How does DE handle the wolfstar?

First a link to explain the star
http://www.thedarkcity.net/t11014p260-a-tdc-blog-strategies-unit-analysis-batreps-observations-tactics#bottom

Now the star can be
4 Iron Priests, 16 cyber wolves, 2 rune priests on bikes, Khan, command squad, (apothecary)
4 Iron Priests, 16 cyber wolves, rune priest on bike, Ravenwing command squad with apothecary and pfg
4 Iron Priests, 16 cyber wolves, rune priest on bike, st. celestine
2 WBGL, 2 Iron priest 8 cyber wolves, IK
or combinations of the above.

All of these builds are problematic with 2+/3++ and sometimes FNP depending. All have a plethora of AP2 S10 attacks on the charge ( this without the cyber wolves attacks).

Taking that unit down before it hits you on turn two or three will not be easy (espescially if they use hit and run characters). And the unit will detach parts to go on their own routinely.

So how do we handle this?

Well, it looks like there's a bunch of guys not on bikes there.  Keep our distance and shoot them?  I think massed Splinterfire from extreme range is the best way to go.  Iron Priests aren't psykers are they?  Ld Shenanigan lists that include Psychic Shriek might still be able to put some hurting on them.

But I'm just spitballing.

Razorwing missiles + max range venoms?

Pretty much. Does the Wolfstar have much juice vs flyers?

Jimsolo wrote:

Pretty much.  Does the Wolfstar have much juice vs flyers?

Orange juice, I hear. Lots of oranges on Fenris.

He have no Hit and Run. Here, we don't play Ironpriests, just Wolflord+Whitescars Masters Chapter.
You need to contain this Deathstar, shooting over, stole objectives, destroy other choices of the wolf player, etc.

nexs wrote:

Jimsolo wrote:

Pretty much.  Does the Wolfstar have much juice vs flyers?

Orange juice, I hear. Lots of oranges on Fenris.

No wolves, but plenty of citrus fruit.

The wolfstar can be configured in a variety of ways and yes, you certainly can have hit and run and your build. You are correct that it's main weakness is against flyers and FMCs. Adding an aegis and storm wolves helps if the wolfstar player wants to go that route.

It is very difficult to isolate the star as the pieces can all detach and do damage on their own btw. It can have psychic buffs if you use rune priests. If you examine the various builds being played now yoy will see that the meta expected (tournament rules, missions, etc.) have a bearing on how a seasoned player will field it.

So far the only suggestion is bring flyers - not the ideal solution against a T5 unit with excellent saves. As for the star being mostly bikes - you play it with no bikes at all. Bear in mind I listed a number of configurations above and two on the original thread - one with hit and run.

I personally beliweve that deployment trickery, movement and focusing on the mission are the keys to beating a wolfstar. You cannot go into a tournament tailoring for one list only. So you have to bring a tac list that can handle this. Now I imagine that you play against bike lists often enough to recognize what tactics work against that. This list is a little different as the supporting elements are not just bikes and flyers and the main deathstar is really scary for a number of reasons but the tactics should be similar to playing a white scars list with one exception. The wolfstar is built for cc. It is is not a dakka oriented list in a meta that likes to shoot more than assault. Now generally you would think shooting>cc but not in this case.

The inclination is to shoot and bubble wrap to fight the star. The ability to divide in to smaller stars is what makes it harder for DE to get away with that tactic.

What you need to do is have MSU units that can be sacrificied to that unit and hold it up. At LVO Sean used six single Lictors to do just that and won the tournament.

Sun Tzu said.

Put your best against their second best
Your second best against their third best.
Your third best against their fourth best
and your worst against their best.