Salty John here with a new look at Wolftide as exemplified by Danny’s iteration from the drop of Curse of the Wulfen.
The basics of Wolftide involve psychic powers galore and a large unit of Fenrisian Wolves using the Wolfkin formation. Danny’s initial ideas for Wolftide included Dark Angels, Grey Knights, and the Wolfkin. Prior to new ITC poling Danny considered some BA for a sanguinary priest. You can find a battle report of my Blackmanes against Danny’s Wolftide here. The list will grind you to dirt and if the right powers are rolled will survive even the most cheesy of Tau lists shooting phases. After a few months struggling to get Blackmanes and my Drop Pod battle company to work better, I decided to go a different route and try out a death star for the first time since 5th edition. Space Wolves really work best with a death star build of some sort and since I committed to playing Space Wolves for the 2016 ITC season I figured I better play the best build I can if I want to do well. For Space Wolves, there’s several routes to go for Death Stars: Thunderstar, Wolfkinstar, Wulfenstars are among the favorites.
Having seen Danny’s list in action and watching him go to the top table at a local 30+ person tournament only to lose to a mirror match with Wolftide, I decided to give Wolftide a try. Danny is out of 40k commission for a while so I asked to give his 50 wolves a stroll across the battlefields of the 41st millenium. I knew from watching him play the list I didn’t want to cut and paste it. I didn’t like Azrael and the Grey Knights. I wanted to be a Space Wolves player, not just have a single formation of Space Wolves. I decided to go back to Thunderstar, something I hadn’t played since 5th edition when my Thunderwolves were made from Chaos Knights because there were no Thunderwolf Cavalry models aside from Canis. I like lists with more than a single threat (Drop Pod Battle Company, Blackmanes) because those have a lot of moving pieces and a lot of threats over a single large one.
Here are a few types of Wolftide I tried out so far.
List 1:
Space Wolves Deathpack (Start Collecting Formation)
3-5 Thundercav (depending on the tweaks to the rest of the list)
Thunderlord (helm of durfast usually)
Grey Hunters in Pod (for electrodisplacements prior to ITC nerf)
Wolfkin (50 to 65 wolves, again depending on the rest of the lists tweaks)
Librarius Conclave
4 lvl2 Librarians on Bikes with Axes
List 2:
Space Wolves CAD
Thunderlord
4 Thundercav
3 units of Bloodclaws in Pods
Wolfkin Formation (50ish wolves)
Librarius Conclave
4 Librarians on bikes with Axes
Tigurius
The list I think I’ve settled on for running at Bay Area Open this year:
Space Wolves CAD
Thunderlord
Wolf Priest (Wulfenstone for Furious Charge)
4 Thundercav
2 Bloodclaw units in Rhinos
Wolfkin (45 Wolves)
Librarius Conclave
4 lvl2 Librarians on Bikes with Axes
Tigurius
Getting the right balance between the two deathstars was a challenge. Too few wolves and the unit dies too fast. Too few rolls for librarians generating powers and chances of getting Veil of Time are too slim. The basic strategy behind my list mirrors the strategy of the original Wolftide but with less moving parts from other codices and an additional, harder hitting deathstar. Rolling for the right powers with this list is key and going into each game I have definite strategy for tables I’m rolling on. I need Veil of Time for the Thundercav. Period. End of story, it’s a must or against anything other than a midtier army, I will lose fast. Tigurius and the Wolfpriest always go to battle with the Wolfkin. The wolves need to be Fearless, and they benefit greatly from Furious Charge. The 6+ FNP is a nice little bonus. Tigurius will usually start out rolling on Divination, getting them a 4++ and rerolls to hit is important. Normally a bike Librarian will be shoved into the unit as well so I can Jink if need be during my opponent’s shooting phase.
I’ve used the list multiple times now in the different iterations shown above. I like the way it plays. If I can remain disciplined in my selection of Psychic powers to roll for instead of fishing for powers in a wild and ungainly fashion, then I can mitigate a lot of the problems and weaknesses of the list. I will admit that I’ve given games away because I went fishing instead of focusing on my game plan.
The worst matchup for this army is easily Battle Company. Tau and Eldar are not a big deal for this list, but chewing through 9 to 18 transports and the units inside while trying to score objectives is a major uphill battle. We’ll see how I do.
I’m off to finish painting Thundercav, Rhinos, and a Wolfpriest.
