Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi guys!

I'm all new to the 30k universe, been playing some 40k tho.
Chose Raven Guard as my team and so far what i've got it is...

Alvarex Maun

Praetor

x2 Apothecaries

Librarian

20 Marines

10 Command Squads, shields and power weps

10 Dark Furies

2 Drop pods

we're starting at 1000 pts games and moving 1000>1250>1500>1750>2000 probably

Opposing teams: Blood Angels, Salamander(Fire), Ultramarines(Tanks) and Worldeaters

What I need some help with is, how to play - whats the core of raven guard - any good special rules i can have? -
I'm also looking for some more upgrades for higher point games on forge world... kinda looking for a all commers list since im so fresh and not a strategic genious and just looking for the fun of it to play the game but ofcourse do my best.

Blood Angels - He might go for small flier, Jump pack dreadnaught, sanguinius, something something with paragon blade or something/blade pf perdition???
Ultramarines - Land Riders
Salamanders - Flamethrowers - Vulkan...
World eaters - ??


If anyone could help a lil bit that would be super great

That isn’t an easy post to respond to… you’re asking for a lot.

The Radio Free Isstvan’s Facebook page (in the About tab) has a link to a list of army lists that they wrote for listeners. That podcast quit 30k after the regional price hikes so they’re not going to help anyone with lists, but their examples are pretty helpful.

The Outer Circle on YouTube has videos with advice on starting the legions. I don’t agree with a lot of it, but the Raven Guard video is solid.

Army construction (and choosing what to buy) is usually based on the Rite of War you pick. That’s your first decision, so make sure you’re familiar with all the Rites, including the legion-specific ones.

What I commonly see is Zone Mortalis games from 500 to 1250 points, Centurion games from 1000 to 2000, and games with full armies from 2000 to 3500 points (usually 2500 or 3000). Centurion is an unofficial game mode written by the Eye of Horus podcast. It’s probably linked to somewhere on their Facebook page, but it’s basically regular games without tanks or Praetor-level characters.

Primarchs become legal at 2000 points, but I’d say those battles are too small for characters (or tanks) of that magnitude. The game revolves entirely around them.

I'm putting together a force of marines to larp as either Ravenguard or Blacksheilds but not on the scale you're going for!

biggest takeaway for me was how their infantry get to infiltrate (well, most of them) so i see a lot of potential in tactical support units with meltaguns; getting first turn would be crucial and a single thallax unit could ruin the plan entirely - even augury scanners could ruin things.

On that basis, i want to say that the two drop pods are a waste as you don't need to deliver terminators, but given how coincidence in the shape of a 5 point augury scanner could ruin your game-plan they might be a worthwhile insurance policy.

You need more troops choices, more anti armor units and some armor of your own perhaps in the form of a flyer or some rhinos to look after your squishy troops. That Ultramarines tank list is going to give you hell if you don't get some anti tank choices.

Decapitation strike ROW with plasma specialist support squad in rhino is allways good. and you should probably drop the command squad as you wont need it with alverax maun as he should be in the back of your army. Quad mortars/ rapier weapons batteries are also good for raven guard as they can infiltrate and are good anti vehicle without taking a heavy support slot which is great for raven guard ROWs. Also you might want to consider giving your tac squad sargents ravens talons as they are good against artificer in chalenges.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Now that i have some more time to reply i can hopefully answer your questions in depth. The core of raven guard is usually troops either jump pack or special weapons squads with a backbone of either flyers or a sicaran. As for special rules all infantry baring terminators or jump pack units can infiltrate, you also get a realy good ROW called decapitation strike wich gives you. Drop pods and preferred enemy against any unit with a independent character as well as a re roll for deciding first turn. Fhe downside to this is you can only take one heavy unit choice. As for upgrades for higer point games i would suggest a plasma support squad of 10 in a drop pod as they work really well against allmost any unit and with the aforementioned ROW can re roll their gets hot rolls against units with an IC, a melta support squad in a drop pod also wrks well but you have to be carefull with them as most vehicle units can take armored ceramite. Other units of note are the sicaran venator wich is great against vehicles and LOW vehicles as well as the normal siccaran wich is good against everything but suffers from being a jack of all trades, rapier weapons batteries ate also good as they can infiltrate and both the grav cannon and the quad morter a great against vehicles. i would also suggest passing up corvus corax until much later as he is one of the worse primarchs in cqc and is extremely expensive points wise for what he brings to the table. also i dont know if you are aware but alverax maun does not have a model at this point.

Thedorklord wrote:
Decapitation strike ROW with plasma specialist support squad in rhino is allways good. and you should probably drop the command squad as you wont need it with alverax maun as he should be in the back of your army. Quad mortars/ rapier weapons batteries are also good for raven guard as they can infiltrate and are good anti vehicle without taking a heavy support slot which is great for raven guard ROWs. Also you might want to consider giving your tac squad sargents ravens talons as they are good against artificer in chalenges.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Now that i have some more time to reply i can hopefully answer your questions in depth. The core of raven guard is usually troops either jump pack or special weapons squads with a backbone of either flyers or a sicaran. As for special rules all infantry baring terminators or jump pack units can infiltrate, you also get a realy good ROW called decapitation strike wich gives you. Drop pods and preferred enemy against any unit with a independent character as well as a re roll for deciding first turn. Fhe downside to this is you can only take one heavy unit choice. As for upgrades for higer point games i would suggest a plasma support squad of 10 in a drop pod as they work really well against allmost any unit and with the aforementioned ROW can re roll their gets hot rolls against units with an IC, a melta support squad in a drop pod also wrks well but you have to be carefull with them as most vehicle units can take armored ceramite. Other units of note are the sicaran venator wich is great against vehicles and LOW vehicles as well as the normal siccaran wich is good against everything but suffers from being a jack of all trades, rapier weapons batteries ate also good as they can infiltrate and both the grav cannon and the quad morter a great against vehicles. i would also suggest passing up corvus corax until much later as he is one of the worse primarchs in cqc and is extremely expensive points wise for what he brings to the table. also i dont know if you are aware but alverax maun does not have a model at this point.

Hi there, I kept your answer in mind and didnt play before now...
Had my first 1000 pts game with Raven guard against Ultramarines and Blood angels

Went with delegatus as HQ, 1x apoth with 6 dark furies as one team

2x drop pods with 10 marines in each with serg + AA and melta bombs

1x drop pod with seekers - melta

Since i havent played in years and it was a meet and greet game i had no hopes... but we have a friend thats pretty serious about this game so we had him help each side a bit in each round just to get the feel of the rules, specials etc etc
First game was against Ultramarines with an opponent with
Predator
Rhino with marines
Footslog marines
Land rider and one special special unit inside of 5 that was expensive but dont know the name of them

all in all i won 8-0 but it was a game that could have gone both ways imo.... was unlucky with dark furies in reserve that never came in before the last round, seekers basicly destroyed the land rider pretty much and the troops were mostly in locked combat, we were at the 5th round were he only had tanks left so we didnt roll for a new round.



As for the blood angels team, this guys.... this guy is the serious one...
I lost 2 games in 1st round...

He had a flyer in reserve that never was in use..
I had same list.

He had some centurion and champion with blade of perdition thingy separated in 2 squads
Assault marines with jet packs
I dont know the names of these guys hes using thats why its so low info....
But all i know it felt bad having to drop pod and forcing me to jump face at him as fast as I could... it was either that or have him chase me.
So i jumped his face and tried to rapid fire as many as I could so I could survive till 2nd round for my dark furies reserve.... so he could lock marinesi n combat so i could support charge him there.
but before there was a second round, each marine squad were dead. each game that happend... so I sit back with like wtf? why do I even bother this game....

So before I rage quit and gak like that, I could reaaaally need some guidance here, i really like this board game but playing with ultra hardcore players pretty much destroys it....!

Im playing against a ultramarine player thats defensive with his tanks...
Blood angels thats "cheesy"
Salamander player, havent played against him yet.... but he has one squad with flamethrowers, basilisk, marines, "breechers inc", primarch inc...

Im an easy person, i play what looks cool because im not a soar loser but if you lose games each time it loses its edge for me, but im looking for all-around list really so I can have fun
please help a new guy ;(

Right now it sounds like you’re suffering from having a collection that can only do one thing well. That’s drop in and hope to blow a bunch of stuff up. After that turn you don’t have much going for you as far as staying power, or mobility which is why you’re stuffing against the blood angel payer who I imagine is taking large assault marine squads and so is able to weather your alpha strike and counter attack, getting in to close Combat where he’s at his best.

What you need it’s a more varied list that can do many things at once. Right now all of your units are short ranged, so you’re right, you have to either drop right next to him and pray you can mow him down some, or get chased around for a turn or two. OR you can adjust your list. If he is taking just two assault squad it likely means he’s low on Anti tank. Maybe throw a drop podding dreadnought or two into the mix, or a Leviathan.

 agurus1 wrote:
Right now it sounds like you’re suffering from having a collection that can only do one thing well. That’s drop in and hope to blow a bunch of stuff up. After that turn you don’t have much going for you as far as staying power, or mobility which is why you’re stuffing against the blood angel payer who I imagine is taking large assault marine squads and so is able to weather your alpha strike and counter attack, getting in to close Combat where he’s at his best.

What you need it’s a more varied list that can do many things at once. Right now all of your units are short ranged, so you’re right, you have to either drop right next to him and pray you can mow him down some, or get chased around for a turn or two. OR you can adjust your list. If he is taking just two assault squad it likely means he’s low on Anti tank. Maybe throw a drop podding dreadnought or two into the mix, or a Leviathan.

If i stay true with my list so far i feel like im screwed.. even so if we go up to 1250-1500 etc where i put in a dread)/leviathan he knows so and will counter it immediatley. He never used his flyer any of the games, and having my scoring units defeated the 1st round and not having a chance to support charg with the dark furies i feel like i have to start all over with my list.

Should i stay true to pods?
What should i remove?
We simulated dark furies close combat, they were neet but expensive.. keep or remove? Buff them?
2 dreads vs leviathan?

What is the core thing i always should keep in a list?
RoW always a must? Only for pods so far? Pref enemy?

You’re thinking of quitting after one of your two matchups went badly and you say you’re not a sore loser?

30k (and 40k from 3rd through 7th) is somewhat of a paper-scissors-rock game. Blood Angels Assault Marines are close combat specialists; you need to shoot them from afar. If you can’t, then you aren’t ready to face that kind of army. Don’t panic about that - there’s no way to prepare for every kind of opponent in small games.

Balance gets better as you get into 2500 and 3000 point games. In those larger battles, you can’t handle losing a unit or two. You aren’t as badly crippled if your reserves arrive late. You have the points to take counters to most unit types. You can’t take smaller games seriously.

It’s rare for a basic Troops choice to be very killy; in most armies they’re just there to score on objectives and restrict the opponent’s movement. So in small games, legion rules or Rites of War that let you take a different unit as Troops or make a normal Troops unit unusually killy (as in the case of Blood Angels Assault Marines) are a big advantage. You’ll have to specialize if you keep playing 1000 point games and play an army that looks nothing like what you would use at 3000.

Maybe it would be worth having a quad-mortar you could swap out for a couple of the 'pods when you know they aren't going to suit the scenario?

Assuming you can't do that, you could convert the 'pod your special weapons team are in (they can infiltrate) into a deathstorm drop pod - it's 90 points base so i don't know how you would absorb that

Carlisimo wrote:
You’re thinking of quitting after one of your two matchups went badly and you say you’re not a sore loser?


Have experience from 7th/8th 40k, we are a grp of 5 and hes the only cheesy

Theres a reason why we gave up 40k a while back

Yeah, fair enough. I think you’ll be okay in larger games, but for now you might want to look at jetbikes with 1-in-3 volkites (keep them at range and just shoot), speeders with missile launchers, or something like a Fire Raptor. That last one is over-the-top in small games and I wouldn’t use it against your other buddies.

Carlisimo wrote:
Yeah, fair enough. I think you’ll be okay in larger games, but for now you might want to look at jetbikes with 1-in-3 volkites (keep them at range and just shoot), speeders with missile launchers, or something like a Fire Raptor. That last one is over-the-top in small games and I wouldn’t use it against your other buddies.

First of all, should I stay at my list? Drop the drop pods? Is there actually something i should lose in my list?

And with Jetbikes, are you thinking 1000pts game or 1000 pts++++ ?

A squad of 6 at most. Maybe 3 in “softer” games. Don’t upgrade them, imo, they’re lousy in assault.

I think Drop Pod armies work very well for Raven Guard at 2000+ points. Plan out a 2500 or 3000 point army, and when you play smaller games pick from that list and skip the drop pods. Just Infiltrate.

Carlisimo wrote:
A squad of 6 at most. Maybe 3 in “softer” games. Don’t upgrade them, imo, they’re lousy in assault.

I think Drop Pod armies work very well for Raven Guard at 2000+ points. Plan out a 2500 or 3000 point army, and when you play smaller games pick from that list and skip the drop pods. Just Infiltrate.

Basicly, buy more stuff - keep the list as it is?

No, don’t keep it as is. Don’t use Drop Pods until 2000 points. Putting half your army in reserve is too harsh when that army is very small.

In smaller games, consider using a Rite of War that lets you take a more killy unit in your Compulsory Troops slots, like Pride of the Legion. Or keep what you have already, but deploy using Infiltrate instead of Drop Pods, and spend the points on something that’s good at killing power-armored units.

And I’d much rather give the Tactical sergeants a power weapon or fist than a melta bomb.

Carlisimo wrote:
No, don’t keep it as is. Don’t use Drop Pods until 2000 points. Putting half your army in reserve is too harsh when that army is very small.

In smaller games, consider using a Rite of War that lets you take a more killy unit in your Compulsory Troops slots, like Pride of the Legion. Or keep what you have already, but deploy using Infiltrate instead of Drop Pods, and spend the points on something that’s good at killing power-armored units.

And I’d much rather give the Tactical sergeants a power weapon or fist than a melta bomb.

Im building myself 10x Mor Deythans(With combi-melta/plasma/flamer, 10x Seekers and 1 Vernerable Dreadnaught as a start, for upcoming games if it's either 1000pts or higher pt games
I was thinking of rapier batteries aswell with grav cannon
Probably gonna need rhinos if not drop podding in higher games

What game strategic should I be looking / going for? since it's two teams thats very direct vs each other.

any thoughts?