So you're telling me I have a Fast Attack section that actually have some valid options? Exciting times!
Chaos Bikers
Okay, someone has done something weird with these guys. For five points more than a normal Marine with Bolter, Bolt Pistol and CCW you get a Marine with a Twin-linked Bolter, Bolt Pistol, CCW, Bike (Meaning + Hammer of Wrath, faster and +1T). Now that's a bargain if I ever saw one! The only downside is that there's no way of making them Troops.
You also get the option to take up to two Flamers, Meltas or Plasma guns - but here you also get to chose if you want to replace the Twin-linked Bolter OR the CCW. Meaning you have to decide if you want to charge them in or stay out of combat pretty much. Personally I feel that the loss of a Twin-linked Bolter is nothing, so I'd go for that one. What to take though? Depends. The fact that they're really fast makes a Melta pretty inviting. Just drive up and blast something big. I think that option has the most appeal to me, especially as you can take two Meltas and a Combi-Melta on the Champion. So that's the basics of these guys.
Now there's Marks. The obvious one you look at first here is Mark of Nurgle. T6 Bikers. Indeed. It's not terribly expensive either, and here you have a super though fast unit that can drive up and tarpit pretty much anything. With the number of attacks they get on the charge they might actually even break a unit or two as well.
Another cool option with these guys involves taking a Lord or Sorcerer on a Steed of Slaanesh (I would go with a Sorcerer because I really like the Slaanesh powers) and joining him with them (meaning they'll have to be unmarked or have Slaanesh as well - and if you go for Slaanesh you might want the banner giving them Feel no Pain as well). The thing is that gives them Outflanking with Acute Senses. Nasty surprise for someone, eh?
Chaos Spawn
S5 T5 for 30 points each, squads of 1-5? Beasts and Fearless as well. And they can take Marks. If Bikes makes good tarpit units, then Spawns are now GREAT tarpit units. They also share a trait with the Possessed by rolling on a table for each Fight Phase, and there they have some good alternatives. Either they get more survivable, get more attacks or poisoned attacks. Pretty solid for the cost really. For Marks it's only the Mark of Nurgle that makes any sense. It all ready has Rage, and Slaanesh would bring it to I4 only and a invulnerability save seems wasted in this case... Not bad at all for a cheap unit!
Raptors
Jump Infantry! I have usually played these guys as a suicide unit, enjoying the fact that they could take a five man squad with two special weapons and Deep Strike. I usually go for Flamers, but Meltas are equally valid. This tactic still works, with the difference that they now have to take a Champion. But on the good side he can take a Combi-weapon so you can actually make them more effective!
The big change here however is that they're pretty cheap. 17 points per model for Jump Infantry that also causes Fear is not bad at all. Add two points for Mark of Khorne and I would definitely consider fielding a larger squad of 10-15 even. Have them led by a Lord with Lightning Claws and Jump Pack and you have a really scary unit (no pun intended) for not that many points! With an Icon of Wrath you can even give them Furious Charge. Not-quite-Berzerkers with Jump Packs for almost the same cost as normal Berzerkers!!
Warp Talons
The thought of this unit makes me happy. Each model has a pair of Lightning Claws and a Jump Pack. They're also Daemons so have a 3+/5++ save. They're really expensive though, especially if you want Marks and you can only take at most ten in a squad. But think on that. 10 pairs of Lightning Claws with Hammer of Wrath and Rage (Mark of Khorne). Imagine that you're also playing Space Marines and you have the Vetarans of the Long War. Carnage guaranteed.
Looking at their points again though that would be over 300 points. Perhaps 5 are enough, but it seems so easy to kill them all then...
They also have a funky special rule that whenever they arrive from Deep Strike all enemy units within 6" has to test for Blindness. This sounds really useful at first, but it's also contradictory. If they could assault from Deep Strike this would make sense, but they can't. So since they can't assault when they arrive, and they have no Shooting at all... why would you place them within 6" of any enemy units? Not only that, but the Blind goes away before the Warp Talons get a chance to charge anyway. I guess you could use this to somehow support another unit that will get it's assault for sure in the same turn. You're risking a pretty expensive unit for a pretty slight advantage though. Perhaps it could be useful for messing with Devastators and their likes or so, but I'm not sure!
The Champion can also take two Gifts of Mutation, which might be worth it for the same reason that it is for the Possessed.
Heldrake
So the long awaited flyer has finally arrived (hopefully that isn't a trend for it in play as well though...)! And it is expensive! The only option it has is to swap it's Hades Autocannon for a Baleflamer. To be honest that's not even an option I think, 4 shots at BS3 and S7 isn't amazing. A S6 AP3 flamer however will most definitely come in handy! For being a Flyer it seems to be pretty durable actually, with AV12 and a 5++ Daemon save as well as the It Will Not Die and 3HP enemies will have some troubles getting it out of the skies I think.
It's just too bad that it's not also equally good at taking out enemy fliers. This codex is somewhat lacking in the anti-air department, despite having a flier of it's own. It can make Vector Strikes, but only at S7. Even just an increase to S8 would help a lot in this case. You simply can't avoid a comparison to the Vendetta. The Vendetta is almost as hardy as the Heldrake but comes with three guns that are all stronger than the Heldrakes and can also upgrade to have another two (only S5 on those though, but it helps against weaker fliers) and all this for 40 points less than the Heldrake (30 if you take the Heavy Bolters). Ouch. In other words, stick to flaming marines with this thing. But by all means, if you get the chance do use your Vector Strike! Against flyers with less armour it's not bad. And you can always get lucky and get 4 hits. That should do something at least!
I am however left a little bit disappointed by this thing. It could've had so many more cool options!
Chaos Bikers
Okay, someone has done something weird with these guys. For five points more than a normal Marine with Bolter, Bolt Pistol and CCW you get a Marine with a Twin-linked Bolter, Bolt Pistol, CCW, Bike (Meaning + Hammer of Wrath, faster and +1T). Now that's a bargain if I ever saw one! The only downside is that there's no way of making them Troops.
You also get the option to take up to two Flamers, Meltas or Plasma guns - but here you also get to chose if you want to replace the Twin-linked Bolter OR the CCW. Meaning you have to decide if you want to charge them in or stay out of combat pretty much. Personally I feel that the loss of a Twin-linked Bolter is nothing, so I'd go for that one. What to take though? Depends. The fact that they're really fast makes a Melta pretty inviting. Just drive up and blast something big. I think that option has the most appeal to me, especially as you can take two Meltas and a Combi-Melta on the Champion. So that's the basics of these guys.
Now there's Marks. The obvious one you look at first here is Mark of Nurgle. T6 Bikers. Indeed. It's not terribly expensive either, and here you have a super though fast unit that can drive up and tarpit pretty much anything. With the number of attacks they get on the charge they might actually even break a unit or two as well.
Another cool option with these guys involves taking a Lord or Sorcerer on a Steed of Slaanesh (I would go with a Sorcerer because I really like the Slaanesh powers) and joining him with them (meaning they'll have to be unmarked or have Slaanesh as well - and if you go for Slaanesh you might want the banner giving them Feel no Pain as well). The thing is that gives them Outflanking with Acute Senses. Nasty surprise for someone, eh?
Chaos Spawn
S5 T5 for 30 points each, squads of 1-5? Beasts and Fearless as well. And they can take Marks. If Bikes makes good tarpit units, then Spawns are now GREAT tarpit units. They also share a trait with the Possessed by rolling on a table for each Fight Phase, and there they have some good alternatives. Either they get more survivable, get more attacks or poisoned attacks. Pretty solid for the cost really. For Marks it's only the Mark of Nurgle that makes any sense. It all ready has Rage, and Slaanesh would bring it to I4 only and a invulnerability save seems wasted in this case... Not bad at all for a cheap unit!
Raptors
Jump Infantry! I have usually played these guys as a suicide unit, enjoying the fact that they could take a five man squad with two special weapons and Deep Strike. I usually go for Flamers, but Meltas are equally valid. This tactic still works, with the difference that they now have to take a Champion. But on the good side he can take a Combi-weapon so you can actually make them more effective!
The big change here however is that they're pretty cheap. 17 points per model for Jump Infantry that also causes Fear is not bad at all. Add two points for Mark of Khorne and I would definitely consider fielding a larger squad of 10-15 even. Have them led by a Lord with Lightning Claws and Jump Pack and you have a really scary unit (no pun intended) for not that many points! With an Icon of Wrath you can even give them Furious Charge. Not-quite-Berzerkers with Jump Packs for almost the same cost as normal Berzerkers!!
Warp Talons
The thought of this unit makes me happy. Each model has a pair of Lightning Claws and a Jump Pack. They're also Daemons so have a 3+/5++ save. They're really expensive though, especially if you want Marks and you can only take at most ten in a squad. But think on that. 10 pairs of Lightning Claws with Hammer of Wrath and Rage (Mark of Khorne). Imagine that you're also playing Space Marines and you have the Vetarans of the Long War. Carnage guaranteed.
Looking at their points again though that would be over 300 points. Perhaps 5 are enough, but it seems so easy to kill them all then...
They also have a funky special rule that whenever they arrive from Deep Strike all enemy units within 6" has to test for Blindness. This sounds really useful at first, but it's also contradictory. If they could assault from Deep Strike this would make sense, but they can't. So since they can't assault when they arrive, and they have no Shooting at all... why would you place them within 6" of any enemy units? Not only that, but the Blind goes away before the Warp Talons get a chance to charge anyway. I guess you could use this to somehow support another unit that will get it's assault for sure in the same turn. You're risking a pretty expensive unit for a pretty slight advantage though. Perhaps it could be useful for messing with Devastators and their likes or so, but I'm not sure!
The Champion can also take two Gifts of Mutation, which might be worth it for the same reason that it is for the Possessed.
Heldrake
So the long awaited flyer has finally arrived (hopefully that isn't a trend for it in play as well though...)! And it is expensive! The only option it has is to swap it's Hades Autocannon for a Baleflamer. To be honest that's not even an option I think, 4 shots at BS3 and S7 isn't amazing. A S6 AP3 flamer however will most definitely come in handy! For being a Flyer it seems to be pretty durable actually, with AV12 and a 5++ Daemon save as well as the It Will Not Die and 3HP enemies will have some troubles getting it out of the skies I think.
It's just too bad that it's not also equally good at taking out enemy fliers. This codex is somewhat lacking in the anti-air department, despite having a flier of it's own. It can make Vector Strikes, but only at S7. Even just an increase to S8 would help a lot in this case. You simply can't avoid a comparison to the Vendetta. The Vendetta is almost as hardy as the Heldrake but comes with three guns that are all stronger than the Heldrakes and can also upgrade to have another two (only S5 on those though, but it helps against weaker fliers) and all this for 40 points less than the Heldrake (30 if you take the Heavy Bolters). Ouch. In other words, stick to flaming marines with this thing. But by all means, if you get the chance do use your Vector Strike! Against flyers with less armour it's not bad. And you can always get lucky and get 4 hits. That should do something at least!
I am however left a little bit disappointed by this thing. It could've had so many more cool options!
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