The time has come for me to end this blog. After weeks of neglect, I figure that this blog no longer serves any purpose. It's not that I've stop learning, but I much rather to start another one than keep this one running.

My next blog will be much more focused on Pure Death-Raven Tacticas. This current blog however, will no longer be updated.

Until next time.

A 40K Rogue Trader, Veteran and friend will be running a two day mini-gamesday in our area coming this January 5th and 6th, 2008. It'll be an opportunity to test a pure Death-Raven army at 1,750 points.

I'm expecting Harley-Mech-Eldar, Mech Codex SM, Anti-Mech Necron and more marines.

Let there be death amongst the Stars this January...

After playtesting this setup for more than 6 months, I finally decided to make my Ravenwing Bikers anti-MEQ...

Ravenwing Bikers as Anti-MEQ Units (Plasma + Powersword + Standard Bearer + Apothecary)

• Sergeant is equipped with Powersword, Meltabombs and Plasma pistol. Two other Bikers are given a Plasma Gun each.
• The squadron is given an Apothecary and Standard Bearer.
• This squadron's main purpose is to thin down MEQs using Plasma weaponries.
• They are meant to be a mobile firebase, so if they're not moving and shooting, they're wasting points.
• Must be combined with at least another Death-Raven unit (more info soon).
• Their primary role is to gun down MEQs, and should only enter assault to finish off survivors (such as in the case of Necrons). Their Twin-Linked bolters can be used against other units that are weak against bolter rounds.
• Must avoid being locked in close combat.

Ravenwing Bikers as Anti-Horde Units (Flaming Sword Squadron)

• As Flaming Fist Squadron, but replaces Power Fist with Power Weapon.
• Effective against Swarm-types, as well as mass infantry units with poor armour saves (+5 or worse) and poor Toughness rating (T3 or lower).
• Good in close-combat against above-mentioned unit types, average against MEQs but poor against heavy infantry or units with high toughness and good armour saves.
• Must have Standard Bearer to be effective.
• Do not split up to Combat Squad.

After thinking about this for awhile, I've finally decided to start developing my own tactica for my pure Death-Raven army. This tactica will be an "evolving" tactica; it will see revisions from time to time to fine tune it to my liking.

I have yet to figure out how to organize this tactica, but since this is a continuous Work In Progress, I'll worry about information layout later and let it sort out by itself in due time. For now, I'll post them in point form.

Ravenwing Bikers as Assault Units (Flaming Fist Squadrons)

• Two Flamers and a Power Fist should be the usual wargears. The Flamers could thin down the enemy unit before going into close combat. The Power Fist can take down high toughness units.
• Hunt for high toughness units or multi-wound units that are weak in close combat.
• Never go into close combat against superior close-combat specialist units like Harlequins, Death Company, Genestealers and C'Tans.
• Never fight in close combat against a unit twice the number of models of the Bike Squadrons.
• Always use two Bike Squadrons to engage one unit.
• Never engage a unit with only a single squadron unless absolutely necessary.
• Never engage multiple units in close combat unless absolutely necessary.
• Standard Bearer is a definite must.
• Strive for at least two full Bike Squadrons.
• Never split them into Combat Squads.
• Strive to cause the Torrent of Fire rule on the enemy unit. Force any model with a special close combat weapon to take that save before going into close combat.

Ravenwing Bikers as Plasmagun Units (Plasma Squadrons)

• Take two Bike Squadrons. Equip each squadron with two Plasmaguns.
• Hunt down Heavy Infantry units such as Terminators, Battlesuits and other units that has 2+ Armour Saves.
• They can also hunt down High Toughness units, but both squadron must work in unison.
• Use both Squadrons when hunting down enemy units. Avoid splitting them up.
• Combat Squad them to make them easier to hide.
• Always take an Apothecary.
• Engage in firefight against enemy units specialized in close combat, since they usually lack firepower.
• Remember distancing - keep your enemy as far away as possible from assault range while keeping the Bikers within maximum range of your guns. In other words, keep them within 20" - 24" of your firing range. EDIT: This tactic is difficult to pull off, since the bikers may not move during the movement phase in order to do so.
• Against enemy units with lots of models or wounds, trim them from maximum range (see above). EDIT: This tactic is difficult to pull off, since the bikers may not move during the movement phase in order to do so.
• If you are going to Rapid Fire the enemy, do so with at least two full Biker Squadrons. Aim for wipe out.

Ravenwing Bikers as Firebase Units (Meltagun Squadrons)

• Similar to Plasma Squadrons, but are equipped with two Meltaguns instead.
• May be taken in a minimum-numbered Squadron (i.e. 3 Bikers instead of 6).
• Hunt down high toughness units (such as Necrons with Destroyer bodies) as well as vehicles (biggest priority).
• Must not be used against units with high number of models (such as Ork Nobz Mob).
• Effective against multi-wound models with Toughness 4 or less, especially lone models.
• Avoid being locked in close combat at all cost.
• Apothecary and Standard Bearer aren't necessary.

To be continued...

Fifty-Second Lesson Learned
The optimal number of anti-tank weapons fielded - I've pondered on this question ever since I first fought a mechanized Necron on the table. Death-Raven lacks number, which also translates to lack of units carrying weapons. Points wise, I either have to buy more bodies or scoring units, or lower the body count and go for better weapons. Well, I still don't have a definitive answer to this question, but I keep one important rule in mind when refining my Death-Raven army list: don't go overboard. That means I shouldn't be spending too much points on one aspect of the army.

Right now I have, in my current army list, 2 Ravenwing Attack Bikes with Multi-Melta and 2 Venerable Dreadnoughts with Twin-Linked Lascannons as my primary anti-tank units, while my Deathwing Terminators and Ravenwing Bikers are equipped with Power Fists to take out light-armour vehicles. I'll test this build in the weeks to come.

Fifty-Third Lesson Learned
To Sacrifice or Not To Sacrifice - That is the question. Cheap Land Speeders are one thing. Sacrificing cheap Land Speeders when I only have two of them, that's another. Chaplain Lucifer's Tornado (which I have been using in the past few battles) requires a player who is willing to sacrifice his Land Speeders. But I prefer to keep them alive for as long as possible.

My reasons? First of all, I only have two Land Speeders in my list. Unlike in a pure Ravenwing Army, I don't have the luxury of fielding 5+ Land Speeders. I can only ever have two at most (so once they get blown up they're out of the picture, with no hope of replacing them for the rest of the battle). Second, losing just one (even though it only costs 75 points) would mean losing one scoring unit. In an army list that lacks bodies, having a solid number of scoring units is crucial because it helps you win the game, especially in capturing table quarters or game objectives.

Fifty-Fourth Lesson Learned
"Flaming" Tornado or "Flaming" Typhoon - I wanted all of my units to multi-role. My Deathwing Terminators are good in both firepower and close combat, and can take on infantry and armoured units equally well. Same with my Ravenwing Bikers and Venerable Dreadnoughts. But what about my Land Speeders? Chaplain Lucifer's "Flaming" Tornado (Multi-Melta and Heavy Flamer configuration) had filled this role perfectly, but there's one more variant which I haven't tested that can perform as a multi-role unit equally well - the "Flaming" Typhoon (Multi-Melta and Typhoon configuration).

The Typhoon Missiles perform the same role as Heavy Flamer, except it has an extremely longer range and affect slightly lesser number of models per shot.

Lastly, I found that I lack a solid firebase for anti-infantry. My Ravenwing Bikers lacks firepower to a degree where it doesn't even warrant the attention of my opponent. So I thought maybe the Land Speeder's Typhoon Missiles might help them on that job from greater distance.

I'll test this variant in the weeks to come.

Index of "Weekly Lessons Learned"

Lesson Learned #1 to #8: Double Date (with Necrons and Eldar)
Lesson Learned #9 to #17: Grey Armies
Lesson Learned #18 to #22: Lessons in May
Lesson Learned #23 to #25: Lessons in May, Continued...
Lesson Learned #26 to #31: View from a different window
Lesson Learned #32 to #35: A different kind of Eldar (Player)
Lesson Learned #36 to #40: View from a different window, Pt. 2
Lesson Learned #41 to #45: And after a month of absence... the 41st Lesson Learned
Lesson Learned #46 to #51: What I have learned in this past three weeks.
Lesson Learned #52 to #53: Pre-Apocalpyse Lessons Learned

* Last update: October 9, 2007 *

After last Sunday's pre-Apocalypse game, I decided to revise my Army Lists (changes are highlighted in bold white)

Death-Raven (1,745 points)
HQ
Belial with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield
Sammael on Land Speeder

Elites
Venerable Dreadnought with Extra Armour and Twin-Linked Lascannon

Troops
Deathwing Terminators #1: 1x Twin Lightning Claws, Cyclone Missile Launcher, Apothecary and Standard Bearer
Deathwing Terminators #2: 1x Twin Lightning Claws and Cyclone Missile Launcher
Ravenwing Attack Squadron #1: 6 Bikers, Power Fist, Standard Bearer, Apothecary and Attack Bike with Multi-Melta
Ravenwing Attack Squadron #2: 6 Bikers, Power Fist and Attack Bike with Multi-Melta

Fast Attack
Ravenwing Land Speeder #1 with Heavy Bolter and Typhoon Missile Launcher

Death-Raven (2,000 points)
HQ
Belial with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield
Sammael on Land Speeder

Elites
Venerable Dreadnought #1 with Extra Armour and Twin-Linked Lascannon
Venerable Dreadnought #2 with Extra Armour and Twin-Linked Lascannon

Troops
Deathwing Terminators #1: 1x Twin Lightning Claws, Cyclone Missile Launcher, Apothecary and Standard Bearer
Deathwing Terminators #2: 1x Twin Lightning Claws and Cyclone Missile Launcher
Ravenwing Attack Squadron #1: 6 Bikers, Power Fist, Standard Bearer, Apothecary and Attack Bike with Multi-Melta
Ravenwing Attack Squadron #2: 6 Bikers, Power Fist and Attack Bike with Multi-Melta

Fast Attack
Ravenwing Land Speeder #1 with Heavy Bolter and Typhoon Missile Launcher
Ravenwing Land Speeder #2 with Heavy Bolter and Typhoon Missile Launcher

I decided to revise my Army Lists because there were certain areas in it that I found lacking or redundant, as listed below:

• I have too many anti-tank weapons. Both Deathwing Terminator Squads have Cyclone Missile Launchers, both Venerable Dreadnoughts have Twin-Linked Lascannons, both Ravenwing Attack Bikes have Multi-Meltas and both Landspeeders have Multi-Meltas.
• I found that most of the time I play my Ravenwing Bikers as firebase units, dashing across the battlefield acting as skirmishers. This made them spread too much, sometimes putting them in locations where I don't want them to end up.
• The Multi-Melta/Flamer Landspeeder often ended getting blown up by enemy fire due to it's short range. The true effectiveness of the Multi-Melta is at 12" but this often places it too close to the enemy's firing range.
• Landspeeders are vehicles, which means that this unit goes into Reserve in Escalation.
• At the start of the game, I have four anti-tank measures on the table ready to answer any armoured enemy threat: 2 Deathwing Terminator models with Cyclone Missile Launchers and 2 Ravenwing Attack Bikes with Multi-Meltas. The Venerable Dreadnoughts will provide additional anti-tank measures during mid-game. Having TWO more anti-tank measures during late game helps, but those armoured units should be dealt with as early in the game as possible. This makes the Multi-Melta Land Speeders a bit redundant as anti-tank units.
• Heavy Flamers can deal with light-armoured enemy units, but due to its short range it suffers the same problem as Land Speeders with Multi-Melta. A Land Speeder that survives is a threat to the enemy, but a Land Speeder that gets destroyed ruins my tactics. 75 points is not cheap at all.

Based on my findings above, I reckoned that if I use the Land Speeders to act as additional firebases to support my Ravenwing Bikers from long range, my Land Speeder would have an easier time surviving the battle. This Typhoon Land Speeders can pepper enemy infantries from safe distance, a role usually filled by my (overworked) Ravenwing Bikers.

This build would have problems against a mechanized army, but as long as the enemy have infantry units the Typhoon Land Speeders will always have a use. A quick calculation tells me that the more armoured units there are in a list, the weaker the armour value will be for each of them. The more infantry units there are in a list, the lesser the number of armoured units there will be.

All in all, this (revised) list could theoretically take on a mechanized army, assuming that the armoured units roll in one or two units per turn.

Theoretically...

* Note to self: I should post this under Lessons as well. *

Last Sunday night was our W40K group's pre-Apocalypse game. There were 2 players aside with each players bringing 2,000 points to the table. It didn't quite feel like Apocalypse, though.

At the end of the game (at 4:00 am the next day) I quickly deduce that in order for any game to feel like Apocalypse, each participants must have at least 3,000 points of army and there should be at least 6 players minimum. Alas, if only we have 6 players with a 3,000 points army.

Still, it was enjoyable. Instead of playing a normal game, we decided to play a scenario (Ben's idea) where Ben and Rizal (Necrons and Orks respectively) attempted to sneak into our (Allen and I) base without being spotted by our sentries. The Xenos players managed to sneak in more than half their total army to within assault range. Fortunately, my whole army was in Reserve (except for Sammael) while Allen's Blood Angels army bore the weight of the initial assault.

'Tis was a bloody battle, but in the end the Space Marines prevail because we secured the objectives after 4 turns (the scenario's limit).

We need more players... for Apocalypse!

Tonight my friends and I are going to try out a 2-vs-2 at 4,000 points per side (that's 2,000 points per player). I'm going to try out my latest 2,000 Death-Raven build for tonight's carnage. My ally is a Blood Angels player, probably going for an assault-based built.

Our enemies are Xenos of the foullest kind: Orks and Necrons.

"'Tis going to be a bloody battle... "