Wolf Banner

[MechSpacewulf]

OK, was chatting with my buddy last night and his new favorite is the Banner for the Wolves allowing for rerolls of any 1 rolled throughout the "ENTIRE" assault phase from the charge into terrain roll to consolidation. Is this once per game upgrade worth it? Maybe put it on one of your troop choices in order to make them the go to gang...let me know your thoughts.

 

Pat

[Ulriks Minion]

Personally I only use it with my bloodclaws pack with the full members but its only usefull for when you are assualting a high priority target that you do need to take out swiftfully. :)

[Godhead]

Bloodclaws don't have access to the banner, and that thing is ABSOLUTELY worth it IMO. All my squads have it, even my 6 man razorback teams. The banner can absolutely change the outcome of a combat phase, which very well can (and has for me) turn the tide of a battle. IMO buy the banner : ).

[the akratic]

Yes. The Wolf Standard is definitely worth it, even on smaller squads. Imagine if you get to reroll a failed save, and pass it the second time, you've already "paid" for the 10 point standard. It more likely that you'll get to reroll numerous failed saves, plus to hit rolls and to wound rolls. This item is surely worth it every time.

 

Unfortunately, you cannot give a Wolf Standard to a pack of blood claws like Ulrik's Minion suggested.

[Andrew_Beck]

basicly it improves all your X+ to 1+X+. for example your 3+ saves become more like 2+ . mostly you hit on 4+ this change almost to 3+, same with wounding 4+ change mostly to 3+. the same for plasmagun Gets hot! (but who is using plasma with GH ;) ) you can re-roll mark of wulfen D6 attacks if you roll 1 etc.

 

and beside if you re-roll atleast one save the standart paysoff. basicly increases the CC outcome of the unit by 50%.

[altmann]

I really don't get the confusion on whether to take wolf banners and wulfen.

 

They are MUSTS in my opinion.

 

16.6% of all your rolls to hit will be 1s.

16.6% of your misses will be 1s.

16.6% of your armor saves will be 1s.

 

You can re-roll your number of Mark of the Wulfen attacks.

 

On a key assault, it's gravy. Sure, it may only result in 1-2 more wounds, but sometimes it'll be insane and your opponent will be shaking their head in disgust after watching their terminator squad lose combat to grey hunters.

 

It's worth it.

[DapperDave]

A thousand times yes. I take them on my greyhunters with attached WG termies and sheer number of attacks and re-rolls they generate is completely worth it (in fact, I'd say 10pts is a bit undercosted, should probably be 15).

[Simo429]

Try it in a game and then look at your opponenets face when you tell them that you are rerolling EVERY one you throw in that assault and then tell me whether you think its worth it ;)

[Iron-Daemon Forge]

In one word..... YES!!!!

 

I'd alway take Wolf Standard now. Orignaly I miss read the rules on it, but since find out how good it is I arm my units (Grey Hunters of course) with Wolf Standard. End of the day there will be that one close combat phase that you really really need to go your way or a unit that you really need to take down before it can reach the bulk of your line or get your object.

 

It as important as a Wolf Guard in units in my view (due to the extra specil CCW, Combi weapon & all round nice Ld on Wolf Guards). Though it once per game, still people use combi weapon because it helpful, so why not this.

I'd never leave a list with out it now, more so with my Wolves aim for a few tournaments this year.

 

IP

[Taeken]

Definitly as the above posters stated. This is one of the things in our codex that really does not need to be thought about. The only time I don't take one for my GH is if its a naked 5 man pack to objective sit.

[Skirax]

Every one of my three GH packs has it - that and Mark of the Wulfen just to take out hard to crack units.

[Stormbrow II]

Yes.

 

I know that isn't very constructive but I don't need to be when it comes to Wolf standards.

[Bloodmange]

I have to agree with most people on here so far. I played a game this weekend with my wolves, I had banners on both of my grey hunter packs (9 strong with a Power Fist, Mark of the Wulfen and a Wolf Guard with Power Fist). That Banner made that Pack digusting in combat.It was a must looking back on it and I will never run an army without at least one ever again.

[SpaceWolf13C]

just to throw in my 2 cents in case you didn't get it yet.

 

There is never a reason to not take a banner. I would rather drop a power weapon if i had to make room for my banner. You can use it on your turn or on you opponents. If you kill 2 whole extra orcs, its paid for itself. If you make one armor save its paid for itself 1.5x. If you have prevented someone from charging you because you popped it at the end of their shooting phase then it was well worth it

 

@ altman: i agree that motw and standards are must haves. in fact my wulfen in each squad is my banner carrier

[Rocknar]

I ether roll 1's or hits so the turn I user a banner is usually 26 hits for a full squad of GH and 16 wounds. Totally worth it.

[Skirax]

@ altman: i agree that motw and standards are must haves. in fact my wulfen in each squad is my banner carrier

Well that's a bit silly. What if you have to remove your Wulfen and the Banner hasn't been used yet, it's a waste.

[Blitzkreig]

If you intend your Grey Hunters to assault, take the Standard. I don't give them to my guys as they are mostly fire support units, but the 2 assault packs I use are packing them.

[Brother Tiberus]

Wolf Standards are SO worth it... You just can't go wrong with them, and for only 10pts it's an amazing piece of gear for peanuts...

Also it's really satisfying to watch your opponents face when you tell them that you get to re-roll ALL of your 1's... Priceless... :)

[Grimtooth]

Just think about a couple of things it can do,

 

You suddenly roll more hits by re-rolling your ones.

 

You suddenly roll more wounds by re-rolling your ones.

 

You suddenly make more saves by re-rolling your ones.

 

You suddenly run down a a unit by re-rolling that one on your initiative test.

 

Now think about this, the dang thing only cost you 10pts. If you are successful pretty much only 1 time on any of the above (and you are pretty much guaranteed more then one success on each) you have paid for the wolf standard.

[Chalx the grey]

It also boosts any character in the squad, and makes guys with 2+/3++ saves almost impossible to kill during that assault phase. A simple 10 man squad with termi WG becomes a killing machine! Or try adding a couple cheap WG battle leaders and let carnage ensue.

 

The fact that it is a once-per-battle thing is not really that bad since that first combat may vry well be the only combat the squad will see.

 

I traditionally roll an above-average number of 1's in the key moments of the battle so it is a particularly nice piece of equipment for me!

[Skirax]

Chalx got it spot on when mentioning the 'First assualt may be the last assualt' clause; if you're going against Hordes, and it's obvious that they're going to assault, you know you're screwed if it's;

 

Orks

Tyranids

or maybe even Daemons.

 

If you absolutely are going to die, and you want to take out enough of their number that they are suffeciently weakened, then use it.

[Chalx the grey]

Yep, and agasint Orks in particular I had very rewarding experiences waiting for the shooting at the full mob from cover, waiting for their charge, popping the banner and killing more than half the squad before they strike, only to pass most of my saves later thanks to rellolling 1s.

 

It's funny how the rolling a 1 actually makes you happy and the 2 becomes the outcome you most fear!

[SpaceWolf13C]

@ altman: i agree that motw and standards are must haves. in fact my wulfen in each squad is my banner carrier

Well that's a bit silly. What if you have to remove your Wulfen and the Banner hasn't been used yet, it's a waste.

 

well if i had to choose between taking a wound on the guy with a banner and the guy with the mark i now get to choose the guy that doesn't have any upgrades because i stacked them. plus you can use the banner at any time before the assault so if i had to roll for a wound on him i'm just gonna pop the banner anyways. my wulfen is always the last to die so it ensures the survival of my banner.

 

my second reasoning for this is the fear factor. not necessarily on the board but in historical times the honor of carrying the banner was a mixed blessing. It was given to the guy that had the most courage and had good fighting skills. it also put a big red target on the banner carrier. Generals and commanders could only see what was going on from far away vantage points so they knew where they still had troops by where the banners were. Enemies would go after banner carriers first to demoralize the rest of the army. If all of a sudden all your allies banners disappeared and all you can see is your enemies banners then suddenly you don't feel so good about the outcome. A general might sound a premature retreat if he thinks he's lost all the units on his flank as well.

 

so for that reason i decided my banner carrier is a 9' tall crazed werewolf in power armor. I know in the far future and even in modern times banner carriers are gonna be nonexistant since we have things like radio communication and satellite imaging but since i get to have one, give it to the guy whose crazy enough to want it. I like the image of the enemy thinking they are gonna get to the banner and bring it down, then when they get there its attached to a giant werewolf. lol i love it.

[Valerian]

@ altman: i agree that motw and standards are must haves. in fact my wulfen in each squad is my banner carrier

Well that's a bit silly. What if you have to remove your Wulfen and the Banner hasn't been used yet, it's a waste.

 

How do you figure? Regardless of what other upgrades the Wolf Standard model may have, he'll be a unique model in the unit, and will have to make his saves by himself. It's usually pretty hard to cause enough wounds on a unit (big pack of Grey Hunters), so as to force the MotW/WS model to even take a save. It'd be different if you gave him a Plasma Pistol to kill himself with, but he is no more vulnerable with MotW than without it.

 

V