Now i dont mind Proxy'ing, it really doesnt bother me. But that said i dislike doing it myself whenever possible and so i set out to make a 1750 list out of the models i had, that were assembled, despite what they might have or in my case not have..
The end list was something like
Njal Stormcaller
10 man grey hunter
W/ plasma, flamer, Rhino, Mark of Wolfin
10 man grey hunter
W/ plasma, flamer, Rhino, Mark of Wolfin
10 man grey hunter
W/ plasma, plasma, Rhino, Mark of Wolfin
10 man grey hunter
W/ plasma, plasma, Rhino, Mark of Wolfin
dreadnought
W/ Plasma cannon, Missile Launcher
Ven. Dreadnought
W/ Multi Melta
Wolf Scouts
W/2x Plasma Pistols, Melta Bombs, Mark of Wolfin
LandSpeeder Typhoon
W/ Multi Melta
I had most of the models for this, though 3 of the Rhino's were in fact Chimera.....
I fully expected this list to fail, but looking back it really wasnt all that bad and it proved to be just that.
My first game was against Tau, and we rolled the "All around defence" space marine battle mission. The middle of the map half open and half a large cathedral, so i setup my mass of wolves mostly in the ruins. In the end we pretty well controlled the field, it might have been due to the piecemeal way the tau came in from reserves but overall i was quite surprised at how well the wolves dealt with the tau threats despite a subtle lack of anti armor (the speeder spent most of the game shaken or stunned)
Next i played against some Daemons, playing the "Vanguard" space marine mission, which was kinda a joke because it was supposed to be me assaulting his lines....but he's daemons so there was no line. I wasn't sure how this game would work out as this just happened to be the force that took 2nd place at our recent tournament just behind my Guard army. He would later tell me that he loves playing space marine armies because its an easy win...
i setup (including my "free" first turn move thanks to daemons) very close to the board edge with about 6-8 inches between my units and the edge, despite the objectives being all the way across the board. My thought was to make Deep striking behind me appetizing and hope he would scatter off the board or into my units. It paid off too, as a unit of 3 flamers and a unit of 10 or something horrors did just that throughout the game...both rolling destroyed on their mishap!
The rest of the daemons poured into the midfield, with Fateweaver dropping super close to my lines. Having faced Fateweaver before i know he is the linchpin of the army, and i reject others advice of not wasting shooting on him...instead i focused everything i had on him from bolters to typhoon rockets, mangeing to wound him twice on turn 2. He survived the assault of my grey hunters that turn, and tried to turn Njal into a gibbering pile of flesh using his super cheapo spell, luckily Njal resisted it... A huge pack of bloodletters came to his aid in the melee and wiped out my grey hunters, but Njal furious with fateweavers attempted attack on him turned the elements on him and roasted the greater daemon with lightning. I sighed a great sigh of relief at this, but i still had a monstrous squad of blood crushers and 2 large squads of bloodletters to deal with...among other stuff.
I staved off the bloodcrushers by allowing them to waste a charge on my now vacant rhino's, and in the next shooting phase whittled them down from 7 models to 3, Njal led the charge with his grey hunters and finished them off in melee though many hunters died as well. My Venerable dreadnought had been trying to kill things in melee all game, but his low number of attacks did not mesh will with the daemons inv. saves. One pack of grey hunters assisted him in wipeing out the large pack of horrors he had assaulted, only to be wiped out themselves by a large squad of bloodletters, we whittled down the other squad of bloodletters to only 4 and the last grey hunter squad finished them off in assault with minimal casualties.
At this point my opponent had only a 2 man flamer squad and 2 3 man melta bomb ray things left and so he conceded.
Not only was i extremely proud of my wolves winning, but i learned a TON about daemons this fight... Way more then i have playing them as guard before. Easily the MVP of this game was Njal, his Baleful gale (-1 enemy BS) saved him from the first attempt at the cheapo turn into blob spell, it made the horrors shooting super crappy the turn they came down too. He maintained Tempest's wrath the entire game, and let me tell you....it killed nearly one model from every deepstriking unit, killed at least 3 of the melta bomb flying squad things as they moved around....just awsome. And it was his 2+ to wound attacks against the bloodcrushers that finished them off saving what remained of the grey hunters with him.
overall i was super happy with their performance and can't wait to play them again. Having done more work on my list take a look below and give me any advice, its got less drop poding...a little less anyway. I had to include an assault cannon on a termie because the model is just awesome from the wolf guard kit! I plan on him coming in with the long fangs and logan, i figured this way the fangs have a little more firepower they can divy out and if assaulted (they are dropping into the thick of it) he will provide good close support. I still think i might just put the hunters in a pod too...they seem very odd ball with a rhino but i like the potential for them being reliable backup for whatever drops first turn instead of relying upon reserve rolls.
Logan (drops with Long fangs)
Njal/Termie (drops with 4 man Wolf guard)
5 Man Wolf guard
Termies
PW/Shield
Claw/Shield
SB/TH
Claw/Claw
CombiMelta/PF
Drop pod
4 Man Wolf Guard
Termies
SB/Claw
SB/PF
PW/Shield
CombiMelta/TH
Drop pod
6 Man Wolf Guard
Termie/Assault Cannon/Claw (drops with Long fangs)
1 W/Combi Melta
Drop pod
10 man Grey Hunters
Flamer
Plasma Gun
Rhino
6 Man Long fangs
5 Multi Melta's
Drop pod
Dreadnought
Multi Melta
Heavy Flamer
Drop pod
For 2k point i would probably just bulk up my troops, maybe add some Razorback Wolf guard or grey hunter packs. It would for sure be using power armored models of some sort, maybe the speeder if i can find a base for it.
Looks like you have a ton of points tied up in HQ... Logan is a beast, but you'll have 500 points in Logan AND Nial... seems like overkill...
ReplyDeleteBut I'm betting they could have one heck of a combo... Please keep us informed on how they work together.
I've actually become a HUGE fan of Rune Priests.... Their Living Lightning is a D6 autocannon at BS 5 (if you take chooser) My current 2K list has 4 of them....
Hrm... my thoughts on the new list:
ReplyDelete1. I agree with clt40k's HQ point. Njal's quite an investment, especially when you're not guaranteed 1st turn. You could get 2 Rune Priests and have change left over for the same price.
2. If you push the "6th" guy over to the 4-man, you have 3x WG squads at 5-man sizes. This means all 3 can take a heavy weapon. Njal's squad would have already spent it on the AC Pack Leader for the Long Fangs, but the other two could pick up Heavy Flamers cheap. Even better would be if you could find the points for Cyclones.
3. I'm not a big fan of the Long Fangs/Logan/Pod gimmick. Still, even forcing an opponent into Reserves might do the trick for you.
4. The Grey Hunters just seem tacked on at the end. I'd probably drop them in favor of something with some Deep Strike punch to compliment the rest of the force, such as HF/MM Speeders.
Still, none of these are critical items. I think the force will do pretty decent as-is.
Thanks for the input guys!
ReplyDeleteI realize its a massive investment in the HQ's, trust me i usually play Guard and investing 275 points into ONE model is crazy town! But we'll see, this force is meant for fun first and winning second really.
@Dverning I think if i did decide to take them to a tournie i would do like you said in point 1, i even snatched up the last rune priest model at my local shop and have it primed =) As for 2 the reason for the 4 man squad is theyre coming in a drop pod with Njal, so Njal makes Termie number 5 in it.
For a 2k variant, as a lot of people around here like to play 2k, i was considering doing much like you guys said. Add a normal rune priest, probably knock off 2 grey hunters so the priest and a WG in power armor can join them in the rhino. Add in another long fangs of rockets/Heavy bolter to walk on with the rhino, and Speeder as well.
or maybe for 2k ill just add Ragnar!......
ReplyDeleteso i was thinking of a variant to the list.
it adds 1 Wolf Guard, in power armor with a Power Fist, to the Grey hunters but reduces them to a 7 man squad and gives them a melta gun.
While this reduces my model count by 2 in a small model count army, it gives the squad the ability to deal with armor and a slightly higher LD.
Thoughts?
so far theyre still in a rhino to provide reliable support for the 1st turn deep strikers but i might still just pod em...
As for 2 the reason for the 4 man squad is theyre coming in a drop pod with Njal, so Njal makes Termie number 5 in it.
ReplyDeleteI'd caught that, but it seems I expressed my thought poorly. Here's the logic broken down:
a. Assigning a Wolf Guard via Pack Leaders happens "before the battle".
b. Independent Characters "may begin the game already with a unit", aka before the battle.
c. The size and composition of the squad doesn't matter for deploying in the transport as long as it is legal at the start of the game.
d. Wolf Guard are allowed to buy a Heavy Weapon per every five models in the squad BEFORE Pack Leaders occurs.
e. More Heavy Weapons are a good thing.
So by moving the 6th guy into the 4-man, you create a 5-man. He becomes their Heavy Weapon choice, joins the Long Fangs via Pack Leaders and thus a slot is open for Njal to ride. The unit that WAS 6-man is still 5-man and can now buy their own Heavy Weapon.
Mainly, it seemed odd that you have the opportunity to add in 2 more Heavy Weapons yet hadn't done so. Make sense?