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Hello..... I am interested in starting a space wolves army, but I am not sure how to start it?
So I am asking what I should get to help start my new army. I am aiming for a army that is good against Chaos Marines, Orks, Tyranids and Necrons.
I have a 3500 point blood angel army so I have played a space marine army before and I hope to hear some tips for my new army.

Thank You and Happy War Gaming!

What’s good man?

So you wanna play space wolves huh? Well there a really cool army that allow lots of character building. You can have up to 4 HQ’s and most of their other units are pretty cheap. A good starting point is taking a rune priest, grey hunters for troops and ac couple units of long fangs. After that you can mix and match as much as you like.

Grey hunters are awesome! Always take a wolf standard, and MotW. And a melta gun. There great in close combat and are a great value. There great fighting Orks and other marines.

Rune priest are pretty cool. A very cheap and affective HQ to have. MH, LL, and JotWW are amazing PP. there good against hordes and characters. Plus they stop PP on a 4+

LF are best with 5xML and some people take a RB for them for extra fire power. Great for MC, and hordes.

I personally like TWC, the models are awesome and there such a unique unit for SW.

Start with the first 3 units and go from there. Play what you like, SW are a fun and good army to play with.

Seems like some good ideas for starting a space wolves army.
Thanks!

One pack of Grey Hunters per each 500 points of Your list is a rule of thumb. The rest are toys and support, whereas Grey Hunters are the bread-and-butter of Space Wolves list.
From modeling perspective GH can be made from Space Wolves pack, but its contents can be mixed with Space Marines tactical squad to get most of both boxes - it will also get You those meltaguns and missile launchers, since SW box does not come with any of those.
A Rune Priest, two packs of Grey Hunters with Wolf Standard (one of 10 Hunters, the other with 9 making a room for Rune Priest), meltaguns (double on the first pack), Mark or Power weapon - whichever You like more.
Rhino/DP for them.
This is Your mandatory core of 1 HQ and 2 Troops choices.
Once You get another pack of something (scouts, more Grey Hunters etc), think about adding a Wolf Guard pack. They are essentially veterans but can be used in two ways. They are always bought as a separate pack, but then they can be fielded as a unit of themselves (like damn expensive Vanguards/Sternguards, but they all can be different in wargear and still be legal), or act as a pack leaders, or both.

Some golden rules for SW beginners.
NO power fists on Grey Hunters - they are not cost-effective on models with 1 attack. All fists go to Wolf Guards acting as pack leaders.
Don't buy Rhino kits - buy Razorbacks instead and don't glue the top hatch, so You can switch between two variants and play as You like.
Avoid Canis Wolfborn and his lists. The model is great, his rules are not. He even does not get invul.save.
Space Wolf special characters are not killers, but rather act as good, strong support for the army. Their fluff describes them as CC monsters, but sadly their rules does not always keep up with that.

if you're fighting 'nids then you want template weapons by the sheadload. I'm a veteran 'nid player and i know that the odd vindicator or flamer will make a world of hurt. Also equip LF packs with HB or ML.

Grey Hunters are your friend. Take 9 of them, add in a meltagun, Wolf Standard, Mark of the Wulfen. Stuff 'em in a Rhino and you're good to go.

Take a Wolf Guard for every Grey Hunters pack. They're an Elite choice, but can be split off to become Sergeants for Grey Hunters and several other units. 18 points gets you the same stats as a Grey Hunter, with a bonus +1 A and +1 Ld. Give them a Power Fist and CombiMelta and you have 43 points of awesomeness.

If you get a Battleforce, don't throw away those Scouts. Keep them in reserve and after they come in they can deploy on any table edge on a roll of 3+. Take 5 of them, give them Melta Bombs and a Meltagun and a Wolf Guard sergeant. They're great for coming in off your opponent's board edge and popping a tank or tying up heavy weapons infantry (ie: Lootas, Obliterators).

For HQ, you really only have two choices (many will say 1) - Rune Priests and Wolf Priests. Rune Priests are psykers with access to three extremely useful spells: Living Lightning, Jaws of the World Wolf and Murderous Hurricane. Against the armies you'll be facing all three will be useful. In CC they have a Force Weapon and wound Daemons on a 2+. Wolf Priests are your most cost effective assault oriented HQ choice. They have a power weapon, 4+ invul, grants himself and his squad Fearless and Preferred Enemy on one unit type (infantry, tanks, monstrous creatures, etc). Both HQ choices are 100 points before upgrades.

Long Fangs. Don't leave home without them. 15 points a model, but you must give them either a heavy bolter (10 points), missile launcher (10 points), plasma cannon (20 points) or lascannon (25 points). The most cost effective choice by far is the missile launcher. 25 points and you can lob a S4 AP6 blast or a S8 AP3 krak missile. These guys are the reason why Space Wolf lists rarely run tanks like Predators, Vindicators and Land Raiders in their Heavy Support slots.


It's taken me a long time to figure this one out, but the #1 rule of Space Wolves is to pick your assaults carefully. Melee is a strength but there are other armies that are better. Don't be afraid to thin out mobs with bolter or missile fire before springing forward and tidying up the leftovers. Another option is to try and bait your opponent into charging you since all Space Wolves have counter-attack.

Wolf Lords as HQ are not bad either, especially on Thunder Wolf mounts. They are much more effective in combat than Wolf Priests, but Wolf Priests beat them in terms of points. In fact the main role of Wolf Priests is to act as support for the pack he is leading by adding rerolls. Wolf Lords just kill things outright

Wolf Lords are extremely pricey. With a Thunderwolf Mount you're looking at 150-200 points. For that price, you can get a pack of Long Fangs or Grey Hunters. Space Wolves have several good unit options that they don't need to sink that amount of points into one model.

StoneRaizer wrote:Wolf Lords are extremely pricey. With a Thunderwolf Mount you're looking at 150-200 points.

It is rather closer to 250-265, if You want them to be capable of something.

Wolf lords on thunderwolfs tend to destroy at my club.
Give him LC or a PF and he will rip through others armies.
It took a dreadnaught finally take down one that tore through two tactical squads.

hotsauceman1 wrote: Give him LC or a PF and he will rip through others armies.

That's called a WOLF Claw, whelp! Space WOLVES codex got only those things, which are proprly wolfy ye know! Big bad Space WOLVES, led by WOLF lords and WOLF Priest, riding ThunderWOLVES into battle, wielding WOLF Claws, waiving WOLF Standards. Lone WOLVES, WOLF scouts and Fenrisian WOLVES stalking battlefield. And all that is for Russ and for the WOLFtime.

Wolf Lords can be pricey if you kit them out with to much gear. Focus them and they're fairly priced and can pack a punch in any squad they join.

Rune Priest are hands down one of the best Psyker units in the game with the powers they have access to.

Wolf Priests are as described earlier a really good support CQC character.

Wolf Guard are amazing for their versatility, but be careful when kitting them out. Like the Wolf Lord, they can get very pricey very quickly, pick a focus and pick and choose the best options for what you want them to do. CQC or shooting, if you try to be a trick-of-all-trades you'll run into point constraints.

Wolf Scouts are great for adding back field pressure to your opponent and giving them something that's hard to deal with from any side of the board that you choose; if like said before, you roll a 3 or higher.

Grey Hunters are the backbone of any SW list. Best price for a normal infantry-man and have access to a whole list of nice assault weapons that make them even deadlier.

Blood Claws are similar to Grey Hunters but more CQC focused with their special rules. They can be fun, but most advice staying away from them for Tournament lists, but on the first turn of assault coupled with a Wolf Priest can unleash an ungodly number of attacks that many units just can't stand up to.

Thunderwolf Cavalry are among some of the strongest CQC units in the SW arsenal, and arguably the game. Especially when kitted for survival, they can be a pain in any opponents side.

Long Fangs are your heavy hitters no matter the situation. To keep them as low costing as possible Missile Launchers are your best bang for your buck. The only other options I recommend are Plasma Cannons or Lascannons if you need that extra punch. If not, stay with the Missile Launchers.

I know if haven't talked about all the available options in the codex but these are the most iconic outside of the special characters that will make up the bulk of your army. You're starting an army that is very strong out of the gate and I'm sure if you make up a list that works for your play style, you could do very well playing against any foe.

Best of luck and welcome to the Space Wolves.

Fexor wrote:Wolf Lords can be pricey if you kit them out with to much gear. Focus them and they're fairly priced and can pack a punch in any squad they join.

Rune Priest are hands down one of the best Psyker units in the game with the powers they have access to.

Wolf Priests are as described earlier a really good support CQC character.

Wolf Guard are amazing for their versatility, but be careful when kitting them out. Like the Wolf Lord, they can get very pricey very quickly, pick a focus and pick and choose the best options for what you want them to do. CQC or shooting, if you try to be a trick-of-all-trades you'll run into point constraints.

Wolf Scouts are great for adding back field pressure to your opponent and giving them something that's hard to deal with from any side of the board that you choose; if like said before, you roll a 3 or higher.

Grey Hunters are the backbone of any SW list. Best price for a normal infantry-man and have access to a whole list of nice assault weapons that make them even deadlier.

Blood Claws are similar to Grey Hunters but more CQC focused with their special rules. They can be fun, but most advice staying away from them for Tournament lists, but on the first turn of assault coupled with a Wolf Priest can unleash an ungodly number of attacks that many units just can't stand up to.

Thunderwolf Cavalry are among some of the strongest CQC units in the SW arsenal, and arguably the game. Especially when kitted for survival, they can be a pain in any opponents side.

Long Fangs are your heavy hitters no matter the situation. To keep them as low costing as possible Missile Launchers are your best bang for your buck. The only other options I recommend are Plasma Cannons or Lascannons if you need that extra punch. If not, stay with the Missile Launchers.

I know if haven't talked about all the available options in the codex but these are the most iconic outside of the special characters that will make up the bulk of your army. You're starting an army that is very strong out of the gate and I'm sure if you make up a list that works for your play style, you could do very well playing against any foe.

Best of luck and welcome to the Space Wolves.

Jaws of the world wolf psychic power + carnifex = mess

Ok... from what I have read from everyone's advice I think getting some Grey Hunters and a Rune Priest is a good idea to start space wolves.

Thanks For The Advice and Happy War Gaming!