Grey Knight Storm Raven

[wittdooley]

If you were to build a Grey Knight Storm Raven, how would you outfit it weapons wise? My thought it that it may actually be worth taking the hurricane bolters, as you could benefit from the psybolt ammo. However, that would make it LR cost.

Thoughts?

[Sonikgav]

Psybolts+ Hurricane Bolters isnt a great choice. That 1 extra point of Strength takes those Bolters from Defensive to main weapons meaning that if your planning on being mobile, your paying not to be able to fire them.

Work out your army and see whats needed before you equip them. Do you have enough Anti Tank? Then go Anti infantry with Plasma Cannons/Assault Cannons with Heavy Bolters/Missiles and Hurricane Bolters. If you dont have much Anti Tank go for Las Cannons + Multi Meltas etc.

If you don't mind only moving 6" a turn then go for Heavy Bolters, Assault Cannons and Hurricane Bolters with Psybolts.

[plawolf]

Storm ravens can still move 6" and shoot everything, so the loss of defensive weapon status is not as crippling as on the LRC.

Now, unless you want to use your SR as a suicide unit, I would steer clear of hurricane bolters.

If you were using your SR as a suicide unit after its dropped off its choppy cargo, you would want to be shooting armor as that's the best chance you have to make the SR's points back.

Sure, 12 S5 shots on top of the S7 AssCan and S6 HB is nice, and gives you a far better chance of hurting vehicles. But tbh, it would be very rare for 4 TL S7 shots and 3 TL S6 shots to not kill AV10 (the only armor value S5 can pen), and even rarer for the same shots to not at the very least glanced AV11, so the S5 adds very little on top of what the AssCan and HB can already do.

Personally, I feel that a 255pt vehicle is a bit too expensive to use as a suicide unit. The best way to prevent an SR from becoming a suicide unit is to have it go flat out every turn and use the PoTMS to shoot the TL AssCan.

You go flat out to drop your choppy cargo, then go flat out looking for rare armor to shoot.

I would not even take the HB as the only time you should be thinking about not going flat out is if there is a juicy enough target to make up a good chunk of the SR's points back, and those targets are typically vehicles and have armor a multi-melta has the best chance of cracking.

I know it does against the grain to take psybolt and not take HB, but I think if you took HB, you would be tempted to slow use it and end up loosing your SR more often and more early. Better to keep the SR alive longer and pump out more S7 shots as well as continue to draw more enemy fire off the rest of your army.

[Bean]

One of two ways:

Either keep it cheap, with the TL Multi-melta and turret assault cannon--no upgrades (or maybe psybolts)--or make it a gunship with TL Heavy Bolters, Assault Cannons, Hurricane Bolters, and psybolt ammunition.

If you're planning to have it running around the board with guys in it, as its primary function, play the cheap version. If you're not and you can afford to blow some filler points on it, play the gunship version.

My wife just thoroughly magnetized our new storm raven, so I'll be playing around with a couple of different options.

[Xas]

psybolts and anti-personal missiles make the hurricane bolters usefull at first glance (compared to total and utter crap on a BA raven).

at second glance most players will realiice that they allready have a MASSIVE amounth of anti-personal firepower on their infantry with stormbolters and the reason to take the SR is for a fast terminator-transporter and not to add s5 shots.


mine will be the same as my ba one: asscannon and multimelta.


if I'd want hurricane bolters I'd get a crusader for the same price but with AV14 and a bigger transport capacity and better sillouette to hide stuff behind.

[wittdooley]

Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. Plus, I just don't like how the Hurricane Bolters look on the Raven. Going autocannon/MM route. I think that's the way to go, though I did contemplate plasma.

Cheers!

[AngelsofDeath]

Go Twin Laz, Twin Melta, extra armor, and go fast, machine spirit the melta if your in range to get the extra D6 on a juicy target. Then hope and pray the emperor rode in this before you did. :D

I cant believe they changed the missiles in the GK vs the BA Raven, too bad huh.

[Bean]

Tl Assault Cannon is better than TL Lascannon against almost everything. TL Assault cannon with psybolts is better than almost everything against almost everything.

[DarkLink]

Yeah, melta in 12" is one of the few things that beats it. In fact, it's almost as good as at getting penetrating hits as a Railgun vs AV 14, though it doesn't have AP1.

[SonicPara]

extra armor

Why extra armour? Fortitude is better, free, and goes off 92% of the time.

Also, while now woefully situational the GK Stormraven's Mindstrike Missiles do have use. Have first turn and need to kill Mephiston/Any Psyker HQ when the game starts? Hit him with all four Mindstrike Missiles automatically peeling off 4 wounds (if they all hit) and finish him with whatever your ranged weapons are (MM/AC or MM/PC usually, both setups can punch Artificer armour with ease). Since Mephiston likes to hide behind vehicles then use your Grand Master (you do have one right? They are amazing for making your force flexible) to Scout flatout the Stormraven so that it can get a good firing position.


ALSO, something that people seem to have missed completely: Mindstrike Missiles are S4 and therefore are defensive weapons. Couple this with PotMS and a GK Stormraven can fire both weapons AND all of its missiles while moving 12". The BA Bloodstrikes make reserving Stormravens wonderful but with GK, you gotta be moving them around and hitting something psychic with those missiles. Also since Terminators are troops in GK, the Stormravens become more pivotal as a delivery system.

[Tynskel]

Well, the stormraven for greyknights is an infantry murder machine.

Hv Bolter, Assault Cannon, Hurricane Sponsons all with Psybolts and 4 Str 4 mindstrike missiles. You can move 12" and Lay waste to just about any infantry squad.

3 twin-linked str 6 shots
4 twin-linked str 7 shots
12 twin-linked str 5 shots
4 str 4 blasts.

Yay!

[SonicPara]

Well, the stormraven for greyknights is an infantry murder machine.

Hv Bolter, Assault Cannon, Hurricane Sponsons all with Psybolts and 4 Str 4 mindstrike missiles. You can move 12" and Lay waste to just about any infantry squad.

No, you can't because psybolts make the Hurricane Bolters S5 and no longer defensive. Leave them S4 and then yes, you are pumping out loads of dakka for one turn before getting blown away. I still don't think that the Hurricane Bolters do enough damage to make them useful though, but that is just me. As opposed to the above Stormraven, here is how I would run mine:

TL Multi-Melta, TL Assault Cannon, Psybolt Ammunition, Mindstrike Missiles and then pocket the extra 30 points saved to use elsewhere.

That lets you unleash hell on infantry via 4 TL S7 Assault Cannon shots and 4 small blast Mindstrike Missiles while using PotMS to pop a nearby piece of armor. Due to the range on the Assault Cannon/Missiles you position the Stormraven with the MM's range in mind to maximize damage.

Of course you could also swap out the Psybolt Ammunition and Assault Cannon for a TL Plasma Cannon and 20 points to spend elsewhere. This allows you to focus even more on positioning the Stormraven to use the TL MM as the 36" Plasma Cannon range expands its threat radius to infantry.

[Tynskel]

ahah!

You bring up an excellent point.

come to think of it, psybolts on the stormraven suck.

you'll just use the stormraven as an armor buster: either typhoons or multi-melta + str 7 assault cannon.

[SonicPara]

ahah!

You bring up an excellent point.

come to think of it, psybolts on the stormraven suck.

you'll just use the stormraven as an armor buster: either typhoons or multi-melta + str 7 assault cannon.

Exactly, and Stormravens (at least in BA) when in tank hunting mode are best used moving 24" a turn and using PotMS to pop a tank. Having an AT dorsal weapon is a little pointless when the only time you will stop to shoot everything will involved firing your anti-personnel missiles. Might as well take the TL MM and choose the dorsal gun with infantry in mind. The TL Assault Cannon is still viable here but as you pointed out, psybolts are a bit of a waste. I just like the Plasma Cannon because it lets me force 2+ and 3+ into using their inferior cover/invulnerable saves.

Imagine a MM/PC Stormraven firing at a unit of expensive GK Paladins. 4 autowounds from Perils, allowing you to single out the Justicar, from the Mindstrike Missiles along with any wounds from the blast itself. Couple that with the TL Plasma Cannon.

GK Stormraven is different from the BA in many ways but I think it can be outrageously vicious. The Mindstrike Missiles being S4 defensive weapons is just the cherry on top.