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Brainstorming: 'Assault-based SW' or 'the Meta-Killer'


Frater Cornelius

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small legion of the damned squads with plasma that ignore cover could help, 5 man squads with plasma - gun,cannon, and combi. could be a solid alternative to the centurions msn-wink.gif

Yeah, I love LotD. I would love them more if they could either DS turn 1 or take an SW pod. Unfortunately, they can do neither.

Anyway, after some back and forth I have decided to take a somewhat new approach on the whole thing. "Less is more" like Jochteas called it after seeing it.

You know all those fancy weapons on TWC? Gone. What about their shields? Gone. All those fancy upgrades on the Sicaran? Gone. Wait, where are the Multimeltas? Most likely gone.

That's right. Welcome to the new and improved 'naked mode'... I should start playing Sisters that way... Anyway! Back on topic.

What my lists always suffered from was too high price per model and low model count. The tactic was to delete big dudes with pods while TWC takes on the little dudes. Unfortunately, the little dudes kept hosing down the TWC. I could not let the big dudes live, however, because each shot would risk the life of a very expensive model.

Well, not I decided to switch the strategy around. Delete the spammy units with pods. The big ones will not matter now. My models are very cheap at this point and they have enough padding with cheap-ass wolves anyway. Wraithknights can shoot at my warlord all day now. It will take them a while.

So, here is the list:

Company of the Great Wolf Detachment - Space Wolves:

Jarl

• Harald, baby! Wooo!

• 2 Wolves

Iron Priest

• TWM

• 4 Wolves

Iron Priest

• TWM

• 4 Wolves

5 TWC

• 5 Pistols, 5 CCW

13 Fenrisian Wolves

Drop Pod

• Stormbolter

• Isstvan V Dropsite Massacre

Sicaran Battle Tank

• Dozer Blade

Allied Detachment or CAD - More Space Wolves that just happened to use some Ultramarine rules:

Tigurius

10 Tactical Marines

• Melta, Combi-Melta

• Drop Pod w/ Stormbolter

10 Tactical Marines

• Melta, Combi-Melta

• Drop Pod w/ Stormbolter

3 Dev-Centurions

• 3 Grav-Cannons w/ Grav-amp

• Omniscope

1850

Let's go over the changes real quick:

Harald is there because with so many Wolves Furious Charge makes sense. He will also keep them in the fight with Stubborn and Ld10. He himself is a solid melee character and is damn cheap with his 190 points. Damn solid dude. No random traits here. Being able to plan is always a bonus.

Iron Priests are up to 4 Wolves each. Ablative wounds and a lot more attacks.

TWC are naked now. NAKED! No, I did not receive any brain damage recently, but thanks for asking. Seriously though. Toughness does not matter much these days, so keeping them cheap is good. The only AP2 weapon that can be spammed these days (outside of combi) are grav. But grav shoots so well that even a 3++ will not save you. You know what will save you? Ablative wounds. When talking about LC or PC. My TWC loses a wound, wow.

I consider this a solid way to run them. They are still tough but also cheap now. Their 6 attacks per model at S6 is a lot. No need for padding here.

Why only 5? Two reasons. One, I had no points left. Two, with the IP in their unit they will have 7 TWC and 8 Wolves. Grav will only wound on a 4+ now. We already concluded that toughness does not matter so much, especially with long ranged shooting. When you are in bolter or lasgun range and all wolves are alive you can split them.

Then you also have Tiggy. If he gets his 4++. Imagine him throwing it on either this unit of on the Fenrisian Wolves. Have fun remove 8ppm and 15ppm model with a 4++ until you can hurt my characters and TWC biggrin.png

15 Fenrisian Wolves (2 from harald and 13 in the unit). These guys are great. Assault screen? Check. Deep Strike denial? Check. Ablative wounds? Check. Damn bloody fast but not really worth shooting? Check. I like Wolves. They keep the Warlord safe like nothing else.

Afraid that Warlord will fail morale and run of the field T1? No problem. Deploy him solo behind line of sight. Wolves will still have Ld10 due to his bubble. Even if the wolves run. Your Warlord is still there.

I dropped the Ceramite from the Sicaran. I have enough Fenrisian Wolves and even Tac Marines to block melta pods.

On the SM side I dropped the multi-meltas. They do not help when arriving by pod. Only a turn after. I am not sure that it was a great idea, but 2 melta shots each is still decent enough, especially when they are twin-linked with doctrine. And they are cheaper now.

Verdict:

Less points invested per model and model count has increased dramatically. It has decent alpha strike with Cent + Tac or 2 Tac (bringing cents in T2 when facing alpha strike or first having to open a Land Raider can be great, I re-roll UM reserves anyway with Tiggy) and a solid assault base with plenty of wounds.

Just pointing out the TWC with 5 guys with bolt pistols shouldn't be completely discounted either. 6 shots on an assault before the charge probably will drop something, and now the TWC get a reasonable overwatch roll. On top of that the Fen wolves can eat the worse of an over watch before the TWC deals another strong blow. The Defensive utility the TWC lose for being without SS isn't completely a downside, that's not even counting the +1 attack in CC.

I could be mistaken, but wont the WS drop to 4 also with the majority rule? Could be under correction of course :) 

If thats the case and you lost toughness and WS benefits, seems like a high tax to pay for expensive baseline models just for fast, +1 str and no of attacks?

 

Ill be very interested what the results are from your games in this config. I'm about to build my TWC as part of the solstice vow and you've made me re-think my loadout 3 times for them lol ;)

Majority WS is only relevant when getting attacked in melee. Every model attacks with it's own WS. You only equalize Toughness, which is not relevant against long ranged S7 or Grav. As I said, when getting close and wolves still outnumber the TWC, you can split them and have only 1 IP run with TWC.

 

If you are split on load-out, use magnets. How do they work? *trollface.jpg* :D

While I will use my current SW/UM list, I will continue to try out more balanced builds, less about Death-Stars.

 

I want to distribute points better. Tacticals in pods and grav Bikes is what comes to mind. Maybe something like Harald + Command Bike squad with apo and grav, Tac/Stern pods and something is fast attack as opposed to Cents + Tiggy. This allows me to have more models on the field T1 and benefit greater from any chosen Chapter Tactic (it will probably will be UM to get that shooty benefit, but I might go to Raven Guard for the stealth bonus in T1 against alpha strikers as well as scouting units.

Immersturm I notice u mentioned using sevrin loth in a previous post because he can pick his powers and you mentioned that you could get endurance and invisibility with him.

Unfortunately his rules state that he can choose 6 powers from ONE tree and he only knows the telekinesis, Pyromancy and biomancy trees so unfortunately you can't get invisibility with him, unless FW update his rules soon.

 

So stick with tiggy and use his rerolls

Yeah, I re-read Sevrin's rules the other day. But realistically you only need invisibility. You do not have the Warp Charges to cast both Invis and Endurance. But I would not take him anyway. I dislike Death Stars and Red Scorps chapter tactic is nothing next to UM.

This Saturday I will play with a tournament player for the top spot in our store league. While it might sound rather friendly, there are quite a few tournament players there and they do not bring very friendly lists. Nonetheless, I managed to get to the top with SW.

How this works is that we have a Pyramid and any player can challenge the player above or next to him. If he wins he takes his place. All games can be anything 40k related but the final game for the top spot has to be 1850 points Maelstrom. The reigning champ need to make his list public and is not allowed to change it. If he loses, he will be put at the very bottom.

I was once at the top with Tau but sort of lost of purpose because the list was bad. Now I am at it again and this time I had to battle my way through plenty of evil players.

I do not exactly know the load-out of the top guy since he forgot to leave the list there and I did not really bother to ask. But I know the general idea.

He plays DA + IG + INQ. Azrael leads the party. He joins with a 50 dude blob with some plasmas and axes and a priest and an Inquisitor. Azzy can choose any trait out of his book so naturally he will choose the one that gives his unit FnP 5+ when they are within 3" of an objective, which should not be too hard.

In addition to that he runs a Plasma Sentinel, a Wyvern, PCS in Taurox, 50 Conscripts with another Priest. Then we have a few min. Henchmen with Psykers in Psybacks for his INQ detachment.

The only thing I am not sure of is the load-out of his DA component. I know it is Ravenwing, but I am not sure if there are any RW Knights/Command Squads. I dislike those TL plasma talons...

I will be using my latest SW + UM. Since the Sicaran is on his way but still not arrived, I might have to exchange it with an UM Stormtalon with TL-AsC and Skyhammer ML. It is pretty cheap and a very solid replacement. I will be standardizing the Talon for games where FW is not allowed. I have tried it in 2 games today (1250 and 1500) and it worked just fine.

Anyway, I do hope the Sicaran arrives, but if not, no big deal msn-wink.gif

Unless I'm missing something, which is quite possible, can't you only take one Legacy of Glory per full 1000 points? The text on page 244 of IA2: Second Edition under Purchasing Legacies of Glory implies that.

Batrep time! WOOOOOO! This was the last test game before the somewhat bigger deal on saturday :D

 

I played against the same UM tourney player I lost the last time. That was the game after which I started with the naked TWC theme. Let's see how it went.

 

1750 Game.

 

My List:

 

 

Harald

+ 2 Wolves

 

Iron Priest

• TWM

+ 4 Cyber Wolves

Iron Priest

• TWM

+ 4 Cyber Wolves

 

6 TWC

• 6 CCW, 6 Pistols

 

13 Wolves

 

Drop Pod

• Dropsite Massacre

 

Tigurius

 

10 Tacticals

• Melta, Combi-Melta

+ Drop Pod

10 Tacticals

• Melta, Combi-Melta

+ Drop Pod

 

3 Dev-Centurions

• 3 Grav-Cannons, 3 Hurricane Bolters

 

 

 

His List (approximation):

 

 

Tigurius

 

Chapter Master

• Shield Eternal, Artificers Armour, Power Axe, Bike

 

Command Squad

• Bikes, 4 Grav Guns, Apothecary

 

10 Tacticals

• Melta, Multimelta

+ Drop Pod

 

5 Scouts

• Bolters

+ Land Speeder Storm

 

10 Sternguard

• 2 Heavy Flamer, 3 Combi-Meltas

+ Drop Pod w/ Dropsite Massacre

 

3 Dev-Centurions

• 3 Grav Cannons, 3 Hurricane Bolters

 

Land Raider Redeemer

• Multimelta

 

 

 

Maelstrom Mission 6

 

He won the roll-off, chose his side and deployed first. We went fairly aggressively.

 

I deployed defensively. TWC and TWM units were outside of bike and cent threat range. Fenrisian Wolves were inside threat range of bikes but they are virtually immune to grav anyway.

Harald stood solo at the back, lest the Wolves break and he runs away with them.

 

I managed to steal initiative.

 

SW T1:

Here comes my stroke of genius. I activated tactical doctrine and had the 2 tacticals arrive turn 1. Both pods dropped right in front of the Land Raider and the tactical bubble wrapped it. Regardless whether the LR survives, he can not move up front and his centurions will be stuck until he removed tacs and pods. This gives TWC time to advance.

The 4 melta shots managed to immobilize it and destroy one of the flamers on the redeemer.

TWC and 1 IP moved in the direction of the LR. Harald, second IP and Wolves moved towards the Grav bikes.

 

UM T1:

Tacs landed, Cents left LR and moved back a bit. Grav bikes moved back a bit.

Bikes, Cents and LR removed my tacs. His tacs killed 9 Wolves. All morale checks were passed.

 

SW T2:

Cents landed in cover. They shot the Cents, who passed 7/9 4++ saves... I am serious! Tiggy casted 4++ on the IP, he advanced solo. TWC had to hang back a bit to hold an objective (it would give me 2 VP).

Harald, IP and Wolves charged with Command Squad. Chapter Master died (his luck turned apparently). I only lost 3 Wolves.

 

UM T2:

His LSS flanked and grabbed objective. Stern arrived in combat squads, scored and killed 2 TWC. His Cents shot my Cents and killed 2 of them (he did not roll 'ignore cover'). Tacticals could not do anything since Harald was in melee.

He lost the Command Squad while I lost 2 Wolves and 1 Cyber Wolf.

 

SW T3:

This was the crux that sealed it. Last Cent killed 5 Sternguard. TWC killed other 5 Sternguard. One IP charged LSS and killed it. The other IP killed the LR. Harald charged Tiggy but only killed 1 Cent (yeah, he is good with 4++ rolls).

 

UM T3:

Tacticals tried to move up and shoot TWC, but they were out of reach. Tiggy tried to cast Force but I stopped it. Scouts shot the IP but did nothing.

 

SW T4:

Harald and one IP finished Tiggy. Second IP killed Scouts.

 

At that point we called it. I was leading 10/7 VP and he was almost tabled.

He had only 10 tacs left on the field. I lost 14 Wolves, 3 Cyber Wolves, 2 Cents and 20 Tacs. The relevant units, meaning Harald, the IP, the TWC and Tiggy (and partly the cents) were still alive.

 

The plan has worked. The delivery system and early pressure has drawn all the fire away. The TWC hit the lines and the game was over. Increasing the body-count really helped a lot. I like this new incarnation very much.

 

Naked TWC are really great. Cheap and effective.

 

Harald's force-multiplying is extremely effective, even though he is not as great in CC as the Krakenboner. His buffs are worth it.

 

IP were useful as ever. S10 is always welcome.

 

Wolves are golden. Amazing delivery system.

 

Tacs were amazing with their pods. They really made the game by completely walling in the Land Raider and drawing the fire.

 

Cents and Tiggy were hilariously useless this game. The 4++ never came into effect, the Cents only killed 1 Cent and knocked a wound of Tiggy. They ate fire though. Still, today grav has failed :D

 

That was pretty much it. Very capable list when the tactics are right. Even the Eldar cheese master was impressed ;)

SW T1:

Here comes my stroke of genius. I activated tactical doctrine and had the 2 tacticals arrive turn 1. Both pods dropped right in front of the Land Raider and the tactical bubble wrapped it. Regardless whether the LR survives, he can not move up front and his centurions will be stuck until he removed tacs and pods. This gives TWC time to advance.

The 4 melta shots managed to immobilize it and destroy one of the flamers on the redeemer.

TWC and 1 IP moved in the direction of the LR. Harald, second IP and Wolves moved towards the Grav bikes.

The plan has worked. The delivery system and early pressure has drawn all the fire away. The TWC hit the lines and the game was over. Increasing the body-count really helped a lot. I like this new incarnation very much.

Naked TWC are really great. Cheap and effective.

Harald's force-multiplying is extremely effective, even though he is not as great in CC as the Krakenboner. His buffs are worth it.

IP were useful as ever. S10 is always welcome.

Wolves are golden. Amazing delivery system.

Tacs were amazing with their pods. They really made the game by completely walling in the Land Raider and drawing the fire.

Cents and Tiggy were hilariously useless this game. The 4++ never came into effect, the Cents only killed 1 Cent and knocked a wound of Tiggy. They ate fire though. Still, today grav has failed biggrin.png

That was pretty much it. Very capable list when the tactics are right. Even the Eldar cheese master was impressed msn-wink.gif

Nice batrep!

Remember with the tac bubble wrap that he could tank shock you... You were lucky inmobilizing the raider.

What I fear about naked thunderwolves, specially the shields, are that you are leaving them without being able to handle some units that you could need deal with.

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