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Howdy all,


I am looking to buy a valkyrie/vendetta kit and I wanted to put the heavy bolter sponsons on it, but I was curious as to which way they pointed.

Since the rules state that a vehicle must fire all its weapons at the same target, and I did not want to put them on there if it became a matter of choosing between firing at the units on my side or the rest of the weapons at the unit in front.

Any help is much appreciated, thanks!

They poke out the doors.

From looking at them I would say they have a 180 degree arc out of the side. So they have a small blind spot directly ahead and to the rear of the vehicle. But if its a squad of infantry they should still be able to see it unless its small enough to be directly in the blind spot.

Mine fold into the plane, and the doors close for when I dont want to buy them, and when I do, they fold out and swivel around.
I put them on there for when I did want them, and have used them from time to time, to put down a lot of fire power.

Kinda not worth it on a vendetta, as you'll only ever be able to fire one, unless you're hovering right above a blob. And when you do use it, unless you're shooting at AV11 or less, it will be irrelevant.

They do quite handsomely on ML/MRP Valkyries though; dishing out some extra damage to bolster the rocket pieplates.

Source: Elysian Player. Valk-platform flyers are my bread and butter.

I'd actually argue in favor of them now. They were borderline worth it in 5th, and now that you don't have to worry about wound wrapping, they seem pretty decent.

I'd also think that the new flier rules would be in favor of the sponsons now. You now must put them in reserve, which means you could easily spend a third of the game off the board. That you're stuck flying in practically a straight line, and then you're off, or facing backwards, this means that you're not going to get all that many turns of shooting. This means that they need to be doing a lot of shooting when they get the chance.

Heavy bolters mean more shooting. They also make the vehicles decent against infantry. You'd hate to have one of a few turns spent shooting ruined by only being able to shoot lascannons and nothing else at infantry models if those were the only targets that presented themselves.

Ailaros wrote:I'd actually argue in favor of them now. They were borderline worth it in 5th, and now that you don't have to worry about wound wrapping, they seem pretty decent.

I'd also think that the new flier rules would be in favor of the sponsons now. You now must put them in reserve, which means you could easily spend a third of the game off the board. That you're stuck flying in practically a straight line, and then you're off, or facing backwards, this means that you're not going to get all that many turns of shooting. This means that they need to be doing a lot of shooting when they get the chance.

Heavy bolters mean more shooting. They also make the vehicles decent against infantry. You'd hate to have one of a few turns spent shooting ruined by only being able to shoot lascannons and nothing else at infantry models if those were the only targets that presented themselves.

And, on top of all these boons, they also add two more weapons for Weapon Destroyed, meaning your other (better) weapons have a better chance of suvival.

Unless you're fielding a single flyer, I wouldn't worry too much about lowering the chances of one result on the damage chart.

Also, as Ailaros said, it does allow you a bit more shooting, though Vendettas shouldn't really be shooting at infantry unless there's nothing with an AV left.

Really it's up to you if you have 10 points left, and nowhere else better to spend it.

True, I probably wouldn't take them except on a Valk.

Although with the new rules it is possable for a Vendetta to get stuck with no vehicle/MC targets and then the bolters could be useful. Especially in a squadron.

They seem useful while zooming when you can only move certain ways. If you wind up in a sub optimal position, you can still get some shots off. Plus, they are useful against other fliers because they will have skyfire!

-cgmckenzie

So they can most definitely face forward enough to get the infantry unit that, say, a MRP valkyrie is shooting at with its other weapons?

Yeah, the HBs can shoot at tailing flyers if need be. Not that they can help against other Vendettas or Stormravens, but you know.

I am taking them on my Vendeta [A modifired C-130 Toy] and puting them out of one side and I am planing on Using it as a AC-130 Spooky. I know I will be able to fire one set, but it will do it's job as i will still be able to fire the 3x TL-LC and one set of the HBs. all at full Balistic Skill, I wount mis much.

I would put them on a Vendetta to.reduce the chance of losing a LC. In 5th they always lost lascannons, but.now with the random removal there is a chance of keeping those LCs as long as possible.

Again, speaking from experience, the fear of losing an LC is minimal, unless for some reason you are hovering like an absolute nut. As long as you rule the skies (which you darn well should as guard) you won't have to even look at the damage chart until its too late to matter, unless your opponent gets incredibly lucky, in which case evade saves more Vendettas than you'd think.

I tried them out recently and they were worth it. Had it on two vendettas while facing tyranids. Vendettas made quick work of the two monstrous creatures that I needed to kill then happily flew around the board shooting their heavy bolters killing a few bugs each turn. And those few bugs helped turn the tide in my favor.

While some might consider it a waste to shoot vendettas at infantry, the heavy bolters provide insurance in case you don't have a choice (up against a green tide, for example).

More importantly, they expand on things you WOULD want to shoot vendettas at. 6 heavy bolter shots is going to give you a decent chance of putting down an extra terminator, or knocking off an extra wound off of monstrous creatures, or make sure you glance AV10 vehicles all the way to death.

It also makes you better against certain targets that you WOULD want to shoot a vendetta at.

Woul they still be worth the points in 7th edition? Considering the SSHB' went up to 20pts? And the vandetta went up by 40pts?

They aren't worth it.

They are completely useless on a vendetta because they do not match the weapon profile of the lascannon. They could be useful on a valkryie however for you are sinking points into an expensive unit. The main purpose of the Valkyrie is to ferry troops somewhere. Even with MRP, you are better of grabbing a basilisk or pair Wyverns if you are looking for extra infantry killing power. Your Valkyrie isn't going to be your main killing platform (see Vendetta or Vulture for that). In addition, it isn't hard to find heavy bolters in the guard codex and they are never really a deciding factor even when they are free. 3 extra dice at a target you are already shooting won't make a significant difference especially not for that cost. Throw those points somewhere else.

I like having them quite a bit. cheap and its hard to kill the platform.

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