Just back from the VDM GT in Media Pa.

[littlbitz]

Just got back from a 2 day event in Media Pa. run by the Showcase Comics at the Granite Run Mall.

 

An Indy GT with 50+ gamers in attendance, I ended up 6th over-all. Not a bad finish, considering I wasn't fielding an optimal list.

 

I will post some short Bat-reps soon, along with some snap shots of the other SW armies in attendance and some thoughts on the different Wolf lists I saw.

 

Very interesting turn out for the Wolves, I think there were 5 of us and no two had anything even close to the same composition. This I think is a good thing as it really makes our Chapter Stand out.

[TiguriusX]

grats on the high finish!

 

eagerly awaiting batreps

[KeithGatchalian]

Congrats on 6th place...now if 5 of the people who finished ahead of you can't go to Vegas, that means you get the spot????

[Wildfire]

Been a while since I've seen a 'bitz batrep. Looking forward to it!

[Lord Ragnarok]

Nice placement there littlbitz. :)

[Night Runner]

Congrats for the placement. :( I always enjoy reading your batreps.

[Natanael]

YEEEES! More batreps from littlbitz. That is just what I need :tu:

 

Congratz on your 6th place, and good to see that you're still in the mix. Sometimes I wonder if you're still around ;)

[antique_nova]

gar, i haven't been able to do batreps lately, but congrats mate. What list did you use? and make the batrep quick, just giving the lists and conditions of victory and what deployment was taken would be a good teaser.

thanks

antique_nova

[littlbitz]

Thanks guys!

Here is the list I took to the GT

Thorgrimm himself on a Bike with a Thunder hammer, Storm Shield, Runic Armor and Saga of the Bear weighing in at a hefty 250 points.

I took 5 Wolf Guard (I'll post them with their respective packs)

Dreadnought with Assault Cannon and Heavy Flamer

Dreadnought with Assault Cannon and Heavy Flamer

Full 10 man Grey Hunters Pack led by a Wolf guard in TDA with an Assault Cannon and Power fist. Pack has 2x Melta, a Standard, a Power weapon, and Mark of the Wulfen

Five Grey Hunters led by a Wolf guard with a Combi-melta and a Power weapon. Pack has a Plasma gun

Mounted in a Razorback with Twin linked Las Cannon

Seven Blood Claws led by a Wolf guard with a Storm Bolter and a Power fist. Pack has a Flamer and a Power Weapon

Mounted in a Rhino

Blood Claws bikers x3+1(Attackbike with HB) Wolf guard has a Frost Blade and Melta bombs (and a bike of course). Pack has a Power fist and Melta bombs

Blood Claws bikers x3+1(Attackbike with HB) Wolf guard has a Pair of Wolf Claws (on a bike). Pack has a Power Fist and Melta bombs

A unit of one Thunder Wolf Cavalry with a Frost blade and Storm shield (just because he looks cool)

and a Predator with Twin-linked Lascannon in the turret and heavy bolter side sponsons

The list was 1848 total.

This list scored a 13 out of a possible 20 points on Composition. I think one other Space Wolf army scored higher than me with a 14. The others were in the 5-6 range.

I am going to go through my list with unit performance now, instead of later as I feel this part always gets over looked by me.

1. The Wolf Lord. He is an absolute beast! and was really worth every bit of his cost. I think he died in 1 game, and in all five games he made a complete mess of things everywhere he went. Popping vehicles and crushing entire units (or at least winning combat and causing them to flee from his awesomeness!)

2. The Dreadnoughts. They performed as I expected they would. Initially I was concerned because when I typically field one he explodes rather quickly. However by fielding two their survivability greatly increased. The Assault cannon was also the right choice I feel. As one IG player I faced said he was more concerned with my fast moving bikes, and the Lascannons by the time he was able to concentrate fire on my Dreads it was too late.

In a couple of games I lost one Dread or the other but never both. The combined fire power of their two assault cannons with the one in the Large GH pack really mowed down alot of Mech and infantry over the weekend.

3. My Troop choices all did their jobs as expected. I find 3 packs to be sufficient to perform almost any mission, and their load out is perfect for what I need them to do. The one change I think I will make here, is the Wolf guard with the small GH pack needs a Power Fist, I will have to try and find some points to make that happen.

4. The single Thunder Wolf Cavalry Unit. He did alright, was a real bullet magnet, but he did get into the mix a few times and was great support for the Dreads and the Large GH pack. He allows me to punch straight ahead a bit with my center force while my bikes are flanking, taking the heat off of my other more shooty elements.

5. The Blood Claw Bikers. The real work horses in my army, if you really want to defeat me in a game these guys have to die before I reach you. I did miss not having the 2nd HQ on a bike, but I don't think it effected performance of the list over all. The Bikers really walked through most everything they touched armor and infantry alike. In a few games I would have to use the pack without the Lord as shock troops, to lure in portions of my opponents army, losing the unit in the process but this allowed my second pack and Wolf lord to get where they needed to be.

Like the Dreads, Two units seems to be the key, I occasionally lost one pack or the other but never both.

6. The Predator with twin linked Lascannon. People are scared of this beast, he occasionally gets popped but 13 armor is rugged. I still think I would be better served with an Auto cannon turret, just to save a huge amount of points.

Changes to my List?

Well to be honest I feel I made a critical error.

No Wolf Scouts...

If I had a nice Pack of Wolf Scouts in the list I truly feel I could have won the whole Tournament. They would have really given me the ability to reach those units my opponents kept in the back field, harassing me all game.

I'll have to give some thought as to how to get them into the list, I've got some ideas but I have to give it more thought.

Next I'll show some pics of the other Wolf armies and briefly discuss their lists...

[Natanael]

Great stuff, 'bitz. I like rundowns like this. They make it a lot easier to think about what to add to my own force.

 

Have you thought of trying out the Lord on TWM instead of bike? The extra stats are great, and he is really scary with that 19-24" charge. I can see why you want to keep him on bike(keeping him with your bikes and all) but you should try it out ;) I've been running a Lord like that in my last few games and he is a real beast. T5(true) and +1A for TW is very nice indeed.

[Wildfire]

Nice thoughts, bitz! I'm going to give a few suggestions and questions, based on my own thoughts. Of course, I don't play with a list quite like yours, so take this with a large grain of salt.

 

Why meltas in the large GH pack? I would think plasma would be the way to go with a pack that has a longer fighting range. Also, what about a cyclone instead of an assault cannon?

 

Likewise, why the plasma in the razorback squad? I would think this squad is more often going to try to pop a vehicle than assault, due to it's small size. Particularly after you put a fist in there. If you keep the plasma gun and power weapon in there, why the combi-weapon? It deprives you of a valuable attack. Also, have you considered a las/plas razor?

 

Why the storm bolter in the rhino squad? You could lose that and have half the cost of the fist upgrade there.

 

If you removed the meltabombs from the frostblade WG, you'd have the other 5 points for that fist upgrade. Also, I find it interesting that you put the fists on the bikers. What's your logic here? Usually I try and put fists on WG, as they have the largest number of attacks after the charge. I presume you've found you need to win combat on the charge? It does make the squads significantly more expensive. Not having tried it, though, I am wondering if you feel the extra cost is worth it.

 

How do you feel about the storm shield on the thunderwolf? Given that he'll probably be hidden until he charges, it it worth adding nearly half his cost to give him an invulnerable in CC?

 

You mention autocannons on the pred. I think the basic, no sponsons pred is a great buy if you mainly have difficulty with fast skimmers (read: eldar/IG/tau). You could get two or three pretty easily in this list if you tried.

[littlbitz]

Good points all there Wildfire, to be honest my answers are not all quite so good.

 

The meltas in the Large GH pack were originally there because thats what I had painted, then I was going to change them to plasma. But the more I thought about it and the more I played the pack with Melta, the more I liked it.

 

Same thing with the Assault cannon toting Wolfguard, originally it was because thats what was painted, I did go to one tournament where there were a couple of games that I wished I had the Cyclone, but I havent since. The Assault Cannon is more than good enough for this pack.

 

Mainly because it give the Pack lots of options. I can advance them, keep them hunkered down. Take down any tank bold enough to get close (especially landraiders and battle wagons), Shoot those powerful weapons a bunch of pistols and still assault.

 

The Plasma in that pack instantly removes too many options with the only bonus being some range, and with as much as the pack shifts around I would rarely get the benefit from.

 

The Plasma in the RB pack is there because I currently don't have a Melta, I do have the Combi-Melta on the Pack leader, and he is also going to be upgraded to a Fist. This pack will eventually have a Melta gun, a Combi-Melta and a Powerfist.

 

As for the Las Plas combo razorback, to tell you the truth I'm not using it mainly because everyone is using it. Besides with my dice I need either lots of shots or Twin-linked (even twin linked I fail to hit more often than I'd like to admit.)

 

I modelled the Stormbolter / Fist Wolfguard when the new codex came out. In 5th my old Wolfguard with Boltpistol / Fist was wasting the other hand, in my list at the time I had 3 odd points laying around so built the new model. He would be better served with a Combi-weapon of some sort, either Flamer or Melta.

 

The Stormshield on the Thunderwolf saved me a couple of times, especially when I was receiving heavy fire power. Truthfully though, he needs some friends. A unit of One was useful on occasion but I would rather have 3 or more of them if I am to use them properly.

 

I really like Dakka preds and am really gonna field a couple, honest. When I do though they will have Heavy Bolter side sponsons though, in the current enviornment I've seen the Auto cannon is good for Trucks, and Chimera and then its lots of shots when the creamy center is exposed!

 

@Nat; I have considered a Thunderwolf riding Lord, and I may try it out a couple of times. My main concern is redeployment after the initial contact has been made. Turbo-boosting is huge, in several games over the weekend I have had to redeploy to the other end of the board to support other units with my Lord once he freed himself up from whatever he was killing. a 6" move plus a D6 fleet just isn't gonna cover the ground the way a 24 inch Turbo-boost does. Just the look on my opponents face when I make that kind of a move and mutter, "Here he comes boys" is worth it.

 

I have given some thoughts to my list changes for an upcoming Tournament, but I'll post that later.

 

I'm still at work, but in the A.M. I hope to post a few new pics of some of the other Wolf Armies that were there.

[Athalus]

TWC: definitely go up to 3. I just run 3 with no upgrades along side my bikes. They are quite powerful. I find the points are usually better spent on more bodies then on upgrades since you have rending and great initiative... they just crush infantry and are great to assist your bikes (and hide behind said bikes for cover saves).

 

Bikes: what are your tactics for them? I was wondering if a MM attack bike is better than the HB version. Instead of 2 sqauds of bikes, I run a large squad of bikes and a large squad of TWC - allows for some versatility, and also a 15 strong group of F-wolves. However, I double up on power fists, putting them on my wolfguards and on my bikers, and also use some flamers. It looks like you use them for a lot of assaulting.

 

Wolf lord: He is quite a bit of points. I am amicable to the TWM myself, or using a wolf priest to make the other bikers even more devastating. Then again, I use my wolfpriest in this role to also get saga of the wolfkin to pump up said 15 wolves (and 4 more with 2x lone wolves).

 

Dreadnaughts: are they twin linked auto cannons? I see the popularity of the "rifleman" dread increasing, and suggest trying that out as well. Since it appears they fill in as long range ass kickers.

 

Pred: Dakka would probably serve you better.

 

GH: i agree on keeping the melta guns, but I am in the same boat (its what I painted b4 5th). If the versatility works for you as it does me, keep it.

 

WG: looks fine.. Ditch that storm bolter. Assault cannons are nifty, I use one as well.

 

Lasp/plas: agreed. Fight the power!

 

Can't wait to see some pics/batreps. It looks like you did well and know what you are doing, so I am really looking forward to see how you used your bikes, as I am trying to improve my game with them.

[Wildfire]

I like your comments on melta vs. plasma on the sloggers. That really makes sense, with that big and CC-worthy a squad you can't afford to keep it back shooting from cover. Theoryhammer is nice, but as your comments show actual experience will almost always trump it. Still not convinced on the assault cannon, but then you have a lot of other anti-tank in your list.

[Natanael]

I understand your point about the 24" turbo, but the Lord has got almost that but with his charge. I try to use him in the middle of the field so that I am able to support any unit within 19-24". With turbo you cant assault and he can shoot you a turn before you get to hit him, unlike the cav rule with TWM. But still; I've seen your re-deployment tactics in your batreps before, and like it :cuss It is really a great thing.

 

Looking forward to the pictures and bat. reps.

[MaveriK]

thats a beautiful looking army :P looking forward to your batreps, and seeing the other wolf list you seen

[littlbitz]

Sorry thats a little dark

This player had a Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf, Canis, and 3 Thunderwolf Cav models with Thunderhammer and Stormshield each fielded as a seperate Fast Attack choice.

This was supported by 3 packs in Pods, a couple of Long Fang packs, and a Rune Priest.

I thought the concept was pretty cool, though I'm not sure how it fared.

Next up we have a pretty basic Space Wolf force, this is the one Wolf Army that I think got a better Comp. score than I did. He is from the HQ up in Northern NJ. A good player, and a heckuva nice guy.

As you can see, he has several packs with Razorbacks supporting the Crusader. One thing to note, is that most of his army is foot slogging as the packs are too large for the transports. He uses these as mobile cover / Fire-support.

Next we have a "Logan-wing" with Njal in tow. He takes Logan Grimnar, Njal Stormcaller, 3 Missile Launcher toting Longfang packs, and 2 full 10 man Wolf Guard Termie packs with assorted gear.

I actually think that this army did suprisingly well in Battle considering its small size.

The last Space Wolf army I didn't take any pictures of as Paul hasn't finished it yet. This last was downright nasty, I'm not sure of its exact composition, but I believe it had 5 GH packs, supported by 3 full Longfang packs all with Las / Plas Razorbacks led by a Rune Priest. Thats 15 missile Launchers, and 8 Razorbacks if memory serves me.

Very shooty. Oddly enough, he had no real assault prowess in the Army which in my opinion made the army very un-wolfy. He also did pretty well in Battle.

[bareserker]

Well done Littlebitz,an excellent result and a cracking bunch of Wolf photo's !

I am alway's amazed when I read lists how many folk's dont take O.B.E.L scouts. For me they were as crucial as my Ven Dread. I always took the following:-

W.G.+ Lightning /claw + Combi melta

4-5 scouts + Melta,P.W. and Plasma Pistol( one of the only times I'd take plasma),Melta bombs.

I exaggerate not, these guys kill rate's for Defillers, Basilisk's ,Devilfish and Lemans was amaxing, they took out a good few "grunt pack's" as well.After all our scouts are the " best of the best"!.

[littlbitz]

Oh, I agree. Not taking Scouts was a huge mistake.

I am going to put them on the No. 1 priority add to list, I need to paint a couple more as my old pack is currently not codex legal.

Game 1 was against a very nice fella with a very well balanced Tau list.

He had a nice mix of units, with 2 Hammer heads, a unit of 3 Broadsides with the required shield drones, a couple of units of suits, some Kroot, a couple piranah, and 3 small units of Fire Warriors in Devilfish

The mission was Five objectives on a war torn planet. We had to roll for each piece of terrain to see if it was smoking or burning.

If it was smoking you received a plus one cover save, if it was burning it was dangerous terrain.

It was a Spear Head deployment, and my opponent won the roll off for first turn and board edge.

He chose his corner and deployed his 2 Hammerheads and his Broadsides with good fields of fire, the rest of his army he held in Reserves.

Not seeing any good cover for my army and not wanting to be on the receiving end of that fire power I decided to hold my whole army in reserves.

I opt NOT to attempt to seize initiative, and let him go first. He doesn't do much in his first turn, just adjusts his fields of fire, going into his second turn he begins rolling for reserves...

EVERYTHING shows!

I really am not sure how happy I am about it at the time, but at least I don't have to worry about that deep striking suicide Battle Suit squad he had, or the Kroot outflanking me.

He brings everything on, using the Kroot to immediately move towards an objective while trying to protect them and push forward with his 3 Devil fish squads.

In my turn I roll for my reserves. Eck! I get my Foot Slogging GreyHunters, my Pred, and a Dreadnought. This is going to be tough.

I move my Greyhunters on behind a large hill supported by the Dreadnought, on my left heading towards two objectives while I decide to sacrifice the Predator in an effort to absorb as much fire power as I can with it to take the heat off my other units. Coming in piece meal like this could cause me big problems.

My Greyhunters and Dreadnought run while my Predator manages to take a Turret off one of the Hammerheads.

In his shooting Phase, he pops the Predator, and Blows the Dreadnought right off the Board! Leaving my Greyhunters all alone.

In my next turn, rolling for reserves fare much better as the rest of my army shows. I bring on my Razorback GH pack towards board center using the wreck of the Predator for cover, I turbo boost one of my Biker packs on the board in support, coming on at an angle so I don't outrun the newly arrived Greyhunters,

My BloodClaws in the Rhino come on in support of the large footslogging Greyhunter pack, with the 2nd Dread coming on in support of these two units, while my 2nd biker pack with the Wolflord hits my left flank hard looking to chase the Kroot off their objective.

My shooting phase isn't terrible, but isn't overly effective either as I let loose with 2 assault cannons on my left side and the twin-linked las on the other.

Its his turn four already and he realizes he has to start moving towards the objectives, hesitating he moves but attempts to not sacrifice too much fire power to do so. In his shooting phase he knocks the Turret off of my Razorback but its otherwise left unharmed.

He wrecks my rhino and forces my Bloodclaws out to footslog the rest of the game (causing me to switch to my "plan b")

(you see the way the objectives were placed, my initial thought was to have the Greyhunters take the close one and set a fire base as the Bloodclaws did a "Leap frog" move ahead taking the objective that was more board center. With the Rhino gone, the units would have to use more of a "Bump and Move" maneuver taking the closer objective and pushing the Greyhunters to the middle one, as there was too much ground for the Bloodclaws to cover at this point).

In my 4th Turn I move my Razorback 12" towards the objective which is board center and pop smoke, send my bikers into the fray in order to assault one of his skimmers. the other BloodClaws move into position to assault his FireWarriors that disembarked to get some shots on me, with the Lord leaving to go take on the Kroot all by himself. The Dread advances menacingly taking shots with his assault cannon.

My shooting again is minimal with only the Greyhunters with the Assault cannon and their Meltas shooting along with the Dread and his Assault cannon. I think a Devil fish goes down.

Bikers assault all over the place, my Bloodclaws in the center dropping a skimmer, the other BloodClaws take out the Firewarriors squad, and my Lord smashes into the Kroot (Failing his dangerous terrain check, and taking a wound, even with skilled rider <_< )

I win all the combats, but the Kroot hold as we go into the 5th turn.

In his 5th turn he begins unloading some of his gun drones to harass my objectives, takes some shots at my Bikers and the Blood Claws. When the Smoke clears there are only TWO BloodClaws left from the pack that clambered out of the Rhino, but they are not rattled and pass their leadership.

In my Turn 5 I go for it. My Greyhunters secure the center objective firing all of their weapons at the Tau and clearing the objective with fire support from the Dreadnought. My Bikers on that same side take on and destroy another Tau unit, while my Lord is still in combat with the Kroot. In the center of the board my Razorback pack moves right onto the Objective they were heading for while the bikers move to clear the Gun drones from the objective.

The Bloodclaw bikers destroy the Gundrones and consolidate around the Razorback in an effort to create a gap between the objective and the Tau.

The WolfLord causes much death amongst the Kroot and forces them to break and flee from the objective they were securing.

I allow my opponent to roll for game end.

A 2 is rolled, its over. The Wolves hold 3 Objectives, the Tau hold 0.

Here is the left side of the Battlefield at end game:

And here is the Right side of the field:

I end up with a solid 17 points, not a bad start...

Next up Game 2 vs. Orks!!!

[Natanael]

GO GO LITTLBITZ!

 

Great read, tough I would not mind some more pics. Good job on the win also!

[littlbitz]

I know, I didn't take many Pics this time round.

 

Two reasons really. 1. I wasn't sure if I was going to do a Batrep or not.

2. The Beer was really flowing freely and the good time, and Wolfy attitude really took me over.

 

I should mention my reason for needing Wolf Scouts on a game by game basis.

 

In game 1. they surely would have made a difference against the Broadside Squad that was positioned on the hill. With the Shield Drones and their positioning, I didn't fire at them all game whilst he continuously harassed me all game with them. They would have been able to deal with them, or at least tie them up in Close Combat, taking the heat off of some of my other units.

[ReyRex]

Very Good Post!! Thanks for all the work for us to enjoy it.

 

If you took some scouts with a Meltagun, MotW, and WG with Frost Weapon, that unit would be toast. I play Tau as well and these scouts would have caused havoc even without a Power weapon.

 

Rex

[bareserker]

Littlebitz, your a scholar & a gentleman, and a great batrep writer.Nothing warms the heart like a wolf victory !

Make sure you warn us with any defeats you post,I am too emotional & sensitive to cope with reading them !

[BDS]

Very good batrep. Congrats on the win. Looking forward to the next one.

 

BDS

[legless_al]

Hehe Bitz, I play both Wolves and Orks so can't wait for the next report. Don't get to play much these days so allow me to live vicariously through your exploits :)