The Corvus Blackstar

[Bmseifer]

It's true we dont have the codex in hand yet but there are leaks as to what rules this beauty has.

 

At slightly under the cost of the Storm Raven and with similar weaponry, transport capacity and assault vehicle I feel they are pretty similar.

 

What I dislike with flyer transports is the lack of ability to deliver its cargo sooner than T3. I'm really hoping the Blackstar has some extra rules to maybe allow it to enter from reserves T1, otherwise the only real difference would be what kind of models these two flyers can transport.

 

Maybe I'm missing something or there are rules not yet leaked that set them apart. As it looks right now for an allied detachment to my Iron Hands it's veteran squads in drop pods that will be my choice over the blackstar

[Charlo]

I can get and upgrade that gives it strafing run OR another upgrade that lets it reroll jink saves.

 

It's weapons are okay. It's nowhere near the gunboat that the Raven is - at least, it's heavily focused on Anti-Infantry and MC as opposed to armour.

 

So you can arrive, let loose with all your weapons then jink rather reliably to get your dudes where they need to be.

 

Relevant rules pages below:

 

Hidden Content

 

http://i.imgur.com/4fi8NSn.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/uWSDgzG.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/NNyNFtf.jpg

 

[Bmseifer]

Well it's still best case scenario T3...With bad luck you can assault T5. Thats alot of turns having a ~400pt unit out of effective combat.

 

Don't get me wrong, I will buy a couple for its looks and try it out but I do feel flyer transports are a very risky investment

[Race Bannon]

Good grief, that is broke.  Thank you for sharing here though because the N&R thread is bloated.

 

Yet, I does look convertible.  Yes, yes indeed.

[Vel'Cona]

We have to wait for the Formations, methinks. There should be at least 1 or 2 that will benefit this Flyer. It's too bad it doesn't get Strafing Run and can't Deep Strike, either. I absolutely love this model so I'll probably try to find a way to make it work anyway, but I'd agree it's pretty disappointing without Skies of Fury or something to get your dudes on the table faster. It's also somewhat redundant with both Drop Pods and the ability to DS all non-Vehicle units in a Black Spear Strike Force.

One thing to keep in mind is that you can take a Blackstar as a Dedicated Transport for Veterans, so any Formation they can be taken in MAY have rules that will apply to the Blackstar. Again, we need more info before a call can be made, IMO.

Edit: I stand corrected, Formations WERE spoiled. By the Emperor that thread is a shambles! Reading atm, more to follow . . .

[Silverson]

We have to wait for the Formations, methinks.  There should be at least 1 or 2 that will benefit this Flyer.  It's too bad it doesn't get Strafing Run and can't Deep Strike, either.  I absolutely love this model so I'll probably try to find a way to make it work anyway, but I'd agree it's pretty disappointing without Skies of Fury or something to get your dudes on the table faster.  It's also somewhat redundant with both Drop Pods and the ability to DS all non-Vehicle units in a Black Spear Strike Force.  <_<

 

One thing to keep in mind is that you can take a Blackstar as a Dedicated Transport for Veterans, so any Formation they can be taken in MAY have rules that will apply to the Blackstar.  Again, we need more info before a call can be made, IMO.

 

Edit:  I stand corrected, Formations WERE spoiled.  By the Emperor that thread is a shambles!  Reading atm, more to follow . . .

It can get strafing run special rule from the vehicle upgrades

[Nomus Sardauk]

So it can transport Bikes, now that's interesting...*pops on Jack Sparrow hat* That's very interesting...

[Bmseifer]

Well..

 

Only formation bonus the Blackstar gets is when taken in a formation of three models, in which case it get to reroll to wound and armour pens against FMC's and Flyers i think.

 

And transporting bikes.. I'm not sure why I'd want to. Bikes are a pretty fast unit that can move across the battlefield pretty easy on their own and doesn't really pack that much of a punch in an assault, even with all power weapons. I'd rather throw a unit of Terminators in my opponents face or an Ironclad with the Storm Raven(with C:SM ofc)

 

And IF I would use the Blackstar I probably wouldn't buy the Strafing Run upgrade, I'd buy the re-roll jink wargear instead. I'd much rather see it survive the turn after it enters the board to be able to unload its cargo than increasing its fire output(remember the A-cannon is twinlinked and the cluster bombs are blast)

[Tyriks]

Yeah, I wish it offered new utility instead of new weapons/wargear. I like the look (maybe just because it doesn't have the profile of a garbage truck with wings) but all it adds to the table is it can carry bikes and it's a tiny bit more jinky (because I know I would always buy the jink upgrade)? Meh.

 

I also wish that thread wasn't an inescapable trap, haha. One day of work and I got too far behind to reasonably catch up.

[Vel'Cona]

After careful analysis (read: massive frowning), I have decided the Corvus has several issues:

1. No Reserves/Deep Strike manipulation whatsoever. The Storm Raven et al. Flyer Transports tend to have other ways to get them on the table faster or at least deploy their dudes faster (Ravenhawk Assault Group, Tigurius, Skies of Blood/Fury, etc.). As Bmseifer stated above, you won't get the Corvus until turn 2 best case scenario and can't get its passengers on the table before turn 3. This makes it a rather poor choice to transport even the least expensive units available to the Deathwatch.

2. Not the greatest gunship. Don't get me wrong, TL AsC, unlimited Bombs and the 4 Stormstrike Missiles (lifted straight from the Storm Raven, what a coincidence!) is decent firepower, and can threaten a variety of targets. You can upgrade this to deal with specific targets (swap the AsC for LC, swap the missiles for the Corvus RL, take a Hurricane Bolter), too. The ability to gain Strafing Run is nice too (at 10 points it's an absolute steal. Honestly should have just been automatic). But all this comes at 190 points; when you consider the Stormtalon can do practically the same thing (at a significant discount), the Corvus really loses its shine.

3. Redundancy. You can already take Drop Pods, Deep Strike 2 out of the 4 Infantry units available (Terminators and Vanguard Veterans), and gain Deep Strike ON THE ENTIRE DETACHMENT if you play Black Spear Strike Force (BSSF); why in the Emperor's name would you waste 180 points for a Flyer that can't deliver the goods for 3 turns? What's worse, you have access to the excellent Deathwatch teleport homer (which works for your entire Detachment in the previously mentioned BSSF) and ready access to the Locator beacon as well, making Deep Strike an even more attractive option.

Don't get me wrong guys . . . I WANT to love this thing (it's a beautiful model), but it seems like such a lost opportunity in so many areas that I'm really struggling to rationalize it over the far more cost effective options and tactics. I'm still analyzing the codex atm, but this is one of the major sticking points coming out of yesterday's rumor dump.

BTW, the Corvus Formation is garbage. Instantly forgettable.

[mertbl]

I find it interesting that they acknowledged players are not using death from the skies.

 

The flyer itself looks cool, its value is meh.

[Vel'Cona]

Let's be glad about that. The Corvus would be dead meat if people actually used Dogfighting rules.

edit: Wow, I used the phrase "dead meat". So oooooooooold . . .

[Cleon]

I think the main strength of a Raven over the Blackstar is it's Machine spirit, allowing for split fire - That's really helped more often than I'd care to admit.

 

I can't say the Blackstar Rocket launcher appeals, especially with the AP2 missiles it's replacing - but one question - do the Hurricane Bolters get DW ammo?

[Goonbandito]

I think the main strength of a Raven over the Blackstar is it's Machine spirit, allowing for split fire - That's really helped more often than I'd care to admit.

 

I can't say the Blackstar Rocket launcher appeals, especially with the AP2 missiles it's replacing - but one question - do the Hurricane Bolters get DW ammo?

No, Specialist Ammunition is its own wargear that would be listed in the army list entry. 

[Lysere]

I understand that the flyer seems lacking, I definitely wouldn't want it lugging around a super expensive kill team. Giving it a small but super specialized killteam and building it's weapons for specific targets let's it take a jack of all trades approach above and beyond what the storm raven can do.

 

The ability to bomb infantry while still firing your weapons at something else is something the raven simply can't do, and if you're playing with death from the skies the missiles are even better as they always have sky fire, again something the raven doesn't get.

 

If you want very specific targets dead any of the other flyers would be better, but in terms of versatility I'd say the Corvus now has them all beat.

 

Also the formation is actually very solid. If you need some anti air power in a pure deathwatch army then the corvus formation is the answer. The more rerolls you have in this game the better.

[Vel'Cona]

I don't know if paying 600+ points for re-rolls is really a good bargain . . .

IMO the best build for the Corvus is TL AC, TL Blackstar Rocket Launcher and the infernum halo-launcher. You have a pure anti-infantry bombing machine that can help thin ranks and can also deal with flyers as needed. With the stormstrike missiles, you lose a massive amount of firepower after the initial dump and aren't even guaranteed to do anything with them (because S8 is a little weak for true armor hunting). Your infantry should be taking care of vehicles/MCs/etc., so let this Flyer do what it does best: a. Kill other Flyers and b. Murder swathes of infantry. Also, don't put dudes in it. Just don't.

[Lysere]

If you only needed two it would be a tad cheap compared to most other flyer formations. And I mean it's much better than the AA formation for Knights. Same rule but you actually have some real AA weapons.

[shandwen]

The flyer formation makes them somewhat reliable at killing flyers. Without it the str6 missiles won't to anything.

That being said the formation should really only be taken if your taking atleast two of the Flyers anyways (and I would almost always say to leave them empty).

[Grimdeath]

This makes me a bit sad. It's an awesome looking piece of plastic and I feel with the right set of rules would excel. I'm surprised they didn't give this thing the ability to come in on turn 1 considering all the Xenos tech that the DW uses. The thing almost screams stealth and being on-scene in synch with other DW forces... So glad all of you Brothers and Sisters are giving your feedback and saving my wallet some pain.  I might pick up 1 or 2 more Veterans boxes instead...

[Vel'Cona]

Now, I'm not saying DON'T BUY THIS. I agree, it's an absolutely awesome model and I wanted so badly for it to be amazing. Instead, it comes out as a run-of-the-mill "ground attacker" that happens to have somewhat useless transport capacity. Unless 8th edition (or 7.5 or whatever we're calling it this week) adds some new flexibility to Flyers arriving from Reserves or breathes new life into Flyer Transports, this thing will be relegated purely as an overpriced support model.

[RedMoon]

Guess I'm gonna be the odd duck out and run 3 full of my 3 kill teams. Don't even care I fully love the idea of them coming in and dropping the kill teams off. Don't even care lol :p

[Honda]

Now, I'm not saying DON'T BUY THIS. I agree, it's an absolutely awesome model and I wanted so badly for it to be amazing.

Gee, looks like a really cost effective Fire Raptor to me

[Race Bannon]

I had to pick up my eyeballs after seeing the price point for this model.  For those that can afford it, enjoy it :tu:

[shandwen]

I had to pick up my eyeballs after seeing the price point for this model. For those that can afford it, enjoy it :tu:

Did you check to make sure you weren't looking at dollaroos? (NZ currency)

[Lysere]

I had to pick up my eyeballs after seeing the price point for this model. For those that can afford it, enjoy it

Did you check to make sure you weren't looking at dollaroos? (NZ currency)

Yeah it's not up in the US site yet so we will have to wait and see what they price it at.