40k Wolves

Sky Claws Considered

2009-10-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

I've finished painting my skylaws. Unfortunately it has been too soggy outside to get the krylon finish on these guys. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed when I was told that I can't bring a wolf guard into my skyclaws. Really, it doesn't make sense to pay for any of the gun upgrade options (flamer, meltagun, plasma pistol) unless you intend to attach an HQ choice to the unit. On top of that the unit is likely to draw some attention which can be a good or a bad thing. My plan is to hide it behind my land raider and/or rhino initially and then position it behind drop pod units or terrain. Ultimately, I hope to see it reinforce the effort of another unit or use it to clear a contested objective. The challenge of using this unit strategically is that they are required to charge and it wouldn't be very thematic to have these guys carefully avoiding conflict until the fifth turn. They are the most inexperienced and reckless characters the space wolves have to offer.

Now that I've pointed out their weaknesses, lets consider some of their strengths. Five mobile marines in power armor with a power weapon and mark of the wulfen is only going to cost 120 points. That sounds reasonable to me. On top of that, this is the one unit where mark of the wulfen is stacked with furious charge for 4-9 rending attacks off of one model on the charge. This is one of those situations where my 120 points are going to clear one enemy unit and then die from one or two units shooting in the following enemy shooting phase. I'm cool with that. I like a game of bloody chess.

2k Roster

2009-10-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

Wolf Guard Battle Leader, Term Armor, Pair of Claws, Wolf Tail Talisman

Rune Priest

Wolf Guard (7)
4 with terminator armor armor and 2 power fists, 1 assault cannon
1 with jump pack, power weapon and meltabomb
1 with mow
1 in power armor and power fist

Scouts (7)
3 sniper rifles, 1 heavy bolter

Grey Hunters (8)
powerfist, mow, drop pod

Grey Hunters (10)
powerfist, 2 meltaguns, mow, banner, drop pod

Grey Hunters (10)
powerfist, 2 meltaguns, mow, rhino

Bloodclaws (9)
power weapon, flamer, rhino

Skyclaws (5)
power weapon, flamer, mow

Land Raider

Whirlwind

Composition Rules Question

2009-10-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

Wolf Guard Rules say "for every 5 models in the squad, one Wolf Guard mode in terminator armor may choose one of the following: replace his storm bolter with an assault cannon"

we don't round up for this do we? For example: If I run 7 wolf guard, detach 3 to lead other units, 2 of my remaining 4 wolf guard in terminator armor cannot be equiped with assault cannons. I am just asking because I have the extra assault cannon.

1500 Wolves list

2009-10-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

I want to model some skyclaws. This is probably the list I would run them in:

Rune Priest with Chooser of the slain
I'll attach to the 8-man grey hunter unit and drop in the land raider

3 Wolf Guard
First one with Power Fist is attached to 8-man grey hunter unit
Second one is simply equiped with mark of the wolfen and attached to blood claw unit
Third is equiped with power weapon, meltabomb, jump pack and attached to skyclaws

First Grey Hunter Unit, 8 strong
1 meltagun, 1 power fist, 1 mark of the wolfen, will be put in land raider

Second Grey Hunter Unit, 10 strong
2 meltaguns, 1 power fist, 1 mark of the wolfen, drop pod with storm bolter

Third Grey Hunter Unit, 10 strong
2 meltaguns, 1 power fist, 1 mark of the wolfen, drop pod with storm bolter

Blood Claws Unit, 7 strong
1 flamer, 1 power weapon, Rhino with extra armor

Skyclaws, 5 strong
1 flamer, 1 power weapon, 1 mark of the wolfen

Land Raider- standard stuff

Whirlwind- standard stuff

----I have scouts (lots of options), terminator wolf guard (some options), a dreadnought (expensive weapon choices), and another rhino that are sitting out of this list

2009-10-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished the trickster and the three models that I will be using to represent grey hunters with mark of the wolfen. I have to disagree with Jon at From the Warp. My 10 man squads look a bit different with 2 meltas and one power fist instead of the two power fists that I took from the old codex but I don't feel like I've lost anything in that change. His demonstration has failed to capture any of the opportunities of the new codex. At 1500 points, the old codex required you to run 2 hq choices, at 1501 points the old codex would require you to run 3 hq choices. I found that fact to be a burden. If you use rhinos and bolters (which I do/did) you are saving serious points in each unit. I eat most of that savings to add a mark of the wolfen (really fun models that I can't resist). Mark of the wolfen is just going to help plow through that unit that is thrown in your way to slow you down, it might help against the dreadnought that ties you up, and give you an extra shot at popping open a rhino.

Is there a power list in this codex? I don't play enough or have access to tournaments to answer this question. I will be moving south (back to civilization) mid November and hope to play weekly or at least a couple days per month but I doubt I'll be answering this question. I like balanced lists that are based in core troop choices. I think grey hunters and blood claws in rhinos and drop pods are fun and that those choices got stronger in the new codex. There just seems to be a lot of anxiety about the wolves lately in the blogging community. The truth is, I'm anxious to play them and can't (because I already took my army down to make sure it isn't crushed or lost when I move the rest of my stuff). For now I'm considering lists and painting.

Who let the dogs out?

2009-10-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

Oops, I'm sorry. I'm supossed to be offended by all the cute puppy references. excited as you might expect, I placed my advance order and recieved my codex a couple days before the release date. As I look at my existing models from the old codex, I get a little disturbed by the missing true grit special rule. The new codex compensates by giving new grey hunters counter attack, bolt pistols, close combat weapons, and bolters. unfortunately, my models are all equiped with bolters and close combat weapons. So I've resigned to tell myself true grit is still in play.

My first trip to the bits box was to piece together 4 meltaguns and a mark of the wolfen option for my three grey hunter squads. The wolfen models are easy to convert. I'm putting bolters on mine which basically just requires that I chop off an arm and glue on a platic bolter wielding arm. I'm also painting lucas and ragnar while I paint these. I'll finish these pretty quickly (my painting standards are modest) and move onto 2 wolf guard with power fists and bolt pistols to attach to units.

I'm personally excited to be liberated from the mandatory hq choice every 750 points so I will be starting my lists with light hq choices and opting for a few more models and alot of options in the units (power fists/weapons, meltaguns, banners, mark of the wolfen). I am dead set on playing 2 full grey hunter units with the cheap 2 meltagun option, a mark of the wolfen, and a power fist. The other grey hunter unit will likely host my wolf lord or rune priest. In my blood claws I'm taking lucas. I know 40k radio hates the model but when i'm finished painting him everyone will be more concerned with how bad a painter I am. I will also be putting mark of the wolfen on a wolf guard and attaching that wolf guard to my blood claws. Right now I'm favoring a rune priest in grey hunter squad and a wolf guard leader in a small pack of wolf guard terminators as my hq choices. My elite options are dreadnought and scout squad but I can't fit them both in a 2k army list. I'm bothered by the lack of shotgun option in the scouts. I just think shotguns are pretty damn feral yet sophisticated for the more mature marine. My heavy options are whirlwind (to thin out those armies that grossly outnumber me) and landraider. Everything should fit into a transport. My transport list is 2 rhinos, 2 drop pods, 1 land raider.

Rune priests were my hq of choice before the codex and will likely continue to be my favorite. Thier stats are a bit less potent now but their psychic power is amped up.

My unpainted list right now includes my 2 drop pods, my whirlwind and about 12 models for converting existing units to the new codex.

When these things are done, I'd like to make a unit of Blood Claws with Jetpacks and a fourth unit of grey hunters. Oh wow, I just realized the holidays are just around the corner.

2009-02-15T09:31:00.000-08:00

This is an update on life. The final semester of grad school/ admin certification has sort of pushed everything back. Despite this short pause, I have assembled my Whirlwind and base painted it and my drop pods. I have made time to snowboard two days and the list of things that I'm going to do when I'm finished with my paper is growing long. I've got a crap-ton of papers to grade and powerpoints to put together for lessons in my law and marketing classes. I have an internship portfolio that has to go together over spring break and two promised vacations (Virgin Islands and Sun Valley). I have to study and take my Texas admin certification test, and apply for jobs in Pflugerville, Round Rock, and Austin because I have family there, it is a great city, they need educators and therapists (wife) and they pay considerably more than Idaho. I have to move. We'll just see how long it takes me to get back to blogging. I certainly miss the hobby.

Appologies,

Wolf Lord Bill

Back on Excel

2009-02-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

I'm still jumping through the last couple of hoops to finish grad school and get my admin cert. but I wanted to show that I added a box for special rules on my excel list generator. I've taken the approach of adding every unit I could possibly play on the list and adding the equations to have it change my point totals as I take different quantities and weapons options. The final line of the spreadsheet just adds up all the total boxes from each unit. I added stat lines and special rules so I can put less wear on my codexes.

Appologies

2009-01-22T08:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry for not posting and more sorry for not keeping up with what is happening in everyone's blogs. I got home from break, started working (teaching 5 different classes with 5 different preps) and started spending all my weekends traveling with the debate team (season ends in march) and then recieved my capstone writing assignment for my masters (40+ page case study) that they only give me a month to complete (due 2/20). I have models to paint and I'm looking forward to having time to paint them. I'll be back online as soon as possible.

This is what happens when I wait too long to post . . .

2009-01-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

Thank you very much for the useful responses to my last post. As usual I was underestimating the power of a blog (and a great community), but I just didn't expect the problem to be solved so easily. However, I've taken a few days to evaluate the context of the problem and decided to just stick with my old metal terminators until the new Space Wolves hits shelves which should be late this year.

On the topic of a new codex, I hope that upon its release Space Wolves only have to yield 35 points for a Rhino. I am feeling a little cheated about paying 50 right now. Locator Beacons would be nice as well.

I spent some time convincing my fantasy playing friend to try 40k this week and he has my rule book.

I put together a 2k point list this weekend that included Christmas models. I need to paint two drop pods as well as assemble and paint a whirlwind. Despite the fact that I'm being totally hammered by college and work right now, I have a strong desire to get those vehicles painted for a picture of my whole army. I had a 2k list before Christmas but I think the addition of mele scouts, drop pods, and a whirlwind, makes it a better list. A kink in my list is that I had points left over for just a couple more guys and no space to drop them apart from my scout unit and I didn't have any more scouts with pistols or shotguns so I added two sniper rifles to my assault unit. I guess I'll retain the right to set them up in my own backfield if I'm playing against an army that I really don't want to assault with little scouts.

And on to the controversy. I'll just come out and say it: I glued the doors to my drop pod closed. There are a three or four reasons why but I'd just like to skip that conversation and get to rules implications. I was thinking that it might be fair to say that instead of blocking line of sight, drop pods offer 4+ cover saves.

I could use some bitz.

2009-01-06T19:17:00.000-08:00

So I stood the plastic termies next to my way old metal wolf guard terminators. It was not a pretty sight. I think I was a slightly better painter back in the day or maybe it just looks different because there is such a time lapse. In addition to painting differences, I used bigger bases on the new models and the new models are taller and different looking. Long story short, I'm going to need to put together a few new plastics to complete the squad.

If there is anyone out there that could send me 1 pair of terminator lightning claws from the new plastic assault terminators, I would pay something like 4 dollars plus 2 dollars shipping. I would prefer to pay via paypal or google but I guess I could send a money order. Let me know if anyone is able to help. Thanks.

Reflection: Grey Hunters

2009-01-03T22:24:00.000-08:00

I can't help but reflect on the ways Grey Hunters have improved since the release of the last codex. In addition to having drop pods for select units instead of the entire army there have been two other noticeable improvements. First, is the improvement of the bolter. Being able to move six inches and then rapid fire is a fair improvement to mobility and range by my judgement. The second advancement is in the counter attack rule. The Wolf Marines used to be able to pile-in when assaulted. Now that all assault victims have that ability, Grey Hunters gain an additional attack when assaulted. In a best case scenario they are now able to walk into rapid fire range, shoot their bolters, sit and wait to be assaulted and then take three swings per model at the assaulting unit. Wow, I'm sleepy.

I'm going to have to make a special spot to list all the special rules that apply to each unit on my Xcel project. It is so easy to forget about acute senses when you're worrying about true grit, counter attack, They shall know no fear.

Xcel Lists

2009-01-02T17:55:00.000-08:00

Xcel is pretty sweet. If you put the equations concerning the cost of options in place, you can just adjust the quantities and it will instantly calculate totals. It is quite a time saver if you don't mind print, print, printing every time you play a game. If anyone else is doing this and has specific comments, let me know. All-in-all it has been a productive vacation.

My New Year's Aspirations

2008-12-31T08:29:00.000-08:00

I've stolen this idea from other bloggers in the community. The ones I've read are Iron Legion and Aspect Portal but they reference another blog that I'll have to check out. My 40k resolutions for the new year are as follows.

5. I will refrain from reading, commenting, and especially posting blogs while at work apart from maybe a couple minutes in my planning period. Seriously, I think they're on to me. By they, I'm not even sure if I'm talking about the students or the administrators but I'm sure they know.

4. I will do what I can to get new people into the game. I am pretty sure I've got a friend starting an orc army. I know there is one guy in town that has 4k worth of tau and he can't be alone. If I can get a few guys to come out of the woodwork, that is as good as getting new people started.

3. I will find things to get rid of in my storage area (maybe mordheim or lord of the rings tcg) and get all my Space Wolves in safe and tidy transportation boxes of some kind. I might be moving this summer and there are some things I would rather give away than pay to have shipped to OK or TX.

2. I will paint a unit or two of a new army. Granted, I'm mental but I think I'm finally prepared to play a second army as long as they both have their own boxes, dice, etc. I don't know if I'm going with another imperial branch or Tzeench Demons and Tzeench Chaos as mortal enemies to my wolves. I'll likely go with choas because they will be more fun to paint and they'll fit smoothly into this blog without having to start a new one. I'm not committing either way at this point.

1. I will stop painting when my wife is trying to seduce me. Yeah, um, if you're reading this: sorry about that.

That's all I have, It will be fun to revisit this through the year to assess my progress or lack of progress.

Plastic Termies

2008-12-30T18:25:00.001-08:00

I had to take advantage of all this time so I picked up some termies for no other reason than I haven't painted plastic ones yet. Wolf terminators are only allowed as a retinue for an HQ choice in terminator armor. Each member of the retinue (each terminator) can choose different weapons from the weapons list. If I did have to choose between the assault terminators and standard terminators, I would have to choose power fists and storm bolters. Lightning claws would fit the wolf imagery but I think having the bolter fire and the capacity to charge vehicles seems to be the way of the wolf. Since I'm allowed to choose gear, I prefer to put power fists on my assault cannon guys and the cheaper option of power weapons and storm bolters on the rest. If I have 10 points that I don't know what to do with, I can just add a couple more power fists.

My challenge on these guys was limited selection of colors. I picked up limited range with these models and I was missing red and yellow especially. I'll have to keep working on these guys when I get home.

How to Survive the Shooty Army

2008-12-28T06:17:00.001-08:00

Hello, my name is Wolf Lord Bill and I am an impatient painter. While I like to play strictly wysiwyg and never play with unpainted models, I have never been able to savor the meaningful relationship . . . but seriously I had to go to the hobby store, buy paint, and crank out my scouts in less than three hours like my life depended on it despite the fact that I have another week of sitting around my mother-in-law's house. When I put together my Space Wolves army there were plastic Grey Hunter and Blood Claw boxes but I don't remember there being plastic termies and scouts. The ease of plastic was amplified by the assortment of fresh paints. My one mistake is that I bought black citadel wash and mistook it for ink so I poured half of it into water before I tried applying full-strength to my model. Carolina Comics in Lawton, Oklahoma is a nice, clean, well-run little shop. My only complaint is that I was strongly tempted to spend $75.00 dollars of my GW budget on Cable & Deadpool compilation books. What was the point of this post again? Oh, right . . .

I would really like to add to and complete the promised theme concerning playing against a shooty army. The topic is important to me because it was a major weakness of my initial list. The rhino heavy detachment was light on numbers and depended on brittle transports as well as lascannons that were attached to vehicles. Shooty armies had no trouble ripping up my vehicles and then sucking out their juicy innards from a safe distance.

My first attempt to address the problem without buying new models was to try to go first turn using my venerable dreadnought's special rule and then use terrain and pop smoke. This was rarely entirely successful. This is about as far as my adjustments developed before I sat out almost all of fourth edition.

With this Christmas, I've taken further measures. A couple of drop prods will hopefully encourage my enemies to run a more balanced force and maybe move around a little bit. Obviously any way that I can engage shooting units will contribute to the survivability of my advancing Land Raiders, Rhinos, as well as units holding down objectives. Space Wolves scouts have the unique ability to remain in reserves and then come in on the side of my opponent. They offer a very flexible range of weapon options including meltagun and two power weapons. Without the added cost of a transport, these guys should keep opponents on their toes.

I'll be putting pods and scouts to work to see what revelations remain hidden in the experience of future games.

Answering Myself

2008-12-24T22:07:00.001-08:00

I think I'll go with the Motor Pool with 2 double wide, 4-inch trays. This reminds me of a coworker that I had two jobs and many years ago. I always knew she was going to start a great story when she started it with . . . "Back when we lived in the double-wide . . . "

I've officially unwrapped the scouts and the two drop pods. I think I'll be picking up five marines to finish my second unit of blood claws, a land raider, a whirlwind, Ragnar, and the Space Wolf Scouts with assault weapons.

I very well could disappear for a few months when I get back home because it is going to be a struggle to work full time and finish my thesis but I promise to update as I work on models.

So what about Sabol?

2008-12-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

Carolina comics looks very clean and reasonably well stocked . . . . from the window. They are closed Mondays and Tuesdays and this week those days linked right into Christmas Eve so I haven't had a chance to drop in while they are open . . . .

To more pressing matters. I've scored some models as well as some cash from loved ones and I'd like to invest in a bag to carry my vehicles in. I was thinking about a Sabol Designs Army Transport Mark II and picking up two 4 inch trays and a 3 inch tray. The question is, will that cary all my tanks?

Ultimately, I'd like my Space Wolves army to include 3 rhinos, 2 (maybe 4) drop pods, 2 land raiders, and a whirlwind. What size bag should I go for? I have an old school pewter dreadnought that drops into my gw case.

Time, time everywhere and not a model to paint.

2008-12-21T15:39:00.000-08:00

Sooo . . . I'm at the Mom-in-laws. I have two weeks off work and all my models are across the country. Here is a picture of a librarian that I drew in illustrator today. I'm just that bored. I'll go check out Carolina Comics and report back : )

Thanks for the input . . .

2008-12-18T08:03:00.001-08:00

Responding to some great responses . . .

Currently, My first choice is a Rune Priest (librarian) in a unit of blood claws in a land raider. My second choice is a venerable dreadnaught which has a special rule to reroll the die to determine if I go first or second. My third choice is a wolf guard battle leader in terminator armor with a few wolf guard in terminator armor. I've got another wolf guard battle leader painted up and I've got Ragnoar on the Christmas wish list.

I think I definately like the idea of just taking 3 wolf guard battle leaders . . . loading two into drop pods and one into a land raider with troop choices. As far as troop choices I currently have one and a half units of Blood Claws but I will be finishing that second unit pretty soon. I have 3 full units of Grey Hunters. My major problem with Blood Claws in the Priority transports (Pods/Raiders) is that they are extremely easy to lure off of objectives because they are required to charge. I was thinking that maybe my sixth troop choice will be a unit of Grey Hunters with Bolt Pistols. This might be a good choice for a drop pod unit because they are one point cheaper than Grey Hunters with Bolters, they get an additional attack on the charge, and they have the option to stay on an objective late in the game.

So the tactical result is an assault army with fewer models which requires some terrain hugging and the strength of the army is the three characters. I think we're just about to the point in the conversation where we hash out the tools for getting an army with such small numbers and fragil ranged offense into close combat with a shooty army . . .

Why Space Wolves Often Lose

2008-12-17T20:11:00.000-08:00

In my playing experience Space Wolves have two weaknesses to overcome. The first issue is that they don't get too many models on the table. Marines are very expensive and I would argue that Wolves are even more expensive. This fact is exacerbated by the fact that this army has to include one HQ choice for every 750 points. I am bothered by tournaments that are set over 1500 points but under 2000 points because it eats up too many points to run 3 HQ choices.

The second issue for Space Wolves is that any real ranged offense in their army is extremely fragile. I just don't take the Wolf version of devastators, Long Fangs. They are capped at 5 models and every loss the unit takes is extremely costly in terms of points. Tactical Squads don't cary heavy weapons. Any heavy weapons that I run is attached to a tank which is easier for my opponent to remedy than a devastator squad or an odd lascannon in a tactical squad.

I truly appreciate bolters. They are strong enough to soften assaulting units. Standing up to assaulting armies seems to be the strength of the Space Wolves. Shooty armies turn wolves into assault armies. Playing assault with 18 point/model is a little different than herding gaunts or the Waaaagh.

Starter Angels Army Assembled

2008-12-15T21:25:00.000-08:00

Funny thing. I assembled the models that we picked up for my wife to start playing 40k. I went to add up their point totals and they came out to a perfect 1250. I'm going to use her unpainted army to teach a friend how to play the game.

Ezekiel

Troop

Full Tactical Squad

Missile Launcher

Vet w/ Power Fist

Meltagun

Full Tactical Squad

Heavy Bolter

Vet w/ Power Fist

Meltagun

Fast Attack

Full Ravenwing Attack Squadron

Vet w/ Power Weapon

Attack Bike w/ Multi-melta

Ravenwing Support Squadron

1 Speeder w/Heavy Bolter

Heavy Support

Full Devastator Squad

Vet with Plasma Pistol

2*Lascannon

2*Plasmacannon

Dear Abbey

2008-12-11T22:28:00.001-08:00

About a year ago, the wife took interest in playing 40k. She chose Dark Angels because she likes their cute little dresses. I can't blame her. They are pretty and their history with my wolves would make a great reason for us to play against each other. She took a creative approach to the paint scheme and I believe she has done an exceptional job for her first army. The problem is that over the course of the year she has painted like five models.

My question is this: How long until I suggest that I finish painting for her. I just wouldn't feel right running Dark Angels, I'm sure my dice would betray me as I have betrayed them. I would just like to see her move on to play a few games. While we both play marines our approaches are very different. She selected alot of fast attack, small units sizes, and devastator squads while I play alot of elite choices, full size troop units, transports, and tanks. I'm sure I will post updates about her army.

1500 points

2008-12-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

1500 points- Heavy on the troop choices.

Strategy: Put my Blood Claws and Wolf Lord into the Land Raider, Send them down the middle. The troops will behave differently depending on the mission and the opponent.

Rune Priest (Frost Blade, Bolt Pistol)

Venerable Dreadnaught (twin las/ heavy flamer)

9 Blood Claws (Flamer, 2 Power Weapons)

10 Grey Hunters (Bolters, 2 Power Fists)
Rhino (Smoke, Extra Armor)

10 Grey Hunters (Bolters, 2 Power Fists)
Rhino (Smoke, Extra Armor)

10 Grey Hunters (Bolters, 2 Power Fists)
Rhino (Smoke, Extra Armor)

Land Raider

My Bad

2008-12-08T09:42:00.001-08:00

One benefit of taking pictures and typing up my a game summary is that I've had a chance to step away from the experience and analyze it. There are a couple things that I could have done differently. The game I'm referencing is a few posts back. Things I will do differently in the future include:

Allow Tau Opponent to go first- with nightsight rules first turn and ample buildings in the middle, odds are that my rhinos would have been able to find cover or pop smoke to survive second turn. The drawback to giving up first move is that I could have possibly given up the ability to place two units in the middle of the board. My opponent would not have likely been drawn off his objective on the last turn if I had saved the Rhino move for bottom of turn five but it would have been a safer move if the game went six rounds. Bottom line is that the sneaky tactics won't work against this opponent again so closing the distance on him is just that much more important.

Resist the urge to shoot my Land Raider- in round two, I moved six inches instead of 12 and shot at the unit that I was charging. I lost 6 inches of movement and the unit I was charging failed a morale check and fled another several inches. That lost time hurt. When my unit finally got dug-in it was down to a couple guys and it still murdered. I'm confident that the unit would have cleaned house and possibly dropped a tank with my rune priest's 6, str 5 attacks against the back armor of a heavy support vehicle.

Screen the Walker- The meta-game between myself and my friend, the Tau player, will no doubt get complex. Now that he has seen that my army relies on a couple key lascannons and power fists in my tactical squads, he will likely start dancing around a little bit with his tanks (and I will likely start remembering the names to his vehicles/units). My dreadnaught could be as valuable as a rook in a chess end-game strategy as the walker is able to come around a corner and take out a vehicle across the board on the same turn. It would be worth the effort to keep my walker behind some rhinos until it can get up against a building or group of trees.

If there is anything else I should be doing differently, let me know.

Comments Setting Fixed

2008-12-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

My dad's sort of a tech guy. He travels the U.S. and Europe teaching tech courses to corporate tech guys. Currently he's finishing up a project teaching information security for the State Department. I can remember him sitting down to figure out what I had done to screw up my computer when I was fairly young and saying: "You seem to know just enough to get yourself into trouble." Well, here I go again. Somehow I had turned off comments on my posts but I fixed them. Links to my last post will now be dead links because I had to repost. Older posts without a response button will not get a response button but future posts will have a response button. Apologies.

For the Emperor- seeking feedback

2008-12-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

So, in my remote little town in Idaho we have two shops that cary Games Workshop products. I obviously support the one that has playing tables and does not have weird shit that makes me feel uncomfortable (I had to google Athames to figure out what they were). What I haven't found is a bunch of players. I've talked to five or six fantasy players but I've got a fantasy army that I've never enjoyed playing. So far, I've run into one 40k player and I just discovered him after living here four years. The cool thing is that several people showed interest while we played this weekend. I can sort of take comfort in the fact that I only plan on living here for another six months and then (assuming we can sell our house and the jobs for high school administrators continue to look good in Austin) I plan on moving to Austin, TX where I have family, friends, and I hear the gaming is good. I guess the point of this post is to seek feedback about how to network or set up a gaming network in a small community (50+k people).

My First 5th Edition Game- 1500 pts

2008-12-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

We rolled the mission that required us to take and hold objectives. I felt somewhat good about that because I have been following fritz' blog. We decide that the three buildings and the one tree stand in the middle would be fine objectives. The roll of the dice said that the table would be divided long ways for deployment.

Turn 1: I sort of splashed doods evenly across the field. Probably not the smartest thing I could have done. I opt to go first and race everything forward in transports. My land Raider with 9 Blood Claws and my Rune Priest are obscured by the building on the far end of the table.We forgot about night sight rules on turn 1 and he shot down my venerable dreadnought. My rhinos are full Grey Hunter units with Power Fists. He's Fielding three elite choices, three heavy support choices, HQ, and a couple troop choices.

Turn 2: I decide that the giant building with one entrance would be a good place to leave one of my units and challenge him to get them out so I disembark them. My land raider decides to move 6 inches this turn and downs three in the unit at the far end of the table and they fail the morale test. I should have just moved 12 to get closer to close combat. I moved both of the rhinos on the close side. He cleared all but three marines in one of them.

Turn 3: All I can say is that round three stung a bit. My fragmented unit with three marines won combat and ended up out in the open to be shot at again. The troop choice that was still mounted had its rhino popped but the marines did a great job surviving two pie plates. My Land Raider got popped (the Land Raider model should be upside down or something in the following picture) and the unit inside of it got pinned to be victimized by one and a half rounds of fire.
Turn 4: All that remains for me is two healthy units of Grey Hunters, one of their Rhinos and my Rune Priest with one Blood Claw. The Grey Hunters among the gun ships destroy one of the gun ships and draw a bunch of fire. My HQ choice and his one remaining blood claw jump in the middle of a bunch of the suited elite choice doods with his HQ choice and totally murders them. He chooses to run from my Rune Priest with his troop unit instead of fire.

Turn 5: my hidden rhino runs over to grab another objective. My one surviving unit sits tight. The Tau grab one objective with a Gun ship. He considers grabbing another objective with his other ship but that would put the tall building in his LOS at my Rhino so he moves more than our agreed upon 2 inches from his second objective. When his shooting phase comes, he is distracted from my Rhino and decides to save his fleeing troop unit from my charging Rune Priest. He succeeds.

The game ends at the bottom of turn five. My last unit and my Rhino are each holding down objectives while he only has one objective. The fourth objective was up for grabs but had no one on it. My opponent was a ton of fun to play with, a great sport, and beat the hell out of me for two good hours.

Strategy: Assault

2008-12-03T19:06:00.000-08:00

"The truth is that you could make . . . a fairly mean assaulting army"

Alright, so I might have fudged a bit in an earlier post when I said that Space Wolves are not an assaulting army. The truth is that you could make an army heavy in Blood Claws (the troop choice that I am just now discussing on this blog) and grab some unique options for HQ choices and put together a fairly mean assaulting army. I should start by introducing the Blood Claws.

In standard marine chapters, new recruits start as scouts and then progress into the tactical squads. Space Marines come from a world where the most basic of resources (land) disappears and reappears annually. Every spring the melting snow reveals what tribes are on firm ground and what tribes are S.O.L. and the wars begin amongst Fenrisians. The most renowned warriors are drafted into the Space Wolves chapter but not as scouts. New recruits are put directly into power armor and (assuming they survive the process) become Blood Claws. Blood Claws naturally progress into Grey Hunters as a whole unit. Certain warriors are picked out to be scouts. Grey Hunters naturally progress into Long Fangs as a complete unit. The maximum size of a Blood Claw unit is 20. Grey hunters max out at 10 marines while Long Fangs are allowed five marines. As a unit matures in experience, it tends to lose individual marines. Losses are not replaced as the tight knit pack of brothers would not likely welcome the replacement. The bold, young Blood Claws would be the center piece to an assaulting detachment.

Blood Claws cost a point less than a vanilla marine. They wield bolt pistols and close combat weapons. Like Grey Hunters they are allowed to take two power weapons or power fists. They have lower than average ballistic and weapon skill but they are allowed two extra attacks on the turn that they assault. Additionally, they are required to assault and sweeping advance whenever they have the opportunity.

As I have mentioned, I take Grey Hunters as my core choice. I tend to take one unit of Blood Claws in a land raider to throw at the fire base of my opponents. For Space Wolves, Blood Claws provide a cheaper unit of marines with a single function, assault. Space Wolf characters have a respectable selection of items to choose from in the armory for close combat. One example is the Frost Blade which is a power weapon that adds one strength to the characters profile. However, I would not try to entice anyone into building an army that focusses on assault because a Blood Angels army would simply be a better assaulting army.

Scenery: The lazy bastard approach

2008-11-30T19:56:00.000-08:00

So, I should be crediting a website that I picked this up from years and years ago but I can't remember where I got it from. I will tell you this: they took considerably more care in the design of their structures but I like the crappy look of a poorly planned out building. We are talking ruined buildings after all.

I start with an old box, box cutter, ruler/pen, masking tape, drywall joint compound, and a brew.
With minimal planning, i chop the board up and tape it all in place.
Throw some joint compound on the walls.
I do a very crapy job spray painting and call it good.
This one has been around for years.

40k Wolves Strategy: Troops

2008-11-26T21:06:00.001-08:00

Space Wolves have two options when it comes to troops: Blood Claws and Grey Hunters. In some ways it would make sense to discuss Blood Claws first. However, I've decided to build my force around a large number of Grey Hunters and for this reason, their strengths and weaknesses shape the tactical importance of the rest of my units. Ten Grey Hunters with bolters, close combat weapons, augmented with two power fists, a rhino with smoke and extra armor costs right around 270 points.

Playing without heavy weapons in my tactical squads has certainly simplified the game for me. I don't stop to weigh the advantages of moving forward to claim ground versus the advantages of staying still to shoot my one lascannon at the tank across the board. Additionally, I have come to appreciate the power of the common bolter.

Grey Hunters are gifted with the ability to use bolters as close combat weapons. The trade off is that they don't receive an extra attack when they assault. Consequently, you shouldn't be surprised when a Space Wolves player sits back for the rapid fire and waits for you to assault them. When you do assault them expect some special lovin'.

Instead of heavy weapons, two marines are allowed to wield power weapons or power fists at a reduced price. It is my understanding that because the two models wielding the weapons are not special characters that they cannot necessarily be singled out by enemy attacks. If I am wrong here please leave a post and set me strait. It is possible to include a Wolf Guard Leader in these units for a third power weapon/fist but that is overkill for me.

A mass of expensive troops with no heavy weapon moving six inches per turn just hasn't worked for me (and I've tried it). Rhinos or pods are essential. I don't have experience with drop pods but they are on my Christmas list. I've seen pictures of some great looking wolf pod armies. When playing with rhinos, I like to go first, get to some cover or launch smoke first round. When the transports are gone Grey Hunters have proven to be fairly useless against a shooty army. The cheesiest (er . . . um . . . most unique) special rules in the Space Wolves codex are clearly geared toward disrupting enemy fire. We'll discuss those eventually and lets not forget the other troop choice, Blood Claws . . .

More Wolves Please

2008-11-23T11:22:00.001-08:00

Why did I choose wolves? I have to say that from the start I've been called to chaos. With Chaos, I can lay perfectionism to the side and get messy as I paint. Wolves gave me that opportunity with a few other perks. I can be a good guy and I have relatively fewer models to move around during games. When I say there are fewer models we all know that I mean WAAAAY fewer models than some armies. This obviously offers some challenges on the board. With no heavy weapons in tactical squads, there is hardly any point in building up a shooting base so the key to winning with fewer models would seem to be being in the right place at the right time. It is easy to figure out what the Space Wolves are not:

Wolves are not an assault army
Wolves are not a shooting army
Wolves are not a lightening quick army

Like most marine forces, space wolves are a responsive army. I have a primary game plan which is to get to where I want to be and wait to be assaulted. Many armies will assault me and win. Others will never assault me and win. Space Marines win by adapting to the situation. Space Wolves have a unique set of tools for adaptation.

Banner Waving

2008-11-20T21:29:00.000-08:00

I got my title banner up. I also found my camera and got some good pics put together to get ready for future blogs. The banner turned alright I guess. I'm gone for a debate trip this weekend but I'll get back to work Sunday or Monday.

Plans

2008-11-20T08:57:00.000-08:00

I guess, it isn't like a 40k player to share my plans before I get a chance to flank and gank and it is too late for you to adapt but I am making an exception here. I can't find my camera so that is slowing me down.

Layout:
I have some old pictures that I'm going to mutilate in fireworks and use for a title graphic. look for that within a week.

Content:
I think I will likely incorporate pictures slowly as I discuss my opinions concerning the advantages of specific units. Of course, I'll be working on some new models in December and January.

Organization:
I have decided that blogs are a great organizational tool. I'm tempted to start keeping a seperate blog just for my army lists. Some at various point levels. List mods for mele armies and ranged armies and tourneys. I'll generate some buttons to link them together of course.

Media:
The one picture that I've thrown up so far is from my cell phone and really sad. I have a decent digital slr (that won't turn off flash in macro mode) but I seem to have misplaced it since helping my son with a "reflections project" a week ago. I also have a digital video camera but it may be a while before I'm ready to invest that much work into "teh blog."

Love is Painful

2008-11-19T07:45:00.001-08:00

I can't say that I win any more games than I lose with my Space Wolves but I faithfully stick with them. As I will explain in future posts, mele scouts make more sense for wolves but my love for my shooty scout squad is not unfounded (I love me some double negatives). In summary, playing what I want to play regardless of tactical reasoning often leads to rediculous defeat but this is the story of how shooty scouts came to be my favorite squad.

I am just now starting to read about the strengths and weaknesses of various armies. Traditionally, I have not concerned myself. I've had plenty of situations when what I brought to the board proved to be the perfect answer to what my oponent was using. My tactical squads don't carry heavy weapons but when they bring down HQs or walkers with their power fists or drop land speeders with bolter fire, the opponent has to appreciate their strengths. My shooty scouts on the other hand, have only ever had one good game.

The scenario was simply 2v2, kill everything to win. My partner was fielding 1.5k black templar and I was fielding 1.5k wolves. Our opponents were orks and 'nids. Over the course of a couple rounds, my snipers totally worked over the big nids in the backfield. My troops stood back, fired, and then proceeded to hold their own in close combat against all assault troops. As someone who was accostomed to losing, it felt good to not only take my first victory with the space wolves but to walk away as the MVP of the game. For tactical reasons, I have started using a mele unit of scouts but I always keep my shooty scouts on stand-by.

The First Blog

2008-11-17T20:34:00.000-08:00

First impressions are something I could be good at with a little effort. I suppose the goal here should be to let you know if you are among the people who might want to give my blog a chance. How often will I blog? What will I cover and with what expertise? And who am I, the author? Tonight, I feel wordy like a drunk on a barstool but I will aim to limit the scope of this posting to address these questions.
I could write about my professional experience. I'm a classroom teacher. I could write about myhobbies (snowboarding, computers, video games, following the NBA) but I think I will begin this blog spot as a place to share one particular hobby, Warhammer 40k.
I've been painting and modeling since my first child was an infant. Ten years ago, I began the hobby as something to do in the middle of the night because I have never been good at waking up and going back to sleep. I settled for sleep every other night while my wife was on parenting duties. On my nights to parent, I stayed up and painted. I've painted chaos, and sisters of battle armies which I no longer have. I have painted some fantasy stuff, several ogres, and several Skaven. My primary army for the past five years has been the Space Wolves.
I took wolves to the Dallas Grand Tournament several years ago. Then, I was plugged into a great group of gamers in Waco, TX. Since then, I have moved to South-east Idaho and have essentially been cut off from the game. With the recent release of new models, rule books, and codexes, I have been compelled to seek out communities and blogs online. I'm a busy guy but I will do my best to put up pics and do my part to pass on the things that I'm excited about in the game.

Thanks,
Bill