Hello and welcome back!
I’ve played a lot of Warhammer since my last post, but a combination of illness and schedule changes has prevented me from sitting down and writing about any of my games.
I was able to take a Stormlance list to two GTs in the last three weeks, and I thought I was in a position where I could write some interesting things about the list, the games, and the archetype.
Many people reading this may be wondering why I am not and was not playing Champions of Russ, as I have been an ardent supporter of that detachment since the latest dataslate gave it a nice glow up.
In short – I had a closer look at the wordings of the stratagems, and I believe that the Warrior Pride Stratagem which allows a unit to move into a locked Saga for a turn do not unlock the secondary parts of the Saga specific stratagems, like Lance from the Go for the Throat Stratagem.
I approached both my first GT TO, who works under the ITC, and the GW rules team about this and they both concur with my interpretation.
This is obviously not how the majority of players interpreted those rules (including myself), and I didn’t want to play a list that I had a great deal of muscle memory with in what are incorrect rules paths, so I switched over to Stormlance to play something that I knew worked exactly as I thought it did.
List!
Logan Grimnar on Foot (Warlord)
Bjorn, the Fellhanded
Lieutenant w/ Combi-Weapon
Thunderwolf Cavalry x6 w/ Storm Shields
– Battle Leader w/ Power Fist
– Wolf Lord w/ Power Fist
— Arrive from reserves a turn early enhancement
Thunderwolf Cavalry x6 w/ Storm Shields
– Battle Leader w/ Power Fist
– Wolf Lord w/ Power Fist
Thunderwolf Cavalry x6 w/ Storm Shields
– Battle Leader w/ Power Fist
– Wolf Lord w/ Power Fist
Jump Pack Assault Intercessors x5 w/ Power Fist Sergeant
Jump Pack Assault Intercessors x5 w/ Power Fist Sergeant
Scouts
Scouts
Infiltrators
Callidus Assassin
The list is heavily influenced by “what I had painted”, but it’s designed to score secondaries more easily than most of my previous list versions. The multiple deep-striking elements, the innate reactive move and lone op single model units, and the ubiquitous Scouts give me the opportunity to score secondaries with relative ease.
At the first GT, I played five rounds against:
Vanguard Nids
18 Bullgryn Astra Militarum
Tank Spam Ironstorm
Stormlance w/ Vindicators
Nurgle Daemons
I only lost to Stormlance w/ Vindicators, and that game even my opponent (who went on to win) attributed entirely to my dice, so I was pretty happy to take a second place trophy. This GT was critical for me developing a feel for what the “jail” part of Wolf Jail really plays like, as the Champions of Russ model doesn’t lean into that nearly as hard.
This most recent event was a six round, 82 player event in the Pacific Northwest. I didn’t take as many pictures as normal because I was on stream twice, and I probably won’t go into quite as much detail as I normally do to compress games somewhat, but I will go into the lessons I took away from the event where they crop up.
Round 1 vs. Astra Militarum
For round one I was playing into mechanized Imperial Guard, with a bunch of Catachan riding around in Chimeras.
Micah’s List
Char1:
1x Tank Commander (220 pts): Warlord, Armoured Tracks, Hunter-killer Missile, Demolisher Battle Cannon, Lascannon, 2x Multi-melta, Heavy Stubber Enhancement: Grand Strategist (+15 pts)
Char2:
1x Tank Commander (215 pts): Armoured Tracks, Hunter-killer Missile, Demolisher Battle Cannon, Lascannon, 2x Multi-melta, Heavy Stubber Enhancement: Death Mask of Ollanius (+10 pts)
10x Catachan Jungle Fighters (55 pts) • 9x Jungle Fighter 6 with Close Combat Weapon, Lasgun 2 with Close Combat Weapon, Flamer 1 with Vox-caster, Close Combat Weapon, Lasgun • 1x Jungle Fighter Sergeant: Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
10x Catachan Jungle Fighters (55 pts) • 9x Jungle Fighter 6 with Close Combat Weapon, Lasgun 2 with Close Combat Weapon, Flamer 1 with Vox-caster, Close Combat Weapon, Lasgun • 1x Jungle Fighter Sergeant: Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
10x Catachan Jungle Fighters (55 pts) • 9x Jungle Fighter 6 with Close Combat Weapon, Lasgun 2 with Close Combat Weapon, Flamer 1 with Vox-caster, Close Combat Weapon, Lasgun • 1x Jungle Fighter Sergeant: Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
10x Catachan Jungle Fighters (55 pts) • 9x Jungle Fighter 6 with Close Combat Weapon, Lasgun 2 with Close Combat Weapon, Flamer 1 with Vox-caster, Close Combat Weapon, Lasgun • 1x Jungle Fighter Sergeant: Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
10x Catachan Jungle Fighters (55 pts) • 9x Jungle Fighter 6 with Close Combat Weapon, Lasgun 2 with Close Combat Weapon, Flamer 1 with Vox-caster, Close Combat Weapon, Lasgun • 1x Jungle Fighter Sergeant: Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
5x Tempestus Scions (50 pts) • 4x Tempestus Scion 2 with Close Combat Weapon, Hot-shot Lasgun 1 with Close Combat Weapon, Meltagun 1 with Close Combat Weapon, Plasma Gun • 1x Tempestor: Power Fist, Plasma Pistol
5x Tempestus Scions (50 pts) • 4x Tempestus Scion 2 with Close Combat Weapon, Hot-shot Lasgun 1 with Close Combat Weapon, Meltagun 1 with Close Combat Weapon, Plasma Gun • 1x Tempestor: Power Fist, Plasma Pistol
1x Basilisk (140 pts): Armoured Tracks, Earthshaker Cannon, Hunter-killer Missile, Heavy Flamer
1x Basilisk (140 pts): Armoured Tracks, Earthshaker Cannon, Hunter-killer Missile, Heavy Flamer
1x Leman Russ Vanquisher (145 pts): Vanquisher Battle Cannon, Armoured Tracks, Hunter-killer Missile, Lascannon, Heavy Stubber, 2x Plasma Cannon
1x Leman Russ Vanquisher (145 pts): Vanquisher Battle Cannon, Armoured Tracks, Hunter-killer Missile, Lascannon, Heavy Stubber, 2x Plasma Cannon
1x Leman Russ Vanquisher (145 pts): Vanquisher Battle Cannon, Armoured Tracks, Hunter-killer Missile, Lascannon, Heavy Stubber, 2x Plasma Cannon
1x Scout Sentinels (60 pts): Close Combat Weapon, Hunter-killer Missile, Sentinel Chainsaw, Lascannon
1x Scout Sentinels (60 pts): Close Combat Weapon, Hunter-killer Missile, Sentinel Chainsaw, Lascannon
1x Chimera (70 pts): Armoured Tracks, Hunter-killer Missile, Lasgun Array, Chimera Heavy Flamer, Heavy Flamer, Heavy Stubber
1x Chimera (70 pts): Armoured Tracks, Hunter-killer Missile, Lasgun Array, Chimera Heavy Flamer, Heavy Flamer, Heavy Stubber
1x Chimera (70 pts): Armoured Tracks, Hunter-killer Missile, Lasgun Array, Chimera Heavy Flamer, Heavy Flamer, Heavy Stubber
1x Chimera (70 pts): Armoured Tracks, Hunter-killer Missile, Lasgun Array, Chimera Heavy Flamer, Heavy Flamer, Heavy Stubber
1x Chimera (70 pts): Armoured Tracks, Hunter-killer Missile, Lasgun Array, Chimera Heavy Flamer, Heavy Flamer, Heavy Stubber
We were playing Take and Hold. I won the roll for Attacker/Defender and opted to Defend so I could cut off his scout moves in the Chimeras with my own Scouts.
I won the roll off for first. I played a similar matchup at the last GT, and that was a list with Bullgryn which seemed much harder for me as I couldn’t actually charge them with my Scouts. I drew Behind Enemy Lines here, and that further cemented the Scouts’ turn one plan of “charge a bunch of tanks”. I brought my reserve Wolf Unit in to Contain the far side of the map and generally just hid from the few guns he could get out there.
His turn didn’t accomplish much except killing most of the Scouts. -1 to hit and wound for 1 CP is a crazy drug into models that hit on 4s baseline. The three units of Thunderwolves made contact with his line of battle, and from this position onwards Micah could never move his models out in any meaningful way. His Tempestus Scions dropped and got chased around by Jump Pack Intercessors for a couple of turns, but I never let him score more than 5 points on Primary in a turn and completely shut him out on other turns.
Micah was able to kill a respectable amount of Wolves, but it was too little and too slow. He ended the game with a basilisk, a Russ, a Tank Commander, and a couple Chimeras and I had two half strength wolf units and Bjorn and chaff alive. The combination of -1 to hit and wound, reactive moves, and Blood Surges on the Battle Leaders made his turns insanely inefficient.
I feel like Astra Militarum going second into this without an aggressive Gaunt’s Ghost deployment have very little in the way of chances. -1 to hit and wound on fairly innaccurate guns combined with a forward deploying line of models that can make getting into the midfield fast impossible is a huge problem for their gameplan.
Here’s a picture of my game into the 18 Bullgryn version from the last GT after my turn one advance and not charge with the Scouts. A Chimera overwatch has to get extremely lucky to stop that move block.
Round 2 vs. Drukhari (Skysplinter)
Full disclosure, I was petrified of this matchup. I cannot interact with the Voidraven Bombers, his models are cheap and trade up well into me, and he’s just as fast as I am. Add to that a variety of fights first units, a bunch of flying things, and the Ritual (my least favorite scenario for this list I think), and I was well and truly rattled.
JT’s List
Cascadia (2000 points)
Drukhari
Strike Force (2000 points)
Skysplinter Assault
CHARACTERS
Archon (75 points) • Warlord • 1x Blast pistol 1x Huskblade
Archon (75 points) • 1x Blast pistol 1x Huskblade
Beastmaster (105 points) • 1x Beastmaster • 1x Agoniser 1x Splinter pods • 1x Clawed Fiend • 1x Clawed Fiend fists • 2x Khymerae • 2x Khymerae talons • 3x Razorwing Flock • 3x Razorwing feathers
Beastmaster (105 points) • 1x Beastmaster • 1x Agoniser 1x Splinter pods • 1x Clawed Fiend • 1x Clawed Fiend fists • 2x Khymerae • 2x Khymerae talons • 3x Razorwing Flock • 3x Razorwing feathers
Lelith Hesperax (85 points) • 1x Lelith’s blades
BATTLELINE
Kabalite Warriors (110 points) • 1x Sybarite • 1x Blast pistol 1x Phantasm grenade launcher 1x Sybarite weapon • 9x Kabalite Warrior • 1x Blaster 9x Close combat weapon 1x Dark lance 1x Shredder 1x Splinter cannon 5x Splinter rifle
Wyches (90 points) • 1x Hekatrix • 1x Blast pistol 1x Hekatarii blade 1x Phantasm grenade launcher • 9x Wych • 9x Hekatarii blade 9x Splinter pistol
DEDICATED TRANSPORTS
Raider (80 points) • 1x Bladevanes 1x Dark lance
Raider (80 points) • 1x Bladevanes 1x Dark lance
Venom (70 points) • 1x Bladevanes 2x Splinter cannon
Venom (70 points) • 1x Bladevanes 2x Splinter cannon
OTHER DATASHEETS
Court of the Archon (85 points) • 1x Lhamaean • 1x Shaimeshi blade • 1x Medusae • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Eyeburst • 1x Sslyth • 1x Shardcarbine 1x Splinter pistol 1x Sslyth battle-blade • 1x Ur-ghul • 1x Ur-ghul talons
Cronos (100 points) • 2x Cronos • 2x Spirit syphon 2x Spirit vortex 2x Spirit-leech tentacles
Incubi (75 points) • 4x Incubi • 4x Klaive • 1x Klaivex • 1x Demiklaives
Mandrakes (65 points) • 1x Nightfiend • 1x Baleblast 1x Glimmersteel blade • 4x Mandrake • 4x Baleblast 4x Glimmersteel blade
Reavers (60 points) • 1x Arena Champion • 1x Agoniser 1x Bladevanes 1x Cluster caltrops 1x Heat lance 1x Splinter pistol • 2x Reaver • 2x Bladevanes 2x Splinter pistol 2x Splinter rifle
Scourges (120 points) • 1x Solarite • 1x Blast pistol 1x Close combat weapon 1x Solarite weapon • 4x Scourge • 4x Close combat weapon 4x Drukhari haywire blaster
Scourges (120 points) • 1x Solarite • 1x Blast pistol 1x Close combat weapon 1x Solarite weapon • 4x Scourge • 4x Close combat weapon 4x Heat lance
Voidraven Bomber (215 points) • 1x Bladed wings 2x Dark scythe 1x Voidraven missiles
Voidraven Bomber (215 points) • 1x Bladed wings 2x Dark scythe 1x Voidraven missiles
JT was a delightful opponent, and my nerves were set at ease quickly by his pleasant and jokester demeanor.
I was able to do my normal Scout screen nonsense, he kept his Voidravens off the table, and we were off to the races.
I won the roll off and staged to engage him the next turn. I brought a unit of Thunderwolves top because I needed to contain. I felt like this was a good thing to do because I expected the Primary score to be insanely low (it was) and I needed all the secondary points I could get. I made an objective behind my piece of L terrain in the middle.
He moved up and killed some Scouts and braced for my incoming charges.
The game went as follows. I would surge forward to cut him off primary, he’d kill just enough Thunderwolves to tie or take back the forward objectives. We both maxed our secondaries fairly often.
JT had a turn of miserable shooting with both Voidravens, where I believe he only killed 1.5 Thunderwolves between the two of them.
Eventually, the weight of my attacks (57 attacks per Thunderwolf unit) and the multiple Vect Auras killed off most of the dark elves. The Voidravens killed things and bombed things and I ignored them because I could do nothing about them.
I knew that secondary points were going to be more important than primary points, and I was pleased to see that being accurate. I think this is actually a razor thin margin matchup, and had JT gone first or had a really good turn with his Voidravens, it would have been flipped the other way.
Round 4 vs. T’au (Retaliation Cadre)
Hank is an old friend from Warmachine days. He knocked me out of the running at the 2023 Tacoma Open with his Custodes, and he has the coolest T’au army here made almost entirely out of Breachers and other Admech stuff with T’au bodies slapped on top.
His list is also extremely skewy:
Hank’s List
No. 5 is Alive (1995 points)
T’au Empire Strike Force
(2000 points)
Retaliation Cadre
CHARACTERS
Commander in Coldstar Battlesuit (95 points) • 1x Battlesuit fists 2x Burst cannon 1x Cyclic ion blaster 1x High-output burst cannon 2x Shield Drone
Commander in Coldstar Battlesuit (95 points) • 1x Battlesuit fists 4x Fusion blaster 2x Shield Drone
Commander in Coldstar Battlesuit (95 points) • 1x Battlesuit fists 4x Fusion blaster 2x Shield Drone
Commander in Enforcer Battlesuit (100 points) • Warlord • 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Cyclic ion blaster 3x Plasma rifle 2x Shield Drone • Enhancement: Starflare Ignition System
Commander in Enforcer Battlesuit (80 points) • 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Cyclic ion blaster 3x Missile pod 2x Shield Drone
OTHER DATASHEETS
Broadside Battlesuits (180 points) • 1x Broadside Shas’vre • 1x Crushing bulk 1x Heavy rail rifle 2x Missile Drone 1x Seeker missile 1x Twin smart missile system • 1x Broadside Shas’ui • 1x Crushing bulk 1x Heavy rail rifle 2x Missile Drone 1x Seeker missile 1x Weapon Support System
Broadside Battlesuits (180 points) • 1x Broadside Shas’vre • 1x Crushing bulk 1x Heavy rail rifle 2x Missile Drone 1x Seeker missile 1x Weapon Support System • 1x Broadside Shas’ui • 1x Crushing bulk 1x Heavy rail rifle 2x Missile Drone 1x Seeker missile 1x Weapon Support System
Crisis Fireknife Battlesuits (130 points) • 1x Crisis Fireknife Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Gun Drone 1x Marker Drone 1x Missile pod 1x Missile pod • 2x Crisis Fireknife Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 2x Gun Drone 4x Missile pod 2x Shield Drone
Crisis Fireknife Battlesuits (130 points) • 1x Crisis Fireknife Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Gun Drone 1x Marker Drone 1x Plasma rifle 1x Plasma rifle • 2x Crisis Fireknife Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 2x Gun Drone 4x Plasma rifle 2x Shield Drone
Crisis Starscythe Battlesuits (110 points) • 1x Crisis Starscythe Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Burst cannon 1x Burst cannon 1x Gun Drone 1x Marker Drone • 2x Crisis Starscythe Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 4x Burst cannon 2x Gun Drone 2x Shield Drone
Crisis Sunforge Battlesuits (150 points) • 1x Crisis Sunforge Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit fists 2x Fusion blaster 1x Gun Drone 1x Marker Drone • 2x Crisis Sunforge Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 4x Fusion blaster 2x Gun Drone 2x Shield Drone
Crisis Sunforge Battlesuits (150 points) • 1x Crisis Sunforge Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit fists 2x Fusion blaster 1x Gun Drone 1x Marker Drone • 2x Crisis Sunforge Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 4x Fusion blaster 2x Gun Drone 2x Shield Drone
Ghostkeel Battlesuit (160 points) • 1x Battlesuit Support System 1x Fusion collider 1x Ghostkeel fists 1x Twin fusion blaster
Krootox Riders (35 points) • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Krootox fists 1x Repeater cannon
Krootox Riders (35 points) • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Krootox fists 1x Repeater cannon
Pathfinder Team (90 points) • 1x Pathfinder Shas’ui • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Marker Drone 1x Pulse carbine 1x Pulse pistol 1x Recon Drone 1x Shield Drone • 9x Pathfinder • 9x Close combat weapon 3x Ion rifle 6x Pulse carbine 9x Pulse pistol 1x Semi-automatic grenade launcher
Stealth Battlesuits (60 points) • 1x Stealth Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit Support System 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Burst cannon 1x Homing Beacon 1x Marker Drone 1x Shield Drone • 2x Stealth Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 2x Burst cannon
Stealth Battlesuits (60 points) • 1x Stealth Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit Support System 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Burst cannon 1x Homing Beacon 1x Marker Drone 1x Shield Drone • 2x Stealth Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 2x Burst cannon
Stealth Battlesuits (60 points) • 1x Stealth Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit Support System 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Burst cannon 1x Homing Beacon 1x Marker Drone 1x Shield Drone • 2x Stealth Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 2x Burst cannon
This game was extremely short. I went second, and after Hank cleared my Scouts off, I popped the Turn of the Wolf to guarantee charges into a screening Ghostkeel and screening Pathfinders.
I put two full Thunderwolf units on the far points from my deployment zones.
Hank lined up to shoot the units and went to his shooting phase. The following conversation occurred:
Me: Hank, you know about my reactive moves right?
Hank, abruptly turning with a bit of concern on his face: Wait, explain how your reactive moves work.
Eventually, with the use of a bunch of proxy bases, Hank decided to back his entire army up 9.1 inches away from my units and shoot the crap out of both of them. Unfortunately for him, he left both alive (and I was able to rapid ingress a Callidus Assassin more than 12″ away from his models on his home objective) and that meant I scored 23 points on primary on bottom of 2.
I charged in, killed a couple units of suits, staged the unhurt unit of wolves behind a convenient ruin, and passed it over. Hank looked at the board, looked at the time (he had a 90 minute drive to get home) and just called it on the spot. We talked it out.
I maintain that the above is the best picture of a Warhammer board state I’ve ever gotten.
82 points on primary – not bad!
Round 4 vs. Necrons (Hypercrypt)
This game was streamed, you can find that here.
Zach’s List
GKrons ATC (2000 points)
Necrons Strike Force
(2000 points)
Hypercrypt Legion
CHARACTERS
C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer (295 points) • 1x Gaze of death 1x Scythe of the Nightbringer
Hexmark Destroyer (95 points) • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Enmitic disintegrator pistols • Enhancement: Dimensional Overseer
Illuminor Szeras (175 points) • Warlord • 1x Eldritch Lance 1x Impaling legs
Plasmancer (90 points) • 1x Plasmic lance • Enhancement: Arisen Tyrant
BATTLELINE
Necron Warriors (200 points) • 20x Necron Warrior • 20x Close combat weapon 20x Gauss reaper
OTHER DATASHEETS
Annihilation Barge (115 points) • 1x Armoured bulk 1x Gauss cannon 1x Twin tesla destructor
Annihilation Barge (115 points) • 1x Armoured bulk 1x Gauss cannon 1x Twin tesla destructor
Canoptek Reanimator (75 points) • 2x Atomiser beam 1x Reanimator’s claws
Deathmarks (60 points) • 5x Deathmark • 5x Close combat weapon 5x Synaptic disintegrator
Doomsday Ark (200 points) • 1x Armoured bulk 1x Doomsday cannon 2x Gauss flayer array
Doomsday Ark (200 points) • 1x Armoured bulk 1x Doomsday cannon 2x Gauss flayer array
Flayed Ones (60 points) • 5x Flayed One • 5x Flayer claws
Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (100 points) • 2x Lokhust Heavy Destroyer • 2x Close combat weapon 2x Enmitic exterminator
Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (50 points) • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Enmitic exterminator
Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (50 points) • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Enmitic exterminator
Triarch Praetorians (120 points) • 5x Triarch Praetorian • 5x Particle caster 5x Voidblade
As a result, I do not have any pictures because I was busy being streamed, but the game had a couple of critical points.
Zach went first, and I was able to rapid ingress my reserved unit of Wolves to be able to charge a Doomsday Arc on my turn 1.
Also on my turn 1, I was able to get a big charge into the middle on Szerek. This was the first of three rounds of combat where I bounced pretty hard.
The scrum in the center devolved into a slapfight between Thunderwolves and Szerek and Nightbringer, and I kept bouncing off his invulnerable saves.
Zach made a critical error and shot at a unit of Thunderwolves in the mid-game so that they could bloodsurge into the 3 Necron Warriors that had survived an oaths charge somehow, which let me clear them off and clear the way to the middle of the board.
I was able to keep him off primary, but he killed way, way more Thunderwolves than I was expecting while I killed way, way less of his stuff than I expected and that made the game much closer than I expected.
Round 5 vs. Grey Knights
In the undefeated bracket of the tournament, the head judge gathered us together and gave us all a talk about judge etiquette and how we were to call judges for literally anything at this point, which was nice to hear.
I was playing into Tommy and his Grey Knights.
Tommy’s List
Imperium – Grey Knights – Draigo’s Summer Slam – [2000pts]
# ++ Army Roster ++ [2000pts] #
# Configuration Battle Size: Incursion (1000 Point limit)
Detachment: Teleport Strike Force
## Epic Hero [125pts]
Kaldor Draigo [125pts]: Scourging, Storm Bolter, The Titansword, Warlord ## Character [260pts]
Brotherhood Librarian [135pts]: Nemesis Force Weapon, Purge Soul, Inescapable Wrath, Combi-Weapon
Grand Master [125pts]: Nemesis Force Weapon, Sigil of Exigence, Psycannon ## Battleline [450pts]
Brotherhood Terminator Squad [210pts]: • 1x Justicar: Nemesis Force Weapon, Storm Bolter • 1x Terminator: Nemesis Force Weapon, Storm Bolter • 1x Terminator with Ancient’s Banner: Ancient’s Banner, Nemesis Force Weapon, Storm Bolter • 1x Terminator with Heavy Weapon: Nemesis Force Weapon, Incinerator • 1x Terminator with Narthecium: Narthecium, Nemesis Force Weapon
Strike Squad [120pts]: • 3x Grey Knight: Nemesis Force Weapon, Storm Bolter • 1x Grey Knight with Heavy Weapon: Close combat weapon, Incinerator • 1x Justicar: Nemesis Force Weapon, Storm Bolter
Strike Squad [120pts]: • 3x Grey Knight: Nemesis Force Weapon, Storm Bolter • 1x Grey Knight with Heavy Weapon: Close combat weapon, Incinerator • 1x Justicar: Nemesis Force Weapon, Storm Bolter
## Infantry [450pts]
Paladin Squad [450pts]: • 4x Paladin: Nemesis Force Weapon, Storm Bolter • 1x Paladin with Ancient’s Banner: Ancient’s Banner, Nemesis Force Weapon, Psycannon • 4x Paladin with Heavy Weapon: Nemesis Force Weapon, Psycannon • 1x Paragon: Nemesis Force Weapon, Storm Bolter
## Vehicle [615pts]
Nemesis Dreadknight [205pts]: Nemesis Daemon Greathammer, Heavy Incinerator, Heavy Psycannon
Nemesis Dreadknight [205pts]: Nemesis Daemon Greathammer, Heavy Incinerator, Heavy Psycannon
Nemesis Dreadknight [205pts]: Nemesis Daemon Greathammer, Heavy Incinerator, Heavy Psycannon
## Allied Units [100pts]
Callidus Assassin [100pts]: Neural shredder, Phase sword and poison blades
So this list…
No screening units.
Mediocre shooting.
Slower than me.
And I went first.
The picture below is of my turn 1, where my Scouts have made his entire Paladin brick incapable of moving out into the middle of the table. I brought in my wolves and failed two 8 inch rolls into his Terminators, which I think probably would have ended the game.
His turn 1, his Librarian blew himself up (nice) and he killed a couple wolves in shooting and my Scouts.
I cracked back by almost killing a bunch of different units (Dreadknight, Paladins, Terminators) but also freezing Tommy out of the scenario completely.
This continued for the rest of the game, slowly killing off everything but one Dreadknight, the Terminators, and the Callidus. He did get a secret mission of having a battleline unit in my deployment zone, but I kept him to five points on primary otherwise.
Round 6 vs. Necrons (Awakened Dynasty)
This was another streamed game, you can find that here.
Steven was playing an interesting Awakened Dynasty list with lots of Skorpekh Lords and other melee threats.
Steven’s List
Awake Me Up When Pariah Ends (2000 points)
Necrons Strike Force (2000 points)
Awakened Dynasty
CHARACTERS
Hexmark Destroyer (70 points) • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Enmitic disintegrator pistols
Illuminor Szeras (175 points) • Warlord • 1x Eldritch Lance 1x Impaling legs
Overlord (105 points) • 1x Resurrection Orb 1x Voidscythe • Enhancement: Veil of Darkness
Skorpekh Lord (95 points) • 1x Enmitic annihilator 1x Flensing claw 1x Hyperphase harvester • Enhancement: Enaegic Dermal Bond
Skorpekh Lord (80 points) • 1x Enmitic annihilator 1x Flensing claw 1x Hyperphase harvester
Skorpekh Lord (80 points) • 1x Enmitic annihilator 1x Flensing claw 1x Hyperphase harvester
Technomancer (105 points) • 1x Staff of light • Enhancement: Nether-realm Casket
OTHER DATASHEETS
Canoptek Reanimator (75 points) • 2x Atomiser beam 1x Reanimator’s claws
Canoptek Reanimator (75 points) • 2x Atomiser beam 1x Reanimator’s claws
Canoptek Wraiths (250 points) • 6x Canoptek Wraith • 6x Particle caster 6x Vicious claws
Cryptothralls (60 points) • 2x Cryptothrall • 2x Scouring eye 2x Scythed limbs
Flayed Ones (60 points) • 5x Flayed One • 5x Flayer claws
Lokhust Destroyers (30 points) • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Gauss cannon
Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (100 points) • 2x Lokhust Heavy Destroyer • 2x Close combat weapon 2x Gauss destructor
Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (100 points) • 2x Lokhust Heavy Destroyer • 2x Close combat weapon 2x Gauss destructor
Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (100 points) • 2x Lokhust Heavy Destroyer • 2x Close combat weapon 2x Gauss destructor
Lychguard (170 points) • 10x Lychguard • 10x Dispersion Shield 10x Hyperphase sword
Skorpekh Destroyers (90 points) • 3x Skorpekh Destroyer • 1x Plasmacyte 3x Skorpekh hyperphase weapons
Skorpekh Destroyers (90 points) • 3x Skorpekh Destroyer • 1x Plasmacyte 3x Skorpekh hyperphase weapons
Skorpekh Destroyers (90 points) • 3x Skorpekh Destroyer • 1x Plasmacyte 3x Skorpekh hyperphase weapons
Steven had to go first on Burdon of Trust (thanks Noah, love playing this last round), and stuck Szeras in the center to bait me out.
I took the bait, killed Szeras (he revived him), killed some poorly staged Skorpekhs up top with a rapid ingressed unit of wolves, and said go.
His turn he drew assassinate and failed to kill Bjorn through Armor of Contempt and cover, charged in with Szeras, his Wraiths, and Skorpekh Lord, did not much, and passed with this position on the table.
I saw a sneaky way to instantly close out the game here, and advanced the bottom unit of Thunderwolves up aggressively to here.
The play here is to make a charge into the Lychguard with the foremost wolf, and then pile-in on the really aggressive Skorpekh Lord and kill that entire unit with power fists before it gets to fight me.
I was able to pull this off nicely, killing that whole unit, Szeras, the 4+++ Skorpekh Lord, and some random Lychguard.
Truthfully, the game was over here. Steven scored a couple points from Guarding his home objective, but I was too close to his models, had Bloodsurges, Armor of Contempt, and reactive moves, and just never took my foot off the gas.
That game felt like a combination of pretty good matchup paired with multiple positioning exploitative plays and really, really good timing to be the most dominant win of the tournament. The list came together really nicely, I controlled the pace of the game from the word go, and never felt in trouble at all.
Fortunately for me, the pair-down lost to my previous round opponent so I came out undefeated and took down the whole event!
Post-Events Thoughts
I had dramatically undervalued the reactive move stratagem and -1 to hit and wound at range with this detachment. Those two stratagems combined with the Battle Leader bloodsurge controlled opponents every single round, keeping Thunderwolves alive, killing potential screens, and tripping up sight and charge lines.
I still feel like this list can really struggle to kill fast, tough units en masse with 2+ saves, and I really missed the -1 AP stratagem from Champions of Russ here.
I missed having something with a big gun. I don’t think I want to play Vindicators, and I certainly didn’t need the ranged output, but I can see why they are desirable.
As far as the problematic side of the list goes, here is my hot take – Scouts are the actual problem with this list AND with this archetype.
Every single game, Scouts either stopped me from being jailed or bought a whole turn of stopping the enemy from moving much/at all while keeping my important pieces safe.
I understand that Thunderwolves are certainly undercosted, but I genuinely think that the issue of the list is Scouts. My fix would be something like this:
- Drop regular Scouts from Space Wolves.
- Either massively increase the cost on Wolf Scouts or remove Scout [6] from their datasheet.
If the next Field Manuel increases the Thunderwolves units by 20-30 points per 6, my list is going to drop a unit of Jump Pack Intercessors and continue to dominate a lot of matchups.
And if GW rules people are reading this – please make Champs of Russ work properly, I love that detachment and I want it to be good.
In any case, thanks for reading everyone, we’ll see you next time.
Love the writeup as always!! When you mention scouts being problematic, do you mean they are far too strong in this archetype?
Also, for big guns, how do you feel about Gladiator Lancers? I know they don’t gain much from Stormlance but maybe an alternative to vindicators/canis rex?
Scouts are way too strong in this archetype, 100%. I don’t like Gladiator Lancers very much here.
Love your stuff and I am dropping champions of russ to go back to stormlance as well. I find tanks to be extremely lack luster for space wolves. How would you play this type of list against knight armies and other lists packing extremely high melee and ranged strength?
Also how do you initially drop your scouts and for the scout move do you just make a line across the open areas of the deployment zone within 6″ of enemy units?
Knights are just another “stick them in jail” matchup imo. Chaos Knight dog spam isn’t efficient enough at killing your models to let them get ahead attritionally (A Karnivore should kill 2, maybe 1 per charge, a Brigand should kill 1 without -1 to hit and wound) and your reactive moves and bloodsurges mean that you can pretty often make it so that only 1-2 things can shoot or charge each unit each round while blasting back and killing a wardog per unit in their turn and 2 ish war dogs per unit on your turn.
Scouts are there to 1) Stop enemy scout moves by being exactly 9″ out of their deployment zone and 2) to let you jail them if you go first. If I go second, they stop the enemy scout moves and then backup to behind the wall of a ruin that I’ve measured before putting down their final positions or sometimes they just stay where they are and say “you can’t come closer than this”. Scouts are insane, can’t sing their praises enough.