Part 1: Overview

• (used with a sing. verb) The military science that deals with securing objectives set by strategy, especially the technique of deploying and directing troops, ships, and aircraft in effective maneuvers against an enemy: Tactics is a required course at all military academies.
  
• (used with a sing. or pl. verb) A procedure or set of maneuvers engaged in to achieve an end, an aim, or a goal.
  

        Everyone got that? Good, because that's how this is going to start. Welcome to Fenrir Sureblade's Space Wolf Guide, Part 2: Space Wolf Tactica.

        So, here you are, seeking to learn all the goodness you can about tactics. So, what do you need to know? Having a good overview of the Space wolves in mind will help. That means you should probably read the original Space Wolf Guide. It may help if you have your SW Codex handy as well, or at least have purchased one. Why? Because GW deserves the money, and every buck they don't get is one more reason to jack up the prices even further. So, go spend!

        All right, so tactics is a "procedure to achieve a goal". In the case of a 40k game, that would be VICTORY! Or that's the idea... right? There is more to it than "Crush ya enemies! Drive them before you! And hearing the laminations of the women!" You have to have a plan and some tactics to fulfill that drive to succeed.

        Ok, lets get a few things ironed out about Space wolves, before any of you pups get any BAD notions in your head. Number 1 is... Space wolves are NOT a shooting army. Do NOT believe that shooting is the ONLY way you can win, because you won't! Number 2 is... Space wolves are designed for Hand to Hand. In most cases, it is in Hand-to-Hand where you will win your games. Number 3 is... that Number 1 and 2 are things you should remember, but putting all your hopes into one or the other is asking for a beating, after your gaming group finds out your using a one-trick pony army. So, that brings us to Number 4.

        What's Number 4? That's the concept of army flexibility. An army should be able to 'bend' when facing an opponent. If an army is rigid, and has no flexibility, it will snap like the mightiest oak in a hurricane, while an army that is flexible will bend like the sea oats on the beach, when facing that same wind. So, when your thinking of your army, think of the role it will play in your army. Because if a unit adds a small bit of flexibility to a list, your army will more likely survive.

        So, how do we make a flexible army for Space wolves? That's the Catch 22. Space wolves are a fairly inflexible army to begin with. Space wolves lack serious long ranged firepower. They also have more points spent into their HQs than your typical army. When you tell your opponent, "I play Space wolves!" they will think of a blood-crazed army full of rhinos, charging across the battlefield, and not worrying about shooting. Why? Because it's true. Most Space wolf armies work like that, but there must be more to an army for it to succeed.

        "OH GREAT! You mean I spent *insert amount spent on Space wolves here* to get this army, and now your telling me its going to lose because it'll break?!?" You may say something like that, but the answer is yes and no. There are things you can do to help to give your army list flexibility. Lets go over some of those now.

• Space wolves lack in ranged firepower. This means your going to need to invest in dedicated Heavy Support units, to compensate, and/or high strength, short-range firepower.
  
• Speed adds flexibility, allowing you to move to places faster. Being able to put troops where YOU want them makes your army harder to fight, as YOU will decide where you need to be.
  
• Space wolves REALLY lack in ranged firepower. I can't stress this enough. The best way to counter that is to purchase 'cheap' power fists for units, as they will allow you to combat units such as vehicles/dreadnaughts/wraithlords with ease.
  
• Units = Victory. To give yourself some flexibility, break apart large units, into a few smaller ones. Why? Units are needed to hold corners. In 60% of all missions you will play, you'll need to hold corners. Therefore, smaller units equals MORE units to hold corners Adding 'cheap' units can be just as effective, such as Rhinos and single unit Landspeeders, because as long as they are mobile, they can hold corners.
  

        Ok, so we know what we need to make a good flexible army, or more specifically, what we need to look at to help keep it flexible. But, we still need some good solid units. So, lets take a look at those. They are what we'll be using in battle, so lets get to it!