Unit of the Week: Ravagers

[Vel'Cona]

This week we'll take a look at the classic HS choice, beloved by all veteran Archons: the Ravager!  This "oldy but goody" has stood the test of time throughout every codex release and features a simple, no-nonsense design.  Let's take a look at some key aspects of the DE's original mobile weapons platform:

 

+Extremely fast and has Fly (just like the Raider)

+Triple weapon mounts that can be adjusted individually, if desired

+Mounted weapons are Assault

+Built-in 5+ Invulnerable save

+Above average melee potential for a support unit

+Can benefit from some Obsessions

+Benefits from several Strategems to enhance mobility, etc.

+Slightly tougher than other DE vehicles

 

-Still somewhat fragile

-Scaling profile can hinder accuracy relatively quickly

-Limited upgrade potential

-Other options now compete for points

 

The last negative point is probably the most relevant coming into the new edition.  The Ravager hasn't changed much since its initial incarnation, other than rules being swapped around and some former wargear becoming its standard abilities.  Even its points cost has stayed roughly the same, where many other options (Scourges, Razorwing Jetfighters, Voidraven Bombers) have become cheaper.  In particular, the Razorwing Jetfighter now is nearly direct competition for the Ravager, boasting even better mobility, flexible missiles and improved durability (thanks to Hard to Hit).  The Ravager still offers one of the best concentrations of Dark Lances (for hitting hard targets) and Disintegrators (for MEQ/TEQ) anywhere in the codex, but it isn't the "end all" of DE support units as it once was.

 

For me, I've made a nearly 1:1 swap of my old Ravagers (many falling apart from age and frequency of use) for new, shiny Razorwing Jetfighters.  Is anyone else sticking with their tried and true Ravagers?  Have they kept working out for you, or are you considering a switch?

[Lord Asvaldir]

Honestly I feel like your last negative point is the reverse for me. Whenever I'm sitting on about 120-150pts left in a list, it always comes down to "yeah I could try out this new thing..or I could take another awesome disintegrator cannon ravager." I just think they are awesome, such a reliable gunboat with similar firepower to a lot of other fire support tanks like the predator, but also way more mobility. 

 

Note the ravager did go  down in pts cost from the index at least as much as the razorwing did. The base cost went down 15pts which is solid, but the huge change was the dissie cannon. I use to run a dissie ravager in the index and it was solid, but I felt it was overpriced at 175pts. Now it's down to 125! That's a huge change. 

 

The only real debate comes down to triple dark lance verses triple disintegrator cannon, which is a difficult choice now that dissies are so stupidly cheap. I think both are good, dark lance ravager has often served me well wiping out a tank in one round of shooting, but I think I'm leaning towards the dissie more. It's firepower is just perfect for dealing with any multi-wound models, and it has enough shots to reliably get rid of any problematic infantry as well. Combined with my usual obsession, flayed skull, they are just faster than ever and no target is getting a little extra save from cover. I badly need a 3rd ravager so I an run 2 with dissies and one with a dark lance, feel like that will be a good balance. 

 

Also I do have to admit, I have a slight bias for the ravager over the razorwing jetfighter. Don't get me wrong the razorwing is a great model and I like mine, but I love the image of my deployment zone just being full of raider chassis vehicles. 

[Lord_Caerolion]

Now that splitting fire is a thing, how do people feel about mixing Dissies and Lances on the same boat?

[Lord Asvaldir]

I don't really see the point, having multiple ravagers for carrying dissies/dark lances is pretty easy to do. Plus it looks better for each ravager to not mix weapons. 

[Vel'Cona]

I don't really see the point, having multiple ravagers for carrying dissies/dark lances is pretty easy to do. Plus it looks better for each ravager to not mix weapons. 

 

True enough, aesthetically speaking it does look a bit wonky.  I don't mind it from a gameplay perspective, though magnetizing the mounts was, in my experience, a ridiculously complex effort.

[Withershadow]

I definitely see the point, because it makes it harder for your opponent to prioritize targets. He can’t kill all the lances or all the disintegrators if they are spread out among several vehicles.

 

From an aesthetic point prow lances and port:starboard disintegrators looks cool to me, so to each their own.

[GrinNfool]

Eh for me at least 3 ravagers are an auto include.  Blackheart spearhead is just in every single list I make, and generally make my raiders black heart as well, though thats slightly more subjective.  Ravs just benefit so much by being blackheart,  Generally run the an archon the archon with the blackheart wound rolls of 1 relic w/ them, and just have him stand in the center of the raiders/ravs.  Both weapon options are fantastic too, I usually run 2 lance 1 dis, but if I have enough darklight elsewhere another dis rav is great.  2 Dis ravs with the archon pump out 18 s5 ap-3 2D shots rerolling 1s to hit and wound.  Forget MEQ killer... that is just any squad killer.  They are still completely usable vs vehicles too, only slightly worse than lances vs t8.  Ravs being t6 is just icing.  I don't think razorwings or void ravens compete w/ ravs either honestly.  Its almost impossible to get the razorwings/voidravens the rerolls (which is a HUGE plus for the ravagers by comparison).  To be honest if I can I try to get an airwing and a spearhead in most of my lists,  Its actually almost impossible to have to many of these types of units because of dissies.  If you have enough lance equivs then you just go dissies, and I have never felt that to be a bad thing.