New codex Review

[Commander_Moustache]

Just putting out my thoughts on the new space wolf codex, in fact this is my first review of a codex in this way and while it is not the first of its kind online at the moment, I hope I can provide my thoughts on a few things.

 

First HQ's

 

The dependable Wolf Lord, a favourite of mine since 3rd edition (when I was but a blood claw). He has certainly gotten more expensive since last edition, but now comes with the Belt of Russ. Comparing him to the Space Marine Captain is inevitable and he holds up reasonably well, being the same but one attack higher, and the cost reflects the old terminator honours. Could have been 5pts cheaper I feel, but in an interesting note, Storm shields and Runic armour is cheaper, most likely to compensate for already having a 4++. All in all, a very good melee character and can be made an equal of daemon princes and Chapter masters with the Thunderwolf mount.

 

Rune priests. By the Allfather Rune Priests. Cheap with weapons to give adamantium will, cheap access to psychic hoods and access to level 2 they can quickly dominate the psychic phase, especially when multiples are taken. With access to taking 6 hqs in one formation, expect to shutdown the opponents phase.

 

Wolf Priests don't get a lot of love, but they need more of it. Certainly the other options are better, but give them the classic maul and fist combo and add them to a full sized Bloodclaw pack in a Land Raider or Stormwolf, point it at anything and watch the destruction. Oath of war is less general that the Space marines zealotry, but works in shooting and close combat and for every round after the first. Never fear over heating plasmaguns again. Also, small note, Wolf Priests are finally healers again, giving anything they join FnP (6+) while only a small bonus all it needs to do is save two models and its earned its points back

 

Wolf Guard Battle leaders. Not much to really say to them aside from they are a discount wolf lord. Equip them similarly, know their limits and they are a wonderful alternative.

 

Ragnar Blackmane, cheaper than before by a small margin and has had a slight nerf, but he is still a solid character. Comes with a rending frost blade, a solid warlord trait (Warrior born) can get plenty of attack with rage and gives furious charge out to his unit. Must accept challenges and only has a 3+/4++ for protection so mind getting up against the big hitters. Slightly mitigated by being able to reroll one save per assault phase. Also for some reason comes with Meltabombs.

 

Harald Deathwolf. The new boy in the book and pretty stock and standard for a thunderwolf mounted Lord. Comes with the Wolfkin warlord trait, outflank and Canis' old Lord of the Wolfkin special rule. Has a nice but largely only fluffy relic, that makes him immune to flamers and pyromancy powers.

 

Speaking of Canis Wolf Born his rules have been slashed and burned and with no major point reduction. Again comes with Saga of the Wolfkin and instead of outflank gives himself, fenrisian wolves and cyberwolves re-rolls to hit when they charge. If this was also to Thunderwolves he would be worth it as he would be like a mounted wolf priest, but as is, he is far from worth it. For the price of a Melterbomb you get Harald who is more survivable, gives better buffs and is only lacking in the Anti MEQ power. Skip the rider of the pugwolf.

 

Njal Stormcaller. Still uses a pistol in terminator armour, which he can take for free (and unless you are lacking space in a transport, you should). Comes with all the runepriest goodies, Level 3 and can reroll one tempestas power or deny the witch attempt per turn and his pet bird can go for the eyes if you feel like it. If you think his improved profile and rules are worth the cost of two rune priests, go for him.

 

Ulrik the Slayer, ol'grand pappy wolf is back on form and ready to beat some sense into the youngsters. With the profile near that of a wolf lord and handing out preferred enemy of everyone to everyone within 6" and makes everyone within 12" stubborn while keeping the healing balms. If you want a wolf priest on foot or a cheap wolflord on foot take him instead. Only real downpoint is his warlord trait (beastslayer) is one of the weaker ones, especially with the lack of ap on his weapon.

 

Bjorn the Fell-Handed is much improved. Can now take a drop pod, but with the criminal lack of extra armour, beware stunlocking. 5++ mitigates this a little. But you take him to hold a gunline with a range of weapon options (helfrost cannon recommended from me), saga of the majesty and +1 to capturing the Initiative. And with a mastercrafted Greatclaw, 4 attacks and AV13 on the front he becomes immune to most grenade attacks and even though he is slow in his old age, he still strikes before anything that can reasonably harm him.

[Commander_Moustache]

Time for part two,

Troops

First a note on Wolf Guard squad leaders. The old rule of splitting them off from a single elites squad is now gone. And much for the better I think. I mean it was nice and fluffy but it lead to some awkward situations in small games where you either had low leadership, or had to take three squads or you would have a single man running around waiting to be a kill point and in larger games it limited transportation with special weapons.

 

Blood Claws, I am so happy to say that these youths have gotten better. I loved them so much through the editions and now they finally compete with Hunters again. Sporting a low, low cost and remaining largely unchanged ruleswize (just some streamlining so rules match the rulebook). Now with option to have 1 man upgraded to a Wolf Guard to lead them and that one man still has the option to be a terminator with all the goodies. One thing to note that may be an oversight is that unlike everywhere else in the book that limits the special rules that the upgraded wolf guard has, here he still has rage. Use this well before its faq'd away. Best to use in large mobs in Land raiders or Stormwolves.

 

Lukas the Trickster, Much cheaper than before and no longer an upgrade to a single man, he is an independent character that can only join Blood Claws and doesn't use up a force org chart if you have at least one unit of them. When using him, get the challenge on. His pelt lowers enemies weaponskill in a challenge and his last laugh ability only works in a challenge as well now (so no more being stepped on my titans to kill them in one shot). All told a fine addition, especially with the space wolves new force organisation chart.

 

Grey Hunters are once again in the running for the best troops choice in the game (With only Plague marines and Imperial guard veterans even coming close). While initially cheaper than before, it now costs to give them the Bolter, pistol and CCW that makes them what they are, but they are still the cost effective kings of the close quarters firefight we know and love. Once again you can upgrade one member to a Wolf Guard so you can have him AND have two special weapons (YES), give him a combi weapon and an extra close combat weapon (only the grey hunter wolf guard can do this because it says every MODEL can buy an extra CCW) so he still gets his many attack. And cheap way to have a terminator wolf guard with an extra attack with his power weapon. Still have the options with hidden power weapons (go for sword or axe, fist is too expensive for a single attack). The wolf standard has changed a lot, now with only 1 per army, every unit in 6" can get +1 attack (pair with charging bloodclaws for blenders) and everything in 12" rerolls moral tests.

[Commander_Moustache]

Part 3 Elites

Elites elites elites....possibly One of the sections with the most overhauls and not all for the better.

Iron Priests. Much improved from last time where they were overpriced techmarines. Now they are slightly more expensive techmarines, but come with a thunderhammer and an invulnerable save. Also now an independent character and able to get a thunderwolf so he can add anti-tank capabilities to thunderwolves AND keep up with the vehicles he needs to repair. Can also take 4 cyberwolves which have lost their high toughness of before, but they are still cheap enough to add some ablative wounds to thunderwolves.

Servitors are now are a separate entry but its a free slot of you take an Iron Priest. Not much to say as they do what servitors always do...but Have one useful addition. Costing less then a Bloodclaw and can come in units of one. Sure it will suffer from mindlock, but keep it on an objective, bunker down, and force your opponent to send a unit off to capture it.

Wolf Scouts. Poor poor Wolf Scouts. Once one of the best units in the book, the new edition and rulebook has not done them any favours. Without being able to charge from reserves hurt and now without operate behind enemy lines they lost the one thing they had going for them. Can have a pack leader, but he doesn't have the scouting abilities so beware a rules change. Now the only viable way to use them in my eyes is as a sniper support base, which longfangs can do better. If you think you can still use them as their old melter delivery system go for it, but the points decrease and lack of behind enemy lines, the unreliability of normal outflank rule isn't reliable enough to get them where you want them.

Lone Wolves. Cheaper and not as good as before but thankfully still useful. Sadly they now give kill points and cant capture objectives. Again, generalised rules so only has Monster hunter rather then his old rule (should have had tank hunter too). Terminator Armour has a mixed bag, as it can now deepstrike, but isn't as customisable as before so some of your options are gone. All in all, still usable, still tough and still worth throwing into the jaws of the enemy.

Dreadnoughts. Now one option with venerable as an upgrade they have seen massive improvement. Cheaper by a small margin and upgrades being a little more in line with what we expect and with a fantastic new kit, I am so sad I have a dreadnought gathering dust on my shelf (time to get the clippers and greenstuff methinks). Venerable now costs the same as a powerfist, improves the profile and venerable while not as good as editions past is still a nice bonus and all within a reasonable cost. Has access to the new helfrost cannon, more on that later, and a dreadnought sized wolf claw (still with ap2) and venerables gain access to what amounts to a storm shield and axe, both being close combat weapons they gain a bonus attack. But if you are wanting a full on melee dread I would try the...

MURDERFANG. Oh boy this psycho packs two mastercrafted claws, immunities to stunned and shaken, it will not die, character status, high weapon skill and enough attacks to turn whole squads of marines to sliced bacon. Its only downside compared to the other dreads is his guardsmen like ballistic skill, such a shame for his stormbolter. The ultimate distraction unit.

Wolf Guard are now split into power armoured and Terminator Armoured so lets stick with the Power armour for now. Now you don't have to buy them for squad leaders, these guys are certainly no longer essential now that you don't have to worry about one man running around on his own. Since Bloodclaws are so much cheaper they make a much better melee unit in terms of cost effectiveness. Don't bother with giving everyone power weapons since they cost the same as terminators without being terminators. Best way to make them worth their points is to give them jump packs (making them slightly cheaper Vanguard) or bikes (being only the cost of melterbomb more expensive than swiftclaw bikers and get more attacks on and off the charge).

Wolf Guard Terminators are another story entirely. Coming in squads of 3 and costing the same as a wolfguard with power weapon, and coming with a power weapon themselves, clearly the better option. Space wolves have gained the ability to deepstrike their terminators so transports are no longer required and you can still customize them but sadly the options are sadly limited now. Stormsheild powersword option is gone, but wolfclaw can be taken in its stead for only a little more than a stormsheild thunderhammer terminator and is largely superior. As long as you don't go overboard with costs they will do you well, and you can still combine shooty and choppy terminators in the same squad.

Arjack Rockfist is similar to Lukas in the regards that he is an independent character that can only join wolf guard (both types) and doesn't use a force org slot if one squad is taken. Again a slight nerf in that he has hammer of wrath rather then +1 attack from his shield and his thrown hammer is AP2 rather than 1, but comes with a massive points reduction he becomes far more usable and less bloated than before.

[Commander_Moustache]

Part 4 Dedicated transports

In an odd turn of events you can now take all dedicated transports as fast attack options. But since you can take these as dedicated transports by just about anything, I am going to place them here as this is what they are going to be used for.

Rhino, you know it, you love it. With the ability to repair immobilised results and extra armour now a whole melterbomb less to buy, these little boxes are just perfect for grey hunters. Buy two special weapons and never leave your mobile bunker.

Razorback, now gone up a little in points to reflect the other marine books.  I have never been much of a fan of Razorbacks, all the negatives of the rhino and none of the pluses, all it has in its favour is the gun on top. Still, I know a lot of people like them and they are good for getting a small grey hunter squad around. Still, with the move to fast attack, they do make a useful light battle tank. Stick to cover and nip at the heals of weaker squads.

Drop pod. Same as ever and goes with Grey Hunters like bread and butter. Can be upgraded with a locator beacon or a deathwind launcher. The latter of which I would recommend if you buy it as a free fast attack option to boost your pod numbers to take advantage of the drop pod assault rule.

Stormwolf, now here is possibly the best flyer in the game. As a fast attack choice, it is standard for a ground attack craft, but as a dedicated transport it can become objective secured. With Crusader style transport capacity and assault ramp, it may be that this is what transports bloodclaws in the future. Comes standard with machine spirit, twinliked helfrost cannon, twin linked lascannon and twinlicked heavy bolters that can be upgraded to a Skyhammer launcher or a pair of twinlinked multi-melta.

[Valor]

Loving this review so far, nice work and looking forward to reading the rest.

[irwit]

Great write up,  personally i would question Grey Hunters being best troops choice in the game.   Tooled up with special weapons they are a lot more expensive and that's before adding the combat weapon.  Also an attached wolf guard is now more expensive and his combi weapon is again more expensive.  Personally i feel that grey hunters took a nerf.  

 

You also left out my personal favourite about wolf guard terminators.   You can swap your power weapon for a storm shield for free.   So for 33 points you get deepstrike,  storm bolter, wolf guard to either bodyguard someone or just hold the center board.  10 of those guys for 330 points is a steal and will take a lot of firepower to shift..  Think of them as Grey Hunters gone super saiyan.   Storm bolters instead of bolters,   amazing save,   no need for a transport and access to much better special weapons. 

[Leif Bearclaw]

One thing I noticed (unless I'm missing somehthing in the main rules). The Wolf Priest's Preferred Enemy doesn't extend to his squad, only the Priest himself gets the rule. So now instead of alternate chaplains, they're essentially sub-par apothecaries (Balms only giving a 6+ FNP, vs the 5+ of the Narthecium).

[Valor]

PE rules states that if one member of the squad has it, he confers it to the rest of the squad.

[Leif Bearclaw]

PE rules states that if one member of the squad has it, he confers it to the rest of the squad.

Fair enough, my bad.

[Commander_Moustache]

Part 5 Fast attack

Swiftclaws, biker bloodclaws without close combat weapons, which is a huge letdown from last edition that renders them unusable. The attack bike isn't worth it with the reduced ballistic skill and otherwise you can only take one special weapon and one special melee weapon as upgrades. You can make one a Wolf Guard, opening up the option for a second melee, but he still doesn't gain the BP/CCW combo or rage that the Wolf Guard in the Bloodclaws. All in all not worth it unless you want a cheap biker unit to kit around a flamer. If you want bikes, go for biker wolfguard.

Thunderwolves HOOOOOOOOOO! Sorry. Thunderwolves have not only improved (extra leadership, bringing them in line with other wolfguard since that's what they are supposed to be) all while getting 2 melterbombs cheaper. The only downside now is you must take them in squads of 3. Such a shame. Now with universal access to stormsheilds (for 3 melterbomb) Enjoy your nigh invincible TEQ killers, just watch for vindicators.

Fenrisian wolves, yay space pups. Love them, hate them, they provide a nice bullet screen for vehicles or thunderwolves and absorb fire from overwatches. Just don't expect them to last long, with next to no armour and the leadership of a French stereotype even with a cyberwolf upgrade they will be running for the hills. Recommend that in smaller games, use them as ablative wounds for your thunderwolf riding hero.

Skyclaws, the other fast Bloodclaws, the good ones. While only coming in squads of 5-10, lower numbers are better here as you can hide them or deep strike them safely (ish) and even a small unit can hit with a large number of attacks. Options for power weapons, plasma pistols and normal special weapons, flamers recommended but meltas are another good choice to crack open vehicles to charge its passengers. Don't bother with plasma guns, the lower ballistic skill and the inability to charge afterwards makes them useless. Can take Wolf Guard leader and I would recommend it so you can have two power weapons in the unit.

Land Speeders. Coming in squads of up to 3 and packing heavy firepower on a light frame, expect them to live fast and die young in a blaze of glory. I do not know too much about using them as I have little experience, but if you know how to use them, they remain unchanged from the last book so go nuts.

[the jeske]

about the TWC I would like to point out that the way their rules are worded in the new codex,they keep rending even if you buy a powermace or other weapon for the raider. This may get faq'ed, but who knows, a lot of important questions[some more important] werent anwsered in  faqs before.

[Commander_Moustache]

There are some other things o put in as well (like thunderhammer storm sheild and twin lightning claws costing 15pts for wolf guard terminators on their own only) but I shall tidy this all up later and have it as a single document

[Commander_Moustache]

Part 6 Heavy support
Who would have thought that I would have taken this review this far, I am rather proud of myself really to get it out so quick. Anyways onto the big stuff

Stormfang Gunship, the other new flyer. Trading two thirds of its transport capacity for a massive helfrost cannon I find it....lacking. Everything the Fang does, the wolf does slightly worse, but slightly cheaper AND with more transport capacity and assault ramp capability.  I think if you are after a flyer, go for the Stormwolf and if you are wanting something to take out heavy vehicles and terminators, go for a vindicator.

Longfangs, ahh longfangs. Once the staple of most armies I have a feeling that they have lost this pedestal. With heavy weapons becoming more expensive and only having the general split fire rule rather than fire control, this means only one weapon can be fired at a different target now. But at least you don't need to give up the leaders shooting or the leader at all, so have him jump in front of some bullets. Speaking of bullet catchers, now long fangs don't need to take heavy weapons now, so you can have a couple of bullet magnets. Once more you can have a Wolf Guard and here I would recommend taking terminator armour with a storm shield to tank the ap3 and 2 firepower.

Vindicator, the best tank marines have I think. A whole melterbomb more expensive but still packing the demolisher cannon that everyone loves. Unless you are running a theme, take one, it kills anything and everything and its only downside is that it attracts firepower. Use this to your advantage.

Whirlwind. Haven't got too much to say about the good old whirlwind aside from that it may just become useful again if you have a spare slot and points with all the extra cover saves that are about. Really, if you are facing marines, don't bother, anything else, it works rather well.

Predator. I am beginning to love these tanks thanks to their major points reduction for lascannons. Keep them static and kit them out for anti-tank (lascannons and autocannon or twin lascannon) or anti infantry (autocannon and heavybolters).

Land Raider. I am going to review all three here since they all have the same points really. Standard pattern is too mixed to be used to its full potential. With the smallest transport capacity and too much of a mix of firepower in lascannons and heavy bolters means it cannot decide on a target. Still, if you want to move a unit across the field in safety and have the firepower of a predator on hand, this can be useful
Crusader is the puppy mobile you want. Don't want a Stormwolf to move your big hitters around, then use this. Point its guns at infantry and shred them, buy it a multimelter and use power of the machine spirit to kill a tank. The best land raider.
Redeemer, the challenger to the crusader. It is slightly cheaper than the other two, and its guns are very powerful, but it has a lot of difficulty using those flamers effectively, is useless while static or shaken and cant hold a full unit of bloodclaws. Ultimately, if you van get it to the enemy lines, it can blow through a gunline, but is getting there intact is the problem as it draws too much firepower.
In any case with a land raider, you need to have something to draw firepower, either a large squad of thunderwolves, or a vindicator.

[Konnavaer]

Really nice work on this brother, lots of useful information for those of us who are still sorting through all the options and starting to put together tentative lists and combinations, have a flagon of mjod from me !

[Lord Ragnarok]

Agreed, great job. Especially good for folks who didnt watch the rumors and are coming into the new stuff "fresh". 

[Rune Priest Jbickb]

Excellent write up definitely worth a read or maybe even 2.

[DanPesci]

Fantastic summary!

[Commander_Moustache]

Part 7 all the rest
Logan Grimnar, the great wolf. Now a Lord of war and costing as much as a land raider. Is he worth it? Possibly. His stat line is in line with a character who costs a bit over 200pts and being immune to instant death and a set warlord trait means he can support his army even while riding his new chariot. Speaking of which, a lot of people hate it but I love it as a model and at first I was shaky on its rules but now that I read on it, I think it can work. See, when being shot at, you allocate what shots wound Logan, or roll to penetrate his chariot. SO anything less than S5, put on the chariot since it cant hurt it, any more, put on Logan as his 2+ can tank it. The only exception to this is things like lascannons, melter weapons and heavy artillery and if they are firing at Logan, they are not hitting your tanks and vice vercer. Same with plasma weapons, they go for Logan or your squads, pick one. Save the chariots hullpoints for close combat since that's all that can be hit. Stay away from anything with large numbers of melterbombs or powerfist attacks.

Great Company formation. At first I was unsure, but with just the base units, this comes in at around 1000pts so if you are playing a 2000pt game and you can make this, do so. You may lose objective secured, but you gain the ability to outflank some units (1/6 chance, unless its a troop with an IC in it. Then its 1/2) AND you get to nominate 1 unit in reserve to automatically come in on any turn after the first. It also grants fear (meh, maybe useful) and Furious charge (whoa) to everything. And all still being allowed to re roll warlord traits.

Wolves Unleashed detachment. Our special force organisation chart. Exactly the same as the normal one except you can have minimum 2, max 6 HQ choices and has the same rules bar the furious charge and fear rules of the great company formation. If you are going for a rhino or razorback based army, you can make this work, but if you are going for a drop pod army, I would give it a skip.

Relics of the Fang.

Armour of Russ. Really good upgrade to runic armour as it gives a 4++ and a negative 5 to your opponents initiative when in a challenge. Gets better mileage on a wolf guard or a rune priest, but can work on a wolf lord if you want a challenge monster.
Bite of Fenris. Cheap and if you have the points, its worth adding to a character in terminator armour. Is a bolter with two fire modes, either a cover ignoring, rapid fire heavy bolter, or a normal boltgun with the helfrost special rule. Laugh the one time you kill your opponents big hitter in one shot.
Black Death. This is just...WOW. A frost axe that gives +3 attacks when outnumbered in assault. And all for the cost of a powerfist. Give this to a wolf lord on thunderwolf and get enough attacks to wipe out whole squads of just about anything.
Helm of Durfast. Nicely priced item that give you ignore cover and re-rolls on ALL to hit rolls. Useful but not essential, if you want it there is no reason to call it bad.
Fangsword of the Ice Wolf. Like the Black death, this is a special frost weapon, in this case, a sword. Gives rending and helfrost so you can still run up to big things and if you get lucky, kill them in one hit without having to strike last. Pair it with the Armour of Russ for best effects.
Wulfen stone. The only bone thrown to us so we can still use our wulfen models *sigh*. Gives rage to the bearer and furious charge to him and his unit. Either give it to a model in a bloodclaw pack, or a thunderwolf pack. Alternatively, give it to a wolf guard battle leader in a wolf guard pack so you can still use said wulfen models.


Helfrost weapons. While not relics, I think I shall review them here. Its a simple rule, if you wound a model with a Helfrost weapon, it takes a strength test, if it fails it is REMOVED FROM PLAY. No eternal warrior for him. Its rare that this will come into effect, but just remember the look on your opponents face when you kill his warboss in one shot.
Fenrisian and Cyber wolves. Unique to us is the ability to add wolves to our characters, while still keeping them as independent characters. First thing I should note is the lack of a special rule to say that our characters can still embark on transports with them, as beasts cant ride in them, so unless you have a footslogging character, or a thunderwolf rider, don't use them. If you are one of these things, and you have the points, USE THEM! They are cheap ablative wounds for anti-power armour weapons which are so common in the game nowadays.
Tempestas Discipline. Our psychic table isn't great, lacking the real power houses it had before (well changed them really). Still, its early days yet and we have to see how it goes.
Primaris: Living lightning. As far as Primaris powers go, not bad. Like an autocannon with no ap, and gets extra hits if you roll a 6 to hit (unless its snapshots). Aim it at vehicles to get the most out of it.
1.Storm Caller. Targets self and gives shrouded. Soso power but can help to protect your units.
2.Tempests Wrath. Much better power, inflicts -1 ballistic skill on an enemy unit, causes difficult terrain on everything (even open ground) and flying/jump units must take a dangerous terrain test IMMEDIATELY. Against MEQ, probably not the best, but will keep assault units away from you, and the lower the firepower coming your way. Against GEQ this is better as the lower bs will help so much more. Could also take out a flyer if you get really lucky.
3. Thunderclap. A very unassuming nova power, but with a long range (for a nova power) and 2d6 hits, again, MEQ will laugh it off, but GEQ will feel the pain.
4. Murderous Hurricane. This is one that MEQ will suffer from a little more. Like a boltgun but with rending and large blast instead of AP. Give it a try and see how it goes.
5. Fury of the Wolf Spirits. Mixed bag with firing two profiles. Not sure about this one, but aside from adding a little firepower to the Rune Priest.
6. Jaws of the World Wolf. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Now I have never really used this power, even in the old book, but now it has become nigh unusable. Possibly because of all the hate that was levelled at it, if it was a beem, it would be a good example of a number 6 power, but as something that can only hit a single model and it doesn't work on monstrous creature, Pass. Sad day indeed.

Tactical objectives. New book replaces the first 6 objectives with these ones, and no it is not optional.
11. Oath of Vengeance. Your opponent chooses a character (living or dead) in his army, and if you kill it, gain a point. Simple really, but he may choose a powerhouse killer, or a squad leader hiding in a building on his half of the bored so its not 100% great.
12. The Stuff of Sagas. Kill a vehicle or monstrous creature, gain a point. If this is done by a character, gain d3. Wonderful little bonus.
13. Unleash the Wolves. Wipe out a unit in assault and gain a point. With bloodclaws and thunderwolves and many other assault units, this is almost guaranteed.
14. Hold your Ground. Hold an objective in your half with the same unit for two turns. Again, simple, but against heavy firepower or a fast assault unit this may prove difficult.
15. Hunt with Cunning. If a unit has scout, infiltrate or outflank completely destroys a unit, gain a point. If it does this in the same turn it comes in from reserves, gain d3. The first part is almost guaranteed, the d3 part though is extremely hard unless you are playing a game with rules to allow you to charge from reserves or has enough firepower to kill a vehicle (simple) or kill a whole unit (harder, depending on unit).
16. Heroes of Fenris. The big one. Issue (or fight) a challenge, gain a point, issue 3-5, gain d3 and if you issue 6+, gain d3+3 points. If you have enough units in assault, this may get you enough to score the win.

Warlord Traits. Here we have the Sagas of the old book reborn. Not as good as they were before, but not a bad warlord table all told.
1. Warrior Born. Gives reroll to hits in a challenge. Useless if you have the Helm, but if you don't, it makes him a challenge monster.
2.Wolfkin. The warlord and all, beast/cavalry gain stubborn. In addition, if a friendly space wolf beast or cavalry unit that starts the assault phase within 12" of the warlord, gains furious charge. Obviously, you want to get your cavalry on here, but even if you don't and you roll this up, its not all bad.
3. Beastslayer. This is the worst one of the lot. Warlord has beastslayer, which if you are facing monstrous creatures this may be useful, but most armies don't have any. If it gave him Tank hunter too (and referred to them as Iron Beasts in the fluff bit) then it would be so much better.
4. Bear. The old favourite is certainly not as good as it was, but it gives Feel no Pain (6+) to himself and his unit. So as long as he is not a wolf priest, this is still worth taking for that little bonus.
5. Hunter. Has outflank and Stealth special rules. Depending on your playstyle this is worth it, and if you are facing a gunline army, it may just save your bacon if you run from cover to cover.
6. Majesty. The warlord and all units within 12" MUST reroll failed leadership tests, even if you want to fail. While that is a rare occurrence, it is a nice thing to have. Still, if you want to stay in there, this is a great warlord trait to have.


Final Word.
The new dex is a change. Not a bad one, not a good one. Just a reshuffle of things around and updating and streamlining of the rules. The old Spam units are no longer good to spam, which is a good thing, but not nerfed to being unusable. The main focus of the army is synergy. Every unit, while powerful on its own, is often expensive compared to similar units in other books, but together our units create a much stronger force, much like the wolf packs we are supposed to represent. All in all, a fantastic update and I cannot wait to see the combos of the coming months.

Thankyou to everyone who has commented on this. I didnt know if I could finish this but to have done so, and so quickly means a lot. Perhaps some of the bloodclaws comeing in to our community can learn soemthing.

[Lord Ragnarok]

I need to save this to evernote. Especially for novice players like myself this is a great guide. (Rolls Land Raider Crusader up and starts rolling out several vintage barrels of Ale)

[Commander_Moustache]

Ahh so you're the one who took care of the beer raider while I was away.

[Rift Blade]

Well done from start to finish. I think you put together a really good review & more importantly an accurate one, especially since the codex just come out. And as you said, looking forward to the combos that will develop over the next several months. Hope you do one for Champions of Fenris as well though that will deal more with formations & possible combos. 

[Valerian]

When you clean this up and redo it as a consolidated review, send me a PM as a heads-up, and I'll link it to the Resources thread, pinned to the top of The Fang.

 

V

[Spazmonkey]

Nice review mate, nice to see someone who gets it....

[Kasper_Hawser]

Very nicely reviewed. Although like some others, I question the power of Grey Hunters being the best troops. I'm not sure how you mean by cost effective assault troops, but I assume its because at 16 points a model with CCW, we're at least cheaper than assault marines without the jump pack and have minimum 2 attacks assuming we don't get the charge. 

 

Still, I have the feeling that getting the wolf guard upgrade may actually make them AS versatile as before, meaning you can use a termie wolf guard to tank for the group without sacrificing the second special weapon, although this comes at transport limitations, or even put a stormshield to tank ap3 shots. All in all, I think Grey Hunters are still versatile, just won't be as powerful in close combat as last edition, mainly due to loss of Wulfen.

[Rift Blade]

I agree with you Hawser about the GH's maybe not being as strong as they were in the last edition but I think this edition, especially for Wolves, is going to be about combinations of packs supporting each other & even more , formations within the army list supporting/buffing each other. We have formations from Storm Claw, our regular codex as well as Champions of Fenris. And I think we may well see some more in the next Sanctus Reach release. I need to get some time to sit down with pen & paper & the books to put a couple of ideas down but I see a lot of potential for our Wolves buffing our army lists on different levels IE with certain Character & pack upgrades & choices, formations & maybe even different detachments.

 

For example, one of the detachments gives you a better chance of Outflanking with an attached IC to a pack but IC's are not neccessarily HQ's. Need to double check things like I said but that's just one example of a couple of things that's got to be bouncing around in all of our heads. I think we are going to see how all these affect our lists on different levels & may change simply by including that one other unit we might not normally due to play style, idea for our army or what have you. My 2 cents anyways.