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 |
Land Speeders The Land Speeders are the shining jewels of the Ravenwing and there is not a biker in your ranks who does not hope that someday he will promoted to a gunner's position or even to the glory of a pilot. Unfortunately, Land Speeders are also highly visible targets and will always draw a great amount of fire from the enemy ranks whenever a clear line of sight presents itself. Thankfully, a Land Speeder's incredible speed allows it to shrug off most disabling hits and its great range will normally let you choose when to come out from behind cover, rather than letting the enemy out-manoeuvre your Squadrons. Though they are equipped purely for attacking infantry and light vehicle targets, the Land Speeders are also your very best unit for capturing terrain and objectives where these are important in a battle. The agility of the Land Speeder allows it to turn almost on the spot as the pilot guns it engines and shoots off to a part of the battlefield that the enemy never suspected. In this way, you can conduct numerous feints and surprises for the enemy, always keeping him on his toes until your final, devastating attack comes. Your Attack Bikes may have the powerful weaponry and your bikes may excel in assaults, but it is with your Land Speeders that the majority of your firepower lies. The basic Ravenwing pattern is armed only with a Heavy Bolter and is best suited to chasing down scattered groups of infantry and taking objectives. It is relatively cheap, resource-wise and so you can potentially field great numbers of them. The upgraded Ravenwing Land Speeder, often called the Tornado variant by its pilots, mounts an additional Assault Cannon and whilst it is more costly to field, this extra weapon opens up a great number of new tactical options. Firstly, whilst a Heavy Bolter may be able to cause some small amount of damage to light vehicles, an Assault Cannon will tear them apart and even present a great amount of danger to the larger armoured vehicles. Like the Attack Bike, the Land Speeder is eminently suited to moving into an advantageous strike position that will allow it to attack an armoured vehicle's side or rear armour. If your Attack Bikes fail in their mission, it will be left to the Land Speeders to finish the task. The Assault Cannon is also an awesome anti-personnel weapon, particularly when used in the numbers that a Land Speeder Squadron can provide. When well screened by cover, or when the guns of the opposing army have been well and truly surpressed, then slowing down the squadron so it can use both Heavy Bolters and Assault Cannon simultaneously will always result in huge numbers of casualties in the target unit. In this, though, you must be very careful. At these speeds, a Land Speeder is at its most vulnerable. Shots that would normally skim harmlessly past it or that would only glance off the armour are now likely to blast the Land Speeder apart. You must only ever use this tactic when you are assured that the return fire will be minimal. This is the most important thing to remember when using Land Speeders, I cannot stress this to you enough. Variations It is commonly believed that we, as Dark Angels, are the most rigid of all Chapters and will rarely vary our forces. As you will have learnt in your many years of service to this great Chapter, this is not always the case and many of your predecessors have deviated from the Ravenwing Decree in the past if they thought such actions would guarantee them victory. As the new Master of the Ravenwing, you are free to pursue these tactics as you wish or even develop new ones yourself, so long as they are done far away from the Rock and Asmodai never gets to hear about it. I don't think he would understand your reasons for changing the way the Ravenwing normally operates. For smaller missions, you may decide that it is not necessary that you lead in every single battle, particularly if you are in the midst of a huge campaign and I need you by my side. In those situations, many Master in the past have delegated the leadership of the Ravenwing strike forces to either the Chaplain or Librarian that both serve as your seconds-in-command. In these rare circumstances, you may even permit them to have their own command squadron though again, you should bear in mind the penalties of mixing bikes and Land Speeders together. Many Masters of the Ravenwing have looked to the Land Speeders of other Chapters and found they liked the machinery some used. Of course, another Chapter would never be able to keep their vehicles in the prime condition we are able to, nor would their pilots be any where near as skilled, but some of the weapon's options have fascinated us in the past. The most obvious variation is to mount a Multi-Melta on a Land Speeder instead of a Heavy Bolter, though many Masters have thought our Attack Bike more than adequate for tank-hunting and would never stoop to following other Chapters in such a low tactic. What tends to create more interest is the relatively new Land Speeder Typhoon, a veritable gunship with its twin-linked Missile Launchers. Now, it is true, our Ravenwing Decree does forbid the use of such a weapons configuration, but I can give you reasonable assurances that in years past, Masters operating far from the Rock have refitted some of their Land Speeders to match the Typhoons. . . Well, that is all I can tell you for now, Brother-Master. Go out now, and show the enemies of the Emperor what it means to challenge the Dark Angels, spearheaded by the Ravenwing. You have a lot to live up to, for your predecessors have been amongst the finest Dark Angels who have ever lived, but who knows? Maybe in a couple of hundred years time, if you do well, you and I will be having this conversation again, as I initiate you into the leadership of the Deathwing, the most superior Terminator Marines in the entire galaxy. |
TACTICA RAVENWING |
