I hope I don't live (or "unlive") to regret this but I have big plans for Dire Wolves in my army.
I usually know which enemy army I am facing before a battle and when I'm taking on an attacking army with fast movers then Dire Wolves will be playing a big part in the fight.
Their profiles are not at all impressive (it's about the same as a standard human). What sets them apart is their move of 9 inches. They cost only 8 points and so can be used in numbers to hold up your enemy's cavalry, disrupt skirmishers and forward gun lines and to target enemy artilllery.
If you play on a standard 6x4 table and set up the Dire Wolves 12 inches in from the table edge then you will always be able to charge your enemy, wherever they deploy, in the second turn - at the latest ! (except if they're behind difficult terrain or in a wood).
You can also afford to lose multiple wolves because of their low points cost and immunity to panic from missile fire. One Vampiric power even allows you to raise Dire Wolf units above their starting size.
The objective would simply be to hold up your enemy, to disrupt their missile firers and to provide a missile screen for the rest of your army (especially, higher points cost Black Knights, Grave Guard and very high points cost Blood Knights.
The one, extremely important rule to remember is that the undead, generally, cannot march move unless within 6" of a model with the Vampire rule.
This shouldn't worry you too much though because you can use the Varghulf, Black Coach, Blood Knights or any Mounted Vampire or even a Vampire with the Flying Horror rules (30pts) or Talisman of the Lycni magic item which gives a movement of 9 (for 10 pts).
Be careful to ensure your units/characters with the Vampiric power stay within 6 inches of your Dire Wolves. This will not be a problem for units/characters with a movement of 8. They will move 2 inches slower than the Dire Wolves while march moving so they will still just be within 6 inches after 3 turns. More than enough to get the Dire Wolves into combat.
Note: be more careful when accompanying Dire Wolves with barded mounted units which will only have a move of 7 inches, they will be further than 6 inches away after turn 2 movement.
One other thing I think small units of Dire Wolves might be good for is targetting enemy flyers (especially magic users). You can despatch a small unit of F wolves to hold up flyers trying to flank your army or deploy nasty undead unfriendly magic against you. The Dire Wolves probably will not win the combat but might well hold the enemy flyer(s) up for a turn or 2 which could be worth the loss of 40pts of undead wolf.
Thanks for reading, I hope you found this useful. As always please feel free to leave a comment.
Now onto Crypt Ghouls, one of my favourite units.
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