Hail, bold warriors. Do you hear the howling on the wind? The Wolves of Fenris prepare themselves for battle as their new Army Set approaches. Gather now around the fire, grab a flagon of mjod and listen closely, for the skjald Liam of the Liam Dempsey YouTube channel has much to tell us about the Sagas of these storied warriors…
Liam: Codex Supplement: Space Wolves presents the Sons of Russ three brand new Detachments, as well as new army rules. They retain Oath of Moment, as found in Codex: Space Marines, and add two unique rules: Curse of the Wulfen and Sagas.
Curse of the Wulfen applies to Wulfen and Wulfen Dreadnoughts, and gives you the chance to control their rage and frenzy. Keep your heroes near your Wulfen units and they tame them ever so slightly, increasing their Objective Control above their default of zero.
The Sagas army rule is even more interesting. Each Detachment is themed around a Saga the Space Wolves might tell in the feasting halls of the Fang, and grants your warriors a Detachment rule, as well as a Saga to be completed. Do so, and not only will your name and deeds be remembered forever, but you will gain an additional bonus to the Detachment rule for the remainder of the battle.
Personally, I’ve found it incredibly difficult to pick between the three. Each Detachment offers a range of tools and tactics that I think will be fun and engaging, whilst also exciting my narrative juices – do you want to be remembered for felling the largest of prey with Saga of the Beastslayer, or do you want to try the Saga of the Hunter to gang up on your enemies and seek out the weak to slaughter?
My favourite unit in the Army Set and Codex Supplement is the Wolf Guard Headtakers, and I’ve been looking for the best way to use these stunning new models. I initially decided that I wanted to create a full 41st Millennium shield wall, with as many axe and shield-wielding Headtakers and Wolf Guard Terminators as I could muster. With their master crafted power weapons topping out at Strength 5, I was instantly drawn to the Saga of the Beastslayer Detachment. This gives units targeting character, monster or vehicle units the Lethal Hits ability! If your Saga is completed – which you achieve by destroying more than half the enemy character, monster or vehicle units on the table – you get Lethal Hits no matter what you target.
Strength is less of a problem with those Critical Hits bypassing the roll to Wound, but I still wanted more from the Headtakers. I want them to truly be a unit to fear. They already benefit from the Headhunters ability which allows them to pick an enemy unit at the start of the battle and apply Precision and Devastating Wounds against it. When their prey is destroyed, they get to select another unit. So how do we make sure they slaughter their chosen quarry at the earliest convenience? Add a Wolf Guard Battle Leader.
These mighty champions give a unit they’re leading Sustained Hits 1 and allow them to re-roll Hit rolls of 1 when targeting an enemy unit within 6”. Pick the right quarry and you’ll be re-rolling Hit rolls of 1, Critical Hits will automatically Wound and give an additional Hit, while any Critical Wounds on the remaining rolls will cause Mortal Wounds. This unit is shaping up to be quite terrifying.
If you still don’t think this will quite be enough, then you can always spend a Command Point on the Unbridled Ferocity Stratagem, granting one +1 to Wound rolls in the Fight Phase. Surely now you’re starting to believe?
Of course, the issue with fighting vehicles and monsters is that you’re also facing vehicle- and monster-sized weapons. High Strength and good Armour Penetration is par for the course with these lumbering monstrosities, so it’s prudent to strap on the Helm of the Beastslayer Enhancement. Now, each time a big unit attacks your precious hunting pack, you reduce the Armour Penetration characteristic by 1, giving you some much needed resilience.
Now, we could mount these units in some Dedicated Transports for additional survivability, but I really like the synergy with their Hunting Wolves. A very cheap addition to the unit, they operate separately once deployed, and being near a friendly Character also increases their Objective Control by 1. On foot it is then, and thankfully this Detachment offers three excellent movement-based Stratagems to help close the gap with the enemy.
Coordinated Strike lets a unit near the battlefield edge go back into Strategic Reserves and strike again in a different location. Impetuosity will make your opponents think twice about shooting your Wulfen or Blood Claws, as they could find themselves in an earlier engagement than expected, and Thunderous Pursuit makes it even harder for your enemies to keep you at arm’s length granting you a cheeky reactionary move when a nearby enemy unit tries to sneak out of Charge range.
Of course, the new Army Set isn’t comprised solely of Headtakers. I am also a huge fan of the new Grey Hunters and Blood Claws. My initial instinct was to throw Ragnar Blackmane into the Headtakers, as his War Howl allows them to charge in a turn in which they advanced. But the Young King allows Blood Claws to reroll Wound rolls when making melee attacks. Now that is very tempting when Blood Claws can be taken as a unit of 20!
However, I also want the stunning new Wolf Priest leading 20 Blood Claws. Why, I hear you howl? The Wolf Priest is able to use his Healing Balms to return a destroyed model to his unit in your Command Phase, while chanting his Litany of Hate to grant +1 to Wound rolls whilst making melee attacks. This is becoming an equally frightening pack of power-armoured savages – but if we instead look at using them in the Saga of the Bold Detachment, they become all the more terrifying.
Inspiring Presence is a 1CP Stratagem that gives a Character’s unit Lethal Hits. On 20 Blood Claws with four Attacks each that’s no fewer than 80 – yes, you read that right, 80 – Attacks that automatically wound on a Critical Hit. The reroll Wounds ability from Ragnar or the Wolf Priest makes the remaining rolls even more reliable, while you can also equip the Wolf Priest with the Braggart’s Steel Enhancement for additional Strength and Damage – though he must earn the latter by completing a Boast.
Space Wolves can dish out a lot of punishment, but they need to be able to take it too. The Heroic Resolve Stratagem lets you select a character and subtract 1 from the Damage of enemy shooting attacks. Countercharge allows a character to charge a nearby enemy unit at the end of their own Charge Phase, for an unexpected additional fight. Both of these stratagems cost 2CP, so I think that Bjorn the Fell-Handed is a must in this Detachment. His Ancient Tactician ability grants you an additional Command Point in your Command Phase if he is on the battlefield, and this makes Command Point management that little bit easier. He’s also a character and can benefit from many of the detachment’s Stratagems himself – such as Alpha Strike, which allows a character to charge after advancing.
In all honesty, if given the chance, this article would be a Saga in itself and I’d end up telling you about all of the rules, datasheets and things I really want to try. The problem I face is, as a predominantly narrative player with access to such a glorious refreshed miniatures range, I want to have my cake and stab it in the face.
Never is this truer than when it comes to the most epic of heroes, the Space Wolves characters. The new Logan Grimnar model has me more excited than Roboute Guilliman filing his taxes, and his Guile of the Wolf ability to increase the cost of enemy Stratagems used on nearby units means you want the High King of Fenris in the thick of the action – exactly where he should be. Arjac Rockfist is also terrifying. Foehammer has Anti-Vehicle 3+ as well as Precision and his unit is able to fight on death on a 4+. So I need to include at least two units of the new Wolf Guard Terminators to accompany these mighty champions… And you can see how it spirals?
All hail Liam for his inspiring words. You can start to forge your own sagas when the Space Wolves Army Set becomes available for pre-order on Saturday.
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