Saga of the Beast Slayer is a Space Wolves character bonus designed to kill monsters, walkers and anyone with a Toughness of 5 or above.With the new plastic Daemon Prince finally on its way, Saga of the Beast Slayer is going to become more popular than ever.
Now our Space Wolves Beast Slayers can enjoy hunting Dreadnoughts, Soul Grinders, Trygons, Ork biker Nobz and Daemon Princes! -Plus many more horrors of Warhammer 40,000.
How does Saga of the Beast Slayer Work?
Simply put, it lets you re-roll to hit in close combat against monstrous creatures, walkers and any model with a Toughness value of 5 or above. This includes models which have received a Toughness Bonus from riding a bike, steed or other means.
The Space Wolves Lone Wolf also get a similar special rule with the same effect.
Who Are The Best Beast Slayers?
When it comes to killing everything from Space Marine Dreadnoughts to Blood Thirsters of Khorne, these are our favourite Beast Slayer characters. Just bear in mind that some of the deadlier monsters of the Warhammer 40K game may need shooting up a bit before your plucky hero charges in to finish them off!
Beast Slayer Wolf Lord:
Space Wolves Wolf Lord riding Thunderwolf and armed with a Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield and wearing a Wolf Tooth Necklace, Wolf Tail Talisman and accompanied by 2 Fenrisian Wolves. Finally, he has the Saga of the Beast Slayer.
The plan with this guy is to charge in, take your hits, strike back with everything you have and score as many hits as possible with the Wolf Tooth Necklace and Saga of the Beast Slayer combination. Then the Thunder Hammer should inflict plenty of Strength 9 wounds, leaving the monstrous creature stunned so you can comfortably finish it off in the next round of close combat.
Strength 10 could be a problem though, as it can instantly kill him, so you won't be charging this guy at Dreadnoughts.
Beast Slayer Lone Wolf:
Space Wolves Lone Wolf wearing Terminator Armour and armed with a Chainfist and Storm Shield. He's also accompanied by 2 Fenrisian Wolves.
Lone Wolves are meant to seek the biggest monsters they can find in search of a glorious death, so equipping him to be a beast slayer is all part of the fun.
Like the Beast Slayer Wolf Lord, he's designed to charge in, take some hits, then slay the beast.
As part of the Lone Wolf special rules, he can't be instantly killed and he rerolls to hit in close combat in the same way as Saga of the Beast Slayer -Which is just as well when he only has 2 attacks basic.
He can take a Thunder Hammer, but I've chosen the Chainfist instead because he's comparatively slow while the Storm Shield and Fenrisian Wolves take the brunt of the blows. The Chainfist is also better at ripping up vehicles. So he's more of a close quarters vehicle and Dreadnought hunter to make the most of his 'cannot be instantly killed' ability.
He's obviously nowhere near as good as the Beast Slayer Wolf Lord, but he's quite a characterful unit and a lot of fun to play. Besides, he gives away a Kill Point if you don't get him killed!
We recommend this fully tooled up Beast Slayer Lone Wolf for fun games, otherwise he just won't make his point back. That said, Brad's Lone Wolf has sawn through quite a few gruesome opponents with his chainfist, including a Great Unclean One -yuck!
CONCLUSIONWhile a powerful character with Saga of the Beast Slayer is a great and very characterful choice for the Space Wolves, sometimes it's easier to throw a Grey Hunter pack (or packs) on a monstrous creature or dreadnought and watch it fall under hail of bolter rounds, melta gun blasts, then chainsword and wulfen attacks before finishing it off with a few smacks from a power fist.
Monstrous creatures have always been an fairly big part of the game, but make sure you don't over specialise in hunting them.
Personally, I'll be fielding the Beast Slayer Wolf Lord because he's fast, tough and great for taking out a wide rang of enemies from troops to monstrous creatures, walkers and tanks.
If every unit in your army can easily take on any enemy unit type, then you've got a very tactically versatile army rather than relying on 1 unit to be in the right place at the right time to deal with a particular threat.
Good luck, happy hunting and I hope you enjoy writing your own saga of the Beast Slayer for your Wolf Lord!
28 comments:
May 23, 2010 3:51 AM
I'd like to point out it's not just in combat, it's plain old "re-rolls to Hit" so works well on a Rune Priest as well since they can use living lightning.
Good write-up though. <3 Sagas
May 23, 2010 4:48 AM
Hmm, not a bad option for a Rune Priest then if you've got some points left over.
I'd rather take a Chooser Of The Slain though.
Rune Priest is okay in close combat.
May 23, 2010 4:53 AM
Plus at only 10 points, it's cheap as chips.One small point tho - the Lone Wolf can take a Thunder Hammer.
May 23, 2010 5:04 AM
Aye Claws and Teeth is correct a Lone Wolf can take a Thunder Hammer. It was with a Thunder Hammer that Hrothgar the Cursed did fell the Great Unclean one and his minions before meeting his glorious end.
May 23, 2010 5:20 AM
I'd better edit that quick then.
I always favoured the Chainfist on him for some reason.
May 23, 2010 7:14 AM
Chainfist means he can be damaging to high rear AV/walkers in close combat. Since he is better against walkers in combat the chainfist can be very beneficial in that regard where it only loses out to the TH if you have multiple round combats w/MCs, etc.
Also w/Rune Priests I take both CotS & Beastslayer <3.
May 23, 2010 12:18 PM
Nice and along my line of thinking on the Wolf Lord. I did want to point out one typo though. A Wolf Lord mounted on a Thunderwolf with a Thunderhammer is strength 10 not 9. So the Wolf Lord would be dishing out strength 10 attacks on those beasts!
May 23, 2010 2:35 PM
Any Strength bonuses are applied AFTER doubling.
You're getting confused with Thunderwolf Cavalary which have S5 in their stats while a Wolf Lord is S4 and receives +1 for riding a Thunderwolf.
May 23, 2010 3:47 PM
Good article! I actually run 2 Lone Wolves in my list, partly for fluff, but also because they always manage to make their points back in some way, by either killing some nasty MC or vehicle, or by distracting my opponents fire long enough to allow my other units to hit his lines.
I use one of each, a TH/SS LW and a CF/SS. One is more dedicated anti-MC, the other more toward anti-Mech.
As for the Lord being S9 vs. S10, the only reason I could see it being S10 is that when he rides a TWM his T is made pure T5 (as per the FAQ), not T4(5) as one would assume. Unlike a bike which only grants T5, a TWM alters the statline to be T5. That's the only reason why I could see the lord getting S10 TH attacks: his statline has been changed by the TWM to be S5, T5, A5.
May 23, 2010 4:34 PM
Yea Roland has it I think. Its T5 unmodified so it must be S5/S10 for the thunderhammer surely? otherwise we start loosing our 200+ point lords to hunter killer missile...
Werent they very clear on the FAQ on this one or have I missed the point entirely?
May 23, 2010 4:54 PM
To answer the question above, it is modified to S10/T5 as you would expect.
Secondly, I have to majorly disagree with the Lone Wolf appraisal. Even without the Fenrisian Wolves (which I don't take for my two at 1500pts) the two of them are a major speedbump that can ignore so much firepower... they are absolutely vital to my list, and rarely don't make their points back!!!
As for the Beastslayer 'cavalry lord, I prefer the saga and a Storm shield and Single Wolf Claw - that means that you aren't losing out on I5, you get re-rolls to hit AND to wound - much better than going second to a MC or other uber character IMHO.
Tony
May 23, 2010 5:07 PM
Right! The faq states that the bonuses from the TWM are combined with that of the space marine unlike what is regularly done. Now the specific question from the faq was pertaining to the toughness. Within that answer though you can see that all the bonuses from the TWM modify the base of the marine. This results in a base toughness of 5 and base strength of 5 and 5 attacks!
May 24, 2010 4:11 AM
No alphalupine, The faq only states that the toughness bonus is a modification of the base stats, therefore it would be strength 9. accept it with honor,
May 24, 2010 5:41 AM
Valko Glacies is correct. Alas it is s4(5) and t5 :(
+++
Beware hero-hammer though! I know it is very epic having kitted out dudes but do a reality check/mathhammer.
Your Lord may cost 170 pts. 10 GH will kill more stuff and last longer, even without i5 and ++ saving throws.
Sorry to be a wet-blanket :(
May 24, 2010 6:24 AM
I agree the FAQ states only the toughness, but surely that in its own right is used as an example for the strength?
Every major tourney so far has ruled out that the strength is base 5. I have always played it as base 5, and always will. The faq states "Unusually for such bonuses" indicating more than 1, its states "Effectively
the two creatures have a combined profile" which indicates the profile is combined rather than increased like a bike. I think those two sentaments in their own right rule in my favour. If people argue it they can but a little common sense goes far :)
Alex H
May 24, 2010 6:25 AM
I'll check the Exact Wording...
May 24, 2010 6:48 PM
Also check the FAQ for rules regarding the fenrisian wolves. They're not a retinue and as such can't take hits for lord or LW in CC.
May 25, 2010 1:55 AM
Having checked the Codex and the FAQ, the FAQ clearly states that the Toughness 5 for a Thunderwolf rider, opposed to 4(5), is due to the Thunderwolf being a tough customer on its own while a Space Marine Bike (which it gives as an example) is useless without the Space Marine riding it.
Judging from this and the way that the Thunderwolf Cavalary unit entry is presented, the Wolf Lord should also get a total Strength of 5, not 4(5) for powerfist,chainfist or thunderhammer attacks.
Finally, Independant Characters do not count their pet Fenrisian Wolves as a Retinue and can be singled out in close combat.
However, as the Lone Wolf is not an 'Independant Character', he cannot be singles out from his pet Fenrisian Wolves.
May 25, 2010 6:30 PM
Fair Enough Adam, This may just be enough to tempt me to give my WL a thunderhammer :3 but hes already 290 points as it is, though he almost always pays for it. frostblade and stormshield is a deadly combo, attach him to a wolf pack, and they soak up chooting til he gets into close combat, where he usually mauls anything in his way. So far i've killed an avatar and even a C'Tan like this (not that i didn't get very lucky with the latter :p)
May 25, 2010 8:32 PM
That's how I deduced my claims as well. I would strike the chainfist applying in this instance, as you can't be mounted on a Thunder Wolf and wear termie armour. I'm glad we're on the same page nonetheless! :P
May 26, 2010 12:00 PM
I'm just happy to have helped out fellow wolf players and make sure we're all on the same page. Keep up the good work with this blog!
May 27, 2010 6:33 AM
I'm Pretty sure you can take terminator armor along with a thunderwolf mount..
May 28, 2010 9:45 AM
Adepticon which I think most would agree is the premier tournie here in the states has ruled in their FAQ that indie characters and iron priests on mounts with Thunderhammers are strength 10.
How about meltabombs on a Wolf Lord with WTN vs dreads? Wouldn't they hit on 3+ since a dread has a weapon skill? With init 5 they would go first also.
May 28, 2010 9:46 AM
That's correct :)
May 28, 2010 10:27 AM
Well there you go, now you can run the same wolf lord vs dreads for 5 extra points. Although venerable dreads might still be scary with their re-roll on the damage chart.
May 29, 2010 2:15 AM
Sorry to burst the bubble again, but it does say in the rulebook that grenades only ever hit walkers on 6's, do you really think the WTN overules this? I guess that would be cool, I'd expect to be pulled up about it plenty of times though.
Personally I'd rather charge the dread with frostblade and thunderwolf, take the 6 attacks and hope for a few glances,
May 29, 2010 1:58 PM
At the very least you could reroll to hit thanks to 'saga of the beast slayer'
The 6 attacks on 3+ with rerolls and then 6's to glance is statistically safer.
June 9, 2010 9:17 PM
Well if I recall correctly a codex rule will always supercede the main rule book if there is a discrepancy. I would like to mention that in the previous Space Wolf Codex FAQ, it was ruled that the WTN didn't apply to grenades. On the other hand, for some reason, they didn't fix the wording in the new codex or FAQ for the same issue. So it could be inferred that the changed their mind and it does apply!
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