Email in: 1750 Wolf list

"Hey Kirby,

Stormy here from tbgapc looking for list advice. I've got a tourney in October and having played around with a few builds I'm looking for something slightly diferent to my last one. Its served me well in tourneys but I've noticed that some wargear and units are surplus to requirements and I've got a few options open to me models wise so I can chop and change without having to buy or paint too much.

Except for Rhino-based models. I'm sick of them and their variants so there won't be another Grey Hunter in Rhino/Lasback squad.

My old list was:

Wolf Lord on TWC
Hammer, Shield, Rune Armour, Bear Saga, Necklace, Talisman, 2 Pets

Wolf Lord on TWC
Claw, Shield, Rune Armour, Majesty, Talisman, 2 Pets

Rune Priest
Living Lightning, Jaws

3 Wolf Guard
Combi-Meltas, Fist

2 x 5 Grey Hunters in Rhinos
Melta, Wolf Std, Power Weapon, Mark

5 Grey Hunters in Rhino
Melta, Wolf Std, Mark

5 Grey Hunters in Lasback
Flamer

8 Fenris Wolves

2 x 5 Long Fangs with 4 Rockets
Lasback

I'm looking to get rid of the Wolves as they do nothing. At least they're consistent. I normally like that, but not if somethign is sucky.

One way to go is to put in Scouts but I'm still not fond of the randomness. It does give me something that will get across the battlefield very quickly (which is what the Wolves were supposed to do for the Lords) but I can't guarantee they'll show up in the right place. There's also the problem of a competent player simply lining one side of the board or bubblewrapping and preventing them from getting at anything valuable.

The second is for a Lone Wolf. Toss him forward with the Lords and let them run as fast as possible into the enemy's face. If someone survives to make it to combat then so much the better.

Another is for a Land Speeder squad with 2 Meltas hiding for much of the game before jumping onto something.

I'd appreciate any ideas you want to throw in, including mucking about with the Lord's builds.

Cheers."

Well first thing's first, GH squads. If you want to run them min-sized they don't need all the extra gear like Standard, Mark and PWeapon, etc. If you want to run them min-sized and still a decent threat in combat, meltagun, powerweapon and attached wolf-guard with power weapon and combi works fine otherwise flesh these guys out to 10 men and stick with the standard/mark/pweapon. I'd consider upgrading the Rhinos to LasPlas RBacks as well though this can be expensive if one doesn't have the bits lying around. Otherwise some ISTs to hijack can be nice with melta or plasma. Actually, swap the LasPlas RBacks to some of the GH squads which you want sitting on objectives and give the Rhinos to the Long Fangs and then have ISTs hijack those. That gives you mobile melta/plasma scoring bunkers and mobile scoring LasPlas RBacks whilst not breaking the point or wallet bank. Dropping the Pups and one TWC Lord would also be a good idea (I'd keep the Bear one or change it to Beastslayer/Warrior born) and maybe add a small unit of TWC to stick the Lord in for extra wounds (+ his pets).

I'd steer away from double MM speeders but MM/HF or Typhoons could help with blocking and firepower whilst your ideas for Scouts and/or Lone Wolves are solid, too. Since you're going for a more combat list I think, I might go for 2-3 Lone Wolves w/pets decked out in TDA, SS and chainfist to scare some people witless.

Oh and don't take Jaws. Tempest or Hurricane are much better utility spells against a greater swath of armies. Jaws can be great for sniping characters or dropping low I armies like Tyranid MCs, Necrons, etc. but Tempest screws over any list based on Jump Packs/Skimmers and hurricane can really screw over super units.

So summary lol:
minimise wargear on GH to either solo special weapon or special weapon + power weapon + WG w/power weapon & combi
add 2x IST squads and swap the LasPlas RBacks from LF to Rhinos and give two GH squads LasPlas (prob don't give these GH the power weapons)
drop a Wolf Lord & pups and add in Lone Wolves + some min-sized TWC
add Speeders

Running numbers in my head I don't think you'll be able to fit all of that in at 1750 so take what you like out of that and then we'll mush together a list. For 1750 you can also get away with 3 GH squad instead of 4 (or maybe make the Rhino based one 10 men).