30K: Building My Emperor's Children - Part Four Fast Attack
It's been a while since my last instalment of this series. I've been focussing a lot on painting my first 1,000 points so I can get some Heresy gaming done, and organising the Heresy narrative coming at the end of this month.
I'm going to make good use of the Fast Attack slot, as it has some great units for my play style. here is the list of options you get in the Fast Attack slot.
- Seeker Squad
- Outrider Squad
- Attack Bike Squadron
- Jetbike Sky Hunter Squadron
- Land Speeder Squadron
- Javelin Attack Speeder Squadron
- Primaris-Lightning Strike Fighter
- Storm Eagle Assault Gunship
- Tarantula Sentry Gun
- Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Drop Pod
Outrider Squad
These are 30K bikes, and although they are a perfectly good fast attack option, I'm declining to take any. I much prefer the more versatile Jetbikes and I'm short on slots here.
Attack Bike Squadron
These are the same Attack Bikes from 40K. I've never been a fan of bikes, so I will leave this unit to the White Scar players.
Land Speeder Squadron
Very fragile at AV10, and inferior to the 30K Javelin Attack Speeder.
Tarantula Sentry Gun
Never understood why this was in the Fast Attack, but there it is. As a stationary weapons platform, it doesn't fit my battle doctrine, so not for me.
Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Drop Pod
Drop pods are not for me. Perhaps if I do a Sons of Horus army in the future I will think about a drop pod army.
That leaves 5 options, but only 3 slots available.
Jetbike Sky Hunter Squadron
These jetbikes received a lot of negative comments when they were released due to the way they look. I was one of those voices against them, however, after seeing this unit in person and with great paintwork, I can now say I'm a big fan!
You can buy these individually or in packs of 3, so I'm going to model up 5 in total and leave a Jetbike for a possible Centurion or Praetor in the future. 275pts gets you 5 Jetbikes, all with Melta bombs, 1 Volkite Culverin, and a Sergeant with a Power Sword.
Javelin Attack Speeder Squadron
These are beautiful models, but what do you get for that additional 25pts over an ordinary Land speeder? Firstly, you get an additional 1 AV point, twin-linked Cyclone missile launchers and the outflank special rule. On top of this you can purchase Hunter Killer Missiles for half the price of what it costs on a Land Speeder and replace those cyclone missile launchers with Lascannons for a small amount.
I plan on getting 3 Javelin Attack Speeders. 2 with Lascannons, one with Cyclone Missile Launchers. The missile launcher speeder will get a Multi-Melta upgrade to its Heavy Bolter. I will also purchase 2 Hunter Killers for all of them. That's one dead Heavy tank! This comes in at 285pts.
Seeker Squad
I had initially ruled this squad out, I wrongly assumed it was just a scout squad. I've since read up on them, and they are much more than mere scouts. To quote the Red Book:
"Seeker squads are comprised of a specialised force of Space marines....members are chosen primarily on pure merit as the best shots in their Legion"It certainly sounds like the perfect unit for an Emperor's Children army list, any Emperor's Children marksman would aspire to join this unit.
As with most units in the Heresy, go big or go home! A unit with a maximum of 10, Artificer armour, Melta bombs and a Power Sword for the Sergeant comes in at 275pts. That's pretty cheap for a squad that can potentially put out 10 3" blasts, or shoot an additional 6" at AP4, or get Shred and Rending with their Special Ammo.
That's my 3 slots taken up, but there are still 2 options still to talk about.
Storm Eagle Assault Gunship
Another beautiful model from Forgeworld. I will use one in larger games, to either Transport Fulgrim and a squad of Phoenix Terminators or a large squad of Tactical Marines, by sacrificing my Seeker Squad.
I'm not a fan of the Tempest rockets, at str6 they don't have much use in 30K where most Av is 13 and above. You can replace them with Hellstrike missiles for 20pts or two twin-linked lascannons for 40pts. The Lascannons, although good are very expensive, especially with so many Mortis-Contemptors walking around. Hellstrike missiles look good however, 72" range at str8 with Ordnance special rule, they can be unloaded on the turn it arrives at a safe distance from those pesky Contemptors. This does mean everything else fires at snapshot, which means the Vengeance missile launcher will be unusable for a that turn, hopefully it will be able to take out whatever anti-air the enemy has on the field and then have free reign on the rest of the battle field.
Storm Eagle with Hellstrike Missile, Multi-melta (replacing the Heavy bolter) comes in at 245pts.
Primaris-Lightning Strike Fighter
At a glance, it doesn't leave much space for a Primaris-Lightning Strike Fighter, but you would be wrong. Reading the Battle of the Ages section of the Red Book, a Lord of War can be the following: Sub-Orbital Strike Wing. The strike wing can consist of 1-3 flyers with up to 3HP each. The Lightning comes in at 2HP, but one thing to be wary is that they give up an additional 1 victory point each if destroyed.
The fighter comes with twin-linked Lascannons which suggests that it should be an Anti-Tank flyer, however, it can equipped with Sunfury missiles, which are excellent marine killers, Str6, AP3, Large Blast, Blind. This flyer can easily remove a large Tactical Squad on the turn it arrives. With Missile barrage it can fire 4 missiles at once.
For 175pts you get a flyer with 4 Sunfury Missiles and ground-tracking auguries (straffing run). It has the option for an additional set of weapons, but its quite fragile so I chose to go minimum missiles, anything it can kill after the turn it arrives with the Lascannons will be a bonus.
Modelling
To recap what I will build for my Fast Attack Slot
- 5x Jetbikes; Sergeant with Power Sword
- 3x Javelin Attack Speeders; 2 with Lascannons, 1 with Cyclone Missile Launchers and a Multi-melta
- 10x Seekers; Sergeant with Power Sword
- 1x Storm Eagle; with 4 Hellstrike Missiles and Multi-melta
- 1x Primaris-Lightning Strike Fighter; with 4 Sunfury Missiles
I already have 3 Jetbikes, which I shall model as the Sergeant and one with the Volkite Culverin (magnetised) and I have 2 Javelin Attack Speeders on order. My next order will include 3 Jetbikes, the third Javelin Speeder and 10 Seekers. With the Storm Eagle and Strike Fighter being a long term goal.
Look out on this blog for future WIP of these models. Any comments are very welcome.
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