Hey,
So I feel like I’m struggling vs 12 armour spam (read: Chimera) or really anything higher than 11 AV. I’ve only got the 1 lascannon to reliably (even then not that reliable) hit higher armour. I’ve also been finding the speeder to not quite be fitting in. It basically crumbles the second someone looks at it, even with cover saves.
So here I am, I have 1 heavy slot still open and I’m considering putting a predator in there. This is what I’m at now:
1500 Pts – Space Wolves Roster
HQ: Rune Priest in Power Armour (1#, 100 pts)
1 Rune Priest in Power Armour, 100 pts (Living Lightning; Murderous Hurricane)
Elite: Wolf Guard Pack (3#, 129 pts)
3 Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Combi-Meltagun x3; Power Fist x3)
Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 125 pts)
Twin Linked Autocannon; Twin Linked Autocannon)
Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (6#, 155 pts)
5 Grey Hunters Pack, 155 pts (Meltagun)
1 Razorback (Twin Linked Lascannon)
Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (10#, 190 pts)
7 Grey Hunters Pack, 190 pts (Wolf Standard; Meltagun)
1 Grey Hunter w/ Mark of the Wulfen
1 Rhino (Dozer Blade) (Spare Points)
Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (10#, 200 pts)
8 Grey Hunters Pack, 200 pts (Wolf Standard; Meltagun)
1 Grey Hunter w/ Mark of the Wulfen
1 Rhino
Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (10#, 200 pts)
8 Grey Hunters Pack, 200 pts (Wolf Standard; Meltagun)
1 Grey Hunter w/ Mark of the Wulfen
1 Rhino
Heavy Support: Long Fangs Pack (6#, 140 pts)
Missile Launcher x5
Heavy Support: Long Fangs Pack (6#, 140 pts)
Missile Launcher x5
Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 120 pts)
Autocannon; Lascannon (each side))
Composition Report:
HQ: 1 (1 – 2)
Elite: 2 (0 – 3)
Troops: 4 (2 – 6)
Fast: 0 (0 – 3)
Heavy: 3 (0 – 3)
Total Roster Cost: 1499
So biggest changes include dropping the typhoon/MM speeder, dropping the Grey Hunter power weapons, adding a predator with sponson lascannons, switching the las/plas razorback to TL-Lascannon razorback, re-adding the meltagun to the razorback squad, and adding another Grey Hunter (each squad is now 10 bodies).
What does this give me? 2 more lascannons and an autocannon instead of 2 missiles and a multimelta (AV13 instead of 10 as well). I have another meltagun instead of a flamer, a twin linked lascannon instead of a lascannon/plasmagun and a few more bodies.
My other thought is to drop 2 bodies and add 2 lascannons to the long fangs for a few more punch.
ALL OUTTA BUBBLEGUM 
With replacing to ML with Las seems like a safe bet. If your hitting any medium to heavy infantry you got it in the bag! I feel like its a waste when your popping lascannon shots of at targets that dont warrent it. Also since your longfangs get to split there fire your in a good zone of not waisting your lascannons. So your in a good place for more armour popping and some more ap2 to splat termies ect. Wow this army is mean dude. I need another swing at it some time soon!
I agree with the speeder not fitting in. As you know, I thought it would kick ass… but it’s too fast for the Rhinos and too unarmoured to draw enough fire away / survive to help out for more than a turn.
Granted, this is coming from a Guard player… with more than enough guns to spare one to kill AV10 skimmers….
In honesty, i’m surprised how little I fear those St.8 missiles with my Chimeras… with the chance to miss, only penetrating on a 5+, and the possibility of cover, I do find that (after learning what they can and can’t do), more of my Chimeras are tending to survive every time I play them against those Long Fang squads.
That being said, I don’t think your modifications turn you into a Chimera slaughterer or anything (Lascannons still only penetrate 50% of the time), but I agree that the extra anti-tank will be better than what you’ve been using. At the very least, it’s more crippling to me in terms of immobilization, stunned, etc. Give you more time to swipe the initiative and ensure the fight is fought in my own deployment, as opposed to your own.
I’m usually not a fan of the Lascannon… but I assume the Predator tank is cheap enough to make it worth while. Good for tearing apart other Predators and the like from range (and critical targets like Hellhounds, etc). It’s also pretty well armoured itself, and AV13 causes me (and others) to have to retarget some of my own Lascannons away from your Rhinos if I want to destroy it (as it is immune to my other, S7 anti-tank)
Getting rid of the flamer for another melta is probably a safe bet too… considering any swarm type armies are probably going to get pulped by the whole “rapid fire / counter charge” trick the Grey Hunters do so well. You don’t need to flame Guard… can beat them in combat. Orks only have a few highly-flamable units anyways (if they’re out of the transports in the fist place), and even then you could probably beat them in combat if you charge… Tyranids, again, only have a 50% unit flame vs melta rate (ie. half their units you’d want to melta and only half you’d want to flame) and besides again, Grey Hunters would probably just charge in, get some kills, finish them off with the fearless additional wounds the Nids take.
That’s my thoughts.
Overall, a good improvement. Still up in the air about the predator though – will have to see how it performs in a game or two. One of those units that could either kill a Land Raider, or fail 3 turns in a row against a Chimera…
@ Will – Yeah, I’ve been seeing a shift back towards Lascannons again even though they are so expensive (within the general online metagame). Generally I won’t be shooting lascannons at infantry, the hope is that they will demech stuff quicker or take out other big guns quicker before my rhinos are taken out. AP2 isn’t all that huge other than the odd MC with a 2+.
@ Marshall – Yeah, the pred is 120 points (60 base and 60 for the sponson lascannons). That gives me an autocannon (comes with it) and 2 lascannons. To upgrade the turrent to a tl-lascan is another 45 points and ultimately is too expensive when you factor in that you also lose an autocannon (10-15 points). The AV13 will be nice but I’ll need to keep it stationary if I want to get the most out of its firepower. I’ll give it a go though.
Yeah, having that flamer has screwed me twice with something being in my deployment zone last turn and I need to nuke it. Having another melta back there would have been nice (although you think I would have done something to your vendetta with 8 missiles, 1 meltagun, 2 bolt pistols, and 5 crack grenades).
I think I’m going to change up my general strategy with my wolves against shooty armies. I’ve been trying to demech them (you) before my rhinos get there to facilitate charges but I’m finding that I get nuked long before I make it due to a craptonne of shots. I think I need to knock out or at least keep stunned the big guns and let my meltas pop open the transports up close.