Friday, March 27, 2015

Model Review - Max Mini Nuclear Guns


I ordered my fusion guns from Max Mini about a month ago, and I am excited to announce that they just arrived in the mail yesterday. Eager to see these guns in the hands of wolves, I set out immediately to begin constructing a Meltagun Grey Hunter using this new bit. I must say, I am more than pleased with the results. The resin that Max Mini uses is hard enough to keep its shape and beautiful details, but soft enough that I was easily able to manipulate the guns for conversion. My favorite part about the weapons was that there was no bubbling or bend to the guns themselves and the packaging for the item was simple yet highly efficient. I love the look of the guns themselves as well. They are close enough to Games Workshop’s model design as to not be confused with another gun, yet different enough to turn heads. These truly are gorgeous bits. The only downside to these models is that they come as just guns with no hand on barrel so a little bit of cutting will generally be needed. However, this was not so much of an issue for the wolf models that I have considering I still had quite a bit of the “two handed bolter” setup arms. A quick snip of the handle and handle grip bar for the guiding hand to slip into and the gun fits beautifully into place. I highly recommend checking out Max Mini’s line of bits, for if the quality of their bits continues then they are a steal all over the place. These guns came in a set of 6 for ~7.50 USD + shipping. Happy hunting brothers. 

Below are some images of the guns in action. More to come.





Friday, February 13, 2015

Tactica - Wolf Guard Terminators






Terminators and You: Howl of the Armored Wolf

My brothers! It has been far too long since we have last convened, but fear not, for the time apart has bestowed upon me wisdom and experience. Today I wish to talk to you about our Tactical Dreadnought Armoring wearing Wolf Guard brethren. Long has it been said that our brothers in this revered armor are but antiquated units that are incapable of bearing fruit on the planes of combat. Today I assure you that this is not truly the case. We are blessed by Russ in our tactical flexibility and independent natures, unlike our codex adhering brothers who must conform to standards set out by Gulliman and are as such much more specialized than we. Here are a few combinations that I think will serve us well in the fields of combat. Our brothers under the command of Logan Grimnar, the Champions of Fenris, are the greatest of us with superb skills with weaponry and are as such much more deadly than those under the command of other Wolf Lords. I highly suggest always using these champions when developing a Terminator heavy list.

Storm Claws - 5 Wolf Guard Terminators with 5 Wolf Claws and 5 Shields

This combination comes in at the same point cost as our dual Wolf Claw wearing variant with a slight difference: they lose an attack but gain an immense amount of resilience. This unit is a premiere unit to wade through the ranks of enemy infantry and even to deal with lightly armored enemies. The unit sports an impressive 15 strength 5 attacks on the charge that have shred, not a unit to be taken lightly. The unit’s one downside is how to deliver them. At the cost of a normal Space Wolf assault squad the unit has to find a way into combat, leaving them three options: Land Raider, Drop Pod, and Deep Strike. The Land Raider will generally get your terminators across the field safely and, depending on the opponent, will deliver this squad into assault on turn 2. If you take a Redeemer or Crusader variant you will also have enough room to support an independent character or HQ to support the squad or to give them an extra oomph while still maintaining a decent amount of anti-horde units. However, this strategy is expensive and is prone to dying quickly to amassed high strength fire power. Drop Pods on the other hand deliver the unit first turn but place them into the open. If you are feeling lucky, the Drop Pod is a cheap delivery option that should be considered. Deep Striking the unit seems a bit risky considering you want this unit terrorizing the back field as soon as possible and a streak of bad luck could land you in only having your Storm Claws on the table for 1 turn without assaulting. 

Void Claws – 5 Twin Wolf Guard Terminators – Champions of Fenris Formation

The fact that this unit arrives first turn no matter what and re-rolls scatter is amazing. The fact that it helps you manipulate rolls for further reserves is even better. The use of this formation is one of the few times I will suggest a simple deep strike for your terminator units since it almost guarantees you will get a turn 2 drop. Decently resilient in a game full of AP 2 and hard hitting with up to 20 attacks on the charge, the Void Claws are a fantastic addition to any Wolf Lords pack. 

Tactical Advantage – 5 Wolf Guards with Combi-Weapons, 2-3 Storm Shields, Wolf Claw, Chain Fist.
Cheaper than the Storm Claw and Void Claw terminators, the Tactical Advantage squad maintains the resilience of the Storm Claws while also having the explosive punch to tackle any foe. Pack Combi-melta weaponry to eliminate armor, Combi-plasma to eliminate hard targets like Rip Tides and Wraith Knights (though plasma will simply soften a knight for your hopeful next turn charge to kill the abomination), or Combi-flamers to deal with horde armies. The use of combi-weapons in this instance is totally up to you and your meta. I personally run two squads: one with melta and one with plasma. What truly makes this unit shine is the use and availability of free Storm Shields in place of our power weapons. While this may at first sound like a bad idea, it works well in order to make the unit stick around and to continue to assault the enemy. Drop Pods or Deep Striking is the preferable methods of delivering this unit to surprise the enemy and force them to their knees. 

Brotherhood of the Barking Wolf – 10 Terminators with 4 swords, 2 axes, 4 mauls and 2 Assault Cannons

This unit, while expensive (it will run you ~ 400 points) is filled with heavy hitting power weapon attacks, 16 bolter shots and 8 assault cannon shots. It takes a good amount of space on the board, allowing you to blockade areas while maintaining their ability to assault other units and eliminate the enemies of mankind. Deep Striking this unit unfortunately is one of the few ways to deliver this unit unless you have access to a Land Raider Spartan. 

Riot Wolves – 5-10 Terminators with 5-10 Storm Shields, 4-8 Storm Bolters or Combi-flamer/Combi-plasma, 1-2 Heavy Flamers

This unit is another possibly expensive unit that is highly effective in its role: hold the line and survive. This unit will be ~ 400 points as well, but works much differently than the Brotherhood of the Barking Wolf. The Brotherhood is offensive while this unit is capable of eliminating an entire horde in a brilliant flash of light and fire and still stand on their point. It may also be useful to divide this squad into two to hold two different objectives and give you two points of flaming or bolter fire. This is one of the few squads that doesn’t require a delivery method. Its objective is to keep the backline safe and keep things away from your objectives while holding it and to that end this unit performs beautifully.

While our brothers in Terminator Armor are not completely obsolete, they do require units to support them. Units with some range to their armament work wonders in supporting these units. Long Fangs, Sicaran Battle Tanks, Storm Fang Gunships/ Storm wolves, or allying in Centurions with invisibility support and tactical squads with death wind launchers work wonders in assisting Terminator units by either softening the enemies that will give them trouble or just outright destroying them. Terminators suffer greatly from amassed small arms fire and high powered AP 1 and 2 fire. Make sure to deal with these targets first with your long range fire power and allow the terminators to take points and do their work.Our brothers can and will work if you give them the support they need, so go forth and slay the foes of the Allfather and suffer not the xeno or heretic to live. Till next time brothers and, as always: For Russ, for the Allfather, for the Wolftime.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The Howl of Brothers - 1850 List idea





Brothers, today I bring to you an idea that requires the aid of our brothers from other chapters. Today I request that you keep your mind open to the idea of asking for assistance from those outside of the pack and keep your mind open to those who follow much more closely to the Codex Astartes than we have deemed necessary. Today we call in the aid of those who do not draw their power from Fenris but from much more unnatural sources.
                I present to you the idea of requesting the aid of Sevrin Loth and a retinue of his Centurions and Tactical Marines. Sevrin is a powerful Librarian capable of many feats that defy the rationality of men and has been a great boon to the Imperium of Man for many years. I have witnessed him turn entire squads of Terminators and Centurions invisible before my very eyes and have also witnessed him shrug off Lascannon and Demolisher shell fire as if it were merely shots from a crude stubber. Nothing takes an enemy off their guard quite like being suppressed with gravitational fields from an invisible source. We request that Sevrin bring a full detachment of Devastator Centurions armed with Grav-cannon and Grav-amp weaponry to crush the enemies of mankind. Of course, while Magister Loth is our brother in arms, we will of course post a Rune Priest of considerable power to accompany him and his men into combat, lest the powers of the warp become too great for the Magister to deal with and the assistances of our Priest are necessary. May the Priest’s presence guide the group’s shots truly to their intended target.

·         Sevrin Loth
·         6 Centurions
o   Grav-cannon and Grav-Amp
o   Omniscope
·         Rune Priest Level 2

All-in-all this setup will require us to spend ~750-760 points of our army; what we get out of it though is a nice bubble of Deny the Witch, Invisibility, Prescience, and an obscene amount of shots from the squad. What we must do is add another leader to our group and troops.

Space Marine Allies 

·         5 Red Scorpions Tactical Marines w/ Apothocary
o   Meltagun
o   Razorback w/ Twin-Linked Assault Cannon

Space Wolves 

·         Ulrik the Slayer 

·         5 Bloodclaws
o   Razorback w/ Twin-Linked Assault Cannon

·         5 Bloodclaws
o   Razorback w/ Twin-Linked Assault Cannon

·         5 Bloodclaws
o   Stormwolf Gunship w/ 2 Twin-Linked Multimelta 

·         Sicaran Battle Tank
o   Lascannon Sponsons
o   Ceramite Shielding
o   Schism of Mars
               

This setup of units is capable of pumping out 6 strength 6 and strength 7 twin-linked shots each turn for light tank hunting and the clearing of units and also provides 8 objective secured units. The Stormwolf pulls double duty as an objective holder and mobile weapons platform for flyer hunting. Not much will survive the storm of melta and lascannon shots provided by the Stormwolf. This list avoids the traditional drop pod tactics and assault variants that many Space Wolf players are accustomed to. The hail of devastating fire that is twin-linked is almost to the point of ridiculous, and if you have your units close to Ulrik’s Razorback then they also are treated to his Preferred Enemy aura, which makes the force just that much more devastating.
           So go forth brothers and howl at the lamentation of our foes, for when brothers work together and fight the foes of man in unison then there is little in the universe that can stand up to our fury. Till next time brothers and, as always: For Russ, for the Allfather, for the Wolftime.