Thunderhawk vs 2 formations?

[Polythemus]

Hey all I had a question for all of you. Lets say that you have just graduated from grad school and have some money lying around. Youve found a morally dubious chinese retailer that can make resin copies of thunderhawks for half their retail price. You could purchase this or you could get the rest of the models to finish off two apoclypse formations (deathwing redemption force and space marine battle company) what would you do? I engineered an apocalypse game later this summer and want to try to go with 8k points, all painted if possible. Whatever is purchased would get used in this game hopefully.

 

Bear this in mind however, the thunderhawk actually isn't that survivable on the tabletop when necron pylons are around. It may not even get to fire since the pylon has skyfire interceptor and 3 Destructor shots at BS 4. all your opponent needs to do is roll one 6 on the damage table and there goes your shot at winning. this is relevant in my neck of the woods since there are at least 2 pylons that I know about owned by players I regularly play against. Apocalyse its self isnt all that common either (never played in one). Bearing these facts in mind what do you think?

two formations or a thunder hawk? Note Bene: in case its not clear buying both is not an option....

[Master Avoghai]

Well...

 

To me the necron pylons are not an argument against a thunderhawk. Apocalypse allows you to play cool stasis stuff and special formations rules that would allow you to either prevent him to use his pylon or even destroy them before your TH may enter the game.

And don't forget that rumours state that D-weapons will be toned down with the v7 so...

 

The crucial part is the quality of the model. I know people who purchased sicarans or fellblades copies of original FW stuff, and even if they payed 1/3 of the original price it was a paint to mount due to quality of the whole... At least, with FW, if you take pics of the problem, they may exchange it (I got an entire MkIIb kit like that). With copy, you could not expect any customer service.

 

My advice would be to get opinions on the quality first. If it's good then go for it! If not... Like my beloved half says : whatever the price you've payed, if it's not good quality, you always pay too much.

[Chaplain Lucifer]

I would say that people have to be carefull with dubious retailers. The material used can be hazardous to health. Then there's the issue that Avoghai pointed. A knock off is usually poor quality...

[Gillyfish]

I agree with both Luci and Avoghai - quality of cast and material would be problematic. I would go for original models for preference and second-hand from as reputable a source as you can get as the second choice. Copies I would be suspicious of unless I could see an example and knew what it was made from.

[Tanhausen]

Tell your grad friend that even if its 50% off, you're talking about some nice money to put into the thunderhawk.

 

I have quite a few friends that have bought stuff from a dubious chinese retailer and have all said the same: with big surface items (flyer wings, straight vehicle panels and so) your chances of getting something "unable to assemble properly" are VERY high (+50%).

 

Yes, it can be fixed and mended...but the amount of work and craft required is HUGE (in addition to the already demanding skills to assemble a FW model).

 

If it was a 10-20 Euro kit, I wouldn't hesitate: you  he can take your chances. But for a 300+ purchase...not worth it.

 

Infantry and the such on the other hand... ;)

 

So I also suggest you your grad friend complete your his formations.

[Cactus]

I believe Stobz has a thunderhawk he isn't using. Maybe he'll cut you a deal.

[Pbenner]

I had a local friend buy one of these knock offs.  He said by the time that he got it assembled, he'd have been better off getting a second job to afford the cost difference between what he got and what he could have gotten.  He'd have been time/money ahead.  

 

2c.

 

Paul

[Shubniggurath]

When in doubt, buy more terminators. 

In any cases... I've seen some very good quality (better than that god-forsaken GW finecast, at least...!) and some very low quality chinese recast stuff. If it's bad, then you're stuck with it, 'cause there's no way you'll have a refund from a chinese dude that sells false GW and FW stuff on the internet. If it was 20-30$, that would not be a big loss, but for a Thunderhawk, we're talking about 200$, so that might be a risk.

[Pipkin]

Stick to FW.

 

Buy quality, cry once.

[Cactus]

"...deathwing redemption force and space marine battle company..."

 

In my opinion these are two of the coolest formations available and nothing says "my collection is ready for Apocalypse" more than a full battle company. Except maybe artillery. If you only play Apocalypse infrequently the additional marines will be useful for other games too, the thunderhawk less so.

 

As others have said, I'd be wary of making such a large purchase with no recourse to Forge World's excellent support in the event of miscasts or warping.

[Polythemus]

Thank you all for your feedback. While it would be really cool to have a thunderhawk, perhaps that will be a purchase for some other time. I really hate the idea of spending $600 on a single model, hence the bargain shopping. If I can get all this stuff together I'll be sure to take a picture. For now I must complete the ETL vow and finish my first fully purchased apoc formation... the Ravenwing Huntsmasters! For the Lion!

[Pbenner]

As I think most have seen, I have the models to do a fully decked out DW Redemption Force;

 

The models are awesome, and they can make a serious impact with precision where needed.  

 

Belial

(4x) DWK

(6x) DW Terminators

 

I try to maximize rending when I run this formation.  Utilizing the precision coordinates stratagem, it's pretty easy to get down and make someone's day.  I try to go heavy tactical on these squads, giving them Stormbolters and Powerfists, with a couple chainfists thrown in, and then assault cannons (already have rending, but :cuss) or Flamers if I'm facing a Green Tide.

 

They come down hard, and will obliterate the infantry on the board, really dampening the volume of fire coming back at you, and putting your opponent in the Charge or be Charged position.  Also, if you come down close enough, they can't get you with their big Str D weapons due to attempting to be close enough to stop them from getting a big pie plate on you.

 

 

What I don't like about the above unit is that it doesn't so much other than this.  I cannot attach force multipliers (Librarians or Chaplains), and I am limited to 101 models total in the formation.  

 

I've been proposing modifications in our local ground about these models.   Change to;

 

(0-1) Belial

(0-2) Deathwing Command Squads

(0+) Librarians in Terminator Armor

(0+) Interrogator Chaplains in Terminator Armor

(4+) Deathwing Terminator Squads

(2+) Deathwing Knight Squads

 

Must Include at least one Independant Character in TDA

 

Paul

 

Would be much more "fluffy" in regards to 

[Polythemus]

interesting. I am intrigued that you have actually run this thing. I have two questions though, first why can't you attach the characters mentioned if they are in TDA? Second The restrictions say that they fight on foot foot so you can't buy any dedicated landraider, but to me that means that you can just buy a Land raider and have them get in later, its not dedicated for them afterall. Perhaps its toeing the line but seems fair to me.

[Pbenner]

The primary benefit of the Dedicated Transport concept would be that they would all join the battle at once, in this case, you could have 10 land raiders coming on at the same time as the formation.

 

In regards to the characters, I cannot honestly find anything that says you can't, but I also can't find anything that says you can.  I generally try to err on the side of caution.  The changes proposed above were mainly about not having to take Belial as the leader of the redemption force...  Know what I mean?

 

 

http://i568.photobucket.com/albums/ss129/pbenner2250/Deathwing%20Army/DSC_0614_zps04681362.jpg

 

I can field the redemption force, plus some...  haha.

 

Now, if you want a really bad-ass super heavy that doesn't cost as much as a Thawk (That's on my list, but for later) the Legion Felblade and the Typhon Siege tank are both freaking bad ass.  

 

Paul

[Polythemus]

that sir is an awesome sight!