Skyclaws and Hammer of Wrath

[L30n1d4s]

Skyclaws are one of the only Astartes Jump Pack units, Death Company aside, that can take more than 10 models in a single squad (and probably the only ones that can "economically" do this in terms of points). 

 

 

Aside from being able to put out 65 Chainsword attacks on he charge from a unit of 16 (14 Skyclaws, Skyclaw Pack Leader, Wolf Guard Pack Leader), which can just shred everything from hordes to elite infantry with the appropriate buffs, they can also use the new "Hammer of Wrath" Strat from Codex: Space Marines quite effectively.

 

 

Specifically, for only 1CP, whenever they make a successful charge, you can roll as many dice as models in the unit (so, 16 in this case) and, for every roll that equals or exceeds the toughness of the unit they are charging, they do a MW. On average rolls, that is 8 MW against any T4 unit before your even get to the Fight Phase (imagine killing 2-3 Bladeguard before the Fight Phase even begins).

 

 

Even better, against T3 infantry, this inflicts MWs on a 3+, so your 16 Skyclaws would average 10-11 MWs. While Skyclaws don't really need much help from MWs against things like Guardsmen, Fire Warriors, Gaunts, etc. (their massed Chainswords ought to do just fine without MW support), where I think this really shines is against T3 infantry with good Invuls, minuses to hit, etc. For example, against 4++ Harlequins (which, as I think everyone knows, are doing really well in the competitive meta right now), massed Daemons with their 5++ saves across the board, Sisters of Battle with characters buffing them up to a 3+/4++, and even T4 Genestealers (with their 5++) and enemy Marines with a 5++ from a Librarian casting Psychic Fortress, the ability to inflict 8-11 MWs on the charge, followed by 65 x S4 AP-2 attacks (all hitting on 2+s) can take out even some of the most durable opponents, I think.

 

 

Anyway, I think Skyclaws are already a good unit in their own right in this edition, but the option to drop in a whole bunch of extra MWs on the charge for only 1 CP (heaven forbid it is against a T3/T4 character, which would most likely get straight up obliterated) makes them even more worth considering.

 

 

Perhaps even more important than all of this, is just the rule of cool... can you imagine a whole pack of 16 Skyclaws "close-lining" a bunch of tricksy Harlequins with the Jump Packs, or obliterating a Tau Commander with just the sheer mass of their Ceramite Armour powered by the Jet Engines strapped to their back!!

[Kallas]

Bear in mind that the wording is quite specific: you roll a d6 for each one of your models that is within Engagement range of the chosen unit. That means you get 1d6 for each Skyclaw that is within 1" horizontally and 5" vertically.

 

Being within 1/2" of a friendly within 1/2" of an enemy applies for making attacks, but that doesn't put them in Engagement range.

 

It's still a viable stratagem, and it will still work well against a lot of things, especially bigger units (eg, Termagants, or even Guardsmen), but a tightly packed unit of Marines might give you issues getting many into range.