Ramblings.

     I've been trying to get together a list of units that I want to put into lists and see which ones I prefer. I've been painting Space Wolves for the last couple weeks and have been having a blast building the models and putting paint on them. There is a lot of character in each model, and it's that that lends itself to me wanting to paint more and more of them. My first love is still Black Templars, however, so once I get into a more creative conversion mood to add character to each Black Templar mode I'm anxious to see if my painting spirit hold sup. But this post is more about having units/models that work in a list, versus wanting units/models to work in a list.
While approaching lists for Black Templars with Space Wolf allies, it's extremely important to highlight what works, what doesn't, and who does what better. For example, Grey Hunters are much better at being "standard marines" than Black Templars. They are cheaper with more unit options on a whole. Crusader squads, however, definitely win out on having smaller more effective units IE: a unit of 5 with a Sword Brother /w a combi-flamer, a flamer in the unit, and a heavy flamer in the unit as well. Footslogging goes to the Crusader squad as well, since they can get the meat of their package in their Initiates and then bloat the size of their unit with neophytes. Grey Hunters do supply a much more tactical option on the whole, though, especially with a bit more versatility (and this is due to having a bolter, bolt pistol, CCW, and Counter-charge). So as you can see, there is a lot to deliberate between when deciding what is needed from a unit, where to get it from (Primary or allies), and then you need to worry about it fitting into the rest of the army.
Having one rhino is a death sentence. Having 10 rhinos, however, becomes a very tiresome and difficult obstacle for most/any opponent. Wrap them in a void shield generator and...well...that's something else. But this is important to keep in mind for the list being built. When taking allies, if you prefer Grey Hunters to Blood Claws (NOTE: YOU SHOULD), then you have to decide how to get them across the board. Rhino? Or Drop Pod? Drop Pod is the obvious answer when you are vehicle-lite.
        There is a lot to debate, and I'm getting a bit off topic. What I really wanted to go into was units that I like and want to include, and reasons why they supply a role that is difficult to get from somewhere else.

Space Wolves: The Lone Wolf

     Gear choices really change what this guy does, but we're going with a chain fist, storm shield, terminator armor, and 2 Fenrisian Wolves. At a$1.05, this guy is pretty great. He's a guided missile, and he can head towards mobs (really preferring high character counts), vehicles, and MCs. Vehicles and MCs are the best things to gun for, and the fenrisian wolves provide a few extra wounds to mitigate for and help him get a bit faster when he's about to charge (as well as soak up overwatch shots). I usually keep the wolves behind him until he's about to charge, then scoot them up a great deal to try to get them into charging distance, so he can just play catch up. You have to be careful, of course, as putting them out too far and making a really crazy charge distance can have you ending up with 2 dead wolves and him not being able to consolidate into distance, but this would be rare.
     For his points, there isn't much else that gives you his on-field abilities. And he's basically an MC, which is really awesome. At 2 wounds (4 pseudo-wounds with the wolves, I suppose) with feel no pain and a 2+/3++, he is a supreme threat if he can close in. He has difficulties closing in that gap, but the fenrisian wolves help a little, and you can use him for board coverage. I've even been thinking of fielding him in front of Devastator Centurians to grant them cover saves (which those wolves really help with). But that's another good point, he's a wound sponge and he can grant cover saves to pretty much anything you want. He walks slowly acrossed the battlefield, but your Land Raider/Rhino isn't going that fast either. In which case, he can provide a good interceptor for anything that wants to try to take out saide Land Raider. And once he's in range for something to charge, well...then he goes to work.
     I've had this model stop an entire round of Dark Eldar shooting when my opponent decided to target him and still fail to do anything against him. (Note: He didn't have many options to shoot at, but still)

What kind of lists does he work in? : Any where you have an elite choice and a Space Wolves detachment. He does well just being on the battlefield, and I think he's cheap enough to play guard duty on a key unit/model/vehicle, or to send acrossed the battlefield and see what happens. If you play an aggressive game, are fielding bikes/drop pods/etc, and are gunning for your opponent's front lines, he makes it there eventually, or cleans up anyone that tries to fit through your ranks. Remember, he wants to die, and he plays very well if want him to die as well. Just be sure he takes out something, or it takes a lot of bullets to get through him.

Space Marines (Black Templars): Sternguard

     I'm not entirely sold on these guys yet. They are flexible, capable, and not scoring. I just put together 5 with some Black Templar bits on them and they look amazing. But I hope how they look and how they play are similar. I haven't put them on the table yet, but they should be good. 2 attacks base is nothing to scoff at, but $2.30 for a squad of 10 without any upgrades is a bit pricey. Add in a drop pod and some combi-weapons and it's really getting up there. I built mine with 2 meltas and 2 combi-meltas, and expect to get another unit of 5 soon. I'll be tossing them in a rhino preferrably, but I am not Mech heavy at the moment, so a drop pod it will be. It's an expensive unit, though, and without hit and run they are easy to tie up. I expect them to do some heavy lifting in my lists, but playing them correctly and anticipating what your opponent will do is going to be key to their survival and usefulness. 300 points will be a lot to invest in a unit, and it will probably take longer than 1 turn for them to buy their points back...so be careful what can kill them in 1 turn (IE: Helldrake, FMC vector strikers, any TAU army with markerlights).
 
What kind of lists do they work in? : When I start paying 300 points for a unit, I really start thinking about how many capable units that cost a lot and put out a lot of threat I can work into the list. The sternguard are considerable threat in almost every way, and not having the rest of your army be threatening means you can expect them to be the target of pretty much every attack. You could try to infiltrate with Cypher, but he's not doing a lot of heavy lifting himself for his point cost...and then you're talking about a 450 point unit (since you don't need a drop pod any more). For that many points I can get a unit of 3 Thunderwolf Cavalry and a unit of 3 Centurion Devastators with grav cannons. I'd take the later if I have the slots available for them.

Space Wolves: Thunderwolf Cavalry

     Coming from playing Daemons and Chaos Space Marines for most of my experience with this game, I learnt how amazing MCs are in 6th edition. I put things like the Lone Wolf and Thunderwolf Cavalry into the "MCs" bracket, though. No default AP 2, but still comparable to MCs within their price range. 50 cents less than $2.00 for stock Thunderwolf Cavalry gives you 3+ armor, 6 wounds, S5, T5, 12" movement, and 15 attacks with rending....I must be missing something here if that profile doesn't seem appealing for so cheap. Str 10 can insta death, sure, but you have to insta death three times, opposed to the normal once on a bigger, probably more expensive MC. These guys are good at taking out little guys, but less good at fighting back things that go at a higher initiative with any AP 3 or better weapons. Sure, that's limiting, but I don't think freaking out and upgrading to Storm shields is the best way around that. You could just add in 2 more Thunderwolf Cavalry members to the unit for about as expensive as that would be and get more attacks, more wounds, and have a pretty sizeable unit. Expect it to come under fire, but these guys can take out transports, units, hordes, MCs, and just be generally awesome.

What kind of lists do they work in? : Any. They have a pretty good upgrade list, and you can tool them out for specific roles. I wouldn't invest too heavily, but having three, with 1 with a thunder hammer and storm shield, isn't a bad idea. Stick him in the back of the unit and gun for a transport or big bad thing to smash. I have high hopes with them as an escort to my Chapter Master on a bike, and since I can't even begin to think of an easy close combat unit for him to join in the normal Space Marine codex, I think they will fit with him just nicely.

With all that in mind, how about a list?

Black Templars -
HQ - Chapter Master, Bike, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Artificer armor - 250

Elite - Sternguard x10, x2 Melta, x2 Combi-melta, Drop Pod - 305

Troop - Bikes x5, x2 Grav, x1 combi - 145
Troop - Bikes x5, x2 Grav, x1 combi - 145

HS - Thunderfire Cannon - 100
HS - Thunderfire Cannon - 100

Space Wolves -
HQ - Rune Priest, Runic Armor, Bike - 155

Elite - Lone Wolf, terminator armor, Chain Fist, storm shield, x2 fenrisian wolves - 105

Troop - Grey Hunters x10, x2 Meltas, Drop Pod - 190
Troop - Grey Hunters x10, x2 Plasma Guns, Drop Pod - 195

Fast Attack - Thunderwolf Cavalry x3 - 150

Total: 1840