Let's Talk Blood Claws!

[Rune Priest Jbickb]

Good morning fellow Wolf Lords!

 

So after looking at the codex and the get you by FAQ I'm kinda digging on blood ckaws and was wondering what you all thought.

 

I think all our claw units got much better, all got a boosted ballistic skill, -1 ap in melee, and extra wound, (makes my 1 or 2 old melta gun claws potentially worthwhile), sky claws and blood claws kept berserk charge*, and a few units buff them rather well.

 

*It appears that swiftclaws is a keyword added to the standard space marine biker sheet and I haven't seen a clear image but I dont think they recieve berserk charge at the moment. This will hopefully be resolved in the supplement.

 

The obvious unit competing with blood claws slot is assault intercessors. For 2 more points base you don't actually gain much over blood claws. Better base attack stat (but berserk charge offsets this). Better leadership, and access to fight again strat (annoyingly assault Intercessor only now). Blood claws, in trade, have access to cheaper transportation and an extra special melee weapon. I think the smidge of leadership and access to 1 strat doesn't really make assault intercessors any more desirable.

 

Other claw units are a bit pricier but do look worthwhile as well. Swiftclaws (especially if they get berserk charge back) look really good with the shooting out put they have along with their charge damage, and the movement on skyclaws is well worth the 2 points.

 

Buffing claw units comes from 2 sources besides the usual buf units. The first is wulfen. Wulfen do buff other units, however for claw units its got ac22 inch range. Sadly in the nerf they list the 2 buff modes but reroll charges is still potent and possibly worth considering a squad for the buff. The better buff is Lukas. 2 reasons I really like lukas (besides the fact that his fluff is pretty hilarious) the first is he gives full rerolls to claw units in melee. That is pretty sweet on its own. The second is hes an elite, so he's not taking up those valuable hq slots but he behaves like a buffing hq. Seems pretty sweet to me.

 

Delivery is an interesting question and I think the best choice is the humble rhino. However I am also toyingvwoth the idea of slogging 60 of these dudes up the board. 120 wounds foit slogging looks good on paper but I will need to try it out to be sure.

 

List thought, gunna leave off points as they may be a touch off but i think this all fits in 2k perhaps with a bit of wiggle room.

 

Primaris Wolf Priest on bike

Wolf priest with jp

Harald Deathwolf

 

 

3x 9 man blood Claw Pack with wgpl and 2 power fists

 

1 8 man blood Claw Pack with wgpl

 

Lukas the Trickster

 

6 Thunderwolf Cavalry with Storm shield and 1 thunder hammer

 

9 swiftclaws 1 wolf Guard Pack Leader 2 powerfist

 

Thus list is definitely a rough draft but it looks fast and fun

 

So what do you think brothers have the lowly blood claws made a comback?

[Dark Shepherd]

I think you can go 2 ways with bloodclaws, rhinos with buffing characters like Lukas to attack and generally cause mayhem

 

Or

 

Units of 6, power fist on pack leader, termy WGPL with storm shield and storm bolter to tank wounds. Use them to hold objectives in your own board half with maybe a Judiciar to help out

[Ragnar69]

I wouldn't take a list without enough firepower to drop at least one flier T1. If you don't then the opponent has free reign where and how to deploy and isn't forced into hiding.

 

Those new strats for whirlwinds and land speeder storms to gimp enemy overwatch and melee are also worth considering.

 

Don't forget Drop Pods. Combined with a Wolf Priest they can easily give you a T1 charge into the enemy deployment zone.

[Dark Shepherd]

I wouldn't take a list without enough firepower to drop at least one flier T1. If you don't then the opponent has free reign where and how to deploy and isn't forced into hiding.

 

Those new strats for whirlwinds and land speeder storms to gimp enemy overwatch and melee are also worth considering.

 

Don't forget Drop Pods. Combined with a Wolf Priest they can easily give you a T1 charge into the enemy deployment zone.

Wait...other armies have affordable flyers?

[Ragnar69]

Ork Burna bombers are nasty i.e.

But what can Kill a flier can usually also kill a tougher tank because no -1

[FabulousRex]

Don't forget Drop Pods. Combined with a Wolf Priest they can easily give you a T1 charge into the enemy deployment zone.

I've been seriously wondering about Drop Pods vs Rhinos. They start off the board and are cheaper. We don't care about melee swarms assaulting the Pods when we all can HI on them.

 

I'm really keen on 2x5 Blood claws in a transport. 2 meltaguns, 2 plasma pistols, 2 power fists. Both units can HI for each other. Pistol fire is negligible, so anti tank guns weirdly make more sense. Also, the power fists are both on regular Pack Leaders, so both keep Bezerk Charge.

[PeteySödes]

I think pods are very strong in the early 9th landscape. T1 midfield control of obj immediately backfoot most opponents and sets up a strong position to start reaping those progressives T2.

[Karhedron]

I agree. Dropping a Pod on an Objective near your opponent's DZ while Mech infantry take the 2 nearest your own DZ intermediately establish a 4:2 Objective advantage which your opponent will have to push to overcome. Not saying killing 10 guys and Pod is that hard but straight away you are forcing your opponent to react to your moves.

 

Just as a side note, I would not count on Blood Claws retaining BS3+ when the new supplement comes out. Interesting to experiment with for now but inferior shooting has a been a feature of Claws since day 1 and I would be surprised if they ditch it now.

[Gherrick]

Just as a side note, I would not count on Blood Claws retaining BS3+ when the new supplement comes out. Interesting to experiment with for now but inferior shooting has a been a feature of Claws since day 1 and I would be surprised if they ditch it now.

They already have a disadvantage by getting just a bolt pistol. No other space marine gets BS4, and I don't think its really needed. To make them more balanced vs grey hunters, I think it would be more thematic to have their recklessness translate to a penalty to the attrition test (not from fear, but carelessness).

[TiguriusX]

I have seen competitive lists based on the drop pod BC idea

 

You need at least 1 of (a) source of reroll charge or ( b ) canticle of hate bubble

 

If you can get BOTH of those then you have a good shot at turn 1 charge into the enemy DZ and can even steal and deny their home objective

 

The new chaplain on a bike is your best bet for canticle of hate. 20" turbo boost and maybe saga of majesty as well.

 

Wulfen (remember those guys?) are the best source of reroll charge.

 

You need to advance the wulfen (8+d6 movement) and then be within the 12" war howl range (BCs get extra range buff). That is 20+d6 and plenty of range to activate

 

Now your turn 1 drop pod blood claws are going in hard with rerolling 7s to charge

 

To avoid telegraphing the move a squad of LFs with multi melta is also suggested

 

Then you have flexibility pre game deciding which to drop based on opponent units

Edited October 7, 2020 by TiguriusX

[Karhedron]

That is both nasty and potent! It also makes a potential use of those poor Wulfen who otherwise risk being shelved. And the opponent also runs the risk that if they throw everything at clearing out the Blood Claws, the Wulfen will hit them T2 supported by the Priest.

 

Add a Whirlwind in your backfield and you can turn off Overwatch on a key target if you want/need.

[TiguriusX]

It was an annoying tactic to deal with in 8th edition

 

Now that BCs have extra wounds I am curious how much more firepower they tank

 

The 2nd wave of attackers (including those wulfen) should have a much easier time breaking through

 

Probably a perfect army to add the newly buffed TWC...they are guaranteed charging turn 2

[TheUnlikelyGamer84]

It was an annoying tactic to deal with in 8th edition

 

Now that BCs have extra wounds I am curious how much more firepower they tank

 

The 2nd wave of attackers (including those wulfen) should have a much easier time breaking through

 

Probably a perfect army to add the newly buffed TWC...they are guaranteed charging turn 2

I just played a game last night where I used the TWC. The are super tanky now. Especially against lower Ap weapons. The plus 1 to saves and Extra wound help so much. I also used Harald Death wolf for the first time in a couple years. Being forced to take the newly changed space wolf trait actually worked for him against a hive tyrant. The extra attack gave him 7 attacks on charge and at +1 to wound woth glacius. Touch of the wild helped him gain 4 additional and then I rolled three 6s to wound causing 3 mortals in addition to all the other damage. I think he and canis may be Semi permanent Additions to my lists for a little while. Edited October 8, 2020 by TheUnlikelyGamer84