Vampire Raider
The Vampire Raider is the largest Eldar aircraft yet documented by the Imperium and is also an orbital-capable dropship. Similar in function to the Thunderhawk Gunship and similar in size to the Stormbird the Vampire Raider is used to ferry assault forces onto a planet, descending from orbit at many times the speed of sound to quickly drop off its cargo before ascending back into space just as quickly. The primary transports of Craftworld forces for when a target cannot be accessed through the Webway, Vampire Raiders are also a favorite of Eldar Corsairs for dropping off and retrieving their raiding parties. Many variants of the Vampire Raider exist, the most common one being the slightly smaller Vampire Hunter. And did we mention this thing is fucking huge? As in the model is the size of your face huge.
- Length: 26m
- Wingspan: 13.12m de jure, 26.6m de facto
- Crew: 2 crew, including 30 Eldar troops or 15 Wraithguard
- Mass: 56 tonnes; empty
- Max Speed: 3200kph
Armament[edit]
Despite its size, the Vampire Raider is ludicrously fast and well-armed. Due to its mass the Raider includes a nose-mounted Scatter Laser and twin-linked Pulse Lasers on under-wing hard points, a Titan-grade Holo-field for protection and the capability to carry up to thirty troops, or half as many Wraithguard, in a passenger compartment accessible through a rear ramp.
The Pulse Lasers can be replaced with twin-linked Phoenix Missile Launchers or a Pulsar in a centerline fuselage mount, turning the Raider into a heavy ground attack bomber, although this reduces its transport capacity by ten. Other variants turn it into a heavy transport with gravitic hooks allowing it to carry a Falcon or Wave Serpent into battle.
Overall the Vampire Raider is a fantastic vehicle, able to change its form from a heavy troop transport able to carry a impressive amount of troops and vehicles to a dedicated heavy bomber which can obliterate large blobs of infantry and even tanks. Accept no substitutes.
The End[edit]
As of the 9th edition eldar codex, both this and the vampire hunter have been relegated to legends. Thus, their rules are no longer updated and thus not tournament friendly. Pretty evident from their pulse laser and pulsar profiles differing from other units which were updated in the codex.
Considering how expensive the models are, this could be the start of a worrying trend with both older forgeworld and games workshop models, though especially forgeworld. Rules for many of the more more expensive eldar units have simply been dropped, presumably to pave the way for new models to be released with equivalent rules. If aircraft costing hundreds of pounds can be dropped like that, imagine seeing your favourite titans being dropped in a future edition? Of note, in 9th Imperial guard are set to lose a load of their older special characters, to be replaced with newer ones.
| Vessels of the Craftworld Eldar and Corsairs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spaceships | ||
| Craftworld | Craftworld | |
| Space Station | Haven Spire | |
| Battleships | Void Stalker | |
| Cruisers | Light Cruiser (Light Cruiser - Wraithship) Cruiser (Cruiser - Dragonship) - Phoenix Ship | |
| Escorts | Escort | |
| Logistics | Eldar Transport Ship | |
| Combat Spacecraft | Eagle Bomber | |
| Landships | ||
| Titans | Revenant Scout Titan - Phantom Battle Titan Warlock Titan | |
| Troop Transports | Storm Serpent | |
| Superheavy Tanks | Cobra - Deathstalker - Scorpion Tempest - Void Spinner | |
| Airships | ||
| Flying Fortress | Vampire Hunter | |
| Aerospace Vessels | Vampire Raider | |