Goatboy’s 40k Thoughts – Lets Abuse Stealth
So as everyone should know – Stealth got FAQ’d. Basically if your IC has Stealth or some character in the squad has Stealth – the entire squad gets it. So with that in mind there are a lot of ways to “use” this rule and give your opponent a headache as some squad gets 3+ to 2+ cover save.
So lets look at most likely the easiest army to abuse this Space Wolves. They can give the Stealth ability cheaply and to more then one character. This gives you different choices for those abilities.
Stealth – Grants you a + 1 to your cover save for those wondering what Stealth does.
So lets look at the two options that can get Stealth from the Space Wolves book.
Wolf Guard Battle Leader
Wolf Priest
Wolf Guard Battle Leader
Pros:
Cheap
Loads of load out options
More Attacks
Cons:
Just a dude
Have to purchase wargear to make effective
No extra options to give to a squad beyond a better fighter
Wolf Priest
Pros:
Gives Fearless to the unit
Gives a special form of Preferred Enemy
Gets basic “good” wargear
Cons:
Lack of Options to load out
Not as offensively capable
Personally I have had a lot of fun with the Wolf Priest. I feel the extra options it gives you – Fearless, Preferred Enemy, Base Inv save – makes him a much more interesting option. Also I feel this option makes people question your army as a lot of people haven’t tried them out yet. So lets look at some of the load outs for each option so you could see what might fit in your army.
Wolf Priest – Runic Armor, Saga of the Hunter – 130pts
Wolf Guard Battle Leader – Saga of the Hunter, Powerfist, Storm Shield, Wolf Tail Necklace – 145pts
Both give you invulnerable saves but one gives a squad upgrade beyond the Stealth ability and comes out to being cheaper. So why would I even care about this at all? Well the Saga of the Hunter gives you Infiltrate too – which allows you to outflank if need be as well as the ability to create some crazy things on the tabletop. So lets look at some of those things you can do with this model. I will be talking about the Wolf Priest as I feel its ability to grant Fearless as well as Special Preferred Enemy makes him a much better option.
Moving Cover unit – A large squad that spreads out and usually gets cover due to intervening terrain pieces. There are two good options for this as they are large enough squads to get a good spread across the field. One is a bit more offensively viable while the other is extremely cheap.
Option # 1 – Bloodclaws – We don’t always suck I swear!
Blood Claws X 15 – 225pts – You could add a Power Weapon or a fist – and even add in a Wolf guard if you want. I would just keep it cheap as the squad is meant to die. Basically you get 16 Power armor bodies to run in front of whatever you want to keep safe – creating a human shield. A 3+ cover save is pretty annoying.
Option # 2 – Fenris Wolves – Cheap, cheap and more cheap. They even have a coupon.
Fenris Wolves X 15 – 120pts – This is just a meat shield. They are fearless and T4 so it will take more then just basic firepower to get rid of them. Mix this with a 3+ marine like cover save and you got an interesting unit. If someone charges into them too – you counter assault with a ton of Str 4 attacks and you might just get lucky with them. You do lose Fleet with the Wolf Priest attached as well as the 12 inch assault – but it is a cheap meat shield.
So there is the whole moving cover idea. It is an interesting thing and there are only a few other armies that can create this floating cover that works as well. Of course you can only have one squad that does this as the Saga of the Hunter is limited to one character and there is not a Special Character who has it too. There are other fun tricks you can with this Saga too.
2+ Cover save trick
This trick requires you to have a Swift Claw Biker squad. I know a not common unit but still something interesting to try out. You hide the Saga of the Hunter guy alone if you are going first – or with a squad of scouts if you want to keep their Scout movement stuck or need some extra wounds for the guy to shake off. You set them up where you know your biker squad is going to go near as well as a place that is pretty well hidden. During your turn you turbo boost your bikes up and then have the Wolf Priest break away or move from his squad to get within 2 inches of the bike squad. Since they have a 3+ cover save from Turbo boosting Stealth grants them a 2+ save at that point. You also have a fearless squad as well and most likely will have some Wolf Lords, Wolf Guard, and other nasty bits in the squad.
You can also do this and with a large Fenris Wolves squad that has some Thunder Wolf Lords attached to it. Yes you can’t attach a regular IC to the Thunder Wolves – but you can attach them to the Fenris Wolves. Since the squad most likely won’t be able to assault the first turn – the lack of fleet plus 12 inch charge is not nearly as big of a deal. Have the Wolf Priest attach at the end of the squad so he can easily move off to either join a Grey Hunter squad or some other option to at least still give him some safety from return fire. Heck if the big unit gets assaulted even better as your Thunder Wolves now get to have Preferred Enemy most likely.
Sample Biker Army list for Space Wolves
Biker Army of Doom
HQ: Wolf Lord – Bike, Saga of the Bear, Powerfist, Runic Armor, Storm Shield – 245pts
HQ: Wolf Priest- Bike, Runic Armor, Meltabombs – 160pts
HQ: Rune Priest – Bike, Murderous Hurricane, Living Lightning -135pts
HQ: Wolf Priest – Saga of the Hunter – 110pts
Elites: Wolf Guard X 5 – 227
Wolf Guard # 1 – Bike, Powerfist, Storm Shield
Wolf Guard # 2 – Powerfist, Combi-Melta
Wolf Guard # 3 – Powerfist, Combi-Melta
Wolf Guard # 4 – Powerfist, Combi-Melta
Troops: Grey Hunters X 5, MoW, Meltagun, Razorback, TWL Ass Cannon – 170pts
Troops: Grey Hunters X 5, MoW, Meltagun, Razorback, TWL Ass Cannon – 170pts
Troops: Grey Hunters X 5, MoW, Meltagun, Razorback, TWL Ass Cannon – 170pts
Swift Claws – 5 Guys, Power Weapon, Attack Bike, MM – 180pts
1847pts on the nose
This is a list designed to be mean and lean. Thus the copy and paste aspect of the troop choices. You can change them up based on what kind of weapons you want on top. I went with Assault Cannons because they are pretty decent versus Dark Eldar. If I could put an Autocannon on top I would. I went with a Rune Priest so you crazy Death Star has Psychic defense in case of Lash or something else if they don’t get the turbo boost. There are a lot of ways to change it up if you want. I know the lone Wolf Priest will be pretty obvious – but he also helps keep your opponents scout movements in check in case of Vendettas or other options.
