Raven Guard Questions

[Phantom_Xeno]

Greetings!

I play with Team Diversity over in Ohio and had a quick question for you guys. I'm getting back into space marines and have always had a thing for Raven Guard. Do you guys have any suggestions on army lists? What works and what doesn't work? I'm wanting to assemble an army that's not hyper competitive, just fun and effective. Looking for around 1500 points for now, but 2000 points works as well.

Thanks everyone!

[Guest]

Hopefully one of the others will answer. I don't own/haven't looked at any of the loyalist SM rules yet. 

Raven guard, so I assume you intend to field jump infantry? The big change in this edition for them is that they are units with the FLY keyword, so AA guns work better against jump infantry. Something to keep in mind when deciding on target priority especially if you don't have any actual flyers for them to focus their AA units on - see, in this edition, AA units usually get +1 BS vs models with the Fly keyword and -1 BS against everything else. So units with low BS like Astra Militarum or Fortifications, are substancially more accurate with AA weapons against units with the FLY keyword and laughably inaccurate against units without the FLY keyword. 

That FLY keyword has lots of advantages in this edition, but understanding how your units with FLY will affect the opponent's target priority with certain units is a big deal. 

Another big one for Jump Infantry (and other units with FLY), is that they can now charge airborne flyers. I've only tried this once (with CSM raptors), and against an Ork dakka jet. Turned out to be a mistake because his overwatch was strong AND I didn't have enough melee to halt the flyer. So something to consider for Veteran Vanguard (which I'm pretty sure is what the SM elite Jump Infantry are called). If you do run lots of Jump Infantry, it is notable that you could (hypothetically) forgo conventional AA and just rely on melee AA.

[WestRider]

Shrike is awesome. I love dropping him in with dual-Chainsword Vanguard Vets (with maybe 1-2 per 5 upgraded to a Thunder Hammer (on the sarge for the extra Attack), Power Axe, or pair of Lightning Claws) and a Lieutenant (usually with the Teeth of Terra).

Sniper Scouts with Camo Cloaks also mesh great with their Chapter Tactic, becoming surprisingly hard to dislodge by shooting.

More generally, tends to lean toward either Jump Infantry (if using Shrike), and things that can dish out damage from more than 12" away. Sternguard and Primaris Intercessors are nice because of their 15" Rapid Fire range, Devastators are just great in general.

This is kind of random because I'm getting sleepy, but I hope there's something usable here.