Saturday 1 December 2012

Raven Guard - A lot of work, but Im ready



Yo!

I wont bore you all with another 'Im back' post! But well, Im back! I have been fiddling around with my stuff and have decided to do a slow army build of Raven Guard. I like the fluff, I like the speedy stealth and more important of all I fricken love this model and want use it at all costs, even if that means Im not taking a Shrike list - at least I'll be different I guess! The idea is to build an army I can keep not sell and be proud of non rushed paint jobs. Im going to be using FW parts for the vets and fully kit out my infantry with FW beakies and shoulder pads. Also as the army is SM, they should always be reasonable competitive and if not I can easily change dex to BA/SW whatever as long as I keep it fluffy.

Anyway I'd like you guys to comment on my list before I take it to the forums as I know who is advising me. This has always been my weak point, but bare in mind I want lots of vets and that captain, but all crit is welcome even if you think it sucks! I havent got round to reading 6th yet so is based on what I know from 5th and a general idea that 6th likes infantry and shooty stuff as opposed to CC.

EDITED x1

1.5K Raven Guard

HQ

SM Captain
Thunder hammer
Jump Pack
                                             155 

Fast Attack

Vanguard Vets (9)
4x Vets
Sarg Dual Light claws
1x Power fist
8x power weapons
Jump packs
                                             440

Land Speeder Storm
                                               50


Elite

Sternguard Vets (9) 125
4x Vets
combi flamer x4
combi melta x4
Plasma Pistol
Drop Pod                                  
                                              315
                                                           
Troops

Tactical squad (10)
x5 rines
Multi Melta
Plasma gun
Drop Pod

                                             215

Scout Squad  (10) 75
two scouts 65
Heavy Bolter 10
Sniper Rifles
Camo 30
Telion 50

                                              230

Scout Squad (5)
heavy Bolter
combi melta
                                                95



                                                         Total: 1500


The idea is to use the Sternguard and tactical units as my central attacking units with the Vanguard unit supporting them both by coming on in reserve. The sniper scouts and Vindi are the backroom support, they can also sit on objective. The other scout squad in the land speeder storm is an extra utility unit I will use to either support or objective grab.

28 comments :

  1. I'll lend you my IA book. It's got the just for this guy in it and a raven guard specific army list.

    That way you can use that for most games and just move to regular marines for tournaments

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  2. Ah good, I was debating whether to get that book, but I saw it had Elysians in it so thought you might have it. He is the leader of 10th company so will be scout heavy I guess. This list is pretty RG fluffy anyway, but will be interesting to see what the IA book has.

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  3. Welcome back m8,

    Been along time coming but I'm glad that you decided to come back to 40K.
    Ok first up,
    Tactical squads need to be 10 man strong for the heavy weapon upgrade and I would personally change the Plasma Cannon to a Multi-Melta and the Melta to Plasmagun. There are reason for this but have a think about it and then PM me on the Hulls site if you cant work them out.
    Sternguard Vets, use their ability to upgrade their bolters, you have 9 marines there, 4 combi-melta's/ plasma and 4 combi-flamers will make anyone think twice at assaulting you once you have landed, it also gives you the ability to take out whatever is the biggest threat to you at the time they land. So its going to cost around 50 pts to upgrade the Sternguard which is the land speeder storm. I would get rid of it, too easy to kill, which gives away a kill point.
    I'm not sure on the Vindi, I see it being left behind in the battle as your drop pods will be landing in and amongst the enemy for max disruption. But what you can replace it will I have no idea.

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  4. Thanks for that, the tac squad, good catch, I was point trimming, I'll shuffle around the list. Want to try and keep the speeder as I see it like I used the buggy for my orks a last turn objective grabber - great if your 2nd turn.

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  5. Got rid of the vindi. Im a little bothered if my drop pods come piece meal I may be in trouble. I need to think, but the overall feel of the list is what I want. I may ditch the speeder and 5 man scout squad and put the Vindi back in...... May need to borrow some models to test!!

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  6. *Girly Squeal* Welcome back Mart, so glad you couldn't resist. It'll be good to have you back on the scene. Looking forward to seeing some sweet work in the near future.

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  7. haha, nice one, your beard is a little longer! I'll be coming regularly once i get my stuff together bought and built. The second little'un has turned one and life isnt quite as demanding (note the word 'quite'). Looking forward to seeing what everyones been up to to be honest.

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  8. I would look at the 6th edition missions m8, on some you get bonus VP for first kill etc. The Landspeeder could be an easy kill, you would have to keep it hidden for most of the game or keep it in reserve (I think they can still deep strike).
    Your force feels like a full frontal assault with the drop pods, tbh I would worry so much about them coming in piecemeal as with the rules you have at least 3 of them landing on turn 1 anyway. Thats 30 marines landing on someones doorstep which should be enough to scare the crap out of them and ruin there battle plans.
    It's a very hard army to counter, only problems you may have is against and army that is super fast like Dark Eldar which will use their speed to counter your foot sloggers once they bail out of the drop pods.
    You could ask Angry (Chris) for tips as he won a tournie with his drop pod army I think and will have alot more experience in this type of force.

    If your going for fluff and feel of the army then replace the Vindi and Landspeeder Storm for a squadron of landspeeders, which imho will be alot harder to take out then a single vehicle/s.

    Good to have you back btw

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  9. Having played you alot I trust your judgement and I think the LS squad is a good idea, I will adjust my list tomorrow. The scout snipers fill the fluff enough. Although I only have 2 DP, the Vanguard and captain are on Jump packs. This is were I normally go wrong, its a unit I want to model and i think will look kick ass with captain. Granted they will be kick ass in assault, but how easy is it to get units into assault in 6th?

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  10. Nice to see your back into the Swing Mart..... Ask Krom about the forums if your interested, and also I look forward to seeing your marines. If they are like your Eldar they will be a treat.

    Munkey.

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  11. I'd look at dropping the vanguard and replacing for either some Thunder hammer terminators and standard assault marines. I've not really ever seen lists or armies using the vanguard vets as they have always been considered a points sink - though that might be different in 6th. 440pts is a lot for 9 blokes in 3+ armour.

    On a side note fluff wise for Korvydae - he employs lots of scouts and assault marines so what you have fits well. He costs the same points as your captain above, but has more stuff. In addition any unit he is attached to gets hit and run. He also makes any assault marines a troop choice.

    So if you adjusted your force to have another 1 or 2 assault marine squads you could easily adjust your force to either play as the proper korvydae list or easily change to make it a force using c:sm.

    Also, with the korvydae list it would make for a very cool fluffy list to use with my Elysians at a doubles tournament

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  12. Also the what would the difference be points wise to upgrade the heavy bolter in the scout squad with telion to a rocket launcher.

    It's a much more versatile weapon and would give you some much needed ranged anti tank - especially when you pair it with telions ability to confer is BS to the rocket launcher!

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  13. been told else where the vanguard are a sink, so I will get rid and dress my ass marines as if they were vets, and I've seen somewhere else that rocket launcher is a sniper weapon in 6th so would be quite goood. I wanted to avoid termies as you and Tim have done them to death!

    @Tommy - My Eldar? lol thats a blast from the past!! Actually Im going to use what I did on the black armour but more exaggerated on these. In fact I was supposed to be doing a test model today but the missus has me put the decor up!! I know, its early but what can I do, my hands are tied!

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  14. Have you considered using Blood Angels for Raven Guard?

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    Replies
    1. Remarkably un-like you.

      I should cry cheese at this point. Blood angels as Raven Guard when the standard dex provides. That's like saying there's a new Dark Angels codex on the way... use that for raven guard :D

      Using the models is something else though and I reckon could just help to give the assault marines a nice touch.

      Delete
    2. Not at all. I see why you would think me against such notion, but:

      Firstly, the Blood Angels aren't as over powered now as they were as the assault marines are just as vulnerable as they were upon deep striking but the enemy rapid fire etc is much more effective as is overwatch. Sure they get Hammer of Wrath but so do bikes and Monstrous Creatures.

      Secondly it fits the Raven Guard much better than their vanilla counterpart as whilst they do have that Shrike style touch to them in that Chapter, there is also a more hit them hard, fast and head on approach as with all marine chapters. You can always be choosy about which units you *don't* take to avoid being too much of a raven in vampires clothing.

      Thirdly, I don't see why using another Codex is worse than using an IA to make a more reasonable force. After all, many Dark Angels players that wish to field a none Raven/Deathwing force look to others sources.

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    3. My early plan was to use the BA dex(carefully) as Mark said, the hit it hard and fast fits them well. The Death company is a big no, but the main reason i didnt go with BA is the lack of land speeder storm and I wanted a heavy Scout presence. Now I have a wacking sniper unit I think I might go BA for tourny 40k and IA for fun 40k.

      This wont be a black painted BA army in the slightest as I am also not a fan of chopping and changing dexs to suit your power armour for power, but if it fits the fluff and you pick the army with good intentions then I say fair play.

      I REALLY appreciate the feedback btw, i have never really thought about a list so much. Big help, thanks.

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  15. I've got a speeder storm i need to offload and I still owe you for the Cryx book so i'll let you have it

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  16. Well im going to use blood angels which means I cant use that. But I can flit between dexs and I love that model so yeah ill take it. I will be selling the cryx stuff if you want 1st dibs on anything.

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  17. Well im going to use blood angels which means I cant use that. But I can flit between dexs and I love that model so yeah ill take it. I will be selling the cryx stuff if you want 1st dibs on anything.

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  18. I see, I misread your post. I've got an 1800 point Blood Angels army if you want to try that out first?

    Don't need anything other than that bok I already have and still owe for, but I've an email to send you.

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  19. Dont worry, Ive not missed it you can have it. I have ordered the BA book (well of ebay for £14, not paying £20!!) but I need to look at it as it wont be a normal BA list, but would appreciate some test games while I hone the list, that goes for everyone.

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  20. Now then bud. Glad to see you back in the game. Especially if it brings another Marine Dex player into things.
    Looking at the list and what others have said I just thought I’d throw in my idea’s seen as I play Marines and 6th.

    With regards to the vanguard vets, they are much better in 6th than they have been previously. The charge distance being random as it is means you have a chance to actually assault on the turn you arrive without having to risk landing stupidly close; which often resulted in a miss-hap. I would look at dropping some of the power weapons on them though, perhaps only take 4/5 out of the 8. The reason being that it gives you cheaper casualty units. The likelihood of not getting shot before an assault is pretty much none. Even if you get the charge when they arrive you have snap fire to worry about. It would save you a fair few points to put elsewhere also, making them a good unit but less of a points sink.

    The storm could probably be dropped, as stated by Skal its waaayyyy too easy to kill. A round of shooting from anything strength 4 is likely to bring it down. And whilst this might mean something else doesn't get shot, its still not points effective IMO.

    You have over paid for the camo cloaks on the scouts by 3 points also. You don’t need to pay for the sergeant’s as you are taking Telion (replaces sergeant), who comes with a cloak in his cost(see errata). Also I would agree with Krom that you should take a missile launcher in Telions scout squad. The ability to accurately target a sneaky tank, especially one that can get in your zone quickly (light armour usually) is amazing.

    The only issues I see with this list from a competitive standpoint is that it could arrive piece meal as there isn’t enough certain arrival.
    I have tried running semi-pod lists, and I just can’t make them work, not enough force arriving at one time and it just gets picked off. That’s how I’ve ended up on an all pod list. Enough stuff arrives on turn 1 to scare the pants of most foes.

    Also, don’t put your captain in with the vanguard vets, it prevents them assaulting on the turn they arrive. Apparently a jump pack wielding captain can’t possibly have the skill of his veterans and any IC added to the squad de-activates their special rule. Unless of course you intend to start them on field, but that seems like a bit of a waste.

    Also, how come you haven’t gone for an 1800pts list? It’s just this is the normal points for games/tourneys at the moment.
    Realistically, with the 300points to make it an 1800points list and some shaving from the current list you could have 400-415 points to play with from what I can see.

    Hope I have helped a little, if you want any advice or anything just drop me a message.

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  21. Thanks some useful stuff there. Im switching to BA dex so I will be taking some ass rines as troops which may free up some points to add another DP unit which might help with the DP piecemeal thing. Oh the 1500 is base for GW tournies, I'll add another 300 for Hulls angels when I get to the 1500!

    I'll welcome your crit when I get a new BA list up as well as Im not offaih with 6th...

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  22. Thanks some useful stuff there. Im switching to BA dex so I will be taking some ass rines as troops which may free up some points to add another DP unit which might help with the DP piecemeal thing. Oh the 1500 is base for GW tournies, I'll add another 300 for Hulls angels when I get to the 1500!

    I'll welcome your crit when I get a new BA list up as well as Im not offaih with 6th...

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  23. Bah. BA dex. Ppffftt.

    Fair enough on the points values. Not been down GW for a while so honestly didn't think.

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  24. Great to see you back to gaming bud. I have a ravenguard army based on the BA dex, its 2k and I havent fielded it since the edition change; but I imagine it will still be quite successful (it was very successful beore, who knows may still be). But if it helps Id happily let you use it, may give you ideas on how to connect fluff with play style.

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  25. Of course, thats one of the last 40k games I had against them! I like the power armour DP tactics and swiftness. Would appreciate any help you can give mate. As I say its a very slow keepers army for me and I want to get a good fluff to competitive balance.

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