We have weathered the storm of rules changes since our 2nd edition Codex.
And essentially the army has never changed in all these years.
Long Term Stability
Sure, we've got new units like Thunderwolf Cavalry and Lone Wolves, but the core essentials of what make a Space Wolves army great have always remained consistent.
That's what makes the Space Wolves who they are.
The Space Wolves don't like teleportation, they shun new technologies, believing in the old ways and they enjoy hacking things apart in close combat - while being good at shooting things too.
It all started with our 2nd edition Codex,
All Space Wolves were Weapon Skill 5 as standard and the Grey Hunters could use a Boltgun as an additional close combat weapon, while Blood Claws were crazy in close combat.
Wolf Guard could also take whatever they liked from the armoury. I mean WHATEVER they liked. So people ran 5 man Wolf Guard Terminator squads armed with Assault Cannons AND Cyclone Missile Launchers on every model.
Ragnar Blackmane was the poster boy of the Space Wolves army back then and his "Battle Howl" would TRIPLE the charge range of every model in the army for a single turn.
3rd edition laid the foundations for the rule sets which would follow. Meanwhile the Space Wolves became a terrifying close combat army which would 'Rhino Rush' across the board in order to close quickly with the enemy.
The 3rd edition Codex continued allowing Wolf Guard Terminators to take lots of heavy weapons, mostly because you could field numerous Wolf Guard Battle Leaders in a single HQ slot who had access to the whole armoury - in other words, Assault Cannons, which were awesome because of the 3rd edition Rending rules.
4th edition saw the release of the plastic Drop Pod and the Space Wolves of 3rd edition traded in their Rhinos (so to speak) to drop right in the faces of the enemy and engage them up close and personal.
5th edition the Space Wolves got a new Codex (leading to the creation of this blog!) and continued to play much the same as they always had, but now with cost effective Long Fangs, as well as the addition of new units like Lone Wolves, Thunderwolf Cavalry and Fenrisian Wolves. Although these new units didn't start to shine for quite some time until people figured out how to play them against the ever changing array of foes.
6th edition brought about the death of the Rhino, because lightly armoured vehicles became much easier to destroy. So once more the Space Wolves traded in their tanks for Drop Pods or quite simply slogged it forward on foot, taking advantage of the improved Cover saves.
Nothing Really Changes
Aside from transportation, the army hasn't really changed at all.
And neither has the way it plays.
So with that in mind, let's look back at the past couple of years and think back to how we dealt with each new threat as it emerged...
TyranidsSpace Wolves were practically designed to kill monstrous creatures with their mighty heroes and Sagas drawn from Norse mythology.
Suffice to say, the Tyranids never really gave us too much of a challenge. Shoot the little ones with bolters, Shoot the big bugs with your big guns, then choose the right moment to charge in and mop up.
The only difficulty in fighting Tyranids is often target priority and choosing the right moment to advance. But that all comes with practice.
But there's nothing quite the sight of a Grey Hunter pack taking down a Trygon in a crazy close combat!
Blood AngelsFor a time Blood Angels become our best buddies to have a big punch up with!
Sure, they had toys like Mephiston, Furioso Dreadnoughts, Storm Ravens and Assault Squads as troops.
It was close, it was tense and you could always count on having a bloody good fight against the Blood Angels.
But then, the Space Wolves players seemed to figure it out and use our more flexible, versatile army to shoot, stall and counter the Blood Angels which were all about attacking, attacking, attacking.
And that made them predictable to play against.
Imperial GuardOver time the Imperial Guard has become the army it was always meant to be.
Countless men, tanks and who knows what else, all shooting, shooting, shooting and blasting you off the board with superior firepower.
How did the Space Wolves cope? Well, we trudged on, focused on getting in close and hacking apart hordes of Guardsmen in the safety of close combat. After all, you can't be shot at if you're locked in combat!
You always knew if you'd just played Imperial Guard, because there would be a huge mound of dead Space Wolves by the end of it.
Grey KnightsWe took a beating from the Grey Knights, but then again, so did everyone.
Storm Bolters everywhere, Power Weapons everywhere and Psycannons everywhere.
Yeah, it was horrible, because they were just So Good against other Space Marine armies.
But then the rules shifted in our favour to allow for moving and firing Rapid Fire weapons at full range, while Power Weapons became AP3, allowing our Terminators and Runic Armour wearing heroes to hack apart the Grey Knights in close combat without fear of their Power Halberds striking first.
Much like the Blood Angels, we can enjoy a good punch up with the Grey Knights.
The only difference is that we need to get into close combat with them, rather than waiting for them to come to us.
The good thing is that because their basic weapon is the Storm Bolter, you don't have to suffer the pain of being on the receiving end of numerous Rapid Fire weapons before you charge. You take the same damage whether you're within 24" of their guns or 12".
DaemonsForm a firebase, shoot them lots, then fall back shooting and keep shooting until you think they're weak enough for a counter charge.
In the same way Blood Angels are an army to defend and counter against, so too are Daemons.
This is because they will gleefully tear through whole packs of Space Wolves in close combat with their high Weapon Skill, Strength, Attacks and Power Weapons, Rending Claws and whatever other monstrous appendages they happen to be waving about!
And again, the Space Wolves defend, counter and then press the advantage (or keep falling back and shooting) in order to beat Daemons.
So by now you're probably getting a good idea of how the Space Wolves army plays.
Obviously, other armies have been released in due course, Chaos Space Marines, Dark Angels, Space Marines, Astra Militarum (aka: Imperial Guard), but none of these were really much to write home about.
But the point I wanted to make was that through all of these new armies which appeared and the various editions down the years, that the Space Wolves army has always remained strong and it's always remained very much the same... with the addition of a few new units. And that is why it is the most Future Proof army in all of Warhammer 40k.
And most importantly, if you're looking for a Warhammer 40K army to build, paint, play and feel passionate about, I simply cannot recommend them enough. Meanwhile you can sit back with your massive collection and watch all the other players jumping from new army to new army as the meta of the game constantly shifts and changes.
That's why I'm buying everything for my Space Wolves army.
I'm starting with a footslogging horde which gives me all my characters, troops and Long Fangs. This creates a cheap, playable army.
Then I'll buy them all drop pods. So I can take my footslogging horde and simply drop it closer to the enemy.
Then I'll get the fast supporting units like Swiftclaws, Landspeeders, Fenrisian Wolves and Thunderwolves.
Then, I'll get them all the tanks.
After that, I'll have everything and I'll never need to worry about new armies or new rule sets coming out.
Changing Armies is What Makes This Game Hard
It's all too easy to find a strong army list off the internet (usually from a top tournament player), to build it, paint it and play it and win games.
But then a new army comes out which makes mince meat out of it. Or a new Codex for your army comes out and totally nerfs the overly optimised list you had. Or a new rulebook comes out, totally changing the way your army plays so that it doesn't work.
There are too many things which can upset how an army bought and built to win at the game plays. Which then has an effect on your enjoyment of the game and the hobby.
So pick an army because you love it. And stick with it.