Goatboy’s 40k Thoughts: Space Wolves – DBags or Cutsey Puppies?
So I know I caused lots of internet hate with my constant love for the Space Wolves book. Just like Darkwynn seems to only be thought of as an IG Dbag, I am the local Space Wolves Dickhead. So, the question is why does everyone hate the book? I am not going to defend the “strong” nature of the book I just want to look at some of the reasons why there is so much hate towards it.
The biggest thing, I think, that brings the Space Wolf codex into the realm of internet infamy is the fact that the book is a Space Marine book. This means that everyone and their basement loving brother can easily play the army, as there really isn’t a whole lot difference from one set of power armor to the other. Yes, you can say that Wolves should have more terrible 80’s hair and a love of dangling bracelets than other Marine armies, but at the base level they are a bunch of genetically engineered super jocks. A bolter is a bolter, as well as all the other options you see in a normal Marine book. Put a couple of animal tails as well as some soft fur crotch coverings and you got a Space Wolf (or a furry). So basically you hate the book because it is easy to hate as everyone and their 40k loving brother probably has a marine army in pieces somewhere.
The next thing I think that brings about a lot of angry is that the book is a bit too aggressively costed. There are few books that let you have some crazy HQ options and still fit 30+ plastic dudemens on the table. I agree that a lot of the costs are too low. The HQ’s and SC are all fine as they represent a major chunk of your army. The regular troop choice is really 1 to 2 points too cheap, especially when you add in the ways you can create the units and change up your army. Of course if you add those 1 to 2 points you start to get weird numbers when you create your units, but still I do think they are too cheap. The other major “cheater” on the point scale is the Long Fang unit. It is probably one of the most hated options in the game as they show up in almost every Space Wolf army. I think they just got a deal from the Mars guys and got Missile Launchers extremely cheap.
I talked a bit about HQs earlier but really I think the HQ options in the book outshine a lot of other books so called heroes. Really, the issue is that most of the time whatever built HQ option just has more things than just about anything else in the 40k Universe. Yes, a Wolf Lord is supposed to be the super bad ass but it does get a bit annoying when said Wolf Lord passes his 3+ Storm Shield saves, and when he is finished laughing at your fire power he rides off and punches a tank, squad, or your nuts to death. I think the special rules get mixed with the other cheap options in the book is what creates a problem. Their cost is fine, as most of the time if you start to go crazy with the options this character goes over the cost of a Land Raider. Lately the more “badass” the character is supposed to be the closer they are in cost to a Land Raider in the recent books. Look at Mephiston and Vect. As much fun as it is to win with HeroHammer it isn’t nearly as much fun for your opponent. I threw 8 ML at the guy and he laughed it all off behind a magical Shield of FU.
The other big thing that in a lot of ways pushes the army over into the hate filled kiddie pool is actually useful USRs. We all know how neat ATSKNF is now but you mix that in with Counter Assault and Acute senses and you got a rather cool and useful set of “special” abilities. Counter assault allows you play dumb. How many times have you agonized about shooting your bolters versus bolt pisotls? Welp with Counter assault you can just say: “f- it I will still get my 3 attacks on the charge.” This leads into another thing too – how come every other marine has forgotten how to holster their equipment? I have been reading the Horus Heresy books and it seems every marine has a combat knife, bolt pistol, and bolter. So the whole idea that they go to war without a sharp pointie stick and a pistol is kinda absurd. I guess they forgot to make cool leather belts that hold things. Or they ran out of Space leather. Acute senses is nothing to laugh at as a lot of tournaments and games have night fighting in the rules. Getting a chance to spot light something is a great way to take the balls out of your opponents army.
So why do you hate the Wolves? I know a lot of people hate how everyone is using it for whatever marine chapter they want. It is a pretty deep codex with a massive amount of army options that are both decent and usable. It is one of the reasons why I think it is the “neatest” codex for Marines in the game.
I don’t know about you, but I am tired of seeing every C:SM army out there start with 5+ terminators with Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields. How many times have you fought Vulkan? It is like that guys is everywhere or part of some kind of crazy super family. He is one of the few Space Marine HQ characters that isn’t walking around without a helmet and yelling. Maybe they just clone a bunch of them and give them out to all the Salamanders, Space Dragons, or Fire Beast armies out there. With the release of the Storm Raven I hope to see more BA armies rear their heads and give people something else to get mad about. Blue Blood Angels, Green Blood Angels, and Chaos Angels would be a nice change to see on the table versus Space Goats or Grammar Wolves.
Tell me why you hate the Wolves.
