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Now that they have been out for a while, I wanted to pick the communal brain as to the cost-effectiveness or reliability of the Stormtalon Gunships.
If they were worth it, then I could look into buying their rules and their models.

Against armor, they seem like a strong option between the assault cannon and typhoon missile launcher.
They'd seem to plug a hole in SM ability to handle MC's as well.

What is your opinion on them?

My only experience is playing against them and they're great. My buddy uses the rules from Death from the skies, so they're cheaper than the WD release, and better rules too. Personally I recommend waiting till the new codex drops in a couple weeks to ensure they havent changed again.

As a BA player I am jealous of the little buggers. Needless to say that in the next SM codex I may pick up a pair of them, they work very well in pairs at their point limit.

Their turret is actually a turret, unlike the Stormraven turret.

--- Not sure how that double posted---

I'd say that they're worth it to the SM player that fields them. As someone who's been on the receiving end of a Stormtalon multiple times, they're really effective at tearing my boyz up. :( Thankfully my DakkaJets can glance that sucker into oblivion!

Nice, it sounds like waiting for the new codex is the way to go. Would you suggest the AC/TML combo as the most effective?

Hard for me to say. I don't play SM anymore. I'm now running pure Orks.

I was Space Wolves got them, I'd have 2.

I have been on the receiving end of a pair of them, and they did very well, got my opponent first blood by taking out my havocs, next turn they tanked and then killed a helldrake, next turn they killed my chaos lord, followed by a few plague marines, in fact they did the majority of the damage done to me.

Turrent on the assault cannon makes them really good.

Plus they look cool.

I think im pretty sold. This should be fun! I really like the look of them, the vtol look is pretty sweet, and the assault cannon is a pretty great utilitarian choice of weapon.

TL AC and TML is the combo of choice.

I don't think the TML is worth the upgrade points. I fly mine with the skyhammers and have been happy with them.

I'd use them if I could for Chaos.

Revisting this thread since the new codex is now out, wondering the new opinion.

The best way to use them is to hold them back, let the other guy come first, then come in, shoot past them, and wheel the turret around to shoot them their crappy rear armor to pieces.

As a player that will probably employ Imperial Fists Chapter Tactics, I would say that a pair of Stormtalons seems a much better investment of my spare Fast Attack slots and points than a single Stormraven for a similar points cost, due also to the hotly contested Heavy Support slots in my army. A Raven Guard player may say otherwise though. As to how good they are, I think giving them Skyhammers to keep them cheap leaves you with a very effective and decently durable (AV11 helps a lot despite the two hull points) air-to-air or air-to-ground flyer/vehicle hunter.

Bang for buck, I still think that skyhammers are the secondary weapon of choice. Most of the work is being done by the assault cannons, but the targets of opportunity opened up by upgrading to the missiles I think is worth the points. I don't think it's worth going all-in for the TML though.

It isn't our only AA option these days though, due to the new tanks. How to keep the skies clear is going to depend on the rest of the army composition. What slots are more important to you? FA or HS?

I plan on running two TFC's and probably a triple las-pred behind reinforced cover for that sweet 3+ cover save for my tank and artillery.

So fast attacks are more open in this case.

Nevelon wrote:Bang for buck, I still think that skyhammers are the secondary weapon of choice. Most of the work is being done by the assault cannons, but the targets of opportunity opened up by upgrading to the missiles I think is worth the points. I don't think it's worth going all-in for the TML though.

It isn't our only AA option these days though, due to the new tanks. How to keep the skies clear is going to depend on the rest of the army composition. What slots are more important to you? FA or HS?

I'm not sure personally, paying an extra twenty points for the Typhoons is a really big ask IMO.

iGuy91 wrote:I plan on running two TFC's and probably a triple las-pred behind reinforced cover for that sweet 3+ cover save for my tank and artillery.

So fast attacks are more open in this case.

Definitely means a Stormtalon or two are in order, or even allies, for anti-air duties.

I see a lot of potential with them as flexible gunships.
With Skyhammer, you're a threat to almost anything and you have the option of hanging back to snipe if you have to.
Plus strafing run is a nice bonus against ground targets.

Caederes wrote:

Nevelon wrote:Bang for buck, I still think that skyhammers are the secondary weapon of choice. Most of the work is being done by the assault cannons, but the targets of opportunity opened up by upgrading to the missiles I think is worth the points. I don't think it's worth going all-in for the TML though.

It isn't our only AA option these days though, due to the new tanks. How to keep the skies clear is going to depend on the rest of the army composition. What slots are more important to you? FA or HS?

I'm not sure personally, paying an extra twenty points for the Typhoons is a really big ask IMO.

Sorry, I might have been a little clearer. Upgrading the stock HBs to skyhammers is worth the points. Going further then that, is not worth it. 15 points to swap the S5 guns for S7 ones is nice, even at the cost of losing the TLing. Going past that is getting into the realm of diminishing returns.

None of the guns are bad. There have been time I wished I had the LCs. But in my mind, the stormtalon's job is hunting flyers and light armor. And for that, the skyhammers are my tool of choice.

Okay, maybe it is just me, but isn't the Stormtalon a little bit.. fragile? And by "little bit" I mean "really-really". AV11 and HP2 won't last long, a singe Quad Gun can eat it with one salvo. 125 points for a TL Assault Cannon and a 3-shot Autocannon wrapped in wet toilet paper doesn't sound that good for me.

 AtoMaki wrote:
Okay, maybe it is just me, but isn't the Stormtalon a little bit.. fragile? And by "little bit" I mean "really-really". AV11 and HP2 won't last long, a singe Quad Gun can eat it with one salvo. 125 points for a TL Assault Cannon and a 3-shot Autocannon wrapped in wet toilet paper doesn't sound that good for me.

It's not really more fragile than the ubiquitous night scythe.

Wait, why does it only have 2hp? It has the same armor as a rhino correct? Shouldn't it have 3?

I've been nothing but impressed with these guys. Most players at my store don't care for them because of the models, and it was so hard to get a hold of death from the skies that no one really knew much about them until the SM codex that was just released. I've been playing with one in my BT army for a while now and it's always been awesome with a TL AC and Skyhammer ML as it's secondary. 7 S7 AP4 shots at BS 5 against ground targets can really put the hurt on light tanks and infantry.

 Kain wrote:

It's not really more fragile than the ubiquitous night scythe.

Well, the Night Scythe is HP3 and can Jink without losing much combat effectiveness (thank you Tesla). A BS3 Quad Gun causes 1.5 HP damage to an AV11 target, so it is actually pretty dangerous to the Stormtalon while the Night Scythe can either say "Meh, take that 2 HP..." or "Meh, Jink for 1.02 HP damage!". While the Stormtalon either Jinks (losing a whole turn of shooting and still dropping to 50% HP) or dies.

 iGuy91 wrote:
Wait, why does it only have 2hp? It has the same armor as a rhino correct? Shouldn't it have 3?

It has only 2 HP, sorry.

I was under the impression they had 3, given their av 11 all around armor. Isn't that a straight calculation?

Yeah it only has 2hp, no idea why. i think its the only flier that does. Dakkajets are AV10 and have 3hp for some reason.

That might be why it seems so good for the cost, the point cut for what you get was 1 less hp. Not sure if i like that since everybody and their mother can ally in random tau missilesides with interceptor, and their S5 shots are actually effective against them too so thats 24 TL shots on interceptor, 12 more from drones if you manage to survive...somehow...
i think it would be forced to Jink every time it came on the board.

Sigh...might not be worth it then...Im a fan of at least some durability...
Maybe I should hop on the bike bandwagon instead.