C:SM Air cav. Armies

[DerekLee688]

I want to start a discussion on building armies with mostly fast skimmers, drop pods, fliers, and the units they can transport. I don't just want to single out C:SM for air cav. armies, but they do have the most flier/skimmer choices at the moment. What unit combo's make up a good air cav army? What point totals would an air based Space Marine army do well?

 

I would like to see everything arrive on turn one for maximum target saturation. A drop pod or three, deep striking typhoons, storm Raven carrying a dreadnaught, etc... I don't have all the codex, rule books, and FAQ, so could anyone tell me if a Storm talon can escort a land speeder storm using the scouts rule or how that has changed in 6ed?

 

Combo's:

Storm Talon and Land speeder storm: arrive together, both good vs. infantry and side/rear shots on vehicles.

 

Deep strikeing Storm Raven with DS Land speeder typhoons: Since storm talons can't escort DS units in, two typhoons would have a relatively easy time DS on a empty spot on the board. Both can be armed similarly so could combine fire on the same targets.

[Brother Casman]

No, as far as I recall, DftS removed the Stormtalon's ability to escort outflankers. (Assuming you mean using Scouts USR to outflank - fliers never start in the board in the standard missions).

 

I'm also pretty sure that Stormravens do not have the ability to deep strike.

 

Your fliers will have to wait until turn 2 to arrive at the soonest, but if you get the re-roll reserves warlord trait, that will help.

 

The stormtalon escort for a fully loaded stormraven has worked pretty well for me so far - roll on two flyers, a dreadnought, an infantry unit and attached IC with just one reserve roll. Turn 3, drop the 'raven to hover and deliver the embarked units while your 'talon flies interference. In both turns, fire absolutely everything the 'raven has - at appropriate targets, of course - make good use of PotMS.

[*Furyou Miko]

Well, all I can share is expertise gained from playing Guard air cav.

 

You need something tough to hold the line until the fliers arrive. Personally, my suggestion would be a unit of Scouts hiding behind an Aegis Defence Line equipped with a Comms. Array. 3+ cover saves can't be negated by AP3 weapons and you're still basically Marines at that point. Stick some Devastators or some of your silly light tanks up on a hill to provide fire support for the scouts and you should be good.

[DerekLee688]

At larger point totals(around 1700pts.+), I would imagine you would have to start adding in actual ground units, rhino troops, bike troops, land raider, etc. because you can't transport enough troops in fliers/skimmers. Not without drawing too much fire on Storm Ravens. Anything I would deepstrike would be on turn 1. I wouldn't want to wait for anything to come in, especially if I'm not spending anything to ensure they arrive as soon as possible.

[Brother Casman]

A possible tactic: I would lean towards using the deep strikers to take over enemy ADLs, if necessary. Drop pods are pretty good at delivering stuff where you need it and the quad gun can really ruin a flier's day.

[Frogstar168]

Drop pods are great at putting your stuff where you want it.  I love them and have been playing a 7 pod army that I built in 5th ed.  Here's what I've learned:

 

Miko is right - you need something to hold the line.  What I often do is load 4 pods with my short-range killy stuff and put long-range shooty stuff in the other three.  The long-range units deploy normally and in cover (Devastators and Thunderfire Cannon are good choices here), and the 3 pods in reserve drop empty (use them to block line of sight and lanes of movement).  This works with 5 pods or 3 pods, as well.

 

A big drawback to drop pods is the inability to redeploy your good stuff.  A Storm Raven seems like a neat option to move your 1st-turn drop pod marines and dreads.  Maybe the Raven can drop its cargo off on turn 2 or 3 and then redeploy the drop pod guys if they need it.  I have had luck using a Librarian with Gate for limited redeployment, which could be a back-up option.

 

I like the Typhoon Missile Launcher Land Speeder, which I have used to deploy normally and provide decent fire-support from turn 1.

 

I would love to hear some experiences of using drop pods and a storm raven together.

 

Drop Pods!

[DerekLee688]

The BA codex says Storm Ravens have Deep Strike, but if the new book takes that away, then my "flying circus" army is pretty much toast. Back to my hybrid-mech. army. However, the fully loaded and escorted storm raven is a nice option to support it, if playing a game large enough to take the loss of all those points for a few turns.

 

Sad, that I can't start the game with typhoons, land speeder storms, storm talons, and storm ravens flying in while drop pods are falling, bikes are turbo boosting, and terminators teleporting. Oh well, just gives +1 to  homebrew custom campaign rules.

[Brother Casman]

I just checked the FAQs, the BA and GK Stormravens no longer have Deep Strike.

[Venemox]

I have been very interested in a BA/CM Air Assault force.  Drop Pods, DoA Jump Troops, and the Stormraven add mobility like you wouldn't believe.  I normally play Bloodhammer (Jumpers with ML Devestators), and their sheer mobility and versatility is outstanding.  All I can offer is an echo of what others are saying.  remember, not everything HAS to start in reserve (i.e. you can deploy the fliers and pods empty).  Don;t get too attached to taht idea, it's not always teh best one.  But the option to do so is outsanding.