The Black Reaving, A Sons of Horus Army Concept

[Noctus Cornix]

So, as many of you may know, I've been working on a small Sons of Horus Reaver list as sort of a side project. I still really don't have much, not more than 10 Reavers, but I've been fiddling around with the Army Lists and came up with sort of a 'dream list'. Its almost never going to happen, but this is sort of the idea of what I'd like the army to look like by the time its done. And yes, by the end, it was up to a staggering 4000 points.

• Rite of War: The Black Reaving

• HQ

 

    o Legion Praetor – 190
       Combi-Melta (Banestrike), Master Crafted Power Axe, Iron Halo, Jump Pack

 

    o Legion Centurion – 110
        Master of the Signal, Thunder Hammer
• ELITE

   o Contemptor Dreadnought – 260
       Multi-Melta
       Dreadclaw

  o Justaerin Terminator Squad – 371
       X5
       Multi-Melta, Combi-Melta x3, Power Fist x2

  o Justaerin Terminator Squad – 371
       X5
       Multi-Melta, Combi-Melta x3, Power Fist x2
• TROOP

  o Reaver Attack Squad – 365
      X10, Jump Packs, Banetrike Boltguns
      Combi-Melta x2, Power Axe x2
     Chieftain – Power Axe, Melta Bomb

  o Reaver Attack Squad – 365
      X10, Jump Packs, Banetrike Boltguns
      Combi-Melta x2, Power Axe x2
     Chieftain – Power Axe, Melta Bomb

  o Reaver Attack Squad – 365
     X10, Jump Packs, Banetrike Boltguns
    Combi-Melta x2, Power Axe x2

    Chieftain – Power Axe, Melta Bomb

  o Reaver Attack Squad – 365
      X10, Jump Packs, Banetrike Boltguns
      Combi-Melta x2, Power Axe x2
      Chieftain – Power Axe, Melta Bomb

 o Reaver Attack Squad – 365
     X10, Jump Packs, Banetrike Boltguns
     Combi-Melta x2, Power Axe x2
     Chieftain - Power Axe, Melta Bomb

 o Reaver Attack Squad – 365
     X10, Jump Packs, Banetrike Boltguns
     Combi-Melta x2, Power Axe x2
     Chieftain - Power Axe, Melta Bomb

• FAST ATTACK

 o Legion Seeker Squad – 300
     X10, Banestrike Ammunition
     Combi-Plasma x5

 o Storm Eagle Gunship - 210

• HEAVY SUPPORT

[GhostMalone]

I like the idea, specialist insertion squad feel to it, would you be running maloghurst?

[Perrin]

60 Reavers... imagine how beautiful that would look all assembled and painted

[Noctus Cornix]

I like the idea, specialist insertion squad feel to it, would you be running maloghurst?

Thanks Jasp. Actually, Malgohurst, as awesome as he is, doesn't really fit with the overall list as a whole. I really do plan on pulling one out and making one sooner or later, but as it stands, I couldn't afford him in the list. I do however have a trimmed down 2000 point list which he is in instead of the Praetor.

60 Reavers... imagine how beautiful that would look all assembled and painted

I know, right?! Now the only issue is that creating each 10 man squad WITH their bolters and jump packs costs around $150!

[depthcharge12]

I like the idea of your praetor, he's out of the box and I like the combi bolter with bane strike idea.

 

 

I second getting maloghurst as he will buff the army. Maybe throw in 2 Javelin attack speeders with either missiles or lascannons that can outflank with your guys? Or how about some destroyers too?

 

 

I wanted to run a 1st company dream list with Kalus Ekkadon dual wielding pistols with some reavers and Falkus Kibre running around with his Justareain widow makers and causing pain. I do like your idea though, but it would struggle against lords of war and primarchs especially.

[Noctus Cornix]

I like the idea of your praetor, he's out of the box and I like the combi bolter with bane strike idea.

 

I second getting maloghurst as he will buff the army. Maybe throw in 2 Javelin attack speeders with either missiles or lascannons that can outflank with your guys? Or how about some destroyers too?

 

I wanted to run a 1st company dream list with Kalus Ekkadon dual wielding pistols with some reavers and Falkus Kibre running around with his Justareain widow makers and causing pain. I do like your idea though, but it would struggle against lords of war and primarchs especially.

 

Thanks depthcharge. The Praetor is a bit of a labor of love. I'm really excited to get to work on him when I can, but to do that, I'd need to pick up quite a few kits from Forge World. He's a giant kitbash. :P

 

Yeah, Lords of War and Primarchs would be a pretty big issue for this list. For the most part, the Justaerian squads and the Contemptors were the ones who were supposed to run Anti-Tank for the army, which works on most things, but I can already tell, I'm going to have a couple issues with things like a Glaive or a Typhon. *shudders*

[Daemon2027]

I like the look of this list. Has a theme and sticks to it. Your Praetor is similar to what I had in mind for my Alpha Legion Praetor, only I had a sword instead of an axe.

[Marshal Loss]

As an XVI fanboy I approve. Glory to the Warmaster! Seeing that many Reavers would be quite the sight.

[Noctus Cornix]

I like the look of this list. Has a theme and sticks to it. Your Praetor is similar to what I had in mind for my Alpha Legion Praetor, only I had a sword instead of an axe.

 

Thanks man. I personally make it an effort to stay away from the Paragon Blade just by the simple fact of that its so ridiculous and taking it makes virtually every other option rather worthless. So with that in mind, I'm trying to pick the other options. I don't like my character NOT having AP 2 so it was down to having and axe or a fist/hammer, but  I wanted to keep to my theme.

 

The Kindred (what I call my little cluster of Reavers) walk a very fine line between the Child Soldier and a much more brutal take on Native American culture. They work in hunting packs, silent as the grave until they ambush their foes, howling to the sky as they gun them down and rend their flesh apart. They're prone to taking scalps and severed heads as trophies. Aside from the Master of the Signal, every model that is modeled with a close combat weapon will have the chain axe from the Reaver box and every Kindred that has a power weapon will be an axe. At the same time, each Reaver has his own Moniker or title that is used amongst the tribe rather than their real names (ex: Crimson King, Blood Scent, Skin Walker, Black Howl, No Eyes, Lap Dog, Broken Wing, etc.)

 

 

As an XVI fanboy I approve. Glory to the Warmaster! Seeing that many Reavers would be quite the sight.

 

Luprecal! Luprecal! Luprecal!

[Losark]

The Problem With The Power Axe Is That At Initiative One, You Lose Your SoH Legion Trait. Murderous Something Or Other. You Could Use A Paragon Blade Or Charnabral Sabre Or Anything, AnD Model It As An Axe.

 

I'm Sorry For My Formatting. My Phone's Swype Doesn'tLike The Internet.

[Noctus Cornix]

I actually had NEVER noticed that I would be losing that extra attack. Wow, thanks man.

 

Honestly though, I'm not super worried about it. It is only one attack that I'm missing out on, and like I said, I'd rather not take Paragon Blade by virtue of how dumb it is.

 

And don't worry about the formatting, it looks just fine.  :)

[Kol Saresk]

Actually Forgeworld does have the "whatever the weapon is supposed to be, it must be modeled as", so a Charnabal Sabre would have to be modeled as a sabre. As for the Paragon Blade, I think I understand the motivation as "everyone has a Paragon Blade".

 

Personally, I want a chainglaive. Problem is that every Night Lord and their dog is either going to have a paragon blade, twin lightning claws or a chainglaive. So I fully understand the "breaking from the pack".

[Noctus Cornix]

Oh the Chainglaive. You were such a nice, simple homage to Lord of the Night, meant for a unique and awesome character.... And then Forge World get their grubby little hands on you. Now I can barely stand the sight of you...

[Kol Saresk]

 

Oh the Chainglaive. You were such a nice, simple homage to Lord of the Night, meant for a unique and awesome character.... And then Forge World get their grubby little hands on you. Now I can barely stand the sight of you...

Are you thinking of the right story? Lord of the Night was Zso Sahaal and his twin lightning claws.

[Noctus Cornix]

 

 

Oh the Chainglaive. You were such a nice, simple homage to Lord of the Night, meant for a unique and awesome character.... And then Forge World get their grubby little hands on you. Now I can barely stand the sight of you...

Are you thinking of the right story? Lord of the Night was Zso Sahaal and his twin lightning claws.

 

Yes, I am. There is one particular side character who is briefly mentioned in the book, a female ganger under Sahaal who was wielding a massive chainglaive strapped to her back. Sahaal noted he had some respect for her. I've always assumed that the choice of Sevatar's weapon was because of that as a bit of a homage.

[Grizwald23]

I like the list the only thing I would say is you should devote each reaver squad to either close combat or ranged combat because their points add up very fast and them arm them that way without giving them extras like bolters on a close combat squad.

[Kol Saresk]

 

 

 

 

Oh the Chainglaive. You were such a nice, simple homage to Lord of the Night, meant for a unique and awesome character.... And then Forge World get their grubby little hands on you. Now I can barely stand the sight of you...

Are you thinking of the right story? Lord of the Night was Zso Sahaal and his twin lightning claws.

Yes, I am. There is one particular side character who is briefly mentioned in the book, a female ganger under Sahaal who was wielding a massive chainglaive strapped to her back. Sahaal noted he had some respect for her. I've always assumed that the choice of Sevatar's weapon was because of that as a bit of a homage.

Ah, okay. Forgot that bit. Thanks for reminding me.

[Noctus Cornix]

I like the list the only thing I would say is you should devote each reaver squad to either close combat or ranged combat because their points add up very fast and them arm them that way without giving them extras like bolters on a close combat squad.

 

I know what you mean, man. Heck, each squad racks up 365 points for 10 men. Thing is though, I sort of wanted a self-sufficeint force. Aside from the Terminators, Seekers, and Dread, I wanted my army to be able to tackle any and every problem that's thrown at it. Each Reaver squad is made and tuned to be able to take on any situation by itself, but they don't have to.

 

The way I plan to run the force is what I call the Pack mentality. The way I'll be running them in game terms in specifically to move in teams, 3 groups of 2 squads. Each team has an objective, a target that the two units will move in unison to obliterate. Because Reavers cannot have large squads of 20 like others, we see a possible issue with standing up against mass squads. To compensate for this, I have the teams work together like a 1. 2. punch. The first squad moves in and softens up the foe with a rapid fire volley of bolter rounds, picking off any sergeants or particularly nasty weapons if they can. The second squad will promptly move in right after and tear the stragglers apart. Likewise then can work as both simply unloading or both charging dependent on the circumstances.

 

But of course you'll also be using the Black Reaving RoW, granting your second squad the rage rule once they charge into a preexisting combat. The 2 squad teams tactic works perfectly for this since you ALWAYS have a second squad sitting around to take advantage of that.

 

When it comes to weapons, I think it would be best to give around two power axes to standard marines and give your sergeant something that strikes at initiative (or a fist/axe if you want to give him artificer armour). That way you can have atleast 6 AP 2 attacks hidden in the squad that cannot be stolen from you by a challenge or a sniper round.

 

This and the combination of a melta bomb along with a couple combi-meltas should allow your Reavers to tackle just about anything that's thrown at them, so long as you play smart and use the pack tactics. Remember that they're main role is to kill infantry, characters, take objectives, and the occassional minor vehicle. Leave the tank killing to your artillery or Justerians. Seriously man, Justerian deep strike squads with a multi-melta and combi-meltas on everyone else. What's not to love?