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So I could have won another local Tourney, but in the second round, I went against a guy with 1 HUGE Thunderwolf unit. The unit had 3 TWC + 5 IC (2 of them Iron Priests) and a mix of Fenris/Cyber wolf meat shields. The only other units he had where 2 Drop Pods of min BloodClaws + Teminator characters and 1 Drop Pod with shiled/axe Dread.

As I was a bit overconfident in my ability to kill all the TWC's, I didn't bother to ask about any rules. I have played Space Wolves plenty of times and have never failed to kill all the TWC (I play Eldar).

The thing that got me, though was that he claimed to have a built-in Warlord Trait that grants ALL of his army FNP. I took him at his word, despite him admitting to being a really new player (but generally old guy). He could NOT fail his FNP for anything! 60+ scatter laser shots, 2 Heavy Psycannons from my GK DreadKnights and 2 Wraithknight D shots and all I killed turn 1 was a handful of Cyber/Fenris wolves. I only managed to kill half the unit by charging in both DK's and WK before he pounded all 3 into dust.

After the tourney, I got to thinking: If there was a TWC character that had a set FNP trait, why the HECK is he not in every list?????

I do not have access to a Space Wolf codex. Can anyone tell me if this was even possible?

EDIT: I have seen one Warlord Trait that give the WL and his unit only a 6+ FNP, but so many of his rolls were only 5's and I should have wiped the unit in 2 turns if that is the trait he was using.

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Did he have a wolf priest, they give the unit a 6 plus FNP, but only the unit he is in. There is also a warlord trait that give the warlord a 6 plus FNP. However as far as I know there is nothing in the game that gives the entire army FNP.

Anytime your opponent brings up something that doesn't sound right or is very powerful, NEVER take their word for it. Politely ask them to produce a book or pdf that can confirm it.

Did he perchance have a blood angels apothecary miexed in there on a bike. That is very common. As well as white scars librarius conclave for biomancy.

He could have thought they stacked. There is a Saga and the Wolf Priest does it at well.

It would explain the mistake a new player makes, but it's not exactly cheating.

I say he technically cheated, but probably not intentionally.

The Warlord Trait that gives FnP is Saga of the Bear, which no special character on a Thunderwolf has (Harald Deathwolf and Canis Wolfborn both have Saga of the Wolfkin), so he has to roll for it and it's not "built in" in any sense.

As for Wolf Priests (who are the only ones with healing balms as far as I know), they can't ride on Thunderwolves. But they can ride bikes.

He probably thought the two stacked because in Codex: Space Marines the Iron Hands version stacked (however, the stacking there is explicitly written in the rules as a special case).

He said he was fielding pure SW, no allies, no Champions of Fenris supplement. All his characters in the TWC unit were on TW, but he said one came with the trait, so next time I will have to call him on it.

I am fairly positive he wasn't cheating intentionally. I am just frustrated because I probably would have won the entire tourney if I hadn't lost to him on the second round. I distinctly remember he rolled lots of 5's, so in my first round of shooting, I should have killed at least 2 TWC, thus denying him his first turn charge, since one of those models was the only one close enough. This would have given me a whole turn more to shoot at the TWC. AND his 2 Drop Pod units would not have had FNP, meaning they would have died or been crippled too.

This guy won the tourney due to misunderstanding his own rules, which means the next time we play, I have the uncomfortable task of explaining it to him.

As far as I know, the only HQ choices that can take a TWC is the Wolf Lord (and possibly WGBL but I never looked into him and I'm away from my codex atm), Harald Deathwolf and Canis Wolfborn. In the latter two cases they're both special characters that must take them.

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:
As far as I know, the only HQ choices that can take a TWC is the Wolf Lord (and possibly WGBL but I never looked into him and I'm away from my codex atm), Harald Deathwolf and Canis Wolfborn. In the latter two cases they're both special characters that must take them.

Iron Priests can also take a Thunderwolf mount + Cyber wolves/regular wolves.

WGBL's get the mounts as well obviously.

Both types of Priests are limited to bikes & Jump packs only IIRC.

I said HQ choices Iron Priests are, as of this writing, still Elites.

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:
I said HQ choices Iron Priests are, as of this writing, still Elites.

Well durp. Getting too ahead of myself.

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:
I say he technically cheated, but probably not intentionally.

The Warlord Trait that gives FnP is Saga of the Bear, which no special character on a Thunderwolf has (Harald Deathwolf and Canis Wolfborn both have Saga of the Wolfkin), so he has to roll for it and it's not "built in" in any sense.

As for Wolf Priests (who are the only ones with healing balms as far as I know), they can't ride on Thunderwolves. But they can ride bikes.

He probably thought the two stacked because in Codex: Space Marines the Iron Hands version stacked (however, the stacking there is explicitly written in the rules as a special case).

What is most interesting is that Galef lost in the second round. Which means there was a first and at least a third round where this guy played someone else who also didn't call him out on it. This is a major problem with the current game. There are so many formations, mega formation, etc. that each offer up special rules its very possible to get it wrong and its impossible for everyone to know everything about all armies that accidental (heck even intentional cheating) is a real possibility.

The last tournament I went to, I knew exactly everything about the four opponents I had and how their armies worked. It was much easier to familiarize yourself with each army in the game back when they each only had one codex and there was a much smaller number of special rules.

 Galef wrote:
He said he was fielding pure SW, no allies, no Champions of Fenris supplement. All his characters in the TWC unit were on TW, but he said one came with the trait, so next time I will have to call him on it.

I am fairly positive he wasn't cheating intentionally. I am just frustrated because I probably would have won the entire tourney if I hadn't lost to him on the second round. I distinctly remember he rolled lots of 5's, so in my first round of shooting, I should have killed at least 2 TWC, thus denying him his first turn charge, since one of those models was the only one close enough. This would have given me a whole turn more to shoot at the TWC. AND his 2 Drop Pod units would not have had FNP, meaning they would have died or been crippled too.

This guy won the tourney due to misunderstanding his own rules, which means the next time we play, I have the uncomfortable task of explaining it to him.

If you're not familiar with a rule, ask to see the codex. If the rule is poorly written, ask a judge to rule on how it works. Those two steps will solve every rules question you will ever have at a tournament, including this one.