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.
