Unit Tactica: Thunderwolf Cavalry

[Xtee]

Called GW today, they confirmed that IC's are Toughness 4/5. NOT toughness 5. The only things that ARE toughness 5 are Calvary, and canis. Anything else on a thunder wolf is 4/5. I was told that it was a mistake in the codex similar to drop pods having 12, that All SHOULD have been 4/5 but the ones in codex listed as 5. Will not be Erratad.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

Called GW today, they confirmed that IC's are Toughness 4/5. NOT toughness 5. The only things that ARE toughness 5 are Calvary, and canis. Anything else on a thunder wolf is 4/5. I was told that it was a mistake in the codex similar to drop pods having 12, that All SHOULD have been 4/5 but the ones in codex listed as 5. Will not be Erratad.

 

And if you call tomorrow, you'll get a different answer.

 

until a FAQ comes around, will be a dispute.

 

WLK

[Wispy]

I love it when people are like "I called GW for the final word and they said...!"

 

lol. no. final word is a FAQ, thanks.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

I love it when people are like "I called GW for the final word and they said...!"

 

lol. no. final word is a FAQ, thanks.

 

i used to have a guy who would ALWAYS use this line, and magically get the result he desired. i finally called BS when i asked and nobody could say they saw him call.

 

WLK

[Xtee]

I love it when people are like "I called GW for the final word and they said...!"

 

lol. no. final word is a FAQ, thanks.

 

i used to have a guy who would ALWAYS use this line, and magically get the result he desired. i finally called BS when i asked and nobody could say they saw him call.

 

WLK

 

 

Well I actually did call, and was just trying to be helpful to the fellow space wolves, although next time, I will just continue to lurk and not post. It was for a tournament, and we called GW and it was ruled against in my favor. but please, lets continue to use this awesome and informative thread for ragging on me trying to help. Keep it constructive or PM me your insults so you don't clog up an actually usefull thread.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

okay, you need to make up your mind. first you say to contine ragging on you, then you say not to and pm you insults...you cant have it both ways.

 

WLK

[rahl02]

I love it when people are like "I called GW for the final word and they said...!"

 

lol. no. final word is a FAQ, thanks.

 

i used to have a guy who would ALWAYS use this line, and magically get the result he desired. i finally called BS when i asked and nobody could say they saw him call.

 

WLK

 

 

Well I actually did call, and was just trying to be helpful to the fellow space wolves, although next time, I will just continue to lurk and not post. It was for a tournament, and we called GW and it was ruled against in my favor. but please, lets continue to use this awesome and informative thread for ragging on me trying to help. Keep it constructive or PM me your insults so you don't clog up an actually usefull thread.

 

If your in a tournament use the INAQ FAQ, or whatever it's called, Adepticon just updated it for 2010 tourney. It's not GEEDUB official but it's done by the same Faq team Geedub uses. Until Geedub gets their own that's as official as it's going to be.

[Nightrunner]

....please, lets NOT continue to use this awesome and informative thread for ragging on me trying to help. Keep it constructive or PM me your insults so you don't clog up an actually usefull thread.

 

That would be appreciated!

 

Nightrunner :)

[Wildfire]

Called GW today, they confirmed that IC's are Toughness 4/5. NOT toughness 5. The only things that ARE toughness 5 are Calvary, and canis. Anything else on a thunder wolf is 4/5. I was told that it was a mistake in the codex similar to drop pods having 12, that All SHOULD have been 4/5 but the ones in codex listed as 5. Will not be Erratad.

 

 

I understand that you are trying to be helpful, but the "rulz boyz" are not to be trusted. They often contradict each other, and many times give answers that are different than official FAQs.

[Grey Mage]

I love it when people are like "I called GW for the final word and they said...!"

 

lol. no. final word is a FAQ, thanks.

 

i used to have a guy who would ALWAYS use this line, and magically get the result he desired. i finally called BS when i asked and nobody could say they saw him call.

 

WLK

 

 

Well I actually did call, and was just trying to be helpful to the fellow space wolves, although next time, I will just continue to lurk and not post. It was for a tournament, and we called GW and it was ruled against in my favor. but please, lets continue to use this awesome and informative thread for ragging on me trying to help. Keep it constructive or PM me your insults so you don't clog up an actually usefull thread.

Its nothing personal, he was relating a story about someone else. Are you this person? If so then you probly deserve it, if not then it doesnt apply to you and you should chill out a bit ok?

 

That being said, GWs phone lines are Notorious for giving 8 different answers over the course of 7 different calls for a yes/no question. They are in no way official, and you know what the reality is?

 

Most of them just sit around and have the rulebooks on them, or a couple anyways, and if a question comes in they ask their buddies what the answer is. So depending on wich call center you get, whos on duty, and what their mood is youll get any number of different answers.

 

For a while GW had one official source in the form of an email address, but they discontinued its official seal a while ago sadly.

[Freman Bloodglaive]

Adepticon 2010 FAQ can be downloaded here.

 

Not official of course, but as close as we'll get for a while.

[Mad-Eyes Elick]

Called GW today, they confirmed that IC's are Toughness 4/5. NOT toughness 5. The only things that ARE toughness 5 are Calvary, and canis. Anything else on a thunder wolf is 4/5. I was told that it was a mistake in the codex similar to drop pods having 12, that All SHOULD have been 4/5 but the ones in codex listed as 5. Will not be Erratad.

 

You might want to read the space wolf FAQ. Just saying.

[Grey Mage]

Called GW today, they confirmed that IC's are Toughness 4/5. NOT toughness 5. The only things that ARE toughness 5 are Calvary, and canis. Anything else on a thunder wolf is 4/5. I was told that it was a mistake in the codex similar to drop pods having 12, that All SHOULD have been 4/5 but the ones in codex listed as 5. Will not be Erratad.

 

You might want to read the space wolf FAQ. Just saying.

Yeah, cause he posted a week before the FAQ came out. Just saying :D.

[Ominous Anonymous]

But vindication is just so sweet...

[Athalus]

What do you think of using a rune priest on a bike (with a squad of bikes) staying in range to give his cover save ability? I am going to try it out and use it as a charging army, while also giving the rune priest the ability to use 2 runic power per turn to throw down murderous hurricanes or w/e (living lightning with saga of the beastslayer, perhaps) to make the charges even easier. Not as optimal as a tank, i think, but I am not using any in my 13th.

[Nightrunner]

What do you think of using a rune priest on a bike (with a squad of bikes) staying in range to give his cover save ability? I am going to try it out and use it as a charging army, while also giving the rune priest the ability to use 2 runic power per turn to throw down murderous hurricanes or w/e (living lightning with saga of the beastslayer, perhaps) to make the charges even easier. Not as optimal as a tank, i think, but I am not using any in my 13th.

 

Hi Athalus!

 

A Rp on a bike is a tough one, as inevitably, it costs you the biggest gains of the bike - its movement and cover save bonuses.

 

A squad of bikes would serve better by boosting in FRONT of the aforementioned cavalry in my mind - 4+ cover save is better than 5+, obviously!

 

If you are boosting, then you can't do anything else - so no Stormcaller.

 

That makes that bike squad (which isn't cheap to begin with) a prime target, and nowhere near as survivable.

 

Like I said, reverse it and put the bikes in front, and you get a bike wall with a 3+ cover save, TWC with a 4+. I would consider, if you were to run any character with Swiftclaws, either a Wolf Priest (expensive, but re-rolling to hit versus your chosen unit type is a massive boost) or a totally tooled out CC lord. Who, for ten points more, could ride with the TWC, and thanks to the FAQ, now gain immunity to ID from anything less than S10.

 

Hope that helped? Let me know what you think, especially if I didn't grasp your plan correctly!!!!

 

NR :ph34r:

[Athalus]

Thanks for the reply!

 

That actually sounds like a very good use of the bikers. I want to put a rune priest in my army somewhere, perhaps I'll put him with the longfangs and use some long range lightning shenanigans. That way I only have to pay 100pts for him, which is a steal, although I won't be making good use of his runic saves or runic weapon, but living lightning can be pretty awesome. I'll put a wolf gaurd with the bikes, then, and use him to keep 'em inline. I already have my wolf lord all mounted up and ready to go with a full squad of TWC, or even put him with a full troop of f-wolves (not sure which I will go with).

[Nightrunner]

Thanks for the reply!

 

That actually sounds like a very good use of the bikers. I want to put a rune priest in my army somewhere, perhaps I'll put him with the longfangs and use some long range lightning shenanigans. That way I only have to pay 100pts for him, which is a steal, although I won't be making good use of his runic saves or runic weapon, but living lightning can be pretty awesome. I'll put a wolf gaurd with the bikes, then, and use him to keep 'em inline. I already have my wolf lord all mounted up and ready to go with a full squad of TWC, or even put him with a full troop of f-wolves (not sure which I will go with).

 

Hey Athalus, glad you found some of that useful!

 

I don't want to get too off-topic, but if you are worried about psychic powers playing havoc with your TWC and FW's, maybe the bike is the option for you? However, in this role I wouldn't recommend taking Stormcaller.

 

Your stormclaws aren't great shooters, but they aren't terrible. Combine their small-arms fire with Murderous Hurricane or Living Lightning and you can certainly add some punch to the unit, whilst giving them a boost in combat (however small).

 

I agree that at the back with LF's, his abilities aren't used to their full effect. I personally stick mine in a Rhino with 5GH's and a WG, with plasma/combi-plasma. He uses 'lightning to make the Rhino a slightly better razorback, with a squad for support, and they trundle up behind my cavalry. Works fine for me - no-one ever seems to target the Rhino, and with enemy assault elements usually making moves forward as well, the runic weapon is usually in range for some nullifying action.

 

NR :nuke:

[Aracno]

Nice topic. Little OT (sorry), but the thunder cavalry model? Where can I find some nice proxie?

[pucadubh]

Have a look at the Orboros Hordes models.

[ReyRex]

This was very good! It take time to write something like this.

 

Rex

[wolvesoffenris]

Hey everyone, I have spent some time playtesting and math-hammering and currently run my Thunderwolf Cavalry in the following configuration.

 

1 Bolt Pistol / Close Combat Weapon

1 Bolt Pistol / Close Combat Weapon and Meltabombs

1 Bolt Pistol / Powerfist

1 Storm Shield / Close Combat Weapon

 

1 Wolf Lord gets attached to them, he has

Wolf Claw

Storm Shield

Thunderwolf mount

Wolf Tail Talisman

Saga of the Warrior Born

Runic Armor

2 Fenrisian Wolves

 

This squad costs a fair amount (~ 535pts) but the Wolf Lord really makes them hit hard. Since he is base T5 the wolf lord does not get insta-killed by anything short of S10. The wolf claw is better than a frost blade for the wolf lord in nearly every situation (exceptions are T7 and T9). Especially when he hits a T3 enemy and chooses re-roll to hit. This can quickly catapult his saga up to 10+ bonus attacks. The Fenrisian wolves act as ablative wounds and engage any enemy powerfist/claw models or uberkilly characters so they can't hurt my cavalry. Between the SS on the lord and the SS in the squad they can take most heavy fire coming in, especially if they use cover. All around it is a very durable and hard hitting combination.

[Lord Ragnarok]

What pt size games do you use this unit?

[Sigismund Himself]

This would really look good in the Librarium Nightrunner ^_^

[wolvesoffenris]

What pt size games do you use this unit?

 

I find they work in 1850pt and up games. Any less and it is too many eggs in one basket. I played one game where the following happened.

 

Khârn and a squad of 18 Berzerkers w/ skull champ and fist are footslogging it towards an objective.

Thunderwolf cavalry charge after shooting takes out about 6 Berzerkers.

Fenrisian wolves hit Khârn, the rest of the unit hits the squad. Khârn kills both wolves and a couple of his own guys.

My wolf lord takes out 4. The rest of my squad takes them down to only a couple models.

 

Two squads of 8 berzerkers w/ skull champ and fist get out and counter charge the melee. Dreadnaught goes nuts and charges in as well.

My wolf lord finishes off The original squad and Khârn.

The thunderwolves all fall in initiative order to the dreadnaught and powerfists but they all get to strike before dying and kill even more berzerkers.

 

On my turn I let the wolf lord do his thing and he takes out all but 2 berzerkers from each squad. He then dies to the dreadnaught and powerfist attacks.

 

I lost 535 pts worth of pure assault units.

He lost 709 pts of his scoring units.

 

On my next turn, I then shoot the remaining 4 total berzerkers left from the Melee down and blow up the dreadnaught. This cost him the game as it was an objective based mission and he only had 1 troop choice to hold his objective and no mobility left to get to mine.

 

 

 

I had another game where this same unit charged two squads of Thousand Sons with Ahriman and was subsequently countercharged by a squad of Plague Marines. Ahriman spent a couple rounds taking out the fenrisian wolves while my lord and friends proceeded to wipe out both squads of Thousand Sons and all but two of the Plague Marines in combat. Eventually my whole unit did die, but not before taking out 738pts of his army and crippling his ability to hold objectives (Every terrain feature counted as one for this scenario).

 

 

I find that they tend to pay for themselves as your opponent has to spend a considerable amount of time and resources to take them out while they are wrecking his lines.