ravenwing Archives - Felix's Gaming Pages

Master of the Ravenwing

The Master of the Ravenwing on display at Warhammer World.

Master Sammael of the Ravenwing is a true Angel of Death. From the saddle of his jetbike he cuts down any foolish enough to stand in his path with the infamous Raven Sword, its blade cut from the same meteorite as the Sword of Secrets. A highly accomplished hunter of The Fallen, Sammael is rightly honoured by his brethren and he is feared by his foes as few other holders of his rank have ever been.

The technology used in the production of these jetbikes has long since been lost to the Imperium. The only jetbike known to survive into the 41st Millennium is Corvex, used by the Grand Master of the Ravenwing company of the Dark Angels chapter, currently Sammael.

Imperial jetbikes were common among the Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade and the Heresy, typically operated by Sky Hunter Squadrons.

The Sky Hunter models have been recently released as a plastic kit for The Horus Heresy. Previously there were resin models from Forge World.

When Warhammer 40000 was originally released their was a jetbike available for both Space Marines and (interestingly) the Imperial Guard. The Mk14 Bullock original miniature first appeared in White Dwarf 96 in December 1987. It was designed to be used with the RTB01 plastic space marines.

I did buy a pack, but not sure where they are now, or even if I sold them on eBay twenty years ago.

When the Dark Angels were released I really liked the Master of the Ravenwing on the “last” remaining Imperial Jetbike, so much so I knew I had to get one for my Grey Knights army.

At the time I thought possibly maybe more than one!

Ravenwing Darkshroud

Ravenwing Darkshroud at Warhammer World.

Of all the archaic relics deployed in the field of battle by the Unforgiven, the Darkshroud is perhaps the strangest. Those who have witnessed it at close range and felt its caliginous pall, and lived to tell of it, are disturbed forever more. The Ravenwing Darkshroud displays icons and structures from Caliban, evoking glorious religious imagery such as angel wings, shrouded statues, parchments and stained glass with lead frame. It possesses a pulpit-like cupola from which a Space Marine shoots others with either a heavy bolter or assault cannon, and is covered in metal panels.

I am not sure what I really think of this model. My first impressions is that I don’t like it. There is something about the Dark Angels (and the Ravenwing) iconography which always appears a little over the top. It’s not as bad as the (newer) Sisters of Battle adornments, but it’s close. The idea of stained glass on a combat vehicle does not make sense to me. The actual vehicle underneath looks interesting, but the additions seem to be unintegrated and stuck onto the vehicle.

On my models I do and have used Grey Knights iconography to enhance them, as you can see with this Land Raider model.

So I am not entirely opposed to the concept of iconography on Warhammer 40K vehicles, but not sure I like the Ravening Darkshroud.

Dark Angels Ravenwing Storm Speeder Thunderstrike

This Dark Angels Ravenwing Storm Speeder Thunderstrike was on display at Warhammer World.

Storm Speeder Thunderstrikes outmanoeuvre the foe at every turn, targeting vulnerable points in armour, fuel tanks and missile hoppers to turn engines of war into raging fireballs. Just a single Thunderstrike is capable of destroying armoured breakthrough attempts, and when one is on the battlefield, few enemies are safe.

Grey Knights Jetbike

The greatest threat to the Imperium of Man is, and has always been, the followers of Chaos and the foul daemons of the Warp. The Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus, the Daemonhunters, are at war with forces too terrible to comprehend and, together with the holy warriors of the Grey Knights, they must take the light of the Emperor into the darkness. The threat of the daemonic is so great that only these heroic warriors have the necessary skills and knowledge to stand against such diabolical foes.

When the Dark Angels were released I really liked the Master of the Ravenwing on the “last” remaining Imperial Jetbike.

So much so I knew I had to get one for my Grey Knights army, possibly maybe more than one! If anyone other than the Master of the Ravenwing was going to have arcane technology it would be the Grey Knights!

This is as far as I have got putting the jetbike together.