Space Wolf - Imperial Guard Army

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

I've already posted this in the SW section but I need some advice from some some IG players.

I'm considering doing a SW-IG army, SW being use as close combat and medium shooting while IG being used as a long range support section of the army

Any and all advice welcome, thanks

Bjorn

[Kierdale]

Could you give us some more information?

Are you interested in tanks? Artillery? Huge squads of guardsmen? A mix?

What models take your fancy?

How many points are you looking to spend?

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

I want to use a mix of artillery for support before my wolves ever get in combat, tanks to give them support on their way there, conscripts, cadian guardsmen, a command squad and other types of guardsmen as a general gun line. (Maybe use the conscripts as meat shields)

I'm looking into the lemun russ tanks as my main tank force, like the lemun russ punisher for anti-infantry and the lemun russ executioner as an anti armour support for my wolves.

I'm considering the wyverns as main artillery and perhaps manticores. 

What I want is a command squad so that I can give out orders, but I'm not sure what yet

My SW section will be mainly TWC, BC, GH, WGT and perhaps a venrable dreadnaught

 

I'm aiming for the 2500pts mark for now

[WarriorFish]

Sounds like you want the whole lot! :D Guard are a good complement for an elite army like Marines, and a CC focused Marine army is an even better match as it lets them both focus on what they do best. It's also great for background stuff especially for more humanitarian chapters like the Wolves :tu:

 

Artillery is something Guard are great at, but you'll need to be careful when throwing the large blasts around as many of them will punch through power armour. As your Wolves will be closing with bolter and chainsword that could put them perilously close to potential scatter. So sticking to smaller blasts like Wyverns and Executioners is a good plan, though you'll still want to avoid targeting anything too close with the Executioner. They'll do well for you in their roles, though the Executioner isn't much of an anti-tank weapon aside from light to medium armour which is a bit of a waste of it's potential.

 

Plenty of troopers in a Platoon would serve you well, it'll give you all the infantry you'll need :) Will you want them foot slogging with your Wolves or mounted in Chimeras? What sort of figure are you thinking of for points to spend on the Guard?

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

Thanks a million dude, that's helped lots!

 

As for figures to pick, I'm not entirely sure yet, I'm still looking through the IG codex. I'm considering conscripts maybe as a shield for the on coming blood-crazed waves of SW. As for my Cadians soldiers, I want them behind (maybe in a Chimera as you suggested) my SW as a gun line behind them. Butthe majority of the points for the Guard will be put into tanks and artillery. 

 

Do you have any more suggestions for the types of figures for my guard side of the army? What about a command squad? 

 

Bjorn,

[WarriorFish]

A command squad is well worth it, so much so that you'll almost always find one in a Guard list. Orders make infantry so much more useful so it's hard to say no to that, plus you can run them pretty cheap. It's also why I'd recommend taking infantry squads over conscripts as they'll be more receptive to orders, but it depends on how many points you're willing to spend on the Guard. Conscripts might just get in the way of your Wolves too.

 

Chimeras are best in number, so 3 or 4 is a good number. They can put out a respectable amount of fire, and are capable of opening up most transports so your Wolves can get at the juicy contents. Give them hull heavy flamers (for no points) and they will also BBQ their way through close infantry for you. The icing on the cake is that your company command squad can issue orders from inside :)

 

You should look at priests too, they might be worth considering to add to some of your packs for their hymns. Another think to think about especially if you want tanks is the Fast Attack slot. Hellhounds and variants are fast and potent and could work well with your TWC, racing up in support and incinerating something that might bog down or threaten them.

[hendrik]

As a long time space wolf player i might be able to help.

typically your space wolf force will lack the following:

-cheap scoring units with long range to sit on objectives in your DZ

-anti-air

-long range antitank

 

Here's a list i would use to allie to my space wolves:

-pask in vanquisher +kitted out executioner buddy
-minimum sized platoon with mortars
- wyvern squad consisting of 2 wyverns.

this gives you a solid firepower base with the best anti tank the imperium can bring, lots of scoring bodies that can hide out on terrain, out of LOS while still doing some dammage, and absolute troop killers (wyverns)

 

later on (in a second wave of purchases) you could then add another platoon, mounted in chimeras with meltaguns, making this force into a complete stand alone force with plenty of possibilities.

Also, magnetize those leman russes you buy!

[RADU LYKAN]

bjorn- you seen these yet? could work well theme wise

http://madrobotminiatures.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_20&products_id=133

i read somewhere they might be getting rifles as well as all the close combat stuff, if not mad robot already has a lot of guns to choose from

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

Great, I'll keep that in mind when I'm looking into it. Also, I'm considering just using TWC, BC, WG and WGT for my SW section.

Does this look like a 7th Edition codex to you? A friend gave it to me and I'm sure if it's 7th Ed or not, is it?

http://s2.hubimg.com/u/8883999_f260.jpg

Hmm, that's very interesting Radu, I can use them as some meat shields if they don't cost much points, thanks

[casb1965]

That's the right codex (although it is a 6th ed one).

 

One question before you plunge in to IG is what points are you looking to spend on them?

 

If you're looking purely at fire support then the best thing to do is go with a Tank Commander HQ and use Leman Russ, Sentinels and a unit of Veterans in a vehicle as your compulsory Troop choice (Valkyrie perhaps for some nice anti air support). This will allow your Space Puppies to have support up close and personal and with the leman russ there are so many options that you can pretty much find one to do anything you want it to.

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

Ok, so I've been lookin through the codex and here's what I'll think I'm going to do:

 

Company Command Squad:

 

Has all the usual troop but Lord Creed and Sergeant Kell will be included

 

1x Ministorum Priest 

 

Infantry Platoon:

 

1x Platoon command squad

 

3x Heavy weapon squad (not sure on equip yet)

 

3x Infantry squads (Guardsmen)

 

1x Conscripts (20 men)

 

 

 

Armour:

 

3x Chimeras 

 

2x Wyverns 

 

1x Tank Commander in Lemun Russ executioner

 

2x Lemun Russ Vanquisher

 

1420pts (There will be add ons to the squads like vox caster etc, I just haven't added them yet)

[hendrik]

creed and kell are overkill with only so few troops, and their points are better spend on something else.

consider taking pask and squadroning him with the executioner. pask gives the unit prefered enemy, thus making sure your executioner wil rarely overheat itself and due to orders will be able to shoot at a different target in most occasions. not to mention pask in a vanquisher will rip open almost any tank.

unfortunately the standard vanquishers are not so good, due to a low volume of fire combined with a low BS and no buffs

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

ok, so what type of Lemun Russ do you suggest I take?

[elmo]

ok, so what type of Lemun Russ do you suggest I take?

 

A magnetised one ;)

[casb1965]

ok, so what type of Lemun Russ do you suggest I take?

A magnetised one

Or as many spare turrets as you can get.

There is no "Best Leman Russ" they are all very situational. If you play hordes then the Punisher Gatling cuts through them like a knife through butter but won't touch vehicles, against armoured opponents take the vanquisher, either way Leman Russ are good against most things given the right gun.

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

I definitely will magnetise all my armour, that'll definitely come in handy

[WarriorFish]

Vanquishers are best on a tank commander, but outside of that you can't go wrong with a standard battle cannon Russ. Versatile enough to deal with most threats, though the specialised ones are of course better at certain things they're no good if you don't have a need/role for them. For Pask's squadron supporting tanks work well but with the splitting fire order it's less of an issue so I generally think it's best to keep his supporting tanks cheaper to act as shields as much as fire support.

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

What type of command squad do you recommend WarriorFish?

[WarriorFish]

A cheap one! :P Their BS4 is good of course and can be put to effective use but the CCS is best off giving orders to your troops. So I only tend to bother with upgrades that increase their survivability - best protection being a Chimera of course. I like to run mine with a medi-kit and vox, often with a banner (because it looks boss and is good luck!) so there isn't room for much weaponry. If I do take one it's with points I can't really find a use for elsewhere, for example a melta or plasma to try and ward of nasty things a little.

 

I am a little set in my olden ways though so this is by no means the best way to run them. You can run them bare bones if you'd like and only spend what left over points you have on a few upgrades for example but generally speaking the only poor CCS is an expensive one and/or one that mixes roles. The key thing to remember is that they're a squad of 5 Guardsmen that will likely be high on your opponent's agenda, but also that the squad works within the context of your army list.

 

So in essence, the same Guard mantra I always have - keep it cheap but useful! For your list above I'd probably go for a vox and medi-kit and maybe camo or carapace. You've got a lot of troops so you'll want to be making the most out of orders. As hendrik said Creed and Kell are expensive, so I'd stick to a normal commander.

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

Great, I'll definitely use that thanks man!

[WarriorFish]

We're all happy to help Bjorn :) The Guard codex is very versatile and flexible so there are many ways to run most units. Different builds work for different people, the best list is one that works for you! Don't forget to show us your models, have you come up with a colour scheme for them?

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

I'm thinking of a space wolfy type of colour scheme, just to match my current 1205pt SW army. So Russ Grey, Fenrisian Grey etc. What do you think?

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

So maybe something like this:

 

 

http://prntscr.com/4t8b4q

[WarriorFish]

Looks good, it should complement your Wolves nice. Don't forget you can use the painter here on the B&C for devising colour schemes :)

[Bjorn Gordnikson]

Here we go!

 

http://prntscr.com/4t8l2n

 

I appreciate all the help guys, I'm nearly done painting my first few parts of the Space Wolves section and I'll post it up soon

 

Once again, thanks a million!

 

Bjorn