TACTICA RAVENWING By Matthew Sprange |
This article has been reproduced with kind permission from the author. It is also available at the author's own website and hs been previously published in Citadel Journal # 37. It's use here is not intended as a challenge to the original authors copyright and is reproduced here for the sole purpose of enhancing he Dark Angel spirit and the warhammer 40,000 experience |
Introduction Somewhere within the vast stone halls of the Rock, where stained glass windows shine the light of the stars and ancient slow-burning wax candles cast flickering shadows, a newly appointed Master of the Ravenwing is handed the ancient Raven Sword. Raising the blackened blade in salute to his Commander, his new duties are explained to him in great detail by the Supreme Grand Master, Azrael himself. . . A Notice to New Masters As any member of the Inner Circle knows, the glorious 2nd Company of the Dark Angels, the Ravenwing, forms the premier reconnaissance and fast attack fighting force of the Imperium. The riders and pilots of the Ravenwing are amongst the most skilled of all the Space Marine Chapters and the very name of the Company is spoken in awe across a thousand thousand worlds. As the Master of the Ravenwing, it is imperative that you learn the lessons of all your predecessors so that the reputation of the Ravenwing, hard fought for on many battlefields, never falters. Command Squadrons and Leaders You, as the newly commissioned Master of the Ravenwing, will take command of any sizeable attack force operating without the support of the rest of our glorious Chapter. It is important to understand that you must lead from the front, piloting the ancient master-crafted Land Speeder of your predecessors, so that your entire army may take inspiration from your brave and noble deeds on the battlefield. To this end, you must ensure that your command squadron, those brave Marines that will face the strongest of enemy forces alongside you, have the very best equipment you can provide them. Many previous Masters have experimented with taking a squadron of bikes for their command unit, all of them meeting with a singular lack of success. When combined in a single unit, bikes and Land Speeders rob each other of their own unique advantages. Bikes will slow down a Land Speeder, denying it manoeuvrability and the raw speed that enhances the Land Speeder's survivability in combat conditions, whereas a Land Speeder will reduce a Bike Squadron's awesome capability in assaults. You are well advised to keep the two separate. Instead, surround yourself with the finest Land Speeders your resources allow, preferably Tornado variants that will complement your own Heavy Bolters and Assault Cannon. As a side note, remember that whilst you are indeed the very best pilot in the entire Ravenwing Company and can dodge shots and explosions that would annihilate a lesser Marine, you must never gamble everything on your skill. Screaming as fast as you can into a wall of Lascannon will only get you killed, forcing us to train a new Master to take your place and this is something that the Inner Circle detests doing more than once a century. Instead, use the range of your Heavy Bolters to pick off enemy troops at a distance with your speed keeping you and your squadron alive. Once the major heavy weapons threats have been eliminated by the rest of your force, you can slow your Land Speeders down, closing with the enemy then unleashing the combined firepower of your Heavy Bolters and Assault Cannon. Few units, however well armoured, can stand this sort of punishment, particularly if your accuracy is enhanced with the All-Seeing Eye mounted on your new Land Speeder. The Chaplain and Librarian of the Ravenwing can also take to their bikes and support an attack force, though the Ravenwing Decree, written millennia ago, forbids them to take command squadrons themselves. They are best utilised within the finest Bike Squadron in your force, where they will find few equals in close combat. Equipped with a Force Weapon, the Librarian will be able to meet the toughest monsters and enemy leaders on a good footing, whereas the Chaplain makes for a strong centre in any of your assaults, more than capable of taking on multiple enemies with ease. Bike Squadrons The elite Bike Squadrons of the Ravenwing will form the very core of any of your armies. Gifted with bike designs graced by the Emperor himself and fully trained in the Martial Art of Jinking, they can take punishment that would cause a lesser Chapter to falter and pull back. You should equip them primarily with short ranged attacks and assaults in mind, so Power Weapons for Veteran Sergeants combined with a heavy use of Flamers and Meltaguns are the order of the day. Use the bikes to out-manoeuvre the enemy and close in on targets of choice, either large concentrations of enemy troops or armoured vehicles that can be destroyed with a well placed Meltagun shot or two. Never be afraid to order them into the most inhospitable of terrain if it will allow them to cut the time of such an attack. Your Marines are well trained for such operations. The most difficult thing to accept when you take on the role of Master of the Ravenwing is that your Bike Squadrons are your front line units and, as such, will always take the heaviest casualties. The lowliest Scout will recognise the fact that every Marine is precious and can never be squandered in futile actions. Your Ravenwing bikers take nearly four times the resources of your average Tactical Marine to bring to the battlefield. But to win your battles, you must find a way to slow the enemy's attack as you move your key units, the Attack Bikes and Land Speeders, into their strike positions. Your bikes provide the most efficient means of achieving this. Primarily, their role must be to soak up the firepower that would otherwise be targeted at your Attack Bikes and Land Speeders, but caution must be taken even in this, as you will nearly always be outnumbered by your enemy and squandering a Marine's life is punishable by exile from the Chapter. Cover and terrain features may well be the most important weapon you have at your disposal. Use every scrap of cover to close with the opposing army, keeping the Attack Bikes and Land Speeders well out of sight until they are ready to attack, whilst the bikes reveal themselves only when necessary to cross open ground or shield other units. Once the enemy has been reached, launch into a full assault with the Bike Squadrons. Even against elite assault units, you will find they are very durable and more than capable of giving as much as they can take. Attack Bikes Attack Bikes are the bane of any enemy that relies heavily on the use of armoured vehicles. The Multi-Meltas they carry are amongst the best anti-tank weapons found anywhere in the galaxy and, even better for you, their short ranged is easily countered by the Attack Bikes great speed. The combination of this speed and devastating firepower grants you one of the best weapons in your army. So long as resources allow, Attack Bikes should always be utilised in the maximum squadron size of three. This will guarantee that at least some of your Attack Bikes are always able to reach their targets in the face of the strongest enemy fire. In this way, Attack Bikes are very easy units to know how to use, but your skill will be in keeping them alive long enough to achieve their tasks. You must assume that every enemy you face will know full well what the Attack Bikes are capable of and so will do everything in his power to stop them destroying his most valued units. As I said before, Bike Squadrons give probably the best cover for the Attack Bikes and so each Attack Bike Squadron should always be escorted by a group of bikes. One common mistake novice Masters seem to make is to allow the Attack Bikes to be assaulted by infantry that stray too close. Whilst it is true that the Attack Bikes are extremely strong within an assault, this is a form of combat that they are poorly used in. Their main strength is in their weaponry and this cannot be used if they are engaged in hand to hand combat. If you like the idea of an Attack Bike bolstering an assault with its great bulk and two crewmen, then consider placing one in a Bike Squadron. If you arm the Bike Squadron with two Meltaguns as well, you will have a dedicated anti-tank unit that will have even renegade Leman Russ Main Battle Tanks running for cover. Once the tank has been hunted down, the squad will then be very prepared for any long drawn out assaults they are called upon to engage in. The only downside to this tactic is that it is very costly in terms of resources to field such a unit, so most Masters in the past only used them in any great numbers in the largest engagements they fought in. |
TACTICA RAVENWING |
