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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Grey Hunters (Part 2)

Right, now its time to talk about some of the ways in which you might be able to use Grey Hunters.

Right, first thing is to decide on how your pack is going to get around the battlefield.  There are 5 ways you can do it in my experience: Footslog, in a rhino, in a razorback, in a land raider (of some sort) or in a drop pod.  I'll try and cover each of these as best I can and try to add some possible unit compositions that I've tried or that I think might work.

Footslogging
First off we have the footslogging Grey Hunter pack. 
If you want to footslog a unit across the board then you probably want it as big as possible in order to actually be able to survive into combat.  This means you're more likely to have something get into combat.  However, the larger units cost more and so you'll have less which means that your opponent has less units that they need to shoot at.
There is however the possibility of taking more but smaller units.  This is MSU (multiple small units) theory, which you could probably find in more depth if you look at google.  This basically entails that 2 units can attack 2 units and have to be targetted seperately, whereas 1 unit is 1 target and can only target one enemy unit at a time.  I've covered this a bit when I talk about pack size's for long fangs in small games. Space marines are one of the better armies for this, as the units tend to be small and fairly elite.  This helps you get things into combat by giving your opponent too many targets.  This means that he either has to concentrate fire to wipe out one of your small units or he has to spread fire across them all.
Right, now for some good loadouts for them.  I won't include wolf guard, because I'll cover them later and I've always felt that wolf guard are a very personal choice in how you give them wargear and weapons.

Large Unit: 210 points
10 Grey Hunters, 2 Plasma Guns, Power Fist, Mark of the Wulfen, Wolf Standard.
This is a big and fairly expensive squad with a lot of upgrades.  The reason I choose 2 plasma guns over any other options is simply just the range you can get from them.  This squad also has the numbers and equipment to deal with most threats you're likely to come across.  The problem though is that its a lot of models and a big target.  You might need to make sure you use cover to help you get across the board, but this would mean that you move a lot more slowly.

Small Unit: 115 points
6 Grey Hunters, 1 Plasma Gun, Mark of the Wulfen.
This is a small compact unit that still manages to have the chance at packing a punch.  This unit is easier to hide in cover than the large unit, the plasma gun gives it a decent mid ranged punch.  I choose mark of the wulfen because the number of attacks you can get will help you in combat.  On a roll of a 4, a charging model with mark of the wulfen has the same number of attacks as two normal charging Grey Hunters. 
However, because this unit is small, it is a lot more fragile, but cheaper so it would allow you to purchase more of them.

Razorbacks
Next up is units of Grey Hunters in Razorbacks.  Obviously, Razorbacks have the smallest troop capacity of any of the transport vehicles so you need to be selective about what you include in your pack.  For me, it's all about getting the most for your points.
Also, your packs will be small and fragile so cheaper packs in Razorbacks tend to work well for me.  The next decision is whether or not you want to include a Wolf Guard or not.  This will have an impact for you as I've found that there is a big difference between a 5 man and 6 man pack.
Then we have the special weapon choices.  Personally, it really tends to depend to depend on what you want them to do.  If you want them to seize objectives, plasma guns and their extra range will be a benefit as the unit shouldnt move to much.  However, if you want to go on the offensive with the smaller units then the flamer or meltagun is a good option because it allows you to shoot and assault.

The way I fill up a Razorback is by doing this.  I usually tend to put 6 men in total in there (with or without a wolf guard).  One model ends up with a special weapon and one model gets a close combat upgrade (power weapon, power fist or mark of the wulfen).  If there is a Wolf Guard in the unit, I don't tend to give one of the Grey Hunters a close combat upgrade.  On the rare occassion I would just have 5 marines in the Razorback without any Wolf Guard or Characters, I would just have them with a special weapon.  This unit could then be used to capture objectives that larger more impressive units have cleared out.

The next thing you've got to think about is what guns you are going to give your Razorback.  I tend to keep mine with the basic twin linked heavy bolters.  This keeps the razorback relatively cheap (which means I can spend more points on other things) and still be enough of a nuissance if my opponent doesnt decide to destroy it.
The twin linked heavy flamer could be fun to use for a small assault unit of Grey Hunters, but if your Razorback is immobilised then the gun becomes virtually worthless.  Would say that for 25 points, this is the worst of the upgrades.
Twin linked assault cannons seem to be a slightly better version of the heavy bolter for almost double the cost.  Yes, I know that they have rending, but you can't really rely on rending to help you.
The twin linked lascannon and the lascannon/twin linked plasma gun seem to be very good upgrades on paper.  To be honest, I don't see the attraction.  I would rather have my really heavy weapons on my Long Fangs than on a fairly fragile tank.

Rhino's
To be honest, my favourite of the transport vehicles for Grey Hunters.  Its cheap, it has a good transport capacity, and its cheap.
It will however not be the toughest thing on the board.  My suggestion is the more the merrier, the more targets you give your opponent the more likely it is that some will survive.
Thats why in my 1000 point army I have 3 Rhinos with Grey Hunters in.  A good solid core of Grey Hunters tends to be one of the best things in a Space Wolves army, I've often found they're more effective than some of the more elite units just because of the sheer numbers of them.
The question is whether to go for a unit of 10 or a unit of 8.  Some of you may notice I don't go for a unit of 9, but their are reasons for that. 
A unit of 10 has obvious benefits, the fact that you get 2 special weapons.  That can often be a very effective reason for it, as two flamer shots out of a rhino is a lot better than one. 
I tend to go for the 8 man squad for a number of reasons, but it's upto you to decide what works.  I often find that a 10 man unit is too big, its too many points.  In my experience, an 8 man combat unit tends to be more effective than a 10 man, mainly because you're less likely to wipe out your opponent and get shot up in your opponents turn.  Also, an 8 man squad gives me room for a Wolf Guard and a Rune Priest passenger.  In smallish games, having the space for a passenger can change the role of your squads from a shooting squad to an assault squad.

The next issue is to decide what you give them.
In a 10 man squad, give them 2 special weapons because there is no reason not to.  The great thing with Rhino's is that you can fire out of the firepoint.  This means that any of the 3 special weapons is worthwhile, it really depends on what armies you tend to face.  Even flamers are worthwhile, but because of their range they are the hardest to use effectively.
In an 8 man squad, I would give them 1 special weapon, a wolf standard, a power fist and mark of the wulfen.  My special weapon tends to be a melta gun because I play a lot against Imperial Guard, so having something that's got a good chance of getting rid of that pesky battle tank is nice.  A wolf standard is fantastic in an assault unit (it's a real shame Wolf Guard can't have them) that its almost always worth having them.  The trick is knowing when to use them, usually the first assault you make of the game or against something you think you might struggle against.  The last unit tends to be fairly obvious,; any dedicated assault unit, monstrous creature, walker, independent character or something thats likely to give your Grey Hunters a run for their money.  What you have to remember is that while Grey Hunters are good in combat, they aren't the best unit out there and will need all the help they can get.    The power fist and mark of the wulfen are relatively simple to understand, they are there to give you a bit of extra kick in combat.

Land Raiders
The great thing about Land Raiders is the fact that you can cram more models in them.  This means more Grey Hunters and more characters with them.  If you're going to have Grey Hunters in a Land Raider of any sort, I would definately recommend a Wolf Lord with them, at the very least a Wolf Guard Battle Leader.  A Wolf Priest would also help to send this unit through most things your opponent can field. 
The problem is, Land Raiders (any of the variants) are a lot of points.  Well, mostly of you are probably saying thats obvious and you'd be right.  For the price of a Land Raider you could get a decent sized Grey Hunter pack equipped, in a rhino with a Wolf Guard Pack Leader.  Me, I tend to go for the larger model count.

Grey Hunters (Part 1)

Grey Hunters are one of the most cost efficient troop choices in the game, with their special rules (counter attack espically) making them able to fulfil a number of battlefield roles.
One thing to remember with Grey Hunters is that they aren't elite combat troops.  Grey Hunters is a fairly standard space marine statline, it is the addition of their equipment and special rules that makes them better.  Remember, the more you have in a combat the more likely you are to kill your target.

Now, lets look at the equipment that our trust Grey Hunters can have.

Special Weapons
If you have 10 Grey Hunters in a squad, then special weapons are buy one get one free.  I would say this is definately a must for footslogging armies, there isn't a reason not to have large units with 2 special weapons that I can think of.  The hard part is when you start putting them into transport vehicles.  Some people swear by wolf guard pack leaders, some prefer having the full 10 men with 2 special weapons.  If you are new, try both whenever you can.  Find what works best for you.  Me, I tend to go for the wolf guard, but I will explain that at a later date.
Now onto the weapons.
Flamer: The age old arguement of quantity over quality.  Lets look at quantity.  Well, the flamer is free at all times for Grey Hunters.  This means more points to spend on other things in the army.  Secondly the flamer is able to hit and potentially wound more models than the meltagun or plasma gun.  The more dice you make your opponent roll the more likely they are to fail their saves.  The flamer is espically good against hordes, because they tend to have worse armour anyway and the flamer makes them lose any cover saves. 
Now, lets take a look at quality.  The strength of 4 is the lowest of the bunch, meaning it wounds marines on a 4+ rather than the 2+ the other two weapons do.  The AP5 means that marines get a save against it.  As a template weapon, the range is poor-so is probably best reserved for mechanised or drop podded units. 
Melta gun: My favourite option of the 3 special weapons.  Obviously the melta gun gun is incredibly good at hunting tanks.  Its also pretty cheap at 5 points.  One of the main advantages in my opinion is the fact that it is an assault weapon.  The fact that Grey Hunters seem to be happiest when charging means that the melta gun is perfect for them.  Also works surprisingly well against walkers and monstrous creatures.
Plasma gun: The plasma gun is the only one of the special weapons that is rapid fire.  Instantly that means that the Grey Hunters can't assault if they shoot with it.  Thats why I'm usually not convinced-but I am playing a mostly mech list.  However, in a unit in a drop pod this would work as they can't assault the first turn anyway.  Then, there is always the overheat special rule to consider.
Plasma pistol: Not a bad option, a little too expensive for my taste.  Plasma pistols are good against marines, though if you're shooting at low armour save models then its a bit of waste.  Does still mean you can assault though.
Power weapon: A good option, even though there are better.  The reasons for taking a power weapon for Grey Hunters are the same as for taking a power weapon for a marine sergeant.  Useful in small squads because you strike faster and more likely to get the hits in. 
Power fist: A power fist is probably a better option than a power weapon.  You do get less attacks than a power weapon, but your attacks are more likely to kill.  This is very helpful, as it means that you are more likely to win the combat.  However, you do strike last (obviously) so is more useful in larger squads because you are less likely to lose the power fist in the first round due to casualties.
Wolf Standard: Definately worthwhile in a larger unit that you plan to get into assaults.  The ability to reroll ones is very powerful.  The number of times they've helped me win combats means they are a permanent addition to my Grey Hunter packs.  However, I don't see much point in having this in a small pack (basically one in a razorback).  It works best with more models.
Mark of the Wulfen: Definately a good upgrade.  D6+1 attacks at standard with the rending special rule.  Yes please.  Mark of the wulfen is good in combat against most targets, but don't rely on it.  If I don't have points for mark of the wulfen and a power fist, I go for a power fist.  This is because other combat upgrades are more reliable and you can guarantee their results.  Mark of the Wulfen however is good and has the potential to do amazing things in combat.