Heavy Support
Stormfang Gunship - While I remain full of praise for this particular flyer's kit sibling the Stormwolf, the Stormfang is a more middling choice if only because it is blatantly inferior to the former. First of all, the Stormfang is nowhere near the transport a Stormwolf is with only a 6 model transport capacity and a lack of the Assault Vehicle special rule, bringing it in line with the Imperial Navy Vendetta. Its' slightly higher base cost and differing weapon load-out would lead most to believe this is the more damage-oriented of the pair, but even in this regard is the Stormfang the weaker of the pair. A Stormwolf need not pay for a Twin-Linked Lascannon to replace the terrible Stormstrike Missiles, while the lack of twin-linking on the former's Helfrost Cannon makes it similarly or more efficient than the Stormfang's Helfrost Destructor. Essentially, you pay roughly 20 more points - once you figure in the almost mandatory pair of Twin-Linked Multi Meltas and the Twin-Linked Lascannon - for essentially the same damage output, significantly reduced transport capacity and the lack of the Assault Vehicle special rule.
About the only reason to ever field a Stormfang over a Stormwolf is to make use of the fact that it is a Heavy Support choice as opposed to a Fast Attack choice which may play a part in determining your army composition, but honestly you may as well just take a second Combined Arms detachment to fit in the Stormwolf at your leisure. As to whether the Stormfang is actually good on its' own merits, I feel that it becomes just a tad too expensive - even when compared to the Space Marine Stormraven Gunship - once you narrow its role into anti-tank so that it isn't left with wasteful weapon options. It's not a bad flyer by any means but it just doesn't do enough to justify that massive points cost like the Stormwolf does; it is far from congruent with the Stormwolf in terms of quality. About the only time I really see Stormfangs coming into their own is against AV14 vehicles where having the Lance special rule on the Helfrost Destructor can give it a distinct advantage over the Stormwolf in at least one category. Even the newest incarnation of the Vendetta is still a good 85 points cheaper than an upgraded Stormfang with identical durability, albeit at the cost of weakened but still reliable firepower. At the very least it has far better shooting than a Stormraven Gunship, even if it pays a lot of points and sacrifices transport capacity for that advantage. I would probably rate the Stormfang as competitive despite all the issues I have with if it wasn't for the "tipping point"; the rear access point as opposed to a front access point like the Stormwolf makes positioning much more annoying for dropping off units, especially once you consider just how massive the Space Wolf flyers are.
Competitive? No.
Long Fangs - While Long Fangs are infamous for a variety of reasons, they are much like Grey Hunters in the sense that they were the best Space Marine infantry squad of their type - Devastator and Tactical Squad equivalents, respectively - in the game up until the new codex popped over. While I would argue both units are still fantastic when compared to their rivals from other codices, I'm of the belief that Imperial Fist Devastators have the edge over Long Fangs now if only because Tank Hunters is an absolutely insane free buff to have for that kind of unit. What makes Long Fangs stand out even with that in mind is that they have two base attacks in combat with their paired melee weapons as well as the Counter Attack special rule, eliminating the weakness of Devastator Squads with regards to being charged and eliminated even by weaker mobile melee squads. While they are obviously a unit you don't want in combat, you absolutely have to prepare for that happening as a well defended unit in cover will almost always be extremely vulnerable to close combat attacks. This aside, their defining trait is and always has been that they can Split Fire, and this is the main area in which the unit has decreased in overall effectiveness.
Whereas the 5th Edition incarnation could freely choose how many models would shoot at two different targets in each salvo, the new universal special rule that replaces Fire Control only allows a single model to unload at a different target to the rest of the unit. Being able to shoot six missile launchers three at a time at two separate units was what made Long Fangs so insanely good, and while the unit is still a good Devastator alternative as you can pay for hilariously cheap Terminator Armoured Wolf Guard wound tanks for the unit, while the actual sergeant can even take a Special Weapon such as a Plasma Gun. More options are always good to have, even if these kind of squads aren't the ones you want to over-spend on considering how expensive they are just with the Heavy Weapons. The prices of the Heavy Weapons themselves have been tweaked slightly with the Heavy Bolter and Missile Launcher going up in points, while the Plasma Cannons and Lascannons saw a similarly-sized decrease. Seeing as Lascannons are the name of the game for Devastators, I would consider this an improvement over the previous unit in this specific regard. Long Fangs are also still great in the sense that you can get five Heavy Weapons in a unit instead of just four, unlike any other codex-adherent squad. While Long Fangs might not be quite as useful as they used to be, they are still a great unit and will likely fill up at least two of your Heavy Support slots in a standard detachment.
Change? Weaker.
Competitive? Yes.
Vindicator - Having reviewed this tank many times already in the past year, I'll refrain from repeating myself - and this will also be true in the following five unit reviews below - and instead focus on how this unit performs in 7th Edition specifically without accounting for the general buffs all vehicles received in the new rule-set. On that note, the new vehicle damage chart isn't all that great for Vindicators seeing as having only one short-ranged gun means any of the damage results are absolutely terrible for them. This aside, rate of fire is far better to have for anti-tank weapons in 7th Edition considering how incredibly difficult it is to get an Explodes result on a vehicle now, reducing the general worth of a Demolisher Cannon and this is true against non-vehicle units as well with cover being so easily attainable for everything now. The main purpose of a Vindicator is and always has been to play the role of a terror weapon, using that juicy front AV 13 and its' massive yet deceivingly inefficient weapon to scare opponents into counter-deploying or otherwise focusing overwhelming resources into its destruction. A Demolisher Cannon just isn't that scary in practice without twin-linking or Ignores Cover, especially on a tank that is so hugely vulnerable the closer it gets to opponents where its longer side facing becomes that much more of a detractor. As for how the Vindicator compares between codices, the new one is effectively 10 points more expensive with a 5 point base cost increase and the removal of the previously in-built Storm Bolter; hardly the stuff of legends, unfortunately. Not only is the Vindicator inferior to its 5th Edition incarnation but it also just isn't that great of a unit when it can be so easily "neutralized" and thus ignored, becoming an expensive and surprisingly inefficient damage-dealer that only really serves as an over-priced terror weapon.
Change? Weaker.
Competitive? No.
Whirlwind - Having seen a 20 point decrease between codices, the Whirlwind is a far more attractive proposition than it was in 5th Edition. The name of the game back then was tank spam with cheap transports, while "min-maxing" with Razorbacks was probably the favourite tactic of most competitive Space Wolf players. That kind of meta absolutely left the Whirlwind and most other dedicated anti-infantry artillery platforms at the bottom of the heap because the game was all about tanks upon tanks in tanks, to put it simply. Enter 6th Edition and - to a lesser extent - 7th Edition with inferior vehicle rules, even despite the buffs with 7th Edition, while generally improving these anti-infantry options to an almost insane level. While the Whirlwind is hardly a great unit and it is hilariously over-priced in comparison to many other more recent anti-infantry artillery platforms such as the Thunderfire Cannon or Wyvern, one would be out of their minds to say it is in a worse spot than it was four years ago. At the very least, it provides Space Marine players of all kinds with a decent tool for dealing with hordes and cover-camping light infantry squads. While Space Wolf players can't take a Thunderfire Cannon in their own codex detachments, taking a Drop Pod with five Grey Hunters and a few Flamer-type weapons will do the job just as well as a Whirlwind and for not much more investment either. It's still inefficient and not really worth the attention, especially with the meta changes in 7th Edition as opposed to 6th Edition, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't somewhat decent.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? No.
Predator - Even if Predators still don't match the fluff with regards to a mixture of firepower and mobility, they are still good units that have replaced Devastators in more than a few Space Marine lists. The new 6th and 7th Edition Predators became more expensive by a small amount in the stock and anti-infantry builds, but dropped massively in the anti-tank specialization. Seeing as you want to have as many high Strength anti-tank shots as you can get your hands on to deal with 7th Edition's love of vehicles, the sacrifice of raw rate of fire to have two or three lascannon shots on a very durable platform is often worthwhile depending on the rest of the list. A triple-lascannon or autocannon and double-lascannon Predator can comfortably sit in a board corner and expectantly wait for enemy transports, walkers and so on to move into range of the objectives and proceed to fire upon them; you can expect good results from these units in such scenarios considering that their front AV 13 will see far greater use than it would for a short-ranged Vindicator - need I mention that being scoring while taking all that into account is delicious for a home-field objective sitter? They are also excellent against monstrous creatures in concert with other heavy firepower, though ultimately the best thing about the Predator is that is priced correctly for what it does and doesn't waste that improved front armour on the base Rhino chassis.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.
Land Raider - The reworked vehicle damage chart serves to make Land Raiders almost invulnerable to Explodes results outside of either massed or very lucky AP1 and AP2 shooting, meaning that once equipped with Extra Armour they should almost always deliver their ferried unit to whatever destination you prefer. The value of Land Raiders has further increased with the inability for units to launch an assault on the same turn they disembark from a transport unless it has the Assault Vehicle special rule, giving them more of a defined role compared to Rhinos and Razorbacks. Having units this massive and survivable with the ability to score in the 7th Edition rules is crazy as they can easily baby-sit or take objectives while using their bulk to keep nearby units from even getting close to the objective markers. Cheaper vehicle upgrades and the meta switch to high rate of fire anti-tank weapons for stripping hull points as opposed to fewer single shot anti-tank guns is essentially the icing on the delicious cake of how this unit has just improved almost out of sight without any true direct changes to its core rules. The general overview of Land Raiders in 7th Edition aside, the "generic" variant is still the "middle child" with two Twin-Linked Lascannon shots; it still can't really decide whether it wants to be an expensive Assault Transport or an over-priced gun platform. Moving 6" and firing both of its sponson weapons at full Ballistic Skill via Power of the Machine Spirit appears to be the intent of the vehicle, but it kind of wastes the mobility necessitated by taking a transport in the first place, while it is hilariously inefficient compared to the equivalent number of similarly outfitted Predators. I'm not the biggest fan of this tank, especially as it has the smallest transport capacity and features a Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter as opposed to a Twin-Linked Assault Cannon. Still, if you don't need a heavy transport to move up as fast as possible with the ferried unit - and for the love of god, don't take these by themselves as they are too expensive to take purely for their weaponry - then this will generally be a great purchase as it ticks all the right boxes; mobility when necessary, incredible protection, solid firepower and an "average" transport capacity.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.
Land Raider Crusader - I'm surprisingly not as happy with this unit in 7th Edition as I was in 6th Edition where it was the clear winner of the three variants, the reduced vehicle population giving its Hurricane Bolters a greater chance of not being rendered useless in any particular match. This is most definitely not the case in 7th Edition with the huge buffs to vehicles in general and a greater focus on transports and mobility due to the all-new Maelstrom of War missions and objective-oriented gameplay. While the Hurricane Bolters admittedly were never a major selling part of the Land Raider Crusader, it's still something to keep in mind when determining its' overall worth compared to the other two codex variants. While the standard Land Raider can be a tricky vehicle to use properly without wasting either its transport capabilities or anti-tank guns, the Crusader has absolutely no doubts about its role; a sixteen model transport capacity and in-built Frag Assault Launchers ensure it is the best overall unit ferry. That it doesn't really care if it shoots its Hurricane Bolters or not means you should always be moving with it and advancing 12" on top of a 6" Flat Out move is always a good option, something that the standard Land Raider would likely be wasted trying to do considering it sacrifices transport capacity for those lascannons. While these thoughts might not seem congruent with the first sentence of this review, determining the worth of any given unit does mean reviewing all aspects of it after all. To sum it up, this is still a fantastic transport and arguably the best Land Raider variant in a standard codex.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.
Land Raider Redeemer - (review)
Change? Much like the regular Land Raider, the Redeemer has a bit of an identity crisis in that it wants to take it slow to make full use of its powerful sponson weapons, though it does so with the same Frag Assault Launchers possessed by the Crusader. The Redeemer also features an improved transport capacity of twelve models, though it has easily the shortest-ranged sponson weapons of the trio. An effective 14" range for the paired template weapons as well as the massive bulk of the Land Raider itself make them difficult to get good template placement with, but Strength 6 AP3 on the weapon profile ensures they should always do damage to most infantry units and even some light vehicles and monstrous creatures. The issue most have with Redeemers is that at that range it will also have generally unloaded its ferried unit, meaning it has to be in a crowded - and thus vulnerable - position to really make the most of the Flamestorm Cannons. It's generally considered the weakest Land Raider variant in practice for this reason even if it appears to be excellent on paper, though it is still a good unit in 7th Edition because it excels at clearing units off of objectives.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.
Summary!
Most units in the slot are good with nothing really standing out as "bad", though the Whirlwind and Vindicator can be skipped in a more competitive list while Long Fangs are almost a necessity.
Thank you all for reading this article and for your continuing support of my work! I endeavor to improve my output each week but have found little time to divert to the blog amid a tight January release schedule. With the fifth and final Space Wolf Unit Overview article expected to launch within a week, I will attempt to squeeze in an End Times: Thanquol review when I can and cover all of the new units and updated rules. Unfortunately, financial limitations will prevent me from covering that book any-time soon and as such I ask that you please be patient. In any case, I hope you enjoyed my latest offering and look forward to hearing any or all feedback you might have!
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