A Wee Update: What's Next on the 40k Front

Here are my goals for the time being: I would like to put up at least a post a week in this blog. I enjoy blogging about the hobby (I make a pretense of being a teacher, and I enjoy spreading knowledge and discussing little plastic army men).

Current Army Project

Currently, I've been playing heavy with the Tyranids. Despite the utter curb-stomping of the previous game (sharp opponent + solid enemy army list + inability to roll well = DEATH) I enjoy the TMC/Venomthrope Stelek list.

I've got a Carnifex in the works on the bench (gotta convert the arms, then attach them) and I'm pondering ways to convert up Venomthropes. I like the idea of poison-cloud-bleching bugs, though I think I'm going to go for more of a walking smoke-belching factory than the floaty tentacle thing.

I also have the remainder of my Hive Tyrant's arm bits (wings/scything talons) to complete painting. Pictures will eventually be forthcoming, but at the moment I'm not sure I have access to a solid camera. I'll sort that when I sort it.

Up Next: Power Armor

A while back, I'd contemplated starting up a Space Wolf army, and a Blood Angel army, and so on and so forth. At this point, I've acquired a few boxes of Thousand Sons marines, most of the armor I need, and I have a fair amount of other stuff (then I got Indoctrinated* by Warmachine...).

I intend to make this a work of love with conversions, as I'm a big fan of the Thousand Sons sculpt and fluff. On the other hand, their rules...well, I'm just not feelin' the CSM book. I also like the idea of marine cavalry, and I have a number of Chaos Knights left over from when I thought about doing them as cheap bloodcrushers. I think I'll be using the K-sons as the Wolf Guard stand-ins, and it'd be an easy-to-ID one.

I also owe RayJ a thanks for convincing me on the tabletop that they're as solid as I'd thought. Not unbeatable by any means, but certainly contenders. That, and I dig the idea of death-seeking warriors and all things Space Wolf in general.

In Parting

I want to thank everyone for bearing with the decreased activity as of late. Some life stressors have finally died down or bowed out. I'd like a few thoughts on what everyone would generally like to see; I'll probably end up doing unit breakdowns and the occasional batrep. When I get inspired for neat conversions and such, they'll probably show up.

I'm aiming to get a couple matches in a month, as they tend to eat a Saturday morning without a hell of a lot of trouble.

*Points for you if you get the Mass Effect pun. Slaps for you if you don't.

On Space Wolves, Tyranids, a Game, and News in General

I managed to clear time for a good 2,000pt matchup with RayJ. As I am told a picture is worth a thousand words (and he brought the camera) I figured I would sum up the battle report with a picture.

My 'nid army was something like:

Tyrant w/ 2x TL Devourers

3 seperate Venomthropes

2 Tervigons with Catalyst

2x10 Devourer-gants

2 Harpies w/ TL Heavy Venom

2 Tyrannofex

RayJ's list, from memory, had something like:

Logan Grimnar

2 Rune Priests (Living Lightning each, and some other random power that had no impact)

2 Lone Wolves (Terminator Armor, Chainfist, Storm Shield. You were expecting?)

2 Wolf Guard Squads (Sarge in terminator armor with Cyclone missile launcher, powerfists?)

2 Grey Hunter Squads (double melta, and a Wolf Guard in the lead)

2 single Thunderwolf Units (Fist/Shield)

2 Long Fang Squads (3 missiles, 2 lascannons each).

The Scenario

The crater describes the end state of my army. It's been a long time since I've been tabled. We rolled up Kill Points and Table Quarters. I won the roll to go first, brain farted, and made the grave error of going second. His stuff set up with the four melee speed bumps up front, then the hunters and Wolf Guard behind, and finally the Long Fangs with a commanding view of the field.

I set up with an eye towards making sure his Thunderwolf Cav can't get a first-turn charge off. His shooting drops a Tervigon (which takes out a chunk of one of the Devourer-gant squads. Stupid 'Brood Primogenitor' rule). At that point I'm beginning to realize what my cover saves are going to look like.

So, I unload a whole lotta gunfire into his approaching stuff. I am for the t-wolves because of their speed; I probably have another turn before the Lone Wolves reach my line. I have a metric crap-ton of anti-personnel shooting.

I inflict one wound on one of the T-wolves.

Yep. Gonna be one of them games...I made a few mistakes here and there, but my utter inability to roll cover saves or inflict wounds on the other guy (I kid you not, I had a TYRANNOFEX die while sucking up an amazing total of 8-9 wounds. Inability to make both a 2+ and a 5+....).

The Lessons

Naturally, in retrospect I should've gone first. Tyranids have very little shooting that reaches out more than 24 inches, and Rupture Cannons aren't the most reliable things for killing infantry at range. (Besides, they were trying to force instant death armor saves on T-wolves, which seemed like a good idea at the time.). It's a plain nasty Space Wolf list, and while I always figured Long Fangs were nasty, I'm now very, very, very sure that I dislike them greatly. When you get down to it, most armies don't have good ways to kill infantry from over 24-36 inches (excpeting IG Russes in some cases).

On the bright side, RayJ was a fun opponent to play against (which seriously mitigated the fact that I'm still sore from what the dice did to me...) and it was nice to not play Imperial Guard. I'm not knocking IG, but when you play against it for a while, a change-up is nice.

Other Bits

On the other bright side, I found out I'm getting transferred out of the high-intensity soul-crushing office* at work in a few weeks. What does that mean for you, dear readers? (Assuming there are still some out there, I know I've not been prolific as of late).

Hopefully, it means articles more than once a month.

Anyone interested in taking a look at a gallery of 'nid pictures can find my Tyranids here. It's what I've been laboring on for the last year, though I must warn you that picture quality is not necessarily what the interweb slang would call 'uber.' I think it's more 'servicable' myself.

*Seriously am getting out of the nasty stuff, which is just in time. I seldom bring personal matters onto this blog, though work stress was starting to leech into everything else (including chronic tension headaches, which you get AWESOME meds for...) and it's a matter of either a) not having the time/urge/opportunity to blog at the same time, or b) not wanting to inflict a Grim, Dark, Bleak, Bitter-er than usual rant on the potential passer-by.

Foot Armies Space Wolf Brainstorming

Blame this one on the beating the Black Templar took today, along with Stelek's 'Top Ten Units of 2009' post.

On the BT Front
Fact is that there's just not a ton you can do if the enemy wants to make your troops go away and they're all on foot.

This time around, the Guard player wasn't nearly as frightened of the Templars, so he blew the hell out of my troops.

Had I been really, really lucky with the dice, I might have actually won because he wasn't paying quite as much attention to the objectives. I would have had to have a Terminator get a better 'run' roll (...or not have, y'know, botched his bloody morale check...) to get within 3" of one objective, and have the game end on turn 5; that would've made it 2-1 in terms of objectives.

As it was, I had the Grey Knights, a random BT terminator, and about 9-10 guys in power armor alive at the end when I conceded.

Highlights included a Hellhound and a lone marine with a lascannon trading shots for about 3 turns. Additionally, two surviving terminators took two wounds and pulled snakeyes on the armor saves. Yay. I really needed that.

The short version of his list was:
Company Command w/ MEltas in Chimera
Allied battle sisters w/ flamers (borrowing 'toon command's Chimera)
2 melta-vet squads
toon command w/ flamers
30-man 3x autocannon + commissar platoon
2 Hellhounds (Hull meltas)
Vendetta w/ Heavy Bolters
2 Russes w/ Lascannon, Sponsons
1 Demolisher w/ HHF

I managed to do SOME damage, but not NEARLY enough, obviously.

Bottom line with Foot Armies?
Mech up. If you don't have a crap-ton of guns (...IE: Tau, IG potentially) or speed (SW Cav Lists) or have a heap of monstrous creatures and/or speed (IE: up-and-coming Tyranids) then you're just not gonna do that well against a decently-run, decently-built mech-heavy force. (Or Tyranids, probably.) I consider myself a decent player (...I just sound smarter on the internets because I wrote way too many papers in college) but I'm just not seeing a real decent way to make this list work against nastier opponents. I might've been able to win that Chaos match from last time with better target priority, but against a lotta tanks + a lotta guns, it's uphill.

On to Space Wolves
So, another brainstorm. This brought to you in part by the Stelek post mentioned previously, and in part to me realizing that I'd be able to pull this together without a lot of money spent (...just need to get a few Dreads and a few tanks and some bits). Basically, the goal is "I Go First. You Get Hurt." To that end...

HQ
Bjorn the Fell-Handed [270]
-Assault Cannon

Inquistor Lord [82]
-Bolt Pistol, CCW
-Hood
-Emperor's Tarot
Retinue:
3x Heavy Bolter Servitors [87]
2x Mystics

Elites
Dreadnought w/ TL Autocannons [125]

Dreadnought w/ TL Autocannons [125]

Troops
5 Grey Hunters w/ Flamer [80]
Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasma Gun [75]

5 Grey Hunters w/ Flamer [80]
Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasma Gun [75]

5 Grey Hunters w/ Flamer [80]
Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasma Gun [75]

5 Grey Hunters w/ Flamer [80]
Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasma Gun [75]

Fast Attack
4 Thunderwolf Cavalary w/ Thunder Hammer [230]

4 Thunderwolf Cavalary w/ Thunder Hammer [230]

4 Thunderwolf Cavalary w/ Thunder Hammer [230]

Total: 1999/2000

Now, I could theoretically turn the Inquisitor into a Multi-melta bunker in a Rhino; I'd need to find at least 20-30 points to upgrade the bolters to multi-meltas, and then get them a Rhino (50 points from the DH 'dex, 35 from the Wolf 'dex)

Logic behind the choices
Bjorn + Inquisitor means I'll usually have a +1 to my roll for first turn, AND a re-roll. From there, I need to take as large an advantage as I can with that, so it's a mix of guns and/or cavalry.

My best choice for firepower/durable scoring units is (I feel, anyway) 5 Grey Hunters with a flamer in the shooty-back. They can torch smaller squads and potentially beat them down in melee. Also, since I'm running 5-man squads with my Templar, I can just give a guy a flamer and they're suddenly interchangeable (...and I'll have to change out a plasma gunner, but what the hell, right? That's 4-5 guys, or a couple of those small unit boxes).

Bjorn gets an assault cannon because I'm too cheap to give the boggart a lascannon; he's ALREADY 270 freaking points. He can amble up behind the Thunderwolves.

The rifleman dreads are in there for four reasons:
1) They'd be hella fun to convert
2-4) dakka, dakka, and dakka

They can help me work over lighter armor and put a hurt on things at range. Now, in fairness, that's 250 points of shooting. Given the slots, I could get some other stuff for that price; I could probably shave some points and fit in three dakka-preds. However, the Dreadnoughts can move and shoot, and while they don't throw out as many shots as the Predators, the Dreadnoughts can threaten armor with all their shots, and are more accurate with it. Plus, they can scrabble onto rooftops if needs be. I'd probably look into Typhoon speeders if, y'know, I wasn't planning on running Thunderwolves.

As I have thunderwulf cav, I am not quite so worried about killing infantry, so yeah.

Thoughts on that?

Other brainstorm: if I were going to try to run footslogging Terminators, here's what I'd probably really roll with:

Space marine codex
Shrike, Null Zone Librarian, ~10 TH/SS terminators infiltrated.
2-3 Tacticals in Rhinos with multi-melta/flamer.

Fire support to taste.

The draft (that I'll probably never field) looks something like:
Shrike [195]
Libby w/ Termie Armor, Storm Shield Null Zone, Might of the Ancients [140]
9 TH/SS Termies [360]
2 Rifleman Dreads [2*125 = 250]
3 MM/Flamer Rhino-Tacs [3*205 = 615]
1 Las-plas razorback + squad [165]
3 Dakka Preds [3*85 = 255]
Total: 1980/2000

I could drop the Rifleman Dreads for 3 HB/Typhoon landspeeders, which would trade some firepower/durability for mobility and the ability to hide and/or get off some shots.

The basic idea would be to infiltrate the terminators with Shrike, then rush the tacticals forward to melta-bunker and support them. The rest of the army sits back, makes loud noises, and ideally targets transports so the fleet terminators use hammers to introduce forehads to brain pans.

The Librarian either Null Zones enemy CC specialists with invulnerable saves, or activates Might and swings at S6 with 2d6 for armor penetration. Any of the shooting powers would invariably work to keep me out of assault, and with the Might he's at least vaguely comparable to a Gray Knight Terminator.

Shrike hangs out and plays cutty cutty stabby stabby with the rending lightning claws, or splits off to go eat a smaller squad on his own. Depends on what I need done. He also makes sure the Librarian's hood will actually be in range (or close to it) from the get-go.

And that's your wall of text to the face for the day.

What happens when you have a heap of terminators...

And suddenly, two options for an army: Logan-Wing, and the DA Deathwing.

It's been a while since I touched those hefty Terminators I've been modding extensively. So now, I'm going to get down to brass tacs on which army I want. I mean, at the end of the day, I'm going to have to play the army.

I may very well use Logan Grimnar's stand-in in another army, so my paint scheme will have an eye towards that. So, I'm going to set out and analyze the units side-by-side, and in terms of army-wide capabilities.

HQ: Belial vs. Grimnar
Cost
Belial's half the price; 130 vs. Logan's 275. However, Logan has some hefty abilities.
Shooting
BS5 storm bolter, or BS5 storm bolter, or nothing for Belial. Not really THAT important, truthfully.
Melee capability
Belial loses here. always worse invulnerable save, and generally run with lightning claws. Logan can match lightning claws with an S5 power weapon, though against T3-4 targets the claws are a little better. Against bigger targets, Logan gets a powerfist. Belial...does not.
Extras
Logan wins. Eternal Warrior's a huge help. 4+ invulernable vs Belials 5+. Always hits on melee on 3+. Grants his unit a neat extra special rule? Yeah.

Belial's the bargain version, while Logan is a heftier performer all around if you'll pay for the extras. It does, of course, cut into what else you can bring in the army. Belial does give you access to an Apothecary that negates a wound a turn, but that apothecary is another 40 points.

HQ: Rune Priest vs Librarian
Cost
145 base for the Libby, 120 base for the Rune Priest, assuming terminator armor.
Powers
A flamer and an invulnerable save, or an unlimited range autocannon + something that slows the enemy down? I think I'd rather the priest.
Psychic Defense
Ld9 hood, or a straight nullify on 4+? I'll stick with the Priest.
Overall
Rune priest, hands down. He's more reliable psychic defense, and has better powers.

Basic Terminators
Basic Loadout
Deathwing: 5 guys with storm bolters, 1 power weapon, 4 fists, Fearless: 215 points.
Wolf Guard: 5 guys with power weapon and storm bolters: 165

Unit Size
Flexibility in the Logan-wing. Not so much in the Deathwing.

Fearless vs. Morale
Well, you'll never have a bad dice day and watch Deathwing run. On the other hand, Ld9 across the board, and some Ld10 with Logan and maybe a priest? Logan-wing is open to

CC:
Deathwing may take lightning claws for no extra charge, granting them more I4 attacks. Swing for swing, powerfists are obviously more likely to make things go away. However, power weapons go at I4, and while they aren't as killy, you may KO slower troops and reduce the number of attacks coming back at you.

So, Deathwing is slower, but more killy, in CC. However, you can support your Wolves with, y'know, Lone Wolves for hunting the bigger game.

Wolves may also take Frost Blades or Wolf Claws. For 5 points, your power weapon now re-rolls hits or wounds. Make the most of that initative. Frost Blades are 10pts for S5 power weapons, which aren't as good against rank-and-file as Wolf Claws but are a bit nastier against tougher targets.

Overall, it's a tough call. Give Loganwing some upgrades and a chainfist, though, and it's probably 'good enough' once you factor in some Lone Wolves for trying to tag Dreadnoughts and/or monstrous creatures.

Shooting
A storm bolter is a storm bolter, yes? It shoots bolt rounds. However, Wolf Guard can take combi-bolters. This opens up a variety of options for them, but mostly it means you could drop 5 to mimic the function of a heavy flamer without actually taking up a heavy weapon slot. There's melta, but you should probably find other ways to solve armor problems. On the other hand, 10 points for two combi-meltas? Not necessarily a bad investment.

Heavy Weapons
Wolves win this one. To be honest, a Heavy 2 cyclone missile launcher with a 48" range is excellent at hunting lighter transports. Compared to that, an assault cannon's 24" range is just 'eh'. Rob the enemy of their mobility, and then walk over to 'em and say 'hi'.

This is, honestly, a major advantage for Logan-Wing.

Support Elements
As a rule, the other SW options are cheaper than their counterparts, and their landspeeders can deep strike. Advantage: SW.

The only real advantage DA have is in cheaper Venerable Dreadnoughts, but they have fewer long-range options and the basic dreadought will cost more.

Deep Strike
Deathwing can, Loganwing need drop pods. However, if you're going pure-foot? Why would you worry about deep striking so much? It cuts down on the number of guys you have, which means more fire on fewer 2+ saves. Deathwing just don't have to pay for the pods, but still have to worry about how many troops they reserve.

Personally? I don't really care about the deep-striking thing.

Overall
For me? The Logan-wing have better psychic defenses, and better long-ranged weapons. Considering that the major problem with a pure-termy army is the enemy's mobility, Logan-wing is more likely to deny enemy mobility than Deathwing. The CC is fairly close in most cases, and Logan-wing can 'cope' more or less.

Current Draft
HQ
Logan Grimnar [275]

Rune Priest [130]
-Terminator Armor
-Chooser of the Slain
-Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath

Elites
Lone Wolf [85]
-Terminator Armor
-Chain Fist
-Storm Shield

Lone Wolf [85]
-Terminator Armor
-Chain Fist
-Storm Shield

Lone Wolf [85]
-Terminator Armor
-Chain Fist
-Storm Shield

Troops
10 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armor [430]
-2 Cyclone Missile Launchers
-2 Chainfist
-2 Wolf Claws

5 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armor [220]
-Cyclone Missile Launcher
-Chainfist
-2 Wolf Claws

5 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armor [220]
-Cyclone Missile Launcher
-Chainfist
-2 Wolf Claws

5 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armor [220]
-Cyclone Missile Launcher
-Chainfist
-2 Wolf Claws

3 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armor [99]

Total: 1849/1850

The 10-man squad is there to take advantage of Logan's ability to hand out Tank Hunters; you get four S9 missiles and 1d6 S8 living lightning shots. Aw, yeah.

The three 5-man squads are basic workhorse squads; they can take out tanks if needed, but are fine for cracking open the troopers inside.

The Lone Wolves are problem-solves; it's the list's way of dealing with dreadnoughts and monstrous creatures.

The 3-man squad is called 'I'm not sure what to do with the last 100 points', or called 'you guys sit on an objective out of LOS.'

Total? 33 terminators.

On the Wolf-Wing

Blame this one on Chumbalaya. He got me thinking about it, since if we're going to do Logan-wing, we do it with an eye towards the strengths of the Space Wolves.

With that in mind, I'll walk you through what I've got, with the aim of building a, 1850 list.

Headquarters
Let's start with Logan Grimnar. We kind of have to. He's 275 points off the bat.

Then, let's get a Rune Priest. Psychic Defense IS your friend, and Chooser of the Slain is occasionally a neat piece of kit.

So, we add a Rune Priest w/ Terminator Armor and a Chooser of the Slain. 130 points.

We could get two more choices, but that's probably not really necessary.

Troops
A basic 5-man, heavy-weapon-enabled squad costs us 165 points. We're going to go ahead and add a Cyclone Missile Launcher, to let us get lighter armor at range. 195. Grab a just-in-case chainfist. 210.

Now, let's take 5 of them for a footslogging wing. 5(210) + 275 + 130 = 1455.

Elites
Well...one thing we're missing is the powerfists. Ok. We can try to give everyone a fist; I'm not sure that's a great idea. Let's take Lone Wolves in Terminator Armor with Chainfists and Storm Shields. If the enemy wants to drop our anti-dreads and anti-MC cards, it'll take some serious firepower. I think I'm fine with making the enemy make a decision.

3(85) = 255. Army total, 1710. We have 5x5 Termie Squads, Logan, and psychic defense. We have 140 points remaining.

I think you can go one of three ways here:
1) buy a few more terminators
2) gear up our terminators a bit more
3) buy a pair of MM/HF landspeeders
4) Or, we could re-tool the heavy weapons and go for Drop Pod Wing or something like that.

However, I'm not entirely sure how effective drop pod deathwing would be. But, what the hell. We'd have to drop the Lone Wolves, since they just won't fit. I might break off the idea of 100% terminators to mostly terminators just to make it work a little better. At least we can pass out combi-weapons in the Wolf Guard.

But, here's what the basic list looks like:

Basic Logan-Wing, Foot, 1850
HQ
Logan Grimnar [275]
Rune Priest, Terminator Armor, Chooser of the Slain, Living Lightning Tempest's Wrath [130]
Elites
Lone Wolf in Termie Armor w/ Chainfist, Storm Shield [85]
Lone Wolf in Termie Armor w/ Chainfist, Storm Shield [85]
Lone Wolf in Termie Armor w/ Chainfist, Storm Shield [85]
Troops
5 Wolf Guard, Termie Armor, Chainfist, Cyclone Missile Launcher [210]
5 Wolf Guard, Termie Armor, Chainfist, Cyclone Missile Launcher [210]
5 Wolf Guard, Termie Armor, Chainfist, Cyclone Missile Launcher [210]
5 Wolf Guard, Termie Armor, Chainfist, Cyclone Missile Launcher [210]
5 Wolf Guard, Termie Armor, Chainfist, Cyclone Missile Launcher [210]

Total: 1710/1850

We could hand out Frost Blades and a pair of combi-meltas to each squad, and that'd put us to 1810. Still 40 points to soak. This would give us a little bit of armor-killing power at point-blank range if we need it, and a little more CC power.

I suppose we could also just roll with the two MM/HF speeders in lieu of all the extras, and just deep-strike them. It makes things a bit simpler, and gives us a 'suprise!' card against heavy armor and/or hordes.

On Logan-Wing in Drop Pods
I'm not going to go in-depth on it, but a few notes:
1) 1-2 squads will be shorted to 4 troops if we want to drop-pod Logan and the Rune Priest in pods. This will cost us heavy weapons in those squads.
2) I'm not so sure we need cyclone missile launchers any more.
3) Range. We still want some.

I would consider the basic drop-podding squad something like:
4 combi-melta
Heavy Flamer
Chainfist
Total: 195 + drop pod.

Basic capabilities are in.

If we want to solve range problems, I'll throw out an alternative solution:
Logan + Lascannon Long Fangs. If you don't go first, hide out of LOS, then Relentless into LOS and start shooting stuff. 6 Fangs with 5 Lascannons runs 215. It's a costly chunk, but it lets us try to gimp mech before it can run away from our guys. 5 S10 Lascannons can usually wreck some things, and if it's overkill we can split the fire.

Figured I'd through that out.

Potential Thunderwolf Mount Options, et al

I've been brainstorming how I wawnt to do my potential Wolf army. The thunderwolves are, so far, the biggest issue: I'm not dropping $41.25 a head for a bunch of Canis Wolfborn models, or a bunch of Juggernauts/Bloodcrushers.

I'd like to direct you all to the Warhammer Bitz section of the GW site.

Mounts look like decent deals on the bitz. Options include:
-Boars
-Wolves
-A bunch of types of horses
-Unicorn
-Carnosaur

The horses and wolves are $15 for 5. If you like the sculpts, it's a decent enough deal.

If you're looking for storm shields, the shields section of said site is certainly worth a look for interesting options. While it's totally unrelated to wolves, the wings section there is pretty damn cool.

There's the Beasts of Chaos, at $22 for 10.
Vampire Count Dire Wolves are also $22 for 10, but a bit more beat-up looking.

Marines on Dinosaurs
I am vaguely tempted to use Cold One cav and put marines on dinosaurs. I think I could get a neat scaly them going with some Alpha Legion shoulder pads, some Dark Elf Corsair capes, and some Lizardmen shields for the odd storm shield. $70 would get me more than enough dino-horses, and the capes are about a buck a piece. Not bad, all in all. I might end up rolling with that.

I'd consider the dark elf Cold One riders, 'cept it's a dainty little thing and I'm not sure marines would fit on it. I'd go Carnosaurs, except they're $35 a head or so.

EDIT: I might have to convert up at least one Unicorn Cavalary. Just because. Then again, it's a mutant horse, and mutants are bad, so...yeah.

I think I'm probably going to roll with the Dinosaur theme, and go with the Alpha Legion pads and DE Corsair capes on the footsloggers. Not quite sold on, y'know, capes on a horse. Then again, Marines might.

I mean, it's marines on dinosaurs, and it's pretty much in the name. Raptor1313? Army of Raptors? Just maybe.

Another Possible Wolf List

Or, I Still Love Thunderwolves, But Here's Another Take. This time, we'll take advantage of the fact that we can take up to four HQs, and we'll actually run a named fellow: Canis Wolfborn. Or, 'Wolf' Wolfborn. Simple GW Translations, For The Win! Then again, the Iron Hand Primarch, Ferrus Manus, literally translates to 'Iron Hand.' Ultramarines are ultramarine blue...you get the idea.

At any rate, what you all came for:

That's A Lotta Wolves (Literally) 1850
HQ
Canis Wolfborn [185]

Wolf Guard Battle Leader [170]
-Thunderwolf Mount
-Frost Blade
-Storm Shield

Wolf Guard Battle Leader [170]
-Thunderwolf Mount
-Thunder Hammer
-Storm Shield

Rune Priest [120]
-Chooser of the Slain
-Saga of the Beast Slayer
-Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath

Troops
10 Grey Hunters w/ 2 Meltaguns [155]

10 Grey Hunters w/ 2 Meltaguns [155]

10 Grey Hunters w/ 2 Meltaguns [155]

10 Fenrisian Wolves [80]

9 Fenrisian Wolves [72]

9 Fenrisian Wolves [72]

Fast Attack
Thunderwolf Cavalry [230]
4 T-wolves, 1 w/ Thunder Hammer

Heavy Support
Long Fang Pack [140]
Pack Leader
5 Long Fangs w/ Missile Launchers

Long Fang Pack [140]
Pack Leader
5 Long Fangs w/ Missile Launchers

Total: 1849

Your plan is something like 'go that-a-way.' This time, though, each mounted HQ links up with some Fenrisian Wolves and goes a-hunting. Living Lightning and your Long Fangs endeavor to knock things out of transports, and in a pinch you've got the walking, angry Grey Hunters that are packing the rainy day fund of meltaguns.

Too bad Fenrisian Wolves don't have frag grenades. That, combined with T4/6+ feels like a great way to lose some, but then again two of their HQs are going at initiative with either a heap of Wolf Claw attacks or some S6 power weapon attacks.

The other thought is to drop a Thunderwolf and a Fenrisian Wolf to make the Battle Leaders into Wolf Lords, though that 30 points extra does get you +1WS, +1 wound, +1 attack, and +1 Ld.

Wolf Thoughts In General
I think I'm leaning towards a core of 20-30 Grey Hunters with meltaguns as a basic troops selection, and a Rune Priest minimally with Living Lightning and a Chooser of the Slain. That gives me a decent number of bodies, and psychic defense along with a unit for the Rune Priest to hide in. He sits back, he fires off Living Lightning, and I think I'll test the Saga of the Beast Slayer just because I don't like Dreadnoughts. That S10 thing kind of ruins my Thunderwolf Cavalry, and my HQs in general.

Though, if the enemy brings no Dreadnoughts? Fun times might very well ensue.

In fairness, I am contemplating a lot of models, but it's more like a core of 31 bodies, and then the rest of it gets a little more fluid from there. I may screw around with some other ideas.

Tau Update, and A Possible Wolf List

The Tau
With employment (and, a paycheck) around the corner, I can actually plan on finishing them. I'd put them on the shelf (albeit temporarily) as I want a decent carrying case (and foam). At current, the only case I have is optimized for infantry, and the Crisis Suits are not exactly the right size. I'm getting tired of patching the damned things, but part of me quails at spending money on 40k that's not directly meant to kill something. Then again, it's kind of necessary.

The Space Wolves, Wolf Heavy at 1850
The name's a prototype as well

HQ
Rune Priest w/ Tempest's Wrath, Living Lightning, Chooser of the Slain, Saga of the Beast Slayer [120]

Elites
Lone Wolf w/ Terminator Armor, Storm Shield, Chainfist [85]

Lone Wolf w/ Terminator Armor, Storm Shield, Chainfist [85]

Lone Wolf w/ Terminator Armor, Storm Shield, Chainfist [85]

Troops
10 Grey Hunters, 2 Meltaguns [155]

10 Grey Hunters, 2 Meltaguns [155]

10 Grey Hunters, 2 Meltaguns [155]

Fast Attack
4 Thunderwolves, 1 Thunder Hammer [230]

4 Thunderwolves, 1 Thunder Hammer [230]

4 Thunderwolves, 1 Thunder Hammer [230]

Heavy Support
Long Fang Pack
Leader, 5 Pack Members, 4 Lascannons + Missile Launcher [180]

Long Fang Pack
Leader, 5 Pack Members, 5 Missile Launchers [140]

Total: 1850

Brainstorm 2
Lose the Long Fangs, drop Saga of the Beast Slayer, add Termie Armor to the Priest, bring two more such Grey Hunter squads.

Thoughts Behind The Army
Well, it's got units I want to use: Thunderwolf Cav, and Lone Wolves.

The Rune Priest
Psychic defense a little more effective than the basic psychic hood. Living Lightning is there to engage lighter enemy targets at range. The Saga of the Beast Slayer is there for re-rolls against MCs and/or Dreads, which might be potential problems. Tempest's Wrath is an 'up yours' to skimmers and other enemies that might try to get to grips with me. He rolls with one of the Grey Hunter squads.

To be honest, he should pretty much be standard issue for Wolf armies, just for the utility from Chooser of the Slain and the Rune Staff.

The Lone Wolves
Go for broke on durability + killyness. 2+/3++ over two T4 wounds with FNP, and a Chainfist to mug anything it can lay a paw on.

The Grey Hunters
Well, my elites and fast attack are on foot. I can either try to mech them up, or just walk them behind my other elements. If I want to mech them up and KO transports, it's either two meltaguns out of a Rhino's access port, or two meltas + Guard w/ combi-melta out the top. Mmm, impressive. Except, not.

So, 155 points gets me ten guys with the ability to engage armor and infantry alike. Not bad, plus it's a lot of power armor bodies all told.

The Thunderwolf Cavalry
The two thoughts: go for fewer, but add storm shields? Or, just get more. Four of them with a Thunder Hammer on the lead give them a whole lot of punch, though I'd rather shoot walkers as S10 insta-gibs an expensive guy. Sure, the replying 4-5 thunder hammer whacks ought to sort the problem right back out, but I'd rather not use them in that capacity.

Against anything else, they ought to be some fun.

The Long Fangs
Their job is to try to get mobility off my enemy. Their weapons are priced quite reasonably, to be honest.

They're supposed to hang back, and with all the targets, well, it should be more difficult to try to torrent them down.

Overall
First question? Why foot? Stelek's answer is that they're just better on foot. I'm rather inclined to agree. Mech Grey Hunters run the risk of trading your troops for enemy armor. There are a plethora of quality foot options available to the wolves, mostly in your elite and fast attack sections.

To be honest, if you're not using the distinctive capabilities of the Space Wolves, why play them? I'd say some of those are:
1) Grimnar's FuzzWing
2) Foot Wolves
3) Drop Pod Wolves (...which are, admittedly, foot wolves)

A bunch of the cool stuff in the 'dex just doesn't benefit that much from mech. In the above army, the major question of mech comes in two places:
1) Do I mech up my Grey Hunters?
2) Do I bring Predators over Long Fangs?

Regarding number 1:
35 points for the rhino. I suppose I could get some nice 'wall of rhino' and take like 4-5 or so if I broke them up into smaller, more easily eaten squads. I might also block LOS for my heavy weapons, and I'd make sure my enemy focused their anti-personnel weapons onto my Elites and Fast Attack. Furthermore, I'm not convinced of the utility of the 'wall of Rhino' tactic in this army. I'd have to go around them, and the Lone Wolves and Wolf Cav get the best mileage out of busting ass directly towards the enemy, not around some Rhinos.

On Number 2:
Well, honestly, a heavy weapon Predator is 120 points. Autocannon, 2 lascannons, AV13. Downside? They're beacons for heavy weapons. I've got 320 points sunk into the Long Fangs, and I've got four lascannons and six missile launchers in them. If I could free up another 40 points (probably by dropping a Thunderwolf) I'd get a total of six lascannons and six autocannon shots.

The Fangs are another chunk of infantry staying way the hell back; the Predators are a similar threat but are handled by a totally different set of weapons. For the cost, the Long Fangs seem like a better fit.

Is the Army ideal?
I don't know. Looks cool, though, and I've got Eldar and Tau that are meant to be angrier 'punch you in the gonads' armies. Does it have some of the basics?

1) Claim Objectives?
30 Grey Hunters say 'probably, yeah' on that count.

2) Kill Infantry?
By their nature, wolves are assaulty. I'd say most of the army (outside of the Long Fangs) can kill the things. Thunderwolves on the charge are bound to be somewhat nasty.

3) Kill Vehicles?
Every unit in the army has anti-tank capabilities; some more than others. The Priest has his torrent of living lightning (and re-rolls vs. walkers and MCs), the Grey Hunters have meltaguns, the Lone Wolves have Chainfists, and the Thunderwolves have S5 Rending in heaps and an S10 Thunder hammer each.

Oh, and there's about 10 heavy weapons in the backfield, too. Yeah.

More To Come?
I'm looking at ways to use Canis Wolfborn and mobs of Fenrisian Wolves, though the feel will be similar to this list, I think. Just, y'know, more wolves.

Thoughts, reflections, comments, critiques, all that welcome.

Preliminary Space Wolf 'dex Thoughts

I've acquired and read at the SW 'dex, and the first thing I can tell you is that no, the sky is not falling. Stop running around, screaming, and otherwise doing things Chicken Little might; you're only looking like a fool. Other people have noted (...I'd link to them if I could recall who) that this kind of shake-out happens every time a new codex comes out. So, here's a short take on them.

Man, I Like 3's in my statline
Your assault marines are WS/BS3
Your bikers are WS/BS3
Your Blood Claws (pistol/CCW maniacs) are WS/BS3

You know what else this WS/BS3 gets you? The 'Headstrong' rule. Are you within 6" of your target? Yeah? Then you don't get to shoot. You have to charge. Well, the bright side, I guess, is that you have the 'Berserk Charge' which grants you +2 attacks on the charge instead of one.

It's more comical when you realize that these troops can take 1-2 flamers/meltaguns/plasma pistols, too. Not gonna get a lot of use out of any of those, are you? Between BS3 and maybe not even getting to shoot it, you're kind of hosed on these options. At least, I know I wouldn't consider taking the bikes; the 'vanilla' Space Marine codex does bikers much better.

If you bring a Wolf Guard, then you can at least ignore 'Headstrong' as he apparently yells and/or beats his troops into line.

The Veteran Mechanic
You'll note that none of your entries have a 'veteran' type guy. Instead, you take Wolf Guard. On the bright side, these guys are highly customizable; there's a page of options here that would make most other HQs jealous (and in turn, SM HQs have even more options).

This is also where you get your Ld9 into a squad. That's right, all the guys that can take a Wolf Guard (and only one, mind you) have Ld8. Ld8 means a 72.2% chance of passing your leadership check, and Ld9 means 83.3%. Considering Counter-Attack requires a ld check, I'm a little more inclined to go towards the Ld9.

The other big option is that if you want someone with a decent number of powerfist attacks, it's a vet. All the other guys have pretty much 1 base attack, and while the crazy newbs get +2 on the charge, the Grey Hunters are kind of 'eh', unless counter-attack triggers.

Still, the basic Wolf Guard with a fist is 38 points, which isn't bad, but still is a little 'eh'. But, that's not the real cost of the Wolf Guard.

Grey Hunters, Transports, or I Hate My Vet Sarges
So, let's say you want your actual marine stat line. You get the Grey Hunter, who comes in units of 5-10. He has the 4's where you want them, and packs the 'supergrit' option of bolter, bolt pistol, and CCW. So, he can pistol you, then charge in with three attacks, and effectively has two 'base' attacks.

You can get a flamer for free, or pay a little for a meltagun or plasma gun. If you have ten grey hunters, then you get a second special weapon for free. You can also take a power weapon or a powerfist, and maybe even hand out the Mark of the Wulfen (d6+1 attacks instead of normal, and gain rending. Ok, I suppose. Not sure I'd use it here).

And, so, we have our merry band of 10 Grey Hunters with two meltaguns, and that costs us 155 points. We go to buy a Rhino, and a Wolf Guard, and...wait, we have to give up a meltagun to fit into our Rhino. Um. Great. I guess we weren't planning on using our troops to blow up transports, but then again, did you really want to? Seems like a great way to trade troops.

I've Seen You Before...
The following are pretty much pulled from the space marine codex, so they're known quantities:

-Dreadnought
-Venerable Dreadnought
-Land Speeder
-Predator
-Whirlwind
-All three Land Raider types

Nothing new to see here in the stats; it's a change of what else is in there supporting them.

...but you're something new
Cavalry units in space marines? Yeah. You've got it now. 6 + d6 + 12" charge is fun, and might actually get you there on foot. You can get the following as cavalry:

-Thunderwolf Cavalry (fast attack)
-Fenrisian Wolves (Fast attack)
-Iron Priests (can ride a Thunderwolf, and take some Cyberwolves)
-any HQ that can take a Thunderwolf (Canis Wolfborn, Wolf Lord, Wolf Guard Battle Leader)

Additionally, some HQs can take Fenrisian Wolves as 'equipment', though it's forming their own unit and unless Mr. HQ is cavalry, he's kind of just made himself a target with a couple extra wound markers. Good job, him.

I need a hero
You can take up to four HQs. I'm not sure this is always prudent, but at least it's not compulsory. You cannot carbon-copy HQs, either. No identical sagas, no identical psychic powers, no identical wargear loadouts.

You can also readily spend up to 180-290 on a named HQ. So, theoretically, half your 2,000 point army COULD VERY WELL BE heroes, though I'm not sure I'd really recommend that.

Break out the arms...
The armory includes some neat little wolf-specific items. I'm not always convinced of their utility, mind you. Some highlights include:

-Wolf Claws (as lightning claws, but choose: re-rolls to hit or wound. Not such a big deal)
-Runic Armor (artificer armor's 2+ save with a 5+ against psychic wounds. Big deal)
-Chooser of the Slain (when I touch on psykers, you'll see why you should never leave home without one on your Rune Priest)
-Mark of the Wulfen (get d6+1 rending attacks instead of your normal ones; doesn't benefit from wargear. Not sold on it yet)
-Wolf Tail Talisman (If you/your unit are targeted by a psychic power, on a 5+ you nullify it)
-Wolftooth Necklace (always hit in melee on 3+; depends on who has it)
-Wolf Standard (re-roll CC misses that show a '1' for one assault phase. Big whoop)

I've got a story for you...
Sagas are upgrades for HQs. You can only take each saga once per army, unless it's a named guy.

Saga of...
The Wolfkin (Wolves/cyberwolves have I5, Ld7)
the Bear (gain Eternal Warrior)
Majesty (any unit w/in 6" can re-roll failed morale tests)
Hunter (character can outflank, gains 'Stealth')
Warrior Born (get a bonus number of attacks in this assault phase = to how many you killed last phase)
Beastslayer (re-roll failed to-hit rolls vs walkers, monstrous creatures, anything with T5+)
Iron Wolf (any vehicle you're in can get an extra d3", +1 to your repair rolls)

Mm, fluff. Wolfkin goes nicely for cavalry armies. The Bear is decent if you want to hunt bigger game, though Beast Slayer is neat. Warrior Born is cool if you're in an assault for more than one phase. Iron Wolf is 'eh', since it's pretty much the techmarine saga.

Overall
This is a first impression; I'll later give some reflections on the HQs and the psychic powers. I'll tell you this now: the psychic powers are not the end of the world, nor are the wolves' psychic defenses. They just have a pretty decent set of wide-spread psychic defenses.

Pondering the Space Wolve 'dex

Truthfully, there are two units that have drawn me to the codex: the Lone Wolf, and the Thunderwulf Cavalary.

The Theme
There's also the chance to explore an old theme I like: the warrior-mystic. I'm tempted to shoe-horn Clan Nova Cat (of the Battletech universe) into a marine chapter. They have the same kind of feel, for me, that the Wolves have. Plus, I think base white with black and gold accents can work out.

The Units
The Lone Wolf
I don't honestly think I'll be hard-pressed to model a Lone Wolf. I'm looking at Terminator Armor, a Storm Shield, and a Chainfist. Why?

T4, Feel No Pain, Eternal Warrior, two wounds. You need 24 regular wounds to break 2+ armor with Feel No Pain. You still need 6 wounds from weapons like lascannons/melta/plasma/power weapons that ignore your armor save. Are we durable? Potentially, we eat lots of fire.

If not, a Chainfist combined with Beast Slayer (re-roll hits against stuff with T5 or higher, and maybe against vehicles?) and the storm shield means he can still ruin days. Hey, Mr. Regular Dreadnought, there's a better-than-even chance a Lone Wolf will be around to smack you with a Chainfist. It's the ability to threaten any kind of game.

The Thunderwulf Cavalary
...where is the model? I'm looking at running 6-9 of the things, potentially. And...there is no model. There is Canis Wolfborn, a $41.25 kit with about zero conversion potential.

I'm not spending that much and doing that kind of work to run freaking thunderwulf cav. No, I'm going to do it cheaper, and that means conversions. I'd also like to maybe do it as large cats. Thing is, what'll I use as a base?

I'd be willing to go mecha-cats (or partially bionic'ed up) for it, so long as they're suitably imperial-looking, which is to say that they're not so smooth. I'm sure there are also other ways to represent it, like some kind of advanced exoskeleten or some such. (I'm thinking something analogous to a marine in ESWAT armor or an armed suit ). I mean, is it so hard to believe that some marines might model their wargear after a predator, or something?

There just aren't a lot of candidates for conversion, even, from the GW range. The Bloodcrusher/Juggernaut models have the right dimensions, but there's the issue of modding metal, and of course the cost: $30 a head. Yeah, that's a little bit more. Most of the cavalary-type models in fantasy have the right price, but are a bit weedy.

I guess if you wanted a more bug-like theme, you could try to bash something out of spider riders or Necron Destroyer bodies if you can bits-order them.

If you wanted more saurian, you could maybe try to use Tyranid Warrior bits and a healthy dose of Green Stuff, and some new heads, and/or Lizardmen parts, but still...the only really cool Lizardman model is some dude name Kroq-Gar on a Carnosaur, and while that would be tight, it's also a $50 metal model.

the other real option I see is finding an appropriately-scaled toy creature, and then bitting it out as best you can.

Anyone else got any ideas? Frankly, I'm a bit disappointed GW just utterly failed to release a model for one of the few things that the Wolves have that REALLY sets them apart.

EDIT: Looks like Stelek crafted some, and here is a picture. Chaos Warriors + Beast of Chaos. Not bad. I just want mine bigger, so I'm probably going to cannabilize my half-assed attempt at Bloodcrushers. Already got 15 of the things, more or less. Might as well get some use out of them.