Champions of Fenris Space Wolf Supplement First Look

Last weekend saw the release of the Space Wolf Supplement - Champions of Fenris. Chandler will probably do a complete treatment of the book, including fluff and everything it entails. I'll just take a quick look at the new rules that come with the supplement.

Units from the Formations and Detachment from the supplement get two special rules: Sagaborn and First Among Equals. Sagaborn requires characters to always issue and accept challenges. First Among Equals gives Preferred Enemy to all Wolf Guard Battle Leaders, Pack Leaders, Terminator Leaders, and Cavalry Pack Leaders while in a challenge.

Warlords selected from the supplement can roll on the Supplement's Warlord table. The traits, in order, allow the warlord to re-roll a single failed save each turn; re-roll to wound rolls in challenges; give a standard weapon the Master Crafted special rule; give the warlord and his unit Outflank; make the warlord Fearless; give the Warlord Preferred Enemy. Overall, some are pretty nice (namely 1 and 6), others are pretty mediocre or useless.

The supplement also includes some new relics. First is the Armour of Asvald Stormwrack, checking in at a Wolf Guard Battle Leader, it is Terminator Armor that gives a 2+/4++, Bulky, Deep Strike, It Will Not Die, and Relentless. Next is the Frostfury, an assault 4 Helfrost Bolter at the same cost as a plasma pistol. The Krakenbone Sword is +1S, AP2, Melee, Master-crafted. Next is Morkai's Claws, a pair of Wolf Claws that give +1S with Maul, Rending, and Shred USRs. Maul grants +D3 attacks for extra combat weapon instead of the +1. The Pelt of Balewolf is the cost of a combi-weapon and gives the Fear rule, which Beasts, Cavalry, and MCs in base contact automatically fail. Lastly is Fellclaw's Teeth, which is again the cost of a plasma pistol and allows the bearer to re-roll all failed To Hit rolls in combat.

The Company of the Great Wolf Detachment includes 1-4 HQ, 0-3 Troops, 2-8 Elites, 0-3 Fast Attack, 0-3 Heavy Support, and 0-1 Lord of War and Fortification. The benefits of the detachment allow the warlord to re-roll his Warlord Trait on the Champions of Fenris table, and the Kingsguard rule, which gives Wolf Guard (of all types) and Thunderwolf Cavalry +1 WS.

Next are seven formations representing parts of the Wolf King's chosen company: the Kingsguard Sormforce, Brethren of the Fell-Handed, Wolf Guard Void Claws, Grimnar's War Council, Arjac's Shieldbrothers, Wolf Guard Thunderstrike, and The Champions of Fenris.

The Kingsguard Stormforce consists of Logan Grimnar on Stormrider, a unit of Wolf Guard Terminators, a Land Raider of any type, and a Stormfang Gunship. The Terminators must be at least 5+ and take the Land Raider as a dedicated transport. The Wolf Guard get Furious Charge and can re-roll failed charges on the turn they disembark from the Land Raider. Finally, so long as Logan is alive, the player can choose to pass or fail the Reserve roll for the Stormfang.

Brethren of the Fell-Handed is Bjorn and 2 other Venerable Dreadnoughts. The dreadnoughts in the formation gain a 5++ so long as they are within 6" of Bjorn. Also, while Bjorn is alive, all the dreadnoughts (including Bjorn) reroll failed to hit rolls in combat.

The Wolf Guard Void Claws is simply a unit of Wolf Guard Terminators that must number at least 5, and all be equiped with a pair of Wolf Claws. So long as one model in the unit is alive, the controlling player can re-roll reserve rolls. Additionally, the unit must arrive by deep strike in the first turn, and can re-roll the scatter dice when deep striking.

Grimnar's War Council consists of Ulrik, Njal, a Rune Priest, and an Iron Priest. The models can choose to deploy as a unit, giving up their IC status, and can only be joined by Logan and/or Arjac. If Logan joins the unit, they replace their fearless rule with the Zealot rule. A player fielding this formation is allowed to re-roll the dice when determining who deploys first and adds +2 to their Seize roll.

Arjac's Shieldbrothers consists of Arjac, a unit of Terminators, and a Land Raider Crusader. All the Terminators must have thunder hammers and storm shields and take the LRC as a dedicated transport, being joined by Arjac. If Logan is alive and on the table, the formation has the Fearless rule, which is replaced by the Zealot rule if Logan is killed. Any model in the formation in base contact with another model from the formation gets a +1 Tougness bonus. Additionally, in combat, if an invulnerable save is passed on a 6, the unit that made the attack takes a S8 AP2 hit with the Concussive rule, which is randomly allocated.

The Wolf Guard Thunderstrike formation is a unit of Wolf Guard Terminators, a unit of Wolf Guard, and a Drop Pod. The Wolf Guard unit must number 10 models and take the drop pod as a dedicated transport. The entire formation arrives based on a single Reserve Roll by Deep Strike. Additionally, all ranged weapons fired by infantry models have the Twin-linked special rule on the turn they arrive.

The final formation is the Champions of Fenris, which is the above six formations all together. While Logan is alive, all units in the formation re-roll failed hits in combat. While the Iron Priest is alive, all vehicles gain the It Will Not Die Special Rule. While Njal lives, all units get the Adamantium Will rule. Finally, while Ulrik is alive, all models gain the Preferred Enemy special rule. This formation is, at minimum, over 2900 points, but gets a lot of force multiplying bonuses.

So those are the formations and rules. The remainder of the book includes themed missions and fluff, which I'm sure Chandler will dive into at some point or another.