In most Space Wolves squads you can give a guy Mark of the Wulfen or a power weapon. Both Mark of the Wulfen and the Power Weapon cost 15 points, but which is best and what are each of them designed to do? We put them both to the test with a little Mathhammer!We've already established that there's no point giving Characters or anyone riding a Thunderwolf the Mark of the Wulfen, because it replaces a models Attacks characteristic with D6+1 Attacks. But this means it's great for Grey Hunters, Skyclaws, lone wolves, wolf scouts and maybe even wolfguard.
But let's focus on the basic Space Wolves stat line and equipment that Grey Hunters have for our example.
For all intents and purposes, a Grey Hunter is a Space Marine with a bolter, bolt pistol, close combat weapon and the Counter Attack rule.
So he's typically going to get 3 attacks in close combat.
POWER WEAPONLet's put a power weapon in his hand!
To start with, our Grey Hunter is going to fight some Imperial Guard, followed by some Orks, then some Chaos Space Marines and finally a Tyranid Carnifex.
The obvious benefit of wielding a power weapon is that it ignores armour saves. When so many armies rely on their 4+, 3+ or even 2+ armour saves in close combat, even a single power weapon can make a massive difference.
Power weapons are particularly effective against those players who seem to pass every armour save under the sun.
Grey Hunter charges a squad of Imperial Guardsmen.
He gets 3 Attacks, scores 2 hits and achieves 1 kill.
Grey Hunter charges a squad of Orks.
He gets 3 Attacks, scores 2 hits (rounding up) and achieves 1 kill.
Grey Hunter charges a squad of Chaos Space Marines.
He gets 3 Attacks, scores 2 hits (rounding up) and achieves 1 kill.
Grey Hunter charges a Carnifex.
He gets 3 Attacks, scores 2 hits and needs a 6 to wound. He's probably going to fail.
MARK OF THE WULFENNow let's give him the Mark of the Wulfen and turn him into a foaming loony!
Just like before, our Grey Hunter is going to fight some Imperial Guard, followed by some Orks, then some Chaos Space Marines and finally a Tyranid Carnifex. We just need to do this 6 times because his attacks are random. These numbers have been rounded up or down to make things simpler.
The appeal of Mark of the Wulfen is pretty simple and appeals to a lot of players. You can get lots of attacks and your attacks become rending. Plus, the idea of a Space Wolf embracing his bestial self and tearing your enemies limb from limb is just too good to resist!
Grey Hunter charges a squad of Imperial Guardsmen.
He gets 3 Attacks, scores 2 hits and achieves 1 kill
He gets 4 Attacks, scores 3 hits and achieves 2 kills
He gets 5 Attacks, scores 3 hits and achieves 2 kills
He gets 6 Attacks, scores 4 hits and achieves 2 kills after 1 Guardsman saves
He gets 7 Attacks, scores 5 hits and achieves 2 kills after 1 Guardsman saves
He gets 8 Attacks, scores 6 hits and achieves 4 kills after 1 Guardsman saves
Grey Hunter charges a squad of Orks.
He gets 3 Attacks, scores 2 hits and achieves 1 kill
He gets 4 Attacks, scores 2 hits and achieves 1 kill
He gets 5 Attacks, scores 3 hits and achieves 1 kill
He gets 6 Attacks, scores 3 hits and achieves 2 kills
He gets 7 Attacks, scores 4 hits and achieves 2 kills
He gets 8 Attacks, scores 4 hits and achieves 2 kills
Grey Hunter charges a squad of Chaos Space Marines.
He gets 3 Attacks, scores 2 hits and achieves 0 kill after Chaos Marine saves
He gets 4 Attacks, scores 2 hits and achieves 0 kill after Chaos Marine saves
He gets 5 Attacks, scores 3 hits and achieves 0 kill after Chaos Marine saves
He gets 6 Attacks, scores 3 hits and achieves 0 kill after Chaos Marine saves
He gets 7 Attacks, scores 4 hits and achieves 1 kill after Chaos Marine saves
He gets 8 Attacks, scores 4 hits and achieves 1 kill after Chaos Marine saves
Grey Hunter charges a Carnifex.
He gets 3 Attacks, scores 2 hits and fails to wound
He gets 4 Attacks, scores 3 hits and fails to wound
He gets 5 Attacks, scores 3 hits and fails to wound
He gets 6 Attacks, scores 4 hits and wounds with a lucky rending hit
He gets 7 Attacks, scores 5 hits and wounds with a rending hit
He gets 8 Attacks, scores 6 hits and wounds with a rending hit
On average the Grey Hunter with the Mark of the Wulfen will get 5-6 attacks while the Grey Hunter with the Power Weapon will always get 3. Now in this comparison, it's quite difficult to factor in the probability of rolling a 6 for rending. Actually, I could factor it in, but no one is going to read page upon page of probability. So I've rounded things up and down to give a general impression.
But what the results here do show is that a Grey Hunter with the Mark of the Wulfen will, on average, achieve more kills against Imperial Guard and Orks than a Grey Hunter armed with a Power Weapon. He also stands a better chance of wounding a monstrous creature. However, on average there is a reduced chance of killing a Chaos Space Marine due to the 3+ armour save of his opponent.
So there you have it. The Mark of the Wulfen is for generalised use while the Power Weapon is better suited to armoured targets.
All the same, I'm tempted to take Mark of the Wulfen over a Power Weapon as a prefer a list designed to take on all-comers and hope my luck holds out, giving me lots of attacks and a couple of rending hits! But as ever, the choice is yours.
12 comments:
November 8, 2009 8:03 AM
First I like the idea of putting the MotW on the GH with a melta (or in my case the meltagun). He's the trooper with the poorest CC after all. Win-win. Why only one melta? Because I am going to drop pod…
…and I want a Wolf Guard to accompany me. With a power weapon they cost a whopping two points less than a GH with PW and gets the two points as one extra attack and one extra Leadership (which also improves the chances for counter attack). Cheaper and better, gotta love it. So use your Wolf Guard. :)
November 8, 2009 8:40 AM
Flekkzo you need to learn your codex, giving a GH a meltagun replaces his bolter, but he keeps the bolt pistol and close combat weapon, so hes no less effective in close combat that a regular GH,
November 8, 2009 10:28 AM
Why not include a MotW and a powerweapon in the same squad?
I don't see anywhere in the codex that you can't have both.
If you have the points, why not get the best of both worlds.
November 8, 2009 10:49 AM
You are compartmentalizing and I know many people do it, I just prefer to look at the bigger picture.
Its clear to me, the intent of MotW is to grant additional attacks to a unit. Yes rending is great but the more dice you force your opponent to roll the more likely they will fail saves.
The potential d6+1+1(charge)=3-8
3 attacks= normal grey hunter, no gain, other then the rends.
8 attacks= almost becoming two additional marines in the squad. ie. A 6 man squad in a Razorback attacks as an 8 man unit.
I really think that the space wolves are a 6 man terror. I prefer to field 5, 6 man groups as opposed to 3, 10 mans.
November 8, 2009 2:23 PM
I completely agree...preferably riding in razorbacks with twin linked heavy bolters as well :)
November 8, 2009 7:09 PM
Ah yes. It does just replace the bolter. Sometimes it's hard remembering since standard marines and special marines differ on the details. Guess it I'd better to split them off since I take it that one can try to wound allocate with MotW being considered a different load out. Or is it still the same?
It will also be interesting to see how people model wulfen marked marines. Maybe some WHFB bits could be helpful:)
November 8, 2009 11:05 PM
Flekkzo, it's a different array of 'equipment' so wounds have to be allocated differently.
I plan to convert mine to look like the 13th company wolfen models.
November 9, 2009 2:29 PM
I use the wolf helm from the box plus the skull backpack, a reg tac marine arm cut and turned to look claw like and the other one holding a close combat knife.
November 9, 2009 11:50 PM
Your Wolf Guard could also have the MotW.
November 10, 2009 12:55 AM
Sounds like I'll have to do a Wulfen conversion guide...
November 12, 2009 12:58 PM
Sounds like a great idea adam
November 13, 2009 9:36 AM
Yeah, I don't get why you wouldn't do both... The bigger choice is PWeapon v. PFist on a Grey Hunter. The PWeap gives +1 A at init and the fist is a fist!
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