ARTICLES

SW Guide
Articles
Gallery
Profile
Links
Email the W&R!
W&R@A Interface 2.0
Home

Getting Started, Or 750 points of Space Wolf Fun



        Every wolf lord has to start somewhere. Even the largest, most powerful wolf lords out there first started their army small, and worked their way up. And since a lot of new players select Space wolves to start with, they might not have an idea of what works well, or what doesn't. That's where I can help.
        First, lets get a 750 point army list up. The main reason I suggest going in 750 point chunks, instead of 500 or 1000 points, is mainly the fact that Space wolves REQUIRE you to purchase an HQ choice for every 750 points, or part there of.. No more. No less. And with that in mind, lets go over what I feel would be a nice solid army to begin with.


750 Point Army


HQ Choices

Venerable Dreadnaught --- Equipped Lascannon & Storm bolter, with Extra Armor and Smoke launcher upgrades.

Reason why: This is a VERY solid HQ choice. It gives you a few advantages in the game, and if you keep him in a forest, you can sit there and take lots of glancing hits, and force them to reroll if its a 'Vehicle Destroyed' roll. Sweet! Only negative is he's a bit slow, so the Lascannon makes up for that, with its 48" range.

Point cost: 183
Physical cost: $34.99 (for the plastic Space Marine Dreadnaught)


Troop Choices

Grey Hunter unit -- 7-man squad. Upgraded with 1 Plasma pistol, 1 Meltagun, 1 Power weapon, and 1 Power fist. All armed with bolt pistols, except the Plasma pistol, and Metagun users.
Mounted in a Rhino upgraded with Extra Armor & Smoke Launchers.

Reason why: You need one unit of these guys, minimum. The rules state that. The upgrades the unit packs should allow the Grey Hunters to take out almost any unit they come across. Armored Dreadnaughts, orks, terminators... All the choices give you a bit of flexability and take down power. The Rhino should help insure that your unit can make it to wherever its going. Speed is the key with most Wolf armies. Normally I like these guys with bolters, but since you want to maximize your Hand-to-Hand ability, you want to have the bolt pistols. That's why your going to get the blood claw boxset, since it has bolt pistols instead of bolters.

Point cost: 164 (for the Grey hunters) + 58 (for the Rhino)
Physical Cost: $24.99 (for a box of Space Wolf Blood Claws, since you want the bolt pistols and not bolters) + $24.99 (for the Rhino kit)


Blood Claw unit -- 9 man squad. Upgraded with 2 Power fists, and 1 Meltagun.
Mounted in a Rhino upgraded with Extra Armor & Smoke Launchers.

Reason why: Why not? These guys kick when they are charging. This unit can munch anything it hits, with 8 Str 8 attacks with those power fists. Again, a Rhino is added to make sure that the unit can get to where you need it to, when you need it to. The meltagun is there to take out targets like Dreadnaughts that the unit may get too close to. Sure it only hits half the time, but if it hits, the target is usually toasted.

Point cost: 158 (for the Blood Claws) + 58 (for the Rhino)
Physical Cost: $24.99 (for a box of Space Wolf Blood Claws) + $24.99 (for the Rhino kit)


Heavy Support Choices

Predator -- Armed with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons, and upgraded with Extra armor.

Reason why: Its really shootie if you put it behind some nice rocks to keep it hull down, and can hurt almost anything in the game with what it packs. It can take out TONS of stuff, and has a 48" range, perfect for covering the advance of your rhinos. Armor 13 on the front is just HARD to punch through as well.

Point cost: 130
Physical Cost: $34.99 (for the Predator Destructor kit)


Total Point Cost: 751
Physical Cost: $169.94


Overall

        This army has lots of firepower tied up into two units. The Predator and Venerable Dreadnaught. Keep both safe, in or behind cover, so they can fire at the enemy as well. If you can, allow your Ven-Dread to make its way across the board, to assist in hand to hand. The Blood Claws and Grey Hunters should support each other. That doesn't mean they should be right next to each other, but you should make sure that if one unit gets in trouble, the other can assist it.

        Oh, and on the off chance you don't care for a Venerable Dreadnaught as your HQ choice, I've managed to come up with an alternate choice for those that see a Venerable Dreadnaught as 'unfluffy' in such a small points game.




Alternate Unit Choices


Remove the Venerable Dreadnaught from the Army list above.
Now add the Following units to the army.
HQ Choices

Wolf Priest -- Armed with all standard equipment noted in codex, as well as Frag Grenades, Wolf Tail Talisman, and a Wolf Tooth Necklace.

Reason why: Wolf Priests are tough as nails, and cheap. And CHEAP is good for your first army. You'll need to get a generic chaplain model and add a wolf tail from one of the Space wolf sprues, as well as convert the model to have a wolf tooth necklace. Just cut off the small necklace hanging from the bottom of one of the chest plates, and glue it wherever it looks good on the chaplain figure. If you put him in with your Blood Claws, they become even a SCARIER threat, as this model can take out lots of troops easily, allowing the Blood Claws to clean up. The Leadership 10 is a nice advantage as well.

Point Cost: 107
Physical Cost: $6.99

Heavy Support

Whirlwind -- Armed as normal. No upgrades.

Reason why: It's an ordinance template. And you can set this back behind something huge, and just shell your opponent with it. It works GREAT if you can guess within 2"s of your target. This works great against non-marine armies, with lots of troops. This choice can win you back its points EASILY with the amount of troops it can crush, if you guess right. Just don't expect it to break tanks very well though.

Point Cost: 75
Physical Cost: $34.99


Total Point Cost: 750
Physical Cost: $171.93


Overall


        Not much of a chance with this list, compared to the previous one, although you have more troop killing capability with the Whirlwind and the Wolf Priest now. The Wolf Priest will work well with the Blood claws, keeping them under control, as well as with a nice leadership value. The Whirlwind should help 'soften up' units before your Blood Claws and Grey Hunters hit them. Keeping track of the ranges you guessed might help you as well. Consider that.
        The main thing to remember with both lists is to kill your opponent's transports and heavy support before they can hurt your own. Specialty units should also be targeted, if you get a chance.
        Either way, with the two boxsets of Blood Claws you purchased, you should still have 4 troops you can construct to fill our your army. This is a good way to add to what you have.

        Once you get the hang of using this small, but potent force, you may want to consider your next 750 points. You'll need another HQ choice, and the addition of another troop unit is always a good choice. But, once you get up that high, try to make the army into YOUR army. Use what YOU want to use. Maybe you'll find a use for bikes that I haven't. You may want to look over my Space Wolf guide for possible suggestions at that point. Hope that helps


--Fenrir Sureblade