Lists that work against Space Wolves

[Vexicus]

Hail Brothers,

 

I have recently come into the fold of the Ordo Malleus and am having deciding what to do with the boxes I've got. I went out and brought a Librarian for my HQ 2x strike squad boxes, a terminator box and a Dreadknight. I have been using my pals Grey Knights against my regular opponent to try and get a feel for the army and have yet to win (using a Grand Master, Vindicare Assassin, Strike Squad, Terminators, a Dreadknight and a Stormraven). I haven't assembled any of my models yet so I'm wondering what you, my more experienced battle brothers would do with the boxes that I have? Any help would be greatly received. I will also be adding a Vindicare Assassin as he has been the only reliable unit I have found for me. I normally play between 1000-1500 points, so what do you think brothers?

 

Many Thanks

 

Vex

[Vash]

Cant really go wrong with basic Strike squads with psycannon x2 and psybolt ammunition. Great fire support, and not to shabby in close quarters.

 

Dreadknight with heavy incinerator and personal teleporter is also a solid choice. Fast, and very deadly against light and medium infantry.

 

Librarian. I do like him, but many, including me, have now started to use the cheaper Ordo Malleus Inquisitor in Terminator armour. The inquisitor can also wield a psycannon.

[Reclusiarch Darius]

Cant really go wrong with basic Strike squads with psycannon x2 and psybolt ammunition. Great fire support, and not to shabby in close quarters.

 

Except Grey Hunters love smashing your face in, and Wolf players are quite happy to lose a few to wipe your squad. You'll pop the Rhino on the way in, but then they just bolt pistol+charge you, can't challenge the squad fist as he's a squad member, not the Wolf Guard (who you can challenge, but he's probably packing a power weapon for that exact reason). Strikes don't do a whole lot to Wolves, they're not a Deepstrike heavy list (good for forcing pod lists back, but Rhino GH just waltz up like normal).

 

Take Terminator blob (don't forget the TDA Inquisitor with Divination for re-rolls), watch him soil himself repeatedly. Long Fang missiles bounce off you, Grey Hunters get evapourated before they can swing, and his Wolf Guard are pricier than you per model for the right hard-counter (storm shield+thunderhammer). Paladins aren't as good, as they are far more vulnerable to random failure to save against krak rockets, and his meltaguns/powerfist is a lot more effective.

 

Henchmen can also present problems for a Wolf player, if you can catch him off guard. Assault warbands cost the same as a GH pack but blenderise them as effectively as the Termie blob (5 x DCA, 5 x Crusader, Raven preferable as delivery system, Raven is also good for sniping Rune Priests with its anti-psy frag missiles). Shooty warbands end up being around the 200pt mark, depending on transport+upgrades, but they outshoot even Knights. Go with Coteaz in either case, scoring on them is great.

 

Purifiers are an excellent mid-field unit for you. They dump a tonne of psycannon out, and they're a nightmare to engage for him (hidden nemesis hammer, Flame Knight halberd for challenging his Wolf Guard attachment, halberds on the non-psycannon dudes).

 

Dreadknight is freaking amazing against Wolves. He eats Long Fangs at will (again, like with TDA, their krak rockets just bounce off him), and he will suck away resources needed to kill your TDA blob (plasma, melta, powerfist etc). With the teleporter+greatsword, you are fast enough to avoid Lone Wolves trying to tarpit, and you just murder whatever you touch. He will probably die Turn 3 or 4 though (that's my usual mileage with him), so get him upfield quickly and get hacking.

 

Wolves don't usually bring a lot of armour, unless they're going pod heavy (in which case you just ignore the pods and kill the cargo anyway), or Razorspam. If you know you're fighting Razorspam, PsyDreads are good, otherwise don't invest in them. Vindicare is still an excellent buy, he can blow away Wolf Guard on a 4+ (Look Out Sir, grr!), and he can snipe out squad powerfists/thunderhammers to make combats easier for you. If your opponent was dumb enough to bring a Land Raider, turbo-pen it.

 

Can't offer much more than general advice, Wolf lists can be pretty variable (pods, Razorspam, Loganwing, GH spam, hybrids thereof). When you know your opponents list, post it and we can offer more specific build advice.

[Vexicus]

Thank you for the advise so far brothers, i will take it all on board and use what i can. I normally go against the following list,

 

Rune Priest with Div, Prescience and misfortune (the re-roll successful armor saves one)

3x Grey Hunter Packs with 2 Plasma Guns in each

2x Long Fangs Packs, 1 with 2 plasma cannons, ML and a lascannon the other with 4 ML

5 Wolf Guard 2 of which go with the long fangs the others go in a pod to drop down and combi melta away any tanks i bring.

1 lone wolf chain fist and shield

 

That's what i can remember for the most part. I'm sure there are more upgrades in there like power fists and what not but I hope that gives you a general idea of what I'm facing.

 

The as for the lone wolf, I have a strategy for dealing with him. Shield Breaker from the Vindicare then Hellfire AP1 2+ wounding ammo the next turn. Sorted. The problem I find is the Long Fangs and just dealing with the higher numbers my opponent has. I've tried using a Storm Raven to take out the Long Fangs but to no avail, so listening to what has been said NDK is heading straight for those Long Fangs next time. Now do you think I would be better off DSing him or Shunting and then flaming?

[spartan249]

First things first.

 

He can not choose what powers he takes. They are randomly generated (except Prescience), so misfortune requires fortune on his part.

 

There are a few ways to tackle this problem and have a decent chance of coming out on top.

 

As usual, deep strike disruption will be key to keeping the bulk of your forces alive. While Strike Squads ensure you shoot first, Plasma Cannons are a big problem to that model. This is one of those situations where the Callidus Assassin can be worth her weight in gold. The usual list I'd run at 1250 (what that list looks like it's running at) would entail something like this:

 

1250 pts

HQ

OX Inquisitor: Beamer, ML 1 - 100 pts

Troops

Strike Squad: 10 Knights, 2 Psycannons, Dhammer - 230 pts

Strike Squad: 10 Knights, 2 Psycannons, Dhammer - 230 pts

Strike Squad: 10 Knights, 2 Psycannons, Dhammer - 230 pts

Elites

Henchmen: 10 Acos (bolters), 2 Jokaero - 120 pts

Techmarine: Beamer - 110 pts

Fast Attack

Stormraven: TLMM, TLLC - 205 pts

 

I'd use this list to engage in a stand off shooting war early game, then use secondary objectives to lure him out into midfield where flank and rear attacks can be most effective, and consequently what Strike Squads are most effective at. Of course, it isn't at all optimal to take that list on, but based on past experience with similar lists, I think I'd do fine with this.

 

If we're talking about hard tailoring, I'd change the list up significantly.

 

1250 pts

Aegis Defense Line: Quad Gun - 100 pts

HQ

Coteaz: 100 pts

OX Inquisitor: Rad & Psycho, ML 1 - 85 pts

Troops

Henchmen: 10 Acos (3 Pgun), 2 Jokaero - 140 pts

Henchmen: 10 Acos (3 Pgun), 2 Jokaero - 140 pts

Henchmen: 10 Acos (3 Pgun), 2 Jokaero - 140 pts

Henchmen: 7 Acos (3 Pgun), 3 Servitors (Pcannon), 2 Jokaero - 188 pts

Henchmen: 5 DCA, 5 Crusaders (Saders have power axes) - 150 pts

Fast Attack

Stormraven: TLMM, TLLC - 205 pts

 

He brings walking marine army. You bring long range shooting death army with a ball of CC death on the loose and a rune priest that is going to be in dire straits if left visible for longer then T1.

 

I'm 100% serious when I say this, Henchmen are where most of the codex's power comes from. PAGKs and Terminators look cool and all that, but they're just so-so when compared to the kinds of things Henchmen can do. There is almost nothing he can do to shoot you off the table, and he can not even dare to approach you without getting annihilated. You place objectives out in the open, and he's going to have to get into your gunsights to have a chance at the game. Hard counter.