Wolf Guard builds

[Griz]

What's an ideal load out on Wolf Guard in TDA?

 

I typically field 2 squad of LFs and 3 squads of GHs and looking to place some WG in TDA with them.

 

Any ideas?

[Scyld Fireblade]

I take my guard as a separate squad to protect my WL. All TDA, two TH & SS, 1 paired WClaws, 1assault cannon & PF, 2 ChainFists and Stormbolters. Add my WL with Frostaxe, SS, wolftooth talisman, TDA, and Bear. I can cut my way through 60 orks for 1-2 guard. I have also killed C'tan, and even Belial and his deathwing command squad in a single round.

[Wulfebane]

I love my assault cannon(s), but the preferred TDA WG joining a LF pack almost always has a cyclone launcher.

[red_starrise]

As w/ so much else about Space Wolves & 40k, there is no right or wrong answer, it's all based off your preferences & play style.

 

How do you equip your grey hunters & long fangs? Are they mounted? Those are questions you need to ask because the answer to the second question can effect how you equip your WG.

 

I tend to run a mech force (aside from my blood claws) so WGTDA can't lead those squads. For Grey Hunters this is almost a no-brainer as to why they're mounted.

 

For Long Fangs it's because in various scenarios they start in reserve & mounting them in a razorback gives them up to 20" 'deployment move' if I run them in the shooting phase (since they can't shoot anyway) so I can potentially get them into position in one turn as opposed to what might take 2 turns & if I happen to have a road that starts on my table edge, all the better, then I can get them up 24" in one turn w/ maximum run rolls. All this in my mind outweighs the tactical advantage of having a TDA heavy weapon attached to the squad.

 

Now, for Grey Hunters, sometimes as a shock unit I like to put 8 of them in a drop pod w/ a WGTDA w/ matching combi-weapon & a CML. In the past when I've left my Long Fangs on foot I've led them w/ a WGTDA w/ CML & storm shield but the unit was too handicapped by their slow speed when I had to have them come on from reserve & ended up losing sometimes 2-3 turns shooting trying to get into good position or even get LoS to enemies.

 

Even if I'm running Blood Claws out of an LRC it's not usually worth it because I can't run them at 15 man strong due to TDA taking up two slots.

 

For the most part, I prefer to run my WG in PA & equip them to match the squad they lead eg: melta grey hunters, give him a combi-melta & power fist; blood claws, give him a combi-flamer (3 templates) & a power fist; long fangs, give him a cheap power weapon & use him as your first ablative wound &/or additional close combat punch against infiltrators (genesneakers!).

 

I do run a 4-man pack as my Wolf Lord's retinue equipped w/ one chainfist, a wolf claw, 2 power weapons, 2 combi-weapons w/ my WL in TDA w/ wolf claw, storm bolter, wolf tooth necklace all in a drop pod.

[Valerian]

Now, for Grey Hunters, sometimes as a shock unit I like to put 8 of them in a drop pod w/ a WGTDA w/ matching combi-weapon & a CML.

 

I wouldn't recommend giving a WGTDA who you've upgraded with a CML a combi-weapon - he can't shoot both in the same turn, so you have to chose between which ranged weapon you are going to fire each time. Instead, leave him with a Storm Bolter, so he can fire both, and give a different guy the combi-weapon.

 

For the most part, I prefer to run my WG in PA & equip them to match the squad they lead eg: melta grey hunters, give him a combi-melta & power fist; blood claws, give him a combi-flamer (3 templates) & a power fist; long fangs, give him a cheap power weapon & use him as your first ablative wound &/or additional close combat punch against infiltrators (genesneakers!).

 

I do run a 4-man pack as my Wolf Lord's retinue equipped w/ one chainfist, a wolf claw, 2 power weapons, 2 combi-weapons w/ my WL in TDA w/ wolf claw, storm bolter, wolf tooth necklace all in a drop pod.

 

I agree with red_starrise here; for Pack Leader duties, I usually stick with PAWG and arm/equip accordingly to the job he is going to do, although WGTDA would be fine if you are going to use Drop Pods or just footslog. For my WGTDA models, I tend to keep them together as a bodyguard unit for my Wolf Lord (Ragnar). If you are interested, I can provide the details on how I equip them.

 

 

Valerian

[Aeddon]

For the one who goes with my Grey Hunters, I like to outfit him with a chainfist and combi-melta. Alternatively, if they are riding in a rhino I give him a thunderhammer and combi-melta. I find the little 5-point spent to upgrade from a powerfist tends to be worth it and adds character at the same time. With the Long Fangs the cyclone missile launcher would be my pick instead of an assault cannon.

[Griz]

Thanks for the suggestions brothers - I'm finding my most pressing issue is with my LFs. I don't have them in Razorbacks and I'm finding (at least games involved in) that we roll Dawn of War deployment.

 

The way I see my WG working with my list is either as a pack with my WL dropping in from a pod and hammering in. But then again - I typically find my LFs being very static and stationary and overall I haven't had to much issue with that. Though some games it has been an issue.

[Valerian]

The question on how to arm Wolf Guard comes up a lot, so I'm just going to quote myself from an earlier post:

"I've made my WGTDA pack (only 1, since it's a non-Loganwing army) like this:

1x Heavy Flamer and Chain Fist

1x Combi-Plasma and Power Weapon

1x Combi-Plasma and Wolf Claw

1x Storm Shield and Wolf Claw

1x Cyclone Missile Launcher, Storm Bolter and Chain Fist

Here is the theory: The CML model will be used as a Wolf Guard Leader for another Pack, so he isn't really a part of the equation. The CML is magnetized, so if I don't have a full unit of 10 Wolf Guard models (allowing the 2 Terminator Heavy Weapons) I can just keep it off. The remaining 4 Wolf Guard in TDA are the packmates for my Wolf Lord, Ragnar Blackmane, and will deploy with him in a standard Land Raider Phobos. Upon deployment, between the Heavy Flamer template, 4x Plasma Shots, and Ragnar's Bolt Pistol, I can do pretty good damage to about any enemy unit, including other Terminators, prior to the Charge.

Ragnar gets 6-8 Frostblade attacks at Strength 6 and at Initiative 6, followed by the 6-10x Strength 5 Wolf Claw and 3-5x Strength 5 Power Weapon Attacks at Initiative 5.

If any of the enemy are left alive at this point, then the guy with the Power Weapon is my "Redshirt" and as the cheapest model he will get assigned the first hits that still allow an Armor Save. The Guy with the Wolf Claw is next in line, as the second cheapest model. Any return hits that ignore Armor Saves get allocated to the model with the Storm Shield and Wolf Claw, who has the best chance of surviving and preventing the loss of one of the other TDA models. It he dies, however, he still isn't overly expensive, and won't be too much of a problem.

Lastly, the model with the Heavy Flamer and Chain Fist gets to attack at Initiative 1, with 3-5x Strength 9 Attacks to clean up any remaining models that weren't killed at the earlier Initiative steps.

If I feel like Deep Striking the unit with a Drop Pod, instead of using the Land Raider I can do that too, but risk the very likely possibility of getting Charged, instead of getting to Charge when and where I want. I can also leave Ragnar out, and use these guys to accompany a Wolf Priest, or add the CML, Storm Bolter, Chain Fist model back in and just use them as a pack of 5 with no IC.

There is a lot of versatility and flexibility in this build. They are fairly expensive, but they can do a lot of damage, all on their own."

Pics of the 5 Wolf Guard in TDA discussed above:

Regards,

Valerian