Vanilla Stormravens - strategies & tactics

[Brother Xeones]

Fill in the rest with whatever additional units and wargear you fancy.

My first suggestion would be warm bodies - and a lot of them. 10 Tactical Marines and 10 Scouts do not an army make.

No, of course not. You would need more, I agree.

--one small correction though: 10 tactical termintors (not tactical marines.) But your point still holds, and as I flesh this idea out more, I'd be wanting to add in at least 10 more scoring bodies --20 would be even better, but I'll have to run the numbers to see how far I get before running out of points.

EDIT: After running things out a bit more carefully, it looks like I'd need to drop 1 Stormtalon in order to add 2x tacticals in Drop Pods and still be close to 2k. I still like the idea though. . .

[ottesoac]

Just updated my digital codex. The storm raven is heavy support, and seems the same as the blood angels one points wise, though the wargear options all seem to have gotten cheaper. Not weapons. More interestingly the storm talon is cheaper base and so is the skyhammer upgrade, while typhoon and lascannon went up a bit.

 

Can definitely see myself trying to fit storm talon in to escort my raven, as a pair they would be formidable coming on from reserves especially with a unit and dreadnought. There is pretty much nothing they can't target and have a good chance of killing between them. Will probably go for typhoon, with krak complimenting the strength of the stormstrike missiles and keep the turret assault cannon for power of the machine spirit.

 

 

 

[Brother Xeones]

More interestingly the storm talon is cheaper base and so is the skyhammer upgrade, while typhoon and lascannon went up a bit.

 

Interesting. So are the total points spent on a Stormtalon with LC, or TML the same as they were?

[ottesoac]

Both 10pts less. 

 

I'm really thinking of a badab allied detachment of Tyberos, Ironclad, LC Termies (count as troops), storm talon, storm raven for around 900pts. I like the idea of a flying intervention force and gives me a chance to paint some different marines.

[Brother Navaer Solaq]

What about bringing back an old Land Speeder Storm tactic in a modified form.

 

Fielding a Storm Raven as primarily an anti flier or ground pounder if your opponent has no fliers. Then field a minimally equipped 5 man squad of scouts and start them in the Storm Raven. if things go well and you achieve air superiority and it's no longer key you can use Storm Raven in flier mode then you an use it to deliver the  scouts as a quick objective grabber in the latter rounds of the game. If the Storm Raven goes down it's not to much of an additional loss since the squad inside is only 75pts.

 

This idea sounds good because it is not a dedicated transport. Any infantry unit can embark in the transport. Hmm...

I might try this. I do not like storm talons because it is an ugly looking model IMO. 

200 points to act as primary anti-flier sounds expensive. this would be the same cost as 2 aegis line with quad guns + men to man them.

[Captain Idaho]

That's the reason I intend to use one with Assault Cannon and Hurricane Bolters to also pulp infantry. Using a SR is a heavy investment which is why I intend to make sure it has plenty to do!

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I might just build a packless assault squad to go into a Raven. Stick an IC in there with them, hang an Ironclad off the back, and proceed to delivery. Cheaper and more warm bodies than Terminators...

[Captain Idaho]

I've contemplated something similar; a SR with Dread and Tactical squad inside as objective takers. Between the firepower of the SR and it's cargo, you should have the capacity to clear most objectives.

[Brother Casman]

Yeah, I was thinking of something similar - maybe with a cheap chaplain for assaults.

[Naminé]

Full squad of CC scouts, and then the SR can outflank too :)

 

Not sure about the dread, its scary points for only armour 12 and I worry about that s10 hit...

[Giga]

The cool thing about the raven is that it can parachute units out while in zooming mode. You can simply put a combat squad inside and, upon arriving onto the board, fly over an objective and deep strike the tactical marines there. On average, you'll be scattering 6-8" from the objective, allowing you to grab it on the next turn (or even on the same turn if you get a good run roll). 

 

Just make sure there are no enemy units/impassable terrain nearby (if any of the deep striking models can't be placed, they whole unit is automatically destroyed, as per the SR deepstriking rule). This way, you can drop a scoring unit on any objective on the table, without the opponent being able to do anything about it (even interceptor fire doesn't threaten this tactic, because it's performed during movement phase, before any interceptor shots are fired), and then deliver a dread into close combat on next turn. 

[infornography]

remember, you can put a locator beacon on the SR so you can make those deep strikes flawlessly if you are willing to spend a few points on the upgrade.

 

One point though, Storm Strike missiles are not identical to bloodstrike.  They have one worse AP and Concussive.

 

... I will say that again, Concussive.

 

What the bloody hell is concussive doing on a one shot high strength strong AP missile?  What are you going to EVER want to fire it at that will be appreciably affected by that?

[Naminé]

remember, you can put a locator beacon on the SR so you can make those deep strikes flawlessly if you are willing to spend a few points on the upgrade.

 

One point though, Storm Strike missiles are not identical to bloodstrike.  They have one worse AP and Concussive.

 

... I will say that again, Concussive.

 

What the bloody hell is concussive doing on a one shot high strength strong AP missile?  What are you going to EVER want to fire it at that will be appreciably affected by that?

 

Monstrous Creatures right before you charge with Hammernators?

[Captain Idaho]

...or charge with just about anything. With Krak grenades all round you could even finish off a Bloodthirster with a full unit of Tacticals (any more than 2 wounds would be a huge ask mind).

 

The tactical application of Concussive missiles is not bad for me and my Honour Guard either. I could remove a Trygon before it strikes, or even a Bloodthirster without loss in a glorious charge! Just have to make sure my Champion/attached characters are more than 2" away when I charge (sneaky move - you can't issue or accept challenges if you are unengaged).

[Giga]

remember, you can put a locator beacon on the SR so you can make those deep strikes flawlessly if you are willing to spend a few points on the upgrade.

 

One point though, Storm Strike missiles are not identical to bloodstrike.  They have one worse AP and Concussive.

 

... I will say that again, Concussive.

 

What the bloody hell is concussive doing on a one shot high strength strong AP missile?  What are you going to EVER want to fire it at that will be appreciably affected by that?

Like teleport homers, locator beacons need to be on the table at the start of the turn to be useable. Also, they still have a limited range, so if you want to just fly over an objective, deep strike the unit there, and then keep moving so you can melta something, you still won't get to use your locator beacon as the deep striking unit will be out of locator beacon range. 

 

Concussive is awesome against flying MCs, as those bastards can easily get into combat. This way, not only will they take a punishment from the str8 ap2 rockets, they'll also be less efficient in assault if they do get there. 

[UltraTacSgt]

Like teleport homers, locator beacons need to be on the table at the start of the turn to be useable. Also, they still have a limited range, so if you want to just fly over an objective, deep strike the unit there, and then keep moving so you can melta something, you still won't get to use your locator beacon as the deep striking unit will be out of locator beacon range. 

 

Does this mean that you could potentially use the locator beacon on the second turn the Stormraven is on the table if you plan your move to end with the Raven within 6" of where you want to drop your embarked units?

[Brother Navaer Solaq]

Q. Can a scout's move through cover be used when a scout unit disembarks (via skies of blood)? Or is this ability exclusive to the Blood Angels only. I didn't see the rule under the Vanilla stormraven rules. ??

[Azash]

Q. Can a scout's move through cover be used when a scout unit disembarks (via skies of blood)? Or is this ability exclusive to the Blood Angels only. I didn't see the rule under the Vanilla stormraven rules. ??

 

I would think that since Vanilla Storm Raven's dropping scouts the scouts if they scatter would automatically pass the dangerous terrain test because of move through cover for two reasons.

 

1. There is no FAQ stating that there is an exception on the disembark rule for storm ravens (its not called skies of blood anymore can't remember what its called atm). They have had plenty of opportunity hell...there is even an FAQ released for Death from Above already.

2. The exceptions listed in the BRB for move through cover that don't allow you to auto pass dangerous terrain tests are for impact tests. Those are related specifically to buildings and since the new rule doesn't say your taking an impact test it should be all good. (unless it says that and I missed it somewhere which is quite possible).

 

Also impact tests work completely different than the disembark rule for hopping out of a moving Storm Raven so the two situations are not analogous at all.

 

Also just another thought here not only should this work for scouts but this should also work for the Ironclad Dreadnaught since it also has the special rule of move through cover. That makes that whole package allot sexier imo :)

[PaganLinuxGeek]

Now that's what I was thinking (ironclad) but wasn't sure if it can "jump out" at same time as embarked unit?

[Azash]

The dreadnaughts count as embarked don't they? Unless they created some sort of new classification of rider (clinging to the tail for dear life :) ) that I wasn't aware of. I am getting my copy of the new book tomorrow hopefully.

Have to sit down and decipher some GWese and see if paratrooper dreadnaughts is an option! Ironclads all the way

[infornography]

Yeah, the turn after the Stormraven comes into play you can drop it's load with pinpoint accuracy as long as it is within 6" of where the Stormraven stops moving.
 

I think that is totally worth the 10 points if your cargo is valuable at all.  Especially since if your raven gets velocity locked you can't deploy the normal way anymore and you run the risk of losing the entire unit if one of your terminators ends up with a toenail stuck in impassable terrain.

 

Also good for dropping that multimelta equipped Dread behind a russ.

[thelordcal]

Whatre people's opinions on weapon loadouts for the storm raven? Since i'm fielding a bike army i opted to use the Lascannon and Multi-melta, but also eat the points for the hurricane bolter sponsons.

 

My reasons are thus:

 

1. Bike armies struggle with hoards, but not with popping light tanks. After all of the vehicles have been removed, the raven can get down and dirty by helping my TFC popping big units of fearless infantry (looking at you tyranids!)

2. The lascannon is simply extra insurance against those damn av 12 fliers that are hogging the skies. If i can get close enough, i have the ability to send 2 missiles and a lascannon at flier #1, and then send the Multi-Melta (with a reasonable chance of causing havoc) at flyer #2. The lascannon is simply that single high strength accurate shot that should be pretty scary for other fliers. I also really suck at rolling 6s, another reason to avoid the assault cannon lol.

[Captain Idaho]

I want to squeeze as much out of a Stormraven as possible which means I want an assault cannon and and hurricane bolters whilst maintaining the MM and Stormstrike missiles for anti tank - the assault cannon working as utility.

 

This should mean I can use POTMS to great effect too.

 

I understand the other favoured method is to use the Stormraven as a predominantly anti tank platform to make sure you get the most out of it, since destroying several high value targets is obviously going to have an impact.

 

Anything we can do to fit it into our lists and gain dominance as the greatest warriors of all time!

[infornography]

I am thinking I will field it with Las cannon and multimelta.  Much cheaper to field it as a dedicated anti tank platform.

[Azash]

I think I will use the LC but I was sold on the Hurricane Bolter until I had another idea.

Given the strafe rules and the fact that Talons now have strafe and Skyhammers are only 15 pts depending on how many talons are in your list I am thinking that those 30 pts for the hurricane could be better used equipping a Talon with a Skyhammer.

Pro's and Con's to argue both ways. I think the only way to decide will be to assemble the Storm Raven magnetized for all weapon options (as I did with the Storm Talon) and then play test the various builds in my list.

How miserable would this hobby be without magnets