I believe it's:
Thunderhawk Transporter
Type Speed Armour Close Combat Firefight
WE, Aircraft Bomber 4+ 6+ 6+
Weapon Range Firepower Notes
Heavy Bolter Array 15cm 2 x AA5+
Notes: DC2, Reinforced Armour, Transport: (2 Rhino chassis vehicles or 1 Land Raider chassis vehicle, in addition it may carry any infantry transported in those vehicles). Critical Hit Effect: The Thunderhawk’s control surfaces are damaged. The pilot loses control and the Thunderhawk crashes to the ground, killing all on board.The entire Thunderhawk Transporter formation is counted as one War Engine for the War Engine transport rule (e.g. one transported formation can be split between multiple aircraft within one Thunderhawk Transporter formation)
ortron wrote:
Why shouldn't a marine flyer with stacks of guns, the armour of a tank and crewed by fearless mofos be good at assaults and strafing anyone dumb enough to put there neck out. Just cost it accordingly.
End rant
It's due to the background Forge World have written for the THT, it's not meant to be used that way. To give you some quotes from the THT entry in IA2 2nd edition: the THT is a 'logistical support variant'....'transporters fly non-stop missions ferrying vehicles and supplies to the Space Marines on the ground.' And 'When entering a war zone, it is armed with heavy bolters for self defence, but it is not expected to engage the enemy.' It's focus is clearly meant to be transport and it not used offensively (as a bomber or to initiate air assaults when empty). If all 4 twin heavy bolters on each were represented a formation of 3 THT would have 12 x AP4+ shots and 12 x AA5+ shots (the average of 4 hits being enough to kill a Thunderhawk on average!). These stats would make them much too good at being a bomber, particularly with 4+ FF too (3 hits on average). A straight translation of stats wouldn't fit the background for the unit, so though not ideal the weapon stats are reduced.
Missing out or underpowering aircraft weapons is already common in epic e.g. where are the pair of wingtip lascannons and the 6 hellstrike missiles (which come as standard) which regular Thunderhawk's should have? Or the regular Thunderhawk in Epic just having a Battle Cannon rather than the more powerful Thunderhawk Cannon it has in 40k? There are already different aircraft heavy bolters stats on different aircraft, depending whether they are mounted all round or in a particular arc. Making the THT heavy bolters defensive only fits it's background so the weapons are consolidated and called a 'heavy bolter array'.
