Ravenwing Turn 2 All or Nothing • Go for Bust

Here is my 1000 point Dark Angels army list I ran at the team tournament this past weekend at Adepticon...

Ravenwing Strike Force (RSF)

HQ
Interrogator Chaplain - Bike - Power Fist - The Unseen Eye

Fast Attack
4x Black Knight
Huntmaster - Melta Bombs

Dark Shroud


Adepticon Standard FOC

HQ
Sammael - Corvex (Jetbike)

Elite
Ravenwing Command Squad
2x Black Knight
Standard Bearer - Ravenwing Banner
Apothecary

Troop
4x Scout - Bolt Pistols & CCW - Camo Cloak
Sergeant - Bolt Pistol & CCW - Camo Cloak


The other three armies on my team were Space Wolves and White Scars. Note that the Space Wolf army featured a lot of Thunderwolves. Both of the White Scars armies were composed purely of biker units. Onee army on the team can bring a formation which of course was my army. This was useful since it allowed me to field two HQ. In my opinion the Interrogator Chaplain with my build is overall more powerful than Sammael. The Chaplain must be protected since his special abilities are very useful - Fearless, Hatred and Preferred Enemy. The Interrogator Chaplain is just as durable as Sammael since both have a 3+ armor save and 4++ invulnerable save. Combined with any of the other three armies from my team the overall mix tended to produce an assault oriented force over shooting.

RSF has a special rule that if you use reserves it must be the entire formation but they all automatically arrive on turn 2 and can outflank. This can be extremely powerful but must be properly executed. Obviously you must have at least one unit you can deploy that can weather the first turn... You must examine the enemy army prior to the start of the game to decide if this is feasible. If you're up against an army like drop pod Space Marines it's probably not a good idea. You'll want to go second so your opponent will have one less shooting phase versus your reserves.

This is a total beta strike tactic and you can really catch some opponents off guard since most Ravenwing players tend to start on the table and scout up. If you can take out a couple of your opponent's heavy hitters it can put you up front plus pressure your opponent. Think of it as a drop pod army where every unit arrives on the second turn plus they are highly mobile afterwards unlike foot slogging infantry.

I had a couple games I deployed everything and scouted up - the deployment was Dawn of War both times with little to no line of sight blocking on the table. I prefer to reserve now otherwise though against armies without Interceptor... The big drawback is you won't be able to assault until the third turn which can be mitigated by the amazing re rollable cover save for Ravenwing. The combination with Space Wolves or White Scars provides you with highly durable units that should be able to assault on turn 2 drawing the heat off your Ravenwing.