Playing with Space Wolves at 1850. . .

. . .is a dangerous prospect. No less, one to give a go. I've been working on a few list ideas, so here goes. Thought I'd give it a post and see if any of the Hogs have advice/critiques.



Troops: 5 x Grey Hunters - 170
Meltagun, plasma pistol, Razorback w/ twin linked lascannon

HQ: 1 x Wolf Guard Battle Leader - 140
Runic armor, plasma pistol, power fist, wolf tail talisman

Troops: 5 x Grey Hunters - 155
Flamer, power weapon, Razorback w/twin linked heavy flamer

HQ: 1 x Wolf Guard Battle Leader - 135
Runic armor, bolt pistol, frost weapon

Troops: 5 x Grey Hunters - 165
Flamer, power weapon, Razorback w/twin linked lascannon

HQ: 1 x Wolf Guard Battle Leader - 135
Runic armor, plasma pistol, frost weapon

Troops: 10 x Grey Hunters - 165
2 x flamers, power weapon

HQ: Rune Priest - 130
Runic armor, chooser of the slain, Jaws of the World Wolf, Living Lighting

Heavy: 5 x Long Fangs (4 + Squad Leader) - 180
2 x lascannon, 2 x plasma cannon

Heavy: 1 x Land Raider Redeemer - 250
Melta

Heavy: 1 x Vindicator - 125
Siege Shield

Elite: 6 x Wolf Scouts
Snipers, bolters, 1 x missile launcher


NOTE: HQs are listed with the troop squads I'd planned them to accompany.



Positives: Small, mobile squads who can get into position quickly. Gonna be tough on mechanized. I love the armament and raw ability the Grey Hunters pack versus standard marines. Coupled with Wolf Guard Battle Leaders, they've got some hitting power. Razorbacks bring some good fire support, backed up by Long Fangs who can punish armor and infantry in the same round of shooting with their "split fire" ability. Gotta love scouts with BS 4! If you like scouts, and I do Heavy anti-armor without a ton of effort. Land Raider could just as easily run empty for fire support or load up the biggest Grey Hunters and Rune Priest. RP could also link up with Long Fangs depending on deployment.

Negatives: Small squads. Don't want to get them into a fight with hoard chargers or larger, elite heavy-hitters or they're toast. Can't assault from razorbacks (but can't from rhinos, so doesn't feel that different than vanilla marines) so gonna need a turn to get out, therefore vulnerable to shooting before they can get close and flame/assault. Probably a bit weak against hoard, say 'nids or orks for sheer numbers, but does have a lot of flamer focus to compensate. No big stinkin' scary elites. No infantry suppressing fire teams - fire is a bit more focused.

I think this force would be strong in objective play.

Anyway, this is my first go with Wolves. Any thoughts?

Your list idea is sound, and build around a good armored contingent. With just a few tweaks it can be very competitive.

I am certainly not the resident Space Wolves expert - Monkey can give you more specific pointers on wargear and their characters, but I do know a few things that would improve your list for tournament play.

Mark of the Wolfen. Include it everywhere you can. That is all. It is the most powerful melee thing you have.

Powerfists! Each of your squads of marines really needs to have a powerfist. The fist is the great equalizer against special characters and it also makes the units be able to wound MC's. If a squad without one were to run into a wraithlord you currently wouldnt be able to wound it! (Also there are at least two players in our area that run wraithlord lists ) Also, I like my fists on the squad champion, and not on independent characters - that way the fist is the last model to go. If its on an IC, the character could be targetted out and instakilled. Finally a powerfist gives you the ability to deal with dreadnoughts and armor without having to rely on grenades.

Meltaguns! You need more of them. Each of your squads should pack one. The squad needs to be able to fire the melta and open up a transport so they can charge its juicy innards immediately, on the same turn, without getting shot at first. Since you have small squads, it is important you get charged and not have to stand a turn outside after opening an enemey transport. Meltas also do alright against monstrous creatures in a pinch and can insta kill independent characters usually. Flamers are great too, but you will have the edge in most hand to hand, anyway so you should do okay vs hoard without them.

Vidicator - If you want to use one of these tanks, it is usually best to take them in pairs. One of them is easily removed from the game. Since it only has one heavy weapon, it only takes a single glance each turn to keep it out of commission. If you take a pair of them, the opponent is much more pressed to spread fire and keep them both from firing. This results in less shots on both of them, and more turns where you get to use them. Duplicity (spam) in important armor is a key tournament idea for survival and effectiveness.

I would either drop the landraider for the above upgrades, a rhino, and another vindicator, or drop the 1st vindicator for more troops and unit upgrades.

/agree with Wildeyed

Also - I understand that you have the sniper scouts since that's your current kit, but wolf scouts are, imho, better used with meltaguns and meltabombs. They have a nice ability to outflank and on a 3+ they can come on from any board edge (even an opponents). I hate setting up a nice little bunker and having monkey's scouts swat me down with five lil scouts.

/grumbles.

You have got a TON of wargear everywhere and it's all horribly expensive. I would recommend the following changes as a start:
Drop runic armor, wolf tail talismans, plasma pistols from across the board.
Get the 10 man grey hunter squad 2 meltaguns and put them in a Rhino.
Let the Rune Priest hang out with the Long Fangs.
Put the 5man GH squad with the Meltagun in the TL-HvFL razorback. They want to get close anyways, might as well have the proper vehicle for that.

Long term, I'd do the following:
Replace those WGBLs with Wolf Guard. Get Meltagun, Combi-Melta wolfguard, and Mark in each 6-man squad in a Razorback.
If you're going to run Long Fangs outside of a vehicle, give them a WG with a Cyclone ML in Termi armor.
Get a 3 man squad of Thunderwolf cav, at least 1 with a powerfist.
Get wolf scouts with Meltagun, Mark, and WG with Combi-melta and Mark.
Replace the Redeemer sponsons with Crusader.

Your squads at present are very heavily tooled wargear wise, but not a whole lot of bodies to soak casualties.

Having taken the advice from the comments and playing against/watching two very different Wolves lists at the tournaments now has given me some new perspective on the list. Here's what I'm considering:

HQ - Wolf Guard
Wargear still in consideration, right now Runic Armor, Pair of Wolf Claws, Talisman

HQ - Rune Priest
Chooser of the Slain, Jaws + Living Lightning

Elite - Wolf Guard Pack (3 of them - each to run with a unit of Grey Hunters, listed with the hunters)

Troops - Grey Hunters Pack - 9 models + 1 Transport
1 - Mark of the Wulfen
1 - Power Fist
7 - 1 melta
Rhino
WG - Combi-melta, Power Fist

Troops - Grey Hunters Pack - 9 models + 1 Transport
1 - Mark of the Wulfen
1 - Power Fist
7 - 1 melta
Rhino
WG - Combi-melta, Power Fist

Troops - Grey Hunters Pack - 10 models
1 - Mark of the Wulfen
1 - Power Fist
7 - 2 x melta
WG - Term Armor, Mark of the Wulfen

Elites - Wolf Scouts Pack - 6 models
5 - 2 x power weapons, melta, melta bombs
1 - Sarge w/ Mark of the Wulfen

Heavy - Long Fangs Pack - 5 models + 1 Transport
2 - Las Cannon
2 - Plas Cannon
1 - Sarge
1 - Razorback (stock)

Heavy - Long Fangs Pack - 5 models + 1 Transport
4 - Missile Launchers
1 - Sarge
1 - Razorback (stock)

Heavy - Land Raider Redeemer
Melta

Total: 1844

Positives:
Bigger squads of Grey Hunters make them able to soak some casualties before closing in on assualt, because they will likely get shot up. Every squad has a transport, so I should be able to get them across the board and into assault. Each Squad packing a mighty punch with two power fist models and a mark. Long fangs are more than capable of squashing a few tanks and/or large infantry squads. Long Fangs will not ride in razobacks; the razors will be antagonizers and hopefully draw fire away; also will be good for blocking chargers in a line ' o ' tanks. Wolf Scouts held in reserve to tank hunt.

Negatives:
Gonna have a slightly tougher time against hoard forces - not packing any hoard clearing weaponry, sans plasma cannons. Not a chance versus "AP 3" weapons, generally speaking. Gotta keep them out of range of that kind of fire.

Notes:
I hear a good deal about Thunderwolf Cavalry, but I'm just not. . .in love with them. I mean, they're fine and dandy, but I'm not a big cavalry fan. I was able to shoot 'em up and kill 'em up with terms, so they didn't blow my mind. I'd prefer a full unit of Hunters tooled out in a rhino. I think I just like the versatility of squads.