Great Company

Space Marines Portal Space Wolves

The badges of the Space Wolves Great Companies^[7]

The Great Companies are the twelve primary organizational units of the Space Wolves, analagous to a Company in another Chapter. In defiance of the Codex Astartes, which dictated the reorganization of the Adeptus Astartes after the Horus Heresy, the Space Wolves Chapter has twelve companies instead of ten.^[1a]

Character and Organization

Each Great Company is responsible for its own recruitment, maintenance, and running, each acting as a separate force altogether, each lead by a Wolf Lord in a semi-feudal system. The Wolf Lord of the leading Great Company is also the Great Wolf, the Chapter Master of the Space Wolves.^[1a]

Great Companies are named and represented according to their current Wolf Lord as well as their past deeds and exploits. Some Great Companies have used dozens of sigils throughout their history, while others have maintained the same one for long periods. Each owns a sacred standard known as a Wolf Totem. Some like the Spirit Wolf have not been seen for millennia, while others like the Hunger Skull of Jorghun Vor are seen as bad omens.^[3][6]

During the Great Crusade, each Great Company nominally consisted of 10,000 Astartes.^[4] In M42 however their size is unknown and varies by time or function. All that is known is that they are larger than typical Codex Space Marine Company.^[5]

Current Great Companies

• The Champions of Fenris under the command of Great Wolf Logan Grimnar^[2a]
• The Bloodmaws under Bran Redmaw^[2a]
• The Seawolves under Engir Krakendoom^[2a]
• The Sons of Morkai under Erik Morkai^[2a]
• The Red Moons under Gunnar Red Moon^[2a]
• The Deathwolves under Harald Deathwolf^[2a]
• The Stormwolves under Bjorn Stormwolf^[2a]
• The Ironwolves under Vorek Gnarlfist^[2a]
• The Drakeslayers under Krom Dragongaze^[2a]
• The Blackmanes under Ragnar Blackmane^[2a]
• The Firehowlers under Sven Bloodhowl^[2a]
• The Grimbloods under Kjarl Grimblood^[2a]

The 13th Company

There was once a 13th Great Company, and rumors still abound as to the reason for its disappearance^[1b]. Some state that they disappeared into the Warp during the attack on Prospero, the traitorous Thousand Sons' homeworld; others claim they disappeared after the Primarch Leman Russ himself went missing. Regardless, there is currently hardly any information concerning the company in the Imperial records.^{[Needs Citation]}

Former Great Companies

• The Blood-Ice Storm under Amlodhi Skarssen Skarssensson^[10], active in M31^[9]
• The Blood-worm's Masters, active in M31^[9]
• The Breakers of Rings, active in M31^[9]
• The Corpse-renders, active in M31^[9]
• The Crimson Claws under Jorik Fangfist^[2b]
• The Eagle's Keepers, active in M31^[9]
• The Sea-flame's Bearers, active in M31^[9]
• The Serpents of the Battle-moon, active in M31^[9]
• The Shield-gnawers, active in M31^[9]
• The Slaughter-fire Heralds, active in M31^[9]
• The Thread-cutters, active in M31^[9]
• The White Wolves under Ottar^[8]
• The Wight-flame's Wielders, active in M31^[9]

Sources

• 1: Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition)
  • 1a: pg. 14
  • 1b: pg. 17
• 2: Codex: Space Wolves (8th Edition)
  • 2a: pg. 15
  • 2b: pg. 93 — Warriors of the Fang
• 3: Codex Supplement: Space Wolves (9th Edition), pg. 12
• 4: The Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness Rulebook, pg. 59
• 5: First Founding (Background Book), pgs. 103-104
• 6: White Dwarf 246 (UK), pg. 91
• 7: Codex: Space Wolves (7th Edition) - Companies of the Fang
• 8: Cadia Stands (Novel) - Part 2: Chapter 4
• 9: The Horus Heresy Book Seven - Inferno, pg. 24
• 10: A Thousand Sons (Novel), Dramatis Personae