(my) Thunder Wolves first outing

[Wolf Lord Loki]

Tonight I fielded my joyfully, converted thunderwolves for the first time. So eager was I to field them that they, the Iron Priest on thunderwolf and the 8 strong wolf pack were only base coated (a rarity for me).

 

My opponent - Kriegian Imperial Guard (with the latest Forgeworld rules).

 

The Mission - Vanguard from the Battle Missions Book

 

How did they fair? Well the out come wasn't quite what I expected thats for sure. I've heard a lot about them being a glass hammer and didn't want to raise my hopes too high. For all their vaunted speed I failed to get out of my table half with the Thunderwolves (although the ordinary wolves did). Some poor dice rolling on my part might have been part of it, the occational barrage of Inferno shells caused a definate delay (watch out for those things - they are nasty due to the AUTOMATIC flee reaction) but largely it was due to not having anything in charge range for 3 whole turns. None died dispite several attempts made by morters lascannon and guardsmen to shoot them!

 

When something finally did present itself they were amazing the fist full of dice i rolled surprised me as well as my opponent. I really had no idea that 3 charging thunderwolves would put out that many attacks!! The object of my wrath was a demolisher tank, the weapon of choice a Thunderhammer. The true vanquisher of the tank... a rending thunderwolf. The thunderhammer meerly stunned and destroyed the odd weapon. The wolf however took the tank apart in a thunderous desplay of tooth and claw! :blink: What the heck????? Next time I think I'm going to have to save points on the thunderhammer/ stormshield combo and just get another Thunderwolf cos that was just awesome!!

 

As for the other 'Wolfy' units. The fenrisian wolves bounced on the charge (might have been me forgetting the attack bonus...) but the 6 remaining wolves pulled down 7 kriegian guardsmen before losing combat. Once they broke they disappeared at speed. A true glass hammer i fear.

 

The Iron Priest. Well he never got a chance to take part alas. Turned out his Runic armour wasn't proof vs the Inferno shell and with having less wounds than the Cavalry, bit the big one before making any controbution to the battle!

 

Anyone else got any observations/ anecdotes from their 'feral' Space Wolf units? :)

[And a Barrel of Ale]

I have had great success with my thunder wolves, i beat down ghazgul and killed 11 boys of a 30boy mob when he used his special Waagh (tho ill admit that was bad luck on his part rolling 4 1's ur of the 7 wounds i dealt him) and only lost 2 thunder wolves, and a single wound on another.

 

I just make sure i don't throw them against an entire army's shooting first turn and they usually work like a charm, i find the combo on my frost blade on my Lord, and a thunder hammer & SS, SS and melta-bomb on a 5man TW squad is a nice combo. gives you the ability to pop a land raider if you can get it if the thunder hammer unexpectedly disappears. but by far the best part is being able to wether those inevitable str 8&9 shots that come their way even if you fail that cover/SS save :blink:

[Valerian]

When something finally did present itself they were amazing the fist full of dice i rolled surprised me as well as my opponent. I really had no idea that 3 charging thunderwolves would put out that many attacks!!

 

I don't see how that would be a surprise to you; the number of attacks is clearly annotated in the unit's profile.

 

V

[Blarmb]

When something finally did present itself they were amazing the fist full of dice i rolled surprised me as well as my opponent. I really had no idea that 3 charging thunderwolves would put out that many attacks!!

 

I don't see how that would be a surprise to you; the number of attacks is clearly annotated in the unit's profile.

 

V

 

Just seeing the '4' entry in the unit line is much different than actually picking up the 18 dice for 3 guys on the charge. Even going over the exact number of attacks, % unsaved wounds, and everything else on paper can feel like much less or much more once you're actually throwing down the cubes.

[Valerian]

When something finally did present itself they were amazing the fist full of dice i rolled surprised me as well as my opponent. I really had no idea that 3 charging thunderwolves would put out that many attacks!!

 

I don't see how that would be a surprise to you; the number of attacks is clearly annotated in the unit's profile.

 

V

 

Just seeing the '4' entry in the unit line is much different than actually picking up the 18 dice for 3 guys on the charge. Even going over the exact number of attacks, % unsaved wounds, and everything else on paper can feel like much less or much more once you're actually throwing down the cubes.

 

I know, I was just bustin' his chops a little.

 

V

[Wolf Lord Loki]

When something finally did present itself they were amazing the fist full of dice i rolled surprised me as well as my opponent. I really had no idea that 3 charging thunderwolves would put out that many attacks!!

 

I don't see how that would be a surprise to you; the number of attacks is clearly annotated in the unit's profile.

 

V

 

Just seeing the '4' entry in the unit line is much different than actually picking up the 18 dice for 3 guys on the charge. Even going over the exact number of attacks, % unsaved wounds, and everything else on paper can feel like much less or much more once you're actually throwing down the cubes.

 

I know, I was just bustin' his chops a little.

 

V

 

Consider my chops appropriately busted! :D Taking close combat weapons and the charge into account that felt a considerable handful!

[Xeenos]

You should do the numbers for 14 Blood Claws with a Wolf Priest.. Charging out of a Land Raider right into combat.

 

Only issue i have with said unit is i fear they would often destroy anything they charged thus being open to fire in the next turn.

 

:huh:

[Freman Bloodglaive]

15 Blood Claws and a Wolf Priest. That's what they made Crusaders for. :cuss

[Levitas]

I'm with you. I love my wolf lord and 4 thunder wolves.

 

I've found they get taken out every game, BUT in the process suck up a massive amount of my opponents attention and resources. They cant be ignored, and as they are rare-ish most players are not sure of what they can do, other than they have to take them out. This makes them a nifty psychological tool as well as a tough hammer unit.

 

In combat they are generally great, except against things like kila kan mobs and other str 10 dealing units. Plus massed fire will shrink them down so I either reserve them or shield them. I dont usually go for reserves but with these it tends to do well.I find fen wolves great for the wolf lord and the squad too.

[Wolf Lord Loki]

The Thunderwolves Second Outing!!

 

My Opponent - Space Marine

 

The Mission - Planet Strike (defender)

 

I kept them in reserves to counter-attack once the Attacker was on the ground. Sadly they spent most of the game (we only managed three turns in the end as it was getting late) swigging ale around a camp fire some where off table.

 

When they did arrive (turn 3) they charged and annihilated an Assault Squad that had taken one of my (now ruined) bastions allowing me to pull a draw out of the hat.

 

Observations. The Thunderwolves pounded their target into mush with very little problem. The Fenrisian Wolf Pack again failed to make an impact partly through poor possitioning and the lack of speed. While they have fleet and a 12" charge if you only role 1 or 2 for fleet it can take a very long time to get into charge range if they have been possitioned poorly.

[Godhead]

fen wolves also suffer from t4 vs t5 and effectively no armor save. They seem to work better with a Lord with them used for ablative wounds. Ld 10 vs 7 and since they are within 12" of a TWM they get to reroll failed LD tests.

[Vorion]

I've only gotten to use my TWC and TWM Lord once but they effectively ended the game two turns early. My opponent was BA in a tweaked city fight. They wiped out an assault squad (the lord killing 7) then turned and killed his Chapter Master and finished off his Baal Pred clearing the objective. I was using two powerfists for the extra attack on my WL but I'll drop one for Saga of the Warrior born, nothing like tacking on those 6 or so previous attacks to roll up to 12 str 10 hits on a commander or Land Raider

[Grimtooth]

I've only gotten to use my TWC and TWM Lord once but they effectively ended the game two turns early. My opponent was BA in a tweaked city fight. They wiped out an assault squad (the lord killing 7) then turned and killed his Chapter Master and finished off his Baal Pred clearing the objective. I was using two powerfists for the extra attack on my WL but I'll drop one for Saga of the Warrior born, nothing like tacking on those 6 or so previous attacks to roll up to 12 str 10 hits on a commander or Land Raider

 

I would be tempted to run a initiative 1 (powerfist/th/cf) wolf lord on TWM with warrior born if I kinda knew I was not going to be facing many instant death possibilities. Blasting some additional str 10 hits from previous combat would be nice if I am not worrying about ID.