40k’s New First Turn Assault! – The Rise of the Wulfen
Come see the crazy combo that may just literally release the hounds on first turn assaults for the new Wulfen in 40k.
It’s that time again and looks like new 40k is on the horizon! Whenever new rules come out for Warhammer 40k we love to take a closer look at anything you should be aware of before you step up to the tabletop or store register with the new models.
I was already sold on the new Wulfen personally, as their two wounds and robust equipment options really give them some serious damage potential and staying power in game.
But today Mastershake is coming in hot with a tactics article about some serious combos for the new Wulfen Models that we may have not seen coming until it was too late!
The Ravenwolf
All you need is Sammael, some characters on Thunderwolf mounts with Cyber Wolves, and of course a squad of the new Wulfen.
Sammael can bring some serious speed to a potential Wulfenstar squad when included as the army’s warlord.
Rules of Note:
Rapid Maneuver: Sammael’s Warlord trait gives him and his unit +3″ run and charge moves.
Wulfen’s Leaping Bounds Special Rule: This unit can run and attack. It also rerolls failed charge rolls.
This squad can move 12″ in the movement phase, run an extra three inches for their run (thanks to Sammael), and charge 2d6 +3 inches (Sammael) for a average threat range of 29″. That seems to be more than enough to get into your opponents deployment zone on turn one. Plus you can use attached cyber wolves to stretch the line back and keep the Wulfen in coherencey of the rampaging Thunderwolves in the front to keep everything legal during the movement phase.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
Remember that Curse of the Wulfen special rule that all Space Wolves get from their scary warp brothers? Well the Thunderwolves in the unit, now affected by Curse of the Wulfen’s Hunt chart, on a roll of a 4 or 5 get an additional +3 to movement, running, and charging.
So now the Thunderwolf Characters could move an additional 3″ (CoTW), run an extra 6″ (CoTW Effect and Sammael), and charge an extra 6″ (CoTW Effect and Sammael). That brings their total assault threat range to a whopping 45 inches (a “normal” 12″ Move, 6″ Run, 12″ charge maximum rolls = 30, PLUS the 15 extra inches of free movement above).
That distance is nearly the entire length of the short board edge that could theoretically be covered in a minimum of one in every three games of 40k with this unit.
Now there is one caveat here folks depending on the wording of leaping bounds the ability to run and charge may not confer to any ICs that join the squad. But since all we’ve seen so far is the German translation it’s hard to tell.
Regardless they would still get the Curse Effect in 1/3 of their games which gives them a huge boost, just perhaps not 12″ of base movement from the Thunderwolves or Sammael.
And with a base move of 6″ plus 7″ for a run (3+d6 Sammael ) and a change of 10″ on average (3+2d6 charge range) for 17″ total threat range on average (or max of 30″ 6+9+3+12) that almost covers the gap between standard deployment zones. Roll a little high for your runs or charges and you’re in there like swimwear without the big dogs altogether!
Looks like the new Wulfen are not only hard to kill, and good in combat, but they can now be super fast when paired with the right units as well.
It may have even just gotten a lot harder for the Eldar to escape the wrath of the Imperium with this new release!
What will you do with the new Wulfen when they hit?
