Razor Wing Jetfighters - Missile load out

What is everyones prefered loadout on the missiles for a RWF?

Most RWF are decked out with 2 dark lances and a splinter canon, the reasons for which i find very obvious. they are better.

However when it comes to the missles what do you do?

Monoscythe - FREE, can reliably kill MEQ has the potenial to glance tanks with AV 12 or less
S6 AP- Assault 1 Large blast

Necrotoxin - 5pts for....fleshbane??? never thought these were worth it. CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE.

Shatterfield - 5 pts upgrade for +1S and shred - the way i see it these are the top shelf missle, but as all top shelf things are....usually too exspensive.

if Shatterfield was REND instead of SHRED would they be worth taking?

Keep the missiles stock IMO - the return for points on the others is not high enough

Yup, I keep my razorwing as cheap as poss - dark lances, splinter cannon is optional if i have enough points (decent for FMC control) and don't spend anything on the missiles. The only benefit to fleshbane is against mechanicum units like the Thallax (because they force re-rolls on successful wounds with the poison special rule - but doesn't apply to fleshbane) but against them they still have multiple wounds and a very good armour save, and they don't generally come in big enough units to make the most of the blast template.

Shatterfield - same problem really, models with high toughness where the re-roll from shred comes in handy aren't generally going to be worried by getting hit once with a large blast missile, they've got enough wounds to shrug it off, and the AP isn't good enough to ignore their armour.

I might consider them if it was rending, but it isn't.

Considering the necrotoxin missles are actually free to take, I usually take those.
Shatterfield are too pricey.
And if I'm taking dark lances that's where the anti-armour comes from.

yeah but monoscythes come with AP - and quite honestly i use the missiles for horde control, so I'm still going to be wounding on 2's with them, whereas the necrotoxins would allow a guardsman blob to take their armour save.

Ispa wrote:

Monoscythe - FREE, can reliably kill MEQ has the potenial to glance tanks with AV 12 or less
S6 AP- Assault 1 Large blast

"Reliably kill MEQ" ............ Really ????? No.

@Hellstrom

Perhaps a constructive sentence explaining your thoughts on the matter beyond simple derision would be better.

@Ispa - as other have said I would keep them cheap as possible. I think the Dark Eldar can suck you in some times with upgrades everywhere but as a fragile force where many things can be taken down by bolters (give or take some coven units) those upgrades saved across an entire army ploughed into another fast unit will probably serve you better.

Just my opinion anyway

I'd say a monoscythe could be relied on to kill 1-2 marines. All four could reasonably take down a combat squad.

If you're facing just marines with a TAC list that's fine. If you're tailoring your army to a particular opponent faction, then probably best to go with the voidraven and its, quite frankly, nasty levels of AP2. (just be prepared to pay an exhorbitant cost for it)

I assumed it was obvious, apologies.

1 missile assuming the 33% chance of actually hitting its target actually occurs, is likely to hit 5 models at a maximum. 5 hits at strength 6 translates to 4 wounds. 4 marines make a 3+ save, one dies. Safe to assume that all 4 missiles would kill about 3 marines on average, taking scatter into consideration.

I think some of your assumptions are a little off here hellstrom. The 33% chance is only to roll a hit on the hit die (positive thinking, it's not a scatter die!). There still a chance (10 in 36) that if it scatters the BS reduction will mean it hits its original intended target. For the other results, the template is large enough that you can realistically anticipate that a distance roll of up to 7" has a good chance of hitting something (2.5" radius, assuming you're not covering the whole squad with the template if it moves 3" from a distance roll of 7).

5 hits from a template is probably a reasonable average, rather than a maximum.

Even taking your figures, you can say that a monoscythe could reliably kill MEQ - just not reliably kill a large volume of MEQ.

That being said, how often do you face a marine army that has floods of tactical squad etc instead of the more expensive, elite bikes, or centurions etc, who aren't an ideal target for the missiles anyway.

Fair comments

Ispa wrote:

Monoscythe - FREE, can reliably kill MEQ has the potenial to glance tanks with AV 12 or less
S6 AP- Assault 1 Large blast

It has AP 5, but that is not enough to reliably kill MEQs.

Ispa wrote:

Necrotoxin - 5pts for....fleshbane??? never thought these were worth it. CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE.

Again, no AP. Wounding on 2+ doesn't mean much if your target can save easily.

Ispa wrote:

Shatterfield - 5 pts upgrade for +1S and shred - the way i see it these are the top shelf missle, but as all top shelf things are....usually too exspensive.

if Shatterfield was REND instead of SHRED would they be worth taking?

Yes. Rending would make them much better. But as they are now, you're just trading AP 5 for +1 Strength.
If you're facing GEQs, it's still more effective than the Necrotoxin Missile though.

Personally, I think neither of the upgrades makes enough of a difference, so I just stick to the Monoscythe Missiles.

If I have spare points, I'd probably upgrade to Shatterfield missiles - as S7 means they're wounding even T5 units (which are becoming increasingly common) on 2s, and have Shred to basically guarantee that every hit will wound. Also, they're better against most MCs and vehicles (should you have a pressing need to destroy such a target).

That being said, I don't know if they're actually worth the upgrade - especially when there's a good chance they'll just miss anyway.

Also, if I have the points to upgrade all of the Razorwing's missiles, I start to wonder if I should just take the bomber instead. It only has one blast, but S9 AP2 Lance with d6-4" scatter will worry a lot more units. And, perhaps more importantly, it can drop the bomb on a different unit to the one it shoots - so I can hit a threatening unit of infantry and still fire its void lances at an enemy vehicle or aircraft.

I just use the cheapest missiles usually. They seem plenty good to me.

I have to say, I really don't see the point of the Fleshbane missiles. Maybe if they were free, but if you're going to pay 5pts I don't see why you wouldn't take Shatterfield missiles instead. They're better against virtually all targets and can hurt vehicles as well.

Necrotoxin only makes sense when you absolutely 100% know you will go against a high T army, which is quite rare (Iyanden comes to mind or Nurgle only CSM) but then again... thats nothing your regular poison pewpew can't handle.

If one of the missiles had ap5 attached there would be a clear winner but in this case its pick your poison i recommend the shatterfield for taking on vehicles we have plenty of anti infantry use the flyer for Distraction/This vehicle dies. I feel the splintercannon is a waste on it

Grimcrimm wrote:

If one of the missiles had ap5 attached there would be a clear winner

That would be the AP5 monoscythe then?

Sorry hadnt been through my book in awhile but yup winner goes to the damage that can stick to things not the chance of damage


A strength 10 and strength 6 are the same against anyone tough 4 or lower ap is the deciding factor on a weapons efficiency