Warhammer 40K: Escalation

So the new Escalation book is out and everyone is already in an uproar about how bad it is, and that it has changed 40k forever, and the game is broken, and they are not going to play anymore because the game is play to win, and just fuck GW!!!

Isn't this just a little extreme? Anyone that has played even one game of Apocalypse with super heavies can tell you that super heavies are not all that! Super heavies can actually be quite a liability, and in games of escalation they are even more so.

So to start why the overreaction?

#1 is that D-weapons are too strong for regular 40k. I can see this sentiment. No one wants to see their SS/TH termies wiped out in one round of shooting, but this can be done without D weapons. I think the biggest actual problem with the D weapon is that models get no inv save. Well luckly there is not that many D weapons allowed with the current Lords of War units (currently).  Besides with example above a S10 AP1 shoot can be just as bad as this D weapon. D weapons are tough, but there are ways around this which I will explain later.

#2 I can take a Reaver Titan in a 2000 point army.  I actually read this is someones rant, and was surprised. There is no Reaver Titan in the book (actually the only titan is Revenant, unless you count Stompa's). The main point this guy brought up was is there is no limitation to amount of points you can spend on a LoW unit in a game. This makes the best gripe about this book is why did GW not use the same 25% limitation that FW did in the Horus Heresy books? Probably because 1 of 2 things. Either they are dumb or they felt it wasnt really necessary. I'm going with the later of the two.

#3 These rules make the game pay to win more than ever. This comment has been flying around a lot lately mostly due to the rapid releases we have no, and that everyone that has the newest and coolest toys are the only ones winning. Now I play Blood Angels and still take home a fair number of wins with them (maybe because it was written by Ward) and dont fill this is ever the case. For the price of a Baneblade I can by four Leman Russ, and I know most IG players already have four of them. I think that anyone that really wants to buy one of these super heavies will find a way to buy it. Save lunch money, not buy something else that they want or to start slinging crack on the side. What ever the case, I think you will buy it, if you really want it or think that you need it. Now, I will explain that you don't need to have one to still win at 40k.

As I was saying about these big boys being a liability.

#1 Heavy point investment. The points cost are so high for these Behemoth that can equally put out something superior to it with normal units for the same cost. For example I could take two units of 5 ea Sternguard equipped with a melta and 4 combi meltas in a drop pod for the same points as a Banehammer and blow the crap out of the thing before it fires at me, and probably do it with just one of the units. Now that super heavy is gone and I could of done it without the same points investment.

#2 Victory points. In Apocalypse the destruction of these bad boys give away a VP, but in Escalation they give a VP for every 3 hull points/wounds done do the vehicle/creature. This is a big factor to consider when deciding to deploy a LoW and should not be taken lightly. Between all the melta/tank hunter/ordanance/auto glance on a 6/poison  it is not hard to hurt these guys.

#3 Large blast markers suck. Having those mega super ginormour apocalyptic pizza pie blast markers of destruction can be a hindrance to yourself. The reason for this is that you will be playing on a 4X6 ft table instead of a an apocalypse sized table and since you cannot place the blast marker to be even partially touching any friendly models base or hull a smart player can move right up into your face and keep you from using the biggest advantage of having a super vehicle. Speed is the key and with all the scout / turbo boost moving allowed out there they can be in your face quick and SM drop pods are the best at this. Plus if they dont also have a LoW they will get a +1 to seize the initiative so there can be a good chance you will not get to even shoot that awesome warmachine.

I think this book provides something that a lot of players actually want, and that is to be able to use their big toys without having to do a huge apocalypse game. Lets face it, 40k takes a while to play and Apocalypse can make you want to take a nap and come back later to finish up.

Even with the points I made about super heavies not not being all that, some of you guys might still not want to play with this rules set because if issues 1 and 2. I would recommend trying it out first, because of the liabilities first, and then if it doesnt feel right to you, try making some house rules like inv. saves can still be made against D weapons or implementing the 25% of points cost rule. I think you will not need it though.

Clan Raukaan: Iron Hands v2.0

When the new Space Marine Codex came out I wrote about what I thought of the new chapter tactics for the cold old Iron Hands. You can read what I had to say here. There are a lot of similarities between then and now, but more reinforced with this new supplement.

Upon reading the story that most of us know already about the role the Iron Hands played in the Horus Heresy, this book kicks off with explaining what the IH's were doing during the Scouring and a interesting meeting called the Tempering.

There are some new wars that bring the IH into confrontation with Slannesh worshippers or The Emperors Children. This only makes sense to keep them as enemies since EC did bitch slap the IH really good during the Horus Heresy.

Next up is a cool battle that pits the IH against the Alaitoc Eldar. This gives a good insight to how remorseless the IH really are, and I think this story would make a cool Space Marine Battle Novel.

Ofcourse no good story is complete without fighting Orks. This battle reminds me of Armageddon (Probably the case with most Ork novels), and an interesting confrontation happens between the IH and the Raven Guard that are also fighting in this battle. More of this leads back to the HH, and issues from Istvaan V.

The big battle for them is against the EC again in the Gaudinia System. This battle is about deamonic weapons in a sense and how abhorant they are to the IH, but end up overcoming them. Awesome battle with a cool surprise.

The coolest thing about this supplement is that some life was breathed into the IH. For so long GW has left them on the sideline compared to other First Founding Chapters. The latest HH: Massacre book gave some great Pre-Heresy info, and now this brings us up to the present under the new leadership of Iron Father Stronos that was mentioned in the new SM codex.

This supplements offers some awesome insight into some of the squads of Clan Raukaan by naming them and telling of their demeanor. There is also a break down of some vehicles as well. These are always welcome for those that want to name their units in accordance with the fluff.


The great new rules that can be used are sweet.

March of the Ancients allows for all types of dreadnaughts to be taken as Heavy as well as Elites choices. Now you do not have to take a Master of the Forge to gain this rule. Give me six Iron Clads please.

Scions of the Forge allow you to take TWO techmarines for each HQ choice just like in the codex. However, if you take a Master of the Forge you can take THREE techmarines. That is some serious HP recovery going on.


Gifts of the Gorgon are the new relics. Ofcourse you must forgo the SM codex ones to use these instead.

The Mindforge Stave: Librarian only. Is a force weapon X2 strength AP2 Melee, Concussive, Force, Unwieldy. This relic is awesome for the points cost. cheaper than actually getting a power fist.

The Axe of Medusa: +2S AP2 Melee, Mastercrafted, Severing Strike (gives +4S if a six is rolled to hit), Unwieldy

The Ironstone: Tanks and walkers within 6" of the bearer automatically pass It Will not Die rolls on the roll of a 4+. If a six is rolled the Ironstone also repairs immobilised or weapon destroyed results.

Betrayers Bane: Basically a combi melta that can use the melta always and is mastercrafted.

The Gorgons Chain: This item grants varying invulnerable saves and USR's (better the less wounds taken) depending on how many wounds the model has suffered. The changes happen immediately upon changing the number of wounds so need to roll each save seperately. Very powerful but expensive.

The Tempered Helm: 24" bubble to use beares leadership for morale checks. Also, a single unit within 12" can re-roll 1's to hit in the shooting phase.


Warlord Traits

Adept of the Omissiah: Your Warlord has the Blessing of the Omnissiah USR, if he already has it you can re-roll that roll.

Will of Iron: Gain Fearless.

Flesh is Weak: adds +1 to any feel no pain roll made.

Student of History: Warlord and his unit can automatically fail a morale check.

Merciless Resolve: Warlord has a 12" bubble that grants Crusader USR.

Target Protocols: Warlord and his unit can re-roll 1's in the shooting phase.

There is also
1 new Apocalypse data sheet
7 cities of death strategems
7 planetstrike stratagems
3 Altar of War missions
and 5 Echoes of War missions

All in all this supplement is a win for Iron Hand players. The new fluff is great for those that always wanted some.

I think the real power of this coddex is obviously with the Master of the Forge and Techmarines. I think this supplemet shows off the benefits of switching to the hull point system and what can be done with it versus the old system.

Sentinels of Terra: Hail the 3rd Company

So I have read the new Imperial Fists supplement and I have to say that this one is great! This has the most new information in the background section compared to any of the other supplements so far...

The story starts off with Lysander and his rise to being Captain of the 1st company, and letting us know how much of a bad ass this guy really is. This section is not entirely new, but the gaps are filled in now and is demenour is really fleshed out.

Lysander was basically the greatest hero of the IF and was kicking the crap out of the Iron Warriors and Lysander was going to be granted the position of Chapter Master as the current one was going to step down for him to take his place, but Lysanders obsession at trying to eradicate the Iron Warriors made him reckless in a battle on Taladorn that sees Lysander censured and demoted to captain of the 3rd company.

After Lysander takes over 3rd company he is set off on the "The Crusade of Thunder" to purge the ork menace in the Magor Rift. This section is really were the story starts to hand off to prime sergeant Tor Garadon, and the lessons that he learns from Lysander and his rise. The coolest part about this section is the complete listing of names for the entire company, so if you wanted to name all of your models correctly after the 3rd company than you have that now.

From there the 3rd is called back to help fend off a tyranid attack close to Terra on the planet Drashin. Here the IF purge a Space Hulk that was infested with a Norn Queen, and the aftermath of the battle sees Lysander return to head of the 1st company and Garadon take captaincy of the 3rd.

The new Chapter Master has the IF return to Malodrax were Lysander was tortured earlier to kill the Iron Warrior Warsmith Shon'tu that ends in epic battle.

So what everyone really wants to know is how does this change my force in the game.

1. You now use the Close Bolter Drill instead of Bolter Drill chapter tactic. this allows you to re-roll all failed to hit rolls made with bolt pistols, boltguns, stormbolters, heavybolters, or combiweapons firing the boltgun at a target up to half the maximum range away, but you cannot use this for the special ammo in your sternguard units.  :(

2. Centurian Devastators are now elite and heavy support, and Centurian Assault Squads are now fast attack and elite. The only thing that sucks is that you cannot double up on both at the same time because they both can use elites slots.... I want Centurian troops :)

3. Sergeant Gardon can be taken as an upgrade for a sergeant in Tactical Squad. He cost 75 pts, get the profile of a SM Captain and is armed with power armour, power fist, and Spartean (see relics below) and the unit is now an HQ choice. This is cool and cheaper than actually getting a Captain , but no iron halo.

4.  Relics

Eye of Hypnoth: used as a shooting attack 18" rng. target unit has its cover save reduced by one until end of phase. A building targeted has it AV reduced on all sides by one (to a minmum of 1).

The Angel of Sacrifice: basically a crozius Arcanum but has the only in death rule, which allows the model to not be removed as a casualty until after all combat attacks are resolved (so if he dies, he still makes his attacks and then is removed from play).

The Bones of Osrak: Only used by Librarians. Bearer gets an additional warp charge, and can re-roll failed psychic tests.  This is my favourite.

The Banner of Staganda: Taken as a company standard. The bearer has the crusader and counter attack USR. In addition all units withing 12" re-roll failed morale and pinning tests.

Spartean:  this is a bolt pistol that ignores cover and is master crafted.

5. Warlord Traits

Seige Lord: +1 to damage result against buildings

Tenacious Opponent: Has it will not die USR

Wise Commander: Can choose to add or subtract one from reserve rolls

Indomitable: If the warlord and his unit do not move in the movement phase, they have the fearless and counter attack USR until start of next turn

Architect of War: If warlord is in a building that building suffers -1 of the damage chart (to a minimum of 1)

Fleet Commander: Once per game can call down an orbital strike, this does not prevent the warlord from charging the unit targeted in the assault phase

6. You get the Apocalypse formation to use the 3rd company.

7. There are 7 city of death and 10 planetstrike strategems

8. 3 new altar of war and 6 new echoes of war missions.

Overall this is the best supplement to come out so far. If you play IF you should buy this book.

Golden Demon Japan 2013: A making of my Diorama

So I set off on the crazy path of building this diorama back in February when I got my hands on the Angron model. I had an idea from the Horus Heresy: Galaxy in Flames book of this scene where Saul Tarvitz is trying to find more loyalist to set up defenses and meets a World Eaters Captain at the time when Angron is charging up and slaughtering anyone he sees, and Saul knows fear for the first time and runs away.

 

 

So I had a few things I wanted to capture in the scene.

 

1. Lots of slaughtering.

 

2. Lots of destruction of the terrain as the scene takes place after the bombings.

 

3. The loyalist to maintain a "good guy" appearance.

 

4. Angron had to be visible from all directions

 

 

I started on base construction. This was my first time ever doing something to this scope. I had a big vision, but was uncertain throughout exactly how to do it. Probably should of planned more first.

 

Angron originally started more central on the base, but I ended moving him back.

 

 

I imagined the main area have being hit with lots of bombardment so wanted a transition from blown out area and still stable concrete/man-made look. I think I ended up making it to straight, and it wasn't very natural looking. 

 





 

 Angron moves back and secure his scenic base to the diorama.

Start construction of the walls. I made this door blown off like this for two reasons.

1. I needed to see Angron from the back side

2. There is the double headed eagle on the doors and that symbol was not in wide use during the time, so it had to go and I destroyed... This ended up being a hit from the judge as he said I didn't explain why that was in the diorama... I was thinking maybe the bombardment did most of it ???

 

Getting the scene built up and deciding on placement of the other models on the scene.

 

 

 

Getting the base primed up. Found lots of areas that needed more sand afterwards. Also go the areas marked for marble.

Started work on Angron. Lots of Sycorax Bronze used for the armor. Another first for me was using white primer before painting. I really should of painted to my strengths, but I had this idea and couldn't let it go.

 

Getting the base ready for marble effect.

 

 Basic shape set in.

Working on walls

This red was meant to be primer not rust... There is a lot of industrial grade primer that is red and thought it would look good, which it ended doing, but was confused as being rust by many.

 

 Using some Ghost Tints to change it up some.

A little hairspray and water does the diorama good.

Should of kept the shoulder pads off for painting, but of course inexperience killed lots of time.

Getting more of Angron done.

Just blocking in colors

Got a trim around the marble for the flooring.

 

Lots of missing pictures between working here, but all the shading is done along with rust and verdigris. The first model is attached.

 

 I built up a small pile of rubble for the heavy bolter gunner to be high enough to shoot out the window.

 

 Getting a feel for the scene.

 

 The last two models for the back are in progress.

Angron gets fixed to the base.

Final look at how all the models will be painted like before applying the blood.

All pieces are attached with the blood effects and weathering applied. I finished four days prior to the Golden Demon. I really had more time to add more to the scene.

 

This project was a big learning experience and there are things I could of done better now knowing better techniques. I'm glad I won the bronze demon on this!

 

I hope you all enjoy the diorama. Maybe someday soon I will learn to take better pictures.

Golden Demon Japan 2013

I have just returned home from Tokyo after enjoying the Golden Demon in Japan.

 

As this has been my first Golden Demon event I was meet with many, many different emotions along the way.

 

As the day started out I awoke many times throughout the night and into the morning for some reason I must associate with worry about the contest. I had to assume that this was a normal feeling for the moment as I have heard from other participants along the way that it was the same for them.

 

The Golden Demon in Japan is very different from other countries as there is much smaller gathering and events are limited to the painting competition.

 

I only entered the diorama category with my Istvaan III scene and hoped for the best.

 

I got to meet Hugo from Ichiban Painting fame and had a good time hanging out with him throughout the event.

 

As the day came to a close and the decisions were made I ended up wining the Bronze Demon in Diorama. This is the very interesting part as I was unsure throughout the event about who would win everything, but I was confident that I didn't win Gold as the diorama that won was what I called out from the beginning, but when I received the trophy I couldn't help but think, "BRONZE, what do you mean I only got BRONZE". Again this is kind of funny as the entire day I was wondering if I was even going to place!!!!! WTF was I thinking!.

 

 

 My first demon back home with my diorama.

 

 

 

Hugo ended up smacking me in the head telling what an idiot I was for thinking that I didn't do good... I don't know how I got to this thought pattern but I guess it happens after spending so long working on a piece. I don't mean to be ungrateful, but it was going through my head at the time ( I guess it is better than booing the winner like in Germany). This was a good reminder that not many people have enjoyed the pleasure of receiving a golden demon in their life time and that I should be happy. When I think of it that way I'm much happier with my achievement and I smiled all the way home.  

 

You can see many more pictures of the entries on my Facebook page.

 

 

I ended up talking to the Judge and learning about what the weaknesses of my entry were. I look forward to trying again next year..

 

 

I must say congrats to Hugo for winning the Slayer Sword. You deserve it man!!!!

Welcome to War - A gaming event by Wargamers in Japan

Well yesterday marked the successful completion of the Wargamers in Japan first event "Welcome to War!".

The event gathered over thirty gamers from all over Japan to join in for a fun filled day of death and destruction controlled by the greatest power in the world... DICE. hahaha.

There was a 40k tournament that had 16 players in it, and a great game of Napoleonic Wars. There was demo games of Necromunda, Space Hulk, Relic, Dystopian Wars, and BattleTech.

 

As a special quest we managed to get Steve Parker. This is a picture of Steve and I. Steve is on the right.

 

 

 

 I was fortunate enough to learn that he was in Japan by listening to the Independent Characters episode 82. From there I had beg him for a month to attend until he finally gave in. :) j/k! Thank you Carl and Geoff for having him as a guest on your show, so I could learn that great piece of information.

If you for some reason don't know who Steve is, shame on you! He is great author from Black Library and his most recent works include the fantastic books Rynns-World and Deathwatch. You can read what Steve had to say about the event on His blog.

The day was a complete blast! For the 40k tournament all the players were ranked by their peers as to who the most fun to play against opponent and the top four ranked players received personalized signed copies of Steve Parker's books.

We also did some raffling for great miniatures and that chainsword from the picture before. Steve was also kind enough to bring a very nice copy of the 13th Black Crusade book that is now out of print and each person got one ticket for the raffle to get a chance to win it. Thank you Steve Parker for the great prize!

This is just the first of many events to come from the Wargamers in Japan group. We are working hard to build up the wargaming community in Japan and are always excited to get members.

If you live in Japan, visit from time to time, or about to move to Japan for any reason, or in for a one time vacation and want to meet someone here for a great game or two, you can find or group on Facebook here.

I'm hoping to hear from new players wanting to get in on all the action.

For all those that attended the event, Thank you! Your enthusiasm for the event was great, and I am looking forward to making the next event even better.

Deliverance Reborn - Talking about Raven Guard

So it has taken me a little while to devise a way on how I would use the Raven Guard in the new codex. The Chapter Tactics do not come off as strong as the other Chapters, but can still be used to quite a good effect. Let look at these.

Strike from the Shadows gives models the scout USR and in the first turn of the game allows those units to have stealth as well. You can read this and think to yourself that you would rather be playing White Scars....

Winged Deliverance allows for Jump Infantry models to use there jump packs in the movement and assault phase and must re-roll Hammer of Wrath hits. Also, this is not very strong but can make some good uses if utilized well.

I think using this detachment as many pre game force choices that are very important. The idea of the Raven Guard is sneak in and plan the strike before attacking from the shadows.

1. You are blessed for picking Jump Infantry. RavenGuard are one of the best jump pack using Chapters ( Can't compare to the Blood Angels :) ).

2. You get that bonus to cover saves on the first turn.

So how do you play to this effectively you say.... Well it starts with a well thoughs out army.

Ofcourse I am going to say to use Shrike. He is a nice choice for a Captain with his weapons and has the awesome ability to infiltrate with a unit of jump troops. I recommend taking him with a fully loaded out squad of Vanguard Vets.

Then you take a Techmarine... There is a reason for this dont worry, will describe more later.

Then add scout squads with sniper rifles and camo cloaks for troops. Try to pin down the units that are a melee threat to your assaulting units so that they cannot get into the fight until you can bring the full power of your forces against them.

Then add assault and Vanguard units to your liking. Since you are using power armored troops to fight with, it will be hard to get AP2 close combat weapons without using an unweildy weapon. For this I recommend using one of the vanguard units full of plasma or grav pistols to take out those guys.

So here is the plan for this force. I would try to pick the biggest piece of area terrain that you have and place towards the middle of the board and try to make so that some of the terrain is in your deployment zone, but it is also mostly in the dead mans zone and getting closer to the opponents Deployment. Use the techmarine to bolster the cover save in there (if you go an extra 50 pts get the Thunderfire cannon instead of just techmarine).

Now let your opponent set up first and take the first turn. You want to deploy your forces around this big piece of terrain that is bolstered to make your initial strike. I would make sure to try and deploy in such a way that I am out of LOS of units that ignore cover or Tau pathfinders. (before you say what about Wave Serpent Spam or missile sides, and how this will work against that. All I can nothing I hope you dont have to play against that crap).

So move all your scouting guys closer and deploy Shrike and his infiltrating unit towards the bulk of the enemy forces (but remember try to remain unseen at first).

Now that you are going second you can charge on your turn. Move all those jump units forward and bounce of the targets. Try to make Shrikes unit purposely do a disorderly charge with the Vanguard vets and get as many units locked into combat before charging with the rest.

With the combined might of most of your forces engaging in combat so quickly and hopefully few casualties the first round of shooting you should be able to shred your opponent.

Sons of Vulkan

 

The Salamanders was one of the most widely used SM force in 5th Ed . There is a good reason for this because what Vulkan He'Stan added to the force was awesome in that book for the time.

Now He'Stan is still awesome but basically what he offered is reduced and now part of the Chapter tactics.

Flamecraft allows to re-roll failed armor saves against all flamer weapons and to allow re-roll to wound or penetrate with all flamer weapons as well. There is an extensive list of what is actually a flamer weapon included with the rule for this. I did not see the bale flamer or tzeentch warp flame listed, must not be considered flamer weapons and maybe magic based or something.....

Master Artisan allows for all characters (sergeants, techmarines, apothecary) can all make one weapon master crafted for free. Not a bad deal, but not the greatest of abilities.

Now I still think He'Stan is awesome and I would always take him in a Salamanders Detachment. He is a beast in combat, can soak up wounds with the best of them and if he is the warlord (doesnt work as an ally) can make all melta weapons in the army master crafted.

I have two ways that I would like to run this guy. Either take him with a unit of assault centurians in a land raider redeemer. Between the flamestorm cannons, He'Stan's heavy flamer and the twin linked flamer this unit will kill roaches dead... Then can assualt for the S9 AP2 siege drills. The other way is to attach him to a command squad with all flamers or combiflamers and drop them in with a drop pod. If you feel like the combiflamer method you can use a unit of sternguard instead for a little bit more points and get that extra versatility with the special ammo.

As for troops I was thinking that I would take scouts over tacticals (you may notice that I like scouts) unless you want to get multimeltas in the tactical squad. The reason for this is that you can take land speeder storms as dedicated transports now for 45 pts and can take a heavy flamer on it for free. Also, you can get a heavy bolter w/ hellfire rounds (poison 2+) which is awesome for taking out all of those monsterous creatures..

I really like Land Speeders for a mobile fire base. With the speed of movement  in 40k picking up with flyers and all kinds of units adding +3, 6 or +d6 inches for movement it can feel like a SM force can get swamped if there is a bad turn of shooting. The extra movement you get from these guys while being able to keep up the rate of fire is great. I like to have the multimelta and typhoon launcher combo.  

All and all this force should work basically the same as it did in the last codex. There are some new toys and new options but not much has changed overall. If there isn't enough diversity here you can add a few new things that fit really well from FW. Bray'arth and the infernus predator come to mind right away.....

White Scars vs. Ravenwing

I have been looking back at my Dark Angel codex now that the new craze is the White Scar bikers and really trying to decide what is a better biker force. I can honestly say that I'm not really sure as they are both should be used in differant ways....

White Scars

The Chapter Tactics for White Scars have made them the talk of the town lately as Born in the saddle basically gives them a better version of Skilled Rider (auto pass dangerous terrain and +1 Jink cover save) plus the bonus of having +1 strength for hammer of wrath hits. The other one fight on the move allows for non-terminator and centurians the hit and run USR. I think that these suite the Scars of pale complexion very well.

All of this is for free just for taking a White Scars detachment in the Codex. Top this on top of the fact that if you have a Chapter Master or Captain on a bike that units of 5 or more bikes can be taken as troops. and that bikes are now 21 pts each can be taken in units of eight and can combat squad... OMFGWTF. I can understand why most people are talking about this.

This is a very cheap, hard hitting, combat focused unit that is harder to kill than normal bikes. Totally awesome. I like everything about this except that I would have to paint white power armor....

Ravenwing

These guys do not get the awesome Chapter Tactics that the White Scars get and cost more 27 pts instead of 21 and can only be taken in squads of six..  You would look at this a first glance and say to yourself that taking White Scars is a no brainer for the math.

Now you wonder why the White Scars are better riders than the Ravenwing and it really comes down to the fluff. The White Scars are riding from the onset of their time as a marine where the Ravenwing only start when they make up the ranks of secrecy of the Dark Angels...

Not is all doom and gloom for the guys in black though. You can still take these guys as troops if you have Sammael or Azrael as a HQ choice which is cool, but you can take a land speeder in the unit as well as attack bike unlike the White Scars. This allows you take these guys in the troops section as well to leave the fast attack slots open for Black Knights or the new Darkshroud, Nephilim Jetfighter, or Dark Talon. This gives the real punch to the force and with the Darkshroud around can give the Ravenwing that extra +1 to their cover save they didnt because of no Chapter Tactics.

Also it really comes down to what the Ravenwing do that makes them shine in my eyes. They are meant to be the recon for the hammer blow that is the Deathwing and not the hammer blow themselves. Remember this.... This is what those extra 6 pts are for in the cost... The unit has the scout USR and a teleport homer! You can get these guys across the board super quick make sure they are out of line of sight or in cover  and have the teleport homer to bring the wrath of the inner circle to bear....

Now you can also have a Command Squad in the White Scars detachment. That is only a 135 pts for 5 models on bikes compared to the 200 pts for the Ravenwing command squad or 210 for a unit of 5 Black Knights... Here is where things get sticky for me on how this got pointed out. The major point differance here is that the Ravenwing units have the plasma talons and corvus hammers which can bring the points up quite a bit, but basically the SM command squad go the points cost increase based off of what the differance of what tac marines and bikers pts are. This is a way makes since and is an acceptable explanation. The one thing that doesnt make since here is that an apothecary upgrade costs 15 pts for the SM codex and 30 pts for the Ravenwing. WTF! We have seen so many of the points become basically the same across codices to bring some balance. I don't know how this one got over looked.

There is so much that is awesome about the Dark Angel codex and how the Ravenwing fit in there that I would really hate to see lots of players throw them to the side because the new White Scars seem better at glance and the internet is screaming that you must switch because Ravenwing are no longer tournament worthy or poweful enough or whatever. This isn't the case at all and one should remember what is the main use of the units in the codex to make it work, and I think both armies have differant uses as explained before. The only problem I saw was the apothecary, and that doesn't matter if you dont want to take it.

Tell me what you think.