Raven Guard used to be the red-headed stepchild of the Space Marine codex, but with the updates in the Kauyon book, this is no longer true. But after the initial flurry of discussion, no one seems to be making any use of them, and I have to wonder why- because they’re actually quite strong.
Damocles War Zone: Kauyon got a lot of attention when it dropped, and rightfully so; not only did it include a major update for the Tau army with some very interesting formations (even if most of them have turned out to be a bit lackluster, in no small part because of the ITC ruling on the subject) but it also contained the Hunter’s Eye, an absurdly-good relic that could give any unit in your army Ignores Cover for a token price. With White Scars already being a major tournament force with the Gladius Strike Force it’s no surprise that they got the lion’s share of attention.
But as it turns out there was another Marine faction included in Kauyon, the Raven Guard. Now, most people would be forgiven for forgetting about them, since up until this point Raven Guard were… a questionable choice, to put things kindly. However, for those paying attention Kauyon completely changed all that. Their Chapter Tactic stayed the same, which is unfortunately not a particularly exciting thing, but to help them function they got a fantastic Decurion-style multiformation called the Talon Strike Force.
But for some reason no one has been talking about it much, despite it getting a lot of the stuff that defines strong armies in modern 40K. You want Ignores Cover up the wazoo? Talon Strike Force has got you covered, buddy- and not just for one unit, but for a significant portion of your army! You want reserve shenanigans so you can play the first-or-second game? Talon Strike Force plays that game with the best of ’em. Want strategic options so you can control the flow of the game and play the mission? Talon Strike Force has that in the bag, friend. The only real downsides to the Talon are that it typically lacks much Objective Secured (though that is usually by choice, since it is potentially available) and that you’re forced to use the shitty Raven Guard tactic- though even there the TSF makes it surprisingly-useful.
What Was Missed
But forgive me, dear reader; perhaps some of you aren’t familiar with- or simply don’t recall offhand- what the Talon Strike Force (and, just as importantly, its core component the Pinion Battle Company) do. That would be wholly understandable, given the flurry of releases over the past few months- it’s practically a full-time job just to keep up with them all. So let’s go over things recount the details of why it’s so good.
The Talon as a whole grants several abilities that, while not game-breaking, work extremely well when taken together. It can reroll the dice on most of the pre-game rolls- picking deployment zones and taking the first turn being the big ones. Theoretically it can reroll the mission as well, but as most tournaments use fixed missions each round, this benefit often won’t apply- even so, these abilities are quite strong. I’ve seen many a game be essentially decided before the first turn by one player or the other getting a blatantly-superior position or choice of turn order, and the Talon significantly increases your chances of this happening. If you’re winning the game right from the start, it means the opponent has an uphill climb to beat you.
Added to that and enhancing the general theme of flexibility of strategy are the next two benefits, Know When to Strike and Know When to Fade. The former lets you attempt to bring in reserves on the first turn (needing a 4+ on the dice) if you want to- though it’s not mandatory, so you can still stay off the board if you want to. The latter allows you to choose to fail any morale test you’re required to make, if you so please- anyone who remembers Combat Tactics from the 5th Edition Space Marine book will be familiar with just how powerful this ability is. It makes you immune to pre-charge shooting in many cases, since even minimal casualties will give you the opportunity to fall back out of the enemy’s charge range; it means you almost always have the opportunity to try and duck out of a bad combat, and it can sometimes give you free “retreat” movement on critical turns.
These benefits on their own would be merely decent; they allow the army to pull some interesting tricks, but they’re not enough to win games on their own. The core formation in the Strike Force is what really makes it shine: the Pinion Demi-Company. Superficially similar to a standard Demi-Company (and, as it happens, available to other chapters when not used in a Talon Strike Force) it has the requisite Chaplain-or-Captain, three Tactical squads, one Assault squad, and one Devastator squad. It is worth noting here that, unlike a standard Demi-Company, these squads cannot be traded out for the alternate options (Attack Bikes, Centurions, etc)- you’re stuck with what you get. However, the Pinion has an additional unit available to it; it can (must) take between one and five Scout or Scout Bike squads beyond the normal components.
And you’ll want to be taking a bunch of those Scouts, too, as they are the heart and soul of the Pinion. It lacks the Doctrine and Objective Secured of a normal Demi-Company, instead getting two other benefits to replace them. The first allows any Scout sergeant to “spot” for a unit from the formation that is within 9″, giving the whole unit Ignores Cover with their weapons. This can be done even if the Scouts can’t see the unit they are spotting for or its target, even if the Scouts are Pinned or locked in combat or falling back. It’s an incredible bonus, and it comes in addition to everything else those handy little Scouts are doing on their own- they can still shoot, assault, and score as normal.
The second benefit allows units of Scouts from the formation to lead another squad when they go into reserve; if they do so, only one roll is made for both of the two units and they will arrive at the same time when it is passed, coming in on the same table edge (even if the Scouts chose to Outflank.) The guided unit also gets the Stealth rule the turn it arrives, provided that the Scouts are within 9″ of them. Combined with the ability to arrive (or not) on the first turn, this gives the army unparalelled ability to make tricksy deployments and reserve shenanigans- you can have units coming in from virtually anywhere, on any turn, and there’s almost nothing the enemy can do about it.
And that’s just the shenanigans from the core choice- the auxiliary options give you flyers, first-turn assaults, Drop Pods, and more. While not all of them are particularly excellent or even really usable from a tournament perspective, there are enough good ones to make it quite possible to work with.
Army of Me(n)
So what does this all come out to? Functionally, it means that a Talon Strike Force army is very slippery and hard to pin down despite the often impressive number of bodies they field. Typically you’ll be seeing something like 40-60 power armored models and another 20-50 in carapace, though obviously these numbers can vary if it uses allies (such as xenos or a Knight) or does something else unusual. Despite the huge field presence, however, the Talon will be able to deploy almost anywhere it pleases thanks to a combination of Deep Strike, Infiltrate, Scout, and Outflank (plus the ability to guide in units that lack one of the above with its Scouts.) When going first, the Talon can present an extremely-aggressive face, putting its entire model count in the enemy’s face immediately to give them a very bad time if they aren’t ready for things. Alternately, it can play a very flowing game by going into reserve and avoiding direct confrontations with the enemy’s forces when on the bottom of the turn (or against a similarly reserve-centric enemy) . This flexibility of strategy is the cornerstone of the Talon, and I think it’s biggest strength- in the hands of a good player, it not only has the raw numbers and special rules (especially Ignores Cover) to dish out damage, but can also adapt to different game types and armies with shocking fluidity.
Enhancing this aspect is the fact that the Raven Guard tactic actually isn’t all that bad when you have the right setup; 2+ cover saves across the board for a large number of models is nothing to sneeze at, and while it may not benefit you much beyond that first turn having an army full of Terminators can make weathering an enemy alpha strike very doable if you want to set yourself up in good positions to make a counter-assault. With strong shooting of its own and excellent defenses against the enemy’s shooting (at least for a time), the Strike Force is well-poised to win games of attrition when it comes down to that; it may not outshoot Scatter Bikes or Tau, but against a lot of other armies it will be able to clean them off the table.
This, then, is what puzzles me most about the Talon and its lack of utilization; it has all the hallmarks of a powerful army, but has been completely ignored by the competitive community. Reece has talked about it a bit, sure, but he’s approaching it more from an angle of affection for something he would probably play anyways than that of a hardcore tournament player looking to bring an optimized list- even though I think the Talon at least merits some consideration for tournament use, even if it may not be strictly the most powerful of armies. In fact, I know of only one player (a local to our area, natch) that has been bringing it to tournaments- and this is across the whole of the Pacific Northwest USA, though obviously there could be cases I simply haven’t heard about.
As a result, I don’t think there’s any really set way to build it. However, in the interest of fostering discussion (and because several people have asked about it or been interested), here’s the version of it that made an appearance at TSHFT recently; I don’t agree with the build 100%, but I think it showcases a lot of what the army can do.
TALON STRIKE FORCE
-Pinion Demi Company-
1 Chaplain (Jump Pack)
5 Tactical Marines (Grav Cannon)
5 Tactical Marines (Grav Cannon)
5 Tactical Marines (Grav Cannon)
5 Assault Marines (Jump Packs)
10 Devastators (4 Lascannons)
5 Scouts (Meltabombs)
5 Scouts (Meltabombs)
5 Scouts (Meltabombs)
5 Scouts (Meltabombs)
-10th Company Strike Force-
5 Scouts (Combi-Melta, Meltabombs)
5 Scouts (Combi-Melta, Meltabombs)
5 Scouts (Combi-Melta, Meltabombs)
RAPTORS COMBINED ARMS
1 Lias Issodon (Warlord)
5 Scouts (Combi-Melta, Meltabombs)
5 Scouts (Combi-Melta, Meltabombs)
1 Drop Pod
1 Drop Pod
1 Drop Pod
1 Thunderfire Cannon
INQUISITORIAL
1 Xenos Inquisitor (Psyker, 3 Servo-Skulls)
2 Acolytes, 1 Psyker
2 Acolytes, 1 Psyker
2 Acolytes, 1 Psyker
As you can see, it can put a lot of pressure on the enemy early with lots of low-AP weapons to take advantage of the Ignores Cover abilities. Melta and Lascannons are there to break Void Shields, and abundant Meltabombs (not to mention Krak Grenades) give enemy vehicles nightmares. Lias Issodon allows the Tacticals (and/or Devastators) to Infiltrate as needed, giving even more deployment options and his rerolls on reserves are extremely clutch for making sure your units arrive on the turn that you want them. The Inquisitorial part is probably the weakest inclusion, but some cheap scoring units that throw out Psychic Shriek are nothing to sneeze at- they’ve downed many a MC or heavy infantry squad.
Additions and Considerations
Is the above the “best” build? Certainly not, as even the player in question admits- they have since changed many features of the army to fit in other tools and try to cover perceived weaknesses, though they have asked me not to post the exact list due to preparing to attend LVO in a couple of days here. Still, there’s lots to think about and lots of ways the army might be built differently, though all such builds will want to make use of the strengths of the Talon if they are to do well.
One obvious option might be the Shadowstrike Kill Team, which brings some much-needed melee presence to the list. It brings more Scouts to the army, a nice bonus, and features even more reserve shenanigans with its Vanguard Veterans. The Raptor Wing brings a different sort of support, having some good utility firepower as well as solid AA that dodges the main disadvantage of flyers (i.e. not arriving until late in the game.)
Outside of the Talon itself, there are tons of great options. Any formation- or unit- that brings a lot of reserve-based firepower is a good candidate for inclusion; the Skyhammer seems like an obvious choice, and of course it’s hard to go wrong with a Hunter’s Eye or other White Scars units. Some of the Blood Angels and Space Wolf formations have the potential to do interesting things in combination with the Talon.
As melee is the biggest weakness of the Talon, inclusions that mitigate that can also be prime considerations. Knights, while not good at playing the reserve game, are resilient enough to eat the first turn of shooting against most armies with only limited damage; the various Imperial deathstars (Thunderwolves, Raven Guard, Librarius Conclave, etc) also have some potential in this regard, since they can make closing with the Talon very unappetizing for many opponents even while the barrage of Ignores Cover whittles away at their forces.
Xenos allies also have potential, though they lack some of the inherent synergies of keeping to the Imperium of Man. Scatter Bikes provide it with good RoF shooting (and the possibility of a melee stomper in the Wraithknight) while Tau battlesuits with Interceptor can provide a good deterrent for enemies that try to use counter-reserve tactics of their own. And, of course, many of the xenos have plentiful formations of their own that can be slotted in to fill gaps, if that’s the desire; deathstars, AA, mobile forces, and more are all options.
Conclusion
I’m hesitant to say that the Talon Strike Force is a top-tier tournament list; it does have some significant weaknesses (its firepower is somewhat lacking in volume with regard to anything but Boltguns, it’s very reliant on cover saves, it has a mediocre game against many niche lists) and it doesn’t hold the raw power that Battle Company or other armies often do. However, I think it easily ranks up with Orks, Hunting Pack, and other second-tier armies that are serious threats to the top contenders if the mission, dice, or matchup are correct. It is also an excellent spoiler for several existing armies and, despite its weaknesses, the fundamental nature of the list means that very rarely will it be completely without options.
For those players that like Scouts, that like armies that are extremely flexible, or that just want to play something off-kilter I would recommend giving the Talon Strike Force a look. Despite its complete lack of presence so far, I think it’s got a lot going for it- and if you try it out I believe you’ll find the same.