Land speeder inbound! - Tournament Painting Finished

In preparation for the Warhammer 40,000 Doubles event this weekend I've finally gotten round to painting up my Space Wolves Land Speeder. I'm pretty happy with it, or at least I was until I saw this. Mind you I'd always describe myself as a gamer first and painter second. I'm interested to see if our adapted list will fare as well as the old one did at Freebootaz. I think the most exciting thing about the tournament for me is that GW insist on all armies being fully painted. Hopefully this will mean that we'll play against some awesome looking armies. That and hopefully we'll crush them but I'll settle for some nice photos! 

Anyway onto the pictures:

In case anyone was wondering the hull of the vehicle was painted with my standard 50:50 mix of Shadow Grey and Space Wolves Grey. I then painted all the metal work Boltgun Metal before. Some of the metal work is Chaos Black with a Boltgun Metal drybrush to give some different finishes particularly inside the cockpit. The yellow bits are Tausept Ochre and the red bits are pure Mechrite Red. The chest eagles on the marines are Scorched Brown followed by Bleached Bone then a Devlan Mud wash. The face is Elf Flesh and the hair is Blazing Orange and both have more Devlan Mud wash. Finally, the aquila is my current method of painting gold which is Scorched Brown, Shining Gold then Devlan Mud wash.

I'd like to add a bit of battle damage to it and some black drybrushing to the front to give the effect of scorching/movement. I'd also like to drill out the gun barrels but this is the same for all my models and therefore I'll probably do up the whole army at a later date.

As I've mentioned, the completion of this model means my half of our tournament army is finished but more exciting than that is the fact that I've now got nothing standing in the way of painting my Thunderwolves!! I just need to get some more SW backpacks for them.

Space Wolves Long Fangs

So I've covered the Grey Hunters for our troops and then talked about the fast attack options. Now it's the turn of the Heavy Support portion of the Force Organisation Chart. Whilst there are certainly more options the Long Fangs are the stand-out unit here as they're the only ones that differ from the normal Space Marine variants. 

Before I get onto them though I want to quickly mention that I think that the Whirlwind is very much underrated considering it's only 85pts. Obviously for 10pts less you can get a lascannon razorback which has a transport capacity but for anti-horde it's nice to put some pie plates down. It's cheaper than the Vindicator too. Whilst the vindi is obviously superior in several ways, its short range puts it at risk and any damage result is fatal. Whilst damage results can harm the whirlwind just as much (if not more because it's AV11) the 48" range means you can sit a long way from the action and hopefully get ignored. That is until you start throwing those pie plates on squads of Guard, Hormagaunts, Orks or either kind of Eldar. Anyway, you're going to ignore it in favour of the long fangs so I may as well talk about them!

Long Fangs - The Basics

On the face of it they don't seem to be much different from Space Marine Devastators but in fact they're far better. For starters, the base cost is only 15pts per model compared to 18pts for devastators. The cheapest 5-man squad you can have comes in at 95pts where as the SM equivalent would be a whopping 150pts!

The Ld of the basic troops is also slightly better than the SM version and the weapons are cheaper (though similar prices to BA). They can't however, be joined by an additional 5 marines with bolters but really I don't see the point since you'd combat squad them anyway. The long fangs can fielded in a squad of up to 6 members with 5 carrying heavy weapons unlike SM devastators. 

The obvious main advantage of the Fire Control ability meaning that you can potentially take out two targets per turn. This might seem minor but it makes them vastly superior to devastators in my book. However, it isn't all rosy, as out of all of the HS choices they are the least mobile. Essentially you rely on placing them in a decent spot and hope that they can see something every turn. You can go some way to countering this by giving them a razorback but they'll still spend two turns not shooting so it isn't really worth it. 

A heavy weapons team in any army be it Space Marine or not will always attract the attention of deep strikers and outflankers. There isn't really much of a counter to this but it can easily be used to your advantage. If your enemy is hitting your long fangs then he's not hitting your scoring units or taking your objectives (assuming you put them in a suitable place). Also with the ever-handy counter-attack they can still harm anything that comes to take them down.

Knowing that your opponent will be desperate to deal with them in order to protect his transports/monstrous creatures means that if you include a second squad and place them on the opposite end of your deployment zone you're going to give him a real headache. Bear in mind that on your average board this will mean that between the two squads you're practically covering every inch of the board.

Long Fangs - Equipment

The most popular loadout at the moment seems to be a 5-man squad of missile launchers coming in at 115pts (or 6-man for 140pts). The advantage of this is in the flexibility of choosing between anti-troop frag missiles and anti-tank (or high toughness) krak missiles. It also keeps costs down as only heavy bolters are cheaper. Whilst I'm on the subject of keeping costs down I'd say it isn't worth giving the squad leader any upgrades. I used to give him a plasma gun (to add some firepower) or a power sword (as a combat deterrent) but honestly, if they get in combat then it isn't going to end well so spend your points elsewhere.

The problem with giving them heavy bolters or plasma cannons is that 36" range isn't really enough for them to be able to hit something every turn. Plasma cannons are notorious for blowing up in your face and also blast weapons seem to miss most of the time for me! Multi-meltas might be an option if you're going to stick them in a drop-pod but odds are they'll die before they get used. Besides wolf guard with combi-meltas, melta-bikes or a land speeder are far better suited to tank hunting.

The only other option left then is the mighty lascannon. Sadly this comes in at 2.5x the cost of a missile launcher so I can understand why people are put off. However, that extra point of strength can be devastating to an opponent. I wouldn't bother shooting AV14 still but AV13 becomes more of an option. The real boon though is AP2. This means you're instant killing lone obliterators and causing terminators a headache (if they fail 5+ saves). In addition Mephiston won't like it and neither will those pesky Broadsides! 

That being said I wouldn't take lascannons for the entire squad but try throwing in one or two and see how many more things you kill. The long fangs main purpose is softening up high toughness targets and de-meching so don't be tempted to go overboard with them.

Long Fangs - Tactics

The most important thing with long fangs is to remember to choose your targets wisely. For starters get used to what 48" looks like because you don't want to waste their firepower. Remember that most boards are 48" across but thing about all that trigonometry you did in school and realise that on the diagonals you might struggle.

Picking a good spot for them is important too. Cover is essential but remember not to obscure their line of sight. This means that if you get to pick your deployment zone then you should really be thinking about how the terrain will look from your long fangs' point of view. That ruined building may make perfect cover for them but if you're view of the battlefield is blocked by a big block of trees then pick somewhere else. High ground is your friend as it can help with denying your opponent a cover save.

The other thing is knowing when to split fire. Personally I always remove the squad leader as a casualty first so after a couple of turns I tend to be forced to focus my fire. Early on I'd focus on transports or the biggest armoured threat to your forces. Ignore land raiders as your melta guns are much better at dealing with them. Focus on AV12 and below and you'll be fine. Pick out targets with multiple wounds that you can try to instant kill as well.

Anyway, enough ramblings, the important thing is to be sensible about how you use them. I hope this post has made you think about your deployment of them a bit more but otherwise they aren't really rocket science (if you'll pardon the pun)!

Battle Report: Space Wolves vs Tyranids

This weekend turned into a double-header as Scott and I played a 1500pt game this afternoon after my game last night. I've been dying to play his Tyranids again as last time was a bit of whitewash since Scott didn't have a full selection of models available. Today was anything but a whitewash!

1500pts of Space Wolves

Rune Priest (Wolftooth Necklace, Chooser, Lightning, Murd. Hurricane)

Rune Priest (Wolftooth Necklace, Lightning, Jaws)

Wolf Priest (Wolftooth Necklace)

3x Wolf Guard (PF, combi-melta)

Dreadnought (Heavy Flamer, Assault Cannon)

Lone Wolf (Terminator, Thunder Hammer & Shield)

3x 8 Grey Hunters (Meltagun, PF, MotW, Standard) in Rhino

Land Speeder (Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer)

Long Fangs (4x ML)

1500pts of Tyranids

Hive Tyrant (Heavy Venom Cannon, Wings, Thorax Swarm w/ electroshock, Paroxysm, Leech Essence)

1x Tyrant Guard

2x Lictors

2x 1 Zoanthrope

9 Genestealers (Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Broodlord w/ scything talons)

12 Genestealers (Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands)

10 Hormagaunts

Ravener Brood (Deathspitter)

10 Gargoyles

Trygon Prime

Deployment

We rolled Seize Ground with 5 objectives and Spearhead deployment. I won the roll off and placed one objective in my deployment zone and the remaining two in the "empty" quarters. Scott put both of his in what would be his quarter. I deployed my rhinos right at the edge of my deployment zone with two on the left and one on the right. The dread was placed in the middle and the long fangs were at the back. The lone wolf went in support of the wolf priest's rhino on the left. The land speeder would deep strike.

Scott put his gargoyles and hormagaunts on the left claiming an objective. The hive tyrant and raveners were on the right with the zoanthropes in the middle. Much to my disgust (since I'd forgotten to place my chooser effectively) Scott infiltrated a squad of genestealers into each of the empty quarters. The lictors and trygon remaining in reserve.

Turn 1

The rhinos advanced slowly as did the dread. Two long fangs opened up on one of the zoanthropes who failed his invulnerable save and was instantly killed. The other two long fangs scored a wound on the tyrant guard. The dread fired it's assault cannon at the raveners scoring 3 wounds. On the right the rune priest unleashed Murderous Hurricane which killed a genestealer. The other rune priest shot lightning at the raveners scoring another wound. On the left the rhino's storm bolter killed off a genestealer but none of the occupants were in range.

Scott advanced his entire force (except the genestealers who elected not to risk dangerous terrain from Murderous Hurricane). The heavy venom cannon failed to penetrate the rhino's hull. The zoanthrope found itself out of range of the Space Wolf dread. The genestealers on my left fleeted into the rhino and lone wolf but couldn't hurt either as the lone wolf saved all 5 wounds including 2 rending attacks. In return he cut down two genestealers with his hammer causing them to flee.

Turn 2

All three squads of grey hunters disembarked from their transports in order to rapid fire. One the right that resulted in a whole squad of dead gargoyles who were caught out in the open. The dread incinerated two raveners but the grey hunters didn't achieve anything with their rapid fire on the hive tyrant. The long fangs were more successful causing two wounds. On the left the grey hunters killed 6 genestealers who passed their leadership test.

The zoanthrope was now in range and used it's lance to stun the dread. The Hive Tyrant used Paroxysm and Leech Essence which I failed to nullify meaning that a grey hunter was slain allowing the tyrant to recover a wound. The genestealers assaulted the wolf priest's squad but all three died after only managing to wound the wolf priest himself. The remaining ravener assaulted the other greys but despite paroxysm the space wolves cut it down without any casualties.

Turn 3

The land speeder came in from deep strike and didn't scatter allowing me to scorch 4 hormagaunts from the face of the board. Sadly the presence of the zoanthrope made them fearless. The rune priest again used murderous hurricane which didn't kill any stealers this time. The grey hunters again rapid fired the hive tyrant causing a single wound. The long fangs failed to hurt the tyrant at all though.

Scott's lictors and trygon both came in. The trygon didn't scatter and fired off it's containment spines at the lone wolf but failed to wound. The hive tyrant killed two hunters with it's electroshock grubs and again cast paroxysm. The lictors attempted to use their flesh hooks to demech the rhino on my right but to no avail. The hive tyrant charged into combat killing all but the wolf guard with the power fist. This sadly meant I'd not be able to shoot at him next turn. The zoanthrope failed to deal with the land speeder with either psychic powers or a desperate charge.

Turn 4

The wolf priest's squad (who were now back in their rhino) fired melta guns at the trygon but failed spectacularly. The long fang scored two wounds but the dreadnought found it's shots bounced of the monster's exoskeleton. The land speeder span round and vapourised the zoanthrope which failed it's invulnerable save. The combination of murderous hurricane, meltagun and storm bolter killed another 3 genestealers. The lone wolf had a tricky choice between a trygon or hive tyrant and it's guard (both of whom had a single wound left). I went for the glory of killing the tyrant. Unfortunately this time the lone wolf failed 2 out of 3 saves and the wolf guard missed with his power fist then died to No Retreat! hits. 

The lictors managed to immobilise the rhino and remove it's storm bolter. The heavy venom cannon immobilised the other rhino with the wolf priest inside. Both tyranid units charged their rhinos with the lictors wrecking theirs and the hive tyrant blowing the other up. Four grey hunters were caught in the explosion along with the tyrant guard. The trygon charged at the dreadnought. Despite wounding the beast twice the dreadnought found itself immobilised with both weapons wrecked beyoned repair. 

Turn 5

The long fangs' missiles killed off the hive tyrant sparing the grey hunters having to make a risky assault. The land speeder could only kill 1 hormagaunt so couldn't force a morale check. The rune priest split off from the squad but couldn't summon a murderous hurricane on the genestealers. The grey hunters killed one lictor with pistols and killed the second in combat losing two of their number in the process. The trygon finished off the dread but not without taking two wounds. 

The trygon turned it's attention to the wolf priest's grey hunters who were holding an objective on the left. It successfully wiped out all but the wolf guard but died in the process leaving the objective still safely in the hands of the space marines. The genestealers and broodlord were now free to move and charged into the grey hunters killing four but the hunters retaliated killing three and wounding the broodlord tieing the combat.

At this point the game would finish on a draw with one objective each and a third contested but it wasn't over yet!

Turn 6

The land speeder killed two hormagaunts forcing them to flee. The long fangs couldn't see any targets. As the only remaining tyranid unit was the genestealers who were in combat. The broodlord's hypnotic gaze meant that only the wolf guard would be able to fight back. Unfortunately the only model left standing was the wulfen who couldn't attack. 

The hormagaunts fled the field and the broodlord finished off the wulfen. 

Final Result: With the rune priest not close enough to contest the objective it was claimed by the broodlord and remaining genestealer. The game therefore finished in a 1-1 draw.

Conclusion

Scott has certainly got a better grasp of how to use his tyranids. There's a couple of things we both could've done better but I think it was a fair test of both armies. The main thing that cost me was not thinking enough about objective placement. I should've placed two objectives in my deployment zone and let the tyranids come to me. The chooser would've prevented the genestealers from infiltrating on the remaining one. This certainly contributed to the end result but that doesn't take away from how the rest of the game went.

The lone wolf was incredibly unlucky and it was a shame to see him fall before he could try to kill the hive tyrant. Scott didn't make much use of Shadow in the Warp as he was only in range with it once. I should've been using the runic weapon to cancel Hypnotic Gaze but considering I'd failed to cancel any other psychic powers I'd have probably failed if I'd tried. The land speeder was unlucky not to force a leadership test for the hormagaunts earlier as it's firepower would've certainly helped in dealing with the broodlord and co.

So both games this weekend ended in draws but were vastly different. Both were complete blood baths and were incredibly fun to play. It was impossible to call either game at any point and I've never enjoyed drawing so much!! In neither game did it feel like either side had clawed a draw from the jaws of defeat either. I'm very much looking forward to another weekend of 40K at the doubles next weekend.