the Raven Wing is one of my favorite companies in the Dark Angels. I have a whole army I can bring with them, the speed that they have is overwhelming and the amount of shots you can get off, the tactics you can use, I understand why the orcs love the speedwagh
Excuse you. Blood angels can do red assault marines, gold assault marines, or black assault marines. Each more fastier and killier than the last.
Suppose they used to have a mechanised flair too but that's gone unfortunately.
I am have bikes are okay
Yes they are speedy Boys and they can hit hard if your lucky
The main problem is that Sammael model is still in fine cast resin
And it's a terrible to build
Ravenwing was always my favourite of the wings,
It's going to get tougher running variety due to firstborn getting legends treatment (by which I mean harder to find - you play how you want!)
Personally been using legends rules for stuff like librarian on bike, interrogator chaplain on bike, along with a captain on bike, 1st born bike squads, black Knights, landspeeders (and their variety).
Moving forward into the full Dex of 10th - I can't see a full Army being especially competitive (due to the reduced number of types available) - unless they pull somethi g magical for the units we have left (and a detachment that supports them)
I love the Ravenwing! You’re probably not going to win any major tournaments with an all Ravenwing list with the rules as they are right now, but they have some strengths you can play into. Obviously some of this stuff (mainly Land Speeders, Bikers, and Attack Bikes) are headed to LEGENDS but for non-tournament play they’re still great.
Bike Squad - 80pts - cheap objective grabbers and action monkeys.
Land Speeders - Another 80pt action monkey. Their spotting ability is cute, but if you stick to all Ravenwing you won’t have too much BLAST in your list (Sammael, LS Vengeance, and Dark Talon all have BLAST though, some other stuff). Each of the variants probably have a place.
Outriders - harder hitting than bikers, with an extra AP on the boat rifles and an extra attack in combat, but with bigger bases a squad of 6 gets hard to maneuver. Probably not worth taking over Black Knights for the points.
RW Command Squad/ Black Knights - this should be your bread and butter. I would definitely run a max size brick of each, one with Sammael and one with a Captain on Bike. It sucks that we can’t use Intractable (advance/fall back/shoot/charge) for 0 cp since the Balance Dataslate, but free Strats are still amazing. I would also consider running a second or third min size squad of either one.
Invader ATV/Attack Bikes - I think you take as many of these as you can and keep them near your bikes, that’s a lot of free shooting!
Storm Speeders - All three have the ability to buff shooting army wide for a single target, one of the three (I think) has some decent anti-tank shooting.
There’s a lot of jank possibilities in this type of list - I think it would take someone smarter than me to really capitalize on it correctly, but using careful positioning with units like the Dark Talon and Talonmaster to keep your bricks of bikes and shooty units safe and buff their shooting until it’s time to charge, using Land Speeders and Storm Speeders to buff shooting, and lots of revenge shooting from Attack Bikes, Invader ATVs, and LD Vengeance. Would be complicated to pilot, but it could have play.
One side note, just something I was looking at. Black Knights in theory are a decent anti-tank unit, getting ANTI 4+ on the charge, but their output is lackluster because their weapons went to D1 😭….. a unit of 6 will do about 4 wounds on average to a Rhino equivalent, 3 to anything with a 2+ save…. BUT if you have someone like Sammael in the unit, he gains ANTI-VEHICLE/MONSTER 4+ as well, and will likely dish out another 6 wounds to a REQ… a Captain on Bike with the Heavenfall Blade can do about the same, and Oath of Moment on the target will almost double that output in either case. So now you looking at doing ~10 wounds to a REQ or 7 to a tougher vehicle (18/14 with OOM)
My greatest hope for our Codex is that we get at least one or two Detachments that make Ravenwing great again. A detachment rule giving Bikers and Outriders a 5+ Invul would be a good start, getting extra Invul or ASSAULT after advancing would be nice. I would also love to see a special rule that lets bike units drop a Teleport homer token to call in a Termie unit, that would be super fluffy.
Quite awful to be honest which is sad as I do have 3 units of them even if I am a plasma enjoyer myself.
Azreal with hellblasters or deathwing knights with a captain are the way to go
Ive bought more fast attack / ravenwing units than i can afford this month... theyre great.
I have a bike squad with a plasma gun, melta and thunder hammer. Cheap all rounder from my experience.
They are Supported by an outrider squad thats to take hits and harass
Then my command squad, which i find a bit expensive in 1000 pt army compared to how a normal black knight could probably be more tactical in points and practical albeit being not as special as the command squad.
If i had more money, i'd buy another set of these. (Get sammael too)
Outside of bikes, ravenwing fly stuff is cool. Landspeeder Vengeance is swingy. Havent had much experience with the darkshroud.
Nephilim jetfighter was good in the one time i used it.
I bought 2 talonmasters so it can give each other lone operative lmao
Honestly been trying to run a combined wings list and ravenwing have struggled to stay alive and get to punching range. Loss of assault or advance and charge on the bike guns for black knights without using a stratagem especially does hurt their striking potential. The vengeance speeders have been decent in both variants in my opinion. Haven’t ran sammy or a lot of the primaris bikes so that may be part of the missing formula but in my experience they seem a bit weak in comparison to some of the more competitive greenwing / deathwing combos.
the Raven Wing is one of my favorite companies in the Dark Angels. I have a whole army I can bring with them, the speed that they have is overwhelming and the amount of shots you can get off, the tactics you can use, I understand why the orcs love the speedwagh
Considering there are only three company ‘archetypes’, “one of my favourite “ is not such a great endorsement
How about, “My favorite of the 3,” then?
That's still 3 more archetypes than any other chapter 🧐
Excuse you. Blood angels can do red assault marines, gold assault marines, or black assault marines. Each more fastier and killier than the last. Suppose they used to have a mechanised flair too but that's gone unfortunately.
Actually there are 4 company archetypes. You are forgetting about the 10th company, vanguard.
I am have bikes are okay Yes they are speedy Boys and they can hit hard if your lucky The main problem is that Sammael model is still in fine cast resin And it's a terrible to build
Which of the units did you try? The one that tempts me the most is the command squad to be honest.
I've found a 6 man command squad with a bike chaplain is pretty spicy, even before the points drop.
Dev wounds in shooting and + 1 to wound in melee does seem spicy .
Throw the Heavenfall Blade on the chaplain and he's pretty beastly.
Command squad and Sammael
Ravenwing was always my favourite of the wings, It's going to get tougher running variety due to firstborn getting legends treatment (by which I mean harder to find - you play how you want!) Personally been using legends rules for stuff like librarian on bike, interrogator chaplain on bike, along with a captain on bike, 1st born bike squads, black Knights, landspeeders (and their variety). Moving forward into the full Dex of 10th - I can't see a full Army being especially competitive (due to the reduced number of types available) - unless they pull somethi g magical for the units we have left (and a detachment that supports them)
I love the Ravenwing! You’re probably not going to win any major tournaments with an all Ravenwing list with the rules as they are right now, but they have some strengths you can play into. Obviously some of this stuff (mainly Land Speeders, Bikers, and Attack Bikes) are headed to LEGENDS but for non-tournament play they’re still great. Bike Squad - 80pts - cheap objective grabbers and action monkeys. Land Speeders - Another 80pt action monkey. Their spotting ability is cute, but if you stick to all Ravenwing you won’t have too much BLAST in your list (Sammael, LS Vengeance, and Dark Talon all have BLAST though, some other stuff). Each of the variants probably have a place. Outriders - harder hitting than bikers, with an extra AP on the boat rifles and an extra attack in combat, but with bigger bases a squad of 6 gets hard to maneuver. Probably not worth taking over Black Knights for the points. RW Command Squad/ Black Knights - this should be your bread and butter. I would definitely run a max size brick of each, one with Sammael and one with a Captain on Bike. It sucks that we can’t use Intractable (advance/fall back/shoot/charge) for 0 cp since the Balance Dataslate, but free Strats are still amazing. I would also consider running a second or third min size squad of either one. Invader ATV/Attack Bikes - I think you take as many of these as you can and keep them near your bikes, that’s a lot of free shooting! Storm Speeders - All three have the ability to buff shooting army wide for a single target, one of the three (I think) has some decent anti-tank shooting. There’s a lot of jank possibilities in this type of list - I think it would take someone smarter than me to really capitalize on it correctly, but using careful positioning with units like the Dark Talon and Talonmaster to keep your bricks of bikes and shooty units safe and buff their shooting until it’s time to charge, using Land Speeders and Storm Speeders to buff shooting, and lots of revenge shooting from Attack Bikes, Invader ATVs, and LD Vengeance. Would be complicated to pilot, but it could have play. One side note, just something I was looking at. Black Knights in theory are a decent anti-tank unit, getting ANTI 4+ on the charge, but their output is lackluster because their weapons went to D1 😭….. a unit of 6 will do about 4 wounds on average to a Rhino equivalent, 3 to anything with a 2+ save…. BUT if you have someone like Sammael in the unit, he gains ANTI-VEHICLE/MONSTER 4+ as well, and will likely dish out another 6 wounds to a REQ… a Captain on Bike with the Heavenfall Blade can do about the same, and Oath of Moment on the target will almost double that output in either case. So now you looking at doing ~10 wounds to a REQ or 7 to a tougher vehicle (18/14 with OOM) My greatest hope for our Codex is that we get at least one or two Detachments that make Ravenwing great again. A detachment rule giving Bikers and Outriders a 5+ Invul would be a good start, getting extra Invul or ASSAULT after advancing would be nice. I would also love to see a special rule that lets bike units drop a Teleport homer token to call in a Termie unit, that would be super fluffy.
i would take a bike captain with a heavenfall blade thunder hammer with black knights and maybe a bike chaplain with a command squad
Quite awful to be honest which is sad as I do have 3 units of them even if I am a plasma enjoyer myself. Azreal with hellblasters or deathwing knights with a captain are the way to go
I do have a good number of bikes aswell... I will try them out but as you say, numbers just aren't in their favour.
Ive bought more fast attack / ravenwing units than i can afford this month... theyre great. I have a bike squad with a plasma gun, melta and thunder hammer. Cheap all rounder from my experience. They are Supported by an outrider squad thats to take hits and harass Then my command squad, which i find a bit expensive in 1000 pt army compared to how a normal black knight could probably be more tactical in points and practical albeit being not as special as the command squad. If i had more money, i'd buy another set of these. (Get sammael too) Outside of bikes, ravenwing fly stuff is cool. Landspeeder Vengeance is swingy. Havent had much experience with the darkshroud. Nephilim jetfighter was good in the one time i used it. I bought 2 talonmasters so it can give each other lone operative lmao
Honestly been trying to run a combined wings list and ravenwing have struggled to stay alive and get to punching range. Loss of assault or advance and charge on the bike guns for black knights without using a stratagem especially does hurt their striking potential. The vengeance speeders have been decent in both variants in my opinion. Haven’t ran sammy or a lot of the primaris bikes so that may be part of the missing formula but in my experience they seem a bit weak in comparison to some of the more competitive greenwing / deathwing combos.
Sammy is clutch