For months (read as" what seems like forever"), I've been working on my Thunderwolves. Like everyone who wants to run these, I had a heck of a time finding a suitable model. I decided to go with the juggernaut models, and I think with the right application of paint and the judicious application of a file and some green stuff they turned out alright. I tried to make them look like a fusion of monster and machine, though they are admittedly mostly machine. The mouths of the wolves were my nod toward life.
I added the wolf to the Powerfist model to add some character and to balance the model as I positioned him a bit too far to the right. The most annoying part was making them sit right. I had to shave the inside of the legs. I like the fact that they appear to be leaning forward, lunging toward the enemy. They are Space Wolves after all. However, I will admit that the PF model rides a little high, but he was painted, and I wasn't going to carve him up.In practice, I've r
un these guys in just about every conceivable combination. Initially, I ran them in a unit of four with a Wolf Lord. I had one PF, one SS, one Melta Bomb, and one bare. This was very effective but remarkably costly. I then dropped the Wolf Lord, much to my chagrin, and ran them in a unit of 5 with a bolter added in. This was almost as effective; however, Ld 8 is a difficult hurdle to overcome, especially in tournaments with Psychic Battle Squads and massive dakka. They were too many points that could break relatively easily.
So, I'm now running them in units of three, but I'm running two units with a PF and a SS. This means that they can deliver significant death, but if they break, you're not up a creek. It also gives you 2 points of threat that are moving very rapidly toward the enemy's lines. The SS allows you to take the occasional lascannon shot as you'll rarely be hit with multiples from a single unit. The PF gives you 5 S10 attacks on the charge, which will give any army pause. Usually, these guys will make back their points, but in truth, their most important function is as a fire magnet. They allow your other murderous units, which hopefully you have, to get stuck in. You can run one unit straight down the pipe and hold one in reserve as a particularly nasty counter-assault unit. Reserve works well in a regular game, but in tournament with its time limit, you have to be prepared for them not to come in.
Anyways, that's all I have for now.
Later,
Monkey
