Assault ramps on a flyer

[Charon]

Actually that is not entirely true.
There are assault vehicles which are great (Venom/Raider) but the units transported are lackluster.
Then you have the big assault vehicles with solid troops that crouch across the battlefield in a painful slow pace.

The assault flier is in fact a good compromise.
Yes, you probably only arrive at turn 2. But then you safely assault in turn 3 nearly anywhere on the board without exposing your troops or having a vehicle made of wet papertowels.
Is it worth? Probably not.. its still melee. Is it really THAT bad? Not at all.

[Caitsidhe]

Actually that is not entirely true.

Not entirely true? No. But MOSTLY true.

[Charon]

A compelling argument...

[Path Walker]

I can't imagine what its like to have hobby omnipotence like Cait and know how everyone plays the game.

And apparently everyone plays the game in a world where objectives and victory points don't win missions.

[Lord Krungharr]

When one puts an assault flyer on the Skyshield they are not trying to assault 1st turn generally. They aim to assault turn 2, having moved 12", then maybe flat out, in Turn 1. Of course I'd just go with a Land Raider, but it's not altogether a bad idea.

The board zone-pressure that an incoming assault unit can put on an enemy, forcing them to act a certain way. That can be very valuable. Plus many have some shooting they can do as well when they come in. If an army has a bunch of flyers like this it's always good to have something to augment the Reserves Rolls.

Most commonly though, the flyers are great at Zooming in, blowing away something important, and then the dudes inside (or ladies! or things!) take the place of whatever just got destroyed, just on Turn 3.

Assault is certainly very very effective if one can get there. My Chaos Marines vs Tau-dar yesterday proves that. With cover saves and psychic buffs, it can be vastly more devastating than shooting. Flyers are just a different manner of delivery requiring more finesse and proper support/timing.

[Caitsidhe]

I can't imagine what its like to have hobby omnipotence like Cait and know how everyone plays the game.

And apparently everyone plays the game in a world where objectives and victory points don't win missions.

It is very fine. A large portion of my collection was free courtesy of Games Workshop when they used to offer Prize Support. However, I would be remiss in claiming omnipotence. What I have is practical, regular experience. I play often and widely.

[marful]

Given that Dirge Casters exist, a Chaos army could tear through a CQC-incompetent armies' lines without any hope of reacting. I'm not sure how people are still seeing Overwatch as enough to stop, say, a squad of Khorne Beserkers all on its own.

Could you elaborate on this?

I'm trying to figure out how a Dirge Caster (-1 Leadership within 6") is going to "tear" through an army that lacks CQC...

[Demonus]

Dirge Caster stops enemies within 6" from Over Watching.

Not an ideal scenario but you COULD assault on turn 3 if you:

1. Had some TH/SS wolfguard in your flier
2. Flew on in turn 2.
3. Were shot down and survived

[Charon]

You can assault on turn 3 anyways (IF you arrive at turn 2)
You arrive at turn 2, can Zoom up to 36" (and possibly 12" - 24" Flat out for 60" movement. Thats basically ANYWHERE on the table)
Turn 3 you switch into hover mode, go up to 6", disembark another 6" and charge up to 2d6"

[DWest]

Given that Dirge Casters exist, a Chaos army could tear through a CQC-incompetent armies' lines without any hope of reacting. I'm not sure how people are still seeing Overwatch as enough to stop, say, a squad of Khorne Beserkers all on its own.

If you're thinking "how is Overwatch going to do enough Wounds for the unit receiving the charge to win the combat?" you'd be correct that Overwatch isn't going to do it, but you'd also be missing the value of Overwatch. This is a situation that actually happened to me at a recent tournament:

My Imperial Guard are huddled up in their deployment zone, holding enough objectives to win the game if they can stay put. The opponent has driven his Land Raider Crusader with 15 Blood Claws and a Wolf Lord over to where he can deliver a charge. Barkies pile out and then declare charge against a Vet squad holding the left flank. Wolf player needs 6" to get into contact. I fire Overwatch, score one kill. Because of the way the Blood Claws are stacked (owing to the terrain in the area, among other variables), losing the front-most model makes the charge distance 7" now. Wolf player rolls 6". Overwatch from a 92 point squad has successfully defeated the charge of a ~350 point squad.

Did I get lucky? Very much so. But most assault squads end up in a sort of lumpy wedge formation (on account of terrain, previous casualties, disembarking rules, and wanting to be spread out to keep from being blast-marker'd to pieces), and so it's usually the case that if you can get 1 kill on Overwatch it adds 1" to the charge distance, and 3 kills adds 3" to the distance.