So further on my Batrep of my 1500 Chaos Wolves vs 1500 Desert Storm Guard game, I would like to look at the game itself and considerations for my list.
The Game
The game went surprisingly OK for me after that crushing first turn. I was surprised at the sheer ferocity of the wolves, even when at half strength… 2 Thunder Wolves taking down 20 guardsmen or 4 marines eating 10 guardsmen. Heck, even the 5 long fangs clubbing Marbo down was pleasing. I realize they’re just guardsmen but with the plethora of power weaponry, rending attacks, & re-rolls from the Wolf Standard, I can see them taking down even marines relatively quickly. I think in larger point games my idea squad would be 9 Grey Hunters (Power Fist, Mark of the Wulfen, Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Rhino) + Wolf Guard (Power Fist, Combi-Melta) for a total of 5 power fist attacks, D6+2 Rending attacks, 2 meltaguns, 21 vanilla attacks and re-rolling all 1s throughout 1 combat (on the charge or counter-charge).
I think I was right in thinking I would be better off reserving everything against any army that can shoot as much as Marshall’s could. If I had, I would have instead come on the long table edge 12” in and smoked. Not only would I have been closer in some cases but I could have used the cover actively instead of having to try to hide behind random pieces in my deployment zone. It would have given my razorbacks at least 1 round of shooting (moving in 6”) however I would have given up my long fangs shooting for a turn. The biggest boon would have been the cover saves though as I had none originally and Marshall destroyed almost everything he pointed his guns at first turn (And there were a lot of guns). If I had gone first however, I would have deployed a lot more aggressively and banked on him not Seizing the Initiative. Hopefully my guns would have silenced a fair number of his allowing my wolves to get close. Essentially, If I could have cracked his chimeras and gotten my wolves into the thick of it, it would have been over. Granted, this is all hypothetical and I’m almost positive Marshall would have deployed differently as well.
The List
My biggest worry with this list came true this game. Do I have enough boots on the field, especially troops. This game made me realize that I definitely don’t! My two big Grey Hunter packs are the workhorses of the army, they need to do everything from combat to grabbing objectives at the end of the game. Against a lot of armies, I need to assume that these will be severely crippled by the end of the game… This really only leaves me with 1 pack (the razorback squad) to grab objectives. If I could fit another Grey Hunter razorback squad in, that would give me two fall-back squads as well as whatever is left from the original squads. Where to find the points? I have 2 empty razorbacks in the list for my long fangs. These were there for a number of reasons;
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The astro has a number of missions that require you to get more of your guys into their deployment zone than they can get into yours.
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To relocate in case of emergency
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To get 14” of movement in a DoW game
However, thinking about these;
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It’s going to take me at least 2 turns of driving to go the 24” into their deployment zone (assuming 2” disembark) which means 16 missiles going to waste… 24 if its a DoW game. I think I’d rather just use them to stop their units from getting to my deployment zone. In the games where you lose a point for having a unit in your deployment zone (price of failure) I’ll just deploy them far enough forward that I sacrifice a turn of shooting on turn 5 to move/run them out of my zone.
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Well, if they assault my long fangs head on, I either let it happen or made a big mistake. In either case, the razorback isn’t going to help. I’m also fairly sure that 5-6 Space Wolves can take on most outflankers when sitting in cover. Assuming I bump the 2 squads up to full strength, that gives me 14 attacks on the counter-charge. Not bad!
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Well, nothing I can do here… Looks like I’m relying on walking on 6” and running to get somewhere I need to be. I don’t think its a huge loss although it might mean I don’t get to deploy with optimal firing lanes.
The other option I looked at was changing up the Thunderwolves to 3 strong or cutting them completely. If I ran them 3 strong it would either be a bullet magnet or a Rapid Response unit depending on the opponents list. 3 gives me 6 T5 wounds with a 3+ save and a storm shield for nasty stuff. I’d probably run them behind the 2 rhinos for a cover save and use them to shore up combat where needed.
The final option brought to my attention was the two rune priests. Essentially I’m paying 100 points for a d6 shot autocannon plus another utility power… Is it worth it? For those 100 points I could buy a unit of Wolf Scouts plus a grey hunter to replace the missing rune priest. However, what to lose, JotWW or Murderous Hurricane. Both have great uses and offer a lot of utility to the army. For now, I’m keeping both rune priests (as it almost guarantees me having a rune staff until the end of the game) but it’s something to consider.
THE OLD LIST:
Rune Priest (Living Lightning, Jaws of the World Wolf)
Rune Priest (Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane)
8 Grey Hunters (Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Mark of the Wulfen, Rhino) + Wolf Guard (Power Fist, Combi-Melta)
8 Grey Hunters (Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Mark of the Wulfen, Rhino) + Wolf Guard (Power Fist, Combi-Melta)
5 Grey Hunters (Meltagun, Razorback [las/plas]) + Wolf Guard (Power Fist, Combi-Melta)
4 Thunderwolves (Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Meltabomb)
5 Long Fangs (4x Missile Launchers, Razorback [las/plas])
5 Long Fangs (4x Missile Launchers, Razorback [las/plas])
THE NEW LIST:
Rune Priest (Living Lightning, Jaws of the World Wolf)
Rune Priest (Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane)
8 Grey Hunters (Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Mark of the Wulfen, Rhino) + Wolf Guard (Power Fist, Combi-Melta)
8 Grey Hunters (Meltagun, Wolf Standard, Mark of the Wulfen, Rhino) + Wolf Guard (Power Fist, Combi-Melta)
5 Grey Hunters (Meltagun, Razorback [las/plas]) + Wolf Guard (Power Fist, Combi-Melta)
5 Grey Hunters (Meltagun, Razorback [las/plas])
3 Thunderwolves (Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield)
6 Long Fangs (5x Missile Launchers)
6 Long Fangs (5x Missile Launchers)
Summary of Changes:
-2 Razorbacks from Long Fang Squads
-1 Thunderwolf (Meltabomb)
+2 Long Fangs (Missile Launchers – One to each squad)
+5 Grey Hunters (Meltagun, Razorback [las/plas])
And in terms of weapons:
-1 lascannon/TL-Plasmagun
-1 Meltabomb
+2 Missiles
+1 Meltagun
And ultimately:
+6 Bodies (now 4 scoring troops):
So how does this work into the Astronomi-CON FoC Scoring System. First let me explain. You can take 1 HQ, 3 Troops, 1 Fast, 1 Elite, 1 Heavy with no penalties. For each second choice you take, you incure a -1 penalty, for each third choice a -2 penalty and so on.
My original list was at a -1 for two heavy choices (as space wolves can take 2 HQ’s per slot). My new list will be at -2 for two heavy choices and 4 troop choices. In the overall scheme of things, this isn’t going to matter.
So, what are your thoughts and comments? Which list do you like better or am I completely out to lunch? Remember to subscribe to the blog!
Edit:
A total list of special ranged weaponry:
2 d6 Autocannons, 3 Combi-Meltas, 4 Meltaguns, 10 Missile Launchers, 2 Lascannons, 2 Twin-Linked Plasmaguns and a wide range of bolt pistols, bolters, and storm bolters
A total list of special close combat weapons:
3 Power Fists, 2d6+15 Rending attacks, 1 Thunder Hammer, 2 Force Weapons (wound daemons on 2+), plus a bunch of vanilla attacks, most rerolling 1s.
ALL OUTTA BUBBLEGUM 