Many of you who frequent our our? glorious Chat Bawks will have come across me mentioning my 10 model 1,750pt Space Wolf Herohammer army. The aim of the army was to get as few models as possible squeezed into it with no armour if possible. This managed to get me up to the 1,750pt mark with 10 models and no armour or dreadnoughts at all, 10 guys on foot or bikes. The reason I am posting this up now is because today is the Cryx Cup X tournament, a comp'ed event which was also my first tourney ever, played, and attended a year and a day ago that was highly enjoyable (and I won my first game ever in a tournament too :)). It's a much more relaxed and laid back tournament rather then ultra competitive which is nice for a change. The Scoring system is 40% battle, 25% comp, 25% painting and 10% sports. As my army is not painted due to complications whilst converting the force thus far, I'm going in for 3 games which will be enjoyable to play and to win at least one of the three. My Herohammer Space Wolves is as follows and is a serious (and stupid) comp army list which has thus far averaged about a 4.5/5 to a 5/5 for comp because whilst it has some advantages, the weaknesses and disadvantages within the force far outweigh these strengths that anything less is very hard to justify.
1,750pts HEROHAMMER WOLVES:
HQ 1a) Wolf Lord
Thunderwolf Mount
Wolf Tail Talisman
Wolftooth Necklace
Runic Armour
Storm Shield
Thunder Hammer
Saga of the Bear - 275pts
HQ 1b) Wolf Lord
Thunderwolf Mount
Wolf Tail Talisman
Wolftooth Necklace
Runic Armour
Belt of Russ
2x Frost Weapons
Melta-Bombs
Saga of the Warrior Born - 265pts
(NB: Space Wolves FAQ has on Wolf Lord, Frost Weapons at 10pts not 25pts each as per codex printing)
HQ 2a) Logan Grimnar, The Great Wolf
Terminator Armour
The Axe Morkai
Wolf Tail Talisman
Wollftooth Necklace
Storm Bolter
The Belt of Russ
Saga of Majesty - 275pts
HQ 2b) Njal Stormcaller, Lord of Tempests
Runic Terminator Armour (upgraded from Runic Armour)
Wolftooth Necklace
Staff of the Stormcaller
Nightwing
Bolt Pistol
Saga of Majesty - 270pts
Troops 1)3 Wolf Guard as follows:
- i) Arjac Rockfist, The Anvil of Fenris
Woolftooth Necklace
Foehammer
Anvil Shield
Terminator Armour
Saga of the Bear (188)
- ii) Wolf Guard
Terminator Armour
Stormshield
Combi-Flamer
Melta-bombs
Mark of the Wulfen (73)
- iii) Wolf Guard
Terminator Armour
2x Chainfists (63) - 324pts
Troops 2) 3 Wolf Guard as follows:
- i) Wolf Guard
Power Armour
Space Marine Bike
Storm Shield
Thunder Hammer
Melta-Bombs (108)
- ii) Wolf Guard
Power Armour
Space Marine Bike
Storm Shield
Frost Axe
Melta-bombs (103)
- iii) Wolf Guard
Power Armour
Space Marine Bike
Storm Shield
Combi-Flamer
Mark of the Wulfen
Melta-Bombs (103) - 314pts
Total = 1,723/1,750 points
Strengths - Everything has an invulnerable save of some sort: Potential to survive anything with luck
- Ability to deal with any opponent, though hordes will overwhelm in the attrition game fast
- 6 Kill Points
Weaknesses - 10 Models at 1,750pts at best in 6 units, at minimum in 3 units: Easy to kill through torrented firepower; Should be dead within 2-3 turns against most strong armies
- No long range firepower at all (barring the option of Living lightning on Njal)
- Alot of strike last weapons (5 models of 10 strike last, though Logan Grimnar can alternate as he chooses between striking last or at initiative with The Axe Morkai)
- No armour or transports (TW's and Bikes only go so far for the mobility)
- 6 Kill Points: This is here because it demonstrates the sheer lack of multiple targets I can engage in a turn. A smart player will exploit this.
- 2 Scoring Units, only 3 models strong each - extreme difficulty winning objective based games, or even drawing them.
In addition to the above, non-standard and in some cases less then optimal weapons and wargear choices also confound the list more (and allows more inflated points costs to boot for less numbers!). With no delivery system for the Terminators (No DS'ing, no Drop Pods) they are stuck walking across the field, and with bugger all long range fire support, getting there intact is going to be challenging. The Thunderwolf Lords are strong...the bikers are fast, those 5 models are cornerstones for the army as they need to get in close and blow any of the armour so as the foot mini-death star of Logan, Njal and 3 Wolf Guard including Arjac can make up for their obscene points cost assuming they make it across the board.
There are some tricks however, and the most obvious ones are that cover is not going to be as big an issue for the force as they all have a solid armour save and a solid invulnerable save across the board. Cover for saves then isn't as much of an issue and I can be more aggressive with the force (as I'll need to be anyways) to get to the enemy faster. With no movement blocking ability and limited options of play, it's going to be a challenge. If it isn't torrented off the board within the first two turns then I'm in combat and doing what the force is designed to do - rape face, but it will be an uphill struggle and that is appealing.
Many people have recently commented that the armies I've been playing in the past 6 months are complete and utter nonsense armies, but I beg to disagree there, because rather, the armies I am running are more favourable to the experienced general, the player who knows that the army they have is horrendously stupid, and that it will lose most games, but to win, you have to work very hard and not make many mistakes if any at all. It's a challenge I've taken on with this above list and the Legion of the Damned list I was running on Vassal (and is on hold being built cause this Space Wolf army is cooler to me) earlier last year which made it to turn 6 against either Smurfy's or Chumbalaya's Optimised Non-Comp Daemons when it shouldn't have normally. The challenge of playing well and a bit of luck is appealing to my sense of gamesmanship as it also has allowed me to pick up alot of tricks I wouldn't have considered with top tier non-comp armies...I also take alot more risks then i would in other armies, which also adds to the excitement of the army.
So, that all said, asides from the obvious uses of the force with a terminator walking death star so to speak, 3 fast bikers to hit up stuff and do some damage in the early game and 2 Thunder Wolf Lords which will hit combat and take on anything with great gusto and joy, there are a few things I can do to make the list a little more competitive.
The most important is Logan's High King special ability and taking Tank Hunters on his squad. This allows me to have a chance against armoured enemy at range and as I close in. I have no Long Fangs or real long range firepower but casting Njal's Living Lightning to in effect get D6 str 8 AP 5 shots at unlimited range is very useful in suppressing targets that would otherwise cause some major issues for me as I close in. Heck Arjac's hammer at 6" that is in effect str 11 AP 1 is highly amusing, but it does allow the stormbolter/combi bolter in the unit str 5 verse armour, which whilst nothing to write home about, occasionally comes in useful.
Wounds allocation and just when to change up the units so as Independent Characters split off from each other and or units they are with to hit multiple units/targets in an assault is also another biggy and like Kirby's recent article on when to disembark or not froma transport, splitting off, whilst advantageous, needs to be considered into the opponents turn and how they will attak each element split off and to consider for ourselves whether the characters split off can survive the opponents next turn solo or not.
Majority Toughness abuse is, to my mind, just as important, if not more so then wounds abuse. Attaching either Njal or Logan to the WTG Biker unit allows both Characters to not only add several more wounds to the unit to absorb some incoming firepower to keep the single wound bikers alive longer but it also increases the IC's survivability as the Toughness 5 of the Bikers is in the majority and thus you get a superficial Toughness increase to Njal or Logan or indeed both - very handy against small arms fire for these buggers.
Independent Characters forming units of their own. This is where the Thunderwolf Lords excel. They cannot join the other units due to their mounts, but they can join with each other as they are Thunderwolf models. The Saga of the Bear 2+/3++ Lord is there to increase the survivability of the 2+/4++ Saga of the Warrior Born Lord and toether they have the abilities to get through any threat in the entire game competently as long as they get into combat. Splitting these two off once in charge range is also an interesting and indeed important consideration as with a maximum of 6 units on the board and thus 6 different targets I can actually hit each turn, defining where and when to hit together and independently is going to be a challenge.
Njal Stormcaller is in the force because I needed Psychic Protection. He can use 2 of his 7 available powers each turn, but as 5 of these are psychic shooting attacks and of the other two Storm Caller gives a 5+ Cover save to units within 6" which is pointless to cast because everyone has at the least a 5++ anyways, that leaves Tempests Wrath and one of the 5 ranged shooting attacks to be used each turn. This is actually quite ideal as Tempests Wrath has many advantages especially with an abundance of Descent of Angels Blood Angels forces, Dark Eldar skimmer spam and other Deep Striking armies about the place these days. With 1 in 6 getting killed by dangerous terrain if they end their move within 24" of Njal, coupled with them being stuck in difficult and dangerous terrain, the power becomes much more useful to the force then any of the other force multipliers built into the list to make it somewhat playable. The Lord of Tempests effects are shiny, but I haven't even considered them, the Psychic Protection and Living lightning abilities of Njal is why he is included and everything else is a bonus. Alot of people are commenting on how Driving Gale and Living Hurricane on the Lord of Tempests table have no effect if you go second as Space Wolves, but you know what, at 200pts you get the closest to Njal in the form of a Master of Runes TDA RP with Wolftooth necklace and whilst that seems cheaper, the extra abilities of Njal more then make up for the extra 70pts thrown into him. Lord of Tempests is a bonus and if it affects the game, all the more awesome for me. If it doesn't, who cares.
At the end of the day, this is a 10 model army on foot with no transports or additional protection. It has limited mobility, bugger all redundancy because there are so few units available and it should be dead within one or two turns of torrented firepower. All an enemy needs do is sit back, take out the Thunderwolves then the bikers and the terminators fall thereafter. Target Priority will seal the fate of this army before it gets anywhere near an enemy to crush face, and in objective missions, wow, so buggered.
For anyone interested, the Cryx Cup XI players pack is linked below:
http://www.wargamerau.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=108317
The first mission has 7 objectives. I can capture 2 and contest 4 if I don't lose anything. WIN!
The first game I am grudging a chap called Good 'ol Shaky over on Wargamerau, a good enough bloke with differing views then me on many things 40k but that's cool. We've never played a game and as Ben Medbury aka Starfire is no longer going Good 'ol Shaky is the person who was next down on the grudge me for a game against the Herohammer Space Wolves. Shaky's army is a Shrike based Ravenwing army and is below:
HQ
Shrike
Chaplain
Fist
Jump Pack
Digital Weapons
Elites
Dread
2x Autocannons
5 Assault terminators
4 Thunder hammer/SS
Sarge has claws
Troops
10 tactical Marines
Melta
Multi melta
Combi melta
Fist
Drop Pod
10 tactical Marines
Melta
Multi Melta
Combi-Melta
Powerfist
Rhino
10 Scouts
Sniper Rifles
Missile Launcher
Master Sniper Shadowhawk (AKA Telion)
Fast Attack
Landspeeder
Typhoon Launchers
Heavy Bolter
Landspeeder
Typhoon Launchers
Heavy Bolter
10 Assault Marines
Powerfist
1745
So a strong in your face assualt based army. Shrike and the Assault Terminators are probably doing their thing, and trying to hit me first turn, which should be interesting but potentially crippling, the Typhoons are actually a big concern for me as they can mes up the bikers something fierce, though if I do stick Njal or Logan in with them or both I can wounds allocate the krak missiles onto terminator armour and indeed might well do that. The tactical marines, assault marines and scouts will get crushed in combat, but I will get whittled away fast. The stand out weakness of this list is the complete lack of psychic protection/powers so Njal comes into a class of his own. And with the skimmers and Jump Packers floating around as well as the DS'ing tactical Squad, if i get the first turn, then he'll shine very fast. I can't win this game unless I wipe all the troops and can somehow manage to hold an objective myself. I know that isn't going to happen so it's all about maxing damage on Shaky's army. It is going to be close, or I'm gonna get tabled really fast, in any case it should be an enjoyable and tactical game. Outnumbered 5 and a bit to 1 against, this is going to be awesome! If we play really fast, we may well be able to get a second game in after the official one too (getting 6 games in would be hella cool for the day!).
Anyways, cheers to everyone and hoping your New years is as good as mine thus far,
Auretious Taak.
