Army List Review

Hello all, Aseldi here today to review the list I took to Conflict Scotland.

Firstly, here's the list I took.

HQ:

Rune Priest - 120pts

-Runic armour

TROOPS:

Grey Hunter Pack (10) - 220pts

(Rhino)

-plasma gun

-plasma gun

-Wolf Standard

-Mark of the Wulfen

Grey Hunter Pack (10) - 235pts

(Rhino)

-plasma gun

-flamer

-power fist

-Wolf Standard

-Mark of the Wulfen

ELITES:

Wolf Guard Pack (5) - 270pts

(Drop Pod)

-5x terminator armour

-combi-plasma, wolf calw

-combi-plasma, wolf calw

-assault cannon

-combi-melta, power fist

-combi-melta

FAST ATTACK:

Thunderwolf Cavalry - 265pts

-3x storm shields

HEAVY SUPPORT:

Longs Fangs Pack - 140pts

-5x missile launcher

And I'll start off by going over the Grey Hunters. They were fantastic! Definitely stand by the claim they are the best troops in the game. I had them stay in the Rhinos as long as possible (which usually ended up with it exploding and killing a couple) firing out the hatches with the plasma guns, and a bolter in the case of the other squad as well. When they were eventually de-meched, the enemy was faced with an increased volley of bolter fire! So win win either way in my opinion. In combat they did superbly as well, dishing out a frankly obscene amount of attacks, reducing most other units to nothing!

    Item wise, I think the gun load out works well.  Wolf Standard is insane! And Mark of the Wulfen is a great bonus too. The only thing I still hold doubts about is the power fist, but it did bag a couple of guaranteed kills, so I guess it was worth it.

    Rhinos also remain pretty sturdy, considering all the anti-infanty weaponry people bring these days usually being rather ineffective against them.

Now the Wolf Guard. These guys scored me First Blood most games, which is always nice.  Things I've learned though - WTF NECRON LORDS?! I should have known something was up when it made a complete U-turn and came for my Termies as they dropped in! S7 ignoring armour saves... Seriously?? I thought Necrons were poor in close combat?? But I'll save that rant for another day. 

    Generally, placing the drop pod worked well when it was where the enemy line was weakest, allowing me to break it and cause the enemy to have to reposition to deal with them. In close combat they also fared well for the most part, but I did feel the lack of AP2 sorely.

    And their loadout. Combi-weapons are great for 5pts, those plasma and melta shots delivered at the right time can be a game changer!  I love assault cannons, 4 shots S6 AP4 rending? Need I say more? And Wolf Claws did come in use, but I have a habit of calling rerolls and then being successful in all of them anyway, then fail the set I can't reroll.

The Thunderwolf Cavalry.  Very hit and miss. Some practice with these guys is needed I reckon. For a start, I'm awful at rolling their saving throws! Losing 2 to Overwatch is awful!  But they bring to bear an insane amount of rending attacks, and S10 Ap2 hits, very nice.  Usually I'd just charge them at the first thing I saw, which isn't a good idea, I need to learn which units to prioritise with them for sure. I have an idea about how to reduce the amount they suffer from overwatch, but another post.

    Storm shields are great, worth the points for sure (if I could ever make the save anyway...) and the powerfist is good too!

And now the Long Fangs! Again, a tricky one. The opponents I faced generally didn't have many great targets for them... And the ones that did kept them in buildings with a 4+ cover save they ALWAYS made. So I guess I am a little disappointed they didn't do as much as they have in the past, but they have the potential to decimate enemy vehicles and heavy infantry!

    Taking 5 missile launchers with them is my favourite way being honest. But I actually think 5 heavy bolters would have been more effective against the infantry heavy lists I ended up facing.

Finally, the Rune Priest.  I ended up being thoroughly unimaginative, and taking Divination, opting for Prescience each time. He buffed the Long Fangs and nearby units no end, so a great addition. But I felt I should have made more use of him than just sitting him at the back sending blessings. Perhaps against another army.

    A cheap and cheerful build, but one which offers great value for points!!

There we go, a rather large wall of text describing my army's performance. I hope it can help you when you're selecting units to take, and give you some things to consider too!  Overall, my top rated unit would definitely be the Grey Hunters, for the consistent brilliance!

-Aseldi

The Aftermath

Wow. That's all I can really say about this year's Conflict Scotland. First time to Warhammer World, and the place does not disappoint, I highly recommend it if you get the chance to go.

So here are my impressions of Warhammer World.
You arrive, and are instantly greeted by a massive space marine statue in front of the main building, which also has a rather massive imperial insignia embossed above the doors.  Bugmans bar was great too, with plenty of artefacts lining the walls, with a wee bit of lore for each.
The main hall. Those gaming tables. That's it really, they were insane! What I would give for a game on one of those.
And finally, the miniature showcase. It is breathtaking, and will either demoralise you eternally from painting, or inspire you to even further feats of the brush. For me, it was probably the former  though.  The diorama of the Space Wolves vs Tyranids was unbelievable as well!

Incidentally, there is also a rather massive GW store at the back, at least 3 times the size of my local one.


Unfortunately, I won't be able to post any battle reports, cause quite frankly, I can't remember what happened that well. But what I can remember is that I played 3 great opponents, had some of the best games I've ever had, and am definitely hoping to attend more of these events in the future!! I lost my first game to Necrons, a close match (despite me being left with only my Rune Priest with just 1 Wound left).
The second game was against a Dark Angel player. Great guy, only his 3rd game ever or something insane like that.  Considering this, he was doing brilliantly! But I do feel like a bit of a git for mercilessly tabling him.
The third army I faced was an Ultrasmurfs 6th company. It had 3 Storm Talons. I was dubious of my chances, since I'd brought absolutely nothing to deal with flyers. He was also very good at his saves (saying Emperor Protects really does help it would seem...) But in the end I managed to eek out a win, but great game all round with some tough decisions, and the hardest fought for first blood I have ever had!! I had also been moved from table 26 to 12 for this, so was pretty chuffed!

Overall I came joint 15th, which I was amazed by!

-Aseldi

Tis Done!

22h of painting later, I have finally finished my 1250pts Space Wolf army for Conflict Scotland! Not much else to say, back is killing me, and I'm going to have nightmares of pains running out for weeks, but I finished it!
And here are the pictures, safe to say I'm pleased.

As I'm a bit pushed for time, that's all for now, comments are greatly appreciated!
-Aseldi

The Sprint Finish!

Hello there! Aseldi here,

As you know from my last post, I took the widely discouraged, yet most commonly taken approach of 'leave it all to the last minute' for my painting for Conflict Scotland. Thankfully, I seem to have kept on track so far today, completely one Grey Hunter pack, Long Fangs pack and the Thunderwolves. This leaves me with only the Wolf Guard and the other Grey Hunter pack to paint, which should be manageable! 

On the other hand, I'm yet to actually get a rune priest... So I reckon I'll throw together a quick conversion using a Chaos Warrior cloak (heresy I know) and a torso and legs I have spare with the generic staff etc. 

So that's my rambling for today, and on the topic of CS, I'm hoping to get some battle reports, but with a lack of a camera, this could prove difficult.

Pics will be up tomorrow hopefully,

-Aseldi

The Inevitable Has Occurred!

Hello all! Aseldi here to proclaim that indeed, the schedule I posted on the blog a couple of weeks ago has been completely neglected! Here we are, a week from the event, and I've just finished assembling and basepainting the best part of my army...
So it seems the next few days will be rather frantic. To give an idea of the scale of the task (which is definitely achievable), here are some pictures of my army! (minus the Rune Priest... which I am yet to produce, as i completely ran out of superglue and have never gotten round to renewing it...)

Week 1 - Painting update

Aseldi here, with my frantic painting update.  I actually managed to complete my first week's schedule! I never thought Rhinos and a Drop Pod would take so long though.

Anyway, here's what I've achieved this week.  I'm by no means brilliant... But I'm aiming for a thoroughly weathered snow effect, and I think I got that!

Also, being under massive time and budget constraints, I'm using a fairly limited palette. Should pay off though.

So there you are! I'm pleased with actually finishing it, and what it looks like. Hopefully I'll get a step by step up tomorrow on how I painted the Rhinos.

-Aseldi

Painting Schedule

Hello all! Ok, I'm going to post a painting schedule up here in the hope I can actually adhere to it.  I'm painting towards the list I posted earlier today, so it will go along these lines

Week commencing 3rd June: 2x Rhinos and a Drop Pod
Week commencing 10th June: 1 Grey Hunter Pack and Thunder Wolf Cavalry
Week commencing 17th June: 1 Grey Hunter Pack and Wolf Guard
Week commencing 24th June: Rune Priest and Long Fangs, and finishing the squad I inevitably don't get done.

-Aseldi

1250pts Space Wolf Army List - Conflict Scotland

Ok, so here's the list I'm taking to Nottingham on July 1st for Conflict Scotland.  I haven't designed it with power in mind, for a couple of reasons. One being I don't actually have a very large collection of Space Wolves, so I need to make use of everything I have just to make the points, and it all needs to be painted, a feat I have never achieved.

Anyway, so to the list!

HQ:
Rune Priest - 120pts
-Runic armour


TROOPS:
Grey Hunter Pack (10) - 220pts
(Rhino)
-plasma gun
-plasma gun
-Wolf Standard
-Mark of the Wulfen

Grey Hunter Pack (10) - 235pts
(Rhino)
-plasma gun
-flamer
-power fist
-Wolf Standard
-Mark of the Wulfen

ELITES:
Wolf Guard Pack (5) - 270pts
(Drop Pod)
-5x terminator armour
-combi-plasma, wolf calw
-combi-plasma, wolf calw
-assault cannon
-combi-melta, power fist
-combi-melta

FAST ATTACK:
Thunderwolf Cavalry - 265pts
-3x storm shields

HEAVY SUPPORT:
Longs Fangs Pack - 140pts
-5x missile launcher

So the idea with this is that it's rather balanced across he FOC, with something in every slot.

The Rune Priest, depending on the opponent, will either be staying back with the Long Fangs, using Divination powers, or up front, with JotWW making a mess of monstrous creatures.

The Grey Hunter packs will be going for the objectives, with the Rhinos, if they survive this long, blocking vision and charges.

The Thunderwolves will probably be charging towards the biggest, scariest enemy unit available, possibly even with a first turn charge, as we don't want these guys out in the middle of nowhere getting shot to pieces, which is bound to be what the enemy will try to do. Cover will be used to my advantage too, since they can charge through it with little debuff other than the dangerous terrain test.

The Wolf Guard, the surprise unit. Basically, with them automatically arriving first go, they will land where they can back up the rest of the army. I can see this usually being near the TWC, as the combi-meltas have a good chance of popping an enemy Land Raider, or similar heavy vehicle.


Cons about this list are mainly the lack of anti-air. But it is a Space Wolf list after all, so it's not as if we can do much anyway. And with the smaller size of the game, and my general dislike of the allies function, I didn't want to turn to that. I suppose if things become desperate, I can use the Long Fangs, with rerolls to hit from the Rune Priest, to try and take down those fliers.

Other than that, I'm pretty pleased with it. Like I said, not built around power, but should be good fun to play!
As always, post your comments in the section below.

-Aseldi

1250pts Space Wolf Army List

Greetings! Aseldi here once again, this time with a 1250pts army list I've been working on. Originally, this was intended to be taken down to Conflict Scotland, but due to financial reasons, unfortunately can't.
So here it is!

HQ:
Rune Priest - 120pts
-runic armour


TROOPS:
Grey Hunter Pack (10) - 245pts
(Rhino)
-plasma gun
-plasma gun
-power fist
-Wolf Standard
-Mark of the Wulfen

Grey Hunter Pack (10) - 235pts
(Rhino)
-flamer
-plasma gun
-power fist
-Wolf Standard
-Mark of the Wulfen


ELITES:
Wolf Guard Pack (5) - 510pts
(Land Raider Redeemer, multi-melta)
-wolf claw, power fist
-wolf claw, power fist
-wolf claw, power fist
-power fist, storm shield
-power fist, storm shield


HEAVY SUPPORT:
Long Fangs Pack - 140pts
-5x missile launchers


TOTAL: 1250pts


Ok, tactics for this list.
Normally, I would deploy the Rune Priest with the Long Fangs, with 2 spells from Divination (thanks to what was pointed out on my last army list, it seems that we can't pick and choose, unfortunately). Another tactic might be, for extra fun, putting it with the Wolf Guard. But this I feel is a little suicidal, as he can be challenged out and killed too easily. But imagine the carnage that could be inflicted with a well placed Jaws of the Wolf Wolf?!

The Grey Hunters, as usual, would push up the midfield and stand on objectives, the Rhinos acting as shields after they'd deployed the troops in their positions, or acting as a quick getaway vehicle in case of an impending charge from a powerful enemy unit.

Now, the Wolf Guard. I though for a while on how to arm these guys, and how to play them, since I've just bought my first pack and want to give them a go. As it turns out, they've become quite a death star! Risky, I know, for a 1250pts list, but I do have some reasons. The total lack of range is offset by the Land Raider Redeemer they've been given. At AV 14 all round, and 4HP, it's a very sturdy beast! And I stand by this, despite some claims that HP have merged vehicles. The Flamestorm Cannons are insane! Especially with the amount of MEQ armies running about, this will make short work of them. The multi-melta was added in the case of needed to de-mech a juicy target for the WG to dispose of. The WG should make short work of any squad in CC. The WC/PF combo is a little 'power play', but it costs the same points as dual WCs, with the added bonus of getting to choose a PF or WC. I imagine this tactic may be changed in future, meaning that two of the same specialist weapon must be used for the bonus attack, but for now I'm sticking with this. Hence the magnetising (more on that in a future post). The SS also give a bit of staying power.
Overall, this unit will be very hit and miss, it does contain nearly half the armies points, but I imagine, if used well, would be able to make them back brilliantly! It will also act as a great distraction, taking the brunt of the enemy fire off the far more valuable Grey Hunters, as they claim objectives. So the idea with these guys: point them at an important enemy unit. Watch it die.

And finally to the Long Fangs. A veteran unit of many battles, these guys are a must have in an army. As discussed before, disgustingly cheap, with the ability to take 5 missiles, and split fire, just brilliant. These will be offering fire support to anything threatening the Wolf Guard or Land Raided Redeemer.


There we have it! As always, thoughts and feedback welcome in the comments. As a thought, is the layout ok? As in how I display the units. And is the tactics discussion too in depth or lengthly? Let me know, and I'll see what I can change!

That's all for now, may the dice always roll in favour of the brethren of the Russ!
-Aseldi