Thunderwolf Cav - best weapon options?

[Mark Logue]

I am interested in what other peoples opinions are about the best weapon options for a unit of Thunderwolf Cav.

 

Is it worth the points to give them all different weapons options? It substantially increases the survivability of the unit as you can continuously allocate wounds to different models meaning it takes up to 6 wounds to get rid of one Thunderwolf, but is it worth the points.

 

Currently I just have one unit and I am running them with Just a frostblade on one model and the rest with base weapon options. Which is good (6 Str 6 and 30 Str 5 Rending on the charge) but not quite as survivable.

 

I am considering 3 units armed with:

 

Unit 1

1. Melta Bombs, Frost Weapon, Bolt Pistol

2. Melta Bombs, Plasma Pistol, CCW

3. Melta Bombs, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol

4. Melta Bombs, Bolter, CCW

5. Melta Bombs, Bolt Pistol, CCW

 

Potentially I could cut down some of the extra weapon options (ie plasma pistol) and give them differing configurations through the absence or presence of melta bombs to cut the cost of the unit down.

 

Unit 2

1. BP, CCW

2. BP, CCW, MB

3. B, CCW

4. BP, FB

5. CCW, Storm Sheild

 

Unit 3

1. TH, SS

2. BP, CCW

3. BP, CCW, MB

4. B, CCW

5. PP, CCW

 

The rest of the army pretty much consists of 3 Characters on TW (well 2 HQ and and Elite) and a heap of Fenresian Wolves as troops.

[Bikeninja]

Well I am running all StormShields and a Powerfist and it has done Ok. The survivability of the unit is increased but not by much as it is half and on whether I am taking a 3+ invul or a 3+ armor save. The unit is expensive and I am currently working on cutting it down to size in points cost to do the wound allocation stuff.

 

For me I am thinking of at least 2-3 plasma pistols. Being able to soften some targets up before the monster charge would be nice. We will see though.

[Karack Blackstone]

I too wonder at the cost of SS's versus their usefulness overall. I realize having to sink that many points into one unit, let alone three makes it not as much fun when they just eat up so much points value.

 

I favor mostly the same, but that will likely have to change. 430 pts for 5 SS, and 1 TH isn't working out in three units for me on list building yet...

[Olgerth Istaarn]

I look at it this way:

 

A Land Raider with five TDA WG, properly kitted, will weigh in at about 500 pts (depending on the kit and extras).

 

At the same time, it cannot charge 24'', and can be castrated with one lucky hit (and strand the terminators). And if it does make it to the intended target, it contains five I4 T4 one-wound models that cannot benefit from wound allocation. And whatever they fight will probably not care much about regular save, so you have to pay for the storm shields to improve survivability.

 

TWC with storm shields all around can make itself safe by getting into CC ASAP, prolong its existence with wound allocation, and 3++ is generally a right pain in the ass. Hell, if your opponent flinches and gives into the temptation to shoot big guns at your TWC, you may be able to gleefully shrug off his high-strength, low-rate shots and keep going...

[Karack Blackstone]

I see PC's, ML's and the large blast weapons as being the single biggest problem for TWC. Lascannons and Kraks, as well as MM we can just use the SS on.

 

Otherwise, it is quite helpful to see that listed, as that tells me what kind of unit they are comparatively to others. I just don't like seeing a full 430 pts getting dropped on one pack without it being justified. It would seem in this case, it is...

[Mark Logue]

So far I have found the best way to make the unit survive is giving different weapon options and making very careful wound allocations. Giving everything Storm Shields increases the cost of the unit significantly without giving any other real benifits, using wound alocation you should be able to make use of the SS when needed anyway, for the points I think you are better off only taking 1 or 2 maximum and kitting the other guys out all with different weapons to take advantage of wound allocations.

 

If you have two or more of the same weapons option you then have the disadvantage of having to remove whole models any time you suffer 2 wounds rather than possibly ending up with 1 wound of each model instead.

 

The small blast template generally will only hit one or two models. If it rolls a hit on it has to be on the center of a model and as such will only hit one model if you keep them ~2 inches appart.

 

I am still trying to decide if I can get away with only a couple of different models and careful wound allocation to get good survivability without going overboard on points spending. 2 different models plus 3 non-upgraded went pretty well today in a big plannet strike game for keeping the unit alive.

[Marshal Wilhelm]

2 with SS, 1 or 2 TH, 1 melta bombs, make everyone unique.

 

You shouldn't need SS on all of them [unless Battle cannons are being fired at them]. Usually the enemy will not be firing that many ap3 shots at them.

If those shots are in a combined volley, load them up onto your SS, and the rest onto the rest.

They'll only get a couple turns shooting on you, if you are hiding in mêlée.

 

You can have a pack of Fen Wolves in front, attached to the Wolf Lord. Either they mow down the Wolves or give your TWC all 4++ saves.

Useful little Wolfies. ^_^

 

Give some character [not the Lord] perhaps the Wolf Priest [because the other Sagas don't help him that much anyway] Saga of Wolfkin. Popping them up to i5 will let them kill Marines and strike before or equal to many Nids and Eldars.

Killy little Wolfies. :)

 

The Lord gives them Ld 10, the TWC within 12" let them re-roll that.

Ld 10 is 33/36 or 91.7%

re-rolled is 99.3%

Brave little Wolfies :P

[Simo429]

normally I take 5 with 1 being a lord. My lord has thunder hammer, storm shield and bear. Then I have one with a storm shield one woth a wolf claw and one with melta bombs. There is then a naked one. It means nothing is safe from them.

[amberclad87]

I have yet to try wound allocation but I use storm shields on all my TWC all the time and it saves my ass every game. I also run a wolf lord with thunder hammer, shield, and saga of the bear on him. My last game against 'Nids they took out large amounts of gaunts, a super shooty flyrant, a trygon, 2 tervigons, and hive guard. Without the Storm shields I would have been screwed but because of them i was able to take out 1000+ points worth of stuff that would normally eat my TWC for breakfast. People always rip on storm shields being to expensive but they always work well for me and are worth there points.

[Fred Johnson the 3rd jr]

2 with SS, 1 or 2 TH, 1 melta bombs, make everyone unique.

Probably a typo / brain fart.... only one cavalry dude in a unit can have a power weapon.

[Tsavong Lah]

2 with SS, 1 or 2 TH, 1 melta bombs, make everyone unique.

Probably a typo / brain fart.... only one cavalry dude in a unit can have a power weapon.

 

Wait, really? Where does it say that?

[Marshal Wilhelm]

2 with SS, 1 or 2 TH, 1 melta bombs, make everyone unique.

Probably a typo / brain fart.... only one cavalry dude in a unit can have a power weapon.

 

My fault.

"One TWC may replace his cc weapon with

Power weapon

Wolf claw

Frost weapon or Power fist

Thunder hammer or Storm shield"