Unit of the week: raveners/ the red terror

[Spacecow]

Hello fellow nid lovers.

Time for another unit discussion thread.



This time from the fast attack pool: raveners and the red terror

- I used to run these a lot in my lists for their death from below ability. But they never really did well/ make the charge . Anyone having the same observations or work around?

- I did buy the red terror but hardly fielded it. Partly cause I realized that I don’t like the look of him. ( I know, silly reason)
Is it a good unit to field? What would you guys recommend?

Edited April 12, 2021 by Xenith

[IronDreddKnight]

The best use I've had with raveners is as cheap taxis in a jormangandr detachment, to deliver warrior blobs or devil gant bombs. They also have a smaller footprint than that of a trygon which they compete for the DS strat.

[jbaeza94]

I like raveners and red terror. I just tried them out. 5 and 6 man squad with rending claws and spine fists. Did ok, not game makers or breakers, but they do require some firepower to remove. Red terror made them particularly juicy, and he ate a lieutenant haha.

 

They're part of my new warrior/ravener list. I just posted it the army list section. Imo they're fun units to play, narrative focus, and for some fun shenanigans.

Edited March 15, 2020 by jbaeza94

[Dosjetka]

Good to see you back, Spacecow. :tu: I don't have anything to add as I'm not a Tyranid player nor do I play against Tyranids but I'm happy this series is continuing and I hope it grows in activity over time. :)

[Spacecow]

Thanks Dosjetka. ( RL has been busy for me)

I’m hoping that GW is going to show some love to the nids in the near future, once the psychic awakening is done. That might draw in more nid players :)

 

I do use a trygon/ macloc in my list. I might just swap that out for some raveners and use that for tunnelling.

They might just be small enough not to draw so much fire on them for some objective camping?

[jbaeza94]

It depends on what you deliver with them and how big of a squad you drop. A devil bomb will see raveners get no so much attention because of the huge threat next to them, but a 9 man squad will draw some eyes and guns. Theyre not easy to remove either. A max squad of aggressors remove 4, wound 1 once, firing all launchers and gaunlets at them. Same with inceptors. Max squad Intercessors are killing one, wounding a second one 1 or 2 times.

 

Point is, a squad of raveners have some staying power against common marine threats. Theyd really have to get focused down to be removed. This doesn't take into consideration jormungandr tait. A 3 man squad may be able to camp an objective all game

[Evil Eye]

Sorry to necrothread, but I have a question relating to Raveners and I didn't think it justified a whole new thread...

 

I want to run some Raveners but I'm torn on loadouts. I'm thinking of either Talons and Deathspitters (not as good in combat but good shooting) or Claws and Spinefists (decent if short-ranged shooting and monstrous in combat). What's the better of the two options? For what it's worth if I do go with Rending Claws they'll be converted as I actually don't much care for "regular" Rending Claws on Raveners. I'm thinking of giving them big scary burrowing-claws styled after the mole cricket.

[Arson Fire]

Sorry to necrothread, but I have a question relating to Raveners and I didn't think it justified a whole new thread...

 

I want to run some Raveners but I'm torn on loadouts. I'm thinking of either Talons and Deathspitters (not as good in combat but good shooting) or Claws and Spinefists (decent if short-ranged shooting and monstrous in combat). What's the better of the two options? For what it's worth if I do go with Rending Claws they'll be converted as I actually don't much care for "regular" Rending Claws on Raveners. I'm thinking of giving them big scary burrowing-claws styled after the mole cricket.

The deathspitter costs the same as on warriors, but unlike warriors with a prime they have no way to get +1 to hit in shooting (the red terror only gives them +1 to hit in melee).

Spinefists are weak, but they're cheap enough you can throw them on without worrying too much about overspending on upgrades.

 

With rending claws, each ravener has basically the same melee profile as a genestealer. 4 attacks at S4 AP-1, rending on a 6+. Just as small numbers of genestealers aren't all that scary, I don't consider raveners to be a serious melee threat, other than to light infantry.

 

Personally I think they're best off with scything talons for the extra attack + reroll 1's, and spinefists. So you can lean into them having lots of attacks for dealing with hordes.

[Xenith]

What do you want your raveners to be doing? Meleeing, shooting, both, actions, linebreaker?

 

I agree, with Arsonfire, there. Things might all change with the 9th ed codex, but really they want to be in melee, and spinefists can shoot in melee, while the others cannot, you also get more attacks with them over other platforms for fists.

 

I'd also go for the +1A. What Hive Fleet are you using? I do see some potential for Raveners if you use the BioMetallic Cysts adaptation, maybe with the fall back and charge, or the regain a wound trait. 

 

If you're Jormungandr, you can use them as a cheap alternative to a Trygon to burrow a big unit in, like 30 Devilgants, or whatever. 

[Evil Eye]

Hmmm, I hadn't thought of it like that, Arson Fire. I might go for Talons and Spines in that case. As for the Hive Fleet, I'm going with Metamorphic Regrowth (for regeneration shenanigans/increased survivability) and Senses of the Outer Dark (to keep Overwatch-reliant armies on their toes). Bio-Metallic Cysts did occur to me as a potentially good bet as well, though.

[Xenith]

Outer dark imo is pretty wasted this edition when outside of crusade really only one unit can get to overwatch - unless there are other things that allow more, like Tau? Either way, its like a more situational catalyst - If you can get that off on a unit, then it's basically the same and you get to pick another adaptation.