Army List 1: Loganwing

WARNING: Giant post ahead.

I was going to wait to get my computer back to post again, but that seems to be taking a rather long time and I have made literally zero modeling progress since my last post, so I decided to finally put up an army list using another computer.

I've got a few of these floating around that I've been trying to put together with the intent of matching up with my Custodes army. I don't consider myself an especially competitive player; I would much rather have an awesome-looking army, than an ultra-hard list. That being said, I am somewhat of a mathemetician and so can't help but do as much statistical analysis as possible and base my decisions on that. I'm not going to pick a unit just because it is the most min/max'd or whatever, I'll still take what I want to take and skip on what I don't like, but at the end of the day if I can prove to myself that wargear X is better than wargear Y, then I'll make that decision. I mean, I enjoy making strong lists, it just isn't my main focus.

Anyways, up first is my favorite Space Wolf list that I've put together. It started off with a core set of units that I really like, and then it sort of just got whatever else I felt like adding. I actually came up with 2 lists based on this core. I'll post both.

Variant 1: Riflemen Dreadnoughts
HQ
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest -- Chooser of the Slain

TRPS
10 Wolf Guard -- 2 w/ TDA/CF/CML;1 w/ Storm Bolter
5 Wolf Guard -- 1 w/ TDA/CF/CML;3 w/ Storm Bolter;1 w/ Combi-X
5 Wolf Guard -- 1 w/ TDA/CF/CML;3 w/ Storm Bolter;1 w/ Combi-X
5 Wolf Guard -- 1 w/ TDA/CF/CML;3 w/ Storm Bolter;1 w/ Combi-X

ELT
Dreadnought -- 2 Twin-Linked Autocannons
Dreadnought -- 2 Twin-Linked Autocannons

FST
2 Land Speeders - Multi-Melta\Heavy Flamer
2 Land Speeders - Multi-Melta\Heavy Flamer
2 Land Speeders - Multi-Melta\Heavy Flamer

This is basically a static gunline list. Nothing really loses shooting capacity by moving, but with all the troops on foot, nobody is going anywhere fast.

Logan and the Rune Priest both attach to the large squad so they can have 4 S9 krak missiles and D6 S8 Living Lightning attacks per turn. (Logan Grimnar can give his squad the Tank Hunters USR)

The Land Speeders sort of do everything. They are my dedicated tank hunters (although, 4S9+D6S8 shots are arguably about equal against AV14), they can put some serious damange into infantry, and they are really the only assault forces I have; granted they can't engage in combat with units, they can at least pose as an obstacle to block assault squads trying to get to my line so that I can shoot at them for an extra turn or two. They're also AV10 all the way around which means they will be going down pretty much as soon as anyone decides to try. They can deepstrike in, or be rushed into place on the first turn. Either way there shouldn't be any trouble with their positioning, I just worry that I'm asking too much of them. I suppose that's why I included 6, just to be sure they get a chance to do at least some of what I need them to.

The dreadnoughts are a favorite of mine. They provide incredibly reliable damage to light vehicles and MCs. Also, in a pinch, they can tie up units in close combat.

The WG squads are set up in a way that I really like. Giving them all Storm Bolters may not be the best use of points, but I like having them. The way I see it is that Bolt Pistols are a waste on these squads. Being Wolf Guard, they are already better in close combat than average units, and having that single extra attack isn't going to save them against assault units. In order to best anything dedicated to close combat, they are going to need to whittle them down before they close to assault range. Bolt Pistols, with their 12" range, will ever get used in at most 1 round of shooting; if they're 1-6" away, my guys will be charging them next phase, if they're 7-12" away, their guys will be charging me next turn, so either way I only get one chance to shoot. Storm Bolters, with a 24" range, get to shoot at least 3 times before getting into charge range. This coupled with double the shot output means that they are significantly better at whittling down squads before closing to assault range.

I realize that the game isn't about two squads walking towards each other in a vacuum, so unfortunately my reasoning isn't exactly accurate. The truth of the matter is that anytime I fire the CML, I'm wasting my SB's and potentially vice versa. But, whatever, I still like them and want to include them. Maybe once I actually get some games in, I'll change my mind, but for now they're in.
The Combi-weapons will probably be melta to help with tank killing, but they could be whatever else too.

The Rune Priest has powers Living Lightning and Murderous Hurricane. LL so I can use it as previously described (D6 S8 shots at BS5 ftw), and MH because it just wrecks hordes like crazy. I like Tempest's Wrath a lot too, but it is only really effective against specific army builds, so I can't in all good conscience take it.


Variant 2: Dakka Predators
HQ
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest -- Chooser of the Slain

TRPS
10 Wolf Guard -- 2 w/ TDA/CF/CML
5 Wolf Guard -- 1 w/ TDA/CF/CML;3 w/ Storm Bolter;1 w/ Combi-X
5 Wolf Guard -- 1 w/ TDA/CF/CML;3 w/ Storm Bolter;1 w/ Combi-X
5 Wolf Guard -- 1 w/ TDA/CF/CML;4 w/ Storm Bolter

HVY
Predator -- Autocannon\Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Predator -- Autocannon\Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Predator -- Autocannon\Heavy Bolter Sponsons

FST
2 Land Speeders - Multi-Melta\Heavy Flamer
2 Land Speeders - Multi-Melta\Heavy Flamer
2 Land Speeders - Multi-Melta\Heavy Flamer

This variant is about the same with 3 Dakka Predators instead of 2 Rifleman Dreadnoughts. I also lost a single Combi-weapon, but I don't really feel like that's a big deal.

I feel like both lists are about equal, but with some different strengths. V1 has 8 TL S7 shots, where V2 has 6 S7 shots and 18 S5 shots. 8 vs 6 doesn't seem like that big a deal, but TL shots are 33% better than normal, so it's really more like 7.111 vs 4. Also, that huge pile of S5 shots are pretty much infantry-only.
It's a tough choice. V1 is stronger against mech and (in some cases) MCs, where V2 is stronger against infantry. V1 can tarpit units, V2 can tank shock. Etc. The deciding factor for me, I think, is that I'm really not a huge fan of tanks. I don't have as big a problem with Predators as I do with, say, Rhinos, but I still don't want to have to build and paint 3 of those things. Dreadnoughts are way cooler, and I can get them a lot cheaper, so the build I choose will probably be V1. If I play it and end up wanting more S5, then maybe I'll switch it up down the road, but for now I think I'm going to use the Dreadnoughts.

I've thought about changing the 5 Wolf Guard squads to have Assault Cannons instead of CML's. I have done the math and I understand every reason why CML's are better than Assault Cannons, but I still just like them better. Basically the only reason I decided to take them on all my squads here is because of the range. All the AssCan's in the world are useless if I'm outside of 24". The local gaming scene here sees a lot of 4th edition style games where everyone sets up on the long edge of the board and just tries to out-kill each other, so I'm thinking that if it looks like I can actually use the AssCan's without losing any range effectiveness, I might give them a try. Otherwise though, the CML's are staying for now.

So there's my first army list. It's my favorite list and what really made me fall in love with the Space Wolf Codex. I've got a few other lists that I've been playing around with, but they're mostly just fun thought experiments. This is the list I intend to play. It's definitely got some problems, being very squishy probably being the biggest one, but I really like it and think that it is actually not a bad list. Before I can do anything with it, though, I have to finish building everything. Right now I don't have a single model finished, nor the parts for anything. Oh well, gotta start somewhere.