... and this is my Private Military Contractor Army - Troops

So here it is – long in planning and much rewritten – a showcase of my Space Wolf based 40K army – my Private Military Contractor force.

The idea came about as I wanted a new 3+ army but am not honestly a big fan of the look of Power Armour. I have always preferred the look of Scout armour. So I figured why not use Scout armour for Marines – there are other groups in the Grimdark with a 3+ save that do so without the black carapace, so who is to say you can’t have an elite human fighting force outside of the Space Marines.

And this week I am going to show you what fruit was borne from that idea. Today I am focusing on the ground pounding portion of the army, followed by the armoured support on Wednesday And my Allied detachment and future plans on Friday.

Every army needs a good core of troops, especially under 6th Edition, so I have 5 troop choices, predominantly my 4 squads of Grey Hunters.

As you can see, I went with Scouts throughout. I have always loved the Scout Armour and have previously done a lot with them for a Necromunda team, which also saw me using Pig Iron Heads. This time I went for something less blocky, and these fit the curves of the Scout armour nicely, whilst still having that blank visor visage.

Rather than actually using Boltguns for Boltguns I have used Shotguns as they look bad ass! This also meant that if I want to use Storm Bolters, I can use the Boltgun instead. The special weapons were all easy to put in, even easier when I realised there was an armt hat already looks like its crdaling to grip the underneath of the Shotgun rather than the long assed process I had been doing

A lot of these models units were done piecemeal as I went so I could mix pieces from Scout Bikers, Scout Snipers, Scout Marines etc. As such I have been bale to make some cool stances and looks to many models, bringing more character than I feel I could have with Power Armour, but for minimal effort.

The colour scheme is one I have used before with a Tau Kill Team – a night urban ops scheme with the bold gloss varnished orange visors. Its simple to paint but looks bold and striking. And in numbers, their orange visors have a slight unsettling quality, as if eyes looking out from the darkness… There is extra detail around the back of the armour, but I should go back through (ugh) and do some form of squad colours/marking for some extra colour and variety, plus calirty when fielding them as when close together they can get muddled up.

I have 15 Blood Claws, the main use being for 14 of them to join a Wolf Guard and Wolf Priest, which helps keep them under control, in a Landraider Crusader. But I also have the option to field 3 units of 5 Blood Claws with a Wolf Guard each if I want to flood the table a bit with targets. Great for working in unison with a Grey Hunter unit each as they work their way up the field.

Again, I have stuck with Scout bodies through out, making good use of all the various pistols and knives I had accrued whilst making all the Grey Hunters.

The Wolf Priest has a chainsword for his Power Maul. I always point it out to new folks, but it does stand out. The reason for this – I think it looks cool! Rule of cool always comes first right. His plasma pistol also help set him apart for the Wolf Guard with his bolt pistol and chainsword.

I ended up with 2 units of 5 Long Fangs – one squad with 4 Missile Launchers and the other with 4 Heavy Bolters. I wanted to avoid too much high tech energy weaponry, hence the low tech choices for weaponry. This also meant I avoided having to do any converting for anything else as Scouts only have Missile Launcher and Heavy Bolter options. I tried to make the Long Fangs have as much personality and character about them as their sergeants.  From kneeling and firing to pointing out targets for their buddies, the look like they are really in the thick of it.

I know loads of folks are likely wondering why I have not gone to the full 6 man units. But I just felt 5 man units were enough points wise.

A unit of 4 Swift Claws with Melta Bombs was always on my list. The only conversion besides the head swap is the front armoured screen being cut down to just a headlamp. I felt it makes the bikes look more like fast dirt bikes, and as their primary mission is to run up an Melta Bomb something, I like that look. They are always joined by a Wolf Guard on bike with Melta Bomb to keep them on course. I am still toying with adding a quad bike style attack bike with Multi Melta, but I prefer turbo boosting towards my target ready for the charge.

This portion of my Wolf Guard are kitted out with Plasma Pistols and Bolt Pistols, and they outflank with my Saga of the Hunter Wolf Priest. Preferred Enemy on 6 Outflanking Plasma Pistols is funny any day of the week and has never failed to make my day. That’s also why they have the matching roll-ups across their shoulders, as if camping out on the journey to outflank the enemy.

Wolf Guard Terminators were a much later addition. I knew I wanted a unit of 5 to run with a Wolf Guard Battle Leader but I couldn’t decide how. I was thinking on some form of combat droid like Pig Irons Wardroids, but I still then had the issue of how to do the actual Battle leader.

Then Forgeworld came out with the Tartarus Terminators and I was sold. I picked up five and the weapon pack direct and a sixth from the net and stuck them together without any alteration beyond leaving off the emblem emblazed shoulder pads.

They fit in with the Scout armour aesthetic more so than standard Terminators, and I love that Storm Shield design. The Cyclone missile launcher was added later and was made from a Crisis Suit Missile Pod and a Target Lock

A Lone Wolves was a must choice, with the plan being to stick him on an Aegis Quadgun for a bargain 20 point gunner, especially versus Monsterous Creatures thanks to his Beast Slayer rule. But I eventually went to a melee monster instead, complete with pet attack wolf thanks to an old Orion Hunting Hound I had knocking around. The Shield is from Anvil Industries and a standard Powerfist. I may yet change that Powerfist as I am not too sure on it, but it works for now.

So there you have it – the ground pounding portion of my Space Wolves. Next timeI will show you the armoured might behind them, and that is where I really went for it with my converting!