Space Wolf advice needed

[Threejacks]

So I`ve been running my Wolves as an Ally to my AM army and its been OK,but I`m looking for a fresh take.One of my main problems with this army mix is the builds that I work up seem to just have to high a model count and leave me taking way too long to play games with.

 

Being an Ork player,I really like the assault army possibilities in the SW dex,especially the TWC.I also see that a marine army has a lower model count and is probably easier for me to keep up with in the way of time spent per game turn

 

Im starting to plan a straight SW force,well ill probably use the IK im finishing up now as my second detatchement but mainly im thinking of doing an assault based army using TWC,Troops in boxes or Stormwolves or maybe pods.

 

Currently I have a bit of everthing,with a TWC mounted Herald Deathwolf,box of TWC and even box of wolves(to add to the leader).A Pod,Rhino/Razor,Bjorn(dude rocks)Ven dred w/SS/FGA,Murderfang,Bloodclaws,Stormwolf/Stormfang.Grey hunters and the Terminators from the Stormclaw box.

 

Not quite sure which direction to head is most effective right now though.I like pod armies but with wolves having counterattack army wide,im not sure that's the best route.Im also a big fan of Objsec so I want at least 4 units(2 troop,2 transports) to start with.

 

So whats working with Wolf armies now?

[WestRider]

I love my Drop Wolves. CounterAttack is actually great on the drop, because you can come in places where a Tac Squad would get Charged and wiped off the board, and actually put up a serious fight. Being able to take double Specials in bigger Packs and Terminator Pack Leaders in smaller ones are also both really cool options in Drop Wolves.

 

Void Claws are pretty cool to have here, since they're one more Unit dropping Turn 1, and they give you Reserves Control. I usually take Arjac Rockfist in there, going back and forth on whether or not it's worth including a Cyclone. I'm also looking at playing around with are Allying in something with a Locator Beacon (probably Scout Bikers, since they start on the board)

 

TWC-centric Assault Armies are also pretty popular. I have less experience with them, but from what I have done with them, you need to go pretty heavy into this approach. Either several small Packs plus a couple of characters, or go with the Company of the Great Wolf Detachment and just take a ton of Characters on TW Mounts. Storm Shields are the basic upgrade for most of them, along with a few Wolf Claws and a scattering of Fists/Hammers. It also seems pretty common to fiddle around with the numbers of models in Runic Armour, Power Armour, FenWolves, and CyberWolves to maintain majority T5 and majority Sv6+ for protection against both regular fire and Grav.

[pretre]

A nice blob of TWC is a good, fun addition to any army.

 

Alternatively, a couple obsec drop pods can help a lot.

[pretre]

Also keep in mind a couple TWC characters can sit in a guard blob and use it as a base of attack.

[pretre]

Other things: special weapon squads in drop pods are hilarious. Wolf priests have preferred enemy which transfers to their squad.

[WestRider]

Other things: special weapon squads in drop pods are hilarious. Wolf priests have preferred enemy which transfers to their squad.

Ooh, man, I'm gonna have to try that out. I never thought of adding in a Wolf Priest. Maybe even go all the way to a CCS for a fourth Special and BS4.

[Threejacks]

I assume by Void claws you are referring to the unit formation from Champs of Fenris?,,,if so yeah I was checking that out.For the price they seem like a pretty good deal with the benefits of coming in turn one AND giving rerolls to reserves as long as the unit is alive,that seems pretty huge for a unit that can rip faces off and starting the game IN the face.You mentioned Arjac being added to the unit,,I thought formations had to be taken on their own with no additional models added to them?..or are you speaking of adding Arjac on his own after the game starts?.

[pretre]

Ooh, man, I'm gonna have to try that out. I never thought of adding in a Wolf Priest. Maybe even go all the way to a CCS for a fourth Special and BS4.

Yeah, you can get fnp6, PE, fearless, etc on a big blob for the price of a priest.

[WestRider]

I assume by Void claws you are referring to the unit formation from Champs of Fenris?,,,if so yeah I was checking that out.For the price they seem like a pretty good deal with the benefits of coming in turn one AND giving rerolls to reserves as long as the unit is alive,that seems pretty huge for a unit that can rip faces off and starting the game IN the face.You mentioned Arjac being added to the unit,,I thought formations had to be taken on their own with no additional models added to them?..or are you speaking of adding Arjac on his own after the game starts?.

Arjac is an IC, so he can Join them freely. Formations can't have any other Models/Units in their Detachment, but you can Join other Characters and do stuff like that according to the Allies Matrix.

 

Yeah, you can get fnp6, PE, fearless, etc on a big blob for the price of a priest.

Verdammt! I totally forgot about the 6+FNP this afternoon. That could well have been a 3-4 Point swing in the final score if I'd remembered it :P

[pretre]

Ulrik gives more too. Monster hunter can be nice.

[WestRider]

Yeah, it was Ulrik. And oh yeah, I remembered Monster Hunter. That's not the kind of thing you forget with two Bloodthirsters on the table. The 6+FNP, tho, just slips right out of my mind.

[Threejacks]

Arjac is an IC, so he can Join them freely. Formations can't have any other Models/Units in their Detachment, but you can Join other Characters and do stuff like that according to the Allies Matrix.

 

Verdammt! I totally forgot about the 6+FNP this afternoon. That could well have been a 3-4 Point swing in the final score if I'd remembered it :P

 

Im still not 100% up on how and what when it comes to formations so sorry for what may be a stupid question but if im reading you correctly,you are saying that I can add in a character to a unit formation and have them start the game grouped up with them?,im assuming that I would need to provide the character from another detatchement or formation of course?...

 

Which brings me to the next question in this case...Arjac is one of those characters that doesn't take up a force org slot if hes taken in a detatchement that includes WG or WGT so I assume that in this case that will not apply as I cant take that unit formation with anything more than whats listed,and Arjac would have to come from another Detatchment/Formation and would only be a free slot if that source had WG or WGT`s in it?

[Threejacks]

Oh and I considered doing the special weapons team thing as it seemed pretty cheap,was actually gonna try a couple of Meltas and a Demo Charge...relive the glory days of Sgt Marbo in a way,hehe.But I always come back to that fact that such a small squad will pretty much be dead after their first turn drop with no leadership and small numbers,

 

The Wolf Priest/Blob thing sounds really fun though and very Tarpitish!

[WestRider]

Im still not 100% up on how and what when it comes to formations so sorry for what may be a stupid question but if im reading you correctly,you are saying that I can add in a character to a unit formation and have them start the game grouped up with them?,im assuming that I would need to provide the character from another detatchement or formation of course?...

 

Which brings me to the next question in this case...Arjac is one of those characters that doesn't take up a force org slot if hes taken in a detatchement that includes WG or WGT so I assume that in this case that will not apply as I cant take that unit formation with anything more than whats listed,and Arjac would have to come from another Detatchment/Formation and would only be a free slot if that source had WG or WGT`s in it?

A Formation is just a Detachment with stricter limits on which Models/Units can be purchased as part of it. Those restrictions are purely part of the Army List writing process. Once you're into a given Game, it's just another Detachment, unless there's some very specific restriction. Grimnar's War Council, for instance, says that if you field them as a single Unit, they can only be Joined by Arjac Rockfist or Logan Grimnar. The Void Claws have no such explicit restrictions, altho they do have a de facto restriction in that they're required to start the Game in Deep Strike Reserve, so only ICs who can Deep Strike can Join them during Deployment. Arjac can Join them during Deployment, but Ragnar Blackmane wouldn't be able to, because he can't Deep Strike on his own.

 

Your second bit is correct. There's no provision to take Arjac as part of the Void Claw Detachment, so he has to come from another Detachment. He will take up an Elites Slot in that other Detachment unless that Detachment also contains a Unit of WG or WGT. In the first version of my Drop List, for instance, the only Elites in my CAD were Arjac and Murderfang, so they used up two of my three available Elites slots. When I add in a Wolf Guard Pack with Combi-Weapons, they take up a slot, but Arjac then becomes slotless, so I would still have one available.

[WestRider]

Oh and I considered doing the special weapons team thing as it seemed pretty cheap,was actually gonna try a couple of Meltas and a Demo Charge...relive the glory days of Sgt Marbo in a way,hehe.But I always come back to that fact that such a small squad will pretty much be dead after their first turn drop with no leadership and small numbers,

 

The Wolf Priest/Blob thing sounds really fun though and very Tarpitish!

Eh. Marbo was 65 Points, IIRC, and he pretty much always died right after he popped up in my experience, and I think a SWS with three Meltas comes in at about that, so it's pretty much the same, except that you've also dropped a Pod that can clog up movement lanes, maybe control/contest an Objective, or whatever.

 

And if you're dropping that SWS with a Wolf Priest in the Pod with them, and some Void Claws and a couple of Pods full of Grey Hunters alongside, the SWS suddenly starts drawing a lot less attention and firepower, and is significantly more able to deal with what does get thrown at it.

[pretre]

Yeah, definitely want a variety of threats.

[Ser Warwick]

I'm no veteran Wolf Lord by any means but I also liked the viability of SW assault and went in that direction with my company. I'll put my vote in for TWC; they have a job and they do it well. I think they are solid enough without weapon upgrades, but a few shields are essential for the frontline to hold, rending spills blood on a budget. The TWLord when fully kitted sows much death, and need only worry about s10 or ID to not make points back.

 

While a little points heavy the Arjac's shieldbrothers formation seems to be one of the better ways to use WGT, the toughness buff being free. I can also vouch for the versatility of GH drop pods. Especially if you have TWC barreling down to take some heat. Paying for the extra ccw has surprised me and my opponent with its effectiveness, and of course it's fluffy and badass having the wolves true grit their bolters. They exemplify the tactical ideal of 'assault the shooty, shoot the assaulty'.

[WestRider]

Paying for the extra ccw has surprised me and my opponent with its effectiveness, and of course it's fluffy and badass having the wolves true grit their bolters. They exemplify the tactical ideal of 'assault the shooty, shoot the assaulty'.

I modeled most of my GH with the extra CCWs because I started building the Army under the 5th Ed Dex. When the 6th Ed Dex came out, I figured I'd try them that way for a bit, see if they were still worth it with the increased price and loss of MotW and old Wolf Standards. If it didn't work, I was going to do a bunch of remodeling, but in the end, I didn't have to. I have never once regretted the Points I spent on CCWs for them. Between that and Counter-Attack, their ability to get up in someone's face, Rapid Fire away, and then just eat the Charge is amazing.

[Threejacks]

As far as Pod Wolves go,what would be a good number of Pod/DSing units to start with at 1850?.Seems that an Odd number is a good start as you will get most of them turn one and less risk of getting doinked by reserve rolls(im an expert at that,lol).

 

Also, thanks for all the great info you guys are putting out here!

[pretre]

Odd is definitely the way to go. It really depends on how much you want to spend.

[WestRider]

I don't like to take a single Pod, because that commits you to exactly one Drop option, but depending on Points level and the balance of the force, three, five, and seven are all viable.

 

At 1850, three Pods gives you more or less an open list with some Podding stuff splashed in. You're running some kind of hybrid list here, not a full Drop List.

 

Seven Pods commits you to pretty much a full Pod list. Not going to be able to fit in much that's not in a Pod without spreading yourself really thin. In my last 7 Pod List, the only thing I had that wasn't in a Pod was an Allied StormTalon for some AA.

 

When I'm running five Pods, I usually still set it up as a Null Deployment list. This is usually where I bring in the Void Claws, along with other Reserved Units like Flyers and/or a scattering of Lone Wolves in Terminator Armour.