Last week we posted our Warhammer Unit Focus: Stormravens but now it’s time to pick apart the actual math on these things in our Mathhamer Unit Focus: Stormravens! This week’s math is going to be a little more difficult than the Kastellans because of all the options a Stormraven can take but we’ll look at the best way to kit them out. Their rules can be found in Index: Imperium 1 on Amazon.
Quick Rules Review
-Stormravens are fliers but they have Power of the Machine Spirit to not take the -1 penalty when firing heavy weapons after moving.
-We’re going to assume two different loadouts:
- Chaff Killer: Twin Assault Cannons, Twin Heavy Bolters, and two Hurricane Bolters (won’t count the Stormstrike Missiles here)
- Elite Killer: Twin Lascannons, Twin Multi-Melta, Stormstrike Missiles
-They hit on 3’s
-Stormravens have a lot of movement so we’re going to assume they are in range for Rapid-Fire and Melta
Shooting
We’ll go through each weapon a Stormraven can take individually and then total them up for each version against specific targets. Let’s take a look at the equipment on a Stormraven kitted out for chaff or horde killing starting with the Twin Assault Cannon:
| 2+ | 3+ | 4+ | 5+ | 6+ | |
| T3 | 2.222 | 3.333 | 4.444 | 5.556 | 6.667 |
| T4 | 1.778 | 2.667 | 3.556 | 4.444 | 5.333 |
| T5 | 1.778 | 2.667 | 3.556 | 4.444 | 5.333 |
| T6 | 1.333 | 2.000 | 2.667 | 3.333 | 4.000 |
| T7 | 0.889 | 1.333 | 1.778 | 2.222 | 2.667 |
| T8 | 0.889 | 1.333 | 1.778 | 2.222 | 2.667 |
Yeah that’s a fair number of conscripts, ork boys, or even horrors. The Assault Cannon isn’t meant to engage larger targets but it certainly has a chance of knocking off some wounds on transports or heavier vehicles. Now for the Twin Heavy Bolter:
| 2+ | 3+ | 4+ | 5+ | 6+ | |
| T3 | 0.889 | 1.333 | 1.778 | 2.222 | 2.667 |
| T4 | 0.889 | 1.333 | 1.778 | 2.222 | 2.667 |
| T5 | 0.667 | 1.000 | 1.333 | 1.667 | 2.000 |
| T6 | 0.444 | 0.667 | 0.889 | 1.111 | 1.333 |
| T7 | 0.444 | 0.667 | 0.889 | 1.111 | 1.333 |
| T8 | 0.444 | 0.667 | 0.889 | 1.111 | 1.333 |
With not quite as many shots as the Assault Cannon the Twin Heavy Bolter doesn’t perform quite. Guard equivalents or low toughness models with low saves however definitely do need to look out. The Twin Heavy Bolter may not work wonders but it is a relatively cheap option that is consistent against light targets. Finally let’s look at how the 2 Hurrican Bolters do in Rapid Fire range:
| 2+ | 3+ | 4+ | 5+ | 6+ | |
| T3 | 1.778 | 3.556 | 5.333 | 7.111 | 8.889 |
| T4 | 1.333 | 2.667 | 4.000 | 5.333 | 6.667 |
| T5 | 0.889 | 1.778 | 2.667 | 3.556 | 4.444 |
| T6 | 0.889 | 1.778 | 2.667 | 3.556 | 4.444 |
| T7 | 0.889 | 1.778 | 2.667 | 3.556 | 4.444 |
| T8 | 0.889 | 1.778 | 2.667 | 3.556 | 4.444 |
Ok here we go, horde units will not like that. Low save models especially suffer against the number of shots a Hurricane Bolter can put out. Almost 9 Ork Boys go down on average? Yes please. Those numbers will also grind down Horrors or Razorwings pretty fast compared to most things.
Overall how does the anti-horde kitted Stormraven do? Well against Horrors it does about 10 wounds on average trimming that wave of Brimstones. Against Conscripts you’re going to be taking down about 15 models a turn. That may not feel like enough against a fearless 50 man blob but you can always just fly over them! Finally against hordes of Ork Boys they do 18 wounds clearing out a good portion of a squad at a time. Bring four of these things and make your horde abusing opponent cry.
Next we’re going to go over the math on a Stormraven kitted to kill elites and vehicles. To me this is sub-optimal but taking one kitted out like this in a Stormraven spam isn’t terrible insurance against transports or some heavier targets. First let’s look at the Twin Lascannons:
| 2+ | 3+ | 4+ | 5+ | 6+ | |
| T3 | 2.593 | 3.241 | 3.889 | 3.889 | 3.889 |
| T4 | 2.593 | 3.241 | 3.889 | 3.889 | 3.889 |
| T5 | 2.074 | 2.593 | 3.111 | 3.111 | 3.111 |
| T6 | 2.074 | 2.593 | 3.111 | 3.111 | 3.111 |
| T7 | 2.074 | 2.593 | 3.111 | 3.111 | 3.111 |
| T8 | 2.074 | 2.593 | 3.111 | 3.111 | 3.111 |
Definitely not bad, especially considering they knock off about 2 wounds on average from a Knight or Landraider. Now let’s take a look at that Twin Multi-Melta in melta range:
| 2+ | 3+ | 4+ | 5+ | 6+ | |
| T3 | 4.139 | 4.967 | 4.967 | 4.967 | 4.967 |
| T4 | 4.139 | 4.967 | 4.967 | 4.967 | 4.967 |
| T5 | 3.311 | 3.973 | 3.973 | 3.973 | 3.973 |
| T6 | 3.311 | 3.973 | 3.973 | 3.973 | 3.973 |
| T7 | 3.311 | 3.973 | 3.973 | 3.973 | 3.973 |
| T8 | 2.483 | 2.980 | 2.980 | 2.980 | 2.980 |
Still now terrible against a Landraider or a Leman Russ. The new melta strength 8 does hurt it though. This chart doesn’t take into account invuln saves but you can see meltas can still hurt knights on average but could do a ton of damage with good rolls. It’s also worth remembering that most transports are T7 with 3+ saves so a melta gun is going to be cracking open “metal bawkses” with ease. Finally here’s how those Stormstrike Missiles do:
| 2+ | 3+ | 4+ | 5+ | 6+ | |
| T3 | 1.111 | 1.389 | 1.667 | 1.667 | 1.667 |
| T4 | 1.111 | 1.389 | 1.667 | 1.667 | 1.667 |
| T5 | 0.889 | 1.111 | 1.333 | 1.333 | 1.333 |
| T6 | 0.889 | 1.111 | 1.333 | 1.333 | 1.333 |
| T7 | 0.889 | 1.111 | 1.333 | 1.333 | 1.333 |
| T8 | 0.667 | 0.833 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 |
As you can see that single shot really hurts the Stormstrike Missile. Its’s not terrible as it will definitely give you a good chance of blowing away a terminator or finish off something else since it does 3 damage base. This isn’t going to be your workhorse on the Stormraven though.
So how does an Elite Killer kitted Stormraven do overall? Well against basic T7 3+ transports it does pretty good doing about 7.6 wounds on average. Against a knight though? It only does 4.876 wounds (.833+1.969 from melta+2.074 from LC) if you take the 5+ invulnerable save into account. Not terrible but definitely not the best unit in the game for killing big scary monsters or vehicles.
Analysis / Tactics
Stormravens are here to do 3 things: get first turn with limited drops, be hard to kill with 3+ save and -1 to hit, and shoot things all game. It definitely keeps the number of drops in your army down almost guaranteeing you first turn. We’ll see how important this is in the future with ITC’s ruling that there is a roll off with only a +1 for having less drops. Is it hard to kill? Yeah you know this if you’ve played against them. While not impossible to bring down if you can get a hit, armies like Astra Militarum and Tau really struggle against the -1 to hit. Space Marine devastators with lascannons on the other hand do not struggle so much and can wreck a Stormraven’s day.
When it comes to offense, which is basically just shooting here, the Stormraven is a mixed bag. Power of the Machine Spirit definitely helps as does the crazy long range on it’s movement to help get in range with Melta and Rapid Fire. As the math above shows us, on average a Stormraven really shouldn’t be put up against heavy multi-wound targets. They are much better at mulching hordes or lighter units. While not terrible against your average transport I think the Twin Assault Cannon and the Twin Heavy Bolters are the way to go. They give more versatility and a lot more clearing power against something trying to block out a Stormraven’s movement when it flies around on the board!
If you’re looking for Stormraven online you can find them on AMAZON HERE or their rules in Index: Imperium 1. Also check out our Warhammer Unit Focus: Stormravens. Let us know what units we should focus on next by emailing us at [email protected]!