Thunderhawk Poll!

[Vindicatus]

So in fiddling around with my Thunderhawk, I realized I was missing some of my Hellstrike missiles, and posted about finding some replacements or equivalents. I got some good answers out of that, and looking over my Thunderhawk I realized that there are several things about it that I dislike.

 

First and foremost is the wing-tip Heavy Bolters; while a good idea in theory, an aircraft needs to be able to put a saturation of rounds on target in the shortest amount of time possible to avoid ground ordnance reaching it and thus taking it out of the fight.

 

Second : Bombs and Hellstrike missiles. I dislike being limited to options of either "drop and hope" or "shoot and roll".

 

I discussed it with a friend of mine and he proposed several alternative options as far as what I could put on the hardpoints underslung in the wings, and those at the sides of the wings/along side the transport cabin.

 

One such option was the Punisher Cannon. Long of barrel and high of round-count-per-strafe.

 

Another was adding in four MLRS (multiple launch rocket system) pods on the underside hardpoints and cannons on the end.

 

Others...well, there are plenty of other options, which I love because in Apocalypse, if you tack on an appropriate point cost, damned near anything is legal for the fun of it.

 

In all seriousness, I don't see myself playing with this all THAT often, and likely never in a GW sanctioned Apoc game.

 

 

So I ask you, folks of B&C, if you could drop anything under the proverbial hood of a TH, what would it be? Also, if there are actual products (from FW for instance, or Scribor or whatnot), please provide links or a picture; this is all for visual asthetics after all!

[Montuhotep]

I'd definitely replace the wing tip HB 'turret' with a Punisher cannon per side, would look like an A10 on steroids! ;)

 

I'd almost be tempted to do a Prometheus on the front HB mounts - as in, make them quad heavy bolters on each side.

 

There, that's the anti-infantry sorted - now, tank busting. Hellstrikes under the wings - if you can get ahold of some old metal Whirlwind pods, they look perfect for it.

 

Torn between keeping the turbo-laser or swapping it for a plasma blast gun. I think keep the turbolaser as you'll want something to crack a Super-Heavy's hide.

[Vindicatus]

I actually rather like the turbolaser because..well, it's a strength-D pie plate. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

I really like the idea of wing-pivot Punisher cannons because I can tell you from my time in the service, nothing is quite so satisfying on the field of battle like hearing the low-pitch hum of automatic aircraft weaponry (the A-10 makes me squee like a 4 year old). My issue with the underwing metallic whirlwind turrets is that they look a a little clunky, which is why I was opting for the MLRS pods as a replacement.

 

 

Hell, I could even plasticard together a multi-railed pylon for bombs if necessary. Why? because magnetized weaponry on vehicles is boss-awesome.

[theshadowduke]

I have to say, go with the punisher cannons.

[A_POINTED_STICK]

Personally I'd want to scratch build a thunderhawk. The forgeworld one is too small. That front hatch should be able to deploy a Rhino Chassis full of marines. I'd also mount the Turbolaser on it's belly. I feel like the [ ]_,------' shape should be to accomadate a massive underslung energy weapon. I mean they put it on a turret on top of the vehicle? What? That makes no sense for a troop shuttle. The only plane I know of with guns on the top is the Flying Fortress and it had a hell of a lot of guns on the bottom and everywhere else for that matter. You might be able to justify a the storm raven turret on top of the Thunderhawk (but not on the Stormraven.)

 

As far as armaments I think the nose guns should be Hurricane Bolters and the other ones Prometheus Quad Heavy Bolters. Put the TL Lascannons on a Stormraven dorsal turret instead of on the little wings. Then a Drum and Punisher Cannon under each wing from the Vulture and the Rocket Pods. That's the Turbo Laser big blast, Four small blasts, 20 TL Punisher shots, 12 TL heavy bolter shots, and 6/12 TL Bolter shots, and TL Lascannons. That's a basically a flying Baneblade. Which is what it is.

[KhorneHunter57x]

I would say: Replace all four TL Heavy Bolters with Punisher Cannons (so 2 on the hull and 2 on the wings) and replace the six Hellstrikes with the two ammo drums for the wingtip Punishers and four of the missiles from the Manticore.

 

Good enough for you?

[Debauchery101]

if i could arm a thunderhawk id keep the turbo laser, ditch the wing mounted hb turrets and take hard point mounted vulcan mega bolters and manticore rockets instead of the hell strikes or bombs. also i think it would be tactically sound and reasonable for the thunderhawk to be able to deploy smoke aka blind templates surrounding the drop zone.

 

also to make the thunderhawk more realistic in the way it lands and takes off i would take the small wings above the main large ones. then make the wings able to rotate kind of like how an osprey moves its engines and do the same thing for the front but also adding in some smaller engines. and last but definately not least the engines on the wings need to be armored.

[Vindicatus]

Appreciate all the replies :P

 

After careful consideration, this is what I have chosen :

 

Wingtip underside pivot turrets : Aircraft-grade, heavy barreled Assault Cannons ( Link )

Underwing weapon hardpoints : 2x Aircraft Punisher Cannons ( Link ) and 2x Aircraft Lascannons ( Link )

 

I'm still torn on the forward cargo area sponsons, but I'll figure it out before too long. :)

[Leonaides]

And bam - you've just taken out your defensive weaponry (the HB's), in return for unreliable assault cannons, and your bomb capacity (which clears an area for your troops to disembark into) and in return you've achieved - the ability to shoot a nice line of bullets right in front of you.

 

Tactical fail, I think.

 

AC barrels have to be replaced every mission (due to excess heat/warping of barrels). But thats when firing an infantry(ok, termie) portable amount of rounds. Wing-mounted HB's will keep firing longer, so result in more rounds, more times.

 

Underslung gun pods - doent really add anything to the existing capability. Bombs and missiles do.

 

Turbo-laser on teh belly? Do you really want a main weapons to catch all the stray anti-air fire? a few little dinks and you could have a catastrohic misfire, which would probably toast the Hawk...

[Vindicatus]

Tactically thinking, this clears the proverbial dropzone a lot more effectively than a bomb does, and continues to provide accurate support of disembarked troops without resulting in said bomb straying off course and dudding out in an empty building, or fragging your own troops.

 

I never said anything about putting the barrel on the underside- that's going to remain up top. Weapons are usually that closely put to the line-of-sight of the cockpit in order to provide better hip-shots in case targetting is knocked out, so if the pilot is aiming the Thunderhawk, nose down, at a Baneblade on the ground, you're going to hit it or something close with some deviation.

 

While nice and flashy, a bomb is one shot. One. Once you're out, you're out, and what if you just happen to have a bad lay of the dice? Hm? Now you're relying on the low throughput of a series of heavy-bolters and the template from the D-cannon. The assault cannons provide more shots, auto-wounds, and an easier chance to wound. The Punisher cannons provide enough rounds on target to make swarms balk at the idea of remaining unengaged for very long. Everything else is gravy.