TACTICA RAVENWING By Daniel Custodio ( Chaplain Lucifer ) |
This article has been reproduced with kind permission from the author. 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 the Dark Angel spirit and the warhammer 40,000 experience |
Fast attack Ravenwing Land Speeders. You shouldn't leave home without at least one.. some RW players don't leave home without at least 9... hehehhe. The Ravenwing land Speeders assume many roles on the RW force. Their speed ensures that they can be positioned at the right time and right place to grab objectives and eliminate threats. Ravenwing Speeder with multi-melta: A good tank hunter. Although vulnerable to small arms fire and most heavy weapons, it can be a great tank hunter because it can close with it's prey without getting bogged down in close combat unlike the Attack bike with multi melta... Ravenwing Land Speeder with Assault cannon and heavy bolter: Anti infantry vehicle. 7 shots with ap4 while moving 12" are devastating to light infantry and can be a nuisance to heavier infantry like marines, thanks to the sheer number of shots and the rending assault cannon. Versus tanks the speeder can also be effective, thanks again to the assault cannon and especially if you get the usually weaker side or rear armour. Of course.. as usual this is fragile unit, so you should use it carefully. Ravenwing Land Speeder with Multi-melta and assault cannon: Capable of dealing with tanks and infantry but unfortunately comes with a hefty price tag, especially for a light vehicle. Dark Angels are the only Chapter that can still use this variant, but the future is uncertain. Heavy Support Attack Bikes. These can be taken as heavy support, which can be very handy. three attack bikes, each one occupying a heavy support slot, can help you figure out your opponent deployment, and can help you to cover up so his heavy support doesn't concentrate where your troops will be deployed. Another thing about the three attack bikes divided by three slots is that they provide more units to capture quarters and objectives, more targets to the enemy and can cover up more targets, unlike the bikes attached to the bike squad. One other advantage of attack bikes on their own is that the regular bikes can get stuck in close combat and the attack bike is free to roam and engage other targets. Nothing can be more awkward than having tanks, obliterators and wraithlords roaming around and your multi melta bikes are engaged in a close combat or your firepower is needed elsewhere and you can't get two targets. That said, I believe that for heavy support slots multi melta option is the best choice, since land speeders with heavy bolter and assault cannon can take care of the anti infantry department. Of course , a squad of 3 attack bikes with heavy bolters can deal a lot of punishment... Section two The battlefield. Deployment: Ravenwing are a fragile army despite the high bike toughness, and some precautions must be taken. First of all, deploy out of line of sight whenever you can, so the enemy can't draw a bead on you, if you don't happen to have the first turn.. If there are no LoS blocking terrain, cover will have to do, since now bikes can use cover saves. If you listened to my advice and you have the three heavy support slots filled with attack bikes, now you can deploy all three. One in the left, one in the right and another in the centre, so you keep your opponent guessing. The best part is that with a turbo boost, the attack bikes can redeploy to a place they're really needed, leaving the enemy with a unit (or several) out of the action for a while, if he reacted to your deployment. One other tactic you can use , should be deploying the bulk of the bikes and attack bikes in the centre or slightly off centre of the battlefield and then deploying the entirety of the speeders to one flank. This accomplishes two things... Refused flank - against large armies, it reduces the targeting ability of a lot of the enemy units. Rapid redeployment: Using the bike/attack bikes turbo boost and the land speeders 24" moves, the entire force could move very rapidly to the other flank, especially if the enemy deployed in concentration in front of your deployment... In-game: Ravenwing is a very fast but fragile force (can't stress that enough), so you have to focus on one part of the enemy and destroy it utterly. Ideally, you'll want to eliminate anything that is a shooting threat to the bikes, because you can more or less avoid CC at your leisure, usually that means the enemies heavy support. Close Combats threats aren't so significant because RW can dodge them , but always keep an eye on those distances. Use hit and run tactics, don't be afraid to spend one turn turbo boosting, if that means you can strike at the most fragile point in enemy line.. you want your enemy to chase shadows. If it makes him move responding to your threat, it's good because most armies don't shoot well on the move plus it's always nice when the enemy reacts to you.. it means you're in control. Be careful with distances: Although twin linked bolters can deal a good punishment, you might end up being charged if something goes wrong. Sometimes it's better to play it safe and act from a longer range, even if it means less shots. Only approach in for the rapid fire kill if you are absolutely sure than you either eliminate the enemy or it doesn't pose a threat to you on close combat, nor any close by enemy squads. Nothing nastier than riddling an enemy squad with bolters at close range and finding yourself charged by a nearby enemy squad... One thing to keep in mind is mission objectives, especially if there are points to be earned. Ravenwing is not a forgivable army, since it's units have high points cost, so you got to earn their points back while keeping them alive, and most of the times the best way is to stick to mission objectives instead of annihilation of the enemy force. Enemies: Tyranids: Against Nids you'll need a lot of multi shot weapons. You don't want to get bogged down in close combat. Try to maintain at least a 20" distance and go for the gaunts and leaping warriors first, since they can pin you in close combat and bring down your squads with numbers / rending claws (warriors) . Your multi meltas should concentrate first on winged hive tyrants since their pretty nasty and mobile. Nid shooting doesn't have much AP3 so you'll be mostly safe as long as you make armour saves.. Beware of venom cannons pointing at speeders, though... Eldar: Eldar are particularly nasty versus Ravenwing, due to their starcannons. Those have to go out early in the game, as soon as possible. Curiously you're relatively safe in close combat with most eldar units because they only wound you on a 6. Of course nasty HtH troops like banshees and scorpions can overwhelm you, so these should be picked by ranged firepower where possible. Marines: There's a lot of marine styles nowadays, but in general, you'll want to use terrain to the most and exposed yourself to as little incoming fire as possible, while concentrating fire in a couple of units at a time, until they're neutralized. Anything fast like assault squads , bikes and transports is a primary target since they can engage you in CC and you must keep your edge that is speed. Of course problematic units like predators, vindicators and devastator squads deserve a special treatment too and you should destroy them whenever possible. Orks: Footsloggers don't engage them in CC unless you absolutely have to (or there's only a few of them left). Keep it a range, feinting and concentrating fire on the mob closest to you. Of course you should tackle fast units like trukk boyz, storm boyz , bikes and other fast elements and the ever present looted ordnance vehicle. Kult of speed: These can equalize the speed of Ravenwing, so the first thing you must do is to take out as many trukks as you can, soon as you can. Immobilise is not enough, you must destroy them, since not only they will likely be entangled, but they won't have rally points to fall back to if they fail morale checks. After you've blown the trukks up, just concentrate fire on the mobs, since they usually are no bigger than 10 models. Dark Eldar: The fast cousins of eldar. Basically you want to take out their bikes, ravagers and raiders (wyches and archons) so you can roam the battlefield at will. Spread out your bikes so nasty disintegrators can't hit more than one bike at a time. The Talos is a fearsome machine, but it's slow, so it shouldn't case many headaches. |
TACTICA RAVENWING |
