Saturday 3 September 2011

Wolf Scouts or a Dreadnought

Well, I've played a few games using a 5 man meltacide scout squad and a rifleman dreadnought.

The Dreadnought has done reasonably well, it kills a few things every game so far.  Its not been a game winner, as most of my opponents recently have been ap3 foot slogging armies. 
I like the idea of a rifleman dreadnought, the theory behind them is solid.  The 2 twin linked autocannons works well against light vehicles and a relatively cheap.  The twin linked is also handy as it helps you to reroll missed hits (obviously).  I have a tendency to miss about 2 shot a turn before rerolls, so they tend to help.  However, my problem is I have only one riflemen dreadnought-which doesnt seem to have a great impact. 
My meltacide squad has really impressed me.  Its always managed to make its points back for me as well as being a really good distraction for my opponents.  Its cheap so the squad doesnt break the bank either.  My only problems are the fact that the squad is fragile because its so small and only has a 4+ save.  Also, having to rely on them turning up when and where I want is tricky.  Again, I think 2 squads of these guys would be more effective-rolling for 2 squads to turn up means that at least 1 of them is more likely to turn up when you want it (in theory). 
I'm thinking of swapping out the dreadnought for another meltacide squad for my next couple of games.  The reason for this is simply because the scouts are easier to convert.  Also, it gives me the option of fiddling around with my army list to put some wolf guard into the squads to give them a helping hand.
Well, I'll let you know how they turn out when I get around to playing.

Friday 5 August 2011

A new model for thunderwolves?

I saw these on Warseer and I saw the new Ogre Riders.  Some of you may think, why am I bothering talking about this on a Space Wolf blog.  Well, the riders aren't that impressive, but have a look at the mounts.  Theres the potential there for them to be made into thunderwolves.  Obviously, you might want to get rid of those stupid looking tusks.  I can't see what the tails look, but with a bit of green stuff the models could make good stand ins.  If I remember when they are released, I might pick up a pair of riders to try this out.  If I do, I'll see about adding pictures on here so people can see-if not then there will definately be comments made. 

Monday 11 July 2011

How do you get inspired to paint?

Ok, this is a post in which I would like some comments.

Like many people in the hobby, I've run into a bit of a brick wall when it comes to getting the motivation to paint.  I still enjoy playing, I still want to paint but I struggle at the moment to sit down and get much of it actually done.

Normally when I paint I like to stick some music on.  The noise helps me focus and drown everything else out so I can get down to painting.

So, what I'm asking is 'what works for you?'  Feel free to leave a comment or two about helps you get in the mood to paint, what helps you to get motivated and focussed.

Thursday 7 July 2011

A Discussion on Wolf Scouts

Wolf Scouts are probably one of the trickier units in the Space Wolves codex to play effectively, because depending on what you want to do with them you can't rely on them.

If you're reading this, its more than likely that you about their special rule 'Behind Enemy Lines'.  This adds the unreliability of the reserve rule with an extra unreliable rule-which allows them to turn up from any table edge.  Don't get me wrong, this has the potential to be amazing-take for example my game against the Sisters of Battle earlier in this blog.  My Wolf Scouts turned up not on the most advantageous turn, but they came on from the best possible side for me to disrupt my opponent (my roll didnt allow me to pick my table edge).  However, this could have gone pretty badly for me and they could either have not turned up at all or turned up on the wrong side of the board and done nothing all game.

There are three things you can do to get round this (in my opinion, I'm sure there are other options that I haven't considered).  One is to make the scout squad small and cheap, which means that if you roll badly they won't be too much of a waste of points.  I did this during my game by having a 5 man scout squad with a melta gun.  These have the potential to be effective if you roll even vaguely well. 
Another option is take options for the scout squad that are useful no matter where they pop up-this does mean your squad will be a bit of a jack of all trades, but that depends on your playing style.
The other option is not to bother with behind enemy lines at all and just deploy via infiltrate.  Again, this depends on how you equip your squad.

Meltacide squads
The Meltacide squad is typically a small squad of scouts with very few thrills and a meltagun.  The idea is that this squad appears using behind enemy lines, shoots a tank with its melta gun and then get shoot.  While this is a valid use of the squad, I think it doesn't do this squad justice.
This squad has the potential to be a fantastic speed bump, not just the suicidal use of a melta gun.  I've found (not just through playing that game against Sisters of Battle) that this squad actually does better against infantry units than tanks.  If it hits, the melta gun is virtually a guaranteed kill against most infantry models and the sheer number of attacks you get from a relatively small amount of models can put a dent into even a power armoured unit.
But the unpredictability of behind enemy lines means that keeping this squad small and cheap will minimise any bad rolls for you.
I would however love to be able to run two of these squads, see how well they work in tandem.

Tuesday 5 July 2011

Game against Sisters of Battle

Well, due to real life getting in the way this is a little later than I thought it would be.
Firstly, my army was a little different than I had planned.  Instead of the terminators and drop pod; I took a dreadnought with 2 twin linked autocannons, 5 wolf scouts with a meltagun and 1 extra long fang with a missile launcher for each of the 3 packs.  They did a lot better than my terminators have in previous games.

My opponents army was something like this.

Canoness with eviscerator and jump pack, accompanied by a unit of Seraphim with a sister superior wielding an eviscerator.
A 2nd canoness with eviscerator, accompanied by a unit of flamer wielding dominions in an immolator.
3 Units of Sisters of battle, with 2 meltaguns in each and riding in Rhinos
1 Unit of Retributors with heavy bolters
1 Exorcist

This army had a lot of faith points throughout the game, I dont think the total dropped below 10 and he was regularly using them.  The acts of faith that make armour saves invunerable or gives shooting attacks rending is surprisingly scary to be on the opposite side of.

I didn't get the chance to take any photos, as both of our armies are in the process of being painted (I am annoyingly slow at painting). 

The game started with Rhino's moving very quickly towards each other, then getting immobilised.  By the end of the game I think only one vehicle had more than 2 turns of actual movement.
One piece of advice, never underestimate the ability of heavy bolters to disable a Rhino.  His retributor squad armed with heavy bolters did more in the game than his Exorcist, disabling all of my Rhino's during the course of the game.

5 man wolf scout squads with a melta gun are awesome.  They are a little cheesy, taking a meltacide squad, but they can definately be worth their points.  Mine came on right next to the Canoness and Dominion squad.  At this point, there where only 4 sisters with flamers left.  If this squad had reached the rest of my army it would have wreaked havoc, 4 rending flamers would have demolished a lot of my squads.  My 5 man scout squad not only managed to hold up a unit that was close to 3 times their points value, they managed to beat it.  On the charge, this unit pumps out 14 strength 4 weapon skill attacks, which is 2 more than a basic 5 man Marine tactical squad.  Coupled with the melta gun, this squad can really punch above its weight.

My Long Fangs did as well as I thought they would.  3 Squads of 4 and the dreadnought in a 2 storey building.  This was a frightening prospect for my opponent, firing a lot of krak missiles at a lot of units throughout the game.  My firebase was then assaulted by the jump pack canoness and seraphim.  This is a surprisingly nasty unit for a shooting unit to face.  Eventually they where driven off by a lot of bolter fire from my Grey Hunters, but not before putting a serious dent into my firebase.

Speaking of Grey Hunters, they did amazing for me like they always do.  They managed to run rampant through all that they touched, but the sheer weight of fire I had to go through did put a serious dent in the numbers.  At the end of the game I had a little over a packs worth of Grey Hunters left.  While Grey Hunters do well in combat, you need to make sure that they are protected afterwards, otherwise they will get shot up.

The Exorcist on paper is frightening, d6 Strength 8 AP1 shots a turn with a ballistic skill of 4.  Theres a lot to be scared of.  However, one thing to remember is that its still only a d6 worth of shots, as shown by my opponent who in 3 turns rolled 1 for the number of shots and missed with them.  They have the potential to be dangerous against Wolves, by being very effective at damaging Rhinos.  This slows our speed down and forces us to play the game at the pace of the Sisters player.  This is obviously a bad idea.  However, like most things, they are better in high numbers.  If do find yourself on the opposite side of the board from an Exorcist or two, my advice is to use the cover to try and protect your Rhinos as much as possible, otherwise you're likely to have a bad day with them.

Retributors: Don't underestimate them.  Well not the most dangerous looking unit around, but 4 heavy bolters coupled with acts of faith, espically in cover, is a threat that needs to be dealt with.  12 Strength 5 shots against Rhino's is another issue that needs to be dealt with, as even needing a 6 to glance, its going to happen. 

So, my advice is to not underestimate the Sisters of Battle.  The acts of faith are one of the most dangerous things in the codex, because of the variety of abilities.  Also, like us, they are an army that works best at mid range so that is where they are most effective.  Don't let them suck you into playing their game-play to your strengths.  The thing that we have over them is the fact that all of our units are good in combat, even Long Fangs combined with the counter attack special rule can do reasonably.  Have a plan, stick to it and if in doubt an overwhelming application of force never hurts.

Thursday 30 June 2011

A 1500 point army list

This saturday I have arranged a game against a mechanised Sisters of Battle army.  I've never played a game against Sisters, so I don't really know exactly what to expect, but after having read their 'acts of faith' I'm a little worried about rending flamers. 

My army list is this

Rune Priest

Wolf Guard Battle Leader
Frost Blade
Storm Shield
Saga of the Warrior Born

3 Wolf Guard
Combi Melta's and Powerfists

5 Wolf Guard Terminators
Cyclone Missile Launcher
3 Wolf Claws
Combi Melta
Thunder Hammer
Storm Shield
Drop pod

8 Grey Hunters
Rhino
Power fist
Mark of the Wulfen
Wolf Standard
Melta gun

8 Grey Hunters
Rhino
Power fist
Mark of the Wulfen
Wolf Standard
Melta gun

8 Grey Hunters
Rhino
Power fist
Mark of the Wulfen
Wolf Standard
Melta gun

Long Fang pack leader
2 Long Fangs
2 Missile Launchers

Long Fang pack leader
2 Long Fangs
2 Missile Launchers

Long Fang pack leader
2 Long Fangs
2 Missile Launchers

The plan is to drop pod the Wolf Guard terminators into his army to cause a nuissance of themselves, hoping diverting him from my advancing Rhinos.  My Long Fangs are there to target any exorcists he takes as well as to destroy any Rhino's that he has.  The Rhino's will advance in a block straight at him, hopefully swamping him with a mass of Grey Hunters supported by the Rune Priest and the Wolf Guard Battle Leader.

I am a little worried about his use of Acts of Faith and how he might outfit a Canoness.  I've never played the Sisters player before (though I have known him for a while), but I have heard that he is one of the best Sisters players in his area from a GW staff member who I have known and played against (someone who's gaming ability I definately respect). 

I've used this army against Blood Angels and demolished them, the block of Grey Hunters supported by the Long Fangs heavy fire was able to deal with most threats that they had on the board.  The terminators didn't do that well, but I think that was more how I used them. 
I'm hoping that this army is flexible enough to deal with any nasty little surprises that the Sisters can throw at me, as I would love to be able to eventually develop a tournament army to one day go to a 40k tournament.

I'll try and take some pictures on Saturday so that I can eventually have my blog's first battle report.  As always, any comments are welcome.  If you have any advice about facing Sisters, that won't go amiss either.

Monday 27 June 2011

Wolf Guard Pack Leaders

Wolf Guard can be one of the more versatile units in the Space Wolves codex mostly because you can either have them as a squad or as pack leaders. 
I don't think I could do them enough justice in one article, that and it would be a pretty huge length of text.  I don't know about you, but that much writing is far too much to read.
So, I'm going to talk about Wolf Guard as pack leaders first, because they are what I most often use.

To do this, its probably best to take each of the units they can be attached to in turn.

Blood Claws/Grey Hunters
The first Wolf Guard I'm going to look at is for Blood Claws and Grey Hunters. Some of you may wonder why I've put these together.  That's because wolf guard fulfil much the same role in both squads.  They are there to add some extra close combat punch. 
Often this is through the addition of an extra power fist or a thunder hammer.  This is always useful because the power fists in the squads only get a few attacks (2 on the charge for Grey Hunters, 3 on the charge for Blood Claws).  The Wolf Guard gives you 3 extra power fist attacks on the charge, which really helps against most opponents. 
While power fists may be the preferred option, there are still plenty of worthwhile close combat weapons to give them.
Another thing to remember is the extra shooty stuff your Wolf Guard can take to help their squad.  Combi weapons of all sorts are amazing for this, I generally tend to make it the same special weapon that the squad has.
Out of the 2 squad types (Blood Claws and Grey Hunters) its the Grey Hunters that don't always need a Wolf Guard.  This is mostly because they are a fairly solid unit as they are and can take on most opponents.  I find that Blood Claws need a little extra support.  While it is nice to have +2 attacks on the charge, they do tend to need that little extra muscle that a Wolf Guard can give them.

Swiftclaw bikers
An expensive option for an expensive unit.  To be honest, this depends on whether or not you decide to take big squads or small squads.  If you take smaller squads, then its probably too much of a big investment. 
In a larger squad (5 or more models) I would definately recommend taking them.  The extra killing power of a Wolf Guard will help them significantly, allowing them a much greater chance of killing what they are aimed at.  Considering that Swiftclaws are a small and expensive combat unit, they do need all the help they can get really.

Wolf Scouts
Depends on what you're doing with the Scouts. 
Sniper scouts probably don't need a Wolf Guard as they will be too busy shooting things.  While Wolf Guard are ok at shooting (as good as any marine) they do a lot better getting stuck into combat in my opinion, much like most of the Space Wolves army list.
The next most common option I use is a unit deployed 'behind enemy lines'.  This unit will often go after tanks or heavy weapons squads.  For this Wolf Guard, the thunder hammer is definately my friend.  Not only does it have a good chance of beating up any infantry you are likely to find, it tends to do pretty well against tanks too.  Obviously, melta bombs do much the same tank killing job, but I prefer thunder hammers because not only do you get more attacks but they work on non-vehicles as well.

Long Fangs
To be honest, I don't much see the point unless you are trying to give the squad an extra wound.  I don't tend to see much reason to give Long Fangs a Wolf Guard because of the way I use my Long Fangs.  If I did use them, I would keep them relatively cheap.  If anyone has more luck with Wolf Guard in Long Fang packs, please let me know.  I would love to hear about it.