So last night I played another practice game on Vassal against Kyle. The game went very late....very late! Anyway, Kyle isn't exactly rolling in cash (like most of us) still being at school so he's limited somewhat by the models he has and which he's purchased so far. There were a few things last night's game showed up in his list so let's take a look at what he has and how we can tweak it as cheaply as possible!
"Well my model list as requested is as follows:
2 and a half Thunderwolves
8-12 fenrisian wolves (depends on how much compensationary wolves)
5 Rhinos/Razorbacks (can buy more)
Land Raider Crusader
Vindicator
2 Dreadnoughts (One has a close combat weapon attached)
About 30-40 Grey Hunters/Blood Claws/Wolf Guard/Rune Priests/WGBL you get the picture
5 Wolf Guard terminators
5-7 Wolf Scouts
Drop Pod
And for modification is the list you beat:
Wolf Lord
- Thunderwolf Mount, Storm Shield, Frost Blade, Warrior Born, 2 Fenrisian Wolves, Wolf Tail Talisman
Rune Priest
- Chooser of the Slain, Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath
Lone Wolf
- Chainfist, Stormshield, 2 Fenrisian Wolves
Iron Priest
- Thunderwolf Mount, Wolf Tooth Necklace, 4 Cyberwolves
Grey Hunters
- 9 Hunters, Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Mark of Wulfen
- Rhino w/Hunter Killer Missile
Grey Hunters
- 10 Hunters, 2 Meltaguns, Wolf Standard, Mark of Wulfen
- Rhino w/Hunter Killer Missile
Grey Hunters
- 10 Hunters, 2 Meltaguns , Wolf Standard, Mark of Wulfen
- Rhino w/Hunter Killer Missile
Long Fangs
- Pack Leader, 5 Long Fangs, 5 Missile Launchers
- Las/Plas Razorback w/Hunter Killer Missile
Long Fangs
- Pack Leader, 5 Long Fangs, 5 Missile Launchers
- Las/Plas Razorback w/Hunter Killer Missile
1750
Want to keep at least 2 Thunderwolves, max 3. Can buy another tank or two, but only just. What can you do for me Kirby!
Cheers, The Wolf's Lunch."
So he's basically using everything good as the LRC and Vindicator are out off the bat. Lack of redundency FTL. One of his Thunderwolf mounts is also warped from casting so he's being sent another one. I have no idea on the condition of said warping but it may be possible to scrounge a 3rd TWM from it. Anyway, let's begin and try to use only the models there and potentially buy 1 or 2 more tanks.
One of Kyle's biggest issues was his lack of options with his units. Around T4 because his Grey Hunters weren't very good in combat against my MCs he basically fled with 20 of them in Rhinos to secure objectives. That's nearly 500 points not participating in the battle. MSU helps a lot with this as you can have smaller squads claim far-away objectives and send the bigger squads into combat to support what can kill the MCs in combat. So first off let's get those Long Fangs sorted (and you didn't mention how many missiles you had!).
3x5x LF w/4x ML is going to give us some decent downfield firepower and help in taking out tanks and MCs. We'll add 3xLasPlas as well so this probably means Kyle is buying another Razorback kit currently. This sets us back 570 points and is a good start. We obviously want Grey Hunters as our core so we'll start with 2x5x squads w/meltagun. These are great for securing objectives and pushing midfield as needed and with a Rhino are 115 points each taking us to 800. We'd also like to add in two large squads since we can't go the full MSU route due to expenses. 9x GH w/standard, power weapon, Mark of the Wulfen, meltagun and Rhino = 215 points. Expensive but a very solid midfield core and we'll take two taking us to 1230. You'll notice the lack of the 10th Grey Hunter. This is for a wolf guard which is one of the major issues with the Wolf Codex but oh well. We'll take a squad of four Wolf Guard all with combi-meltas and two with PFists for the big squad so they can hurt big things in combat and we're set back 132 points or 1362 total.
So we've got 388 points to work with from here! We want to try and squeeze in a Lord, Priest and another TWM which is going to be tight so we might have to drop something. We'll start with the Lord giving him a TWM, Wolf Claw for those re-rolls, Storm Shield, WTN and Warrior Born which is a staggering 240 points. We'll drop Warrior born for the moment, it's good but not necessary. If we then add a Rune Priest w/Chooser we have 73 points to play with, just enough for a Thunderwolf Cavalry with a weapon upgrade! We'll give it a PFist which sends us over points but we also need to give the Wolf Lord two Puppies which sends us over by 22 points. We'll drop the two Power Weapons from the large GH squads then and we end up with:
Wolf Lord w/Storm Shield, Wolf Claw, Thunderwolf Mount, Wolf Toook Necklace, 2x Fenrisian Wolves
Rune Priest w/Chooser of the Slain, Tempest, Living Lightning
4x Wolf Guard w/combi meltas, 2x Power Fist
2x9x Grey Hunters w/meltagun, Wolf Standard, Mark of the Wulfen, Rhino
2x5x Grey Hunters w/meltagun, Rhino
1xTWC w/Power Fist
3x5x Long Fangs w/4x Missile Launcher, Razorback w/LasPlas
Totals: 1742 points
48 infantry, 4 beasts
6 tanks
So we've upped the overall firepower of the list, grabbed more units so there are more options late game and downgraded a little bit on the offensive end. Kyle has to buy another Tank kit but only one which isn't too bad!
