Post-Tournament Report

[Vantius]

Your favorite Blood Claw here, and ready to give you my first Post-Tournament Report.

 

In this 2000 point team tournament, I brought 1000 points of Space Wolves, and my partner brought 1000 points of Tau.

 

My partner brought the following (this list does not include all the upgrades):

 

HQ-Suit w/ AFP,Plas,MPs

Elite- Suit team w/ Plas, MPs

Troop-Fire Warriors w/ Devil fish and Kroot

Fast-Pathfinders w/Devilfish

Heavy-Broadsides

 

My list:

:lol:

Wolf Priest, Runic Armor, Wolf Tail Talisman,Melta bombs, Saga of the Hunter

 

:lol:

2x 10-man Grey Hunter Pack, x1 Meltagun, x1 Plasma Gun, Wolf Standard, Powerfist, Rhino Dedicated Transport (Dozer blade)

 

15x Blood Claws Pack, 1x Flamer, 1x Meltagun, Powerfist, Razorback Dedicated Transport (w/Twin-linked Lascannon, Dozer blade)

 

:lol:

1x Land Speeder, Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer

 

A very straight-forward list, built to compliment the Tau (who were much more limited by composition rules for the tourney).

 

Here is a quick summary of the matches.

 

Match 1

Opponents had Eldar/Imperial Guard. Eldar player had a small Jetbike team with Shuriken Cannon, Wave Serpent with DAs (with Eldrad), Wave Serpent with Banshees, Fire Prism. IG had 3 Chimeras with troops, Vendetta with CMD Squad, Storm Troopers, and a Leman w/plasma.

 

This was an objective-based mission, deploying Dawn of War style from short edges (needed a 4+ for reserves from turns 2-4). The Wolf Priest and Blood Claws performed well, taking out the command squad and soaking up lots of fire from the Leman Russ. The deepstriking Speeder didn't manage any kills, but also took three rounds of shooting before it was taken down. Because of the 4+ reserve rule, the Hunters came late and did almost nothing, aside from being a distraction for the Banshees and Storm Troopers. The Razorback was also very underwhelming (I'll talk about this later). We used our last push in the final turn, contesting their two objectives with Gun Drones and Kroot, and contesting the center objective with the Claws. We held one objective with fire warriors and won the match.

 

Match 2

Opponents had Tau/Necrons. Tau had Suit CMDr and team, Fire Warriors with Devil Fish and two Kroot squads, and a Broadside team. Necrons had Overlord, 18 and 19 man Warrior squads, Ghost Arc, Annihilation Barge, and Destroyers.

 

This was a table quarters mission, with a spearhead style deployment. The Wolf Priest and Blood Claws came up short in this match, taking heavy casualties early on due to lack of cover saves. Hunters performed poorly as well, though this was more because of poor tactical decisions and even worse dice rolling. The speeder and Razor were also flops in this mission. In the end, our opponents got last turn, and managed to take down out contesting units, leaving us both with one table quarter a piece. However, they had two bonus objectives to our one, which gave us the loss.

 

Match 3

 

Opponents had Dark Eldar/Blood Angels. DA had two Hemuculus (one with portal), Scourges, Warriors with Raider and Witches with Raider, and a Ravager. BA had Librarian, Sang Priest, three Assault Squads in Rhinos, and a Vindicator.

 

This was the Killpoint mission, with pitched deployment. Wolf Priest and Claws performed up to par, taking out an assault squad and a Hemuculus. The Hunters were much better in this match, utilizing the top hatches of the Rhinos and counter-attack to their advantage. The Speeder took out the Vindi before going down, and the the Razor failed miserably(again, I will talk about this in my unit breakdown review). With the Wolf and Tau firepower combined, we were able to pull out with the win here, 14 killpoints to 7.

 

Summary

The most notable point I have about the matches was my poor movement techniques with my Wolf Priest and Blood Claws. In two separate matches, I managed to have my flamer out of position to fire when needed. Also, in two separate matches, I failed to get my Wolf Priest into close combat on the charge (and one of these times I also failed to get the power fist Claw in). I see these as unacceptable errors that I must correct. These mistakes severely effected the possible outcome of the results, and may have been one of the key reasons why we lost the second match. In the future, I have to ensure that my valuable assets (IC's, flamers, melta guns, power fists, ect. ) are where they need to be at all times.

 

Lucky for me, I got some more experience under my belt (this is my third tournament appearance), which I feel is the most important thing I can get from any tournament. Lots of great opponents, and whacky missions to keep me wits sharp. Also, my partner is a great tactician, and his tau performed wonderfully. Our lists and play styles complimented each others nicely, and I am confident that we could have continued success in these same lists in the future.

 

Next, I am going to do a quick review of each of my units and their war gear, and discuss pros and cons of each unit as well.

[Kassill]

Sounds like an interesting day! 2 outta 3 is good. Im looking forward to your unit breakdown.

[Vantius]

As promised, here is my individual unit breakdown. I wanted to do this because I feel it offers readers an intimate look at how individual units perform with different wargear options.

 

Wolf Priest

Grade: A-

From my personal experience, the Wolf Priest never disappoints. He supported the Blood Claws in many ways, making them an even greater force to be reckoned with. Preferred Enemy is great. As is the 4++ invulnerable save in the Wolf Amulet. The Saga of the Hunter was a GREAT option for him leading the Claws on foot. I made to sure to remind all my opponents that they would have stealth, and ALL of them at some point were looking rather distraught when reminded of this as I was taking my 3+ cover saves. This alone saved me at least 8 Claws over the course of three games. For 10 points...I'd say that is well worth it. Runic Armor was also a great choice, proving itself after rolling four or five 2's for armor saves. I never had a chance to use the Meltabombs or Wolf Tail Talisman, though I still feel they are good upgrades for the price.

 

Overall, I feel this was an optimal loadout for the Wolf Priest leading a pack of Claws on foot. It made both him and the Claws more survivable, which is a must when footslogging. The only change I would make is adding a Plasma Pistol. In all three matches I played, I either encountered a situation where I needed some low AP shots to take down some extra MEQ's, or I needed an extra high strength shot to help open up transports to expose its contents. Even with the one or two melta guns with the Claws, their BS3 cannot be relied upon. The plasma pistol could really help with that shortcoming.

 

Blood Claws

Grade: B+

The Blood Claws are by far my favorite unit from the codex. With the full 15 Claws on foot, they are a force that must be dealt with. They soaked up lots of fire, which was great whether they survived the storm of bullets or not. This left the other units in the army unscathed for the first few turns, which was even worse for my opponent if they had been reduced at least below half strength. Once they reached combat, their attack numbers (along with preferred enemy) proved to be overwhelming.

 

The Powerfist is a must, IMO. They are exposed to a multitude of enemy units, and the fist makes them more capable of defending against some of the tougher units. And, three fist attacks on the charge isn't bad. The melta gun was a good addition as well, since I was able to put it to use by killing a few MEQ's, and opening up a Rhino (and it was free). There have been too many times in the past where I choose not to bring a melta gun, and I always regret it. I now always try to fit them in now. The flamer is great too, since there is no worries about the BS3 when using it (this one is free too!).

 

Grey Hunters

Grade: B

It wasn’t a surprise that the Hunters performed well. Aside from some inevitable mission constraints, these guys moved into position with their Rhinos and did their jobs controlling/contesting and laying down cover fire for other units.

 

I am glad that I didn’t go over the top with the Hunter squads’ upgrades, since What they had seemed to be enough. This was the first time I went with the melta-plasma combo. I found it quite useful, have multiple opportunities to use the separately and together. The key here was that I was never in a position where I regretted taking one or the other (which has often been the case in the past). The Wolf Standards performed great as well, never failing to prove itself as one of the best upgrades in the codex. Specifically, in one round of combat where I was rolling 20+ attacks, I managed to roll somewhere around 8 or more 1’s just to hit.

 

Razorback

Grade: D+

Though it was chosen as a dedicated transport for the Blood Claws, I am mentioning it separately, since I was essentially used as a separated unit.

 

It is hard to judge its performance, considering how often I failed rolls to hit with it. It was a good lesson is statistics, where in my last match I managed to miss on 4 strait turns. I, too, thought that was virtually impossible…until I saw it myself. Since my reason for bring the Twin-Linked Lascannon vs. the las/plas combo was it reliability, it is now making me consider otherwise. Also, there were a number of occasions where it received a weapon destroyed result, which would not have affected it as much were it a las/plas.

 

With that being said, I can see it being useful in the future (pending some better rolling on my part). It was fairly cheap, and still managed to contest objectives and drew attention away from other more essential units.

 

Land Speeder

Grade: C

Cheap, lean, and ready to rock and roll. When you roll well…

 

Single Speeders are always hit or miss for me. I am always counting on the multi-melta, only to have it miss or fail to penetrate. The Heavy flamer is a nice combo for it, though, since both are usually used in the face of the enemy. I think the speeder would have been more effective with a twin beside it for support.

 

Even though I manage to miss often with my speeders, they almost always manage to soak up loads of firepower from my opponents to take them down. As far as deployment goes, I used deepstrike in two out of the three matches. I did this because I knew my opponents would be camping. This was a very risky tactic, but it seemed to pay off, as I was able to get the speeder exactly where I wanted it. In the match against the Blood Angels, I knew they would be bringing the fight to me. I reserved it to come on the board normally, which worked out well as it came on to explode a Rhino (killing around 6 assault marines in the process).

 

Overall List Grade: B

I was happy with the list I brought. It supported the partner’s Tau forces well, which was most important for me in the tournament. Looking forward, I would only make minor changes to the list, such as giving the Wolf Priest a plasma pistol and switching the TL Lascannon to a las/plas (or even swapping it for another speeder). The most important thing was that I was able to use my favorite unit, the Blood Claws, and have fun with them.

 

I hope this review helps others with their ventures. Please, feel free to ask any questions or leave comments. Thanks for tuning in…

 

-V

[Hfran Morkai]

It makes me happy to see your Blood Claws did well (given their reputation around the Fang >.>) and well done in the tournament.

[Sigmund Hammerhand]

I'm surprised you got that much use out of your blood claws. I'm really going to have to try and use them like that at some point (I never really thought of putting a wolf priest with stealth in the unit...). Because I play at higher point levels, perhaps a wolf guard might join them to enhance overall effectiveness. I can't see a plasma pistol on them being all that useful though to be honest because its such a hit and miss affair with BS3 for which it is far too expensive, really. If anything I'd stick in a wolf guard with combiplasma (perhaps even a terminator) or plasma pistol and frost blade or something like that. Might be worth considering.

 

I'm not surprised you did not get much use out of your landspeeder to be honest. Relying on a one-shot weapon is bound to disappoint. To make it more reliable, I would change the loadout to multimelta and assault cannon. Assault cannons are statistically much better at preventing something from shooting - be it a leman russ or a basilisk or something else. And they have multiple shots which I always find helpful.

[Marmande]

I agree; adding a Wolf Guard PL to your Blood Claws would have given you:

 

-More Power Fist/Frost Blade attacks (and at a more reliable WS4, too)

-A single-shot Melta in the form of a Combi-melta

-Another Melta Bomb (if you chose to spend more points)

-And, if you had decided to splurge and give him Terminator armor, you might even have a Chainfist to more easily pop tanks in CC

[Kassill]

I'm surprised you got that much use out of your blood claws. I'm really going to have to try and use them like that at some point (I never really thought of putting a wolf priest with stealth in the unit...). Because I play at higher point levels, perhaps a wolf guard might join them to enhance overall effectiveness. I can't see a plasma pistol on them being all that useful though to be honest because its such a hit and miss affair with BS3 for which it is far too expensive, really. If anything I'd stick in a wolf guard with combiplasma (perhaps even a terminator) or plasma pistol and frost blade or something like that. Might be worth considering.

 

I'm not surprised you did not get much use out of your landspeeder to be honest. Relying on a one-shot weapon is bound to disappoint. To make it more reliable, I would change the loadout to multimelta and assault cannon. Assault cannons are statistically much better at preventing something from shooting - be it a leman russ or a basilisk or something else. And they have multiple shots which I always find helpful.

 

 

 

The the Plasma Pistol was intended for the Wolf Priest I believe :lol:

 

 

Great breakdown Vantius! Glad to hear your list did well. I think Land Speeders are kinda like Vindicators. Kinda "meh" by themselves, but give em some buddies and they can do some work. :)

[Vantius]

I guess it may have been worth mentioning before, but the tournament had a composition score for points in each FOC slot. The reason why I did not take any Wolf Guard is because it would have put our list in the penalty for our elites slot points. Normally, I would never run them without a WGPL. Same goes for the Grey Hunters. I would have much rather had a WGPL with a CM/PF, but we were trying to keep out lists tidy. Next time I may consider saying 'screw comp score' so that I can have a superior list.