Land Speeder Typhoons + Prescience

[L30n1d4s]

Dark Angels get Ravenwing Support Squadrons as a FA option, allowing them to take 1-5 Land Speeders as a single squadron. They also have a measurable discount (15 points cheaper than the SM/BA/SW versions) per Land Speeder for the Typhoon variant.

 

What that means is that DA can take five LS Typhoons for 375 points, plus a Divination Librarian with Prescience for a very good bargain (65 points). The Libby can cast Prescience on the entire squadron, in essence giving it 10 TLed Krak or Frag Missiles and 15 TLed Heavy Bolter shots a turn. That is a lot of powerful Dakka, all 36" range or better.

 

Try it out and you will find that it can, on average, remove an entire 10 man MEQ squad per turn:

 

10 Krak Missiles, 8-9 hits, 6-7 wounds, 6-7 dead MEQs (without cover saves)

15 HB shots, 13-14 hits, 9-10 wounds, 3 dead MEQs (again without cover taken into account)

 

As you can see, that is pretty much an entire squad a turn, on average. Given that the squadron has such a long range, plus the 12" move and shoot afforded by Fast vehicle status, and you should be able to engage enemy units from turn 1. Of course, games are about winning, not simply making a units points back before it dies, but even with 3-4 turns of shooting, this Squadron can eliminate 3-4 enemy units, more than getting is "combat value" for the game.

 

Another effective use for this squadron is, in a pinch, anti-air duties. Prescience makes everything TLed, so essence they are shooting at flyers with BS2. Against an AV12 flyer, on average the squadron would make:

 

10 Krak Missiles, 3-4 hits, 1-2 glancing hits

 

If you are able to target rear armor (usually AV10, except for Stormravens), then that becomes:

 

10 Krak Missiles, 3-4 hits, 2-3 glancing hits

15 HB shots, 5 hits, 1-2wounds, 1-2 glancing hits

So, on average, killing a flyer each turn if it gets a rear shot

 

Not a perfect AA weapon, but definitely something to supplement your flyer defense.

 

With regard to anti-horde duties, the 5 Typhoons with Prescience Libby come into their own. Imagine you have giant swarm of Gargoyles coming at you from across the board and only have 1-2 turns before they crash into you defensive lines.

 

10 Frag Missiles, estimating roughly 20 hits, 13-14 wounds, 8-9 dead Gargoyles

15 HB shots, 13-14 hits, 9-10 wounds, 9-10 dead Gargoyles

That's 17-19 dead models, turning a very tough horde into a very manageable threat in a single turn of shooting.

 

Against MCs, this squadron also shines. Take a T6, W6 MC like a Mawloc

 

10 Krak Missiles, 8-9 hits, 6-7 wounds, 6-7 wounds on the Mawloc

15 HB shots, 13-14 hits, 3-4 wounds, 1 wound on the Mawloc

Basically, almost guaranteed to bring the MC down in a single turn of shooting

 

Finally, against Medium to Light vehicles, the squadron also shines, though a bit overkill in most cases. Need to stop a Vindicator that is threatening your lines in its tracks? Against AV 13 you have:

 

10 Krak Missiles, 8-9 hits, 2-3 glances/HPs destroyed.... fairly good chance of destroying it in a single turn, never mind any results on the Penetrating Hit table.

 

 

So, that is all the upsides... the squadron can put out lots and lots of long-range, multi-use firepower that has utility against a whole variety of targets. What about the downsides?

 

Well, for one, it costs a fair penny points wise, even with the reduction in LS Typhoon costs for DAs relative to other Marine books. Add in the Librarian (as cheap as he is), and you still have spent just under 25% of your standard 1850 list on an IC and a single squadron of units.

 

Second, this unit is fragile. AV10 across the board, 2 HPs per vehicle, these vehicles go down fast, even to Bolter fire if it is in range. Jink saves help, but a 5+ cover save is not going to prevent enemy from focus-firing this squadron down if it tries to get near the front-lines.

 

Finally, overkill. While the squadron can put out a lot of firepower, potentially eliminating entire enemy units in a single turn of shooting, it can only target a single unit per turn (no split-fire, unfortunately), meaning that it cannot always maximize that firepower against all the best targets.

 

So, how to mitigate these weaknesses? The high points cost can be helped my smart army design, utilizing cheap, cost-effective allies (i.e. IG, SoB, Grey Hunters, etc.) and/or cost effective units from the DA codex: cheap Tacticals, Devastators, HQs, etc.)

 

As for the weak survivability, well there are two things you can do: first, use that long range to your advantage. While many things can hurt Land Speeders, at 36-48" a lot fewer things can hurt them, simply due range issues. Use the squadrons mobility to constantly move and shoot, staying out of the threat envelopes of weapon systems that are really dangerous to them. Combined with the Jink save, and you should be able to greatly reduce the squadron's fragility.

 

The second, and more effective, solution is to build/employ your army in a way that synergizes with the Typhoons (something the DA book is already very goof at doing). Your opponent may have 15 Long Fang Missile Launchers that are a real threat to the Land Speeders, but they become very much less so you just dropped Belial and 10 DW Termies 2" from them on turn one and a Ravenwing Attack Squadron comes in using Outflank turn 2 right next to them. Similarly, a blob of 50 Guardsmen with 5 ACs hit by the Dark Talon's Stasis Bomb (-3 Initiative) and then right afterwards by its Rift Cannon (causes BS1 on a failed initiative test) is MUCH less threatening to the LS Typhoons. Allies can be a great aid in this as well... an allied Dreadknight shunting 30" first turn to threatening an enemy flank is going to attract a lot of attention from enemy weapons that would normally be a big threat to the Typhoons.

 

What all this boils down to is remember what this tactic is (using the Land Speeders and Libby combo as a long range "glass cannon") and employ it appropriately. Used properly, the Land Speeder Squadron with Prescience provides highly accurate, long-range, potentially overwhelming firepower against a wide-spectrum of units. In some ways, it almost wise to think of them like a very mobile, very multi-purpose sniper.... let the rest of your army maneuver, distract your opponent, or engage him up close while the Land Speeders sit back at the edges of the board and surgically "snipe" one key enemy unit each turn, thereby disrupting the synergy that the enemy army is relying on for its own strategy.

[Nightmare84]

I used 3 typhoons last game. Works well. I deep striked them next a pod with locator. Prevented them being first blood since it was tau.

Libarian nearby with prescience and a auspex made for fun.

[Arthrynn]

A Darkshroud could also be used to give them a 4+ Jink.  The only issue is more points.

Edit:  You could also keep them stationary in cover, with a darkshroud/techmarine for a 2+ cover.  Again, more points.

[L30n1d4s]

Another option is giving the Librarian a Power Field Generator and keeping him in the middle of the squadron, thus giving all Land Speeders a 4++ all the time. That's only 30 points, so cheaper than a Dark Shroud and/or Aegis Defense Line.

[Raven of the Wing]

nice topic, good well though out concepts.

 

I used a typhoon for first time, solo last week, kept it at an optimum 36" range, and first turn it turned two long fangs into a pile of ceramite :)

then it suceeded in make a jink save when return fire from a lascannon hit. :)

 

needless to say im currnetly building my second typhoon :)