So, TSHFT has passed and I'm left with a 40k army that I never truly intended to keep possession of. After all, I was always the Blood Angel fan of the group so why would I be siding with these wolves who are more about objective camping and counters? Well, people change and so have I.
Coming into this crazy plan to go to the 40k TSHFT, I was not expecting to truly stick around for long. I mean, I pretty much just thought it would be a fun change of pace and give me a bit more practice at some more neglected painting skills of mine (armor, rounded surfaces, etc). Over time, though, this has become more of a renaissance for me as I learn that I enjoy 40k more and more. Sure, it doesn't have quite the same level of thinking that Fantasy or Warmachine have, but 5th edition did change my biggest problem with the game which was that the movement was too simplistic.
In a game that was all about VPs, why was everything based around 6's? Everyone had reactive 6-12" movement with only a few armies capable of useful 24" movement while everyone else just compensated with stupidly long ranges like 120" (seriously, IG?). Now, things are different. Rules like Outflank, Infiltrate, Deep Strike, and cheaper mech portions in armies really make it so armies have interesting movement besides the simple 2d affairs that existed before. Sure, a lot of those rules existed before, but 5th really brings them into their own by having the developers actually write around these core concepts of objective-based movement. After all, what makes or breaks a game should not always be about raw power. Sometimes, you just need to be in the right place at the right time.
Anyway, with that ramble done, I'd like to say that I'm sticking with the wolves...at least for now. I really enjoyed the modeling and simple-yet-decent paint scheme that I've come up with for the army and playing it is turning out to be an excellent reintroduction to the 41st millennium. Sure, now that I've been blooded with the army I want to change some things, but that's normal. Nothing can truly replace real play time and tournaments are an excellent place to learn about what works for YOU. With that said, I'm currently in the process of retooling my list to work for me.
In most places, this retooling means that a lot of my units have had quite drastic battlefield role changes (such as the majority of my Grey Hunter squads), but I've also taken the time to look at some of the models that I just don't have the heart to drop (such as the Rune Priest in termie armor). This has changed my force from one that has a strong firebase coupled with mobile swiss knife squads to one that ups my firebase even more while using more specialized squads to do my fighting instead of the troops.
This shift goes against what I see to be one of the central strengths of Space Wolves or at least partially does. See, one of the main strengths of playing the pups is that you gain access to one of the most versatile and deadly troop squads in the game: the Grey Hunters. Early in my play testing with them, these boys ripped up the field. Even with only statistically average rolls, they just destroyed armies on their own, but that's just it: you cannot, and should not, rely on average rolling to carry you through a game. With the Grey Hunters being used as my main combat units, I was relying on them not to roll poorly and get stuck places they shouldn't get stuck in which was a rather large weakness in my list. Granted, I'm not the end all of 40k tacticians, but I do fancy myself a rather shrewd individual who knows the difference between a positive gamble and suicide (meaning that I can tell when odds are in my favor). This may work for some who believe in their dice or maybe are just luckier in their roll placement than me, but I've decided that it's too frustrating and demoralizing to watch my boys go and lose combat after combat (or miss time and time again with their meltas) that they should easily win only to end up swarmed or negated by units that should easily be defeated.
No, instead I've adopted a new model which I think utilizes the strengths found in the wolves' mech options coupled with their cav (and, of course, Long Fangs). This new list, without giving too much away, gels with my play style a lot smoother as I get to preserve the units that will cause me the most consternation if destroyed through poor statistical placement while I simultaneously gain the rush allowed from units built for destruction found in the SW cav options. The only thing that bothers me is that I lose some of the flavor of the 13th Company by mech'ing up, but I do gain the modeling options allowed by more cav (aka, big wolfen).
For your pleasure, and as a thank you for reading this far, I give you my under construction 2k SW list:
HQ:
Rune Priest
-Terminator Armor
Elites:
Iron Priest
-Thunderwolf Mount, Wolf Tooth Necklace
-4xCyber Wolves
Iron Priest
-Thunderwolf Mount, Wolf Tooth Necklace
-4xCyber Wolves
Wolf Guard
-Mark of the Wolfen w/ Combi-melta
-3x Terminators w/ 1xChain Fist
-Terminator w/ Cyclone Missile Launcher
Troops:
Grey Huntersx5
-Mark of the Wolfen w/ Flamer
-Razorback w/ Lascannon and TL Plasma Gun
Grey Huntersx5
-Mark of the Wolfen w/ Flamer
-Razorback w/ Lascannon and TL Plasma Gun
Grey Huntersx5
-Meltagun
-Razorback w/ TL Lascannon
Grey Huntersx8
-Mark of the Wolfen w/ Meltagun, Wolf Standard
-Rhino
Fast Attack:
Thunderwolf Cavalryx3
-Frost Blade, Bolter
Thunderwolf Cavalryx3
-Frost Blade, Bolter
Heavy Support:
Long Fangsx6
-5xMissile Launcher
Predator
-Autocannon, Sponsoned Heavy Bolters
Whirlwind
Total: 2000 pts
I'm currently playing around with the Whirlwind, but only because I've literally never used one. I might swap it out for some kit on the remaining squads and maybe another Rhino just for foolin', but who knows for now. It's been a very entertaining list to just shove the cav down non-aggressive forces throats while setting up counter charges against others. As always, if you have any comments, fel free to drop them.
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