Cheap Lone Wolves

[NovaScotius]

Hi all,

 

I'm still very new to my Space Wolves (I've been unable to paint or game with them for several months recently!), and have just managed to get a couple of Troops selections and a HQ finished. I'm now looking at the rest of the Codex, and I like the idea of Lone Wolves - They're probably not the most competitive choice in the book, but they seem far too cool to pass up.

 

Now this is a bit of a newbie style question, but I've never seen anyone use a "bargain" Lone Wolf. Everyone seems to tool them up with Terminator Armour, Chain Fist, Storm Shield and a couple of Fenrisians to keep them company - This clocks in a quite a number of points.

 

I was thinking of getting a Lone Wolf, chucking a Frost Blade and a set of Melta Bombs on him and letting him toddle off and do his thing. He comes in at 50 points, which is a substantially lower investment.

 

Obviously, as he's nowhere near as durable as a 2+/3++ FNP chap, I wouldn't be able to use him to tackle big close-combat units, but would use him as a distraction and buffer to prevent my squads being charged. Or I could use multiple cheaper Lone Wolves...

 

To add some perspective to this discussion, I'm interested in converting my list to a Wolf-Wing/Logan's Heroes list eventually, so he will only be competing with Wolf Scouts, Iron Priests and Dreadnoughts for Elites slots.

 

Is there any reason why people do not take "bargain" Lone Wolves?

[Nightrunner]

Hey Nova,

 

Thought I would jump in with some of your points:

 

Hi all,

 

I'm still very new to my Space Wolves (I've been unable to paint or game with them for several months recently!), and have just managed to get a couple of Troops selections and a HQ finished. I'm now looking at the rest of the Codex, and I like the idea of Lone Wolves - They're probably not the most competitive choice in the book, but they seem far too cool to pass up.

......

 

Is there any reason why people do not take "bargain" Lone Wolves?

 

I decided to paraphrase what I thought were the most important bits in your post, and highlight my favourite!

 

A single Lone Wolf is not the greatest unit in the world; alone, he probably won't win you a game. Probably!

 

My experience with Lone Wolves has only ever been using two, both in Terminator armour with a Storm Shield; one has a 'hammer, the other a chainfist.

 

With two Lone Wolves, I can happily say that they have, indeed, been the turning point in many games! They can absorb a tremendous amount of damage, and whilst slow and not a ranged threat at all, they are something that your opponent has to deal with. Ignoring them inevitably leads to problems. However, as with many things in 40k, taking one isn't enough of an investment.

 

My standard 1500pts fare is a very shooty list, with the two lone wolves usually deployed far ahead of the bulk of my army. Quite simply, I then run them at the enemy, and use them to act as speed bumps or to draw fire. In an objective game, they cannot fail; I pair them up and they run at whatever objective I aim to be contesting come turn 5. My opponent has to think about them.

 

I know I haven't given any specifics of how "uber killy Zomg amazing god-like" a unit they are, but trust me, they have been a solid part of my standard GT list for quite some time, and they play very, very well.

 

However, the other part of your post; why not take them as a bargain unit?

 

With TDA, a 'shield and a hammer/fist/chainfist, your Lone wolf can literally tie up anything short of a Necron C'tan. Greater daemons, daemon princes, nobz, Tyranid monstrosities, units of bloodcrushers... you name it, I can honestly say they have been in combat with it!

 

The idea of a Lone Wolf isn't necessarily to kill things; it is to be incredibly resilient, and hold things up that your opponent needs to commit elsewhere. Having a Daemon Prince with warptime charge you and fail to kill you for three turns keeps that massive investment of your opponent's out of the game, leaving you free to (hopefully) capitalise in the background. The other major effect of this survivability is that your opponent will often be greatly distracted by said unit, particularly if it continues to live after considerable firepower/blows to the head are applied.

 

If you don't buy that equipment, your Lone wolf quite simply isn't as resilient; he can die much, much more easily to basic weapons fire, and a single plasma gun can happily end his day.

 

If you only have 50pts spare and want a fun addition, take a Lone Wolf on the cheap. However, if you intend him to be a useful tool that will force your opponent to think about him, then for 35pts more you are onto a winner.

 

NR :D

[Tsavong Lah]

Nightrunner has some good points, though I rarely if ever run two Terminator Lone Wolves. I find that one with TDA, SS, and CF/TH and a pair of Wolves works great at tying up those nasty beasties for several turns. As for running one on a budget, a Lone Wolf with Mark of the Wulfen and a Storm Shield has served me very well in the past, although his role is much more oriented toward slaughtering mid- and light-infantry units (sweeping advance is awesome) all by himself. I find that the 3+ armor save with FNP is perfectly resilient against massed small arms fire/CC attacks, and the Storm Shield prevents him from getting his day ruined by a Plasma weapon or some such thing. At only 65 points (IIRC), he's been a great asset in my lists when I just don't have 105 points sitting around for my usual TDA version.

[Wildfire]

I've toyed with the idea of a lone wolf w/frostblade and two wolves. That way they can still fit in a stolen rhino/razorback.

[vikingwolves]

This helped me out a lot:

 

http://space-wolves-grey.blogspot.com/2010...lf-tactics.html

[Captain Idaho]

A cheap Lone Wolf as described in the OP can be used as a baby sitter for a squad of Long Fangs, in case someone tries a cheeky charge from some small unit outflanking and the like.

 

That's probably the extent of the strategic application of cheap Lone Wolves, else they just get shot dead in a single turn rather effortlessly.

[Brother Nathan]

personally from a fluff point of view, i wouldnt give them termy armour. yet a storm sheild on a powerarmour guy with motw...(and do they have options for a combi melta?)

[Schertenleib]

personally from a fluff point of view, i wouldnt give them termy armour. yet a storm sheild on a powerarmour guy with motw...(and do they have options for a combi melta?)

 

 

Depends on your take on the fluff too. A Wolf Lord might not be willing to "throw away" a valuable member of his Company. Understanding the wish to redeem oneself he allows the warrior to become a Lone Wolf, but may still elevate him to the Wolf guard if he is valiant but unable to follow where his pack has lead.

 

"Gee, Lars you killed two Greater Daemons single handedly. Why don't you join my Wolf Guard. I could use a man like you."

[Rayray]

personally from a fluff point of view, i wouldnt give them termy armour. yet a storm sheild on a powerarmour guy with motw...(and do they have options for a combi melta?)

 

 

Depends on your take on the fluff too. A Wolf Lord might not be willing to "throw away" a valuable member of his Company. Understanding the wish to redeem oneself he allows the warrior to become a Lone Wolf, but may still elevate him to the Wolf guard if he is valiant but unable to follow where his pack has lead.

 

"Gee, Lars you killed two Greater Daemons single handedly. Why don't you join my Wolf Guard. I could use a man like you."

Not to mention the fact that wolf guard who has been slain with his pack may have been wearing a suit of TDA. Said lone wolf would adopt the TDA in that wolf guard's honor.

[Freman Bloodglaive]

My Lone Wolf (thunder hammer, storm shield, terminator armour) has pretty bad luck. One game he was charged by a small assault squad, and lost a wound. He drove the squad off, but then he charged a Captain in terminator armour, took a single wound, and then rolled a 2 for his shield save.

 

My attempt at a power armour Lone Wolf was shot to death by a Marine biker. Two hits, two wounds, two failed armour saves, two failed "feel no pain" saves... D'oh!

 

Terminator armour all the way baby.

[NovaScotius]

Thanks for all the replies!

 

I can see the reasoning behind the use of Terminator armour and the Storm Shield. I think I might give that a go instead of my budget Lone Wolf idea... though I may try running three cheap Lone Wolves together at some point!

 

In the meantime, I shall convert a Storm Shield Terminator one with two Fenrisians and see how it pans out!

[Sturm Moonwolf]

I love Lone Wolves, I have nothing bad to say about them. I run 3 TDA-TH/SS in my Loganwing army ocasionally.

[Rotagar]

I'm on the other bench.

 

Lone wolves are the last surviving members of thier packs. Cool. I get that they have access to the armoury, and are probably toting around equipment taken off thier fallen packmatesm, but they weren't all part of the Wolf Guard (let's hope your WG don't get wiped out all the time), and so they sure as hell don't have access to the chapters revered suits of Terminator armour.

 

On the table a Lone Wolf is kind of like a land speeder or a small pack of wolf scouts. He's a relatively soft target that you hope the enemy won't waste before he can do what he's there to do. Even without the fluff reasons, I'd much rather a single maddened marine (with or without the Mark) running across the table just waiting to get to grips with the enemy. Do it on the cheap. He's in an Elite slot, and if you have the points you are better taking a pack of scouts or a Dred. If you don't have the points for either of those other choices then a Lone Wolf is a suitable choice assming you can deliver him into the enemies face. At a stripped down 20 points he makes a decent screen for something valuable during the shooting phase, even more so with a couple of wolves. Add a power weapon or a wolf claw if you need a little something extra out of him.

 

Taking a 20 pt figure and tooling him out in TDA, weapons, wolves etc is a waste of 100+ pts in my opinion. You might as well have taken another pack or even a WGBL/RP/WP/whatever for the points.

[GraemePaul]

Like others I normally take a pair of Lonewolves in TDA, SS, CF. The only time they ever failed me was by surviving a kill points game and costing me the game!

 

I find the whole Idea of taking a tough as nails lonewolf is because for a sub 100pts model they can absorb an amazing amount of damage and keep going. This keeps the rest of your army safe should your opponent get fixated on them.

[Freman Bloodglaive]

I would stick with paying the points to make your Lone Wolf survivable. Sure, that's an 85 point chunk, but he has the ability to put the hurt on a lot of other enemies.

 

I've run one with motw, and you're dependent on rolling 6s against marines, and guess how often that happens? A thunder hammer (or chainfist) and storm shield, along with terminator armour, allows you to really lay the smack down on their candy asses and survive long enough to do it.

 

Remember I4 is nothing. Scary assault units will be faster. Better to survive their hits, and then mash a couple. With 2+/3++ FNP and S8 there's a pretty good chance of that.

[Simo429]

The thing with lone wolves is that if you don't equip him with enough to seriously do damage to the enemy then he can just be ignored and your enemy can take the kill point that he gives them.

 

That chain fist allows him to be a real threat to everything on the table, if you pop a landraider with him you aren't really that bothered about the issue of him not getting killed.