Best 85 points you can spend?

[pcheck]

I have been using a unit frequently that I almost can't see putting my list together without. A Lone Wolf in TDA with a Storm Shield and Chain Fist. It comes out to just 85 points, or you can throw on 2 wolves for 105. It seems that he always comes in big for me when I need him as most players seem to more or less ignore him. I honestly can't think of a better 85 points to spend.

[Blacksad]

Wolf Claw Chainfist and doggies. more versatile, and it not like we care if he dies, right?

[SerEightBall]

THIS. For me it's an auto-include in any list I can fit him in (and for 85pts, it's not hard). If nothing else he'll distract the enemy. Mine has soloed dreads, bike squads (re-rolls T5 ftw), 2 C'Tan Shards together, you name it. In Purge games I just sent him to drop pod after drop pod. Don't forget tanks either. No strategy to worry about either, just point him towards the scariest thing on the table and go. My only complaint is only 2 attacks base, for supposedly being this badass monster hunter. On the other hand you don't want him too powerful to deprive him of a glorious death.

 

And yes two is better than one, but I like one so he truly is a Lone Wolf.

[Jarl Deathwolf]

Lone Wolves. I've killed with them:

 

• Daemon Princes
• Soul Grinders
• Chaos Lords, with all different kinds of upgrades
• Terminator Squads
• Land Raiders
• Carnifexes
• Hive Tyrants
• Tactical Squads
• Obliterators
• Etc..

 

The dudes just don't know when to die, but know perfectly well when the opponent is supposed to  (hint: Its right now).

[Valerian]

I have been using a unit frequently that I almost can't see putting my list together without. A Lone Wolf in TDA with a Storm Shield and Chain Fist. It comes out to just 85 points, or you can throw on 2 wolves for 105. It seems that he always comes in big for me when I need him as most players seem to more or less ignore him. I honestly can't think of a better 85 points to spend.

Agreed. Just take a look at my avatar to the left

V

[SW1]

Hmmm ... I might have to invest in one of those.

[Valerian]

Here is a little something that I put together, oh, about 4 years ago. It's in the archives, now:

Additional battlefield role: Disrupting Force.

 

 

When on the offense, the attacker typically prefers to attack a vulnerable position with multiple units simultaneously. The objective is to overwhelm the enemy force at that point and then move on to exploit the advantage gained. If the attacker can isolate the defending force at the point of its attack from supporting units, all the better (there are a few handy techniques to achieving isolation that I will discuss some other time). The attacker is attempting to use mass by bringing his numbers and combat power to bear against a weaker and therefor vulnerable force at the point of penetration.

 

The desire to overwhelm the enemy is why most players adopting an offensive scheme of maneuver will send everything they've got at the defender at once, rather than sending in units one at a time in a piecemeal fashion. The defender would love that, as they could focus the fire of all defending forces upon each unit in turn as they approached in succession; this would place the advantage of achieving mass on the defender's side, rather than on the attackers. However, it is unlikely that an attacker would operate in such a way, intentionally handing the advantage to the defender. Therefore the defender must attempt to disrupt the enemy's approach, causing the attacker to assault in succession when he doesn't want to.

 

In the real-world, this effect is often achieved with Disrupting obstacles (as opposed to Fixing, Blocking, and Turning obstacles), which are designed to disrupt attacking enemy formations, causing them to lose synchronization at the point of attack. On the battlefields of the table-top, however, we have few such obstacles (other than the occasional piece of difficult terrain) to use for this purpose. Instead, we have to look elsewhere to achieve our goal; enter the Disrupting Force.

 

 

Disrupting Force:

As explained just above, the purpose of the Disrupting Force, is to disrupt an enemy's attacking force, preventing them from bringing an overwhelming number of units to bear on your defending forces at one time. Achieving disruption will allow the defender to focus the fires of his forces on the attacking units as they approach in succession, rather than together.

 

The Space Wolves have a few good alternatives for techniques to achieve disruption. The first by taking advantage of weapons that can cause the Pinning of enemy units. Pinning is one of the few ways in which a defender can halt the forward progression of an enemy unit, and our Pinning options include Barrage weapons, such as the Whirlwind launcher, and Wolf Scouts using Sniper Rifles. Don't forget that you can force an enemy unit to take multiple Pinning tests in a single turn, and it is an excellent way to force them to go to ground, disrupting their forward movement, and potentially separating the unit from others in the attack.

 

A second alternative toward achieving disruption is in the Spoiling Attack. Other than Pinning, one of the only other ways to stop an enemy unit's forward movement is to Lock it in close combat. Relatively easy to do, choosing to make a Spoiling Attack, is often a difficult one for the defender, because it usually means the sacrifice and loss of the unit sent forward to execute the mission. Desirable attributes for a good Spoiling Attack force are that the force is small and cheap enough that it won't be missed when it has ultimately been destroyed, and that it isn't a critical part of the main defenses. Additionally, the force should have enough Protection to keep it around long enough to effectively Lock the enemy unit in place for a turn or two. A minimum-sized Swift Claw pack makes a pretty good Spoiling Attack force; it has good Mobility, decent Protection (with the T4(5)), decent Close Combat capability, and don't cost so much that they will break the bank. However, there is an even better alternative at your disposal - the Lone Wolf. The Lone Wolf is probably the perfect unit with which to conduct a Spoiling Attack, and therefore achieve disruption of the enemy. Firstly, equipped properly, the Lone Wolf is robust enough to Lock down an enemy unit by himself, and probably do some significant damage before ultimately being overwhelmed. Secondly, even with a TDA, a Storm Shield, and a Thunder Hammer, he only costs 85 points, so his loss will barely be noticed. Lastly, and this is the fun part, it's our goal for this guy to eventually get him killed anyway! I don't think we could ask for a better man to do the job.

Valerian

[pcheck]

Wow, I'm a newer player so I haven't broke tactics down like that much. However, that gives me a new perspective on the usefulness of my Lone Wolves. Thanks Valerian.

[Grey Mage]

I can: A whirlwind. Nice reliable workhorse.

[Guest Drunk Guardian]

I can: A whirlwind. Nice reliable workhorse.

 

I find Whirlwinds to be uninspiring for me, but that's also because my dice rolls are reliably horrible. I'm on a five game streak of not getting a hit roll on a scatter dice (though I've gotten it with my missle fangs on frag missiles via 2d6 rolls of four or less).

[Blacksad]

whirlwinds work wonders vs some armies. LoneWolves work wonders vs most armies. imo.

[Deathscream]

Agreed Blacksad. I think it's meta dependent to make the Whirlwind a good use of points. With my current meta running rampant with gay space elves and tau, a whirlwind is a good option to sit back and shoot :cuss with. But a TDA-LW is just pure nasty. And the fluff around it, epic to say the least. And mirroring what has already been said, they don't die and when they do it's because your opponent wasted a turn shooting the living :cuss out of it and not your other units!! Perfection!!

 

End of Line

[DanPesci]

I always include a lone wolf in TDA with CF/SS. The amount my flatmate hates it is hilarious (as he says, there is nothing he can take - dark angels, chaos) that comes close for the points. I've had turns where its just soaked up 1000pts worth of firepower, to come out unscathed. Has killed many a tank, dreadnought, MC, and big boss man, but i think the finest one i had was him smashing in belial and his entire bodyguard.

 

The storm shield for me is a must take with this build, means he can really bog down more powerful units/AP2. I honestly don't care if he doesnt' die, cos if he's still alive by the end of the game, he's no doubt killed his own weight in points and then some (and just because he's TRYING to get himself killed, doesn't mean that he's going to manage that straight away right :) hell, if he wants to die so bad, he wouldn't put terminator armour on in the morning )

 

Really want to run like 4 of these in an apocalypse game - considering you get 3 for the price of a kitted out wolf lord, it aint bad :)

[Sohail187]

i have never ever used a lone wolf, and i hear these stories in games where he soaks up fire power, and runs along the battlefield untouched. I just do not see how though. T4  2W's, You telling me that 1 squad of bolter fire and a special weapon wont take him down?

[Blacksad]

with a 2+3++ save and eternal warrior? yes.

[pcheck]

And "Feel No Pain"

[Lucien Eilam]

Most armies can kill him pretty much at will. The trick is that he's just tough enough to need 1-2 units to deal with him reliably in one round of shooting. That feels like a lot, and it's just one guy… what's the worst he could do, right?

 

Then he punches your Land Raider to death and the contents spend the rest of the game locked in assault.

[Deathscream]

Exactly. He's not a big threat, but he IS. So if nothing else you spend 85 points to distract your opponent and gain an advantage over them, OR he gets a hold of something a tears it a new arsehole!! I take at least 1 at 1500 points and 2 for sure at 1750+ almost always. Can't talk them up enough!!

 

End of Line

[Valerian]

i have never ever used a lone wolf, and i hear these stories in games where he soaks up fire power, and runs along the battlefield untouched. I just do not see how though. T4  2W's, You telling me that 1 squad of bolter fire and a special weapon wont take him down?

A single model running around the battlefield on his own is pretty easy to keep hidden and out of LOS as long as there is at least a moderate amount of LOS-blocking terrain on the table. He can also stay hidden behind your transports. Ultimately, with his small "footprint", 2+/3++ Saves, Feel No Pain, and Eternal Warrior all considered, yes, he can be a real pain to deal with. Don't leave home without one.

[Sohail187]

SOLD!!!!! i will take him in the 2400pts game i have this sunday. i shall report back later in the week. 

[Urauloth]

Whoa how the hell did I miss that A Glorious Death includes FnP? Looks like I'll be making one of these.

[Sohail187]

with the lone wolfs... can you not just use a wgtda, or does the model need to be modelled in a certain way?

[Max_Dammit]

As long as you tell your opponent what he is he can be a normal TDA

[d@n]

Don't Forget sticking basic lone wolf on a squad gun. For some cheap durable anti air.

[DanPesci]

 

i have never ever used a lone wolf, and i hear these stories in games where he soaks up fire power, and runs along the battlefield untouched. I just do not see how though. T4  2W's, You telling me that 1 squad of bolter fire and a special weapon wont take him down?

A single model running around the battlefield on his own is pretty easy to keep hidden and out of LOS as long as there is at least a moderate amount of LOS-blocking terrain on the table. He can also stay hidden behind your transports. Ultimately, with his small "footprint", 2+/3++ Saves, Feel No Pain, and Eternal Warrior all considered, yes, he can be a real pain to deal with. Don't leave home without one.

 

 

Aye,

ive had games where ive moved a lonewolf up behind a building in midfield, left him there for 1-2 turns - opponent forgets he's there as its just one model planted behind a bit of terrain and moves tanks within charge range. Sneaky.