Warhammer 40K Meta Hotness: Chaos Heldrake
Remember the good ole days where the CSM Heldrake was a murder machine? It’s back.
I remember the good ole days where the Heldrake was a murder machine that shot fire out of its butt, burned your enemies, and flew over models with its grasping claws. Now it is a kind of niche model that can do some work – but it needs your opponent to help you out to get the most out of the metal dragon.
This is probably the biggest pain in the butt to paint model for Chaos Space Marines. It has so much different parts it becomes a very annoying nightmare put paint on. Still the model is very interesting in what it does for Chaos. It is an an Assault Aircraft design to attack other Aircraft. Thus if you go first against things like Harpies and Tiger Sharks you could get a chance to push forward, jump on them, and wreck them quickly before the bombs get to ya.
Heldrake Basics!
Its a giant Metallic dragon that is going to scream forward and burn something followed by assaulting something else. That is pretty dang cool if flyers are a problem. the Chaos Heldrake can just be an annoying distraction. It is a Daemon engine too so it can be affected by all those things that help out. The Heldrake got a bump in the new book to hit better. And it looks pretty cool! I wish it had more attacks or some kind of burning assault option but that’s what dreams are for.
Aggression!
Remember how the the new Chaos Space Marine army is an assault based army? Well these guys can help a lot by just getting there. Creations of Bile seem well suited for them as they can assault something and then still get a chance to attack if something big wrecks them quickly. Flyers are starting to pop back up so this might be hitting the sweet spot. Heldrakes are useful plus – you can screech like some kind of daemonic eagle as you fly it around the tabletop. Can you really put a price on that?
Sample List
Josh Williams won 2022 Gateway Open 40K Grand Tournament with the following list utilizing Heldrakes. The dang metallic Dragons that might be good but Josh got them to work for him taking out some Tyranids in the finals.
++ Supreme Command Detachment +3CP (Chaos – Chaos Space Marines) [15 PL, 300pts, 2CP] ++
+ Configuration +
Detachment Command Cost [3CP]
Gametype
Legion: Black Legion
+ Primarch | Daemon Primarch | Supreme Commander +
Abaddon the Despoiler [15 PL, 300pts, -1CP]: 3. Merciless Overseer, 5. Eternal Vendetta, 6. Paragon of Hatred, Drach’nyen, Stratagem: Warlord Trait, Talon of Horus, Warlord
++ Battalion Detachment -3CP (Chaos – Chaos Space Marines) [89 PL, 1,700pts, -2CP] ++
+ Configuration +
Battle Size [6CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)
Detachment Command Cost [-3CP]
Gametype: 4. Chapter Approved: War Zone Nephilim
Legion: Creations of Bile
+ HQ +
Daemon Prince with Wings [11 PL, 180pts, -2CP]: 5.-6. Twisted Regeneration, Aspiring Lord, G’holl’ax, the Decayed, Hellforged sword, Malefic talons, Mark of Nurgle, Stratagem: Relic, Warptime, Wings
Dark Apostle [5 PL, 95pts]: Accursed crozius, Bolt pistol, Chaos Undivided, Frag & Krak grenades, Illusory Supplication
. 2x Dark Disciple: 2x Close combat weapon
Lord Discordant on Helstalker [10 PL, 190pts, -2CP]: 1. Flames of Spite, Aspiring Lord, Bladed limbs, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Gorget of Eternal Hate, Helstalker autocannon, Impaler chainglaive, Mark of Tzeentch, Mechatendrils, Stratagem: Relic, Techno-virus injector
+ Troops +
Cultist Mob [2 PL, 50pts]
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ cultist firearm: 9x Cultist firearm, 9x Frag & Krak grenades
. Cultist Champion: Frag & Krak grenades
. . Autopistol and brutal assault weapon: Autopistol, Brutal assault weapon
Cultist Mob [2 PL, 50pts]
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ cultist firearm: 9x Cultist firearm, 9x Frag & Krak grenades
. Cultist Champion: Frag & Krak grenades
. . Autopistol and brutal assault weapon: Autopistol, Brutal assault weapon
Legionaries [7 PL, 125pts]: Mark of Slaanesh
. Aspiring Champion: Astartes chainsword, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades
. 3x Marine w/ astartes chainsword: 3x Astartes chainsword, 3x Bolt pistol, 3x Frag & Krak grenades
. Marine w/ balefire tome: Balefire tome, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Prescience
+ Elites +
Chaos Terminator Squad [19 PL, 375pts, -1CP]: Mark of Slaanesh
. Chaos Terminator: Chainfist, Combi-melta
. Chaos Terminator: Combi-melta, Power fist
. Chaos Terminator: Accursed weapon, Combi-bolter
. Chaos Terminator: Accursed weapon, Combi-bolter
. Chaos Terminator: Accursed weapon, Combi-bolter
. Chaos Terminator: Accursed weapon, Combi-bolter
. Chaos Terminator: Accursed weapon, Combi-bolter
. Chaos Terminator: Accursed weapon, Combi-bolter
. Chaos Terminator: Accursed weapon, Combi-bolter
. Terminator Champion: Black Rune of Damnation, Chainfist, Combi-melta, Trophies of the Long War
Possessed [7 PL, 140pts]
. 4x Possessed: 4x Hideous mutations
. Possessed Champion: Hideous mutations
Possessed [7 PL, 140pts]
. 4x Possessed: 4x Hideous mutations
. Possessed Champion: Hideous mutations
+ Fast Attack +
Chaos Spawn [1 PL, 25pts]
. Chaos Spawn: Hideous mutations
+ Flyer +
Heldrake [9 PL, 165pts]: Baleflamer, Heldrake claws
Heldrake [9 PL, 165pts]: Baleflamer, Heldrake claws
++ Total: [104 PL, 2,000pts] ++
Chaos Heldrake Closing Thoughts
Overall this is going to be a niche model based on the meta you are seeing. It can still be annoying as it burns things around the tabletop. So it isn’t completely useless but still – with AM coming down the pipeline it might be a good to have some laying around. The skies might get darker with flying airplanes of death before long.
Let us know what units you think are hot right now, down in the comments!
