Okay. Flyers. How do we deal with 'em?

[Ravenger]

Contemptor Mortis Pattern Dreadnought Gained skyfire if stationary in the new Vehical Faq off forgeworlds site. I can see that putting some hurt on flyers.

[Lucien Eilam]

What do other people think about this?

The first problem is making sure it's still firing at the right things by the time the flyers start coming in from reserve. The gun is hard to kill, and turn 1 assaults might be gone, but silencing or capturing an Aegis gun in the first couple of turns can still be very easy, without ever attacking the gun itself.

 

So far most of my regular opponents have been taking an Aegis as an upgrade for their 5-man objective camping Scouts and similar units, while the rest of their army advances just like it always did. 10 Sternguard with heavy flamers in a drop pod is typically the first unit on my army list, and as a result those quad-guns have shot down more of their flyers than they have mine.

 

Note that I probably wouldn't have considered those Scouts (or whatever) a valid target for Sternguard in 5th. Sit them on 100 points of cover and a Skyfire gun I can steal, and they're the most tempting target on the board.

 

I don't expect to get away with it for long. Orks and Guard can put down enough bodies to keep an Aegis safe and still play aggressively, but Marines struggle. A Bastion is obviously a much more resilient choice for small/elite armies, unless you're building your army around defending it, and not much more expensive.

 

Assuming you've kept control of the gun, I think it will usually be sufficient for most opponents, certainly if you have a few twin-linked guns elsewhere in the army. But not against a full-on flying circus. Multiple AV12 flyers are too much for it.

 

Personally, I'm very glad I like the Stormtalon.

[Captain Idaho]

Assuming you've kept control of the gun, I think it will usually be sufficient for most opponents, certainly if you have a few twin-linked guns elsewhere in the army. But not against a full-on flying circus. Multiple AV12 flyers are too much for it.

 

Yeah see that was the problem I was thinking of. I am essentially wasting points on an item of wargear which won't help me against the armies I am most likely to struggle against! Solitary Stormravens are possibly an exception, but then it's still a single weapon firing at normal BS and not necessarily going to save the game for me.

 

I might just take the lists I want and ignore the flier problem until the next edition of Codex Space Marines, knowing that a player has to turn into a skimmer to let land infantry and to win a game on most of missions, in which case I can hit them hard next turn.

 

Interceptor, plus the weapon is difficult to remove. It's also rather cheap for its damage output, such that if they're focusing on it, that allows your other units more time to shoot down fliers.

 

In a Space Marine army 85pts or so is not cheap, whereas for Imperial Guard it is a bargain. Things are already at a premium we are outnumbered enough without forking out points on defences.

[Gornall]

I think an Aegis Line with Quad gun is worth the points whether or not Flyers are running around. It has the same firepower as a Rifleman, but sacrifices mobility for a cheaper cost. Place an objective and a Combat Squad behind the Aegis line with the Quad Gun and you have a solid firebase to target ground targets or flyers. Like Lucien said, it makes for a tempting target, but if your opponent can fight through your army to hit a home objective, you are likely in trouble anyway.

[Captain Idaho]

Yeah but it can get shot to pieces so easily! The thing only has 2 wounds! It soooo seems like I'm forking out points on something which won't get much use as a knee jerk reaction to a new facet of the game

[Gornall]

Yeah but it can get shot to pieces so easily! The thing only has 2 wounds! It soooo seems like I'm forking out points on something which won't get much use as a knee jerk reaction to a new facet of the game

 

Maybe it's me, but it doesn't seem too terribly easy to kill. It's still T7 with a 3+ armor and a 4+ cover save. I'd say it's fairly comparable to a Rifleman in survivability and firepower and more surivable than a Typhoon. I think it fits well with a list that is already focusing on shooting, as it is not likely to be very high on the threat priority list.

[ShadowHaunt]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned: Flyers can be assaulted. They don't get overwatch, and are effectively WS1. 10 Marines with Krak grenades should score at least one glance on an AV 12, and should (statistically) be enough to bring down anything lighter. A dreadnought is snapping off 3 attacks that hit on 3+ and glance on 2, or pen on 3+. You have to be a bit more canny to pull it off, because you can't catch them in a chase, but with only a 90 degree pivot, you have a pretty good idea of where they're flying to next turn, and you can at least dramatically reduce their options.

 

I think a good part of dealing with flyers is going to be paying attention to their lanes of movement, and forcing them to choose to either expose themselves, or miss out on shooting.

 

I can't decide which I find more amusing right now, the idea of 10 marines throwing grenades into the cockpit of a flyer as it goes by, or a Dread reaching a claw up, grabbing it by the wing, and slamming it on the ground like a giant mechanical Bam-Bam Rubble...

[toaae]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned: Flyers can be assaulted.

 

No they can't. Page 81, under Assaulting Zooming Flyers:

 

"Due to their high speed (and presumably high altitude), Zooming Flyers cannot be assault."

[ShadowHaunt]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned: Flyers can be assaulted.

 

No they can't. Page 81, under Assaulting Zooming Flyers:

 

"Due to their high speed (and presumably high altitude), Zooming Flyers cannot be assault."

 

Huh. Now how did I miss that? Well, I stand corrected.

 

Although, I still want to model a dreadnought smashing an ork Bomma nose-first into the ground.