Unit of the week Unit of the week: Heldrake

[Cpt.Danjou]

+++Unit of the week+++

 

Heldrake

This thread is only for tactics for Heldrake, not for pictures, there are other places for that.

How to best use the Heldrake?

• Legion?
• Which stratagems are worth throwing out?
• Any solid unit combos?

[Karhedron]

A cool looking model but a bit underpowered for the points IMHO. If you do want to run it, I would probably take the Baleflamer since this does not lose accuracy as the profile degrades and it stacks with Let the Galaxy Burn! It is a bit fragile for the points, like most aircraft although the Infernal Engine stratagem can help a bit.

 

Overall though one look at the Lord Discordant (which has some surprising similarities) shows why the Helldrake is just not worth its points in this edition.

[Khornestar]

I sold mine in late 8th edition, so I’m not really up to date in the functionality of flyers.

 

However, in a discord people were talking about how because it’s a flyer, or because of the aircraft rule (I forget which), it can’t lock enemy units in combat. You charge them, do your damage (or not), and then I’m the opponent’s turn they can just move as normal. 
 

If that’s true, the heldrake is dead in the water. Not sure if that’s accurate, though.

[Karhedron]

1 minute ago, Khornestar said:

However, in a discord people were talking about how because it’s a flyer, or because of the aircraft rule (I forget which), it can’t lock enemy units in combat. You charge them, do your damage (or not), and then I’m the opponent’s turn they can just move as normal. 

 

The Helldrake has 2 modes of movement and you can switch between them in your Command phase. In supersonic mode, it counts as an aircraft with the mandatory move and -1 to-Hit on incoming attacks. If you choose to switch to Hover mode, it moves like a normal unit and can lock/be locked in combat.

 

This does give it some flexibility as a flank attacker. Turn 1 you zoom up the flank and BBQ a vulnerable unit. Then you hope to survive the enemy retaliation. In your Turn 2, you drop into Hover mode, toast another unit and then charge something, ideally a shooty unit in your opponent's backfield. How well this works depends on whether you trust the luck of the dice to keep a T7 12 Wound model alive. As noted above, you do have a couple of abilities/stratagems to keep it going. You could treat it as a distraction-carnifex as your opponents certainly won't want it frolicking around behind their lines. Even so, you are only getting an average of 4 shots per turn and 4 melee attacks so 165 points is quite pricey for a disruption unit tat can be brought down with a bit of effort.

[Prot]

I have to agree it's not great for me either, but I will bring it out periodically in anything under a 'very competitive' game. However I will note it's great for grabbing quarters, and it instantly takes away your opponent's ability to put a 'soft' unit in a cubby hole for the game.  I have had very good match ups against stuff like Admech where it is just really hard for them to pay attention to it, and meanwhile the Heldrake can really start raking troops, and disrupting the back lines.

 

Overall it's mediocre, but it can be fun to pull it out once in a while and the only aircraft I really see anymore from any army are the Ork ones. 

[Khornestar]

On 11/28/2022 at 8:22 AM, Karhedron said:

 

The Helldrake has 2 modes of movement and you can switch between them in your Command phase. In supersonic mode, it counts as an aircraft with the mandatory move and -1 to-Hit on incoming attacks. If you choose to switch to Hover mode, it moves like a normal unit and can lock/be locked in combat.

 

This does give it some flexibility as a flank attacker. Turn 1 you zoom up the flank and BBQ a vulnerable unit. Then you hope to survive the enemy retaliation. In your Turn 2, you drop into Hover mode, toast another unit and then charge something, ideally a shooty unit in your opponent's backfield. How well this works depends on whether you trust the luck of the dice to keep a T7 12 Wound model alive. As noted above, you do have a couple of abilities/stratagems to keep it going. You could treat it as a distraction-carnifex as your opponents certainly won't want it frolicking around behind their lines. Even so, you are only getting an average of 4 shots per turn and 4 melee attacks so 165 points is quite pricey for a disruption unit tat can be brought down with a bit of effort.

Can you help me understand the rules mechanics of this? 
 

It appears the issue is that the Heldrake has the AIRCRAFT keyword, which is the reason for the wonky combat mechanics, and even dropping into hover mode seemingly doesn’t make that go away.

 

Is there a relevant FAQ or erratum out there maybe that explains it?

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Khornestar

[Karhedron]

I see what you mean. Really, units should lose the AIRCRAFT keyword when they drop into Hover mode but the rules do not specify this. Personally I think that this is an oversight as I can't think of many units that are AIRCRAFT and have a decent melee output (a couple of Nid units I guess).

 

I don't know. If RAW is how they are intended to operate then it make the Heldrake weaker than I thought.

[Khornestar]

Yeah, it feels wrong as heck.

[TrawlingCleaner]

I think it keeps the Aircraft rules when in Hover mode so that it still may not contest objectives, as anything with the Aircraft rules cannot hold or contest objectives. I would imagine 3 Red Corsairs Heldrakes counting as 15 models on the enemy's home objective T1 might be a bit egrigious

 

My amendment for the unit would be either:

1) It loses the Aircraft keyword when in hover mode but still cannot contest objectives

2) It keeps the Aircraft keyword but may stay in combat when in Hover mode

 

Perhaps these would bring other rules interactions in that I hadn't thought about