Njal Stormcaller is the most powerful Rune Priest in the Space Wolves Chapter, but when it comes to playing him in the game of Warhammer, it takes some serious micro management to get the best results.Njal offers you a whole host of psychic powers to choose from and lets you cast two per turn, as well as his Lord Of Tempests special abilities, which can really ruin your opponent's game if you're lucky.
He's exactly what you'd want every Rune Priest in your army to be and like most of the Space Wolves characters, he's a supporting unit. However, this means he also needs support from other elements of the force to function effectively.
If you can get Njal in the right place, at the right time, he can cause a lot of damage. But it's getting him there and keeping him safe that's the hard part.
Equipment: Runic Armour, Staff Of The Stormcaller, Nightwing, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades, (can also take Runic Terminator Armour)
Skills: Master Psyker, Lord Of Tempests, Saga of Majesty
Runic Terminator Armour
For some extra points Njal can replace his Runic Armour with a special suit of Runi Terminator Armour which gives him a 2+ save and a 4+ invulnerable save.
However, but giving him this armour upgrade, Njal becomes restricted to Land Raider and Drop Pod transports, which in turn restricts how you can use him tactically.
Like most Rune Priests he's best firing his psychic powers (and Lord Of Tempests game effect) from the open hatch of a Rhino APC.
Not to mention that as a Rune Priest, he's fairly squishy in close combat. So while putting him in Runic Terminator Armour may give him a 4+ invulnerable save, you still don't want him stuck in a lengthy close combat.
Staff Of The Stormcaller
Just like a regular Runic Weapon, but dispels psychic powers on a 3+. Don't rely on this thought, it's just a nice little boost.
Nightwing
Just like a regular Chooser Of The Slain, but the psyber raven Nightwing pecks at people's eyes in close combat. Not bad for trying to take out a single model with a Power Fist at Initiative 5 with some lucky rolling before Njal gets smacked round the chops!
Lord Of Tempests
This is one of the best things about Njal, but as the game goes on, the effects become more direct and shorter in range. So to make the most of these powers you have to get within short range of the enemy.
However, the progression of strength and the reduction in range of the powers would seem to emulate how Space Wolves tended to play when they were first released. They just get closer and closer each turn until they really in an oppoent's face and pummelling everything around them.
Sometimes this isn't such a great idea though, because you might be in the middle of a tactical retreat or simply keeping your distance against an army that's better at short range.
Also, due to Njal's rather fragile nature, you have to be careful how you manage him and the squad he's leading. Getting stuck in a big close combat is likely to get him killed.
Master Psyker
Having access to all of the Space Wolves psychic powers, all of the time is a very handy thing to have. Plus, you can cast two of them per turn.
Storm Caller
Jaws Of The World Wolf
Murderous Hurricane
Living Lightning
There are the powers you'll no doubt use. I personally don't rate Tempests Wrath much, unless you're facing an all-skimmer or all-jump pack army.
However, because many of these powers are 'shooting attacks' they both have to be targetted at the same enemy unit, which isn't so good.
But let's put all these abilities aside for a moment and focus on which units Njal works well with.
Njal Stormcaller Leading Wolf Guard Terminators
As we've discussed before, the only Wolf Guard worth taking that aren't leading one of your Space Wolves squads are a pack of Wolf Guard Terminators.
I always arm mine with a mixture of combi-weapons, power weapons, a chainfist or thunderhammer (for anti-tank, anti-monstrous creature and last minute infantry smacking), a wolf claw to help with wound allocation and finally a cyclone missile launcher for long ranged fire power.
Its the optimum combination and the most rewarding in return on investment for your points. It also makes all 5 models unique for the purpose of wound allocation.
When you add Njal Stormcaller (in his Runic Terminator Armour of course), these Terminators are accompanied by psychic powers and an ever intensifying weather effect.
So essentially you're getting more shooting attacks in the squad and possibly a cast of Muderous Hurricane to make it hard for the enemy to charge you.
On the downside, Njal's Lord Of Tempests power only works when he's outside of a transport, or firing from a top hatch, which a Land Raider doesn't have.
Although with a pack of Wolf Guard Terminators in support, you could consider Drop Podding Njal and the Wolf Guard on to an enemy's flank for a sneaky casting of Jaws Of The World Wolf, followed up by the squad's combi weapons to do some serious damage.
Njal Stormcaller Leading Blood Claws
I think we've established that Blood Claws Suck, but many people still like them and regularly field them for fun.
To get the best from Blood Claws you need 15 of them with 2 melta guns led by a Wolf Guard. Normally we have a Wolf Priest with them as well, because they really need the rerolls.
Blood Claws are there to cause a big distraction, soak up lots of firepower, run straight towards the enemy and cause lots of carnage.
Unfortunately, this means that Njal won't be casting many psychic powers, although his Lord Of Tempests ability will remain in play, which could help a big close combat mob running forward on foot to survive the hail of firepower and potential counter charges against it.
Still, this unit tends to get butchered in every game, especially when they reach close combat and draw lots of enemy units in. So it may not be the safest place for old Njal.
Want to cut the numbers down a bit and cram them all into a Crusader to make sure they arrive safely? Then all of Njal's powers become redundant.
Maybe Blood Claws aren't the best match for the Stormcaller.
Njal Stormcaller Leading Grey Hunters
Like regular Rune Priests, Njal seems to work best when joined to a pack of Grey Hunters in a Rhino transport. And like all characters, Njals benefits from the Gey Hunters' Wolf Standard rerolls in close combat. Obviously, Njal won't be wearing his Terminator Armour while he's doing this.
He simply fires his psychic powers out of the top hatch (2 per turn), plus the Lord Of Tempests weather effect as the tank rolls 6" forward, along with plenty of Grey Hunters inside.
Njal Stormcaller
Wolf Guard with combi melta and power fist
7 Grey Huners: Mark of the wulfen, wolf standard, melta gun
Rhino
Storm Caller gives the Rhino a 5+ cover save at all times and often reaches nearby vehicles as well. So if you've got a bit of a convoy driving towards the enemy, or simply sitting tight, you can effectively keep them in 'cover' for a few extra turns.
In my last game I found myself casing Living Lightning and Storm Caller turn after turn, along with the passive Lord Of Tempests ability. This gave me a nice mix of offensive shooting and protective cover saves for all the vehicles within 6".
Njal Stormcaller Leading Long Fangs
I guess the first question you have to ask is whether you can justify spending 245pts on a character who sits at the back of the board -especially when his Lord Of Tempests ability is designed for midfield play.
So you could deploy Njal with some Long Fangs in the middle of your battle line and get them into the centre of the table as a kind of fire base protected by a the Lord Of Tempests powers. But it would be a risky tactic because the unit would be exposed to all sorts of firepower and fast attack units.
Even so, the Long Fang Sergeant allows Njal to split fire with the rest of the Long Fangs, letting him target his psychic attacks at other enemy units.
The standard set up would look something like this.
Njal Stormcaller
Long Fang Sergeant
5 Long Fangs with missile launchers
Although you could form a fire base with three Long Fang packs on a piece of large terrain, surround it with Grey Hunters in Rhinos and then use Njal's psychic powers and Lord Of Tempests to dissuade anyone from coming close.
But can you out shoot everyone with 15 missile launchers? Probably not. It would be a cool looking 'castle' defence against Tyranids, although I'm not sure about the other armies. But it's certainly worth a play test.
CONCLUSION
At 245pts Njal Stormcaller costs a heck of a lot for what he does...or rather, what he doesn't do!
He gets a Chooser Of The Slain that pecks people. That's not really anything special. In fact, I tend to forget about it all too often.
He can cast 2 psychic powers per turn, which is kind of nice. But in my experience Storm Caller hasn't been as effective as I'd have liked. Meanwhile I never seem to be able to use both Jaws Of The World Wolf and Living Lightning in the same turn.
However, the 3+ dispel is fantastic and extremely annoying for opponents that rely on their psychic powers to make their army function at its best.
Meanwhile Lord Of Tempests seems to be amazing at the start of the game, but becomes just another shooting attack half way through the game. The short ranged nature of these shooting attacks also means that you need to be right in the enemy's face with Njal by Turn 3 onwards -and that's far too early for the Rune Priest to sensibly survive. Heck, sometimes you need to run like hell and keep your distance, but then the Lord Of Tempests powers become useless.
I kind of wish they'd left Lord Of Tempests as a constant "Enemy models within 24" are at -1 BS this turn", because then it could be incorporated into a game strategy. Instead you roll the dice and see what you get without really being able to use the result to your benefit.
Also, for 245pts, you could get 2 regular Rune Priests and kit them out. That gives you a bigger dispel area, more close combat attacks, more wounds and 2 locations to cast psychic powers from.
So while Njal is a fun Rune Priest character to play, I feel that he costs too much. Although when I do run him, I always play him like a regular Rune Priest leading a pack of Grey Hunters in a Rhino. Then all his additional kit and abilities are just nice little extras to have, but not something I'd plan a game winning strategy around.
16 comments:
October 10, 2011 at 2:43 PM
Pretty sure that even with the Master Psyker rule he can't use 2 psychic shooting attacks in the same turn. One use has to be storm caller/tempests wrath or his force weapon. Says so in the main rule book under Psykers.
October 10, 2011 at 2:46 PM
Yup 1 shooting attack I'm afraid. Will is correct. In truth njal fluff is cool. Tabletop he suffers and is less effective than 2 cheap rp's
October 10, 2011 at 2:48 PM
Oh man, he's even worse then!
October 10, 2011 at 3:40 PM
I've run him in tourneys a few times and he's too much of a points sink to be worth it (at 1750 pt games at any rate).
Arguably the biggest problem is choosing what powers to cast and when, and doubly so if he's taken a wound from Perils already. This problem is on top of the 123 points you've given up to the enemy simply by rolling snake eyes or box cars.
His Lord of Tempests is very random with the two best results being the -1 BS and D6 S8 hits but as you've already explained the range differs for each one forcing you to close which isn't always what you want to do.
He can single-handedly wreck Dark Eldar and MSU (Razorspam) armies late in the game by being thrown into the middle of the enemy, something you can't risk doing with a 2-wound no-invul save character. He doesn't normally get TDA because he's less flexible than he is in Power Armour - being able to ride around in and shoot out of a Rhino for example.
He's all about manoverabilty early on and damage dealing late on: Tempest Wrath, Storm Caller, Murderous Hurricane and the low Lord of Tempests results all mount up to dictate movement/reduce incoming shooting of the enemy while his high Tempests rolls and Damage dealing powers are for battering the enemy.
He needs support, which adds to his already high cost and he'll dictate how you build the army and how you play: if you can live with it then he's a really good addition but he takes a *lot* of practice to the hang of.
Or if you face a lot of Grey Knight armies and want to dick with Fortitude. :)
October 10, 2011 at 5:49 PM
By strict rulings, Njal's Lord of Tempists abilities do not function from a vehicle since the measurements are taken from his model; and since it is specifically NOT a psychic power, it cannot benefit from the rules governing psycic powers that would allow measurements to be taken from the vehicle he is in.
October 11, 2011 at 12:27 AM
I honestly believe that the best Space Wolves special character, if used correctly, is Ragnar. He can destroy an entire armies regular troops while the rest of your army focuses on the strength of you opposition. He is nearly unstoppable if you avoid strength 8 attacks.
October 11, 2011 at 1:11 AM
Terminator armor is redundant anyways considering he already has runic armor. This gives him a 2+ armor save with a 5+ against wounds caused by psychic powers aka perils of the warp. While the 4+ is a considerable boost in survivability against perils it isn't worth the extra cost.
@ Anomyous: Yes Njal can use his Lord of the Tempest's ability from a vehicle since it is a Psychic ability. What else would it be? It just happens to be like a Warlock's psychic abilities that just go off rather than requiring a leadership test. Also go read the BRB FAQ for psyker's and how they work from inside vehicles.
As for Njal, I still don't see him being that useful aside from the 3+ dispel. For almost the same effect minus the 3+ dispel, Nightwing's attacks, and Saga of Majesty, (all of whose effectiveness is debatable) you can get a Rune Priest equipped the same for 50 points less. You can get 2 Rune Priests with Runic armor, and one Wolf Tail Talisman for the same cost. And a Tag team of 2 rune priests is much more effective especially when you can combine powers.
My personal favorite is 2 Rune Priests:
Tempest's Wrath, Murderous Hurricane
Storm Caller, Murderous Hurricane
Used in synergy with the rest of your army, those powers are much more effective than Njal's Lord of the Tempest.
October 11, 2011 at 2:33 AM
Worst thing about Lord of Tempest is that the 2nd and 3rd result don't work at all if you go second... (SW FaQ)
October 11, 2011 at 7:57 AM
Actually,
He has become a better option with Grey knights around so often, Obivously in runic armor is the best option in a Rhino as described above. Njal has singlehandedly shut down 2 grey knight armies dependent on their psychic abilities. He is also great against other runepriests. IS it worth 245 points to shut down psychic powers? that is a question you must ask, but I am definitely taking him to the finals in Ard Boys for how well he did in the semi's.
October 11, 2011 at 9:10 AM
Well i sometimes do run Njall too, in a fun game.
As i own only the TDA model, i drop him with Wolf Guard terminators. WYSIWYG
So u do have to protect him in the first couple of rounds.
He is pretty effectiv against T3/5+ armies.
And dropping him somewhere in the middle makes other psykers almost useless.
Is he worth the points, .... nah. Is he fun to play. YES
October 11, 2011 at 1:43 PM
Why does it matter for wound allocation how you arm WGTs? They all have 1 wound anyway.
As for Njal, I personally havent used him, but the ruling that his powers only work if you go first is pants on head retarded, and makes him not worth it to me
October 11, 2011 at 2:39 PM
@Cerberus.
If for example your 5 man wolf guard pack has 15 wounds dealt to it, 3 Wounds each on 5 individuals is much better than rolling 15 wounds on the whole squad.
This is generally how wound allocation works, also some of the wonds could also be power weapons etc, let's say three for this example. You can then land 3 power weapon wounds on 1 of the wolf guard, (preferably not your chainfist guy who is usually yet to strike) and therefore your squad's survivability has increased.
I hope that makes sense, I struggle to convey what I'm trying to say on the internet.
October 11, 2011 at 3:27 PM
I found it interesting that the 3+ save vs powers was downplayed so much. To me, it's one of the primary reasons he's picked so he's more effective at protecting the army as a whole.
Otherwise pretty accurate description, he's a guy who wants to be within 18 inches range and, provided the space wolf player goes first, his bs and ws lowering is pretty godly.
October 12, 2011 at 12:54 PM
The wound allocation matters because if you have 5 uniquely armed models, and you take six wounds, you can fail five saves but still have a model left if two of the failed wounds were on one model.
October 12, 2011 at 3:46 PM
Wasn't there a big 1850 pt. tournament recently where a Vylka army led by Njal took first place?
October 12, 2011 at 4:43 PM
@Cerberus: I thought it was only powers 3 and 4 on the table (the -1BS and Difficult Terrain for Infantry) were the only ones that didn't manifest when you go second but the rest of them work as normal?
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