Space Wolves Pages:

Space Wolves Home
Email
Space Wolves Armory
Space Wolves Wargear
Special Rules
Squads
Summary Page
Tactics       

Tactics

Attack Formation:
The Land Raider and Long Fangs provide long range support.  Put them in a position with good lines of sight as you want to make sure these units don't have to move far.

The Blood Claws should lead any assault.  Hopefully by putting them at the front, your opponent will shoot at the Blood Claws and ignore the more valuable troops supporting them.

The Grey Hunters and Dreadnought can act as a second wave, following up after the Blood Claws and the Wolf Lord.  From this position they can provide close range fire support.  If the assault troops take the enemy position then the Grey Hunters and the Dreadnought can occupy it, leaving the assault troops to move on to the next objective.

The Wolf Lord and his body guard are best suited to an assault and should support the Blood Claws closely.  In particular, the Wolf Lord should be able to deal with any enemy troops that the Blood Claws find hard to tackle.

Defense Formation:
The Land Raider and Long Fangs'  role is to provide covering fire, rather than support an assault.  However, this time they should be placed a bit further back and put in positions where they have good lines of sight to the defensive positions occupied by the rest of the army.

The Blood Claws are kept back in reserve. Try to keep them within 12" of the front line troops (Grey Hunters, etc.) so that they can launch a counter-attack against an enemy that makes it into contact with the forward units.  They can also be used to deal with any enemy that try to outflank your front line.

The psychic ability of a Space Wolves Rune Priest is particularly valuable for assault troops like Blood Claws as they will count as being in cover even if they move.  This gives them a save, but in combat it means they strike first or at worst simultaneously with the enemy.  It's well worth placing Blood Claws and any characters with a bodyguard, in Rhinos.  Grey Hunters also benefit from having a Rhino transport them, as will allow them to keep up with the first wave during an attack or grab good defensive terrain on the defense.

Wolf Guard with their enhanced abilities and access to low cost wargear area valuable asset for any Space Wolves army.   Try to make sure that you include at least one Wolf Guard bodyguard for a character and take a Wolf Guard leader for each Blood Claws and Grey Hunters pack.