Thinking about Ard Boyz/Sons of Russ- Loganwing, ya, I may be nuts.

Got this off Lexicanum.  Wouldn't want to mess with him.

For those of you who have been following CnC for a while, or who have combed through the backlog of articles, you probably already know about my love for (obsession with?) Terminators.  I play Salamanders, so obviously I have a bunch of the TH/SS variety, my CSMs are based around two squads of Slaanesh Terminators with Lightning Claws, and I have over 25 Wolf Guard Terminators.  The only Marine army I own with out Terminators are my Blood Angels...  I should get on that...  Or start a Deathwing army now that the new FAQ is out...  My Bank Account hates me right now...  The problem with my SW is that despite loving my WGT (Wolf Guard Terminators) I rarely field more than 10 at a time because they are so expensive points wise on a per model basis.  I have kicked around a lot of ideas for fielding the full Terminator Loganwing at 1500, 1750, 1850, and 2k.  Every time I wrote a list I didn't want to use it because there were too few models or I just didn't feel the power was there, shooting wise or staying power wise.  Then they announced the dates for the 2011 Ard Boyz and I got to thinking.  What if I took Loganwing at 2500 points?  Read on after the break.

Just looking at this makes me want to use them all at once.

First thing I did was load up Army Builder and set it for 2500 points.  Every year I get excited about building 2500 point lists and with the concept of an all Terminator army for the first time; this year was all the more exciting.  Ya, I am a nerd I know, but if you're reading this then you are too.  I already knew I was going to build a few different types of lists.  The first would utilize Land Raiders and Drop Pods, the second all DPs, and the third would be foot slogging WGTs.  Let's go over the lists one at a time and I will talk about what my thoughts are on each one and how good/bad I think each one is.

First up the Land Raider and Drop Pod hybrid list.
HQ:
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest in TA Jaws of the World Wolf (JotWW)/Storm Caller, Melta Bomb
Troops: (Note all Wolf Guard are in Terminator Armor)
Wolf Guard (4)
2x 2 Wolf Claws
SS/CF (Storm Shield/Chain Fist)
SS/PF (Storm Shield/Power Fist)
Land Raider Crusader MM/EA (Multimelta/Extra Armor)
Wolf Guard (5)
2 WC
SS/PW (Power Weapon)
SS/FB (Frost Blade)
SS/PF
SS/TH
Wolf Guard (5)
2 WC
SS/CF
SS/PW
SS/PF
SS/FB
Wolf Guard (5)
SS/WC
Combi-melta/WC
Combi-melta
WC
regular + CML (Cyclone Missile Launcher)
Drop Pod
Wolf Guard (5)
Combi-melta
Combi-melta/WC
regular
regular+CML
WC
Drop Pod
Heavy Support
Land Raider Crusder EA/MM
Land Raider EA

2500 Points/31 models/13 KPs

So this list has a small model count, as any true Terminator army should, and a fairly high number of Kill Points.  That combination is usually not a great thing but most Marine armies have the potential to cough up a lot of KPs due to most of their squads taking a dedicated transport of some kind so I am usually pretty "meh" on the subject of high numbers of KPs.  What I like about this list is the AV 14 spam, I have a pretty good chance of getting to the enemy safely even with all the melta spam out there, 3 Raiders is still a tough nut to crack.  I like the squads in pods, I just wish there was room for a third since pods should always be taken in groups of 3, 5, or 7 but the points just aren't there.  I also like that every unit has Wound Allocation shenanigans, and that all the "heavy hitters" have a good amount of Storm Shields littered through out them.  What I am not wild about is the low model count, but I need to get over that, and just how high octane the list is.  It will be extremely unforgiving should I make any mistakes which is unusual for a Space Wolf list.  Then again, this isn't your run of the mill cookie cutter, net list, Space Wolf list either.  Still, I would prefer some more redundancy in the squads.

List 2.  All Drop Pods.

HQ:
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest in TA, JotWW/Storm Caller, Melta bomb
Rune Priest in PA JotWW/Living Lightning
Troops: (note all Wolf Guard are in Terminator Armor, and each squad has a drop pod)
Wolf Guard (5)
Combi-melta, Combi-melta/WC, WC, CML, Arjac
Wolf Guard (5)
Combi-melta, Combi-melta/WC, WC, SS/CF, CML
Wolf Guard (5)
Combi-flamer, Combi-flamer, Heavy Flamer, regular, SS/WC
Wolf Guard (5)
2WC, 2WC, SS/PF, SS, SS/FB
Wolf Guard (5)
2WC, SS/CF, SS/PF, SS, SS/FB
Wolf Guard (5)
SS/WC, SS/WC, SS/CF, SS, 2WC
Heavy Support:
Long Fangs (6) 5 Multimeltas and a Drop Pod

2500 points/ 46 models/ 17 Kill Points

So this list has 7 Infantry models not in Terminator armor but you're limited to 6 WGT squads.  The basic plan is to put Grimnar, Arjac, and PA Rune Priest in with the Long Fangs, when they drop turn 1 or 2+ Logan gives Long Fangs Relentless so they can roast some tanks or MC.  The Rune Priest, Arjac, and Logan provide some extra fire power and the ability to thoroughly pound on any enemy units that assault the unit.  The pods can come down in multiple ways.  I can drop Logan/LF pod + the shooty WGT pods and lay waste to anything deployed on the field, I can drop the SS equipped squads and Logan/LF against zero deployment (or empty pods).  I can always mix things up to provide target priority problems.  The Wound Allocation shenanigans are crazy with this list and I like having squads dedicated to specific tasks.

The downside to this list should be obvious.  It is all in Drop Pods, a lot of opponents will simply choose to go second and keep everything in reserve.  Against this I have two options that are hold overs from my Salamander drop pod army.  Drop the 3 "tough Squads" and the Logan squad close to their table edge in the center of the table, hopefully in terrain, leaving only 8-12inches on either side through running etc for my opponent to bring his army on in.  This way I force his army into two small corridors keeping him from objectives and providing tough decisions.  This can be a boon for you if your opponents reserve rolls are a little cold and he comes on very piece meal.  The other option would be to drop the pods empty and walk the SS squads and Logan across the field.  Personally I always preferred option 1 but it didn't work as well with Tactical Marines as I think it will with WGT.

The third list is all foot slogging WGT.
HQ:
Logan Grimnar (do i still need to list him?)
Rune Priest, TA, LL, Storm Caller
Troops: (Please note all Wolf Guard are in Terminator Armor)
Wolf Guard(10)
3x 2 WC, SS/CF, SS/PF, SS/FB, SS/TH, SS/WC, 2xSS/PW

Wolf Guard(10)

3x 2 WC, SS/CF, SS/PF, SS/FB, SS/TH, SS/WC, 2xSS/PW

Wolf Guard(9)

3x 2 WC, SS/CF, SS/PF, 2xSS/WC, 2xSS/PW

Wolf Guard (5)

1 CML the rest are PW/SB

Wolf Guard (5)

1 CML the rest are PW/SB

Wolf Guard (5)

1 CML the rest are PW/SB

2500 points/46 models/8 Kill Points

This list has the same number of models/troops choices as the all drop pod list but 9 less Kill points.  The basic strategy with this list depends upon the mission but in general the 3 large squads march toward the enemy while the 3 small squads and Rune Priest hunker down in cover and provide fire support for the Wall of Terminators.  This list will do really well in Kill Point missions but will definitely hurt from being a slow foot slogging force.  I think the list has amazing staying power and KP denial but objective missions besides Capture and Control will be difficult.  Dawn of War and Spearhead are good deployments for this army, especially if I deploy first, but Pitched Battle will be a long haul to get across the board to my opponent.  Fast armies like DE and BA would be the bane of this lists existence.  This is probably my least favorite list, not because of how it plays but because it would be the most expensive for me to build money wise.  

All three lists have a few things in common.  

1. A mixture of shooting and assaulting Terminators.

2. Cyclone Missile Launchers, they are great so why not take them?

Rune Priests really should be in EVERY Space Wolf list.

3. Rune Priests.  I rarely leave home with out one or more of these guys.

4. Lots of Storm Shields.  Yes they are expensive but in a pure WGT Loganwing list they are indispensable.

5. Wound Allocation shenanigans.  The last list has the least amount of Wound Allocation abuse but it still has more than pretty much any other list out there.  Wound Allocation plays a major role in surviving shooting/assaults, take advantage of it whenever you can.

I really like the idea of these lists, I am not entirely sure how they will fair competitively but I am going to try it in a few games first (using proxies of course, I am not completely insane) and see how they work out.  If it turns out I can win with the lists and I like them enough I will probably go ahead and do this, if it's like all the net list talking heads say; that Loganwing is not viable or competitive then I will have a tough decision.  Build it anyways because I like it, or scrap the idea all together.  We shall see, stay tuned!

Now the big question.  Am I crazy for wanting to run Loganwing?