40K: Top 10 Flyers – Best & Worst Edition
With a new edition of Death from the Skies on the way it’s time to look at the Best & Worst Flyers to take to the skies!
Hey BoLS Readers! Here’s our list of the 5 Best and 5 Worst Flyers in 40K. These aren’t presented in any particular order but I’m sure someone will argue about that below. Enjoy!
Best Flyers:
1 – Fateweaver
Just based on pure utility and the amount of tools this Big Bird brings to the table Kairos Fatewaver has got to be on the “Best” part of this list. He’s almost TOO good if you’re playing a Psychically inclined demon list to skip out on. What’s doubly Awesome/Frustrating about him is that his Psychic Shenanigans are also backed by the fluff. “Fateweaver can cast that?” Well of course he can!
2 – Daemon Princes
Much like Fateweaver before them, the Chaos Daemon Princes just bring too much good stuff to the table. Any list that is talking about Flyers has got to mention these bad boys of flight. And if you take enough of them they get even better…
3 – Hive Tyrant
Flying Hive Tyrants, aka Flyrants, aka FMC Jerk, are so popular because they hit hard & fast, have synapse and are a pain to bring down. Notice how these “top 3” flyers are also all FMCs? Yes – that’s because they can all do that annoying “toe in” cover thing as well. It also helps (at least for the Tyranids) that this flyer is an HQ. It doesn’t exactly have a ton of strong competition in that department. So why not take one of the best flyers in the game. Don’t forget those fancy Forge World upgrades either!
4 – Vulture Gunship
Don’t think the Imperial Guard is getting ignored. The Vulture brings enough guns to bare to worry anything short of a Titan sized target. With it’s many weapon options and decent armor it makes a great unit to zoom around and dominate the airspace of your battlefield. There is no such thing as overkill…
5 – Storm Wolf
I’m blaming Goatboy for this one being on the list. Don’t get me wrong, I think it belongs on this list for the obvious reasons: Firepower, Utility, Transportation and it’s “tiny” foot print – but if I’m honest I just don’t like it on a personal level. It looks like someone tried to convert a “Space Wolf” Storm Talon and left over bits from a Land Speeder and Storm Raven and wanted to make sure they didn’t go to waste. Aesthetics aside, it’s still a really strong flyer…even if its a Space Wolf Themed Brick with engines glued on.
Honorable Mention: Crimson Hunter
The Crimson Hunter is one of those Flyers that you just don’t want to see on the table across from you. This goes double if you brought a lone flyer of your own. It packs just the right amount of punch to really knock the wind of your sails in a 1v1 flyer duel. It’s fast, nimble and can take some mean upgrades to boot. While it just didn’t have the Utility to make the cut it deserves the Honorable Mention for it’s deadliness vs other flyers.
Worst Flyers:
1 – Sun Shark
This next section is going to be rough for the Tau. Hey, they gotta be bad at SOMETHING, right? The Sun Shark is on the list because…Well, lot’s of reasons. But really it boils down to playability and the fact that the Tau just have better things to spend their points on. I know it’s supposed to take visual queues from the other Tau vehicles but I don’t know a Tau player that started a Tau Army because of those vehicles. It was all about the Manga-esque robots which is what those same players would rather spend points on – not this flyer.
2 – Voidraven Bomber
Dark Eldar, what happened? I know this thing is supposed to be fast and deadly but it seems like you got the short end of the Flyer stick compared your “not-so-Dark” cousins. This flyer is just overcosted for the amount of firepower it puts out. I’d rather take a venom loaded with guns vs one of these flyers – and apparently many, many Dark Eldar players agree. Which is a real shame because it’s a really nice kit. It’s not on this list due to looks, that’s for sure. Maybe it will get a points reduction and some more buffs to make it worth taking…
3 – Blitz-Bommer
The biggest problem with this unit is that it’s the same kit as the Dakkajet. Why is that a problem? Because if you are only going to buy one of these kits you should ALWAYS build the Dakkajet. But why is that? Because the Dakkajet will unload volleys of bullets like nobody’s business and the Blitz-Bommer will probably just blow itself up on the bombing run…or at least it should. Only the most Diehard of Ork fans will want to run the Blitz-Bommer. It’s a cost vs benefit thing when it boils down to it. The Dakkajet is just better.
This Dark Angels Fighter has the same problem as the Space Wolf one (it’s a Storm Talon with other bits) but doesn’t have the utility, firepower or redeeming qualities to make up for it. I’m sure someone will swear by this fighter and how amazing it is and I want them to know “I believe you.” I’m sure you’ve personally have had an awesome success with the Nephilim Jetfighter. Keep it up! But based on tournament lists and an overwhelming amount of data point to the contrary we can only assume that this jet isn’t worth fielding vs other options.
Look, I don’t know what to say about the Razorshark Strike Fighter besides, “Just don’t.” Take some more suits, take some more firewarriors…take a handful of drones. Just don’t bother with this one.
“Honorable” Mention: Hemlock WraithFighter
Template weapon that can really only fire forward on a flyer. Let’s go ask the Heldrake how that works out…
What are your favorite flyers? What about your least favorite flyers? Let us know in the comments below!
