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I'm disappointed that Chaos Marines don't have any stormraven or stormtalon equivalents, and the best gunboat we have access to is, of course, the fire raptor. But, is it worth the points now? With lascannons and quad bolters it's 422 points. And isn't much more durable than a single stormraven that costs almost 200 less. Feels like I'd be putting too many eggs in one basket for a 2k game.

I remember doing the math on the Astartes Fire Raptor, and I think I came to the conclusion that the Stormraven was somewhat better, although it would be 266 points in its basic loadout. So more like 150 points less, and you lose AP and D on the main cannon, 18 heavy bolter shots and 2 Hellstrike Missiles (or none for the Chaos version) and 2 wounds, while gaining transport capacity. The Heavy Bolter shots are about 60 points (6 heavy bolters for 18 shots, bodies notwithstanding), and the cannon damage is probably worth some too. Of course, if you factor in the cost to gain those heavy bolters, the cheapest would be 12 points per model (Heavy Weapons teams) and the difference would be about 75 points. If you choose Devastators, you would pay more for the Stormraven + Devastators than the Fire Raptor.


So I don't think the Fire Raptor is terrible, and it is quite tough. But if you don't feel like paying a lot for a massive concentration of Heavy Bolters, it might not be the best choice.

It is a HUGE fire magnet. As soon as it hit the board my opponent hit it with everything. Didn't destroy it but it was badly wounded and didn't too too much after that.

I personally think it's worth it. You're right, it's a lot of points, but it can dish out a lot of damage in the couple rounds it's going to be on the table.

Unlike some flyers with the Airborne rule, the Fire Raptor also has the Hover rule. This helps tremendously with it's survivability because you don't have compulsory movement, you can stick it behind cover and bring it out when ready.

It can be nasty when it appears. If there are a few other threats on the board (i.e. Predators, Vindicators, Sicarans, etc) their combined firepower can take out a lot of things all at once.