Owoo!! Space Wolf Tactica: 8th Edition.

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**Azuza001**

Well if your charging crisis suits then there isn't much you can do, just hit them hard is the best suggestion i can give. They are going to fly away if they survive. Hidden thunder hammers / power fists can help there to finish an already damaged group. But in the end you can only do so much.

I play tau a lot, though not often with my wolves. If its crisis suits your having issues with i think heavy bolters are a must to have in numbers. Wounds suits on 4's, all other basic units on 3's, cheap, effective. For terminators wolf claws are ace against tau, with a few storm bolter storm shield guys for protection. Wolf scouts can also be useful, for the 100 pts you can get a decent number of plasma shots coming in outflank to hit a side hard.

Herald deathwolf loves tau. 2++ vs shooting? Overwatch doesn't matter to him, and he can outflank for free as well. Put some wulfen with him and you have an incredible outflank force that can really do damage.

Other than that grey hunters are where i would go. 10 man teams in rhinos moving up and hit him with numbers, grey hunters do well in shooting and cc for a low cost.

**Garrlor**

A maxed out grey hunter squad with 2 plasma guns, a plasma pistol, combi plasma and 2 power fists comes to 202 points. Plus a Rhino to get them upfield. Or drop pod them in to murderize something, as they can all take chainswords for CC goodness. The plus side to this is any shooting on the deepstrike has to attack the drop pod, not the unit inside.

85 points for a wolf scout squad with a missile launcher, or 65 with a heavy bolter. I like the idea of a vanguard detachment with 3 sets of wolf scouts for some infiltration shenanigans.

As stated above, Harald Deathwolf loves overwatch, he saves everything! And you can give him a bodyguard of Fen Wolves which can use his leadership.

**lindsay40k**

Hmm. How are y’all delivering melee Terminators to Tau? They’re a pretty mobile army, Fire Warrior gunlines notwithstanding. Also, how many in a squad?

**Azuza001**

Deep strike is how i do it. Yea tau are mobile, but not everything in a tau force is. Many opponents will put their big stuff into a corner and surround it. Remember our terms can be heavily customized. Drop a squad of 5 in, 4 cc setup, one with an assualt cannon setup, corner them and charge. If wulfen happen to be near them suddenly they can reroll failed charges.... makes it easier to get in. If your opponent runs a highly mobile tau force then terms probably are not the best option. But if they have some of the bigger things there like a stormsurge, that thing is only moving if its scared. Make it scared.

Also wolf guard on bikes can be ungodly stupid. 5 bikers all equipped with storm shields and storm bolters move 14", have 2 t5 3++ saves, and fire 40 bolter shots at 12" for 215 pts. Want anti big stuff? Give them combi meltas or combi plasma (though i dont want to make mine any more expensive than they already are) and with that kind of speed they should be able to get into range and kill firewarriors before they can do anything. And they can charge important things, some should survive no matter how much overwatch is fired, giving your bigger / better cc stuff a chance to get in easy.

If i was going to go up right now against tau this is what i would take. I would force the issue.

Spoiler:

I would rather take 3 squads of 10 on the grey hunters, possibly another rhino for 3 running up the table, popping smoke t1. That -1 to hit cant be ignored.

The thought process is move up, get into position, and put maximum pressure against the tau lines. This helps keep the longfangs alive. Use them to target things that can kill your infantry quickly, or big open targets. Wolf lord, wolf battle leader, and thinderwolves move up with bikes and go after drones and infantry that are avalible to hit. Wulfen, herald, and scouts, outflank. They show up t2 where needed, popping off 6 plasma shots rerolling 1's, and charging rerolling failed charges. Thunderwolves should also be in charge range, grey hunters should be deployed and unloading on their targets as well, and if any rhinos survived by now charge them in to soak overwatch. Turn 3.... profit? Lol. But thats how i would do it

**COLD CASH**

Starting to get antsy about no info on codex!! struggling to keep my hopes down becuz dont wanna be crushed by a grey knight wolf dex!! just incase they mess it up.

Arggggh wish i still smoked!!!

**BrianDavion**

COLD CASH wrote:
Starting to get antsy about no info on codex!! struggling to keep my hopes down becuz dont wanna be crushed by a grey knight wolf dex!! just incase they mess it up.

Arggggh wish i still smoked!!!

I'm expecting something on par with the other space marine chapter codexes, so medocire to reasonably good. my concern is honestly from a fluff POV, that the primaris Marines will start to see the sons of russ be homogonized with the codex marine chapters, which would be a right shame.

**meleti**

We’re on the home stretch now. Hopefully.

**lindsay40k**

My best friend’s recently got a Spartan and ten Wulfen, and she’s struggling to make them work - my own army usually has Melta and las that works fairly efficiently against it, and Fiends of Slaanesh that really wind her up by preventing fall backs, and Sorcerers that really wind her up by killing Storm Shields with Death Hex. Any advice for her? She also likes to field a Knight (shooty one) and Long Fangs, sometimes in a Bastion.

**Azuza001**

Wulfen with storm shields and thunder hammers should be able to survive a LOT of punishment. 2 wounds, 3++/5+++ save, and fast as russ. Put them with a lord on a wolf (or herald deathwolf for ultimate lols) and thats one squad outflanking and killing something dead no matter what it is.

How are her wulfen kitted out?

Cant help with the rest. Sorry.

**lindsay40k**

Whoa! We’d completely overlooked flanking.

She’s also keen on Terminators. I’ve had limited fortune with my own Chaos Terminators, which share SW access to combi-weapons. Arjac is an interesting wildcard, though. Are they viable as a deathstar of sorts? Teleport or Spartan?

Automatically Appended Next Post:
She’s planning a Claws leader, 5 THSS, 4 axes on the Wulfen

**combatcotton**

Slaanesh termis can fire twice unless that is an option here I would -currently- stay away from any terminators.

**BrianDavion**

combatcotton wrote:
Slaanesh termis can fire twice unless that is an option here I would -currently- stay away from any terminators.

I'm honestly hoping for a terminator specific stratgium, maybe one that improves the invul save for a round. that'd not be OP, sure it means shield equipped termies could get a 2++ but cap it out at 3++ and it'd work or even just let the termies have a 2++ for a round, somehow I doubt it'd be game breakingly unbalanced.

**Marmatag**

I'm going to start collecting Space Wolves soon.

I don't know if it will be a viable army, but i'm essentially thinking of going with:

1x Canis Wolfborn
5x TWC (3 hammers + shields, 2 chainswords + pistols)
5x TWC (3 hammers + shields, 2 chainswords + pistols)
5x TWC (3 hammers + shields, 2 chainswords + pistols)

Knight Valiant

Battalion Imperial Guard

**Northern85Star**

Just pondering here, how about a TDA heavy list with Logan Grimnar? Re-rolling all misses. Arjac also gains this bonus, and could further buff with re-roll 1s to wound. Could be a devastating deepstrike, but might be better with just WG with jump packs, to get as many points into models and weapons as possible.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Marmatag wrote:
I'm going to start collecting Space Wolves soon.

I don't know if it will be a viable army, but i'm essentially thinking of going with:

1x Canis Wolfborn
5x TWC (3 hammers + shields, 2 chainswords + pistols)
5x TWC (3 hammers + shields, 2 chainswords + pistols)
5x TWC (3 hammers + shields, 2 chainswords + pistols)

Knight Valiant

Battalion Imperial Guard

Give TWC with chainsword stormshield. These are the ones you want to allocate wounds to first.

**Marmatag**

Northern85Star wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Marmatag wrote:
I'm going to start collecting Space Wolves soon.

I don't know if it will be a viable army, but i'm essentially thinking of going with:

1x Canis Wolfborn
5x TWC (3 hammers + shields, 2 chainswords + pistols)
5x TWC (3 hammers + shields, 2 chainswords + pistols)
5x TWC (3 hammers + shields, 2 chainswords + pistols)

Knight Valiant

Battalion Imperial Guard

Give TWC with chainsword stormshield. These are the ones you want to allocate wounds to first.

Yes smart. Some of this is holdover thinking from previous editions.

**COLD CASH**

I would not commit to a full twc army before the codex drops!!
They are not the best.

I would mix it up with wulfen who are the best killy unit we have at the moment.

**gwarsh41**

lindsay40k wrote:
My best friend’s recently got a Spartan and ten Wulfen, and she’s struggling to make them work - my own army usually has Melta and las that works fairly efficiently against it, and Fiends of Slaanesh that really wind her up by preventing fall backs, and Sorcerers that really wind her up by killing Storm Shields with Death Hex. Any advice for her? She also likes to field a Knight (shooty one) and Long Fangs, sometimes in a Bastion.

Well the bad news is that Wulfen cannot ride in a spartan as far as I am aware. I don't think any FW vehicles can transport Wulfen due to them not listing them as a passenger option.

Outflank them with the stratagem and deep strike a wolf priest near them for the re-rolls. Sounds like her list has too many big point investments that allow you to have an easy time with target priority.

**phydaux**

I'm starting to see that one of the keys to building a good all-comers army list lies in taking units that you DON'T want to take, but that fill a key role that the fluffy units you DO want to take can't do.

For example, I WANT my Wolves army to be 100% classic Marines, with nearly half the points/drops taken up by Grey Hunters. I DON'T want to take Primaris marines. But Agressors have the high ROF firepower to deal with Hordes like the Cultist meatshield or the Ork Green Tide. And Hellblasters have the massive plasma dakka to deal with MEQs.

Suddenly I'm playing shooty Space Wolves. Why is that?

**beir**

phydaux wrote:
I'm starting to see that one of the keys to building a good all-comers army list lies in taking units that you DON'T want to take, but that fill a key role that the fluffy units you DO want to take can't do.

For example, I WANT my Wolves army to be 100% classic Marines, with nearly half the points/drops taken up by Grey Hunters. I DON'T want to take Primaris marines. But Agressors have the high ROF firepower to deal with Hordes like the Cultist meatshield or the Ork Green Tide. And Hellblasters have the massive plasma dakka to deal with MEQs.

Suddenly I'm playing shooty Space Wolves. Why is that?

I think that shooty Space Wolves with a few hard-hitting melee units has always been the right way to play the chapter. We're still marines, after all.

My favorite SW lists always have plenty of mid-range punch followed by some melee to deal the finishing blow to things.

**ZergSmasher**

I just really hope TWC are good in the codex. I've got 9 of them (most still on sprues) plus Canis Wolfborn. Plus they are such badass models; I don't know where some of the hate I've heard comes from. In the Index, they are a little too expensive once you put decent gear on them, so fingers crossed that they'll fix this for the codex (not holding my breath after seeing what happened with Tau Crisis Suits).

**Ulfhednar_42**

gwarsh41 wrote:

Well the bad news is that Wulfen cannot ride in a spartan as far as I am aware. I don't think any FW vehicles can transport Wulfen due to them not listing them as a passenger option.

RAW - Wulfen are <Space Wolves> Infantry, so 25 can ride in a Spartan. 2 passes of FAQ have not changed the text. (And they are banned from termites by name, so forgeworld is at least aware of the keyword even if it’s unmentioned for the index transports).

I tend to ask my opponent if I should count them as terminators for ‘model count’ and transportability.

I think it’s only come up once or twice. They’re usually flying or flanking.

**Northern85Star**

Well, that is a loophole. The index specifies which transports can hold Wulfen - either on the datasheet or at the list of available units from the SM index that SW can take. So even though RAW would enable wulfen in ALL FW transports, GW probably meant for it to be specified in regards to wulfen.

FW.. if you thought GW couldnt get it right, then behold xD

**Azuza001**

Grey Hunters are the BEST basic marine variant that exists in all codexes at the moment. Why? They were smart enough to bring a Bolter, Bolt Pistol, and a Chainsword. They work fine as ranged units and as close combat support. I can't wait for our Codex, all we need really are relics and stratagems to be a better force.

**BrianDavion**

Azuza001 wrote:
Grey Hunters are the BEST basic marine variant that exists in all codexes at the moment. Why? They were smart enough to bring a Bolter, Bolt Pistol, and a Chainsword. They work fine as ranged units and as close combat support. I can't wait for our Codex, all we need really are relics and stratagems to be a better force.

assuming of course SWs don't get hosed on points costs I suspect they're going to be the strongest Marine Codex easily, althjough relics and warlord traits will detirmine if a Wolf Lord version of Slamguinius supersceeds the blood angels one

**phydaux**

Azuza001 wrote:
Grey Hunters are the BEST basic marine variant that exists in all codexes at the moment. Why? They were smart enough to bring a Bolter, Bolt Pistol, and a Chainsword. They work fine as ranged units and as close combat support. I can't wait for our Codex, all we need really are relics and stratagems to be a better force.

And the option for two special weapons in a 10-man squad.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

BrianDavion wrote:
Azuza001 wrote:
Grey Hunters are the BEST basic marine variant that exists in all codexes at the moment. Why? They were smart enough to bring a Bolter, Bolt Pistol, and a Chainsword. They work fine as ranged units and as close combat support. I can't wait for our Codex, all we need really are relics and stratagems to be a better force.

assuming of course SWs don't get hosed on points costs I suspect they're going to be the strongest Marine Codex easily, althjough relics and warlord traits will detirmine if a Wolf Lord version of Slamguinius supersceeds the blood angels one

Wolf Lord on a Thunderwolf will become the new Slamguinius. Every SM tournament army will include one.

**BrianDavion**

Could be, I hope TWC is great, given that
I'd be willing to bet money wolf guard bikers will be "index only'd"

**meleti**

ZergSmasher wrote:
I just really hope TWC are good in the codex. I've got 9 of them (most still on sprues) plus Canis Wolfborn. Plus they are such badass models; I don't know where some of the hate I've heard comes from. In the Index, they are a little too expensive once you put decent gear on them, so fingers crossed that they'll fix this for the codex (not holding my breath after seeing what happened with Tau Crisis Suits).

The hate comes from how ridiculous of any idea it is to have Space Marines riding a wolf instead of using a bike/jetbike/jetpack/etc. It really doesn't make a lot of sense to use mounted cavalry when the mount is incredibly vulnerable to gunfire.

**Azuza001**

In the prospero burns book i thought it was hinted at that the thunderwolves were not actual wolves, but what happens after the wulfen form goes on too long. In some ways it makes sense, and the idea of a battle brother riding into battle literally on the back of one who has come before him is kind of interesting.

Having said that..... i miss the days when space wolves were more vikings and less wolf on a wolf within a wolf ship named the wolf of wolfstreet.....

**Northern85Star**

Thunderwolves are a xeno species native to Fenris, i believe the largest of the wolf-like xenos on Fenris. The second largest is the blackmane, from which Ragnar Blackmane got his nickname. There’s of course written alot of bad fluff as to why fielding thunderwolves is viable, like super-strong teeth and claws, and skin that is very resistant yaddayadda. I do field TWC, but i dont like the fluff. Wulfen are much more 40k. I just dont understand why they call it a “curse” when they at the same time are admired.. and so extremely good in battle xD

With the primaris turnover, TWC is probably going to fade out in the next 5 years or so... unless we get primaris TWC. That is my thought.

**ArmchairArbiter**

I like the TWC fluff. I think it makes sense for them to ride TWC. The SW have always been a little more "feral" and a giant wolf from their homeworld that is insanely strong and durable seems fairly viable to me. Well, not only viable but likely considering Space Wolves are supposed to be the "crazy" chapter. Why would they do something that completely makes sense?

I believe they also mention that they augment all the domesticated TWC. So they're super strong naturally but like everything in the Imperium, it is augmented and modified. The teeth are replaced with ceramite teeth or something and metal grafted onto their bones, yadda yadda.

It makes as much sense as a chainsword.

I also like to think that they are too iconic of the SW now for GW to try to phase them out. It would make me really sad... but anything is possible. All TWC need playwise, in my opinion, is to give them the ability to run and still charge and give the marine riding the wolf more attacks.