A Question of Dreads

Well, tomorrow I've got a game scheduled against a local player who's warming up for the NOVA Open. He wants me to take the hardest army I can field, and that brings up a question. Am I fielding the best army I can field, and if not how can I tighten it up?

This boils down to a few questions. That of anti-armor. Do I have enough assets in my army to deal with enemy tanks and worse yet, Terminators and their ilk. Should I take Dreadnoughts to strip the enemy of their rides? Those twin-linked Autocannons sure make a mess of vehicles, and it's two more minis with an armor value out there. They're even good for tying things like Imperial Guard blobs down for most of the game by charging things that can't crack their armor in close combat.

...Or should I field my Wolf Scouts? With Behind Enemy Lines they're likely to show up right behind the enemy firebase and at least pin it down- if not destroy it entirely. I've decided to trade their Meltabombs for a model with the Mark of the Wulfen, and give my Wolf Lord a Wolftooth Necklace. With the Wulfen scout cranking out D6+1 attacks a turn (with rending) this squad is more likely to win combats against Devastators and Long Fangs, but what about things like Obliterators? Should I plan around them? Do I add a Wolf Guard Pack Leader with a Power Fist?

Without my Wolf Scouts I'm relying on things like my Grey Hunters to get rid of firepower squads that camp out in buildings, as despite how fast my Thunderwolves can move, they can't climb. Do I really want to risk one of my four (fairly small) Troops choices in order to get a Power Fist into assault?

See? Too much stuff is rattling around in my head right now. I don't want to tailor my list to fight his. I want to field what I would bring to a tournament. Unfortunately I can't lay hands on four Lascannons or Missile Launchers right now, otherwise I'd plunk down some Long Fangs in place of some Thunderwolves. It's a conundrum for sure. I'll probably decide by rolling a die tomorrow. I'll be sure to take some photos tomorrow so you can see how things go. Until then, I'll keep pondering Dreadnoughts and Wolf Scouts...

Space Wolves Salvo

Well, the Space Wolves are pretty much done (they have been for nearly a week) and it's time to post a whole lot of pictures. Let's start out at the top:

The last model I added is the first model to be displayed. We begin with Njal Stormcaller in power armor. This is a fairly old mini, and the age is starting to show. I picked him up in Finecast (in fact several of the minis in this army are resin) against my better judgement. This guy has to be mail ordered, and if he came out miscast (as so many Finecast models have) I'd have a pretty tough time returning him. Luckily the only flaw was a tiny air bubble on the underside of the little pouch on his staff.

Next up we have Njal in terminator armor. He's tougher this way, but he requires a Wolf Guard terminator bodyguard to be protected, and a Land Raider to ride around in, so he's pretty much shelved except for more whimsical games. He's another Finecast mini, and the wolf tail on his staff came broken off, but it wasn't too much of a hassle to bodge it into place.

Now we move on to the big guys, and the hero of my first game with this army. The Wolf Lord armed with a Frost Axe. His speed and hitting power (especially when he goes Super Saiyan with his Saga of the Warrior Born) make him a wrecking ball.

This guy is my big game hunter. Toting a Thunder Hammer, this guy is designed to hunt down big close combat threats. His Saga of the Beast Slayer combined with his Wolftooth Necklace ensures he hits everything that is a walker or monstrous creature on a 3+, re-rolling misses. Whacking things at strength 10 doesn't hurt either.

 Finally, there's my Rune Priest. I decided on a rat for his Chooser of the Slain as it's the only animal I had available.

From HQ we move on to Elites choices, and the first two minis I painted for the army. Toting a pair of twin-linked Autocannons each, these bad boys are threat to any APC they encounter. Gotta love Dreadnoughts.

...And here's a photo of Njal and his Terminator bodyguard. Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields all around, except for the fellow carrying the Heavy Flamer and Chainfist (not enough hammers and shields for everybody, I'm afraid). That's okay toough. The 2d6 armor penetration will really help out against walkers and tanks.

Continuing my Wolf Guard, here are my fellows with Power Fists. They're intended to be split up and added to my Grey Hunters as pack leaders.

Next up are my Wolf Scouts. They're pretty good at disrupting enemy firebases with their "Behind Enemy Lines" rule. They're there to pop something with a Meltagun and to deliver a Wolf Guard model with a Power Fist where he can cause the most havoc.

Here are my Troops choices, four packs of Grey Hunters with their Razorbacks. I'd like for them all to have the Lascannon/Plasma Gun loadout, but alas, not enough Plasma Gun muzzles. That's okay though, as the twin-linkedLlascannons will help make up for the lacking Long Fang fire support.

Finally I'll show my Fast Attack choices, Thunderwolf Cavalry. Equipped with a Power Fist per squad and all toting Storm Shields, these monstrosities strike wherever it's most dangerous. Rending along with Strength 10 backhands allow them to charge recklessly into very bad situations.

Here it is, the entire army together at once. As I said before, I still need to paint up my Land Raider Crusader, but I think what I have painted has come out nicely.

Logan's Company

This is the closest I could get to my company badge...

Brace yourselves. There is an upcoming deluge of Space Wolves pictures.

I said I'd wait a bit before I started this army, but oh, well. Tax returns make one do some kooky stuff, no?

I've decided to go with Logan Grimnar's great company. Not because he can field a ton of Terminators (they become Troops under him), and not because he's the chapter master. It's really simple. I like the company badge.

Of course, since Logan's company is so elite I've attached a Wolf Guard as a leader to each squad, and the fluff allows me to field a ton of Thunderwolf Cavalry. You see, they're Wolf Guard on big honkin' wolves.

This has the happy result of making my army an absolute nightmare in close combat. The cavalry's 12" charge is great for catching opponents off-guard, and their Strength 5, Toughness 5, Rending, and Storm Shields make them at least as good in assault as my Plague Marines. They'd better be at 80+ points a pop.

Now I'm thinking of adding the "Saga of the Warrior Born" to my Wolf Lord. This allows him to get more attacks based on how many models he killed in the previous round of close combat. He basically becomes more and more of a Cuisinart of Death the more models you try to drag him down with. Of course this upgrade costs (rightly) a fair few points.

Any way, I'm nearing a pretty big milestone with my puppies. Stay tuned!

Rolling Thunder (Or Lack Thereof)

Over a week ago I placed a special order at my FLGS for (you guessed it) three boxes of Thunderwolf Cavalry and a Thunderwolf Lord. As it stands right now, Games Workshop has not sent them their shipment almost a week after the release date for the minis, and I'm getting tired of waiting. What Space Wolf minis I do have are seven models away from being fully painted, and I'm running out of stuff. I also want to get this army painted ASAP as I'm sort of tired of not getting to game on Fridays.

This impatience has a fairly big downside to it, however. If I were to cancel my order with my FLGS they may get in the four boxes of stuff I ordered and not be able to move it. It's not their fault that G. W. hasn't sent them merchandise that was due to be released a week ago, and I don't want to leave them holding stuff they can't sell.

Of course, on the other hand, I want my stuff. I can't paint it until it arrives, and I try my hardest not to game with unpainted minis. This places a double barrier between me and my gaming. It's honestly driving me a touch batty. I had this week off from school, and I likely could have finished off a few Thunderwolves. I won't have an opportunity like this any time soon.

Oh, well. I'll just have to decide weather or not to cancel the order tomorrow (when I stop by the store).

The New Face of the New Wolves

Well, I know army lists just don't do it for most folks, but I've finalized my army list based around criticism from Demitra over at Khadoran Machine Never Breaks. He said (in a nutshell) that my army list was one dimensional and boring. Honestly, it was. To that end I have dropped the Dreadnoughts, a squad of Grey Hunters, and their Razorback in favor of a pack of Wolf Scouts, a second Thunderwolf Lord, and four Wolf Guard to sprinkle around my army. This should help break up the monotony of push my tanks forward, shoot, push my tanks forward, shoot...

This turns my army into an aggressive, leap straight for the throat force that should (hopefully) lead to much more action-packed games. The Wolf Guard will act as pack leaders in the Grey Hunters and the Wolf Scouts, and the Scouts will deliver a Meltagun, a Power Fist, and a good bit of close combat bite into my opponent's backfield (provided I can roll a 3+) The Thunderwolves will continue to do what Thunderwolves do- run into melee and kill stuff. This army suffers a bit against parking lot armies, but hopefully four Meltaguns and three Lascannons will cut the mustard as far as popping open metal bawkses.

The Downside to this army is the lack of scoring units. This may or may not be a problem, as in games with more objectives my marines will get spread pretty thin. This leads me to the usual "late game objective rush" so maligned by many players, but hey, there's nothing to be done aside from totally gutting the army- and that's not going to happen

Any way, here's the new face of the army:

HQ
Wolf Lord w/ Belt of Russ, Runic Armor, Thunderwolf Mount, Frost Weapon- 215 pts.
Wolf Lord w/ Wolftooth Necklace, Thunderwolf Mount, Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer- 215 pts.

ELITES
4 Wolf Guard w/ Power Fists- 152 pts.
5 Wolf Scouts w/ Bolt Pistol & Close Combat Weapon, Meltagun- 110 pts.

TROOPS
5 Grey Hunters w/ Meltagun; Razorback w/ Lascannon & Twin-Linked Plasmaguns- 155 pts.
5 Grey Hunters w/ Meltagun; Razorback w/ Lascannon & Twin-Linked Plasmaguns- 155 pts.
5 Grey Hunters w/ Meltagun; Razorback w/ Twin-Linked Lascannon- 155 pts.

FAST ATTACK
4 Thunderwolf Cavalry w/ Storm Shields, Power Fist- 345 pts.
4 Thunderwolf Cavalry w/ Storm Shields, Power Fist- 345 pts.

Good thing those Thunderwolves haven't been assembled yet. I'd hate to have to pry their Thunder Hammer arms off to replace them with Power Fists. In the end they may not look as cool, but the points saved make up for the aesthetics.