Our Dark Throne tournament back in April was a pleasing experience on a number of levels, the most important of which was that it provided a meeting point for our little community to come together and socialize like functioning humans. To break bread, share a few laughs and roll some dice with like minded souls. The broad cross section of people who showed up and got down to it demonstrating some actual unity would have made Rick Ta Life’s heart swell with pride. Crusties, moshers, noobs, edgemen, thrashers, rippers and hessians all hanging out and getting along. But it wasn’t just washed up old farts in their mid 30’s playing though, oh no, the youth turned up too, including a solid crew of coremen from Chester. Dale Sibley was amongst them and despite not having it all his own way in the games (his Tau took a bit of a hiding) it was a pleasure to have him and his boys join us for the day. Dale recently posted some pictures of his 13th Company Space Wolves up on Instagram and given that I play 13th too, I figured it’d be a good opportunity to shoot him some questions to find out what he had to say for himself!
How long have you been working on your 13th Company mate?
I’ve been working on them for just under a year now. I’d been considering wolves for a while, but it was the Corehammer page that actually convinced me to take the plunge.
What was it that attracted you to the 13th Company? There are a lot of Space Wolves players around but very few who embrace the doomed 13th , was it simply a case of appealing aesthetics, fluff or perhaps the scope for potential experimentation?
The first Warhammer campaign which I got involved in was the Eye Of Terror, at the time I loved the look of the models in there. Last summer when I was looking at a new army fellow Warhammer enthusiast Matt Sumpter found his old copy of it and I was sold. So aesthetics is definitely my first choice, but the conversion and kit bashing appealed to the Ork player in me.
Can you talk us through each of your units and key character models, give us an overview of why you chose them?
I’m still yet to settle on a list, but there is a few units who are key in every list I do write.
Wolf Lord – Give this guy 2 lightning claws and there isn’t much he can’t take down, Definitely a solid HQ choice.
Rune Priest – This guy was fantastic, but since the 7th Ed nerfing I haven’t tried him out.
Lone wolf – I load the Lone Wolf out with a jump pack, storm bolter, and a power fist. This guy claims man of the match every time. For 73 points he deals out his fair share of damage, and always has the good grace to die before the end of the game.
Long Fangs – Every Space Wolves player is going to look in horror when I say I don’t use missile launcher here. I’ve got two squads of 5, One with heavy bolters and one with lascannons. In hindsight I’d probably of gave the lascannon models a miss, but the bolters are certainly worth taking. They’re brilliant anti-troop and when things get desperate, you can glance most transports to death.
Grey Hunters – The best troop choice in the game in my opinion. I try to run at least one squad of 10 with two plasma guns, sat safely in a rhino.
I also run a squad of 6 in a lascannon Razorback, and a squad of 5 to accompany the Wolf Lord in a Razorback. Plasma guns are your friend, even if they seem to misfire far too often for me!
Thunderwolf Cavalry – My most recent purchase. Give them Storm Shields and a power fist and you have a unit who can handle anything and hold their own.
I also have bikes in the works which I’ve magnetized to be either Wolf Guard or Swiftclaws. They haven’t really had chance to prove their worth yet so I’m looking forward to seeing how they do.
Lastly is my Terminators. I have plenty of variants, but on their debut battle they were all killed before getting to move so I retired them like the sulking child that I am. I think I’ll acquire some drop pods and give them a second chance in the future.
You managed to really capture the rugged character of the 13thCompany…what methods did you use to accomplish this. There’s a lot of conversion work too, with every model appearing unique… any conversion tips or pointers you could share with our readers ?
Firstly, pick up as many chaos bits as you can on ebay. I’m lucky Sumpter has 10k+ of Chaos so there was plenty for me to steal from him. Maximini do really nice werewolf heads which help give the 13th that Wulfen feel.
Lastly these guys have been lost in the Eye Of Terror for tens of thousands of years, so battle damage, weathering and rust helps too. There is some good sponge technique tutorial videos about for people who are looking to get into weathering.
As I recall you had your pants pulled down a bit at Dark Throne, was that your first tournament? How did you find the overall experience?
I certainly did. It was my first tournament, and I assumed a lot of players would be bringing their wolves, so I brought my Tau along. I did at least win one game so things could have gone worse. I really enjoyed the tournament; everyone was easy going and spoke to each other. There was a real friendly atmosphere and neck beard tactics were left at home, mostly.Despite my poor performance the tournament got me more into the game than ever.
How long have you been involved in the hobby? Is this the first full army you’ve painted?
I joined the hobby when I was 11, so I’ve been at it for 12 years now, disregarding the odd breaks here and there. My first finished army was Tau which I started 4 years ago, though I first got into the hobby as an Ork player but bought models quicker than I could paint them. I felt after 12 years they deserved some love though so I have been working on my Orks alongside my wolves.
Is the 13th a work in progress or are you satisfied with what you’ve got? What other games/systems do you play?
There is always more to buy, and ideas to experiment with. I don’t think anybody ever truly finishes a Warhammer army, but yeah it’s certainly a work in progress. I’d love to up my painting game and take my army to apocalypse size.
Mosh or stagedive?
I’m certainly too fat for stagediving, So I’ll go with mosh.
Last words/shout outs
Shout out to everyone who keeps the Corehammer community going, without it the hobby would be a dirty little secret that nobody admits too!! Also, I know they get mentioned a lot, but I can’t recommend Element games more highly. Fantastic service and the guys are really friendly.