homeworld of Fenris. Unlike other Chapters, the Space Wolves have one of the longest and most arduous series of Trials ever crafted to test their Aspirants. Only the fiercest and most skilled young Fenrisian warriors are chosen after their heroism (or death in the heat of battle) is witnessed by a "Watcher" or a Wolf Priest. Shortly after, these Aspirants are taken to camps farther north where they are sorted into groups called Claws. For an indefinite amount of time or until their death, they endure fierce physical training and a series of almost fatal missions in the frozen wastes of the Asaheim Mountains of Fenris intended to prove their fitness for the life of an Astartes.

When they are finally deemed worthy, the Aspirants partake in a ceremony where they receive the Canis Helix, the Spirit of the Wolf, which is actually a genetic cocktail drawn from the genome of Leman Russ and used as a catalyst to activate the viral machinery of the Aspirants' gene-seed implants, much as Blood Angels' Aspirants drink the blood of Sanguinius from the Red Grail to begin their transformation into Space Marines. The mixture is drunk from the Space Wolves' relic known as the Cup of Wulfen. An ancient legend of the Chapter tells how Leman Russ gave the Cup to his original followers, the first men from Fenris to join the VI Legion, telling them to drink from the Cup. The first man who drank, named Wulfen, was secretly jealous of Russ, drank, and became the first canine mutant known as the Wulfen, an angry amalgamation of the Wolf Spirit and the secret darkness that resided within the heart of the man. He leapt to attack Russ, who throttled him with one hand. Russ then declared that all those who were unworthy of becoming a Space Wolf would become a Wulfen after they drank from the Cup. Russ would allow any of those who had come to turn back from the path before drinking, but none did. Those who drank and survived became the first Space Wolves to be recruited from Fenris. In reality, those Aspirants who are likely to fall prey to the Wulfen mutation inherent within the gene-seed of Leman Russ do not do so after immediately imbibing the Canis Helix mixture, but usually over the weeks and months of training that follow afterwards. After drinking from the Cup of Wulfen, the Aspirants are taken through the Gate of Morkai, a mystic gate deep within the Fang, the Space Wolves' fortress-monastery, where every Aspirant's mind is picked and probed by the Chapter's psychic Rune Priests (Librarians) for signs of corruption or mental weakness that will make them easy prey for the blandishments of Chaos. When and if the Aspirants pass this test, they are finally augmented with the gene-seed organs of Leman Russ as well as the anatomical gifts found within every one of the Emperor's Astartes. The next phase of their transformation into a full-fledged Space Wolf is a trial period of training in which the physical transformations initiated by the genetic catalyst within the Canis Helix begin to manifest themselves. Many of the Aspirants will continue to grow into their newly-received genetic implants while others succumb completely to the Curse of the Wolf and become the blood-thirsty mutant creatures known as the Wulfen. If the Aspirant is fortunate enough to survive the transformation, he must endure his final trial, known as The Blooding. Equipped with nothing but a steel-tipped spear and dagger, he must brave the deadly wastes of Fenris and find his way back to The Fang alone. As if left for dead, they must use whatever means necessary to survive in the arctic tundra of Fenris. If the Aspirant faces a Fenrisian Wolf and slays it during this time, he is considered to be an especially promising candidate. When and if the Aspirant returns to The Fang, he is gifted with the ancient Power Armour of a fallen Wolf-Brother and welcomed into the ranks of one of the 12 Great Companies as a full Battle-Brother. For the Space Wolves, no Astartes is a Neophyte, instead each new man has been accepted into their ranks as a full Initiate, a Blood Claw.

Deathwatch Service
For some Space Wolves, service in the Deathwatch, the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos, offers a unique opportunity to compose new passages in the ongoing saga of their life. While in the ranks of the Deathwatch, the Space Wolf travels to undreamed of places to battle against enemies from nightmare. Often, such enemies are entirely unknown to the Imperium and to the Space Wolf's home Chapter, and he may therefore be the only Space Wolf ever to face one, a proud boast to tell in the mead-halls of The Fang on his return to Fenris. Though many great heroes of the Deathwatch have been drawn from the Space Wolves, it takes a special type of Battle-Brother to leave the extremely close-knit Packs of Fenris to serve alongside strangers from other Astartes Chapters. It is not uncommon therefore for two or more Space Wolves to join a Watch Fortress together, so that they might witness one another’s deeds and one can tell the other’s tale should he fall in battle. Though Space Wolves are extremely gregarious, if somewhat uncouth to some, they soon come to regard the members of their Kill-team as brothers, treating them as if they too were born of the savage tribes of Fenris. Most Deathwatch Astartes learn to accept the Space Wolves’ rough ways, and some even acquire a taste for the Fenrisian ale invariably brought along. The presence of one or more Space Wolves in the complement of a Watch Fortress can be discerned by the sound of raucous feasting and drinking on the eve of battle, savagely joyous boasts and bold oaths echoing down the usually silent passageways and cloisters. Some find such displays disruptive, but most Watch Commanders soon learn to let the matter be, for Kill-teams including Space Wolves amongst them often become the most effective and coordinated squads the Deathwatch can field.

The 13th Company
"Guard your tongue, whelp, lest I cut it out. I care not for your moon-touched ramblings, nor for the tales of your grandmother. Mark this well - of the 13th Company we do no speak."

- Ulfric Hoodclaw

The Space Wolves' most coveted legend states that the group that came to be known as the Space Wolves' 13th Company was ordered by their Primarch Leman Russ to pursue the Thousand Sons Legion into the Warp, after the failed attempt to eliminate that Traitor Legion on their homeworld of Prospero at the very start of the Horus Heresy. The 13th Company vanished from Imperial records, and their loss is honoured by a black stone in the Grand Annulus (the record of Space Wolf Great Companies).

Just before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the Primarch of the Thousand Sons Legion, Magnus the Red, sent his astral body through the Warp using the Eldar Webway to reach Terra and warn his father the Emperor of Mankind of the Warmaster Horus' turn to Chaos and his betrayal of the Imperium. Magnus had by then already been unwittingly corrupted by the Chaos God Tzeentch and his psychic intrusion destroyed the psychic barriers around Terra and the Golden Throne. Magnus' arrival on Terra killed all of the human cult members on Prospero who had initiated the spell that allowed Magnus to enter the Webway, drove thousands of people involved in the Emperor's Webway Project on Terra insane because of the phenomenal energies released upon his arrival, killed all of the workers, Adepts and Servitors working on the psychic amplifier known as the Golden Throne and opened dangerous portals through the Warp to Terra, through which daemons and other Warp entities could invade the homeworld of Mankind.

Unfortunately, Magnus' continued use of sorcery was a direct violation on the ban of its use within the Imperium imposed at the Council of Nikaea during the Great Crusade. The Emperor also refused to believe that his beloved son Horus could possibly betray him and mistakenly believed that it was Magnus, not Horus, who had truly betrayed him. The Emperor ordered Leman Russ and his Space Wolves to bring Magnus to Terra to face judgment for his defiance of the Council of Nikaea's ban on the use of sorcery. Horus convinced Leman Russ that it would be a waste of time bringing Magnus to Terra and that he should be killed on Prospero for his defiance of the Emperor's will. The Space Wolves were accompanied by the Sisters of Silence and the Adeptus Custodes and their attack on Prospero proceeded smoothly largely because Magnus refused at first to join the fray, believing that his world and Legion should fall because he had inadvertently allowed himself to become a pawn of the Chaos Gods.

In the final moments of the Battle of Prospero, the Thousand Sons were already reduced to a force of only about 1,000 Space Marines and the Space Wolves, Adeptus Custodes and Sisters of Silence possessed approximately 3,000 warriors combined. The Thousand Sons took shelter in the Pyramid of Photep, the Sanctum of Magnus on Prospero, while their Primarch dueled with Leman Russ outside. The battle between Leman Russ and Magnus was quick and brutal. Magnus drove his fist into Russ’ chest, the icy breastplate cracking open with a sound like planets colliding, and shards of ceramite stabbed the Wolf King’s heart. In return, Russ snapped Magnus’ arm back, and the Thousand Sons sorcerer Ahriman heard it shatter into a thousand pieces. A blade composed of pure psychic energy unsheathed from Magnus’ other arm, and he drove it deep into Russ’ chest through his shattered Power Armour. The blade burst from Russ’ back and the Wolf King loosed a deafening bellow of pain.

Magnus and Leman Russ found themselves locked in battle high above the causeway, the furious horror of their struggle obscured by ethereal fire and bursts of lightning. A flare of black light erupted and Russ cried out in agony. His blade lashed out blindly and struck a fateful blow against his foe’s most dreaded weapon: his eye. In an instant, the pyrotechnic cascade of light and fire was extinguished and a stunning silence swept outwards. All motion ceased, and the titans battling on the causeway were no more, each Primarch now restored to his customary stature. Magnus reeled back from the Wolf King, one hand clutched to his eye as his shattered arm crackled with regenerative energies.

As broken and bloodied as Leman Russ was, he was warrior enough to seize his opportunity. He barreled into Magnus and gripped him around the waist like a wrestler, roaring as he lifted his brother’s body high above his head. All eyes turned to Russ as he brought Magnus down across his knee, and the sound of the Crimson King’s back breaking tore through every Thousand Sons’ heart. With the last of his strength, Magnus turned his head, and his ravaged eye found Ahriman. Leman Russ’ blade swept down, but before its lethal edge struck, Magnus whispered unnatural syllables. Magnus’ body underwent an instantaneous dissolution, its entire structure unmade with a word, and Ahriman gasped as vast and depthless power surged into his body. Then the Thousand Sons, each carrying a crystal from the refracting caves on Prospero, vanished into the Warp at Ahriman's word and were transported to the Planet of the Sorcerers, a Daemon World prepared for them by Tzeentch. Leman Russ then ordered the 13th Company of the Space Wolves to be sent into the Eye of Terror to pursue the Thousand Sons and put an end to their threat to the Imperium once and for all.

The 13th Company's reappearance at the beginning of Abaddon the Despoiler’s 13th Black Crusade returned them to realspace for the first time in over 10,000 years. They appear to still be in pursuit of the goal Leman Russ set for them and still desire the destruction of the Thousand Sons at all costs and possess an abiding hatred for sorcery and all forms of psychic powers.

The 13th Company's organisation departs heavily even from the already-independent Space Wolf norms, due to their lack of reinforcements and new recruits, 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 10,000 standard years. The core of a 13th Company warband are the Grey Slayers. Similar to Grey Hunters but far beyond them in skill, they fulfill the same tactical 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 of the 13th Company has long since advanced to a higher rank. 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 were its Rune Priests. Because the Eye of Terror unlocked hidden psychic powers in many of the 13th Company's original Astartes, the Company had no shortage of these highly gifted individuals.

The Wulfen
The Space Wolves suffer from a flaw in their gene-seed found in the Canis Helix gene sequence of Leman Russ, the genetic catalyst which every Space Wolf Aspirant imbibes from the Cup of Wulfen to begin their transformation into full Astartes. This flaw often leads them to take on many canine traits as they age, such as enlarged canine teeth, yellow eyes and abnormal growths of hair. Unfortunately, in some Space Wolves the mutation proceeds too far and transforms them during the heat and passion of battle into more bestial, wolf-like humanoids. These Space Marines are said to bear the "Mark of the Wulfen" by the other members of the Chapter because they grow elongated canine teeth and bestial claws. The only time that the Space Wolves turn into fully wolf-like humanoid mutants called the Wulfen is when they are exposed to large amounts of Warp energy (such as the Space Wolves' 13th Company in the Eye of Terror). In this case, the metamorphosis is not a Chaotic mutation, but rather a defensive mechanism induced when the Space Wolves' altered DNA is flooded by the power of Chaos, for such bestial mutants actually possess more resistance to Chaotic corruption than standard Astartes.

The Space Marines who mutate into Wulfen bear a dim resemblance to the werewolves of ancient human myth in much the same way that certain members of the Blood Angels Chapter who suffer from the Red Thirst desire to ingest blood like the legendary vampire. Space Marines who fully mutate into Wulfen usually escape to the hinterlands of Fenris, or are locked up or sorrowfully put down by their fellow Battle-Brothers. The "Mark of the Wulfen" normally manifests itself at the Neophyte stage of Space Marine development and thus new Space Wolves must spend time during their training in scenarios designed to determine which of their number will suffer from the change.

Though the Space Wolves sometimes use individual Wulfen in battle, the legendary 13th Company use entire packs of the mutants. Each and every member of the 13th Company carries this genetic flaw, and it manifests itself in these Space Wolves at different times. The flaw has manifested itself so strongly in the 13th Company because it was suffused with the influence of Chaos which was rampant in the Warp where the 13th Company was trapped for the last ten millennia. Yet, as noted above, this flaw can also serve as a form of spiritual and biological defence mechanism since beings whose sentience has been compromised tend to be corrupted far less easily by Chaos. As a result, the Space Wolves are exceptionally resistant to the malign influence of Chaos compared even to other Space Marines. It is believed by members of the Adeptus Mechanicus that the 13th Company were only able to remain uncorrupted during their 10,000 year sojourn in the Eye of Terror precisely because they all carried this "flaw."

Notable Space Wolves

 * Leman Russ - Leman Russ was the Primarch of the Space Wolves who led his Legion to uncounted victories during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. After the Heresy, Russ disappeared during the Feast of the Emperor’s Ascension in 197 standard years after the Emperor was entombed within the Golden Throne. Overcome by a mysterious vision, Russ gathered his Wolf Guard, save for the youngest, Bjorn the Fell-Handed, and departed The Fang. It is believed by some Astartes amongst the Space Wolves that Russ left Fenris and journeyed into the Eye of Terror.
 * Bjorn the Fell-Handed - Bjorn the Fell-Handed is the oldest Venerable Dreadnought in the Imperium. Bjorn fought alongside Leman Russ during the Horus Heresy and was the only member of Russ' retinue left behind by the Primarch when he disappeared. He became the first Great Wolf of the Chapter after Russ disappeared and led the Space Wolves on the first Great Hunt, the Chapter's epic but fruitless quest to find its lost Primarch, and it was he who reluctantly gave the order to cease the hunt after he was mortally wounded within the Eye of Terror. He believes that Russ will one day return to their Chapter, and he plans on being there to meet the Primarch in person.
 * Logan Grimnar - Logan Grimnar has been the Great Wolf (Chapter Master) of the Space Wolves for the better part of the 41st Millennium and he is over 800 standard years old, displaying the typical longevity of the Scions of Russ. Logan Grimnar remains one of the most highly respected and best-loved warriors in the entire galaxy. He is one of the most successful of all humanity's commanders, a true champion of the Imperium and an inspiration to man and Astartes alike.
 * Anakron Silvermane - Silvermane was Logan Grimnar's direct predecessor as the Great Wolf of the Chapter. His final stand took place nearly four Terran centuries ago on the world of Melkior where his command post came under a surprise assault by an Eldar warhost. Logan Grimnar and Wolf Guard Pack Leader Hakon both participated in the battle.
 * Fenrik Grimheart - Great Wolf Grimheart led the Space Wolves to victory in the Battle of Balinor, one of the Chapter's most renowned battles of the 38th Millennium.
 * Arvek Hren Kjarlkskar - Great Wolf successor of Harek Ironhelm following his death during the First Battle of The Fang in the 32nd Millennium.
 * Harek Eireik "Ironhelm" Eireiksson - Harek Eireik Eireksson was a Great Wolf of the Chapter during the 32nd Millennium. He was also known as "Ironhelm" due to the cybernetic implants he received within his skull. Throughout his years as Great Wolf, Harek became obsessed with hunting down Magnus the Red, for Magnus was able to escape him time and time again. Ultimately, Eireksson fell in battle against that Daemon Primarch during the final day of the First Battle of The Fang.
 * Ragnar Blackmane - Ragnar Blackmane is the youngest Wolf Lord in the Space Wolves' history and the protagonist of the Space Wolf novel series. Blackmane's Great Company frequently has the honour of leading the Space Wolves' planetary assaults, a role at which Ragnar and his warriors excel, for his packs are the undisputed masters of the Drop Pod assaults known as the Claws of Russ. He is the only Space Wolf to become a Wolf Lord without first becoming a Grey Hunter. Blackmane is the current Champion of the Chapter and bearer of the Wolf Helm of Russ, which he presented to Ulrik the Slayer as a sign of respect. Blackmane prevented the return of the Thousand Sons Legion to the world of Garm, a planet sacred to the Space Wolves because it was the home of the Shrine of Garm's Skull, by casting the Spear of Russ into a Warp Gate, an action which for a time earned him the bitter enmity of his fellow Battle-Brothers before his actions earned redemption.
 * Berek Thunderfist - Berek Thunderfist was the Wolf Lord of the Great Company to which Ragnar Blackmane was originally assigned and served as a teacher and an inspiration for the young Blood Claw at the time. Berek was a legendary warrior within the Chapter, named after his bionic hand and his preferred use of a Power Fist in battle.
 * Sigrid Trollbane - The principal rival of the popular Berek Thunderfist, Sigrid was a more devious political animal and tactician and did little to hide his desire to attain the rank of Great Wolf.
 * Sven Bloodhowl - Current Wolf Lord of one of the Chapter's Great Companies. Sven has embraced the sign of the Fire Breather, a volcano that lies a hundred leagues north of The Fang. Bloodhowl goes to war amidst a great horde of close combat specialists, breathing flame into the ranks of their foe. The warriors of Bloodhowl's Great Company tattoo themselves with runes, interlacing designs and scenes from their own sagas. Sven's own saga is so extensive that every inch of his body is tattooed. He has taken to using the skins of his victims as a canvas with which to chronicle his latest deeds.
 * Harald Deathwolf - Harald Deathwolf serves as the current Wolf Lord of one of the Chapter's Great Companies. He has taken the symbol of the Ravening Jaw, which symbolises the Wolftime -- the end of all things -- when Morkai will eat the sun and eternal night will shroud the stars. Harald himself rides to battle upon the great grey wolf, Icetooth. It is said that Harld's senses are so sharp he can smell the fear of his prey from several leagues distance. His Great Company goes to war accompanied by a host of lupine beasts, be they flesh and blood, cybernetic construct or even the spirits of loyal companions.
 * Krom Dragongaze - Current Wolf Lord of one of the Chapter's Great Companies. Krom's sigil is that of the Sun Wolf, who makes the belly of the sun his lair, and attacks Fenris anew with every dawn. Known as the "Fierce-eye," his presence and sheer force of will can be petrifying to a lesser man. He keeps a great many Wolf Guard in his Company, for the Fierce-eye believes that valour should be rewarded wherever it is to be found.
 * Kjarl Grimblood - Current Wolf Lord of one of the Chapter's Great Companies. Kjarl Grimblood is a fierce rival of Sven Bloodhowl. He and his Great Company bear the sigil of the Fire Wolf. In Fenrisian myth the Fire Wolf burns without being consumed, and it is his voice of flame that melts the snows and thaws the glaciers before each season. They say that Kjarl's foresight is so supernaturally acute that it is whispered that he possessed the Gift, able to see the future in the flames. His Great Company favours a great many flame weapons, boasting no fewer than twelve Land Raider Redeemers. His Grey Hunters have a special rite of passage -- once they have killed his prey with flame, they have earned the right to paint their face with blood before each battle, the crimson flames upon their countenance marking them as a Red Hunter for all to see.
 * Egil Iron Wolf - Current Wolf Lord of one of the Chapter's Great Companies. Egil has taken the totem of the Iron Wolf. In Fenrisian mythology, the Iron Wolf lies dormant beneath the continent of Asaheim, a beast so vast that the mountains are the fur on his back and the seams of metal within them are his veins. Egil's company is famous across the Fenris System for its armoured assaults, with the Iron Wolf himself riding at the head of each assault in a personalised Land Raider.
 * Engir Krakendoom - Current Wolf Lord of one of the Chapter's Great Companies. Born of hardy stock, his people are dark of skin and temperament. Engir comes from a proud line of warlords who rule over the southernmost isles of Fenris. Accomplished explorers and oarsmen, they ply the infested oceans of Fenris in search of sea monsters. It is said Engir was given the name Krakendoom after he was borne under the waves by a giant, many-limbed sea devil. When they eventually surfaced, Engir alone roared in triumph. He has taken the sigil of the Sea Wolf. His Great Company prefers to go to war in armoured transports, and boasts many Swiftclaws that act as outriders for the main force. His Great Company excels in ship-to-ship conflicts and boarding actions.
 * Erik Morkai - Current Wolf Lord of one of the Chapter's Great Companies. Named after the Deathwolf long before he took the sign of the two-headed beast, Erik has always been grim and stern of aspect. His Great Company boasts many Wolf Scouts. Fellow Veterans appreciate their master's taciturn demeanour and no-nonsense approach. He has a tendency to solve problems with swift and bloody acts of violence. His more stable twin, Irnist the Wise, left Erik's side to serve as a Rune Priest to the Great Wolf; an act for which Erik has never truly forgiven him.
 * Bran Redmaw - Known as the Curs'd Lord, Wulfen-Kin and The Bloodied Hunter, Bran Redmaw serves as the current Wolf Lord of one of the Chapter's Great Companies. He and his Great Company are looked upon with suspicion by the other 11 Wolf Lords, for they are regarded as tainted. More Space Wolves bearing the Curse of the Wulfen serve alongside Redmaw's company than in any other. The unspoken truth is that Redmaw has risen to become a Wolf Lord despite himself being afflicted with the curse.
 * Gunnar Red Moon - Current Wolf Lord of one of the Chapter's Great Companies. The Wolf of the Red Moon is a terrible god of vengeance in Fenrisian society; a great skeletal beast that prowls the Seven Hells, eternally devouring the bodies of the unworthy and yet never growing fat. A broad, roaring, laughing bear of a man, Gunnar favours his Long Fangs more than most, for he reasons that Veterans make the best companions in the feast hall as well as upon the battlefield. Red Moon's Great Company saw considerable service in the Jericho Reach. They were especially active along the Eastern Fringe for several years, and at the opening of the Achilus Crusade, a detachment was sent to bolster Space Marine numbers in the opening battles. The Packs of this force took part in dozens of operations over the course of three standard years, before being recalled to their Great Company to counter Chaos incursions coreward of the Calixis Sector.
 * Bjorn Stormwolf - Current Wolf Lord of one of the Chapter's Great Companies. Bjorn's Great Company is notable for their noisy, intimidating splendour on the battlefield. He has taken the Thunderwolf as his symbol, for he too is a creature of might and ferocity over stealth. This Wolf Lord's spectacular assaults reflect his impatient and aggressive nature, and invariably include lots of heavy weapons, Bike Squads and Vindicators. The Great Wolf employs Bjorn's company for frontal assaults rather than stealth missions.
 * Gnyrll Bluetooth - In 999.M41, Bluetooth was the commander of the Strike Cruiser Wolf of Fenris. Lured into a trap, the Renegade Space Marines warband known as the Red Corsairs ambushed the Space Wolves' warship and boarded it. Wolf Lord Gnyrll Bluetooth fought the infamous Chaos Lord Huron Blackheart in hand-to-hand combat on the bridge of the Strike Cruiser. Unfortunately, Gnyrll was no match for the Chaos Lord and was torn apart by Huron's Power Claws. The Wolf of Fenris became one of Huron Blackheart's greatest prizes.
 * Hrothgar Ironblade - Wolf Lord Ironblade captured the Mars-class Battlecruiser The Resolute, a warship that had formerly served in the Battlefleet Obscuras but had joined the Arch-Heretic Vortigern during the Alphalus Insurrection of the late 39th Millennium. With his great ship lost, Lord Ironblade took control of the Resolute during the Battle of Sestus Proxima and returned it to the service of the Imperium under the new name Fist of Russ. Despite the objections of the Imperial Navy, the Space Wolves retained the vessel and it continued to serve the Great Company up through the command of Berek Thunderfist.
 * Sven Ironhand - In 815.M41, Wolf Lord Ironhand led his Great Company into exile in the Eastern Fringe, forswearing his oaths. The Great Wolf Logan Grimnar declared Ironhand Renegade and ordered a new Great Company formed to replace the Ironhand Great Company. Sven Ironhand is only one of many Wolf Lords that have led their Companies away from The Fang and become "Lost" but he is noted as the most recent to have done so.
 * Kyrl Grimblood - A mighty Wolf Lord of the Chapter whose deeds in the 36th Millennium during the infamous Plague of Unbelief saved the Chapter's homeworld of Fenris in its time of ultimate peril.
 * Hef Icenheart - Wolf Lord during the Age of Apostasy in the 36th Millennium.
 * Borek Salvrgrim – Wolf Lord of the 2nd Great Company during the 32nd Millennium.
 * Morskarl – Wolf Lord of the 3rd Great Company during the 32nd Millennium.
 * Egial Vraksson – Wolf Lord of the 5th Great Company during the 32nd Millennium.
 * Rekki Oirreisson – Wolf Lord of the 7th Great Company during the 32nd Millennium, a hirsute monster with a heavy jawline and bunched shoulders.
 * Vaer "White Wolf" Greyloc - Vaer Greyloc was the Wolf Lord of the 12th Great Company during the 32nd Millennium. Nicknamed the "White Wolf" for his especially pale skin, Greyloc led the defence of the Aett during the First Battle of The Fang.
 * Osric Three-Fists - Osric was as famed for the ugliness of his mien as he was for his victories in battle. He had the honour to lead a Great Hunt, which was ambushed by a massive Chaos warfleet as the hunt neared its end. Osric's ship, Voidfang, was crippled by the Chaos flagship Storm of Hate. Despite the severe disadvantage, Osric led his warriors out the Voidfang's airlocks and assaulted the Chaos flagship. Despite barely thirty warriors making it to the hull of the Chaotic ship, the Space Wolves succeeded in hammering their way inside, slaughtering a path to the bridge and turning the Chaos vessel's guns against the rest of the Chaos fleet. This act of insane bravado secured victory from certain defeat and is the epitome of the tenacity and determination displayed by the Space Wolves in the face of extreme odds.
 * Ogvai Helmschrot - Wolf Lord of the 3rd Company during the Great Crusade.
 * Amlodhi Skarssen Skarssensson - Wolf Lord of the 5th Company during the Great Crusade. Fought alongside the Thousand Sons Legion on Heliosa during the Ark Reach Campaign. Later, participated in the Burning of Prospero.
 * Bulveye, Axeman of Russ - Bulveye is the Wolf Lord of the lost 13th Great Company. Bulveye is 10,000 standard years old and fought at the side of Leman Russ] during the Great Crusade. Reemerging from the Eye of Terror in the late 41st Millennium, Bulveye and a warband of the 13th Company aided a young Ragnar Blackmane, who was serving as a member of the Wolfblade, in the recovery of the Spear of Russ from the Thousand Sons Chaos Sorcerer Madox, staging a distraction to allow Ragnar and his companions to reach the stronghold of the Thousand Sons while most of the Traitor forces were engaged with the 13th Company. Bulveye spoke of Russ, as only one who knew him in life could, and together with his warriors spoke of ten thousand years of struggle within the Eye of Terror, fighting the Forces of Chaos and the daemonic beasts within as they searched for Magnus the Red.
 * Garm - Garm is one of the first and greatest of the Wolf Lords who rose to fight alongside Leman Russ during the Great Crusade. Garm fell in battle on the world that carries his name to defend the Space Wolves' Primarch. He was honoured with a shrine-tomb on that world called the Shrine of Garm's Skull. The Spear of Russ was entrusted to the Shrine of Garm's Skull and worked into the ornate sarcophagus of Garm himself. It is said that the shrine still carries a measure of the Primarch's power and many of the Space Wolves who make the pilgrimage to the shrine leave changed in mind, heart and soul. The shrine has a permanent garrison of Space Wolves to protect it from looters and invaders. It is a great honour within the Chapter to be selected to serve for a time as an honour guard for the shrine.
 * Renegade Wolf Lord Svane Vulfbad - Svane Vulfbad was a Renegade Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves Space Marine Chapter. He became so disillusioned with the grinding workings and soulkilling bureaucracy of the Imperium that he turned to the worship of Chaos, and more particularly the faith of the Blood God Khorne.Wolf Lord Harald Deathwolf and his Great Company were charged in 913.M41 by the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar to track down and execute the notorious Traitor. Deathwolf and his company eventually uncovered Vulfbad in the Cliedes System, tracking their elusive quarry to the storm-wracked moon of Gallimius. Deathwolf rode his ferocious Thunderwolf through the planet's ferrite dust storms at the head of a small strike force of Wolf Scouts. The visibility was so bad that Deathwolf had to track his quarry purely by scent, but he later claimed the stink of rank sweat and treachery was so strong it was child's play to follow. It has been said that Harald's senses are so sharp he can smell the fear of his prey from several leagues distance. After weeks of stalking their prey, Deathwolf's hunting party cornered Vulfbad atop a dust-crowned mountain just as the vile Traitor was completing a sorcerous summoning ritual that would have seen his traitorous forces thronged with daemons. The Renegade Space Wolf fought like a madman even after his allies had been slain, badly wounding Harald's Thunderwolf in the process, but he was ultimately outmatched. As Harald brought his axe around to deliver the deathblow, a bolt of lightning struck them both. When the dust settled all that remained of Vulfbad was his Frost Axe, a shard of which now juts from the cybernetic jaw of Harald's Thunderwolf. The beast has been known as Icetooth ever since.
 * Njal Stormcaller - The Space Wolves' greatest Rune Priest, accompanied by his companion Nightwing, the psyker raven.
 * Hrothgar - Rune Priest who currently serves with Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Lauf Cloudbreaker - Rune Priest during the 32nd Millennium.
 * Odain Sturmhjart - Rune Priest during the 32nd Millennium.
 * Torvald - Rune Priest of the 13th Great Company. Known as Torvald the Reaver of Red Kraken Hold. This mighty Son of Russ was one of the Space Wolves' first Rune Priests. He fought by the side of Russ himself during the Great Crusade and has been Wolf Lord Bulveye's lieutenant since that bygone era.
 * Ohthere Wyrdmake - Rune Priest of the Space Wolves during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. Ohthere befriended Ahriman of the Thousand Sons in an attempt to learn about the sorcerous tenets of the Legion and spoke against the Thousand Sons on that basis during the Council of Nikea.
 * Ulrik the Slayer - Also known as Grandfather Lupus and the Guardian of the Sons of Russ, Ulrik is the Wolf High Priest of the Space Wolves Chapter and is the oldest of all living Space Wolves other than the Chapter's venerable Dreadnoughts. His great mane is white as the slopes of Asaheim on the Space Wolves' Chapter homeworld of Fenris. Legend has it that Ulrik is older even than the mighty Logan Grimnar, the current Great Wolf of the Chapter, who has fought in the name of the Emperor for over 700 Terran years.
 * Irnist the Wise - Wolf Priest of the Chapter, Irnist the Wise is the twin brother to Erik Morkai and advisor to the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar.
 * Ranek Icewalker - Wolf Priest of the Chapter. Ranek was the Wolf Priest who chose Ragnar Blackmane to become a Neophyte of the Chapter and first saw greatness in him. Ranek was Blackmane's friend and mentor and was one of the few Space Wolves to praise Blackmane for losing the Spear of Russ to prevent the emergence of the Thousand Sons Daemon Primarch, Magnus the Red, from the Warp on the world of Garm. He has remained the youngest Wolf Lord's close mentor and confidante.
 * Sigurd - A young Wolf Priest, Sigurd fought alongside Ragnar Blackmane during his time in the Wolf Blade and would later fight alongside him when he became the Wolf Lord of his own Great Company. While initially at odds with Blackmane, Sigurd learned to value Ragnar's abilities as a warrior and a leader and is now amongst that Wolf Lord's most trusted officers.
 * Vagnai Ravenmane - Wolf Priest who recorded the re-telling of Russ' disappearance by Bjorn the Fell-Handed in the 35th Millennium.
 * Thrar "Wyrmblade" Hraldir - Haldir was a Wolf Priest during the 32nd Millennium. He was instrumental in the creation of the genetic alteration program known as The Tempering -- the effort to expunge the genetic deficiencies of the Space Wolves' gene-seed, in particular the Canis Helix, in order to create new Successor Chapters. He had come closer than any other since the time of the Emperor himself at understanding the nature of the Canis Helix. During the First Battle of The Fang, he confronted the Thousand Sons Daemon Primarch Magnus the Red and was slain. With his death, the secrets of the Space Wolves' gene-seed and how to remove the taint of the Curse of the Wulfen died with him.
 * Sternhammer, Warden of the Lost - A warrior known only as Sternhammer to the defenders of the Cadian Gate came to represent all the actions of the Space Wolves' lost 13th Company during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41 falling on the foul Forces of Chaos mercilessly and then withdrawing before any Imperial force could make successful contact. Sternhammer was reported to have been in a great many different war zones light years apart from each other, leading a band of bestial warriors that he would unleash like giant hunting hounds upon the foe. He was reported to have saved the 143rd Cadian Regiment at Cadmus Binary. Alongside a powerful Wolf Lord, this Wulfen Guard slew the Night Lords Chaos Lord Sinax. Only a few days later and five light years away, Sternhammer was reportedly sighted once more, leading a boarding action aboard an Imperial Navy vessel that resulted in the scuttling of the Light of Fatidicus, so that the enemy would not capture it. More than a hundred victories were attributed to Wolf Priest Sternhammer and his warbands. Whether they were the same band, or many, and whether Sternhammer led them all himself is unknown, but the Defenders of the Cadian Gate remain both heartened and terrified at the memory of the mournful howls of the Wulfen he led into combat.
 * Rorik - A senior member of the Chapter's Iron Priests, Rorik serves as an advisor to the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar.
 * Jurgen - Iron Priest currently serving with Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Ulf Blackbrow - At the Battle of Rust World, the Rune Priest Njal Stormcaller saved the life of Iron Priest Ulf Blackbrow from the jaws of Morkai with a deadly accurate axe throw. The great blacksmith, a fierce man who did not like to owe anything to anyone, repaid the debt by forging Njal the psyber-raven Nightwing that has saved Njal's life more than once, pecking out the eyes of those enemies that dare attack his master.
 * Harl Greyweaver - Harl Greyweaver is an Iron Priest who has been seconded to the elite xenos-hunting Deathwatch -- the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos. He has been the Forge Master of Watch Fortress Erioch in the Jericho Reach since his predecessor answered a summons to serve the Achilus Crusade a decade ago. He is notoriously intolerant of other Chapter’s brands of tech-craft, but his efficacy in conjuring the tools of war is so great that no one has yet been able to oust him. Every piece of xenotech adopted into the Deathwatch arsenal since his arrival has been so grudgingly.
 * Garjek Arfang - Iron Priest that served in the 12th Great Company during the 32nd Millennium.
 * Berensson Gassijk Rendmar - Senior Iron Priest during the 32nd Millennium.
 * Wolf Guard Arjac Rockfist - Arjac Rockfist, also known as The Man-Mountain, Grimnar's Champion and the Anvil of Fenris, is the personal champion of the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar. Arjac was formally a blacksmith of the Bear Claw tribe of Fenris, whose true skills lie not in the forge, but in the crucible of battle. His incredible strength and fortitude so impressed the Great Wolf that he was made his personal champion even before he was inducted into the Space Wolves.
 * Wolf Guard Havard - Member of Logan Grimnar's Bodyguard.
 * Wolf Guard Holger - Leader of a Grey Hunter Pack in Logan Grimnar's Great Company.
 * Wolf Guard Per - Member of Logan Grimnar's Bodyguard.
 * Wolf Guard Lars Helltongue - Personal Herald of the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar.
 * Wolf Guard Red Erik - Member of Ragnar Blackmane's bodyguard, killed fighting the Thousand Sons on Hesperida.
 * Wolf Guard Liet - Member of Logan Grimnar's Bodyguard.
 * Wolf Guard Olaf - Member of Logan Grimnar's Bodyguard.
 * Wolf Guard Mikal Sternmark - Wolf Guard Champion to Wolf Lord Berek Thunderfist, Mikal had to take charge of the Thunderfist Great Company during the Charys Campaign. At the height of the fighting and the sorcerous influence of the Thousand Sons Mikal succumbed to the call of the Wulfen and in a fit of rage slaughtered the Imperial General Lady Commander Athelstane. He was placed under the care of the Wolf Priests for some time, but returned to serve as Berek's Champion one last time in his final stand and died at the side of his Wolf Lord. Mikal wielded the relic Power Sword Redclaw.
 * Wolf Guard Thorin Shieldsplitter - Former Champion of the Thunderfist Company, the aging Thorin was replaced by the upcoming Mikal Sternmark but remained a loyal and dependable warrior. During the Charys Campaign it was Thorin who stood over the bier of the Wolf Lord Thunderfist with his two-handed Power Axe, prepared to defend the comatose Wolf Lord with his life if need be, and should he recognize death as imminent, his task was to trigger the Melta-charges planted within Berek's bier and make sure that the enemy would not get the chance to sully the body of the Wolf Lord.
 * Wolf Guard Horgrim - Wolf Guard to Berek Thunderfist.
 * Wolf Guard Bjorn - Member of Mikal Sternmark's Wolf Guard Terminator Pack during the Charys Campaign.
 * Wolf Guard Haakon - Member of Mikal Sternmark's Wolf Guard Terminator Pack during the Charys Campaign. Haakon was armed with a massive Cyclone Missile Launcher mounted to his back and after it ran out of missiles used the targeter built into his left fist to guide his Battle-Brothers' aim.
 * Wolf Guard Karl - Member of Mikal Sternmark's Wolf Guard Terminator Pack during the Charys Campaign.
 * Wolf Guard Nils - Member of Mikal Sternmark's Wolf Guard Terminator Pack during the Charys Campaign.
 * Wolf Guard Snurri - Member of Mikal Sternmark's Wolf Guard Terminator Pack during the Charys Campaign.
 * Wolf Guard Morgrim Silvertongue - Wolf Guard and Skald of Wolf Lord Berek Thunderfist's Great Company.
 * Wolf Guard Jurgen Whitemane - Jurgen Whitemane commanded the Space Wolf garrison on Garm. Whitemane was one of the oldest living Space Wolves of the time and amongst the few surviving contemporaries of the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar and the Wolf Guard Pack Leader Hakon. His death was a serious blow to the Chapter and a slight that would not go unavenged.
 * Wolf Guard Kaarlson - Kaarlson is a legend within the Chapter, having reputedly survived being stepped upon by a Titan.
 * Wolf Guard Durfast of Mordrak - While investigating the Dead World of Mordrak, the Space Wolves found themselves thinly stretched when attacked by a massive force of Ork raiders. Durfast took command of three packs of Space Wolves to defeat the incursion of Orks that numbered several hundred. Thanks to Durfast, the surviving Space Wolves made it out alive. He later succeeded to the leadership of his Great Company and went on to fight many more battles.
 * Wolf Guard Ranulf - Ranulf is supposedly the largest Space Wolf in the Chapter’s entire history, said to have rivalled even the mighty Leman Russ in size. Ranulf was a legend in his day as a member of the Wolf Guard Terminators and remains a legendary figure in the Chapter even now. His specially-customised Terminator Armour rests in the Hall of Heroes in The Fang, towering over all who view it.
 * Wolf Guard Brynngar Sturmdreng - Wolf Guard Brynngar was a senior officer of the Legion during the later days of the Great Crusade and the beginning of the Horus Heresy. Brynngar was stationed on the Vangelis way-station awaiting pick up along with a scattered group of Space Marines from other Legions including some of the grizzled Veteran's contemporaries from the Ultramarines Legion. Captain Cestus of the Ultramarines was fighting alongside the Space Wolves on Carthis against the Kolobite xenos. Brynngar had saved Cestus' life during that battle but had lost an eye in the process, though in true Space Wolf fashion, he had the mandible of the creature that took his eye fashioned into the Rune Axe Felltooth.
 * Lukas the Trickster - Lukas the Trickster is a notorious character amidst the ranks of the Space Wolves, a raucous and ebullient figure who defies authority just as willingly as he defies the enemies of the Chapter. He is a Blood Claw, and will forever be a member of that immature group of Space Wolves.
 * Thunderwolf Rider Canis Wolfborn, The Lone Wolf - Canis Wolfborn is a loner, a warrior who is more at home in the company of Fenrisian Wolves than men. Though he is a member of the Wolf Guard of Harald Deathwolf's Great Company, Canis Wolfborn's saga is utterly different from those of his peers, and his prowess in combat is unmatched. He rides a Fenrisian Thunderwolf into battle.
 * Wolf Guard Thunderwolf Rider Hagni - Hagni rode the Thunderwolf Warg, but he fell to the Curse of the Wulfen and presumably killed his own mount as well as his Brother Barak and his Thunderwolf mount. The Thunderwolf Pack of Skaeln Icefang chased him across the frozen surface of Skorbad until he led them to a last member of the Scions of Pestilence who was possessed by a Greater Daemon who had somehow avoided the other hunters.
 * Wolf Guard Thunderwolf Rider Skaeln Icefang  - Skaeln rides the Thunderwolf Fenrir and led the Thunderwolf Pack deployed to Skorbad to fight against the Death Guard Traitor Legion warband known as the Scions of Pestilence. For three weeks the pack hunted the Scions and killed them one by one, leaving just a mass of leaderless Plague Zombies for the Imperial Guard to mop up. Skaeln wields a rune-etched Power Axe. Fenrir was killed during an attack on a Plague Zombie-infested Cadian Bastion. An Autocannon tore the Thunderwolf apart just as the Space Wolves reached the gates.
 * Wolf Guard Thunderwolf Rider Afgar Ironmane - Afgar rides the Thunderwolf Skoll. Skoll drowned when it and Afgar fell through the ice whilst crossing a frozen lake. Afgar was dragged to safety by his Battle-Brothers but Skoll was far too heavy and sunk to the frigid depths. Afgar succumbed to his many and severe wounds after he and Skaeln had cleansed the Plague Zombie-infested Bastion.
 * Wolf Guard Thunderwolf Rider Thorgard - Thorgard rides the Thunderwolf Magni. Magni was killed by a daemon-possessed Traitor Marine of the Scions of Pestilence. Thorgard himself fell trying to slay Hagni who had become overcome by the Curse of the Wulfen. The stealthy and jovial Thorgard wielded a pair of Wolf Claws.
 * Wolf Guard Thunderwolf Rider Barak Thunderborn - Barak rode the Thunderwolf Garrik, and both were killed during the Skorbad Campaign.
 * Deathwatch Champion Attalus Fellhand - Attulus Fellhand is another recent arrival to Watch Fortress Erioch in the Jericho Reach. Attalus has won renown as a great slayer of Orks amongst his Battle-Brothers in the Space Wolves Chapter—a tremendous accolade in a Chapter so well-known for its fierce love of hand-to-hand combat. He has been sent from the Great Company currently serving in the Orpheus Salient to learn the ways of Tyranid fighting at Erioch so that he can return and teach them to his Battle-Brothers. In truth, Attalus makes a poor student and a worse teacher, a fact he’s painfully aware of and deeply worried about. Attalus covers his fear of failure with brash antagonism, much preferring to work out his frustrations in duels or challenges. He has gained a reputation for impulsiveness and disorderly conduct that has strained the nerves of the Chamber of Vigilance more than once. Unsurprisingly, Harl Greyweaver is vociferous in support of his Chapter-brother. Greyweaver insists that the "young-pup," as he calls him, will shape up with time. Mordrigael has struck a balance by assigning Attalus just about any Deathwatch mission involving even a scent of Tyranids. It is hoped that Attalus will be more successful at learning by doing in the company of Deathwatch Battle-Brothers knowledgeable in the ways of the Tyranid. As a side effect, the policy serves to keep the troublesome Attalus away from the fortress for lengthy periods of time.
 * Alrik - One of the Chapter's mighty and revered Dreadnoughts.
 * Grendel - One of the Chapter's most ancient and Venerable Dreadnoughts who participated in the Battle of Granica.
 * Gymir the Ice-Fisted - One of the Chapter's Ancients (Dreadnoughts) who participated in the Battle for Hyades with the Wolf Lord Berek Thunderfist's Great Company.
 * Thorir - One of the Chapter's Ancients (Dreadnoughts) that fought alongside Kyrl Grimblood's Great Company during the First Battle of The Fang in the 36th Millennium.
 * Aesir - Chapter Dreadnought in service during the Horus Heresy.
 * Ymir - Chapter Dreadnought in service during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Ragnild - Leader of a Grey Hunter Pack in Egil Ironwolf's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Anders - Pack Leader in Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Einar - Leader of Sven's Grey Hunter Pack in the Thunderfist Great Company. Lost an arm to an Eviscerator and entered the Red Dream during the Battle for Charys. He appears to have survived his injuries and continues to lead packs of Space Wolves in Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Hogun - Pack Leader of Ragnar's Blackmane Great Company, Hogun lost himself to the Curse of the Wulfen and killed several members of his pack. Rather than killing him, Ragnar got him under control and returned him to the Company to serve as a warrior Marked by the Wulfen. He was placed in the care of Wolf Priest Sigurd.
 * Pack Leader Leif - Leader of a Grey Hunter Pack in Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Magnus - Leader of a Grey Hunter Pack in Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Ranulf - Leader of a Grey Hunter Pack in Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Stiggar - Leader of a Long Fang Pack in Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Tor - Leader of a Grey Hunter Pack in the Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Uller - Leader of a Grey Hunter Pack in the Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Urlec - Pack Leader in Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company. Promoted to command of a pack after the death of Pack Leader Vitulv, the young Urlec questioned Ragnar's decisions as Wolf Lord in private quite often until he saw the true prowess of the Wolf Lord in close combat with a Chaos Sorcerer of the Thousand Sons.
 * Pack Leader Vitulv - Former Leader of Urlec's Pack in Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Petur - Leader of a Wolf Scout Pack in Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Joris - Pack Leader Joris replaced Hakon as the commander of Ragnar Blackmane's Blood Claw Pack during the Campaign for Garm.
 * Pack Leader Hakon - Senior officer entrusted with training and leading new packs of Blood Claws. Critically wounded on Garm, the venerable Astartes lived but was badly injured and would never fight again.
 * Pack Leader Ferek - Pack Leader of Berek Thunderfist's Great Company who participated in a boarding action against a Chaos warship during the Garm Campaign. Ferek's squad nearly managed to fight their way into one of the Chaos warship's magazines but were at last repelled by heavy weapons fire. This was somewhat fortunate for if Ferek and his squad had succeeded they might well have blown the entire ship apart and the Thunderfist Great Company with it.
 * Pack Leader Hengist - Leader of Ragnar's Blood Claw Pack during their first deployments on Fenris, Hengist was killed by the Thousand Sons fighting in a rearguard action to give Ragnar and his companions time to reach the surface with a warning for the Chapter.
 * Pack Leader Urlek - Leader of a Blood Claw Pack despatched into the rugged wilds of Asaheim to investigate a potential meteor impact. Instead of a routine piece of rock the pack discovered an infiltration force of the Thousand Sons and were overwhelmed. The fate of Urlek's pack was discovered later by Wolf Guard Hengist's Pack and the news of the Thousand Sons' presence cost many of his pack's lives as well as that of Hengist himself.
 * Pack Leader Hef - Pack Leader of Berek Thunderfist's Great Company. Hef's pack participated in a boarding action against a Chaos warship during the Garm Campaign. Hef's pack came under heavy assault and would have been overrun, but the crafty Space Wolves escaped through ventilation ducts and left proximity mines to kill their attackers when they eventually got the courage to investigate the abandoned position. Hef's pack acted as the rearguard for the Space Wolves' fighting withdrawal to the Fist of Russ but could not stay ahead of the mutants attempting to run down the Space Wolves. Hef's pack then turned and made a last stand, sacrificing themselves to allow the rest of the Great Company to escape the doomed Chaos warship.
 * Pack Leader Krom - Leader of a Grey Hunter Pack in Berek Thunderfist's Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Thorvald - Leader of a Grey Hunter Pack of the Thunderfist Great Company.
 * Pack Leader Varig - Pack Leader of Berek Thunderfist's Great Company. Varig's pack participated in a boarding action against a Chaos warship during the Garm Campaign during which Varig led his squad in attacking a sizable horde of Chaos mutants from two directions and kept them pinned within a large corridor. Varig's men then used demolition charges to collapse both ends of the tunnel and trap the mutants inside.
 * Pack Leader Njan "Greyflank" Anjeborn - Grey Hunter during the 32nd Millennium who commanded the Strike Cruiser Skraemar. He was left behind on void duty when the entirety of his Chapter, under the command of Great Wolf Harek Ironhelm, departed to confront the Thousand Sons on Gangava. When the Thousand Sons appeared in-system with a sizable attack fleet, he bought valuable time for the defenders on Fenris to prepare for the inevitable assault by the Traitor Legion, sacrificing himself and destroying four enemy vessels in the process.
 * Pack Leader Mjollnir - Leader of a Wolf Guard Pack during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Thorlief - Leader of a Wolf Guard Pack during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Skirnir - Leader of a Wolf Guard Pack during the Horus Heresy.
 * Patrekr the Great Fanged - Hero of the Space Wolves during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Guntor - Pack Leader of the Fenris Bloods during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Kolbyr - Pack Leader of a Hunter Support Squad during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Sigfasti - Pack Leader of a Seeker Squad during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Thorbrand - Pack Leader of a Hunter Squad during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Ragvard - Pack Leader of a Sky Claw Assault Squad during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Horgun - Leader of a Blood Claw Pack during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Jorlund - Pack Leader of a Hunter Support Squad during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Garan - Leader of a Blood Claw Pack during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Jortan - Leader of a Stalker Pack during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Davyn - Leader of a Fire Team during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Ansuarr - Leader of a Blood Claw Pack during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Leiknir - Leader of a Wulfen Pack during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Tammikk - Leader of a Wulfen Pack during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Ornulfer - Pack Leader of a Hunter Squad during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Aldrim - Pack Leader of a Hunter Squad during the Horus Heresy.
 * Pack Leader Leiknir - Leader of a Wulfen Pack during the Horus Heresy.
 * Sven Dragonfire - Sven Dragonfire was a Grey Hunter in Berek Thunderfist's Great Company. He was one of Ragnar Blackmane's original pack brothers during his days as a Blood Claw. Short and stout for a Space Wolf, Sven eventually became one of Ragnar's closest friends before his exile to Terra.
 * Strybjorn Grimskull - Grey Hunter in Berek Thunderfist's Great Company. One of Ragnar Blackmane's original pack brothers during his days as a Blood Claw. Before being chosen to become a Sky Warrior, Strybjorn was a member of the raiding party that wiped out the Thunderfist Clan. As a result of this, there was enmity between him and Ragnar during their training days at Russvik and also during their first mission as Blood Claws.
 * Lars - Lars was a Blood Claw of the Chapter. He was one of Ragnar Blackmane's original pack brothers during his days as a Blood Claw. Lars was regarded as a strange, fey youth who would one day join the ranks of the Rune Priests. He was killed on the planet Galt by an Ork Warlord during the mission to reclaim an ancient Eldar talisman.
 * Nils - Nils was a Blood Claw of the Chapter. He was one of Ragnar Blackmane's original pack brothers during his days as a Blood Claw. Nils fell to the Nurgleite daemon known as Botchulaz on the planet Aerius during the mission to reclaim an ancient Eldar talisman.
 * Wolfblade Valkoth - A senior member of the Wolfblade and superior to Ragnar, Haegr and Torin, Valkoth was well-versed in the politics of the Navigator Houses on Terra and just how dangerous their competition with each other could prove.
 * Wolfblade Haegr the Mountain - Haegr's legendary size was matched only by his legendary appetite. Friend and comrade to Ragnar Blackmane and fellow member of the Wolfblade bodyguard assigned to the Navigator House Bellisarius, Haegr was a Space Wolf of immense size whose bulk was the result of an aberrant mutation in his development in which he simply did not stop growing. Although many saw Haegr as a strange simpleton, Haegr was nevertheless relentless, loyal and fiercely potent in combat. Haegr met his end during the Charys Campaign, but in doing so saved the Chapter with his sacrifice, using his last moments of life to wrest the Spear of Russ from the grasp of the Thousand Sons and thwarting their attempt to destroy the Space Wolves.
 * Wolfblade Magni - A young and impetuous Astartes recently assigned to the Wolfblade, Magni fought with distinction but was killed during the Battle for Hyades.
 * Wolfblade Skander Bloody-axe - Skander was a member of the Wolfblade. He was the previous bearer of the Frost Blade now wielded by Ragnar Blackmane. Skander was a Space Marine who went through initiation and basic training with Logan Grimnar and was one of the few remaining members of Grimnar's original Pack of Blood Claws. There were few left from that generation in the Chapter by the late 41st Millennium, and Grimnar and Skander were amongst the last. Skander was killed during the assassination of the Patriarch of the Navigator House Bellisarius. Ragnar replaced him in the ranks of the Wolfblade and, after losing his Chainsword while fighting to save the new Patriarch from another assassination attempt, was gifted Skander's Frost Blade as a replacement and reward.
 * Wolfblade Torin the Wayfarer - The second companion and friend of Ragnar Blackmane in the Wolfblade, Torin was a cunning if eccentric Space Wolf, who had the rare talent of understanding foreign cultures and politics. His service with the Wolfblade was exemplary, but like many Astartes of the Chapter sent to serve in the Wolfblade, he was not well suited to life with the rest of the Chapter. He was the only Space Wolf to voluntarily become a member.
 * Freyr - A Space Wolves Long Fang during the Horus Heresy.
 * Skold Greypelt - Greypelt is a Space Wolves Astartes of unknown rank and company. Greypelt led a detachment of Space Wolves against the Tyranids on the Ice World of Shadrac.
 * Haakon "Blackwing" Gylfasson  - Wolf Scout during the 32nd Millennium. He did not speak like a typical Space Marine, and had none of the overt, bristling threat about him that most Astartes did. His colouring was dark, and his facial hair thick and matted. He was slighter than most pack members, even when kitted out in his full array of Scout Carapace Armour. He was left behind on void duty in command of the Scout Ship Nauro when the entirety of his Chapter, under the command of Great Wolf Harek Ironhelm, departed to confront the Thousand Sons on Gangava. When the Thousand Sons appeared in-system with a sizable attack fleet to unleash the First Battle of The Fang, he was ordered to flee the system to bring word to the Great Wolf of the attack on Fenris by the Thousand Sons, and successfully accomplished this mission.

Chapter Fleet
The Space Wolves always possess and maintain 15 starships in their Chapter fleet, one for each Great Company and 3 held in reserve. Each of the 15 vessels is unique unto itself, and the fleet includes many different classes and configurations of Imperial starships. The following list includes any starship that is known to have served as a part of the Space Wolves' Chapter fleet and is not to be considered a full list of the Chapter's current complement of 15 vessels.
 * Blood Eagle - Rapid strike Frigate of the Space Wolves that was responsible for inserting the Space Wolves' Scout Teams onto the Forge World of Cambion.
 * Fist of Russ - Starship of an unknown class formerly commanded by Berek Thunderfist. Lost in the Charys Campaign.
 * Gotthammar - Strike Cruiser under the command of Wolf Lord Arvek Hren Kjarlskar, Jarl of the 4th Great Company in the 32nd Millennium.
 * Holmgang - Starship of an unknown class that served as the flagship of the Thunderfist Great Company during the Charys Campaign.
 * Hrafnkel - A massive vessel of an unknown class that served as Leman Russ' flagship during the Great Crusade in the early 31st Millennium.
 * Iron Wolf - Second largest ship of the Chapter fleet and a former Battleship of the Imperial Navy, under the command of Egil Ironwolf.
 * Iron Wolf - Battle Barge in service to the 13th Company during the latter days of the Great Crusade.
 * Nauro - Scout ship of unknown class in service to the 12th Great Company in the 32nd Millennium, under the command of Wolf Scout Haakon Blackwing.
 * Nidhoggur - Warship of unknown class used by the 3rd Great Company during the Great Crusade.
 * Pride of Fenris - Battle Barge of Logan Grimnar and the largest warship of the Space Wolves' Chapter fleet.
 * Retribution - Unknown class of starship in the Space Wolves' Chapter fleet.
 * Russvangum - A Battle Barge that served as the Chapter flagship during the 32nd Millennium, under the command of the Great Wolf Harek Ironhelm.
 * Skraemar - Strike Cruiser in service to the 12th Great Company in the 32nd Millennium.
 * Stormblade - Strike Cruiser in service to the 13th Company during the latter days of the Great Crusade.
 * Stormwolf - Strike Cruiser in service to Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company.
 * Vengeance - One of the Chapter's starships of an unknown class lost above the world of Jytor.
 * Voidfang - Warship of an unknown class under the command of Osric Three-Fists.
 * Wolf of Fenris - Strike Cruiser of the Chapter captured in the Parenxes System by the Red Corsairs.
 * Wolf Spirit - Battle Barge in service with the 13th Company during the Horus Heresy.

Physical Appearance
Due to an unusual mutation in the gene-seed inherited from their Primarch Leman Russ through the Canis Helix mixture taken by every Space Wolf Astartes during their recruitment, as a Space Wolf warrior grows older his hair turns a particular shade of grey and his canines lengthen into true, wolf-like fangs. Even his skin becomes thicker and more leathery like a wolf pelt and all Space Wolf Marines are usually quite hirsuite. These traits in their fully matured form are usually emblematic of a Space Wolf who has become a Grey Hunter, the name given to the Veteran Marines of this unusual Chapter. Of course, in a few Space Wolves this mutation proceeds too far and results in the ultimate transformation of the individual into a feral Wulfen mutant, as noted above.

Chapter Colours
Prior to the Horus Heresy, the Space Wolves Legion wore grey Power Armour, with a red snarling wolf as the Legion's badge. In the 41st Millennium, the 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 Fenrisian 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 Twelve Wolves of Fenris. The 13th Company Space Wolves Marines retain the old, darker grey and red Legion badge and markings, although the different warbands vary their precise markings along (albeit similar) red wolf themes.

Chapter Badge
The Space Wolves' Chapter badge is a black wolf's head on a yellow background. A more elaborate wolf's head badge worked in silver and laced on a silver diamond background is also sometimes used. Most Space Wolves Marines wear the chosen sigil of their Great Company rather than that of the Chapter as a whole, which is only worn by the Great Wolf and the elite warriors of his Great Company.

The Space Wolves use a radically different system of markings than that used by Codex-compliant Chapters. Rather than using the company markings as laid down in the Codex Astartes, the Space Wolves use a number of different wolf badges to denote the different Great Companies that make up the Chapter. These include some form of a stylized wolf sigil denoting some aspect of the native Fenrisian mythology. These are chosen by a new Wolf Lord upon his election from the ranks of the Wolf Guard, and are adopted by all of the Space Wolves within the Great Company as a mark of fealty. They are also woven onto the various Great Company banners. The badge remains with the Great Company until the Wolf Lord falls in battle, whereupon a new Wolf Lord is chosen, and so the badge changes.

Even these badges bow to the Space Wolves' reputation for nonconformity, and hence lack of any formal system for determining the nature of the Great Company badges. There is never only one way to represent a Great Company badge, and within a Great Company it is likely to find a number of variants of the badge being used at the same time. Indeed, there are currently three different stylizations of the Blakmane Wolf emblem (currently used by Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company) in Imperial records. Indeed, over the centuries many hundreds of different styles of badges have been recorded by Imperial scribes.

The one Great Company that does not change its badge when its leader falls is the household of the Great Wolf. The household uses "The Wolf That Stalks Between Stars," the badge of Leman Russ himself, as its emblem. This badge is perhaps unique within the Space Wolves, as there are no recorded variants of it, a testament to the respect that the Space Wolves have always possessed for their Primarch. It is this badge that represents the Space Wolves as a Chapter, and is woven on the Chapter's banner.

Also, many of the Space Wolves most honoured and treasured relics carry this badge, having been in the possession or service of the Chapter (and hence the Imperium) since the days when Russ walked among the stars. Many of the Chapter's most sacred banners have a rendition of this badge on them, a tangible link to the time when Russ still led his Space Wolves into battle. Whilst many of these are treasured in their own right, perhaps the most treasured of all is the Dreadnought Bjorn the Fell-Handed, who fought alongside Russ during the Great Crusade 10,000 standard years ago. He carries the mark on his Dreadnought shell to show his unique status in the Chapter.

Honour Markings
The Space Wolves most appreciate acts of bravery, courage and skill among their comrades and proudly display markings and personally chosen badges that denote these acts. These markings are normally painted or carved into the Power Armour and personal weapons of the Space Wolf. There is no formal system of honour awards in the Chapter, all that matters is that the Space Wolf's Pack understands the significance of the symbol to him. However, some honour markings have acquired a special significance to the Space Wolves over time, and the Sergeant and Veteran badges used by the Chapter are good examples of this. The Chapter also has a rudimentary system of symbols that are repeated in many honour markings, including badges with bones that tend to signify wounds suffered in battle; knife and claw sigils that represent ferocity and bravery in combat and wolf tails that signify an event when the Space Wolf displayed exemplary courage under fire.

Task Force Markings
It is common for units from several different Great Companies to be deployed together to serve during a particular campaign. Every Space Wolf Astartes and every Space Wolf vehicle in this task force often displays a special badge on their armour which designates service within it. Of particular note is that used by the current task force of Ragnar Blackmane: a fanged wolf skull superimposed over two crossed bones, mounted on a black lozenge. This particular badge has appeared many times in the past, and therefore probably has some special significance to the space wolves.

Chapter Relics

 * Anvil Shield - The Anvil Shield is a relic Storm Shield. This large slab of Obstinite laced with Adamantium is wielded by Arjac Rockfist, the personal Champion of Great Wolf Logan Grimnar. It is as much a weapon as a form of protection, and has been used to crush the skulls of numerous foes.
 * The Axe Morkai - The Axe of Morkai is the legendary twin-headed axe wielded by the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar. The axe is a trophy seized by the Space Wolves from a Champion of Chaos and re-forged into a mighty weapon of the Imperium.
 * Belts of Russ - Each Great Company has in its Armoury a single Belt of Russ. These are powerful girdles incorporating potent gravitic force fields that protect the wearer. Forged by the master Iron Priest Stef Blacksoul after the disappearance of Russ, the belts are important relics of the Chapter.
 * Cup of Wulfen - An object older than the Aett, the Cup of Wulfen was an artefact forged in the dawn of time by the servants of the Allfather. This chalice was carried by the VI Legion all through the Great Crusade and was part of the Space Wolves' heritage during the dark times of the Horus Heresy. The hands of Russ himself were clasped around this chalice and offered to the first Fenrisians to become true Sons of Russ. The ancients who made this vessel imbued it with potent magics, for whoever drank from this vessel would, it they were worthy, take upon themselves the mark of Russ, and with it a portion of the Primarch's abilities. Even after ten millennia, the Space Wolves still use the Cup of Wulfen in the ritual of creation of their Aspirants' transformation into full-fledged Astartes.
 * Foehammer - A potent relic of the Space Wolves wielded by Logan Grimnar's Champion Arjac Rockfist, Foehammer is a rune-inscribed Thunder Hammer with an in-built teleportation device that returns the weapon to Arjac's hand should he throw it at a foe or lose it in combat.
 * Frost Blades - Frost Blades usually take the forms of Chainswords or Chainaxes though they can exist in the form of any type of Imperial melee weapon. Ancient and masterfully crafted weapons made from the teeth of Fenrisian Ice Krakens, Frost Blades are potent weapons unique to the Space Wolves Chapter that can carve through the heaviest armour with ease. Some Frost Axes have blades of energised diamond that give the weapons the appearance that they have been carved from a single, lethal shard of ice.
 * Frostfang - Frostfang is a mighty Frost Blade crafted centuries ago by the Iron Priest Fergus Forgrim, the famed master craftsman of the Space Wolves. Its chainsaw blade is fashioned from a rare metal that was created using a secret technique that died with the ancient Iron Priest.
 * The Helm of Durfast - Forged in the stasis-bound iron furnaces beneath The Fang, this ancient helmet was made for the Space Wolf Durfast, the Champion of Mordrak. The Helm has a temporal distortion circuit incorporated into its substance that enables the wearer to have prescient visions and to be keenly aware of the past, present, and future -- enabling him to readily spot any foes in cover or in hiding. The technology used in this relic has long been lost to the Imperium and may even predate its existence.
 * The Hood of Gnyrll - The Hood of Gnyrll is a special crafted Psychic Hood said to gift a Rune Priest with additional and more potent psychic abilities as well as protecting him from the psychic assaults of others.
 * The Pelt of the Doppleganger - Lukas the Trickster is the only individual in the Space Wolves' history who has managed to track and slay one of the legendary chameleonic Doppelgangers of Fenris. Lukas wears the pelt as a trophy and uses its innate abilities to assist him in battle, and probably any mischief he undertakes.
 * Hrulf's Hood of Darkness - The Hood of Darkness is an ancient device of obscure alien origin. In battle, when activated, this device cloaks the wearer in interdimensional darkness. It also provides the wearer protection from psychic powers whilst cloaked, but he may not use his own psychic powers either.
 * The Cyber-raven Nightwing - Njal the Stormcaller saved Iron Priest Ulf Blackbrow's life during the Battle of Rust World. Blackbrow was not one to owe others favours and so the accomplished smith crafted a particularly sophisticated cyber-raven named Nightwing for Njal. Nightwing has since saved Njal's life many times and is ever swift to aid the legendary Rune Priest in combat.
 * Runic Terminator Armour of Njal Stormcaller - Njal alone has the skill to craft Runic Terminator Armour and his suit is currently the only one of its kind in the Chapter.
 * The Pelt of the Wulfen - This ancient pelt is from a massive Wolf of Fenris, the largest ever slain by a warrior of the Space Wolves. This ancient and venerable hide has been interwoven with a modified cameleoline web.
 * Staff of the Stormcaller - The Runic Staff wielded by Njal Stormcaller, the Staff of the Stormcaller is a venerable weapon and relic of the Space Wolves that enhances the psychic abilities of its wielder.
 * Wolf Helm of Russ - The Wolf Helm of Russ is an ancient artefact of the Chapter said to have been worn by their Primarch Leman Russ himself. Tradition has it that this ancient helm was fashioned by the Emperor's Artificers and given to his Primarch son. The Wolf Helm is awarded to a Great Company after a tournament of champions. The last winner was Ragnar Blackmane who then presented the Helm to the Wolf Priest Ranek as a sign of respect.
 * Runic Staffs - Runic Staffs are mighty artefacts carried by Rune Priests that are imbued with the most powerful psychic wards the Rune Priests can devise that protect the wielder from the psychic attacks of his enemies.
 * Torgarl's Plasma Blade - Though this weapon appears to be an ancient and finely decorated knife, it actually houses a plasma generator in the handle. When thrown, the blade generates an intense plasma field which can penetrate most armour.
 * The Wulfen Stone - This ancient gem was worked into a suit of Power Armour by the great artificer and Iron Priest Fengri and is one of the Space Wolves' greatest treasures. Within its murky depths lies the raging image of the Were, the monster of Fenris that lies coiled within the gene-helix of every Space Wolf. As the bearer charges into combat, his image changes into that of the Wulfen, and its horror can be borne by few creatures.

Chapter 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 Germanic and Celtic barbarian mythology with a strong focus on the mythology of the Norse Vikings. The Space Wolves are reluctant to use some forms of "advanced" technology in a desire to fight in the style of their Primarch and feral homeworld. This is, of course, reflected in the Chapter's army list and specialist rules used by Space Wolf players. They are often (mistakenly) perceived to be an all-out assault army, like the Blood Angels or Black Templars; this is, however, erroneous, for the Space Wolves 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 Astartes-compliant Chapters like the Ultramarines, however.

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