Raptors........are they any good

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**xeen**

Hey all,

I am not sure if "general discussion" is the right place for this, but I was wondering if anyone has used Raptors at all? If so are they worth while? Note, I don't need them to be something that you must take to a tournament, but just if they are worth bring in lists for my group which is somewhat competitive. Thanks

**DarknessEternal**

There's more than one thing in 40k called Raptor. You probably need to be more specific.

**xeen**

Sorry Chaos Raptors. What is the other raptor?

**Slayer-Fan123**

They're alright. That's about it. Plasma Guns not restricting them from charging it they're fired is pretty cool at least.

**Fhanados**

They're usable, but probably not super competitive. 5 man unit with combi-Plasma on the champ and 2 plasma on the squad gives you a nice surgical strike unit.

Their problem seems to be they're not designed to be a shooting unit, but they're also pretty sub-par at assault. With no melee weapons options aside from the champ they don't have the volume or quality of attacks to really hurt anything that's not basic infantry. I guess that suits the theme of them being predatory opportunists that prey on the weak, but it does leave them in a bit of a rough spot on the tabletop if there's no optimal targets for them to pick on.

**vaklor4**

They're meh in just about every way...EXCEPT!

Play those nerds in a Night Lords army.

-1 to Morale to enemies within 6" for each of your units, up to -3. It stacks with the Raptors -1 to morale. See where this is going?

**gossipmeng**

Raptors can be pretty great but you need to make your army work around them.

Use them as nightlords to stack the leadership penalty. Then run 5 man squads only with Combi plasma and 2x plasma or 4 plasma pistols (Combi-melts/2x melta can be okay too).

You want to abuse charging them into vehicles and other shooty units so they are forced to fallback the next turn and not be able to shoot.

**Galas**

Night Lords Chaos Raptors are a little niche but effective if used properly.

The problem with raptors is the same as Assault Marines. They don't offer enough punch for their cost, you know? I use Warp Talons, they are just better. (But I actually build them as Raptors with Claws, just because I love the Raptor style much more)

**Badablack**

If you run them as Night Lords for the morale shenanigans don’t forget to make them Nurgle for the Icon of Despair for further negatives to enemy leadership.

Don’t use them how loyalists use assault marines, they’re bad in close combat (not that assault marines are any better). They’re a source of pinpoint damage where and when you need it. Drop them down with a Lord, all spewing out overcharged plasma/combiplasma and they’ll do God’s work. Throw a morale buster Night Lords detachment into your list to sneak into ongoing combats and decimate the enemy with a a single actual casualty.

**Elbows**

I run them, simply because they're cool (and admittedly mine are all beakies...and beakies rule).

**chimeara**

They seem fine to me. I prefer the warp talons though.

**Arachnofiend**

They suffer a meta problem, really. With chaff screens as prominent as they are you're never going to be able to shoot something you want to shoot at.

**Shas'O'Ceris**

Glad I came across this, I have been having a hard time justifying them but its one of the few models I like for CSM. I'm planning on doing three sets of 5, two sets will have 2plaspistol 1combiplas 2 boltpistol 5 chainswords, 1 set has 4 boltpistol 4 chainsword 1 combibolter with lighting claw. Might trade a plaspistol for icon of wrath on the last set.

Or should I have 2 sets of basic with claw and bolter, 1 with 3 plasma guns, and an icon.

Or should I weaken my knight and trade a unit for warp talons? Trading a 2nd avenger gatling cannon for a thermal cannon and relying on warp time to get them in.

**clownshoes**

xeen wrote:
Sorry Chaos Raptors. What is the other raptor?

They have a place and use, but I would recommend against building around them. Think of them more as a possible answer to a given lists problem.

Ie, if you were going for a gun line and wanted an objective gabbing unit. Or your list just needs extra mobility to screen for better units, ya not a cheap screen but they can do the job.

**Niiai**

Say ehat you want about raptors, but they are real door openers.

**Raichase**

I've not used them for a few editions myself (my metal ones have all been relegated to the bitz box anyway - oh look, it fell over again and broke

), but I always used to use mine as a real hunting unit - I'd keep them away from the line of fire and use them to go pick on units that couldn't fight back. Armed with meltaguns, if they could "sneak" around towards tank units without getting blown away, then they'd go on the hunt. The assault based ones I used to use to go hunting small units that were looking to disrupt or hold objectives (think five-man scout squads, etc). I think that you COULD in theory base an army around them, but it would be a lot of work, and a very high risk vs reward approach. It really depends on how hardcore your fellow gamers are. I'm lucky in that most of the blokes I regularly game(d) with mostly took what looked cool, as opposed to being utterly cut-throat in their list maximization.

**techsoldaten**

I'm always looking for uses for Raptors. Like others have said, they're not terribly good at shooting or close combat without Legion Traits to support them.

The area where I have found some use for them is as a bodyguard for a Daemon Prince, something that can move up the board slightly ahead of him to draw fire. I've played a few games where the Raptors / DP move past a chaff unit to assault something useful behind it.

**KingCorpus**

They're nice special weapon shooting teams, and if you can get the NL leadership debuffs off. Don't expect them to do anything in close combat. Positioning them correctly makes them an absolute menace though!

**vaklor4**

Don't forget to make them Nurgle, slap an Icon on them, and watch them pump out -5 Morale!

**CREEEEEEEEED**

xeen wrote:
Sorry Chaos Raptors. What is the other raptor?

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Raptors_%28Chapter%29