Ravenwing Command Squad and Darkshroud

                I've been playing for just over a year after the Dark Vengeance box set was release with the onset of 6th Edition.  Before picking it up I looked into the fluff of the different armies and really liked the secretive nature of the Dark Angels, so the box set was well worth the price.  Since then my army has expanded exponentially to include over 50 terminators, 30+ bikes, and at least 4 squads of marines.  There is also a slew of support, vehicles, and other fun units to be thrown into the mix.

                I've been running a Ravenwing army on and off for a few months now and have been really enjoying how they play, even if I don't have a high win percentage with them.  They have a good intimidation factor with the number of T5 models on the field, at the cost of model count though.  Their ability to move quickly and hit hard is a huge appeal to me.  They can shoot and assault with reckless abandon them run out of combat giggling as their opponent wonders what just hit them.  In recent games I've really been focusing on using a Ravenwing Command Squad with Banner of Devastation.  I have also started to implement a Ravenwing Darkshroud into my list.  The way these two units work with the rest of a Ravenwing force is great and will be expanded upon further.  I don't profess myself as a tactical genius so I tend to make silly mistakes quite frequently, but I tend to have fun in the process, which is what I enjoy about the game.  Without further ado, I shall delve into my thoughts of these two units.

                Let's start with the Ravenwing Command Squad.  It is a squad of 3 Ravenwing  Black Knights that can only be unlocked by taking a HQ unit on a bike or Sammael.  To run a Ravenwing force, Sammael  is truly your only option, but I digress.  Black Knights come with TL Plasma Talons on their bikes which really outperform plasma guns at shorter range due to the TL aspect of them.  To get the same effect you would need a level 1 Librarian on a bike with Divination and have to get the psychic test to pass.  It's doable, but you still won't get the same volume of fire as you would with the Black Knights.  The Command Squad has the ability to add two more bike to the unit to bring them up to five total, which really helps increase the survivability of one key member in the squad, the banner carrier.  The banner carrier is the soul of my army and what it's built around.  It forces me to stay within a small area but it adds so much additional support with the Banner of Devastation.  If a unit is within six inches of the banner carrier it gains the Salvo 2/4 rule.  This is amazing on bikes as they are relentless and not counting as moved for shooting means that each bike in the unit will get 4 shots from its twin-linked boltgun.  For a full squad, that's 24 shots, four times the amount of a standard squad between 12 and 24 inches, and twice as many shots as a unit between 1 and 12 inches.  It's very important to keep this unit alive so I'm going to start trying out keeping an apothecary in the unit for the Fell No Pain he would give them in case of a wound.

                Last game I added in a model that I was very apprehensive about since they FAQ'd the rules on it very quickly, the Ravenwing Darkshroud.    It does exactly what it sounds like, it shrouds the area in darkness giving any unit within 6" of it the Stealth rule.  Unfortunately it no longer gives the Darkshroud itself Shrouded.  The great part of this is that the cover save stacks onto the Jink save that the bikes get for moving, effectively giving them a 4+ cover save just for moving and staying close to the Darkshroud.  For units with the Skilled Rider rule, this gives them a 3+ cover save!  I kept this centered behind my Command Squad and gave every unit in my army a +1 to their cover save for nearly the entire game.  This was very beneficial as my opponent had quite a bit of plasma and melta which was ignoring my armor saves.  In addition to this effect it gives any unit that is in an assault within 12 inches a +1 to their assault result.  This manage to keep one of my units in assault even those they lost a model and my opponent didn't that phase.  I was very surprised at how well that ability performed with the rest of my units.  I realize that it won't be beneficial against flamers and other weapons that ignore cover, looking at you Tau and Eldar, but I have other units in my arsenal that can put the pain into them instead.

                I feel like I will continue to use the two units in my Ravenwing army and possibly expand to a second Darkshroud in the future for large point games so I can spread them out more effectively to maximize coverage.  They Command Squad will be beefed out to the full 5 man unit and keep that wonderful Banner of Devastation.  I'm going to try to keep track of how the army performs and try to develop my tactical skills to help them really be the fearsome force that they appear when on the table.