Overview
A guide discussing the various units in the game
This Guide
NOTE: THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
This guide is created mainly to provide information around the various units at your disposal, their strengths and weaknesses and ways they can be deployed. I hope you find this useful.
Update Status
NOTICE: Unit Prices have changed since I started this guide as well as the number of units in a squad. I will be updating these in the next couple of revisions and will note were the price has changed in Unit Information.
Last Update: 07/04/2021
V0.92 – Corrected spelling errors.
V0.91 – Updated Paragraph 1 – Melee attacks on tanks. Thanks Destro!
V 0.9 – Added General Strategies section as well as some additional race info.
V 0.85 – Added some Space Wolf Hero Units and updated several units with correct price/unit amount
V 0.8 – Added Elite Units Venerable Dreadnaught & Heavy Bolter to respective rosters.
V 0.7 – Fixed some typos
V 0.6 – Finished Ork units
V 0.5 – Fresh update 18/02 – Finish Space Wolf
V 0.4 – Began adding Ork Units
V 0.3 – Updated units based on Teran (Sabbatine’s) comments
V 0.2 – Updated all unit costs & names.
V 0.1 – Work in Progress. Basic Space Marine Units Added
This guide is a work in progress and will be expanded upon in due course. Currently the Space Wolf Units & Ork Units have been added.
The Space Marine faction have pretty much been finalized now, just missing a few of the hero characters.
The Ork section is mostly complete, a few price & unit updates remain as well as hero’s (these may come last).
Imperial Guard – I have been playing them and need to play them a bit more before I can write their section. This is mainly due to the fact that they have so many units it takes awhile to test them all!
Comming Soon
Space Marine Hero’s (In Progress)
Imperial Guard (Soon)
Ork Hero’s (Soon)
Unit Abilities (Last because this is only available in campaign and they are dished out at random.)
General Strategies
These are some general strategies that typically apply to all three factions, although some are more suited than others to the task.
1.) Flank your enemy
Flanking is a major part of the game. Many vehicles are heavily armored from the front but have weaker armor on the sides and rear. Considering that vehicles can represent a major threat to your forces, it is important to take them out as soon as possible.
In order to do this the, best way is to flank them, preferably attacking from the side or rear. In order to do this you will need fast cavalry units such as the Land Speeder, Valkyrie etc which, in addition to their speed, also sport anti armor weapons. These units have the speed and firepower to get behind a unit and deal serious damage.
Note: Melee units can flank vehicles unable to fight in melee (i.e Predators, APC’s etc) but not melee capable enemies such as Dreadnaughts, Kan’s etc so bear this in mind as you plan your attacks and defence.
2.) Burn the heretic
Morale plays an important part in the game, if morale breaks your units can no longer attack, only flee away from the enemy. This can be an excellent way of neutralising powerful foes that are too strong to defeat outright.
The best way to destroy morale is using flamer units, not only do they do lots of morale damage, they also affect a wide area, being able to damage multiple units at a time.
As such, be sure to have flame units in your ranks and to target enemy flamers as a priority.
Alternativly artillery bombardments can also rattle enemy forces
3.) The power of the APC
Many of the factions have powerful melee units, however some of the most powerful (such as Terminators) are painfully slow. In addition, pure melee units as well as flame units are vulnerable until they get into striking distance.
In comes the APC which has the armor and speed to moving several units into the thick of battle, keeping them from harm until they are at their destination. Many APC’s also have powerful armaments themselves to deal death while they close.
Note: APC’s are not as powerful as they were originally. Now units only get half their action points when they disembark and cannot embark again on the same turn. Despite this, APC’s are still increadibly useful for ferrying slow or vulnerable units to where they are needed and even physically blocking LoS.
Space Wolves Space Marines
The Space Wolves faction are tough, and consist of heavily armed and armored units. They are pretty solid across the board, being strong in all areas, their main counter-balance being their units higher cost and lower numbers compared to the opposition.
Standout Units
These are the most useful units I find. They may not be the “best” but they are units that always find a way in my army. While all Space Marine units are good, these are ones I typically must have when I get a chance.
Land Speeder
Great flanker, has the speed and firepower to deal heavy damage to enemy armor.
Swiftclaw
A poor man’s Land Speeder but still a good unit in their own right, they are fast and can quite easily flank when given the opportunity, although they are quite vulnerable and will quickly crumble to enemy fire.
They are especially useful in Campaign and if you are lucky they can be upgraded with Anti-Armor rounds, making them even better at destroying Vehicles and Kans. Note: Upgrades are random so you may not get the options to equip anti-armor rounds but if you do it makes these units great medium armor killers.
Venerable Dreadnaught
This unit is a beast, it has 3 attacks (3!) per round and can devastate entire infantry squads in a single melee hit as well as hitting armor hard.
Even more useful in Campaign where it can be upgraded to heal/repair upon killing enemy squads. This upgrade can make it practically immune in most situations.
Thunderhammer Terminators
I was hesitant to put these on the list. Originally they were my favourite unit, but they have seen a bit of a nerf. They are painfully slow for a pure melee unit and are not as resistant to damage as before.
However, they still hit like a truck and can kill most enemies if they close in melee. Their shields also give them a good chance at counter-attacking enemy units.
I would say an APC is pretty mandatory if you plan to use these units effectively.
Space Wolves Infantry
Grey Hunter – Space Marine Bolters
Type: Infantry
Number of Units: 4 (Formerly 3)
Weapon: Bolters
Strength: Good vs Infantry, Acceptable vs light armoured vehicles
Weakness: No Melee Defence, limited damage
Cost: 120 Points (Formerly 160)
Update: Price reduction from 160 to 120 points.
Grey Hunters are the standard Bolter wielding space marines. Good general purpose ranged infantry that have good Armor and health as well as dish out decent damage. They are very good against Ork Boyz, dealing good damage. They are less effective against Nobz but can still win a stand up ranged fight against them. Their main weakness is they have no melee defence so can be taken out by melee troops if not protected. Their bolters are also capable of dealing with buggies and to a less extent killer kans (especially if you can attack from the rear). Overall good, decent infantry that will serve you well.
Grey Hunter Flamer – Space Marine Flamers
Type: Infantry
Number of Units: 3 (Formerly 2)
Weapon: Flamer
Strength: Good Morale Dmg, AoE Dmg, Good vs All Infantry
Weakness: Low health compared to other units, low direct dmg
Cost: 100 Points (Formerly 120)
Flamers are a valuable addition to any army. While they don’t deal great direct damage, their main use is in dealing Morale Damage. Typically two hits from a flamer are enough to break a units morale, although RNG does play a part so it can take more than two hits. The lower a units morale drops the more their accuracy suffers. Broken enemies can move away from enemies and can fire with very poor accuracy (AI doesn’t seem to make broken units fire at all).
Considering that Flamers fire an AoE attack, they can affect a large number of units and are very useful against the orks who attack en masse. One flamer unit can turn the tide when you are about to be over-run as broken units are typically are not a threat until they recover their morale. They work well with APC’s who can ferry them quickly to where they need to be.
Grey Hunter Melta – Space Marine Melta
Type: Infantry
Number of Units: 3 (Formerly 2)
Weapons: Melta Gun
Strength: Good vs Heavy Infantry, Good vs Armor, Good vs Heroes
Weakness: Low Range, Single Target only, Low Health, Poor vs Infantry
Cost: 200 (Formerly 180)
Melta’s are short range, anti Armor (not anti-tank) weapons. They are good against armoured infantry, single targets and light vehicles like buggies, killer kans and kopters. They are good vs Hero’s due to their high single target dmg. Their main drawback is they can only attack a single unit per turn. I.e, if they attack Gretchins they will only target a single model in the pack. As such, the max mobs they can kill per turn is two, which makes them ill-suited in taking on lighter infantry that often have 4+ models per unit. Note: Melta’s seem to be a priority target for the AI so be careful with them. Keeping them close to an APC is not a bad idea so they can pop into cover if things get to dicey for them.
Bloodclaws – Space Marine Melee
Type: Infantry
Number of units: 5 (Formerly 4)
Weapons: Bolt Pistol & Chainsword
Strength: Good vs Ranged Infantry
Weakness: Poor dmg
Cost: 80 (Formerly 100)
Bloodclaws are the basic Space Marine melee unit and to be honest they are not very good. Their ranged and melee damage is poor, especially against nobz (Heavy Infantry). However, they are cheap in points and good at tying up ranged infantry and ranged heavy infantry (Ranged infantry engaged in melee do not attack when controlled by the AI at time of writing). As such you can effectivly take ranged units out of the fight by engaging them in melee with these cheap units. They work well with APC’s who can ferry them quickly to where they need to be.
Long Fang Missile – Space Marine Missile Troops
Type: Infantry
Number of units: 2
Weapons: Missile Launcher, Frag & Krak Rockets
Strength: Good AoE vs Infantry, Decent vs Armor
Weakness: Generally low dmg, low health, high cost.
Cost: 300 (Formerly 280)
Missile troops have two types of attacks, an anti-infantry aoe attack with their frag rockets or an anti armor, single target attack with their krak rockets.
Frag missiles hit all units within a 9 square block for moderate damage. Good against light infantry (Boyz, Gretchins) but the damage doesn’t do much against heavy infantry. They can fire two frag rockets per turn meaning they are good way of damaging massed infantry waves, very useful against the greenskins.
Krak missiles are single target (non AoE) anti armor missiles. Decent against heavy infantry or vehicles although other units such as the las cannon can do more damage to armor.
Overall a very good unit due to it’s flexibility in dealing with a variety of threats. It’s main drawback is it’s high cost.
Long Fang Las – Space Marine Las Cannon
Type: Infantry
Number of units: 2
Weapons: Las Cannon
Strength: Good vs Armor, good range
Weakness: Single target only, poor vs infantry, low health
Cost: 280
These are specialist anti armor units that have good range and good damage. They are basically like a longer range melta gun in application and attack in the same way, i.e only one model in a unit. Primarily used against armor they can also engage heavy infantry if needed but since they only attack a single model in a unit they are unsuited to infantry attacks. They can be used to snipe hero units however.
Skyclaw – Space Marine Assault Squad
Type: Infantry
Number of units: 4
Weapons: Bolt Pistol & Chainsword
Strength: Decent Melee combatant, great range, good vs ranged infantry
Weakness: Limited damage
Cost: 120
Skyclaws are very similar to Bloodclaws with the main exception is that they have much further range due to their jetpacks (almost as far as the land speeder) making them excellent shock troops.
They are best used to engage priority ranged targets such as flashgitz or other dangerous ranged mobs. It is best not to engage them in combat with other melee units if possible, stick to engaging priority ranged targets.
Heavy Bolter Squad
Type: Elite Infantry
Number of units: 3
Weapons: Heavy Bolter
Strength: Excellent vs infantry & light vehicles, decent vs armor
Weakness: Exorbitant cost, weak in Melee, vulnerable to anti-infantry
Cost: 350
The heavy bolter squad are classed as elite infantry and excel at engaging other infantry, both light & heavy at range. They are also able to confidently engage lighter vehicles and expect to cause significant damage.
Their main drawback is their cost, at 350 points, they are very expensive and in my opnion it is hard to justify the cost, despite how good they are. They cost more than Thunder Hammer Terminators (one of the best units imo) and are no more hardy than the typical space marine.
If you can spare the cost they are excellent units but when operating under a budget there are better places to spend your points.
Space Wolf Cavalry
Thunderwolf – Space Marine Wolf Riders
Type: Infantry Cavalry
Number of units: 2
Weapons: Power Axe
Strength: Strong Melee attack, strong vs hero’s & single units, fast
Weakness: No ranged attack, poor vs massed infantry
Cost: 300 (formerly 260)
Melee cavalry unit that attacks like leaders (i.e single model in a unit) with power axes, but both of them can attack if you’re not diagonal to your target Note: melee attacks numbers are reduced, typically by 50% when attacking another unit diagonally. Max 2 infantry or 1 larger unit can attack diagonally. As such try to attack head on when possible unless outnumbered, in which case it can be advantageous to attack diagonally as to limit enemy counter attack.
Wolf Riders move like land speeders but are limited by terrain They are also equipped with shields providing them with excellent melee defence. Note: Shields increase the chance of an enemy melee attack missing. When a melee attack misses, the attackee gets a free melee counter-attack.
Excellent assassins, not ideal for going against hordes of enemies, they can still reliably take on Boyz & Nobs in sensible amounts and are quite deadly when engaged in melee due to their shields which provide a high chance of counter-attack.
Swiftclaw – Space Marine Speeder Bikes
Type: Infantry Cavalry
Number of units: 2
Weapons: Twin Linked Bolter & Chainsword
Strength: Fast, good vs infantry, decent vs armor
Weakness: Poor melee attack, vulnerable to melee swarms
Cost: 160
These units are pretty handy, they are fast and have decent damage. They are good against infantry but also against armored vehicles, mainly because of their speed they are able to flank them and attack from the rear, useful against Kans and Buggies. They suffer in melee however and their dmg drops off against heavy infantry nobz.
Best used for hit & run or flank attacks.
Space Wolf Heavy Infantry
Wolfguard Terminator – Space Marine Terminator Squad
Type: Heavy Infantry
Number of units: 4 (Formerly 3)
Weapons: Storm Bolter & Power Fist
Strength: Decent ranged attack, Good Melee Attack, Heavy Armor
Weakness: Slow, ranged attack suffers accuracy at range
Cost: 280 (Formerly 300)
These guys are walking tanks. They are essentially the heavy version of the Grey Hunters except with a very potent melee attack. Their storm bolters can do good damage at close range vs infantry and ok vs heavy infantry nobs, however it should be noted that Stormbolters dmg output suffers highly from RNG, so it is a bit hard to rely on them for sustained damage.
Their melee attack however is very good and can often times kill a nob in one hit. As such these are quite adept at engaging in either ranged or melee combat. Their main weakness is that they are very slow to move and suffer at medium to long range in terms of damage output due to poor weapon accuracy.
Wolfguard Flamer – Space Marine Terminator Heavy Flamer
Type: Heavy Infantry
Number of units: 3 (Formerly 2)
Weapons: Heavy Flamer
Strength: Very good morale dmg, large AoE attack, good melee attack, heavy armor
Weakness: Lowest health of terminators, low direct dmg, slow
Cost: 240 (Formerly 300)
These guys are the heavy versions of the flamer units, so most that was said about them applies here. These guys are slower, but have more armor and have a very potent melee attack. They can engage melee nobs in melee and win if pushed however they are the weakest of the terminator units in terms of health so care should be taken. Their flamer AoE is larger than their space marine breathren which means they can affect a large amount of units with heavy morale damage. These guys are very powerful as they can break a large amount of units and their slow speed can be offset by APC’s.
Woflguard Thunderhammer – Space Marine Terminator Melee
Type: Heavy Infantry
Number of units: 3
Weapons: Thunderhammer & Storm Shield
Strength: Fantastic dmg vs all units, heavy armor, melee shield
Weakness: Slow, short range
Cost: 300 (Formerly 360)
Update: Unit cost reduced from 360 to 300.
In my opinion, one of the best overall units in the game! They deal impressive damage against all units from infantry to armored tanks. They have heavy armor and their storm shields make them very resistant in melee. Because of their shields they will be hard to hit, which means they very often counter-attack when engaged in melee, causing massive counter-attacking damage. If paired with an APC you can get them into the battlezones quickly.
Space Wolves Vehicles
Land Speeder
Type: Vehicle
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Assault Cannon
Strength: Very Fast, good vs infantry & armor
Weakness: No melee capability
Cost: 300
The Lander Speeder is a very good addition to your army. It is very fast and can fly over terrain. The Assault Cannon does good dmg to most enemies and can be very effective against armor, as due to the units speed it can easily flank armor and attack from the rear. It is vulnerable to melee attacks and be careful not to send it too far ahead and leave it isolated and without support.
Dreadnaught
Type: Walker
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Auto Cannon, Power Fist, Heavy Flamer
Strength: Excellent single target dmg, good anti tank, good morale dmg
Weakness: Weak vs massed enemies, very slow
Cost: 400
The Dreadnaught is a powerful unit. It’s auto-cannon works like the melta and las cannon in that it will only every attack one model per unit per turn, however it has very high dmg. It makes it very good vs heros, nobs and armor (when attacking side or rear). It has a powerful melee powerfist, however it can also only attack one model per turn. It is also equipped with a heavy flamer meaning it can deal lots of morale damage to units as well. It’s main weakness is that it is painfully slow and is weak vs infantry at range when it cannot use it’s flamer.
Venerable Dreadnaught
Type: Elite Walker
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Storm Bolter, Fenrisian Great Axe
Strength: Excellent anti-infanty melee AoE damage, powerful anti-armor melee attack, stronger than standard dradnaught, 3 melee attacks per turn
Weakness: weak vs armor at range, stormbolter lacks stopping power, lacks flamethrower
Cost: 450
The Venerable Dreadnaught is a variation of the standard dreadnaught that really specialises in Melee attack. It’s stormbolter is not very potent however it’s true power shines in it’s Fenrisian Great Axe. It is able to clear out an entire squad of boyz in a single blow and add it’s ability to attack 3 times and it is able to absolutely cleave through infantry. It has turned the tide several times for me. Against vehicles it is competent but it really shines vs infantry.
The lack of a flamethrower is unfortunate, but with the stopping power of the axe it is not really missed.
Rhino APC
Type: Vehicle/APC
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Storm Bolter
Strength: Mobile Bunker, good armor, good speed
Weakness: Limited damage, Units gain half points upon disembark
Cost: 200 (Formerly 300)
The Rhino used to be a fantastic unit and rather unbalanced. However it has been changed in recent patches so I am re-writing my analysis. Previously units could disembark with full attacks, fire, and then embark on the APC again (Cheesy AF).
This is no longer possible, disembarked units have only half attacks and movement and are unable to re-embark on the APC in the same turn. As consolation however, the price has been reduced from 300 to 200.
While not as useful as it once was,the Rhino is still useful for getting especially slow or melee units into the fight quickly and can operate as mobile cover. I recommend bringing at least one of these, especially if you are using terminators.
Whirlwind Tank
Type: Vehicle/Artillery
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Whirlwind Missile, Storm Bolter
Strength: Fantastic artillery weapon range, morale dmg, good dmg
Weakness: Accuracy, cost
Cost: 500 (Formerly 400)
Update: It seems after recent patches the accuracy has been improved against single units. More testing required but have had several instances of the Whirlwind wiping entire squads in a single barrage.
The Whirlwind is your artillery unit. It fires a barrage of missiles that deal both direct and morale damage to units it hits. It’s main drawback is that it’s accuracy can suffer and the damage and morale damage can vary a lot. It is still a powerful unit however, especially against massed ork attacks where pinpoint accuracy is not required. Can also dmg vehicle morale. While it is painfully expensive, considering one of the main strengths of the greenskins is numbers, this helps counter that advantage as it will punish any large groupings of units severely.
Predator Tank
Type: Vehicle
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Autocannon, Heavy Bolters
Strength: Good vs Infantry, decent vs Armor, heavy armor
Weakness: Lack of an authorative anti-armor weapon, expensive, vulnerable to melee vehicles
Cost: 400 (Formerly 360)
The Predator Tank is very much an anti-infantry weapon, useful against massed greeenskins. It’s heavy bolters will tear nobz & boyz apart and are also useful against lighter vehicles. It has decent speed and good armor. It’s autocannon leaves alot to be desired however, it is like a single version (thus weaker) of the Dreadnaught Auto-cannon meaning it does half the damage. It is horrible against infantry and only ok vs armor, you should rely on other options in the anti-armor department. Remember, when engaging armor engage from the sides or preferably the rear to deal maximum damage.
Be careful of deaf dreads & killer cans engaging this unit in melee, it has very limited options of defending against this without support and can go down quickly.
Land Raider
Type: Super Heavy Vehicle, APC
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Twin Linked Heavy Bolter, Twin Linked Las Cannon x 2, Very Heavy Armor
Strength: APC, Super Heavy Armor, Good Dmg vs Infantry & Armor
Weakness: Slow, large hitbox, expensive
Cost: 500
The Land Raider is the most expensive unit in the space wolves armory. It is essentially a mobile fortress, able to ferry 20 troops (or 6 terminators) and is armed with Twin Linked Heavy Bolters and Twin Linked Las Cannons giving it impressive firepower against both infantry & armor.
What has been written about the Rhino can be added here with the addition of the super heavy armor and firepower. This unit can be a fantastic focal point of an army, ferrying your strike force, providing immense firpower coverage and providing sanctuary for your forces.
It’s main drawbacks are that it is quite slow and because of it’s size it can be unwieldy, I have experiences several instances where it cannot bring it’s guns to bear due to some tiny piece of terrain blocking or forcing a massive detour.
The Scorched Knight – Imperial Knight
Type: Titan (though quite small and not used by the titan legions)
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Thermal Cannon, Heavy Stubber, Giant Chainsword
Strength: Massive ranged damage via Thermal Cannon, excellent vs Heavy Infantry
Weakness: Vulnerable in melee
Cost: 480
The Scorched Knight is a massive mini titan that is the most devastating unit in the Space Wolves Arsenal (technically this unit doesn’t belong to space wolf faction). Devastating against infantry and light armor it is however vulnerable against flash gits (if left alone) and being engaged in melee. Against heavy armor it’s damage drops off a bit but still the thermal cannon causes morale dmg against them.
It’s Thermal Cannon hits all models of a unit standing in a single square with what seems like a combination lascannon/flamer. It seems to hit harder than a lascannon but is aoe (within that one square) and causes morale damage. It fires twice per attack.
The heavy stubber functions like a superheavy machinegun. I haven’t really found much reason to use it though, the thermal cannon is so good.
Additional equipment: Ion shield. This is a directional shield that absorbs 50% of ranged fire from the chosen direction. This shield has no effect on melee attacks.
Space Wolf Heros
Hero’s are powerful, individual units that generally have better stats than the regular rank & file as well as unique names and sometimes weapons. Depending on the hero they will also start out with some special abilities as well.
I am not a huge fan of hero’s as they are relativly easy to take out and their offensive contribution to battle can be limited, but some are better than others.
This is a work in progress.
Update: Price of units has been changed, many of them have gotten cheaper and thus I am now more inclined to recommend heros than before. I will keep a record of their original cost as an FYI.
Name: Heingist IronAxe
Rank: Pack Leader
Type: Melee Infantry
Weapon: Power Axe
Starting Special Abilities: Frag Grenade, Rally
Strength: Powerful single target Armor Piercing Damage
Weakness: Poor against infantry
Cost: 80 Points (Formerly 120 Points)
Recommend: Maybe
Heingist sports a power axe which makes him a potent foil against Heavy Infantry and Light Vehicles, however, he suffers like most melee hero’s do, they can only attack a single model in a unit at a time. So for example he can only kill a max of two model in a unit per turn which makes for a poor return.
Probably best used to engage Kans and other hero’s I would generally recommend against this unit except where forced to use in campaigns.
Defensively he is not very strong and can go down quite easily, especially as he has no ranged attack apart from special abilities.
The starting Frag Grenade ability is ok, it does small amount of AoE damage and recharges it’s use every three turns. Rally restores friendly unit morale, very handy if they have been hit by a flamer attack.
Normally I would not use this hero except during the missions he is forced upon me, he just doesn’t give enough return and is far to limited in what he can do. He costs the same as a bloodclaw, but would do less damage than they would against weaker units. That being said, rally is a powerful ability should your units morale be shattered.
Name: Egil Redfist
Rank: Pack Leader
Type: Melee Infantry
Weapon: Bolt Pistol, Powerfist
Starting Special Abilities: Blood Rage, Seeker Ammo
Strength: Powerful single target Armor Piercing Damage, weak ranged attack
Weakness: Poor against infantry
Cost: 40 Points (Formerly 100 Points)
Recommend: Yes
Egil is a single BloodClaw hero unit with a few special abilities.
Seeker Ammo: Increases accuracy of other units against that target for rest of the turn.
Blood Rage: Restore 30HP on killing blow.
Egil is not tough and will go down quickly if engaged so use him wisely rather than a meat shield.
He starts with Blood Rage which is actually a very nice ability, it restores 30 HP for every kill, so make sure he gets the killing blow if low on HP. Seeker ammo is nice on high priority targets.
For the new price of 40 points (down from 100) + the inclusion of Seeker ammo it is hard not to recommend him as the buff he brings to other units via Seeker Ammo is easily worth 40 points.
Name: Fjrlag
Rank: Wolf Priest
Type: Ranged Infantry
Weapon: Bolt Pistol
Starting Special Abilities: Healing Balm, Wolf Amulet, Spirit of the Wolf
Strength: Can restore HP & Morale to friendly units
Weakness: Poor damage, expensive
Cost: 200 Points
Recommend: Maybe
Note: Perhaps not a true “hero” unit this seemed like the best place for him.
The Wolf Priest is a dedicated healer unit, armed only with a bolt pistol.
Healing Balm restores 50 HP to every man in the selected squad and has a 2 turn cooldown. This is a very nice ability that not only keeps units alive but ensures they can continue to contribute to the battle.
Spirit of the Wolf restores 50 Morale to all units within 2 tiles and restores 50HP for every man in the affected squads and has a 5 turn cooldown. This is an excellent ability that restores both HP & Morale and can save a broken unit and bring it back into the fight. It has a long cooldown and the AoE is centered on the Wolf Priest so they need to be close to the action.
Wolf Amulet grants a 15% chance to absorb incoming ranged damage.
The major drawback of the Wolf Priest, apart from his cost (which is high) is that he has to be close to the action to pull of his abilities which also puts him in the line of fire. If used well, he can tip the tides of a battle. If used poorly, he is simply a 200 point target.
Name: Beoric Winterfang
Rank: Wolfguard Terminator
Type: Heavy Infantry
Weapon: Storm Bolter, Powersword
Starting Special Abilities: Wolf Rage, Vengeance Ammo
Strength: Good anti-infantry damage, good anti-armor potential, good price
Weakness: Single unit, slow
Cost: 100 Points
Recommend: Yes
Beaoric is a single Terminator unit armed with Storm Bolter and a Powersword.
Wolf Rage: All units within 3 tiles gain 20 morale after Beoric kills a unit in melee.
Vengeance Ammo – Reduces heavy armor damage reduction
Beoric is basically a more powerful standard terminator. The vengeance ammo combined with the powersword also give him good anti armor potential. While only being a single unit makes him vulnerable to anti armor weapons he is very reasonably priced at 100 points, which is why I would recommend this unit.
Name: Njal Stormcaller
Rank: Rune Priest
Type: Melee Infantry
Weapon: Runic Staff
Starting Special Abilities: Living Lightning, Stormcaller, Thunderclap, Runes of Protection, Runes of Destruction, Belt of Russ
Strength: Powerful spellcaster
Weakness: Mediocre when spells on cooldown, very expensive
Cost: 400 Points
Recommend: No
Njal is the Space Worf Psycker and has an impressive array of spells at his disposal.
Living Lightning: AoE spell that causes heavy damage to a single model
within every squad within 2 tiles of the Njal. with a 4 turn cooldown.
Does decent damage but only damages a single model within a squad which limits it’s potential and the cooldown is long. The fact that it is centered on the caster means you have to get the unit into the middle of a group of enemies to be effective which is a risky proposition.
Storm Caller: Small AoE spell that does ok damage but has the possibility to stun units within 1 tile of the impact point, 4 Turn cooldown. An ok spell, good to remove a few units for a couple of turns but has a small radius.
Thunderclap: Single Squad Damage that damages every unit within a single squad with 4 turn cooldown.
Rune of Protection: Cast rune of protection on a friendly unit causing it to suffer only half damage for 2 turns, 4 turn cooldown.
A good spell that can grant significant survivability to a besiged unit, a long cooldown however.
Rune of Destruction: Causes enemy unit to take double damage for 2 turns, 4 turn cooldown.
Very good spell to use when you want to take down a single target quickly, the double damage stacks up nicely.
Belt of Russ: 30% chance to ignore damage.
Overall, Njal has some nice abilities, especially protection & destruction runes but at 400 points I think he is simply too expensive to justify typically. That being said if used correctly, his spells can tip the balance in your favour.
Orks!
The Ork faction plays quite a bit differently from the Space Marine faction.
Orks work on quantity over quality in the early tiers, their units are typically weaker but cheaper than their space marine counter parts meaning that they need to rely on numbers, focused attacks and swarms to prevail as well as trying to tie down the powerful ranged units with Melee swarms.
However at higher tiers they start to get some fantastic quality units that are more than a match for their space marine counter-parts.
Overall I find the orks fun to play but they are harder to get a handle on at first. However all units have their place if used properbly, even Gretchin who are fantastic at soaking up reaction fire.
Note: The Orks used to be king in melee but it seems they have buffed the space marines a bit there so the Orks are not as dominant as they once were.
Standout Units
Flashgits
These guys are incredible, they are good against pretty much everything! They can take out infantry, heavy infantry and vehicles with incredible ease in most situations. They seem to have been nerfed a little bit but are excellent overall and the first pick on any Ork army. If you manage to flank a unit with these, even titan’s, it is usually game over.
Trukks
Both the Trukk versions (APC & Giant Cannon) are great. Both deal great damage and have good staying power as well as good mobility to move to where they are needed. However, beware, they are highly vulnerable from being attacked from the rear and can be taken out incredibly quickly from a flank attack.
Kopters
These are a bit of a mixed bag and are not too great in a stand up fight but as flanking units they can be increadibly useful at taking out enemy armor via flank attacks.
Ork Infantry
Gretchin
Number of units: 6 (TBC)
Weapon: Dual Pistols
Strength: Capturing VP’s, bullet spunge
Weakness: Weak, low dmg
Cost: Summoned by Shaman
Gretichin Pistoliers are, in my opinion, utterly worthless. They have little health and do virtually no damage, they are little more than an irritant. However, they are incredibly cheap to purchase. If you have to use these, their best use is to try to cap VP’s while your other units engage in combat, or against the AI, try to use them as meat shields by sending them in first hoping the AI will engage them. In MP & skirmish you can also use them to trigger reaction shots, taking dmg instead of your more valuable units.
Tip – As mentioned, their main use is to trigger reaction shots from powerful opposing units. Rather a worthless gretchin get blown to bits than a Flashgit!
Gretchin Blunderbus
Number of units: 3
Weapon: Autorifle (Tbc)
Strength: Capturing VP’s, bullet spunge
Weakness: Weak
Cost: N/A
These seem to only be available to AI in Campaign mode. More potent ranged damage however, make no mistake, they are not good units. What was said about regular gretchins applies here as well.
Ork Shoota Boyz
Number of units: 4
Weapon: Shoota
Strength: Decent ranged attack, cheap, meat shield
Weakness: Weak
Cost: 120
Shoota boyz are relatively weak but cheap(ish) ranged infantry. While they cannot stand toe to toe vs Grey Hunters in the straight up fight, in groups they can dish out good damage. However, fighting at range works to the Space Marines strengths and as such these are not as useful in this authors opinion as their melee counter-parts.
They are good to have in your army though and should focus on AoE units, especially flamers as they are very dangerous to orks.
Ork Boyz
Number of units: 5
Weapon: Slugga & Choppa
Strength: Decent melee attack, can tie up ranged units, cheap
Weakness: Weak, poor ranged attack
Cost: 80
These boyz are probably your most useful infantry, they are cheap and they can tie up ranged units in melee combat. They are not very tough so don’t expect them to last long under ranged assault or when engaged 1 – 1 against Space Marine melee units (like bloodclaws). However if used in swarms they can do surprising amounts of damage and disruption to Space Marine ranged units. They can even tie up stronger units like dreadnaughts that can only attack a single mob in a unit per attack (beware of their flamethrowers however).
In short, have these engage ranged infantry where possible or vehicles, as units engaged in melee suffer massive ranged accuracy penalties.
Ork Burna Boyz
Number of units: 2
Weapon: Flamethrower
Strength: Good morale dmg, AoE attack, cheap
Weakness: Low direct dmg, very low health
Cost: 100
These are good decent units, pretty similar to their space marine counter-parts. Their main use is to break the morale of enemy units, very useful if they are grouped up. These can be very useful since the space marines will have less units, every unit who’s morale you can break significantly shifts the battle in your favour, the enemy feels the loss of units far more than you. The main weakness is that these guys are VERY weak and will typically goes down in a single turn if attacked.
Ork Stomrboyz
Number of units: 4
Weapon: Slugga & Choppa
Strength: Decent melee attack, can tie up ranged units, good range
Weakness: Weak
Cost: 100
These boyz are very similar to melee boyz, just with a jetpack strapped to their back. This gives them much farther movement, allowing them to close the distance to ranged space marines much quicker and take less damage on the way as a result. They are still weak and will go down quickly to fire but if used wisely can take out high value targets from the battle.
Ork Cavalry
Warbuggy
Type: Cavalry
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Twin-linked shoota
Strength: Fast, decent ranged damage, cheap
Weakness: Weak, no melee defence
Cost: 160
Warbuggies are decent, fast units. They can do decent amount of damage to space marines (especially if you are lucky with crits) and surprising amounts of damage to hero’s. They are able to flank due to their speed so you can use them for surgical strikes or harassment. However they are not tough so they will go down quickly if attacked and they have no melee capability.
DeffKopter – Rokkit Launcher
Type: Cavalry
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Rokit Launcher
Strength: Fast, Decent AoE Damage, excellent mobility
Weakness: Very weak
Cost: 200
A fast flying unit armed with a Rokkit Launcher, the Deff Kopter is a decent unit. It’s weapon is ok, it has a decent AoE but it’s damage is not very effective against heavy armor units like space wolves.
The Deff Kopter itself is very fragile and will go down quickly to enemy fire, best used for scouting and harrasing, try not to let this unit become the focal point of enemy retaliation as it will go down.
DeffKopter – Mega Blasta
Type: Cavalry
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Mega Blasta
Strength: Fast, Good Anti-Armor Damage, excellent mobility
Weakness: Very weak, weak vs infantry
Cost: 200
The DeffKopter is a weak but decent unit against armored foes. It’s Mega Blasta is similar to a melta gun and works the same way, it can only target a single model making it weak vs infantry units. However the damage output is good making it a good anti-vehicle or Hero unit.
It is very weak however and will go down quickly to enemy fire.
Warbiker
Type: Cavalry
Number of units: 2
Weapons: Twin-linked Big Shoota
Strength: Fantastic ranged damage vs Infantry and Light Vehicles, Fast
Weakness: Weak, Poor accuracy
Cost: 280
The Warbiker is not to be underestimated, it can cause immense damage with it’s Twin-linked Big Shootas. It can take out a Land Speeder or Grey Knight squad in a single turn and has great mobility to boot. This unit is very powerful and a fantstic flanker and a unit I highly recommend due to it’s fantastic damage output.
It’s main drawbacks are that it is weak and will go down quickly to enemy fire, but also their accuracy can be terrible. You have to hit the sweet spot of around 4 or so tiles distance. To close or to far the accuracy drops to practically nothing.
Ork Heavy Infantry
Ork Shooter Nobz
Type: Ranged Heavy Infantry
Number of units: 3
Weapons: Scorcha! – Combi Shooter/Flamer
Strength: Combi Weapon, good vs ranged, good morale dmg, sturdy
Weakness: Vulnerable to melee attack, only 3 units, less armor compared to Grey Hunters
Cost: 280
Ork Shooter Nobz are a step up from the boyz and essentially combine shooter and flamer boyz in one. They can attack with either ranged fire or a flamer attack making them very useful multi purpose infantry. They are also tougher than the boyz and deal more damage. They still cannot stand 1 – 1 vs their Space Marine counter parts but again they are cheaper and thus can rely on massed attacks. Their flame attack is not to be underestimated as can devastate the enemies morale if they are not careful. Overall a good unit.
Ork Slugga Nobz
Type: Melee Heavy Infantry
Number of units: 4
Weapons: Slugga & Choppa
Strength: Good Melee attack, tough, good vs ranged
Weakness: Poor ranged attack, not as armored as space marines
Cost: 220
The nob version of the melee boyz, these guys are very good. They are tough and pack a decent punch in melee. They are very effective against ranged infantry and in groups are dangerous to melee infantry and vehicles. They will need to group up against terminators but they are at the advantage vs Grey hunter infantry and bloodclaws. They should avoid Thunder Hammer terminators however, they are no match for them.
Flash Gitz
Type: Anti Armor Heavy Infantry
Number of Units: 3
Weapons: Snazzgun
Strength: Good vs everything
Weakness: Weak
Cost: 320
These guys are simply insane and given some of the chatter they might be due for a nerf as these guys are serious damage dealers. They are pretty much good against everything, being able to take out Space Marines, Heros, Rhinos etc in a single turn. They are devastating against armor and infantry and if use properbly can cause catastrophic damage to the enemy.
They only real fault is they are not too hardy and most enemies (except AI) are likely to do everything they can to take these guys out as soon as possible.
But these are really really good at the moment.
Mega Nobz
Type: Elite Heavy Infantry
Number of Units: 3
Weapons: Twin-Linked Shoota, Powerklaw
Strength: Good ranged and melee damage, excellent armor
Weakness: Slow, Expensive, weaker at medium to long range
Cost: 300
Mega Nobz are essentially the Ork version of the Space Marine Terminators, they have very heavy armor, powerful medium ranged anti-infantry weapon and a powerful close range weapon.
Their power claw is very deadly, able to kill a Grey Hunter in a single swipe making them very deadly in melee combat. Their Big Shoota are also capable of decimating Space Marine squads at close (3 – 4 tiles) range.
Their main drawback is, like their space marine counter-parts, they are very slow and their damage drops off considerably at range meaning they are vulnerable to long range strikes.
Ork Vehicles
Ork Battle Wagon – Transport
Type: APC
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Twin Linked Big Shoota
Strength: Highly armored, APC, mobile bunker, strong ranged attack
Weakness: Expensive, not as good vs armor
Cost: 400
The Ork battle wagon is a formidable unit, superior to the Space Wolf Rhino mainly due to it’s powerful twin linked big shoota that can do a lot of damage to space marine units and light vehicles. This vehicle can also act as a mobile bunker for units, where they can disembark, fire and embark again, protecting them from damage (Update: They can no longer do this in a single turn). It can also be used to ferry troops into close range without taking damage. In my opinion, a very good overall unit.
Editors Note: It seems this unit has been nerfed a bit, it’s anti-armor dmg & it’s own armor have been toned down a bit. Still a good unit and it was a bit OP before. Above still applies just less so against armored vehicles.
Ork Battle Wagon – Supa Cannon
Type: Tank
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Supa Cannon
Strength: Armoed, Excellent Anti Armor Attack
Weakness: Weak vs Infantry
Cost: 480
The Supa Cannon wagon is a fantastic anti tank unit. It has very high damage against armored vehicles and should be used as a tank/armor destroyer. It is not good against infantry as it only gets one shot when it fires but can still be used to take out Flamers or Meltas as it can wipes them out one turn if both shots hit. Also decent against terminators if needed but main use here is anti tank/dread/vehicles duty.
Killer Kan Shoota
Type: Walker
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Claw, Big Shoota
Strength: Decent Ranged Dmg, Decent Melee Damage
Weakness: Not very durable for a walker
The Shoota Kan is a decent walker unit, able to deal decent ranged damage, effective against light vehicles and some infantry units (like flamers or meltas). However it suffers from limited damage potential and can only attack one model in a unit. Still it is a capable unit and can be a decent sniper or hero assassin.
It is not very durable and can be brought down with focused firepower so make sure this unit is supported.
Killer Kan Rocket
Type: Walker
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Claw, Rockit Launcher
Strength: Decent ranged AoE Damage potential, Decent melee damage, Ok Morale Dmg
Weakness: Not very durable for a walker, limited damage to heavy armor
Cost: 280
The Rocket Kan is in my opinion not that great. To be honest I think it would have been better if the Space Marines had something similar really, it is good vs massed assaults of light infantry but it’s damage potential drops off vs heavy armor. Considering the heavy armor of space wolves and the fact they tend not to swarm it limits the potential of this unit somewhat. One saving grace is that the rokkit dmg does Morale Dmg, not as good as a flamer but it is something that can help in a pinch.
Deff Dread
Type: Walker
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Kan Claw x 4, Scorcha
Strength: Very potent melee damage, tough
Weakness: Lack of ranged weaponry
Cost: 380
The Deff Dread is a walking melee slaughterhouse, designed to walk up to an enemy and tear it apart with it’s four Kan Claws. This unit is very powerful in melee against not only vehicles and heavy armor, but also infantry since it can attack multiple models per unit with it’s Klaws.
It’s main weakness however is it’s lack of any ranged weapon apart from a scorcha (flamer) meaning it can be engaged and whittled down from range so needs to be supported with appropriate units. But if this thing gets close it causes carnage.
Caution: This can be flanked, beware of Land Speeder especially. If you are playing Space Marines – Use Land Speeders to his this in the back, will bring it down quickly.
MekGun Artillery
Type: Artillery
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Smasha Gun
Strength: Excellent Range, good AoE, good vs Morale
Weakness: Limited damage, poor accuracy, weak
Cost: 400
The MekGun hurles giant rocks at your foes, it is a long ranged artillery weapon with questionable accuracy. It’s main use is not in it’s direct dmg but in it’s high morale dmg. It can break the morale of enemy troops while causing some damage. Very good if the enemy is clustered and can be quite annoying for them to be continiously pelted by this.
Quite weak and vulnerable if engaged directly in combat however, keep it behind your lines.
Gorkanaut
Type: Titan
Number of units: 1
Weapons: Deffstorm Mega Shoota, Quad linked Big Shoota, Klaw of Gork, Flamer, Missiles
Strength: High Armor, Fantastic ranged vs Infantry & Heavy Infantry
Weakness: Slow, poor vs heavy armored vehicles
Cost: 480
The Gorkanaut is the Ork Titan unit and it is a monster vs infantry. It’s weapon loadout is thus
Deffstorm Mega Shooter: Best overal weapon, fantastic vs infantry, heavy infrantry, light vehicles, AoE Damage as well.
Quad Linked Big Shoota: Ok, but when you have Deffstorm these are irrelevant
Klaw of Gork: AoE Anti-armor Melee, great vs infantry as it does splash dmg.
Flamer: Damages morale, you have better choices on this unit
Missiles: Every few turns you can firm missiles for free, very poor accuracy however.
The Gorkanaut is a savage unit, I have won missions using only this unit, it simply slaughtered enemy infantry. However it’s big weakness is it’s lack of anti vehicle weaponry. As such it is vulnerable to Enemy titans, tanks and super heavy units, especially as those that have anti tank weaponry and are able to flank.
Contributors
A special thanks to the following people for their contributions to this guide
Teran (Sabbatine) – A big thank you for wonderful contribution including info on the Thunderwolf, Longfang Missile, Predator, Scorched Knight