"OK – I’m struggling here and I need help. I’ve been infatuated with the Biker themed armies for a while, and while I do like the Space Marines/White Scars armies I just keep getting drawn to the FOC breaking Attack Bikes and the cheap Land Speeders of the Dark Angels. With the recent FAQ I’m also inclined towards Terminators and so I’m starting to think a mix of Ravenwing and Deathwing on the field.
I have a Ravenwing battleforce, a crap terminator squad (Powerfist & Storm bolters only – no options o.0), and that’s about it. Thankfully my tax return should come this weekend, so I’ve got some cash that I’m about to sink into models & bits.
You're going to be buying so that's that haha. Ravenwing battleforces are great buys but we'll see what you need first. Doublewing is a great and usable concept but depends a lot on the points value. Deathwing is nearly always better as the Troop choices because they are so hard to remove.
So history aside – here’s the list I’m thinking of:
HQ – Sammel on Jetbike
HQ – Belial with Thunderhammer & Storm Shield
Troops 1 - Ravenwing Attack Squadron. One biker with Plasma Gun, one with Flamer. Attack Bike with Multi-Melta
Troops 2 - Ravenwing Attack Squadron. One biker with Plasma Gun, one with Flamer. Attack Bike with Multi-Melta
Troop 3: Stock & no upgrades
Troop 4: Deathwing Terminator Squad. Apotacary Upgrade, 3 Thunderhammer & Storm Shield upgrades, 2 Lightning Claw Upgrades
Troop 5: Deathwing Terminator Squad. 3 Thunderhammer & Storm Shield upgrades, 2 Lightning Claw Upgrades, Cyclone Missile Launcher on one Thunderhammer model
Fast 1: Land Speeder with Multi-Melta and Typhoon
Fast 2: Land Speeder with Multi-Melta and Typhoon
Belial will join up with Troop 4.
I think this is 1500 points which means you've got a lot of points sunk into your HQs (even at higher points levels, both Sammy and Belial is a steep investment). I think you need to pick one or the other. Since you're running this because you like Bikes we'll take Sammael as our main HQ allowing us to access scoring Bikes backed up by Typhoons and Terminators.
All bikes deploy on Turn 1 if possible and try to stay out of harm’s way. Attack Bikes and Speeders wear on armour. Turn 2 try to get teleport homers near targets that need Assaulted and bring them in that way. CML is there for if the unit gets stranded too far away from anything else useful.
Overall I get six scoring unit and a moderate spread of weapons. My big issues is I’m not sure if I’ve kitted the Termis out right and I worry about the Biker squads being too small (I have one Ravenwing battle force, buying a second plus bits for weapons). I also have a feeling that it’s a glass hammer, just not sure what I should do to correct it.
Your thoughts and feedback are most welcome!"
Teleporting the Termies in is fun but not always ideal. What we really want to do since we are using the Ravenwing as Troops is get as many of them out there as possible with melta. We want them to smash face in and then bring Terminators in ASAP either through footslogging or walking.
The most efficient Ravewning setup is normal squad size with 2 meltaguns + AB w/MM. for 190 points you get 4 models which isn't much but three melta weapons which can target two squads. They're fearless so your opponent has to kill them and give you two scoring options. We'll take four of these + Sammy which takes us to just under 1000 points (965). We then need to add the Deathwing which is going to take us very close to 1500. We want three squads so two can teleport down on Turn 1 if we choose this option. A good loadout for Terminators is a couple of TH/SS, CML and a couple of chainfists + storm bolters for 245 points. Taking three of these sends us over the 1500 point limit though so we'll have to make do with just a single squad. This brings us to 1455 points so not enough for a Typhoon unless we start dropping things.
I'd rather not do that at 1500 as you'd become too light on scoring or not have enough combat power from the Terminators. Rather we can use the points to upgrade the Ravenwing squads to include power weapons and/or apoth + banner as you see fit. As you scale up add in the extra Terminator squad and Typhoons and spend any extra points in more Ravenwing squads.
