It's been over 6 months since I last posted on this or my own blog, and in that time a lot of people have messaged me to ask what has happened? Well to cut a long story short the past 6 months has been one hell of a roller-coaster for me with my personal life; my mum died quite suddenly earlier this year; though not so unexpectedly as she had late stage Huntingtons. That obviously was the catalyst for my silence. Basically other things just got in the way of my blogging and gaming for that matter; coaching a rugby team, studying full time, and teaching Maths and Science at a local middle school, basically took out all my spare time would you believe.
So shall we get the ball rolling with a little ETC and Ravenwing chat? Ok? Great! So to start with here is my list for this years ETC:
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TEAM: SCOTLAND
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PLAYER 2: Neil "Skuzzlebumm" Kerr
ARMY: Dark Angels (Ravenwing)
HQ 1: Sammael (200) Crovex (-) = [200] - WARLORD
HQ 1b: Ravenwing Command Squad (120) Apothecary (30) with Grenade Launcher (-) and Standard of Devastation (65) = [215]
TROOPS 1: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
TROOPS 2: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
TROOPS 3: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
TROOPS 4: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
TROOPS 5: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
TROOPS 6: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
FAST 1: Dark Shroud = [80]
FAST 2: Ravenwing Black Knights (126) +2 Additional Black Knights (84) 1 Grenade Launcher (-) Melta Bombs (5) = [215]
FAST 3: Ravenwing Black Knights (126) +2 Additional Black Knights (84) 1 Grenade Launcher (-) = [210]
[TOTAL = 1850]
Yes that is a lot of bikes! Even more so than my Vanilla Bike army that I took to and helped conquer the Varberg Team Tournament and come 2nd with at the more recent Danish ETC qualifier (sorry I never did get the Batreps done for that for aforementioned obvious reasons). So what exactly are the thoughts behind this army given that Bike based armies historically have been notably disastrous at the ETC for other players and nations who have ran them? For me there are 5 key reasons why Ravenwing are a viable ETC army:
1. Mobility - for me this is the key to winning games in 6th Ed. Having a mobile force in today's horde infantry heavy meta just gives you so many advantages when it comes to board control, fire lane denial, and the ever effective refused flank tactic. A pure Bike army can dance around the enemy without warning at set itself up to smash exposed units or flanks to the point that it forces the enemy to consider this in his deployment and every move - affecting your opponents moves and deployment in such a way is pure gold in 40k. With Ravenwing this mobility is increased due to the whole army having Scout; this means that even if your opponent deploys defensively away from your forces you can redeploy your whole army 12" as a counter. I struggle to see how this is not pure win?
2. Resilience - Bikes are T5 with a 3+ armour save, which is tough, we all know that. 6th Ed gave bikes a 5+ jinx save if they move, increased to a 4+ if they turbo boost. Again nothing new there. What pushed Ravenwing that important step further is the Dark Shroud; for those who do not know this Land Speeder has Shrouding for itself and gives Stealth out to units within 6". Now as Bike armies work best moving together in a big phalanx it is not too hard to ensure that at least model from each unit is within 6" of the Dark Shroud. And believe you me that +1 cover save is MASSIVE as you are saving around 1/3 more AP1-3 hits per turn than before. It becomes even more brilliant when you then combine it with Turbo Boosting and the Black Knights Skilled Rider rules to see them jump to a 2+ cover save... Hello there beautiful! This means that you can happily spend a turn boosting your army into position knowing that they are going to survive pretty much everything the enemy has to throw at them. Now some people will be shouting "but the Dark Shroud is only AV10 and so will die too quickly!" But remember folks you are ALWAYS turbo-boosting the Dark Shroud so together with its Shrouding it is always getting a 2+ cover save - not so easy to kill for most armies (famous last words...)
3. Damage Output - This is where the all important Banner of Devastation, or as I like to call it "Durka Durka Banner", comes into play; Vanilla Bikes biggest weakness is the need to get within 12" to rapid fire and therefore maximise their damage output, which then puts them well within charge range of the enemy - and we all know Bikes (usually) wiff in assault. This is why the Durka Durka Banner is magic; again the army moves as a phalanx, so again it is easy to keep everything within 6" of the banner, which means the army has the potential to shoot 96 twin-linked bolter shots a turn (and that is before Multi-Meltas (or Meltas) or Plasma Talons which are death to any tanks on the board). Importantly that is done from 24" - well outside of any but the most extreme charge ranges in the game. This is huge! You are doubling the number of shots per bike over regular rapid fire, and you are doing it from the safety of 24" away. This Banner turns the army from average shooting into something quite silly as all those Bolter shots rapidly blow away all but the very toughest non-vehicle models. Oh and FMC's beware; that is a LOT of hits you are going to be taking, which equals a LOT of grounding tests a turn - especially when you consider that I have 12 separate units firing 4-12 twin-linked bolter shots each.... Again as before people will be shouting that all they have to do is kill the Banner, a single model. Well remember that the Command Squad will always be turbo-boosting for that 2+ cover in conjunction with the Dark Shroud, Sammael is eternal warrior so, together with Feel No Pain from the Apothecary, he is tanking a lot of wounds. The Banner is always going to be the furthest target from the action, and even if you manage to snipe it, the Banner is carried by the Apothecary who is a Character and so gets to Look Out Sir (before even getting to his 2+ cover or 3+ Armour (if you ignore cover) and Feel No Pain). All in all not such an easy prospect to snipe out (famous last words.... again....).
4. Multiple Scoring Units - I have 12 highly mobile and respectably resilient scoring units in this army. That is a lot of small targets for the opponent to take out. Especially in a meta where people have geared up for a few big units pumping out big volumes of fire to take down a couple of horde units in return. I have yet to run out of scoring units in any game I have played in practice with this army against Swedish ETC players (kinda handy to have half the team plus coach as your regular opponents). Obviously this is a double edged sword in Kill Points, but only 2 missions at the ETC have Kill Points. Whereas all have multiple objectives. Also it can be easy to take First Blood for me, but again due to the ETC rules pack loosing out on First Blood is not so important. Especially when I am always taking Line Breaker and usual their Warlord.
5. Hit and Run - Army wide Hit and Run is the final jewel in the Ravenwing crown. Remember how much bikes suck in assault? Well now if you are unlucky enough to have a unit remain locked in assault (after usual loosing said assault) you have a 2/3 chance of bouncing straight out of there and allowing your army to blast said offending assault unit off the board in your following shooting phase. It can even help when you want to lock a weaker enemy unit in assault to prevent it shooting (say Long Fangs or Broadsides) and again know that you have a very good chance of being able to bounce away again when it suits you and your shooting phase. Hit and Run has always been one of the best, but often most overlooked, USRs in the game. Having it army wide is just brilliant I think.
So there we have it, some of my reasoning why Ravenwing rock and why they are viable for the ETC.
So thanks for reading, and for sticking with the blog despite my long absence. Stay frosty and I will be back soon... Obviously I am not going to go into what match ups I favour to score big points from, what I don't and how I can play around those that are not great, because there are too many 'spies' out there from other teams who read my blog whenever I talk about army lists. But before I go I need to give a massive shout out to my 'partner in crime' Pär Hylander from Team Sweden; Pär is also running Ravenwing at the ETC, in fact due to both our playtesting and discussions with each other we have actually ended up taking the EXACT same list to the ETC. Clearly great minds think alike - especially given that in my tournament hiatus this past 6 months Pär has been racking up a lot of wins and podiums with the Ravenwing. Bets are already being placed as to who will be the highest scoring out of us both.
Cheers and until next time...
Neil
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TEAM: SCOTLAND
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PLAYER 2: Neil "Skuzzlebumm" Kerr
ARMY: Dark Angels (Ravenwing)
HQ 1: Sammael (200) Crovex (-) = [200] - WARLORD
HQ 1b: Ravenwing Command Squad (120) Apothecary (30) with Grenade Launcher (-) and Standard of Devastation (65) = [215]
TROOPS 1: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
TROOPS 2: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
TROOPS 3: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
TROOPS 4: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
TROOPS 5: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
TROOPS 6: Ravenwing Attack Squad (80) 2 Melta Guns (20) +1 Attack Bike (45) Multi Melta (10) = [155]
FAST 1: Dark Shroud = [80]
FAST 2: Ravenwing Black Knights (126) +2 Additional Black Knights (84) 1 Grenade Launcher (-) Melta Bombs (5) = [215]
FAST 3: Ravenwing Black Knights (126) +2 Additional Black Knights (84) 1 Grenade Launcher (-) = [210]
[TOTAL = 1850]
Yes that is a lot of bikes! Even more so than my Vanilla Bike army that I took to and helped conquer the Varberg Team Tournament and come 2nd with at the more recent Danish ETC qualifier (sorry I never did get the Batreps done for that for aforementioned obvious reasons). So what exactly are the thoughts behind this army given that Bike based armies historically have been notably disastrous at the ETC for other players and nations who have ran them? For me there are 5 key reasons why Ravenwing are a viable ETC army:
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| Mobility.... gedditt ? |
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| What the Banner of Devastation does to Bolters |
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| So you killed 1 troop choice... I have 11 more! |
| If football teams had Hit and Run... |
So there we have it, some of my reasoning why Ravenwing rock and why they are viable for the ETC.
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| Yes Pär... I had to go there :-P |
Cheers and until next time...
Neil