Flyers and anti-air options

[Fahlnor]

Thoughts on flyers and anti-air options, folks?

 

I really want to pop an Astartes Storm Wing into an army. The worry for me is putting 450 points into reserve with no way of knowing for certain when I'll see them arrive.

 

Is a Skyshield Landing Pad worthwhile?

 

What other anti-flyer options do we have?

 

Discuss!

 

:D

[Jolemai]

Flyers

 

• Flyer review
• Stormwing review

 

Anti Air

• Flak missiles
• Whirlwing Hyperios Anti Air Tank review
• Land Raider Helios review

 

In addition to gun emplacements such as the quad gun and the Icarus lascannon (which can be fitted to battlefield debris or to fortifications) there are two other anti air choices that I am yet to review. The first, the Hyperios Anti Air Tarantula is a cheap option whereby you have 1-3 BS 3 krak missiles with Skyfire and Interceptor. The other version is the Deredeo pattern Dreadnought whereby if it stands still for a turn it gains Skyfire and Interceptor with its Anvillus pattern autocannons (twin-linked, Heavy 4 autocannon) and it's Aiolos missile launcher (ST 6, Heavy 3) weapon systems.

 

The Skyshield I have briefly covered in the Flyer guide. It has it's uses for getting any Flyer with Hover mode on early and can potentially mean an earlier charge for it's cargo. The thing is, AV 12 is arguably much happier zooming then being a skimmer so it needs to be planned well. Also, it can't be used with the Adeptus Astartes Stormwign formation as the formation has to arrive from reserves together.

 

Finally, to get the Flyers on quicker there is reserve manipulation. This can be done by a Comms Relay, a Land Raider Poteus (see Helios link above), a Damocles Command Tank (see Hyperios link above), Captain Karlaen, Dante and to a lesser extent, Corbulo.

 

Hope that helps :)

[Remtek]

I think ground to air units are too situantional, if you want anti-air pick a flyer.

 

And like Jolemai said, plenty of reserve rerolls giving you close to 90% chanse of turn 2 arrival. IMO Dante is the best option in general as he is strong in many aspects. Damocles is pretty good as well for FW players.

[DominicJ]

I take a raven, mm/ac

I'm tempted by rockets and las cannons, but you don't need the range really.

[Brother Galfridus]

I take a raven, mm/ac

I'm tempted by rockets and las cannons, but you don't need the range really.

In an anti-air role the multimelta is awesome until you play against marines with ceramite plating. Then the lascannons become the better choice.

 

IMHO flak missiles are too expensive for what they do and a stormraven is the best in codex option.

[Captain Caine 24th]

Those are great write-ups above, and I agree with what's been said. From personal experience, I usually take a Stormraven and it's equipped with hurricane bolters, MM and AC. Across a lot of games through 6th and 7th edition I've gotten a lot of use out of the hurricane bolters. Some people are absolutely against them, and some love them. For me this vehicle is a fixer--it moves very fast to help alleviate whatever tactical mistake I've made and hopefully can help my assault elements make it to where they need to go. The Stormraven has also been fairly effective at anti flying vehicle even if the AP on the missiles have been reduced. Little things that often go unnoticed like the ceramite plating and power of the machine spirit, are a big bonus for this aircraft. 12 rear armor is also something you may not be thankful for until you use a cheaper aircraft.

 

Problems. I've had many games where it's survived and many where it did not. Quad guns and Hydras though not exceptional units will bring down a stormraven over a few turns. Hive tyrants and Crones can have equipment to deal with stormravens as well. Just generally speaking flying monstrous creatures can be a problem as they are very maneuverable, can fire in any direction, can't be stunned/shaken, and often have a 3+ save. Due to the cost of stormraven you may decide to only bring one, which isn't a problem on its own, but may become a problem if it's outnumbered. Fire lanes/ target solutions or whatever you want to call it are problems for all flyers in that depending on your angle of approach you may not have quality targets to shoot at. An opponent with a very aggressive list, like full drop pods may also be a problem for the stormraven to find targets as the opponent may be in your deployment zone. So, arriving at best on turn 2 and having to fly off the board at some point can be a headache. This is very situational, but something to take into account. 

 

At first I was very against flak missiles. I still don't use them, but have faced them on many occasions. Nearly everyone says they are too expensive. However, in a tactical squad and with some cover or a rhino that missile launcher is very well protected. It starts on the board turn 1. It has 48" range. It has three modes of fire: anti-infantry, anti-tank, and anti-air. It's fairly clear to all of us that if you want one of the best flyers/anti-flyers in the game you need to spend 200 points. I don't think the flak missile is a direct comparison to that. Instead, taking these missiles in sufficient numbers can strip off hull points or force a jink on a flyer. For that job, and for its tactical flexibility you pay for that point cost. A squad of devastators with these may very well be too expensive, too fragile and too limited to the backfield--but tactical squads with these missiles integrated in various points on the field could work. I'm not saying the points value on the flak missiles are perfect, but they aren't intended to be S10 AP1 72" range ignores cover. I think they may be worth another look. 

 

Tactics. Often there is the tactical decision to take the big risk and go into hover mode at the end of the game just to get that last round of shooting in. Having a flyer can multiply your tactical options in that it moves very fast and can transport somebody. (due to the carnage of getting shot down I don't usually transport more than scouts). Coming in from reserves before your opponents reserve aircraft come in can be real bad news. I still think reserve manipulation is key. I've had many games where luck was not with me and the stormraven along with a bunch of jump troops don't show up until turn 4. And, at that point it's too little too late.

 

I like to pair flyers with drop pod units. If I can I like to use drop pods to take out skyfire units if at all possible before the stormraven comes in. Otherwise, depending on the threat, there may be no choice but to go after the anti-air with the stormraven as fast as possible. With Dante's warlord trait, Jump assault squads with melta guns can often work for this too.

 

Like everything else in the codex, I think it's a decent unit that will work well in some situations but not all of them. I've been successful without airpower in recent games (and it could just be where I am, but I've been seeing a lot less aircraft). However, I like the idea of having an army that has an impact in all the facets of the game--anti-tank, anti-infantry, psychic, assault, short range shooting, long range shooting, ignores cover and so on. Not having any airpower can make you feel like you're on the defensive even if it's not really the case.