Wolf Guard

The Jomsvikings to the yiffs' Vikings.

The equivalent of a Codex Chapter's First Company Veterans, Wolf Guards are the elite fighting force of the Space Wolves and most revered members of each Great Company that were hand picked by the Wolf Lord himself to be his bodyguards. Originally Wolf Guards were the bodyguards of Leman Russ himself, yet after his disappearance into the Warp, Wolf Lords continued this tradition. Bjorn himself was a Wolf Guard and the last of Russ's Company while Arjac Rockfist is a Wolf Guard that is Logan Grimnar's personal champion.

To become a member of the Wolf Guard, it's not required to be a veteran of a thousands of battles and have enormous experience. Promotion to the Wolf Guard is based on exceptionally badass heroic deeds and the Wolf Lord's instincts (hell, actually field-promotions are the most often among Space Wolves than any other Space Marine Chapter). Thus the Wolf Guard includes both young Marines that normally would still be in the Blood or Sky Claws, and more experienced warriors like Long Fangs, Grey Hunters or former Lone Wolves that managed to live long enough to fulfil their debt in avenging their pack. In order to make them efficient, the Wolf Lord grants them access to the best wargear the Chapter has.

The Wolf Guard itself is divided apart of the more common depiction of them:

• Wolf Guard Battle Leaders: One of the many duties of a Wolf Guard is not just simply acting all heroic, kick asses and to watch his Wolf Lord's back when he's killing enemies. Wolf Guards also act as mentors for the younger members of the Chapter and often lead them into combat. These Battle Leaders command in the stead of their Wolf Lord and utilize their hard won experience in combat. If the Battle Leader will be good enough in commanding his fellow yiffs, then he'll get the chance to become the next Wolf Lord.

• Wolf Guard Terminators: Many Space Wolves dream of becoming Wolf Guard members. The members of this group enjoy the luxury of choosing their weapons as the Company Armouries are always open to them. Thus Wolf Guards will always choose to wear suits of Terminator Armour (if said armours are available and are not already taken). The spearhead of the Chapter, Wolf Guard Terminators are extremely lethal even by Wolf Guard standards. These warriors have access to Terminator exclusive wargear and are utilized to wreck the Emperor's enemies their good day.

• Thunderwolf Cavalry: A Thunderwolf is a Rhino sized (Rhino animal, not APC) canine that dwarfs over normal Fenrisian Wolves. While the latter hunt in packs, the Thunderwolves are literally lone wolves that attack and devour everything that crosses their path. The beasts even attack each other on sight if two wolves encounter each other, as if they were fighting for the title of Alpha Wolf of Fenris. Only a Space Wolf Marine is strong enough to actually hunt down one of these beasts. Indeed, for in order for one of the Wolf Guard to raise to the upper echelons of command, one must actually find one and hunt down in a more extreme version of the Lone Hunt that every initiate needs to do in order to become a Space Wolf. Some actually break the wills of the Thunderwolves they encounter and make into their mounts. This gave rise to a small yet powerful elite force among the Wolf Guard called the Thunderwolf Cavalry. Thunderwolf Cavalries are utilized by the Chapter as line breaking shock troops in order to cause havoc and destruction among their enemies, as the beast's fang and claws are powerful enough to tear through armour, while combining them with it's massive size and strength causes them to be extremely efficient. Iron Priests even took their time with the Thunderwolves and replaced their jaws and limbs with bionics, further increasing their lethal efficiency. Interestingly, the Space Wolves deny that they utilize Thunderwolves as much as Dark Angels deny everything about The Fallen *BLAM!!!* HERESY!!! CHAOS PROPAGANDA USED TO DISCREDIT THE SONS OF EL'JOHNSON!!! (Yeah sure... *BLAM!!!* HERESY!!!). Even more hilarious that there even exists pic-captures and eyewitnesses that prove otherwise. The latter being Space Marines from other Chapters that got disturbed by the results of the Thunderwolf Cavalries' results...not to mention that the rumors about their powerful charges are all over Fenris.

• Void Claws: Logan Grimnar's personal unit. The Void Claws are boarding specialists that love to RIP AND TEAR their way through waves of enemies with their Wolf Claws while moving through tight corridors. There are five members of these crazy marines, and each one is one hell of a spicy snowflake (snowflake used in this case to show how awesome they are):
  • Torfin Daggerfist: Commander of the Void Claws and trusted right hand man to old man Logan. Torfin is rumored among the Blood Claws that he slew a Squiggoth by tearing his way into it's heart when the darn thing smashed into the Wolf Guard's unit. The Ork beast stopped a miles away with Torfin from head to toes in blood. So much is he trusted by Logan that Daggerfist takes over command when the Great Wolf is not around, and bears the banner of the Great Wolf into battle.
  • Alrik Doom-Seeker: A Wolf Guard so brave that even Deathwing Terminators are pushovers in the bravery department. Alrik is always the first to get into combat even when he throws himself through the void between ships in order to get to the enemy (including dragging his teammates with him).
  • Hagrik Wyrdfang: Luckiest of the Void Claws. Hagrik was known to survive situations normally other Space Wolves wouldn't. Ork trigger a scrap avalanche? He rises out raging and charges them. Boarding tube cut down by turret fire? He simply leaps out into the void, crashes into the ship's hull and hacks himself into the innards of the ship.
  • Kvarl Hammerfist: Kvarl is one hell of a beatstick. He lost both his arms to a Tyranid Warrior, only to snarl at it with rage and headbutt it so hard it's skull cracked. Since that incident he got his arms replaced with bionics. The guy finds them useful when paired with the Wolf Claws he uses, but he severely underestimates their strenght. Proofs are: crushed tankards, broken weapon hilts and bruised brothers being the tip of the iceberg.
  • Leifvar Twice-Slain: This Void Claw simply. Won't. DIE. Leifvar's reputation is that of a Wolf Guard that stubbornly refuses to die. His first death was at the hand of a Chaos Lord named Krag'kar. Said Chaos Lord impaled him on the hull of his Land Raider as a trophy. Moments later Krag'kar finds out to his surprise that the Marine is not quite death, but only unconscious. Raging incoherently, Leifvar tears Krag'kar's ride a new one and slaughters him and his minions while they are all inside. The second one was when his ship was blown apart. Everyone thought him a goner, only to find him floating in space in stasis.

TLRD; Wolf Guard are the Space Jomsvikings in a Chapter of Space Vikings.