We Hunt on Ravens' Wings

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Greetings fellow Unforgiven,

After dabbling in a few other armies in recent years, I am excited to return to my favourite army, the First Legion. It's been over 10 years since I first started collecting the Unforgiven, so it's great to be back.

This thread will (hopefully) serve to document everything about this fantastic hobby - naturally I will post up models as I paint them, but I also hope to include battle reports, tactics ideas, and even some fluff/fan fiction as my Ravenwing army grows.

My amazing wife gave me this journal for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to recording my games in that as well.

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to my Ravenwing journey

Prologue: On Ravens' Wings

+++ Archive Retrieval Begins+++

+++Log Date: 256.M35+++

The air in The Avery was cold and still. Situated behind the observation deck on the strike cruiser Nevermore, The Avery housed the cyber-ravens used by the Dark Angels' Second Company. It also provided Jacques with a quiet place to think. The newly elected 151st Grand Master of the Ravenwing was still adjusting to his new role. Everyone, including Jacques himself, had expected Talonmaster Elijah to succeed the recently departed Master Arvhael. The oldest warrior in the legendary Second Company, Elijah had more than enough experience to lead, and as Arvhael's closest advisor, represented a familiar hand.

But, in the words of the Supreme Grand Master, a familiar hand was not what the Ravenwing needed right now. The galaxy was changing, and a fresh perspective was needed in this difficult time. Dark whispers had reached the ears of the Unforgiven, and Jacques represented a new approach to combatting the new threats. As Huntmaster of a squadron of Black Knights, Jacques had earned a reputation for bold and innovative tactics, a reputation he was expected to maintain and extend as Grand Master.

A cybernetic squawk broke Jacques' reverie - it was time. Time for Jacques to take up the leadership of the Second Company. Time to don the mantle of a Knight of Caliban. Time to Hunt the Fallen.

[FarFromSam]

Yeah. I like this a lot. It's nuts how small changes make a big impact. Give us more!

[Interrogator Stobz]

Lovin' the helmet and the red robes!

 

Cool things are happening here...

[Spaced Hulk]

This looks really promising. Looking forward to more!

[Ania Redfang]

That raven idea is ah-mazing! 

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Yeah. I like this a lot. It's nuts how small changes make a big impact. Give us more!

This looks really promising. Looking forward to more!

Ask an you shall receive!! A few more shots of Grand Master Jacques. He's not quite finished, but I have a tournament coming up in a few weeks so I want to get everything tabletop standard before coming back to finish him off.

That raven idea is ah-mazing!

Thanks mate, they were just for a thematic background in that shot, but they're actually objective markers. The photo doesn't show the subtle highlighting on the wings, but hopefully you can see where I'm going with them

Thanks everyone for your encouraging feedback, and I look forward to giving more updates very soon.

[Pearson73]

The subtle green is well done, the book detailing too.

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Chapter 1: Knights of Caliban

Jacques looked up from the scroll he was reading as three figures entered his private study. Charles, Artur and Gui were all Black Knights - peerless warriors and fearless prosecutors of the Hunt for the Fallen. While Jacques knew that he could count on any member of the Ravenwing, he trusted these three above all others. Now, as Grand Master, Jacques would rely on them more than ever.

"Brothers," Jacques greeted. "It is good to see you. I trust that you will keep this conversation in confidence?"

The Black Knights agreed without hesitation, but they could not quite hide the concerned looks that spread over their faces. Having mastered the Seven Rites of the Raven, they were no strangers to secrets. But there was something about the Grand Master's tone that did not sit well.

"What do you know of the Order of the Raven's Wing?" Jacques began.

Gui was the first to answer. "They were outriders for the Order on Caliban. They were the finest knights, crusading deep into the wilds for months at a time, and they were instrumental in helping the Lion in his crusade to destroy the Great Beasts."

"Correct," Jacques affirmed. He paused to choose his next words carefully. "And what happened to it when the Emperor came to Caliban?"

The Black Knights paused before Charles eventually responded. "Those that were young enough became Astartes. They traded horses for bikes and jetbikes, and joined the Lion on a new crusade, bringing the light of the Imperium to hundreds of worlds."

"But what happened to the Raven's Wing itself? What happened to the traditions of that noble order?" Jacques stood as he asked his questions, moving to a towering bookshelf in the corner of the study. Charles, Artur and Gui exchanged concerned glances. They sensed the Grand Master was approaching the crux of the matter. Jacques pulled a crumbling tome from the shelf.

"They were lost. Everything that made the Raven's Wing such a proud, respected and lethal institution was forgotten, replaced by battle doctrines from Terra. And of course that is to say nothing of the damage wrought by Guilliman's Codex." Jacques tore his melancholic gaze from the ancient book to look his Knights squarely in the eyes. "This lore is to be forgotten no longer. As Grand Master, I have the opportunity to restore the Ravenwing to its glory."

The assembled warriors were too disciplined to let their shock show, but their concern was clear when they spoke.

"My Lord," Artur began warily. "We are all familiar with the aftermath of the Great Crusade. We know what happened to those who Jonson exiled to Caliban, and we know why they Fell from the Emperor's grace."

Gui, ever a more forthright speaker, extended Artur's euphemism. "Forgive me, Grand Master, but you come dangerously close to sounding like the Arch-Traitor. His Fall began with fears that the Order was being swallowed by the Imperium. You will not lead the Second Company for long if you continue down this path."

"I am aware how I sound," Jacques countered. "But some things are too important to remain unsaid, no matter how they may be misconstrued. We are but a shadow of our former selves. In the early days of the Great Crusade, we rode down the Lion's foes with impunity. We fought with honour, and like our namesake, we heralded the death of the Emperor's enemies. Now, we are little more than hunting dogs, sniffing out Fallen Angels for our brothers in the First Company to deal with."

"The Hunt is our greatest purpose," Charles interrupted. "It is our sacred duty to erase our Chapter's shame."

Jacques chuckled sadly before fixing the Huntmaster with a determined stare. "You call yourselves Knights. When was the last time you felt like you lived up to your name? When was the last time you fought with honour, defended the innocent, and protected the weak? We find ourselves in a time of upheaval and change. Stand with me, brothers, and I will make you knights once more."

Edited January 4, 2018 by TheWeepingAngel

[Interrogator Stobz]

Very Gothic-y coolness, the ravens and shields really make them special too.

 

Well done!

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Thanks Stobz! It means a lot to hear such praise from a legend of the Unforgiven like yourself

[Pearson73]

Indeed, those shields really look the part and bring some lightness that really draws the eye.

[Othniel's Blade]

The green highlights and cheques really make the black pop on the bikes too. I'll be following.

[Jamesb_05]

Are they grey knight heads? Sorry bro but I'm gonna have to steal this, so sick

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Thanks James - they're dark angel heads from FW

https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-DE/Dark-Angels-Legion-Heads-Upgrade-Set

[Komodo]

I love your objective markers, where did you buy those ravens?

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Thanks Komodo - they're aetherwings from the AoS vanguard raptors box. With the release of the Blightwar box set people are selling the vanguard raptors for cheap, so I picked up 2 sets to make the objective markers, and will convert the stormcasts into something 40k

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Chapter 2: The Cracks Begin

 

Jaques surveyed the battle-grid on his jetbike's auspex. The orders from Chapter Command were clear: secure a relic suit of artificer armour once lost in the ruins of Bokrir Prime. What was less clear was why the orders had been given in the first place. And, ominously, why Corvex was registering several Mechanicus units closing in on the Second Company's position. Decades later, the conflict would be recognised as part of the early stages of the Moirae Schism, as civil war that engulfed the Adeptus Mechanicus. But in that moment, Jacques could only puzzle over why the warriors of the Machine God were advancing. The Ravenwing Grand Master turned in his saddle to get the attention of Pierre, the pilot of the Dark Shroud Whisper of Caliban. The Dark Shroud's more powerful sensor arrays would give Jacques a better picture of what they faced.

 

"My Lord," Pierre voxed. "Mechanicus units inbound. They are not responding to our hails, and appear to be communicating on an encrypted channel." Pierre sounded as if he was going to say more, but his co-pilot, Orthniel, cut in.

 

"Sir, we're detecting their weapons systems charging up. They're moving into battle formations!"

 

Jacques immediately knew what he had to do. All doubts and confusion about the Mechanicus' presence on Bokrir Prime flew from his mind as he formulated a battle plan.

 

"Brothers! We are under attack! Strike hard and strike fast, for the Lion, and show these foes the folly of testing the Emperor's finest!"

 

 

Battle Report (1000 points, Dark Angels vs Adeptus Mechanicus)

 

Mission: The Relic

Deployment type: Hammer and Anvil

My army: Jacques (Sammael), 6 Black Knights, 3 Scout Bikes, Dark Shroud, 2 Dark Talons

Opponent's Army: Cawl, Techpriest Engineseer, 2 Onager Dunecrawlers, 2 Ironstriders (auto cannons), 10 Vanguard, 2x 5 Rangers (2 snipers in each squad)

 

Pre-game

As we began deployment, I quickly realised that I faced a very tough game - as I had no infantry, I couldn't pick up the relic, and instead would have to hope I could kill enough of my opponent's army to have the closest model to the relic at the end of the game. At least that made things simple, if challenging!

 

We each castled up in opposite corners of the board, with me clustered around the dark shroud in case I didn't get first turn, and with the mechanicus vehicles castled around cawl and bubble wrapped by the vanguard. The rangers set up in a nearby ruin. As I finished deploying first, I got a +1 to my roll, which came in handy as we both rolled 3s. My opponent didn't seize the initiative, so the Ravenwing would be striking first for the Lion.

 

Turn 1

 

I raced everything forward, making sure the Dark Talons were in range to open up with their rift cannons. I advanced with the Dark Shroud and Sammael to make sure that the Talons would be in range of their respective buffs. I moved the Black Knights forward, but in hindsight I think I should have advanced with them too and used speed of the raven (with only 4CPs I was reluctant to spend them too early). Frustratingly, almost everything was on top of the relic, but no one could pick it up!

 

In the shooting phase, the first Dark Talon unloaded its rift cannon on one of the dune crawlers, and its hurricane bolters on the vanguard. Unfortunately the rift cannon did nothing (failed to wound with 2 shots), but the hurricane bolters killed 8 of the 10 vanguard. I knew the dune crawlers were the main threat, so I put all the second dark talon's firepower into the dune crawler, doing 6 wounds.

In other shooting, the black knights took out one of the ranger squads (they were out of range of everything else), and the scout bikers managed to kill a ranger from the other squad.

 

My opponent dropped 2 command points to keep the vanguard in the fight, and then moved into his turn. After restoring 3 wounds to the dune crawler, he unloaded, blowing one dark talon out of the sky and taking 2 wounds off the second one. The rangers' snipers managed to take 2 wounds off sammael too, but other than that didn't do much - things were looking grim for the mechanicus.

 

Turn 2

 

I dropped the surviving dark talon into hover mode before using speed of the raven to slingshot the black knights right in front of the dunecrawlers. Sammael moved forward too, while the scout bikers took off in pursuit of the last 2 vanguard.

 

In the shooting phase, the black knights overcharged their weapons of the dark ages, one-hitting the as-yet unscathed dune crawler. The dark talon managed to do 5 wounds on the other dune crawler, bringing it down to 3.

 

In the charge phase, sammael charged to dune crawler, and the black knights multi-assaulted the dune crawler and engineseer. Sammael easily destroyed the dunecrawler, but the crafty mechanicus robot fiends rigged it to blow (my opponent used a stratagem to auto-explode it). The blast killed a black knight and took 3 wounds off sammael, as well as doing 3 wounds to the enginseer and a wound to cawl (not that it mattered as he would just heal himself). The black knights then finished off the enginseer.

 

My opponent's turn was short and brutal - cawl healed himself, and then shot his laser-thing at the dark talon. In a string of good luck for my opponent, he got 3 shots, hit 3 times, wounded 3 times, and did 7 damage to the dark talon (with 8 wounds left). He then command point rerolled one of his damage rolls, bumping the wounds up the 8 and finishing off the talon. The talon then promptly exploded, doing 3 wounds to the dark shroud, killing another black knight, and taking the last wound off Sammael! Surely an inglorious end for the Master of the 2nd Company. The iron striders then opened up on the scout bikers, leaving only the sergeant alive.

 

In the assault phase, cawl waded into combat with the black knights (there were 3 left at that point), his axe carving a bloody swathe through them and killing them all.

 

At that point, all I had left was the dark shroud and the scout bike sergeant. I did briefly think about withdrawing and hiding in the ruins before making a last turn jump onto the relic, but my opponent would have been able to just sit cawl on the relic and, because he had the last turn, just kill me if I tried to jump it. So I decided to honourably concede and live to fight another day - congrats to my opponent to a hard fought (if short) game.

 

 

Jacques came to with a gasp of air, his vision kaleidoscoping weirdly through his cracked helmet. His memory came back in flashes - the Dark Talons of Jaeger Squadron decimating the forward lines of the skitarri - the dunecrawlers retaliating by punching high-yield fire through Jaeger One's primary engine - the Black Knights burying a dune crawler under a sea of plasma fire - the Raven Sword lancing through the armour plates of the second dunecrawler before its engine collapsed in on itself, exploding with unimaginable force. The last thing Jacques remembered was the force of the explosion throwing Corvex high into the air, colliding with Jaeger Two. It was only then that Jacques registered how quiet the battlefield was - the Mechanicus forces were long gone. Frantically, Jacques checked the transponder slaved to his armour's power system, before breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the signal was strong; the tracking beacon he had placed on the relic as he charged past was still in place, and the Mechanicus had fallen for his trap. One way or another, Jacques would have his answers...

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Chapter 3: Jaeger Squadron

Gawein settled into the cockpit of his Dark Talon fighter, the Lion pattern engines humming around him. He allowed the various tactical readouts and mission displays to wash over him as the canopy closed into place - Jaeger Squadron was tasked with prosecuting a strafing run on the enemy's position ahead of the main 2nd Company advance. While the docking mechanisms shunted his fighter into launch position, Gawein allowed his hand to rest on the joystick. The second his fingers brushed the trigger, he felt the call of the rift cannon, its roiling energies pleading to be unleashed.

"Soon," he promised the ancient weapon.

"Say again, Jaeger 3?" A stern voice crackled through the vox in Gawein's ear.

"Nothing, Jaeger Leader, just preparing my weapons systems," Gawein replied hastily. Matthias, the leader of Jaeger Squadron, was the greatest pilot in the Dark Angels Chapter, but he was also a strict taskmaster, and the messy business with the Mechanicum on Bokrir Prime had done nothing to relax his rigid sense of discipline.

"Keep the comms clear, Jaeger 3," Matthias instructed. "Launch pattern beta commencing in 3...2...1..."

"Lion protect us," chimed in Albrecht of Jaeger 2 as the squadron screamed out of the hanger bay and into the starry void above Bokrir Prime.

Gawein pulled hard on the throttle, the call of the Dark Talon's chill weaponry almost overwhelming at this point. Soon indeed.

[Alvena]

i love the sword patern !

I might steal it ;-)

[ValourousHeart]

How did you accomplish that effect on the wings?

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Thanks Alvena, glad you like it. Feel free to steal (in which case...)

@ValourousHeart it's fairly straightforward- I just cut a stencil of a dark Angels sword and a fleur de lys and traced them onto the wings. The swirly bits are just freehand

[MithrilForge]

great work here indeed   the whole concept is awesome.hats off to you for that alone. 

i'm really liking Jaques   and jaeger squadron is cool too although i think dark talon code name swirly pattern looks like it can stop on a 10 cent piece the rear section elevators look like airbrakes  ...

 

great work indeed...of course it's cause your Aussie 

 

Cheers, Mithril

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Haha cheers Mithril - DT Swirly came to me second hand with the rear section like that. Maybe I will house rule him to have vector dancer like eldar flyers lol.

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Hi everyone,

Been a long time between updates, but certainly not quiet on the progress front. I've added some more black knights and a Talonmaster, plus some converted scouts and scout bikers. I really wanted to continue the medieval theme of the Dark Angels, and have heaps of Bretonnian stuff left over from WHFB, so it seemed like a perfect match. Hope you enjoy. I also attended a 1000 point tournament over the weekend - I will write up a report on that in a separate post.

Scout bikers "Ravenwing Squires"

Scouts "Ravenwing Men at Arms"

Talonmaster Elijah

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Chapter 4: The Hunt for the Blood Marshall - Tournament Report

 

As promised, here's a write up of a recent tournament report I attended. I'm going to try something a little new here and include some narrative for the games in spoiler tags. Hopefully that way people who are after a tournament write up can just read the crunchy stuff, while those who would like to continue the adventures of Jacques and the 2nd company can do so.

 

My list:

The list I ran for this tournament was fairly straightforward:

 

Battalion Detachment:

Sammael (Jacques - my counts as Grand Master of the Ravenwing)

Talonmaster (w/ Heavenfall Blade relic)

 

5 Scouts w/ bolters

5 Scouts w/ bolters

5 scouts w/ bolters

 

Dark shroud w/ heavy bolter

 

Dark Talon

Dark Talon

 

 

Game 1

 

My first game was against a Black Legion player with Abaddon, a terminator sorcerer, 3 oliberators, 6 havocs (4 missile launchers), 18 cultists and a heldrake.

The mission was scorched earth from the Chapter Approved Missions, and a dawn of war deployment.

 

Hidden Content

Jacques tensed as he guided Corvex through the ash-filled ruins of Raxaphon IV. He knew he had come to the right place. For months the Second Company had been tracking the movements of Abaddon, the Despoiler, Horus' heir. Since the Unforgiven had caught wind of rumours that a band of Fallen had joined the Warmaster's side, Jacques knew that the surest way to find them was to find the Warmaster himself. When his scouts located the Despoiler in the Raxaphon system, Jacques had set about formulating a trap, making planetfall with a small force. He made no attempt to hide the piles of Blackstone transported from the vaults of the Rock, and knew that the precious substance, and the tiny force guarding it, would be too tempting for the Warmaster to resist.

Now, as Corvex's sensors started picking up Black Legion forces on the other side of the city, Jacques knew his plan had worked.

 

"Brothers," he voted through an encrypted channel. "The trap is sprung."

 

I knew going into this game that the heldrake, havocs and obliterators would be the big threats to my army, especially my flyers. Fortunately, I won first turn, and sped into action. One Dark Talon used Speed of the Raven to fly all the way across the battlefield, passing over the havoc squad and dropping a stasis bomb on them. I lucked out and killed 5 of the 6 havocs! Everything else moved forward, and I used my scouts to sit on objectives and create a protective barrier around Sammael, the Talonmaster, the Dark Shroud and the other Dark Talon (all who stayed within 6" of each other to buff each other). In the shooting phase I unloaded everything I had on the heldrake, but could only take it down to 1 wound (which it then healed in its turn).

 

My opponent's turn was fairly short, he spread his cultists out to claim an objective, then dropped Abaddon, the obliterators and the terminator sorcerer down. He then warp-timed Abaddon past my scout safety net, into easy charge range of my HQs. In the shooting phase, his obliterators managed to take a few wounds off one of the dark talons, but didn't do as much as he had hoped despite using the stratagem to fire twice with them (the talon was on -2 to hit from the shroud, and warp timing Abaddon had taken him out of reroll range of them. In the charge phase, the heldrake tried to charge the wounded dark talon, but was killed in overwatch (overwatch with Sammael's full rerolls is brutal). Then Abaddon charged into the Talonmaster and Sammael, who did no wounds on overwatch.

 

Hidden Content

Jacques and Elijah squared off against the Imperium's most hated foe. The aura of Chaos surrounding the Despoiler was sickening, but the Lords of the Ravenwing were well versed in fighting its ancient menace. The Warmaster stepped forward with a wicked grin, raising Drach'nyen high.

 

"Now," cried Jacques. 

 

At Jacques' signal, Elijah pull forth a chunk of Blackstone, drawing on its power to weaken the hold of Chaos. It caused the daemon in Abaddon's sword to rebel against its master, wounding him with its fell energies. Stunned, Abaddon staggered around, swiping the Talon of Horus at Jacques. The Grand Master disappeared in an explosion of light as the Talons connected, and for a moment it looked as though Jacques' plan had come undone. But as the light faded, Jacques remained in his saddle, wounded but alive.

 

"The Emperor protects," he growled, and Abaddon's look of surprise turned to pain as Jacques plunged the Raven Sword into his secondary heart.

 

"Wait!" cried the Warmaster as his lifeblood spilled out, sizzling as it connected with Raxaphon IV's scorched earth. "I know who you seek. Let me live, and I will tell you where to find him."

 

"You have my word, as a Knight of Caliban," vowed Jacques, and he leaned forward to hear the Warmaster's secret. Satisfied, Jacques gave the Raven Sword a final twist before pulling it from Abaddon, leaving the Despoiler to collapse to the ground.

 

"Finish them!" the Grand Master ordered.

 

The fight with Abaddon was incredible. My opponent used his last command point to put veterans of the long war on Abaddon, meaning he would be wounding on 2s. He then rolled a 1 for Drach'nyen's attacks (thus causing a mortal wound on himself), before putting 7 wounds onto Sammael. Incredibly, I made 5 of the 7 iron halo saves, before using a command point reroll to save a 6th. 

In return, Sammael and the Talonmaster butchered Abaddon (my opponent rolled badly for his invuln saves).

 

The rest of the game was essentially mopping up - the Dark Talons took care of the cultists and two of the obliterators, while Sammael and the Talonmaster finished the Terminator sorcerer. In my opponent's second turn, the last obliterator failed to do any damage, before charging Sammael, again doing nothing, and the Grand Master finished the obliterator off.

 

In the end, a convincing win to the Dark Angels - in total I lost a grand total of 3 scouts.

 

Game 2

 

The second game was Roving Patrol, which was tough for my army, as it relies on (1), everything being able to group together to buff and protect the Dark Talons, and (2) it is a fast moving but short ranged army, so having 2/3s of it having to spend a turn only 6" was very rough. Doubly so when going against my opponent - Ad Mech with 2 dunecrawlers (1 neutron laser and 1 Icarus array). He also had a Dominus, an Enginseer, 2 units of rangers, 2 units of vanguard and 3 dragoons.

 

Hidden Content

 

"You have something that belongs to us."

 

Elijah was stuck by how menacing a cybernetic voice could sound. A formidable force of Mechanicus warriors was bearing down on his position, and he knew why they had come.

 

"Return your stolen Blackstone, and you may leave unharmed," the warning came again. 

 

Elijah quickly checked his Landspeeder's auspex array. Following the information the Grand Master had pried from Abaddon, the 2nd Company Strike Force had quickly travelled to the nearby Merivant system. They made planetfall on Merivant II, and Elijah had taken a small force to scout ahead. How the Mechanicus knew they were there, or that they had a pile of Blackstone was beyond Elijah, but he could only pray that reinforcements would arrive quickly.

 

I began the game with my Talonmaster and a unit of scouts on the board. My opponent had an Enginseer and a unit of vanguard. I deployed my Talonmaster out of LoS, and then put my scouts as far forward as possible, hoping to tie up his dunecrawlers if I got the chance.

I had first turn and unloaded the Talonmaster into the vanguard, killing them all except 1. Then, because of intervening terrain, the scouts couldn't see the lone survivor to kill him, but then also couldn't shoot the enginseer because he wasn't the closest model. Doh! In his turn, he did the same thing, killing all but one scout.

By then most of our reserves had turned up, but due to the short range on the dark talon guns, I couldn't do much. In return, his dune crawlers showed up and blew one Dark Talon out of the sky.

We spent the next few turns trading shots - I would hurt his neutron laser dune crawler, he would then heal it, and in his shooting phase his dune crawlers chipped away at the second dark talon but were surprisingly ineffective. His Dragoons failed a key charge in the centre of the board, leaving them exposed in my turn, where I whittled them down to 1. Sammael then failed a returning charge on them to try and finish them off. In his turn, he shot and killed my Talonmaster, who used 'Only in Death' to shoot and kill the last Dragoon.

By the endgame neither of us had much left - I had 2 units of scouts sitting on the centre objective and the one in my deployment zone, plus a dark talon, sammael and the dark shroud (all wounded at this stage), while he had the two dune crawlers and a dominus in his deployment zone. I made a desperate last push for his objective, but it wasn't to be.

 

Nevertheless, a minor win to the Dark Angels.

 

Hidden Content

 

Jacques pulled Corvex up in front of the Dominus. Behind him, Elijah clambered from the his Lanspeeder, quickly trying to put out the flames spitting from the engine bay. The Grand Master of the Ravenwing drew his sword, pointing it at the Mechanicum Overlord. The dunecrawlers either side of their master stiffened, guns primed.

 

"You sought to challenge the Sons of the Lion, and you failed. Submit to me, and I will overlook this trespass against the First Legion."

 

The Dominus hesitated for a moment, before bowing, servo motors whining as if in protest at the act of surrender.

 

"A good choice, the first you have made today," Jacques declared. "There is one more thing I would have of you, before you depart these lands." Jacques stepped in close, whispering his demands to the Dominus.

 

"As you wish," agreed the Tech-Priest.

 

 

 

Game 3

 

By this stage I was in the top 8 for the tournament, and in well over my head. In this game, it showed.

 

Hidden Content

Icy wind howled through the ravine, sending chills through Namiel's gene-enhanced body. After the unpleasant business with the Mechanicum, Jacques' strike force had made steady progress northward, eventually reaching Merivant II's arctic cap, although why they had headed that way was a mystery to Namiel. Not that he wanted to know. It was not a scout's place to ask questions. Instead, Namiel breathed warm air into his frozen fingers, his armour doing little to keep out the bracing chill. Suddenly, his vox unit came alive with shouts, shouts that quickly became death screams.

 

"Contact! Ambush! Pirates!"

 

Game three was against a Dark Eldar list - an Archon, 2 units of warriors in raiders, some incubi in a venom, and 3 ravagers with dark lances. I'll keep this one brief, just like the game. I tried in vain to take out the ravagers, as I knew they would be the major threat to my dark talons. I was right and, having failed to kill them, they destroyed the dark talons, while the rest of his poisoned shots downed my scouts and Sammael. Then, the ravagers were able to mop up the Talonmaster and dark shroud.

 

I wouldn't say I was unlucky over the course of the game, but rather was unlucky on critical roles, which didn't help my cause.

 

Hidden Content

 

Namiel lay in the snow, his veins on fire as his advanced immune system fought the vile eldar poison. He could scarcely belief that a few minutes earlier he had felt freezing cold. The Dark Eldar raid had finished as quickly as it started, but not before Namiel had seen them take a strange black substance from Elijah's speeder.

 

Game 4

 

Hidden Content

 

This was it. Months of planning, the ambush and interrogation of Abaddon, the deal with the Mechanicus... it all came down to this moment. The Warmaster had revealed that a Fallen Angel calling himself the Blood Marshall had given himself over to Khorne, joining a warband of Twelfth Legion Berserkers following Khârn the Betrayer. The dark eldar raid had been unfortunate, especially because of the loss of the Blackstone. But in some ways it was a blessing, for the sudden violence of the attack seemed to have drawn the attention of the Khornate force.

 

Jacques drew his sword. Despite the impressive force arrayed in front of him like an angry red stain, he had eyes only for his quarry. What had once been a warrior of the First Legion, a stunning combination of the Emperor's finest work and Caliban's nobility, was now a monstrous brute. No matter, Jacques thought to himself. ​The cells of the Rock accommodate all sizes.

 

"Scout companies, stay back, do not engage," Jacques ordered. "Witness how the Knights of Caliban hunt down their prey".

 

The respective squad sergeants acknowledged their instructions, and the scouts spread out. Jacques switched his comms to the Ravenwing vox.

 

"Brothers. Now is the hour. Today we take a bold step forward in our quest for redemption. May the Lion guide you."

 

The final game was against a very thematic World Eaters force - Khârn, a Daemon Prince with wings, and 3 units of 8 berserkers in rhinos. The mission was frontline assault - 4 objectives: 2 in no man's land worth 2 VPs, and one in each deployment zone (the one in your zone worth 1 VP, and the one in your opponent's worth 4 VPs). With 2 forces that really want to be up close and personal, this would be an interesting game.

 

I knew that the DP would be the key here. It was the only thing that could really do anything to my flyers, so if I could kill it and play keep-away from the berserkers, I knew I should be ok.

 

With that in mind, I deployed my army fairly centrally to give myself room to manoeuvre, but spread my scouts out into the corners of the board (we played vanguard deployment) to try and split his army up. He deployed everything in rhinos, except the daemon prince who was protected in a rhino triangle.

 

My opponent won first turn and moved everything into the centre of the board. He took a few pot shots at a dark talon, but didn't achieve anything much. In my first turn, I swung my force around to put some distance between us, and unloaded the dark talons into the closest rhino (I couldn't target the DP as it wasn't the closest model). It was destroyed, but the berserkers piled out in front of the DP, so I unloaded my Talonmaster (the only thing left that could shoot), and shredded the berserkers.

 

In his turn, my opponent did exactly what I hoped he would, and sent 1 rhino after the scouts near his table edge, 1 rhino after the scouts in my corner (where my home objective was), and then (surprisingly), sent his DP after the scouts in the other table quarter, away from literally everything else in my army. His shooting was again ineffectual, and then he failed the charge with his DP! His prince was well and truly out in the open. I left the scouts to their fate (that's what they're for, right?), and sent everything through the middle of the board to attack the daemon prince. Unfortunately I couldn't quite get the Sammael and the Talonmaster close enough to make the DP the closest model, but I was able to unleash the fury of 2 dark talons into him. It wasn't quite enough, and he was left on 2 wounds.

 

In my opponent's third turn, he charged and killed my scouts with his berserkers, and charged his DP into the scouts and finished them off too. Meanwhile, Khârn did a sneaky jump out the back of the rhino he was in and landed a long range charge on my dark shroud, destroying it before consolidating into Sammael.

 

In my third turn, Sammael fell out of combat and closed in on the DP. The Dark Talons and Talonmaster swung around to target one of the berserker squads, wiping it out and putting a few wounds on their rhino. Then, in the moment of truth, Sammael opened fire on the DP.

 

Hidden Content

Jacques closed in on the Blood Marshall, who lived up to his name surrounded by the shredded remains of a scout unit. Jacques reached into the folds of his robes, pulling out the gift he had demanded from the Mechanicum Dominus - a stasis grenade. With a prayer to the Lion, the Ravenwing Grand Master hurled the grenade through the air. It detonated with a teeth-jarring explosion, and the hairs on the back of Jacques' neck rose as reality warped. The Blood Marshall was caught at the centre of the blast, frozen in time. Jacques breathed a sigh of relief. The Hunt was over, for now....

 

Sammael destroyed the DP in shooting, and with that threat destroyed it was all over from there. The Dark Talons hunted down the rhino and berserkers holding my home objective while the Talonmaster claimed my opponent's. Khârn and a rhino held the two no-man's land objectives, but in the last turn Sammael was able to charge into combat with Khârn and hold him to a stalemate, contesting the objective.

 

In the end, it was another convincing win for the Dark Angels, and after painting and sportsmanship scores were factored in, I managed to come second overall, my best ever showing in a tournament!