I haven't played too many games yet with my Space Wolves due to taking a short break from the hobby. Last night I MADE time for a trip to Pandemonium and faced off against Warboss
Gargunki's Imperial Armor 8 Mega Dread list. I wanted to field a balanced list that I could build some strategies on, and by the end of the game i felt more comfortable with the army. I'm starting to get the hang of them. We played 2000 points:
Rune Priest, terminator armor, jaws, hurricane
Rune Priest, chooser, living lightning, hurricane (Long Fangs)
Wolf Priest (Blood Claws)
4 Wolf Guard with power fists and 1 c.melta, 5 in Terminator armor (1 Cyclone in Long Fangs), drop pod
5 Wolf Scouts with a melta
Lone Wolf with a chainfist and storm shield, 2 wolves
9 Grey Hunters, meltagun, power weapon, Wolf Banner, rhino
9 Grey Hunters, plasmagun, power weapon, Wolf Banner, rhino
15 Blood Claws, power weapon
Land Speeder, multi melta, heavy flamer
Land Speeder, multi melta, heavy flamer
6 Long Fangs, 5 missile launchers
Vindicator
Terminator Wolf Guard drop podding with the Rune Priest turned out to be a big failure. I'm still not convinced this won't work for me, because they got pretty unlucky getting shot to pieces by regular Ork Boyz. Really? Ork Boyz? Yes. The Wolf Scouts did their job coming in the second turn and annihilating a full squad of Lootas. I couldn't have asked for a better performance. They have been a great unit for me so far. Grey Hunters continue to prove they are one of the best Troop choices in 40k. I'm undecided if I want to chance my army composition to 4 Troops in 2000 points to get another unit of them in there. The Blood Claws with a Wolf Guard and Wolf Priest seriously tore the Ork Boyz a new one once the foot slogged their way into combat. They went through 2 full units of the Boyz before getting vaporized by Burna Boyz. The Land Speeders did well and harassed the Orks for much of the game. Land Speeders are usually a given in my army lists because I've used them so successfully often enough. The Vindicator had a couple decent shots, but the better Heavy Support choice were the Long Fangs doing an awesome job raining down missiles.
The MVP of the game was the Lone Wolf. Chain Fist, Storm Shield, Terminator armor, Eternal Warrior, Feel No Pain, 2 Fenrisian Wolves to soak up wound allocation. This is the perfect equipment loadout for this guy. This was also the perfect storm for him to perform excellently though (very heavy Dread list) and I don't expect a repeat performance every game. First he took out the Ork Dread, then he took out 2 remaining Killa Kans, and finally he immobilized the Mega Dread at the end of the game, keeping it out of reach of my objectives and ensuring me victory in the seventh turn. Rerolling all his attacks vs Walkers was amazing.
Another very good upgrade that I now consider a must-have are the Wolf Standards. This was my first time using them and I will forever after include them in my Grey Hunter squads. Once per game you can use the standard, and for the entire remained of the assault phase you may reroll any 1's rolled. This includes to hit, to wound, armor pen, vehicle damage, and even armor and invulnerable saves. Pretty awesome for 10 points even if it is only 1 use.
It wasn't one of Gargunki's typical lists, but it did have some tough stuff in there. The Mega Dread having a 5+ invulnerable save for everything was pretty rough, but could have been worse. The trukks of Burna Boyz had a major impact killing my Wolves, and would have done a lot more damage if deployed on the table or if they arrived sooner, I think. He had to place much of his army in reserve, because with Spearhead deployment even on a 6x4 table the Orks couldn't fit their army on the table if they tried!
And finally, great laughs were had when his looted wagon (I think) with a Shokk Attack Gun misfired and teleported 3 stories up in the air to Tank Shock my Long Fangs! I believe the Long Fangs, even in their many campaigns of glory, needed to change their armor after that surprise.
