Blood Claws are the 'other' Space Wolves troops choice. These Blood Claw tactics are going to explain how to get the best out of your Blood Claws squads and how they can be best used to support the rest of the army while giving you the best value for your points.Unlike the new initiates of other Space Marine chapters, Blood Claws are given a suit of power armour, a bolt pistol and a chainsword so that they can get stuck into close combat. No sneaking about as scouts for the Space Wolves!
As a result, Blood Claws are renowned for their ferocity, being Headstrong (so they charge anything), Berserk (they get +2 attacks when charging) and having a rather poor Weapon Skill and Ballistic Skill. They are initiates after all.
Most competitive players aren't a big fan of Blood Claws because they have always paled in comparison to Grey Hunters, but when led by a Wolf Priest, the close combat potential of the Blood Claws increases dramatically when they charge.
They also need to be led by a Wolf Guard or Independant Character at all times, otherwise they forgoe their shooting if within 6" of an enemy and charge them, regardless of whether they can hurt that enemy or not!
OPTIONS
Flamer - Not necessary for a large close combat unit
Melta Gun - The essential 5th edition tank hunting assault gun
Plasma Gun - Not a great choice for an assault squad
Plasma Pistol - Expensive!
Power Weapon - Expensive for a WS3 model
Power Fist - Expensive for a WS3 model
The whole point behind taking Blood Claws is to do something different to what a Grey Hunter pack can do. Otherwise, you're better off taking Grey Hunters, because they're a far more versatile and cost effective unit.
So what can Blood Claws do that Grey Hunters can't?
Well, they can get +2 attacks on the charge and you can have up to 15 of them.
So to make them worth taking, you want to max out on numbers and do your best to get the charge.
This means either transporting them in a Land Raider Crusdader with its transport capacity of 16 or slogging it on foot as a mighty mob of power armoured Space Marines.
Blood Claws Pack 1: 408 points
Wolf Priest with Runic Armour, Wolf Tail Talisman,
Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour, Combi-Melta, Chainfist
15 Blood Claws, 2 Melta guns
I've taken a Wolf Priest for his Oath of War ability that gives the unit Preferred Enemy against either 'infantry' or 'monstrous creatures'. Generally, I choose 'infantry', because it encompasses so many different units.
I've give the Wolf Priest Runic Armour so he can catch a few more bullets for the squad with a 2+ save as well as a Wolf Tail Talisman to dispel psychic attacks on the squad on a 5+. Looking at the new Tyranid army, there's a lot of psychic template weapons heading our way and for 5pts, it's too good to pass up for a large squad.
For more options, check out these Wolf Priest Tactics.
I've also included a Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour to catch some bullets for the squad with his 2+ save. He's armed with a combi-melta for extra tank busting/monstrous creature wounding and a chainfist.
It's not very cost effective to give a Blood Claw a powerfist, even if they are rerolling to hit, so this guy is the safest bet. Not only does he get Preferred Enemy, but he has 2 basic attacks and a higher Weapon Skill. For him the chainfist is cheaper and much better at ripping apart vehicles.
For more about the various Wolf Guard builds, read these Wolf Guard Tactics.
Finally, I've chosen to max out on as many Blood Claws as possible and given them a Melta gun, because it's the best assault gun in the game and at 5 points it's a steal. Even better, when you take 15 Blood Claws, you get another one Free!
On the charge, this unit gets 60 basic attacks, 3 chainfist attacks and 4 power weapon attacks, all with Preferred Enemy for those all important rerolls.
When Counter Charging, this unit gets 45 basic attacks, 3 chainfist attacks and 4 power weapon attacks with Preferred Enemy.
Blood Claws Pack 2: 628 points
Wolf Priest with Runic Armour, Wolf Tail Talisman,
Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour, Combi-Melta, Chainfist
13 Blood Claws, 1 Melta gun
Land Raider Crusader Transport
I'm not a fan of the Crusader, especially if you're spending 250 points on a tank purely to deliver this squad into close combat. That's 628 points in one very big basket! Once the Blood Claws have been delivered, the Crusader becomes rather redundant.
If they were mounted in a Land Raider Redeemer, the Redeemer could go off and cause carnage on its own. It was driving towards the enemy anyway, so it may as well give the Blood Claws a ride on its way into the fight. The problem with the Redeemer is that it can only transport 12 models.
So you'd end up reducing the Blood Claws to 10 models, the Wolf Guard to power armour and then the Wolf Priest. Once you're down to 10 models, well, you'd be better off taking Grey Hunters for the equivalent points.
Blood Claws are still relatively rubbish and when compared to all the other options in the Space Wolves Codex and they're only worth taking in a large mob of 15 models.
Regardless of who the enemy is, they don't want to get charged by this squad.
What makes this unit different is that it doesn't care about taking damage due to the sheer number of power armoured models. It's tough to put down with shooting and can form an excellent centre for a Space Wolves attack wave.
This unit forces your opponent to make the Catch 22 tactical decision. He can shoot the Blood Claws and get jumped by everything else, or shoot everything else and get jumped by the Blood Claws.
Hopefully with so many units charging straight down your opponent's throat, he'll be unable to put them all down before the Space Wolves crash into his lines, downing his tanks with their melta guns and ripping apart his troops with tooth and chainsword!
15 comments:
January 12, 2010 at 1:00 PM
Interesting thoughts here. One question I have is whether by adding a Termintor Wolf Guard, you give up the ability to sweeping advance.
Terminators cannot do this and units must move at the speed of their slowest model. I'm not quite sure what the outcome would be here but I feel like it could be argued that you can't sweep. On the other hand, not much will make it through the attacks of a full squad on the charge.
January 12, 2010 at 1:22 PM
What about putting 9 of them in a drop pod with a Wolf Priest w/saga of the Warrior born? CC attacks by the bucket load methinks.
January 12, 2010 at 1:46 PM
Phillip: Saga of the Warrior Born is overpriced for what it is.
Pete W: I think you answered your own question! But the terminator armour is also to deflect things like krak missiles.
January 12, 2010 at 2:31 PM
I think when it comes to a full sized Blood Claw unit Sweeping advance is never going to happen. Anything you charge is going to get smegged and if it is tough enough to take thier charge and survice odds are it will be holding you in combat for an extra turn anyway. Its always nice being able to soak up AP3+ hits and a suit of Terminator armour gives you access to a Chainfist maing the unit even more dangerous to things Land Raiders.
January 12, 2010 at 2:33 PM
Oh and to answer Phillips question I think Blood Claws in a Drop Pod is a poor cmbination. Whne you drop in your poor selcetion of weapons and BS3 is not going to do a lot, add the fact you cannot charge first turn I think BC's are an unsuitable drop pod choice. Unless you like to play fluffy and you are drop podding everything.
January 12, 2010 at 3:30 PM
I understand why you took the Wolf Guard in TDA but giving up sweeping advance is a bit much for me. I run a smaller pack, 10-13, so every little bit helps out.
Bradimus Prime: I run a fluff based army and while I haven't done Blood Claws in a drop pod I will be soon. I'll let you guys know how it goes but don't expect too much. Lol, this is for fluff after all...
January 12, 2010 at 4:05 PM
Bradimus, got it in one. My entire army is in a drop pod. Well except for the scouts. My army is almost entirely informed by fluff which means it will mostly get murdered by everything but for me the story/fluff is more important than bearding up.
January 12, 2010 at 5:22 PM
@Phillip - and if you play with other fluff players, as I do, then your fluffy build stands a good chance. We generally warn each other if we're going to beard it out, because we have a tendency to field units that we think look good rather than any use :P
January 13, 2010 at 12:18 AM
Great write up! It gave many points to consider. I kept thinking, "Hey, why not stack them all with jump packs?" But then I remembered that that is a separate choice all together. ie- Skyclaws, heh.
Thank you, again, for a wonderful insight on our units.
January 13, 2010 at 9:37 AM
Great article. I was originally going to kit out my Blood Claws with 2x Flamers, feeling that I didn't want to pay to give meltaguns to BS 3 models, but you're right - 5 points to give out two of them to the unit is too good a chance to pass up.
Regarding the whole "use the terminator to soak the krak missiles" idea...it just doesn't sit well with me. I know it's legal, but constantly allocating AP 3 shots to the one model out of 16 or so that can take the save seems...unsportsmanlike to me. Just a personal preference, I guess. I'd also not want to use this clever tactic, only to fail the save and lose the most expensive and capable model in the squad.
March 28, 2010 at 5:04 PM
hmm... according to the codex, blood claws can't take a land raider as a transport...
Am i missing something?
March 29, 2010 at 2:16 AM
Yes you are :) You buy the Land Raider from the Heavy Support section of the Codex.
June 13, 2010 at 10:38 PM
something i tried, and to a great effect, is using Ragnar + wolf preist + 13 Claws + WG in PW w/2xclaws all in a Crusader. its a pretty penny points wise, but it was fun to see it in action against Kharn. :P
August 17, 2010 at 3:34 AM
You seem to be slightly anti-blood claws, and after reading your BOTCH battle reports I definately can't deny your tactics. But I feel you've missed the point slightly with blood claws.
Consider this. (I hope this comment isn't too long).
Take your BOTCH army and swap one 8 man squad of grey hunters with 8 blood claws, keep the WG as he is, and the power fist on the squad. Remove the melta gun (claws can't shoot), wulfen and wolf totem.
Even with weapon skill 3 these guys still hit on a 4+ with 6 power fist attacks on the charge rather than five. Plus a lot more standard attacks. Compare this to Grey Hunters with wulfen and totem and they are at LEAST just as good for the counter attack. BUT! They are 30pts cheaper. Thats 2 extra power weapons, for example.
I definately wouldn't base my entire army on Blood Claws, but they are excellent when supporting a strong base of hunters. Use the hunters special rules to recieve the charge, then smash the claws into them!
And if you MUST have a special weapon, take a flamer. They're free and excellent for generating hits. My army has several.
Once again I can't fault your tactics, just something to consider.
August 17, 2010 at 3:36 AM
Actually, I really like Blood Claws. It's just that for them to be effective you need a big mob on foot or in a Land Raider.
Grey Hunters in Rhinos are just safer, more tactically viable choices for competitive games.
However, I often break out the Blood Claws led by the Wolf Priest in friendly games.
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