Things not to pit Ragnar against

[Hear da Lamentation]

I have a game coming on Thursday evening and I am trying out Ragnar for fun. It will be against the Nids. He will be with a 9 man GH squad in a LR.

 

What things should I be avoiding for this guy? I can just see me trying him out and him getting killed in the 1st assault.

[spjaco]

Avoid close combat with tough IC's. I made the mistake of tying him up with Vulkan once and it was both of em punching it out the ENTIRE GAME. So I basically lost his kills for that game.

 

BRING HIS WOLVES. Those two hits could mean the difference between him living through a round or just being a points sink.

[Lucifer216]

Anything with Lashwhips...

[Aeddon]

Anything with Lashwhips...

^This.

 

Anything with lashwhip/bonesword needs to be shot at until it's dead.

 

It also depend on what your GH squad has, powerfist, powerweapon, flamer, meltagun, plasmagun, plasma pistol, mark of the wulfen, wolf standard...these are the tools of our trade and they make a lot of difference on the battlefield.

[narf]

Upgrade to a LR-Crusader, take 10 GH with MOTW, Wolf Standard, free flamer, free melta, and WG in terminator armour with a thunder hammer and SS and a Wolf Priest with ragnar.

 

Avoid lash whips at all costs with ragnar.

 

Avoid carnifexes unless down to 1 or 2 wounds.

 

Apart from that the unit should be able to take out almost anything bar the swarm lord, but with the help of ragnar this shouldnt be a problem.

 

The crusader should mince most swarms and be able to pop wounds off most MC's

 

What else is in the army? or any idea what you might face?

[fandon]

Upgrade to a LR-Crusader, take 10 GH with MOTW, Wolf Standard, free flamer, free melta, and WG in terminator armour with a thunder hammer and SS and a Wolf Priest with ragnar.

 

Avoid lash whips at all costs with ragnar.

 

Avoid carnifexes unless down to 1 or 2 wounds.

 

Apart from that the unit should be able to take out almost anything bar the swarm lord, but with the help of ragnar this shouldnt be a problem.

 

The crusader should mince most swarms and be able to pop wounds off most MC's

 

What else is in the army? or any idea what you might face?

 

I always have bad luck when I put that many points in a land raider, just personal preference though. Upgrading to the crusader and putting his extra wolves and a wolf guard with a fist and 3rd special weapon could make a lot of difference though.

[Anpu42]

You can get

LRC [storm Bolter, Multi Metla and mabye a Hunter Killer Missile]

Ragnar with his two Wolves

Wolfguard in Power Armor with TH/SS or Wolf Priest

10 Man Grey Hunter Pack

-MotW

-Wolf Standard

-2x Flamers

-Power Fist

[Wispy]

Ragnar only fears things with extremely high initiative or extremely high toughness. And depending on the quality of the guys he's leading, the toughness thing can be mitigated by attack prowness.

 

His main appeal is he charges at initiative 6. Anything else equal or below that, stay away, or place him in the back, let his squad take the beats, and then pile in to attack back.

 

And of course, avoid walkers.

[sniperhavens]

On the charge Ragnar strikes at STR 6 doesnt he? Should be able to kill just about anything with insane bravado.

[Wispy]

If he can hit them before they can hit them, sure.

[Hear da Lamentation]

Thanks for aqdvice guys. For those who asked ....

 

Ive got him in a GH unit with motw, ws, melta and a wolf guard with power fist and LR (I was going to use redeemer for heavy flamers ...... never used a LR before though)

Another rhino unit with RP, ws, melta,motw wolf guard with pf

Unit of swiftclaws, pf attack bike with mm

Iron Priest on Thunderwolf with 4 cyberwolves

6 long fangs, 1LC, 4 ML

 

All very experimental, nothing like I usually use, and just trying it all out for fun. (Ive never used a named lord before)

[Hear da Lamentation]

Actually thinking of your advice I reckon I may need some more firepower to take out those lashwhips and high end MC? Maybe another unit of LF instead of the Iron Priest? (Never tried that either, thought it might be good)

 

What do you think?

[Rune_Priest_Rhapsody]

How many LF units are you currently running?? At 1500 I run two, any higher and I'm pack three units of those bad boys!!

 

I have been running Ragnar in a LRC, 2 wolf buddies, Wolf Priest, 10 WG including several power weapons and some combi melta/plas action. The Str5 I5 is great!!

 

-R_P_R

[Anpu42]

Actually thinking of your advice I reckon I may need some more firepower to take out those lashwhips and high end MC? Maybe another unit of LF instead of the Iron Priest? (Never tried that either, thought it might be good)

 

What do you think?

I have run the Iron Preist w/4 Cyberwolves, Two things:

1] Give him a Bolt Pistol and Wolf-Tooth Necklace, a Wolf-Tail Talsiman is worth it if you have the Spare Points.

2] He is not TWC, he works best either hiding behind the LR to keep it running, then Assualting somthing that is already buisy. or as a flanker to go after somthing Big, but remeber MC's will kill him as quick as a normal Marine.

[Valerian]

Avoid close combat with tough IC's. I made the mistake of tying him up with Vulkan once and it was both of em punching it out the ENTIRE GAME. So I basically lost his kills for that game.

 

BRING HIS WOLVES. Those two hits could mean the difference between him living through a round or just being a points sink.

 

Those Fenrisian Wolves fight in close combat separately from Ragnar (in effect you have three different units for you opponent to allocate attacks against: 1. Ragnar, 2. His Wolves, 3. The Grey Hunters + Wolf Guard Leader). So, you cannot allocate hits to the Wolves to avoid taking wounds on Ragnar. This is clearly detailed in the Space Wolves FAQ:

 

Q. Do Fenrisian Wolves bought as wargear by an

Independent Character act as a Retinue during

an assault?

 

A. No – the Independent Character may still be

singled out even though his Fenrisian Wolves are

still alive. For example, a unit of Blood Claws is

joined by a Wolf Lord with two Fenrisian Wolves

as wargear. In an assault the enemy would be

able to direct his attacks towards three separate

targets – the Blood Claws, the Wolf Lord, or the

Fenrisian Wolves.

 

I would only take the two Wolves if you are riding in an LRC, just to help you max out the unit and take advantage of the higher capacity of the vehicle. If you play him in a normal Land Raider (the Phobos), which is what I transport Ragnar and his Grey Hunters in, then don't bother with the Fenrisian Wolves.

 

HDL, as far as your original question, Ragnar really only has one thing to worry about, and that is attacks that can cause Instant Death. He doesn't have Eternal Warrior, so if he gets hit by one (or more) Str 8 or higher attacks and he fails his Invulnerable Save, he is toast. If there is a model in a unit that can cause Instant Death, then you need to engage that model with your Grey Hunters via base-to-base contact (or the Wolves if you end up taking them), and get Ragnar into base-to-base with the models than can't just kill him outright.

 

It is also nice for him to avoid models that can go at I6 or higher, but it isn't vital if they can't (or it isn't likely) that they'll kill him if they go first.

 

Valerian

[Blitzkreig]

Anything that does one of the following:

 

Is able to instant death you.

 

That is all.

[Hear da Lamentation]

Great advice - thanks guys. The insta-death thing did indeed concern me.

 

I guess one of the tactics I should use is when I get out of the LR to go for the initial charge, try to target more than one unit? That way as Valerian says, I get to select where Ragnar goes and avoid those pesky insta-kills. This way I can also benefit from the fearless thing, where is I do lots of wounds against one unit - ALL the units in that combat have to make those saves. I guess this tactic also gives Ragnar an increased chance of having lots of attacks next assault phase via Warrior Born.

 

I have decided to do away with the Iron Priest for now - and go with the extra longfangs. I figure the extra firepower will be useful to try and take out specific threats to Ragnar.

[Xeenos]

Dont get out of your land raider unless its for a charge lol

 

You dont likly want to have your 3 packs go tearing off accross the field mind. He will most likly have Genesteelers, and they will most diffintly come in and eat your Long Fangs. Your Rune Priest wants to have the Chooser to help counter this, having Murderous Hurricane will do good vs bugs, too, i think. Depending where you put him, and how you play really. Have your Claws ready to be responsive to any threats to your Long Fanges.

[Anpu42]

Always fire the LR First. If not you may have nothing to Charge

[Lumdin]

Valerian,

 

I amost always keep at least 1 wolf with ragnar.

 

I try to get it into base contact with either the opposing ic or powerfist.

 

This way those attacks are pumped into the wolf and wasted and ragnar racks up kills so next round of combat he can pump his attacks into the ic. I usually get it to work out .

 

I find the wolf pretty useful.

 

Thanks

[Ranwulf]

Anything that can Instant Kill you without you being able to kill it.

 

Ran

[Grimtooth]

I don't use Ragnar, but I think I am going to name my first born son Ragnar. At that time I will tell you what things not to pit Ragnar against.

[Wispy]

Depending on your placement of them, the fenrisian wolves can be used to deny enemy units base contact with Ragnar. They have large bases, are incredibly useful in this regard.

[Valerian]

Valerian,

 

I amost always keep at least 1 wolf with ragnar.

 

I try to get it into base contact with either the opposing ic or powerfist.

 

This way those attacks are pumped into the wolf and wasted and ragnar racks up kills so next round of combat he can pump his attacks into the ic. I usually get it to work out .

 

I find the wolf pretty useful.

 

Thanks

 

That's fine, although you can usually do the same thing with a Grey Hunter (or Wolf Guard, or Blood Claw, or whoever Ragnar has joined). Of course, since the Wolf is a unit of 1, the Power Fist can only kill the Wolf once, so any extra wounding hits would be wasted - so that is a good thing. However, it is generally much more difficult (based on the requirements for how models must be moved when you launch an assault), to engage that powerfist with a specific model (ie. the Wolf), than it is to engage him with with a non-specific model (eg. any one of your nine Grey Hunters).

 

However, taking the Wolf isn't a bad idea, and he is 5 points cheaper than a Grey Hunter. Like I said earlier, I'd take one (or two) if I were footslogging (to act as the first two ablative wounds for the unit), or if I were in a LRC, to maximize unit size, but wouldn't bother if I were in a standard Land Raider or a Rhino.

 

Regards,

 

V

[Hear da Lamentation]

Thanks guys. I played last night ... and lost (for the 1st time against the Nids). Nearly got wiped out.

 

The LR got popped relatively quickly by Xenothropes (despite being in cover) which left Ragnar's squad a bit high and dry. However he had an uber unit of his own which dripped boneswords and lash whips. I kept Ragnar away from this unit, but with the addition of the LR gone, this left his unit pretty out of it (and pretty susceptible to his devil gaunts and their assault 3 missile weapons ...).

 

Although clearly I didnt manage to optimise Ragnar's unit, with the number of MC around ignoring armour save, the boneswords, the lash whips etc. there were a good number of things I needed to keep Ragnar away from. Xeno's can pop a LR pretty easily as well. For me, the 750points the unit cost (with 10GH, Ragnar and LR) it just is not worth it. FAR too expensive and you could certainly get a hell of a lot of other stuff for 750points !

 

Just my experience of last night and clearly I am far from experienced with using Ragnar.