Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I have a 13th Company army from a few years ago. They're quite well painted, and were fun (but challenging) to play - they even won Best Army for me at at GT. I put them aside when their army list appeared to have become 'unofficial'.

With the advent of the new Space Woofs codex, I've been looking at whether I can resurrect my 13th Company using the new list. Here is my original list (1500 points):

HQ
Wolf Lord on bike with frost axe, Belt of Russ & 2 Fenrisian Wolves

Rune Priest (this guy could teleport, so he would always try to teleport the large Grey Slayer squad into close combat)

ELITE
7 Wulfen

TROOPS
9 Grey Slayers with 2 flamers; pack leader with power fist

8 Grey Slayers with 2 meltaguns; pack leader with power weapon

7 Grey Slayers with 2 plasma guns; pack leader with power fist

FAST ATTACK
5 Storm Claws bikers with power fist and 2 meltaguns

HEAVY SUPPORT
5 Long Fangs with 4 missile launchers

Note that the varying squad sizes and weapons were for composition reasons, as the GT rules penalised uniform squads. It also represented the rag-tag nature of the 13th Company. I should have mixed the sepcial weapons up more, but it helped identify the squads if they had the same special weapons.

Aside from the Wulfen, these units translate readily into equivalent units in the new codex. The only real problem is the restrictions on the special weapon upgrades for Grey Hunters, as I needed 10-man squads to get the second special weapon. As you can give one model in each squad Mark of the Wulfen, I put a Wulfen model into each squad. I also decided to give each squad the (hidden) power fist upgrade. To replace to pack leaders, I added 3 Wolf Guard with different weapons (I want to maintain the rag-tag theme). I decided that each squad would have a Drop Pod, as the 13th Company had always struggled to get into close range before being shot up.

Then I realised that Grey Slayers were rather better than Grey Hunters, as they had 2 Attacks and Grey Hunters only have 1 (then again, Grey Slayers were a whopping 21 points!). Which makes the power fist upgrade look very expensive. Also, having decided to increase the squads to 10 models to get 2 special weapons, I discovered I couldn't give them an attached Wolf Guard as a leader because for some reason Space Wolf Drop Pods are smaller than normal Marine Drop Pods(!), and only carry 10 men. So I had to reduce the squad sizes (conveniently, this simply means swapping men around, and not building new ones).

Anyway (assuming anyone's still reading), this is the new list:

HQ
Wolf Lord on bike with frost axe, Belt of Russ & 2 Fenrisian Wolves

Rune Priest with wolf tooth necklace (leads the largest Grey Hunter squad)

ELITE
Dreadnought with t-l lascannon and heavy flamer

3 Wolf Guard - 1 with wolf claws, 1 with power fist and 1 with frost blade (1 joins each Grey Hunter squad)

TROOPS
8 Grey Hunters with flamer, power fist, Mark of the Wulfen & wolf standard
Drop Pod

8 Grey Hunters with meltagun, power fist & Mark of the Wulfen
Drop Pod

8 Grey Hunters with plasma gun, power fist & Mark of the Wulfen
Drop Pod

FAST ATTACK
5 Swiftclaw bikers with meltagun and power fist

HEAVY SUPPORT
5 Long Fangs with 4 missile launchers

I have about 50 points left. Here are some questions:

1. Are the power fists in the Grey Hunter squads a waste of points?
2. What about the Mark of the Wulfen? It seems useful to me.
3. And what about the Wolf Guard as unit leaders? Worth taking, or better to let the Grey Hunters fend for themselves and take a proper character?
4. Any suggestions on sagas for the characters? They look a bit bleh to me, unless you pay for the really expensive ones.
5. The frost blade looks nice, but I seem to recall that my Wolf Lord was often overmatched in close combat. Would a power fist be better?
6. Where should the last 50 points go (no, I don't want another Drop Pod - 3 is more than enough to paint as they're rather boring models)?
7. Any other thoughts? Remember, it's not meant to be a maxed out list, but a balanced one. Nor do I particularly want to build more than 1 or 2 more Marines, as it will be hard to match them to the originals.

1. I'd give it to 1 or 2 packs that are supposed to land near the enemy front ranks.
2. I'd not consider it.
3. I'd opt for GH's.
4. Nope. If you'd field Wolves, possibly.
5. I'd give him a frost blade; hitting with higher I seems worth it.
6. Take a pack of 10 Wolves by dropping one Pod.
7. The Dread is unfluffy in a 13th Co.

Okay, one response before the thread drops like a stone! Thanks anyway.

wuestenfux wrote:
7. The Dread is unfluffy in a 13th Co.

Good point, I guess. I thought maybe this guy was one of their few surviving Dreads, and would be all beaten up.

i don't have the codex with me but doesn't giving the wolf lord on a bike fenrisian wolves slow him down? in 5th ed, the unit moves as fast as the SLOWEST member and the wolves move like cav (6" move, 12" charge, fleet). maybe they have an exception in the description to the general rule.

warboss wrote:i don't have the codex with me but doesn't giving the wolf lord on a bike fenrisian wolves slow him down? in 5th ed, the unit moves as fast as the SLOWEST member and the wolves move like cav (6" move, 12" charge, fleet). maybe they have an exception in the description to the general rule.

In the SW dex, Fenris Wolves count as wargear when you buy them for character models and move at the speed of the character they belong to.

That was my understanding; the Fenrisian Wolves were a bit of a problem in my original list, but now seem to work better. As the models were sculpted by a GD winner (who, sadly, seems to have dropped out of the hobby) there's no way I wasn't going to include them in the list!

Where I'm still stuck is the composition of the Grey Hunter packs. I don't know whether to expand them to 10 models in order to get the 2nd special weapon, and forget about attaching characters (as they are definitely going to use Drop Pods), or whether to keep them smaller (and different sizes, for fluff reasons) and attach characters to each. Looking at their stats, I'm inclined to agree with the earlier point that Wolf Guard pack leaders aren't really a great idea - they only have 1 Wound and are probably easily taken out. What if I ditch them (and the Mark of the Wulfen upgrades), and take 2 Wolf Guard Battle Leaders instead? Then these packs would look something like this:

9 Grey Hunters with power fist & flamer, led by Rune Priest
8 Grey Hunters with power fist and meltagun, led by Wolf Guard Battle Leader with wolf claws
7 Grey Hunters with power fist and plasma gun, led by Wolf Guard Battle Leader with frost blade (or maybe a power fist?)

I think there are enough points. Does this look more effective? The power fists are really pricey for 2 Attacks on the charge, but I could see them being life-savers if the pack is mugged by something big and nasty.

Zathras wrote:

warboss wrote:i don't have the codex with me but doesn't giving the wolf lord on a bike fenrisian wolves slow him down? in 5th ed, the unit moves as fast as the SLOWEST member and the wolves move like cav (6" move, 12" charge, fleet). maybe they have an exception in the description to the general rule.

In the SW dex, Fenris Wolves count as wargear when you buy them for character models and move at the speed of the character they belong to.

is that in the faq or the rulebook? because all the codex says under the description for the wolves wargear is that they have a unit type of beast, which is definitely slower than a bike. i'd agree if they were quasi-real wargear models like ork ammo gretchin and dok assistants (i.e. guys that have a model but can't actually be wounded, the model is just there to represent the wargear just like a grenade on a model) but they're actual woundable additions to the character. i play tau and they have a similar thing with their drone controllers but the rules specifically state there that the drones take on the type of the character they're assigned to.

Sorry, the rules for Fenrisian Wolves have changed.

They no longer move at the Masters speed, they move as Cavalry.

Also as for can they join another unit, check my FAQ (It's unclear atm)

Sorry for the thread necromancy, I've been perusing lists for ideas for my own list.

In regards to the Wolf Lord, I'm using a WL with frost blade riding a Thunderwolf. The STR 6 at Initiative has worked pretty good for me. I'm cautious about power fists on expensive characters because of bad experiences vs. demons in the past. The cavalry rules give an extra d6" to overall charge range (19' - 24") at the expense of any shooting, but then you're limited to Thunderwolf Cav as support (I add two). Chances are the unit will be dead by turn three, but it feels good to charge on turn one and hopefully throw your opponent off while he adjusts.

I'm using WG leaders in my units, mostly for the ability to throw in extra power weapons and melta-bombs to give the units more flexibilty. The latest codex reduced the power weapon slots for each troop choice. Justified, but sorely missed. I had two valkyries infiltrate my line in the first turn of one game, shoot up several units, drop a nuke, and wander off the next turn. So I like to have anti-tank in all my troops, and 5pt melta bombs do that quite nicely.

I haven't tried out any sagas yet. Just can't find the points.

Have you had a chance to get any games in? I'm curious about your experiences so far.