"Follow me Sons of Russ, this night our enemies shall feel the fangs of the wolf!"
After a strong start in 2020 and into 2021 the McFarlane Warhammer 40k line went on a hiatus in 2023. The final wave of 2022 was the Dark Tide videogame series which didn’t appear to do too well at retail, and many assumed the line was finished. Come late 2023 though leaks started to come through of a new wave for early 2024, and this was finally confirmed in late November with the reveal of a 6 figure wave containing the first Terminator in the line, two more marines - and Artist Proof unpainted variants for each of them.
The February 2024 released figures see the line undergo a makeover in terms of packaging. The boxes have moved to a brand new colour scheme featuring a lighter base colour overlaid with some Chapter-specific colouring on the left-hand side alongside the Chapter badge. The right-hand side retains the dark future-gothic look and carries the figures name while round the back the entirety of the rear is turned over to a glorious illustration of the figure you are unpacking.
There is quite a lot of reflection through the included window, and the reason for this is clear when you open the box as McFarlane has now moved these figures into a black plastic tray with no securing ties or strings. Over this sits a clear plastic lid, and it is this that gives the dual reflection from the box front. While this inner tray looks brilliant, you can feel a reduction in quality as the plastic is very thin and unstable once removed from the box.
The other new addition to these relaunched figures is the inclusion of a ‘collector card’, a feature seen in a lot of McFarlane lines, particularly the DC Multiverse. These are good quality and feature a repeat of the artwork from the rear of the box on one side and some character details on the other.
It has taken 4 years to get the Space Wolves into the McFarlane Warhammer 40k series and adds them to the other Founding Chapter releases of Ultramarine, Dark Angels, Blood Angels and Raven Guard. Rather than a standard Marine release the Space Wolves debut is given over to the Wolf Guard, the veteran warriors of the great companies. The base Power Armour is taken from or re-purposed from existing Marines but includes specific Space Wolves icons such as the sigil on the left shoulder, the teeth and bone emblems on the arms and legs and the runic carved inscriptions on the right shoulder and right shin.
The armour is all cast in a sky blue finish over a black central torso with further black joints at the elbows and knees. The central emblem is a winged red diamond painted with bright gold wings and a deep red reflective diamond centre. The shoulder armours include yellow infills with black overlaid designs and also feature sculpted in wear and damage such as scratches and chips. Our Space Wolves Wolf Guard also features a fur tabard around his waist with an ivory claw emblem, a fur-sculpted tabard and a string of teeth or claws over the top. There is a disappointment here that these teeth are not painted and left the same base brown as the fur despite the smaller version of this on the left shin does feature painted teeth?
The figure is also the first Loyalist marine to come with an unmasked head, and this was an initial worry for me when it was announced as the previous unmasked Marine head for the World Bearer Chaos Marine was pretty poor in its finish. Thankfully McFarlane has stepped on considerably in quality and finish with this new head complete with sculpted gruff veteran's expression, mohawk hair style and weathered and shaded face with a good level of realism added around the eyes and mouth. The Power Armour is finished with the backpack, a standard piece but enhanced with a totem of bones at the top which is also poorly finished in just a simple bone colour with some black ‘rope’ colouring at the front but then not extended around the back.
Like all of the standard Marine figures to date, the overall paintwork is crisp and neat and displays perfectly well on its own, or provides a base canvas for more enhanced paintwork for those who wish to bring elements of the miniatures hobby into this larger scale.
The Wolf Guard has plenty of accessories compared to those Marines who had come before, with the additional hands a new addition to the line with these 2024 standard releases. The hands are a bit easier to change compared to the spiked armour of the World Eater but are probably best with some heat applied to ease them along. You can choose from a pair of gripping hands to wield the weapons, or a combination of a clenched fist and a pointing finger to lead your Space Wolves into battle. The weapons themselves are a Power Axe with a black shaft and metallic blue axe-head. And a Bolter - again with a black central body and this time with gunmetal grip and shaft and a tooth trophy in bone white sitting just under the barrel.
The gripping hands hold these well enough and this is probably the easiest Marine to date in terms of getting weapons into hands, although the fingers remain very rigid and some heat here may ease things along. Articulation sits at 18 points in total inclusive of the joints built into the large shoulder armour so it can move with some independence from the main arm if needed. The Wolf Guard is a pleasure to pose even with his bulk and there is a good range of motion despite his bulk. All the joints are secure and hold their place and there are no stability issues in either a flat-footed pose, or even in some walking/running position.s
Out of the three 2024 releases I think the Space Wolves Wolf Guard is my favourite, not so much as it is the Space Wolves first appearance but in terms of how much the line has come on from the first albeit very solid Marine releases to the level of crisp decor and posing we are now enjoying and how much the unmasked head showcases what McFarlane can do with human or humanoid heads in this line. The additional hands open up more options, as do the newer and in some cases larger weapons we are seeing.
The price point has gone up to reflect some of these improvements and the new packaging - which looks great but lacks a bit of internal substance in terms of the plastic quality of that inner tray. For those wanting a figure to go straight on display the Wolf Guard is a great purchase, and for those wanting to enhance the figures with their own paintwork this (or the Artist Proof) present a great base for painters and this in itself pays homage to the miniatures from which these figures originated. Now we just need a few more Space Wolves variants to start seeing some groups of Marines - something only the Ultramarine ranks have to date with their trio of releases.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...