Unit of the Week: Stormhawk Interceptor

[Jolemai]

Welcome to the Blood Angels Unit of the Week Series!

Following the release of the 8^th edition Codex, there is no better time to discuss all the unique units we have access to. Each week a different unit will appear, with the idea being that we discuss how best to use that model on the battlefield.

Note, this isn't to lament any nerfs, etc, from previous editions; the rules are as they are so try to unlock its potential for those who wish to use them all the same. Similarly, this thread is only for using the option being discussed; it matters not if you feel something is a better choice as such comments aren't constructive to the topic and shall be removed.

Without further ado, here's this week's entry:

Stormhawk Interceptor

What are you thoughts here folks? How best would you use a Stormhawk Interceptor?

• To compliment a list, or to build a list around? Will the beta rules affect your list(s)?
• Will you be running multiples?
• What weapon choices are you selecting? Is this choice being influenced by other factors (meta, multiples, etc)?
• Are you buffing this unit? If so, how?
• Stratagems?

Over to you

[Jolemai]

Should you want your model on display here (or on another thread from the series), then submit a photo here please.

[Arkaniss]

I really like my Stormhawk, it's a lovely kit and nice looking model as well! Suitable for magnetising if that's your thing. If you have lots of fliers in your gaming group then this is a great investment. I would say to keep in mind it can't enter hover mode it's a proper flier in that regard.

 

On the table get it to swoop in and target something you want dead (or at least severely damaged/wounded). Of course it depends on what you're shooting and the luck of the dice but it should reliable cause some results against opposing fliers. I really like the Lastalon and Skyhammer missiles as it's an air superiority unit so you should go all in.

 

The infernum halo launcher is also pretty neat though I admit it's not as useful as it may seem on paper, depends how often your dice rolls 1's! It's not too flimsy, pretty average in the Toughness and Wounds for a small flier. I've only got one but I don't think I'd ever think of getting two of them, seems a bit overkill! That said I could see two working in tandem in a suitably large point game sweeping the skies clear.

 

As for list building with regard to the Stormhawk I tend to take it on a whim. It's not cheap but I don't see it as so expensive as to need the list moulding around it - this is subjective of course, my preferred load out is pushing 200pts. I've taken it on it's own as my only flier and with my Stormraven too, though that was perhaps too many eggs in a flying basket

[Jolemai]

No one else gotten to grips with this new unit yet?

[Xenith]

It has more firepower than a Baal predator for a lower cost (twin assault cannon plus twin heavy bolter option gets the lastalon or Icarus on top), and comes with -1 to hit and reroll saves.

 

Great unit, all in all.

[Panzer]

I could only offer theory crafting. ^^

[Jolemai]

I could only offer theory crafting. ^^

Go for it :) How would you try and use one and on a personal note, would you consider one in an all-Primaris force?

[Panzer]

 

I could only offer theory crafting. ^^

Go for it How would you try and use one and on a personal note, would you consider one in an all-Primaris force?

 

 

Alright lets see what we have.

BS3+/4+/5+ T7 W10 Sv3+

FLY, Hard to Hit, Airborne, re-roll save rolls of 1, +1 to hit against enemy FLY units. Noticeable here is the lack of Power of the Machine Spirit despite all its weapons being Heavy even tho it HAS to move every turn since it's also lacking the Hover special rule.

You always have two Assault cannons. Your main weapon is either a Las-talon or an Icarus stormcannon. Your secondary(tertiary?) weapon options would be twin Heavy bolter, Skyhammer missile launcher or Typhoon missile launcher.

 

Based on its name, fluff and special rules we can already see that it's prefered role is to clear your airspace (Interceptor as well as the Icarus stormcannon and the Skyhammer missile launcher give +1 to-hit against units with FLY keyword, however the Icarus as well as the Skyhammer also give -1 to-hit against ground targets!).

Either hunting hover tanks or Jump Pack/Jet Pack infantry or Jet Bikes or actual flyer. If you shoot at ground targets it'll always be a mediocre or even just bad experience.

 

The Stormhawk Interceptor is a VERY picky unit. Shoot at units with FLY keyword and it'll hit decently (at least not worse than other Space Marine units) but shoot at ground targets and it hits terribly for how much it costs.

So considering how many FLY infantry/bikes and light vehicles we have in the game compared to hover tanks and tough flyer and the fact that you always have to pay for your Assault cannons anyway I'd personally go with a loadout more focussed against infantry or light vehicles. Leave the actual tanks to your dedicated anti-tank units with their lascannons.

The main weapon in that case would be fairly obviously the Icarus stormcannon. With S7 it'll be able to wound all your prefered targets on a 3+ and some even on a 2+ and AP-1 should be enough against most of them as well. D2 means that it's even a threat to bikes and light vehicles.

That leaves us with a choice between the twin heavy bolter, Skyhammer missile launcher and the Typhoon missile launcher.

Imo the Typhoon missile launcher is a definite pass here since it's either just ~7 Bolter shots or a worse Lascannon so either worse than the twin heavy bolter option or simply not the right weapon for our targets (unless you want to strictly hunt Marines I guess).

The Skyhammer missile launcher would imo be the ideal choice if you have the ideal targets since it would give you another +1 to-hit and basically has the same profile as the Icarus stormcannon so we'd end up with 6 S7 AP-1 D2(1d3) shots hitting on a 2+.

However if you DON'T have any units with FLY keyword to shoot at or only T4 W1 and worse targets then the twin Heavy bolter would be the far better and thus saver option to take since it wouldn't suffer from an additional -1 to-hit against ground targets and you'd have twice as many shots without wasting your high strength and multi-damage.

 

tl;dr The Stormhawk Interceptor is, as its name suggest, an anti-air unit. It's best at hunting more squishy targets instead of durable tanks or fliers tho so better focus on that. If your opponent doesn't have the right targets for it then you've wasted lots of points for a meh unit that hits only on a 4+ or worse.

 

 

About the actual use once the game started ... well there's not much to say, really. It is forced to move at least 20" every turn so you don't have that much choice in regards of positioning and due being airborne you can ignore most of your opponents units except for the ones you want to destroy anyway. Better take more than one tho since even with being hard to hit it shouldn't be much of a problem for your opponent to shoot it down. A few LasPreds or Repulsors on your side would also help. Target saturation is as always key when bringing vehicles and the Stormhawk Interceptor is no exception.

 

 

EDIT:

Would I use it in a full Primaris army? Potentially as long as GW doesn't release a Primaris flyer that can do its job and since it already looks so different compared to other Marine vehicles it would fit right in with a Primaris army as long as GW doesn't release a Primaris flyer with a very different design (like the Repulsor vs Landraider&Rhino chassis'). In any case I'd wait a little while longer before I'd buy one for my Primaris to see where GW might be going with things.

[Charlo]

So i'd say it's rare you'll find an army with nothing that the Fly Keyword. I think the only armies with zero flying options are Genestealer Cults, Knights & Ad Mech. FLY is a very powerful rule so many people want it. This thing nails anything that flies, especially in an age where it has 360 degree firepower. As someone who uses an Icarus Array Onager Dunecrawler, theres always usually a FLY target somewhere!

 

Assasult Cannons are ace and HB keep the cost down and when twinned with the Icarus Cannons you end up with a flying Dakka machine that's great at neutering the mobile elements of an opposing army.

 

If you absolutely 100% need to kill enemy flyers I'd go for the Lascannon and Missiles, but they are expensive, however the damage potential is pretty nuts!

 

One very niche, but powerful use could be zooming forward massively to get next to an enemy Character that flies and sniping them before they get a chance to act. Smash Captains, Jetbikes Custodes, Flying Hive Tyrants etc. You could even paid with a Stormtalon to clear the chaff first ;)

[Arkaniss]

What about the changes to Fly? I've not played 40K since the tweaks and I was under the impression that certain units like Jump Marines only have the Fly keyword during the movement phase? This was meant to stop 0" charges but wouldn't this also mean you wouldn't get the bonuses when shooting at them in this example? I'm not sure how it works now!

[Panzer]

They don't ever lose the FLY keyword. Read the FAQ again. ^^

[Xenith]

Indeed, a lot of the more powerful units there like Custard Biker gangs, Hive Tyrants, vanguard, death co, even captain smash all have the fly keyword.

 

The full lastalon+typhoon loadout I went for is massively point bloated (like 220?). I think I'd rather keep it cheap with the icarus and bolters for a lot of shots, or the skyhammer.

[Spagunk]

I personally chose to magnetize mine so I can either run it as an interceptor or the stormtalon. (I magnetized the hover jets so there is more than just weapons to differentiate the two.)

 

I feel that anti-flyer should be the way to go. Rule of 2 in effect and definitely have something much more terrifying on the ground so they don't get focused down. Baal preds would be ideal since they have the speed to keep up but we all know how inefficient those are to run.

 

Maybe there is a use case for deep field sniping of hard targets so, depending on meta, use the lastalon and missiles. But at that point the assault cannons become an odd item to use since it has a different battlefield role.

[Xenith]

But at that point the assault cannons become an odd item to use since it has a different battlefield role.

 

The ability of any unit to split fire really benefits the unit also. With the speed it has to move, there would generally be a target of opportunity within 24".

[BrotherAetherick]

Word of warning for those who's never used non hover fliers. Planning where you will be is very important for the stormhawk. If you just fly willy nilly it's very possible a savvy opponent can just move to where your 90 degree pivot can take you and force you to fly off the board, as you need to stay outside 1" of enemy models. (I learned this the hard way)

[Panzer]

Staying outside 1" of enemy models should be fairly easy considering you can just measure from the hull. ^^

[BrotherAetherick]

Staying outside 1" of enemy models should be fairly easy considering you can just measure from the hull. ^^

 

I'm almost certain you measure from the base unless it specifically says you measure from the hull like the repulsor hover tank rule, and eldar grav vehicles.

[Majkhel]

You definitely measure from the base, unless there is no base. The rule of staying away 1" from enemy models comes logically from the definition of Close Combat, where units bases (unless they have no bases) need to be within 1" of each other. 

Otherwise, imgine a situation, where most flyers are planted on a 5" or so sticks - you could easily hide most stuff below them and still keep the 1" distance from the hull (just counted vertically)

This can be of course a bit confusing when you remember that weapons range is measured from the hull.

[Panzer]

Not sure with which rule I've confused that but yeah of course you two are right with that.

[Xenith]

Not sure with which rule I've confused that but yeah of course you two are right with that.

 

I think in 5th ed you ignored the base of the flyer and could put other models on top of it. Maybe 6th, also, but then you had to physically be able to put the base on the table.

 

Loved using my mobile BA and pre-measuring to drop units in the minimum flight path of storm ravens and make them overshoot their targets. 

[Brother Cruoris]

A question, can I surround an enemy flyer (that can't hover) with infantry (staying 1 inch away, not in cc) and thus force him to fly straight ahead in his turn since if he tries to pivot he will end up within 1 inch of my model. Or do you ignore the models when you pivot?

If not then you could force your opponent to fly of the board. =P

[Panzer]

A question, can I surround an enemy flyer (that can't hover) with infantry (staying 1 inch away, not in cc) and thus force him to fly straight ahead in his turn since if he tries to pivot he will end up within 1 inch of my model. Or do you ignore the models when you pivot?

If not then you could force your opponent to fly of the board. =P

 

If he has no completely round base, then yes you can do that the same way you can stop a regular vehicle or monster from pivoting on the spot. ;)

[PeteySödes]

So ignoring my wolfy keen senses trick on this guy I still really like the Hawks. They are really, really effective at killing aeldari jetbike characters, deamon princes, or other flying characters. I have really enjoyed taking two in certain builds, in this way its less scary to get near the deamon princes since more than likely you can tag team kill them without fearing the charge reprisal.

 

Also don't ignore that while they dont count for holding proper obj, with a bit of planning you can get linebreaker and similar points with a bit of planning.

 

Its easy on the eyes too IMO!

[Kallas]

 

 

A question, can I surround an enemy flyer (that can't hover) with infantry (staying 1 inch away, not in cc) and thus force him to fly straight ahead in his turn since if he tries to pivot he will end up within 1 inch of my model. Or do you ignore the models when you pivot?

If not then you could force your opponent to fly of the board. =P

If he has no completely round base, then yes you can do that the same way you can stop a regular vehicle or monster from pivoting on the spot. ;)

I'm not sure that's the case. FLY models can move over other models in the Movement Phase, so they'd be able to pivot over as part of their movement.

[Panzer]

 

 

A question, can I surround an enemy flyer (that can't hover) with infantry (staying 1 inch away, not in cc) and thus force him to fly straight ahead in his turn since if he tries to pivot he will end up within 1 inch of my model. Or do you ignore the models when you pivot?

If not then you could force your opponent to fly of the board. =P

If he has no completely round base, then yes you can do that the same way you can stop a regular vehicle or monster from pivoting on the spot.

I'm not sure that's the case. FLY models can move over other models in the Movement Phase, so they'd be able to pivot over as part of their movement.

 

 

That's actually a good argument.