Unit of the Week: FW Fire Raptor Gunship

[Xenith]

++Thousand Sons Unit of the Week++

++Fire Raptor Gunship++

New codex, new discussions about units! As we already have in other faction sections, this is the Thousand Sons Unit of the Week series, where each week we select and dissect a datasheet found in the book, and discuss how we use the unit in-game, favoured loadouts and combos, essentially how to use these units best. What have you found that works, and what doesnt? Please try to stick to the idea of making the unit in question work, as opposed to pointing out other units that might do a better job - we'll get to those in time!

This week, we will be discussing the Fire Raptor - used on and off through the editions, this is a chunky FW model that many don't have - are you using one, and how?

What are you thoughts, and how best would you use the unit?

• To compliment a list, or to build a list around?
  
• Will you be running multiples?
  
• What <GREAT CULT>, loadouts, spell relic and Stratagem support do you prefer and how much does it depend on the above choices?
  
• Are you buffing this unit, and if so, how?
  
• Are you building as a damage dealer or buff-provider?
  
• Uses in Matched, Narrative and Open Play
  
• How have they fared for you in-game?
  

Over to you.

++Thousand Sons Unit of the Week Index Link++

[Lucky_Lee]

Ah, my baby. Man, what a ride we've been on. 

I bought my Fire Raptor in response to my friends getting their flyers for Necrons and Custodes. I hate the Ares gunship still.

 

The raptor in 8th was a useful heavy support platform but a tad expensive. Since the start of 9th or should I say when they gave it back to us after the compendium update, the Fire Raptor has been seeing steady improvements from both our 9th ed codex and the new dataslate update. 

 

With so much of our codex built around Sorcerers, Rubricae, and the Scarab Occult, we often struggle to field adequate heavy weapon support. This usually forces us to close in for witchfires/smites which then can expose our units to charges on the following turn. 

 

The Fire Raptor can be an elegant solution to this problem depending on your play style. We have some solid buff psychic powers at our disposal and for the same reason you'd buff a terminator unit to the gills you would do the same for the raptor's shooting capabilities. With the new Armor of Contempt rules in play terminators don't really need our defensive buffs as much. So, if you proscribe to the "hammer and anvil" approach to list building like I do you might be eyeballing the fire raptor about right now as that hammer to the SoT's anvil.

I typically run a raptor with rubrics and 1x10 SoT. The optimal HQ set up i've found is Ahriman, an Exalted Sorcerer (WL w/ prism of echoes on disc), and an Infernal Master.

When buffing I prefer the 4++ and +1 to hit spells. On the turns you kick it into hover you can park it next to the Infernal Master. Then give it the -1 to be hit spell while also allowing for the use of the +1AP strat and removing cover or +1 str to range weapons. Speaking of weapons, I prefer the missiles and heavy bolter racks. In some games I still switch up to the las cannons and go cult of prophecy to wombo the Infernal Master reroll and the prophecy die. Cult of Knowledge also has play, rerolling wounds on a raptor is mighty nice.

9th ed codex gave the raptor a native 5++. Armor of Contempt is a thing now. I haven't gotten to use it but I will probably here in the next two weeks. I'm pretty excited to see the durability of this guy when it's full on kaio ken x10.

If your opponent happens to have enough firepower to take this guy down on turn 1 don't be afraid to spend the CP to put it in reserve. This way you'll get your buffs on it before they can threaten it. I usually then put the terminators on the table and they take the buffs until the raptor arrives. 

I hope my experience with it helps anyone out there thinking of picking one of these guys up. To be honest its been a blast to play with... but be warned. The kit is the most frustrating thing I've ever put together in my life. It was awful. Bent and broken pieces galore. A miscast that had to be swapped out. It was a nightmare. If you buy it I HIGHLY recommend having it assembled and painted by a reputable service. Also if you don't want your plastic mounted twin lascannon bit hmu. lol I need one.

Edited April 19, 2022 by Xenoscry

[Ahzek451]

Good write up. I converted one up a few years ago and so far have used it once. I need to dust(hah) it off again and give it a whirl, the only thing preventing me was the heavy points tax, and lack of ability to score. I too favor the bolters, the amount of shots and range make it particularly lethal to light armor, things hiding, and marines....depending on how often you run into -1 damage strats/rules. Maybe worth checking out again. 

[The Yncarne]

I used this unit for my first two games of the current codex. It was ok, being marked for death right off, but didn’t live to its potential.

 

I find the heavy bolter option better than auto cannons today.

[Lucky_Lee]

***update!***

So, I've gotten a pretty good sample size of games and wanted to jot down a few thoughts I had. I've played at least a dozen games in 9th with the raptor against; Custodes, Space Wolves, Death Guard, Necrons, and Tyranids.

I know that isn't an exhaustive list and I did get some pickup games with other factions but not enough to form a solid opinion. That being said, I hope you'll keep the factions and play styles in mind when considering the Fire Raptor for your games. 
 

**Vs Heavy Ranged Lists**

I found when fighting against forces that have access to durable heavy weapons platforms (think anything T8 with anti-tank capability) the Raptor 100% needs to be placed in reserve. So make sure you hold the CP for it. That's a big ask in Warzone: Nephilim after already paying the 1CP for a "Relic" unit.  I see the CP investment in this current meta as it's biggest drawback.

Outside of that it tends to perform very well against anything with T4 and 2 wounds. But in a shooting match it always got used for tank hunting as our infantry fire is more than enough to kill enemy troops.

Having the Cult of Duplicity helped as well. My opponents didn't want to give up their backfield and struggled to push up. This in combination with the Perplex spell seemed to make my opponents over commit to the raptor thinking it's the easiest target. I did experiment with prophecy and the infernal master but I felt like it was a lot of work that didn't pay off as much as I wanted.

In my games vs heavy ranged lists I usually bring the FR in on T2. It is usually dead by T4 unless I get crazy and put it back in reserves to deny my opponent any secondaries they might have with it.

I did have it survive one game where I successfully managed to destroy both of my opponents Doomsday Arcs on T2. From then on they ignored it and paid the "I didn't kill the Fire Raptor" tax for the next three turns. 

 

***Vs Heavy Melee Lists***

And this is where the raptor usually starts to be worth a bucket of baked dice...
In my games vs predominantly melee lists, Space Wolves and Tyranids making up the lion's share, the match up was much easier for the raptor. If you make proper trades and keep the raptor away from flanking or deep strike threats with good screening it will chew through 2-3 full units a turn.  It's brutal and unless they have fly they can't charge it. If you're screening for the raptor they wouldn't be able to anyway. As much as it pains me to recommend it Tzaangors are perfect for this play style. I ran 2x15 units and used them as screens or trade fodder for SoTs. 

Nids were a tad scarier, the Zoanthropes being able to cast through synapse with smite and the Exocrine are big problems. My raptor didn't survive to T4 in any of the games. It did manage to consistently wipe 2+ units each turn it was down. I tried to kill the threats to the Raptor first but my opponent screened well and so I ended up trading the Raptor for high value threats to my SoTs each game and then used SoTs to finish the game out. I think I started the raptor on the table every time but twice. Deployment can sometimes put the raptor in danger on T1 so I would send it into reserve instead. 

 

*** Summary***
All in all I wouldn't call the Fire Raptor the cure to our problem with heavy support platforms, but it might be one of the better options we have. It's difficult to charge so you don't have to worry about shooting being blocked, it packs a fearsome amount of anti infantry damage and with some buffs it can do work on vehicles and monsters. Armor of Contempt is strong and it's the same story when you give a marine T7 and 18 wounds. I personally think it's TOUGHER THAN MAGNUS to kill once buffed. (Smh) It's also very fluffy for us. Which is cool.

I've enjoyed the journey and the fact my friends always want to know before the game if I'm taking it. It's a playstyle decision for sure but one I hope some of you might explore. I've attached my standard list. I did make a few variations here and there but this was my "all comers" list. You can drop 1x5 SoT  and 1x5 Rubric and add 2x15 tzaangors and a shaman if you want some flakk.

Till next time!  I hope you enjoyed my TED talk. 

2k Thousand Sons Raptor.rosz

Edited September 2, 2022 by Lucky_Lee

[Xenith]

Great write up thanks! Nice to see you getting use from the unit.  Against melee I guess you can focus down anything with FLY to remove threats to it then let it run riot?

[Lucky_Lee]

On 9/5/2022 at 3:05 AM, Xenith said:

Great write up thanks! Nice to see you getting use from the unit.  Against melee I guess you can focus down anything with FLY to remove threats to it then let it run riot?

Yessir, I always keep an eye out for an opportunity to turn the raptor loose.

If my opponent doesn't have a list that is built to kill a large vehicle like that ,I'll find what few units he has that can threaten it and destroy them.

After that it's usually a quick game. The raptor is a terror vs troops, I've had a Dark Angels player concede on T2 after he realized all his fat little termmies couldn't hurt it once I'd killed his heavy support!