Space Wolves

Alright, it's been a while, I'm going to dive right in here. WARNING: Space Wolves are my army of choice, I figured I'd go a bit biased here, but I will still explain the downfalls of them. I was originally going to do Imperial Guard next, but I decided to do the non-codex Space Marines afterwards, so there's a close frame of reference. Also, it's worth saying that there's a lot more detail into playing Space Puppies over at Wolves for the Wolf God, So give them a shot. Now, let's get to it.

What's different?

In summary, very little and a whole lot. It's an entirely different style of play at work, so let's list this down.

• There are no cheap selections. Let that sink in. Unlike regular SM's, you don't have any "cheap" infantry to boost your numbers. The best you have is Blood Claws. And they're horrible. Just terrible. I mean rancid.
• You cannot combat squad them. This prevents them from splitting fire, or covering more ground with the same number of troops. This is a big deal.
• The only Infantry that can carry heavy weapons are your Long Fangs and Scouts. May not seem like much at first, but those extra weapons can mean a lot in a firefight.
• Everything has Counter-Assault and Acute Senses. This means you can afford to be the assaulted party in most situations. In 6th, I recommend it against practically everything but Terminators and Orks.
• Squad leaders must be bought separately, and are an Elites choice. I will get into that later.

Okay, what makes them so awesome?

• First and foremost, they are genetically modified, 8 foot tall, super-soldier, drunken, space Viking werewolves, equipped with chainsaw swords and axes, Power Armor, and .75 HE MP5's. That is pure manliness in a can right there. Just typing that sentence caused at least 3 women to become spontaneously pregnant, with children destined to be Delta Force operators.
• EVERYTHING in your army has Counter-Assault. Your primary Troops choice (really only troops choice, Grey Hunters) is equipped with chainswords, bolt pistols, and boltguns. That's 2 attacks each, 3 on the charge (or counter). Also can be upgraded with standards that allow you to re-roll 1's for the rest of the turn.
• Long Fangs. A 4-6 man squad, sorry, pack, that can split fire. Also, everyone but the pack leader must be equipped with a Heavy weapon, for cheaper than a Devastator Squad.
• Space Wolf Scouts using outflank have a 66% chance to come out from whichever board edge you choose. Because of Acute Senses, they can re-roll that. I believe that makes it an 88% chance. Combine that with access to melta bombs, melta guns, and a Wolf Guard Pack Leader with a combi-melta, you have yourself a unit that can pop out wherever you want to waste tanks.
• Aside from being superior to regular Grey Hunters, Wolf Guard can be individually customized and equipped with a gamut of weapons and other upgrades, for cheaper than Independent characters, by about 5 points per piece of equipment.
• The Rune Priest Psychic Power list is amazing. For at least small armies (and some large), always pack one as your HQ.
• Mark of the Wulfen: A lot of units have this upgrade. For the price of a Power weapon, you can give one of your models D6+1 Attacks. Add another for the charge. And those are Rending.

In conclusion, they have a lot that helps them midfield. They are much better moving and charging into the fray than regular Space Marines, with the option of being a static, defensive army.

That...sounds pretty awesome. What's the catch?

There's a lot that they can't do, and they do pay pretty well for it.

• Blood Claws. Not only do they suck, they're 15 points each. they have WS/BS 3, and, unless supervised by Wolf Guard, cannot shoot the turn they assault. Plus, Bike and Assault squads are made up of them (Swift- and Skyclaws, technically), which confer the exact same downfalls. This means that your usable Fast Attack choices are Land Speeders, Fenrisian Wolf Packs (not bad, but not good, either), and Thunderwolf Cavalry (amazing, but insanely expensive).
• Long Fangs. They are awesome. But the rules governing their packs means you can't up the squad size to waste less important models before getting to your weapons. Every failed armor save hurts a lot more.
• Wolf Guard. This requires some explanation. They can be assigned, as pack leaders, to most units in the game. This is more or less necessary, as it gives the squad some combi-melta/power weapon love and +1 Ld. The downfall is twofold. Because your Grey Hunters don't have heavy weapons, they can use one assault weapon, and another one for free, if you have a 10 man pack. If you mount them, your WGPL has to replace a model, in order to fit in the vehicle, reducing your squad's firing abilities. Ignore that if you go light. Second, a Wolf Guard Pack takes up an Elites choice (unless you have Logan Grimnar), thus reducing your available Elites Choices.
• You cannot Combat Squad your packs. This is the big one. It means that your individual squads will have to cover each other, making them stay close to each other. It doesn't seem like much, but that also means you can't spread out your forces, putting random missile launchers all over the place.

So what does this mean for a Space Wolves Player?
It basically means you're Space Marines, but a midfield version. Due to the nature of larger, less numerous separate units on the field, you can't control as much land at a time. You should be constantly on the attack with SW's. Inherently, they're meant to be, and much better at, moving around the board, wrecking things in both assault and at range. The lack of heavy weapons in most squads helps that out, too, allowing you to bring extra firepower, but stay mobile with it. Mix that, lots (and lots) of Assault upgrades, and some well picked Anti-Tank and Area Denial choices for backup, and you can play an excellent, slightly offensive Space Marine force.  Just don't take Blood Claws. Not kidding.

I've gotten my butt kicked by them. What should I do?
I've been there. One of the reasons I started playing as them. Very few armies would consistently and soundly pound mine into oblivion as Space Wolves. At first, I chalked it up to them being a cheap army. Now, I just see they're one of the easiest to adapt to the board. Here's the trick to beating them (totally shooting myself in the foot with this): avoid Grey Hunters. Seriously. The entire army is designed to move quickly, take an objective quickly, and quickly deal with most threats, before moving on. You beat them by avoiding their main force, and thus, avoiding the brunt of their attack on their turn. Instead, take out their support. Space Wolves are, to some extent, much more dependent on their Elites, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support choices, to make up for what they cannot. If you eliminate their support as quickly as possible, you will lose models and vehicles. But when you turn on their Troops, they will be (almost) a breeze to take down. Most people lose against them trying to capture objectives, or control corners. Space Wolves are best dealt with by treating the game as though it's a fight to annihilation, and, not to sound cocky (it's happened to me, when I played against them), if you don't, it might wind up being that, but your opponent will have the advantage.

Previously you said that you should start out with Space Marines. These guys seem better. Why shouldn't I start with Space Wolves?
In all honesty, you probably could, and wind up being about the same or better off for it. I still say start with regular Space Marines though. And, really, it's for two reasons. First is oddball unit types and abilities. Regular Space Marines are rather limited in both, and use pretty basic stuff for everything. When you're still learning to walk, though, it helps to keep it as simple as possible. Second, their strengths mean that an average player can pick them up and be semi-decent, or a bad player can pick them up and be horrid. I suggest learning to read the terrain and opponents better before picking them up.

My next post will deal with Blood Angels, followed by Black Templars and Dark Angels. After that, I will cover Imperial Guard, and we're going to get into some more advanced ideas with that, which will need images. That's all for now...

JaegerWolf

Edit: The world got in the way, and the order changed.