Long Fangs are Space Wolves who have survived centuries of war. As the most steady of temperament, Long Fangs are entrusted with heavy weapons to protect their Space Wolf bretheren with covering fire.To represent their experience and battlefield wisdom, all Long Fangs have an increased Leadership characteristic while the eldest Long Fang is able to direct the squad's fire, allowing Long Fangs to split their firepower between two different targets.
Unlike the Devastator squads of other Space Marine armies, the heavy weapons of the Long Fangs are considerably cheaper. Perhaps this is because no other infantry units in the Space Wolves army are able to carry them? Whatever the case, this makes Long Fangs a very viable and cost effective Heavy Support choice if equipped correctly.
The Long Fangs squad leader also has access to a number of special weapons and every Long Fang has the universal Space Wolves special rules, which are Acute Senses and Counter-Attack.
OPTIONS
Flamer - Unlikely to get to use it
Melta Gun - Unlikely to get to use it
Plasma Gun - Not bad, but expensive
Plasma Pistol - Too expensive
Power Weapon - Unlikely to get to use it
Power Fist - Unlikely to get to use it
Melta Bombs - Unlikely to get to use them
Heavy Bolter - Cheap, but largely ineffective
Missile Launcher - Great value for its points and very versatile
Multimelta - Too short ranged for such a static unit
Plasma Cannon - Expensive and terrifying for an 1 wound infantry model to fire
Lascannon - The king of long ranged tank hunting guns and also the most expensive
Overall, the humble missile launcher really comes to the fore in the Long Fangs pack.
While some people love hordes of heavy bolters, I'm not a fan, especially now that its AP4 shots are somewhat redundant when everything seems to get a 4+ cover save.
The multimelta is a great anti-tank weapon, but it should never be given to a static or slow moving unit.
The plasma cannon can be fantastic, but when you're spending 35 points for a model to be armed with one, it's a big investment, especially when you're likely to get killed firing it.
That leaves the lascannon. Long range, high strength, low AP. Bane of tanks, monstrous creatures and Independant Characters. But at twice the cost of the missile launcher and not nearly as versatile, it's reserved for dedicated tank hunting which the overwhelming number of mobile melta guns in the Space Wolves army should be more than capable of taking care of.
So there we have it. The missile launcher is king of the heavy weapons because of it's versatile use, long range and reasonable points cost.
And with that, here are some Long Fang unit builds:
Long Fangs Pack 1: 115 points
1 Squad Leader, 4 Long Fangs with Missile Launchers
Just the essentials. 5 models, 4 missile launchers
Long Fangs Pack 2: 140 points
1 Squad Leader, 5 Long Fangs with Missile Launchers
For a few points more, you can max out the squad and get another guy with a missile launcher. Well worth the points, especially when it's an extra only the Space Wolves can have.
Long Fangs Pack 3: 203 points
Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour with Storm Bolter, Power Sword and Cyclone Missile Launcher
1 Squad Leader, 5 Long Fangs with Missile Launchers
For even more firepower, why not add a Wolf Guard in terminator armour with a cyclone missile launcher and a storm bolter to boot. Costing just 63 points, he's a little more than 2 extra Long Fangs (which you can't field anyway), but with his 2 missile shots, storm bolter, power sword and terminator armour for catching the odd krak missile and other high strength hit and he's well worth his points.
If there's one thing Long Fangs love, it's Razorbacks. Transport capacity is rarely a problem, so why not pay 5 points more than a Rhino for a pair of twin linked heavy bolters? Although in my personal experience, only a mass of mobile heavy bolters really inflicts any serious damage.
But would you pay a total of 75 points for a razorback with a twin linked lascannon turret? Compare it to the cost of a Landspeeder and you just might.
Because your Long Fangs are never going to use the Razorback, it essentially becomes a free Fast Attack choice bolted onto your already cost effective Long Fangs squad as a Heavy Support choice.
When a single Long Fang with a lascannon costs 40 points, maybe it's not such a bad deal? It's a great way to get some accurate lascannon fire into the army.
One very tempting, but expensive idea is to get Logan Grimnar and attach him to a unit of Long Fangs armed with missile launchers or even lascannons.
His ability to confer the Relentless and Tank Hunter skills to the unit he joins, can make Long Fangs devastating. However, the Chapter Master of the Space Wolves isn't cheap, so he'll have to be especially destructive to make him worth the points.
Long Fangs Pack 4: 553 points
Logan Grimnar
Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour with Storm Bolter, Power Sword and Cyclone Missile Launcher
1 Squad Leader, 5 Long Fangs with Lascannons
Damn, that's a lot of points! But you can move 6" on from the board edge or move into cover whilst firing those heavy weapons or stand still for the Tank Hunter ability, effectively making the lascannons Strength 10 against vehicles while the cyclone missile launcher goes up to the equivalent of Strength 9 against vehicles.
Long Fangs are cheaper than other equivalent Heavy Support choices from the Space Wolves Codex, which makes them an excellent choice for any Space Wolf player from the most competitive tournament player to the player who embraces the background and all its quirks regardless of cost.
As for Logan Grimnar leading a maxed out squad of Long Fangs with all the trimmings. That's a heck of a lot of points and it's going to need some playtesting to see if it's really worth doing.
The razorback with twin linked lascannon seems to be a safe bet though.
16 comments:
January 17, 2010 at 2:22 PM
Ah Long Fangs my favorite.
Cant agree more on the effectiveness of 7 Missile shots a turn from ML toting Long Fangs with a Wolf Guard.
I'd like to comment on Razorbacks being used by Long Fangs as I've used them quite a few times now. The truth of it is that your LF's will never probably get inside the Razorback during the battle.
I have used the Razorback with Lascannons to provide some extra firepower allowing my to target 3 pieces or armour a turn from one unit. Another great use is mobile cover, if my LF's have to walk onto the board in a Dawn of War mission I will put the Razorback in front of them to provide cover. The turn after I move it out of the way 6" so eveything can fire.
Whilst on the subject of mobile cover a number of times my Razorback has been sacrifced to stop my LF's getting steamrolled by a Close combat unit or tank shocked out of position giving them an extra turn of shooting. In my last game I moved it 12" and parked it straight in front of a battlwagon. Tank shockers need a straight line so he had to ram the Razorback instead.
My final thoughts are on Heavy Bolters, I am definately going to be giving cheap Heavy Bolter armed LF's more opportunities to prove themselves especially with the arrival of Nids. Give them 5 Heavy Bolters and a Heavy bolter armed Razroback and they pump out 18 shots a turn at 36" range. Feel no pain ain't going to help those swarms of Gaunts when those Heavy Bolter rounds start slamming into them.
I'll shut up now.
January 17, 2010 at 2:23 PM
Nice write up, I can confirm that 5 Long Fangs armed with Launchers is a great unit, I used them to win a local combat patrol tournament then did very little however when I took them down to the 40k Doubles, but that was maybe down to poor dice rolling and the amazing ability of people to make invunerable saves.
As a slightly different take on the Logan Grimnar unit - how does the boss along with Cyclone Wolf guard and 5 LF's with Multi Meltas in a drop pod sound?
Tom
January 17, 2010 at 8:06 PM
Great page.
Do long fangs have to be static? Are they not awesome enough to wield multi meltas?
January 18, 2010 at 2:04 AM
They're static due to having Heavy Weapons that they cannot Move & Shoot unless joined by Logan Grimnar, so yes, I'd say so.
January 18, 2010 at 3:46 PM
Drop Pod them with longan grimnar, and bring melta!
January 19, 2010 at 2:36 AM
I would definitely be against tying up Logan with a unit of Long Fangs just because he allows them to move and shoot.
If I were taking Logan I'd want him in the front line slaying many enemies in order to offset his enormous point cost.
Long Fangs should (in my opinion) be armed with missile launchers, or missile launchers mixed with lascannon (my second squad uses two lascannon and three missile launchers). I'm not a fan of putting Wolf Guard with Long Fangs, but then most of my heavy weapons are assault cannon. I'd have to paint up one of my metal cyclones to try that squad configuration (plus a few more Wolf Guard).
January 19, 2010 at 6:01 AM
The Logan Drop pod is a nice one trick pony that would pop a tank or two but after that I reckon he's toast.
My Multi Melta Long Fangs will be reserved to Apoc games to help hold the line against armoured assaults.
January 19, 2010 at 8:55 AM
I actually reckon a MeltaPod beeing a 2 trick pony.
Deploy, fire 3 meltas into the front of a tank at close range. End of story.
Due to the close proximity to other tanks (short range you know) there will be other tanks further away expsoing their side/rear (but not within 12", rather 24). Shoot them with 2 meltas and the cyclone.
=2 shoot up tanks.
From there on, Logan is free to leave the squad and charge in!!!
Also, I would have a LR with wolfguard to switch passangers with the drop pod if neccesary. If there are no obvious targets at turn 1.
(Giving a pod with terminators and a LR with Melta-Logan)
January 19, 2010 at 1:26 PM
Great article and very comprehensive.
My personal take on why LF weapons are cheaper than stock Marines: because there's no ablative wounds. Devastator squads can add in 5 basic Marines to take incoming fire for them. With LFs, every wound is coming off a Sergeant or HW trooper. The lower cost reflects the higher cost of attrition.
Also, I do think a secondary or tertiary squad kitted out with Multi-Meltas is actually a viable idea. Throw them up front and center to create a cheap 24" bubble that no tank will want to enter. Not saying it's the best load nor the most efficient, but something worth consideration.
January 19, 2010 at 10:47 PM
Nice read, man, well done. Honestly, in my normal wolf list, I don't think I ever run without Long Fangs. They are both deadly and cheap, you just can't beat that combo.
I also believe they create an awesome amount of psychological terrain for your opponent. For example, in my last match, I parked them on a hill overlooking an objective. My opponent had to kill them or pay the consequences (get shot or avoid that corner of the battlefield altogether). Either way, they become such a powerful unit that it's hard not to take them.
February 2, 2010 at 7:05 AM
What's everyone ones views on putting 3 long fangs in a rhino?
for 100 points you'd get two Hvy Wpns and a stormbolter you can individually target plus the massive bonus of being in armour.
February 4, 2010 at 5:50 AM
Wolf Guard with no extras is a neat little extra for a Long Fangs squad. Any really nasty shots that come against the unit can be dropped onto him- it's better to loose a 18 pt Wolf Guard than one of your heavy weapons...
June 7, 2010 at 1:06 AM
A little trick i use in combination with the added Wolf Guard w/ Cyclone Missile Launcher with Long Fangs is adding a Rune Priest in Terminator Armor for the relentless special rule. When the long fangs come on the board you want to get them into cover ASAP which means no shooting heavy weapons except for the Cyclone but by adding a Rune Priest in Terminator armor you can get off another shooting attack while on the move to cover and you get another 2+ armor save w/ 5+ invuln for wound distribution.
June 21, 2010 at 1:47 PM
At Capt Mac. For 100 points your getting just 2 missile launchers, 130 for 2 lascannons, but for the same price a predator has an autocannon too.
I think that you have succeeded in your objective and no-one will ever shoot your rhino, as they realise that they would have to first destroy the rhino, then shoot the squad to stop them firing. And that is alot of effort to stop just 2 missiles. Especially since the rhino still doesn't allow them to move and fire.
A Long Fang squad full of Missiles does not attract that much attention in most Space Wolf armies. An experienced player knows how much firepower it takes to bring them down when they are in cover, and is usually far more frightened of the advancing Rhinos than to waste the weapons that could hurt them on the Long Fangs.
Keep them cheap, Authors' Build 2 with maybe a standard Wolf guard for wounds, and keep them in cover. They will be fine, take alot of hits, and seriously annoy your opponent. When you start upgrading them is when they start to attract attention (If they are 5 lascannons you can see the difference in how much attention they attract). Also, if your opponent does really focus on them with his firepower or sends a close combat squad down there, then you've lost 115-160 points, I bet your opponenet has lost alot more tactically.
Likewise, Logan is simply too expensive as a long range supporter, his cost is equal to 2 more squads containing 10 more missile launchers. Maybe in a big Apoc game he and his squad can make their points Titan hunting...
At FunkMuffin, I like to use a Living Lightning Rune Priest with my Long Fangs as well (with murderous hurricane when the opponent starts getting close), but I prefer to keep him as cheap as possible, the Termie armour Relentless ability is not needed, since all the worthwhile psychic attacks are type: Assault.
August 12, 2010 at 8:06 AM
I use a very versatile squad.
5 Long Fangs + 1 leader (give leader nothing) give 3 Long Fangs Heavy Bolters for troop pounding and 2 missile launchers to take out the tanks from range. Split fire works nice.
I also give them a Razorback with the Laz Cannon and TL Plasma Gun and I think this cost around 190 points for the squad.
The idea is not for the Razorback to act as a transport but to draw fire (as its cheap) but also to become a fire support to target the big heavy armoured tanks and dreads etc.
For the points cost this is amazing. Big game has 3 squads of this and you rock on. If you know there are a lot of tanks then take 2 squads of this and 1 of all missile launchers!
It works for all occassions as thats 15 hvy weapns and 3 razorback = sweet.
January 23, 2013 at 2:56 PM
Missile launchers are expensive to buy and there is only one in the box!
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