Epic Space Wolves: Now With Snow!

  Things have moved on a bit!

  I don't have as much painted as I would like, which is an Eternal Mood, alas.

  I have been challenged by someone new I have met at a local gaming club to concentrate on Epic and really get at least some of one of my own armies ready to play with.  So, I went and properly polished off my infantry and salvaged the first of a series of Space Wolf tanks, variously from Games Workshop or third parties.

  When I started these, it must have been half a decade ago. I finished a single Rhino tank on a Flames of War base and it wasn't bad for essentially a 'first properly painted model'.  Since that time, though, Games Workshop have, in their eternal wisdom, decided to change their entire paint range.  In addition, third party suppliers have either provided their own paints to compete through quality, or to compete through offering gaps that Games Workshop have opened in the market by discontinuing older colours that long term fans may be a fan of.

I've decided to make the main colour of all of my Space Wolves the Army Painter 'Wolf Grey' paint.  I think it's a good compromise between the different shades that official Space Wolves models have been painted by Games Workshop over the years.

  It's all still a learning process but have decided to try for better contrast and brighter colours as I evolve as a painter.  The Whirlwind tanks up above are much brighter with grungy but still eye catching dirt painted into their recesses.  The tanks I began painting years ago are being painted anew to give them the same look, and mounted on round Renedra 30mm bases so they 'look right' to my eye.

  I found a problem with the 'strip' bases.  Epic are 6mm scale troops, small but with chunky base bottoms, designed to fit into slots.  Games Workshop stopped selling those bases along with all Specialist Games stuff in the Great Dying of 2013, but thankfully, third party bases sell equivalents, the best ones currently available being sold by the excellent Vanguard Miniatures.

  I finally had a couple of games at a local club to learn the rules, thanks to a chance encounter with a new friend.  I struggled with some of the basics of Epic: Armageddon, which is very different from the old Space Marine game I used to play as a kid, but I think I am getting the hang of it after a couple of games.

  I managed to get a hold of some wonderful Eldar proxies in 6mm, but I want to force myself to concentrate on the Space Wolves before splitting my attentions between two armies.  One 'cheat' I've found is the new texture paint from Games Workshop, 'Valhallan Blizzard'.  I was very skeptical of a lot of the new Citadel range as they are very hit and miss for me, but I gave this gritty fake snow a try and it works a charm.  They claim you can peter it out a bit to make it look like slush but I haven't managed to get that looking right.  I also tried using the Citadel gloss varnish called 'Ardcoat to do that but again, didn't get the right look.  In any case, I've found it a superior addition to these bases compared with how the old Citadel Snow white flock looked.