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We'll probably change the name...

As if Space Wolves needed more reasons to be fielded, I give you my early-mroning (first mistake of the day) early-morning (3am-5am) incarnation of my latest idea:

Vaalhas the Stormrider – 220pts

A Rune Priest of great power, Vaalhas has roamed the icy wastes of Fenris for decades. Little is known about him or what happened to his pack, but it is said to be such a woeful tale that the few who know it refuse to tell it. Atop his mighty bike Squall, he appears from driving blizzards to eliminate those who threaten the Space Wolves and the Imperium. Swiftclaw bikers, Blood Claws who rely on the bikes of the Space Wolves to drive them closer to their prey, are drawn to him as he wreaks havocs through the enemy lines. Those who follow often disappear, only to re-appear alongside him when he next makes his presence known. Those who do not heed his call speak of a mysterious longing in their hearts, a longing for adventure and glory, but also a longing for battle.

To desert ones pack for Vaalhas is not seen as treason or heresy, quite the opposite, it is seen as merely following instinct; to follow Vaalhas is to follow your best path for defending the Imperium. Swiftclaws who join Vaalhas often mature faster than those who stay with their pack, and although there are few, their experience is greatly respected. Vaalhas’ own retinue of bikers are ferocious Wolf Guard, battle-tested and hardened veterans whom he has taken under his wing and allowed to ride with him side-by-side. To ride with Vaalhas is a great honour, to die fighting alongside him is greater, and to emerge victorious and bloodied beside him, greater still.

WS BS S T W I A Ld
5 4 4 4(6) 2 4 2 10
Unit Type: Infantry (Bike)
Number/Squad: 1 (Unique)

Wargear:
Power Armour
Runic Weapon
Bolt Pistol
Frag & Krak Grenades
Squall – Bike. Vaalhas’ legendary bike; each rev releases a loud peal akin to thunder, and the roar of its engine can strike fear into the hearts of the fearless, and drown out even the mightiest of Fenrisian storms.

Vaalhas counts his toughness as 1 more than normal for riding a bike (bonus already included in profile); like the bonus for riding a bike, it has no effect on his toughness for the purposes of determining Instant Death. Squall comes with a twin-linked bolter as standard.

If Vaalhas did not Turbo Boost that turn, then, once per game, Squall can release an earthshaking sound strong enough to turn even the most daemonically altered body into a bloody pulp. Place the large blast marker with the hole centred over Vaalhas. All enemy models beneath the marker suffer an automatic wound on the roll of a 4+ with no armour saves allowed. Against vehicles, any vehicle partially or fully under the template suffers a glancing hit on the roll of a 5, or a penetrating hit on the roll of a 6, with AP-. Once this ability has been used, Vaalhas may not Turbo Boost for the rest of the game as Squall’s overcharged engine is allowed to cool.

Special Rules:
And They Shall Know No Fear
Acute Senses
Independent Character
Counter Attack
Master Psyker – See Njal Stormcaller’s profile.
Saga of the Stormchaser – All units made up entirely of models on Bikes in an army that contains Vaalhas, have the ability to Outflank. Vaalhas and any unit he is with also counts as having the Saga of the Hunter.
Stormrider – Vaalhas is often seen accompanied by skilled riders who have either deserted their packs in search of adventure and glory, or join Vaalhas as the lone survivor of their packs. Whatever their reason for joining the Stormrider, they are peerless warriors who ride into battle on their bikes alongside the legendary Rune Priest.

Swiftclaw Biker Packs count as Troops in any army that includes Vaalhas. Furthermore, Vaalhas may be accompanied by a retinue of 2-9 Wolf Guard on Bikes for 40pts per model (the cost of the bike is already included in this amount). These Wolf Guard Bikers may select upgrades from their respective army book profile for the points listed. Vaalhas loses the Independent Character special rule for as long as he is accompanied by a Wolf Guard Biker retinue.

Any Swiftclaw Biker Packs in an army that includes Vaalhas may increase their WS and BS to 4 for no extra cost to represent how they have matured from Blood Claws during their time with Vaalhas, and learned from his wisdom; however, they lose the Berserk Charge and Headstrong special rules if they do this.

Psychic Powers:
Vaalhas knows all of the Space Wolf psychic powers listed in the Space Wolf codex.

Options:
• May replace Power Armour with Runic Armour – 10pts
• May replace Bolt Pistol with:
Storm Bolter – 3pts
Plasma Pistol – 15pts
• May choose any of the following:
Melta Bombs – 5pts
Wolf-Tail Talisman – 5pts
Wolftooth Necklace – 10pts
Chooser of the Slain – 10pts
• May replace Squall’s twin-linked bolter with one of the following:
Twin-linked Flamer – 5pts
Twin-linked Meltagun – 10pts
Twin-linked Plasmagun – 15pts

Basically, I wanted to give people a reason to field bikes. Swiftclaw bikers aren't great, so making them troops and allowing them to become Grey Hunters in statline and rules gives them more of a reason to be fielded. I also chose 40pts per Wolf Guard biker, because having them cost 53pts each just for a T4 W1 model on a bike is really very excessive, with TH/SS, they'd cost about 100pts EACH, even at 40pts each they'd still cost in the region of 90pts apiece, for no more protection than an assault terminator; i'm not even sure that 40pts isn't overcosting them to be honest.

The large list of options is just because I don't want Njal on a bike (which I know i've done somewhat with the Master Psyker, but it's a minor similarity), and I want a bit of customisation freedom.

Essentially, it's so I have an excuse to make a 'Riders of the Stom' list, where everything possible is mounted on a bike, but can also add flavour to army lists, something that Space Wolves don't really have the ability to do without greatly sacrificing effectiveness or retaining some degree of rigidity.

Things I see as major issues (or just want checked over):
Name - Stormrider is too close to Stormcaller, but every synonym of 'storm' possible is already used umpteen times in the codex for various bits and bobs.
Price - 220pts, high, low, or just right for a Rune Priest on a Bike with a few special rules?
Master Psyker - Too much?

Minor Issues:
Special rules - Too many? Too complex?
Options - Too many? Too few?

I personally am against any wargear options on special characters. So yeah, IMHO too many options..
I also think GW went in a very good direction and is getting rid of retuines.. Many ICs are powerful enough to be at least targetable in combat..
I would also change the fluff or the rules of bike blast skill. Just seems strange that this sound somehow only affects enemies. Also its very powerful.. Either give it S value or reduce armour piercing..
My last thing would be:
maybe too many rules.. Changing units like no other hero, manipulating foc, retuine, master psyker and super awesome bike? Its hard to give him point value because there are so many things he does..
I really like the idea but some testing would be needed with so many changes to the army..alue because there are so many things he does..
I really like the idea but some testing would be needed with so many changes to the army..

Without the options, what do I give him of them? I also want to keep Squall's options, because they're like Bjorn's, just a simple way of giving a bit of flavour to the unit; why would an SC just keep a TL-Bolter on his custom bike?

This guy isn't powerful enough to be targeted in combat, one powerfist kills him, which is why the retinue makes sense; he's only T4 with a 3+ armour save, or 2+ with Runic Armour; he doesn't have an invulnerable save either unless he takes Runic Armour, and that's only against psychic powers.

The bike blast is essentially Wind of Chaos in blast form. Unless I add in an armour save modifier, i'm going to have to simply allow armour saves, which makes it a Once per Game Wind of Chaos. So, save modifier or allow armour saves? Giving it a Strength value is something i'm not fond of. A S4 or S5 blast isn't exactly menacing (otherwise people would use whirlwinds more often), but anything larger makes him look overpowered because he can instagib T3 models.

Making it just cause a wound on a certain role eliminates the need for balancing a toughness and an AP, and also means it's balanced against multi-wound models.

Changing Units like no other hero... isn't that the point of a unique IC, he does something that other characters don't? The only unit change he does is llow swiftclaws to go from Blood Claws on bikes to Grey Hunters on bikes, the Wolf Guard retinue and the Swiftclaws still purchase upgrades at the points values listed.

Logan Grimnar manipulates the FoC, Commander Farsight manipulates the FoC, I also believe another SM character maniuplates the FoC, what's the issue?

Instead of a retinue, why not just something like Tyrant Guard, a unit of Wolf Guard on Bikes that he must join if they are purchased, and must stay with for the remainder of the game or until they are dead. All the appearence of a retinue with none of the (admittedly necessary, but oh well) protection.

Master psyker - I did mention this might be something to change, but you haven't suggested what to change it too, only that it's bad.

Super awesome bike... super awesome? Gives him an extra point of bracketed toughness (so he essentially becomes a Chaos Biker with MoN) and a special blast attack that disallows him from Turbo Boosting again for the rest of the game. Apart from that, it's a regular bike. It'd be super awesome if it gave him a 4+ invulnerable save too, or something along those lines, but to call it 'super awesome' is a bit of an exaggeration.

I like the idea... Gives SW the option of actually fielding bikes. Good touch on choosing wether they become Swiftclaw or swifthunters

Thanks BoTW - Is there nothing you'd change, though? How about the Major/Minor issues listed at the bottom of the post, do you see them as needing to be changed in any way?

He seems pretty reasonable to me IMHO. From a game perspective, I do think he has too much going on, to be a Rune Priest, Master Rune Priest, having Squall, allowing Bike Troops and Improving Bikers is too much IMHO.

I'd recommend changing him to a Wolf Lord (or Battle Leader), as this seems more reasonable than him being a large force multiplier and Rune Priest...
AND/OR
Removing Outflank ability or (preferably IMHO) not changing them to Grey Hunters on bikes.

I also feel that Squall's Thunder/sound ability may be too much. Whilst you've clearly gone to lengths to try and prevent it being OP (which I at least appreciate), I still feel it may be too much for essentially noise. If it were to simply confer (automatically) Thunderclap for example, that'd be fine IMHO, possibly shaking vehicles or it being a Str4 blast hitting vehicles on rear armour.

Clearly you've put a lot of thought into him and I like how you've balanced him by still being vulnerable to ID and not having an invulnerable save, but I'd still say he's too much of a force multiplier as well as powerful in his own right.

His options all seem reasonable, but I'd change Runic Armour to being it's normal 20pts (or 15pts at a push) and the Plasma Pistol 10pts IMHO.

Hope that helps man.

When removing the outlfank ability, would that be the entire thing? Or just the units apart from Valhaas and the unit he joins?

I'd like to at least keep it on Valhaas if possible, the represent how he storms in (no pun intended) from an unseen direction to direct the course of battles, instead of riding up with the main bulk of the army he's aiding; if he did that, he wouldn't be as much of a mystery, and having fleeting glances of him smiting down enemies as opposed to retelling his bike-keeping tips on the hike up to the battlefield makes him a bit more of a figure worthy of Special Character status in more than just equipment and rules.

As for the Psychic Powers, Fury of the Wolf Spirits doesn't really suit him, and being able to drive that far into enemy deployment and unleash Jaws seems a bit too powerful, so if we have Squall bestowing Thunderclap, and have him select two further powers from:
Living Lightning
Storm Caller
Tempest's Wrath
Murderous Hurricane

Would that be better? Perhaps also making him a Master of the Runes basic?

I do want to keep him as a Wolf Priest if possible, because his array of powers also supplements his fluff about appearing from blizzards; if he controls the blizzard, then it makes more sense for him and his army to emerge unscathed; a Wolf Lord or Battle Guard might still find it difficult and probably perilous to be leading an army through an uncontrollable and unpredictable Fenrisian storm.

Instead of making Swiftclaws Grey Hunters on bikes, should his presence in the army just eliminate Headstrong as if they had been joined by a Wolf Guard model? Or should they just become troops? I had hoped to portray how time spent riding through the wastes with him had given them at least a degree of maturity that wouldn't be obtained if he was still able to muck about in great halls with other packs.

Changing Runic Armour to 15/20pts would be fine; it was just to offer him some degree of protection, so a battlecannon wouldn't be able to snipe him from across the board if it covered the whole unit (not hard considering the base size of bikes) and a vindicator would need to get perilously close.

Not sure what changing to Plasma Pistol cost would do really; how many people take Plasma Pistols anymore? Considering how he only has two wounds, halving his survivability by overheating a plasma pistol seems like a risk not many people would want to take, so i'm not sure even lowering its cost would entice people to use it, but i'll consider it.

Perhaps make him a wolf priest rather than a Rune priest? It'll provide him a major difference to Njal, and allow a few other options. It would also explain the maturity the swift claws have developed as wolf priests, well, isn't that their job to a certain extent?