A Return to Tournaments (and a 1500pts List)

Greetings, Aseldi here. Recently, my local GW hosted a small lock in tournament for the release of the Tyranid WD. Having not played a game since the Invasion tournament 6months back, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get back into things.

In short, I turned up with much the same list I'd used for the previous tournament, with Njal added on and minus a power fist on the Grey Hunters since the points limit was 1500pts.


HQ:

Njal, Lord of the Tempests - 265pts
-runic terminator armour

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) - 210pts
(Rhino)
-plasma gun
-flamer
-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


Total - 1495pts


1st Game:
My first game was against a Dark Angel DeathRavenwing build. I'm pleased with the way my force acted here, as they were easy able to divide his forces and whittle them down with bolter fire from the Grey Hunters, and missiles from the Long Fangs, before charging in for the kill with the Thunderwolf Cavalry. I'd go as far to say that this is the best method with which to use them.

As before, the Rune Priest stayed back with the Long Fangs as well as in range of one of the packs of Grey Hunters, able to cast Prescience whenever necessary.

Njal himself was rather underwhelming this game. Without a squad he could easily be attached to, since the Grey Hunters had Rhinos and the Wolf Guard being at full capacity in a drop pod, it was hard to move him anywhere meaningful without fear of him being gunned down easily.


2nd Game:
My second game happened to be against my friend, who I'd arranged to attend the tournament with. He was fielding a nonsensical bunch of Eldar units which i stood no chance of distinguishing. All i know is that it was horrible to play against, with his Guardians, once a favoured target to be easily mowed down with Bolters now have access to an almost perpetual 2+ cover save and have Rending… I still suspect some of the rules, but he wiped the floor with me in 2 turns, with the tanks (no idea which ones) wiping out entire squads in 1 shooting phase… If someone could tell me I'm not alone in thinking the Eldar are a tad OP, that'd be much appreciated.

Njal died turn one...


3rd Game:
A suitably exciting game to end the night on. My opponent was fielding Imperial Guard, and it turned out that we were using the Escalation and Stronghold Assault Rules, so he'd brought one of their massive tanks (the one with the Vulcan MegaBolter, I should really brush up on my unit knowledge). Anyway, I managed to seize the initiative, and my Wolf Guard managed to destroy a Leman Russ by Dropping behind and using the combo meltas, and my Long Fangs dispatched another. The game continued in much the same manner, me destroying tanks, his Vulcan Mega-bolter firing a silly amount of shots… It all came down to the last turn when I managed to seize victory by charging the Apocalypse Vehicle with my last remaining Thunderwolf, and destroy it with the power fist. Epic conclusion.

Also, Njal survived until the penultimate turn! Rolling well on the Tempest table, and causing half of his infinity units to flee from the game!


Placings wise, I achieved 2nd for painting, which I'm astounded by, and 2nd overall! Considering my length of time away from the game, and the ageing codex, as having not intention of high placings, I'm very pleased!


So what I learned from this tournament… That Eldar are a nightmare to play against. Escalation and Strong Hold assault, in my opinion and that of the group I regularly play with, aren't expansions we'll be picking up any time soon. Mainly this is due to the rather high cost of even more books, and the models which they allow. Almost bordering on Pay to Win in a way?

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated! Especially on the devious ways of the Eldar, and whether Stronghold Assault and Escalation really are worthwhile additions.

-Aseldi

Another 2000pts Space Wolf Army List!

Hello there, Aseldi here. This army list is really a more revised and built upon list to the one I reviewed after Conflict Scotland, hopefully expanding it's strengths, and further focusing it.

So let's get started!


HQ:
Rune Priest - 120pts
-Runic armour

Wolf Priest - 115pts
-Saga of the Wolfkin

TROOPS:
Grey Hunters Pack (10) - 185pts
-plasma gun
-plasma gun
-Wolf Standard
-Mark of the Wulfen

Grey Hunters Pack (10) - 185pts

-plasma gun

-plasma gun

-Wolf Standard

-Mark of the Wulfen

Grey Hunter Pack (10) - 175pts
-flamer
-plasma gun
-Wolf Standard
-Mark of the Wulfen

ELITES:
Wolf Guard Terminator Pack (5) - 425pts
(drop pod)
(Arjac Rockfist, the Anvil of Fenris)
-combi-plasma, power weapon
-combi-plasma, power axe
-combi-melta, power fist
-assault cannon, power weapon

Lone Wolf - 35pts
-Mark of the Wulfen

FAST ATTACK:
Thunderwolf Cavalry (3) - 265pts
-storm shield
-storm shield
-storm shield, power fist

Fenrisian Wolf Pack (15) - 120pts

Fenrisian Wolf Pack (15) - 120pts

HEAVY SUPPORT:
Long Fangs Pack (6) - 140pts
-5x missile launchers

Long Fangs Pack (60) - 115pts
-5x heavy bolter

TOTAL - 2000pts


The first thing you probably noticed is that I cut the Rhinos, despite having raved in the past about how good they still are. I stand by this, but at this point in 6th ed, the Space Wolf codex is certainly showing it's age, especially with the price of some of the HQs, but I'll hopefully be doing a post on this topic in the near future. So the reason I cut them is that they generally blew up in rather spectacular fashion, killing a few occupants each time. This annoyed me. So by cutting them, I gain access to their full power at all times, despite being more vulnerable. But hey, its footslogging, as the Russ intended.

And that slogan is the one I'm hoping to stick to for this list. By including the character Arjac, the Fenrisian Wolves, and the Lone Wolf, units which only we have access to, it becomes a little more Space Wolf flavoured, and should be more fun to play because of this!

So the Rune Priest, cheap and cheerful, served me well so far, but i am definitely hoping to achieve the feat of killing a Hive Tyrant and a Tervigon with one Jaws of the Worldwolf again!
The Wolf Priest is included mainly to buff the Fenrisian Wolves, but his Preferred Enemy should prove invaluable with one of the plasma armed Grey Hunter packs.

3 Packs of Grey Hunters this time due to the increased game size, and they will be moving forward as an unstoppable line hopefully. Basically moving them wherever the line needs bolstered.

I've had to trim down on the Wolf Claws this time, mainly due to my consistent poor choosing of the rerolls, but I have a little more access to AP2 with the Power Axe, something I sorely felt was missing with the previous list.  They will hopefully be dropping near where the Thunderwolves have managed to weaken the line, then begin the process of butchering enemy heavy infantry from there.
The Lone Wolf is another cheap and cheerful addition, hopefully able to run around, taking down those pesky small units, and maybe even something bigger? Mark of the Wulfen is funny like that. The unit is also sorely overlooked in my opinion, so might as well lead by example.

The Fast Attacks are probably the strangest focus of this list.  The Thunderwolves remain unchanged, but this time they have EVEN MOARE WOLVES! Their primary role is to act as meatshields, charging before the Thunderwolves so they can take the Overwatch shots (tell me if I'm wrong about this rule?) but with Saga of the Wolfkin they can actually deal a nice amount of damage, and their numbers should also bring some added tank to the list. Just hoping they aren't shot at too much... But if they are, at least that's one less unit shooting at the Grey Hunters!
Both units will advance ahead of the Grey Hunters with the Thunderwolves acting mainly as an alpha strike force, almost as a real wolf pack would: weakening the enemy with the expendables and younger wolves before going in for the kill.

The missile launcher Grey Hunters make a return, not much explanation needed, but this time there is also a squad of heavy bolters to aid them.  In the past, I have found the slightly shorter range of the Heavy Bolter a small hinderance, but hopefully I have learned how to use them more effectively now. Especially with the move to footslogging lists on the local meta -cough- these guys should prove invaluable!

And there we have it, a pretty exhaustive breakdown of a list I am yet to even play.  But with all the Space Wolf character in it, it should be a blast no matter what the result!

-Aseldi

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

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

Land Raider Variants and Space Wolves

This is a topic which has been causing me no end of wonder recently. In my most recent article, the 1250pts Space Wolf list, you will see I opted for the Land Raider Redeemer eventually to deliver my Wolf Guard (maybe a bit Deathstar(ish)) unit into the heat of battle! (excuse the pun)

But I believe this topic to be one worthy of a little more debate. In our codex, we have access to 3 Land Raider Patterns, the usual, the Crusader and the Redeemer. Here I hope to list the reasons for taking each, and my opinions on them.

Right, so first up we have the usual Land Raider. Weighing in at 250pts, it's expensive as always. (one thing I'm surprised at is that the points weren't lowered in the Dark Angels Codex, but I'm sure they have their reasons). Armed with 2 twin-linked Lascannons, and a twin-linked heavy bolter, it's got a lot of firepower! As well as a transport capacity of 10 and AV 14/14/14 with 4 HPs, all for 250pts. This is the variant I feel is hardest to decide upon the role. For a start, it carries the long range weapons of our arsenal, is the most survivable vehicle we have access to. So I feel sitting it at the back of the battlefield, putting the Lascannons to good use is wasting the overall potential. But sticking a squad of Wolf Guard and the like inside it and pushing it forward is also a little risky, since it reduces the fire ability. For these reasons, I tend to leave this one back in The Fang, it doesn't know what it wants to do with itself.

The Crusader. Again, 250pts, but this time armed with 2 Hurricane Bolters and a twin-linked assault cannon, frag assault launchers, with a transport capacity of 16!! Definitely the dedicated assault vehicle we want to deliver the death star to define all deathstars. The hurricane bolters are effective at the grange this vehicle wants to operate at, close, as does the assault cannon. The one thing it lacks is the straight up fire power. You could argue this is offset by the sheer volume of shots it can deliver, and the payload it will probably be carrying, but when I'm spending 250pts on something, I'd like it to do a little more than simply deliver a unit to the battle safely. This is something the standard Land Raider does well, with it's Lascannons able to de-mech enemy units for the occupants to charge. But with the Crusader, unless it's Dark Eldar you're fighting, with their paper aeroplanes, you're unlikely to get much in the way of de-meching, or softening of the more elite units. Instead, you get something which can soften up an enemy unit moderately, before a 16 (or 8 terminator) model unit finishes it off. Frankly, even I don't take squads this big. Despite the safety of its armour, I still feel there's too much risk involved. And as mentioned above, I like to feel my vehicles do something in the battle, other than merely soften an enemy unit.

This leads me on to the final variant, the Land Raider Redeemer! 10pts less than the other 2, at 240pts (for some reason...) it comes with a transport capacity of 12, a twin-linked assault cannon, frag assault launchers, and my favourite bit: 2 flame storm cannons!! Possibly my favourite weapon in the game - These S6 Ap3 beauties reduce even marine units to molten slag in one shot, even if they decide to cower in cover!
But back on track. Personally, I feel that a capacity of 12 is perfect. It allows for a terminator armoured character to accompany our Wolf Guard Terminators, nothing more I could really wish for. A 10pts multi-melta brings it up to 250pts along with the others, and adds the extra firepower we need to do some serious damage to enemy tanks. The assault cannon is a very useful weapon (the amount of times i've seen it destroy Rhinos...). And the Flamestorm cannons are perfect for dealing with the many MEQ units in the local meta. Unfortunately, the positioning of shots can sometimes be difficult, and if the enemy is optimising model spacing... A dismissed kill count will be achieved (as well as a disgruntled look). But overall, this is my favourite variant.
Able to decisively reduce units threatening to get close with melta weapons, and soften the enemy unit before it's occupants charge in.

Hopefully an article which will help you decide which variant to field, and not too long winded... If you feel I've missed anything out, or have some gay ideas/feedback of your own, as always, feel free to leave a comment!
-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

To Take, or Not to Take the Metal Box?

Greetings all, Aseldi here to look over the changes brought upon general army composition brought by 6th edition. More specifically, whether to take a footslogging list, or transports?

Firstly, I'll state that by transports, I mean 10 Grey Hunters in a Rhino.  I've never been a fan off the MSU list, and I seem incapable of taking squads of fewer than 10 marines...

Right, to business.  Space Wolves are the perfect choice, out of marines at least, for both of these lists.  We can do footslogging well, and rhinos are nice and conforming with What Russ Intended.

Footslogging, we can easily take a Wolf Guard Squad leader in terminator armour, and stick him on the front of a unit. He acts like a small tank, soaking up all incoming fire on his 2+ armour save, and seriously annoying your opponent.  He also adds a nice wee challenge ability to a squad that wouldn't otherwise have it, and with a variety of wargear at his disposal, can be kitted out to deal with almost any threat. So all sounds good so far doesn't it? And it looks great having squads led by a terminator marching across the battlefield towards an enemy!

But I don't use this one... Despite the benefits above.  This is mainly because I have the worst luck with armour saves ever.  Every time I've used this tactic, my terminator has died to the first bolter shot his way, removing the unit's whole utility, but by no means their effectiveness (they are Grey Hunters after all!).  I just dislike this possibility, and as it happens so often, I rarely feel inclined to spend roughly 35pts on the guy...

Now to our old friend the Rhino! At the beginning of 6th, it seemed to be an endangered species, people proclaiming left right and centre that mech lists were on the down (and to an extent they were right), and Rhinos had been hit by the nerf bat.  However, in my opinion, the situation is quite the contrary! 

Lets look at the stats: For 35pts we get a 11/11/10 vehicle which can boost our Grey Hunters 18" up the board right towards the objectives, where they want to be.  Armour 11 negates most armies' basic weaponry too.  And if they happen to survive past the first turn, they can act as a screening unit, which can be invaluable!  3 HP is also pretty survivable, but with the rise of plasma, still a little tenuous.

In conclusion, currently I am using the Rhino tactic. It has more reliability, and adds a huge amount of manoeuvrability to an otherwise relatively slow army, and can allow a Grey Hunter squad to stay nearby those Thunderwolves.
-Aseldi

For the Glory of Chaos(2000pt Army List)

Sorry this took so long

So I’m listening to “Call to the Warrior” by Affiance so Ifeel it only proper that honour of this great song I post my first Chaos SpaceMarine army list. The following list is one that I have only played a couple oftimes but I haven’t lost with it at all so far. It’s a 2000pt list and quitefluffy for those of us who like Father Nurgle (I say here fluffy and by that Imean there are no Tzeentch based units). I have given all my units Veterans ofthe Long War (VOTLW) and that was because this list was originally designed tofight the first army list posted by Aseldi. But I digress. So here is the armylist:

HQ

Chaos Lord – Terminator Armour, Mark of Nurgle, MurderSword, - 160pts

                        VOTLW,Ichor Blood (This was really a points filler)

This lord is quite tough with toughness 5 and a 2+ Armoursave. My idea here was to have this guy be used mainly as a deterrent to Logan(because lets face it, that is one scary wolf). However that tactic works justas well with any other character. You’ll find that most players aren’tparticularly keen to pit their prized lord up against S8 AP1 Instant Death.Though beware of thinking this guy is invincible. Your opponent will aim everyweapon they can at this guy to keep him off their lord so stick him in a niceLand Raider or, for a cheap alternative, a unit of cultists. You could even tryDeep Striking him though this is something I haven’t tried.

Chaos Sorcerer – Mark of Nurgle, VOTLW, Lvl 2, SpellFamiliar – 120pts

Here is a unit that has never failed to under-perform in thegames I’ve played. But the upside here is that it is a cheap psyker that (ifyou roll well for your spells) can do devastating amounts of damage to yourenemies elite units. I recommend putting your second roll on telepathy, as thisis personally my favourite discipline especially if your enemy decides to fieldDark Reapers (If you don’t know what these are then you are incredibly lucky)and you roll “Puppet Master”. Otherwise I tend to just go for Psychic Shriek,an awesome power even against Marines (remember they are only Ld 8-9 unlessthey have a HQ with them and they don’t even get there shiny 3+ armour). Sothis guy you just put into a rhino with one of the squads of Plague Marines andcause havoc.

Troops

(7)Plague Marines – 2xPlasma Gun, VOTLW, Rhino – 240pts

(7)Plague Marines  - 2xPlasmaGun, VOTLW, Rhino – 240pts

So these are the two units that this army revolves around.Plague Marines are undoubtedly one of the best units available to any CSMplayer and even though they aren’t automatically troops anymore the simpleinclusion of a chaos lord with Mark of Nurgle unlocks them as troops (Meaningthey can hold objectives!). There may only be 7 of them per squad but youropponent will cower in fear when your two filth-encrusted Rhinos charge forwardblasting up to 4 S7 AP2 shots each! On top of that if you plonk a squad ofthese on an objective nothing short of a Genestealer assault (and even theymight have difficulty) will shift them.

(20)Cultists –(No upgrades) – 90pts

(20)Cultists –(No upgrades) – 90pts

Cheap and cheerful is the motto here. Having 40 cheap fleshwoun- I mean uhh…. Loyal followers…. Yeah…. But anyway the fact that you canfield so many of these for so little points means that you can easily use theseguys to tar-pit units or just use them to hold an objective.

(10) Chaos Space Marines - (No upgrades)-140pts

Well these guys might seam a little pointless in the armyand that’s fair enough these guys do however make an excellent hiding spot forthe Lord or the Sorcerer if their squad gets destroyed and they happen to benearby. To be perfectly honest this unit was really just a points-filler butwith careful manipulation of the list you could probably turn this unit into aunit of Raptors or such-like things.

Elites

(8) Khorne Berzerkers - VOTLW, Icon of Wrath(Optional) – 185pts

So here we have the close combat monster unit. But lets faceit, after all these editions everyone knows that. So these guys will be amassive bullet magnet. Now… How do we fix this problem? The answer: PUT THEM INA LAND RAIDER! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! No but seriously putting these guys inthe Land Raider with the Chaos Lord gives them a quick ride into enemy linesand putting them with the Chaos Lord as well gives you an insane close combatunit which your opponent will put a lot of effort into destroying.

Fast Attack

Helldrake – Bale Flamer – 170pts

Never leave your house without one. That simple. This is byfar one of the best fliers in the game. If you need it to hunt the enemiesfliers and vehicles just leave the Hades Autocannon on it. With the Daemonforgethis thing will take out any vehicle that you point it at (Bar maybe a Monolithor Land Raider). Alternatively with a Bale Flamer this flying monstrositybecomes the bane of your enemies ranged infantry squads (Long Fangs beware!).This guy will reach them instantly burn them to ash and has the ability tovector strike a Dreadnought to death in the same turn! And if that’s not enoughto convince you to put this in your list, then fact that it is a flying, metalchaos DRAGON(!!!!!!) will!

Heavy Support

Land Raider – Dirge Caster – 235pts

So this is the awesome clump of metal that safely gets yourlovely disciples of the Blood God (Talking about the ‘Zerkers here) intocombat.  However in recent games afterdoing that this unit tends to be spectacularly underwhelming. It might be ableto pop another vehicle or so but apart from that the only real value of thisvehicle is the fact that it stops enemies from Overwatching near it. (For a cheapalternative hear consider a Rhino with a Dirge Caster: 40pts). So allconsidered this unit is quite a personal choice because it is pricey but unlessyour enemy is overflowing with melta or haywire weaponry (beware Wyches here)nothing will kill your massive clump of metal.

Mauler Fiend – (No upgrades) – 125pts

As with the Land Raider this is quite a personal decision.Personally I love the Mauler Fiend model and this particular army is lackinganything that could deal with a threat like a Land Raider or Monolith so thisunit seemed ideal to fill that gap. On another note this thing makes for anexcellent bullet magnet, as the sheer size of thing will usually attract a halftonne of firepower. But fear not, having “It will not die” and a 5++ save frombeing a Daemon is very nice to save you from that.

(10)Havocs – 4xPlasma Gun, Rhino – 200pts

This is perhaps my favourite unit in this whole list. Its worthit purely for the look on the opponents face when you disembark these guys nextto the enemies Terminator squad and unleash 8(!!!!) S7 AP2 shots. Not much willstand against these guys for long at range and anybody trying to enter combatstill has a devastating Overwatch to deal with. These guys have incredibly highmobility and terrifying firepower meaning they should almost always be whereyou need them and will almost always kill whatever you point them at. Theseguys can deal out a fair bit of damage against Vehicles but my advice would be don’twaste them on anything above AV11 its simply a waste of 8 AP2 shots which willmow through any infantry formation.

So there you have it! 2000pts of beautiful Choas. I hopethis was helpful and helps you bring glory to the Chaos Gods! BLOOD FOR THEBLOOD GOD!

2000pts Space Wolf Army List

A good blizzard is blowing outside today, so I thought it would be the perfect time to upload a few of the Space Wolf army lists I use, and discuss the tactics behind them.

HQ
Logan Grimnar, the Great Wolf - 275pts

Rune Priest - 120pts
-Terminator armour

Rune Priest - 120pts
-Runic armour


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

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

Grey Hunters Pack (10) - 235pts
(Rhino)
-flamer
-meltagun
-power fist
-Wolf Standard
-Mark of the Wulfen

Wolf Guard Pack (4) - 247pts
(Drop Pod)
-4x Terminator armour
-2x Wolf Claw
-Chainfist, Wolf Claw
-Power fist, storm shield
-Wolf Claw, storm shield


FAST ATTACK
Thunderwolf Cavalry (3) - 270pts
-3x Storm Shields
-Thunder hammer


HEAVY SUPPORT
Long Fangs Pack (6) - 140pts
-5x Missile launchers

Long Fangs Pack (6) - 115pts
-5x Heavy bolters


Ok, the ideas behind this are that the Grey Hunters with 1 Rune Priest move forward to take the middle ground, supporting the Thunderwolves and Wolf Guard. The Long Fangs stay back and provide covering fire, along with 1 Rune Priest.

I attach Logan to the Wolf Guard, and have them in their Drop Pod deep strike close by the Thunderwolves. This means that they can support each other well, and the Thunderwolves can make up for the Wolf Guard's huge lack of ranged weaponry.
The reason I load them out like this is that they really are there to deal with the heaviest units the enemy can bring, and usually do. The most difficult part to this unit is where to deep strike it. It is imperative that they aren't separated, as certainly in one of my games where I thought it would be 'a frankly genius idea' to put them behind the enemy lines, they were just swarmed and eventually died rather stupidly...
Getting second turn sometimes actually helps with this tactic, as the TWC can usually get a charge on the enemy if they've moved forward enough, locking them up, creating a safe place to Drop Pod these guys in.

The Grey Hunter Packs are fairly self explanatory. I try to keep them in the rhinos as long as possible, minimising casualties, then when in a decent position to rapid fire, disembark and do so. Don't let them get split up, I try to keep the two packs with flamers close to each other, with the 2x plasma squad getting backed up by the Rune Priest, usually with Prescience and Jaws of the World Wolf.

And finally, the Long Fangs. The missile guys have been especially effective; de-meching enemy squads leaving juicy targets for the TWC. With frag and krak missiles, these guys can deal with just about every target.
The heavy bolters can be a little more problematic. They're usually out of range, especially early game, and unfortunately usually stay there if no one gets past the Grey Hunters. This can often lead to a turn of frantic scrambling forward to get to better firing positions.
The Rune Priest supporting these 2 squads usually has Prescience and Living Lightning.


Wow, so that's plenty to go on there! But quickly, some cons to the list:
As I mentioned above, the placement of the Wolf Guard with Logan is usually the turning point. Second go can make it a little easier, as we can see where the battle may go.
The heavy bolters' range can be a nuisance, especially when the enemy sit back.

So there we have it!
Please leave comments on any thoughts you have about it.
-Aseldi