Scroll of the DA - Ravenwing command

The Ravenwing Command Squad set covers you both for the command squad and the powerful Ravenwing Black Knights.  The command squad move across the battlefield in support of the Ravenwing Attack Squadrons.  Their banner enhancing the units around them while their grenade weaken the opponents.  The Black Knights are the best of the Ravenwing.  With plasma talons and corvus hammers where they hit the enemy lines they hit it hard.

Citizensmith: The command squad are really only for the folks who want to bring one of the magic flags and maybe a champion.  The Black knights though seem like they will be very popular.  Plasma guns, 3 attacks base with rending weapons, and the option of a stat manipulating grenade launcher mean they will be all kinds of fun.

I picked up one of these sets as I'm planning on adding a unit of Black Knights to my Dark Angels "small allied contingent".  I was impressed with the set as the models are very well done and it does come with a lot of extra bits.  Enough in fact that for $6 from a bits seller you can add an extra bike.  So while $50 retail for 3 is rather expensive, $56 for 4 softens the blow a little.

These bikes easily live up to GW's high quality of detail on their new plastic kits.  They are a little different from the older bikes as the wheels are now part of the bike, but the exhausts are separate.  Another change is that the handlebars now include one arm.  To be honest I preferred the old way with separate arms as it made painting the bike and rider separately a bit easier.  As I mentioned, you get a lot of bits with this.  We have everything aside from a bike for a 4th rider (forgot to include the Ravenwing wing thing in the photo below, the set comes with 4 of those too).  The only limit here is that one of your 4 bikes will be using the grenade launchers and 1 body has  huntmaster/champion robes.

We have some really nice apothecary bits (shown below) as well as the banner and some funky looking wings you can give to the company champion.

And then you have a bunch more bits including a load of arms that are great for conversions if you are bored with the standard bolter across chest space marine pose. 

So its a pricey set, but lots of added value and the Black Knights will be a great unit to have on the table.  Eight of them with 2 grenade launchers is what I'm going for at 350 points.  Scout and skilled rider means they have the mobility to get where you want.  Then they'll hit with 6 twin linked plasma guns, rad and stasis shells. When you charge, your hammer of wrath and 4 Strength +1 rending attacks from each will be against opponents with -1 to toughness, weapon skill and initiative.  What's not to like?  They will of course be a huge firepower magnet and are expensive T5/3+ models, but if you deploy them well...

HOTpanda: If you have an affliction for wings and robe then these models are for you.  Unfortunately I cannot stand the plethora of angel feather that are glue to their bathrobes.  When it comes down to what unit you will be making with this kit their really is only one choice; Black Knights.  These are the Sons of Anarchy of the forty first millennium.  Between their ability to spew out a hatred of plasma and close combat rending weapons these guys are a force to reckon with.  The only question is how many are you going to be fielding?  Two gangs of six seems right to me with 1 grenade launchers in each.  Forget adding any other upgrade as this is all the squad needs as far as I am concerned.  What does concern me is the lack of disrespect GW has for my wallet.  Sure the kit has a some extra bits and bobs but other than the apothecary bits the rest are nothing special. Despite my hesitation on these  models I know there are a ton of players who are into these fetish marines.

Drkmorals: First off I think the kits are actually pretty nice. I have seen these in person and the the detail is great. I always like models that really just delve into the fluff, so when marines don't look like different color marines, but actually stand out because of the chapter detail added to them I think that is a huge plus. Also the Kit basically lets you build all things Ravenwing, the normal troops and the back Knights so again a plus.

Rules wise I strongly feel Ravenwing came out ahead in this rulebook. Bikers aren't shabby at toughness 5 and with all the bells and whistles going for them, plus being able to combat squad now. They get a great cover save in this edition that you can also easily give yourself stealth with the RavenWing Speeder to boost it up another notch. I want to also point out that in this edtion Hit and Run is huge. It's a fantastic ability now that you don't have things like fearless wounds to chew things up, what you do have is units that can flee combat with a simple init check opening up tons of options and strategies on the table top.  I do favor the normal bikers over the black Knights initially and some play testing may change my mind. However I feel the normal troops are pretty decent for the points but the black Knight get pricey quick so I think you can create a unit that just costs too many points and not get the result your hoping for more often than not. If you run a pure RavenWing style list you can easily take a squad of knights to compliment your troops, but again my initial thought is the standard bikes are going to be solid on the field.