Bjorn the Fell-Handed- the Epic Destroyer or Glorified Point Sink?

     Hello readers! Today we are going to talk about Bjorn the Fell-Handed, his role in your army, strengths and tactics and whether or not he earns his 220 point ticket price.
     Im going to start out by saying if you came here for an unbiased opinion, I am going to try to give you one. But, for the sake of fairness and honesty, I need to disclose that Bjorn is my favorite character in WH40K, one of my top 3 favorite models, and my most used HQ- I may be a bit bias.
         Going straight into it- Bjorn is steeped in the legends and fluff of the SW chapter like no other character, Russ being the only exception. He was the first Lone Wolf, killed a Daemon Prince with his own claw and axe, became the first Great Wolf and is currently among the oldest living-ish characters in the entire Imperium. He might well have invented "badass". We may never know. Now how is the honored legend of the Chapter (and Imperium) portrayed on the table top? Hes an ornate, venerable Dreadnought with AV 13/12/10 WS/BS 6, 4 A I 3 stats and comes stock with and assault cannon, smoke launchers, and a searchlight. His melee weapon is a mastercrafted great wolf claw- Trueclaw with STR 10 AP2 shred and mastercrafted. This is a great place to start and you can already tell hes a beast in his own right. Additionally his special rules include Venerable, Ancient Tactician (+1 to seize the initiative), and Ward of the Primarch (5++ save) wow. His saga is Saga of Majesty (all friendly SWs in 12" reroll failed moral) So he buffs your army tactically by helping to steal the initiative on a 5+, nice to have albeit unreliable and situational, and he helps keep them on the front line when he uses his warlord trait and hes ridiculously durable as far a dreadnoughts go (SW venerables notwithstanding).More on this in a moment. His wargear options include upgrading his assault cannon to a plasma cannon or the new Helfrost Cannon for free or a twin-linked lascannon for 5 points. He may take a drop pod as a dedicated transport. This is  decent amount of solid options and though some are certainly better than others, Bjorn can be a real boon to your list no matter how you choose to equip him.
     Lets talk first about Bjorns combat prowess. Bjorns WS6 is huge, its basically Chapter-Master tier and add in his STR 10 AP 2 Shredding master crafted weapon with 5 attacks on the charge (or counter charge) he seems like he'd be a real juggernaut in cc right? He is but his initiative 3 makes some players doubt it. That needs to examined. 95% of all infantry are only going to be able to glance or pen Bjorns front armor of 13 with an unwieldy weapon. To put that in prospective, Powerfists can only glance him on 5s in most cases, Thats the long and short of it. There are a few units, Deathwing Knights for example, that can hit and hurt Bjorn before he can swing back but these units are few and far between and shouldn't make a SW player think Bjorns initiative is a liability. Against Helbrutes, Imperial knights, and other Dreadnoughts however, Bjorn is fighting last but even then his WS6, front armor 13, Venerable, and 5++ save will go a long way toward keeping him in the fight (well perhaps not against an Imperial Knight but that's comparing apples to bazookas).

     Lets do some math on Bjorns sheer durability and his combat ability, Shooting a melta gun at Bjorn with BS 4, in melta range, with Bjorns 5++ BEFORE venerable will only explode Bjorn 16% of the time on average. It would take 3-4 melta gun shots in melta range to push that up to 50% and 8 shots to put it in the reliable range of 80%. and even then we are talking-on average- 2.5 pens, .4 glances and 3 hull points removed to reliably  put the old man down. Add in venerable and that 80% explode rate goes back down to 13% ouch! Basically you have to strip HP on Bjorn as it would take 16 melta shots to put his explodes result into the 75% range (at which point hes statistically died 2.2 times from HP stripping). Now this math is never exact. The dice gods could just hate you one day- it happens. In cc against a Dreadnought or Helbrute who charged with 3 attacks, Bjorn will take 1.5 hits after his BS and after his 13 AV . After his 5++ .5 pens, .17 glances and your opponent will succeed in blowing him up 3% of the time after venerable. Bjorn will LIVE! (on average, nothing is absolute in a dice game) His initiative isn't that much of a detriment. However when Bjorn swings back against this walker he is hitting 3.33 times with his 5 attacks, pening 2.22 times BEFORE shred, glancing .5 times, removing 2.8 Hull points on average (again before shred) and exploding the bastard about 60% of the time. Bjorn is a solid cc Dread who will hold his own against just about anything. And just to throw this out there- those powerfists and hammers that can hurt Bjorn are often found on characters. Bjorn can challenge out those characters and allocate all his wounds to that character who, is likely,  his only threat.

    Shooting wise Bjorn is equally as valuable. With his assault cannon and BS of 6, Bjorn is getting on average 4/4 hits and forcing 3.3 wounds with rending against your typical MEQs that leads to 1-2 MEQ deaths! Against TEQs its around 1.2 via rending hits. Not too bad for a rounds shooting. The Helfrost cannon his hitting and killing MEQs .8% of the time, and TEQs .5 %  of the time on a focused fire. Dispersed really matters on number of hits but lets say it hits 3 models. Thats 2.5 MEQ deaths and .45 TEQ deaths. Again not bad. I feel the plasma cannon is inferior and the twinlinked lascannon is a waste. Bjorn has BS 6, he will barely use the twin linked if he does the gun still doesnt have the versatility of the Helfrost cannon.
     So a great value of Bjorn is his ability to both shoot and fight. Lets not forget his heavy flamer for hordes. He can serve a number of battle field rolls and does them all well. Additionally, Bjorn goes beyond himself and helps your army be more efficient by helping your Wolves pass moral (if hes your warlord) or seizing the initiative. These things DEFINITELY justify a 220 point tab to me but then Bjorn doesn't really cost 220 points does he? He still has a major flaw: hes slow.

     Bjorn has a hidden cost of needing a transport. You can leave him in the back field to shoot your enemies from afar but then you've paid 220 points for a firing platform. I think Bjorn best serves us dropping his heavy flamer on our enemies, shooting AND getting into cc. For this you will need to purchase a drop pod for him. That puts our Bjorn up to 255 points-not too bad and he still justifies that cost. But I think to better protect our living relic, Bjorn should be put into a Lucius Pattern drop pod from ForgeWorld (with the 40k approved stamp). This drop pod only costs 15 additional points over a standard drop pod but lands and counts as an open topped assault vehicle that Bjorn will NOT be forced to disembark from. That means just like any other open topped vehicle, an enemy will have to shoot through the AV12 pod with 3 hull points to get to Bjorn while Bjorn is free to shoot his weapons from the pod and safe until his next turn charge.
     Bjorn is a solid addition to a Space Wolf army, so much so that the fact I saw any negative comments about him all took me by surprise! Dont listen to the flak, Bjorn is an excellent contender for your HQ slot in any game above 1500 points (hell, I use him in 1000 point games LIKE A BOSS).
Give him a run and be pleasantly surprised when you see what a great character he is. Just like Ulrik, Bjorn needs more than a first glance.I included a lot of photos of my Bjorn model, I put a lot of time into him. As I've said he is my favorite.  Next up on my character examination series will be Ulrik the Slayer, the best 145 points you've ever spent on an HQ. Did you agree with my post? Did you not agree? Did I leave something out? Comment and tell me! Keep it clean and kind though. I hope you found this post useful, and thank you for reading!
                                                                                     Russ be with you!
                                                                                                      Jorvar

Space Wolf Terminators Discussion and Tactica Part 2

     Welcome back to Space Wolf Terminators discussion and tactica part 2!
      If you haven't read part one, check that out first http://spacewolflordsblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/terminators-discussion-and-tactica.html, most of the meat of the post as well as my favorite ways to equip terminators,  discussions about terminators in general and our two more alluring terminator formations were covered there. I wont be going into depth about regular power weapons. We all know their effectiveness.
     Ok now, I obviously didn't cover every way to equip terminators in the last post. I covered mostly clawed terminators and TH/SS terminators. Other toys we wolf players have access to are, of course, Frost weapons! Frost weapons equipped in the main hand are sweat and cheap-5 points a pop you get a power weapon for +1 str.  Thats actually not bad from some perspectives, our Nilla Marine cousin's terminators cost 40 points for a power weapon and storm bolter. At 38 points we can have a terminator that stays cheaper but is more effective at cc. Perhaps something to consider. One could also go for the "terminator +1" load out, Frost weapon and combi weapon for 43 points. At 3 points more than our cousins we get a terminator with a combi shot and some extra punching power. If you took CoF (which I will always bring up when talking about Wolf Guard) you get +1WS as well). This makes the terminators just THAT MUCH MORE versitle than our cousins for only 3 points. Again not terrible and maybe something to consider. You can also (through the FAQ/Errata) equip a SS/Frost axe... meh its 48 points. Just take the hammer. I personally like Frost blades because I feel they look cool and are fluffy to equip. Of course doing something from a visual standpoint can't really be called tactics but, ultimately, they're my toys and sometimes I just run them the way I want to for the sake of fun.
     Another way a Wolf player might equip his termis is Stormshield/Wolfclaw. Lets examine this, 48 points for a 2+3++ WS5 +1STR shred model. Thats kinda hot I wont lie. In fact, it brings up the main weakness of clawed terminators to begin with= relying on a 5++ to get to combat and start shredding. This will cost 1 attack though but, in all honesty, if you chose CoF your hitting more often against TEQs and MEQs (which are the basis by which all things 40k are usually judged) and your shredding the wounds to likely make up the difference while protecting you 48 point investment better. Not a bad call and Ill give this one my stamp of approval as a solid tactic.
     Did I forget Chainfists? No, Im just not a huge fan of them. I know they're popular for cracking open some Landraiders, so I'll give them a talk. Its 15 points to throw a CF on your termi. This is a pricey option to say the least and you cannot protect your 15 point investment with a stormshield. A way I've read about is CF/WC which is a neat concept. STR+1 AP3 shred or STRX2 AP2 armorbane unwieldy. You keep your extra attack from having 2 specialist weapons and you make your termi strong at killing MEQs TEQs and vehicles alike! The downside, your paying 63 points for a one wound model with only a 2+5++!!! Look, Im never one to put too much emphasis price, and as you read my posts you'll learn I gear my wolves to the teeth but even I consider this a point sink when you consider how much easier he is to kill VS a TH/SS termi for 15 less points.Guys (and girls), take the TH/SS. your nearly as good against vehicles, just as strong against MEQs and TEQs, better at killing MCs or characters and much more survivable than a termi with a CF. My 2 cents..
     Powerfists. 5 points cheaper than chainsfists but suffer more from not having the armorbane. They basically fill a role of discount CF or hammer. See chainfists above and just take a shield and hammer. If you absolutely need the other arm open take the hammer or the CF for 5 more points and do the job right.
     Alright onto ranged weapons, starting with combis. Probably the most popular and competitive loadout in most peoples eyes, you can't really go wrong here. Flamer, melta, plasma. They all have their uses and it really depends on what you want to do and your delivery system for your termis. deepstriking or drop podding 10 termis with melta or plasma shots is dirty and likely to wipe out or seriously cripple any unit. Having a combi flamer is great for overwatch or killing a high number of grots or gaunts or something else you don't want to be tied up by for too long. At 5 points, if your gonna rock a non-heavy ranged weapon- and you have the points, upgrade it to a combi weapon. It wont disappoint.
        What about a stormbolter and a stormshield? At 33 points this actually isn't too bad. You pay 2X+ the cost of a Grey Hunter but your much more durable, have the option to take a combi weapon for 5 points, and have WS5 (CoF). Ultimately your cc will suffer but the termi will have staying power, about the same shooting ability (better if you upgraded to a combi wep) and fight slightly better than a GH with more survivability.
 Onto the heavys. Believe it or not, I like all 3 options. Im a fan of flamer weapons. They do work and pull their weight. They're not the most popular but I will stand by it when I say, I've NEVER been disappointed that I brought one. Cyclone missile launchers are great, they have the versatility to do a blast and perhaps cause a few wounds or a high strength shot for vehicles all while leaving both your termis hands open for weapons like TH/SS or twin claws. Not a bad option just a pricey one. Bring one on your Void Claws, consider leaving it at home for other units. Assault cannons are the POO. 4 rending STR6 shots on a relentless model will force saves on MEQs and TEQs all day while threatening vehicles/MCs and making up for the low-volume-fire-to-points problem that terminators suffer from. They're not the most popular option but maybe they should be. I'm a fan.

     Mixing and matching weapon options is a popular tactic. Many players want their termis to be ready for any and every challenge their opponent throws at them. Common loadouts might look like TH/SS leader, combi plasma with power axe, Combi plasma with a chain fist, combi melta with wolf claw, and an assault cannon/cyclone missiles and combi flamer with a powerfist/chainfist/wolfclaw/power wep. Dont be afraid to mix it up but personally I focus my terminators to either be cc (TH/SS or twin claws or claw and shield) maybe with a heavy weapon or shooty/cc with all combi plasmas or meltas and claws or frost blades and an assault cannon. On occasion, if I know I'm playing orks or nids or guard, Ill throw a combi flamer in there. Honesty 9/10 times they're just cc termis- I have to keep it real with my readers. Thats my playstyle and the style I feel SW Terminators are most effective.
     Additionally I should note that, using CoF, your Pack Leader is most likely going to end up in a challenge. Equip him accordingly. I always give him a stormshield ALWAYS and usually a Thunderhammer or Wolf Claw-two great weapons for getting up close and cozy with characters.

     This concludes my posts about WGT! We've talked about loadouts, transports, viability and more. The rest such as target priority and battlefield positioning depend on you as a player and your situation on the table. I will cover these topics someday soon in their own posts. Did I leave anything out? Do you agree with me? Do you disagree? How do you prefer to run your Terminators? As always leave your feedback and opinions in the comments and keep them respectful. We can learn together! I do not/will not claim that my word is law nor do I claim my way is among the best or most competitive. I understand and accept that my opinions regarding cc units and units like terminators are not necessarily shared by most players in 7th and that is fine. This is how I choose to play and Ive had success doing as such. I hope to Have helped or inspire you in any way and thank you for reading.
                                                  May the dice gods roll in your favor and Russ be with you!
                                                                                                     Jorvar
                                                                         
                                       
   

Space Wolf Terminators, Discussion and Tactica Part 1

     Hello again pups!

     Today were gonna talk about Wolf Guard Terminators, their place in 7th edition 40k, some tactics and some pitfalls.

     Jumping right in- Terminators are getting a bad rap in 7th edition. 40k sites have torn into them for being too expensive, too fragile with one wound in a edition where AP2 is everywhere, and not what people expect from 200+ point units. I could go into detail but what it comes down to is people expect Terminators to be game breakers and they're not. And thats OK. I respectfully disagree that they aren't worth their costs and in my opinion these commenters are either using their Terminators wrong or do not understand what (I feel) is their purpose or both. They should be a generalist unit. Space Marines on a whole are generalists and terminators are the next level of that niche. They put out solid shooting with stormbolters and heavy weapons, and better than average cc. Terminators have strong anti infantry potential and decent anti vehicle potential both of which can increase drastically if you are willing to pay the points. I feel that Terminators are meant to ADEQUATELY handle any battlefield role they are in the position to address; they are not meant to be the rape train everyone wants them to be. I also feel they are worth their cost if for nothing other than the fact that your opponent will drop a retarded amount of power and resources to see a unit of Terminators killed. Any player worth their salt knows better than to let a unit of unchecked Terminators run around the board willy nilly.

     Terminators have their faults-this much is beyond contest. Worth the points or not, the bastards are expensive. Your shelling out 33 points per terminator with just a stormbolter and power weapon. And in all reality this isn't bad, at just over 2X the cost of a power armored marine your getting marine stats, with 2+5++ an AP3 sword or AP2 axe and a stormbolter. In spirit of comparison, lets do some math! I'm not mathematician by the way so were gonna keep this simple. No need for 4 pages worth of math hammer on this post. On average, the number of deaths PER WOUND (remember these wounds need to be inflicted in the first place) of a terminator is 1/6 vs the power armors 1/3 (assuming these wounds don't negate armor saves of either). This makes the terminator 2X as likely to shrug off this wound and about 4X less likely for 2 terminators to die over 2 PA marines with the same number of wounds. However lets say this wound is inflicted by a AP3 weapon, the Terminator will still only die to this weapon 1/6 times while the PA marine will just die. Against AP2 or better weapons the terminator is only 33% or 1/3 more likely to survive but again this chance to live is a chance PA isnt given. However at some point, after enough shots are fired, they will BOTH DIE. Basically what Im saying is the durability of the armor is relative to the situation as is the value of said armor and how you perceive it but it is indeed ALWAYS more durable, if only a little bit. Number of attacks isn't really a factor for Space wolves as our PA marines are sitting at 2 base anyway (you bought that cc weapon right?). However when our marines shoot 2 shots, they are done for that turn. No more damage will be inflicted by them. Terminators can shoot their 2 shots and charge to potentially do more damage. Another downside to Terminators are their sheer lack of mobility. They can get in a transport or deep strike to get where there going but at that point they are essentially hoofing it and no player wants a 200+ point footslogging unit. If they took said transport, they take up 2 spots a piece but this will hardly play a role in your decision. The transport they choose (if they chose one) is likely going to be a concern to most players, however, the dedicated transport options are Landraiders or Stormwolfs. expensive to say the least. Additionally you could buy a drop pod for them but this limits your terminators to a squad of 5 and costs a fast attack slot which is a premium slot considering Thunderwolf Calvary. After all this can Terminators ever be worth it in a Space Wolf army? I say yes.

     First off, I need to warn you a good bit of this article will be dealing with the CoF detachment (which I feel gives Terminators a solid push towards being the most competitive) and the formations therein. Space Wolf Terminators, I feel, need to be taken as part of a Company of the Greatwolf detachment or formation to really be as effective as possible. Furthermore, I think SW Terminators need to be combat oriented. OH SNAP! Did he just say combat oriented? Don't this foo know its 7th edition? CC is fail.. Yes I said combat oriented. Cc has taken a few hits but its where wolves shine-especially part of CoF-especially when kitted properly. Consider this, SW terminators with Claws or TH/SS cost 48 points a piece, A Lot? Maybee.. Our marine cousin's cost 40. Whats my point? For 8 points you have WS 5 Terminators with counter attack! That is huge and makes us a great deal more efficient. Lets say we have 5 Clawed terminators fighting 10 MEQs who charged us, thats 20 incoming attacks. They're hitting on 4s so we take 10 hits, wounding on 4s so 5 wounds. Thats between 0-1 terminators dead on average (not exact math of course...) our TEQs hit back with 20 attacks, hitting on 3s (WS 5) wounding on 3s (+1STR wolf claws, another example of SW terminators being stronger) thats on average 13-14 hits and 8-9 wounds (for these examples I wont be taking into account shred, but it would be even worse.). No one is getting a save from those. but thats an unfair comparison lets do Terminators VS Terminators. 5 TEQs charge our TEQs claws vs claws, 20 incoming attacks for 10 hits for 5 wounds= 0-1 dead terminators (again not including shred). Our TEQs swing back and cause 8-9 saves which is 1-2 dead enemy Terminators.  Ok we don't exactly make all our points back in one round of combat but yes our terminators are better and cause nearly 30% more hits and wounds. That adds up. But again why combat? WGT suffer from many of the same strengths and weaknesses as regular terminators, shooting and lack of shooting power per points among them but do not suffer a lack off cc strength per point.. At least not to the same degree. Play to your strengths, ours happens to be cc as I've posted about previously.

     But they're still slow! Yes this is a serious problem that is hard to object to. I've been giving you a scenario where you are not playing an objective secured list and your opponent most likely is. This means it is that much more important for you to be able to get to an objective to kill the squishy troops on it with your cc badass terminators to contest it and win the game. This is actually a pain and Im going to tell you right now, your gonna pay out the nose for the luxury of mobility. which brings us back to the question, are Terminators worth it? Well lets look at our options: Stormwolf=eh. I love this transport for dropping off troops but picking them up? You want that thing back in the air ASAP. If it gets shot down, your up shit creek my wolfy friend. Landing to grab some wolves to chauffeur them isn't the best use of this flyer. I say no. Landraider? I have a strong love-hate relationship with Landraiders. Namely, I love crusaders and HATE the other two variants, but more on that in another post. Basically 250 points for a assault vehicle thats dropping your terminators off in the heart of the enemy with 2 long range weapons is stupid. The flamestorm cannon is smexy but a total b*tch to use. The crusader damn near puts out the fire power and wounds as a tactical squad while operating at a good assault range and making up for the fact that your terminators are not shooting. Additionally it gives frag assault launchers keeping your terminators safe from initiative penalties. Oh and it can carry 8 terminators. Play to your strengths. 

     Is that worth a 500 point unit? Up to you, thats 12 twinlinked bolter rounds, 4 twinlinked rending assault rounds,  multi-melta gun shot (if you bought it.. buy it its 10 points) and 20 STR 5 WS 5 attacks with shred or 15 STR 8 WS 5 attacks with concussive that have all the durability of 14AV/4HP and T4 2+5++ or 2+3++. Ontop of decent mobility. I think its worth it. At best your opponent will shit his pants when you drop his knight like a chump, at worst he pops the landraider and your terminators have to run. Still a tough strong unit that will take more that 500pts worth of fire power to kill in a turn or two.

     Lets talk about some formations huh? There a few good ones that include terminators, Grimnar's Kingsguard, Wolf Guard Strike Force, Kingsguard Stormforce. But Im only gonna talk about 2 today. The Void claws and, of course, Arjac's Shieldbrothers.

     Void Claws are niiiice. Firstly its at least 5 and up to 10 Terminators with wolf claws. They get all the +1 WS sexyness and the rest of the rules we've come to love from CoF. Additionally they have the rules: Coordinated Assault (As long as one is alive you can reroll ANY reserve rolls) If Needs Must (when arriving from DS, you can reroll the scatter dice) and Spearhead Strike (Must arrive by DS, arrives FIRST TURN) this unit is great! You get all the goodness of the TDAs themselves (throw a cyclone missile launcher on em for every 5 models) you get them on the FIRST TURN! They're not as likely to mishap and they help your army by bringing in reserves more reliably! Great unit! The best part? Its not a unique formation nor does it have a unique character, so you can bring multiples! AHHH!

     Arjac's Shieldbrothers. Lets see... The greatest formation in the history of formations ever EVER? Yeah. This unit is stupidly optimised and every opponent I brought this against has raged. A unit of 5 TH/SS Terminators, a Landraider Crusader, and Arjac Rockfist. Im gonna get into Arjac in his own post at some point but let me go ahead and just say hes a 2 wound Lysander for 115 points! Id pay 190 points for him all day and not think 2 thoughts of it. This formation comes with all the CoF rules but throws in hammer of wrath. More killy hammernators? No it gets much much worse. In addition to being the super resilient version of a super resilient unit, these Badasses get +1T whenever they're in base contact with another model from the formation (including the Landraider), SUCK IT Deathwing! BUT THATS NOT ALL! In addition to that whenever a model makes an invuln save on a roll of 6, it deals an immediate STR8 AP2 auto hit with concussive the unit that forced the save! Got your troll face ready? Your gonna need it. Also this unit has fearless if Logan is on the board and alive which turns into zealot if he dies. I love this formation. I've killed about every deathstar you can imagine with this one. 

     These are my thoughts on SW Wolf Guard Terminators! As always, this is all subjective and opinionated and what works for me may not work for everyone. My views are in the minority of the community most of the time and I understand and accept that. I'm just presenting what is, perhaps, a different way to look at Terminators. What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Did I leave something out? Do you have a subject you'd like me to cover? Comments are welcome as always just remember to keep them respectful. I enjoy reading others points of view and like to examine things from every angle to make the most informed decisions possible. My next post will be about more ways to equip WGT, both for range and cc options I havent covered.

                                 Hope this post was useful! Russ be with you!

                                                                                                   Jorvar

     (Wolf guard pic at bottom are my personal Shieldbrothers just completed, post on glow effects in the future)

Are Space Wolves a close combat army?

            Greetings brothers (and sisters) of the Vlka Fenryka!
                                        Today we are going to talk about a controversial topic...Dun Dun DUHH- are the Space Wolves a close combat army? Well, I'm going to give you the short answer from my prospective: YES.

     I know, I have to be crazy right? Historically, Space Wolves have not been considered a CC army- more-so they've been considered a mid-field defensive army. Many new players would pick up the Space Wolf codex and assume it was infact a melee style army only to be shot down and corrected by more veteran players. The 5th edition codex really epitomized this and as it was out and valid for many years and the most recent-this post will be talking about 5th edition vs 7th edition Wolves.
     In 5th edition the Space Wolves had a strong reputation for being the "I f*cking dare you to charge me" army while they rhino-rushed or drop podded into an opponents face and started rapid firing. Grey Hunters were the poo and not even Blood Angels' Death Company would dare to charge them. Two cc weps, and counter attack along with a stupidly over-powered banner and the Wulfen would make any player think twice. GHs easily made up 60-80% of most players army's and were exhibit: A of why the Space Wolves were a mid-field army.   Our Long Fangs would sit in the back by their Razorbacks launching death into enemy ranks while the Grey hunters sat on objectives making the Ultrasmurfs blue with envy (lol). That was the way of it. Blood Claws were too expensive and too unreliable. Thunderwolves were sexy, but pricy(er) and Wolf Guard were largely used to sneak Terminators with missile launchers into Grey Hunter squads, kitting them for cc was crazy expensive and not very effective when you consider it. The Wolf Lord was our CC MONSTER but he alone did not make the army. Basically, Space Wolves were the kings of getting up to the center of the field and shooting. They had cc power, sure. But they were so good at holding the middle ground and objectives that playing them any other way was really wasting their potential.
     Fast forward to 7th edition and a few things changed. Our Grey Hunters lost their "ultra-grit" loadout unless you pay a premium for it. Face it-we still will cause its awesome. They used to pay 10 points for their plasma gun and got a second one FREE with a 10 man pack! Now, however, the plasma gun costs 15 points and a second is no longer free. Ok we still have this right? Well they also lost adding a terminator leader with missile launchers to the pack, a banner in every squad (one per detachment now-and it doesn't work the same)and the Wulfen (almost cried..). A sizable point increase and a tactical usage decrease both at the same time (that is not to say they are not good-they are still a great unit as far as troops go, just no longer the beasts they were). Additionally Blood Claws became much cheaper (12 points!), lost headstrong, gained more options and became all around more attractive. perhaps a move to the cc direction right? Longfangs too have lost some umph-taking us further from the shooty side. Thunderwolves (who are arguably the best unit in the codex) took an AMAZING price cut while getting EVEN BETTER at cc, Terminators took a nice price cut when equip for cc, almost all of our characters are cc oriented and took a price cut. Long story short: We don't have centurions we don't have highly proficient shooting and we will be out-gunned by 80% of the armies we get into a gunfight with. However, this alone wouldn't make me believe the Wolves were a cc army.
     Then Champions of Fenris came out. Oh man. I probably should put a disclaimer out stating that this, and 3/4ths of every blog I post, will probably lead back to CoF. This supplement changed everything. What was a perfectly OK and fairly competitive codex turned into a true force to be reckoned with when the Champions of Fenris hit the shelves. It also pushed us into the CC scene like nothing else could. Our FoC turned into 1 HQ 2 Elites and gave us up to 8 Elites and 4 HQs at the cost of 3 Troops slots. Wolf Guard of both varieties, pack leaders and THUNDERWOLF CALVARY get +1 WS standard. Characters must issue and accept challenges but get preferred enemy-characters while in challenges. Add all this in with the fact that our gear is just plain better than regular Space Marines gear when it comes to cc -our Frost Blades are better than their power weapons, our Wolf Claws are stronger than their Lightning Claws, our units have more cc options, and we have counter attack. All this tells me the wolves want to be in combat. Higher weapon skills, more access to cc units via elite armies, stronger cc weaponry and the plain killing power of our Thunderwolf Calvary. Our army hits easier, is harder to hit, wounds easier and has easier access to cc units. I haven't even talked about the relics or formations yet... Arjacs Shieldbrothers? Krakenbone Sword?
     All this taken into account I must point out that I do NOT think the Space Wolves are an ASSAULTY army. Theyre too versatile to be put in such a fine term. Theres some rage here, furious charge there but its rare. I think they're a strong cc army. Charging or getting charged, put your troll face on when you clean up any combat no matter who started it.
     Obviously this is all speculation and opinion and has a lot to do with a supplement, but it is a valid corner to fight from. The fact of the matter is they are easily out gunned but not easily outclassed in combat. Of course this is not to say they cant be a shooty army or hold their own. They're Space Marines! Of course they can! I just think, more than other chapters, the Space Wolves bring the pain when they're in your face. Our terminators and formations challenge Deathwing. We challenge Blood Angels at their own game as well (though certainly there would be carnage in that match up).
     Also, I'm sure I'm in the minority, as most Wolf players wont let go of their heritage. I am biased and try to play cc games whenever possible. Theres always this talk of "an increasingly shooty edition" or "cc is fail" that I must object strongly to. This edition may seem to favor armies like Tau or Guard or Eldar (and it does) but I promise when you learn effective means to get to an enemy with most of your army intact (which will be discussed in length in a later post) these armies crumble quite quickly. In fact, (and not to brag) since CoF, I've actually not lost a game in the past 8 I've played-all CC armies with notoriously "fail" units like Terminators (I will talk about Terminators and their effectiveness relative to 7th edition in the future). I am simply trying to say, open your mind to new possibilities, do not ever let someone tell you something wont work cause "thats how it is in 7th" and dont paint yourself into the corner of "mid-field defensive only" or "shooty only" cause, frankly, Space Wolves are not.
     This post represents my opinion, I am not Sir lord and savior of the Wolves and my word is not law. As usual I am presenting an alternative view that the whole of the community  does not agree with and I understand that. Whats your opinions? Do you agree with me? Do you not agree? Feel free to comment why or why not (as always, be respectful if presenting an opposition) with reasons you feel either way!
                                                         Keep Gaming and may Russ be with you!
                                                                                                              Jorvar


   
   
   
   
   

Wolf Lord Blogs!

 Greetings and welcome all ye Blood Claws to the Wolf Lord Blogs!

     The Blogs posted here are going to be blogs about the Space Wolf army in Warhammer 40k, tactics on how to use the units in this army, the lore of the army, the hobby and craft of bringing the Vlka Fenryka to your table, and general non-sense that I think fellow Wolf players might find useful or interesting.
     Ill tell you readers a bit about myself in this first post as well as what inspired me to begin this blog to begin with. For purposes of this blog I will refer to myself as Jorvar (pronounced Yorvar, its Nordic and the name of an ancestor which I believe is fitting when the subject is Space Wolves). Like many of you who would choose to read a blog about Space Wolves, I am an avid collector and admirer of the army. It's lore inspires me, it's play-style defines me and I feel I can relate to it's characters and all around vibe. I play Warhammer 40k as often as I can and every day I do not play you can find me researching lore or tactics or painting my wolves (as the wife/daughters/work allow). I am not, nor do I claim to be, an expert about anything regarding Space Wolves or Warhammer in general; just a player with opinions and strategies I'd like to share with the Space Wolf community in hopes that I can inform or inspire one player out there to try something new or consider an option they might not have. I am not a writer. In fact, though I consider myself literate, you may find many grammatical or spelling errors in my posts. I will do the best I can to make these posts as legible as possible.

     Now a bit about this blog and what to expect. Many things I will post about are already covered in many other blogs, http://space-wolves-grey.blogspot.com/ is a great one and I HIGHLY recommend getting into it as well as joining the Space Wolf Face book page (that I'm a proud member of!)https://www.facebook.com/SpaceWolveshere. However, though many things I post about can be found in other places, most will include a different take or additional information or just my personal opinions about them. A great example (which will likely be among my first posts), is the whole concept of "min-maxing", which I think (too much of) is a load of crap and not very fun. More on that later... Painting tips will also be speckled in here and there as I paint my own projects and find things that may be of some help or interest to a newer hobbyist (though we should all be open minded to new ways to do things as it will help us grow as artists and modelers). List building and tactica are going to be a huge part of my initial posts till I run out of ideas- I encourage you all to contact me with new ones. Also from time to time we will talk about specific characters, their lore, how to interact with them on the table, whether they are worth their points ect. Basically I hope to one day have a little something for everyone looking for whatever they need about Space Wolves here, on my blog.
     I'm looking forward to putting my thoughts out there for you readers and even more so looking forward on your feedback about my posts. I am always open to new concepts and ideas, if any of you would like me to cover a topic please email me at Wulfen123871@gmail.com. If you don't agree with me, comment and tell me and the other readers (respectfully please) why and what you believe a better take may be, in the interest of my own expanding knowledge as well as another readers. We should all consider ourselves students. We will never know everything and (especially in WH40K) there is always another way to do things. In fact I am making these blogs specifically to CHALLENGE the well known "correct" ways to play the wolves or WH40K in general.
                                         Thank you for reading and I hope you find some use from these posts,
                                                                                       Russ be with you all!


                                                                                                               Jorvar