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I've had a slightly unconventional idea for a list based on some of the models I currently have. It involves using outflanking ravenwing and 2 infiltrating culexus assassins to attack the enemy base camp while being supported by a guard artillery regiment (using the renegades + heretics rules).

The infantry screen the artillery and claim midfield objectives. The artillery sits back and blows the enemy army to bits. The pair of culexus assassins neuter psychic deathstars or act as general annoyance units if they aren't present. The grav bikers outflank to hit riptides, wraithknights and stormsurges as necessary. The landspeeders outflank to hit enemy tanks in sides and rear.

I reckon it'd be quite strong in a competitive setting, though there is the obvious downside of shelling my own troops... Does anyone have any ideas? Could potentially drop a quad mortar for the banner of hate to keep my guns from running away on me.

2 Ravenwing Attack Squadrons - total 390pts

Land Speeder with multi melta and assault cannon 80pts
3 Ravenwing bikers – 2 grav and combi grav 195pts
Land Speeder with multi melta and assault cannon 80pts
3 Ravenwing bikers – 2 grav and combi grav 195pts

Assassins - total 280pts

Culexus assassin 140pts
Culexus assassin 140pts

Renegades + heretics purge detachment - total 1179pts

Ordnance tyrant in CCS 75pts
Infantry squad with 20 men, lasguns, sigil, vox and training 80pts
Infantry squad with 20 men, lasguns, sigil, vox and training 80pts
Infantry squad with 20 men, lasguns, sigil, vox and training 80pts
Infantry squad with 19 men, lasguns, sigil, vox and training 77pts
Quad mortar 30pts
Quad mortar 30pts
Quad mortar 30pts
Quad mortar 30pts
Quad mortar 30pts
Earthshaker platform 55pts
Earthshaker platform 55pts
Wyvern 55pts
Wyvern 55pts
3 Rapier laser destroyers with training + 3 extra crew 79pts
3 Rapier laser destroyers with training + 3 extra crew 79pts
3 Rapier laser destroyers with training + 3 extra crew 79pts
2 Rapier laser destroyers 40pts
Hydra with training 70pts
Hydra with training 70pts

Culexus are personally my favourites, but is it worth having perhaps a Vindicare or Callidus as well as a Culexus instead of 2x Culexus?

I like the list, but I can see the Ravenwing aspects getting shot off the board pretty quickly. Your Renegade forces I can imagine will be hanging back and bombarding the enemy, leaving the RWing with little support.

Thanks for the input!

In all honesty I think I'd opt for more ravenwing or renegadesif I did drop a culexus. The assassins are really only there to give competitive psyker-heavy armies a hard time. Maybe two is overkill, but I feel they'd be far harder to outmanoeuvre and avoid with the double threat...

You might well be right regarding the ravenwing. They won't be arriving til turn 2 at the earliest, so the artillery will have 2 turns worth of shooting to soften up the enemy before the ravenwing can be attacked. Plus some enemy units might be killed off in their initial strike. I guess they're a little better off than most bikes with their re-rollable jink saves too. Despite all this I expect they'll probably mostly die... Not sure what I could do about that though really.

Love this unconventional idea.

If you haven't yet purchased those Ravenwing models, consider using Black Knights instead. In most games they're fine using their detachment rule to deploy on board, Scout, turbo boost where they need to be, then leverage that "free" jink, fire point blank and charge in the second turn.

Haha, afraid I do already have the ravenwing bikes all painted up... Black knights are pretty brutal though, I'm tempted to pick some up sometime!

I think the main reason I've never used them is because they need the ravenwing detachment to field them with just a biker libby as tax. The librarian doesn't have the ravenwing rule so can't outflank, meaning he can't accompany a unit if the whole detachment outflanks (which was the main reason I opted for ravenwing in the first place)

I could start them on the table as you mentioned, but I'm a bit worried they'd either:
A - get shot off the table first turn
B - zoom up and either get assaulted or shot to death before getting to fire

The grav bikers at least have the advantage of having a guaranteed round of shooting...

I suppose I could just keep one unit of bikes in standard reserve with the libby? It'd work well in my guard list but less so in this one as they have to stay 12 inches away not to trigger one eye open

 DoomMouse wrote:
Haha, afraid I do already have the ravenwing bikes all painted up... Black knights are pretty brutal though, I'm tempted to pick some up sometime!

I think the main reason I've never used them is because they need the ravenwing detachment to field them with just a biker libby as tax. The librarian doesn't have the ravenwing rule so can't outflank, meaning he can't accompany a unit if the whole detachment outflanks (which was the main reason I opted for ravenwing in the first place)

I could start them on the table as you mentioned, but I'm a bit worried they'd either:
A - get shot off the table first turn
B - zoom up and either get assaulted or shot to death before getting to fire

The grav bikers at least have the advantage of having a guaranteed round of shooting...

I suppose I could just keep one unit of bikes in standard reserve with the libby? It'd work well in my guard list but less so in this one as they have to stay 12 inches away not to trigger one eye open

I could be wrong, but i think outflank is one of those rules where if a model in the unit has it, they all have it.

Yeah you want black Knights or a dark shroud to feel safe moving up the table first turn.

And yeah the Librarian can outflank with a bike squad.

Hmmm I did not know that! I might have to try that out sometime. I guess the librarian could help out with a bit of psychic shrieking

 DoomMouse wrote:
Hmmm I did not know that! I might have to try that out sometime. I guess the librarian could help out with a bit of psychic shrieking

Ah there you go, it's one of those rules I guess, but yeah get black knights and a dark shroud were you can, nothing earks people more then 2++ rerolable haha,

Say I had 2 units of outflanking black knights. Do you really think that paying for the dark shroud is worth it compared to putting it towards a third squadron? 3 plus re rollable jink is pretty survivable, and I'd have more units to take the same amount of dakka. It'd also not help at all against anything that assaults them or ignores cover/jink.

I'm asking this more for ravenwing advice in general here than for this list btw, I think I'd use them more if I were ploughing more points into ravenwing.

 DoomMouse wrote:
Say I had 2 units of outflanking black knights. Do you really think that paying for the dark shroud is worth it compared to putting it towards a third squadron? 3 plus re rollable jink is pretty survivable, and I'd have more units to take the same amount of dakka. It'd also not help at all against anything that assaults them or ignores cover/jink.

I'm asking this more for ravenwing advice in general here than for this list btw, I think I'd use them more if I were ploughing more points into ravenwing.

I figure a dark shroud is worth it if you have more than about one thousand points of Ravenwing. It's real value is protecting the command squad with HQ