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I haven't been able to play 8th edition yet or look at any indexes so I'm wondering how my Vlka Fenryka brethren are doing on the battlefield and what units are hitting hardest for them. There doesn't seem to be many posts about them so I'm assuming they aren't considered op or underwhelming either. What armies are you struggling against(if any) and why?

Looking forward to what the dakka-ites have to say about the space wolves. Any input is appreciated.

Thanks

HQ
Space Wolves synergise well with just about any HQ aura buff.
Unique Characters are a bit situational but Harold is a monster.
Wolf Priests are a bit overpriced unless you plan on spamming HQs on Thunderwolves.
Wolf Guard Battle Leader with Jump Pack useful in most phases and probably the best bang for your buck.
Iron Priests are now HQ only options but they're brilliant options if you're planning on advancing with any kind of a mechanical wall.
TROOPS
Grey Hunters cost 14ppm but come equipped with Bolter, Bolt Pistol and Chainsword.
Now that Transports aren't just ways of gathering troops together to die together they'll even see melee as whole units on the odd occassion.
ELITES
Wolf Guard Bikers are almost capable of being what TWC was in the last edition. Capable of taking a Bolter free, Storm Shield 5ppm and Chainsword for a grand total of 39ppm, people suggest coughing up the extra 2ppm to turn the Bolters into Storm Bolters and it is good advice but I'd leave it until you have points left to spend rather than buying them as you buy the Bikers.
Shield and Axe Ven Dreads, three Shield Dreads with two Iron Priests will get where they're going and sponge amazing amounts of firepower on the way.
Wulfen are Wulfen, they've barely changed since 7th but the curse is now either re-rolls to charge or extra attacks, can't be both.
Wolf Scouts have pseudo-deepstrike and Sniper Rifles are nice pieces.
Fast Attack
TWC have lost access to S10 and one modifiable attack but are now packing an extra wound and three unmodifiable S5 ap-1.
Swiftclaws are the El Cheapo option to WG Bikers, they're not much cheaper but they have a minimum squad of three rather than five enabling you to have more high speed units on the ground to force split attention.
HEAVY SUPPORT
Long Fangs have finally recieved a bonus for being expensive aside from just access to Heavy Weapons Fire Discipline is brilliant. Choose an enemy model at the start of the shooting phase to fire on and re-roll ones to hit when firing at that model.

Things have changed in 8th edition and all-rounder armies like Space Marines have profited hugely from them, playstyles like most Space Wolves armies especially.
Being able to unload pepper weaponry like Bolters into a scruff unit then charge another type of threat for making use of our heavier hitting melee weaponry with the one unit is simply HUGE for us.

Wolf guard terminators and arjac are also solid options. Blood claws can be buffed by characters like Ulrik or wulfen and be quite good in close combat. Lukas finally viable, but he's extremely overpriced.

Rune priests on bikes can be useful, but they're a bit overpriced for what they do. I still prefer them over wolf priests though.

The stormwolf is not bad either, it's a flyer, has a great transport capacity and some anti tank, just avoid multi meltas in order to keep it as cheap as possible. Rhinos, razorbacks and the crusader are also good options.

 Blackie wrote:
Wolf guard terminators and arjac are also solid options. Blood claws can be buffed by characters like Ulrik or wulfen and be quite good in close combat. Lukas finally viable, but he's extremely overpriced.

Rune priests on bikes can be useful, but they're a bit overpriced for what they do. I still prefer them over wolf priests though.

The stormwolf is not bad either, it's a flyer, has a great transport capacity and some anti tank, just avoid multi meltas in order to keep it as cheap as possible. Rhinos, razorbacks and the crusader are also good options.

I prefer Jump Packs over Bikes, probably because I use a number of deep strike shenanigans. You can hide behind units that you've just given a major save boost to with Storm Caller so survivability isn't as huge as it was last edition, same with Tempest's Wrath, although that eighteen inch range is a drag.

Glad to hear that most units seem to be at least somewhat viable. Really glad to know that grey hunters come with a ccw and only cost 14ppm. I might actually have a reason to buy some bikes now which is cool but i think i will get more twc or wulfen first or maybe a flyer, might be a tougher decision now lol.

Long fangs sound pretty amazing now. What are loading them with in 8th? I have most of mine with missile launchers and a couple las cannons.

How are rune priest doing now? I've always liked using them, how can you pass up on a guy who shoots lightning from his fingers, or summons a storm to slow down his enemy or conceal allies.

When i first looked at dreadnoughts in 8th they sounded like they were gonna be much more survivable for the most part, is this true or is the axe and shield still the only way for them to survive at all.

Are terminators any good now? I know they got 2 wounds but it seems like plasma will still wipe them out too fast.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I'm also wondering if anybody is using the primaris marines with space wolves and if they're any good.

 Son of Russ wrote:
Glad to hear that most units seem to be at least somewhat viable. Really glad to know that grey hunters come with a ccw and only cost 14ppm. I might actually have a reason to buy some bikes now which is cool but i think i will get more twc or wulfen first or maybe a flyer, might be a tougher decision now lol.

Long fangs sound pretty amazing now. What are loading them with in 8th? I have most of mine with missile launchers and a couple las cannons.

How are rune priest doing now? I've always liked using them, how can you pass up on a guy who shoots lightning from his fingers, or summons a storm to slow down his enemy or conceal allies.

When i first looked at dreadnoughts in 8th they sounded like they were gonna be much more survivable for the most part, is this true or is the axe and shield still the only way for them to survive at all.

Are terminators any good now? I know they got 2 wounds but it seems like plasma will still wipe them out too fast.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I'm also wondering if anybody is using the primaris marines with space wolves and if they're any good.

Primaris are a bit overcosted for what they offer.

Wolf Guard Terminators are better than they were last edition but they still swap out the wrong weapons to get a Storm Shield and for good reason. But if you don't mind keeping the Powerfists or taking one or two lesser Power Weapons you can survive the Plasma pretty good.

Dreads lost access to the Drop Pods but have an eight inch movement and eight wounds, personally I took ane Shield Dread, two normal Dreads and two Iron Priests on Bikes, they survived pretty good against a lot of firepower - two shield Dreads might have been better but there's also arguments for just upgrading one to a Ven Dread for the extra BS to minimise the Heavy Weapon penalty.

Uhh yeah...out of those three things the Rune Priest can only conceal allies with the storms unless you want to count Smite as lightning bolts.

Missile Launchers and Heavy Bolters for my Long Fangs but I load them out last. People who hook them up earlier would probably use Las or Plasma Cannons.

Wolf Guard Bikers are the new hotness.
They have two wounds and come armed with Chainswords, Bolt Pistols and Grenades.
Grab a free Bolter - not swap, grab.
Swap the Bolt Pistol for a five point Storm Shield.
If you have leftover points upgrading as many of the Bolters as possible to Combi-Bolters 'cough' Storm Bolters 'cough' for two points a pop is good value.

I only have 4 missile launchers long fangs, but I absolutely want to try 4-8 plasma cannons. Of course overcharging everytime Since they can re-reroll ones this shouldn't be a problem and the best plasma profile is very good.

Lascannons can be helpful too but they're anti-tank only and both plasma cannons and missiles can serve that role pretty well while also being quite good against other stuff.

Heavy bolters are also cool, but since we can now have bikes that throw 8 S4 shots I'd go with them if I need to clear hordes.

 Blackie wrote:
I only have 4 missile launchers long fangs, but I absolutely want to try 4-8 plasma cannons. Of course overcharging everytime Since they can re-reroll ones this shouldn't be a problem and the best plasma profile is very good.

Lascannons can be helpful too but they're anti-tank only and both plasma cannons and missiles can serve that role pretty well while also being quite good against other stuff.

Heavy bolters are also cool, but since we can now have bikes that throw 8 S4 shots I'd go with them if I need to clear hordes.

I hate D- shot and D- damage weapons, they're like bait designed to absorb Command Points.
I fall for that way too often.
I like the Heavy Bolter, it's got a good range, good ROF, admittedly you'll never be wounding on 2+ but it has enough hitting power that you're rarely chasing sixes and it comes for a good price.
Bikes can chase the hoards, I'll either add to the hoard thinning or chase slightly bigger targets like vehicles.

Alright so it sounds like i should get myself some bikes to put some wolfguard on. I would really like to be able to field some termies for a change, it's been a long time since I've put them on a table.

So are you guys liking 8th and do you like how space wolves play now better or how they were in any previous editions?

 Son of Russ wrote:
Alright so it sounds like i should get myself some bikes to put some wolfguard on. I would really like to be able to field some termies for a change, it's been a long time since I've put them on a table.

So are you guys liking 8th and do you like how space wolves play now better or how they were in any previous editions?

There's no reason you can't, they're not bad just more multi-purpose than most Space Wolves players choose to go for, if your playstyle or meta is a good fit for them they have a purpose.
Of course, if you could find a teleport homing beacon available to the Space Wolves that would make the Wolf Guard Terminators AMAZING.
Termie 5' movement is a drag but their deepstrike gives them the ability to drop straight into enemy teritory so long as you aren't within 9' of enemy models.

Terminators are also great to ride along with Arjac in a Crusader or Stormwolf, helps with their crap movement.

i played a couple games in 3rd.. then a few in 7th. and a good bunch in 8th

Ive got Canis and 2 packs of riders with an assortment of weapons all with shields. 3 full packs of wolves, 2 flamer packs of grey hunters and 1 blood claw pack.

these guys are solid. ive played parts of them against dark angels and primaris ultramarines. wining more then loosing. so far my best performing units this edition are the thunderwolf riders along side of their wolf lords, or my deathwing knights along side an ancient or chapter master. Honour duels are tied 5:5 for my sons of wolf vs sons of lions.

 Son of Russ wrote:
Alright so it sounds like i should get myself some bikes to put some wolfguard on. I would really like to be able to field some termies for a change, it's been a long time since I've put them on a table.

Yup, Wolf Guard bikers with Storm Bolters are awesome with 8 shots each up to 12" for only 180 points for a pack. Even if you give them Storm Shields, they only weigh in at just over 200 points. Personally I would probably give them a bit of CC power for when they are facing opponents would could out-shoot them. 2 Storm Shields and a couple of wolf claws and possibly 1 TH mean they can threaten anything in the game.

Our Terminators are probably slightly better than regular Marine ones as they can be loaded more flexibly. If you go, storm bolter and power fist, they cost the more than Codex Terminators but you could instead go for Storm Bolter and Wolf claw. This build is 6 points cheaper than a Codex Terminator but almost as good. He actually hits harder against most infantry as he is hitting most infantry on a 3+ and wounding on a 3+ with a reroll which is better than a power fist hitting on a 4+ and wounding on a 2+. He is slightly weaker against big targets like vehicles and monsters as the Claw only does 1 wound per hit but he can still hold his own.

Our CC Terminators cost the same but our Wolf Claws get +1S compared to Lightning Claws. Our classic TH/SS can be massively improved by running with Arjac who makes this squad unbelievably brutal. Add a Wolf Priest and put the squad in a Land Raider and you can comfortably demolish a Knight in a single round of combat.

 Karhedron wrote:

 Son of Russ wrote:
Alright so it sounds like i should get myself some bikes to put some wolfguard on. I would really like to be able to field some termies for a change, it's been a long time since I've put them on a table.

Yup, Wolf Guard bikers with Storm Bolters are awesome with 8 shots each up to 12" for only 180 points for a pack. Even if you give them Storm Shields, they only weigh in at just over 200 points. Personally I would probably give them a bit of CC power for when they are facing opponents would could out-shoot them. 2 Storm Shields and a couple of wolf claws and possibly 1 TH mean they can threaten anything in the game.

Our Terminators are probably slightly better than regular Marine ones as they can be loaded more flexibly. If you go, storm bolter and power fist, they cost the more than Codex Terminators but you could instead go for Storm Bolter and Wolf claw. This build is 6 points cheaper than a Codex Terminator but almost as good. He actually hits harder against most infantry as he is hitting most infantry on a 3+ and wounding on a 3+ with a reroll which is better than a power fist hitting on a 4+ and wounding on a 2+. He is slightly weaker against big targets like vehicles and monsters as the Claw only does 1 wound per hit but he can still hold his own.

Our CC Terminators cost the same but our Wolf Claws get +1S compared to Lightning Claws. Our classic TH/SS can be massively improved by running with Arjac who makes this squad unbelievably brutal. Add a Wolf Priest and put the squad in a Land Raider and you can comfortably demolish a Knight in a single round of combat.

That I would pay to see.
It'd do the same to a Wrathknight?

 Dakka Wolf wrote:

 Karhedron wrote:
Our CC Terminators cost the same but our Wolf Claws get +1S compared to Lightning Claws. Our classic TH/SS can be massively improved by running with Arjac who makes this squad unbelievably brutal. Add a Wolf Priest and put the squad in a Land Raider and you can comfortably demolish a Knight in a single round of combat.

That I would pay to see.
It'd do the same to a Wrathknight?

Yup, should do. If you run the maths on Arjac, 5 TH/SS WG and a Wolf Priest you get the following.

The WG get 3 attacks each, hitting on a 4+ and getting rerolls thanks to the priest which averages to just over 11 hits. Half of those will wound but Arjac allows you to reroll 1s to Wound so you get 6.6 wounding hits. Against a Wraithcannon Knight, he will get a 6+ save and each failed save causes 3 wounds which equates to 16 wounds. If he has a shield then it is slightly lower at 13 wounds.

Arjac gets to throw his hammer before charging causing 1 wound on average. Then he strikes in combat 5 attacks, hitting on a 2+ with rerolls from the Priest. He wounds on a 3+ with rerolls of a 1 causing an average of 9 wounds on a Wraithcannon Knight or 7 on a shielded Knight.

So the unshielded Knight is deader than dodo. If the Knight has a shield, it might clinging on with 2-3 wounds remaining. The Wolf Priest might chip one off if you are lucky but is not really equipped for the job. If you are facing a Wraithknight with a shield, try to strip off 3-4 wounds before you charge to make sure you get the kill and the Knight does not start tap-dancing on your Wolf Guard.

However it is worth pointing out that this little lot costs 140 points for Arjac, 100-ish points for the Priest, 280 points for the Terminators and a bit over 300 points for the LRC takiung you a total of 850 points so it really should kill 500-ish points of Wraithknight.

What do you guys think think about putting a Jump Pack on Wolf Priests and keeping them in reserves until something needs healing, deploying them for an instant heal, is this viable, or even legal (coming in from reserves and healing both happen at the same time, who chooses which comes first?).

Just wanted any thoughts.

Seems fine to me. According to the "Sequencing" part of the rules it states if two things happen at the time time then the controlling player decides which order they happen.

Cool, do you think it's a good idea though (112pts per model min.) I was thinking of keeping them ready to save my Thunderwolf Cavalry when they need it.

Yeah, sounds good. I'm really liking Wolf Priests in this edition despite what I've seen of people saying they're overcosted.

I've been having one accompany my Wulfen in a Stormwolf lately, but I think he'd probably have more mileage helping out TW with them having lots of wounds - I just wanted him for the thunder hammer re-rolls.

Nice, I was thinking about transport for my Blood Claws/Terminators recently, is the Stormwolf good in this edition? I was thinking about going for a Land Raider Redeemer.

 JKSoper wrote:
What do you guys think think about putting a Jump Pack on Wolf Priests and keeping them in reserves until something needs healing, deploying them for an instant heal, is this viable, or even legal (coming in from reserves and healing both happen at the same time, who chooses which comes first?).

Should work OK. Unlike SM Apothecaries they cannot resurrect fallen Marines so their healing abilities are limited to multiwound models which is Terminators, bikes, TWC and Characters I think. Personally I think they are as valuable (if not more so) for their rerolls in CC. They give Thunderhammers the reliability they need to get around that -1WS.

The more Characters you have the better the Wolf Priest is.
I wouldn't bother with him unless you're packing Characters and TWC though.

 JKSoper wrote:
Nice, I was thinking about transport for my Blood Claws/Terminators recently, is the Stormwolf good in this edition? I was thinking about going for a Land Raider Redeemer.

Yeah. Big fan of the Stormwolf this edition - love having it start on the board turn 1. Ideally with the multimeltas but they're very expensive (actually looking at it now, they make it just a little bit more than LRR). Not as durable as the various LR - I've played a couple of games now where it's been shot off the board in the opponents first shooting phase because I'd moved it straight into their lines. On the upside it did take their whole armies' worth of shooting to bring down and then thanks to 50" move you're still able to deploy your Wulfen/Terminators/Blood Claws right in the their deployment zone.

It can also fallback and still be able to shoot, I think, because of the Fly keyword. Which is a downside to the LR (not that you'd have a good time assaulting the LRR with all those automatic overwatch hits lol)

Patch wrote:
It can also fallback and still be able to shoot, I think, because of the Fly keyword.

It can, indeed although if it is going supersonic, it can move normally and does not need to Fall Back as such.

So far I am liking the double Assault Cannon Razors, just not sure what to put in them

For a Battalion I was thinking 5x GH with a plasma gun and plasma pistol, WGPL with combi plas, but for a Vanguard I'm liking the idea 6x Storm Bolter PAWG, possibly with a combi plas in there.

Anyone tried these out?

Also, at 350+ points the MM Stormwolf seems pricey but it can put out a buttload of wounds. For 279 the 12 HB shots are nothing to sniff at, should I pry the MM's off my Stormwolf and magnetize them with the HBs or just leave it for now?

I think that 2 multimeltas on a platform that is fast enough to get close to juicy targets and tough enough to withstand a bit of retaliation is pretty good armament. Yes 350-ish points is pricey but I think it is a worthwhile investment. I don't have a Stormwolf but my Storm Raven fills the same niche for my Blood Angels and I have gone with MMs there.

I ran 2 packs of 5 Hunters + WGPL, 1 with plasma and one with melta/combi-meltas, both riding in Assault Cannon razorbacks. They did very well and I was happy with them so I will be taking them again. I will also be getting a Wolf Claw for the WGPL and a power axe for the GHPL as a bit of extra CC punch never hurts.

 Karhedron wrote:
I think that 2 multimeltas on a platform that is fast enough to get close to juicy targets and tough enough to withstand a bit of retaliation is pretty good armament. Yes 350-ish points is pricey but I think it is a worthwhile investment. I don't have a Stormwolf but my Storm Raven fills the same niche for my Blood Angels and I have gone with MMs there.

I ran 2 packs of 5 Hunters + WGPL, 1 with plasma and one with melta/combi-meltas, both riding in Assault Cannon razorbacks. They did very well and I was happy with them so I will be taking them again. I will also be getting a Wolf Claw for the WGPL and a power axe for the GHPL as a bit of extra CC punch never hurts.

I'd also suggest taking the plasma pistol.

 More Dakka wrote:
So far I am liking the double Assault Cannon Razors, just not sure what to put in them

For a Battalion I was thinking 5x GH with a plasma gun and plasma pistol, WGPL with combi plas, but for a Vanguard I'm liking the idea 6x Storm Bolter PAWG, possibly with a combi plas in there.

Anyone tried these out?

Also, at 350+ points the MM Stormwolf seems pricey but it can put out a buttload of wounds. For 279 the 12 HB shots are nothing to sniff at, should I pry the MM's off my Stormwolf and magnetize them with the HBs or just leave it for now?

I'm also loving the AssBacks this edition - I don't think there's a game I've played where I haven't taken the two I have and I'm looking to add a third.

I'm trying a Vanguard list out tomorrow and Monday with two squads of 4x Storm Bolter PAWG and a combi-plas in the Razorbacks, so I'll let you know how it goes. Hoping they'll just camp on objectives and be a nuisance whilst dedicated CC stuff stomps around causing the main threats.

I've mostly been running the MM Stormwolf, but I'm going to proxy it with HBs over the next couple of games to see how that goes too.

Shameless plug for the list - https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/732591.page

 More Dakka wrote:
So far I am liking the double Assault Cannon Razors, just not sure what to put in them

For a Battalion I was thinking 5x GH with a plasma gun and plasma pistol, WGPL with combi plas, but for a Vanguard I'm liking the idea 6x Storm Bolter PAWG, possibly with a combi plas in there.

Anyone tried these out?

Also, at 350+ points the MM Stormwolf seems pricey but it can put out a buttload of wounds. For 279 the 12 HB shots are nothing to sniff at, should I pry the MM's off my Stormwolf and magnetize them with the HBs or just leave it for now?

Twin Assault Cannons are absolutely wonderful for offing TEQ and below, and that was before I knew they cost seven points less than two assault cannons *derp*

jcd386 wrote:

 Karhedron wrote:
I ran 2 packs of 5 Hunters + WGPL, 1 with plasma and one with melta/combi-meltas, both riding in Assault Cannon razorbacks. They did very well and I was happy with them so I will be taking them again. I will also be getting a Wolf Claw for the WGPL and a power axe for the GHPL as a bit of extra CC punch never hurts.

I'd also suggest taking the plasma pistol.

Yup, good call.