Horus Heresy 2e Review: Legion Thunderhawk Gunship

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️

2.5/5 stars, rounded down. I want to like it more than this, I really do.

Background.

Combining void warfare alongside regular atmospheric attack vectors, the thunderhawk is a nice all rounder for a Lords of War choice. It effectively fill in the gap between the larger stuff that the Imperium uses, and things like the Storm Eagle. It was a late Crusade development and saw use by both sides in the Heresy.

Strengths.

I like very much the option to take a center line turbo laser destructor! Although it is points cost heavy, the weapon is just amazing and really cannot be overlooked. Similarly the flare shield is an almost automatic inclusion as well (you will want to take that OR the diffraction grid as a default position).

The number of passengers has increased from first edition from 30 to 32 which is nice, along with the rear armour that is now 12. 

Weaknesses.

Oddly, the craft is no longer a super heavy. The immediate consequence of this is that it cannot fire everything every turn any longer. That sucks.

The movement has also changed to a flat 18. I guess this is tolerable.

What is truly a weakness is the all around AV=12 along with "only" 9 hull points. This is not a very durable craft fundamentally and what you are paying in points cost (and indeed: cold hard currency for the model) makes it not really worth it overall which explains the number of stars I've given at at the start. I mean, the model is cool, but the cash you have to part with for buying it is substantial even for savings and when coupled with the fact you won't really be playing it below something like 3500 points (rounded -- its really 3300), it isn't worth it for me personally. 

Builds.

Thunderhawk with Centre line Turbo Laser Destructor, Flare Shield (825 points).

The best build available in my opinion. I wouldn't be bothering with the macro bombs - they're a bit rubbish in exchange for the hell strike missiles.