With the Space Wolves Hunters Unleashed rule here officially, we feel that we should talk about the ins and outs of Assaulting and close combat.
Space Wolves got a huge bonus to assaulting with the Hunters Unleashed rule. The characters also have a 6″ threat bubble from just being around them. So what are the best strengths to the Chapter rule? How do you work around it as an opponent? Let’s break it down.
If you missed our Space Wolves review, check it out.
Space Wolves Chapter Tactic & the Nuances of Assault
Space Wolves become extremely good at hitting things as soon as something charges them or they charge. It’s similar to the Red Thirst trait that Blood Angels have. However, the Space Wolves trait is +1 hit instead of wound. You can argue that +1 to wound is better so to balance things out, GW also gave their characters the ability to Heroic Intervene for 6″ instead of 3″. This is incredibly powerful.
Starting off at the +1 to hit, units like Thunder cavalry with all their hammers are going to be able to blend anything they touch (the problem may be getting there though). They practically ignore the -1 to hit with the hammers and they don’t have any shooting so you know their end-goal is to charge you.
It’s just a matter of time. Load up on Power fists, Axes, and Thunder Hammers for your Space Wolves army to get the maximum value out of your damage and Chapter tactic.
Charges & Heroic Interventions
Heroic Interventions are meant to keep enemy units at bay from your own units. They don’t want to have an angry Space Marine character slicing people open that they can’t do anything about. Traditionally, Heroic Interventions are only done from 3″ away. This puts your character in a risky position.
However, getting basically an entire movement’s worth of range to intervene, he can stay back farther and not have to worry as much about positioning.
So how do you defeat Heroic interventions?
Defeat the Melee Beasts (The Way we Understand It)
The way charging is worded, you can only fight something that you declared as a charge target. You also can only charge something that is within 12″. Heroic interventions are in place for characters to come and protect the unit that you just charged. The great thing about them is that you can’t hit the character because you didn’t charge him. What do we do about that? It’s simple. Declare the character as a charge target as well.
Let’s say there’s an enemy unit 6″ away and a character 9″ away behind the first unit. You declare both of them as targets and you take all the overwatch. Now, for argument’s sake, let’s say you managed to roll a 7 on 2D6 and make it into the first unit you declared as a target but couldn’t quite reach the character. If the enemy player chooses to heroic intervene, you can hit the character because you declared him as a charge target and he will be within 1″ of your units.
If you do end up attacking the character with your unit that just charged, you may have to devote more attacks into him instead of killing the entire unit that you just charged, but it’ll be the smart move in the long run. Characters in close combat (aside from Tau) are devastating.
If the enemy chooses not to heroic intervene, you can probably kill the unit you just charged and he’ll be the closest target after that.
Or this could all be moot cause now the Space Wolves have a 12″ threat bubble because you now have to include him in your charge, and that may be bad for their enemies.
What do you think about the Space Wolves Chapter tactic? Did we get all of our rules on charging and Heroic Interventions correct? What Characters will you bring in your Space Wolves list? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
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About the Author: Wesley Floyd
