Ragnar Blackmane, The Young King, Wolf Lord of the Blackmanes

 Ragnar Blackmane, The Young King, Wolf Lord of the Blackmanes

I started collecting Space Wolves, and collecting Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company as my first real 40k army back when their first legitimate lore and army list was published at the end of 1992/beginning of 1993, with the release of White Dwarf magazines issues 156-158.  This was at the tail end of the Rogue Trader era, in the ramp up to 2nd Edition, which was released at the end of 1993.  The first Codex of 2nd Edition, and the first Codex ever, since Rogue Trader didn't feature them, was the Space Wolves, released in the spring of 1994.   

As explained in a separate post, which I've named 'The Past, The Present, and The Future,' I'm now on the third iteration of my Blackmanes army.  Likewise, I'm on the third iteration of my commander - the first was, of course, his original metal model, released in early 1993 in conjunction with the original Rogue Trader era army list.  The second, was built from the plastic Krom Dragongaze model that was released in 2014; a lot of fellow hobbyists went this route to build themselves a more modern and dynamic Ragnar model (the original being a full 20 years old by this point).

The newest version of Ragnar, who "Crossed the Rubicon," to become a Primaris Marine back in 8th Edition with the release of Psychic Awakening: Saga of the Beast, is shown at the top, and in a couple photos below.  This model, as well as all of the others in my new Primaris-only collection of The Blackmanes, was painted by Vasiliy Shipilov of Liber Daemonica.  This newest version of The Young King is, as I'm sure you'll agree, an amazing model, and really does justice to the Space Wolves' most famous Wolf Lord.

Before you go on, you might want to take a few minutes to read my separate post, 'The Past, The Present, and The Future,' where I explain in detail my growing frustration with Warhammer 40k over the years, and my subsequent decision to give it up in favor of Grimdark Future (GDF) by One Page Rules (OPR).  The paragraphs below describe how I've decided to build Ragnar for GDF games in a way that still captures the right 'feel' of him from his 40k lore and rules.

The GDF stat-block below the photos shows how I built Ragnar Blackmane using the generic 'Prime Master' unit choices from the online Army Forge army list builder. The War Chant ability gives him and his unit +1 Attack with a melee weapon of their choice in close combat, and I thought this choice for a Hero special ability was the best fit for Ragnar, and is reminiscent of several of the special abilities he's had in 40k throughout different editions. Additionally, I've armed him with a Combat Shield, despite the fact that he doesn't actually have one on the model. The reason for that choice is that I fully intend for him to accompany his Blade Guard, for thematic purposes, and if he attaches to them with a shield, the unit will lose its Shield Wall ability; that ability is one of the big features that the Blade Guard have, and is paid for with the unit, so I don't want to forfeit it.

One of the great features that GDF has, that 40k doesn't, is an organic method of creating your own units, using the same points-calculation the designers use for every other unit in the game that players gain access to when they join the $5 monthly Patreon support to One Page Rules. The points calculator is perfect for recreating 40k named special characters, like Ragnar. In addition to the PDF document that lays out the method, there is an online tool that does the calculations for you, much like the online Army Forge tool mentioned above.

Using that tool to customize my version of Ragnar, I can spend an extra 40 points to give him an additional Attack with his Relic Blade (Frostfang), and to give him 2 extra points of Tough (i.e. Wounds). These slight adjustments to the generic Prime Master gets me to a Hero to lead my army that feels much more like the Ragnar that I've been playing in 40k for the past 30 years.

For now, my plan is to use Ragnar Blackmane attached to my unit of Blade Guard who will ride in an Impulsor to get into charge range of an appropriate assault target.