I've been playing my Wolves since the release of the 5th ed Codex and have definitely put more work and playtime into them than any other army I own; my usual lists tend to vary between Loganwing and a shooty mech list with cavalry, but for an upcoming tournament I've decided to try and put together something a little different - I want to retain the shootiness of my Mech list while still getting termies going ala Thunderbubble but done Space Wolfy, meaning forgetting Storm Shields because of how expensive they are. So anywho here's what I'm looking at:
Logan Grimnar - 275
Wolf Guard Battle Leader (Wolf Claw, Storm Bolter, Saga of the Hunter, Fenrisian Wolf X2) - 123
Dreadnought (Twin-Linked AC X2) - 125
Dreadnought (Twin-Linked AC X2) - 125
Wolf Guard X10 (Termie Armour X6, CML X2, Power Fist X1, Wolf Claw X2) - 350
Wolf Guard X4 (Plazorback, Combi-MeltaX2) - 157
Wolf Guard X4 (Plazorback, Combi-MeltaX2) - 157
Wolf Guard X4 (Combi-MeltaX2) - 82
Predator (Las Sponsons) - 120
Predator (Las Sponsons) - 120
Long Fangs X6 (Missile Launcher X5, Plazorback) - 215
30 bodies (7 termies), 8 vehicles
Looks decent overall, but be careful of making your Deathstar too awkward- you want it to be something you can hide behind a vehicle wall. Also: I think you want more vehicles if you're gonna try this.
Props to Stelek for the Saga of the Hunter idea that I'm trying to abuse here - he makes the "Wolfbubble" (Wingbubble? who knows) possible and what I think Logan brings to the mix is by making the bubble scoring he makes it that much scarier - in my earlier Loganwing days the experience is that Logan's squad tends to roll up the field slowly but surely owning whatever is in its way and securing an objective. Again, the other bonus of the wolfbubble is that while advancing the squad is putting out some serious firepower into the enemy with 4 S9 missiles. Meanwhile the rest of the list does its thing putting out lots of ranged firepower. The Long Fangs get a Razorback if only for the odd Dawn of War scenario where being able to put them 12" + 2" disembark + D6 run on turn 1 is way better than 6" + D6". Of course I can also walk Logan on with them if I think I'll have a target on turn 1 and the lone Wolf Guard squad will usually hop into their ride *but* I simply want the option.
A good idea overall, and the extra LasPlas does help add firepower to the list. However, I think the Predators are a little out of place; why not run two more squads of Long Fangs instead?
I think the setup on Logan's squad is a little weird, though; you could probably stand to tinker with it. Moving the combi-meltas to that squad (which doesn't need to disembark before using them) is likely a good idea.
The razorback squads are small, granted, but the idea is that there are higher priority targets as far as my opponents will be concerned - yes, killing the razorbacks and contents inside won't be incredibly difficult, but those are shots not hitting my preds, dreads and long fangs - and I'll always have a rock-solid scoring unit with the big wolf guard squad.
I think I'm with you on this one- you can take three-man WG squads in your Razorbacks and save points compared to a normal GH/Razor squad, which is a good thing. Be aware, however, that this multiplies your reliance on the deathstar as your only melee defense. I do, however, think this is your best option; cut the squads down to three-man and try and squeeze in the maximum number of units.
A few ideas I'm toying with:
-Dropping the WG squads to three-man squads - gives me points for upgrades for the WG blob, maybe lots of combi-plasmas as an extra "fuck you" to death stars...but I may have enough already.
-Shaving off some points here and there to get two Rhinos going for the small wolf guard squads (and moving a razorback to the WG blob)...for the extra armour saturation if nothing else. Also to make targeting the wolf guard even less attractive.
I would definitely mount up that last squad- Loganwing works well on foot, but that's not what you're doing here, so you need to have everybody in rides.
-Giving the Dreads only 1 TLAC each, keeping the DCCW and maybe giving them Heavy Flamers (meaning the cost stays the same)...to help against hordes and to get some S10 going in the list which traditionally comes from Thunderwolves with Power Fists. This shifts target priority towards my heavy support even more, though.
I would definitely recommend this. Rifleman dreads are good because of the weight of fire they put out; taking away from this is a bad thing. Mixing in a Heavy Flamer just leaves the unit confused as to what it wants to be doing, moving forward or staying back.
S10 is not a requirement, as it's really only useful against TWC. You'll be fine without it.
-Dropping Logan for a Rune Priest, getting a 4th razorback (and of course changing the small squads to Grey Hunters)...I don't like this idea too much though, I really like the prospect of the scoring deathstar
This changes the army into a totally different animal, really. I won't even go into this because... well, it's outside the scope of what I want to discuss here.
-Getting some Combi-Flamers going...anywhere lol. Lack of template weaps is scaring me a bit at the moment.
Lacking Flamers is only sort of an issue- lacking anti-horde is your real problem. Logan & Co. can do some of the job, but you need other ways to handle them as well- which, currently, you only have Long Fangs for. This is another reason that I might recommend switching the Predators to LFs- they have better duality.
So this is definitely a non-standard Loganwing and Space Wolves are not my strongest army, but I can make some recommendations none the less. Running with Logan, you need to be taking advantage of what he does himself (buffs your melee, better morale) and what WG bring to the table (smaller squads, weapon options, better melee.)
So you have three basic ways to take advantage of him:
-All foot with Cyclones, etc scattered through. This is the usual Loganwing, which we won't talk about much more here. It's completely different from the above list and isn't really compatible with it as a hybrid.
-Minimized squads, max Razorbacks. Here you take tons of shooty units and hope to out-firepower the enemy while still having reasonably resilient troops. The Loganstar works like the SM Thunderbubble here, providing a threat to enemy melee units that makes their job harder. TWC are better for reaching the enemy (thanks to cavalry) and hit harder, but can't contribute shooting the way Loganstar does.
-Hybrid shooting and melee a la standard SW, using the benefit of +1A on all its models and Logan's "Hey you guyyyyyyyyssssssssss!" ability to make for brutal countercharges.
If you want to go the shooty list, you need to beef up your firepower. Land Speeders, Long Fangs, LasPlas Razorbacks; all of them are extremely efficient sources of shooting that can cover different issues. Speeders can come either in MM/HF (giving you melta and template options, both something you need) or in Typhoon/HB (giving you general shooting and excellent anti-horde while mobile.) You also need to cut down on the spending on HQs and the Loganstar- you're using a LOT of points there.
1850 Space Wolves list
Logan Grimnar (275)
Rifleman Drezd (120)
Rifleman Dread (120)
5 Wolf Guard (Termy+CML, LasPlas Razor) (210) (CML and two bodies each split off to LF packs)
3 Wolf Guard (LasPlas Razor) (129)
3 Wolf Guard (LasPlas Razor) (129)
3 Wolf Guard (LasPLas Razor (129)
6 Wolf Guard (2 Termy w/Claws, 1 Termy w/CML+Claws, 1 Termy w/CF) (228)
1 Land Speeder (MM/HF) (70)
1 Land Speeder (MM/HF) (70)
5 Long Fangs (4 Missile) (115)
5 Long Fangs (4 Missile (115)
5 Long Fangs (4 Missile (115)
Unfortunately we had to drop the WGBL here; a 3+ cover save is nice, but it ends up being just a little bit too expensive. Extensive firepower going out and a fairly nasty countercharge unit that can hide behind our tank walls give us decent options. We have 25pts left over as well, which can be used to tool up a squad a bit or add another body here or there.
1850 Space Wolves list
Logan Grimnar (275)
Rifleman Dread (120)
Rifleman Dread (120)
6 Wolf Guard (PW, LasPlas Razorback) (198)
6 Wolf Guard (PW, LasPlas Razorback) (198)
6 Wolf Guard (PW, LasPlas Razorback) (198)
6 Wolf Guard (PW, LasPlas Razorback) (198)
6 Wolf Guard (PW, LasPlas Razorback) (198)
5 Long Fangs (4 Missile) (115)
5 Long Fangs (4 Missile) (115)
5 Long Fangs (4 Missile) (115)
Wow, talk about spamming... So yeah, you castle up with a whole bunch of dudes and shoot, shoot shoot... and when the enemy comes close, Logan sounds the call, you pile out, and they get an unpleasant surprise. Logan himself hides behind a Razor chassis until that time, insuring that no one runs with his Saga. It probably needs some melta firepower, so cut maybe a guy or two out of some squads and spread around combi-meltas or drop one full squad and one guy from another squad to add three MM/HF speeders. You could also cut a squad to add CML guys to go with the Long Fangs, if you wanted to distribute firepower differently. Your "deathstar" in this list is... everyone, basically; twenty-four attacks both on the charge and when charging is a bad time for most armies. You might also build a real deathstar here by trimming some guys from each squad and adding them all into one (which would obviously not be in its ride) and suiting them up. This gives you fewer obvious targets to shoot, though.
1850 is basically on the brink of where Logan works; 2000 would give you a little more flexibility, as would not going mech. I freely admit that I am not the greatest of SW list designers, so perhaps someone else would like to give out some pointers or ideas that I may have missed?
