Thunderhawk Transporter

[ninjasuperspy]

So I'm fascinated by the Thunderhawk Transporter. On one hand it looks like a cool/apt unit for the Alpha Legion, on the other it takes up a Lord of War slot and only brings four twin-linked Heavy Bolters and the ability to haul around two rhinos. Is it only good for setting money on fire and wrestling with a several pounds of resin or is dropping a pair of Predator Infernuses (Predators Infernus?) in the enemy deployment zone worth anything?

[Slips]

Well its not limited to dropping 2 rhinos, you can also drop a land raider on some heads. They also can come in the the troops already inside them so you could (unless Im totally wrong) Fly a Land Raider or spartan across the field faster than it could ever get there on the ground, deploy/drop it and have the occupants assault right out the gate. After that you have a giant target that can ferry more land raiders/ rhinos OR a squad of angry guys beating on your back line. Think of it more as a bullet sponge ( a very expensive one at that) for whatever its carrying.

 

But really...I don't see much point in the transporter either.

[Passeltov]

to visualize my opinion on the Thunderhawk Transporter:

http://media.giphy.com/media/Kerg053G7ZJUQ/giphy.gif

 

It fails even at its main task, transporting vehicles. If the Thunderhawk arrives in the second Round, it still has to hover/stand still a full turn just to unload his payload, so the guys inside the Rhinos/Land Raider could enter the game at the earliest in the 3rd turn, not much time to have some impact on the game.

 

For the points wasted on the Transporter you could add two Storm eagles (moneywise you could get 4! and thats still cheaper than one transporter) which would fit the theme of the Alpha Legion.

[Kilofix]

It can actually be great for Apocalypse though. You can come in on any turn. By as early as second turn - you could have placed 2 Flame Storm Predators or 2 Magna-Melta Predators right up in front of his line; or you could have a Land Raider and Troops to capture that middle objective on a large board.

Not the best use of points or money but if you're buying a Transporter you're probably going for 'interesting'.

I want one just for fluffy reasons. Maybe one day....

[Dono1979]

yeah it is definitely a unit which isnt designed for non Apoc games. In those (apoc) scenarios it is quite potent on big tables, the ability to arrive Turn one and drop units the following turn in a location which would normally take a long time to get there on the ground.

[ninjasuperspy]

Haha yeah that's basically what I was thinking. It is a crying shame because like I said it is a (relatively) good looking model that (relatively) accurately fulfills a clear battlefield function. Picking one up is a daydream anyway as that's a whole huge chunk of change. Too bad it can't fire sponson weapons or deliver some Heresy goodness (Spartans or Sicarans).

[Jolemai]

In 40k I play Blood Angels. I'm thinking of getting on to put in a museum with a placard saying, "this is how we did things pre-Ward"...

 

Haha yeah that's basically what I was thinking. It is a crying shame because like I said it is a (relatively) good looking model that (relatively) accurately fulfills a clear battlefield function. Picking one up is a daydream anyway as that's a whole huge chunk of change. Too bad it can't fire sponson weapons or deliver some Heresy goodness (Spartans or Sicarans).

 

Why can't it move a Spartan around? Too big?

[Kilofix]

Not sure about the Spartan.

 

The HH book and Apoc book says it can pick up anything the approximate size of two Rhinos or a Land Raider.

[Dono1979]

A Sicaran should be in for sure than, a spartan should be pretty close, it is bascially the same dimensions as a Landraider, a TINY bit wider and taller plus the assault ramp is longer.