Review: Curse of the Wulfen

Hello again. This is my review of Curse of.the Wulfen by David Annandale. This is a novelization of the Warzone Fenris campaign book of the same name that came out in the last half of Warhammer 40,000's 7th edition.

The synopsis is that members of the Space Wolves long lost 13th Company have started to appear in warzones throughout the galaxy and the Space Wolves are desperate to retrieve them before other, more puritan, factions of the Imperium find out about them. The reason being is that the 13th Company have mutated into Wulfen, and this is a secret geneseed flaw that the Space Wolves are desperate to protect. It doesn't help either that the Wulfen are only appearing in warzones under attack by the daemonic hordes of Chaos, further supporting the suspicion of warp-taint. So Logan Grimnar scatters the Great Companies to retrieve the 13th Company Wulfen where they may be detected, leaving only one Great Company to protect the Fang on Fenris. He strongly feels that this could be an omen foretelling the return of Russ himself, adding further urgency to the need to retrieve the 13th Company.

That sets things up, let us look at how Space Wolves are played like simpletons and set for a spectacular fall. If you are unfamiliar with the outcome of these events, then let me warn you now that there are some spoilers forth-coming.

While the Space Wolves are dealing with retrieving the Wulfen, the Dark Angels and the Grey Knights both get wise to what is going on. However the information the Dark Angels have acquired has been planted and manipulated by the Changling, the daemonic Tzeentchian trickster, and he has done a spectacular job playing to the suspicious and fanatical nature of the Dark Angels. The Grey Knights on the other hand are bit more skeptical and will come to choose to partner with the Space Wolves, although it is a reluctant partnership. The Wulfen's presence seems to be causing regular Space Wolves to change into Wulfen as well! The Wolves have enough foresight to understand the delicate nature of their situation and that the only way they will overcome this situation is with the aid of the Grey Knights. On the Shrine World of Vikurus, Brother Captain Stern of the Grey Knights and Logan Grimnar come to an understanding regarding the Wulfen, and the Grey Knights Brother-Captain gives the Great Wolf a warning that the Thousand Sons may be setting up an attack on Fenris. Alarmed, Grimnar rallies nearby Great Companies and sets course for the Fenris System 

One of these worlds is place called Midgardia which is interesting because most of the cities are in vast underground caverns. Midgardia has been mostly plagued by Nurgle and the population is discovered to have been ritually sacrificed in some very cruel and sinister ways. Splitting his forces Grimnar leads the underground assault while Egil Ironwolf leads the surface campaign.In the underground theatre we do get to see the Murderfang rampaging in it's bestial fury as it joins with his Wulfen buddies in hunting down and slaughtering daemons. It is all good fun until the ceiling collapses. Literally. This traps the majority of the Wolfguard along with Logan Grimnar, Ulrick the Slayer, and a lot of very important Space Wolf leaders, underground. They lose contact with the rest of the Space Wolves.

On Frostheim the Battle of Morkai's Keep began when Harald Deathwolf led a Thunderwolf Cavalry assault on the Alpha Legion and Tzeentchian Daemon allies.The Alpha Legion, lying in wait, activated the Keep's defenses and tore into the many Space Wolves gunships and descending drop pods. As casualties climbed by the second, Daemon Prince Lord Skayle appeared at the forefront of the slaughter, using his warp-tainted powers to massacre all before him as the tide of Chaos Space Marines, Daemons, and Cultists advanced. Thanks to the efforts of Wolf Scout Feingar, the defenses of Morkai's Keep were disabled and the tide turned in an epic show down. It was a grim and harrowing battle, with Harald Deathwolf being one ot the focus characters of the book

Spread thin, and spread over many conflicts the Wolves have left only Krom Dragoneye, F-up of Sanctus Reach, in charge of the Fang back on Fenris. A vision from Bjorn the Fell-handed prompts Krom to break his orders and rescue a group of Grey Knights who are besieged on Valdermani, The vision's portent being that failure to rescue these Grey Knights would spell the end of the Space Wolves Chapter. So off they go, and in a very intense battle, Krom is triumphant and succeeds in his task, and now united with Brother Captain Stern of the Grey Knights they turn their attention to stopping another Daemon Prince, Daemon Prince Tzen'char,  who has enslaved the world's Astropathic Choir for use in a diabolic ritual. Captain Stern slays this daemon prince but it is too late as swarms of daemons surge forth. They manage to stop this too, but were left with thinking that a larger, more strategic maneuver may have been pulled off. 

By the end of book the Dark Angels, having been conned so easily by the Changling into thinking that the mighty Space Wolves are falling to Chaos, leads, with The Rock at it's head, a massive fleet (including ships from fourteen Chapters of Space Marines. Knight Houses, a Titan Group and three Imperial Guard armies!) set to lay waste to Fenris and it's worlds... The book ends like the campaign book did, wondering how the Space Wolves and their worlds are going to get out of this one...

The bombardment of Fenris begins. From the Curse of the Wulfen campaign book. 

• Did I like it? I did, although there was little surprises considering I had already read the campaign book. 
• Was it hard to put down? Despite there being no surprises, I thought Annandale did a good job keeping the story moving without getting lost in the warporn minutiae like the Campaign books like to do. He kept the story moving while focusing on the intrigue. While yes, there is action, it is less of a grind to read through it than say a campaign book or a Thorpe Dark Angels novel. I thought he handled the trap of Midgardia particularly well. 
• Could I care about the characters? The author genuinely tries to make the Murderfang cool, but it comes off more like...almost adorable. I have a hard time imagining that the Space Wolf commanders aren't laughing at this thing every time they see it, but then, they take Logan Grimnar's santa sled seriously, so what do I know? 
• Did the writer truly grasp how the 'world' of the 41st millennium works in the sense that it doesn't betray or retcon previously established (as I know it) lore? Or is this the work of a hack chasing a paycheck? While this is clearly one of those works commissioned tn support of a Campaign release, it was handled well and read better than I expected it would. The tone seemed to take itself a bit more seriously than Space Wolves Legends of Dark Millenium, and yet fits very well with it. 
• Was I being talked down too? I didn't get a vibe like that at all from this book. Having said that I would not use this book as introduction to the Space Wolves, as it is assumed that you have some knowledge about them prior to engaging this material (i.e. knowing the difference between a Long Fang and a Blood Claw). 
• How predictable is this story? Well, it is based off the campaign of the same name, so if you are familiar with that material in any way than this book will be very predicable. 
• Do I recommend this book? If you are familiar with the Battlezone: Fenris campaign then I would say you might be able to pass on this one. If you want to know about how that campaign unfolded without tracking down a very expensive book, than this would be a good thing to grab. I found this retelling to be quick, smooth, and  somewhat insightful, particularly in the thought processes of some other key figures in the story. Especially Krom and Harald. 

You can find this story collected in the Legacy of the Wulfen Omnibus or as a download from the Black Library.



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