Grimblood was a special character in the second edition Space Wolf codex. His story always inspired me to build his Great Company. Since I am rebuilding my Space Wolves to represent his Great Company, I figure I should make a homebrew set of stats for him. This will be the first of three homebrew characters for the Space Wolves that have been forgotten to hallowed antiquity.
Kyrl Grimblood became a Wolf Lord during the age of Apostacy. During this time many false prophets came to power, but none as powerful as the Apostate Cardinal Bucharis. His rampage into the heart of the Imperium was halted on Fenris. For three years the forces of Bucharis lay siege to the Fang. The Space Wolves could do nothing to break the siege. Although they tried many time to breach the attackes’ lines. Eventually it was Kyrl Grimblood who saved the Fang.
Grimblood’s Great Company had departed the Fang five years earlier, on a mission into the Eye of Terror. Now he returned as the besieging forces of Bucharis mustered for the final attack. Grimblood’s Great Company smashed into the flanks and rear of the enemy army, scattering tens of thousands into the forests of Asaheim. To finally seal their fate, the besieged Space Wolves broke out, and the battle was won. Of those that escaped the Space Wolves none would survive the wolves of Asaheim.
Grimblood had saved the day and possibly Earth itself. It was not the end of Bucharis, whose armies were as numerous as the stars in the sky, but it was a setback. Other heroes would defeat the Apostacy on other battlefields, yet the victory of Kyrl Grimblood would herald the rebirth of a unified and powerful Imperium.
Points Value
240
WS-6, BS-5, S-4, T-4, W-3, I-5, A-4, LD-10
Type
Unique
Wargear
Power Armor
Bolt Pistol
Frost Axe
Frag and Krak grenades
Belt of Russ
Wolf tooth Necklace
Wolf Tail talisman
Saga of Majesty
Special Rules
ATSKNF
Acute Senses
Counter Attack
Independent Character
Providence of Russ
Providence of Russ: Kyrl has a knack for amassing his forces in the right place at the right time, granting him the ability to destroy his foes by catching them off guard. Some would say that is comes from his tactical genius, but he believes it comes from Russ himself.
Any Space Wolves army that includes Kyrl Grimblood may use the Outflank rule on any unit placed in reserve. Additionally the army adds +1 to its reserve dice rolls to determine which units arrive every turn.
Great post Jim. I have also enjoyed the lore of Kyrl Grimblood. In WD 358, I liked the fact that they showed his Chapter Badge - The Spirit Wolf. It is to bad that this character didn't make it into the most recent Codex.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bro! So GW have finally given him an emblem.
ReplyDeleteI'll be sticking with the Night Runner badge as it was prevalent in the original artwork that his entry pic came from. Besides the thought of sculpting the Spirit Wolf badge does not sound like a lot of fun. Plus I'd have to scrap my existing wolves and that ain't gonna happen!
-Jim
I'd say A4 and maybe 245 points. Other than that great stuff. I always thought that we missed out on more Wolf Lords in the new codex even if the sagas help.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a reroll for which side you get in from with the outflank? That's how it works I hope. Don't have the big book with me.
Thanks for the feedback!
ReplyDeleteI can easily drop the attacks to 4, in fact he was meant to have 4 attacks, damn typo's.
I wonder why you would think he needs to be 245 points. With his Saga and wargear he costs 180 points, is the Providence of Russ really worth more than 40 points; which is what I charged for it.
If you look at Khan from the marine codex he has a 4+ invulnerable save, is armed with an instant death causing power weapon, confers outflank to the army, he also confers hit and run plus furious charge to the unit he joins. All for 160 points, even with that in mind I still charged 40 points for the ability.
65 points as you have suggested seems way too steep. I might be convinced to charge 45 or 50 points, if the majority of the readers deem it to be prudent.
-Jim
I really based it more on a feeling of what a wolf lord should cost rather than what gear he had. So my bad there really. The +1 on reserves is a nice thing though. That said I still like the reroll:)
ReplyDeleteWhat would you prefer, keep him low cost (when I look closer the 220 isn't much, guess GW likes to tool 'em up) or add more gear/rules?
One nifty rule idea would be the ability to roll a reserveroll for more than one unit. That way you get all or nothing. Or let's say that he can nominate up to two units that automatically arrives on turn two?
OK, confession time, it's fun to think up unique characters:)
The big thing to keep in mind is to keep homebrew stuff from going OTT. I could slap another special rule on him and up his cost, but is that really needed?
ReplyDeleteI could see giving him Runic armor as he was just on campaign in the Eye of Terror. The added protection would be nice, but again is it needed?
I do like those two ideas; with the latter being my favorite.
"OK, confession time, it's fun to think up unique characters"
Yes it is, and very addicting too!
Keep the great feedback coming, as I can add more to him if something strikes a reaction.
-Jim
Well, I have to admit when I make a mistake. I broke my own character design rules here.
ReplyDeletehttp://galaxyinflames.blogspot.com/2010/02/fan-dex-design-big-jim-style-part-1.html
In my rush to publish I forgot to add the compulsory 20 points I add to all unique characters.
So his points value should be 240, by my own formula. I am going to change that right now in the above entry. Darn it.....
-Jim