Returning after a long time.

[Bjorn Wulfsen]

Hail Brothers of the Fang.

 

I have been away wandering the sagas of real life and taking a battering from the heathens of life.

I last walked the fields of battle with Bjorn the fell handed back in 2nd edition.

Having returned to the fold after many years...i have got the new rules...wheres my 4 books gone!!!!

Laid my hands upon the most current version of our codex and the marine codex...and prized my 2nd ed codex from my unwilling fingers.

Much has changed...but wolves are wolves and im glad to see we still hold the same ideals.

My trauma lies in how to handle this new fangled way of war....

I am torn between the styles of list...

I love the in your face, eat my sword approach to things and want to be full on aggressive in my play style.

 

However..i cant seem to get to grips with the lists under the current editions and was wondering if anyone had suggestions on list and tactics as i re-embark on the path to war.....with plenty of ale, song and the occasional wench!!!

 

Bjorn Wulfsen.

[Vassakov]

Hail wanderer - it is good to see another return to these halls! Many are the changes since the old days, but the Son's of Russ still prevail, across worlds unnumbered and odds insurmountable!

 

It is still very easy, and extremely viable for an aggressive Wolves player to acheive victory - have a browse in the Calls to Battle (army list subsection) for inspirtation on lists. To aid us, what men does your company count in their ranks?

 

Read the FAQ's, look over our sagas of victory, search these halls for our tales and then bring us some of your own! But first, Ale!

[Bjorn Wulfsen]

Hail Vassakov.

 

I have been trawling the lists etc...and frying the grey matter even more.

 

I am in the envious or unenvious position of having a clean slate. My wanderings saw everything except my precious 2nd edition codex fall into the depths of the warp.

 

I will aim for 1500 points to kick off. Thinking that a lord, ven dread, maybe a crusader packed to the gunnels with claws, pack of greys and whatever else fits into that size of list. That being the mechanised route. But its here i stumble. I dont know whether to go mechanised, foot slogging or drop podding. I just know i want to get stuck in with tooth and axe. Then get back to the fang for more ale and song!.

[Vash113]

Welcome back, there's always more room for new or returning Wolves in the Fang.

 

As for lists well it depends on what you want. In my opinion there are 3 primary styles of IN YOUR FACE type armies.

 

Drop Pods

-Mount pretty much the whole army in Drop Pods and rain them down on your enemy. Drop podding armies are great in that they can really dominate the battlefield and dictate how the battle goes. You can use the pods as giant obstructive obstacles, landing them in fire lanes, splitting enemy armies apart and breaking them into smaller, less cohesive segments for the wolves to shoot up and then tear apart. Blood Claws aren't necessarily so good in Drop Pods where shooting when they arrive is generally important but massed Grey Hunters, Dreadnaughts and Wolf Guard with combi-weapons and/or plasma pistols or perhaps even in Terminator Armor with Assault Cannons are all great tools for obliterating a foe in shooting and then charge in to finish them off the following turn.

 

Sample 1000pt List:

 

HQ:

Wolf Guard Battle Leader

-Terminator Armor, Assault Cannon, Power Weapon, Wolf Pelt, Wolf Tooth Necklace

Total: 123

 

Wolf Guard Bodyguard (4)

-Assault Cannon x2, Terminator Armor x4, Power Fist x3, Power Weapon Storm Bolter x2

Total: 221

 

Drop Pod

Total: 35

 

Venerable Dreadnaught

-Assault Cannon, Heavy Flamer

Total: 165

 

Drop Pod

Total: 35

 

Troops:

 

Grey Hunters (8)

-Bolters, Power Fist, Power Weapon Meltagun

Total: 179

 

Drop Pod

Total: 35

 

Grey Hunters (8)

-Bolters, Power Fist, Meltagun

Total: 169

 

Drop Pod

Total: 35

 

Army Total: 997

 

The army is small and compact but at 1000 points has 4 Drop Pod units, the Terminators are very expensive and generally not adviseable at such a small points list but it's just a demonstration and as you can see you can fairly cheaply fit 3 Assault Cannons (or 4) into a single Pod and that's a lot of firepower. 2 of the Pods automatically arrive on Turn 1 and with the safety of Pods you can get quite close to the enemy without risking the units destruction and lay down some serious firepower, the army proves even better at larger points when you can absolutely saturate a foe with pods and watch him run in circles trying to take on foes from all directions. Not the most competetive list but hopefully it illustrates the point.

 

Mechanised

-Again this is an army mounted in transports, Razorbacks, Rhinos and Land Raiders. A popular unit is a full size unit of Blood Claws with a Wolf Guard Pack Leader in a Land Raider Crusader, a very brutal force for opponents to deal with. Grey Hunters in Rhinos or Razorbacks and Wolf Guard, backed up by Blood Claw Bikers or Assault Marines for some extra infantry speed and Land Speeders if you like all to add a bit more mobility to the army. A very fast, hard to bring down army that relies on the durability or obstructiveness of the tanks to keep the lower number of infantry safe till they can leap out and rend apart their foes, especially from Land Raiders where the troops can disembark and charge in the same turn.

 

Sample 1000pt List:

 

HQ:

 

Wolf Guard Battle Leader

-Power Weapon, Storm Shield, Wolf Pelt, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Frags

Total: 99

 

Wolf Priest

-Wolf Pelt, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Bolt Pistol, Frags

Total: 110

 

Troops:

 

Grey Hunters (6)

-Bolters, Power Fist, Meltagun

Total: 133

 

Rhino

Total: 35

 

Grey Hunters (6)

-Bolters, Power Fist, Meltagun

Total: 133

 

Rhino

Total: 35

 

Blood Claws (11)

-Power Fists x2, Power Weapon, Frags

Total: 205

 

Heavy Support:

 

Land Raider Crusader

Total: 250

 

Army Total: 1000

 

The Blood Claws go into the Crusader and the Wolf Priest and Battle Leader are each attatched to one of the squads. The Rhinos add mobility to the Grey Hunters while the Land Raider Crusader adds the serious punch delivering the Blood Claws into the heart of the enemy. Again not the most competetive army list but it's an example of one way you can make a mechanised army at 1000pts.

 

Infantry

-My preferred strategy is the power armor horde. Max out your infantry and saturate an enemy with too many models for them to bring down. Using mutual cover also works really well, stick a large Blood Claw squad out front with a Rune Priest casting Storm Caller on them, move and run them each turn with Grey Hunters, Wolf Guard, and more Blood Claws behind them all benefiting from a 4+ cover save. With the ability to run now in 5th Edition tanks aren't as necessary to keep infantry mobile so a power armor horde can be cheap, many in number and full of nasty special weapons and special cc weapons, the sheer number of power fists you can easily cram into a horde list is truly scary for most opponents to face.

 

Sample 1000pt List:

 

HQ:

 

Rune Priest

-Power Weapon, Storm Shield, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Wolf Pelt, Frags

Total: 119

 

Wolf Priest

-Wolf Pelt, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Bolt Pistol, Frags

Total: 110

 

Elites:

 

Wolf Scouts (5)

-Melta Gun, Frags, Plasma Pistol x2

Total: 105

 

Troops:

 

Grey Hunters (6)

-Bolters, Power Fist, Meltagun

Total: 133

 

Blood Claws (15)

-Power Fists x2, Power Weapon, Frags

Total: 265

 

Blood Claws (15)

-Power Fists x2, Power Weapon, Frags

Total: 265

 

Army Total: 997

 

The Rune Priest and Wolf Priest attatch to the Blood Claws and now you've got 38 Power Armored models at 1000 points, a pretty tough number for most armies to deal with at that low points and the Wolf Scouts use their Operate Behind Enemy Lines rule to take out any tanks from their rear armor with their melta gun and plasma pistols. Again hopefully it illustrates what an infantry horde army can look like even at a relatively low point level.