Finding the character of an army

I know I started an army list review compared to what I was taking to tournaments back in fifth but because its Saturday the missus is out with the girls playing bus stop bingo all day (a game that involves carnage) and Liverpool play tomorrow I've got the day free to paint.

I've spent a lot of the week thinking about what I want this Wolf army to be. My last army was a typical baby blue based on snow with some nice shiny gold, they certainly looked like they'd just come off the parade ground but only a parade ground where the Amourer was missing a few fingers and possibly two eyes.

Just before I stopped playing I had painted a few pre heresy models which included a Contemptor with the new airbrush I had had. I based coated them with the normal chaos black spray and then used Vallejo model air German grey to give them an undercoat with a highlight of Vallejo model air light grey. I was really pleased with the results so I'm going to use that basic recipe but take it a step further.

This week I have been really impressed with a couple of videos I've watched the first I had seen before (link here) showed a style of painting Thirteenth company Space Wolves obviously the more pre heresy feel that I want. I really like the way Lester paints I'm taking a lot from this.

The other video I watched and this is the link the to the first part was about weathering a tank by OrcPainterNerd. I really enjoyed watching this video from start to finish. I want these wolves to look embattled, they've been stuck on a planet surrounded for months and had their resources slowly eroded and this shows in their armour. Of course they are Imperial so their armour is in a better state than the Death Guard but its still looking shabby.

I've decided to use some of the techniques from the video mixed with a scheme close to the one in the thirteenth company video so where does that leave me.

My 10 blood claws are all built and pinned to for ease of painting.

I have started off with a coat of Vallejo Satin Varnish because the weathering video suggested that it allowed paint to adhere better. Next step was a coat of chaos black, I would have preferred to undercoat skull white but I don't think it would have had the required effect.

The next stage is to spray around the models especially areas that would get scratched more with a mixture of Vallejo model air gun and aluminium, as in the weathering video this is going to be quite haphazard but as said I'll be concentrating with feet, hands and lightly everywhere else.

After that I'm going to go to work with the Weathering fluid I have bought, a light coat should give the required results.

I think that's as far as I will get today so look out next time for some pictures (I can't promise high quality)

A different view of the new Space Wolf Codex

A couple of days have past now since I got the new codex so I thought I would share my thoughts on what I have read. I'm not going to do a full review of the codex, there are plenty out there like that I thought instead I would remind you what the list I was most commonly playing was at the end of fifth and compare the two.

This is the list I took to my last major tournament which was 2012's Caledonian open (was it really that long ago?)

HQ1: Rune priest: living lightning, Murderous Hurricane, chooser of the slain, wolf tail talisman [115]
HQ1: Rune priest: living lightning, jaws of the world wolf, chooser of the slain [110]

Elite 1: Wolf Guard Pack: 3 Wolf Guard, 3 Power Fists, 3 Combi Meltas [129]+ TRANSPORT1
Elite 2: Dreadnought, 2 Twin linked Autocannons [125]

TROOP 1: Grey Hunters Pack: 7 grey hunters: meltagun, mark of the wulfen, wolf standard [135] + TRANSPORT 2
TROOP 2: Grey Hunters Pack: 7 grey hunters: meltagun, mark of the wulfen, wolf standard [135] + TRANSPORT 3
TROOP 3: Grey Hunters Pack: 7 grey hunters: meltagun, mark of the wulfen, wolf standard [135] + TRANSPORT 4
TROOP 4: Grey Hunters Pack: 6 grey hunters: flamer, mark of the wulfen [105] + TRANSPORT 5

FAST 1: Landspeeder Sqn: 1 Landspeeder: Multimelta, heavy flamer [70]
FAST 2: Landspeeder Sqn: 1 Landspeeder: Multimelta, heavy flamer [70]

HEAVY 1: Long Fangs Pack: 5 long fangs+1 Squad Leader, 4 missile launchers, 1 lascannon [155]
HEAVY 1: Long Fangs Pack: 5 long fangs+1 Squad Leader, 4 missile launchers, 1 lascannon [155]
HEAVY 1: Long Fangs Pack: 5 long fangs+1 Squad Leader, 4 missile launchers, 1 lascannon [155]

TRANSPORT 1: Razorback: lascannon + twin linked plasmaguns [75] [Elite 1]
TRANSPORT 2: Rhino [35] [Troop 1]
TRANSPORT 3: Rhino [35] [Troop 2]
TRANSPORT 4: Rhino [35] [Troop 3]
TRANSPORT 5: Razorback: lascannon + twin linked plasmaguns [75] [Troops 4]

So obviously the place to start is the HQ's.

As I said on my (triumphant) return to blogging I only managed a couple of games of 40K in Sixth and I'm yet to experience Seventh but at the minute Rune Priests would still be my go to HQ choice. From reading the rule book Psykers seem more important than ever and can you really risk going into the game without them?
Obviously you no longer get to pick your psychic powers. Without playing it seems like all the powers I took have been seriously downgraded, on average you get the same number of shots with LL but it used to have unlimited rage. MH has got less shots but it is rending now JOTWW now only effects a single model rather than a line and monstrous creatures can't be targeted (not sure what the point of it is then) there's also no chooser's any more unfortunately for that +1 to ballistic skill. So slightly cheaper but surely you need the add ons of psychic hoods and psyker level two.

What's everyone else's opinion on the Rune priest now?

Look out for the next post covering Elites and Troops.

Back for the Wolftime - A return to regular gaming after a couple of years off.

It has been a long time since I have produced a blog post and I thought I would explain why and where I’m at with the hobby at the minute.

I stopped playing just after sixth edition came out (I think I managed a couple of games at most) there was a combination of reasons for this.

Firstly and I promise this will be the only time I mention it, I like a lot of us do not like GW as a company. I feel like they have seriously forgotten their roots as a small cottage industry for the players to a big money company. When I started playing First Company Veterans was one of the biggest clubs in the country with 70 or 80 players attending our own gaming night at Warhammer World on a Thursday night. Within a few years the numbers of people were down to a hand full of 40k and Fantasy players and a core of about 10 to 15 Bloodbowl players. That I purely lay at the door of GW and the staff at Warhammer World, they decided that they wanted to go in a different direction and it destroyed the club other than a few core players. More fool them they went for a full hall on a Thursday night with the majority of the members eating and drinking to not being open at all on a Thursday night.

One of the other reasons I stopped playing was the tournament scene that at the time I was a part of, I wasn't improving and I was becoming frustrated. On a good weekend I’d find myself in the top half on a bad weekend I’d be scrapping it out on the bottom tables. This in turn was part of the issue with First Company Veterans, a lot of the core players were really into Bloodbowl a game which I never picked up at the right time so I wasn’t playing enough different players to really make me better the other problem was how I play the game, I was never decisive enough I had many many games where if I had risked a little more I would have turned draws into wins.

The final reason I think I stopped playing was sixth edition and my own Army list. I’ve always been a Space Wolves player, during my time I have toyed with the idea of other armies. I've built a small Grey Knights force and started both Necron’s and Word Bearers but I have never come close to finishing them. When Sixth came along I couldn't find the motivation to change my list so thoroughly and now I really reflect on it it’s because I wasn't enjoying the game. I saw sixth edition as too random and because of that I thought it would mean that I wasn't as competitive a player. The problem was I’d lost why I was playing the game. When I first started building lists, I picked the units I liked to play with and that were very fluffy. I played with 14 Blood claws in a Land Raider led by Ragnar and a Wolf Priest. I then played with a massive death star of Thunderwolf cavalry. Over the time I dropped these things from my list for the same cookie cutter lists that everyone was playing, lots of Long Fangs (which were enjoyable) and lots of Grey Hunters but I wasn't actually getting the results during tournament play so what was the point.

So what has changed two years later. Well I have returned to what originally inspired me to start an Army almost 6 years ago. I have been lax with my Black Library reading. Mainly down to having a Kindle now the quality and availability of good Science fiction has improved incredibly but last week with nothing to read I picked up Horus Rising and was straight away reminded why the 40K mythology was brilliant. 'I was there when Horus slew the Emperor' is a fantastic opening to a novel and such a massive series. I felt reading that I was ready to pick up the dice and tape measure again and lead my troops into battle but something had to change with my style otherwise I would just end up to in the same position again so I thought about the people who I think have the most fun in playing which are Claws and Fists most regular (and lads I use that word very loosely) posters Andy and Graham. What is different about what they do to what I was doing is they constantly doing something different. They don't have a list they try new things, they use different units and if it works great and if it doesn't its just put down to experience.

So Saturday led me into Derby GW for the first time in a while. I managed to avoid being ganged up on with a conversation about what I'm playing at the minute and made it out with a new rule book, codex and a box of Space Wolves. Sunday has seen me mark two sets of books (just in case OFSTED are stalking me over the internet) and go through all the things I had packed away a couple of years ago. I managed to find everything except for my hobby drill which was good what did make me shudder and also sweat a bit with the wife looking over me is the number of unfinished models I have in there.

When I made my first entry on here (which at the time was the record read post, something I notice I still hold boys) I started it with a resolution that I would play a minimum of a game a week for the following year. In the whole I did that, some weeks I was playing 2 or 3 regular games and on tournament weekends I could well be playing 8-10 games over the course of seven days. That won't happen now, I have too many responsibilities, we are all that bit older wiser and more encumbered with debt. I'm also busy dispensing the Emperor's will in the form of BB's airsofting at least once a week. So my resolutions or perhaps it should be Oath of the moment because it needs that strength to make it stick

Return to gaming at least once a month and chart my progress on here

• Not play the same army list for more than a month at a time and if it returns to my life attend every tournament with a different list.
• Only buy more models when I have finished the last lot.
• Get back to regular blogging.

So that is my tale readers, please check the blog regularly because I'm going to get back to posting my progress and after being out for two editions (what is happening to the speed GW are pumping things out) I will need all the advice I can get.

Death From Above 1979

Tonight is my second game of errata'd 6th edition (oh, what's that? We're calling it 7th ed? Okay, I'll try and remember that)

After a game last week at 1000 points, this week we're stepping up to 1650. Andy is taking part in an ETC style team event and so wants to try out an Ork list for that. Part of me wanted to be a bit of a jerk and come up with a specific anti-Ork list: lots of Flamers, lots of 2+ saves. "This Whirlwind? I've been using one of those for years!" (could be just the sort of thing that you'll see at such an event to be fair)

However, there is just too much stuff in the new Space Wold codex that I wanted to try out on the table so I've gone with more of an all-comers list:

Wolf Lord, Runic Armour, Wolf Claw, Wolf Helm Of Durfast, Thunderwolf

2+, 4++, re-roll to hit, re-roll to wound in combat, +1 S, +1 T, +1 A, +1 W. Pricy but quick and deadly

3 Thunderwolves, 1 Storm Shield, 1 Power Fist

Kept this unit pretty basic but along with the Thunderlord they should do a lot of damage if they can make it into combat

10 Grey Hunters w/CCW, 2 Melta Guns, Wolf Guard Pack Leader w/Combi-Melta, Drop Pod

10 Grey Hunters w/CCW, 2 Flamers, Wolf Guard Pack Leader w/Combi-Flamer, Drop Pod

10 Grey Hunters w/CCW, 2 Plasma Guns, Plasma Pistol, Wolf Guard Pack Leader w/Combi-Plasma, Drop Pod

The Swiss Army Knife of the army, with a mixture of special weapons they can do a bit of everything

9 Blood Claws, Power Weapon, Flamer, Lukas the Trickster, Drop Pod

12 point Space Marines with Rage and Counter Attack? Count me in

Lone Wolf, Terminator Armour, Twin Wolf Claws

They have ret-conned the ret-conn so we can teleport again. Happy days (mainly because my run rolls for Lone Wolves have always been absolutely awful and this means that I can drop him right into the action)

5 Fenrisian Wolves Since they can score now, these are just a cheap Objective claiming unit

Murderfang, Drop Pod

If Mr Angry Pants can survive a turn of shooting, he'll do some serious damage. However, as Kurtz said, "if is the middle word of life"

Now there are probably some people waiting with baited breath; "come on then Gav" they're saying, "what's the brilliant trick here? Drop the Pods Objective Secured Pods empty so the enemy has to spend 5 turns destroying them while you claim the other Objectives?"

Sorry, to disappoint, but there really is no trick here - the idea of the list is simply to push as many units down your opponent's face as possible. The plan is that 30 Grey Hunters come down, do as much damage as possible and then line up for a Turn 2 charge along with the Thunderwolves.

Hopefully that will be too many targets for the enemy to deal with and so carnage will ensure (NB better blogs than this one would probably use the term "threat vectors" at this point)

Then Murderfang, the Blood Claws and the Lone Wolf arrive to clear up what's left. Looks like a very simple plan on screen, let's see how it actually translates to the battlefield.

Blog Wars 5 - Redemption!

This weekend saw the Claws and Fists crew attend another Blog Wars and, in my opinion, this was the best one yet!! With the recent unfortunate closure of the Eye of the Storm venue in Mansfield, the tournament was moved to the North West Gaming Centre in Stockport, more of a trek than I'm used to but only about a 90 minute drive so nothing to complain about really!

Then venue itself was perfect, plenty of space, great tables with nice terrain, friendly staff and all the other amenities you would expect. The tournament always has a great atmosphere thanks in no small part to Alex's (From the Fang) focus on keeping it a blogging community-centric event and this time was no different.

From my point of view I played 3 very enjoyable games against 3 very nice opponents with 3 very different armies; but before I give you a brief report on each game you'll probably want no know what I was taking:

Battle Brothers - Game 5

... and balance is restored.

After another very delicious lunch we faced off against a couple of guys who had travelled down from Aberdeen with the guys we'd played that morning. I was less optimistic after looking at this list featuring a couple of Vendettas, a blob and Wolves. This may be an inauspicious end to the Tournament!

Lord Commissar
30ish-man blob w. 3 Autocannons
Vendetta
Vendetta
Logan Grimnar
4x Wolfguard in Term Armour Wolf Claws, Thunder Hammer Storm Shield, Power Sword & Power Axe in a Drop Pod
5 Thunderwolves

Big Guns Never Tire and a Dawn of War Deployment.

6th of one, half a dozen of the other

Andy and I played our first game of 6th edition 40K on Saturday. We played 500 points on a 4x4 board and rolled up the D3+2 Objective mission. Now, I have to admit that this will probably be the worst "initial thoughts" piece that you read on 6th edition as due to Andy's incredibly poor dice rolls, it was a very one sided game and we didn't even get close to having any combat.

Shooting

Let's not kid ourselves, 40K was a shooting game in 5th edition and very little has changed for 6th in that regard. The change in the Toughness rules have made some units more survivable but with cover getting worse and new Rules like Focused Fire and Precision Shot make shooting even better.

Now, we found shooting in the new edition to be very straightforward. However, we didn't have any units containing models with different saving throws. The key now is going to be how you arrange your units to try and protect the important models. I set up my Long Fangs in a T-shape with the Pack Leader at the front so that he would take the first unsaved wound. However, what would I have done if I had been Outflanked?

Andy had an even harder choice as he had a five man Devastator unit containing a Sergeant, three Missile Launchers and a regular Bolter Marine. On my turn one, they were going to take fire from my Long Fangs on the right hand side of the board and a Living Lightning Rune Priest in the centre. There was no way to set up his unit so that he could protect the important squad members from incoming fire.

Bookkeeping

There seems to be a lot more of this in the new edition. From Hull Points to Mysterious Objectives to Warp Charge, it seems that every phase has something that you need to make a note of.

Go First and Win

In 5th edition there were some army builds that were considered to have a huge advantage if they went first, those that could put out a crippling alpha strike from which the opponent would struggle to recover. Now not only do we have the same issue in 6th edition but you also get a point for it. I go first, kill one of your units and get, what could be, in some missions, the winning Victory Point.

Next Steps

Play some more games. It was a real shame that we didn't manage to get any combat going apart from a charge against a Rhino. I have to admit that I don't hold out much hope for combat as I think that the changes to the Fearless rules make it a lot less killy than previously. However, that's based on conjecture rather than evidence. There are also a lot of other rules that we didn't actually get to try including Hammer of Wrath and Nightfight (didn't get it Turn 1)

However, I still think that my list should so alright in 6th with only a few changes. Three units of Long Fangs are still awesome as is the Rune Priest. Grey Hunters remain one of the best Troops in the game even if they can't assault out of their Rhino any more. However, the Scouts might have to go and I need some more units for the Club's Tale of Gamers

Elephant in the room

Or rather above the room. One of the other things we didn't use on saturday was fliers. Now from what I've read in the rulebook and what I've seen on the internet, these are clearly going to be huge in 6th edition. Now, I have no doubt at all that eventually Space Wolves will be given the option of Flakk Missiles. However, I can't see that happening until GW have sold loads of fliers and most Wolf players have either gone out and bought allies or fortifications. Cynical? Yes, but you have to admit that it's pretty good marketing. For now, I'm going to focus on shooting everything that isn't a flyer and hope that they don't have too much of an impact. This isn't really a strategy though and while it might be successful for the first few months of this new edition as people slowly acquire fliers, it's of little use in the long term...

How is everyone else finding the new edition? It seems like it's going to be slower to play but is that just because it's all still new?

Is combat dead in the 6th?

Firstly a disclaimer, I have played 1 game of 40k so if my understanding of the rules are wrong feel free to let us know because I need all the help I can get with it.

Last night was my first game of 40k; I played Duncs with his Necrons. I've been playing Duncs for about 2 years and really expected to face his Orks so it was a pleasant surprise to see Hordes (or 500 points worth) or living metal across from me.

This was the first time I'd played Necrons, I've discussed on here starting an army of them I love the models and the simple but effective paint jobs that people manage on them.

We ended up playing the 1 objective game with the short edge deployment.

The game was very close with Duncs winning as he destroyed the first unit while we drew on primary objectives.

So thoughts on 6th

Combat is clunky, really clunky.

We found it really slow to allocate wounds to Space wolves that are all in base to base.

It’s also really hard to win combat with the fact that you just seem to run away no matter what happens in the combat. It’s also just harder to get into combat with the fat that you can't assault out of a parked rhino.

Our game really made me think that Combat is dead, the game was shooting based in fifth, with over watch and new combat resolution it’s even more so or at least that was the impression I got.
Personally I don't have a problem with that, I always thought that fights in the 41st millennium should be solved with guns rather than sticks but it leads you to think.

So what did I learn? Grey Hunters are even more awesome than before, over watch + counter charge + rapid fire and the options for either plasma or melta they are the most adaptable troop choice in the game.

Rhinos really are paper thin, I just don't know how many we will see, and do you want to just sit in a tin can and then when you are going to do something you are going to get shot anyway? I could certainly see drop pods making a comeback. You are going to get out and get shot anyway so why not make sure you get where you want to get before you get shot?

Now when the Necron codex came out I discussed with Darren how I thought they had big holes in them because of their low I they could get chased off the board so easily and he discussed that as it was written ready for 6th it was going to really find its place on the introduction and I have to agree, Tesla really comes into the fore, as do gauss with their ability to glance vehicles to death. I was tempted to do a necron army before, after last night I am even more so.

As always I look forward to reading you comments.

Call that an axe? This is an axe...

"If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck"

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet"


The Great Wolf, Logan Grimnar, is armed with a weapon called the Axe Morkai. However, there is some discussion on the internet at the minute about whether or not it really is an axe...

This is important as Logan gets to decide whether he wants to use his weapon with one hand or two. If he uses it two-handed it is counted as a Power Fist so he gets S8 but at I1.

In 5th edition, if he used it one-handed, then he struck at S5 and I5.

So, what's the problem?

The codex says that he can use his weapon as either a Frost Blade (which is where the +1 Strength comes from) or a Power Fist.

The new FAQ states that a Frost Blade and a Frost Axe are different weapons.

However, the Rulebook says that Power Weapons that look like axes should be treated as axes and so be swung at I1.

That would give Logan the choice of attacking at S6 I1 or S8 I1. Hmm, tough choice!

The tricky thing here is that the weapon is clearly an axe - it's called an axe and looks like an axe. However, that makes the one-handed/two-handed choice a moot point.

We're always told that Codex > Rulebook and the codex specifically states Frost Blade and that hasn't been changed in the new FAQ but it's tough to square that with the fact that the weapon is clearly an axe.

What do you guys think? Is it an axe? Personally I think that RAI, it isn't an axe but RAW it just might be one. When is a door not a door?

The King is Dead! Long Live the King!

A Plasma Gun, a Plasma Gun! My kingdom for a Plasma Gun

Back in 5th edition, Melta was king. Cheaper than Plasma and better against vehicles, it was a no brainer. However, in 6th, Rapid Fire is better, cover is worse, Wound Allocation has changed and you can now glance vehicles to death. Also, with Power Weapons being AP3, we're probably going to be seeing more Terminators. So, therein lies the question - is this the age of Plasma?

Well, yes. And no. Plasma does look a lot more useful in this edition so I think we'll see a corresponding increase in its use. However, Melta is still the king of anti-tank. Plus, it also has that additional point of strength which is crucial in bypassing FNP and causing instant death on T4 models.

From a personal point of view, I think I'll be going 50:50 with Melta and Plasma rather than all Melta as in the last edition.

Moving to Plasma? Sticking with Melta? Trying Flamers for their D3 auto-hits on Overwatch? Let us know...

Monday Musings - The Death of Scouts

Scouting in 6th

When I first saw that Accute Senses allowed a re-roll on the board-edge for Outfalnking, my mind started racing. What would that mean for BEL on Wolf Scouts? If we could re-roll that, it would practically guarantee that they would arrive on the board edge that we wanted them to. However, upon reading the Reserve rules, you're not allowed to Assault on the turn that you arrive. No more charging into parking lots. No more tying up enemy heavy weapons teams.

So, the question is; Are BEL Scouts still useful as a disruption unit? Your enemy still has the decision to make - do I turn around and deal with the Scouts before they charge or do I ignore them?

And, they still have the option of Infiltrating of course.

So, it looks like Wolf Scouts might be slightly weaker in 6th ed than they were in 5th. I certainly can't see myself taking two packs anymore that's for sure...

Reserves in General

I've also been thinking about Graham's Null Deployment Tyranid army. Not only can the Genestealers not assault directly from outflanking (making them even more Bolter bait-y) but now you can only put half of your army into reserve anyway. Can't say I'm a huge fan of this as it removes options.

(The end of brackets)

T5(4) is no more. So, Bikes are now natural T5 as are Plague Marines and Nob Bikers. Yes, Nob Bikers! Once seen as "broken", then not, 6th ed could be the time they make a comeback. With natural T5 you need S10 to deny them FNP which means most of the time they'll be getting a 4++ cover save and a 5+ FNP.

Flakk Missiles

Ah, go on then, I'll wade into this one. I always thought that 40K was a permissive ruleset - ie they have to specifically say that you can do something before you can. Nowhere does it explicitly say that Space Wolves get Flakk Missiles nor that they get the opportunity to purchase them as an upgrade.

Don't get me wrong, I think this will change and I think it will change quickly. The question is, how many points for you pay for the option? Flyers look pretty sweet in the new rules and it's only a matter of time before we start seeing mass flyboys at tournaments. How much to try and shoot one down? 2 points a model? 5?

To scout or not to scout? Any reservations about the new reserve rules? What do the new toughness rules mean for BIDMAS? And pound your Flakk Missile, two pound your pair...

A answer to an earlier question - what are Wolves going to do about Air support?

I think this was the main question for me.

However people have now got their hands on the rule book and substantiating reports are telling us that we are going to do exactly what we did before shoot the hell out of them with missile launchers.

Just to cover the source I have now read this on Bolter and Chainsword on a thread that seems to have been given the hammer already and on the Warhammer Forums.

Missile launchers now have a third type of ammo which is flak. It’s at strength 7 Ap4 and allows missiles to hit fliers at normal AP.

So we have lost a point of strength but with hull points (and I think I am right in thinking that all fliers have 2) it doesn't matter so much because you can glance a vehicle to death.

Did the ubiquitous missile launcher just become even better and did 3 squads of long fangs become even more needed? I would say so


Happy days

Space Wolves in 6th - Air Superiority

4 sleeps to go until sixth edition is in our hands but the overlying question I come to after reading the reports on 3++ and white dwarf is how are we going to deal with fliers?

Lets just be clear here in case people don't know, as I understand it, unless you have the AA special rule (unsure of the proper name) you are only shooting fliers at BS 1 obviously meaning that you need 6's to hit.

Looking at white dwarf it appears that they are setting the scene for dog fights over the battle field, other fliers certainly seem apt at dealing with their counterparts fighting them at natural ballistic skill. The problem with this is that so far we don't have any fliers.

So what can we use to deal with them?
Rune priests with the divination psychic powers have the chance of pulling a power that allows snap shot (which a shot at a flier is) to fire at its normal BS, useful but white dwarf indicates that psychic powers not from the codex are random so its not consistent enough.

Riflemans have the reroll at least giving you slightly more of a chance but its still not enough really is it?

So we come to the only option we definitely know that Space Wolves have for Anti Aircraft duties, fortifications.
Both the bastion and Aegis defence line have the optional upgrade of the quad gun. However I suspect that within a few months tournaments will have banned fortifications as they did in Fantasy.

This is certainly going to bring a new challenge to the Space wolfs game and one that may not be able to be sorted with mass firepower from Long Fangs.

6th edition - The Scouring of White Dwarf

So as I am sure everyone in the 40K Universe knows by this time next week we will all be able to have a nice new shiny copy of the big big sixth edition book in our hands.

So I thought I'd take this blog post to describe what we actually know and what impact I think it will have to us, Space wolf players.

First off let me say that none of this has come from friends of a friend who work at GW but all from White Dwarf and trying to read closely the snippets of spoilers that the have given us.

So where to start?
Well its going to cost us £45 for the pleasure of this and still GW are working back before the millenium and they haven't caught on to the fact that plenty of tournament goers are IPad wielders and it wouldn't be a bad thing to have an electronic copy rather than a HUGE book to lug about at least until August or September when we get the box set.

On to the rule then.
We have always known that fliers would make up a big part of this edition, personally I didn't realise how big.
Page 24-25 of this months White Dwarf makes it quite clear that if you aren't specified Anti Aircraft you are only hitting them on a 6 +. This is then confirmed on page 61 with the mention of the quad gun on the bastion. The quad gun has the interceptor rule which means it shoots fliers as they arrive from reserve (which all fliers have to) and it fires at its normal BS.

So in one way a leaf blower army isn't going to be as nasty because they aren't going to be shooting 9 fliers at you first turn but secondly for the Space Wolves especially do we have anything to knock them down? Normal anti flier tactics is going to be to shoot them with everything we have (normally missile launchers), now that they are only going to BS1 they obviously aren't going to be nearly as effective. Hopefully there will be something in the new rule book that will mean that we have something to deal with them otherwise a bastion is going to be vital.

The next and perhaps most contentious rule change is going to be hull points.
As far as we know, Land Raiders, Soul Grinders and Ghost Arks have 4, most other vehicles including dreadnoughts have 3 while fliers have 2. So how do they work, nothing definite but as far as I can tell and I take this from the necron section where I quote 'Guass Weapons take off a Hull Point for for every 6 rolled to penetrate' as far as I remember that's a glance so each glance causes you to take off a hull point? Grey Knights look a little less resilient now?

The next biggies deal with the assault face, as predicted Assaults are now a random charge length of 2D6 and if you have fleet you can re roll one of those dice. The other main thing is that the over watch ability is now available this means that you can fire at an enemy that charges hitting them on 6's. Excellent for necrons who on a 6 get 2 extra hits from tesla weaponry and Orks who hit on 5 ups anyway so what does an extra 1 mean? Its also good for any psykers who can take from the Divination discipline so you can gain Foreboding which allows the affected squad to fire at an assaulting unit at their full BS which does include the might Space wolves.

Rapid firing seems to have changed but no complete details of how. For example page 54 says that fire warriors can now move and rapid fire up to 30' away.Again far more dangerous to your humble Space Marines.

So all in all this is what I know. I'd like to know what else you have spotted that I haven't and I look forward to next week and hopefully having my excitement of 40k renewed.

Monday Musings

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Sid

Kevin the Knight that is...

So, the Grey Knights won Adepticon and yay, there was a great gnashing of teeth in the 40K community and wails that they are overpowered and/or underpriced. Are they? Personally, I can't see it. In some ways, they are better than other Marines - Storm Bolters, Power Weapons (with the potential to become S5 and/or I6), unshakeable/unstunable vehicles, S8 Autocannon Dreads and ker-azy grenades. However, they're not a perfect army by any standards - lack of AP1, lack of range (Autocannon Dreads apart), reliance on psychic powers.

Basically tho, if you can beat Marines, then you can beat Grey Knights and you don't hear anyone complaining about Marines. Will GK popularity be a fad like "Leafblower" was? Well, I guess that depends on what 6th edition and the next codex brings...

The Future - Random Psychic Powers

Zarjazz

So, the latest 6th ed rumours are that 40K will be brought into line with WFB with regards to psychic powers. In WFB, you randomly select magic spells prior to each game. What would this mean for your Rune Priest? Well, it could mean that you've wasted 100+ points. Imagine drawing Thunderclap and Fury of the Wolf Spirits. Or how about Jaws of the World Wolf against Dark Eldar? Useful. It could well be the death of the Rune Priest. However, that's exactly why GW might do it. Everyone already has at least one Rune Priest model, here's a chance to sell something different.

Personally, I'd rather see the GK mechanic expanded so that you get a power for free and can then buy as many extra ones as you like for 5 points a power.

Sorry, a rather short Monday Musings this week. What do you guys make of Grey Knights? Any little tricks you've picked up for beating them. What do you think of randomly selecting psychic powers? What would be the "lore spell" for the Space Wolves? Maybe Stormcaller, like in 3rd ed...

Thursday Thoughts

(think of it as a late Monday Musings)

Rumour Control - Percentages

I know this much is... True

We don't do rumours on this site, mainly because other people do it much better. However, I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the rumours regarding 6th edition that are circulating around and to see how they might affect us. A lot of them seem to be wishing for a return to 2nd ed. Ah, 2nd ed where a 2000 point army was about 4 squads of Marines and it still took about 6 hours to play a game. It's true, nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

One of the things we used to have back then and is rumoured to be making a return is percentages instead of the FOC. Now, Warhammer Fantasy Battle already uses this system but what would it mean to 40K? Well, frankly for Space Wolves it would be awesome. Assuming that missions remain broadly similar and you need troops to capture objectives, it would do away with one of the main drawbacks of the Wolves, namely that you can only take 6 scoring units. The other thing that we'd see would be more Long Fangs (and to think, Graham already calls them Cheese Fangs) Let's look at the numbers - in a 1750 point list, 3 units of 6 Long Fangs with 5 Rocket Launchers comes to 24%. So, we can fire 15 Rockets at 6 targets. Or we could have 4 units of 4 Long Fangs with 3 Rocket Launchers and a unit of 3 Long Fangs with 2 Rocket Launchers. This comes to just over 24%. Okay, so we've lost 1 Rocket shot but we can now fire at 10 targets!

I'm not a huge fan of returning to percentages to be honest, I think the FOC works pretty well especially with the characters that swap around slots. It would be interesting if they built on this in 6th edition and had characters that allowed a bit more development with regard to the FOC. Rumours are the Chaos Legion codex may have something like this where you can take an Iron Warriors Captain and get an extra Heavy Support choice for the loss of a Fast Attack one for example.

We can rebuild him

So, as you might have noticed, still no pictures of completed Thunderwolves. Turns out my finger was slightly more broken that initially thought. It is getting better though, so hopefully some more modelling pics next week...

94 Not Out

I'm sure all bloggers have been through this before - slowly watching your Followers total move towards the magical three digits. Then you realise that BoLS has more than 2,000 and you realise that world domination is still a long way away...

Anyone else starting to get excited about the impending 6th Ed? Or is anyone worried that GW will balls it up? Has anyone seen any beautiful new TWC anywhere? And is there anything specific that our 94 loyal followers would like to see? Let us know below the line...

Jump!I

This man doesn't need a jump pack

So, I actually managed to play a game four weeks ago but I haven't actually written about it until now. To give you an idea of how long ago it was, Andy subsequently changed his list and then dropped out of playing last weekend's Indy GT altogether. No pictures unfortunately but here are some hazy recollections. First up, let's look at the two armies...

Space Wolves

Rune Priest, Chooser of the Slain, Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane
10 Wolf Guard, 8 Combi-Meltas, Wolf Claw, 2x Cyclone Missile Launcher, Drop Pod
5 Wolf Scouts, Meltagun
5 Wolf Scouts, Meltagun
5 Grey Hunters, Meltagun, Rhino
5 Grey Hunters, Meltagun, Rhino
5 Grey Hunters, Meltagun, Rhino
5 Grey Hunters, Meltagun, Rhino
5 Grey Hunters, Meltagun, Rhino
5 Grey Hunters, Meltagun, Rhino
6 Long Fangs, 5 Missile Launchers
6 Long Fangs, 5 Missile Launchers
6 Long Fangs, 5 Missile Launchers

This seems to have evolved into my preferred 1750 point list now for Wolves.

Blood Angels

Mephiston
5 Sanguinary Guard
3 Sanguinary Priests, 1 Jump Pack
10 Assault Marines, 2 Meltaguns
10 Assault Marines, 2 Meltaguns
2 Multimelta Attack Bikes
2 Multimelta Attack Bikes
5 Devastators, 3 Missile Launchers, Lascannon
5 Devastators, 3 Missile Launchers, Lascannon

Looking at this army as Andy unpacks it from the case, there are a couple of things I'm really worried about - Mephy and the Nipple Guard. They are just going to shrug off all of my long range AP3 firepower and while that's happening, 20 Assault Marines are getting in my face.

The Game

So, we roll up Kill Points with Spearhead deployment and Andy wins the roll off to go first. Not good; that's  going to give me a turn less of shooting to deal with everything coming at me. Then he announces that the Assault Marines are going to Deep Strike in. Suddenly things are looking up. Then both Devastator squads get put into cover with their attached Priests. However, both of these pieces of terrain are a long way away from my deployment zone. In fact I can place two of my Long Fang packs out of range of the Devs, allowing me to shoot away at everything else without taking any long range reprisals.

As for my deployment, I decide that the 8 Wolf Guard with Combi-Meltas are going to sacrifice their lives to take out Mephiston. Some people will say that using two Kill Points to take out one is a quick route to defeat. However, I knew that if Mephy got into my lines then he'd carve his way through my 5 man squads and there would be very little that I could do to stop him. The two Scout packs went Behind Enemy Lines in an attempt to team up and mug one of the Devastator squads. I also reserved 5/6 of the Rhinos, reasoning that they and their squads would be more useful later on, once the Blood Angels were a bit closer.

Early Turns

On Andy's first turn, his Bikes Turbo-Boosted forward, Mephiston failed to cast "Wings" so he had to walk while the Sanguinary Guard made haste towards my lines. The Devastator squads opened fire on the only Long Fang pack in range and managed to take out a couple of them despite them being in cover.

The Wolf Guard did their job by killing Mephiston while their Drop Pod managed to block off the shooting of one of the Devastator squads following a fortuitous scatter. My Long Fangs also took out three of the four Attack Bikes.

The Sanguinary Guard turned round to deal with the Wolf Guard which they did with aplomb. The Drop Pod was also wrecked. On the other side of the board the two Assault Squads arrived.

Frag Missiles and Murderous Hurricane thinned out the Assault Marines while a Wolf Scout Pack kept one unit of Devastators tied up.

Middle & End Turns

The Assault Marines got held up in combat by the Long Fangs which stopped them getting shot but it did mean that they could be assaulted by my Rune Priest and a couple of units of Grey Hunters. By the time that the Sanguinary Guard arrived the battle was pretty much over and even they were finally put down (although 2+ save and FNP does require a lot of firepower!)

We totted up the Kill Points and I'd won by two. Let's have a quick look at what I did well and badly:

Deployment

Reserving half my army worked out amazingly well. I knew that I couldn't deploy the Rhinos too far forward because they'd get charged early in the game. I also knew that if I deployed them too far back in my quarter then I would be cutting down on LOS for the Long Fang Packs. I also did something else I never normally do - deployed two Long Fang Packs out of cover. After seeing where Andy has placed his Devastators I knew that I could put them out in the open and not face any long range reprisals. It also meant I had great firelanes over the areas that I thought Andy would be attacking from.

Actually, my overall play was pretty good and I managed to make the most of a couple of mistakes that Andy made (see below) However, I too made a couple of silly mistakes (yet again!)

Play The Mission

Behind Enemy Lines is a brilliant rule. It allows your Wolf Scouts to sneak up on your opponent's heavy weapons and wither keep them tied up for a couple of turns or wipe them out altogether. However, a 5-man unit with no special close combat weapons is really going to struggle against a Devastator squad with attached Sanguinary Priest. Yes, I managed to keep them locked in combat for a couple of turns but I was never going to be able to wipe them out due to that FNP. In a war of attrition I was onto a loser. Now, in a normal game this wouldn't be a problem. However, in this game it cost me a Kill Point and nearly cost me a second one in order to tie up a unit that didn't really have anything to shoot at anyway.

Split Fire

I hate to waste shots. It really annoys me when I fire five guns at two guys and do five wounds because I feel I've "wasted" three wounds. It caused me some issues last month against Graham and I went and did the same thing here. In turn 1, the only really viable target for my Long Fangs were the Attack Bikes. Instead of firing one Pack at one unit and a second Pack at the other, I tried to do some fancy fire splitting in the hope of firing some shots at a third target. Net result? One Bike still left alive. Of course I managed to finish it off later in the game but that could easily have cost me a Kill Point.

Turning my attention to the other side of the table, Andy made a big mistake in deployment and a smaller one in turn 2 that exacerbated it:

Deployment

As I said near the start of the article I was really worried by the thought of 20 Assault Marines, 5 Sanguinary Guard and Mephiston jumping towards my lines. Keeping the Assault Marines off the board limited my targets and hence limited the chances of me picking the wrong one. With the Guard and the Attack Bikes out front at least one of the units would have had cover from any long range shooting I sent there way. The Assault Marines could also have used the Sanguinary Priest that was attached to the Sanguinary Guard. As it was, most of the fire that went into the Guard would have ignored the FNP anyway while the Marines needed both that and Furious Charge to be more effective.

Playing The Mission

At the top of Turn 2, Andy turned around the scary Sanguinary Guard to go and deal with the Wolf Guard. They comfortably wiped them out but this meant that they were seriously delayed in getting to the business end of the game. When they got stuck in they did some serious damage but by then they were the only target that was left to deal with. If they'd turned up earlier, while there were some Assault Marines around, I would have had some serious problems. Yes, my Wolf Guard would probably have taken out a Devastator squad but I think the Sanguinary Guard  could have covered that spread.

I really like Andy's list and think he could have done pretty well with it at the Indy GT. The only change Id make would be maybe trying to get another Jump Pack for one of the Priests since I think it would be more useful having Priests with both Assault squads rather than both Devastator squads. As for my list, I was really happy with the way it played. I'm pretty tempted to stick with it through the dogs days of 5th edition but now I've got some Thunderwolves I'm going to damn well use them!

Monday Musings

Get your motor running...

Be Careful What You Wish For

For years, I was moaning about the lack of official models for Thunderwolf Cavalry. Now that they're finally out, I can't stop looking at the cost. 235 points for three TWC. For slightly less points I can get 4 Swiftclaws, a Meltagun, a Multimelta Attack Bike and a Wolf Guard to lead them on a Bike with a Combi-Melta and a Power Fist.

So, what do the bikes bring that the TWC can't?

Shooting - With the bikes you get to take part in the shooting phase of the game as well as the assault phase. Being Relentless, you get to Rapid Fire the Bolters before you charge and with them being Twin-Linked you're compensating for the Swiftclaws main deficiency (don't forget that statistically, Twin-Linked BS3 is better than BS4!) Also, with the Melta weapons in the squad, they have the chance to destroy vehicles and then charge the passengers rather than relying on help from other anti-vehicle units.

Speed - Yes a potential 24" charge range is enormous. However, it is only potential. In the movement phase TWC are actually only as fast as regular infantry. Bikes can travel 12" in every movement phase and can Turbo-Boost 18"-24" for a 3+ cover save.

Let's look at the Thunderwolves' plus points...

Fleet - the ability to charge between 13" and 18" is huge and one of the biggest advantages is the element of surprise. There aren't that many units with the ability to charge that far in the game and most people are used to playing against units that can only charge 6".

Assault - All of the TWC attacks are at S5 and are Rending. On the charge the bikes do put out more attacks (21 regular, 3 PF vs 11 regular and 5 PF) but this levels out a bit after the first round of combat (11 & 2 vs 9 & 4) The TWC are also going to take less damage back due to their higher WS.

Actually, let's take a minute to talk about Swiftclaws (and Blood Claws in general) with regards to Weapon Skill. A lot of people see WS3 and think that they need to attach a Wolf Priest to give the unit re-rolls to hit. This is a fallacy. Weapon Skill is a defensive mechanism. Against most of the units you're going up against, you're still hitting on 4s. Yes, you lose out a bit to things like Scouts and Imperial Guardsmen. However, the big loss is that most things will be hitting you on 3s. To an extent, the bike giving you T5 makes up for this.

Wounds - Having 2 Wounds each means that the TWCs have to lose 4 Wounds before they lose a model. Hence they are still as effective having lost 3 Wounds as they are at the start of the game. Every wound the Swiftclaws lose reduces their effectiveness.


Now, I'm not sure that either of these units is "better", they're clearly jsut different. I did try out Swiftclaws when the codex first came out but I really struggled to make them work. Looking back, I think this is because I was far too aggressive with them. I'll probably make the same mistake with the TWC when they first find themselves on the tabletop!

So, Giant Wolves or youngsters on Bikes? Any thoughts?

Tuesday Thoughts

(think of it as a late Monday Musings)

Thunderwolves

As you can see, I've put together my first Thunderwolf. Before I add the rider I think it's wise to do some thinking about the actual use for the unit. Now, I've seen Thunderwolves used in many different guises since the codex came out - there's the super rock unit of Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf accompanied by 5 of his buddies down to the solo Thunderwolf as a counter-attacking threat. I think that the first option suffers from the same problems as any rock - it's a lot of eggs in one basket. As Mick found out, in some games they'll kick arse and take names and in others they will do very little. I'm also not totally convinced by the solo T-Wolves. Yes, they can easily claim cover behind a Rhino and there are definitely going to be handy against MSU armies in combat.

So, where now for me? I'm thinking of a unit of 3 initially. This feels like a good balance between the two options above and also because there are 3 in the box. It should be easy enough to claim cover with 3 but they are also going to pack a bit of a punch in combat. Thunderwolf units can get very expensive very quickly and I want a unit that on one hand I won't want to throwaway but on the other hand one that I can afford to lose without it making a huge dent in my battleplan...

3 Thunderwolf Cavalry, 2 Storm Shields, Power Fist

comes to 235 points. That seems really expensive when you consider that 5 Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminators are only 200 points. However, the T-Wolves are a lot more mobile. So, the plan is that these guys will be replacing some of my Wolf Guard. Unfortunately, I have a badly bruised finger from being landed on by a Running Back at the weekend so I don't think I'll be able to finish the models this week...

Whaddya Need?

I've been thinking a lot about some of the rumours that are flying around the internets regarding rumours for the next 40K Codex and I started thinking, who would I like to see done next. Yes, we'd all like to see a better Tyranid codex but that isn't going to happen any time soon so what would we like to see? The rumours seem to point to Dark Angels or Chaos Legions, although Tau and Eldar are mentioned as outside possibilities. Following the last errata, Dark Angels are actually a pretty good army and while it would be nice to see an update I don't really think they need one right now. Personally, I think there are already too many shooty armies out there so that sees Tau off my radar. Eldar are an interesting one. I would quite like to see them being redone as their unit speciality makes them a pretty unique army on the tabletop. However, I have to admit that I'd much rather see a "big book of Chaos" The good guys have had it their way too long, it's time for the bad guys to shine.

Now, when I say "big book of Chaos", I mean, Chaos Legions, Renegades and Daemons all in the same book so that you can pick and choose. This means that you can run your all Daemon list, your all Bezerker army or anything inbetween. I had an idea of a recently renegade army that was in collusion with Daemons because they thought that they were visions of the God Emperor. So, they wouldn't fight with Cult units because they don't realise that they're actually turning evil yet.

Unfortunately, this book won't happen as there is no way that GW would release one book when they can release three and because it would be almost impossible to balance properly.

So, does anybody have any tips for using Thunderwolves? And if you could have any codex released next, which one would it be and why?

Nom nom nom - Feeding the Hive Mind

Now, that is a tasty Space Wolf

So, I had a game against Graham's null deployment Tyranids last week and let's just say that it didn't end well for the brave boys from Fenris. Now, it would be very easy for me to sit here and moan about bad luck (dear dice gods, the average roll for 3D6 is 10.5) but that would be counter-productive. So, let's see where we went wrong and what we could perhaps have done about it.

Deployment and Early Turns

Now, my deployment was actually quite good. I made sure that I was 18" away from the board edges so that those nasty outflanking Genestealers couldn't get me. I knew that I was going to have two full turns before Graham's army stated coming on and I managed to make sure that all three of my Long Fang packs were in cover. This was essential since these guys were going to be the main target for the Doom of Malan'tai when it arrived. Then I made my first mistake. I put my two Cyclone Missile Launchers in the Drop Pod and landed them near one the Objectives in Graham's deployment zone. My thinking was that they could deal with the Termagants that were in reserve while still being in range to support my deployment zone with their missiles.

Seeing that written down it still looks like quite a good plan. Then my Scouts arrived at the start of my turn 2 and ran so they were near the other Objective in Graham's DZ. Looking good now, one of these units can easily deal with 10 Termagants. And they did. The 'gants charged the Scouts and then got wiped out. Pretty much all of Graham's army turned up on turn 2 and it all turned up on the same flank. One of the units of 'stealers even bunched themselves up nicely by charging my Drop Pod.

It was at this point that I became aware of my second mistake. Having two free turns to move around without much to do had affected my concentration. I'd forgotten those nasty Zoanthropes would be podding down and I should have made sure that I popped smoke on some of my Rhinos.

The Doom also came down and killed 3-4 Long Fangs. Not good. Obviously I didn't help myself by having two Packs in the same bit of cover but I didn't really have much choice due to the lack of cover on the table.

Turn 3 - The Tide Really Turns

Still, at this point, I'm feeling pretty confident. I've got an obscene amount of firepower left. However, this is where the silly mistakes start creeping in. My Lone Wolf continued to run towards Graham's board edge giving the big "come on!" to the Hive Tyrant still in reserve while the Scouts stood around thinking that their job was done. Yes, it would have taken most of the game for them to get back to the sharp end of the battle but they should still have tried.

My other problem was priority. This is where 'nids really excell, they give you lots of targets to shoot and try and make you pick the wrong one(s). I knew that I had to deal with the Doom otherwise it would just float there killing my Long Fangs. However, I also needed to kill the Zoanthropes to save my Rhinos and the Spore Pods so that I could see the Tervigon. And then there were those juicy 'stealers just waiting to be fragged to death.

What I should have done is fire everything at the Doom. I should have moved more Melta units up near it and I should have fired all of my Kraks at it. Instead I did a bit of splitting fire, just assuming that I could easily take care of it. How wrong I was. Then, with my last shooting of the turn, I fired my CMLs at the Genestealers rather than the Doom. I'm not sure that four more Kraks would have made the difference since it looked like it didn't want to die but that's not the point.

And the worst thing? I convinced myself that I was playing the mission because I was shooting at troops! There I was condemning the units that could have won the game (my Long Fangs) to death under the pretence of playing the mission.

Of course to really rub salt into the wound, the remaining 'stealers charged the two Wolf Guard through cover. Wolf Guard struck first but could only kill one. Genestealers killed one in return. Tied combat which saved the xenos from any more shooting.

The Coup De Grace

Things really failed to improve from there. Some really bad leadership rolls for the Long Fangs meant that the Doom saw them off easily. My Grey Hunters managed to fall back in good order and I did kill quite a lot of Genestealers with Murderous Hurricane but it was 2-1 in Graham's favour at the end of turn 4 and I would have required quite a big slice of luck to have claimed a draw from there.

Conclusions

Null deployment 'nids can work really really well. It's a little bit too random for my liking - units can easily turn up late or in the wrong place - but when it works, it works very very well. I made a lot of little mistakes in this game which, on one hand, is encouraging since I didn't make any really big dumb ones. Apart from my CMLs, my deployment was good and I left myself some good fire lanes. Nearly all of my problems stemmed from assuming that x-number of S8 shots would kill the Doom. That cost me the game. I should have lined everything up to kill it. That would have given me at least another turn of shooting from my Long Fang packs until the rest of the 'nids reached them.

I'm playing Andy's Jumping Army of Jumpyness this week. I've already tweaked my list and I'll hopefully have a bit more of an idea about what I'm doing against the boys in Power Armour...