GT 2008 - Now C:SM V5

[Nightrunner]

Guys, I need some help.

 

Warning: I am a rambler. This post is a ramble, and any replies I make....will probably ramble on too! Such is life, but if you feel you have anything useful to contribute, please jump in, I ain't touchy!!!!!!!! ;)

 

Well, with 5th edition finally here and having come a long way with playing my Wolves over the past 18 months, I've decided that I am going to try and escalate my recent successes at my local store and step up to the next level - the UKGT!

 

A major thorn in my side, of course, is the changing SM codex and the fact that, for heat 2 of the UKGT, I may well be faced with a new SM codex and some newer (more expensive! :( ) options. However, I can't simply turn my back on the codex and leave myself a month to get all of my practice in. Also, I'm an endless worrier, who likes to forever tweak a list to the point of perfection.

 

Prior to the arrival of 5th, I used to play a 90% drop pod list, with two LST's and a TLLC/ML dread on the table. I always found this to be a really effective combo, as with my podding Ven.dread, tooled-up terminators, scouts and 2GH packs (again tooled to the hilt!) it was a very versatile and hard-hitting force.

 

However, the list I have been experimenting with recently is as follows:

 

WGBL with TDA, AC, FB, WP.

WP with WP (:cuss?!?!? ;) )

4 scouts with MG, 2PP, PW

2x8GH in DP with 2pf, pp, one with PG, one with MG, both in a pod with a DW launcher.

Vindicator with EA+SL

AC and LC predator with EA+SL

LRC with a gift-wrapped pack of 8BC, with PW and PF.

 

Thats how I choose to spend my 1500pts, not a point more and hopefully, not a point less! It is by no means perfect, but that's part of why I'm here. I have had four games with the list above. I lost one (daemons), drew one (serious horde orks), and won two (guard and marines!). Not so great, but all part of the learning curve.

 

My thoughts on this list so far:

 

1) The WGPL is possibly one of my favourite options ever, and I truly do not believe he is overpowered in any way or shape; he rides into battle with a GH pack, usually just to add some counter-CC punch and extra firepower.

 

2) The pods have a DW launcher, which has not only proved horribly effective at backing up the GH, but is part of me preparing for more expensive pods with the new SM codex! ;)

 

3) CC is now brutal; my GH's PF have proved more and more depressing over the past few games, and I am considering a major overhaul of these squads. This was epitomised to me in my last game, where a Soulgrinder and my own bad judgement saw both squads of Gh beaten in cc, do nothing in return with her PF's, break and run away off the board edge. Lesson learned....

 

4) The LRC is, truly, one of the best tanks in the game. With careful use of cover and supporting tanks, I have managed to make this tank a real thorn in my opponents' side in all the games I have fielded it. I am aware that it is not indistructable, but for now, I like it.

 

5) The jury is out on BC. They hit hard, especially backed up by the WP, but WS 3 just seems to give opposing units such a boost that I am really considering losing this squad entirely. Ditto the vindicator; it was heroic in the game I won, but really didn'y inspire in the other few games, and I am considering dropping it for an AC/HB predator for some longer range, anti-infantry firepower.

 

6) Hordes, of any race, are just horrible to face; I haven't got a whole lot of firepower, and the close-ranged nature of the podding GH's means I can get chewed up easily.

 

 

If you go this far, have an ale on me. Or five.

 

As this is the first in what I hope will be a long string of posts, my main questions to you, my fellow resifents of the fang, are as follows:

1) If you have GT or indeed a lot of tourney experience with the Wolves, I would love some thoughts on what you think are the changes that YOU would make to this list.

2) Thoughts on what you think of the HQ set-up; I love my venerable dreadnought, but quite frankly at 200+ points, he really is too much.

3) I don't want an all-pod list, but an effective hybrid. I truly believe it can work, as delivering GH to the heart of the enemy army is still horribly effective, but I need to find the best pod+ground-pounder combo that can be had.

 

I intend to test out whatever comes up in this thread over the next three months and update my progress with some regular battle reports and pics (I am lucky enough to be able to get at least a game a week against some very good opponents).

 

Heat 2 of the UKGT is the first week of November, so for the next three months, any and all help will be much appreciated!

 

So........ let the games begin.

 

NR :nuke:

[Wolf89]

Well I've used a similar list, but I've never played at 1500, so I'm used to spending lots of points on 3 HQ's instead of just 2. I'd suggest putting in some fenrisian wolves with the HQ o help him in HtH from being singled out. Also Storm Shields will become amazing, and should be used often. The LRC will become cheaper, and will loose it's multimelta but you can add it back in for additional points.

 

You have filled your heavy options, I was never a fan of this, and believe that you could drop your predator and try to get a 3rd GH squad, possibly not in a drop pod, but in a razorback. Your scouts, LRC, vindi, GH's and even your WGBL (you listed him as WGPL when its WGBL) ca take care of vehicles.

 

I'm a fan of dreads, I usually have 2-3 in my lists, using one as a ven. HQ with plasma cannon or multi melta (melta would go in a drop pod). The other dreads are the las cannon or plasma cannon ones for armor hunting. But I could see this list work fine without dreads.

 

I'm assuming your WGBL and WP will be with the blood claws in the LRC, if this is the case then ignore my next statement. I can't stress this enough, fenrisian wolves help your IC's survive a lot better from shooting and HtH, especially if they're by themselves. If they are in the LRC then I'd give the WGBL and WP, I'd give 1 wolf to the WP and 2 wolves to the WGBL (the WP has a 4+ invuln and the WGBL has a 5+, helps against PF's and stuff to allocate to a wolf instead.

 

I'm also a fan of giving my GH's WGL's kitted out a combi plasma or melta to help give a big punch when they land, however it is quite a bit more points, and you'd do best with giving him TDA for better wound allocation, but I'm not sure what to get rid of in this list to add these amazing additions to your GH's.

[Nightrunner]

Wolf89 - thanks for the heads up, correction made to the Battle leader :(

 

As for the list, I agree and also disagree with some of your suggestions, thanks for the feedback. :o

 

For the cost of a predator, you can't get another GH squad of any use. Whilst I do believe that GH in a razorback could work, the cost of a paper-armoured razorback just doesn't tempt me, and I find that without the 'pod, GH are too short-ranged to really do very much.

 

Why the objection to 3 heavy support? With the increased strength of vehicles, I am finding them to be a much better choice if used well in 5th.

 

WGPL is something that I have been slowly moving back towards, recently. Although I am usually an advocate of not taking them - they suck up points if you aren't careful! - but I am considering dropping the two PF and a Gh from each squad, then getting a WGPL with a PF, WP and combi-flamer. This will just make the squads more versatile, and helps with taking a chunk out of Orks, gaunts etc, whilst keeping the same amount of PF attacks on one model. All for about 5 more points, overall, per squad.

 

The Ven. dread is a toughie. I love my Venerable dreadnought model (Loki - he never turns up on time!) with AC and HF, but he is just so, so, so many points. Out of interest, though, I could lose a Vehicle and the WP and get him in there. We'll see!

 

And finally, fenrisian Wolves; yeah, total point-sink, for me. I put the WGBL in a GH pod, where he provides counter-attack deterrent, fire-support, and can also be separated from the squad on arrival to take out lighter targets.

 

At 1500pts, it is so tight that I can't afford luxuries like Wolves and terminator armour, which just seem to add up.

 

I have two games coming up on Monday, one against Orks and the other against Daemons again, plus it's open house on tuesday; I will be sure to let you know how the list does! In the meantime, I am tinkering with the following list instead, the V.dread having crept back into the equation:

 

WGBL with TDA, AC, FB, WP.

VD with AC, HF, EA, SL, riding his pod of doom.

4 scouts with MG, 2PP, PW

2x 7GH in DP with 4 bolters, 2pp, one with PG, one with MG, in a pod with a DW launcher, led by a WGPL with a PF, combi-flamer and wolf pelt.

AC and HB predator EA+SL

AC and LC predator with EA+SL

LRC with SL.

LS Typhoon with HB.

 

NR <_<

[Wolf89]

Now you lost your Blood claws, which was another scoring unit, in 1500 3 troops is minimum in my opinion. :wallbash:

 

I understand your views on my opinions, it's just how I usually play my lists (I like them fluffy and wolf guard are fluffy) and I rarely leave home with a LRC so I have that nice chunk of points to spend.

 

Good Luck with your list on Monday.

[Nightrunner]

Well, got a great game in tonight against Daemons, so here goes! I decided to experiment with the second of the two lists from above, but went for the Vindicator over the pred simply for the greater versatility of the Demolisher cannon. It is obviously low in troops, but quite high in firepower. I like the balance better, and the Typhoon is there for some actual speed in my list! My camera died, so sorry but no pictures this time! :(

 

WGBL with TDA, AC, FB, WP.

VD with AC, HF, EA, SL, riding his pod of doom.

4 scouts with MG, 2PP, PW

7GH in DP with 4 bolters, 2pp, one with PG, in a pod with a DW launcher, led by a WGPL with a PF, combi-flamer and wolf pelt.

7GH in DP with 4 bolters, 2pp, one with MG, led by a WGPL with a PF, combi-flamer, WTN and wolf pelt. (mounted in the LRC)

AC and HB predator EA+S

Vindicator with EA+SL

LRC with SL.

LS Typhoon with HB.

 

My opponent:

 

TWO Bloodthirsters :cuss

2x 1 Bloodcrusher

3 Flamers

2x 5 Horrors, 1 with the Warp Blast thing (S8 shot)

10 Plaguebearers

5 Plaguebearers

Soulgrinder

 

Well, my immediate thoughts were that 2 Bloodthirsters were going to absolutely kill me. The mission generated for us a magic 'Capture and Control' with Dawn of War set-up. I won the first turn roll, and gave it to my opponent. The table featured three buildings, spread across the middle of the table, a tower on his side (to my top right. his objective in there) and a bunker in the centre of my deployment zone (where mine was placed).

 

TURN 1

D: My opponent gets his unwanted half (hurray!) and down pop 2 units of horrors, the small unit of plaguebearers and a soulgrinder, which scatters waaaaaaaay towards his table edge. Nearly......!

SW: No reserves, no rolls, onto turn 2!

 

TURN 2

D: Bad rolls see only the other bloodcrusher pop down on my left flank, and a Bloodthirster (!) arrive near his objective. He moves both units of horrors forward, running them so that they are approaching my central objective from either flank, with the flamers approaching from the centre of the board. The RH BC runs forward into the cover of one of the buildings.

SW: On comes the LRC, filled with the MG GH pack, my landspeeder and my DP GH, accompanied by the WGBL, and finally my scouts. I left the squad of GH in the LRC, and brought it onto the board 6" to enjoy some hurricane bolter action. The pod arrived on the left flank, right next to the unit of horrors, and my LSTyphoon moved on in the centre with a LOS to the Flamers.

Shooting saw a combination of the DP'ing GH's and their pod wipe out one unit of horrors; I had detached the WGBL from their squad, and used his AC along with the Typhoon to wipe out the flamers. The LRC took out the other unit of horrors, and to round it all off, the scouts blow up the SG.

 

TURN 3

D: On comes everything else. Yay. 10 Bloodletters arrive right next to my objective bunker; the Plaguebearers arrive about 18" away after a poor scatter, and the other BT arrives on my right flank, about 24"away from the objective and my LRC. No shooting left, so he uses his Bloodthirster to take out my scouts in his DZ. One survives, to hold up the BT for another turn.

SW: Everybody bar my dreadnought turns up, and I stick them all in the centre of my DZ, with LOS to the Bloodthirster. The GH who took out the horrors move towards my objective, putting them in range of the Bloodletters. In a bold move, the LRC moves up, out get the GH, and I attempt to shoot the BT with everything.

My pread, a LRC and its 8GH's do no wounds at all. Doh. By my objective, I am slightly more successful, and the WGBL, other GH squad and Vindicator manage to wipe the Bloodletters to a man, who is then assaulted by my WGBL.

My last scout dies!

 

TURN 4

D: The daemons advance on my objective; the LRC sees a BT about to charge it in the side (joy) and the right-hand BC moves up for a charge. The BT who is in my opponents DZ moves towards my table edge at full pelt. With no shooting, CC sees the LRC's GHs beat down the charging BC (gotta love that WTN and counter-attack!) for the loss of a single marine, whilst the BT only manages to blow up the AC's, Immobilise and stun the LRC.

:)

SW: The dreadnought arrives, and not a moment too soon. I move the LRC's GHs into a nearby building after their consolidation from combat; the tanks all turn to face the BT at point-blank range. I go for a risky placement on the Vdread, about 8" from my opponents table edge and near to his Plaguebearers; Fortune smiles on me and I scatter right next to the plaguebearers, landing virtually on top of his objective. My LS boosts 24" up the table, with an eye on his objective next turn.

Poor rolls from me see only 3 plaguebearers go down to the VD; on the other side of the table, my GH's manage to bring down a fair chunk of the larger plague-bearer unit with the help of the nearby WGBL and their pod's missile system. Meanwhile, my Vindicator, pread and other squad take the BT down to 2 wounds. About bloomin' time.

 

TURN 5

D: My opponent is faced with a tough choice, as I now have the dread and a pod contesting his objective. He sends one BT back, and the other moves to within shooting range of the VD's drop pod. The CC this turn sees the dread immobilised by a BT, and my GH (from the DP) run off the table (!!!!!) by the Plaguebearers despite only losing the combat by 1. Doh.

SW: The LS stays in place, and takes his scoring PB's down to 1 daemon. My WGBL, preadator, Vindicator and part-working LRC wipe out both the PB's and the remaining Bloodcrusher, who had been sneaking forward towards my objective. The dread is stunned and loses his PF, but fights on against the Greater Daemon, wounding it in the process!!!!!!!

 

TURN 6: The game goes on!

D: The first BT is still in CC, but his mate reaches CC with my scoring GH unit - yikes! He only kills 4, but I only do a wound in return, passing my LD test and staying in there.

SW: The dread finally bites it, exploding but failing to reach the last PB with his explosion. Doh. The other BT is charged by my WGBL, but he manages to wipe out the GH and before tasting Frost Blade. My preadator and Vindicator moved up, ready to rush for the objective (although they were well out of range) whilst my LS lands on the objective in my opponent's DZ!

 

TURN 7: At this point, I had nothing to score with in my own side, but my opponent had a single PB holding his objective, and my DP right next to it.

D: With only the two daemons left, the BT assaults the DP and again, the explosion fails to deliver. Rubbish!

SW: My LST moves very slightly, and everybody else moves up on my opponents objective and BT. First, I kill the last PB with my LS. At this point, there are no objectives being held anywhere; my Pred, Vindicator and WGBL are all in range of the BT; two wounds will see my opponent wiped out and victory for me;

 

I do a single wound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Draw!!!!

 

_______________________________________

 

One of the best games I have had in ages, and on first impressions I really like the balance of this list. It has good range, and my CC units are quite capable. The only area I was lacking in was troops; however, I was really impressed with the GH in the LRC. I felt that, unlike the BC's I have used in previous games, they really work well with the LRC to provide a real burst of firepower at a target that gets close enough. Ultimately, though, another troops choice might well have turned my draw into a win - I just can't seem to find points in the list to drop to gain me those extra men.

 

Any thoughts on what YOU would change, anyone?

 

Thanks for reading!

 

NR ;)

[hendrik]

sounds like a good battle, only a tad sad about the BT not dying in the end

[kanaellars]

At 1500pts, it is so tight that I can't afford luxuries like Wolves and terminator armour, which just seem to add up.

 

Im sorry but that is insane.

 

We have the cheapest Terminators of any codex... there is never a reason not to put a wolf guard in TDA (ok, there is 1, if hes leading a scout pack, but really).

 

My advice would be drop a bit of heavy, then try to get in more troops and your WG all in TDA. for 5 points plus a bit more of options its not that bad, and like someone else has said, 3 troops MINIMUM in 5th...

 

here is a 5th ed list that I have been looking into... you will probably think I am equally insane, but believe it or not this list is REALLY doing well in testing especially against horde armies, which at least in my area seem to be getting very popular (we are being overrun with ork!)...

 

Please do not list individual points costs for items.-- Lord Rangarok

[Wolf89]

At 1500pts, it is so tight that I can't afford luxuries like Wolves and terminator armour, which just seem to add up.

We have the cheapest Terminators of any codex... there is never a reason not to put a wolf guard in TDA (ok, there is 1, if hes leading a scout pack, but really).

 

I'm sorry but when I read this I thought I was having a heart attack. :P

 

"Cheap" isn't the right term, I think "Overly priced if used right which if you don't use the right wargear then they're a sinkhole of points that die just as easy as regular terminators" is a better term. :devil:

 

Your average Wolf guard in TDA should run you at least 60 points, which is 20 points more than the C:SM variants.

 

There is ways around this disadvantage though, we get runic charms (almost like another wound) the ability to have heavy shooting and amazing CC in the same unit, and power armored wolf guard mixed in there as ablative wounds, packing combi-plas or something else that's deadly.

 

Overall in a 1500 point list, I usually don't find "realistic" room for a nice Wolf Guard TDA squad, however, fenrisian wolves are ALWAYS welcome at any point cost, they're just crazy amazing for your IC's. I've used the new storm shield rules with a WGBL with 4 wolves and he didn't die, and he slaughtered double his point costs, and held up almost triple.

[Nightrunner]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies on the list! I seem to have stirred up some discussion about WG and TDA and I must say that in 4th ed, I used a pack of 4WBGB with TDA, 2 AC, 2CP, 3LC and a CF (all with RC's) led by a Wolf Priest with Healing Potions and balms. They very rarely died, and if they did, they certainly took their points with them.

 

kanaellars, I do think that your list is insane, but that is simply down to the fact that you have absolutely NO RANGED WEAPONRY!!!!!! :P

 

How would you deal with Eldar tanks, which can zip around and stay out of assault range forever, but well within shooting range? Or simply Ork hordes, which would more than welcome a chance to take you on in CC? I would fancy the chances of either of my lists posted so far against this one, simply down to the fact that you will be spending most of the battle walking towards me?

 

I actually did manage to get another game in this week, on tuesday against a Tyranid player. I won that game convincingly, using the second list I have posted (but with a WGPL in place of the AC/HB pred) to the point that I don't think it adds anything for me to post it here. My opponent is an experienced player, but has only recently started playing 'nids. However, I really feel that I won the game based on the fact that he had a single Zoanthrope with which to shoot at me. Everything else was geared for CC. That meant that I could set up my tanks and shoot away, relying simply on my gauging of distance and waiting for my pods to come down in and around his horde.

 

Wolf89, I can see that it will take more than I have here to dislodge you from your love of Fenrisian Wolves. Again, i just think that they are expensive cannon fodder, and in my list, 40pts is not something that I can just throw onto each WGBL lightly.

 

 

I have, potentially, two games on monday - one against Orks, and one against Eldar. Bearing that in mind I would love to see what changes you would make to the list that I have; I am dead-set on keeping at least one WGPL with AC,FB, TDA and a WP, plus at least one GH squad in a pod - what would you add to that, then?

 

NR ^_^

[Nightrunner]

Hey guys; well, the first of a few batreps (I'll do the other one when it isn't so late!) - enjoy!

Went back to 3 Troops choices, which proved effective in the end, at least! I went with:

2x WGBL with TDA, AC, FB, WP (one rides with each GH squad).

4 scouts with MG, 2PP, PW

7GH in DP with 4 bolters, 2pp, one with PG, led by a WGPL with a PF, combi-flamer and wolf pelt. Mounted in a pod with a DW launcher.

7GH in DP with 4 bolters, 2pp, one with MG, led by a WGPL with a PF, combi-flamer, WTN and wolf pelt. Mounted in a pod with a DW launcher.

AC and HB predator EA+S

Vindicator with EA+SL

LRC with SL.

My first opponent was Orks. I rate my opponent as a very good player, who usually manages to table a lot of players very, very quickly; he plays a very balanced (but managable) horde list of:

Warboss with Choppa and some sort of custom shoota

Weirdboy

3 Killa Kans

Looted truck with battle cannon thing

20 Grots (which he uses to give everyone behind a 4+ cover save. Muchos annoying!)

2x 20 Orks with Nob with Bosspole (and P.Klaw in one), 2x Rokkit launchers.

8 Burna Boys

6 Mega armoured Nobz in a truck.

Warbuggy with Big shootas

8 Warbikes, including a Nob with a Powerclaw and Bosspole.

We rolled Annihilation in table quarters, and he took first turn.

TURN 1 ORKS: Everyone moves and runs. The MAN truk moves towards the rocks to the right (see above!), with the buggy in front; lots of things run. The weirdboy throws an immediate spanner in the works by rolling his teleport power, meaning that he and 20 of his closest shooter mates all teleported into my quarter, just off to the side of my predator. However, rather than shoot, he wisely ran his boys so that they weren't in a nice, demolisher cannon-shaped huddle!

TURN 1 SW: I flapped around, with 20 orks right on top of me outta nowhere. With little in the way of ranged AT fire, the LR simply span on the spot, as well as the predator, which went back-to-back with the Vindicator. I chose to keep the BC's in the LRC, as I figured that they were safest there (luckily the boys mob didn't have a PK). Shooting brought them down to 8, but they stayed put.

TURN 2 ORKS: Everyone advanced again, but the combined shooting of his army (and the woods in my deployment zone!) meant that only the predator was shaken. You can see the mob that made it to my deployment zone, who failed to do any damage in CC to my pred.

TURN 2 SW: My scouts and a Drop pod (PG-armed) came in, and I stuck them in my opponent's deployment zone, at a point where they could tackle the other large boys mob. My WGBL detatched from the squad, so that he could shoot at the looted truck. The scouts came on near the GH, to add to the firepower! My pred decided to tank-shock the mob in my DZ, but did nothing but move through them. Meanwhile, my LRC was turned around, to try and take out some of the approaching Warbikers, who had snuck down my left flank, felling two. On the other side of the battlefield, my GH, scouts and WGBL all did amazingly; the 20-strong mob was reduced to just the nob, and my BL blew the gun off the looted truck-thing. Annoyingly, not quite a kill point, yet!

TURN 3 ORKS: My opponent brought his Warboss, burna boys, mega-armoured nobs and the last surviving nob of the ork mob all trundling over to take out my GH and WGBL (he had to call a Waaagh to get everyone in).

On the other side of the battlefield, the other mob and weirdboy again went for the pred, but having tried to tank-shock them last turn, my pred was doing well and only got stunned! As well as this, the lone warbuggy had snuck up behind the Vindicator, but failed to do any damage. Meanwhile, the warbikes got into assault range of the LRC (which had only moved 6") and did nothing at all!!!!!!!

On the other side of the battlefield, the warboss blew up the DP and everyone else died, doing only a sinlge wound on the Nobs whilst the WGBL killed two burnas. Ah well! So, despite killing loooooooads of Orks, I had no KP's.

TURN 3 SW: My other pod came in, and landed in my DZ. I split the WGBL up from the pack, and got the BC's out of the LRC. Shooting saw, first, my Vindicator land a hit on the lone Nob from the distant Troops-choice, who had rather foolishly used his 6" consolidation from killing my other GH squad to move into range. I scattered, but rolled a 4, and down he went! In my DZ, the LRC brought the warbikers down to 2 models; the WGBL blew up the warbuggy; my GH and DP's missile launcher took the Ork mob down to their Nob, the weirdboy dying in the process. The lone nob ran off. Assault saw the BC's kill the Warbiker Nob and friend in CC.

TURN 4 ORKS: Everything advanced; the MAN's got back in their truck, which then zoomed behind the impassable rock-piece on my opponent's side, ready to zoom towards me. The few shootas and rokkits did nothing, whilst 20 grots managed to kill two BC's from shooting!

TURN 4 SW: My WGBL and LRC turned on the killer cans, who had been lurking in the middle of the board, shooting up one of them. The BC's charged the grots, and managed to rout them with no losses, but then failed to catch them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My pred had perfect LOS on the single, fleeing Nob that was worth a KP to me; two HB's and an autocannon did no wounds. :devil:

TURN 5 ORKS: The orks pretty much backed off; it was 4-all at this point, but you never know what might happen! My opponent did, though, boost his truck to behind the large building next to my DZ. It only held 300pts of MAN's. Gulp.

TURN 5 SW: My vindicator moved into the woods in my DZ, loosed off a shot and blew up the MAN's trukk, but failed to pin them. Everyone else couldn't see them, so had moved back towards my table edge in my DZ. The pred stopped fooling around and killed the Nob, too!

TURN 6 ORKS: In another example of why my guessing skills suck, the MAN's made it into CC with the Vindicator, and up it went in flames.

TURN 6 SW: Everyone shot at the MAN's, including the GH in my DZ; the game might end, and I knew they would die in CC to all those PC's. Better to rapid fire! A pred, 8 GH, a WGBL AC, a DP and my LRC did three wounds, killing off the wounded nob and one of his mates. Ho-hum.

TURN 7: Well, on we went, and my opponent unsurprisingly charged the GH with the nobs. All of my squad got wiped out by PK's, but the WGPL did make up for it by killing two more! My last turn saw the pred, WGBL and LRC open up on the last two nobs, taking them down to one ork with one wound. This rather blurry pic shows the remains of my army, in my DZ (minus the WGBL, who appears to have hidden in this shot). Sorry the pics ran out.....I got too excited and forgot! Must remember for the future.

KP total saw a Victory to the SW - 7 to 4!

_________________________________________________________

I really enjoyed this game; it was in the balance for aaaaaaaages, and only an excellent bit of shooting against a number of units saw me through. The list played well, and having the two pods worked really nicely. Any comments greatly appreciated, but for now, I am going to try this list and see how I do, as balance wise it is the best pod-mech hybrid I have managed to hit on so far. That is, until I hit someone's anti-tank uber army; then I'm stuffed!

NR :P

[Wolf89]

Nice work, I'm currently working on orks to get ready for the few Black Reaches I'm purchasing. The grots are a MUST and I'm surprised your opponent used a looted tank, they're not that good anymore and I think more boyz would have been more useful. :P

 

I enjoyed the read, and the pictures (when you were taking them! :devil: ) and can't wait to see more.

[kanaellars]

kanaellars, I do think that your list is insane, but that is simply down to the fact that you have absolutely NO RANGED WEAPONRY!!!!!! :huh:

 

How would you deal with Eldar tanks, which can zip around and stay out of assault range forever, but well within shooting range? Or simply Ork hordes, which would more than welcome a chance to take you on in CC? I would fancy the chances of either of my lists posted so far against this one, simply down to the fact that you will be spending most of the battle walking towards me?

NR :D

 

2 words... Drop... Pods.

 

This army does not enter play on 1 table edge and go for a walk... it arrives falling from the sky all around you and within your lines... as Space Wolves should.

 

When you are surrounded, you cannot avoid the fight.

 

As far as Eldar tanks, power fists kill them good.

 

As far as Ork boyz go... just about everything in my army kills them good.

 

I have faced both and my win ratio is about 75%-85%

[Vassakov]

Looking good Nightrunner! The army seems to be well balanced and capable of dealing with just about anything anyone cares to throw at it.

 

What was the inspiration behind the list - as a hybrid pod/mech army? I would've thought all or nothing was easier. I run a mech army, built around 3x 6 GH (PF/PW/Melta) in HB Razors, and they work well. The BC in a LRC have also seen me through - I think 12 is a minimum for them now.

 

Anyway, good luck with the GT!

[Nightrunner]

Hey guys, thanks for the responses!

 

2 words... Drop... Pods.

 

You see, that does indeed sound good, kanaellars, but the fact is..... you haven't paid the points for your pods. B)

 

They aren't in your list, above, and they certainly aren't free - I think you need to be reading your Space Marine codex, as drop-podding has changed and is no longer written as it is in our codex's old version (i.e. everyone can deepstrike); you have to actually pay the points, and get a pod (hence the pod-models in the pics! ^_^ )

 

What was the inspiration behind the list - as a hybrid pod/mech army? I would've thought all or nothing was easier. I run a mech army, built around 3x 6 GH (PF/PW/Melta) in HB Razors, and they work well. The BC in a LRC have also seen me through - I think 12 is a minimum for them now.

 

Well, Vassakov, I used to run an all-pod list, but in 5th I just find that for some reason, everything seems to die a lot, lot faster, especially in cc - the new rules and loss of 'No matter the odds' hurts a lot! Also, needing more troops led me to blood claws, then the LRC..... but I just don't know about this list for the GT. I agree with the fact I need more BC's, as 8 die far too easily, but dropping anything else really compromises the balance that I have at the moment!

 

The pod-mech hybrid is indeed the inspiration, really, and I have found that the three tanks often lead people to move out and plan less for my pods than they might have if I had, say, only a Whirlwind or a single tank at the start of the game. I am really intrigued by your mech list, though - I might just have to give it a go! ;)

 

NR ;)

[Vassakov]

Ah, so you are beginning to see the Light of the new style Razor Rush.

 

If you want some advice on winning with a mech list, see This thread - though I am yet to try it in 5th.

[Valerian]

kanaellars, I do think that your list is insane, but that is simply down to the fact that you have absolutely NO RANGED WEAPONRY!!!!!! ;)

 

How would you deal with Eldar tanks, which can zip around and stay out of assault range forever, but well within shooting range? Or simply Ork hordes, which would more than welcome a chance to take you on in CC? I would fancy the chances of either of my lists posted so far against this one, simply down to the fact that you will be spending most of the battle walking towards me?

NR :)

 

2 words... Drop... Pods.

 

This army does not enter play on 1 table edge and go for a walk... it arrives falling from the sky all around you and within your lines... as Space Wolves should.

 

Looks like you've got about 5 units that need to buy Drop Pods then, so that would be about 150 points that need to be removed from elsewhere in your list.

 

Valerian

[Nightrunner]

Well, here we go again! Another week, another few battles with my Wolves - however, today OFFICIALLY marks 70 days until Heat 2 of the 2008 GT. My Wolves will definitely be there...... so now, I just have to finalise this flippin' list!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Anyhoo, got a great game in against an Eldar player; it was an interesting list that I was intrigued to play:

Eldrad (boo, hiss!!!!!!)

2x Wraithlord with brightlance, 2x flamers

10 Dire Avengers (inc. exarch with Shimmer-Shield and Bladestorm)

2x 5 Pathfinders

2x 10 Guardians with scatter laser.

6 Guardian Jetbikes with 2 Shuriken cannons

Harlequins (I forget how many) with DJ, SS and kisses all round. Joy.

I took the same list as I have the past two games.

The mission was DoW (again) and the game was Seize ground. We rolled five counters; three pieces of impassable terrain, spread across the middle of the board, with two setes of large ruins on what turned out to be my opponents side, and a large toxic-slum thing in the middle of my board edge. I won first turn and choice of board edge and gave it to my opponent. As ever, in DoW, I put everything into reserve. My opponent deployed Eldrad and two pathfinders units in the two sets of ruins on his board edge.

EL T1: He fortunes Eldrad.

SW T1: Nada. :)

EL T2: He gets a WL, and the bikes. They turbo-boost across his DP, ending up in the centre, in front of the ruins in which Eldrad, a squad of PF's and the WL are now sittting.

SW T2: I get my pred, Vindicator and my scouts. The scouts come on with the jetbikes in mind, whilst the Pred and Vindicator appear on the left of my table edge, moving 12" and using a piece of impassable terrain to shield them from BL action.

The scouts fail to do much damage to the bikes, killing one, and in assault, only kill one more :( They unsurprisingly don't run. :(

EL T3: He gets the other WL, the harlequins, DA's and all the guardians; the harlequins and one guardian squad move in on his left side of the central ruins in his DZ, flanked by a WL, whilst the other guardian squad moves into the smaller rubble-thing (just in the left-middle of the pic below!). One wraithlord takes a pot-shot at my Vindicator which misses; Eldrad, the DA's and a Wrathlord unsurprisingly kill the pre-doomed scouts.

SW T3: I get both my pod units and my LRC. The LRC moves up, taking a spot behind where the Vindicator and Pred (which both move up 6") were sitting, pops smoke. One DP arrives in the far left corner, eyeing the Pathfinders in the ruins there, and the other lands to their right facing a squad of guardians. Rather ambitiously, I separate both WGBL from the squads; both the GH are aimed at the closest troops-choice to them (the PF's and G's respectively) but I really needed to make a dent in the JB's; they are so fast that they could easily be used to contest an objective later. They need to die!

Unsurprisingly, 8 AC hits gives me NO rends (I truly, honestly have the worst rending luck ever. Period.) and all pass their saves. Sigh! One Gh pack kills off the guardians, whilst the other kills 3PF's. Damned 2+ save!

EL T4: A little manouevering, and a combination of bladestorm, eldritch storm, 2 Pathfinder squads and 4 JB's sees the central GH unit reduced to their WGPL. Oh, and both WGBL's die to a BL! Gah! However, the WGPL stays in there.

On his left, the Harlies have started to move towards the action, whilst their guardian screen head towards 2 objective counters (conga-line of claiming style - nice!)

SW T4: On my left, the surviving GH unit moves across to the closest counter, running on the way (I decided to ignore the 2 PF's for now). The WGPL moves up to assault the JB's, who to be honest I really thought would have boosted away last turn but stayed. Yay! The Vindicator and pred move up to offer supporting fire whilst the LRC moves 12" to sit on the central objective counter.

My shooting kills 2 DA's from a Vindicator scatter; luckily, the WGPL kills the JB's and hides in the nearby ruins.

EL T5: 1BL kills my Vindicator; the other misses the LRC. Eldrad's eldritch storm and CC attacks do nothing to my LRC apart from spin it around. Trippy.

The last surviving member of GH pack 1 is assaulted by 8 DA's and their exarch, but only suffers one wound - and fails his save! No sagas for you in the fang!

SW T5: The LRC disgorges its BC payload, who do the sensible thing of moving and later running to sit on an objective in my DZ. :) The surviving GH's move to cover the counter closest to them.

The LRC then moves across, and takes the large guardian squad that are covering TWO objectives in the open down to 2 men. My opponent made a really good move, here, and opted to go to ground - being pinned doesn't stop you scoring, and so he still had 2 objectives.

EL T6: Yay, another turn. The Harlequins make a dash for my GH's, but are well out this turn. BL's fail to hurt the predator or LRC again. Eldrad's Eldritch storm, though, does manage to shake the damned thing with a glancing hit!

SW T6: The LRC moves forward 12", so that it is at the very least contesting one of my opponent's two objectives. The predator then looses two AC shots, which are just in range, and kills one guardian off that objective.

GAME ENDS!

SW win 2-1.

________________________________

Well, some thoughts from me:

1) My scouts need 'pimping' for lack of a better word. At the moment, they can just about take on small, rubbish units or lone IC's, but one bad roll sees them generally screwed and dead in the next turn's counter-attack. It is either that, or drop them, which I am just loathe to do since they are such an integral part of what makes SW's Space wolves in my mind. WGPL with TLC's anyone?

2) I like the Dp DW launchers. Yes, they are expensive, but the addition of a S5 pie-plate to a squad's firepower has now paid off for three games in a row. Either I'm getting horrbily lucky, or it's just one of those frowned-upon things.

3) I don't think this army is GT-worthy. My opponent is a very good player and did warn me beforehand that it wasn't a GT-standard list. To be honest, I just wanted a game against the Eldar, it's been ages! It just seems so small and fragile. Also, I can't seem to find an opponent who likes anti-tank firepower or CC. :cuss????

4) LR's are excellent. The LRC is amazing. If you have never tried one, do. Used right, they are hard to kill and pack so much anti-infantry firepower. I love it.

These conclusions have led me back to a mix of my exisitng list and my old DP list. Please, let me know what you would change to the list below. I aim to add another batrep tomorrow with the old list (daemons, a really really cracking game). As ever, thanks for reading my MASSIVE post of rambling-ness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HQ

Wolf Guard Battle Leader, wearing Terminator Armour and armed with an Assault Cannon and a Frost Blade. He also wears a Wolf Pelt and a Runic Charm.

128pts

Space Wolf Venerable Dreadnought, armed with an Assault cannon and CC weapon with Heavy Flamer, Extra armour, smoke launchers. Mounted in a Drop pod with Deathwind Launcher.

223pts

ELITE

Space Wolf Scout squad of four scouts. One carries a Meltagun, one carries a plasma pistol and close combat weapon, the other two have a bolt pistol and close combat weapon.

76pts

Wolf Guard:

(GH1) Pack leader with powerfist, WTN, combi-flamer and wolf pelt. 63pts

(GH2) Pack leader with powerfist, WTN, combi-flamer and wolf pelt. 63pts

(Scouts) Pack leader with twin lightning claws and a Wolf tooth necklace. 60pts

166pts

Space Marine Dreadnought with a twin-linked lascannon, missile launcher, extra armour and smoke launchers.

143pts

TROOPS

Grey Hunters pack. 7 Grey Hunters; four have a bolter and close combat weapon; two have a plasma pistol and close combat weapon and one has a plasma gun. They are mounted in a Drop pod with a Deathwind launcher.

205pts

Grey Hunters pack. 7 Grey Hunters; four have a bolter and close combat weapon; two have a plasma pistol and close combat weapon and one has a meltagun. They are mounted in a Drop pod with a Deathwind launcher.

203pts

Grey Hunters pack of 6 Grey Hunters; four have a bolter and close combat weapon; one has a plasma gun, one a plasma pistol. One has upgraded his CC weapon to a Power weapon. Mounted in a Drop pod.

168pts

Grey Hunters pack of 6 Grey Hunters; four have a bolter and close combat weapon; one has a plasma gun, one a plasma pistol. One has upgraded his CC weapon to a Power weapon. Mounted in a Drop pod.

168pts

1500pts

NR :nuke:

[Vassakov]

First, an Ale for your victory against the Eldar!

 

Nightrunner, your GT list looks solid. I played a three game tornuament in Northampton on Sunday and placed second (Batrep and debrief Here) with my Mech-y list. The first thing I will say is yes, the Crusader is pretty much built for the Wolves. A strong unit inside will break just about any line, and in a lot of cases the Counter Attack USR will often see us see off the enemy counter.

 

Your Scouts definately need more. The Pack Leader goes that much further towards giving them CC potential, but they need a bit of luck to help them out. DW pods are expensive yes, but against Horde Armies pay for themselves over and over, and even against MEq's are lethal. However, given the effectiveness of Counter Charge under the new rules, might I suggest that a 10 strong BC squad, mounted in a Pod with an IC and WGPL would be utterly lethal (Ld 9/10 Blood Claws, counter attacking... well, they saw off 10 CSM's and a Daemon Prince for me.) Perhaps swap out the 7 man GH and a couple of DW launchers?

 

Still, you have 70 days to fine tune - looking forward to the Bat Rep against the Warp Spawn!

[Nightrunner]

Hey guys. Lots of views, but not much feedback - ah well, such is the way! Please, though, feel free to chip in if you have any ideas about either of the lists!

 

@Vassakov, I really don't like the idea of BC's in a pod. What do you do with them? Whether you run them or try some paltry shooting when you arrive, your opponent only has to get 12" away to keep his unit safe. Admittedly, to get a squad of Dev's not to fire for a turn would be worth it, but I just can't see it. How do you use them?

 

Anyhow, here is the last batrep before next week's games; hoping to try both the old list and my new, drop-pod list against some different armies this week!

 

My opponent played Daemons. A nasty list:

 

Lord Of Change with two shooting powers?

DP (no wings) with MOT and 2 shooting powers as well.

10 Bloodletters; icon.

12 Daemonettes: icon.

12 Horrors with changeling and blast guy, icon.

4 Flamers.

Soulgrinder with all the shooting things. JOY JOY JOY. I hate these.

 

I took my tank/pod list, above.

 

The battlefield was pretty sparse; across the middle, two pieces of impassable terrain, pretty centrally placed; another in the left of my opponent's side, one in the corner diagnally opposite on my side. He put his objective in the right of his DZ, behind on of the two pieces of terrain. Mine went in the middle of mine, in the open.

 

We got DoW and Secure and control. I got first turn (lost the roll-off), but didn't deploy anything.

 

SW T1: Nothing! I left everything in reserve, so as to see where and what daemons arrived to trouble me.

D T1: He got his un-preferred half; the daemonettes, the SG, the BL's and flamers. The SG appeared in the middle on my left flank; the daemonettes to its right, about 20" from my objective; his BL over by his own objective, with the flamers next to them.

 

SW T2: I got my pred, Vindicator, and both pods. The vindicator came on opposite the SG, flush against the board edge and the piece of terrain in my DZ, mt predator on the other side of the terrain. I put both pods in his DZ, aimed at the flamers and BL's.

My shooting was poor in my DZ; a direct hit only stunned the SG, and the pred's AC did nothing. However, on the other side, my first squad managed to completely wipe out the BL's with the help from a hit on the DW launcher. However, the other squad didn't fare as well; despite scoring THIRTEEN wounds, my opponent passed TWELVE 4+ saves. Seriously, :cuss. That meant a whole lot of flamer pain (S4, no saves of ANY KIND allowed) for one squad.

D T2: He got the DP and horrors. The SG shot at the vindicator and missed; the daemonettes ran forwards towards my objective. The DP scattered wildly, landing about 15" away from GH1 in his own DZ. The horrors landed on the right, next to GH2.

Shooting saw ALL of GH1 wiped out bar the WGBL. Bloomin flamers!!!!!!!!!!!!! In balance, though, the horrors killed no-one.

 

SW T3: On came the LRC, in my DZ with an eye at the daemonettes. The scouts also appeared in my opponents DZ. I placed them just in range of the DP, hoping to lure him back away from my surviving GH squad.

Shooting saw the Vindaictor hit and only stun the SG again, i.e. no damage. Sigh. The pred only managed to kill a couple of Daemonettes, whilst I also fired the LRC at the SG. Everything missed!

On the other side of the table, the surviving WGBL shot and assulated the last three flamers to death. The surviving GH squad and their BL fired pistols, their AC and a MG at the horrors for one or two casualties before assaulting. I lost a Gh, but managed to kill a number of horrors. 8 were left after armour saves for losing. The scouts took 2 wounds off the DP.

D T3: He got the LOC, which landed right in front of the daemonettes. Shooting saw the SG miss the Vindicator (worst shoot-out ever) whilst the LOC failed to scratch the LRC. The DP sadly ignored my scouts, moving forward to blow up a pod and kill the WGBL with his two shooting attacks. Combat saw a couple more horrors die.

 

SW T4: I made a bold move and tried to take out the Dp with the LRC and BC's. The vindacitor missed the SG; on the other side, my scouts failed to wound the DP. Combat saw the GH's finally kill the horrors, whilst the BC's charged the LOC, which had been wounded by the LRC. Sadly, they did no damage, lost 3 men, failed their Ld test and ran. The LOC pursued.

D T4: My opponent finally decided to move the SG towards my vindicator; it was only about 15" away anyway, and I had been surprised it hadn't advanced earlier (I would have had little to stop it, I think, and would have caused me real problems). The LOC moved to assault and take-out the LRC, whilst the daemonettes charged the broken BC's; the end result was that the SG failed to get in assault range this turn and didn't get very far in a patch of difficult terrain that it was stuck in - my vindicator was safe for now! The LRC lost its AC's, and the BC's died before they could do anything. On the other side, the DP shot and assaulted my Gh's; it died, but I was left with only 1GH and my WGBL.

 

SW T5: Well, the game could end; I had to make it count! My GH and WGBL moved towards the objective in my opponent's DZ, but weren't within 3" yet! My shooting saw the Pred and LRC shoot at the daemonettes, whilst the Vindicator shot the SG. Again, my opponent got amazing luck; I forced 12 saves on what I think was 6 daemonettes, and he PASSED ELEVEN 5+ SAVES. I was pig-sick by this point; my opponent potentially had the game in the bag with that amazing set of rolls!!!! :(

D T5: The SG moved towards the Vindicator, and even fleeted, but again poor rolling saw him left 1/2" away from my tank, that had retreated 6" last turn. Yay!!!!!!!!

However, the LRC was less lucky; it died to an AP1 bolt of tzeentch.

 

I rolled for another turn - and got a 6!!!!!!!!! Huzzah!!!!!!!!!

 

SW T6: I decided to ignore the SG, and my pred and vindi went for the last few daemonettes. I managed to score a hit with the pie-plate, and with some mopping-up fire from the pred, killed them all. Finally, my opponent had no scoring units left!

On the other side of the table, I managed to get my last, lonely GH on my opponent's objective.

D T6: My opponent killed the pred and the vindicator with his SG; however, his LOC made a 12" burst back towards his own objective. He aimed to take out my last GH with a long-range bolt of Tzeentch, but I had been a little shrewd and hidden my GH against an out-jutting piece of the impassable terrain next to it.

 

Well, we rolled for another turn.....and it came up a 2!

 

SW win with 1 objective to 0.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that was close; if it had ended on T5, I was screwed.

 

We actually did play another turn, and to be fair to my opponent, he managed to kill the last GH. So, whilst it could have been a draw, luck balanced out and I managed to scrape the win. And I do mean scrape!!!! :D

 

This game was brutal. Both of our armies were mostly dead by the end, but I really do think that passing 11 5+ saves out of 12 does help. Also, if I had killed the flamers earlier on, that would have given me a much, much stronger hold on my oppoenent's objective. If I do stick with the BC's and this overall list, I think I will need to look at boosting the BC's - they just were not enough against the LOC, and I think that there will be plenty of scary Monstrous creatures at the GT!

 

Thanks for reading, I'd love any feedback that anyone has to offer about either of the lists.

 

NR :nuke:

[Vassakov]

Ouch... Not played the Daemons yet, but that sounds brutal. Still, I think this was quite a nasty list and in a Tornuament the odds ought to balance it out a bit - seriously, how many Inv saves?!?

 

The BC drop pod plan basically revolves around the change to Counter Attack - before 5th Ed if a unit charged them they would be pretty rubbish. With a WGPL, they pass a Ld Check on 9 and get their charging bonuses. If you drop a decent sized squad on an objective that can tie up fire lanes and makes assualting them a risky prospect.

[Nightrunner]

Well, batrep time again!

@ Vassakov; mate, if you ever get to play against daemons, you can find yourself up against some truly ridiculous stuff. Flamers are, IMHO, broken. They move like jump troops and have an attack that wounds on a 4+ against anything, and ignores all but invunerable saves. Seriously, :cuss???

Oh, and the Lord of Change is also a sick little creation; Mark of Tzeentch gives him a 3+ invunerable, and as my opponent was telling me, with the right upgrades he can give everyone within 6" +1 to their saves. For all Tzeentch daemons, that's a 3+ invunerable save as well.

Thanks, GW!!!!!! ^_^

Anyhow, a version of my drop list, based mostly on the advice above and from my fellow GCN members that BC's don't acutally suck lemons in DP's.

WGBL with AC, FB, TDA, WP.

VD with AC, PF, HF, EA, SL, pod.

Dread with TLLC, ML, EA, SL.

5 scouts with 2xPP+CCW, MG, PW+Bp, Bp+CCW, WGPL with TLC's.

(WG included in squads)

7 GH with 4 bolters, 2PP, PG, WGPL with PF, WTN, Combi-flamer. Pod.

7 GH with 4 bolters, 2PP, MG, WGPL with PF, WTN, Combi-flamer. Pod.

8BC's with PF, WGPL with PF, BP, WP. Pod.

Whirlwind.

Pred destructor with AC, HB's, EA.

Total: 1500pts; gives up 13KP's (eek!) with 3 troop choices. This list will HAVE to change with the new SM codex, where DP's are definitely a combi-flamer more in cost than they are now and the pred+dread prices from C:SM will be different. Ho-hum.

I did actually get two games in, the first was only at 1250 points though; basically, I cut the scouts down to 4 without a PL and lost the pred, WW and some WTN's here and there.

That game DOW/annihilation against a tac-squad based BA army; one 10-man, one 5-man, 3 LS's (one tornado, two with MM's), 4 DC with JP's, 5 VAS, Mephiston(!!!!!), a Captain and five Dev's with ML and PC. Phew.

I lost the deployment and first turn rolls, got give first turn, and unfortunately managed to roll-up all of my pods for the first turn (as shown below), with the vanilla dread appearing in the far corner on my turn 1. The game then consisted of me runnning through the ruins, trying to get into CC with my opponent. My scouts and BC's really performed here, taking out 2DC with shooting before killing the rest in assault! The BC's also had fun, taking out Mephiston in a round of CC! :P

At the end, he had killed the scouts and a drop pod; I had killed both tacs, mephiston, two LS's; SW win. My opponent is a GT vet, who is just starting BA's as a change from his Tau. We talked about the pod list, and whilst I agree that it does rely a lot on luck, I like its fear-factor. Oh, and Gh's in pods are one of the best troop-units ever.

GAME 5: SW vs DE.

My opponent's list:

Archon on JB with PW, drugs, shadowfield.

4 JB bodyguard with 2 blasters, leader dude (succubus?) with PW.

2x10 DE in raider (with DL) with 2DL's, leader with Agoniser.

3x10 De with leader, 2xDL.

7 Wyches in Raider (with DL).

3 Talos.

13KP's, 13 DL's. Yuck.

The game was played on the same table as shown above; table-quarters/annihilation. My opponent took first turn, and the quarter in the LHS of the photo. I was in the far right, and deployed my dread behind some ruins, in front of the pred which was in front of the WW. Basically, my opponent had put every warrior squad on foot on/in ruins, then raiders and jetbikes at the back, with 3 talos spread out around the woods in the middle.

DE T1: Declining to seize the initiative, my opponent moved his raiders around, trying to get maximum shots on my deployed stuff. The jetbikes turbo-boosted into the RH quarter on the pic, the talos spread out around the woods. Shooting saw the dred get shaken.

SW T1: My dred hid behind the closest ruins; my shooting was a little better. The WW could see over the Pred, and launched a barrage at a unit of DE (in the middle left of the pic above's area terrain). Two DE killed, and they were pinned! My pred managed to stun a raider hiding behind the same ruins.

DE:0 SW:0

DE T2: One talos made a move towards my quarter+my tanks, but got slowed by woods; the bikes turbo-boosted into the corner of my opponent's DZ, the wyches raider moved over to snipe at the pred, the other mobile raider went into the bottom-right qurter in the pick. Shooting saw no damage, as two DE squads couldn't see, one was pinned, one raider was shaken and the wyches raider missed. Hooray!

SW T2: I got the scouts, VD, and GH with PG, accompanied by the WGBL. I made a very risky drop with the VD; I put him in my opponent's DZ, literally between the table-edge and the bikes. Scatter took him sideways, parallel with the table edge, and stopped right against the runis next to him. Phew!

The scouts came on behind the pinned warriors/stunned raider, and the GH's came on to shoot the raider on my left (right Quarter in the pic). My pred and dreadnought moved to get some better shots.

Shooting went very, very well; the WW killed 2 more warriors and pinned them again (!), the scouts managed to immobilise the raider in front of them, the pred blew up the wyches raider, killing 6 of the 7 and pinning the last (!!!), and my other GH squad and WGBL blew up the other raider, killing 6 of the ten DE with some fluky rolling by me! Finally, the VD's flamer killed the three normal bikers, leaving the archon and leader-dude (I really, really love the fact that turbo-boosting only gives cover saves now!)

The scouts then assaulted both the immobilised raider and the pinned DE squad, destroying the raider and winning the combat; the DE passed to stay in CC with two warriors.

DE:0 SW:4

DE T3: My opponent continued to advance one talos towards my DZ; the warriors in his DZ's ruins stayed still to shoot whilst the 4 warriors from the downed raider nearby tried to make a run for the ruins but fleeted 2". The Archon+bike and a nearby talos moved to get the scouts. Shooting saw the GH's DP destroyed (booo!), the VD shaken; finally, the scouts all died in CC, but not before killing the last two DE warriors from their initial charge.

SW T3: I got the other GH's, no BC's. They went in the middle of the ruins in my opponent's DZ, perfectly placed between the two buildings and the squad in each. The GH's in the corner moved foward to shoot the surviving 4 warriors from the raider; the VD moved into the ruins for an assault; everything else moved to shoot.

My Vanilla-dreadnought killed the last wych, the GH and WGBL killed the warriors; the other Gh's managed to kill 6 of the warriors in one set of ruins, but they passed their morale check. Meanwhile, the VD assaulted, beat and chased off the other warrior squad.

DE:2 SW:7

DE T4: The Talos in my own DZ had finally gotten into assault range of the pred. On the other side, the fleeing warriors ran off the board (they were 3" away from the dread's DP) whilst the other talos moved away from the 2 squads of GH's. The Archon and last biker split; the biker went over to try and blow up my drop-pod, whilst the archon got a massive charge on the GH's in the ruins. The only shooting saw my VD immobilised. CC saw me lost to the archon, but I passed my morale check - however, he did take a wound from his own drugs! Sadly, the shadowfield was still working. -_- On the other side, the talos only stunned the Pred.

SW T4: No BC's!!!!! The GH's and WGBL killed the talos near to them, the dread took two wounds off the Talos in my opponent's DZ, and my pred and WW moved 12" to avoid the nearby talos. CC saw the Archon win again, but again the GH's passed their morale check (down to 3 men).

DE:2 SW:9

DE T5: The last biker finally killed the VD's Drop-pod; the other warrior squad killed the closest DP; the talos took the AC off my pred in CC this turn. Again, the Archon won, but the WGPL survived on his own - a keg for you in fang if you survive, lad!!!!!

SW T5: The GH's and WGBL split, with the WGBL drawing a bead on the last biker. Oh, and the BC's arrived in my DZ, next to that bloomin talos! CC saw the Archon fluff all his attacks, and the WGPL did likewise. The 4 warriors left in the ruins finally died to the GH's, the WGBL killed his man, the dread killed took two wounds of the talos in my DZ.

DE:4 SW:11

DE T6: The talos assaulted the BC's; the other talos (on 1 wound!) took on my VD. Combat saw the Talos kill 4 BC's, but die in the ensuing combat (passed my CA check! ;) ); on the other side, the Archon managed to really round off the game by rolling a triple 1 for his Combat drugs - instantly dead! The Dread and talos failed to hurt each other.

SW T6: The Vendread killed the talos, but lost its PF at the same time.

DE:4 SW:14

Game ends! SW FTW!

++++++++++++++++++++

Well, I have to say, I really enjoyed that game. Not just because it went quite well; in all honesty the list worked really perfectly. I wish I could keep it like this!

For any doubters out there, my opponent is going to the same GT heat as me with his DE and is a very good player; I have only managed to draw with his necrons in the past. He told me that, in hindsight, he wished he had kept the talos together as a pack (his original intention). This would have been more scary for any of my DP's units, as individually he was afraid to commit them. However, I really feel that Talos aren't that bad; plasma wounds on a 4+, and they are just not as scary as a Wraithlord (with T8! Crazy GW......).

So, I reckon this list is coming out on top of the mech/pod hybrid; against his DE list, I can't help but feel that the talos and DL's would have sealed my LRC's fate early on in the game.

As ever, any and all comments are welcome - not long to go now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NR :nuke:

[Vassakov]

This list just seems to be getting better and better - It's nice to see another using the Claw's in a Pod tactic!

 

I played a Blood Angel Player recently, and I think it's about as cruel a match up as I can imagine as we outclass them at every level which is a real shame. Still, if you come up against one in the GT it might be to your favour.

 

Blimey, DE. Playing them on Friday using my Mech list so I'll let you know how that goes. It sounds like this game couldn't have gone much better for you to be honest - if you perform like that in the event you should do really well. It's been fun following this log, and I wish you luck. I can't offer you much more advice, as I don't know how much more this list can be tweaked - you know how to play it, I would just play as many games against different foes to try and come up with some more specific strategies for games.

 

By the way, are you going to GDUK?

[Nightrunner]

I wish I was - I even had a free ticket at one point, as on tuesday my gaming club got two free tickets in the post - sadly I'm working!!!!!!!

 

I am a bit cautious about this list; I think that, in terms of a mix of pod and ground-forces, it is as perfect a mix as I will ever manage. Of course, I'm sure that there's a mighty Ork horde, ready and waiting to take it out - however, that is just a situation that I'm going to have to try and live with!

 

I can't plan for everything, but I also can't wait for the new SM codex, where I fear the new pod rules and unit prices are gonna $%£^ me over, all over again.

 

Dammit!!!!!! Waiting!!!!!!!!

 

NR ;)

[Nightrunner]

Well, with the new codex now in my hands, I have the following list in mind; please offer any advice you see fit, any criticism greatly appreciated.

 

Also, what do I do with those last 26pts - PW+PF in the las GH squad? I originally had BC's, but am thinking of using the third squad of GH's as they will be better in a holding objective role. I'm also considering shriking them to 6, with a PG, and spending the extra points elsewhere (Deathwinds with BS4?).

 

The WGBL goes in a pod, depending upon the enemy it will be the 'objective' GH's or one of the other squads.

 

The LST deepstrikes - a handy little rules change for 5th; fast vehicles that deep-strike count as moving at cruising speed and can fire one main+one defensive weapon.

 

So, if facing infantry, it can fire two frags and the flamer. Against armour, a side/rear shot with two krak missiles should be interesting.

 

New rules, Whirlind ignores cover - 'nuff said.

 

The Ironclad is a big investment, here, but my reasoning is this; it is only 15pts more for the basic dread (when both have EA), and on the turn it arrives it can put out a Hurricane bolter+DP stormbolter, a HF, and two HK missiles; good against lots of things.

 

As ever, all thoughts appreciated.

HQ

Space Wolf Venerable Dreadnought, armed with a twin-linked lascannon, a dreadnought close combat weapon with heavy flamer, extra armour and smoke launchers.

193pts

 

Wolf Guard Battle Leader, wearing Terminator Armour and armed with a cyclone missile launcher and a Frost Blade. He also wears a Wolf Pelt.

128pts

 

ELITE

Space Wolf Scout squad of 4 scouts. One carries a meltagun, two have a plasma pistol and one has a power weapon.

96pts

 

Wolf Guard (attached to GH squads):

(GH1) Pack leader with powerfist, combi-flamer and wolf pelt. 53pts

(GH2) Pack leader with powerfist, combi-flamer and wolf pelt. 53pts

106pts

 

Ironclad Dreadnought. Armed with a Hurricane bolter, a chainfist with built-in heavy flamer, two hunter-killer Missiles, extra armour, smoke launchers and Iron-Clad assault launchers. Mounted in a Drop pod.

210pts

 

TROOPS

Grey Hunters pack Red-Claw. 7 Grey Hunters; four have a bolter and close combat weapon; two have a plasma pistol and close combat weapon and one has a plasma gun. They are mounted in a Drop pod.

188pts

 

Grey Hunters pack Blue-Claw. 7 Grey Hunters; four have a bolter and close combat weapon; two have a plasma pistol and close combat weapon and one has a meltagun. They are mounted in a Drop pod.

190pts

 

Grey Hunters pack. 8 Grey Hunters; seven are armed with a bolter and close combat weapon, one has a meltagun. They are mounted in a Drop Pod.

188pts

 

FAST ATTACK

Land Speeder Typhoon armed with a typhoon missile launcher and a heavy flamer.

90pts

 

HEAVY SUPPORT

Whirlwind tank with smoke launchers and a searchlight.

85pts

 

1474pts????????????????

NR :P

[Vassakov]

Hmmm... Are we allowed the Ironclad? Personally I would say no, and I would clarify with GW first. Also, it seems more of a cool option than GT material - the HF and Hurricane bolters are good at chewing up infantry, but then the HK missiles are wasted - unless they can now fire at different targets? Either way at 210pts I would say the points can go elsewhere as I can't see how it "fits" with the army. But hey, try it out - I haven't and I could be totally wrong.

 

Personally I would say invest the 26pts in the last squad, and then swap one of the PP for a PW in each of the other packs.