I don't believe a Hero is worth any more than 200pts

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Currently doing a plastic scenery kickstarter

To answer the Necron question - yes the Necron list was purposefully designed so that a 3000 point army could not bring a C'tan and a large Harvester Engine.  
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Onyx, precisely why must the Manta be available with the Hero in a 3000 point army?  I see no reason for it other than it is cool.  But it is cool to have a Warlock Titan and a Vampire transport in the same 3000 point army so you can hammer-and-anvil people, or other types of combinations.  IMO the 3000 point game is great because it forces you to make the tough decisions on what you bring to the table.

The last time I checked, 3000 points wasn't a mandatory point allocation for a game.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

I'm sure Clausewitz will be along at some point, but a always popped up BTS has a really big "TK me sticker" on it as far as the enemy are concerned.

Planet falling it is one way to get it to survive and, if possible, should be preserved.

I do agree that the Manta is vulnerable, possibly even overpriced at its current stats?

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Overpriced?  Not compared to the DE Executor (it's closest cousin) which has about half the armament for 750 points...

Planet falling it is one way to get it to survive and, if possible, should be preserved.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

Mosc: I'm not sure you can really use the Executor as an indicator of the Manta's balance. Not only is it just as experimental, it's in an assault oriented army, where a planetfalling troop super-transport is much more useful.

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Epic: Hive Development Thread

I agree that there should be some differences, but the Executor is very well balanced as a war engine and it is the closest unit to compare to the Manta.  I'm not suggesting they be identical - only that it seems strange that something with twice the firepower, better range, better shields, and two-thirds the transport capacity for the same price would be considered overpriced.  It's food for thought - nothing more.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

Heroes are able to transport a lot of units, and lay two fantastic pin-point strikes on the enemy, 200pts is very definitely on the low end of the points scale for their abilities, I think.

I agree.  I thought a slight reduction in secondary weaponry could see it drop to Reaver cost (650).

Can't orca's  planetfall? I thought it could.

Quite right Mephitson. I'll edit that.

Maybe; I'm terribly afraid of 2x TK D3's.

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I understand.  But it does seem a maybe situation.  No War Engines and the TKs can't shoot.  Big horde army and the MW barrage is nasty.  Conversely against Titan Legion or similar the TKs are definitely much better.

But the better strategy, initiative and drop pods tip the balance for me.  At least such that I find it hard to reckon the Hero being worth more than a strike cruiser.

But on the flip side, it's not worth less either, considering it can drop the almighty Manta onto the table, and against Eldar, IG, and some other armies, you can basically kiss goodbye to a super-heavy tank or two...

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Of course, which is why I think its about right at 200 points.  It not better than the strike cuiser every time, they both have opponents that they are good against, and ones that they are not so good against.

If a Hero/Manta combo kills a SHT or two thats what should happen when 900(currently) points of the best TK platforms in an army target something.  On the flip side, if the Tau roll low and fail to kill those SHTs the Manta might just get busted in the return fire.

Which if it remains non-fearless would make it an easy kill for Manticores/Void Spinners.  Though it would be odd being the only big WE without fearless/