Thunderwolf model legality

[letifer]

At our local game store they are starting to get picky about letting people use only gw minis in their tournys. It hasnt come up yet but I know they put it specifically in for a guy who wants to buy resin thunderwolves from an independent company and use them.

How have stores you play at been treating the thunderwolf thing? I think it is ridiculous to ban the model when GW dosnt provide one, and they are saying he should make his own thunderwolves straight from green stuff if he wants to use it. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

[Culven]

Tournament Organizers are free to make any rules they like. If they want to ban non-GW models they can do so. If they want to ban Space Marines, they can do so. There is nothing that posters on teh internet can do to changee that. Only discussing it with the TOs will have a chance of changing their minds. For my FLGS, the manager doesn't care as long as the models are WYSIWYG. One of our players has resin "Cyberwolves" or somesuch (may even be the same models to which you refer) and nobody complains about the models. It is the unit itself that we complain about. :p

I could only suggest that they players discuss the issue with the store and mention that it would simply cost too much to try converting Canis Wolfborn models to make a unit of thunderwolf Cavalry. Either they will understand and change the rule or they won't care and the players will need to abide by their rules.

[letifer]

I know that sadly nothing from the net would convince him but I did want to see if any other stores around the country were banning the indi cast wolves. If nothing else it would just back up my argument to keep them legal. The store manager here is a great guy but converting and creativity has always been my favorite facet of the game. It just sucks to see something so stupid get banned as if it had never been brought up no one would care. I want to try and keep our local group friendly and fun and such a ridiculous ruling just turns people away from their store.

[Culven]

I have heard of such rulings at GW retail stores. I can understand why they only want their product used as players in the store are essentially free advertising for GW. If it is an independant store, I would be curious as to why they are being banned. It almost seems like the TO just wants to sell more GW product.

[incenerate101]

Generally if the TO is a employe at the store the general rule is atleast 50% of the model by weight has to be GW product.
@Culven may i suggest converting the white lions from the high elf chariot kit? much easier in way of alterations and about 15 - 20 bucks cheaper. Thats how i made my 4 squads of the wolf riding bad boys.

[Squirrel_Fish]

I heard of a guy who made ATV's out of regular Space Marine Bikes and 'wolf'd them out.

[incenerate101]

Yeah its quite costly if he did it the way my buddy did. Took a full bike and pinned it inbetween the sides of another bike ( if that makes sense ) and green stuffed the body and such.

[DarkLink]

Seeing as GW doesn't really have a good option for buying TWolf models, they ought to allow it. It'd be stupid on their part not to.

I've seen an ATV conversion with a second Marine on the back with a heavy weapon used to represent attack bikes. It looks way, way, way better than the stupid sidecar attack bikes.

[RocketRollRebel]

A lot of people I've seen use them use the D&D dire wolf minis. One guy claimed to have a GW made wolf inside of it in order to achieve the 50% GW criteria. Not sure how legit the claim was but no one ever called him out on it and made him split the mini open to check.

[themacdiesel]

GW's own events require a model to contain a "majority of GW parts" IIRC. Locally, that's how we do it -- so, a one-piece Thunderwolf model with a GW Space Marine (8-10 parts) is good to go.

Big events like Adepticon typically require you to submit pics of scratch-built models, and models that violate the 50% rule. That said, there are usually HUGELY converted models at those events.

The biggest issue is whether, or not, someone is "modeling for advantage." So, for example, if the Thunderwolf in question is on a Vendetta/Valk base, and is 8" tall, it's probably going to be prohibited from play.

[lowdog]

If that happened to me I would do exactly as they said, model them out of green stuff.

Now, I'm not saying it would look good, in fact they would look like kindergarten playdo models. It would be Space Marines riding Spot the Dog from those SNL Mr. Bill sketchs. Just a lump of green stuff with four tube legs pulled out, a little smidgen of tail, and a fwopped up head. Then I'd paint them solid black with yellow eyes. Done.

[ashnaile]

Wow, the to and local crowd there sound like a bunch of childish dicks ...

"OHNOES, theres something we dont want to play against .... QUICK! make up reasons why he cant so we dont look like a bunch of sore 6 year olds ...."

If gw made a model it would be different, but they dont.

[harrybuttwhisker]

just say you made press moulds like white dwarf showed you how and made green stuff copies of an independent produce thunderwolf. Of course there painted know so you can't check ;-)

[lobster-overlord]

Here are a couple of things you could do in response to this happening.

If the TO is not related to the store, or it has completely to do with them wanting to be a douche to the wolf player, then tell the Store management that you will not play there, and will take your business and all word of mouth business you might drive to them to another store. Honestly, if they're going to put rules in place that limit the players, then the players need to limit the sales. In the end, it is about the pocketbook of the store. If it is a standard little hobby shop/game store, one customer WILL make a difference, especially if that person has friends. (now of course, we had a player who wanted to use Heroclix minis, which is completely off base...I'm talking about reasonable requests, such as we are discussing with the TWolves here).

If the TO is a part of the store, ask why they are wanting to do that. If for any reason it has to do with the product not being bought through the store, then ask them if they would accept them if you purchased the wolves through them (they can purchase them at distributor prices generally and make a profit). If it is because GW says so, then you know it's a crock.