You see, tradition dictates that I take Wolves. I have on every occassion I've been there. I've done well with them each time, with the possible exception of the July event, where I came 20th from 46 (?), I went 3:2:1 ... pretty poor but facing tough opponents at each stage and the event having overall a more competitive edge than previously.
Examining my list from that event (more in depth notes here) I found that I had no trouble what so ever in killing stuff. I got 8402 VP's...80% of everything all opponents put before me died. Me? I always had enough in the tank to keep going..
The list was:
- Rune Priest – Chooser, Living Lightning, Jaws of the World Wolf
- 2 x 10 man Wolf Guard each with 2 CML and assorted combi weapons
- 1 x 5 Wolf Scouts – Meltagun
- 4 x 8 Grey Hunters, Meltagun, Banner, Rhino
- 3 x 5 Long Fangs – 4 Missile Launchers
What I needed were 2 things:
1) A baby sitter unit for home objectives that actually contributed to the game without sucking up huge points
2) Bringing a more hard hitting CC edge to the force, despite power weaponry and Wolf Banners and plenty of bodies..I needed something more hardcore, perhaps the lone wolves or a thunder lord...
So if I were to take Wolves, I need to address these issues.. what lists should I go for and how do I go about applying them properly...
Option 1: Shooty
Rune Priest - LL, Jaws, Chooser
Wolf Guard x 6 - 1 w. TDA/CML/combi plasma, 4 x Combi Melta and 1 combi plasma
2 x Dual Autocannon Dreads
4 x 5 Grey Hunters w. Melta in LasPlas Razors
1 x 5 Grey Hunters w. Plasma in LasPlas Razors
1 x 5 Grey Hunters w. Plasma
3 x 5 Long Fangs 4 x ML
Pretty self explanatory then this one. I have the baby sitter unit for objective missions, I also have the 'hard hitting' units...in the form of Lascannons and a pretty good amount of plasma.. Still have plenty of missiles, units of melta hunters and even greater long range support.. 30 troop marines is not too bad, but also quite low for me and SW's in general..
Could actually split the 2nd AutoDread into 2 MM Speeders for some fast moving blocking action and MM goodness...
Not sure this list is any better per se, more different than the previous SW armies I've taken to tournaments...
Option 2: Loners and Melta Pod
Rune Priest Fafnir – Chooser, LL, Jaws
10 x Wolf Guard - 4 x CombiMelta in Drop Pod as a suicide unit, 5 more CMelta’s, 1x TDA/CML/Plasma, 2 x Powerfists…
Lone Wolf – TDA/CF/SS
Lone Wolf – TDA/CF/SS
7 Grey Hunters Meltagun, Banner, Rhino
7 Grey Hunters Meltagun, Banner, Wulfen, Rhino
5 Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback -TLHB
5 Grey Hunters Meltagun, Razorback -TLHB
5 Grey Hunters x 5, Plasmagun, Razorback -TLHB
5 Grey Hunters WG w. CML/TDA/Plasma
5 Long Fangs – 4 ML
5 Long Fangs – 4 ML
5 Long Fangs – 4 ML
The CM/PF Wolf Guard join the 7 man GH squads. The Priest joins one of them too…Lone Wolves run up in support of the Grey Hunter packs, all 5 of which push the enemy, leaving the 6 man foot squad at home with CML fire support. The hard hitting element is the Lone Wolves and the stronger push from 5 GH packs.
The HB’s are there as I had 15 points spare and I wanted a few extra shots to harry rear units…
The Drop Pod with 4 Melta Guard is there to drop in and kill the Death Star carrying Land Raider...of which there will be several.
Typically at Brighton there are a good number of BA armies with LR death stars and a few Chaos armies with LR and Abaddon or some other choppy shit like Khornate Termies, the beauty of these forces is that they have no anti deep strike defenses and are vulnerable to this kind of gayness... Question is, is 4 enough?
For me, the weak point in this list is the l;ow missile count...only 14 missiles, plenty of plasma and melta but bugger all in the way of long range support (for me anyway)
Option 3: Loners and Lords..
Rune Priest – as above
Wolf Lord – Thunderwolf, Storm Shield, Wolf Claw, Runic Armour
10 Wolf Guard – 2 TDA/CML/Plasma, 4 Combi Plasma, 4 Combi Melta
2 x Lone Wolf – TDA/CF/SS
7 GH Meltagun, Rhino
6 GH Meltagun, Rhino
2 x 5 GH Meltagun, Rhino
5 GH, Plasmagun
3 x 5 Long Fangs - 4 ML
This set up leaves a 5man Wolf Guard unit with 4 plasma guns, power weapon and CML to fire off.. I used them in this fashion at the previous tournament and it worked well.. this force has better missile support, 16, the sitter unit, pressure GH units with Lone Wolf support, but also the Wolf Lord to smash units up, draw fire etc..on this chap I have been pretty sparse, no WTN, no Saga of the Bear (as only S10 kills him outright) because in this manner I have been able to keep strong element in other FOC slots.. The only thing I am missing here is the 6th unit of GHunters…is 33 scoring dudes enough with all the other distractions??
Note on the Rune Priest - Jaws is too useful for me at removing Paladins, Deathwing etc for it not to be included. I know Murderous and Tempest are arguably as/more useful, but for me, knowing the clientele of the tournament...too good not to use..
Have at it dudes, which is best... Are they all shite, suggested tweaks? Should I stick to GK or IG...is it better to play with the army you know best?
Hold the fuck up. There were no FOOT LORDS here! What was the title about!! Well...there were 2 foot lords in the final list in place of the Thunder Lord and a few dudes... the idea being that the guys would just sit in the units, everything does its normal thing and then the Lords add real bite to the combat...I decided this was poo though and got rid.. lol.
Hi there, love the blog. Decent article. Have you considered a WGBL with stealth to baby sit a unit of foot long fangs or to sit with a unit of wolguard with dual cmls as a counter assualt unit? Or even a GH squad with plasma cml wolf guard and banner for babysitting objectives.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous...I clearly have a lot of those elements build into my lists and I did look at WGBL's, but I'll be honest, no I had not considered it..primarily as I want to move the CML/Plasma WG squad into the mid field and then some to engage the plasma offensively rather than waiting to clear my own lines..in addition the 20 odd marines in the back field (LF's included here) are there to do the same thing, I have, on occassion, had a need to charge with the LF's to clear outflanking units, it's an unexpected move but a useful one...I feel that paying out even just 80-90 points for a WGBL just to sit in the backfield is not that great a use of points, whereas by pushing a strong offensive front I protect my back by blocking movement and penning the opposition back..
ReplyDeleteI may try out a WGBL as the counter assault element of the back field...thnnks for the suggestion
Hi there, just started following this blog and learning lots from it.
ReplyDeleteA thought for any of your above lists to adapt what Anon said is a Rune Priest babysitting at the back as well, with LL to give you some long range firepower and MH to slow down and possibly kill some of the assaulting units. Also has the benefit of giving you more psychic defence over the table?
Tom
Hi there Tom,
ReplyDeleteGood suggestion bud, any thoughts as to what you'd drop to gian the second priest?
List 3 - change the Thunderlord into a 2nd RP and then a Lord with Frost blade/SS to jump in a Rhino and add CC bite to the front lines..?
List 1 operates differently and doesn't need it..
List 2.. Not sure where I'd fit it in...
Hi Ven
ReplyDeleteList 3 - yup!
List 2 - Unless you want to try to trim 100pts by taking away some toys/rides from some of the unuts then it would have to be one of they GH squads, and then assign the WG with CML to one of the Long Fangs. Sepending on which one you could spread the spare points out on some of the others, perhaps have a full 10 man GH squad walking somewhere with the potential to add WG and one or both independant characters if the situation suggests it
Tom