tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post471645172898192405..comments2024-03-25T20:55:48.523+00:00Comments on Didcot Wargames Club: Dark Angels Codex Review Part 7- FormationsMike (Didcot Wargames Club)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04136576868354842829noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-73630022433400319482016-01-27T16:08:46.505+00:002016-01-27T16:08:46.505+00:00Cheers Mauler! You have been very methodical in go...Cheers Mauler! You have been very methodical in going through and commenting in each section of the review. <br /><br />As to your points:<br />1- This is true, the drop pod venerable Dreadnought is a way to get the Deathwing Strike force to work, but to me, a Deathwing army should be all terminators. Just a personal preference there, but it does look impressive on the battlefield. <br /><br />2- I modified to Ravenwing review to include the new FAQ amendment. Maybe I should change this section too. I've found an Interrogator-Chaplain on bike to be a great addition to the Ravenwing army. Check out the Blog Wars X battle reports and army review in the Tournaments tab to see how he got on. Mike (Didcot Wargames Club)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04136576868354842829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-62685823240463167422016-01-27T15:36:36.292+00:002016-01-27T15:36:36.292+00:00I really enjoyed reading this entire review, thank...I really enjoyed reading this entire review, thank you very much for taking the time out to analyse the codex and getting this work online. I stumbled across this while looking for opinions on Command Squads but the whole thing has been great so it's much appreciated :]<br /><br />As I'm a few months behind the rest of the comments you may know these by now:<br /><br />1) A pure Deathwing force is possible straight out of the codex if you take a DW Strike Force; unlike the DWRF the DWSF has no special rules interfering with the Drop Pod Assault rules so if you bring along a Ven Dread you're free to drop them in on the first turn as usual via the DPA rule, giving the opponent two 3HP AV12 units to deal with in the first turn before the Terminators start showing up. For 2+ Dreads on the first turn you need at least 3 in the list, though.<br /><br />2) The RWSF has been FAQed as of December:<br />ERRATA<br />Page 159 β Ravenwing Strike Force, Restrictions<br />Replace this with the following: βAll units in this Detachment must have the Ravenwing special rule (pg 148) or be a Dark Angels Character equipped with a Space Marine bike.β<br /><br />So now that is far more flexible rather than just wondering how to get three Sammaels into it.<br /><br />I'm basically agreed with your assessment, Corrm: it's a good codex but the Deathwing have been knobbled in several ways which is both disappointing and unnecessary. I e-mailed Jeremy Vetock about this issue and mentioned that while it's cool to forge a narrative with the RW calling in the DW and the like, it's not cool to FORCE a narrative on us by limiting the inclusion of our unique Terminators, especially when it's been our trait for at least ten years AND the Codex Marine Formations have no such issues at all. Mr Vetock, surprisingly, said that he had no idea about these issues so it's safe to say that he had next to no involvement in our new codex...I find that a proper shame as he did such a great job with the theme of the 6E book. We can but hope that it's FAQed at some point. :(<br /><br />Nice job again, Corrm - thank you.Maulerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13271498633548533248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-36408674586700351512015-08-03T13:32:08.277+01:002015-08-03T13:32:08.277+01:00So, for instance, you can take the Deathwing Redem...So, for instance, you can take the Deathwing Redemption Force, get all the rules and bonuses from it, then take a single Deathwing squad (or more), making your list unbound, and deploy that one on the table at the start of the game. The rest of your army comes in per formation rules, and only the one that is not part of the formation does not get the special rules.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04006715978062774824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-7384334650852490322015-08-03T13:28:15.993+01:002015-08-03T13:28:15.993+01:00You still get all the benefits of formations with ...You still get all the benefits of formations with Unbound.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04006715978062774824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-67429739649847979362015-07-30T15:23:46.071+01:002015-07-30T15:23:46.071+01:00I've never actually played unbound, the benefi...I've never actually played unbound, the benefits of the formations and the combined arms detachment are not usually worth the sacrifice for me. <br />I think the big fear from Unbound is playing something with 3 heldrakes or 5 wraithknights, etc, but these should hopefully be a rarity. I think in a local club with people you know, it shouldn't be so much of a problem. It's just that nobody seems to do it. Mike (Didcot Wargames Club)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04136576868354842829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-84846645848130118812015-07-30T14:29:28.008+01:002015-07-30T14:29:28.008+01:00Hi honestly, from both again and a fluff perspecti... Hi honestly, from both again and a fluff perspective, I don't think that the Deathwing are supposed to operate alone. They are a surgical strike force dedicated to the redemption of the Sons of the Lion. They are able to maintain this focus because of the synergy they have with the rest of the chapter.<br /><br />Plus, Games Workshop doesn't want you to buy fifty terminators and hang up your brushes. π<br /><br />On the other hand, I really think that the Internet needs to break this obsession with hating Unbound. It wasn't a mistake or a misprint. GW sees it as a great and legit option for building a rules-legal army. In fact, in my local GW store, the manager welcomes Unbound lists wholeheartedly!<br /><br />The fact of the matter is, if a player if going to violate Wheaton's Law, he doesn't need GW's permission. He was going to do it anyway. Just don't play against that guy. And don't be that guy. πAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04006715978062774824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-17400750346607583712015-07-30T09:18:36.762+01:002015-07-30T09:18:36.762+01:00It's a real shame as I'm sure a lot of peo...It's a real shame as I'm sure a lot of people liked running these armies. The Ravenwing one is fairly easy to fix if your opponent lets you take other bike mounted characters in the strike force (all my opponents have been fine with this so far). <br />An all Deathwing army will take a bit more fixing to be battle forged and playable. Mike (Didcot Wargames Club)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04136576868354842829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-16499965898567192102015-07-29T20:56:16.110+01:002015-07-29T20:56:16.110+01:00I think it's pretty obvious that the bulk of t...I think it's pretty obvious that the bulk of the effort went into making the Lion's Blade Strike Force, and the other two detachments were more of a bone tossed to those who have purist collections... Without checking to make sure they would work.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04006715978062774824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-22165183524666542782015-07-29T20:51:12.854+01:002015-07-29T20:51:12.854+01:00To clarify, the last two are detachments, not form...To clarify, the last two are detachments, not formations. Also, the Deathwing Strike Force detachment and Ravenwing Strike Force detachment are NOT the only way to run a battle-forged all-Deathwing or all-Ravenwing army, respectively.<br /><br />The all-Deathwing option is out, because both the Deathwing Strike Force detachment and the Deathwing Redeption Force formation require them to come in on turn 2 at the earliest.<br /><br />However, there are several Ravenwing formations, so you could easily take any blend of Ravenwing Attack Squadrons, Ravenwing Support Squadrons, and Ravenwing Silence Squadrons and it would still be a battle-forged army. You don't even need an HQ! (You could just nominate one of your sergeants to be your Warlord)<br /><br />Great review, though! Thanks!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04006715978062774824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-18781067115685734192015-07-15T09:15:36.230+01:002015-07-15T09:15:36.230+01:00The horror! I'm sure someone will convert some...The horror! I'm sure someone will convert some parachute accessories to allow their Land Raiders to come in from deep strike. Mike (Didcot Wargames Club)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04136576868354842829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-60497224448744705052015-07-15T00:00:30.053+01:002015-07-15T00:00:30.053+01:00Funnily enough, I can remember a time not that lon...Funnily enough, I can remember a time not that long ago when blood angels land raiders could deep strike. <br /><br />Nice reviews mike. Keep up the good work!Luke Darksun https://www.blogger.com/profile/14416275320673777382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-3840774353715010172015-07-14T08:58:23.473+01:002015-07-14T08:58:23.473+01:00Glad it has been helpful Dave. I think I will be f...Glad it has been helpful Dave. I think I will be favouring a Ravenwing heavy force. I just love biker armies I guess. Recently purchased some additional landspeeders to be able to make a Ravenwing support squadron. Fortunately, Ravenwing bikes and speeders are fairly easy to paint, once you've done your undercoat, a lot of the work is done!Mike (Didcot Wargames Club)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04136576868354842829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-8025780523038431002015-07-13T23:15:52.857+01:002015-07-13T23:15:52.857+01:00Thanks for this, it's going to help me list bu...Thanks for this, it's going to help me list build in the future, previously I didn't have a clue but at least I can now have a pretty mixed force but it does seem I'm going to have to do far more Ravenwing than I first thought, still I've got enough to keep me busy for a long time.40kaddicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12763647828123242837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-49043710567835722932015-07-13T10:23:12.731+01:002015-07-13T10:23:12.731+01:00I think you are right about the Ravenwing attack s...I think you are right about the Ravenwing attack squadron. In that case, I would take the normal landspeeder over the Vengeance. <br />I think the Lion's blade (and Gladius) will struggle in lower points games, simply because the "buy in" eats up a lot of points. <br /><br />I think Ravenwing units will be much easier to add to the Lion's blade than Deathwing as they are significantly cheaper to do so. Mike (Didcot Wargames Club)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04136576868354842829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2668255476316917252.post-42334532225367202092015-07-13T10:01:40.113+01:002015-07-13T10:01:40.113+01:00I ran a Lion's Blade with a Demi-Company a few...I ran a Lion's Blade with a Demi-Company a few days ago. Did pretty well, tho it's really cramped at 1500. ObSec Jump Infantry were definitely nice, good mobile Objective grabbers. The Shoot & Run on the drop Turn is really handy for the DeathWing, and the full BS Overwatch can be devastating. I think in the future I'm going with a smaller Auxiliary Formation at 1500, tho.<br /><br />I don't have my book on hand right now, but I'm pretty sure the RavenWing Attack Squadron is a regular Speeder or a Vengeance, but not a DarkShroud.<br /><br />I must admit, I was kind of disappointed when I got the Dex, because some of the early leaks had made it sound like the RavenWing and DeathWing Strike Forces were also available Core Choices for the Lion's Blade, which would have been really cool.<br /><br />The Hammer of Caliban is kind of obnoxiously unwieldy, but I sort of still want to give it a go. One nasty little trick someone pointed out to me is that the Techmarine still keeps Tank Hunter and Monster Hunter even if he leaves the Land Raider, so he can hop over and Join a Dev Squad or something and give them a major boost. I'm thinking AutoLas Predators and a standard Land Raider for it, tho a Crusader or Redeemer would likely be able to make better use of PotMS.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com