Space Wolves Win 3rd at Botch!

Son of a botch! I won 3rd place at Battle of the Chumps with my Space Wolves army.

It's been absolutely scorching this weekend and with no air conditioning in the main hall, Warhammer World was a furnace!

Tired, sweaty, hungover and unshaven, I approached the podium with a cheesy grin, shook Neil the organiser's hand and accepted a nice glass tankard with a pair of flaming dice etched on as my prize.

Considering I started the tournament with a fairly laid back, have fun attitude, I'm surprised how well I did. Obviously, that laid back approach quickly changed as my Space Wolves were catapulted higher and higher up the rankings.

This is supposedly the friendly Flame On! 40K tournament, but to be honest, the competition was still incredibly feirce with many of the top UK Grand Tournament players in attendance.

Just because I came 3rd doesn't mean I played perfectly though. In fact, in my last 3 games I could have played much better.

I made a big mistake against the Tyranids because I don't know the army that well, made a bit of a deployment error against the Death Guard and wasn't quite aware of a particular rule in a very close game against the Imperial Guard.

In the end I emerged with 5 Wins and 1 Loss.

Stay tuned for 6 battle reports from Botch against Eldar, Ultramarines, Space Wolves 13th Company, Tyranids, Death Guard and Imperial Guard starting next Friday!

In the meantime, check out my full Space Wolves escalation list.

-Please note that I packed the wrong Wolf Guard terminator and left the cyclone missile launcher at home. Doh!

Off to Botch

James and I are off to Battle Of The Chumps. I've got my Space Wolves, he's got his Thousand Sons and from what we've heard a lot of Power Armoured armies are in attendance.

That's great for the Space Wolves who don't want to wade through hordes of infantry or be gunned down by Guardsmen.

And it's brilliant for the Thousand Sons who have more AP3 bolters than you can cry cheese at!

I didn't get time to finish all my pack markings, but it's clear which squad are which, so that won't be a problem. Meanwhile James got his final Forgeworld Thousand Sons Rhino just in the nick of time.

Just in case you missed it, here is my Space Wolves escalation list for the tournament.

Wish us luck and I'll report back on how the Space Wolves got on.

Setting the Standard

This week I decided to built a pack of Space Wolves using only Space Wolves pack parts, plus extra bare heads and other bits to make them look as dynamic and ferocious as possible.

It's bothered me for quite a while that my Grey Hunters leap out of the transports, sprint across the battle field, then tear apart the enemy in glorious close combat -all while being in sedate "strolling along with bolter" poses.

So I gathered all my spare Space Wolves bolters, chainswords and bare heads to create a unit that I'm really proud of. Only problem is that they make the rest of my army look rather tame. Although I did come up with a fantastic Mark Of The Wulfen conversion!

For a while I debated selling it all off and starting from scratch.
"You're mad!" said Brad. He was right.

Brad, Dave and myself built our Space Wolves armies by diluting the sheer volume of Space Wolves detail with regular Space Marine tactical squads in order to speed up our production speeds.

The truth is that we can't set our standards too high (well, Dave does), otherwise we'll never get our armies done. If you followed my old Tau blog, you'll know that it took me a whole weekend to paint a single Tau Battlesuit due to all the highlights and those accursed orange stripes. In the meantime James would churn out a whole Dark Angels tactical squad a Rhino for them to cruise around in, then play some video games to unwind. Grrr...

While we'd all like to make an army full of kick-ass conversions and beautifully painted miniatures, we also need to actually play a game.

For me that meant selecting more standard poses, using more helmeted heads, diluting the sheer volume of feral Space Wolves bling as well as washing and drybrushing instead of painting delicate highlights.

So don't overwhelm yourself when it comes to setting your standards. A fully painted army will always look better than a semi-painted army.

In the meantime, I have a set of new Mark Of The Wulfen models to make. The metal Wulfen models I've been using now sell for £12 each on eBay, which is a real kick in the wallet when I need to acquire 2 more, but can only buy them in sets of 5 for £60.

If you're beside yourself with excitement (squee!) and can't wait for my Mark Of The Wulfen Conversion Guide, then all you need is:
Space Wolves Pack (legs, torso, back pack, shoulder pads)
Beastmen Gor Herd (arms and shields)
Chaos Marauder Horseman (heads)

Have fun and look out for the Mark Of The Wulfen Conversion Guide -coming soon!

Watch your back! Wolf Scouts about

"It woz dem Wolf Boyz boss, dey wa sneekin round like grots an dey had rigged da trukks to go boom. Der woz noffin I cudda done Boss honest!"

Last words of Big Mek Madbazza following a Space Wolf ambush.

I'd like to talk about Space Wolf Scouts firstly because I have just finished converting a new pack out of the Chaos Marauder box set and secondly because I have neglected my little lone wolves recently.

Those of you that have followed this blog and read my recent tournament reports from Mayhem may have noticed that I had dropped the Wolf Scouts from my list. This was because of a few bad games with them when the slightly un-reliable "Operate behind enemy lines" rule had let me down rendering my scouts utterley useless for a turn or two. In the end I made a decision that I would be going to Mayhem without them, I tell you now I regret that decision.

Just to recap and for the information of those who maybe don't know about Wolf Scouts I will summarise their differences from regular Space marine Scouts. Wolf Scouts differ from Scouts of other chapters in a number of ways firstly a Wolf Scout is a full blooded veteran marine. This reflects in a Wolf Scouts stats in that they share the same stats as a regular Grey Hunter so they Weapon skill and ballistic skill 4 instead of 3.

The basic wargear of a Wolf Scout is very similar to a regular scout in that they wear Carapace armour giving them a 4+ armours save. The Wolf Scout has slightly more freedom in the armoury than a regular scout mainly being able to access Power Weapons and Plasma Pistols. Both types of Scout have access to heavy weapons but a Wolf Scout is more suited to mobile warfare so I wont cover that. Wolf Scouts can be joined by a Wolf Guard Pack Leader (not to be confused with a Wolf Guard battle leader) this gives them even more options as a Wolf Guard has pretty much full access to a Wolf Lords armoury.

Lastly the main ability of a Wolf Scout is the "Operate behind enemy lines" rule. This rule kicks in when a pack of Wolf Scouts chooses to use the "outflank" ability. Instead of rolling on the regular outflank table Wolf Scouts get thier own. Basically on a D6 roll of 3+ they can arrive on any board edge the owning player chooses including the enemies!

This is a awesome tool in any Wolf Lords arsenal but as I have already stated it can be a bit un-reliable. Wolf Scouts have the potential to effect the game even before it begins and any model is deployed. A static gunline army will fill its pants at the mere ention of Wolf Scouts and will have to make moves to counter them even before they arrive.

Many times has my friend who plays Guard deployed his army and changed his battle plan to protect his valuable armoured units on the knowledge that my scouts could come right up behind him and cause havoc!

I tend to run a basic Wolf Scout set up consisting of a 5 strong pack armed with a Meltagun which comes in at 85 points. Its cheap and cheerful and I tend to add a Wolf Guard with a Powerfist and Combimelta in larger games to make them even more dangerous.

Anyway back to the point, I dropped my Wolf Scouts and I missed them dearly. When I think back to my games in Mayhem I can think of a number of situations where those Scouts would have come in very useful. The game this mostly springs to mind for is my game against the Imperial Guard (link to Mayhem game 4)

A pack of Scouts would have brewed up that Leman Russ Executioner big style taking the presure off my main attack. Even if I had rolled a 1 or a 2 for my OBEL deployment they would have still got to an armoured target because there were that many tanks on the board.

Against other Space Wolf armies I faced Long Fangs, a pack of Wolf Scouts could have easily disprupted this unit preventing them from shooting again taking pressure off my Grey Hunters. They would have even come in handy agains the Codex marines I played as I would have been able to get a pop shot off against the Land Raider he was fielding.

The list of what ifs can go on but at the end of the day this is all hind sight and hind sight is a wonderful thing. I will be once again fielding my much loved Wolf Scouts in future battles and they are featured in my 1750 point lists for the Toy Soldier event in July.

Besides how can an army under the banner of Wolf lord Erik Morkai not field a unit of Wolf Scouts? Stay tuned for more Wolf Scout updates.

Thousand Sons VS Space Wolves Annihilation

This Thousand Sons VS Space Wolves Annihilation battle report is especially brutal.

Having played his Thousand Sons against my Space Wolves for a number of games, James was finally on his way to defeating the sons of Fenris.

This time we rolled an Annihilation mission with the Pitched Battle set up, which is James' favourite combination.

He likes killing stuff in a straightforward way. I'd have preferred a Dawn of War set up, but oh well.

We used the same lists as last time, but I knew that this game could easily go either way. James would be looking for easy Kill Points, which would be my transports. Meanwhile I'd be looking to kill whatever I could. Thousand Sons units are designed to be tough and I knew I'd be struggling to keep up with the kills.

Guess I'd just have to get in their as quick as I can and kill as much as I can, then consolidate my losses if things get a bit too tense.

SET UP
I won the roll off and chose the table edge with the best places to deploy my Long Fangs. I had no idea where James would be coming from, so I did a repeat performance of the last game, but with my Long Fangs already in place and my small Grey Hunter pack with their Razorback and one of the Long Fang Razorbacks on the 'starting line'.
I was going hunting this game and I wanted everything mobilised!

I then put a Landspeeder on each flank, ready to speed down the sides, cause a distraction and hopefully blow something up.

James put everything but his Defiler on the board this time. On the back left was the Chaos Lord and his Terminator retinue. Left of the centre was a Thousand Sons squad in Rhino with a pair of Obliterators hiding behind. The same was also right of the centre.

TURN 1
I decided that to make the Kill Points easy, I only wanted to fight half of the Thousand Sons army and every vehicle in the Space Wolves army sped across to the right flank, firing smoke launchers as they went.

Meanwhile the Land Speeder zoomed up the right flank. The close proximity of the multimelta to the Thousand Sons Rhino would cause problems for James next turn unless he dealt with it.

The Long Fangs fired at the Thousand Sons Rhinos, but had no effect due to the dense cover.

On the right flank, the Thousand Sons and Obliterators moved to deal with the Land Speeder, exposing themselves to the advancing Space Wolves and one of the Long Fang packs. They opened fire and countless shots ricocheted off or missed the Space Wolves skimmer, until a glancing hit stunned the crew, leaving them unable to move or fire next turn. Ah well, it was worth a try.

On the left flank the Thousand Sons Terminators and Obliterators fired at the Space Wolves convoy and the Long Fang's Razorback exploded. It always does that...

Kill Points:
James 1, Adam 0

TURN 2
The Space Wolves mechanised column continued to advance and began to spread out as their direction changed.

Once again, supporting fire from the Long Fangs was totally ineffective.

The Chaos Defiler clanked on to the table, bolstering the Thousand Sons defences on the right flank, before opening fire with its autocannon and immobilising the nearest Rhino. Meanwhile the Obliterators fired at the next closest Rhino, stunning it.

The Thousand Sons took down the Space Wolves Land Speeder which exploded, showering them in burning wreckage and killing two of them.

On the left flank the Chaos Terminators and Obliterators turned their attention to the Long Fangs in the building, killing the squad leader but the battle hardened Space Wolves held their ground.

The Thousand Sons Rhino on the left sped along the top of the board, to the centre.

Kill Points:
James 2, Adam 0

TURN 3
With two Rhinos full of Grey Hunters unable to move for the turn, I disembarked both and advanced them. The first moved through the rubble around a ruined building towards the Defiler while the other pack advanced alongside the large ruin on the right flank, before running further along it and into cover.

The Rune Priest's Rhino and the Grey Hunter Razorback took a different route, moving North towards the approaching Thousand Sons Rhino.

The remaining Space Wolves Land Speeder glided over the ruin in the centre and floated alongside the approaching Thousand Sons Rhino before turning it into a burning wreck with a whooping blast of its Multimelta.

Fire from the Grey Hunter Razorback, a lascannon blast from the Long Fang Razorback on the left flank and a salvo of krak missiles killed 4 of the Thousand Sons as the staggered from the burning transport.

The Long Fangs on the right flank detonated the other Thousand Sons Rhino in a gigantic explosion which caught the Grey Hunters, Obliterators and Thousand Sons squad in the blast. The Grey Hunters and Obliterators were unscathed, but the Thousand Sons took another casualty.

The Grey Hunters in front of the Defiler opened fire with melta gun and combi-melta, both missing comically, before charging the Chaos engine. Despite penetrating the Chaos walker with the Wolf Guard's powerfist, the Grey Hunters lost two of their number, but held their ground. The combat raged on.

On the right flank the Chaos Obliterators fell back, firing with the nearby Thousand Sons squad at the Grey Hunters on the edge of the large ruin, but the Space Wolves passed all of their cover saves.

On the left flank the Chaos Terminators continued firing on the Long Fangs, killing 2 of them, but they still refused to flee.

The Chaos Obliterators fired on the Space Wolves Land Speeder, immobilising it. The nearby Thousand Sons squad added their fire, but with no effect. Either way the skimmer was stuck and would be an easy kill point in the next turn.

The Grey Hunters and Chaos Defiler continued their desperate struggle with neither side inflicting any damage.

Kill Points:
James 2, Adam 2

TURN 4
On the right flank the Grey Hunters swept away the Thousand Sons squad in a brief, but bloody combat without taking a single casualty.

The battle between the other Grey Hunter pack and the Defiler raged on as the Defiler killed another of the Space Wolves regardless of glancing hits, which had no effect due to the Chaos engine's Daemonic Possession.

In a daring manoeuvre the Rune Priest's Rhino sped forward, parking itself in front of the burning Thousand Sons Rhino wreckage. Meanwhile the Grey Hunter Razorback followed up behind, firing its twin linked heavy bolter and reducing the Thousand Sons squad to 4 men.

The Long Fangs on the right flank fire a salvo of krak missiles at the Obliterators, but the rockets have no effect due to their heavy armour.

On the left flank, the two remaining Long Fangs abseil down the side of the building and embark in their parked up Razorback which fires on the Thousand Sons squad, but does no damage.

The Chaos Lord and Terminators advance towards the Land Speeder while the Thousand Sons squad backs away from the Rune Priest and Grey Hunter pack in the nearby Rhino. Combing their fire with the Obliterators, they blast the storm bolter from the Space Wolves Rhino, but otherwise cannot inflict any real damage.

On the right flan, the Obliterators destroy the immobilised Rhino before they inevitably become overwhelmed as the Space Wolves close in around them.

Another Grey Hunter is torn apart by the Defiler before the Wolf Guard finally brings his powerfist to bare, penetrating the Chaos walker three times and destroying it in a massive explosion. Fortunately none of the Grey Hunters are killed in the blast and they consolidate back towards the ruined building.

Kill Points:
James 3, Adam 4

TURN 5
The Rune Priest Rhino sped to the top right corner, spun sideways and the Space Wolves disembarked. The other Grey Hunter packs closed in and opened fire en masse. I cae Jaws Of The World Wolf for the first time and one of the Chaos Obliterators fell down a hole. Just as well really, because my shooting was appauling. But a final melta gun blast was able to kill the remaining Obliterator outright.

The Grey Hunter Razorback moved into position where the Rune Priest Rhino had been before.

The Long Fangs fired another salvo of krak missiles at the Thousand Sons squad, killing 1 of them. The Long Fang razorback on the left flank fired again and missed.

The Thousand Sons, Terminators and Obliterators all advanced firing and one by one did small amounts of damage to the Land Speeder stranded in the open until it was a wreck.

And with that the game ended...

Kill Points:
James 4, Adam 5


CONCLUSION:
Now this was a tough game! I spent a few turns driving diagonally across the board, Long Fang firepower was pretty worthless, my Land Speeders were practically suicidal and the sheer volume of low armour vehicles in my army made it a shooting gallery for Kill Points. To make matters worse, once I'd got past the two easy Kill Points in the Thousand Sons army (the Rhinos), I had to try and whittle down some seriously tough units. But I got there in the end.

Had the game gone on another turn, who knows what would have happened. I think the Thousand Sons would have had a long ranged advantage and with plenty of my Rhinos still left in play, it would only be a matter of time before James equalised and then overtook my Kill Point score.

In hindsight I could have let James go first so I'd know where he was going to deploy. But could the Rhino convoy weather that extra turn of fire? Probably not.

This is my last battle report before Battle Of The Chumps. In the meantime you can read my complete Space Wolves escalation army list and I'll see you on the other side.

Stay tuned for more Space Wolves battle reports soon!

Thousand Sons Strike Back!

The Thousand Sons strike back against the Space Wolves in another Battle Of The Chumps warm up.

For this Space Wolves VS Thousand Sons battle report we upped the scale to 1500 points each.

James received reinforcements in the form of a Terminator retinue for his Thousand Sons Chaos Lord, another squads of Chaos Obliterators and a Chaos Defiler with extra close combat weapons.

In the meantime, the Space Wolves were reinforced with a small Grey Hunter pack in a Razorback and two Land Speeders with multimeltas and heavy flamers as well as a Long Fang pack in a Razorback.

1500 Points Thousand Sons Army
Chaos Lord with mark of Tzeentch, terminator armour and daemon weapon

5 Chaos Terminators
Combi-bolter and power fist
Combi-bolter and chainfist
Combi-bolter and power weapon
Reaper autocannon and power weapon
Combi-melta, power weapon and icon of Tzeentch

Aspiring Sorcerer with bolt of change and chaos icon
8 Thousand Sons
Rhino with Extra Armour

Aspiring Sorcerer with bolt of change and chaos icon
8 Thousand Sons
Rhino with Extra Armour

2 Obliterators

2 Obliterators

Chaos Defiler
extra close combat weapons


1500 Points Space Wolves Army
Rune Priest:
Jaws of the world wolf and Murderous hurricane psychic powers

3 Wolf Guard:
3 Combi Melta and 3 Powerfist
(Each of these is attached to a Grey Hunter unit

Grey Hunters Pack:
8 Grey Hunters, Meltagun, Wolf Standard and Mark of Wulfen
Rhino APC transport

Grey Hunters Pack:
8 Grey Hunters, Meltagun, Wolf Standard and Mark of Wulfen
Rhino APC transport

Grey Hunters Pack:
8 Grey Hunters, Meltagun, Wolf Standard and Mark of Wulfen
Rhino APC transport

Grey Hunters Pack:
5 Grey Hunters, Meltagun, Wolf Standard and Mark of Wulfen
Razorback with twin linked heavy bolter

Land Speeder Tornado:
Multimelta and Heavy Flamer

Land Speeder Tornado:
Multimelta and Heavy Flamer

Long Fangs Pack:
1 sergeant, 5 Long Fangs with Missile Launchers
Razorback with twin linked lascannons

Long Fangs Pack:
1 sergeant, 5 Long Fangs with Missile Launchers
Razorback with twin linked lascannons

SET UP
We rolled for mission and set up, getting the Secure Ground mission and a Pitched Battle set up. I won the roll off for objectives and did my usual trick of slamming an objective right down in the centre. James deployed one to the far right and I was able to place another down in between the two of them, forming a tight line. James placed the final objective on the far left.

My initial plan was to go for the three clustered objectives. But, the objective on the far left could be easily claimed by the 5 Grey Hunters in a Razorback. Also, if I could get the majority of my army on the objective in the ruins in the centre, I'd easily secure 2 of the 4 objectives in play. The the other two on the right flank would be hard to James to claim due to how close they'd be to my waiting Space Wolves.

I could dash out and claim one of them in the dying turns, or punish him for getting too close.

James won the roll off to go first, picking the table edge that was closest to the objectives before deploying a Thousand Sons squad embarked in their rhino on either flank, along with the Defiler on the right flank, hidden behind a building.

I rolled to seize the initiative, failed, then deployed in my usual side-ways on Rhino race starting line. Might as well go for it!

TURN 1
The Rune Priest's Rhino exploded as the fuel tank was hit by a stray autocannon round from the scuttling Chaos Defiler. The Grey Hunters accompanying and Rune Priest emerged unscathed and the Space Wolves passed their pinning test.

The Thousand Sons Rhino on the left had begun to advance and fired its smoke launchers.

With a roar of engines and a chilling howl the Space Wolves advanced to the ruin in the centre, disembarking and sprinting between rocks to get a good look at the enemy. The Long Fangs took up positions on an upper level while the Rune Priest and his Grey Hunter pack ran into cover.

On the left flank the Long Fangs took up positions in the nearby building while the Grey Hunters in their Razorback set up camp on the far left objective. If all went well, they wouldn't move from this spot for the entire game.

The Grey Hunter Rhinos fired their smoke launchers while the Razorbacks opened fire on the Thousand Sons Rhino in the open, immobilising it.

TURN 2
James rolled for his reserves...and none of the Thousand Sons reinforcements arrived!

Both Thousand Sons squads disembarked from their Rhino Transports. In the centre, the first opened fire on the Space Wolves in the ruin, killing a few.

To the right the other Thousand Sons squad fired into the flank of the Space Wolves, felling a few more Grey Hunters.

A Battle Cannon blast from the Chaos Defiler landed amongst the ruins, killing three Grey Hunters, but the Space Wolves passed their pinning tests and fought on.

Finally, the immobilised Thousand Sons Rhino coughed and spluttered back into life.

Caught in a cross fire, the Space Wolves attempted to fall back through the ruins to their Rhino transports, but found progress slow. They quickly ran back into position. Meanwhile the Rune Priest and his pack were also unable to reach one of the transports in sufficient numbers.

To shield the Space Wolves from the right flank, two Rhinos sped around the ruins. The Rune Priest and his pack ran behind the nearest Rhino for cover.

On the left flank the Long Fangs in the building opened fire with a salvo of krak missiles, killing three of the Thousand Sons in the open while the Space Wolf Razorbacks blasted the restarted Chaos Rhino apart in a spectacular explosion, but the nearby Thousand Sons emerged unscathed.

TURN 3
This was the turn I was dreading, when all the Obliterators, Chaos Lord and Terminator appeared. So far James and I had hardly delt any damage, but this could all change very quickly!

Using the Chaos Icons carried by the Aspiring Thousand Sons Sorcerers, the Chaos Reinforcements arrived safely.

In the centre a pair of Obliterators appeared either side of the Thousand Sons squad while on the right flank, the Thousand Sons Lord and his Terminator retinue emerged.

With nothing to shoot at, the Thousand Sons on the right flank got back into their Rhino which moved to hide behind a building, along with the Defiler.

The Chaos Terminators fired at the nearby Rhino, blowing off its storm bolter.
Meanwhile the Chaos Obliterators destroyed one of the Space Wolves Razorbacks.

This game was turning out to be a lot tougher than I'd expected. By claiming the centre, I knew James wouldn't be able to move his units close for fear of being charged, but if he could wipe me out with plenty of high strength, low AP firepower, it would all be for nothing.

Then another Battle Cannon round crashed into the Grey Hunters to the right side of the ruin. With so many hit, I had no choice by to Go To Ground and they miraculously passed all of their cover saves!

The Space Wolves in the ruin moved as far forward as possible to see if they could get the Thousand Sons within rapid fire range, but were simply too far out and rank back into the cover.

Concentrated missile salvos from the two Long Fang packs (and some help from the Grey Hunter Razorback) wittled the Thousand Sons squad in the centre down to 2 Thousand Sons and a Sorcerer.

The remaining Long Fangs Razorback advanced to take a shot at the Defiler around the building. The lascannon round that would have stunned any other walker was disregarded due to the Defiler's Daemonic Possession special rule.

With a Thousand Sons Terminator Lord and terminator retinue staring at him, the Rune Priest and his pack embarked in the nearby Rhino and sped alongside the central ruin. Even if the Rhino was destroyed at this point, perhaps the Space Wolves inside could charge out in the following turn?

With nothing better to do, the remaining Space Wolves Rhino rammed the side of the Thousand Sons Rhino poking out from the building on the right. The collision was too light to do any damage, but if I could keep the Rhino alive and moving I could use it to contest an objective should things get tense later in the game. James would ignore it. He had bigger fish to fry.

TURN 4
The Thousand Sons army descended upon the Rune Priest's Rhino. The Chaos Terminators, Obliterators, Defiler and Thousand Sons surrounded it.

James' plan was the wreck or preferably explode the Rhino, then hose down any survivors with the Thousand Sons squad who had disembarked from their Rhino. With one of my Grey Hunter packs and my Rune Priest gone, he'd be in a better position to roll over the dug in Space Wolves in the central ruin.

First the Chaos Obliterators opened fire, then the other Chaos Obliterators, then the Defiler's autocannon, then the autocannon from the Chaos Terminators, then the Bolt of Change from the Aspiring Sorcerer.

Against all odds, the Rhino was stunned, shaken, had its storm bolter torn off and was immobilised. But it still stood and contained a deadly pack of Space Wolves within.

It was at this point James conceded, declaring that he had no way of winning or drawing. I couldn't help but agree.

CONCLUSION
For the record, had the Rhino become a wreck, I would have disembarked towards the Chaos Terminators and away from all the other nasty guns pointed in my direction...and then run back to the centre like a coward!

I could be all heroic, slaughter the Chaos Terminators, fight my way to the Chaos Lord and bring him to the Emperor's justice and probably get my guys wiped out in the process. But it was more sensible to fall back and let him walk towards around 30 Space Wolves rather than 10.

I don't feel I deserved to win this, because I played really badly. Then again, James should have set up his Obliterators to shoot at me right from the start. All the same, he'd never be able to hold a position against a focussed attack from the Space Wolves.

What I should have done was drive up the ruins, take some fire, then drive around (or through) the ruins and parked the Rhinos on the other side...and waited.

If the Rhinos get blown up at close range, my guys can get out and charge. If the distance is too great, then they get out into the ruins.

It's pretty much the same battle plan, just a lot safer and more flexible. Although I'm sure that I would have lost more transports early on had the Obliterators been in play from the start.

On the bright side, James is getting the hang of playing against the Space Wolves. In fact, he really gave me a kicking in our next game!

Personally, I can't wait to take my Space Wolves to a tournament and try them out against Orks, Imperial Guard, Space Marines, Eldar, Tyranids...generally anything except Dark Angels and Thousand Sons!

Don't Get Caught in the Kill Zone

Recently I talked about Securing The Midfield, but this week I'm going to talk about not getting caught in the Kill Zone. So what's the difference between the Midfield and the Kill Zone? Well, it depends entirely on what army you're facing and how badly you're getting shot up.

Space Marine armies tend to get stranded once their transports go up in flames. There's also an art to knowing when to stay in your transports. Screw up with either of these and your army suddenly has to foot slog and if that's through difficult terrain, then you won't be going anywhere fast.

Old Shatter Hands from the Tau Of War blog commented on my last strategy article, saying "my Tau army works really well when my opponent moves into the kill zone, erm, I mean, midfield."

As a former Tau player, I can see what he means and I learned what he was talking about the hard way in my next game against James.

I drove forward in my transports, got everyone out and spread them out in the terrain, effectively saying "Ha! Come get me."

You'd have to be mad to tackle that up close. So James' Thousand Sons opened fire with Battle Cannons, Plasma Cannons, Autocannons and Inferno Bolters instead!

However, due to the way I'd spread out my forces across numerous objectives while being within range to claim, contest or charge on to another I was in a very good position -even though I was taking casualties and couldn't return much long ranged damage on the enemy (mostly due to Going To Ground). But James also couldn't risk moving any of his units within 12", because some of the Space Wolves might just roll high enough to rush out of the ruins and into close combat.

Obviously, in an Annihilation game, I would never have done this. But the point I'm making is that you can lose the battle, but still win the mission.

In this instance, I'd really made a mess of getting all my guys out of their Rhinos and when I tried to get them back in, they all got stuck in the Difficult Terrain!

So will James' Thousand Sons finally overcome the feral ferocity of the Space Wolves? Find out in the next post!

Reinforcements Arrive!

I have finally put paint to metal/plastic!

I have been busy perfecting the scheme and details for my Space wolves and I have been painting the Rune Priest, Wolf Guard Battle Leader and majority of the first Grey Hunter Squad ( I haven't found a suitable Wulfen figure yet that's why he is missing)



I have collected and built almost all the models from my 750pt list HERE, bar the Scouts and a few Long Fangs, so keep your eyes peeled for them in the following months.




Now I have been playing a game or two each week with the 750 list and it became apparent that the Wolf Guard Battle Leader wasn't really that effective so I have dropped him and bought two Wolf Guard with Powerfist's for the Grey Hunters and a lone Bolt Pistol and C.C.Weapon Wolf Guard who joins either the scouts for more clout or the Long Fangs for wound allocation.



I have also been tinkering with the second part of the 750 list which will bump thing's up to 1500 pts, but it's a closely guarded secret for now!
Anyhow I hope the wait has been worth it for you guys, I am aware I am a terribly slow painter!.
There may not be much from me in June as I am off on my Honeymoon now that the Icelandic Volcano has stopped it's temper tantrums!

Greetings from Fenris

Hello all. I just wanted to introduce my self. My names Jude. I go by jcroxford on blogs n boards. I've been gaming and painting for the past 20 years or so.

I was invited to be an author on this site, which I'm really excited about, as I have been following it as a fan for a while now. I hope I can do it justice by bringing some of my experience to the table.

I plan on posting some painting tips, tricks, tutorials and anything else I can come up with. I love Space wolves and play Harold Deathwolfs' Great Company. Below is a sample of my work, the Wolf lord Hamish Blackwolf!

You can also follow my exploits on various other projects including Dwarfs, Chaos Dwarfs, Tyranids, Eldar, etc. on my other blog: here

So thanks for having me, and Paint on! 

Best Space Wolves Weapon

Poll results for the Best Space Wolves Weapon are in!

It's hard to choose the best weapons for your Space Wolves Wolf Lord, Wolf Guard and Lone Wolves, so rather than for me to sit here and tell you what's what, I thought a poll would be an interesting way to find out which weapons you prefer.

In first place with 46% of the vote was the Frost Blade.
Understandable really, when you can hack and slash away at Initiative 5 for your Wolf Lord, cutting down foes with an added Strength bonus and if he happens to be riding a Thunderwolf, it's even better. Throw in Saga Of The Warrior Born and he's great fun!

In second place with 25% of the vote was the Wolf Claw.
Not a bad alternative to the Frost Blade, especially for those who cannot trust in the dice gods and need all the rerolls they can get. Same sort of application as the Frost Blade, but more commonly equipped to Wolf Guard terminators.

In third place with 19% of the vote was the Thunder Hammer.
With access to so many powerfists in Grey Hunter squads and for the Wolf Guard's leading them, the Thunder Hammer has been brushed to one side. Great for Wolf Lords of Thunderwolves and Lone Wolves, but not really for anyone else. It's also a shame that a Wolf Guard terminator with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield costs so many points! Characters striking last can often be dragged down before they get to smash their opponents and unless that have Saga Of The Bear or a similar ability, the monstrous creatures they're hunting will make an aperitif out of them in no time. For more on beast slayer type character with Thunder Hammers, check out this article on Saga Of The Beast Slayer.

Finally, with just 8% of the vote, we have the Chainfist.
No one but a Wolf Guard Terminator or a Lone Wolf is really going to take one of these and when it's so hard to hit vehicles, is it really worth it compared to the Thunder Hammer with its universal application to vehicles, monstrous creatures and characters? One thing's for certain -a Chainfist is great for carving up enemy walkers.


If you haven't tried some of these weapons yet, take them for a test run!
Personally, I love the Chainfist. It's suitably psychotic and the Wolf Guard terminator armed with one really gives my Blood Claws so close combat assistance against Defilers, Soul Grinders and Dreadnoughts.

However, I haven't given anyone a Wolf Claw, except 1 Wolf Guard Terminator, which was purely for Wound Allocation. I think I need to take Canis Wolfborn for a spin and see what a pair of Wolf Claws can do.

Blood Angels or Space Wolves Best?

Who's the best between Space Wolves and Blood Angels? A lot of people want to know if they should start Blood Angels or Space Wolves. Finally, Alex Harrison has played both and can answer whether Blood Angels or Space Wolves are best!

Alex:As we all know, the new Blood angels looks scary. Many space wolf players are now hiding in the shadows, fearful of Mephiston and his friends' wrath. Now it is time to rise up against this new threat and rally together once and for all.

Now the question remains, is the Space Wolves Codex as good as the Blood Angels Codex? The answer is this..a big fat YES!

I, as some of you know, play both, yet have been playing Space Wolves since their release. I have been play testing quite a lot since the Blood Angels release, to see whether they truly stand up and above the might of Fenris, and I can safely say that they do not.

Here are a few subtle examples of why:
5 Grey Hunters in a Rhino with a meltagun = 115 points. You get a boltgun, combat weapon, a bolt pistol, and of course counter attack.

Compare this to Blood Angels even with their cheaper transports. 5 Assault marines in a Rhino and a meltagun = 125 points.

You get a fast rhino, bolt pistol and a combat weapon, and furious charge & fealess on a roll of a 1 before the game starts.

This, as you can tell, is the start of the larger picture. The Blood Angels player pays more for a less tactical option. Our Greyhunters have the advantage more so over the Blood Angels for more reasons than meets the eye. For some players, the answer is obvious "10 points for a fast rhino and the chance for furious charge...sold!"

This is incorrect.
Lets assume that most of the time your not going to get the Furious Charge and Fearless, so lets keep them basic. The 10 points gap becomes extraordinary. They pay 10 points more for a better rhino, which dies just as quick as it does for us. It helps them when they want to rush their opponent, but it helps them just as much as us when they want to get out and shoot or slowly advance. They also don't have the tactical flexibility we have.

The Grey Hunters can lay down some impressive fire power with their bolters. So many times have my assault squad popped out onto an objective, wanting to shoot at those stinking grots hiding away, and can do nothing with their measly bolt pistols.

Then of course there's the amazing counter attack. With this ability alone, you can act differently in the game by not relying on a charge. Blood Angels don't have that so MUST rely on that charge. For that much needed Furious Charge (and Feel No Pain) they need to buy a priest. A priest adds another 50 points to that squad and can be picked out to nulify that ability, compared to wolves which will always have that much needed counter attack.

Psychic powers. We still take trumps over these. I think we can safely say that alone, the 4+ nulification will always be the best anti-psychic ability there is.

Many times my Blood Angel Librarian's psychic hood failed where the Rune Priests would of succeeded. Powers such as their Blood Lance is measly compared to our Jaws. Its an attempt to be the anti-vehicle which Jaws never was, but will never be as useful. Your opponents still get cover saves and you must roll for distance?

Living Lightning will out range any of their spells. Storm Caller is just the same as Blood Shield. You get strength 10? Fine, I'll just Murderous Hurricane your whole unit so you can't assault me in the first place. Rune Priests still and always will trump all other 100 point HQ's! We hate psykers, only because they are wimps in comparison to ours!

Tanks. Ok so they have some nasty fast vehicles, but wait...HOW MANY POINTS? Wow your vindicators cost 30 points more and can move and shoot when moving 12 inches? Ok you're free to drive closer to my meltaguns no problem. That extra 30 points can be spent on beefing up my Grey Hunter units. Bare in mind Blood Angels pay dearly for their vehicles. Fast Predators sitting in the corner? Hit them with your Wolf Scouts and laugh as it makes no difference.

Mephiston is a beast in combat. Yes he is, but still not on par with us. I'll give you an example. In the 3 times I faced him he didnt hurt me at all. Know why? Rune Priests kicking him in the shin. That 4+ will slap him around like a fish, followed by a charge from a Wolf Lord on a Thunder Wolf with a Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer and Saga Of The Bear. Throw some wounds on your personal Fenrisian Wolves, save a few others with your Storm Shield, then finish him off with the Thunder Hammer to the face. No trouble.

Other ways include Jaws (which I have done twice!), your own death star units, nullifying him followed by plasma and dreadnought spam shooting and combat, and some concentrated fire. Don't worry too much. If your opponent relies on him, make sure he's dead and watch your opponents plans fall to dust.

Plenty of Feel No Pain? Oh well, we have plenty of anti-marine weapons anyways. From Power Weapons to Mark of the Wulfen, from rending Thunder Wolf Cavalry to Frost Blades, we have it all. The mech spammers will take tiny squads, in comparison to our large Grey Hunter units who are well equiped, they will do nothing but hide from us.

Don't get scared to engage units with Feel No Pain. They aren't like Plague Marines as they don't have blight grenades or Toughness 5. Hit them as you would any other marine squad and watch them slowly fall (or quickly if you're lucky). Either way, Wolves trump Angels.

Out flanking Baal Predators and Death Company with Rage? Sanguine Guard and Descent Of Angel Assault Marines? These are the things which really stand out in the new Blood Angels Codex, but in every Codex they have a perk which has weaknesses.

Death Company have Rage and don't score. Throw a Vindicator at them, or a Land Raider and watch them attempt to hurt it and laugh. Sanguine Guard are expensive flying Terminators with no invun save? Throw some plasma and watch them drop like flies. Assault Marines deep striking with a low scatter rate? No matter. If your opponent has plenty of this, go in reserve and drive on then finish off those little squads. If he splits his army into Combat Squads, then they're easy pickings for your larger Grey Hunter squads. Sure you'll lose a Rhino or two, but if they are in your midst, it's not like you would be moving far.

Crazily hardcore Dreadnoughts? The Death Company type suffer from Rage, so as they run into the open, let fly your Long Fangs and watch it disintergrate. The Furioso is slightly tougher and will certainly kill squads, but with no long range capability, your lascannon totting dreadnought or cheap Razorback will just laugh from miles away.

CONCLUSION
Remember, at the end of the day, they pay points for the things they truly need, whereas Space Wolves do not.

They may be faster than us, but we still can get more value for points in our army. Do not fear them, because Space Wolves can do whatever they can, only but better.

A clever general will never have a problem with the new Blood Angels. Refer to my Space Wolves grand tournament army for a prime example of the army which a Blood Angels list will find it tough to face.

Rune Priests nullifying their psykers/Mephiston. The Living Lightning and Long Fangs popping their transports, the rockets ripping through their Dreadnoughts, the Multimelta Land Speeders blowing up their precious Predators.

It all works in synergy -and don't forget, more than anything, target priority. It's the one thing which will help against Blood Angels. So if you need that Dreadnought dead, kill it. If you don't, stun it then move on.

The Blood Angels may be tough on paper, but when it comes to cost effectiveness, versatile tactics and cunning strategies, the Space Wolves are clearly the best.

Botch Warm Up 3: Space Wolves VS Thousand Sons

This Space Wolves VS Thousand Sons was pretty close! As the heroes of might and magic clashed and horrific casualties were inflicted on both sides, there could only be one winner!

More than anything this game shows that it's not about killing your opponent as much as it is about completing the mission.

I took 1000 points Space Wolves army list for Battle of the Chumps as before and the same powers for my Rune Priest.

Having ditched his Dark Angels and turned to the dark side, James brought his Thousand Sons off the shelf and back on to the table top.

1000 Points Thousand Sons Army
Chaos Lord with mark of Tzeentch, terminator armour and daemon weapon

Aspiring Sorcerer with bolt of change
8 Thousand Sons
Rhino with Extra Armour

Aspiring Sorcerer with bolt of change
8 Thousand Sons
Rhino with Extra Armour

2 Obliterators


SET UP
We rolled for mission and got Capture & Control with a Spear Head deployment.

James won the roll off again and chose a table quarter which would force me to take the opposite, which was mostly open ground. It was clear from the start that his plan involved AP3 inferno bolter death for the Space Wolves.

James placed his counter forward from the centre of his deployment zone. Meanwhile I placed mine in the single ruin far back by the table edge in my deployment zone.

James them deployed his Thousand Sons with two Rhinos full of troops as far forward as possible behind the ruin in the middle while the 2 Obliterators and Tzeentch Lord formed a unit on the edge of the ruin by his objective.

With James getting the first turn and packing a fair amount of high strength weapons, I didn't fancy setting up across from him, watching my transports getting blown up, then having to march towards him with all those AP3 inferno bolters, bolts of change, lascannons and a Tzeentch Lord firing his Daemon Weapon into my Space Wolves.

Reserving my army was the only way. But I still didn't fancy driving straight at the Thousand Sons and into the open ground.

I needed a 'Juicy Bone'. The one thing James has never been able to resist!
Problem is, James is getting used to the Juicy Bone tactic. So I decided to make it extra Juicy by sacrificing the Long Fangs.

I set up the Long Fangs in the ruin by my objective and parked their Razorback in front to block line of sight as much as possible. That way, if James did move to intercept, he'd only be able to get a few shots on the Long Fangs and in the following turn I could drive the Razorback away and blow up one of his Rhinos with a salvo of krak missiles. That was the plan at least...

TURN 1
James took the bait and advanced by Thousand Sons Rhinos. The Thousand Sons inside disembarked and poured fire into the Long Fangs and Razorback. To his due, He'd got a good angle on the Long Fangs behind the Razorback by driving wide with one of the Rhinos. The Razorback was immobilised by the Obliterators before one of the sorcerers blasted the turret off with a Bolt Of Change.

The Long Fangs went to ground and miraculously passed all of their cover saves. They'd have to weather another turn of this before the rest of the Space Wolves army arrived...

The Razorback fired it's smoke launchers.

TURN 2
With the imminent arrival of the Space Wolves the Thousand Sons squad nearest my table edge got back into their Rhino and sped off. Meanwhile the other Thousand Sons squad on the left flank continued their slow and purposeful advance and unleashed another hail of crackling inferno bolts into the Long Fangs.

The battle hardened Space Wolves went to ground once more and passed another remarkable number of cover saves!

The Chaos Obliterators fired on the Razorback, but the tank was too well obscured by its smoke launchers.

Rolling for my reserves, 2 out of 3 of the Space Wolves unit arrived.
Two Grey Hunter Rhinos, including the Rune Priest sped up the far right flank and fired their smoke launchers. I only hoped that the Thousand Sons on the left flank were too far out to add to the fight.

TURN 3
The Space Wolves Rhino transporting the Rune Priest and a pack of Grey Hunters explodes as the Obliterators open fire with their lascannons. The Space Wolves stagger out of the wreckage unscathed and pass their pinning test.

On the left flank, the Thousand Sons continue to advance and open fire on the Long Fangs once more, but the stubborn Space Wolves go to ground once more and simply refused to die as they pass all of their cover saves once more.

On the right flank the Rune Priest leads the Grey Hunters through the ruins while the remaining Rhino drives onwards before the Space Wolves inside disembark and aim their bolters, melta gun and combi melta towards the Obliterators and Chaos Lord. The Rune Priest's pack does the same while the Rune Priest casts a Murderous Hurricane upon the unit.

One of the Obliterators is instantly killed by a melta gun blast while both the Chaos Lord and other Obliterator sustain a single wound each.

TURN 4
On the left flank the Thousand Sons hold position and fire again, however this time the Long Fangs are not so lucky as the sergeant and two of the Space Wolves are cut down by inferno bolter fire. The pack passes its Leadership test and holds its ground.

On the right flank, the Thousand Sons Rhino advances and disembarks its troops who is joined by the Chaos lord and with the Obliterator they all open fire on the Grey Hunters in the open.

(Please note that this was part of my rather risky plan!)

The Thousand Sons Aspiring Sorcerer's head explodes as he fails a Perils Of The Warp test and when the dust clears the legendary Wolf Guard from our last game and a single Grey Hunter with a melta gun are left standing. They pass their Leadership test and fight on.

In the Space Wolves turn the final Grey Hunter pack arrives from reserve and skids their Rhino to a sideways halt next to the objective in my deployment zone before firing smoke launchers. The Thousand Sons squad on the left flank won't dare go for this objective now.

Back on the right flank, the Rune Priest and his Grey Hunter pack embark into the nearby Space Wolves Rhino which slowly drives towards the Thousand Sons objective while the Rune Priest blasts the disembarked Thousand Sons with a Murderous Hurricane, killing two of them.

The legendary Wolf Guard and the Grey Hunter with the melta gun open fire on the nearby Obliterator and both miss before charging into close combat. James fails to hit and the Wolf Guard smashes the bloated Chaos Marine into the dirt with his Powerfist before sweeping a whole 1" and being stuck in the open. Eek!

TURN 5
On the left flank the Thousand Sons get back into their Rhino and drive at full speed back towards their own objective.

On the right flank the other Thousand Sons squad piles back into their Rhino and also falls back.

Meanwhile the Chaos Lord advances, cutting down the legendary Wolf Guard (another heroic death for him!) and the Grey Hunter with melta gun before consolidating back into the ruin.

Now it's time for James to bait me it seems.

He wants me to charge the Chaos Lord so his two Thousand Sons squads can close in, disembark and rapid fire me to death with their AP3 inferno bolters.

We're on Turn 5, but it's going to take him Turn 6 to kill me, then Turn 7 to claim the objective. Or the whole game could end on Turn 5. Either way, the odds are in my favour.

The Rune Priest leads the charge out of the Rhino and into close combat with the Chaos Lord of Tzeentch. The Chaos Lord wounds the Rune Priest once with some unlucky rolling. Bolter rounds, chainswords and claws patter harmlessly off his thick terminator armour until the Wolf Guard's power fist strikes three time. He saves two of the attacks, but the third gets through, killing him instantly.

The Space Wolves consolidate within 3" of the Thousand Sons objective and the game ends.

CONCLUSION
My first Space Wolves VS Thousand Sons game was quite a tactical affair and it could have gone oh so horribly wrong. There's no way that the Long Fangs should have survived as long as they did. They should have been wiped out by Turn 2, which would have allowed James to get all of his Thousand Sons back onto his objective and gun down my Grey Hunters.

Next time I use the Long Fangs as a bait unit, they're sitting in their Razorback and crossing their fingers!

But James was right to chase after the Long Fangs (my "Juicy Bone"), because if he didn't I'd probably have taken out his transports very quickly and left his slow and purposeful army stranded.

One thing I certainly learned from playing Tau for many years was that if a table quarter doesn't look favourable, then put your army in reserve and arrive where you want to arrive from. Knowing where to fight is just as important as knowing how to fight.

James is keen to escalate our warm up games to 1500 points, but I've got to say how much I've enjoyed playing 1000 points games of Warhammer 40K. They're very quick, very tactical and very challenging.

So if you're sick of the same old 1500 points or 1750 points tournament games, give 1000 points game a try and see how you get on.

Botch Warm Up 2: Space Wolves VS Dark Angels

After the Space Wolves won the first game, James was determined to learn from his mistakes and secure victory with the Dark Angels.

This time we rolled Seize Ground with a total of 5 objectives with a standard Pitched Battle deployment.

With only 1000 points on each side, fighting over 5 objectives would make for an interesting game.

We started placing objectives. I went first and bunged one in the centre remembering that no objective can be within 12" of another or a board edge. James placed one on the far right. I placed another 12" to the left of the one in the centre, further to the back of the board. James placed another objective on the left flank on the opposite side of the board. Finally, I placed another objective just outside of 12" of the left board edge and just outside of 12" from the last objective I placed.

My Space Wolves would be heading for the closely packed together objectives. Even if James could claim the two on the far right flank, he'd have to wrestle me off 3. The previous game had proven that he lacked both the numbers, fire power and co-ordination of his forces to pull that off.

SET UP
James won the roll and chose the table edge with the most objectives in (perfect for me!) and set up first.

This time he spread out his forces, but I was once again surprised not to see the Interrogator Chaplain led Assault Squad in reserve.

On the left flank he deployed a Razorback with combat squad inside and the Interrogator Chaplain led Assault Squad behind some ruins. Plus 5 Dark Angels Space Marines with a lascannon in the ruins themselves.

In the centre he deployed another Razorback with a combat squad inside and his Landspeeder behind some more ruins.

On the right flank 5 Dark Angels Space Marines with a lascannon took up a sniping position in the tallest ruin.

Now it was my turn to set up.
James knew I was going to move forward. I knew I had to move forward. I also knew I was going to get shot -a lot!

So what the hell, let's bite some bullets and if I'm lucky I might snatch the first turn!

I set up my Rhino wall full of Grey Hunters led by Rune Priest along with the Long Fangs Razorback as far forward as possible left of the centre while the Long Fangs deployed in the top of the ruined church tower.

I failed to seize the initiative...

TURN 1
The Long Fang's Razorback explodes in a shower of scrap metal, leaving a smoking wreck. Meanwhile the crew of the Grey Hunter pack led by the Rune Priest is stunned.

The Dark Angels lascannon fire is incredibly accurate, making life difficult for the Space Wolves right from the start.

The Dark Angels Landspeeder zooms into the open, only to be struck down by a salvo of krak missiles from the Space Wolves Long Fangs.

The Grey Hunter Rhinos rumble forward, firing their smoke launchers while the stunned Rhino carrying the Rune Priest does the same.

TURN 2
This turn the Dark Angels firepower was ineffective as I passed an obscene number of cover saves thanks to the smoke launchers.

The Razorback on the right flank continued its advance, firing its heavy bolters with little effect.

The Space Wolves Long Fangs unleashed a salvo of krak missiles at the nearby Razorback which exploded in a massive explosion, showering the nearby Interrogator Chaplain and his assault squad in debris, killing one of them. Meanwhile the combat squad inside the Razorback staggered out, having lost one of their number, but passed their pinning test.

The Grey Hunter Rhinos continued to advance.

TURN 3
Accurate lascannon fire from the Dark Angels destroys one of the Grey Hunter Rhinos and the Space Wolves disembark in the sight of the ruins sheltering the Interrogator Chaplain, his assault squad and two Space Marine combat squads.

The Grey Hunter advance, rapid firing their bolters into the assault squad, killing another of the Dark Angels.

Meanwile the Rune Priest casts Murderous Hurricane on the lascannon armed combat squad, killing 3 of them.

The Long Fangs fire their missile launchers into the other combat squad, but their krak missiles explode harmlessly on the surrounding cover.

The trap is set. Now to see if James takes the bait...

TURN 4
The Interrogator Chaplain and Dark Angels Assault Squad rocket across the open ground and into close combat with the Space Wolves Grey Hunters. But to my surprise, the 4 man combat squad nimbly navigates the ruins and crashes into close combat as well! This could be closer than I expected.

When the dust clears 3 of the Dark Angels Assault Squad are dead, along with 9 of the Grey Hunters, leaving only the Wolf Guard standing. Fortunately, after an atrocious string of failed armour saves, he passes his Leadership test and stubbornly holds his ground!

With a deafening howl the Grey Hunter packs nearby burst from their Rhinos and join the bloody melee.

The Interrogator Chaplain is kept out of the greater combat by the lone Wolf Guard who he strikes down with furious anger before he is swept away along with the rest of the Dark Angels by the sheer ferocity of the Space Wolves charge.

Not a single Space Wolf fell in the bloody combat, leaving the two packs of Grey Hunters and the Rune Priest circled around the fallen Wolf Guard who died a hero's dead.

CONCLUSION
As the Space Wolves mopped up the last few pockets of resistance with krak missile and bolter fire, claiming 3 objectives by Turn 5 while the Dark Angels controlled only 1, it became very apparent what the glaring weakness in James' army was.

Namely that is was all riding on the Interrogator Chaplain and his assault team. The Dark Angel army's greatest strength was also its greatest weakness. Lose that unit and you lose the game.

Once again my opponent's army was divided and didn't focus on the destruction of a single unit at a time.

He took the bait unit and played on my terms. There was an element of risk because he was able to get his other nearby unit into the combat and with my bad luck, it nearly swung it for him. Had he killed the Wolf Guard and retreated, I doubt I would have been able to charge him. However, I would have easily gunned down one of the units with 18 Grey Hunters and a Rune Priest, plus supporting fire from the Long Fangs. So it wouldn't have been so bad I guess.

So to summarise:
James spread out his army.
I deployed everything on one flank.
He then had to fight off my entire army with half of his army.

He could have remedied this but putting his units just off centre while keeping some other counter-attacking elements like the Assault Squad and Landspeeder in reserve.

A NEW THREAT EMERGES!
After some discussion with James about his Dark Angels, my Space Wolves and the Battle Of The Chumps tournament, he decided to take his Thousand Sons instead.

James' Thousand Sons army hasn't seen much action of late, so it will be interesting to see how they cope against the ferocious Space Wolves.

Stay tuned for Friday's Space Wolves VS Thousand Sons battle report to find out!