Helldrakes in Burning Skies

[Eberk]

What to do ???


I know the baleflamer is probably the best choice for a Helldrake, especially when you (like me) encounter a lot of space marines. And when you see a flyer you can always vector strike it.

But then there are the "Dogfighting" rules from "Death from the Skies" and "Crusade of Fire". During dogfights you can shoot "one weapon" at your enemy to try to shoot him out of the sky. (for which the hades autocannon seems more appropriate)


So, how do people using the Helldrakes together with the "Burning Skies" dogfight rules arm their Helldrake ?


I like dogfighting (WWI planes especially) but the Helldrake seems not really suited for some serious dogfighting.


Thoughts/Comments ??

[DrLove42]

I think its a trap.

Seriously the baleflamer is the only choice.

The autocannon is 4 shots, so at BS3 you hit twice. Then agains Av12 (which most are) you might get a damage result.

You're far better off keeping the flamer and being effective against ground units. I know the burning skies missions are different but still

[nurglez]

I've tried out 2 drakes, 1 with a baleflamer and 1 with a hades, even though I never ever thought I would go for the hades on a drake.

With the drake having a 360 turret mount, you can zoom over a flyer and if you dont destroy it with a vector strike, you can then shoot it in the rear, also while you should only get 2 hits on average, it is still an anti air weapon that hits on 3's, the next best thing chaos have for anti air is either weight of fire (hitting on 6s) or over priced flakk missiles that hit on a 4 (unless you take allies or fortifications).

Also, I feel less cheesy having only 1 baleflamer :D

[Sly]

I run two with Baleflamers in most lists.

In my Noise Marine list, I switch to 2 with Autocannons. With several Blastmasters and Doom Sirens plus the Burning Brand, I feel I have enough cover-ignoring AP3 firepower, and then being dominant in the air rather than just having some AA weapons is a greater benefit than being able to roast even more Marines in one turn.

[pauljc]

I've tried out 2 drakes, 1 with a baleflamer and 1 with a hades, even though I never ever thought I would go for the hades on a drake.

With the drake having a 360 turret mount, you can zoom over a flyer and if you dont destroy it with a vector strike, you can then shoot it in the rear, also while you should only get 2 hits on average, it is still an anti air weapon that hits on 3's, the next best thing chaos have for anti air is either weight of fire (hitting on 6s) or over priced flakk missiles that hit on a 4 (unless you take allies or fortifications).

Also, I feel less cheesy having only 1 baleflamer :D


Huh? A BS3 flyer hits on 3's while a BS4 unit hits on 4's? How does that happen?

[Sly]

It doesn't. Either he made a mistake playing or he typo'd when posting.

[spaceman91]

It doesn't. Either he made a mistake playing or he typo'd when posting.

i have done this so many times. The best one was my tau hitting on 3's. When the game was over i had to say sorry for the mistaken cheating. He understood. This is what happens when you play nothing but marines then decide to switch because your bored.

[Learn2Eel]

I would always stick with the Baleflamer on a Heldrake, unless you are running three of them; in that case, two should have baleflamers, one should have a hades autocannon. The reality is that the vector strike tends to do enough damage against any flyer and most vehicles anyway, especially now that it ignores cover. Of course, if you are running a Noise Marine list with lots of Blastmasters, modelling an extra one with the autocannon may be worthwhile.

I also understand the unintentional cheating bit. Adopting to the new rules, even if you've read the codex back to front many times, is difficult - especially if they are an entirely different army to the one(s) you are used to. The only army that I haven't had to check my codex constantly once I've started it up is, ironically, my Tyranids - I don't know why, but despite being by far the most unique army of mine, I needed no time to adjust. The only thing I struggled with initially is tactics - having to think about units in an entirely different manner than, for example, Chaos Marines is very daunting. Dark Eldar were different though - I always had my codex handy, and oft forgot that Wyches hit on 4s against Marines, not 3s :o Not to mention Warriors being WS4, not WS3...

[Archon]

What about simply mangetizing the weapon?:cool:

[Eberk]

What about simply mangetizing the weapon?:cool:

I don't have the kit yet, so I don't know if it is even possible to do that ;)