Warhammer 40K Tabletop XV: "More People Should Be Punched In The Head."

[Squark]

So...

Squark's Space Wolves Newbie Review Part 2: Elites, Troops, and Dedicated Transports

Just to be clear, this is a rough draft. In particular, I'm not happy with the relatively bland parts on vehicles. If anyone has ANY comments, corrections, or criticisms, I welcome them.

Elites

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Wolf Guard Let me just say this now. I really, really like Wolf Guard. Why? Because one unit can do so many things. When you first at the Wolf Guard's spot in your army list, the first thing you'll notice is the sheer amount of options they have; Wolf Guard alone take up an entire page in the army list. Really, wolf guard have a couple of uses;
1) Pack Leaders: Just before the game begins, you can take one wolf guard and separate him from the squad, and make him lead a squad of Blood Claws, Grey Hunters, Swiftclaw Bikers, Wolf Scouts, or Long fangs (Bizarrely, you can't lead skyclaws). This is why Space Wolves packs don't come with Sergeants like other armies do; You take them all as an elites choice instead. Now, because Wolf Guard are actually an elites choice, this opens up a lot of options that regular sergeants don't have. You want to have your Grey Hunters lead by a Chainfist wielding, storm shield bearing terminator armed with a Cyclone Missile Launcher? Go right ahead. Personally, Powerfist+Combi-melta is my favorite all-purpose squad leader wolf guard setup. Combi-flamers can provide some useful anti-horde measures as well. The important thing here is to identify what a squad is going to be doing, and tailor their wolf guard to compliment that. And just to be clear; If the rest of their pack is dead, the squad leader is still a scoring unit, so that's a plus. The only unit type that they can join that doesn't get a whole lot better with them in it is a pack of Long Fangs. All a Wolf Guard does in a Long Fangs squad is take bullets before someone more valuable.
2) Terminators: A Wolf Guard in terminator armor comes with a power weapon and a storm bolt, and costs 33 pts. That's incredibly cheep as far as terminators go. Basically, Wolf Guard terminators are the Swiss army knife of terminators; You can basically tool them out to do whatever you want. Now, remember when I said using Logan Grimnar to run a Deathwing style Terminators as troops list wouldn't work? Here's why; For starters, Logan is a lot more expensive than Belial. But so are fully geared wolf guard terminators. 5 Deathwing terminators all armed with storm shields and thunderhammers plus a cyclone missile launcher is 235 pts. 5 Wolf Guard pretending to be members of the Dark angels 1st company with that same loadout will cost you 345 pts. I think that safely illustrates why that doesn't work. This isn't to say Wolf Guard Terminators are bad, by any means. 2+ armor saves are always good. But you're not going to spam them.
3) Crazy Shenanigans: Let's be clear, what follows is not a good idea. But if you've ever wanted to field a squad of super bikers, Wolf Guard can do that. Jump Infantry all armed with power fists and Combi-meltas? You should really consider Blood Angels, but Wolf Guard can do that. Wolf Guard can do a lot of really silly things, wargear wise. This isn't a good idea, but if you still want to go ahead with this kind of thing, more power to you.
--Arjac Rockfist

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For 188 points, you can add this guy to your squad of wolf guard. And boy is he worth it. Do a quick comparison to a battle leader for me, will you? That's right, he is actually CHEAPER than a battle leader armed the same way. And he has a higher strength, special upgrades to his hammer and shield, and preferred enemy (Independent Characters and Monstrous Creatures). He is exactly as good as he sounds. IF he were an HQ choice, he'd be downright broken. As he is, he's still fantastic. Just remember, he doesn't actually give his squad stubborn since he isn't an independent character. Also, since he isn't an independant character, he can use the other people in his squad as ablative wounds.

Dreadnaught: Dreadnaughts are essentially mobile fire platforms. The stock space wolves dreadnaught comes with an Assault cannon, which is pretty good. In general, Dreadnaughts do pretty much what long fangs do, but in a slot that has a lot more competition. So, if you're taking dreadnaughts, you want them doing something Long Fangs can't. A pair of heavy flamers or twin-linked autocannons seem to be the standout for that role, although Plasma cannons are useful because you won't blow yourself up from Gets Hot! like Long Fangs would.
Venerable Dreadnaught: For 60 more points than a dreadnaught, you get an extra point of WS and BS, the ability to take a saga of majesty, and you can make your opponent reroll on the vehicle damage table if they rolled a result you don't like. Is this worth it? No, not really.
Iron Priests: Right, umm... okay... Iron Priests are kind of weird. They can repair vehicles, take a variety of strange companions, and... well, just in general be weird. One possible use is to use them as a mini-thunderwolf cavalry and have them fight alongside 4 Cyberwolves, but you're going to have to do some conversions for that. You can also try sticking him inside a landraider with all his entourage... But that involves taking land raiders in the first place. Tends to be forgotten about with all the other options available.
Wolf Scouts pack:Most other space marine chapters make the newbies do the scouting. Lehman Russ took one look at the Blood Claws and said, "Not happening." So, Space Wolves use more experienced warriors as Scouts instead. As a result, you have pretty much the same statline as normal marines apart form the 4+ save. What really makes these guys attractive, though, is behind enemy lines. Ordinarily, units that are outflanking have a one in three chance of coming up on the wrong side of the board. Space Wolves scouts, on the other hand, have only a one in six change of coming up on the wrong side of the table, or they can choose to come onto the board from your edge or your opponent's edge on a 3+. These guys, with a good bit of close combat wargear, will put the fear of the emperor in gunline armies before they even step onto the battlefield. With a meltagun and a Powerfist&Combi-melta Wolf Guard coming with them, they'll terrify most tanks in a gunline, too. In general, Space Wolves scouts tend to either be totally amazing, or blow it completely.
Lone Wolf: Since Space Wolves don't reinforce their packs with fresh warriors if the pack takes casualties, it follows that eventually, some packs are going to be reduced to a single member. These are lone wolves, and they have sworn to avenge their packmates deaths, or die trying. And in all probability, they're going to do just that. Lone Wolves are a kamikaze unit pure and simple. In fact, they don't even give up a kill point if they die; they do that if they survive, instead. With just about every possible survivability upgrade you could want, they can do a pretty good impression of a distraction carnifex (That is, something big and scary that can soak up way more firepower than it's points cost would merit). There are three philosophies on Lone wolves;
1) Don't take them: With mechanized Space Wolves, a lone footslogger is a very tempting target for all that useless anti-infantry weaponry your opponent has, which means units that were otherwise not doing anything turn 1 now have a target to shoot.
2) Cheep Deathseaker: Give him mark of the wulfen and 2 ferisian wolves to accompany him to the slaughter house (despite their name, Lone Wolves are free to take 2 fenrisian wolves for bullet sponge purposes, and you definitely need them), and throw him at the nearest group of infantry in the hopes he kills enough models to justify his 55 points.
3) Tank hunter: Terminator Armor, Thundershield, Chainfist, and 2 meatshields Fenrisian wolves. Throw him at the highest value target, and watch him turn it into a smoking wreck. With the thundershield, terminator armor, eternal warrior, and feel no pain, he's going to take a lot of firepower to put down, but he will still most likely bite it. And if he doesn't, hey! He's more than earned a promotion to wolf guard with all the tanks he killed, so it's all good.

Troops

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Grey Hunters: Grey Hunters are amazing. They are what Tactical squads wish they were. With boltguns, you're a decent anti-infantry squad, and you've got 3 attacks on the charge (or with Counter attack, when you are charged). Most of their wargear is dedicated to making them better in assault, and footslogging squads will probably want at least some of it (Protip: Save points on the powerfist and give it to the wolf guard battle leader instead!). They also do a good job riding around in a rhino or razorback with meltaguns. Just remember that since most Space Wolves vehicles can only carry 10 people, you have to choose between a wolf guard or the 10th guy and his free special weapon.
Blood Claws: Imagine a teenager who thinks he's immortal. Now, have a being he's been told is a god come and rescue him from near death and make him into a being like said "god". That's what a blood claw is, and they're just as reckless as you'd think. With Grey Hunters or Wolf Scouts, you want a Wolf Guard leading them. But with Blood claws and their variants, you need a Wolf Guard or Independent Character Babysitting them. To make these guys work, you're going to need a delivery system, and your only choice is the Land Raider. So you're talking an awful lot of points here. On the plus side, these guys feel like they were custom built for riding in a Land Raider Crusader with a Wolf Priest leading them. Wolf Priests in general work well with these guys; WS 3 is a lot less important when there's 15 of you and you have preffered enemy and Fearless means you're not going to turn tail and run if you take casualties to bolter fire.
--Lukas the Trickester

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Blood Claws upgrade. He has mediocre gear, and permanently locks you at LD 8. Pelt of the Doppegangrel (For some reason, I always picture this as a chameleonic buny). He's likely to be the last of his squad to survive, and he stands a good chance of taking his killer with him once that's happened. IF he manages to take a Titan (Yes, this totally works. I want to see him take an Eldar Phantom down this way. It will be hilarious. 4 foot tall resin monstrosity doomed to spend eternity trapped in a time bubble with 1 guy trapped underneath it's boot having a giggle fit), Dreadnaught, or a Monstrous Creature with him, that's amazing. If he takes a guardsman or a Necron Warrior, though, that's much less awesome. Especially because said Necron warrior will still be able to reanimate.

Dedicated Transports

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Rhino:The humble rhino is a cheep way for your grey hunters to get from point a to point b. Since it has two fire points, your grey hunters can fire a pair of meltaguns or plasma guns out of them. The upgrades aren't really worth it, in my opinion. Rhinos are good because their cheap, and upgrading them makes them... not cheap.
Razorback: Minimum sized grey hunters and Long Fangs will prefer the Razorback to the rhino for their transportation needs. While you don't have fire points, a twin-linked plasmagun and a lascannon can more then make up for it. Since it's a bit more of an investment, some upgrades may be merited, but still, a "plaserback," as they're often called, is pretty solid on its own.
Drop Pod:Many space marines players are of the opinion that every space marines army should have at least one drop pod in it, and I'm one of them. Drop pods are a great way to get Dreadnaughts, Wolf Guard Terminators, Assault focused Grey Hunters, and Multi-melta Long* fangs right into the thick of things. Just remember two things; 1) Drop pods are an extra kill point, so expect them to get wrecked fast in kill points games. Since they run the risk of exploding more often since they're open topped, you should probably vacate the drop area quickly. 2) Deathwind missile launchers are a trap. You're more likely to shoot your own squad with them than you are to do something meaningful. PROTIP: Odd numbers of drop pods allow you to maximize the number of pods coming in on turn 1!
*Mutli-melta Long Fangs... That's a specific beast I'll cover in the Long Fangs section