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ok so I'm thinking of getting some thunderwolf cav for my slowly growing space wolf army and I'm thinking of having two squads of three. one squad will all be equipped with a wolf claw and storm shield as the storm shield's 3++ will make them stick about longer and the wolf claw to make them s6 ap3 with 4 attacks base that have shred and rending (rending being gained from the mount). I'm also thinking about adding a lv2 wolf priest on bike with biomancy to the unit to give them even more longevity.
the other squad will all be equipped with powerfists and storm shields so they can hunt vehicles and other big nasties.
how does this look so far?

Take one powerfist in every squad. Your rest combination are good.

You don't need a Storm Shield for each model... With model placement and Look Out, Sir!, you can always go with at least one model not using an SS. You're usually only going to need one Power Fist per squad, as Neophyte mentioned. With 6 models, you could pretty safely go 2 PF/SS, 2 Bolt Pistol/SS, and 2 double Wolf Claws, then mix and match as you like for each battle (or run a 6-model unit and wreck face wherever you go).

I generally run 4 in this formation.

Leader: Claw+shield (take challenges)
2: Claw+BP
3: Shield +BP (position where the ap3 or less is coming from)
4: power fist+ BP (gotta get that S10

With this loadout, you stay cheap, letting you pile on more if needed. 2 wolf claws will chew through just about everything, and what lives, a power fist will kill. 2 SS will give you a decent chunk of durability as well.

You can take a minimum size unit of cavalry with probably 2 WCs and SSs, a BP and SS. Then take an Iron Priest on a mount and 4 cyberwolves to join the cavalry unit (the Iron Priest is an IC and can bring his wolves with him). The Iron Priest can tank with its 2+ armor save and LoS any AP2 (and when it gets hurt) with the SS cavalry or the cyber wolves. The entire unit is T5 as cyberwolves where errata to be T5. Cyberwolves give some much needed volume of attacks, cheap wounds, and are characters to tank challenges if needed.

Vankraken speaks the truth. Plus, on a Thunderwolf, an Iron Priest is hitting 3 times (4 on the charge) with S10 weapons. The Servo-Arm is AP1, or the Thunder Hammer is AP2 and Concussive... pretty much wrecking face. The IP is also an Independent Character, and the Cyberwolves can be used to Look Out, Sir! him on a 2+ or LOS the Pack Leader on 4+, and a TWC with a Storm Shield can even LOS a Cyberwolf, if need be. I'd still lose one Storm Shield, though. Model placement and all the LOS options mean you have a lot of choice in placing your wounds, and if you're being whittled down simply through volume of fire, then the Invuln saves won't save you.

 zbg97 wrote:
Vankraken speaks the truth. Plus, on a Thunderwolf, an Iron Priest is hitting 3 times (4 on the charge) with S10 weapons.

Iron Priest - 2 Base
+ Two Specialist Weapons
+ Thunderwolf Mount
+ Charge
5 on the charge.

Ha! For some reason, I was thinking it had to be two of the same Specialist Weapons to get the 2-weapon bonus. Thanks!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, while this rapidly escalates point cost, if you have Canis Wolfborn in that unit, you're re-rolling failed to hits for him, all 4 Cyberwolves, and the 2 Fenrisian Wolves he can bring. Run a second TWC unit with Harald Deathwolf and make sure the 2 units are within 12" of each other at the beginning of an Assault, and every single model in both units is also getting Furious Charge.

Here is my build... Each Thunderwolf has a Stormshield for redundancy. Three have a wolf claw and the other two have thunder hammers. S10 is key to decimating gargantuan creatures and super heavies. I'd join to the squad two Iron Priest and one Wolf Lord with a Stormshield and thunder hammer.

Mix in four cyber wolves to tank and accept challenges.

7 S10 weapons and 6 Storm Shields in an 8-man unit? That maaaaay be a little over-built.

 zbg97 wrote:
7 S10 weapons and 6 Storm Shields in an 8-man unit? That maaaaay be a little over-built.

I agree it's a little OTT, but it will pretty much turn anything it catches into dust. As a non SW player, it would certainly scare me!

D

 evildrcheese wrote:

 zbg97 wrote:
7 S10 weapons and 6 Storm Shields in an 8-man unit? That maaaaay be a little over-built.

I agree it's a little OTT, but it will pretty much turn anything it catches into dust. As a non SW player, it would certainly scare me!

D

The problem isn't winning hand to hand. The problem is having anything else on the board and/or surviving getting shot at.

I forgot the runic armor for the Wolf Lord.

Since "volume of fire" is pretty much the theme of 7th Ed., I do find that 2 medium-sized TWC units with moderate gear are more likely to survive than 1 big, heavily-geared unit. Invulnerable saves don't do much against the sheer number of shots/hits/wounds from Tau, Eldar, or Guard. It's harder for those armies to concentrate fire on two units, and if there's any terrain on the board, it's more likely you can get out of Line of Sight with at least one unit. Plus, sinking tons of points into one TWC unit means fewer points for Grey Hunters, Blood Claws, or Wolf Guard to Drop Pod in and actually pick off or engage the guys shooting at the TWC (or Long Fangs to hang back and pick them off). In high-point games, (or against cc-based armies) though, heck yeah. Over-build the TWC and run'em around the board. I played a game against a Chaos Space Marine army, recently, and my TWC took out a Demon Prince, Abaddon and a mob of Cultists, and a Heldrake after it made the mistake of Hovering.