Rune Priest Guide

Have you asked yourself, "What's the best set up for my Rune Priest?" Then our Rune Priest guide may help you answer that important question.

The Rune Priest is second in our series Space wolves unit guides written by Adam and myself to help you to build the most ferocious and cost effective Space Wolves army.

Armed with the philosophy of getting real 'value for points', we're going to explain whether you should splash out on the hard hitting special weapons or keep things cheap and cheerful. Sometimes we'll give you a selection of well-rounded options to choose from to fit your playing style or the amount of points left in your army list.

Let's get started on the Rune Priest, effectively a Space Wolves Librarian.

The Rune Priest starts out at 100pts with a solid stat line, two Psychic Powers, a Rune Weapon, a bolt pistol; he is a great value right out of the codex. Lets take a look at the list of wargear that you can give him.

OPTIONS:
Master of Runes expensive, but great if you feel the need to use two powers a turn.
Boltgun - there is really no point for this option
Storm bolter - good on Terminator armor!
Combi-weapon - also good but only available in Terminator armor!
Plasma pistol - expensive and the Priest shouldn’t be shooting a non-psychic attack.
Runic Armor - decent but terminator armor is more cost effective and has an invulnerable save.
Terminator Armor - expensive, but comes with weapons and makes other weapons cheaper
Jump Pack - only if using Skyclaws.
Space Marine Bike - Great mobility, +1T.
Melta Bombs - sure, if you have 5pts left over
Wolftooth Necklace - Take it!
Wolf Tail Talisman - Take it, for the extra psychic protection!
Chooser of the Slain Take it!
Saga of the Beastslayer - Brilliant value for the points.
Saga of the Warriorborn - Awesome, but expensive.


PSYCHIC POWERS:
Thunderclap - There are better powers
Living Lightning - Great for popping light Vehicles
Stormcaller - An awesome second power for a Priest with Master of the Runes Priest
Tempests Wrath - Fantastic against skimmer heavy and Daemon armies
Furry of the Wolf Spirits - Decent but short ranged
Murderous Hurricane - Fantastic power, it’s really good against low toughness models and helps control the battlefield.
Jaws of the World Wolf - Good sniping power, particularly effective against low Initiative models.


SUMMARY

After looking at the options, let me detail the options I think are worth taking and present a couple of Wargear and suggested Psychic Power combinations.

The Rune Priest should be geared as a support character model as opposed to the rest of the Space Wolf characters that are geared toward melee. His Runic Weapons anti-psychic power he can be the bane of enemy psychers, with the ability to wound Daemons on a 2+ he’s awesome against them as an added bonus.

The first thing to consider is the type of force you are going to field. Each of the three main types Footsloggin’, Mech, or Drop Pod dictate how I would look at equipping my Rune Priest.

No matter the force type I would always take a Chooser of the Slain. Not so much for the anti infiltrate rule, but for the ability to increase the Rune Priests BS by 1 when using his shooting powers. I would also spend the points to give him a Wolf Tail talisman for the extra anti-psychic protection.

For a Rune priest in a Footslogging force I would probably put him in Terminator Armor and upgrade him to a Master of the Runes. I’d give him Stormcaller or Tempests Wrath and either Living Lightning or Murderous Hurricane for Powers.

A Rune Priest in a Mech force I would probably leave him in Powered Armor maybe upgrade to Runic Armor depending on the game size. If I were to give him Storm Caller I would upgrade to a Master of Runes, but I would probably keep him cheap using Living Lightning or Tempests Wrath or Murderous Hurricane for powers.

When using Drop Pods or in an army containing a Landraider a Rune Priest can again opt for Terminator armor, as it is very cost effective and gives him an invulnerable save. This build is the only one I would be tempted to use a Saga. I’d pick two of the following Living Lightning or Tempests Wrath or Murderous Hurricane for powers.

Rune Priest 1 (Footslogger): 185
Terminator armor, Master of the Runes, Chooser of the Slain, Wolf Tail Talisman
If you have the points add a Wolf Tooth Necklace.

Rune Priest 2 (Mech): 125
Chooser of the Slain, Wolf Tail Talisman, Wolf Tooth Necklace
If using Stormcaller or Tempests Wrath it may be worthwhile to upgrade to master of the Runes.

Rune Priest 3 (DP/mech): 145
Terminator armor, Chooser of the Slain, Wolf Tail Talisman, Wolf Tooth Necklace
If using Stormcaller or Tempests Wrath it may be worthwhile to upgrade to master of the Runes.



FINAL THOUGHTS
A Space Wolves Rune Priest is a force to be reckoned with on the tabletop. He can be one of the most cost effective characters found in the Space Wolves Codex. In my humble opinion he is a must have in every Space Wolves list.

I’ve briefly touched on the Psychic Powers, based on my personal opinions and in game experience. When fielding one Rune Priest Murderous Hurricane and Tempests Wrath are my go to powers. Combine this with Master of the Runes, I have found that I can control a large part of the battlefield.

Wolf Lord Guide

What are the best weapons for my Wolf Lord? Read our Wolf Lord guide to find out!

This Wolf Lord guide is the first in a series of Space Wolves unit guides written by Jim and myself to help you to build the most ferocious and cost effective Space Wolves army.

Armed with the philosophy of getting real 'value for points', we're going to explain whether you should splash out on the hard hitting special weapons or keep things cheap and cheerful. Sometimes we'll give you a selection of well rounded options to choose from to fit your playing style or the amount of points left in your army list.

So without further ado, let's get started on the Wolf Lord, effectively a Grand Master of the Space Wolves.

The Wolf Lord weighs in at 100pts with a fantastic stat line, a close combat weapon, a bolt pistol and a huge list of equipment to choose from.

OPTIONS:
Boltgun - erm, why?
Storm bolter - good and cheap!
Combi-weapon - also good and cheap!
Power weapon or plasma pistol - Power weapon for cheapness
Wolf claw - for 5pts more a power weapon with rerolls! Better than the power weapon.
Powerfist or Frost Weapon - Powerfist is no good, Frost weapon is a +1S power weapon.
Thunder Hammer or Storm Shield - both excellent, but very expensive
Runic Armour - expensive, especially when terminator armour is more cost effective.
Terminator armour - expensive, but comes with weapons and makes other weapons cheaper
Jump Pack - only if joined to Skyclaws.
Space Marine Bike - high movement, +1T. Not too expensive.
Thunderwolf Mount - gives rending and +1T and cavalry movement. Thunderwolf or bike?
Melta Bombs - sure, if you have 5pts left over
Wolftooth Necklace - Take it!
Wolf Tail Talisman - Take it!
0-2 Pet Wolves - if riding Thunderwolf
Mark of the Wulfen - Not worth taking for characters.
Belt of Russ - 4+ inv save. For 5pts more take a Storm Shield and get a 3+ inv save!
Saga of the Beastslayer - Brilliant value for points!
Saga of Majesty - you're playing Space Marines, why bother?
Saga of Wolfkin - Boosts the stats of your Fenrisian Wolves
Saga of the Warriorborn - Awesome, but expensive.
Saga of the Bear - Can't be instant killed. Expensive. Debatable if worth taking.

SUMMARY
Okay, having been through the options, I'll detail the weapons I think are worth taking and present a couple of equipment combinations.

The Wolf Lord is in command of Space Wolves Company, so the urge to go completely crazy and festoon him with badass equipment is really tempting. I can see a lot of people wanting to give him Saga of the Bear to keep him alive. But in truth, if he gets pumelled by a Powerfist, eaten by a Monstrous Creature or hit by a Lascannon, then he deserves to die, because you didn't play him very well. Chances are, he was going to suffer 3 Wounds at this point anyway.

So when it comes to designing our Wolf Lord, let's think of his battle field role and how he will be arriving.

A Wolf Lord will arrive either in a Drop Pod, in a Transport, on a Bike or on a Thunderwolf. And he should always be leading a unit.

Fighting on Foot

If he's arriving via drop pod, rhino, razorback or preferably Land Raider, your Wolf Lord will need something to shoot with and something to fight with.

Essentially he's a melee character with some excellent ballistic skill. So he needs to be protected with armour while making the most of his high Attacks and Initiative stats.

Terminator armour is a must have for that 2+ save and 5+ invulnerable save. Don't worry if he can't 'sweeping advance', because he's going to kill absolutely everything!

Terminator armour comes with a storm bolter and powersword, but he needs something with a bit more clout. +5 pts turns the storm bolter into a combi weapon. Combi-melta or combi-plasma will make the most of his Ballistic Skill. Meanwhile for +5pts he can upgrade the power weapon to a Wolf Claw and choose to reroll to hit or reroll to wound.

Saga of the Beast Slayer is a must at just 10pts for all those Toughness 5 models. Couple it with the Wolf Claw and you can re-roll to hit and re-roll to wound every time!

Wolf Lord 1: 160pts
Terminator armour, combi-melta, wolf claw and saga of the beast slayer.
If you've got the points, a wolf tooth necklance and wolf tail talisman boosts him up to 175pts

For a few points more, you can swap the combi-weapon for a wolf claw and swap the left wolf claw for a Storm Shield and get a 3+ save.

Wolf Lord 2: 180pts
Terminator armour, wolf claw, storm shield and saga of the beast slayer.
If you've got the points, a wolf tooth necklance and wolf tail talisman boosts him up to 195pts

Finally for a few more points, he can have a Thunderhammer. I don't feel that he needs one because someone in the squad he's leading should have a powerfist for tanks and tough things. I'd rather keep his Initiative 5 for inflicting lots of wounding power weapon attacks to prevent the squad he's leading from taking wounds from enemies with Initiative 4 or less.

Wolf Lord 3: 190pts
Terminator armour, thunderhammer, storm shield and saga of the beast slayer.
If you've got the points, a wolf tooth necklance and wolf tail talisman boosts him up to 205pts

Riding to Battle!

Bike or Thunderwolf? If you have a unit of Swift Claw bikers, it's best to put your Wolf Lord on a bike. If you have a unit of Thunderwolves, then it's the perfect time to put your Wolf Lord on a Thunderwolf. You may think that your Space Wolves commander is safe on a Thunderwolf all on his own, but he'll soon drown in heavy weapons on Turn 1. There goes your 200 points character.

Personally, I'm in favour of the Space Marine Bike. While the Thunderwolf may grand +1 Strength, +1 Toughness and +1 Attack, it's not quite as reliable as a unit that can Turbo Boost 24", gaining a 3+ invulnerable save -and all for 10pts less.

Let's start on the essentials. Your Wolf Lord needs to be protected with either a 2+ or invulnerable save. Runic armour isn't cheap, neither is the Belt of Russ, but for an extra 5pts, you can take a Storm Shield and get a 3+ invulnerable save. Coupled with the 3+ Turbo Boost save, this seems like a healthy compromise.

That leaves 1 hand free for a close combat weapon. This time you have the choice of a power weapon (rubbish!), frost blade (more like it), a wolf claw or a thunder hammer.

Obviously the power weapon is rubbish when the frost blade is just 5pts more for +1S, the wolf claw is another 5pts for rerolls and then there's the expensive thunder hammer.

I'm going to go with the Wolf Claw combined with Saga of the Beastslayer for rerolls to hit and rerolls to wound against anything with a Toughness of 5 or above. Finally some 5pts melta bombs should make tanks a push over.

Wolf Lord 4: 200pts
Space marine bike, wolf claw, storm shield, melta bombs and saga of the beast slayer.
If you've got the points, a wolf tooth necklance and wolf tail talisman boosts him up to 215pts

Alternatively, if you simply can't resist putting him on a Thunderwolf:
(personally I'd take a Land Raider instead!)

Wolf Lord 5: 230pts
Thunderwolf, 2 Fenrisiam wolves, wolf claw, storm shield, melta bombs and saga of the beast slayer.
If you've got the points, a wolf tooth necklance and wolf tail talisman boosts him up to 215pts

FINAL THOUGHTS
A Space Wolves Wolf Lord is an inspirational character and a force to be reckoned with on the tabletop. However, there are far more cost effective characters to be found in the Space Wolves Codex.

I'd rather pay 30pts less and take a Wolf Guard Battle Leader who has exactly the same options with 1 less Attack, 1 less Wound and 1 less Leadership.

As a tournament player, I'm looking to squeeze every drop of potential from a unit, but for those less competitively minded, a Wolf Lord is an inspiring character to lead a grand army. But just make sure you don't bestow too many trinkets on him in your pursuit to make an incredible and charismatic character to lead your Space Wolves company.

Space Hulk Terminators Painted

I finished painting the last of my Space Hulk terminators last night.

But what are Blood Angels doing on the Space Wolves blog I hear your cry!

Well, this is my testing out my new quick and easy painting technique. I don't have the time spend whole days on single miniatures when I could get a whole squad done in that time.

So I now basecoat my miniatures with a massive Tank Brush, slap on Badab Black Wash and once that's dry, Dry Brush on the highlight. Then lightly dust the raised areas and other bits I'd like to be brighter.

Painting quickly like this has really put the joy back into painting for me. There's nothing that a basecoat and a single highlight or a basecoat and a wash cannot cure.

I also didn't go to town on the little details, like hazard stripes on the yellow piping.

James has been my mentor when it's come to painting quickly. I'm convinced that he has no shame when it comes to painting his miniatures, but it's a good compromise for me to stop painting tiny stripes and symbols and approach a model in they way that he would.

It was tough to take the plunge, but I thought I should do it with these Limited Edition Space Hulk models. Of course that's when we all thought they were a little more 'limited' than they actually are.

Sorry this is a bit of a rambling post, but I feel liberated. Free to lower my painting standards I can increase the production of my painting and produce armies at a much faster rate.

So next up is the Genestealers and then I'll get cracking on my Space Wolves. I'd better hurry up too, because now that I've sold my Tau army to a chap from Spain, I don't actually have a playable Warhammer 40K.

Space Wolves Dice

My Space Wolves dice are on their way! Yes, the ultimate nerdgasm is having a set of dice to match your army.

I used to have a set of Deathwing dice back in the days when I played a pure Dark Angels deathwing army, so I thought it would be cool to have a set of Space Wolves dice for my Space Wolves army.

I've chosen Ragnar Blackmane's symbol for my Space Wolves dice on a nice neutral grey so that my opponent and I can clearly see the results of a roll under the harshest light. Personally I can't stand shiny or marble dice which make the numbers difficult to see. Naturally, the Space Wolves symbol is a substitute for a 6.

Njal Stormcaller

I painted Njal Stormcaller in a single night thanks to my new painting method. Yes, I should have been painting Space Hulk models, but after reading the Space Wolves Codex earlier in the week, I had to paint something Space Wolf.

Perhaps I shouldn't have used Njal Stormcaller as my 'test model', but he turned out alright.

Although I have to say that this was the most difficult model I have ever had to paint -and I've painted a lot of models during my 15 years in the Warhammer 40K hobby!

Fortunately, my new painting method is relatively quick and easy, comprising of basecoating, drybrushing and washes.

As much as I would have loved to produce several shades on his fur cloak, it wouldn't be practical for the army as a whole, so a basecoat and drybrush highlight would have to do.

But the real horror of painting this model is the overwhelming detail.

To make matters worse you have to reach around the staff with your paintbrush to get to his beard, the braids holding the ends of his beard together and the wolf tooth necklance that lies beneath.

The staff head is also a problem. Perhaps it's the casting of the model I received, but it's difficult to make out the detail around the staff head when there's so many runic stones, teeth and twine wrapped around it.

Fortunately I was painting Bleached Bone across the whole thing, followed by a Devlan Mud Wash, which was a godsend in bringing out the detail.

I think this model was a great test model for my Space Wolves because I always make the first model of any army I paint look stunning. I seem to pull out all the stops in understanding the scheme I'm creating before applying it to the rest of the army.

This model has every painting pitful you can imagine. Painstaking detail, detail you can't clearly see, areas you struggle to get to and the need for extremely careful colour balance.

After conquering the Njal Stormcaller model, I don't think any model in the Space Wolves range can cause my problems now!

Stay tuned for a Space Wolves painting guide once I've painted a few more models. For now it's back to painting Space Hulk terminators. Just 5 left, then it's on to the Genestealers.

New Space Wolves Codex -What a Read!

My new Space Wolves Codex arrived in the post this morning and I promptly read it cover to cover!

Anyone who has read the background thoroughly can testify that this isn't just another Space Marine army, this is a reckless, heroic and very fun Space Marine army.

Whether it's tales of the Whirlwind that drives at the enemy, the Long Fang squad that's filled their Razorback with so many heavy weapons to choose from that they can't fit in it or the sheer contempt expressed by the Captain of the White Consuls with regards to the Space Wolves; what we have here is a wonderfully characterful codex.

It's darkly humourous as well and written in a similar style to the Ork Codex. While games Workshop could have given us standard background entries for the standard Space Marine vehicles, they didn't. They gave us rich and stirring tales of the Space Marine vehicles employed by the Space Wolves, even if they're not used for the tactics they were designed for! The mention of Thunderwolf cavalry is also an entertaining one.

Leaders of the Pack
On page 81, there is an entry which states:

"...no two characters may bear the same saga, nor may they bear the same psychic powers or wargear combination. Space Wolves are far too proud and individualistic for such unimaginative tactics!"

Due to the wording, this has been open to some interperetation.

"No two characters may bear the same psychic powers or wargear combination."

Is that bearing the SAME psychic powers or COMBINATION of psychic powers?

While I could compare a ruling to other Codex books, that would be a futile use of logic, because no two army books ever tend to be the same. So let's just work on the wording.

Without being accused of bias (because I play also Tau and I don't need fancy rules-lawyering to help me win games with them), I'm going to stick my neck out and state that's it's 'combination' of psychic powers. Otherwise the wording would have been far more blunt.

For example:

"...no two characters may bear the same saga, nor may they bear the same psychic power or wargear combination. One jaws of the world wolf casting per turn is quite enough!"

Notice I've said 'psychic power', not 'psychic powers'.

Besides, ambigous wording didn't save anyone from two Daemon Princes with Lash of Submission. Okay, I said I wouldn't compare to other Codex books...but I just did.

I myself, only plan to field a single Rune Priest anyway. I'm saving my points for a Wolf Lord with Wolf Claws and Saga of the Warrior Born -on a bike!

Escalation
People have been getting riled up of late at the direction the game is taking, but most importantly because armies are being left behind as the new wave of Codex books becomes stronger and more characterful than ever.

Great for the guys with new Codex books, awful for the guys who won't get Codex books for the foreseable future.

My advice is to hang in there for your Codex and do your best (like I'm doing with my Tau). Or pick up a new army. Then when 6th edition comes out, your first army can enjoy the glory of a new Codex book.

Space Hulk Squad 1 Done!

Space Wolves on hold while I finish off my Space Hulk models. I've just finished the first squad and the Space Marine in on the throne.

I'm really pleased with these and this painting style will form the basis for my Space Wolves army. So it's basecoat, drybrush, details, wash, highlight and done! Most parts don't need a final highlight.

Only 7 Space Marine terminators and 36 Genestealers to go! Plus all the doors.

I have assembled Njal Stormcaller though (couldn't resist) and his arms are a nightmare to glue into place due to his flimsey/bendy little staff.

Having done nothing but build and paint an entirely plastic Tau Empire army for 3 years, returning to metal miniatures is tougher than I thought.

Say tuned for more painting updates this weekend as I make my big push on painting.

Got Space Wolves Stuff!!

2 Space Wolves boxes, Njal Storm Caller, Lukas the Trickster (aka: Mick Hucknall) and a Ravenwing Battleforce arrived in the post this morning.

Thank you Gamers Warehouse! Not only have you posted my Space Wolves order to me 2 days before their official release this Saturday, you did it cheaper than anyone else thanks for your Free worldwide postage. (I knew I should have ordered the Space Wolves Codex from them as well.)

So yes, I'm very excited, especially when I've arranged for James to come round for an evening of horror films and painting. There's some awesome stuff on these sprues (which I'm sure you've already seen).

The sheer level of detail is staggering, which makes me want to mix these boxes with some regular Space Marine boxes and tone down the sheer level of feral bling. Otherwise it'll take me a month of sundays to paint all the lavish detail on just 1 model.

Because of the number of accessories from lavish wolf cloaks to runic armour, you could easily make any Space Wolves character just from this sprue.

I'm still in two minds about the wolf head helmet from the long out of production Space Wolves Captain model from Rogue Trader. It has classic charm, but only on a character, not a bog standard trooper. Might look good on a wolf priest.

But one thing's for certain -the wolf scout heads suck. Someone took the current Space Marine scout heads (which look like baked potatoes) and added beards. The horror!

I'll definitely be making some more wolf scout conversions using Space Marine scouts, some of the accessories from the new Space Wolves sprue and Marauder Horsemen parts.

The important thing is that this boxed set somes with plenty of heads, so you only need to give 1 in 5 guys a bare head (or the wolf head).
scout heads suck

The Njal Stormcaller model looks geat. His crow isn't really detachable because it's lower half is sculpted into Njal's shoulder, while the upper half glues down on top of it. Njal's arms and staff are a single piece which slot in under the terminator shoulder pads. So you could easily replace the arms with plastic terminator arms if you fancy a Rune Priest with some different equipment.

Luke the Trickster looks like a horrible model to put together and is held onto the base purely by the metal slot. If that bends, then it's all over.

Tempted as I was to order Canis Wolfborn, I've got quite enough to build and paint for the moment. I'm also hoping that someone comes up with a better model for the Thunderwolves before I want Canis and some Thunderwolf cavalry.

Updates on modelling and painting soon. For this weekend shall be a Space Wolves weekend!