2011 UK 40K GT Space Wolves VS Space Marines

Game 1: Capture & Control, Dawn of War
Opponent: Charlie, Space Marines

It was the first game and I was nervous. Really nervous. It's only toy soldiers and rolling dice, so what's the big deal?

Anyway, I couldn't have asked for a better first opponent. I played a chap called Charlie with a black and red Space Marines army. Very friendly guy who put me at ease right from the start and was good fun to play against. He even gave me a big bag of black and white cotton wool for burning wrecks and smoke which I made great use of throughout the weekend! He had:

Captain with relic blade leading Stern Guard in a Drop Pod
Assault Terminators in a Land Raider Redeemer
2 Tactical Squads
5 Attack Bikes
1 Predator
1 Thunder Fire Cannon

He won the roll off and made me go first.

Not knowing where he'd be going, I spread my forces. Grey Hunters on the right, Long Fangs and Land Raider on the left. Popped smoke on everything and the Land Speeders zoomed down the middle.

He put his Land Raider Redeemer full of terminators on the right, his Thunder Fire Cannon and a Tac Squad in the nearby ruin. Then he put his Attack Bikes and Predator on the left flank.

The other Tac Squad went into reserve with their Rhino and the other Rhino went into reserve on its own as well.

His Drop Pod full of Stern Guard and led by a Captain slammed down, right between 3 Grey Hunter packs. Their shooting was comically bad, but what was to follow was even worse.

I got two Grey Hunter packs out, along with the Rune Priest, advanced and opened fire, getting ready to wittle him down and them charge.

I killed a handful. Then made the mistake of shooting him with some of the nearby heavy weapons. Bad move! He suddenly had to take a morale check and Chose to fall back, leaving one of my Grey Hunter packs stranded in the open and clustered together for a nice big Thunder Fire Cannon bombardment.

I then failed all of their saves and they were gone.

It then took me 2 turns to get rid of the Stern Guard and kill the Captain who simply refused to die, having passed 9 4+ invulnerable saves that would have otherwise instantly killed him.

By then the Land Raider Redeemer was across the board. Nothing could stop it.

The Assault Terminators got out and started smashing up vehicles while the remaining Grey Hunters tried some kind of defense.

On the left flank, my Land Raider had been immobilised by the Attack Bikes, leaving it out of the game while the Wolf Guard Terminators had killed all the Attack Bikes and were making short work of the Tac Squad they were shooting at. But they were too far away to stop the rest of my army being decimated.

Eventually they got into close combat with the Assault Terminators after gunning down 3 of them with their combi-weapons, the finished off the last 2 while taking some casualties.

On Turn 5 I had 1 objective while a Land Speeder contested the 1 objective he was on.
By Turn 6 the Land Speeder was gone, so we had 1 each.
By Turn 7 he'd managed to claim another and blow up the Razorback that had been contesting it.

I screwed up at the start of the game and it had cost me dearly. 3 Turns I could have otherwise used to take down the Redeemer or at the very least, keep my Grey Hunters alive.

The longer it went on, the less I could hold back the Redeemer and the Assault Terminators. And typically it carried on until Turn 7.

On the bright side, I was down the bottom, so my next game shouldn't be too hard...

1750 Points Space Wolves GT Army

Here's the 1750 points Space Wolves army I took to the 2011 UK 40K GT.

I'd fine tuned my army once more to squeeze out every drop of performance for my points, then threw in a Land Raider full of Wolf Guard Terminators waving combi-weapons drunkenly, because it was all I had painted and I didn't like the alternatives.

Ironically, they were the best unit in my entire army and if it weren't for them, many of my games I wouldn't have won, or have even drawn.

Anyway, I felt I should go through each unit and explain what did well at and generally how to get the best from them.


Adam's 1750 Points Space Wolf GT List

Rune Priest: Jaws/Lightning
Wolf tail talisman

Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-plasma, power sword
Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-melta, power sword
Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-plasma, wolf claw
Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-melta, chainfist
Wolf Guard Terminator with storm bolter, power sword, cyclone missile launcher
--> Land Raider

Wolf Guard: Combi Melta, Powerfist
7 Grey Hunters: melta, wulfen, standard
--> Rhino APC

Wolf Guard: Combi Melta, Powerfist
7 Grey Hunters: melta, wulfen, standard
--> Rhino APC

Wolf Guard: Combi Melta, Powerfist
7 Grey Hunters: melta, wulfen, standard
--> Rhino APC

Landspeeder: Multi Melta and Heavy Flamer
Landspeeder: Multi Melta and Heavy Flamer

5 Long Fangs: 4 Missile launchers
--> Razorback APC with Twin Linked Lascannon

5 Long Fangs: 4 Missile launchers
--> Razorback APC with Twin Linked Lascannon


Rune Priest
Bung him in a Rhino with a pack of Grey Hunters and cast Living Lightning or Jaws Of The World Wolf out the top hatch.

If the Grey Hunters get wittled down or wiped out, simply get him to join a bigger Grey Hunter squad.

Jaws Of The World Wolf is your close range power. Living Lightning is your long ranged power. Keep your eye out for the best line possible with Jaws. In 1 turn I managed to kill a Trygon, Hiveguard and a Tervigon. In other turns I managed to hit 4 hard-to-kill models with it and take a serious toll on my opponent's army.

Wolf Guard Terminators
My star players. The combi weapons, plus cyclone were amazing at gunning down virtually anything. Best of all, their Land Raider transport allowed them to quickly get to wherever they needed to.

They weren't bad in close combat either thanks to their plethora of power weapons. The Wolf Claw is a nice little extra to ensure you hit or wound and the Chainfist finishes up a close combat nicely.

I wish I'd modeled a combi-plasma on the cyclone terminator instead of a storm bolter though. The extra plasma would have made their shooting even more outstanding.

Land Raider
The classic Land Raider with lascannons. It housed the Wolf Guard Terminators most of the time. But most importantly, it provided two extra lascannons which were used to wound monstrous creatures, glance tanks and provide more much needed long ranged firepower to an otherwise short ranged army.

Grey Hunters
Always led by a Wolf Guard and never numbering more than 7. These guys are the jacks of all trades. Able to shoot, fight, fire melta guns and when they need to fight well, they have the Wolf Standards. And fight well they did.

Until the serious threats are removed they spent most of their time in their transports. They died in droves to Flame Storm Cannons on Land Raider Redeemers.

Land Speeders
Speed them out in front to soak up fire power or keep them back as a counter unit with multi melta or heavy flamer.

They're also brilliant for zooming on to an objective on Turn 5 to contest it.

I often used them to inflict additional wounds on monstrous creatures. They might only be range 24", but they're still outside of charge range.

Long Fangs
Deploy them in terrain. Pour Krak missiles into things. If lots of infantry appear in a tight formation Frag the hell out of them.

Mostly my Long Fangs poured krak missiles into monstrous creatures and lightly armoured tanks, but when someone's infantry were huddled together, often after their transport had exploded, then they got pelted with Frag missiles.

I got 20 hits on one unit. As you'd expect, they died, even with their power armour saves.

Razorbacks
Essential transports to get Long Fangs into place in Dawn of War, Razorbacks are also great for picking up any Grey Hunter squads reduced to 6 men or less and carrying them back towards and objective or into the fight a little faster.

Plus, the twin linked lascannon was a god send when it came to wounding monstrous creatures and adding to the barrage of anti-tank fire.

When it comes to heavier tanks, Long Fangs and their missile launchers simply don't get the job done. That when the Razorback really shines.

I tend to fire these last, which allows them to nail a monstrous creature by taking away its final wound or firing upon a choice target.


CONCLUSION
Knowing what each unit in your army is for goes a long way towards making the army more successful as a whole.

In the past I've run 3 Rune Priests, but found it difficult to fully utilise and protect the extra two.

I've also run a small Grey Hunter squad in a Razorback as an objective grabber. But due to their small size and the heavy weapon on the tank, I've never been comfortable committing them to the huge fights that the other Grey Hunter packs charge in to. Meanwhile moving fast leaves the Razorback's heavy weapon unable to fire.

I was confident with any of these units, so I added the units I did feel confident to field. That was a Land Raider, which I then filled with combi-weapon waving Wolf Guard Terminators.

For whatever reason, some units simply don't work for some people. Consider how different mine and Alex's lists were. Yet we finished 9th and 10th. That certainly shows there's plenty of room for personal customisation in the Space Wolves Codex.

2011 UK 40K GT Space Wolves Armies

I managed to take photos of some of the Space Wolves armies taking part in the 2011 UK 40K GT.

There were some awesome armies on display, but I simply didn't have time to snap them all, so I stuck to what you guys want to see -which is of course Space Wolf armies!

First up is James Karch's latest Space Wolves army (how many Space Wolves armies has this guy painted?). It was typical 'spikey james'. Incredibly crisp in detail and vibrant in colour. A few subtle conversions here and there, but nothing that screamed "I've been heavily converted".

He won Best Army, which wasn't surprising.

Personally, I would have nominated Alex West for Best Army instead. His painting was just as good and his conversions were excellent.

Everything was modeled into a realistic action pose with dirt and battle damage while some squad members looked like they were interacting with one another in the theatre of war.

Naturally, I approved of his drab, militaristic colour scheme.

His Long Fangs were especially eye catching and one of his Lone Wolves was fantastic, somehow pulling off a very bizarre mixture of yellow and red markings without being gaudy.

Unfortunately my photos of his army didn't come out very well because the floor boards weren't particularly sturdy in that part of the hall.

I don't know whose army this is, but it's very nice. I especially liked the Rune Priest and Wolf Priest.

The Wolf Priest was painted with non-metallic metals and looked fantastic for it. You'd think that contrasting that much yellow and gold would make the model too sharp on the eyes, but he'd managed to achieve a lovely, warm tone instead.

There was lovely, crisp, clean painting throughout and the 'mystical stones' Objective Markers were a particularly nice touch, tying in with the bases of the army.

Bigger Picture Here

Down on the lower tables I spotted this Space Wolves drop pod army. Although it was very bright, it still looked good. The two Forgeworld Dreadnoughts really stood apart from the rest.

It looked like a fun list to run and had hordes of Grey Hunters.

The drop pods were particularly impressive and sported the pack markings of each grey hunter pack. But I couldn't help but think that the rest of the army should have been painted in the same dark grey as the Drop Pods and Land Speeder.

Then this army would have been simply stunning!

Finally -my Space Wolves.

They probably don't deserve to be alongside the armies in this blog post, but they're a good contrast.

Everyone else carefully painted, washed and highlighted their Space Wolves. I painted, washed and drybrushed mine.

The interesting thing was just how different every single Space Wolves army was. No two armies were the same shade of grey either.

Maybe I can get my Pre Heresy Space Wolves done for the next UK 40K GT? I hear there could be more than 1 per year.

Back From The 2011 UK 40K GT

It was awesome. In fact, it was JAWSome! I've never seen so much stuff die to Jaws Of The World Wolf and I only had the 1 Rune Priest.

With 4 wins, 1 Draw and 1 Loss, I placed 9th out of 113. Alex was just behind me in 10th place. Mike got 36th place and James (who had a great time with his Deathwing) came 73rd. Brad dropped in on the Saturday to say hi as well.

I also take great pride in being the highest ranking Space Wolves player and for getting the third highest Victory Points ranking in the tournament. I killed a lot of stuff!

Stars of the Show
Contrary to what many expected, my Wolf Guard Terminators in their Land Raider were the real stars of the show.

Wherever a torrent of plasma and melta was needed -they were there.
Wherever lots of power weapons were needed -they were there.

The Land Raider wasn't bad either and the extra lascannons made a huge difference in my army. Although, after getting hammered by Land Raider Redeemers, I'm seriously considering one.

However, the more conservative nature of the Land Raider prevented me from committing the Wolf Guard Terminators too early. I feel some play testing is in order to perfect the combination of these two units.

In the meantime, I've got about 8 articles to write after this fantastic weekend, so...

Stay Tuned For:
A look at the Space Wolves armies from the GT
An in depth explanation of my 1750pts Space Wolves GT list
All 6 battle reports!

In the meantime, I'm fired up to paint some more Space Wolves!

Off to the UK 40K GT

I'm off to the first independent Warhammer 40K UK Grand Tournament, organised by the top bods on the indie tourney circuit.

I expect to get horribly mauled, but what the heck, it's only a game.

In truth I wish my pre heresy Space Wolves were finished so I could rock up with them instead.

Then I wouldn't care about winning or losing -because I'd look good doing it!

Anyway, after much deliberation and list writing, this is the 1750 points Space Wolves army I'll be taking.

I'll admit it's not my first choice. But sometimes you just have to work with what you've got and make the best of it...even if that does mean you end up polishing a turd.

1750 Points Space Wolf GT List

Rune Priest: Jaws/Lightning
Wolf tail talisman

Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-plasma, power sword
Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-melta, power sword
Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-plasma, wolf claw
Wolf Guard Terminator with combi-melta, chainfist
Wolf Guard Terminator with storm bolter, power sword, cyclone missile launcher
--> Land Raider

Wolf Guard: Combi Melta, Powerfist
7 Grey Hunters: melta, wulfen, standard
--> Rhino APC

Wolf Guard: Combi Melta, Powerfist
7 Grey Hunters: melta, wulfen, standard
--> Rhino APC

Wolf Guard: Combi Melta, Powerfist
7 Grey Hunters: melta, wulfen, standard
--> Rhino APC

Landspeeder: Multi Melta and Heavy Flamer
Landspeeder: Multi Melta and Heavy Flamer

5 Long Fangs: 4 Missile launchers
--> Razorback APC with Twin Linked Lascannon

5 Long Fangs: 4 Missile launchers
--> Razorback APC with Twin Linked Lascannon

THOUGHTS
Before I was running 3 Rune Priests and getting mixed results.
Either they were awesome or they did nothing. Plus they gave away kill points fairly quickly if I got stuck in close combat.

So I dropped 2 Rune Priests and my 'objective holder' Grey Hunters from my usual line up, along with 2 Long Fangs with missile launchers to cram in my Wolf Guard Terminators and a Land Raider.

I'm familiar with this list while the Land Raider and Terminators are fun addition with plenty of punch. They also give me two much needed lascannons too and a lot of plasma and melta.

I've played a couple of games with this list against James in preparation for the GT and it's performed pretty well. The Terminators and Land Raider have taken some mastering, but I believe that this is my strongest 1750pts list so far using what I've already got.


And this is what Alex would have taken:

Rune Priest: Living Lightning, Jaws

Dreadnought: X2 Twin Linked Autocannons

Dreadnought: X2 Twin Linked Autocannons

5 Grey Hunters: melta gun
--> Razorback APC with Twin Linked Plasma Gun and a Lascannon

Wolf Guard: Combi Melta, Powerfist
5 Grey Hunters: melta gun, wolf standard
--> Rhino APC.

Wolf Guard: Combi Melta, Powerfist
5 Grey Hunters: melta gun, wolf standard
--> Rhino APC

Wolf Guard: Combi Melta, Powerfist
5 Grey Hunters: melta gun, wolf standard
--> Rhino APC

Wolf Guard: Combi Melta, Powerfist
5 Grey Hunters: melta gun, wolf standard
--> Rhino APC

Thunder Wolf: Wolf Claw

Thunder Wolf: Wolf Claw

6 Long Fangs: 5 Missile launchers
--> Razorback APC with Twin Linked Plasma Gun and a Lascannon

6 Long Fangs: 5 Missile launchers
--> Razorback APC with Twin Linked Plasma Gun and a Lascannon

THOUGHTS
It's a solid list with Many Small Units (MSU), but none of them are particularly small or weak.

Alex's unique approach to Thunder Wolf Cavalry is apparent. Here he uses a single Thunder Wolf to follow behind a Rhino, hidden from sight and ready to pounce while using the re rolls to hit in close combat to ensure plenty of Strength 5 kills.

I'd have to play test this, otherwise I'm more inclined to take my usual Land Speeder load out instead.

Now to pack all my stuff in the car and drive up to Nottingham for the weekend.

I'll let you know how James and I get on.

See you on Monday!

Brads 1750 List

Hi Guys I thought I would let you all know I'm not lost in the warp by putting in a quick post about the latest list I'm using.

I'm a bit jealous of all the talk about the 40k GT in a couple of weeks because I was a bit lazy and ended up missing out on a ticket, doh! Putting that aside I am attending the Open War tourney in April so I do have something to look forward to. Anyway here is the list I would have taken to the GT and will probably end up taking to Open War.

Brads 1750 List

HQ

Rune Priest
Murderous Hurricane
Jaws of the World Wolf

ELITES

Wolf Guard Pack
(See units for attachments)

Lone Wolf
Terminator Armour
Storm Shield
Chain Fist

Lone Wolf
Terminator Armour
Storm Shield
Chain Fist

TROOPS

Wolf Guard, Powerfist, Combimelta
7 Grey Hunters
Wolf Banner
Mark of Wulfen
Meltagun
Rhino APC

Wolf Guard, Powerfist, Combimelta
7 Grey Hunters
Wolf Banner
Mark of Wulfen
Meltagun
Rhino APC

Wolf Guard, Powerfist, Combimelta
7 Grey Hunters
Wolf Banner
Mark of Wulfen
Meltagun
Rhino APC

5 Grey Hunters
Meltagun
Razorback
Lascannon and Twin Linked Plasmagun

5 Grey Hunters
Flamer
Wolf Banner

FAST ATTACK

Land Speeder
Multi Melta
Heavy Flamer

Land Speeder
Multi Melta
Heavy Flamer

HEAVY SUPPORT

6 Long Fangs
5 Missile Launchers
Pack leader
Razorback
Lascannon and Twin Linked Plasmagun


6 Long Fangs
3 Missile Launchers
2 Lascannons
Razorback
Lascannon and Twin Linked Plasmagun


This lot comes into 1749 in total.

I'll talk through a couple of my units and why I have been running them. Firstly I have gone with my Standard Grey Hunter set up. A pack of 8 with a fist toting Wolf Guard, Wulfen, Melta and Banner. I don't care what other people think but in my opinion this is the best set up for your Grey Hunter Packs. The unit doesn't break the bank points wise and has the punch and stamina to do a number of battle field roles which is what I love the most about them. A good Wulfen roll will change the course of a combat coupled with the guaranteed wounds from the fist it means I can usually beat any other MEQ squad. The trick is of course is that you will never just be fighting one of my packs, they work together and assault with multiple packs.

I decided to run a 5 man Pack on foot with a Flamer and a banner. I made this decision after talking to Alex about the unit. The difference is that Alex is running a Wolf Guard with a Cyclone Missile Launcher with his unit for some extra long range firepower. I've decided to go with just the 5 Grey Hunters for a couple of reasons. Firstly I didn't want to pump points into more Wolf Guard I need those points elsewhere. Secondly I can mount this unit into an empty Long Fang Razorback if need be and they can join the main assault but primarily they are an objective holding unit.

Next I want to talk a little bit about Lone Wolves because I feel it is a unit that has had little love from the Space Wolves Blog. I've run these guys about 5 or 6 times now and all I can say is Wowza! what the hell have I been doing not running these boys before.

I went for the popular set up of Terminator Armour, Chainfist and Storm Shield. An alternative to this is to take a Thunderhammer instead of a Chainfist but for me the fist wins every time being able to effectively deal with Walkers and AV14.

When it comes to using these guys one word springs to mind .... LINESMEN!! The Lone Wolf is not fast enough to be a full on assault unit so forget about him running around causing mayhem on his own it just wont work. What these guys do is hold ground and scare the bejesus out of folk. I run two because I like to run things in pairs for redundancy and for the simple reason that a tag team of these bad boys is hard to avoid.

In a mech list such as mine I run the Lone Wolves as support for the Grey Hunters, if spaced around 12" apart they can pretty much hold the line and throw their weight where needed. If I'm playing defensively I'll run them out front and hope they take the brunt of the assault, they are tough enough to take any unit on head first and survive. If they don't survive who cares? They have achieved their goal of a glorious death and now the enemy can be counter assaulted by the rest of the wolf army.

Against a shooty army I'll just advance and run these boys towards the enemy. My opponent now has two choices, he can either divert a crap ton of firepower into the Lone Wolves or ignore them and risk the chance of being fisted to death in the closing turns of the game. I do admit they are slow but my army is not built around speed its built to give you the mother of all Counter Attacks while smacking you round the side of the head with long range fire power.

Has anyone else found love for the Lone ones like I have? Let your voices be heard brothers and unleash fearless beserkery death on your enemies.

PS Kudos to anyone who paints their Lone Wolves hair Slayer Orange or gives them some Legion of Doom face paint!

Space Wolves VS Deathwing Weekend

Some frantic last minute GT warm up games for James and myself this weekend. We got two games in and had a blast.

He won the first.
I completely murdered him in the second.
And we both learned a lot!

This time around James had fine tuned his Deathwing army with a complete infantry force where every single squad (apart from Belial's mob) is packing a cyclone missile launcher!

Meanwhile I had revised my list once more, dropping the abundance of Rune Priests and the small Grey Hunter pack in favour of a Land Raider full of Wolf Guard Terminators.

In my eyes these guys were the heroes of Botch, even if they only found glory in the last game by butchering a mountain of Imperial Guardsmen and contesting an objective on the final turn. They're still heroes okay?

Besides, nothing is going to survive against that many combi weapons followed by power weapon attacks...

Game 1: Saturday
We rolled for mission, rolling two 2 objective mission and a Spear Head table quarters deployment.

James won the roll off and deployed his entire Deathwing army on the board with Belial and the assault squad out in front.

Fed up of having my transports popped on the first turn, I tried something a little different. I went with a reserves tactic which had always seemed to work fine for my old Tau army.

I deployed the Wolf Guard Terminators in their Land Raider on the right flank. Everything else went into reserve.

Bad idea.

The Deathwing stormed up the board, unchallenged and by the time the Long Fangs had deployed and anything could start firing at them, the battlefield was overrun.

I also didn't have the movement to get to his objective.

In a desperate bid to keep him back, I used the Land Raider packed full of terminators as a piece of bait, which he took. Unfortunately I'd forgotten that Thunder Hammers stun vehicles...and hadn't been able to afford Extra Armour for my Land Raider, otherwise this plan would have been golden.

The Wolf Guard Terminators bundled out, fired their combi weapons into Belial's Assault Squad and charged.

A few Terminators fell to the torrent of plasma and melta fire, but the dice gods were truly against me in close combat as I rolled nothing but 1s and 2s.

I'd made the same mistake James had in the last game. I'd split up my army, leaving it to be easily devoured bit by bit.

James was able to hang on to his objective with ease while Belial, the Librarian and the Deathwing Standard Bearer were able to march down the right flank, meeting very little resistance.

Game over man. Game over.

Next time I'd have to play more cohesively.

Game 2: Sunday
This time we rolled for mission, getting Annihilation (kill points) and a Pitched Battle deployment.

James won the roll off and deployed his army in the centre with Belial and the Assault Squad left of the centre.

In response I put down everything on his weakest flank, ready to surge forward. Meanwhile the Long Fangs took up firing positions.

The Land Raider full of terminators took the left of my formation to protect the Rhinos with its Armour 14 bulk and hopefully block line of sight or at the very least provide an obscured cover save.

I rolled to seize the initiative and got a...6! I was somewhat jubilant about it. With the GT only a couple of weeks away things had just got competitive.

The Space Wolves mechanised convoy surged forward, towards the two Deathwing squads on the right flank and fired their smoke launchers.

The two Landspeeders zoomed above the convoy, landing in front to present a greater number of targets.

Meanwhile the Long Fangs and Razorbacks poured their fire into the Deathwing squad in the centre of James' formation.

If I could kill the unit in the centre, the two squads on the right flank would be cut off and unsupported.

I passed a lot of cover saves for the convoy and even the Land Speeders, leaving them virtually unharmed.

The 3 Grey Hunter packs disembarked into the ruins and opened fire on the Deathwing terminators, but only 2 of them died as James passed incredible numbers of armour and cover saves.

The Land Raider wheeled around to shield the disembarked Grey Hunters and open fired at the Deathwing Squad in the centre, as did the rest of the Space Wolves army.

By turn 3 the Grey Hunters were struggling to kill the Deathwing terminators, so the Wolf Guard Terminators helped them out and charged out from their land raider, cutting down one of the Deathwing squads while the Grey Hunters and land speeders mopped up the other squad.

Meanwhile the Deathwing squad in the centre finally died to a mass of krak missiles and lascannon blasts.

James had no choice but to fall back, firing. Even Belial and his Assault Squad wouldn't survive against all those Grey Hunters, Wolf Guard Terminators and a Rune Priest in close combat.

With the game in the bag, I pulled back the Land Speeders and Grey Hunter Razorbacks and advanced with the Land Raider who combined fire with the Long Fangs and Razorbacks to bring down Belial's Assault Squad.

The game ended on Turn 5.
4 Kill Points to the Space Wolves
0 Kill Points to the Deathwing

CONCLUSION
Confidence and a sound strategy. These are the things you need to win your games.

In the first game I was scared by all those cyclone missile launchers.
I was scared of Belial's Assault Squad + Librarian.
But playing like a Tau seems to be the worst thing you can do with a Space Wolves army.

You've got to put it all on the board and just Go For It!

Using The Wolf Standard

Could the Wolf Standard be the best investment you ever make in your army? How about the best investment of points in the entire game? Let’s have a look at what the Wolf Standard is all about and what it can do on the battlefield that no other buff/bonus or power can!

The Fluff
All the Space wolves great companies have a these priceless relics and it’s the Grey Hunters that get to carry these symbols of power into the battlefield. There are many types and designs, each depicting a glorious aspect of the space wolves history. The one thing that is common to all wolf standards is the symbol of strength is represents to those who walk in its shadow

On the battlefield
The Wolf Standard enables you to re roll all ones in an assault phase.

So this can be all rolls to hit, to wound, armour and invulnerable saves that any member of the unit has to make. This is for the entire Assault phase. So it also entitles you to re roll any 1’s that you roll for difficult terrain, consolidation and ATSKNF saves. Even how many attacks your Grey Hunter with the Mark Of The Wulfen gets!

All this for 10 points!

You can even use it to take down vehicles! Re-rolling 1’s on the damage chart could be the most under used aspect of the Standard. You can tag 3 or 4 vehicles with a nice multi assault, using the banner to turn dice into damage. Of course, you have to get there in one piece first.

When and where?
The codex states that the benefit of the standard applies to the ‘next assault phase’. So this should tell you that you declare its use after the shooting phase has ended but before you start moving your models in either assault or as a reaction move. But as long as you declare its use before the ‘round of combat’ has started, then you should have no problems (that’s how the UK independent GT has ruled it anyway).

I always make a point in using my Wolf standard at the first available opportunity. It makes more sense to use it when the pack is at its strongest. That doesn’t mean you can’t try to engineer where and when your squad is going to strike. As Adam has said before, claim the middle ground – it’s where we excel. We don’t mind bringing the fight to the enemy and are equally capable when being assaulted. As long as we end up in a close combat. We don’t mind either way!

Squeezing out every last drop of value!
I like to go big with my Grey hunters. I like to make sure that the unit is at least nine or ten strong. So that’s 8 Grey Hunters with all the upgrades, plus a combi-melta and power fist Wolf guard and more often than not a Rune priest. This gives me plenty of close combat punch that when combined with the wolf standard, can even kill off Assault terminators before they get to swing.

I opt for this load out as I have to find the points for my TWC and ThunderLord. But the inspiration came from an Idea I had when I first got my hands on the book. I envisioned having Arjac Rockfist and a runic armoured Wolf lord in a squad of Grey hunters. Arjac is an absolute beast with his five attacks on the charge. He hits on three’s and wounds on two’s versus most things. Combined with a wolf banner he gets to re roll half of his missed swings and gets to re roll the ones he invariably rolls to wound. That’s pretty powerful.

The wolf lord is the other one who excels. He should have a Storm shield and a frost weapon of some kind. He also hits on 3’s (re rolling half the misses) and wounds on 3’s vs Marines equivalent (re rolling half of those). Add your favourite saga to taste.

Combined with the other 8 or so Grey hunters in the squad, this can make a mess of anything. Think of it this way. You are striking at three initiative steps, 5, 4 and 1 – each can easily take out 3 or 4 enemy models on there own and stops the opponent from stacking the power weapon attacks all onto one or two models.

But it gets even better! Having 2+ saves in a squad really helps the unit survive (It reminds me of the old Wolf tooth necklace, nostalgia fans!). Failed 2+ saves get re rolled in combat and your invulnerable save gets a boost! (You re-roll half the failed invulnerable saves!) It makes for one hell of a deathstar unit.

There are many combinations available. What has worked for you guys? Do tell the rest of us. We like a good story…

Space Wolves VS New Deathwing

Ever since the new Dark Angels FAQ came out, making the Deathwing awesome, I've been nagging James to get a unit of Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield Terminators led by Belial with one of them upgraded to an Apothecary.

Finally, he did it and challenged me to a 1750pts game. His revised Deathwing army was ready to rumble. But little did he know that I've been making some modifications of my own...

For starters, my indecision with Rune Priest psychic powers had been firmly resolved. Giving all 3 Jaws Of The World Wolf was by far the simplest solution. 1 then had Living Lightning, another had Murderous Hurricane and the last had the Fury Of The Wolf Spirits (which I never used). Although I'm now considering Storm Caller for the later phases of the game.

I also upgraded my usual Grey Hunter Razorback to carry and a twin linked lascannon while the Grey Hunters were demoted to Blood Claws and intended to never get out of their transport if they can help it.

These changes helped massively, giving me a much needed extra lascannon while uniting my Rune Priests in single purpose and unleashing some devastating Jaws Of The World Wolf attacks...provided James failed any Initiative tests, which very rarely happened.

1750pts Deathwing Army
Belial with Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield
5 Deathwing Terminators with Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, Apothecary

Librarian in Terminator Armour
5 Deathwing Terminators:
assault cannon, chainfist

5 Deathwing Terminators:
assault cannon, chainfist

5 Deathwing Terminators:
cyclone missile launcher

5 Deathwing Terminators:
cyclone missile launcher

Land Raider with Extra Armour


1750pts Space Wolves Army

Rune Priest:
wolf tooth necklace, wolf tail talisman
Jaws of the world wolf, living lighting

Rune Priest:
wolf tooth necklace
Jaws of the world wolf, murderous hurricane

Rune Priest:
wolf tooth necklace, melta bombs
Jaws of the world wolf, fury of the wolf spirits

(X3) Grey Hunter Pack:
Wolf Guard with power fist and combi melta
7 Grey Hunters with melta gun, wolf standard, mark of the wulfen
Rhino APC

Blood Claws Pack:
5 Blood Claws with melta gun
Razorback APC with twin linked lascannon

(X2) Landspeeder:
Heavy Flamer & MultiMelta

(X2) Long Fangs Pack:
6 Long Fangs with 5 missile launchers
Razorback APC with twin linked lascannon

SUMMARY
It has to be said that this wasn't the most exciting game, however, we both made some mistakes and the game ended in a very lucky 7th Turn draw for James.

We played Capture & Control with a Pitched Battle deployment and James won the roll to go first.

Unsure of how this game would go, I was very conservative in placing my objective, almost playing for a Draw from the very start.

I massed my Long Fangs in the ruins on the right with the Razorbacks behind, ready to move out and fire. Meanwhile the Grey Hunters too up the centre.

James placed two Deathwing units with cyclone missiles on the left flank, along with a Land Raider hidden behind a building. 2 of his other Deathwing terminator squads would 'Deathwing Assault' in Turn 1 while Belial and the Deathwing assault terminators waited in reserve.

James deepstriked his two Deathwing squads on the right flank, opposite my main force and his whole army began firing on my transports to little effect.

The Space Wolves advanced on mass, firing every frag missile, lascannon and psychic power his way, eventually wiping out the two Deathwing squads while taking some casualties from those on the left flank.

I couldn't stray far from my objective, because I knew Belial would be arriving at anytime and it would take all my Grey Hunters and Rune Priests to bring down that awful assault squad with it's 2+ save, 3+ invulnerable save and 4+ Feel No Pain save.

Belial Arrives
Can nothing stop these guys? Countless armour saves and Feel No Pain saves later and they're still coming.

Like a fool, I overextended one Grey Hunter squad and they got smashed (along with their Rune Priest) without inflicting a single wound! And I was using their Wolf Standard for some re rolls.

Countless castings of Jaws Of The World Wolf, lots of rapid firing weapons, krak missiles and finally twin-linked lascannons and they're brought down during my Turn 5.

Meanwhile my Landspeeders have made it across the board and are contesting James' base objective.

To my horror none of the assault terminators fell victim to Jaws Of The World Wolf until Turn 5, despite weathering a total of 6 castings! In the end it was repeated turns of basic weapons fire that brought most of them down.

There's no way Space Wolves can beat that unit in close combat. They simply don't do enough damage before getting smashed by Thunder Hammers in return.

Don't All Bunch Up
But James' luck decided to balance out when the game continued until Turn 6.

He assaulted and destroyed my Landspeeders while camping a Deathwing squad on his objective.

How very thoughtful to bunch all his infantry together for me...

All 10 Long Fangs fired frag missiles into the squad, inflicting a huge tally of wounds while a few accurate twin linked lascannon blasts finished off the two survivors.

It looked like it was all over...then we rolled for Turn 7 and the game went on!
In the name of good sportsmanship, I then showed James how he could scrape a Draw by parking his Land Raider between the building and objective.

This would allow the Deathwing squad to descend the building and embark into the Land Raider, which was within 3" of the objective, allowing the unit within to claim the point...Provided they rolled high enough for their movement in the difficult terrain.

James rolled a 6" and they got out of the building, into the Land Raider and scraped a Draw.

CONCLUSION
We both could have played better, make no mistake.
James' first mistake was splitting his army, which let me focus on just half of it until Belial arrived and effectively ignore the other half until later in the game.

Bringing Belial and the assault terminators on late was his other mistake. Unsuported they'd go down to massed fire power eventually.

Had they been delivered in the Land Raider, or been part of the first 'Deathwing Assault' they could have soaked up enough of my fire power for the rest of the army to advance unhindered.

Instead I was able to go and kill 2 Deathwing squads at my leisure.

The Land Raider was rubbish also. Another Deathwing terminator squad, perhaps another assault squad would have been better.

The Librarian was a damp squib too. Better to take a Chaplain and get him to lead the second assault squad for a more aggressive and numerous army.

But What About the Space Wolves?
Apart from a daft mistake that cost me a Grey Hunter pack and a Rune Priest, my army performed pretty well and everything went according to plan.

I felt confident using the Rune Priests and they worked well together, despite James' ability to pass every Initiative test until the later phases of the game.

Landspeeders did what they do best, as did the Long Fangs, Razorbacks and Grey Hunters. Rhino line-of-sight blocking tactics served me well too.

If I was to change anything, I'd have been more gung ho with my objective and slapped it down 24" away from James' objective for a close quarter battle.

Forcing him to bunch his units together would be perfect for Long Fang frag missile barrages and multiple Rune Priests casting Jaws Of The World Wolf. He'd have to fail some Initiative tests then!

1750pts Space Wolves Army List

Hello all, Killswitch here with the next list of our series. 1750pts tends to be the norm nowadays in most Tournaments, so it’s a fairly solid value to go by.

I personally write my lists as a standard template at this points level, rather than the previous 1500 which, a few years ago, was the absolute standard.

I like this point value, it balances most of the codex’s and allows almost every army to bring a fair amount of models to the table. So, for today’s list, I’ve decided to supply you all with one of my very own lists which I personally use.

Not saying this is original, nor am I saying I own writes to it, so go ahead and use it for your own games.

Now at such a point level, there are a few armies to fear. The main ones tend to be Guard, Daemons, Blood Angels (mainly with Mephiston), Eldar & the upcoming Grey Knights. To handle these, I have had to think hard about some kind of synergy which builds a fairly Hybrid approach.

Starting from top to bottom again, same advice stands with the HQ choice. Standard Rune Priest with Jaws & Living lightning. I tend to stay away from the powerhouse HQ’s at this point level for Space wolves as I feel that we need as much as possible to handle the army builds out there at the moment.

Elites is fairly abnormal. No Wolf Scouts & no Lone wolves. Instead I’ve gone for 2 Dreadnoughts with 2 Twin-Linked Auto cannons. These provide anti-mech & MC support. 8 twin-linked shots a turn, who can sit behind terrain or Rhino chassis fairly easily, without reducing their output, is pretty good. 250pts for these two bad boys is fairly standard. Next is wolf guard, but I will detail them bellow.

Troop choice is going to be slightly different. I will start with the assault element. 4 units of 5 Grey Hunters in Rhinos with Meltaguns & Banners. 500pts for these 4 gives me fairly good armour saturation and fulfils the Msu type of approach I am trying to aim for (multiple small units for those who don’t know what MSU is). Attached to these are wolf guard equipped with Combi-meltas & Powerfists. Now the reason for this fairly common load out in small units is that I do find it necessary to give these units a weapon which can give them a chance to at least hurt anything in the game. Many a time has my small 6 man units been bogged down against a fairly tough unit when they could of at least potentially hurt or even kill them with the inclusion of a fist i.e. a 5 man plague marine squad.

The defence element of our Troop choice is a 5 man Grey Hunter squad with a Meltagunin a las/plas Razorback. Well this unit can potentially sit back on home objectives and score, or act as our speed bump.

Next is our Fast attack. 2 single Thunderwolves with Wolf Claws. 70pts a pop is a steal, and provides us with some solid (and usually ignored) combat units. I tend to run these alongside each other, and people tend to ignore them due to the threats provided by the Rhino squads. I love the wolf claws capability to re roll to hit OR wound. When I need to take down a big creature, that re-roll to wound is great. When taking down basic troop squads, the re-roll to hit means I am almost guaranteed to put a rather big death toll on them.

This brings our total to 1317pts. Last but not least is our Heavy support. 2 Units of 6 Long Fangs with 5 Rockets and Las/Plas Razorbacks. Solid Fire support with transports providing further AP2. They also provide my Dreadnoughts with cover if used as backfield firesupport, and they can also help deploy my long fangs in decent postions in Dawn of war. Move the Razorbacks on up to 12 inches and the deploy the Long fangs 2 inches out of the doors, then run. This can put your long fangs straight into ruins to provide them cover, rather than relying on a difficult terrain roll followed by a run.

I chose only 2 Units of fangs to try and at least minimise my already large amount of Killpoints, and with the Split fire ability, I think its safe to say that its not a necessity.

The army should now look something like this:

Rune Priest: 100pts
Living Lightning & Jaws.

Dreadnought: 125pts
2 Twin-linked Autocannons.
Dreadnought: 125pts
2 Twin-linked Autocannons.

4 Wolf Guard: 172pts
Power Fists & Combi-meltas.

5 Grey Hunters:125pts
Rhino, Meltagun & Banner.
5 Grey Hunters:125pts
Rhino, Meltagun & Banner.
5 Grey Hunters:125pts
Rhino, Meltagun & Banner.
5 Grey Hunters:125pts
Rhino, Meltagun & Banner.
5 Grey Hunters:155pts
Razorback with Lascannon & Twin-linked Plasma Gun. Meltagun.

Thunderwolf: 70pts
Wolf Claw.
Thunderwolf: 70pts
Wolf Claw.

6 Long Fangs: 215pts
5 Rockets & Razorback with Lascannon & Twin-linked Plasma Gun.
6 Long Fangs: 215pts
5 Rockets & Razorback with Lascannon & Twin-linked Plasma Gun.

Grand Total: 1747pts

I think this a fairly balanced and effective competative wolf list. With 9 Hulls it makes full use of redundancy (plenty of multiple unit so if you lose one, you still have another to fall back on) and duality (Rhino squads can act as melta support or smash units in combat with the fist support, banner & decent number of basic attacks).

Whats lacking? no wolf scout, no reliable anti-deathstar (will have to rely on speed-bump tactics, blocking & consentrated firepower, which there is plenty of) and speed. I lack the usual Land speeders for decent blocking & quick melta support. I feel however that with soo many units on the table (MSU) you can pick and choose your targets and counter react to your opponents targets even with half your army on on side of the board and one on the other (although I do not recommend this type of deployment often).

What are peoples thoughts? Deployment for this army is fairly basic. rhinos provide one another cover and advance, preferably at all times keeping 2 together to support one another. Razorback take to midfield/home base duty and dreadnought act as the fire base support with the long fangs. Fairly simple and static. Thunderwolves react to threats if facing an assault army whilst against a gunline they use the advancing rhinos as cover.

Hopefully that explains the army in detail.

-Side Note-

Just so everyone knows, you can contact me on spacewolvesblog@hotmail.co.uk found on the sidebar. Feel free to message me at any time with army list critiques and I will try my best to get back to you. Please state as much info as you can and ask if you would like it featured on the blog or just a personal reply :)

Killswitch

1500pts Jokaero Army List

Bow to your new monkey overlords! The 1500 points Jokaero army list has landed thanks to the Grey Knights Codex. Warhammer 40K will never be the same.

There appears to be no limit on how many of a particular henchmen type you can get in a single unit.

A Jokaero weaponsmith is a type of Inquisitorial henchman.

Inqusitor Corteaz makes Henchmen units available as Troops.

You can see where this is going...

Laugh Now, But One Day We'll Be In Charge

Inquistor Corteaz (The head monkey!)
7 Jokaero

8 Jokaero
8 Jokaero
8 Jokaero
8 Jokaero

THOUGHTS
"Why?" That's probably what you're thinking, right?

Well, it's a cool opportunity to field a monkey army in Warhammer 40K. I honestly don't expect it to win any games.

That said, every Jokaero can build lascannons, multi meltas or heavy flamers on the spur of the monent and fire them all at once.

Hilarity!

At 1500 points could 39 lascannons do the trick?

Their weaponsmith abilities also give them (because you get everything on the random chart due to having so many of them): 5+ invulnerable save, +1 to their save (6+ whoo!), +12" to the range of their guns and...another special rule I can't remember.

Frankly, I think it's the best thing to have come out of the Grey Knights Codex.

From Our Readers

Thanks for all your emails. You're an inspiration to us as much as we are to you!

This week we've been treated to more Pre Heresy Space Wolf Conversions from Jared, including a work in progress conversion of Leman Russ himself, accompanied by his wolf brothers Freki The Fierce and Geri The Cunning.

Inspired by the cover art of Prospero Burns, Jared knew exactly how he wanted to represent Leman Russ in all his feral majesty as the barbarian king.

We can't wait for the final details to be added and to see him all painted up!

Meanwhile, Daniel Smith has been sending us photos of his converted Space Wolf Terminators which combine all manner of bits from the Wolf Guard Terminator boxed set with Forge World terminator parts.

A lot of people seem to be taking clippers and a modelling knife to the big wolf cloak since my Space Hulk Rune Priest conversion). Maybe I've started something?

I really love Dan's Rune Priest, made with one of the FW Space Wolf Terminator torsos and some very careful repositioning of legs, arms and accessories.

You wouldn't think those were regular Terminator legs 'wolfed up' with all manner of feral bling.

The wolf tails and rope belt look stunning, as does the pose of the overall model. I especially like the outstretched arm, casting a psychic power.

Send Us Your Space Wolves Conversions
Whether you'd like to see your name up in lights or simply share your ideas and creations with the Space Wolves community -send us photos of your conversions!

You've gotta love the modelling aspect of the hobby where one person comes up with a great idea. Then someone else takes that idea in another direction. And later someone develops both ideas further into something truly outstanding.

Please submit your work so we can keep swapping, sharing and creating truly exquisite conversions for our Space Wolves armies.

1500pts Space Wolves Army List

Hail my Wolf Brothers. We are beset on all sides. Grey Knights are looming over the Horizon and Dark Eldar has settled down to become quite a sour sight to see locally and on the Tourney scene. We must adapt our battle plans and choices to handle such a foe.

Today I will be creating a 1500pt army which can be used against any opponent. I’m hoping to create a stable list capable of punching through light & heavy armour, handle heavy Death star / Elite armies, and have the manoeuvrability to handle fast armies. Repositioning is something which always comes into play with Space Wolves. We control the mid-field well, but sometimes we need to move out and take our opponent down head on, or use our units as speed bumps to deter the opponent from the mission objective. To this end, I have come up with a few ideas to take into consideration for a 1500pt army build.

Our HQ will starts out simple. 1 Rune Priest with Jaws, Living Lightning & Chooser of the slain. More and more units are starting to infiltrate, so I think the Chooser of the slain becomes more of a useful tool. The extra BS is a great addition for those 10pts alone.

Next we take to our Elites. Considering the small point level, we will take something simple. Rifleman Dreads! Scouts are a great option, but with the new found love for lots of low AV vehicles, I believe these two dreads to provide a stable firebase, which can keep units such as Blood crushers from sweeping your lines by acting as large speed bumps. Deploying these behind your Rhino hulls allows you to gain a nifty 4+ cover save, without reducing your rate of fire by shooting over the top. 2 of these costs us 250pts.

Now we come to Troops. For 1500pts I believe in a solid core of Grey Hunters. However, with so many new codex’s coming up with such hard combat units over taking our own Grey Hunters, I believe a different approach is required. 4 Units of 5 Grey hunters in Rhinos with a Meltagun, Banner & a Wolf Guard with combi-melta & fist in each. 672pts in total. This gives us a solid block of units, each with melta and a fist to tackle anything that comes their way. You can split these up to cover more of the board, or deploy 2 x 2 which is how I tend to play them. Keeping 2 units close to one another allows the 2 units of 6 Hunters to support one another, acting like one large unit. This gives you plenty of saturation and makes your opponent think twice before committing their own forces to handle a small portion of your army. Pushing together giving each other cover saves using the size of the Hulls to your advantage can be great at bum rushing an enemy Gunline.

What do we leave on our objectives as an objective holder then? 5 Grey hunters with a flamer on foot with a Cyclone Terminator wolf guard. 138pts, cheap and useful. Hard to budge in cover and the Terminator has a power weapon for any unit which try’s to push you off. This brings our total to 1170pts

Now onto our luxurious Heavy Support. 2 Units of 6 Man Long fangs with 3 Rockets and 2 Lascannons a piece. Why Lascannons? Because one thing this army lacks is long range AP2. T fex’s, Terminators, Sang Guard etc are something which can be rather annoying to tear down, more so with FNP. Having a few lascannon shots can help knock a few wounds or even reduce the size of those units for your Grey hunters to handle themselves. Lets actually utilise that fire control instead of spamming Rockets all the time. With this, our total bumps up to 1490pts. 10 pts spare, lets give our Cyclone guy a Power fist. Now our Objective holder is more of a threat before, and even enemy characters will be a little worried to bum rush you.

The list should look something like this:

Rune Priest: 110pts

Living Lightning, Jaws, Chooser of the Slain.

Dreadnought: 125pts

2 Twin-Linked Autocannon.

Dreadnought: 125pts

2 Twin-Linked Autocannon.

5 Wolf Guard: 235pts

4 with Power Fists & Combi-Meltas.

1 with Terminator Armour, Power fist & Cyclone missile launcher.

5 Grey Hunters: 125pts

Banner, Meltagun & Rhino.

5 Grey Hunters: 125pts

Banner, Meltagun & Rhino.

5 Grey Hunters: 125pts

Banner, Meltagun & Rhino.

5 Grey Hunters: 125pts

Banner, Meltagun & Rhino.

5 Grey Hunters: 80pts

Flamer.

6 Long Fangs: 160pts

3 Rockets & 2 Lascannons.

6 Long Fangs: 160pts

3 Rockets & 2 Lascannons.

Grand Total: 1500pts

6 Vehicles

43 Troops

14 Killpoints

Thoughts and input always appreciated.

Killswitch

Grey Knights Rumours Summary

Here's the complete Grey Knights rumours summary with all the essential stuff you need to know about the new Grey Knights Codex.

I think the Space Wolves will be staying out of close combat.

In truth, I think Every Army in the game will stay out of close combat with this madness and las/plas/melta and blast the Grey Knights to death instead.

But the important thing to remember is that they're not unbeatable.

They're still Marines and they still go down screaming to massed firepower and low AP weapons, which 5th edition has by the bucket load.

For more talk about how to beat them, skip to the end. Otherwise read on for the essential rules.


Grey Knights Rules:
Nemesis Force Sword: +1 to existing invulnerable saves.
Nemesis Force Halberd: +2 initiative (yes, this makes them I6!)
Nemesis Force Stave: Grants a 2+ invulnerable save versus close combat wounds.
All NFWs have Daemonbane: ignoring eternal warrior for daemons and psykers.
Brotherhood Banner: 25 points +1 attack to all models in the unit, and automatically pass force weapon pyschic tests.
Psybolt Ammo: gives +1 Strength to Stormbolters,Hurricane bolters,Heavy bolters, Auto Cannons and Assault cannons. (not worth +20pts even on a maxed out Storm Raven)
Psycannon: S7 AP4 Assault 2, Heavy 4, Rending.
Heavy Psycannon: S7 AP4 Large Blast, Rending.
Heavy Incinerator: Operates like the Hellhound's Inferno cannon.
Nemesis Greatsword: S:6 allowing rerolls to hit and wound.
DK Daemonhammer: S:10 Thunderhammer.
Psilencer: R:24" S:4 AP- Heavy 6 Gatling Psilencer has the same stats excepts it's Heavy 12. Psilencers always wounds Daemons on a roll of a 4+ unless the score required to wound would normally be less.

Grey Knights Price List
The Grey Knight Nemesis Dreadknight – £33
5 Grey Knight Terminators – £27.70
5 Grey Knights – £20.50
Lord Kaldor Draigo – £13.80
Castellan Crowe – £10.25
Jokaero Weaponsmith – £7.70

THOUGHTS
I've been going through the Grey Knights leaked Codex with Marc for the past few weeks, helping him to create the best possible army.

Marc has played Grey Knights since the start of 4th edition. He's suffered during that time. More than I have with my Tau. But now he looks set to unleash all manner of awesome upon us.

We've been giving units a mixture of swords, halberds and hammers for wound allocation. But halberds have become the weapon of choice purely for striking at Initiative 6 before anyone else. Even Eldar!

The point is that you don't want to charge Grey Knights in close combat.

In fact, just forget about close combat altogether. You're going to get hit by so many power weapons before you even attack that your unit will be decimated.

Just shoot the Grey Knights. Shoot them lots. Remember that under that nemesis force weapon and gauntlet mounted storm bolter is a Space Marine.

Grey Knights are Space Marines and when shot at, they die like Space Marines.
Question is how much firepower can you bring to bear? My Space Wolves can lay down a heck of a lot.

In fact, last week Marc borrowed my Space Wolves for a game and didn't get into close combat once! He just shot everything up close, en masse and wiped out a unit at a time.

So really, there's not much to worry about. Apart from Psycannons...

I'd best get back to my las/plas Razorback conversions.

What's Coming Up On the Space Wolves Blog?

Hi Warhammer 40K fans, I thought I'd let you in on a little secret.

Okay, it's a big secret.

It's all the stuff we've got lined up for you in the coming months right here at the Space Wolves Blog.

Space Wolves Comic
If you haven't seen the character designs, check them out now. If you have and you're familiar with Nacho's work, then you'll be excited to know that we're set for some serious Saturday morning kids cartoon style adventures!

The free Warhammer 40K web comic launches on April the 1st. No joke!


Space Wolves Army Lists
Akex, our resident Warhammer 40K Master continues his series of hard-as-nails army lists to help you crush your opponents and get the very best from the Space Wolves Codex.

We've been getting a lot of emails from newcomers to the hobby who have found this blog and used it as their gaming bible ever since. It's great to have you.

Hopefully our full range of army lists for each points level will help you jump straight into the game, make a good account of yourselves on the tabletop and offer you a fun mix of units.


Special Character Tactica
They seem to have been sitting on the side bar since forever. But soon the red text will be turned into links, taking you to excellent articles on how to get the best from every Special Character in the Space Wolves Codex.

We'll also explain which units are best used with each Special Character...or to simply not use them at all if your games are of a more competitive nature.


FREE Space Wolves Wallpaper
Former FIREBASE Magazine artist Tim Divar is working on an awesome wallpaper for your desktop. His clean, crisp and incredibly detailed illustrations are simply breath taking. This wallpaper will be a must have -whether you play Space Wolves or not!

Tim got a bit carried away with this, so it could be a while before it's finished. But from what we've seen so far, it will be well worth the wait.


New Wolf Guard Terminator Conversions
I wasn't 100% happy with my Wolf Guard Terminator army. So I sold them all to a friend.

Not to worry! I've since started work on a new batch of Space Wolf Terminators that I am 100% happy with.

I've just finished the first one and he looks stunning. So stay tuned for a fresh Wolf Guard Terminator project, including Logan Grimnar and Arjac Rockfist conversions.


New Combi Weapon Conversion Guide
While revising my Wolf Guard Terminator conversions, I also came up with a completely new way of making combi-meltas and combi-plasmas.

You'll be pleased to know that these are even EASIER than the last lot, although you will need some careful cutting and a bit of green stuff. Plus a lot of patience. Stay tuned for a complete tutorial.


Las Plas Razorback Turret Conversion Guide
We've been talking about las/plas Razorbacks for longer than I can remember. I've come up with something a little different. I'm just putting the finishing touches to the first one and will use my second one to show you how I did it.

I'm really pleased with the results so far. Not only does the conversion look great, but it gives me an extra bit of range as well!

So stay tuned for another fully illustrated conversion tutorial.


THE WOLF TIME
Finally, (we've saved the best 'til last) we're announcing The Wolf Time - our first UK event.

There's been a lot of discussion between some of the blogs, many of our friends and amongst ourselves about a tournament of sorts.

So we've seized the initiative and begun making arrangements to meet many of our fellow bloggers, followers and friends, face to face, during a day of fun and war games.

Important Note: You don't have to bring Space Wolves!

The Wolf Time will be a 1 day tournament consisting of 3 games of 1500 points with pre determined missions and set up.

The date is unconfirmed but should take place in October. Location to be confirmed also.

We'll keep you up to date on this and let you know when tickets become available.


There's loads of other stuff scrawled on to the schedule, but we'll keep those to ourselves. After all, we need to hold on to some secrets to keep you enticed!

Thanks for following the Space Wolves Blog and please continue to spread the word!

Strengthening Your Units

In preparation for the GT at the end of March, I sat down one evening (with the Tron Legacy soundtrack for dramatic impact!) to write and fine tune my armylist.

In doing so, I realised I could not only get so much more out of the 1500 points army list I've been running for so long, but most importantly that 1 unit hasn't been pulling their weight. Considering how many points has been pumped into them, this would explain how James has come close to beating me of late -even with his inferior tactics, yet superior dice rolling jamminess.

Not that I'm arrogant or anything, but when James starts beating me with "I hit your fist with my face" tactics, it really is time to worry!

The unit in question is circled top left. The Grey Hunters who sit back and hold a point.

5 Grey Hunters: melta gun, mark of the wulfen, wolf standard
Razorback: twin linked heavy bolter

That comes to 145 points. 180 points if I give them the twin linked lascannon I've been proxying in recent games.

That's a lot of points for a unit that sits there.

So let's strip 'em down and upgrade the gun on their tank -because that heavy bolter has never killed a damn thing.

5 Grey Hunters: melta gun
Razorback: twin linked plasma gun and lascannon

155 points is looking a bit more reasonable and the firepower much more aggressive.
Damn, looks like I may have to hastily built a las/plas turret before the tournament at this rate.

CONCLUSION
It's always worth 'reviewing' your units at later stages to see if their equipment is keeping up with the meta game trends or if they're simply performing well enough for your points.

These Grey Hunters have gotten themselves into a ruck a couple of times.
The guy with the mark of the wulfen isn't bad. The wolf standard has always been a bit of a waste considering how few of them there are. But the melta gun remains a must have.

I'm contemplating cramming a couple of lascannons into my Long Fangs squads. Reducing them from 6 men down to 5 may also be an option as they either get obliterated or relatively ignored during a game.

A Treat For You

Thought I'd share Nacho's latest sketch the for up and coming Space Wolves Comic. This is still a work in progress, so it could completely change by the time it's released.

What's the release date?

April 1st. No joke!

The dynamic duo look like they're making their way through some kind of acidic marshland or bog. Hopefully they'll be surrounded by lots of zombie-like enemies.

But who knows? Only Nacho.

Stay tuned for more previews as we build up to the launch date!

I'm seriously considering making these two for my Space Wolves army...

Alex West Requests A "Different" Approach

Hey guys, Killswitch here. So I got speaking with a friend Alex West, captain of England’s ETC team. He was thinking of starting a new 1750pt army which is slightly different to the norm and got me thinking, what could you do with the codex that is effective, yet different? Well if I’m perfectly honest, it isn’t easy.

Analysis

What Alex. W asked was a possibility to make an effective, yet fun list which was based around Sky Claws, Swift Claws or Thunderwolves. Looking at these fast attack choices, we all know that the most effective choice is Thunder wolves, but that’s not really “different” is it?

I then looked at sky claws. They just aren’t like Blood angel jumpers. They aren’t scoring, can’t take reliable anti-tank (BS3) and no FNP or FC which make jumpers effective. What they do get is berserk charge. Is this useful? In my personal opinion, no. Why? Well their low WS & BS is the first major problem, but hey, its not that bad right? Well unfortunately to make the unit remotely effective, you need a fairly large squad size (8-10). Comparing these to other Assault squads such as BA’s & SM’s, they can only take 1 meltagun and don’t have access to a 2 attack base sergeant unless you take a wolf guard (which isn’t cheap once you stick a Jump pack on). They can take Mark of the wulfen, but with no banner to re roll one’s like Grey hunters, or an effective way of reaching their target without losing their effectiveness (no FNP like BA assault marines) they are fairly…standard.

So after coming to the conclusion that sky claws..well..suck, I decided to look at Swift Claws. These bikers come at the same cost as their SM equivalent brothers, but also come with WS3 & BS3. Now most people tend to disregard these due to that alone, similar to the Sky Claws. I however decided to look slightly deeper. They are Toughness 5 making them fairly more survivable against small arms firepower than Sky Claws. The unit can take Melta bombs giving them a fairly decent role when performing a multi-charge against a fairly static Gun-line *Cough* Guard *Cough*. Next we have an option for an Attack bike. 50pts with a Multi-melta is 10pts cheaper than other codex’s which have this option, but this is due to the lower BS. This mixed with a Meltagun (only 1 available to take which is kind of lame) gives the unit some much needed melta support. They can also take either a Power weapon or a Fist. With Beserk charge, on the charge the number of attacks are faily good (3 fist attacks or 4 p.wep attacks) but when charged they are fairly poor, if you get your counter attack off it isn’t too bad.

So after analysing the unit, I found that to make an effective, multi-pupose squad of Swift Claws, I would need to do a fair bit of investment. I decided they would be the best choice for Alex’s approach, so went about looking through the codex on how to make this unit effective in a 1750 list. I started looking at a Wolf guard. 53pts with a Bike with no wargear makes them VERY expensive, so I quickly moved along. Next I looked at the HQ choices. Is there anything that I can attach to a Swift Claw biker unit to make them fairly effective in combat & against mech? Yes, there is 1 choice which stands out. Wolf Priests!

Wolf Priests can take bikes for 35pts, have options to some useful wargear, and gives the unit his attatched to some very useful benefits. The first one is Fearless. This stops your low LD bikers from running away from the slightlst loss of life. Psyker Battle squads and the like wont have a chance to stop the advance of your bikers, and your opponent will have to rely on destroying the unit instead.

Next is re-rolls to hit against a unit type of your choice on the charge. Considering Swift Claws are fairly fast, they are very likely to pull of the charge most of the time, so this rule boosts their damage output to fairly effective and reliable levels.

Now lets look at his wargear. He can take a Combi-melta for 10pts, awesome. This gives your unit an extra melta shot when needed, that’s nice. Meltabombs? Cool, every little helps. Now we have an atattched character who gives the unit a boost in combat, against mech, an extra power weapon & makes the unit fearless, all for 150pts? Bargain.

Now I have done the analysis and chosen the approach, how do I put this together? Well Alex gave me a core to build around, which was 3 units of Grey unters (2 large rhino squads and 1 razorback) and a Rune Priest. As he wantesd the army to be based around something different, I decided to do just that. Two large Swift Claw squads with all the timmings with a Wolf Priest attatched to each squad. This was a fair amount of points, so by the time I added his core, there was only a few spare points to add anything extra. I went for a Wolf scout unit just to help pick off those annoying armoured targets hiding in the back harassing your lines.

The list ended up looking like so:

Army List

Wolf Priest: 150pts

Space Marine Bike, Meltabombs, Combi-melta.

Wolf Priest: 155pts

Space Marine Bike, Meltabombs, Combi-melta, Wolf tail talisman (needs to be equipped different).

Rune Priest: 100pts

Living Lightning & Jaws. (Fairly standard loud-out giving him a chance to pop low AV targets from afar or assist in piking out hidden fists or the like which may threaten your Swift Claws).

5 Scouts: 85pts

Meltagun.

4 Wolf Guard: 132pts

2 with Power fists & Combi-Meltas.

2 with Combi-Meltas.

7 Grey Hunters: 160pts

Meltagun, Wolf Banner, Rhino with Dozer blades (rolling 1’s suck).

7 Grey Hunters: 160pts

Meltagun, Wolf Banner, Rhino with Dozer blades (rolling 1’s really sucks).

5 Grey Hunters: 155pts

Meltagun & Razorback with Twin-linked lascannon.

8 Swift Claw Bikers: 325pts

Meltagun, Powefist & additional Attack bike with Multi-Melta. All bikers with meltabombs.

8 Swift Claw Bikers: 325pts

Meltagun, Powefist & additional Attack bike with Multi-Melta. All bikers with meltabombs.

Grand Total: 1747pts

Unit Roles

So how does this army work? Well its not going to be easy. Each bike unit is 10 strong, so deploying them will be fairly difficult. Something to perhaps bare in mind when going second is trying to conga line the bikers to that half of them are covered by the Rhino chassis which should be deployed sideways. You could also put this army in reserve due to the 24 inch turbo boost. Turn 2/3 when the bikers arrive, turbo boost to the middle of the board and start putting pressure on your opponent. If they are fairly combat based this wont be necessary. I would perhaps Turbo boost up first turn if going first, ready to threaten as much as possible by turn 2.

Rhino’s can help assist the advance of the bikers, giving melta support & combat support to overwhelm your opponent. With only 3 Hulls on the board, there is a fairly low amount of saturation, but with fairly defensive deployment or using terrain to your advantage, they should prove to be enough for what you are using them for (rhinos to hit mid-field & razorback to hold home objective / provide fire support).

So what’s wrong with this list? No fire support bar the Lascannon. Its completely Melta & combat reliant. This in its own right isn’t too bad as after all, meltaguns are one of the best anti-tank weapons in the game. 14 Melta weapons on the board (half of which are combi-weapons so one shot only but should still be enough). There’s plenty of meltabombs, putting pressure on your opponent to move their vehicles rather than shooting which is very psychological in its own right (turbo boosting turn one puts your right infront of your opponents lines with a 3+ cover save).

Scouts perform their usual role, come on and harras your opponent to give a further psychological effect to your opponents deployment.

Conclusion

Overall, I’m fairly confident this list can do well. It wont win Tournaments (like that’s ever going to happen, right Alex lol), but will certainly be worth the ride and give something new and different for you & your opponent (who expects bikes?).

Would love to hear all your thoughts on this list, and would you make any further suggestions to help Alex West with his army?

Killswitch