The main stay of most Space Wolves armies out there, I usually run at least one of these guys depending on who I am facing. Runic armour is a must and more often than not the Rune Priest goes to work with the Long Fangs.
For psychic powers, its an almost always a choice between Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane, Tempests Wrath and Storm Caller. When I take two Rune Priests all four powers are covered, in the one priest lists it entirely depends upon the game plan. Jaws of the World Wolf is only really used against lower initiative armies.
While still a decent prospect in close combat, the Rune Priest excels in a more stand off position, nullifying psychic threats with the rune weapon, while also launching medium to long distance firepower back at the enemy. Chooser of the Slain is helpful in getting extra hits as it increases ballistic skill by 1 and can hold an infiltrators at bay a little while longer.
Not much upgrading really needs to be carried out on a Wolf Priest. By exchanging power armour for runic armour this priest will have a 2+/4++ save which is better than the TDA that is also available to the priest. The runic armour also allows for sweeping advance which is pretty handy for a unit that is geared toward close combat.
The Wolf Priests themselves are best used in close combat. Their preferred enemy rule allows for re rolls when attempting to hit the opposition for anyone in his squad. This is particularly useful if he were to be teamed with some Blood Claws and thrown into a Land Raider Crusader and charged toward an enemy position. Depending on the unit composition you could be looking at up to 64 re rollable attacks on the charge, with a few of those being power weapon attacks. It would be a lot of bang, but it is also a lot of bucks to put on the table.
A benefit to any army, the WGBL has the same options available to them as the Wolf Lord, for only a one point disadvantage in WS, wounds, attacks and leadership. Equipped as shown and put in a drop pod with some Grey Hunters, he is pretty much guaranteed to be able to take out a tank with the combi-melta on the turn he arrives then, being so close to enemy lines, should be looking to get into close combat in the next turn.
As well as all equipment available he also has access to all the sagas barring Saga of Majesty, meaning it is quite possible to make a beast out of this unit for less than you would pay for a Wolf Lord with the similar equipment.
If the Wolf Guard Battle Leader can be a beast, then the Wolf Lord is a monster. Access to all sagas and a better stat line than the WGBL, the Lord needs to be delivered into close combat as quickly as possible. There are only two options for this that I have available - Land Raider of any variant, or drop pod. Both have their positives and negatives, but I prefer using him in a Land Raider, travelling in a style that will allow for assault the second he sets foot on the battlefield.
The Wolf Lord can be pretty hard to kill, especially when equipped with TDA and storm shield as I have, giving him a 2+/3++ save. With Saga of the Bear he becomes an eternal warrior, which also increases his survivability.
Currently this Wolf Lord has a wolf claw as his only weapon, which would allow for 5 power weapon attacks on the charge/counter assault at WS6, with re rolls on either hits or wounds rolls, he has a good chance of carving a few enemies out of opposing units pretty quickly.
The one option I hear and see talked about with the Wolf Lord is putting him on a thunderwolf. I do have a project underway at the moment, and as I make headway on it I shall post up pictures on this blog of my Wolf Lord with Thunderwolf. I will also report back here on the successes and disasters he encounters on the battlefield.
Conclusions
As I only really play 40k for fun, my lists can be pretty varied at times, trying out all units in all situations. Usually I will take one Rune Priest and a Wolf Priest and a further HQ, either a named character or one of the HQs from this post, and split them out across the units that make up the rest of my army.
There is a lot of fun to be had with each unit and alot of punishment to be meted out to all those who oppose the Space Wolves. These units are the heroes who will spearhead that drive.
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