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G'day all. I'm taking my Raven Guard to my first ever 40k tournament in a month or so and I wanted to post up my list here for the feedback, to help me find any obvious holes. I'm more interested in having a fun, fluffy Raven Guard force that I will enjoy playing and my opponents will enjoy playing against, than I am in winning the whole thing. I don't expect to do well, but I don't want to get rolled every game either. The tournament sounds pretty relaxed, with a few of my mates making the worst 'deathstar' lists they can. I will be playing Raven Guard, and I do want to play the Talon Strike Force formation. This is a 12 community comp points list. I think I've gotten it right, but I've never written a comp list before so please let me know if I've buggered it. Anyway, here's the list!

Talon Strike Force 1849 points

Pinion Battle Demi-company
Captain w/ Powerfist, Stormshield, Artificer armour, Jump pack

5 man Tactical Squad w/ Melta, Combi-melta
Drop Pod

5 man Tactical Squad w/ Melta, Combi-melta
Drop Pod

5 man Tactical Squad w/ Melta, Combi-melta
Drop Pod

5 man Assault Squad w/ Jump packs, Flamer
Sgt w/ Powerfist

5 man Devastator Squad w/ 2xGrav cannons
Dedicated Razorback w/ Twin-linked Lascannon

3 man Scout Bikers w/ Astartes Grenade Launcher

Shadowstrike Kill Team

5 man Scout Squad w/ 5xSniper rifles, 5xCamo cloaks

5 man Scout Squad

5 man Scout Squad

10 man Vanguard Veterans w/ 3xPowerfist, 3xStormshield, 12xLightning claws
Sgt w/ Lightning claw, Stormshield

10 man Vanguard Veterans w/ 3xPowerfist, 3xStormshield, 12xLightning claws
Sgt w/ Lightning claw, Stormshield

So there it is guys an gals. I'm going to be a little stubborn with some units, because like I said, I want it to be fluffy and I'm rather set in my ways,(not to mention i'm restriced by what models I have and can afford to buy, build and paint in time), but if there are any glaring holes, please let me know.

Cheers,
SaN

I've played against and with an army using these formations. A couple of things that stick out a bit to me.

-Devastators in a Razorback. I generally see Devastators/2 Grav Cannons inside of a Rhino as they can fire outside of it. This provides an additional layer of protection for your Grav Cannons as they are generally a high priority.

-Scout Bikers. I can't stress enough getting a Locator Beacon. With the FAQ (assuming it does not change in the final version), Scout moves are done after the Seize the Initiative roll, this unit gets a 12" Scout move which can really help with the Shadowstrike Kill team. I found them much more useful than the Scouts in the Shadowstrike Kill team. With those Scouts, they tend to set up and go after objectives right off the bat and use the bikers to aid in deep strikes. They can also jink for a 2+ cover save on turn 1.

-I haven't spent nearly as many points on the Vanguard Vets as you have. It looks like you are really setting up for a huge turn 1 assault. If so, I would highly recommend getting more Scout bikes with Locator beacons.

Best of luck.

I really like the scout bikers and my original list did have some more in there, with locators for that exact reason. Zipping around, 2+ jink, turbo boosting for objectives, what's not to love? The kit. The kit is so bloody bad. It's a horrible, nightmare to put together. It's so old and just poorly cast. I put one together and changed my whole list. Are there alternatives to the GW kit? Because honestly I'd rather lose than put another three of those together.

SaN

I agree they are pretty bad, but I also found the Scouts also lacking. Both are older kits. I concede they are a bit of a chore to build and paint.

Not sure about alternatives; possibly convert FW bikes?

You have to be joking about the scout bike kit. It's a great kit - much better than a space marine bike kit. Tons of modeling options. I put 9 together while watching a few movies.

As far as the scouts from the SSKT - it's best to give them LSS or nothing at all - keeping their number at 2 is fine because you should be taking some scout bikes anyways - they mark for your pinion. Plasma would probably work better for your tacticals also. Would give you more flexibility with increased range - as these are going to be the units capping objectives - you don't have much option about where they deploy.

Mate, the kits i got from my local gw havent been updated in like 11 years. theyre the old style of plastic and the mould was off. huge mould lines, peices dont line up. Even the pairs of arms and bolter, dont fit well. the bikes had the same problem.

SaN

The only thing i'd say about the list as I don't play Raven Guard is giving a captain a power fist is wasting his Initiative of 5. Consider instead giving him The Burning Blade if you can spare the points.

 StillANoob wrote:
Mate, the kits i got from my local gw havent been updated in like 11 years. theyre the old style of plastic and the mould was off. huge mould lines, peices dont line up. Even the pairs of arms and bolter, dont fit well. the bikes had the same problem.

SaN

I guess I got lucky with mine then.All my pieces lined up and the mold lines were nothing out of the ordinary.

I get costed comp points for relics I believe. I'll have to check that option out though. Not 100% on how the comp system all works yet.

I guess I was just unlucky with the scout bikers. Going to look into conversion options however.

SaN