Gravis "Woodchipper" Captain

[L30n1d4s]

With the newly announced Gravis Captain model that has the option to take Chainsword, this made me think of the following SW Successor Captain Build:

 

 

<Space Wolf Successors -- Whirlwind of Rage, Born Heroes>

 

Captain in Gravis Armor (with Chainsword and Boltstorm Gauntlet)

Upgraded to Chapter Master

Relic: Teeth of Terra

WL Trait 1: Imperium's Sword

WL Trait 2: Wolfkin

 

 

So, the Chapter Master has 5A base, +D3A (from Wolkin), +1A for charging (Imperium's Sword), +3A from Teeth of Terra, and +1A if you cast Might of Heroes from a friendly Rune Priest.

 

 

On average, that gives him 12A on the charge... re-rolling everything that is not a 6, he should get about 4 x 6s and 7 regular hits... with the double exploding hits, that is an average of 19 total hits.

 

 

With Imperium's Sword and Might of Heroes, as well as Assault Doctrine activated ("Bestial Nature" Strat) and +1 to Wound ("Savage Strike" Strat), this gives him an average of 19 x S7 AP-3 Dmg2 hits, all with +1 to Wound... I just tested this today and it appears that this Chapter Master can cut his way through entire squads singlehandedly, especially if the supporting Rune Priest also casts Null Zone, and can even take down big individual threats like Nemesis Dreadknights, Morvenn Vahl, Ork Warbosses, etc.

 

 

[BloodyB]

An excellent build for a melee specialist, and really cool name for the build! I admit I haven't seen any rules for this model yet, but I can't see any reason he would differ from the expected statline, except maybe some sort of signum-esque servoskull? I doubt that anyway. But it looks like a good set up for a Smash captain, my only qualm being how to get him up the board? Repulsors be pricey.

[Captain Idaho]

A friend of mine is a Space Wolf player so I was showing him this (for some reason I can't work out as he'll use it against me!), so I have some questions as a non-Rout player:

 

How is he rerolling everything that isn't a hit? Chapter Master works on Core only so is there another trick I'm missing?

 

Also, though he loses an attack, would a Wolf Lord on Thunder Wolf not make a better choice? He's faster, has the attacks from the Wolf and can have a Storm Shield too.

 

Speed and getting into combat is probably going to be worth more and a 2+ armour save is a great exchange for loss of use of Transhuman Physiology (not as good with T5).

[Lord Raven 19]

Chapter master picks one core or character in the command phase to reroll all hits.

 

Not sure about the TW Lord, maybe worth a try, probably costs more though.

[Captain Idaho]

By jingo you're right. Sorry been a while since I've cracked out tue Marines.

 

That's a spicy combo anyway.

 

Regarding the Wolf Lord on TW... I am a fan of getting into position quickly with my characters. Jump Packs, Terminator teleports and bikes all factor in highly. The Thunder Wolf also. If a Gravis Captain could ride an Impulsor then problem solved.

 

My friend is feeling the same really so we're just discussing his options (he takes a mixture of Firstborn and Primaris in his lists).

[CCE1981]

I had a pretty close write with Whitescars. The difference was I used a Captain with Jump Pack base, armed with Teeth of Terra and a Thunderhammer. Against really tough targets use the Thunderhammer, against everything else Teeth of Terra. You still get the same number of attacks, just three must be Teeth of Terra.

 

Also if going this route saga of the hunter instead of Imperium’s Sword to help his retinue of Wolf Guard with Jump Packs Advance and Charge.

Edited December 22, 2021 by CCE1981

[TheUnlikelyGamer84]

A friend of mine is a Space Wolf player so I was showing him this (for some reason I can't work out as he'll use it against me!), so I have some questions as a non-Rout player:

 

How is he rerolling everything that isn't a hit? Chapter Master works on Core only so is there another trick I'm missing?

 

Also, though he loses an attack, would a Wolf Lord on Thunder Wolf not make a better choice? He's faster, has the attacks from the Wolf and can have a Storm Shield too.

 

Speed and getting into combat is probably going to be worth more and a 2+ armour save is a great exchange for loss of use of Transhuman Physiology (not as good with T5).

Thunder wolf lord is faster and can advance and charge. But his base is bigger and he isn’t infantry so can’t go through walls and if factoring transhuman may be less durable vs heavier weapons.

[Captain Idaho]

Yeah Transhuman is amazing. But of course, Storm Shields compensate for anything AP0/-1. So it's a bit of a wash really.

 

I've never had a problem needing to go through walls generally. It's not really a factor.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

The problem with terrain is that it's so hard have an actual base line. My table has two big area terrain ruins, a thunderwolf lord wouldn't have any issues. One of my buddies table is a just covered in ruins and I think it would be tough.

 

I didn't have a chance to play in them but the US opens had a ton of terrain, and I want to see what my table is like with 4 area terrain pieces. I would expect dreads and thunderwolves to have a tougher time on that.

 

TL:DR - terrain isn't a constant and can change people's opinions of units.

[Captain Idaho]

That's a very true thing but what I gauge is just what do those tournament players worry about? Do people eskew Thunder Wolves because of terrain, or any other unit for that matter?

 

;)

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

That's a very true thing but what I gauge is just what do those tournament players worry about? Do people eskew Thunder Wolves because of terrain, or any other unit for that matter?

 

 

I don't think the tournament crowd worries about terrain the same way the casual crowd does. In my experience the casual crowd tend to have either a store they frequent or their own table and make do with the terrain available. Full disclosure these are my people lol, and we still have opinions on what units are going to work and those opinions are going to be influenced by the terrain on hand. I think as long as you explain why the terrain effects the unit it's a fair criticism more so because it gives the player who wants to use the unit a heads up so they can plan for what to do if they play on a table with area terrain ruins. 

 

I do think the tournament crowd is influenced by the terrain at an event, but I think it is more specific to that event. For example, a space wolf tournament player may not want to run thunder wolves in a tournament with 4 11"x8" ruins but might run them in an event with a different terrain layout. I only looked for a bit, but in the September 15th competitive innovation column on goon hammer there is a space wolf player who placed second at a GT with 2 squads of thunder wolves.  

[CrystalSeer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but cavalry can still go in to ruins, they just can't go on second floor or run through walls.

 

Due to 5" vertical engagement range I'm yet to run in to any games where they were blocked from being useful because of this.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

Yeah they can go through area terrain sections that aren't blocked by walls. Those area terrain features can vary quite a bit though.

 

For example some 3rd party ruins are terrain taller/longer than GWs, some places may only have one piece of ruin on a base, some might use multiple pieces on the base, and other places use L shaped line of sight blockers that are walls.

 

I don't think Thunder Wolves are bad I just think peoples opinions on them are based on the terrain they're used too.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Jorin Helm-splitter

[CrystalSeer]

I'm impressed with the gaming tables people are describing. Most shops I've been to, GW included, have nowhere near enough terrain, nor large enough ruins, to come close to blocking my thunder wolves from being useful.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

I'm impressed with the gaming tables people are describing. Most shops I've been to, GW included, have nowhere near enough terrain, nor large enough ruins, to come close to blocking my thunder wolves from being useful.

 

Thats pretty much my point, out of the shops I've played in some had barely any terrain (Ironically GW fits into this category), and then I've played in stores with tons of terrain (that was typically 3rd party or scratch built). My opinion on what units would work changes quite a bit depending on my environment. For what it's worth I prefer a lot of terrain early 9th was felt like whoever went second was in trouble. If you ever read 40k's metawatch articles on the community site they tend to imply that the US open fixed it (which is comical with how little terrain they have in their stores compared to the US open tables).

 

If you have some time you should google the 40k us open 2021 terrain and take a look at TiguriusX's battle reports on this forum (I think they match more the heavy terrain I've seen in a couple of stores). The US Open tables had lots of area terrain (which is a good way to stretch out what you have) but it definitely has 3 sides where the walls are solid. I still think you could make thunderwolves work but those maps really favor wolf guard with jump packs (because you can jump over the ruins and have a more reliable charge. I think in TiguriusX's battle reports thunderwolves would be fine for the most part (he tends to go with msu but does use wulfen every now and then).