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Hey guys, I'm new to space wolves, and I've been toying around with ideas for a fun list based around my two favourite units, Thunderwolf Cavalry and Grey Hunters in drop pods. One thing I'm unsure of is how viable drop pods are compared to taking rhinos. The other thing I'm unsure about is what special weapons to give the grey hunters, meltaguns for anti tank capabilities, or flamers for infantry carnage. Your opinions on those to things would be great to hear. Now on to the list!

HQ:
Canis Wolfborn 185

Troops:
10 Grey Hunters - 220
- 2 Meltaguns
- Power Weapon
- Mark of the Wulfen
- Drop Pod

10 Grey Hunters - 220
- 2 Meltaguns
- Power Weapon
- Mark of the Wulfen
- Drop Pod

10 Grey Hunters - 220
- 2 Meltaguns
- Power Weapon
- Mark of the Wulfen
- Drop Pod

10 Grey Hunters - 220
- 2 Meltaguns
- Power Weapon
- Mark of the Wulfen
- Drop Pod

Fast Attack:
5 Thunderwolf Cavalry - 335
- Power Fist
- 2 Storm Shields

5 Thunderwolf Cavalry - 335
- Power Fist
- 2 Storm Shields

5 Thunderwolf Cavalry - 335
- Power Fist
- 2 Storm Shields

Heavy Support:
6 Long Fangs - 140
- 5 Missile Launchers

6 Long Fangs - 140
- 5 Missile Launchers

6 Long Fangs - 140
- 5 Missile Launchers

So Canis joins one of the Thunderwolf Cavalry squads, and for first turn the cavalry squads and long fang squads hide in cover where ever they can, as far back as possible from any enemy firepower, and just try to weather the turn. Drop pods come down right by the enemy and grey hunters shoot at whatever is nearby. Long fangs unload their missiles into armor and and scary units. Thunderwolves run as far as possible, and try to assault anything. The squad with canis goes for the biggest threats that are reachable. In grey hunter squads, mark of the wulfen goes on guy with power weapon to get a decent amount of ap 3 atracks. Last 2 drop pods arrive whenever they can to apply more pressure or grab/contest objectives. Any criticism would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Pheonix Lord Asurmen

Ok so all of you think this list is completely perfect? Seems legit.

i have done alot of games with the space puppies, but i useally do 2k or less, this list seams soild for an alpha strike army
only things i would consider ADL with comm,
get 1 more drop pod in, that guarenties you 3 on turn 1, even if the DP is empty
drop canius and use a WL on a wolf, canis is awsome on paper but not in practice.
i would drop a little here and there to make these things happen, also worry about DW armys and all thouse termies

good luck have fun

Canis is a TERRIBLE warlord. He's a putz with no invuln save; he's a craptastic overcosted wolfgaurd battle leader.

Drop him, Cut back a squad of Thundercav and get the 275 pt Thunder Lord beast rolling with a squad; he'll murder almost anything in an challenge and can roll through armies himself.

Thunderwolves without Saga of the Majesty or a Thunderlord are going to break very, very easily. They are very succeptable to pinning and other things that grind them to a halt. Take smaller squads, use them for skirmishing or Thunderlord delivery. That's where your beat sticks should lie. I usually run a Tlord w/ 2~3 bodygaurds.

Then, get another drop pod for your long fangs so you can get three squads in turn one. Also, I'd take 2 melta squads, 2 plasma squads. My own thoughts on drop lists is maximize unit volume, so take 7 man squads with wolf guard leaders and pump it up to drop five 7 man squads with two special weapons (one combi) and a better powerfist (2 attacks base).

If you wish to stand 10 strong, get that Wolf Standard! Anything near max squad size should have a Wolf Standard. It's the best 10pt upgrade in the codex, I'd take it before Mark of the Wulfen, which I love. Being able to reroll all 1s in an assualt phase, including overwatch, is flat out gross.

If anything, please ditch Canis. Get a real thunderlord with either Saga of the Majesty or Saga of the Bear, 2+, 3++ and a hard hitting weapon.

Ok ill do a wolf lord on thunderwolf, with a storm shield and saga of the bear (eternal warrior right?), but what should i give him for a weapon? Thunder hammer? Frost blade/axe? Wolf claw? I dont know which would be better.

Frost blade is a ton of fun with str 6 on wolf lord,
frost axe i would not reccomend if ur gonna hit last you should get a fist and hit at str 10
hammer see above if you have extra points is good times.
with his skill and the tooth necklace a wolf claw is only gonna be rerolling wounds cause you got a soid 3+ agenst everything in its mother(soome expections) and str 5 shred is nice no lie, watch out for 2+armor.
p=weapons i would recoomend you just avoid. hope this helps

Thanks for that input. The lord will end up having a thunderwolf, runic armor, frost blade, storm shield, saga of the bear, and a wolftooth necklace. When i get home ill revise the list by dropping canis and some wolves to get this guy and some grey hunters.

 TheKbob wrote:
Canis is a TERRIBLE warlord. He's a putz with no invuln save; he's a craptastic overcosted wolfgaurd battle leader.

Drop him, Cut back a squad of Thundercav and get the 275 pt Thunder Lord beast rolling with a squad; he'll murder almost anything in an challenge and can roll through armies himself.

Thunderwolves without Saga of the Majesty or a Thunderlord are going to break very, very easily. They are very succeptable to pinning and other things that grind them to a halt. Take smaller squads, use them for skirmishing or Thunderlord delivery. That's where your beat sticks should lie. I usually run a Tlord w/ 2~3 bodygaurds.

Then, get another drop pod for your long fangs so you can get three squads in turn one. Also, I'd take 2 melta squads, 2 plasma squads. My own thoughts on drop lists is maximize unit volume, so take 7 man squads with wolf guard leaders and pump it up to drop five 7 man squads with two special weapons (one combi) and a better powerfist (2 attacks base).

If you wish to stand 10 strong, get that Wolf Standard! Anything near max squad size should have a Wolf Standard. It's the best 10pt upgrade in the codex, I'd take it before Mark of the Wulfen, which I love. Being able to reroll all 1s in an assualt phase, including overwatch, is flat out gross.

If anything, please ditch Canis. Get a real thunderlord with either Saga of the Majesty or Saga of the Bear, 2+, 3++ and a hard hitting weapon.

What he said.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Slipknotzim wrote:
Frost blade is a ton of fun with str 6 on wolf lord,
frost axe i would not reccomend if ur gonna hit last you should get a fist and hit at str 10
hammer see above if you have extra points is good times.
with his skill and the tooth necklace a wolf claw is only gonna be rerolling wounds cause you got a soid 3+ agenst everything in its mother(soome expections) and str 5 shred is nice no lie, watch out for 2+armor.
p=weapons i would recoomend you just avoid. hope this helps

No frost weapons at all! Never!

A wolf claw is superior to a frost blade and is 5 points cheaper too. A power fist is superior to a frost axe and costs the same. AND... a Wolf Lord should never ever take a wolf tooth necklace because with weapon skill 6 he already hits everything on a 3+ anyway.

Also, you can probably get away with NOT taking Saga of the Bear. I only say this because if he's riding a thunderwolf, he'll have toughness 5. That means only S10 weapons will cause instant death and although S10 weapons aren't exactly rare, they are uncommon enough that you can usually avoid them. However, when it comes to Saga of the Bear, your meta may vary.

 Grugknuckle wrote:


No frost weapons at all! Never!

A wolf claw is superior to a frost blade and is 5 points cheaper too. A power fist is superior to a frost axe and costs the same. AND... a Wolf Lord should never ever take a wolf tooth necklace because with weapon skill 6 he already hits everything on a 3+ anyway.

Also, you can probably get away with NOT taking Saga of the Bear. I only say this because if he's riding a thunderwolf, he'll have toughness 5. That means only S10 weapons will cause instant death and although S10 weapons aren't exactly rare, they are uncommon enough that you can usually avoid them. However, when it comes to Saga of the Bear, your meta may vary.

Frost weapons are hit or miss (get it?!), but I like running my lord with a Thunder Hammer w/ Saga of the Bear. If you're not using an Unwiedly weapon, you can probably get away from not having SotB, but if you're striking last (and you should be, natural S10 is AMAZING), get the Bear.

And I say YES, do invest in the WTN. It is meta dependant, but given how boss the new Greater Daemons and CC ICs are getting, it gives you that much leverage over these big nasties. My Thunderlord usually hunts these big nasties (get them if they are flying or counterdefense for my forward operating units). He will be in challenges and you're going to want that few extra hits for your counterparts that are also eternal warrior or T6+ stuff (biomancy anything, Tyranids, Daemons, etc.). Wholly meta driven, but for all comers situatioins, that 10 points can mean a great deal when it comes to skull bashing.

 TheKbob wrote:

Frost weapons are hit or miss (get it?!), but I like running my lord with a Thunder Hammer w/ Saga of the Bear. If you're not using an Unwiedly weapon, you can probably get away from not having SotB, but if you're striking last (and you should be, natural S10 is AMAZING), get the Bear.

Like the WTN, SotB is heavily meta dependent. You don't need it unless you'll be facing tons of S10 blast templates of doom, or Monstrous creatures with smash attacks, or Dreadnought CC weapons. Keep in mind that SotB is 35 points on a model that is already going to cost you more that 200.

And I say YES, do invest in the WTN. It is meta dependant, but given how boss the new Greater Daemons and CC ICs are getting, it gives you that much leverage over these big nasties.

The WTN will only help you if you are in close combat with another character that has at least WS 6. Most characters you are likely to encounter will top out with WS 5 and you already hit them on 3+. For the rare cases when you actually do face another WS 6 model you still hit them on 4+. Supposing that you get the charge and have 6 attacks, then (and only then) you would expect to get 1 more hit with the WTN than you would without the WTN. In every other round of combat, it's a push. So my point is that you are paying an extra 10 points to realize a benefit in a single round of combat ONLY if you happen to get the charge against a rare character that has WS 6.

The point is that the WTN is never worth it if you're designing your list for all comers. It might be worth it ONLY if you know who your opponent is and what kind of models he is likely to bring to the table.

He will be in challenges and you're going to want that few extra hits for your counterparts that are also eternal warrior or T6+ stuff (biomancy anything, Tyranids, Daemons, etc.). Wholly meta driven, but for all comers situatioins, that 10 points can mean a great deal when it comes to skull bashing.

Again...You're not going to get a *few* extra hits. You might get 1 extra hit on the round that you charge.

Ok guys I revised the list after looking at your suggestions, and here's what I came up with:

HQ:
Wolf Lord - 255
- Runic Armour
- Frost Blade
- Storm Shield
-Thunderwolf Mount
- Saga of the Bear

Rune Priest - 120
- Runic Armor
- Jaws of the World Wolf
- Murderous Hurricane

Troops:
10 Grey Hunters - 215
- 2 Meltaguns
- Wolf Standard
- Mark of the Wulfen
- Drop Pod

10 Grey Hunters - 215
- 2 Meltaguns
- Wolf Standard
- Mark of the Wulfen
- Drop Pod

10 Grey Hunters - 215
- 2 Meltaguns
- Wolf Standard
- Mark of the Wulfen
- Drop Pod

10 Grey Hunters - 215
- 2 Meltaguns
- Wolf Standard
- Mark of the Wulfen
- Drop Pod

5 Grey Hunters - 140
- Meltagun
- Wolf Standard
- Mark of the Wulfen
- Drop Pod

Fast Attack:
3 Thunderwolf Cavalry - 235
- Power Fist
- 2 Storm Shields

3 Thunderwolf Cavalry - 235
- Power Fist
- 2 Storm Shields

3 Thunderwolf Cavalry - 235
- Power Fist
- 2 Storm Shields

Heavy Support:
6 Long Fangs - 140
- 5 Missile Launchers

6 Long Fangs - 140
- 5 Missile Launchers

6 Long Fangs - 140
- 5 Missile Launchers

Total: 2500 Points

Same plan as last time. Wolf Lord goes with group of Thunderwolf Cavalry, and all the wolves and long fangs try to hide for first turn, if I'm going second. Rune priest goes in the small squad of grey hunters, casts Jaws when he lands for hilarity, and is general anti psyker defence. Grey hunters come down and lay down the dakka. Thunderwolves take on scary units. Long Fangs take out armour, and if targets run out, go for scary units.

Your thoughts? Is the list better now? Would you still change anything? I look forward to the criticism.

Thanks, Pheonix Lord Asurmen

 Grugknuckle wrote:

Again...You're not going to get a *few* extra hits. You might get 1 extra hit on the round that you charge.

Probability? 2/3s chance to hit over 1/2 with big nasties. An allcomers list better be ready for the bigger beasties you'll see rampaging about, including Tyranid psychic choir and ALL the greater daemons who are weapon skill of "a lot." Pure mathhammer dictates that over the long haul, I'm hitting more. And you're going to want that versus the new Bloodsthirster! Ran it the same way in 5E and it always paid off well.

I kit him to be 275 and he's a boss. I can readily recall many times stating that "I always hit on 3s" and it having impact. My meta is extremely diverse (thanks to living in a major city) so I have routinely been quite pleased with his loadout, with SotB and WTN. With that gear, he's then ready to take on anything except for MSS nonsense. At 2000+, you will still get all your toys, grey hunters, etc. that you need and still have him roll up as an anti-deathstar character.

I also say take the talisman. 5+ Deny the Witch is worth 5pts in my books.

Pheonix Lord,

The list looks boss. I'd prefer more plasma with the hunters, but that's my style. I don't think putting 5 wolves in a pod with a standard and wulfen are worth it, but again, my style. Three is a good unit size for Tcav, use the Tlord unit to screen. I'd really say take the powerfist over the Frost blade, S10 trucks to the face are always amusing.

To make any significant changes, I'd say drop one squad, get drop pods for your long fangs and bring the whole party to bear first turn. Then kit some of the fangs with plasma cannons. But that's a major playstyle overhaul. If you've never run Thunderwolves, you'll have to learn to skirmish with them effectively. You're going to have 30 marines in their back field, so that is a major consideration!

Just watch out for riptides with ion cannons and early warning detectors!

Your missing adl and a static scoring unit. I prefer 5 man tcav units, but meh. I dont understand the rune priests role in your list. For nob bikers?

Thanks, KBob! That's the first time someone's ever complimented one of my lists! I may try different things over time, but now i know that this is a good list to start buying units towards (I'm new to wolves and the only units i have setup are the 3 long fang squads, which are unpainted). Thanks of all of your help guys! Have a great day/night!

Thanks, Pheonix Lord Asurmen

 imweasel wrote:
Your missing adl and a static scoring unit. I prefer 5 man tcav units, but meh. I dont understand the rune priests role in your list. For nob bikers?

A JotW Drop Pod runepriest is sexy for Tau, Necrons, and Orks.

The anti-flyer is light, I'd have to agree, but with the ground pounding force already being "on target," the only flyer that's scary is a Heldrake. That's up to you, Ph. Lord, whether you want to compensate.

Good luck playin' pups. They were my first army