As the ultimate Wolf Guard pack leader for your Space Wolves. Arjac Rockfist tactics are very straightforward, especially when he's going to be in the thick of the fighting and can only travel in a Drop Pod or Land Raider transport.
Arjac's saga tells a tale of a stubborn refusal to give ground to a horde of teeming kraken things...until Logan Grimnar and his men dug him out from beneath a mountain of chitin and scythed limbs. The Great Wolf was so impressed that he named Arjac his personal champion on the spot!
On the tabletop, Arjac displays the exact same stubborness and general refusal to die. Essentially a Wolf Guard Battle Leader, he's a fantastic melee character without eating up one of your HQ slots or giving away a Kill Point.
In fact, for all his equipment and abilities, he's better value for your points than a Wolf Guard Battle Leader with the very same load out.
Equipment: wolf tooth necklace, foehammer, anvil shield, terminator armour
Skills: saga of the bear, Grimnar's champion, stubborn
Wolf Guard:
Because Arjac is one of the Wolf Guard, he must be purchases along with at least 2 other Wolf Guard as an Elites choice. This also means that he may only lead Blood Claws, Grey Hunters and Long Fangs into battle.
Stats aside, when thinking about how best to use him, we need to take his equipment and special rules into account, just like we did with Logan Grimnar.
Foe Hammer
Strength 10 Thunder Hammer that he can THROW 6". It's a bad idea to base any tactics around this, but it's a nice little extra. It's worth noting that the thrown Thunder Hammer reduces the target's Initiative to 1, which makes it awesome in combination with a Rune Priest casting Jaws Of The World Wolf on a monstrous creature. But let's focus on Arjac's squad leading abilities for now.
Otherwise think of his Thunder Hammer as a power fist style weapon which mops up at the end of a close combat and batters any survivors with Wound Allocation.
Anvil Shield
This gigantic storm shield gives Arjac +1 attack in the first round of close combat. Combine that with his basic 3 Attacks, the +1 attack from charging normally (or counter-charging) and you've for 5 Attacks hitting on 3+ (thanks Wolftail Necklace!). Not bad at all.
Let's not forget he get's a 3+ invulnerable save from this on top of his 2+ terminator armour save.
Grimnar's Champion
Not such a great rule, but it will make your opponent thing twice before charging an Independant Character into close combat. If an enemy Character is in the combat, Arjac MUST allocate all his attacks against them.
I dare you to try and kill him. Even Mephiston probably can't before he gets pummelled in return.
Just remember that Arjac is NOT an Independant Character, so your opponent cannot pick him out from the squad he's leading in close combat. Suddenly he just got a whole lot better!
Stubborn
Should you lose close combat (most likely due to the softer squad members getting butchered), Arjac's Stubborn ability and high leadership is likely to keep the squad in place for another round of fighting. Arjac is often the last to die, which turns whichever squad he leads into a serious tar pit unit that inflicts a lot of casualties before it finally dies.
Arjac Rockfist Leading Wolf Guard
The only kind of Wolf Guard unit worth taking is Terminator Wolf Guard. We've established in other articles that 5 is the perfect number. Anymore doesn't give you much of a benefit for the extra points and they struggle to fit in transports too.
Fortunately, because Arjac is one of the Wolf Guard, he fits into the mix rather nicely and the squad doesn't have to lose their heavy weapon either.
Arjack Rockfist
Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-plasma and power weapon
Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-melta and power weapon
Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-melta and wolf claw
Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-plasma , power weapon and cyclone
Land Raider/Drop Pod Transport
Sure, it's a lot of points. But with Arjac leading them, they're going to kick ass and take a lot of hits. The lack of models is a concern though.
Arjac Rockfist Leading Blood Claws
Blood Claws suck. How did you know I was going to say that? Well, it's because it's true. They simply can't compare to Grey Hunters for the same points. Arjac gets no benefit by joining them and he gets no benefit in leading them...except he might have 15 guys to take hits before the enemy get around to him.
The problems with Blood Claws needing high numbers, resulting in high points costs outweigh the fun of being able to deliver Arjac into the thick of the fighting.
Arjac Rockfist Leading Grey Hunters
Wolf Standard and numbers make Grey Hunters the ideal unit for Arjac to lead. Think about it, the Wolf Standard allows you to re-roll 1's on a model with a 2+ armour save and a 3+ invulnerable save in close combat. It also makes those 5 Attacks at Strength 10 more likely to count when it comes to hitting and wounding. Grey Hunters give a good account of themselves in close combat too and are less likely to take casualties in the first round of combat thanks to rerolls from their Wold Standard.
Just be sure that your opponent isn't ready to blast them all to kingdom come the minute his unit breaks from close combat.
If your opponent is planning to throw more units into the close combat, then you'be succeeded in creating a tar pit which will suck lots of his units in as he struggles to single out Arjac with Wound Allocation and bring him down.
For a good example of how to use Arjac Rockfist really well, check out the Space Wolves VS 13th Company battle report. It took 2 Units of my Grey Hunters led by a Rune Priest 2 whole Turns to bring down Arjac and his squad. Of course this only happened after Arjac smashed my Rune Priest with his Thunder Hammer and battered one squad so badly that they broke and ran!
Arjac Rockfist Leading Long Fangs
You just wouldn't. Arjac likes to get up close and beat face. Long Fangs like to sit back and shoot. I think he'd get bored...
CONCLUSION
Arjac's awesome enough, but once he gets some rerolls thanks to the Grey Hunter's Wolf Standard, he's nigh on unstoppable in the first round of close combat.
Because he can't be singled out, your opponent has to fight their way through his entire squad before they can finally bring him down.
Even then, it's going to take more than a punch from a powerfist thanks to his Saga of the Bear.
He takes some serious killing and can hold up a lot of points, making it difficult for your opponent to commit units to objectives, let alone winning the battle.
There is 1 downside however: He cannot join more than a single unit during a game, because he's a Wolf Guard pack leader and not an Independent character. So start every game with a plan for him in mind and stick to it.
I honestly don't expect him to survive a single game, but he should always die gloriously atop a massive mound of foes!
18 comments:
September 5, 2011 at 2:15 PM
Thought it's expensive, have you ever considered attaching Arjac to a unit of Long Fangs filled to the teeth with Multi-Meltas, stick them all in a Drop Pod and attach Logan Grimnar to them?
Logan, of course, grants his Relentless shenanigans to the Multi-Meltas and, alongside Arjac, provides a significant deterrent to enemy assaulters. Not only that, but because you're up close you can likely take advantage of Arjac's thrown Thunder Hammer (splitting fire as necessary since they're Long Fangs).
September 5, 2011 at 2:30 PM
Cost is the biggest problem with this unit.
You can deepstrike the Drop Pod on Turn 1 -and a savvy opponent will be ready to jump on it and kill the 700pts you just spent.
OR, you can deepstrike another Drop Pod on Turn 1, then keep your 700pts unit in Reserve.
If you're playing a 1750pts game, that's over 1/3 of your army off the board, doing nothing, probably until Turn 3.
Can you really afford to only fight with 1050pts against 1750pts for hat many Turns?
September 5, 2011 at 3:04 PM
I've actually been using a unit of Arjac, Logan, and three wolfguard terminators in a drop pod, in my loganwing army and I got to say that is a scary unit. every time it hits the table it changes the game. NOTE: I'm not a very competative player and love to gamble everything in one big flashy unit or move (so far only once has this roughly 700pt unit has scattered off the table :P)
September 5, 2011 at 3:04 PM
About the part where you discuss his Stubborn rule; the FAQ states that his USR is only active when he's on his own.
(quote)
Q. Does Arjac Rockfist confer the Stubborn special rule to
his unit? (p86)
A. No, as he is not an Independent Character. Arjacʼs
Stubborn special rule only makes a difference when he is
on his own.
September 5, 2011 at 3:37 PM
Oh well. I guess that helps when the Grey Hunters he leads get wiped out and only he's left.
September 5, 2011 at 5:50 PM
Excellent pickup on the I1 followed by jaws. I never thought of that.
I think you glossed over AJ's main role though, and that is a character killer. Doesn't 'Grimnar's Champion' also mean he re-rolls hits and/or wounds against characters? Even if it doesn't, Arjak with a squad can be pointed at ANY IC in the game and be all but guaranteed to kill it if he gets into CC. I'd go close to saying he's the strongest character dueller in the game... Nope, can't think of anyone better, well except maybe an archon with a huskblade. But AJ would still beat him.
Even the swarmlord should fear this guy backed up by hunters.
September 5, 2011 at 6:51 PM
I'll have to try using the I1 then jaws thing. I'd have never thought of it. Great tactics by the way!
September 5, 2011 at 7:06 PM
This guy is my favourate character by far. Thanks for the awesome article!
I tend to use him in a godhammer with 8 hunters, with banner, mark and a melta. It's one of the most solid units I've ever used, is scoring, and can shoot and melee very well. Arjac and the banner works so well, as he's usually needing 2s and 3s.
I've never thought of using his hammer throw before a jaws, that's some very clever thinking :)
September 5, 2011 at 7:23 PM
Arjac's champion rules allows him to reroll to hit against enemy with the Independent Character or Monstrous Creature rule.
Remind me what a "godhammer" is?
I can't find a rule that says models in T.Armour can't benefit from the Banner reroll.
September 6, 2011 at 3:01 AM
Godhammer is the name of the twin-linked lascannon pattern that land raiders use on the sponsons.
In return, can someone explain me how you Jaws someone that has had their initiative reduced to 1? I thought you couldn't use Jaws to someone who is locked in CC
September 6, 2011 at 3:48 AM
You can't jaws someone in CC (directly atleast), but that isn't the point. He can throw it someone in the shooting phase and they are reduced to I1. Then you hit them with jaws in the same shooting phase.
September 6, 2011 at 5:30 AM
Here's a dirty idea, just buy 3 wolf guard send the other two off to lead other squads and pow. arjac is all by himself to rampage all across the board. hell put him into a drop pod to get into the thick of things first turn.
September 6, 2011 at 6:42 AM
Remember that once Arjack has joined a pack of TROOPS, he remains a scoring unit, even if he is the sole remnant of the pack ^^,
As he is not an IC, I think he actually tops Lysander as _the_ hammer and shield head taker. Lysander is actually quite popular amongst Marine players, so I think Arjack could be getting more table time :P
September 18, 2011 at 11:30 PM
I thought you only use Jaws and other similar powers on unmodified Ld? And i don't think his hammer works like a thunder hammer when thrown if you read the rules closely.
September 26, 2011 at 12:34 PM
I couldn't find anything that said it must be an unmodified I test and the space wolves FAQ clarified that the ranged component of the foe hammer does indeed reduce the wounded model to I1.
June 18, 2012 at 2:40 PM
Masked Thespian...
What? Arjac is too expensive. I think that trick of relentless long fangs with multimelta is just too expensive and too esay to defend against. Grimnar by himself is not deterrent enough. If I see Grimnar Long Fangs in your list with both a drop pod and multimeltas I will figure out your gimmic (I've already thought about it before reading any interweb blog)and Ijust will castle when deploying, waiting for Grimnar and your Long Fangs, puting my highest armour as the exterior walls just in case you land outside of 12". You will probably slag a tank, sure, but then if you're in my face I will assault you with 3 of my squads at the same time. Long Fangs will die. Grimnar would be left alone and isolated without support, it can take longer but it will die, having not enough power by himself. If you land outside 12", be sure that I will shoot Grimnar (or at least your Long Fangs) out of the board with all my firepower if necesary. If so, I'd have easilyy taken out 400-500 points of your army and you have taken only 200 of mine. not a good trade.
Do you want deep striking melta? better use Speeders, 3 Wolf Guards with combi-melta in a drop pod (both cheap options, slag a tank and their job is done, cheap enough to not to be a great loss) or Terminators with combi-meltas and Grimnar (at least, this ones are harder to shoot of the board and have more combat punch if they get charged)
September 24, 2012 at 10:15 PM
I was wondering if I could get a further explanation about the Foe Hammer and using Jaws of the World Wolf. I love the idea but doesn't the initiative test use the base stat. not the modified stat? any clarification would be great, thank you.
October 17, 2012 at 3:57 PM
Luke, essentially Arjak can throw his thunder hammer in the shooting phase, the unit stuck by the blow, if wounded, will drop to I1 if not automatically killed.
You can then use the JOTWW during the shooting phase to finish the IC off as the odds are very much against them.
This tactic however has been deminished by 6ths options to Look out sir the IC by another of the squad and the Deny the witch rule, but can still be pulled off.
Post a Comment