So, it's funny the kinds of things you can do with armies once you let go of certain 'safety blankets.' Now, sometimes those safety blankets exist for a reason (lol) but still, throwing preconceptions out the window is useful for trying out new ideas.
I'm planning on attending a tournament in Montana at the end of the month. It's 2000 points, and though I would dearly love to take the Nids, I'm just not comfortable with them yet at a GT level. I haven't even taken them to a "real" RTT yet, so I'm going to keep them on the shelf for now.
I have been thinking about how to try new things with my existing collection of Space Wolves. I do dearly love the Rune Priest, and I REALLY love Njal, but what can I do with an army if I leave the Psyker at home?
How does this grab you?
Logan
Wolf Guard Battle Leader, Saga of the Hunter, Frost Blade, Bolt Pistol, Fenrisien Wolves x 2
Wolf Scouts x 5, Meltagun
Wolf Scouts x 5, Meltagun
Wolf Guard x 5, Terminator w/Storm Shield, Chainfist, Cyclone Launcher, 4 w/BP, CCW
Wolf Guard x 5, Terminator w/Storm Shield, Chainfist, Cyclone Launcher, 4 w/BP, CCW
Wolf Guard x 5, Terminator w/Storm Shield, Chainfist, Cyclone Launcher, 4 w/BP, CCW Wolf Guard x 5, Terminator w/Cyclone, 3 w/BP, CCW, 1 w/Combimelta
Wolf Guard x 5, Terminator w/Cyclone, 3 w/BP, CCW, 1 w/Combimelta
Thunderwolf Cavalry, Storm Shield, Power Fist
Thunderwolf Cavalry, Storm Shield, Power Fist
Thunderwolf Cavalry, Storm Shield, Power Fist
Longfangs x 4, Multimelta x 4, Pack Leader, Drop Pod
Longfangs x 2, Lascannon x 2, Pack Leader
Longfangs x 2, Lascannon x 2, Pack Leader
So... what am I thinking here?
Logan and WGBL w/Puppies go with the Drop Podding Longfangs, ofc. That's a 9 man/dog unit with stealth. You have to go through Logan, the WGBL, two Wolves and the Pack Leader before you can put wounds on the big guns. Everything gets a 3++ cover save, which is nice for tossing lascannon shots on Logan (who can afford to fail his 3+) or the wolves (who you can afford to lose). It's a tough unit that can hang out in midfield and nuke some stuff, and contribute to the cleanup effort late game.
Don't forget also that charging this unit means you are going to take between 11 and 13 swings from the characters. They are WS5 with rerolls to hit, swinging at I5 and packing S5 power weapons. Yes, go ahead and charge me with that 5 man TH/SS terminator squad (or anything that's striking at I4 or below). Genestealers scare me. Unless I'm standing in some tall grass, then magically not so much. Wyches are moderately scary too but really you think I'm going to drop within 12" of wyches? No I'll sit at 24" and blow their Raiders away with my big guns. (Shooting multimeltas at open topped AV 10 vehicles... better hope you cooked your flickerfield dice).
The Thunderwolves obviously need to move up and support Logan, while you have three units of Wolf Guard coming up behind them. These guys are equipped to handle themselves in HtH, and can really do some damage if they are close to Logan when he pops his +1 attack bubble.
The other two Wolf Guard units are going to get stripped to the bone. The combimeltas go with the Wolf Scouts, and an additional body detaches to join the Longfang squads.
So you have 2 four man Longfang squads in the backfield, popping off single Lascannon shots at four targets. It's a cheap way to get Razorback-like firepower into the army. They can get shot off the board, yes, but really anything in this army can. But there's lots of stuff for my opponent to worry about, and frankly I'm not sure that the Lascannons or the back-field Wolf Guard squads are going to be his number one priority.
You also have two Three man Wolf Guard squads which will be hanging out WAAAYY in the back contributing Krak Missile fire and claiming home-side objectives (and generally trying not to die).
So you have 4 Multimeltas firing at 2 targets.
10 Krak missiles firing at 5 targets.
4 Lascannons firing at 4 targets.
2 Wolf Scout units packing twin meltas
Plus a pretty good close combat punch.
I dunnoh, I think it's got merit. What do YOU guys think?
