Detachment Focus: Saga of the Great Wolf

In our Detachment Focus series we take a deep dive into individual detachments, examine their rules, what makes them tick, and how to play them. In this article we’re looking at the new Saga of the Great Wolf Detachment for the Space Wolves.

Wolves get a brand new toy to play with in the form of the Saga of the Great Wolf, which finally answers the age old question of “what if there were even more versions of Gladius?” It’s got some fun stuff and may have some real play, so we will dive in and give you the run down.

We’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of these rules for Review purposes.

Detachment Overview

It’s Gladius, but for Space Wolves. The detachment provides alternate versions of doctrines, which instead of a focus on movement provides specific buffs for specific phases. This detachment benefits from Logan Grimnar, who you really probably wanted to bring anyway, and pushes you towards lots of different kinds of veteran Wolves. It gives some movement buffs, some offensive buffs to both shooting and melee, AoC, and a little sprinkle of buffs to each and every traditionally Wolf Guard unit. Shoot better? Got that. Move more reliably? Done. Buff up some melee? Got it. Huck Thunderwolves and Dreadnoughts straight through walls? Not a problem. Perhaps most importantly, it has a 1CP Advance and Charge strat, which was sorely missed in other Space Wolves detachments. 

The one nagging downside to me is that Saga of the Great Wolf really wants you to take a little bit of everything, and many of my lists so far have just felt like they struggle to fit units to take advantage of all the potential buffs. 

This detachment has the tool kit to potentially be a front runner for Wolves, and probably ekes out Beastslayer, but there is some fear that it is too generalized to beat out the more specific Stormlance and the always strong Gladius. Time will tell, but if you are like me and are the one idiot who insists on bringing Beastslayer to WCW, Saga of the Great Wolf will provide a competitively viable alternative to the codex compliant detachments. 

Space Wolves Blood Claws - Credit: keewa

The Video Version

If you'd rather watch this review than read it, or if you'd like a quick primer before you dive in, we've got you covered here.

Detachment Rule: Master of Wolves

At the start of the Command phase, you can select one of the Hunting Packs listed below. Until the start of your next Command phase, that Hunting Pack is active and its effects apply to all Adeptus Astartes units from your army. You can only select each Hunting Pack once per battle. 

• Encircling Jaws: This unit can re-roll Advance rolls and Charge rolls.
• Hunter’s Eye: Each time a model in this unit makes a ranged attack, add 1 to the Hit roll. 
• Ferocious Strike: Each time this unit is selected to fight, select either the [Lethal Hits] or [Sustained Hits 1]  ability. Until the end of the phase, weapons equipped by models in this unit have the selected ability. Note that this plays like the Custodes one, you pick for each unit, not army wide.  

Howling Onslaught

Once per battle, when selecting a Hunting Pack for the Master of Wolves Detachment rule (see above), if a Logan Grimnar model from your army is on the battlefield, you can select a Hunting Pack you have already selected this battle. 

This is pretty straight forward, in the Command phase, pick the doctrine that works best for what you need to happen. Hunter’s Eye is likely the weakest option, but its an easy one to flip on for turn 1 if you have a few shooting threats. If you bring Logan (which in this detachment you will), you can double dip on a doctrine. Interestingly, because there is no limit on the times you can go to select a doctrine like the one found in Blade of Ultramar, Logan means you can pick four over the course of the game. There are some hoops to jump through, namely, that;

1. Logan must be alive;
2. Logan must be on the battlefield; and
3. You can only select a Hunting Pack which has already been chosen. 

This means it may take a little work to do this, but most games you will be able to swing it. Picking Ferocious Strike twice is probably the optimal pick, but a staging and go turn of Encircling Jaws will never be a wasted pick either. 

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

Enhancements

The enhancements in this detachment are pretty specific about who can take them, but honestly three out of the four are genuinely good picks and will probably see play. I do think that they are a bit overcosted, but despite this they're interesting options.

• Grimnar’s Mark (20 pts): Adeptus Astartes Terminator Captain model only. Once per battle round, from the second battle round onwards, you can target the bearer’s unit with the Rapid Ingress or Heroic Intervention Stratagem for 0CP, and can do so even if you have already targeted a different unit with that Stratagem this turn. In the Declare Battle Formations step, the bearer can be attached to a Wolf Guard Terminators unit. This one is detachment defining. Finally a new datasheet can join our special boy terminators, and the double Rapid Ingress of big, dangerous units in absolutely no joke. Take this one first, and decide what all you want to Rapid. Also helps that this is a fantastic target for a Terminator Captain free AoC. 
• Howlmaw (15 pts): Wolf Priest model only. At the start of the Fight phase, you can select one enemy unit within 6” of the bearer. That unit must take a Battle-shock, subtracting 1 from the result.  This one is the dud. If you find yourself with a Wolf Priest, 15 points, and don’t already have three enhancements, sure. Short of that, it just really isn’t worth it, like most Battle-shock mechanics. 
• Chariots of the Storm (25 pts): Adeptus Astartes model only. After both players have deployed their armies, select up to three Adeptus Astartes units from your army and redeploy them. When doing so, you can set those units up in Strategic Reserves, regardless of how many units are already in Strategic Reserves. Honestly, this is solid, especially with the new Wolf Scouts. Taking up space and then redeploying to safety to then Scout 7 is a very tempting prospect. I want to take this, but it feels a bit overpriced and is often the first thing I cut. But please, please prove me wrong. 
• Skjald’s Foretelling (25 pts): Wolf Guard Battle Leader model only. While the bearer is leading a unit, weapons equipped by models in that unit have the [Lance] ability.  Does what it says on the tin, it’s good and nice to have on our low strength melee units. It just turns the Wolf Guard Battle Leader, who is a crazy ball of rules, into a bigger, crazier ball of rules. Sustained, re-roll 1s to Hit, now Lance, plus Lethal from the doctrine? Yes, please. Works well with Headtakers, Blood Claws, and now, maybe, finally, Grey Hunters. 

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

Stratagems

These Stratagems offer a lot of power and there's something for everyone. They're all priced to move at 1 CP, and there are some key abilities here, such as Advance and Charge and moving through walls, which make this Detachment worth looking at.

• The Foe Foreseen (1 CP): This is just Armor of Contempt with Wolves flavor text. -1 AP in either the Shooting or Fight phase, and because of the global rule changes, it is limited to one activation, not the whole phase. You love to see it, it’s still great, especially when you are rocking up with Wolf Guard Terminators. Extra fun as a free strat for the enhancement carrying (finally) Terminator Captain who can roll with them. 
• Grimnar’s Command (1 CP): In your Command phase, select one unit from your army and activate a Hunting Pack for that unit. It is active instead of any others you may have active for your army, and you can select one that has already been chosen. This is a great strat, it lets you turn on a buff when you need it. Unlike Gladius’ version, this may not be used every turn, but when you want to juice up one unit in either shooting or fighting, it’s a good one to have handy. 
• Fenrisian Ferocity (1 CP): In Movement or Charge phase, one Adeptus Astartes Mounted or Walker unit from your army can be selected to make Normal, Advance, Charge, and Fall Back moves through terrain and through enemy models until the end of the phase. If you are bringing the units to make use of this, it’s a crazy strong Stratagem. Twolves yeeting themselves through walls or over screens is a great tool to have, as walls have long been the bane of those pups. It can also help mobility with your many, many dreadnought options. 
• Unrelenting Hunters (1 CP): In your movement phase, select one Adeptus Astartes unit that has not been selected to move. Until the end of the turn, that unit is eligible to declare a charge in a turn in which it fell back. If the target unit is a Space Wolves unit, until the end of the turn it is eligible to declare a charge in a turn in which that unit Advanced or Fell Back. Honestly, this is it. This bad boy is one of the key abilities that a melee army needs, and Wolves have felt its absence keenly. This may be enough to finally free Wolves from the shackles of Stormlance. Literally the only downside of this strat is that it can only be used on a single unit. Worth noting that this has the worst available timing and must be chosen before you see your advance roll, so it's best to use somewhere with an available re-roll. The good news is that you have an army-wide ability to re-roll Advance and Charge rolls.
• Eye of the Pack (1 CP): In your Shooting phase, one Adeptus Astartes unit is +1 to Wound for its Shooting attacks. This is simple, cheap, and really opens some interesting doors. It can buff your ranged anti-tank shooting, but it also makes volume shooting pretty interesting. This can boost your Intercessors' screen clearing, and finally may be enough, with the points changes, to make it worthwhile to bring Grey Hunters. I don’t think this is an every turn stratagem, but having a button to hit when you need it can be a key tool for your arsenal.
• Battle Instincts (1 CP): In your opponent’s Shooting phase, just after an enemy unit has shot, one Space Wolves unit from your army that was selected as a target of one or more of the attacking unit’s attacks can make a Normal move of us to D6”. This is situational, but very, very strong, especially with our durable units. Terminators being able to weather shots and then scoot, Thunderwolves being able to tuck back or crowd an objective, blocks of infantry being able to hop back into a transport, it all plays. While I wish this was more reliable than D6”, this one is going to see some serious use. 

Wolf Guard Headtakers - Credit: keewa

Playing This Detachment

This detachment encourages the mixed arms fluff of Space Wolves in a very fun way. Shooting well while you approach, reliable charges to connect, then a savage combat phase. Your early board presence will be defined by Logan calling reserves early and by double Rapid Ingress, and your go turn will hit hard when you need it. This is just a solid, fun way to play. 

Strengths

• Double Rapid Ingess- this can be a back breaking mechanic for some armies. 
• Advance and Charge- Windmill slam this. It's a key tool that melee armies can leverage. 
• Jack of All Trades- Does a little bit of everything well. Shooting, fighting, movement in and out of phase, and defense are all available, unlike most other Wolves detachments. This is a double edged sword and a potential weakness, see below. 

Weaknesses

• Lack of focus- This detachment may be just trying to do too much. To make use of everything, you end up spread pretty thin. This is felt even more keenly with how character heavy Wolves are to begin with. 
• Less movement than Gladius or Stormlance- This detachment is offense first with some movement tools, as opposed to both Gladius and Stormlance which are movement first with some offense tools. In modern 40k, movement is king and those two may still be better. 
• CP Economy- Strong strats make a tight CP economy, both for the amount of CP available and for where and when you leverage each tool. CP discipline and a strong understanding of how and when you use each tool will be key to successfully playing this.

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

A Sample List

This detachment wants you to take a sprinkle of everything. I think you want at least one good shooting platform, so for this I opted for a Repex to get a turn or two of +1 to Hit, +1 to Wound. Then you want a good saturation of melee threats to make the most of the Sustained or Lethal  go turn. Add in a few scoring units and Terminators with characters to taste, and baby you got a stew going. 



One practice game in vs Ultramarines and this felt good. I am not sure it’s the strongest way to play, but it felt like it had all the tools you needed and gave some good pressure. The Repex is great for double duty as a transport and shooting platform, and  Headtakers love a transport. This is character heavy, but gives you a few hammers, a bit of ranged shooting, and three annoyingly tough little units in Terminators to give you early reserves pressure with the double Rapid Ingress. I think that Thunderwolves have a place, but they may be too CP hungry for this style of play unless you are really investing in them, so they got cut for the cheaper Wulfen brick. I will say I felt the lack of throwaway trash, but that is going to be one of the shortcomings of this elite of a detachment, I think. 

This plays a lot like the old index detachment did, with missiles being sent out, good skirmish units, and some solid melee backed up by decent shooting. I think this will be a viable, popular alternative to those of us who live and die by the most contrarian chapter around. 

Final Thoughts

This is a solid, fun detachment, and it may really have competitive juice. I am excited to have this one in my hands, it gives Wolves players a bit of new life after we have been circling the Stormlance drain for so long. GW did a good job with this one, and I think players of all levels will have fun learning and testing this bad boy. 

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