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I've commissioned Nacho to create a Space Wolf wallpaper, which I'm sharing with all of you.

It's just a little something to say thanks for following the blog. Plus I wanted a cool wallpaper for my desktop.

There are 4 Space Wolves wallpaper sizes to choose from which should match your screen dimensions of whatever you're using.

I'd appreciate if you didn't host these anywhere else online, but would kindly link back to this page instead. I did pay quite a lot of money for this after all.

So please enjoy and thank you for reading the blog. It means a lot to me.

Space Wolves Wallpapers

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Bjorn the Fell Handed Tactics

Bjorn the Fell Handed tactics are fairly straightforward, because he's a badass venerable Dreadnought with a few extra rules.

But more importantly than that, he's an HQ choice that encourages you to play in the midfield role which Space Wolves excel at.
I'll explain how and why Bjorn the Fell Handed works in this way, but first some background.

Bjorn is the oldest warrior in the Imperium, having fought alongside Russ during the Horus Heresy and babysitting Kasper Hawser (see Prospero Burns) before Russ had his vision, gathered his best warriors around him and left to pursue an unknown quest. Bjorn was left in charge and became the first Great Wolf before getting torn to shreds by 'a warp beast with a thousand maws' and interred into the sarcophagus of a Dreadnought.

Now Bjorn is a living relic from the Great Crusade who is awoken every Century to hold court at The Great Feast and recount elements of his own saga.

Equipment: Assault Cannon/Plasma Cannon/Twin Linked Lascannon, Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon (with Heavy Flamer), Wolf Tail Talisma, Smoke Launchers

Skills: Saga of Majesty, Venerable, Ancient Tactician, Ward of the Primarch, Living Relic

Using Venerable & Living Relic
If Bjorn suffers a glancing or penetrating hit, you can ask your opponent to reroll the damage result. However, you must accept the second roll. So it's important when to ask for that reroll. Some times it's worth Bjorn being immobilised than risk being destroyed. Similarly, it may be worth playing it safe and having a weapon torn off.

Other times you may want Bjorn to explode in an Objective based game. So you can encourage rerolls to try and get him killed and use his Living Relic rule to turn his wreckage into extra Objective on your side of the board. It's a bit cheesy, but what the heck!

Just be careful in an Annihilation mission, because if a friendly model isn't in contact with Bjorn when the game ends, you lose D3 Kill Points.

Remember that if Bjorn is destroyed all Space Wolves become Fearless for the rest of the game.

Custom Built Dreadnought
Stat wise, Bjorn is even better than a regular Space Wolves Venerable Dreadnought. His BS and WS are higher, he has 4 Attacks as standard and Armour 13 to the front. However, the only trade off is that he is Initiative 3, not 4. So you need to be careful who you get in to close combat with.

Choose Your Weapon
Bjorn has a choice of an Assault Cannon, Plasma Cannon or Twin Linked Lascannon which you have to pay extra points for.

Due to his high Ballistic Skill, there isn't much incentive to take a twin linked lascannon. Similarly, Assault Cannons aren't quite as devastating as they once were, which leads many people to equip Bjorn with a Plasma Cannon.

I feel that this is the perfect choice because it's pretty difficult to get a Plasma Cannon in the army as it is. Plus, the Space Wolves need all the high strength, low AP weaponry they can get to deal with enemy Space Marine Terminators. A highly accurate blast weapon is nothing to be sniffed at either!


CONCLUSION
Give Bjorn a Plasma Cannon, stick him in the centre of your formation, near the back and steadily advance, firing.

He's a great support character and with 4 Attacks basic, plus Armour 13 on the front, he's everything you could ever want from a Space Wolves Dreadnought, although he can't ride in a Drop Pod.

Sure, he's a glorified Dreadnought. One that's incredibly tough, great in a fight, great at long range, lets you reroll for the first turn and offers a couple of sneaky strategies thanks to his Living Relic ability. He has Saga of Majesty too, which I often forget to use, but it helps to stop any Space Wolves from running away.

Is he worth 270pts? Compared to how cost effective Rune Priests are, no. However, he does appeal to my personal sense of Space Wolves playing style, which is to inhabit the midfield.

Because Bjorn is an all-round fighter like Grey Hunters, he's ideal in the midfield. And even when he eventually explodes and drops an objective or could give away Kill Points, his proximity to the other midfield units generally makes this an unexpected plus.

So if you're fed up with fielding Rune Priests and don't feel that a Wolf Lord is a suitable investment for your points, then Bjorn is a surprising change to the HQ line up.

Lukas The Trickster Tactics

Lukas the Trickster epitomises the anti-authoritarian streak of the Space Wolves chapter, earning him a reputation for sewing anarchy -even amongst his own ranks.

Whether playing pranks on Ork warlords, getting one of his two hearts ripped out by Dark Eldar Lords or spiking the ale of his own Wolf Lord, Lukas the Trickster is described as the dirtiest fighter in the entire chapter and has an equally impressive stat line to match.

Every bit as good as a Wolf Guard Battle Leader, it's an irony then that Lukas' absolute disrespect for authority has seen him remain as a Blood Claw.

But considering the way he plays and the role of Blood Claws to sprint across the board, causing as much carnage as possible, perhaps this isn't such a bad thing?

Equipment: Plasma Pistol, Wolf Claw, Pelt of the Doppelgangrel, Wolftooth Necklace, Wolftail Talisman.

Skills: Rebellious, The Last Laugh

Using The Pelt of the Doppegangrel
All successful to hit rolls specifically allocated against Lukas (not against the squad he is with) must be re-rolled. Now because, Lukas isn't an Independant Character, he cannot be picked out. Unless a Vindicare Assassin or similar unit that can pick models out of units is being used of course. But on the plus side, this does make him much harder to kill once the rest of his squad is wiped out and he's about to make the best use of his The Last Laugh Ability.

Using The Last Laugh
If the Space Wolves player is successful, then all models in base contact are removed as a casualty along with Lukas. So it's important to ensure that Lukas is the last model to be removed. In a perfect world, the The Pelt of the Doppegangrel will keep him alive long enough to be surrounded by enemies so that when does finally die (not before taking a few of them out with his wolf claw) and characters, powerfists, etc will be removed along with him!

Lukas The Trickster & Blood Claws
Because Lukas is an upgrade for a Blood Claws unit, you can only field him in a Blood Claws pack. Despite a nice piece of background about Lukas leading a pack of Sky Claws, sadly he can't do that in the rules.

The best way to incorporate Lukas into your army is to bolt him on to the usual Blood Claw mob and run him forward with the rest.

Here's how we normally do it:

Wolf Priest with wolf tooth necklace, saga of the hunter, runic armour
Lukas The Trickster
Wolf Guard in terminator armour with combi-melta and chainfist
14 Blood Claws with 2 melta guns

Please note that the Wolf Priest with saga of the hunter gives the whole unit Stealth for a boost to their cover saves.

The Wolf Priest's ability to make the unit Fearless also helps to ignore Lukas' Rebellious rule.

The Wolf Guard in Terminator armour and the Wolf Priest in Runic Armour are there to take saves against Krak Missiles and other AP3 weapons which could whittle down the squad very quickly.

Obviously, be careful when taking these saves. The last thing you want to do is fail a 2+ save on the Wolf Priest when he's been hit by a Strength 8 Krak Missile!

The unit storms across the board as usual and starts hacking their way through close combat.

They'll all die eventually, which is nothing new. Except that there will be Lukas to deal with at the end. His Pelt of the Doppelgangrel means it takes much longer for him to die and he'll usually be surrounded by enemies. Then The Last Laugh comes in to play to hopefully make all his points back and if you're lucky, kill an expensive enemy character model too!

CONCLUSION
Like Blood Claws, Lukas the Trickster is a unit that's only taken for fun games. Sure, he can make all his points back and eliminate an extremely expensive character model if you're lucky. You might even play him in an Apocalypse game and hope a Warlord Titan stamps on him, but realistically this isn't something you can rely on.

Also, as we've discussed before about why Blood Claws suck, the unit he needs to be in tends to be so massive and so costly, that it drags the rest of your battle plan along with it.

Don't get me wrong, Lukas the Trickster is great fun and I cackled maniacally as I got him surrounded by James' Librarian and a squad of Deathwing Terminators before I rolled for The Last Laugh, but you won't win any tournament games with him or Blood Claws for that matter.

If you're thinking about using Lukas and would like to know a little more about how he works, read this Lukas The Trickster battle report and see for yourself.

New Necron Rules 2011

Here are the new rules for Necrons! As always, a pinch of salt with any new Necron rules and rumours.

HQ

• Imotekh the Stormlord (Lord of the Sau): The most powerful Necron Overlord currently. A master strategist whose nemesis is the Orks (since their random nature is the only thing that can accidentally disrupt his flawless plans).

• Nemesor Zahndrekh: Overlord damaged in the great sleep who still thinks he is flesh and blood fighting the war of secession against his brother Necrontyr. Therefore, he is one of the few Necron Lords who still fights with honor and valor towards his enemies. Has a bodyguard named Vargard Obryron.

• Illuminor Szeras: The Necrontyr who took the C'Tan's knowledge to do bio-transfer and actually made it a reality...so he's the chief architect within the Necrons for actually making the bio-transference happen. He is a master of technology and can augment D3 units in the army with an augmentation.

• Orikan the Diviner: A master astromancer (a Cryptek specializing in tech that can predict the future), he is renown for knowing what will happen and when. During the game he is able to achieve a 'powered up' state that gives him a greatly increases statline, but this boost can randomly end on any turn dropping him back down to his regular stats.

• Anrakyr the Traveller: A Necron Lord whose goal is to unite the Necron Empires again. He travels to Tomb Worlds still sleeping and kills the 'lesser' inhabitants that may live there unaware they are on a Tomb World, the 'price' for this service is to claim a tithe from the newly awakened legions. Some Necrons see him as a golden crusader others don't want reunification and would rather see him dead.

• Trazyn the Infinite: He is a Necron who woke very early and is fascinated with studying and collecting history. His tomb world is filled with secret trinkets including (I quote) 'a giant of a man clad in baroque power armor' (start your wild theories here!). He even will attack other Necron tomb worlds to capture artifacts from them that he doesn't think they deserve. He is the character that has the CC ability to pick one type of model he killed that round and inflict wounds on all models of that type in the combat.

• Necron Overlord: Generic DIY Necron Overlord (guy who rules a Tomb World) with plenty of options. Can ride on a Catacomb Command Barge (which is a one man transport) as can all the named 'Lords' above, but not those that are Crypteks in their fluff (Illuminor Szeras & Orikan the Diviner). Also can be a Destroyer Lord instead.

• Royal Court: 0-5 regular Necron Lords (lieutenants to the Overlords) as well as 0-5 Crypteks. Crypteks are masters of Necron technology, whose abilities sometimes appear like sorcery to other races, but they do not have any psychic powers...all their abilities do not require a psychic test or anything like that (nor are they ever referred to as psychic powers in any way). Any member of the Court (Lord or Cryptek) can be split off at the start of the game to lead a unit of Warriors, Immortals, Lychguard or Deathmarks (but only one per unit). Neither Lords nor Crypteks are ICs.



DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

• Night Scythe: A variant of the Doom Scythe fighter that is a 15 model flyer transport with the 'supersonic' 36" flat-out move that the new flyers (that are really skimmers) have. Can carry jump infantry models (taking up 2 spots each) and fire all its weapons even when moving at cruising speed. Has living metal (chance to ignore crew shaken & stunned) but not quantum shielding (which gives +2 armor until the vehicle suffers its first glancing or penetrating hit). AV 11/11/11 like most Necron vehicles (not open-topped though).

• Ghost Ark: 10 model transport, Open-topped AV11 with quantum shielding and living metal. Also is able to regenerate D3 models to one unit within 6" each Necron movement phase (but cannot take the unit above its starting size).

• Catacomb Command Barge: One-man vehicle for most ICs. Open-topped AV11 with quantum shielding & living metal. Can make sweep attacks over 3 enemy units it passes over when it moves. Also the character can lose wounds to negate immobilized or weapon destroyed results.



ELITES

• Deathmarks: 24" range rapid-fire AP 5 sniper unit that can choose to Deep Strike in immediately after any enemy unit arrives from Reserves (which just allows the enemy to fire at them first?)...teleporting in from a pocket dimension to target their prey. They can also mark a single unit as their 'target' which allows them to roll to wound on a 2+. Beautiful models from the pics leaked, but at the point cost listed I can't see them ever being used except to see those great models on the table. Can be transported on a Night Scythe.

• Lychguard: Traditionally these have been the bodyguards for the Overlords. Come standard with Warscythes (+2 Strength Power weapon) and can replace them with Hyperphase swords (power weapon) and Dispersion Shields (the thing that gives them a 4+ invuln and reflects enemy shooting). I made a mistake before. The Shields don't only reflect enemy shooting within 6", they reflect all enemy shooting, but only against enemy units who are within 6" of them (they reflect saved wounds, they don't affect blast/templates, for example). Can be transported on a Night Scythe.

• Triarch Ptaetorians: These used to be effectively the 'police' (my term) of the main Necron ruler (the last of which was the Silent King) to help enforce his will onto the Lords of the Empire. They are known to respect great warriors and honor valor and have sometimes ordered Necron Overlords to stop attacking a foe they deemed worthy of respect (much to the Lord's chagrin). They are Jump Infantry with a 6" AP2 S5 weapon. They can swap that out for Void Blades (a weapon with Rending and the same Entriopic ability that Scarabs have) and Particle Casters (a pistol weapon). No transport option.

• C'Tan Shard: Must take 2 of the 11 listed ability choices that basically shape what kind of C'Tan shard you're fielding. No ability can be taken more than once in the army (even if you take 3 C'Tan shards in the army). The statline is slightly less impressive than previous incarnations of the C'Tan, but still pretty decent. Also has Eternal Warrior and ignores all terrain penalties. Still explodes D6" when they die. Fluff-wise, these are shards effectively controlled by the Necron (even though they have most shards locked away in pocket dimensions). Each shard represents only a portion of the power and consciousness of the C'Tan and therefore in battle the C'Tan may not even think to utilize some of its power because the portion of it that knows it has 'X' power simply isn't there. This is essentially what explains why they only have access to 2 special abilities in battle.

• Flayed Ones: 3 Attacks base (and no additional CC weapons). Can infiltrate or Deep Strike. No transport options.

• Triarch Stalker: Concept Sketch shows a Triarch Praetorian sitting in an open-topped cockpit that is riding on a Necron-style giant almost scorpion walker set of legs. Very cool looking IMHO. Has a variable heat ray (which can be upgraded to a couple of other weapons) that can either be fired as a template or as an Assault 2 S8 24" Heavy2 Melta weapon. Has a Targeting relay which means that any enemy unit hit by the Stalker gets a counter placed by it that allows all other Necron units shooting at the same unit that phase to count as being twin-linked. AV11 & open-topped, but does have Quantum shielding & Living Metal.



TROOPS

• Warriors: You know them, you love them. Described as being basically automatons, with very little (if any) sentience. These were the non-warrior Necontyr before the bio-conversion. See my previous rumors (in the OP) for details on their points cost, etc. Can be transported on a Ghost Ark or Night Scythe.

• Immortals: Immortals are said to have the ability to at least speak, but still aren't too much brighter than Warriors. These were Elite warriors of the Necrontyr before the conversion (not sure who the rank and file troops were if the Warriors were the non-combatants and the Immortals were the Elite soldiers?). Can exchange their Gauss Blasters for Tesla Carbines (24" S5 Assault1, extra hit inflicted on a 'to hit' roll of '6') Can be transported on a Night Scythe.



FAST ATTACK

• Canoptek Wraiths: Protectors of the Tombs while the hosts slumber. Jump Infantry who ignore terrain. 3A base with Rending. All models can take one of a few different upgrades including a Whip Coil (nearly identical to a Tyranid Lash Whip), particle caster (pistol) or a Exile Beamer (12" range that kills a random model in the target unit unless it passes a Strength test).

• Canoptek Scarabs: See the rumors copied in the OP for more details on what Scarbs do now.

• Tomb Blades: Jet Bikes. From the artwork, these look like Necron warriors fused into a flying crescent throne carrying a weapon harness in their arms that is base twin-linked Tesla Carbines. The fluff says that they are pre-programmed with a bunch of different flight patterns and vectors that the onboard Warrior chooses from on the fly. this mitigates the fact that a Warrior has poor coordination, but since the programs are so advanced, in reality they act basically like any other similar unit in an enemy army despite the fact that their 'pilots' are much slower to react. They can upgrade their weapons to a couple different choices (twin-linked Gauss Blaster or Particle Beamer). The entire unit can take any of the 3 options: Nebuloscope (increases BS to 5), Shield Vanes (increased armor save to 3+) & Shadowloom (Stealth).

• Destroyers: New fluff that says Destroyers are infected with some kind of degenerative virus that causes their sole purpose in life to be to kill their enemies. As such they hate everyone and have the Preferred Enemy special rule against everyone (as do Destroyer Lords). They are Jump Infantry now. Any model in the unit can upgrade to a Heavy Destroyer.



HEAVY SUPPORT

• Doomsday Ark: Variant of the Ghost Ark transport: Open-topped, AV11, Quantum Shielding, Living Metal. Something I forogot to say about the Ghost Ark...each Guass Flayer array (5 Flayers) on each side is allowed to fire at a different enemy target (and different from the Doomsday Cannon). Not entirely clear whether a weapon destroyed takes out a whole array or not, but I'm leaning towards yes. The Doomsday cannon has two profiles, one for if the vehicle did or didn't move that turn (with the non-moving one being 72" range S9 AP1 Large Blast). The moving profile only has a 24" range and a S7 blast. Basically described as gunboat whose strategy is to hit first and destroy the enemy before they can fire back.

• Annihilation Barge: Described as anti-infantry support platforms. Variant of the Catacomb Command Barge: Open-topped, AV11, Quantum Shielding, Living Metal. Has a twin-linked Tesla Destructor & a Tesla Cannon, but can upgrade the cannon to a Gauss Cannon. Not exactly sure why you'd want to do that except for the extra range (36" for the Gauss Cannon as opposed to all Tesla weapons which are 24" range).

• Monolith: 35 Point reduction along with corresponding nerf in invulnerability (were you not expecting that?). Still AV 14 and still has Living Metal (although again that only helps remove Crew Stunned/Shaken now). Can still Deep Strike but no longer has invulnerability from Mishaps. Has 4 Gauss Flux Arcs (which are now just Heavy 3 instead of randomly rolled). Particle whip is now just a straight up S8 AP3 24" large blast. The portal can be used to either transport any non-vehicle friendly Necron unit through it or to suck enemy models within 6" to instant death who fail a Strength Test. No bonus to reanimation protocols (the replacement for WBB) is present. Although, at the end of the day, this is still an AV14 vehicle all around, which is pretty imposing in the current game. Unfortunately all of its weapons are really close range, which means it will also now tend to be in Melta range...

• Doom Scythe: Pure fighter variant of the Night Scythe. AV11 with Living Metal (but no Quantum Shielding or open-topped). Is supersonic (36" flat-out) and can fire all its weapons when moving at cruising speed. Has a twin-linked tesla Destructor & a Death Ray, which allows a 3D6" line to be drawn (with one end of the line being within 12" of the vehicle) and causes a number of hits on every unit crossed by the line equal to the number of MODELS in the unit hit. Oh and did I mention that these hits are S10 AP1? Nasty indeed! But at nearly 200 pts for an AV11 vehicle, to get within 12" to unleash this beast will probably be a bit rough.

• Tomb Spyders: The artwork makes them look much more flying and nimble, like giant Scarabs. Can now repair vehicles like a Techmarine, Big Mek, etc. Can take an anti-psychic defense against any power targeting a friendly unit within 3" (nullified on a 4+). Can still create Scarab Swarms, but only into existing swarms on the table (they no longer form a unit with the Spyder) and it can still take damage if it rolls a '1' while doing so. Can take Whip Coils (by giving up a close combat weapon and a +1 to repair vehicles) which is like a Tyranid Lash Whip. Can take 1 or 2 Particle Beamers (by removing its CC/fixer arms) to do so. 1-3 in a unit.


CONCLUSION
While all this sounds quite tasty, I think we'll only know what to do about it once the Codex comes out. Either way, we're going to have more things to kill, which can only be a good thing!

Saga of the Warrior Born

I think Saga of the Warrior Born could be a great way to kill Necrons. We know they're tough, we know they get back up and we know that power weapons make short work of them. So it's likely that our Wolf Lords are going to be stuck in close combat with them for a couple of rounds.

We played a game yesterday where Brad's Thunder Wolf Lords caused untold carnage as they rampaged from squad to enemy squad, reaping a huge tally of kills thanks to Saga of the Warrior Born. Or 'saga of the blender' as it's affectionately called!

This allowed Brad to unleash a total of 11 Attacks in the second phase of combat, using his Wolf Claw to re-roll to hit while deflecting any retaliation with his Runic Armour and Storm Shield. Of course, riding a Toughness 5 wolf-monster also helps!

Even I had to admit that Thunder Wolf Lords are a great choice after yesterday's game. Previously I'd turned my nose up at Thunderwolf Cavalry. They're still not great, but a properly equipped Wolf Lord isn't just a fun and characterful unit, he's incredibly destructive too.

Here's the best load out for a Wolf Lord with Saga of the Warrior Born:

Wolf Lord:
Thunderwolf Mount, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Wolf Claw, Runic Armour, Storm Shield, Saga of the Warrior Born, 2 Fenrisian Wolves

The Thunderwolf boosts his Toughness, Strength and Attacks by +1. So he can't be instantly killed by a Strength 8 Powerfist.

The Wolf Tooth Necklace ensures he always hits on a 3+.

The Wolf Claw allows him to reroll to hit or reroll to wound. This works well with the Wolf Tooth Necklace to make sure you inflict as many wounds as possible.

The Runic Armour and Storm Shield obviously helps to keep him alive, as do the 'ablative Wolves'.

Finally, Saga of the Warrior Born works with the Wolf Tooth Necklace and Wolf Claw to keep the number of successful kills as high as possible turn on turn.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start killing those Necrons!

Necrons in 2 Weeks...Apparently

Word round the campfire is that Necrons are due to arrive imminently. This is all in keeping with Games Workshop's new SURPRISE! marketing strategy that's designed to make us all splash a huge wadge of cash on preordered goods.

Fair play to them, because it's a very 'measurable' strategy. It's easy to see the cause, effect and record all the data. Previously their long term leaked releases may have got people building armies early. But due to having to track that marketing data over a long period, I guess it didn't paint a very clear picture for them.

So what does a new Necron Codex mean for Space Wolves players? More things to kill of course...and typically of the 3+ armour save variety. 40K 5th edition really is the 3+ edition isn't it?

In my last (and only!) game against the Necrons with Space Wolves, I found them to be very tough to deal with due to 2 Monoliths, the Nightbringer and a Lord leading Immortals that simply wouldn't die.

Although making the Nightbringer fall down a hole with Jaws Of The World Wolf was without a doubt the most satisfying moment in my Space Wolves career!

Like the Dark Eldar, Necrons will be back, with lots of funky rules and more units than ever before. But so long as they streamline We'll Be Back into something a bit more sensible I'll be cool with that.

Now you're probably wondering if this Codex will continue the trend of Codex Creep and dump all over Grey Knights...and pretty much everyone else. Or if we'll get something a bit more balanced.

Keep your power weapons ready. Only time will tell...

Raging Heroes Cyber Wolf

The Cyberwolf from Raging Heroes could be just what we're looking for in an appropriate Thunderwolf Cavalry model.

Loads of independent miniatures companies have made giant wolves, but for me, none of them have really nailed the concept.

Some look like up scaled wolves, some look like bears, some look...well, they just look a bit rubbish really.

I talked about a Thunderwolf Cavalary conversion a while back, using green stuff, plasticard and a plastic Khorne Juggernaught. However, the persistent rumours of Forge World not making Thunderwolves because Games Workshop want to make them has made me hold fire for well over a year now.

Frankly, I'm sick of waiting and believe this previewed Cyberwolf could be the answer we've all been waiting for -Especially when the sculpts we've seen from Raging Heroes are amazing!

Njal Stormcaller Tactics

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.

Wolf and Sister Season 2 Preview

Things seem a little empty without Wolf & Sister to bring us all our weekly dose of beautifully illustrated Warhammer 40K carnage. But Nacho has sent me this sketch for a layout of one of the pages from Volume 2.

Yes, there are Eldar! But I'm sure you figured that out already.

I think we can expect the Eldar to interfere and manipulate fate for their own alien ends. But only Nacho knows what's going to happen and he doesn't share that with me until I get sent the latest page to edit and publish.

At the moment I have no idea when we'll be ready to roll with the second volume. But in the meantime Nacho is working on an awesome Space Wolves wallpaper for you all. So there's plenty to look forward to in the meantime.

I'll share more previews as I get them.

Thanks for reading and thanks for all the support. We really appreciate it!

Everyone Seems to be Playing Warmachine

Warmachine is making a come back in a big way lately, even though the new rules have been out for quite a while.

I used to play Khador during 1st edition some 10 years ago. But now that Warmachine the warmachine range is becoming increasingly plastic and the rules have been revised, James and Marc are interested in picking it up again -and who am I to argue?

Sometimes you need a break from 40K and Warmachine could be a good alternative, especially now things are a little more balanced... Well, more balanced that when Escalation came out and turned the game into an infantry based blood bath.

I'll freely admit that I didn't really 'get' Warmachine. It felt like playing 2nd edition 40K and Magic The Gathering at the same time. So I got rid of Sorscha as my Warcaster from out of the boxed set and took THE BUTCHER instead. Suddenly my army became a lot simpler and the game more enjoyable...until the Escalation book ruined everything for me.

Come to think of it, it was Cryx that ruined everything for me with their Machine Wraiths and Pistol Wraiths.

But anyway, we're back into Warmachine. James has picked up the Cryx battlegroup, as he still has most of this stuff from when we last played. Meanwhile Marc has picked up the Cygnar battlegroup having lot faith in Menoth from the first time we played. I think he just got sick of every unit being 'knights' of some description. Finally, that leaves me with the Khador battlegroup which I'll either paint in traditional Russian military colours or just bright red.

We'll play with the boxed sets to start, then build up from there. But rest assured that THE BUTCHER will be back to bring carnage, mayhem and maniacal laughter to my games. I mean, who needs magic when you've got an enormous axe?

I plan to follow the recommended army lists from the Khador Kommunity on the Privateer Press site and create a simple, effective army. So stay tuned for some Warmachine to mix things up over the coming months.

In the meantime we're looking into other games as well. James is keen on Malifaux, but I'm still not sold. It just looks too damn random! Instead I'm considering buying Super Dungeon Explore for some monster slaying fun!