Space Wolves 13th Company 30k Army List!

Nick speaking,

So as previously posted, I am having a game of 30k with my good friend Aceface over on his YouTube Channel against his awesome looking World Eaters army. Ace is a fantastic 40k player and has won many tournaments, but this 30k game is all about the story, the armies and the shear epicness of our two armies on the table!

We have tried to make the armies an even match and will use my Cities of Death board to help with the visuals of the game. I will be using ALL of my currently painted Space Wolves army, so it's pretty stretched out, but I have tried to use the formations and detachments available to me to get the most out of my foot slogging 13th Company Space Wolves! Here is my 2k list I will use, battle report to follow in the next post...

THE WOLVES UNLEASHED DETACHMENT (2k)

HQ
1 x Ragnar Beermane/1x Fenrisian Wolves (203)

TROOPS
10 x Grey Hunters/2x Meltagun/Power Fist/Standard Bearer                                    
        Wolf Guard Pack Leader/Combi-Melta/Power Weapon/ Melta Bomb (270)
10 x Grey Hunters/2x Plasmagun/Power Weapon
        Wolf Guard Pack Leader/Combi-Plasma/Power Weapon (245)
10 x Grey Hunters/2x Plasmagun/Power Weapon
        Wolf Guard Pack Leader/Combi-Plasma/Power Weapon (245)

ELITES
5x Wulfen/5x Auto Launcher/1x Great Axe/1x Frost Claws/2x THSS/Pack Leader (220)

HEAVY
5x Long Fangs/3x Lascannons/1x Missile Launchers/1x Ancient (150)
5x Long Fangs/3x Missile Launchers/1x Missile Launchers/1x Ancient (140)

WYRDSTORM BROTHERHOOD FORMATION

1 x Rune Priest/Plasma Pistol/Level 2/Armour of Russ/Digital Weapon (145)
1 x Rune Priest/Level 2/Runic Armour (110)

WOLFKIN FORMATION

10 x Fenrisian Wolves/Cyberwolves (90)
10 x Fenrisian Wolves/Cyberwolves (90)
10 x Fenrisian Wolves/Cyberwolves (90)

1998 points

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Space Wolves 13th Company List (Unleashed Detachment)

Nick speaking,

Back to getting the Wolves on the table, and after painting my two Rune Priests and third unit of Grey Hunters at the end of last year. I have now come up with a fifteen hundred point list for the painted models that I have so far...

Of course, this army is in no shape or form a competitive build, and it is currently lacking in some long range support, hence me currently painting my Long Fangs! I wanted to get all the models I have painted so far in the list, and with three HQs painted, the Unleashed Detachment seemed ideal for that to happen. Lots of points have been thrown into the list on wargear options to make the points up, so I am not expecting too much from the army at the moment, still, It will be great to play them. Battle report coming soon...

The Wolves Unleashed Detachment

HQ
1 x Ragnar Blackmane/2x Fenrisian Wolves (211)
1 x Rune Priest/Plasma Pistol/Level 2/Hood/Armour of Russ/Digital Weapon (155)
1 x Rune Priest/Level 2/Hood/ Runic Armour/Digital Weapon (135)

TROOPS
10 x Grey Hunters/2x Meltagun/Power Weapon/Standard Bearer                                      
        Wolf Guard Pack/Combi-Melta/Power Weapon/Melta Bomb (260)
10 x Grey Hunters/2x Meltagun/Power Weapon
        Wolf Guard Pack/Combi-Melta/Power Weapon/Melta Bomb (235)
10 x Grey Hunters/2x Plasmagun/Power Weapon
        Wolf Guard Pack/Combi-Plasma/Power Weapon (240)

FAST
10 x Fenrisian Wolves/Cyberwolves (90)
10 x Fenrisian Wolves/Cyberwolves (90)
9 x Fenrisian Wolves/Cyberwolves (82)

1498 points

 

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Space Wolves as Allies for Blood Angels

Nick speaking,

The one thing I really do like about Allies is the ability to get more people playing in a single game! I very often end up in a position where we have three players who want to play on a gaming night. Usually one player ends up watching, or joining forces with one of the armies. This is fine, but sometimes it is difficult to work out the best way to keep things fair regarding the Force Organisation Chart etc. Now though, we are able to use the Allies part of 6th Edition to get a fairer or more official way of playing with three players, as long as your armies can Ally of course. So the other day I was in this position and thought I would try it out.

We arranged a game of Blood Angels taking on another army, I elected for my Space Wolves to be the Allied detachment for the Blood Angels and we agreed on 750pts for me and 1000pts for the Blood Angels. It was the very first game of 6th Edition for our opponent, so we were really just there for a bit of fun and a chance to roll some dice. Having been inspired by Embolden 40k and his post about Space Wolves as Allies, I went about making my detachment. I know the Blood Angels love to get up close and personal, usually deep striking in with Dante or some other nasty dude, so I told my buddy I would make a long range fire support list to back his Angels up...

Embolden suggested...

Rune Priest - Jaws, Living Lightening (or two new powers) - 100pts
Dreadnought - Autocannons x2 - 125pts
5 Grey Hunters - flamer - 75pts
Rhino - 35pts
5 Grey Hunters - flamer - 75pts
Razorback - Lascannon/Twin linked Plasma gun - 75pts
6 Long Fangs - 5 missile launchers - 140
Razorback - Lascannon/Twin linked Plasma gun - 75pts

It was pointed out in the comments section of his post, that a chooser marker for the Priest would be very useful and I think that was a good comment, so that was going to be my starting point. I then opted for a Plasma Gun and Mark of Wulven on the Hunters to go with the Priest in the Rhino and the Razorback would have another five Hunters, but this time with a Melta gun and Mark of Wulven, as I am not a fan of Flamers on these units.

Six Long Fangs would sport two more Lascannons and three Missiles Launchers backed up by another Razorback for the Fangs. I know there was a bit of a debate regarding the Long Fang Razorback not being worth the points, but I kinda like the idea myself. I will use the empty Razorback as mobile terrain for the Hunter vehicles and it adds another long shot to the list. I can see that it may not be worth the points in a full Space Wolves list, but I think it is perfect for the limited Force Organisation Chart that Allies brings.

Believe it or not, I don't actually own a Dreadnought, so the Dread is out of my list. That means for the last section of the list I have gone for a Lone Wolf in Terminator armour with a Storm shield, Frost Axe and Fenrisian Wolf. I thought the Lone Wolf would make a good distraction unit pushing forward whilst I wait for the Blood Angels to deep strike in.

Here is my final list...

The Wulvenkind Allied Detachment (750pts)

1 x Rune Priest/Lightning/Jaws/Chooser (110)

5 x Grey Hunters/Plasma Gun/Mark of Wulven (100)

1 x Rhino (35)

5 x Grey Hunters/Mark of wulven/Meltagun (90)

1 x Razorback/LasPlas (75)

6 x Long Fangs/2x Las/3x Missiles/Pack Leader (170)

1 x Razorback/LasPlas (75)

1 x Lone Wolf/Terminator/Shield/Frost Axe/Fenrisian Wolf (90)

750 pts

Now to turn up on the night and see what is in the Blood Angels list and who we are playing against? Battle report to follow...

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Real 13th Company Space Wolves - Initial List

Nick speaking,

I know it's been a while since I started to look at making a Real 13th Company army, but my three weeks holiday and Necron Codex release put a few delays on the project. So for those of you that missed my first post, you can check it out here if you wish. In the original post I go through the old 13th Co. units and compare them to the current Codex. I try to get a feel on how a new styled 13th Great Company army might look, and here is my progress so far...

There seems to be two main stand out options for a fluffy type, 13th Company army based around your initial first HQ choice. The first one, and the one I want to concentrate on in this post, is Logan Grimnar. I suppose you could say a sort of Loganwing list, but I want to make sure I keep it within the boundaries of 13th Company.  Logan unlocks Wolf Guard as troops, which if you take Logan, you SHOULD be doing. I think this alone puts you into the smaller elite category anyway, and seems to match a 13th Company themed army very well.

The second main HQ option would be a Wolf Lord, either on a Thunderwolf mount, or a bike. Join him to a unit of Thunderwolves or Wolf Guard bikers, take lots of Grey Hunters and back them up with Long Fangs and Scouts. One of the big things that 13th Company lose in the new Space Wolves Codex, is the army wide (except bikes) Scouts ability. With Logan making Guard a troops choice, that leaves me the Elites section free for Scouts, and just out of principle, my first Real 13th Co. list is going to have three Scout packs.

Three packs of Long Fangs are going to be mandatory, as that's my only Heavy support choice for these guy's anyway, so that leads me onto Troops. With some guidance from Purgatus and his Loganwing Troops post, I am going to start with his basic Troops choice and work my way from there as I progress. So that's the troops section sorted with multiple  packs of five Wolf Guard, one with Terminator armour and Cyclone Missile Launcher, and one with a Strom Bolter. With all that taken and a few Wolf Guard for the Scouts to give them a bit of extra clout, I can have five packs of Wolf Guard and just have enough points left over for some Fenrisians Wolves, to just sit in terrain and go to ground until the opportunity arises for them to be used...

1 x Logan Grimnar (275) 

5 x Wolf Scouts/Meltagun/1x Wolf Guard/Combi-Melta/Wolf Claw (123)

5 x Wolf Scouts/Meltagun/1x Wolf Guard/Wolf Claw (118) 
5 x Wolf Scouts/Meltagun/1x Wolf Guard/Combi-Melta (108)

5 x Wolf Guard Pack/1x Storm bolter/1x Terminator/Cyclone missile (138)
5 x Wolf Guard Pack/1x Storm bolter/1x Terminator/Cyclone missile (138) 
5 x Wolf Guard Pack/1x Storm bolter/1x Terminator/Cyclone missile (138) 
5 x Wolf Guard Pack/1x Storm bolter/1x Terminator/Cyclone missile (138) 
5 x Wolf Guard Pack/1x Storm bolter/1x Terminator/Cyclone missile (138)

5 x Long Fangs/4x Missile Launcher/1x Pack Leader (115)

5 x Long Fangs/4x Missile Launcher/1x Pack Leader (115) 
5 x Long Fangs/4x Missile Launcher/1x Pack Leader (115)

 

10 x Fenrisian Wolves/1x Cyberwolves (88)

1747

I have also been toying with the idea of adding a pack of five Wolf Guard Bikers and dropping two units of foot Guard, or maybe dropping one pack of foot Guard and one pack of Fangs, but I think I will have to see how this initial list goes first, and expand it from there. My first impression is that the list should do what Wolves do best, by having a lot of long ranged missiles, whilst keeping hold of midfield. The three packs of Scouts should put enough pressure on the board edges to help pull the army together!

Any thoughts, ideas and suggestions welcome.

Read more ...

Best Overall Space Wolves list!

Nick speaking,

I have had a lot of inspiration from many great Space Wolves related posts recently, my favourites being from, Best Overall, who is doing a great job with his Loganwing series, Kirby from 3++ with his fantastic armies in 5th Space Wolves posts, and of course, the Space Wolves Blog itself, with it's wealth of knowledge and advice that's in it's archives.

Long time readers will know of my Space Wolves progress, and how I have been playing around with the Wolves. With so much inspiration available, I have recently been working on a few lists including a couple of 'Real' 13th Company lists, a sort of Loganwing based one, and another Thunderwolf/Fenrisian Wolf based version. Another recent experiment was with an Arjac Drop Pod List, that was very interesting indeed, it performed well and was a lot of fun to play with, plus it wasn't a MSU based list, which was what I was trying to get away from! Having said that, a recent post called A Response to Stelek over on Best Overall, got me thinking about looking at a Mech list again...

At this moment in time I only have four Razors/Rhinos, so I wanted to come up with a list based around the above Response list, but working it down to 1750pts, as that is the points level I generally play at. Looking at my end list, I think I have got most of the original elements that were needed, and it does make good use of maxing out on the Elites, Fast and Heavy slots. I ended up putting a couple of Lascannon's in with the Long Fangs to make up for not having Las Razorbacks! Here is the list I came up with, what do you think?

HQ

1 x Rune Priest/Living Lightning/Tempest Wrath/Chooser of the Slain (110)

ELITES

5 x Wolf Scouts/Meltagun (85)

5 x Wolf Scouts/Meltagun (85)

6x Wolf Guard, 4x Combi-Melta/Power Fist (Grey Hunters) (172)
                        2x Combi-Melta/Wolf Claw (Scouts) (76)

TROOPS

8 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Wolf Standard/Rhino (170)

7 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Wolf Standard/Rhino (155)

7 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Wolf Standard/Rhino (155)

7 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Wolf Standard/Rhino (155)

FAST

1 x Land Speeder/Multi-Melta/Heavy Flamer (70)

1 x Land Speeder/Multi-Melta/Heavy Flamer (70)

1 x Land Speeder/Multi-Melta/Heavy Flamer (70)

HEAVY

5 x Long Fangs/3x Missile Launcher/1 Lascannon/Pack Leader (130)

5 x Long Fangs/3x Missile Launcher/1 Lascannon/Pack Leader (130)

5 x Long Fangs/4x Missile Launcher/Pack Leader (115)

Points 1748

Read more ...

Arjac Drop Pod List

Nick speaking,

After seeing a very exciting battle report over on Fritz's blog, where he is taking on a drop pod based Space Wolves army with his five Tervigon bug list (must get myself some more Tervies), it got me thinking about drop pods..

I don't currently own any drop pods, I did borrow a couple of my mates pods once when the Wolves Codex hit, but that ended in a disaster, when I scattered 12" of the table and rolled a one on the mishap chart! Since then I have stayed away from pods, not just because of the mishap, I have been tying to just use the models I already have.

My local gaming group of friends are pretty open minded, and I am sure that if I proxy a few reasonably sized plastic cups as pods, they wouldn't mind. They understand that before I make any commitment to buy loads of pods, I would like to experiment with them a bit first to see if I like the way the army works with them.

In the said Fritz's battle report, Fritz describes his opponents list as "The ‘Wolf list was interesting to say the least- two full long fang squads with a mix of las and missiles, three pods of Grey Hunters with Arjac, and two big thunderwolf units with wolf lords in each."

I don't know whether he meant a good or bad 'interesting', but during the report he did ask the question. "First group goes down pretty quick, Arjac’s group takes some wounds but turn out is really hard to kill since they pop off a wolf banner allowing them to re-roll misses and failed armor saves on a “1”. Space Wolf players, tell me why you aren’t playing this build?"

I suppose the obvious answer would be that you can get lots of other cool stuff for the points Arjac costs? After all, he is nearly the price of two Rune Priest right? Well, I have never played with Arjac or drop pods before, so I thought I would try and have a go with a list similar to this. Fritz's game was at 2000 pts, but my buddies and I play at 1750pts at the moment, so my first job would be to copy and adapt the list to that...

First up, I had to go with three drop pods so that I could have two coming in on turn one, and the third one coming in as a back up later in the game, I figured that the third pod would come in on objectives for objective based missions, and would join the other two pods up front if it was Annihilation. I also figured that the Grey Hunters in the pod would need to be at full strength to take any enemy shooting after they pod down and to take advantage of the 'free' extra melta gun. Ideally I would like Mark of Wulven etc in the unit, but to keep the points down I just went with the two melta's and a Wolf Standard in each.

If I was going to run with Arjac, I would have to include at least two more Wolf Guard, and the Combi-Melta/Powerfist would be my preferred choice. Heavy support would be two packs of Long Fangs with three missiles, one Lascannon and a pack leader in each. Not exactly maxed out, but I need to cut points somewhere.

That leaves me with 615pts for the two Thunderwolf packs! Fritz mentions 'two big Thunderwolves with a Wolf Lord in each', He doesn't say maxed out, and judging from the pictures, it looks like the 'big' units are just three strong in each. I worked out that if I only took one Lord with a TH/SS, I could afford two packs of three Thunderwolves.

Here is my final list... 

HQ

1 x Wolf Lord/Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield/Thunderwolf (205) 

ELITES

2 x Wolf Guard Pack/Combi-Melta/Power Fist (86)
1 x Arjac Rockfist (188)

TROOPS
3 x Drop Pods (105)
10 x Grey Hunters/2x Meltagun/1x Wolf Standard (165)
10 x Grey Hunters/2x Meltagun/1x Wolf Standard (165)
10 x Grey Hunters/2x Meltagun/1x Wolf Standard (165)

FAST          

3 x Thunderwolf Cavalry/1x Storm Shield/1x Power Fist (205)
3 x Thunderwolf Cavalry/1x Storm Shield/1x Power Fist (205)

HEAVY

5 x Long Fangs/3x Missile Launcher/1x Lascannon/1 x Pack Leader (130)
5 x Long Fangs/3x Missile Launcher/1x Lascannon/1 x Pack Leader (130)

Points 1749

The Long Fangs do their usual, the Thunderwolves charge forward and the Grey Hunters pod in with Arjac. The third pod is the back up pod, depending on the mission! Battle reports and findings to follow... 

EDIT: 

Thanks to Vladimir Valchev (AKA Skarvald the Troll-faced from Wolves for the Wolf God) for pointing out that the final list above is illegal, lol. So yes, you can only have ten men in a Drop Pod, and of course Arjac will count as two as he is in Terminator armour! He has suggested that I remove a few of the illegal Grey Hunters, which sadly means one meltagun, and use the points to max out the Fangs with another missile in each pack. That leaves ten points for a Tooth Necklace for the Lord, allowing him to hit vehicles on a 3+ even if they have moved at full speed, which I have to be honest, is something I hadn't really thought about before. 

So thanks again Vladimir, and I think I will use his suggestions, as they all seem to make sense. Here is my new final list...

HQ

1 x Wolf Lord/Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield/Tooth Necklace/Thunderwolf (215) 

ELITES

2 x Wolf Guard Pack/Combi-Melta/Power Fist (86)
1 x Arjac Rockfist (188)

TROOPS
3 x Drop Pods (105)
9 x Grey Hunters/1x Meltagun/1x Wolf Standard (150)
9 x Grey Hunters/1x Meltagun/1x Wolf Standard (150)
8 x Grey Hunters/1x Meltagun/1x Wolf Standard (135)

FAST          

3 x Thunderwolf Cavalry/1x Storm Shield/1x Power Fist (205)
3 x Thunderwolf Cavalry/1x Storm Shield/1x Power Fist (205)

HEAVY

6 x Long Fangs/4x Missile Launcher/1x Lascannon/1 x Pack Leader (155)
6 x Long Fangs/4x Missile Launcher/1x Lascannon/1 x Pack Leader (155)

Points 1749

Read more ...

Biker list update

Nick speaking,

Continuing on with my Swiftclaw Biker list which was totally based around getting my bikes on the tabletop, it is now time for a few final tweaks to the list. After playing a game with the original list and illegally having Saga of the Hunter on the Bike Wolf Priest, I found myself with few extra points to play around with.

The original list was based around my Wolf Lord model that is holding a frost blade, but it quickly came clear to me after getting my bike unit locked in combat with an armour thirteen dreadnought, this was a mistake. During the game I was thinking I need some Melta bombs in the unit, but in reality and now with a few extra points, it has to be a Thunder Hammer!

One of my other bike dudes is holding a flamer as I originally modelling him up with it, but I think 100% he would be better off with a Melta Gun. So in the end I chose the Melta Gun/Thunder Hammer Combo instead of Melta bombs for the unit.

Now my Swiftclaw Biker List looks like this...

HQ

1 x Wolf Lord/Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield/Runic Armour/Bike (215) 
1 x Wolf Priest/Runic Armour/Wolf Tail/Bike (160)

ELITES

5 x Wolf Scouts/Mark of Wulven/Meltagun/Melta Bomb (105)
5x Wolf Guard:
3 x Wolf Guard/Combi-Melta/Power Fist (129) 
1 x Wolf Guard/Terminator Armour/Cyclone missile launcher (63)
1 x Wolf Guard/Power Fist/Storm Shield/Bike (98)  

TROOPS

8 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Mark of Wulven/Power Weapon/Wolf Standard (200)
8 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Mark of Wulven/Power Weapon/Wolf Standard (200)
8 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Mark of Wulven/Wolf Standard (185)
5 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Razorback/Twin Las (155)

FAST

4 x Swiftclaw Bikers/Melta Gun/Power Weapon (125) 

HEAVY

5 x Long Fangs/4 x Missiles/Pack Leader (115)

Points 1750

Hopefully now I won't get the unit bogged down with some pesky Dread in the future, or if I do at least I will have a chance to wound the thing! 

Read more ...

Swiftclaw Biker Army Ideas!

Nick speaking,

Since posting about my Space Wolves, Eye of Terror bikes, I have been working on a way to start to get them back on the table. I have seven bikes in total including models with a power fist, Mark of Wulven, flamer and a Wolf Lord. My initial thoughts were to have a small sized unit to just support my Thunderwolves, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to give the bikers centre of attention!

I needed to work with the models I had, so first up was the Wolf Lord, mine has a frost blade, so I ran with that, adding in a storm shield and runic armour to boot. I always knew that I would need the Wolf Priest in the unit so that was an easy second HQ. My Mark of Wulven biker could easily stand in for a Wolf Priest, and armed with runic armour, wolf tail and saga of the hunter, he will be a great boost to the unit giving me preferred enemy, stealth and the ability to flank if needed. So that's two re-roll to hit power weapons, two 2+ saves, a 3++ and a 4++ save with a unit wide 3/2+ cover save that can outflank!

Previously I have been playing with minimum Grey Hunter Razorbacks, with Thunderwolves as the main action units, and that's arguable the best way to go, but I have found that I have not really been having that much fun with this type of list, Thunderwolves are great, but it was now time to get those Grey Hunters out and fighting.

Knowing that I wanted some hard hitting troops, meant that I was going to need some Wolf Guards for the Grey Hunters, and this leads me onto my next Biker model, a Wolf Guard with Power Fist to join the four Swiftclaw Bikers I have left, with another Power weapon and a flamer guy.

Three Rhino's with eight kitted out Grey Hunters and a Wolf Guard with a combi-melta and power fist would head up the attack with the Swiftclaw unit. Next, was a Wolf Guard in terminator armour and a cyclone missile launcher, to join a unit of missile Long Fangs. He would help pop vehicles, taking wounds, and may do something if the Fangs get assaulted.

I did think about having more than one unit of Long Fangs, but in the end I spent the last few points, on a small Scout squad and five Grey Hunters in a Razorback. The general idea of the list is to move the Rhino's and Bike unit as quickly as possible straight at the enemy, using turbo boosting, smoke and cover to keep it all up until it gets there. Long fangs and Razorback sit back and pop what they can, whilst holding any home objectives. Lastly with the Scout pack having a good chance of coming in on the rear board edge, for distraction.

Here is my final list, and like I said, this list was all about getting my bikers on the table, so please let me know what you think?

HQ

1 x Wolf Lord/Frost Blade/Storm Shield/Runic Armour/Bike (210) 
1 x Wolf Priest/Runic Armour/Wolf Tail/Hunter/Bike (170)

ELITES

5 x Wolf Scouts/Mark of Wulven/Meltagun/Melta Bomb (105)
5x Wolf Guard:
3 x Wolf Guard/Combi-Melta/Power Fist (129) 
1 x Wolf Guard/Terminator Armour/Cyclone missile launcher (63)
1 x Wolf Guard/Power Fist/Storm Shield/Bike (98)  

TROOPS

8 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Mark of Wulven/Power Weapon/Wolf Standard (200)
8 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Mark of Wulven/Power Weapon/Wolf Standard (200)
8 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Mark of Wulven/Wolf Standard (185)
5 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Razorback/Twin Las (155)

FAST

4 x Swiftclaw Bikers/Flamer/Power Weapon (120) 

HEAVY

5 x Long Fangs/4 x Missiles/Pack Leader (115)

Points 1750
 

Read more ...

Space Wolves Fear Factor

Nick speaking,

I recently got together with a few mates of mine for a small four way all against all game. We had 750 points each and I took a unit of Thunderwolves with some long fangs, two Grey Hunter Razorback units and a Rune Priest. I was up against Orks, Daemons and IG. We played a mission with one moving objective and random player turns. It was a fun game that ended with my Thunderwolves contesting the objective.

Being the only Space Wolves playing in my gaming group, this four way game started to make it very clear to me, just how much of a 'fear factor' the Thunderwolves have. I took a lot of pounding from the IG and the orks stayed away from me as much as possible. I even got a Bloodthirster and Keeper of Secrets change direction to come after them, only to fail with both in the assault.

Now to start capitalising on that fear factor, and make a solid Thunderwolf list to play. First up is to have two Thunderwolf units with IC attached, with a large amount of Long Fang crack for support. Throw in a few units of Grey Hunters to take objectives and we are nearly there...

1 x Wolf Lord/Thunderwolf/Frost Blade/Storm Shield/Runic Armour/Warrior Born/1x Wolf

4 x Thunderwolf Cavalry/1x Storm Shield/1x Pistol/1x Boltgun/1x Storm Shield/Melta Bombs

(530)  

1 x Wolf Guard Battle Leader/Thunderwolf/Power Weapon/Storm Shield/1x Wolf

4 x Thunderwolf Cavalry/1x Storm Shield/1x Pistol/1x Boltgun/1x Frost Blade/Storm Shield

(455)  

5 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Razorback Las-Plas 

5 x Grey Hunters/ Razorback Las-Plas 

5 x Grey Hunters/Meltagun/Rhino

(420) 

5 x Long Fangs/4 x Missile Launchers/1 x Pack Leader

5 x Long Fangs/4 x Missile Launchers/1 x Pack Leader 

5 x Long Fangs/4 x Missile Launchers/1 x Pack Leader

(345)  

  

1750pts

I had to put one of the units of Grey Hunters in a Rhino to save some points, but that's OK as I will keep the Rhino in reserve to come on later in the game as it has no long range guns to sit with the Razorbacks.

So what do you think? Any suggestions for improvement?

Read more ...

How many Razorbacks, how much Fun?

Nick speaking,

So I have built three Razorbacks at the moment for my 2011 Space Wolves project, but how many Razors do I need to make? In my gaming circle we mainly play 1750 points, and I figured that if I did want to go with a full Razorspam list, I would need nine Razorbacks?

This is the type of list I have been working on...

1 x Rune Priest

Living Lightening/Jaws of the world wolf (100)

5 x Grey Hunters - Power Weapon/Meltagun

1 x Razorback - Las/Plas (170)

5 x Grey Hunters - Power Weapon/Meltagun

1 x Razorback - Las/Plas (170)

5 x Grey Hunters - Power Weapon/Meltagun

1 x Razorback - Las/Plas (170)

5 x Grey Hunters - Power Weapon

1 x Razorback - Las/Plas (165)

5 x Grey Hunters - Power Weapon

1 x Razorback - Las/Plas (165)

5 x Grey Hunters - Power Weapon

1 x Razorback - Las/Plas (165)

6 x Long Fangs - 5x Missile Launchers/Pack Leader

1 x Razorback - Las/Plas (215)

6 x Long Fangs - 5x Missile Launchers/Pack Leader

1 x Razorback - Las/Plas (215)

6 x Long Fangs - 5x Missile Launchers/Pack Leader

1 x Razorback - Las/Plas (215)

1750 Points

With fifteen split fire missiles, nine lascannons and six troops in transports, this is the sort of list, along with the Thunderwolf version, that seems to be the "auto win" lists unlocked from the Space Wolves Codex, but does it have the fun factor?

Is a copy and paste Razorspam list really the way to go? After all I don't want to just win, I want to have fun at the same time?

Read more ...

Space Wolves Madness - Bjorn and the Trickster!

Nick speaking,

I know it's been a while since my fellow blogger Fritz 40k posted his Space Wolves Madness! post, but this post did stick in my mind, and now that I am getting my Space Wolves army up together, it was time to revisit his question....

"Why aren’t you guys playing Bjorn and Lukas the Trickster?"

If you don't want to click the link above, this is what Fritz's had to say...

"Here is what I’m thinking and seeing with the two…

Wolves like to get up close and go to town. While the army can have the full complement of ranged support, the codex encourages in your face play, as it should, for Russ’ sake being Space Wolves and all. However, the meta game of 40K as always conflicts with the fluff in the codexes. Your space barbarian horde is not going to arrive intact on the other side of the table unless you have a way to crack open transports on the way in so your hunters and claws can assault the heck out of them.

Bjorn with a las cannon fits in perfectly- twin linked 2+, AV 13, and a 5+ invul save alone is worth the price of admission. Put him in cover and plink away, and then when your opponent closes counter attack with his dreadnought close combat arm, insane attacks and AV 13/5+ invul save.

Oh, and on top of that uberness you get to re-roll to see who goes first. Now, it is a self serving question, but I fully know why most ‘wolf players (any?) don’t take him. They look at the points and say that he will never make them back before he dies. Guys, stop thinking of 40K as a war game about killing models! Look at what Bjorn can do outside of killy! He can auto-create a freaking objective marker! And in a game where two of the three standard missions, and even at tournaments, that is HUGE. I don’t want to give everything away, but consider this…

Capture and Control mission. Your objective on one side, your opponent’s on the other. Break it down real simple- you are going to send out X units to take/contest your opponent’s and they are going to try and do the same to you. The actual mechanics of how you are going to do this doesn’t matter- skimmers, infiltrators, brick in the face, etc.

Well, what if you just camped everything on your objective- your entire army defending against the percent that your opponent has decided to send out to capture/contest your objective. I personally like those odds! My entire army vs. a smaller portion of my opponent’s. Well, with Bjorn in the mix, and getting him killed by turn four, when he “dies” he becomes an objective. Now I have two on my side, (Bjorn is chilling in my back ranks and plinking away with the las cannon) that I’m camping on- how can you really loose? Seize ground gets even sillier. How are Space Wolf players not abusing this? How has GW not FAQ’ed it?

Lukas the Trickster.

I’m playing this guy just so I can say “You just got punked by the Trickster!” to my gaming friend. With everything else being at a super reduced point cost in the codex- Grey Hunters, Razorbacks, etc. the Trickster upgrade is nothing. Take the Trickster and put him in a small squad of claws and ram him right into your opponent’s uber unit and watch him get killed. Then it is a dice off to make those base to base units go poof. A dice off none the less, but I like those odds, and the fact that an aware opponent caught up in mix/max point values will be running his uber point cost unit away from the Trickster afraid of what could be."

So as I am still working on my Space Wolves ideas, I thought I would give both Bjorn and Lukas a go and see what sort of list I could come up with. Please bear in mind that I only have three Razorbacks and one Rhino to work with currently, and I have had to base it around that...

This is the list as it stands at the moment:

1 x Wolf Lord/Frost Blade/Storm Shield/Runic Armour/Warrior Born/Thunderwolf

2x Fenrisian Wolves

(275)

4 x Thunderwolf Cavalry

1x Pistol

1x Storm Shield/1x Pistol

1x Boltgun

1x Storm Shield/Frost Blade

(285)

1 x Bjorn/Lascannon

(290)

5 x Blood Claws

1 x Lukas the Trickster

1 x Rhino/Extra Armour

(280)

5 x Grey Hunters/Power Weapon/Meltagun

1 x Razorback/Las-Twin Plasma

(170)

5 x Grey Hunters/Power Weapon/Meltagun

1 x Razorback/Las-Twin Plasma

(170)

5 x Grey Hunters/Power Weapon

1 x Razorback/Las-Twin Plasma

(165)

5 x Long Fangs/4x Missile Launcher/1x Pack Leader

(115)

Points 1750

The basic concept (capture and control/seize ground) would be to lay down the Las/Missiles whilst potentially sending out the Lord, Calvary and Lukas Rhino to make it look as if I am attacking/moving out for objectives. They will be my main distraction units, with some fun from Lukas and his last laugh, who knows they may even end up contesting if still alive as well. I will then make Bjorn and his Lascannon a threat to try and get him killed for the extra objective on my side, mid game. Ignoring my opponents objective, Grey Hunters stay inside the Razors using chaining, terrain, smoke, and parking lot to stay up best as poss, waiting to grab/contest!

I originally wanted to get a unit of Scouts in there as well, but to get them in would mean a reduction in points on the Thunderworf unit somehow? In the end, even though I know the power of the Scout unit, I figured that if I am not actually making a real play towards my opponents objective, the scouts could be a waste of points anyway?

So what do you think?

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Thunderwolf Disaster

Nick speaking,

I have gradually been working towards playing a bit more with my Space Wolves 13th Company. Having got over the disappointment of losing my Eye of Terror Codex, I have started to experiment with the new Codex. Of course a few stand in models have been needed, and my Wulven models have been relegated to proxy Thunderwolfs.

This is my current 1750 point list:

1x Logan

1x Rune Priest (Lightening/Jaws)

5x Wolf Guard Termies (1x Cyclone)

5x Wolf Guard Termies (1x Cyclone)

5x Thunderwolf (tricked out for wound allocation)

5x Thunderwolf (tricked out for wound allocation)

5x Thunderwolf (tricked out for wound allocation)

1x Predator

So I turn up at my buddies house for a show down and get ready for a blood bath against his Orks!

The result is not nice!!

Will I have better luck next time, or do I need a better list?

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