Skyclaws...Any advice?

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

So with 6th, and the new tau, I've decided to try a  unit I've never tried before, Skyclaws.

I'm thinjing either 5 or 10 strong depending on pts level, with power axe, and possibly plasma pistols and/or special weapons (not sure on the latter as it does cut down their number of attacks, possibly with mark of the wulfen, with an attached rune priest with jump pack, any advice on using the crazy young wolves? :P

[dswanick]

So with 6th, and the new tau, I've decided to try a unit I've never tried before, Skyclaws.

I'm thinjing either 5 or 10 strong depending on pts level, with power axe, and possibly plasma pistols and/or special weapons (not sure on the latter as it does cut down their number of attacks, possibly with mark of the wulfen, with an attached rune priest with jump pack, any advice on using the crazy young wolves?

1- Skip the Plasma Pistol. 15pts for is too much for a Plasma Pistol, imo, especially on a BS3 unit which might not even get to shoot (due to Headstrong). Invest those points in MotW, instead.

2- I would go for a Wolf Priest over a Rune Priest. The Invul.Save and Fearless make up for the slight inferiority of the provided re-rolls.

[Reede]

A lot of what i've seen people say with Bloodclaws in general is you want to try and get the max units with them. Since they drop their WS/BS to 3, you need to have the extra attacks to make up for it. I guess the other big thing though is finding a good route of getting them into battle. Whenever I play against my friends stormboyz I tend to target them sooner, because I know they'll be tying me up in combat the quickest, so they tend to take a lot of fire as they make their way up the board. I feel like using terrain becomes incredibly important with them. 

 

As for the rune priest, that could definitely be strong, I've had runepriest beast in combat, but at the same time they're not the best melee combat character, so maybe think of switching it out for a Wolf Priest, since you'll also be getting the fearless / Preferred enemy, which gives you a nice boost for re-rolls on the missed attacks. 

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

I did think of  a Wolf priest, but of the two I have, one is on foot and I've finished painting him, whilst the other is Ulric, who I have not painted yet :P

I'm thinking a jump pack could allow a rune priest to get into position to use his powers best, whilst a wolf priest can take saga of the hinter, helping to get the grey hunter close as well, where as a rune priest can't take it.

[Reede]

Jump pack would definitely allow a rune priest to get into a good position, but to do so you're either leaving your bloodclaws out of a fight, having the rune priest run off (which then invokes the headstrong rule for them), or you're only going to get to use your powers once or twice before jumping into combat, which puts the Rune Priest at a decent chance of getting killed. Overall it just seems that you won't be able to make the best use out of the units with that combination, but this could be supported by having grey hunters come in with the wolf priest, so it's more a micro issue that doesn't take into account the whole picture.

[Ghostwolfalpha]

With any "Claw" unit, I find more is better. I have run them at 10 strong with a Wolf Priest in RA and backed them up with 4 TWC.

 

Special guns I feel are wasted points on them with bs3 and needing a leader to have the option of shooting, but I can see some builds where it would be wise to give them some firepower. I would use MotW as the melee weapon, these guys should be dedicated infantry hunters with the amount of attacks it can throw at a unit on the charge. Vs meq, a Power Sword may be better, but MotW is better vs all comers IMO.

 

If you wanted to use Prescience on them, I would drop pod him in with a squad of Grey Hunters and use the hunters in chorus with the Skyclaws. This will give you options as to how to use your powers and keeps your RP out of melee, unless its Tau, then club that seal.

 

I absolutely love jump units, and I absolutely love Space Wolves, but I have very little love for Skyclaws. They just never seem to pull their weight. Then again, maybe I am using them wrong or against the wrong opponents.

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

I don't suppose they hare FAQ'D wolf  guard to be able to join a skyclaw pack? It seems weird they can take jumppacks, but can't actually join them :P

[Astoran]

I run my pack 10 man strong with a PA, flamer and MotW with a Wolf Priest leading them. 

[Wulfebane]

Flamers would eat up a lot of Tau, especially given our Claws are BS3. And also due to that, a WP's Oath of War is a great benefit.

 

Bear in mind that any Tau unit (with the new rule) within 6" of the charged unit can also take an Overwatch on the charging unit.

[DanPesci]

I havent run them since 5th edition.

 

The last time i did was in an apocalypse game where i ran them as follows:

 

Wolf Priest - Runic Armour, Jump Pack (preferred enemy - infantry)

10x Skyclaws - Wulfen, M.Gun, P.Fist (he cant be challenged, so is good for adding pain to heavy infantry - although he is pricy)

 

Its a lot of points but if it does get somewhere without being shot to bits first, it can deal out a lot of pain on the charge with 40+ attacks with rerolls.

 

Had this unit tie up 3 whole ork mob squads for the whole apocalypse game, by the end of the game there was just the priest left slugging it out with a nob and 3 boys, but still managing to contest an objective

 

Problem is in smaller points games, they are an expensive unit as they need to really have a wolf/rune priest with/buffing them to be any use. And id think they'll rarely make their points back, especially with new overwatch rules and such.

[Loki-LaughingDeath]

This is what I usually run:

 

Wolf Priest with Jump Pack, Runic Armor, and Wolf Tooth Necklace 155

10 Sky Claws with a Flamer and 1 Wolf Bitten.

 

There are 2 things that I have been considering adding to this unit.  The first is a Fist for MEQ swatting power, the Second is swapping out the Wolf Priest for a Rune Priest.  While Fearless and Preferred enemy are nice the various powers that you have access to is enough to consider the Rune Priest to be tooled up for what ever you need.

[dswanick]

 

The first is a Fist for MEQ swatting power, the Second...

An Axe would probably serve you better in this case.

[Grey Mage]

I suggest running them with a flamer, a powerfist, and a jump pack toting Wolf Priest... possibly with meltabombs, runic armor if you have the points is a rather good idea too.

 

I also often give my Priest a Plasma Pistol- hes got good BS, and can pop open light armor transports to the squad can get at the juicy bits inside.