Heavy SupportHeavy weapons. Can't live without them. Can't field enough of them to make you happy. That's the law of heavy weapons for Space wolves. Just live with the fact that almost EVERYONE will have you outgunned. Even orks. The only armies you might OUTGUN are Necrons, and maybe BUGS. But that's it.So, what does a wolf lord do? Well, you knuckle down, and you get enough firepower that you can take care of other big guns, and let your troops do a majority of the 'unit cleaning'. What does that mean? Anti-tank, my friend. Anti-tank. 
RIGHT! And I've got a bridge in the Eye of Terror I'd like to sell you too. Ok, they are pretty cool, and they do have their uses. They can split fire, which is GOOD, but the fact that once you start taking damage, guess who is going to die FIRST? The guy who lets you split fire. Personally, I don't like these guys. They take wounds, they die, and they aren't very useful. The only guys these folks rock against are Necrons, Bugs, and occasionally Orks, all three of which are handicapped in one section... RANGE and KILLABILITY @ LONG RANGE. Necrons have only one 36" range weapon. All else are 24"s or shorter. And you get a save against them ALL! That's important. This is the same with bugs. 36"s is their max range, and all their weapons are AP4 or higher. You still can save. Orks, while they pack stuff like rokkit launchers, normally can't hit the broad side of a barn, but if they do hit your unit, you're looking at a dead wolf walking. Any other army out there packs AP2 and AP3 weapons, and ranges of 36+"s. Not a good sign for theses VERY expensive wolves to see. On top of all that, you can purchase a Land Raider for the unit. Yes, nothing like spending 250 points to transport a single unit thats worth 200+ points. Hrm. 450+ points in one tank. I'm sorry, but if it can't kill whole units (Like BCs in a LRC can), I don't want it. Personally, if you HAVE to move these geezers, throw their tails in a Rhino. At least you can stick the Rhino behind some rocks, be counted as hull down, and still fire two heavy weapons out the top hatch. Oh, and they CAN purchase Razorbacks according to the newest update to the rules in WD #269. Not that its really worth getting them one, as personally never field them. Weapon Suggestions: Use what works best against what you're fighting. Missile launchers work well against tanks AND infantry, and are dirt-cheap. Heavy bolters are GREAT for clearing out bugs, and even cheaper. But, throw in a lot of 35-point heavy weapons, and your looking at a unit that, if it dies, will cost you a LOT of points. Cheap is good. Effective is good. Cheap and effective is GREAT! Stick with a 'one theme' pack though, if you want to field these guys. Make it either all antitank, or anti-infantry. Split fire goes away when your pack leader bites it. Advantages: Split fire is cool... Disadvantages: ...too bad that your pack leader will die and it'll be of no use. These guys can be expensive! And can't take casualties to save their lives... literally. Just not worth it.
This tank is designed with one thing in mind. Eating 'horde' armies for lunch. And what a lovely job it does of it too! This tank eats small units, and spits them out. With the possibility of twin autocannons, 3 heavy bolters, AND a pintle storm bolter, this tank can shell out a LOT of 'average' firepower to most non-marine armies, and chew them to shreds. And AV 14 means it'll take a LOT of shooting before it goes away too! Too bad that's all this take is good for. At 180 points, that's a lot of points, period. But at least it looks cool. Personally, I don't use this tank much, now that there are cooler tanks, like the Land Raider crusader out and about. BUT, its still a nice piece to field once in a blue moon against Orks and Bugs, who should have an impossible time destroying this thing fast enough, unless a lictor eats it. Weapon Suggestions: Heavy Bolters all around, and a storm bolter in the pintle mount, and you can eat weak units for days with this much firepower. Throw on extra armor, in case something does manage to get a STUN on the damage chart though. Overall though, this will throw out a LOT of 36" firepower with AP 4, so eat units you know who have 4+ saves, or worst. Advantages: LOTS of firepower for 'horde' units to soak up. Disadvantages: The tank is like 60 points MORE expensive than the Guard version, for a BS 4, instead of a BS3. Oh well. You can't win them all. A fully decked out LRE will run you easily 200+ points by the time you out fit it. Also, Space wolves are designed to eat weak stuff. This tank just eats more of it for you. You REALLY should concentrate on getting some anti-tank stuff instead.
This is not a weapon for those who can't guess range though. I though, can pick them within 2"s, 99% of the time, and therefore, this is a weapon of choice! Not useful against marines, but WOW, against like any other army, your going to be blowing holes in units if you can get a decent hit once in a while. It can ALMOST be used to destroy vehicles from the rear too, with a few well placed shots, but overall your chances of hitting, with deviation and having to guess, your chances aren't as good as a nice lascannon, but hey, you might need it one day. Weapon Suggestions: Doesn't really need any. Extra armor is ok, but sort of a waste, if it just sits behind a hill the whole game and keeps on firing. Advantages: It's a guess weapon that uses the BIG template. DUH! Disadvantages: If you can't guess, your better off getting another tank instead. Won't hurt Sv 3+ or better very much though.
AV 13 is really decent too. And at a mere 100 points, a normal Predator should easily be no budget breaker in any army. Oh, and remember what I said about anti-tank, and needing it? Well, guess what? You need it. Get some. So, two LC sponsons it is! Weapon Suggestions: Autocannon with LC sponsons! Yeah! Extra armor, and you can rock and roll! Advantages: Its cheap, its hard to kill, and it can kill other heavy armor stuff, or units, with its big guns! Disadvantages: Um, actually, there isn't much of a disadvantage to this cheap tank, unless you put HBs on the sponsons. This tank, while good at being a unit muncher, works better for hunting tanks, since your BCs and GHs can hunt units all day long.
So, what does I suggest using a Land Raider for? Other than attracting VICIOUS amounts of firepower, this tank is a good unit just to keep rolling at a steady 6"s and using it as a great substitute for a Long fang pack. With the machine spirit rule, you can move the tank forward 6"s, fire one sponson at BS 4, and then use the other sponson on a completely different unit at BS 2. And since the LCs are twin linked, you have a REAL good chance of hitting with both of them. Great for picking off other tanks. Then, when you feel happy enough, drop out whatever unit that you put inside the raider, and have them hold ground, while your raider plays fire support. The unit is best at having either GHs or maybe WG in it. But its your call. Blood claws are better at throwing in a Crusader, than a normal Land Raider. Weapon Suggestions: Um, maybe the Pintle Mounted stormbolter, and some extra armor. Other than that, it's ready to rock and roll. Advantages: Its got more armor than you can shake a stick at. Machine spirits RULE! It holds Termies! Disadvantages: It'll cost out the nose to field it, but WOWIE, is it spiffy though. Eldar and dark eldar will eat it for lunch though
It shoots. It moves, it eats bad guys up at 24" ranges, and maybe even MORE effective at laying down firepower against normal units than a Leman Russ Exterminator, when you factor in that is can move AND fire at almost full capacity, since the machine spirit can control the assault cannons, and the hurricane bolters can fire no matter what. Oh yeah. Who doesn't like this tank? And it was DESIGNED for large units, like BCs. Oh yeah. This tank is a 1/3 of the "BC/Rune Priest/LRC" combo. It's very nasty. It's very gross. Insert death and destruction wherever it goes. WOOHOO! Weapon Suggestions: Shoot, just throw on a pintle mounted Storm bolter, and your ready to roll, since this tank is STANDARD with extra armor. Advantages: It can deploy 15 guys at once. Its shootie as all get out! It just kills SV 5+ or worst units REALLY well. Disadvantages: Um, Eldar and Dark eldar will still eat it for lunch, but its nasty even against them. Just beware or dark/bright lances.
It does suffer a few problems though. It has a SINGLE 'useful' weapon, the demolisher. If you suffer a 'weapon destroyed' on the tank, its usefulness is over. Still though, for a 'heavy weapons magnet' though, it works well. Weapon Suggestions: Get this thing a hunter-killer, since you could use the extra range at the start of battle, and plus, if you lose the demolisher first turn, at least you have a CHANCE of revenge with the H-K. Advantages: Has the best weapon STR and AP wise in the game. It attracts heavy weapons from other things in your army. It's a predator with a big gun. Disadvantages: To bad it's a short gun. A Predator with LC sponsons will probably kill more tanks, since a Vindie will have to roll into position to fire its weapons, where a Pred can stand off at 48"s and fire. Probably not the greatest tank to have, unless you KNOW your enemy is A> coming towards you, and B> is going to be all in a huge horde, and will likely just be blown to smithereens by this tank. In fact, its quite likely this would be a great deterrent for tyranid to get within 24"s of this metal monster, and eat them alive. So, maybe this is a useful tank, if you play a more 'defensive' game against orks or bugs. Summary of Heavy Support unitsWhile Space wolves lack nothing for Hand-to-Hand units, this specialization has caused them to lose many heavy weapons that appear in some armies. Because of this, the space wolves tend to lack dedicated anti-tank, which is a big mistake. In order to combat this, consider a Predator with LC sponsons at the least. From there, pick up whatever you need. Cheap firepower? Try a Whirlwind. More anti-tank, how about another Predator? Just go with what works well with you, and what you want, and you should be fine. Just remember to play it safe. Your going to be outgunned almost 99% of the time. |
