Unit of the Week: Xiphon Interceptor

[Jolemai]

Welcome to part five of the Blood Angels Unit of the Week Series!

Following the release of the 8^th edition Codex, there is no better time to discuss all the units we have access to. Each week a different unit will appear, with the idea being that we discuss how best to use that model on the battlefield. Where part one will focus on the unique BA units and part two will focus on BA units that are new to this edition of the Codex, part three will discuss how to get the best use the generic units from the past that are still with us (and that many of us have in our armies still), and part four will discuss the Legends units that we still own and love. Finally, part five will be dedicated to the reinforcements from Forge World.

Note, this isn't to lament any nerfs, etc, from previous editions; the rules are as they are so try to unlock its potential for those who wish to use them all the same. Similarly, this thread is only for using the option being discussed; it matters not if you feel something is a better choice as such comments aren't constructive to the topic and shall be removed.

Without further ado, here's this week's entry:

Xiphon Interceptor

Xiphon Inteceptor, Vykes

What are you thoughts here folks? How best would you use a Xiphon (found in Imperial Armour - Index: Forces of the Adeptus Astartes)?

• To compliment a list, or to build a list around? Will the beta rules affect your list(s)?
• Will you be running multiple units?
• Are you buffing this unit? If so, how?
• Stratagems of note?
• Over to you.

[Jolemai]

Should you want your model on display here (or on another thread from the series), then submit a photo here please.

[Indefragable]

I will finally sit down and write an entire tactica on these one day. 

 

They are, IMO, one of the best tools in the entire belt of BA/SM. They're only drawback is that they are FW, thus costly in both points and $. 

 

As long as 9th Ed Imperial Armor does not drastically shake things up, here's what makes them so good:

 

• BS3+ against ground targets (no penalty)
• BS2+ against anything that can <Fly>. Aka Necron and Eldar vehicles and pesky doppelgänger smash captains.
• 4x Lascannon shots total, aka a flying Devastator squad (with no penalty to move). That WILL hurt something. Can put 2 shots into 2 separate targets if you are so inclined, though I tend to just invest in making sure 1 unit is dead
• Rotary Missile Launcher is a bit odd, but I like firing it at units like bikers and such to make sure they go down
• It's a Supersonic Flyer, so it's -1 To Hit to the enemy unless he brought dedicated AA, which is not very common
• It moves 20"-50"....9th rules also mean it no longer has to worry about blowing up if it flies off the board (need to re-read how that works)

 

Put that all together and what you have is a F-22 with ground-attack package that can deploy in the very corner of your DZ out of range and/or LoS of any of your enemy's threatening guns, and then put 4x lascannons on any target on the board T1. Moving 20"-50" + 48" guns with no penalty To Hit for moving is simply awesome for that reason. Compare to Predators, Repulsors, or Devastator squads see how, yes, they are pricey, but the combo of manuevability, accuracy, relative survivability (-1 To Hit), and damage output is such a juicy sweet spot. 

 

Mine:

Hidden Content

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Indefragable

[Jolemai]

Nice summary. As Flyers are now two per detachment, would you go solo or pair it with another/different Flyer?

[Indefragable]

Nice summary. As Flyers are now two per detachment, would you go solo or pair it with another/different Flyer?

 

2x is better than one, so if you can swing it, yea I'd bring two. 

 

But of course there's the caveats of "what the rest of your list looks like" and "what the opponent is doing." If you face nothing but hordes of Ork Boyz or Hormagaunts, the Xiphon is not going to do as well as a Stormtalon. So if you bring one Xiphon and one of something else, there is benefit to that...

 

...my personal presence is to bring 2x Xiphons partially because I own two (funny that), and partially b/c when I bring one/them, I tend to use them as my primary AT and so thus both their damage output and survivability goes up considerably. Two also increases the angles you can attack things at, so that makes a difference. 

 

In big games of 8th (2500+pts) one of my favorite builds was 2x Xiphons + Stormraven*. Not only did that get you a lot of air cover (all -1 To Hit), but the threat saturation forced the enemy to choose between the Transport or the Scary Guns when prioritizing what to shoot at first. So for that reason, I think pairing the Xiphon with Transport can be good. 

 

*I also loved the imagery of a chopper being escorted in by two attack craft

[Karhedron]

Now that characters are "hidden" as long as they are within 3" of another unit, does this reduce the potential of Flyers to assassinate characters hiding behind the front lines?

[Hintzy]

If the character is the closest model it's still a viable target, so it functions the same in regards to aircraft "sniping" characters.

[Majkhel]

Exactly. In 9th it can even be somehow easier as more restrictions need to be met in order to 'hide' characters. Additionally aircraft have more flexibility in terms of positioning as they no longer get destroyed if forced to leave the table. 

[Indefragable]

And a crafty pilot can find a way to move himself to be the closest model to the enemy character....

 

(but don't expect that to work twice against the same opponent). 

[Sothalor]

Huh. Yeah, smash captains with jump packs have the FLY keyword.

 

I now have this mental image of a lone champion with a jump pack launching himself into the air towards the enemy - only to get blitzed by lascannon beams as a Xiphon zips by at low altitude, pilot cackling to himself.