WAR's Raven Guard & Raptors

[WAR]

Good choice

 

So I did a bad thing last night.....Raptor Team 7 is built....some last minute details, greenstuff, slings, bolter accessories and such.

 

-Vet Sgt “Topkick” Lynch- Sternguard Sgt, bolter and Chainsword

- “Backlash” Slayton- Primaris Riever, heavy bolt pistol and close combat weapon

-“Arclight” Dane- Primaris intercessors, auto bolt rifle Grenade Launcher

-“Deadeye” Cash- Scout sniper rifle

-“Deathblow” Cray- Heavy bolter

-“Slaphammer” Fairchild- tactical marine/ comms specialist

-“Bulleteer” Chang- tactical marine.

 

nothing to see here move along....... Pictures coming soon :P

Edited July 6, 2018 by war009

[Bjorn Firewalker]

I thing I figured out what I'm going to build and slot it into the Rogue Trader lore:

 

Mal would make a cool Rogue Trader, but how will you reconcile his background as a rebel? Say Shadow's planetary governor was a xeno collaborator, and Mal was a soldier in the forces fighting against the "Human-Tau Alliance," one of a handful the Star Wardens evacuated from Shadow before the Inquisition subjected the planet to an Exterminatus? (That will give him a conflicted view of the Imperium. Loyalists saved the lives of him and many of his friends, but loyalists were also responsible for the deaths of many others. 'Would my home planet be better off under the Tau? Or are the purple-bellied xenos really the worst kinds of tyrants, as Imperial authorities claim?' being questions that will haunt him for years.)

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Jayne would make a good Astral Claw who was serving in the Deathwatch when the Badab War broke out. He didn't participate in that war, but when the Inquisition decided to purge surviving Astral Claws after Huron fled into the Maelstrom, Jayne decided to desert and become a mercenary.

 

Zoe is Mal's comrade from the War for Shadow.

 

Inara is from an Order Famulous of the Adepta Sororitas- and a spy for the Inquisition, there to keep an eye on Rogue Trader Reynolds. Mal tolerates her presence because he knows if she fails to report in, the Inquisition's paranoia will worsen in ways that are VERY BAD for his health.

 

Wash is obviously an eccentric member of the Navis Nobilite.

[WAR]

Real Team 7 WIP pics.....

Clock wise from top Left: Dane, Slayton, Chang, Fairchild, Cash, Lynch, Cray

[Race Bannon]

  I LOVE ALL THIE THINGS!  :woot:

 

So now I have ideas for my KT, inspired by war and TWH

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Team 7 looks promising. Where'd you get the names? From musicians, e.g., "Cash" is named after Johnny Cash? From engineers, e.g., "Cray" is named after Seymour Cray, supercomputer architect?

[WAR]

Team 7 looks promising. Where'd you get the names? From musicians, e.g., "Cash" is named after Johnny Cash? From engineers, e.g., "Cray" is named after Seymour Cray, supercomputer architect?

 

Wildstorm Team 7

 

All based off the Comic book. 

[thewarriorhunter]

  I LOVE ALL THIE THINGS! 

 

So now I have ideas for my KT, inspired by war and TWH

 

Glad I could be of some service. I think when I do mine they're going to be humans. I could see making the Jayne representation a space marine but I thing he'd fit better as Ogryn model... Overall I think it'll be a human/guard rule set and I'll piece together bits to make it work. I know there are some western miniatures games out there I could pull from if I needed to.

[WAR]

So my MkI Lias Issodon had things I really liked about it, but over all I was not happy with it. So with that said I have been thinking, collecting parts and last night the pose hit me well I built him earlier today.

Still to do drill out Malice and add its accessories, straps, Green stuff new joints I moved to get his pose, and a right hand holding binoculars attach his comm back pack with camo cloak.

[WAR]

So lately I've been discussing 40k with my Club Leader and the meta in our group has shifted to Knights and destroying them as 3 of our players have knight armies. The down side of my 10th Company Raptors is big crap and the inability to deal with it. With the amount of Knight/ Anti Knight tactics being thrown around I have a few options:

 

1. Switch tactics and start adding tons of primaris/ stunty marines and other heavy hitters into my Raptors to deal with the threat. (Most Expensive option as I would need to buy new models)
2. Shelve the Raptors for the time being and Focus on my Crimson Fists as I have multiple options in the marine category for them. (Cheapest option as both armies are started)
3. Retire the Raptors and absorb them into the Crimson Fists. (Seems drastic but I've been planning on stripping the paint and repainting them. So now it is either Raptors or Crimson Fists) 

I know the Chapter Tactic and Stratagem for Imperial Fists suck something fierce but I've been playing Crimson Fists since 3rd edition and the Army is huge and is in various stages of build, paint, and collecting dust. It currently has a Full Company of stunty marines with Rhino transports, a Drop Company (about 50 marines with drop pods originally Based around the Sentinels of Terra supplement), my Primaris section (35 intercessors, 9 inceptors, 15 hellblasters, 6 aggressors, 10 reivers, 3 replusors, 2 Redemptors, and all the single HQ/ Elite models), multiple custom sternguard units, Terminators and to make Race go   at least 4 Land Raiders (2 Stock, 1 Redeemer, 1 Terminus Ultra "Rynn's Might" plus I always wanted a Prometheus Variant and I think that would be an awesome ride for Chapter Master Kantor and his bodyguard). As you can tell it is missing scouts.....hence why I would absorb the scout contingent from my Raptors.

 

But as a Bonus I hate orks and they are coming soon so I do need to work on my Crimson Fists. 

[thewarriorhunter]

Either way it sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you. Based on what you've written I'd say stick with option 2. That way you still have the Raptors available if you want to play with them. You can always strip them later if you decide that's the way you want to go. If you strip them now and change you're mind there's no going back.

[Johanhgg]

Thanks man....I think I enjoy building more than playing. My eBay account can attest to that with the sheer amount of bits I order on a monthly/ semi monthly basis..

 

Sad my Adepta Sororitas don’t have rules but I can wait for them like I always do.

 

My Raptors army is seriously out of control at this point which I’m fine with need to focus on getting stuff done, but hopefully airbrushing will speed up the process

My whole 40k is out of control. I have sooooo many marine-thingys in apartment and basement. I’m trying to bring focus by scaling down from 5 chapters to max 2...maybe 3 :D need to sell off some I think. My blood angels maybe.

[WAR]

Either way it sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you. Based on what you've written I'd say stick with option 2. That way you still have the Raptors available if you want to play with them. You can always strip them later if you decide that's the way you want to go. If you strip them now and change you're mind there's no going back.

I still plan on stripping them to repaint them at some point but the whole reason I built them for the 2nd time was I missed them after I sold them. So I should keep them. I have more unbuilt scouts I can add to either army as I see fit.

 

2 is the best option at this point tho.

 

My whole 40k is out of control. I have sooooo many marine-thingys in apartment and basement. I’m trying to bring focus by scaling down from 5 chapters to max 2...maybe 3 :D need to sell off some I think. My blood angels maybe.

I know the feeling. I sold my Dark angels, black templars, black legion, space wolves and other unbuilt armies years ago. I still have my Adepta Sororitas from 2nd edition, crimson fists from 3rd, Deathwatch, Grey Knights, 10th Co Raptors, a slannesh daemon army, 30k Emperor’s Children, parts for an Imperial Fist 30k army based around Alexis Pollux, a small Elysian army, parts for an inquisition army and mechanicus section (last ones are allies) plus a huge collection of pewter Cawdor and redemptionist for Necromunda.

 

And lots of pewter arbites/ enforcers too

Edited July 16, 2018 by war009

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

While we are not the same person, I can give you my 2 cents from my perspective:

 

Balancing game design in terms of power against hobby time has always been a struggle for me with this game. I find that if a unit I own/army I want to play is weak, I find myself struggling to commit the time to assembly/convert/paint.

 

Its also an equation of emotional commitment versus time spent. My first love was Blood Angels when I started this game, I got addicted to fast-paced melee oriented play. It wasn't until later (4th or 5th Ed) that Raven Guard ended up fitting this play style better than Blood Angels (to my anyway). Now I have grown to love our black clad emo somber brethren, and would probably find myself playing them, even if they were terrible.

 

I guess what I am saying is you need to weigh what is important to you. It sounds like your meta is somewhat competitive, and you enjoy giving as much as you get. If that's the case, Raven Guard is undoubtedly the best choice for you given that context. 

 

If I were you, and faced against that meta: I would do the opposite. I would either strip and repaint Fists into Raven Guard, or buy new Raven Guard stuff.

 

In that regard you have two routes to choose: Gunline or Flyers (in the context of combating Knights). Mortis Contemptors and Leviathans for the gunline derivative. If you go the more esoteric flyer route, Storm Ravens are your best bet, loaded for bear.

 

Sounds to me like your first love is the Fists though, and I can respect that. Pedro and the boys hold a special place in my heart, the were the first painted miniatures I ever push around a table 

[WAR]

My first love is Adepta Sororitas but started with Space Wolves in 2nd edition and then started building Sisters shortly there after when the codex dropped (we are old, Race......You remember when that codex dropped too.) I started Crimson Fists late 3rd edition and be using them since and will dabble with other armies. Raptors was originally a thought of 'how many scout squads" can I cram in an army and blew up from there. I sold them (stupidly) and focused on my Crimson Fists. I planned on having multiple companies of Crimson Fist and then gave up the project when I was 50 Terminators into the 128 man Crusade company, lost their unique rules and became blue Imperial Fists. Pretty much played 2 games in 6th but stayed around the community into 7th when I found all my unbuilt scouts. I decided to rebuild my Raptor 10th company. I do love Raptors for the being tactical reasonable marines plus I can camo everything.

You bring up a good point about stripping them and turn them into Raptors. As odd as it is I never thought about doing that, probably cause most of them have Pewter Fist Shoulder pads. I should probably pull some units out of the CF and redo them as Raptors to save money and time. Probably be the drop company as they are on mostly running legs and are newer style marines and not 3rd edition ones. Some of the non Fist lcon tanks can be acquired back to Raptors.

edit:

here are some bad pics of the models i would take from the CF to the Raptors

Ignore the guy with the Power fist..

Edited July 16, 2018 by war009

[Spaz]

I may be way out of my lane on this and if so disregard... Why not keep both Raptors and Crimson Fists? It wouldn't be the first time two Space Marine chapters have worked together.

[WAR]

I may be way out of my lane on this and if so disregard... Why not keep both Raptors and Crimson Fists? It wouldn't be the first time two Space Marine chapters have worked together.

 

You are not out line. I do plan on keeping both armies, now....It was just a momentary ugh how deal with the groups threats of big crap with my scouts. Tau big suits, Nids monstrous creatures, knights, I am being forced to rethink my battle tactics instead of spamming scouts to harass them, I need to beat them with units they don't expect from me. 

 

Toying with some list ideas like taking Lias, Primaris LT, Sternguard, TH/SS jump vanguard, 2 Quad Autocannon Dreads, 2 intercessor squads, 2 bolter/ Missile launcher camo scout squads, Tactical squad with lascannon, Scout bike squad, 2 assault cannon tarantulas, Heavy Hellblasters, 2 Dakka Preds

[duz_]

Thunderfire cannons to slow them down?

I would be wary to change your army completely because of a shift in the meta.
Although I think bringing full Knight lists to friendly matches / clubs isn't friendly at all. 

[WAR]

Thunderfire cannons to slow them down?

 

I would be wary to change your army completely because of a shift in the meta.

Although I think bringing full Knight lists to friendly matches / clubs isn't friendly at all. 

 

I agree about the knights but it is the new thing, it wont last long. I need to build another Rifleman Dread and Pred, as I have crazy ideas for this one, so I can throw so much more Str 7 rounds at them to makes them nervous.  Sternguard will be Lias's bodyguard matching his range and well the assault cannon tarantulas allow me to target what ever I want cause unlike the lascannon or Heavy bolter variants that have specific targets first the assault cannon doesn't.  The Intercessors/ tactical squad are cheaper troop options than my scouts......Camo Cloaks and missile launchers get expensive. 

 

I will look at what I may change around to make it a little more chaotic on them during deployment. 

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

Inside the Vanilla book our best option for T8 units is undoubtedly Lascannon Sponson Predators (I prefer the Predator Autocannon Turret), and Killshot.

 

At T7 and below (which is the vast majority of targets, but not Knights, your list was right on the money.

 

I think in a Raptors list and the T7 catagory, the best value PPM has got to be Infiltrating Sternguard with SI Ammo Bolters and their strategem, they will deal out ~9 saves to a T7 unit when standing near Lias. The second best value PPM is the Riflemen dreads.

 

Sounds to me like you've got the right plan.

 

Something that I have been toying with, by the way: I really like the Supreme Command Detachment of the triple BA Captain with JP, TH, and SS. While I don't think Blood Angels allaying themselves with RG (or Raptors) is this unheard of thing, I was however considering building 3 Carcharodon Captains and using them as counts as for a more "fluffy" interpretation. These bad boys kill Knights real good, especially when screen by RG Scouts :D

[duz_]

Is a lascannon pred better than lascannon dev's though?
They're 165pts and get the CT bonus, plus you can put them in multi level ruins for better LoS and +1 sv. Not to mention one of them gets +1 to hit while the Sgt's alive

I ask because I've been pondering this myself

I think at some point I will add some Pred's but probably AC / HB ones

[Race Bannon]

Yeees.  Lead Farmers UNITE!

 

 

I think at some point I will add some Pred's but probably AC / HB ones

 

Yesss, lead farmers UNITE!

[thewarriorhunter]

Is a lascannon pred better than lascannon dev's though?

They're 165pts and get the CT bonus, plus you can put them in multi level ruins for better LoS and +1 sv. Not to mention one of them gets +1 to hit while the Sgt's alive

I ask because I've been pondering this myself

I think at some point I will add some Pred's but probably AC / HB ones

 

That was my thought as well, and one of the reasons I sold my predator off awhile back (although now I wish I'd kept it for the Rhino chassis).

 

Dev squad with 4 LC is 165 points, Predator with LC turret and sponsons is 190.

 

You're saving 25 points this way and all your points about devs are valid.

 

The predator has more wounds, but one good high damage hit and those are gone and now it's degraded and performing worse. If the devs take a high damage attack you're still only losing one model.

 

And seeing this makes me think I need to get a couple more LC's for my dev squad. My current one is 2 ML, 2 LC... the Krak missile is not bad but the LC is a little better for the same cost.

[duz_]

Im not convinced the flexibility of a ML is equal in value to a lascannon

I think they should drop 2-5pts each

[thewarriorhunter]

I would agree with that. I wish it was a couple points cheaper. Especially since the 'chaff' version is still D6 shots. You roll a 1 on that and you feel bad right away. It's great when it works but that gamble can really bite you. If it was a guaranteed number of shots, say 3 +D3 I'd like it a lot more.