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.