Ravenwing characters in attack squadron - possible tactics

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Hi everyone,

 

I’ve been thinking about our special detachment (RAS) from vigilus, and the stratagem that gives units in the RAS +1 to hit against the target once a ravenwing unit has wounded it. The trick, as I understand it, is to get that first wound off as efficiently as possible, to maximise the benefits of the stratagem (assuming you’re targeting something big like a knight etc)

Previously, I’d been thinking about landspeeders and attack bikes as good candidates in this role, but the difficulty is that they can be a bit unreliable on the move (hitting on 4+), and are easy to target for first blood/strike and kill points.

So now my attention has turned to the ravenwing characters - champion, apothecary and ancient. Previously I’d discounted these characters, esp the apothecary and ancient, as I felt like the benefits they brought were not worth the cost when you could just take some more black knights. But have they found a new niche role in an attack squadron?

And if so, what are the strengths and weaknesses of each (eg you don’t want to risk trying to heal with the apothecary in case he fails his roll and doesn’t get to shoot). And is it better to keep the plasma Talon, or swap to the grenade launcher (in a knight-heavy meta, the ability to stasis the grenade a knight character is such a good way to trigger Signal the Attack, but is the grenade launcher worth it outside these circumstances?)

Just some tactical musings - I’m interested to hear other people’s opinions

[G8Keeper]

The problem is, if using them to plink the initial wound off something big you're going to want to be overcharging, which has risk and these models aren't the cheapest to shoehorn into your army.  That being said, I do think all have their place in a RW force and offer something pretty decent for those points.  

 

I go for Plasma Talons on all of them, the Grenade Launcher stasis stratagem is just another sink for already sparse command points in a RW force.

[sneakybamsen]

For reliably plinling one wound Sableclaw is the solution. Talonmaster can do it as well, albeit a little less reliably. I'm going to stick my neck out and say if the aim is competitive play, neither the Apothecary, ancient or champion will cut it, as they are too many points. And yes, G8keeper is right, you need to overcharge with plasma to have a decent shot at getting damage in against a knight, in which case a 1 to hit could be a dead ancient, which costs about the same as 3 Black knights, I believe...

[ValourousHeart]

I agree, Sableclaw is the best option for starting signal the attack from a game mechanic POV (and from the fluffy POV too).  He can be made more reliable by having Talonmaster next to him.  In a pinch you can have Talonmaster give you a second attempt to signal the attack (again very fluffy).  Between the 2 of them with all the re-rolls to hit and wound and ignoring cover on top of all the bullets they will be flinging you should get the Knight to fail a save.

[MaxB]

Second to Sableclaw, Dark Talon's can also do this well against ground targets - pretty accurate (strafing run), lots of shots, movement to get pretty much anywhere. Against T8 you're relying on the Rift Cannon which can be a bit swingy though

[sneakybamsen]

Dark Talons can be good against T7 or less ground targets, the rift cannon is too swingy (it almost never does damage against the targets it really needs to hit).

[Hantheman]

The Rift Cannon is better after Signal the Attack sadly, getting 2 Str 10 shots hitting on 2s is always useful. So I always try it on the characters to get the first wound