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Here's an experimental build with Vespids. Could they be worth it?

First, the list:

1501 pts

HQ
'El - MP/FB/PR/HMT/Stim/HDC - 2SD [139]
'El - PR/TLMP/HMT/HDC - 2 SD [123]

TROOPS
6 FW [60]
10 K [70]
10 K [70]
10 K [70]

ELITES
3 XV8 w/shas'vre [201]
-----S'Vre: AFP/MP/TA
-----S'Ui: PR/MP/TA
2 XV8 PR/MP/TA [134]
4 XV25 [120]

HEAVY SUPPORT
Railhead RG/DL/DP [170]
Railhead RG/DL/DP [170]

FAST ATTACK
5 Vespid [86]
5 Vespid [86]

The expensive 'El is a Sunfire, good for taking out heavy armor and MEQs. I just imagined this character as bum-rushing anything with treads. He's even got the combat drugs. The cheaper 'El is FK-7, twinlinking the missile pods because I'm into that sort of thing. Might be better to take an array, though.

Troops choices are pretty standard. Speed bumps and compulsory.

Elites choices are also pretty standard, two FK teams and 4 stealths. Only discrepancy is the 'Vre, but I put him in there for the barrage gunnery; AFP replaces PR for the same cost as a Fireknife.

For the Heavy Support, I gave up one choice to include Vespid. There's still two Railheads with Decoy Launchers and Disruption Pods, though.

The Fast Attack choices are likely what'll be controversial here, but keep in mind it's a Vespid-based experiment.

Vespid are good for flanking and even pincer moves if you've got two units. With the Skilled flyers rule, they can land in cover, shoot out of it and potentially get a cover save that AP1 couldn't remove. They're also good for when you've tenderized a unit and it just needs a sweeping up. Having 14 shots that kill MEQs isn't bad, either, although they'll likely die unless a larger threat is closer to the MEQ unit (read: unlikely). Vespid are like the Mighty Ducks of the Empire: the general consensus is that they aren't good, but giving them just one shot might be what they need. Hell, they might just need creative application.

Best playtesting in the near future is Nightbringer 'crons, and he's a bad player. After that I can probably get some time in at my local GW.


I'm open for harsh criticism. 

Nothing about vespid is better than another hammerhead man. No.

If you back that up empirically, fine. But otherwise, I'll continue the experiment.

Go for it, it's your money wasted on ugly models

The mighty ducks had the flying V and the triple deke, all Vespid have is the letter V in their name and a really crappy statline.

The point is to determine whether creative application can make a difference with them, not just plugging numbers into stats formulas.

I don't really back them either way, but it's worth a shot (got the models for free )

The problem with Vespid is that they are unsubtle in an army that relies on subtle tactics. Subtle is subjective, of course; in a finesseless game like 40K, anything that isn't a brick to the head is downright sneaky...

Anyway, as I was saying, they're short-ranged, not very tough, and lack JSJ capability. All of that leads to the likelihood that they will hit one unit hard (if maneuvered correctly) and then die horrible, messy deaths. That's assuming they don't get hit before that. The only saving grace I can see is that they take up fast attack rather than heavy support... oh, wait, you have to take them instead of Piranhas; no grace saved.

Friends don't let friends use Vespid.

Vespids are effectively 6-11 per squad as you must take 5-10 stingwings plus a strain leader. So you may need to rework your points a bit.

I think Vespids will work in Cities of Death thanks to their mobility and the cover saves.

Vespids are 3-10 plus Strain Leader, effectively 4-11 per squad. I made sure to check that before I posted it. ^_^