A question on characters

[Lithanial]

So i am looking at the playstyles of all the marine codex's to gather ideas for a new list and one of the aspects of the Wolf dex that intrigues me is the double character limit. Looking through the army list forum though not many armies appear to actually utilise it.

 

My question to those players who build there armies character heavy would be - how do you build effective units without excessive points expenditure? and how do you keep a reasonable model count?

 

Most lists seem to go light on character, preferring to lean on the units themselves. But i am intrigued to see what the possibilities and effectiveness of a character heavy list might be.

[Skirax]

I utilise it to gain the much needed 'third' character. Like, I normally take Wolf Lord and Ragnar, but sometimes I take a Rune Priest along with them. Like today, used him versus Daemons, and Tempest's Wrath was invaluable. Then I Jaws'd Ku'garth :mellow:

[Lithanial]

Think i need to qualify this by saying that i do not play wolves and have not read the dex in depth just yet so if you could explain a bit about why some of the things you use are awesome that would help a lot!

[Skirax]

Well a Rune Priest is generally taken as a support unit where a Grey Hunter unit is just that little too excessive. It's almost ironic that you build your army almost like a Great Company is actually structured. You take one HQ as your main one, than others are either unit buffs or Herohammers.

 

Tempest's Wrath is deadly against Deep Striking units, for example, but isn't a game winning move. Jaws is one heck of a useful power for 'sniping' models, as you draw a line and any model TOUCHED (that means it's different to a template, where you can take casualties anywhere in the unit rather than under the 'plate) takes an I test, and if failed is removed from the game. As I said, I used it against Ku'garth, and that was 300 of his points gone in a flash.

[Stormshrug]

It's not used *that* often under 1500 points, but certain builds make use of it even in smaller games. Rune Priests and Wolf Priests are devastatingly cost-effective, for the abilities they bring, and you don't really *have* to buy them any wargear for this to be the case.

 

Over 1500 points, it opens up a lot of cool options. Three Thunderwolf Lords don't leave you with a lot of other stuff, but man are they deadly. On the other hand, four Rune Priests can cost less than two Thunderwolf Lords, and provide spectular fire support. In these larger games, it also makes it easier to add Special Characters to an army, without having to worry that they prevent you from taking other options.

 

-Stormshrug

[Valerian]

I've got lots of characters that I would like to use, but I just have to be satisfied with "rotating" them into the army list, instead of playing with everyone I've got at the same time. Even at 2,500 points I find it hard to justify spending 500+ points on 3 models. I usually find that I'd just rather buy a second Long Fangs pack, a second Wolf Scouts pack, or a fourth Grey Hunter pack, than I would that 3rd character (let alone the fourth character).

 

V

[TiguriusX]

The appearance of multiple HQs depends on the points value.

 

My preferred lists are 1500 pts so I find it challenging to squeeze in 4. I have tinkered with 4 RP lists but it is more of a gimmick at this point until I get over my fear of Eldar runes. In the right environment I can drop 3 JAWS or MH on turn 1 using DPs which make it fun to alpha strike orks/nids/Tau.

 

The higher the points value the more likely you are to see additional SW HQs.

 

Multi-HQ lists have been an impact in 1750+ tournaments. The famous "Goat Boy" list had 3 WL on TWMs