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There are a couple of things I need help on. One is the Wolf Guard pack leader benefits. I have been reading tactics or army lists on the forums, and some SW players run squads with a wolf guard to lead it. I just wanted to know what are the benefits on this? Or the pros/cons if you will. Does the squad get any bonuses or anything? Is it wise to have a wolf guard to lead all troops too? Also, while you are being attacked, how does one determine whether the regular squad or the wolf guard pack leader gets hit? This is probably one of those common sense things to the game, but I am still learning to play 40K.

The second thing that I needed help on are the grey hunter bolters. I noticed that there are some one handed bolters in the SW pack. Now, is there a difference in using these? For example:

1 grey hunter - 1 one handed bolter & chainsword - does this mean he has the option of rapid fire and an additional attack during assault because of two CCW? as opposed to..
1 grey hunter - 1 bolt pistol & chainsword - no rapid fire, extra attack in assault
1 grey hunter - 2 handed bolter (or boltgun. same thing?) - rapid fire, no extra attack in assault

Please correct me if I am wrong. Recently purchased the battleforce, and I want to equip my troops with the best stuff possible. The one handed bolter confusion is holding me back from assembling my squads.

OK, let's start at the end.

No matter how they are modelled, all Grey Hunters (with the obvious exception of those for which you're purchased optional wargear, such as Plasma Guns) are armed with a Bolter, a Bolt Pistol and a Close Combat Weapon. Regardless of what arms you've chosen, they can all Rapid Fire, fire a Bolt Pistol before charging, and all fight with the bonus attack for multiple CCWs.

When a Wolf Guard's pack is attacked in Close Combat, it's treated much as you would a Sergeant - it can't be individually picked out. This is because it does not have the Independant Character rule, and is specifically that rule which allows the character to be picked out. The exact rules for this can be found on pg. 25 of the BGB; whilst this is in the Shooting section, you're told to refer there by pg. 39, under "Allocating Rules"

As for whether or not to take Wolf Guard, it depends on what you want the units to do. Personally, I have a Wolf Guard leading every unit as I think it looks cool, but in practical terms the main benefits are that the unit has an Ld 9 model with two attacks for very little extra cost compared to a Grey Hunter; the only real drawback is that they don't have Bolters, but you can give them Storm Bolters nice and cheap even if you don't change their armour.

As for having Terminators leading squads... that's a different, and altogether more complex, question.

Oh, and FYI: Rules questions fo in "You Make The Call", not the Tactics subforum.

Ah thanks for clarifying! Since an army is limited to so many elite, would one WG pack leader count as an one elite option choice?

You have to buy a squad of wolf guard with a minimum of 3 men. This uses up 1 elite slot.

After that you "attach" the members of that squad to any packs you want to have a wolf guard lead them.

So if you attach 1 guy to a pack you have a squad of 2 men plus the guy in the pack.

If you attach 2 guys to a pack you have a squad of 1 man plus the guys in the pack.

If you attach all 3 you have no squad left but have still used the elite choice.

You may add a further 7 men either to the squad or to various packs without using any further elite slots.

You may then add another squad of between 3 -10 men as a second elite choice and another as third if you so desire.

As for benefits, well as well as LD 9 (good for counter attack checks) the wolf guard can have a powerfist which swings with 1 more attack than a similarly equipped Grey Hunter and actually costs less points.

Since wolves are primarily a HTH army having a p-fist in every squad is a very good idea and the wolf guard is the most cost effective way to get a p-fist in there.

The downside is you lose out on the ability to take a second special weapon and still fit in a rhino/drop pod. You can however mimic the second special weapon using combiflamers or combimeltas which give you a once per game melta/flamer shot.

My general rule of thumb is that every pack gets a wolf guard but this can quickly add up to a lot of pts. Probably a smarter way to do it is to givemore cc orientated packs a WG and let packs that want 2 melta or 2 plasma guns not use him and instead get the cheap second weapon.

beautifully explained! helps a lot. thank you guys. just to clarify, if i am running a 10 man grey hunter squad, and i add 1 wg pack leader, i can only have 9 grey hunters and 1 wg pack leader. therefore, i cannot use the second free upgrade since there is only 9 grey hunters.

Actually no, you can have an 11 strong pack with both the WG and both special weapons.

However now you can't fit into a rhino or drop pod.

Most SW players will have their Grey hunters in either a rhino, razorback, drop pod or land raider. Some units in the list don't need a transport but Hunters definitely do.

kenneydee wrote:beautifully explained! helps a lot. thank you guys. just to clarify, if i am running a 10 man grey hunter squad, and i add 1 wg pack leader, i can only have 9 grey hunters and 1 wg pack leader. therefore, i cannot use the second free upgrade since there is only 9 grey hunters.

Correct. Deploying the Wolfguard as part of the squad is optional, and occurs after deployment. Only the models purchased as part of the Grey Hunters squad contribute to the purchasing of additional assault weapons.