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Why take a character over a unit


Ragnars Claw

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I've been looking at Thunderwolves recently and i'm struggling to see why you would take a thunderwolf mounted character in preference to a unit of thunderwolves? (from an effectiveness point of view).

 

A tooled up wolf lord on thunderwolf is about 275 points. You could get 4 thunder wolves with thunder hammer, storm shield and a melta bomb for the same price. More wounds, more damage output potential.

 

Why take the character?

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you have to take a HQ , there is no going around it . you dont have to take a unit of ctw . but it is not always like this . if the option is a HQ[second, third etc] that will have no unit to go with , it is offten more wise to take a unit [specially if it is good and scoring] . the only HQs that can run around alone are 4 or more wounds and immune to instant deaths[more or less MC HQ].

He makes a good point but I think it depends on your army list. If you wan to take a cheap HQ to fill the slot and go with like a rune priest to sit back and shoot with some long fangs or to provide storm caller for footsloggers it's not a bad idea. The TWC will provide more wounds overall even if they don't have an invul save and can put out a good amount of attacks and no one model can be singled out in CC.

 

However, if you are trying to run a screen of Fenrisian Wolves then IMO a wolf lord is a must for his 10 LD. Fen wolves get shot to pieces and with their terrible leadership will often break, but that can be avoided most of the time with a LD 10 WL accompanying them.

 

Each one has their place and it just depends on the points cost. For my 13th army I sometimes use a WL+15 fen wolves to rush as a screen and other times I go for a rune priest with LL who sits with my Long Fangs and in that case I can afford to put out some converted wulfen that are TWC.

Personal setup for a thunderwolf lord (I would use him to kill really nasty characters, monstrous creatures etc.):

-Lord

-plasma pistol

-frost axe

-runic armor

-thunderwolf mount

-woolftooth necklace

-Belt of Russ

- Saga of the Warrior Born ( Or any of the sagas for that matter, for how he is equipped, he doesnt need it, and might do better with one of the others)

I think the I5 is the "most" (maybe not, but for me it is a big deal) valid points here. With a frost blade he is S6, with a wolf claw he is S5 w/ re-rolls to hit. In my book this guy can take on a marine squad without support, and has just enough killyness to kill them in two rounds of combat, saving him from the enemy shooting.

 

I'd go FB, PP, BoR, Saga of the Warriorborn/Bear (depending on if you're up against a lot of fists), TWM, 1 Fen wolf and then that's it. Great guy, this one.

Why take an IC over the unit? Well, there are lots of reasons.

 

1) An IC has move through cover. I always find that my TWC unit gets slowed dramatically when they hit some terrain; not always useful.

 

2) Higher Initative is a big boost with any CC weapon that isn't the 'fist or hammer.

 

3) With Runic armour and a SS, you dramatically increase the survivability of the model; suddenly, lots of high AP, high strength shots doesn't do the trick any more. Chuck in some wolves for good measure if you are feeling like splurging on points!

 

4) You hit harder in combat, with higher WS and (usually) a WTN to hit on a 3+. What's not to love?

 

5) You can actually hide this unit; not only in terms of behind terrain etc, but you can stick him in a unit if you need to give him some cover or boost another unit. Sure, to make of his massive charge range, he will have to leave. However, this can certainly save him from being a KP to long-range fire, or as a disuasion from charging a unit on an objective. Much more versatile!!!!

 

I personally really like the lone, IC on a massive wolf idea ;)

 

Mine usually runs with a single Wolf Claw, shield, Runic armour, saga of the Beastslayer and a 'necklace.

 

As it is accepted here (following the INAT FAQ) that the IC gets the same >S10 instant-death immunity as Canis and "basic" TWC, he can usually run around and do a lot of damage.

 

Again, personally, I find that with 6 attacks, I want the re-roll to hit from the claw. Against tougher opponents, I get the re-roll from the saga (at 10pts, why not?) and use the claw for the wound re-roll. This combo works particularly well against nurgle marines, and the runic armour and shield combo is more than enough to see him through without saga of the warrior born and other such nonsense. If you are using him just to hunt massive creatures (nids, anyone?) then you can always lose the runic armour, as it is useless against MC's in combat.

 

Not a bad lord for an all-rounder force at 240pts (with meltabombs).

 

NR ;)

Who says you have to spend 275 on a killy HQ? I'm personally a big fan of cheap HQs, and I think a TWM-mounted WGBL with frostblade (total cost 135) is a great buy. Put him in a large slogging squad (say, 10 GH w/plasmaguns and a WG in termie armor w/cyclone), and suddenly you got a huge meat shield and the ability to break off during movement to assualt something that gets too close.

I thought a character on thunderwolf could only join other thunderwolf units or fenrisian wolves?

 

I do like the idea of a wolf lord on one though. Probably with thunder hammer, storm shield, runic armour and a pet wolf to go with him.

Again my Wolf Lord on a Thunderwolf proves to be hell on wheels, and dispatches 15 blood claws and a rune priest. I always run him with a single Thunder Wolf Cavalry model, armed with a powerfist and storm shield, and they always make their points back, and then some.
Why would you need to give him Saga of the Bear when he gets his base toughness bumped up to 5? Warrior Born, Storm Shield and a Frost Blade is the win.

 

There's apparently some debate about that. Depending on his opponents, he may need it to prevent S8 weapons for IDing him. Please don't turn this into a thread on if the toughness bump counts for Instant Death, just realize that not everyone thinks as you do.

And I think if your giving him a frostblade, as I would, that the extra attack is solid gold. Most players would give their eye teeth to have an HQ with 7 S 6 attacks hitting on a 3+ when they charged- at I 5 no less. I think the BOR is probly plenty of protection if you run him with some fenrisian wolves as cover.

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