"The enemy have been sighted. I am going to engage. In the name of the Emperor: Ravenwing - Attack! Attack! ATTACK!"
- — Grand Master Gideon
The Ravenwing is the name of the 2nd Company of the Dark Angels Chapter of Space Marines and is also usually used as the name for the 2nd Company of all of the Dark Angels' Successor Chapters, who are collectively known as the Unforgiven.
The Ravenwing Company is a highly specialised unit that is intended to make use of mobility and speed to defeat the enemy rather than heavy firepower. Originally the Ravenwing was the portion of the Dark Angels Chapter and the Unforgiven Chapters that was tasked with hunting down the remaining Fallen Angels, the Dark Angels who turned to Chaos during the Horus Heresy and betrayed both the Emperor and the Dark Angels' Primarch Lion El'Jonson.
Black-clad huntsmen and masters of the art of lightning warfare, the Ravenwing race before their Chapter like thunder before a storm. Prizing speed and mobility above all else, they are an integral part of the Dark Angels' battlefield strategies, as well as a powerful asset in the Unforgiven's secret quest.
Engines roaring, the Ravenwing tear forward, dodging enemy fire while moving at breakneck speed, a highly specialised formation that fights from fast-moving attack vehicles. They are assembled from the finest riders and pilots in the Chapter, and their skills are further honed upon induction. Though the true purpose of their specialist training remains unknown by the wider Imperium, they have become renowned for their skill at mobile warfare.
The majority of the Ravenwing fight from the saddles of Space Marine Assault Bikes, supported by brothers piloting various marks of Land Speeder, or atmospheric assault fighters. The Ravenwing are ideal for fast assault missions, and elements of their company can often be found acting as an outriding reconnaissance force for larger Dark Angels armies.
Their far-ranging Land Speeders search for the telltale signs of the foe, voxing back information on enemy movements and dispositions. When the moment is right, the Ravenwing gun their engines and roar into the fight, a hurtling gale of black armour, blazing guns and roaring chainswords that sweeps aside any and all resistance.
With but a word, the Ravenwing can switch between a variety of perfectly drilled attack patterns in order to encircle, flank, break apart or otherwise harass their foes. At all times they strive to avoid becoming bogged down, swiftly dissecting even the largest enemy force with their hit-and-run attacks. Overhead, Nephilim Jetfighters and Dark Talons keep the skies clear of enemy aircraft, while Land Speeders dart into position to unload their impressive firepower.
Should an especially dangerous or vital target present itself, the Ravenwing mount Teleport Homers upon their bikes that allow them to summon the warriors of the Deathwing to the battlefield. Not only does the arrival of their Terminator-armoured brethren all but guarantee victory, it also gives a clue to the true, veiled purpose of the Ravenwing, one that is altogether more sinister in nature.
Known only to their commanding Grand Master, and to the carefully selected Inner Circle members of the Ravenwing Black Knight elite, those that the Ravenwing are tasked with hunting down and running to ground are Fallen Dark Angels.
The nature of those they track is why every member of the Ravenwing must be not only an expert rider or pilot, but also fervently dedicated to his Chapter. More than any other force, the brothers of the Ravenwing are likely to be exposed to the pernicious lies of the Fallen. They must therefore be unquestioning in their faith, and are monitored closely at all times by their Chaplain to ensure no chinks appear in their armour of indoctrination.
History
"The hunt is only over when the sound of the Silencius Shroud locks into place, obscuring our quarry's face and silencing their infernal rants."
- —Sammael, Grand Master of the Ravenwing
Origins
The Ravenwing originated as the heavy cavalry unit of the feudal knights known as The Order on the Dark Angels' homeworld of Caliban before the Great Crusade. The Order hunted the potent Chaos-mutated Great Beasts that terrorised the deep forests of that ancient Death World. This cavalry unit of The Order wore black plate armour with distinctive winged helms and was so skilled in battle that its members could survive the deep forests of Caliban alone.
The Ravenwing was the wing of the Dark Angels Legion's Hexagrammaton most changed by the return of Lion El'Jonson. The Ravenwing was named after the Calibanite knightly Order of the Raven which had trained the most fearsome mounted warriors to be found on that savage world. Combining those warriors of the Order of the Raven inducted into the Dark Angels with the remnants of the Legion's earlier Host of Wind and Host of the Void, the Lion created a formation that would carve a legend for itself on the battlefields of the Great Crusade and beyond.
Based around the principles of mobile attacks, of strike and fade tactics and skirmish warfare, the Ravenwing excelled at the use of light skimmers and tactical aircraft, but also incorporated significant infantry assets. These were mostly reconaissance squadrons, though among those infantry units specialised in the the use of Drop Pods and other orbital assault doctrines, there were many initiates of the Ravenwing marked by the symbol of a white corvid. When the Legion gave battle to a foe that sought to evade or confuse them, or one whose overwhelming power compelled them to counter it with speed, it was the initiates of the Ravenwing that took to the fore.
These initiates were often considered mavericks and glory-hounds by the more hidebound veterans of the Legion's other wings, for the Ravenwing retained a number of more barbaric customs associated with its recruits, many of which hailed from more remote Feudal Worlds. As such, those Calibanite warriors who gained admission to its ranks were often those out of favour with the masters of the more prestigious wings of the Hexagrammaton or those eager to forge their own legend.
41st Millennium
Black-clad huntsmen and masters of the art of lightning warfare, the Ravenwing race before their Chapter like thunder before a storm. Prizing speed and mobility above all else, they are an integral part of the Dark Angels' battlefield strategies, as well as a powerful asset in the Unforgiven's secret quest to bring the Fallen to justice.
The Ravenwing is the Dark Angels Chapter's 2nd Company, and is a specialised formation that takes to the field in rapid assault vehicles manned by the Chapter's most capable riders and pilots. The warriors of the Ravenwing are selected for their skills with the fastest assets, and are given more advanced training upon their induction to the company so that they can perform even more incredible manoeuvres, adopting new formations that only the Ravenwing know.
A new inductee can expect to master the Beat of the Unfurled Wing, the Strike of the Piercing Beak and the Slash of the Bladed Claw within solar months of joining, pushing himself and his allocated vehicle beyond what he thought possible.
Only the Chapter's senior officers are aware of the Ravenwing's primary role in hunting down and capturing the Fallen Angels of the original Dark Angels Legion. The members of the 2nd Company are granted only limited knowledge to the secrets of the Dark Angels. They know more than the line Astartes of the Dark Angels' other companies, but far less than the elite 1st Company of the Deathwing and the Chapter's Inner Circle.
Those battle-brothers selected for service in the 2nd Company must not only possess an affinity for fast attack vehicles, but also a mental fortitude exceptional even for an Astartes. Only the most stoic of Space Marines are chosen to join the ranks of the Ravenwing, for those that they hunt are Traitors and debased Heretics who seek to undermine their faith in the Emperor, the Lion and the Imperium itself.
For this reason, the members of the Ravenwing are constantly monitored by the Chapter's Chaplains for any signs of spiritual turmoil or corruption that could be caused by contact with these malignant Heretics.
The 2nd Company is led by the current Grand Master of the Ravenwing company, Grand Master Sammael. He has led this elite company into battle for over a Terran century, inheriting his current role from the previous Grand Master of the Ravenwing, Gideon, as he lay dying.
Sammael succeeded Gideon as the master of the Ravenwing, a decision later ratified by the unanimous assent of the company's Astartes and the Chapter's Grand Masters. Sammael is privileged to ride into battle on one of the last known examples of an Imperial Jetbike, a lost piece of Imperial anti-gravitic technology dating back to the time of the Great Crusade. This nigh-extinct form of archeotech is highly prized, as it has not been seen in the service of the Imperium for millennia.
Hunt for the Fallen
"You are now ours, heretic. Whatever you have done, whatever you have been, all that is over now. From this moment on you have but one purpose, and one hope: Repent."
- — Brother Zerekian, Ravenwing Dark Talon pilot
When a member of the Dark Angels or one of the other Unforgiven Chapters receives the honour of being promoted into the Ravenwing Company, they learn the secret truth of the Chapter. The Dark Angels' Primarch Lion El'Jonson was betrayed at the end of the Horus Heresy by his second-in-command Luther, who slew the Lion in single combat on the Dark Angels' lost homeworld of Caliban before he and those other Dark Angels who had been corrupted by Chaos were transported into the Warp by the will of the Ruinous Powers.
These Traitor Marines are known today as the Fallen Angels, and the Dark Angels and all of their Unforgiven kin are sworn to bring every one of the Fallen to repentance or death before they can receive the Emperor's forgiveness. The Ravenwing Company was originally created to serve as highly mobile hunters in the pursuit of the Fallem Angels and this is still their most important, if highly secret role within all of the Unforgiven Chapters.
Organisation
Pre-Heresy Organisation
"On distant Caliban it is the raven that stands sentinel over the battlefield, the first to arrive upon the field so it might watch over the assembling hists, and the last to leave once all that remains are the corpses of the slain. So it is with the Ravenwing, for we are the swift host that takes to battle in the van of the Lion's host and the last of those to quit the fight, harrying the enemy to the last. Where our banners fly there can be no respite for the foes of the Lion."
- — Attr. Garradin of the Council of Masters, The Ravenbringer, once Lord of the Host of the Void.
"The arrow knows the path." This saying held great meaning for the masters of the Ravenwing, a formation known for adhering to strange truths acquired from distant worlds, but also for their success on the field of war. When given charge of their brothers, they were like an arrow set to flight: graceful, unerring and deadly.
As with all the wings of the Dark Angels Legion's Hexagrammaton, the Ravenwing was intended to gather and focus the Legion's expertise within a singular battlefield art. In this case it was that of skirmish warfare, of the swift advance and sudden withdrawal, to engage the foe and frustrate its strategies rather than simply grind down its will to fight in a simple war of attrition. As such, the Ravenwing tended to focus on battlefield assets that complemented this style of warfare, with their ranks comprising the largest numbers of Land Speeders, aircraft and strike tanks in the I Legion|Ist Legion]], all scattered across the various orders and companies that formed the vast host of the Dark Angels.
During the long years of the Great Crusade, the warriors of the Ravenwing served as experts in the field of swift war, called upon to advise the knight-praetors when their expertise was needed and to lead those units that best served their skills -- only rarely would they be gathered together as a singular host. Yet, with the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, it would be ever more common for the warriors of this wing to be called upon to fight as a singular whole, often deployed to blunt the advance of more traditional Legion hosts or to deny ground to a larger enemy army without attempting to directly contest them, and resorting to spoiling attacks and swift raids to keep a superior force at bay.
During the Thramas Crusade, this gambit would be employed on a number of occasions with great success, with several worlds along the fringes of the Dark Angels' advance being denied to the Night Lords by the presence of small Ravenwing task forces. It became only natural that in the larger engagements of the crusade, at Sheol and Yaelis amongst others, that the Ravenwing continued to act as a unified force, ranging ahead of the main host to harry the Night Lords as they drew up their lines for battle and to discourage enemy forces from attempting flanking assaults of their own.
It was a tactical convention that would survive the Thramas Crusade and continue throughout the Horus Heresy, and given the Ravenwing's doctrine of limited war and hit-and-run strikes, it would see them survive Horus' rebellion with one of the largest and most cohesive forces still combat ready within the Ist Legion.
What had begun as a quirk of the Horus Heresy's dire needs would become tradition during the Great Scouring that followed, seeing the Ravenwing become a force unto themselves in the new Age of the Imperium that followed.
Post-Heresy Company Organisation
Like the Deathwing, the Ravenwing does not conform to the ideal of Space Marine Chapter organisation as laid out in the Codex Astartes, though the other Dark Angels and Unforgiven Chapters' companies are considered to be Codex-compliant.
The Ravenwing Company is mostly composed of Bike Squads and squadrons of assault Land Speeders. These vehicles are then divided into two groups; one serves as an attack squadron and the other as fire support.
Ravenwing Structure
Ravenwing Command | |||||
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Grand Master (Captain) of the Ravenwing | Reclusium | Ravenwing Command Squad | Ravenwing Black Knights | ||
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Ravenwing Squadrons | ||||
Attack Squadrons | ||||
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1st Squadron | 2nd Squadron | 3rd Squadron | 4th Squadron | 5th Squadron |
Biker Sergeant/Veteran Sergeant 5 Ravenwing Bikers Ravenwing Attack Bikes |
Biker Sergeant/Veteran Sergeant 5 Ravenwing Bikers Ravenwing Attack Bikes |
Biker Sergeant/Veteran Sergeant 5 Ravenwing Bikers Ravenwing Attack Bikes |
Biker Sergeant/Veteran Sergeant 5 Ravenwing Bikers Ravenwing Attack Bikes |
Biker Sergeant/Veteran Sergeant 5 Ravenwing Bikers Ravenwing Attack Bikes |
Support Squadrons | ||||
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6th Squadron | 7th Squadron | 8th Squadron | 9th Squadron | 10th Squadron |
Ravenwing Bikes Ravenwing Attack Bikes Darkshrouds (Attached as required) Land Speeder Vengeances (Attach as required) |
Darkshrouds (Attached as required) Land Speeder Vengeances (Attach as required) |
Darkshrouds (Attached as required) Land Speeder Vengeances (Attach as required) |
Darkshrouds (Attached as required) Land Speeder Vengeances (Attach as required) |
Darkshrouds (Attached as required) Land Speeder Vengeances (Attach as required) |
Talonmasters
While Supreme Grand Masters of the Unforgiven willingly put in place the new lieutenant rank, outlined in the revised Codex Astartes, within their Battle and Reserve Companies, they decided to modify the role to meet the needs of the Unforgiven's specialised 2nd Companies. As such, the equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Ravenwing and other such companies is known as a Talonmaster.
Mounted in a Land Speeder outfitted with additional auspex scanners and vox-casting mechanisms, it is a Talonmaster's role to help direct the Ravenwing's fire, using his equipment to ensure no quarry can hide from his battle-brothers. Even foes that seek temporary refuge in the densest of terrain are spotted, and their coordinates vox-cast out to all Ravenwing units.
Talonmasters are typically elevated to this role from the Black Knights. They are selected for their committment to the hunt as well as their aptitude for command. They also have to be independent of thought, for they are often given command of smaller detachments as part of devastating flanking attacks or secret missions.
Ravenwing Black Knights
"If our quarry stands? We lay them low. If our quarry flees? We run them down. If our quarry pleads? We listen not."
- — Ravenwing Catechism of the Hunt, 3rd passage
Mounted on powerful, heavily-customised Mark IV Assault Bikes, the Ravenwing Black Knights of the Chapter's 2nd Company, the Ravenwing, are heavily-armed shock cavalry. Those who survive in the Ravenwing long enough learn to take the doctrines of mobile warfare to the next level of mastery.
If they can pass the Seven Rites of the Raven -- brutal ceremonies that test not only skill, but also the extremes of Chapter loyalty -- they will be inducted into the Black Knights and initiated into the Inner Circle of the 2nd Company. There, after taking part in the long and solemn ritual that culminates in the Vow of the Beastslayer, they will learn the real reason behind the Ravenwing hunt for heretics and the truth about their Chapter's history.
Ravenwing Black Knights ride to battle atop Mark IV Raven Pattern Space Marine Assault Bikes, powerful machines outfitted with deadly Plasma Talons. To signify their exalted status, Black Knights carry Corvus Hammers, which are patterned after an ancient Calibanite weapon used to hunt the Great Beasts.
The Black Knights' riding skills are supreme, and they can drive at top speed through almost any impediments to close on their foes. During this approach, their Plasma Talons tear gaping holes in the enemy lines before they literally ride over their prey, cracking armour and sundering flesh with their Corvus Hammers as they go.
Against more formidable opponents, those Black Knights trained in the use of the Ravenwing Grenade Launcher fire a salvo of specialised rad and stasis shells, which can make even the most potent of enemies more vulnerable to a sustained assault.
A Ravenwing Black Knight is a vengeful killer who will not rest until he has run his prey to ground. If his Plasma Talons do not kill the foe, the razor-sharp bill of his Corvus Hammer surely will. Ravenwing Black Knights are often led into battle by a veteran Astartes and longtime member of the Black Knights known as a Ravenwing Huntmaster.
Whether deployed on their own or forming a veteran core in the centre of the larger Ravenwing spearhead, the Black Knights, mounted upon their Mk IV Raven-pattern bikes, are the ultimate weapon of the Grand Master of the Ravenwing. Although Dark Angels rarely recount battle deeds or heroic tales unless doing so addresses some special need, the Black Knights' Ravenwing brethren often cannot hold their tongues as they speak in wonder about the fighting prowess of their company's elite battle-brothers.
Ravenwing Bikers
Bike Squads form over half of the 2nd Company's bulk and they are the centre of any Ravenwing attack. The Space Marine Assault Bikes lay down a torrent of fire from twin-linked Bolters and accelerate into combat should a vulnerable target reveal itself.
It is Ravenwing doctrine to avoid becoming bogged down such that their speed is negated and the enemy's superior numbers can be brought to bear. Thus, the Ravenwing Bikers might charge into a foe, but unless they break them immediately, the bikers are likely to streak off, leaving their foe bewildered, unsure of which direction the next attack will come from.
Equipped with Teleport Homers, Ravenwing bikes often drive deep into the heart of their quarry before summoning the heavy assault troops of the Deathwing. The Ravenwing ride down any of the foe who attempt to flee, mercilessly allowing none to escape the ensuing massacre.
The standard Attack Bike augments the more lightly armed Ravenwing bikes, lending its heavier firepower where needed. The Attack Bike is ideal for getting into position to support the Ravenwing's assaults, clearing the path ahead of the onrushing bikes with its Heavy Bolter.
Some Attack Bikes are outfitted with a multi-melta: these are tasked with hunting down and destroying enemy armour which would otherwise endanger their brethren.
Ravenwing Command Squads
Ravenwing Command Squads usually consist of experienced Ravenwing Black Knights who form a swift and highly-mobile bodyguard around a mounted Chapter officer, or execute other specialised missions on their own.
These squads usually include several other Chapter specialists -- an Apothecary to tend to the wounded and recover the fallen's gene-seed on far-flung scouting missions, a Standard Bearer, and the Ravenwing Company Champion wielding a deadly blade of Calibanite origin.
When a Ravenwing Command Squad rides to battle, they form a rallying point for one of the most fearsome fast strike forces in the galaxy. Beneath the fluttering shadow of their standard, the black-armoured Astartes of the Ravenwing bring death to the enemies of the Emperor.
Ravenwing Attack Squadrons
The Ravenwing are organised entirely into fast, hard-hitting elements that are as unique as they are effective. All members of the Ravenwing operate a fast vehicle, be it an Assault Bike, Attack Bike, one of the many variants of Land Speeder or perhaps an atmospheric fighter.
The warriors of the 2nd Company do not use the green panoply of the majority of the Dark Angels, but instead are clad in black armour. They typically work together in mixed formations: the standard ten-strong squad within the Ravenwing is the Attack Squadron, a force made up of six brethren riding Assault Bikes, two riding an Attack Bike, and two crewing a Land Speeder.
These are further supported by additional Land Speeders or squads of the Veteran bike-mounted warriors known as Ravenwing Black Knights. All are optimised for speed and mobility over firepower or the ability to sustain assaults.
As they streak into battle, Ravenwing Attack Squadrons often break into their disparate parts. Weaving in and out of each others' paths, each element works with the synchronicity of thousands of drills and the experience garnered upon blood-soaked battlefields across the Imperium.
With but a signal flashed across the comm-net, the different elements will break off at speed to pursue their own goals up and down the enemy lines, only to reconverge moments later to focus their destructive powers upon on a single target.
As the Ravenwing range ahead of the main force, they are often the first to find and engage a foe. This is their specialty, as the Ravenwing are the black-clad huntsmen of the Dark Angels -- and they are tasked with seeking out and pinning down the foe until the rest of the Chapter arrives.
While the entire 2nd Company is occasionally deployed in a single action, most often the Ravenwing is broken into its component squads and attached to work alongside Dark Angels strike forces spread across the galaxy.
The reconnaissance, flank attacks and rapid assaults of the Ravenwing are useful on all battle fronts, but are in reality a disguise that covers the company's secret mission: to hunt down the Fallen.
This fact is not known to the majority of the Dark Angels, nor is it even known to all the Ravenwing themselves. They are trained to unquestioningly obey orders, as well as to be deaf to any captives' lies and heresies.
Given the dark nature of their unknown mission, the entire 2nd Company is watched over closely by Chaplains and Interrogator-Chaplains, who regularly assess each of its battle-brothers for signs of spiritual turmoil and treasonous thoughts.
Ravenwing Support Squadrons
The Ravenwing Support Squadron consists of a Ravenwing Land Speeder squadron and a single Ravenwing Land Speeder Vengeance or Ravenwing Darkshroud. The Support Squadrons of the Ravenwing act in concert with the Attack Squadrons, one the sword and one the shield. Skimming fast and low over the battlefield, the Support Squadron's Land Speeders scan constantly for anything that may pose a threat to the mission.
Where enemy heavy armour or entrenched artillery attempt to devastate the Ravenwing with overwhelming firepower, the Support Squadrons swoop low overhead, missiles and plasma blasts reducing the weapons of the foe to blazing scrap.
When enemy infantry mass in sufficient quantities to swamp the huntsmen of the 2nd Company, the Support Squadron's Land Speeders pass back and forth, raking the enemy with bullets, bolts and fiery blasts. In this way, the Support Squadrons combine their strength with their land-bound brothers to crush the foe completely.
Ravenwing Vehicles
Ravenwing Land Speeders
Most often, Land Speeders form highly mobile support for the ground-bound bike elements of the Ravenwing or larger Dark Angels strike forces. While part of the Ravenwing closes with the enemy, it is the Land Speeders that ensure that the bike-mounted spearhead can reach its quarry.
To do this requires vehicles and pilots as mobile and quick-witted as the bike formations themselves. The Ravenwing advocate a fluid style of attack, and all its members must be ready to switch from well-rehearsed set-piece attacks to improvised breakthroughs or rapid pursuit of fleeing foes.
In the Ravenwing's unconventional composition, a single Land Speeder makes up part of the standard Attack Squadron, while others (up to five) are grouped into Support Squadrons that can be split as needed. This unusual doctrine has been developed because the Ravenwing use Land Speeders to perform a variety of battlefield roles, due to their versatile weapons loadout.
The Dark Angels can equip their Land Speeders for light probing reconnaissance, advanced scouting, tank-hunting, seek and destroy missions, and so on as required by tactical demands.
- Ravenwing Master-Crafted Land Speeder - The Ravenwing Master-Crafted Land Speeder is a unique variant of the Land Speeder used only by Master (Captain) Sammael of the Dark Angels' Ravenwing. The Master of the Ravenwing's Land Speeder is heavily armed with twin Heavy Bolters and twin-linked Assault Cannons. In addition, this specialised pattern of Land Speeder is equipped with superior targeting equipment and a protective Void Shield generator.
- Land Speeder Vengeance - The Ravenwing have always sought more firepower to support their hard-hitting attacks. An answer to this quest came in the 36th Millennium, with the discovery of the STC database for a strange type of Land Speeder. Its larger chassis and superior gravitic lift-engines could house heavy weaponry, allowing it to mount the Plasma Storm Battery -- a relic weapon long held in The Rock's armoury. Thus was born the Land Speeder Vengeance, a strike vehicle exclusively employed by the Unforgiven Chapters. In conjunction with the Land Speeders of the Support Squadron, the Land Speeder Vengeance has proven its worth on the battlefield time and again, able to keep pace with the fastest of the Ravenwing vehicles and able to deliver devastating volleys from its deadly Plasma Storm Battery. The Land Speeder Vengeance provides the Ravenwing with a highly mobile and deadly support battery to aid them in their hunt for the Fallen.
Ravenwing Darkshroud
The Ravenwing Darkshroud is perhaps one of the strangest archaic relics deployed on the field of battle by the Chapters of the Unforgiven. Those who have witnessed it at close range and felt its caliginous pall are disturbed forevermore. The Darkshroud is a powerful icon of the Chapter and the Dark Angels will protect it with their lives.
This archeotech vehicle consists of a Land Speeder Vengeance mounted with an ancient stone statue known as a Stone Guardian, or the Ten Brothers of The Order, as ten such idols exist. These statues were some of the few barren remnants found amongst the ruins of the Tower of Angels following the catastrophic destruction of Caliban.
Locked in stasis displays deep in the Reclusiam of The Rock for years, it was not until the desperation of the Vendetta Campaign that the Dark Angels at last felt compelled to unleash their arcane power upon the battlefield. Each statue was mounted upon the chassis of a Land Speeder Vengeance, with great cables siphoning off its strange energy and amplifying it, and a power field of unknown quality which ripples outwards from these grim reliquaries and absorbs most forms of electromagnetic energy.
In battle, the Darkshroud is used in support of the Ravenwing, its otherworldly veil serving to partially obscure and protect the company's bikes and light vehicles as they streak towards the foe. Even the blazing beam of a Lascannon can be swallowed within that gloaming field of eldritch power, dissipating harmlessly while the Ravenwing speed onwards.
Nephilim Jetfighter
Nephilim Jetfighters are sleek Dark Angels aircraft deployed from the fighter bays of The Rock or any of the Dark Angels' Strike Cruisers. Although sometimes given the task of escorting Thunderhawks to their drop sites, the main role for the Nephilim is as an interceptor to establish air superiority over the battlefield, allowing their brethren to concentrate on ground targets with little concern for aerial assault.
The Nephilim Jetfighters have only been used by the Dark Angels since the late 40th Millennium, when the Standard Template Construct for the improved engines was discovered while hunting a suspected Fallen, Baelor the Imposter, in the Nephilim Sector.
Designated the Lionheart engine, the technology was used to modify older designs, though many features were left in place to appease the Machine Spirits. The end product was a more agile fighter with improved speed, even while carrying more powerful armaments. With a twin-linked Lascannon mounted in its nose, the Nephilim is ideally suited to bringing down aerial targets. It has proven itself on innumerable occasions.
The Dark Angels are a conservative Chapter, highly resistant to change or innovation. Freedom of thought is, after all, the first step upon a dangerous path. Yet for all this, Nephilim pilots are something of a breed apart.
While they revere those ancient relics that have been used in combat since the days of the Great Crusade, they continually push their Chapter's Techmarines for enhancements, modifications or newer marks of craft -- anything that can boost the speed with which they can take the fight to those who would deny the Emperor's will. Such enthusiasm is looked upon with tolerance by the Company Masters, for the results it produces are substantial.
Ravenwing Dark Talon
The Ravenwing Dark Talon is perhaps the deadliest weapon in the Ravenwing's arsenal, and it plays a pivotal role in the 2nd Company's eternal hunt for the Fallen. A strange and ominous-looking craft, this atmospheric fighter is topped with sepulchre-like spires and half-covered in a gothic facade.
Flying low, the Dark Talon follows the contours of surrounding terrain. Utilising its ground-facing boost jets, the Dark Talon can literally hang in the air, hovering above its victims like some black bird of prey.
The Dark Talon attacks in two ways; it is armed to provide direct air support to allies on the ground with an underslung racked Hurricane Bolter under each of its blunt wings. The Dark Talon also carries a single bomb. It is able to accelerate on bombing runs, delivering its strange payload to their marked quarry.
This archaic holdover from the Age of Technology is an archaic weapon known as a Stasis Bomb, the blast from which causes a degree of heat damage but, more importantly, momentarily halts the flow of time. This unnatural disruption to the time stream causes gut-wrenching disorientation and slows the reaction times of those caught within the proximity of the blast.
Situated in the nose of the aircraft is the Dark Talon's most awe-inspiring weapon. The Rift Cannon, sometimes referred to as the "Stained Glass Cannon," is a weapon developed at the zenith of Mankind's technological achievements and his hubris long before the Emperor first reigned upon Terra.
When fired, it emits a beam of Warp energy that emerges with a cascade of scintillating colours that explode into a blossom of oblivion as a small rift into the Immaterium is opened at the beam's point of contact.
In addition to its mighty arsenal, the Dark Talon carries a stasis-crypt holding cell where the Dark Angels' captives are loaded so that they might be ferried up to the orbital fleet and, ultimately, to the dungeons of The Rock and the attentions of the awaiting Interrogator-Chaplains.
Mark IV Raven Pattern Assault Bike
The Mark IV Raven Pattern Assault Bike is used exclusively by the Space Marines of the Dark Angels Chapter's Ravenwing Company. Ravenwing Black Knights ride to battle atop Mark IV Raven Pattern Space Marine Assault Bikes, powerful machines outfitted with deadly Plasma Talons.
On their approach to close with their foes, their Plasma Talons tear holes in the enemy lines before they ride over their quarry. To signify their exalted status, Black Knights carry Corvus Hammers, which are patterned after an ancient Calibanite weapon used to hunt the Great Beasts of that lost world.
When Black Knights close with the enemy upon their Assault Bikes they crack armour and sunder the flesh of their enemies with their hammers as they go. Against more formidable opponents, those Black Knights trained in the use of the Ravenwing Grenade Launcher fire a salvo of specialised rad and stasis shells, which can make even the hardest of enemy units more vulnerable to a sustained assault.
Ravenwing Aviation
Swift and sinister, the aircraft squadrons of the Dark Angels flit across the shadowed skies like flocks of ominous carrion crows. They are darkness and death, the shroud that falls inescapably upon the heretical and the guilty and erases them from the galaxy without a trace.
The Dark Angels are unusual amongst the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes in that their aircraft are not piloted by the Techmarines of their armoury. Instead, these agile hunting craft are flown into battle by the expert operatives of the Dark Angels 2nd Company, the Ravenwing.
The Ravenwing are tasked with rapidly locating and violently eliminating the enemies of the Emperor. They are an elite brotherhood, highly specialised in their methods of warfare to the degree that not a single Battle-Brother of the Ravenwing fights on foot. All are trained to ride into battle astride roaring Space Marine Assault Bikes, to pilot the anti-grav skimmers known as Land Speeders, or to fly the infamous Nephilim Jetfighters and Ravenwing Dark Talons that make up the Dark Angels air force.
Ravenwing operatives are trained to gather extensive battlefield information at all times, drinking in every scrap of Vox-intel, energy signature recognition and Augur-analysis to build an unparalleled strategic picture of the battlefield around them. They specialise in locating even the most elusive prey and running them to ground, forming an ironclad net of machines and potent firepower, all directed by warriors as meticulous as they are merciless.
In short, the seamless coordination between the ground forces and aircraft squadrons of the Ravenwing makes them one of the finest hunting forces in the galaxy. The hidden reason for this specialisation is bound up with the Dark Angels' hunt for the Fallen. It is a quest that entirely consumes the shadowed upper echelons of the Chapter, and one that must never come to light in the eyes of any other Imperial institution. The Dark Angels field dozens of aircraft squadrons and can further augment these with the wings of their Successor Chapters -- the Unforgiven -- turning the skies black with aircraft should such measures be necessary to keep their secrets.
The Silver Talon
Only a handful of Dark Angels pilots have ever been awarded the order of the Silver Talon, the greatest honour that they can earn.
Previous incumbents include Brother Azaziel, who single-handedly defended the skies above Neuvenport in his Nephilim Jetfighter against waves of Necron Doom Scythes, and Brother Raphaenus of the Ravenwing, whose airborne capture of the Fallen known as Ghuldarkk is legendary within the Inner Circle.
Recipients of this award have their names graven into the Gate of Angels, the huge stone arch that gives access to The Rock's largest launch bay, and are permitted to wear a raven's talon silver pendant, and to have the same device painted onto the hull of their Nephilim or Dark Talon.
Notable Ravenwing
"I've faced worse in the forests of Caliban."
- —Aloceri, Voted-Lieutenant of the Ravenwing
Pre-Heresy
- Garradin - Garradin, known as "The Ravenbringer," was a Terran-born veteran of the Unification Wars and an elderly member of the Ist Legion by the beginning of the Great Crusade. He was once the Lord of the Host of the Void. His service began fifty standard years before the Ist Legion had first stepped out of the shadows under the command of their original Legion Master Hector Thrane. By the time of the Muspel campaign, Garradin had become the first voted-lieutenant and master of the Ravenwing.
- Aloceri - Aloceri was a voted-lieutenant of the Ravenwing following the end of the Ruinstorm during the Horus Heresy. Rumours persisted amongst the Ist Legion that Aloceri was backed for the position by none other than Holguin, the master of the Deathwing, due to both of them having served as aspirants together and being the favourites of Master Ramiel while serving as a member of The Order back on their homeworld of Caliban. Regardless of the truth of these rumours, Aloceri was known to be the undisputed master of various aerial vehicles including the Land Speeder, strike fighters, Jetbikes and interceptors as well as the traditional horsemanship that was demanded by the Ravenwing.
Post-Heresy
- Grand Master Sammael - Sammael is the current Grand Master of the Ravenwing in the 41st Millennium, the 348th such officer since the Dark Angels Legion was reformed into Chapters during the Second Founding. Sammael is bold to the point of being reckless -- a trait required in order to head a mobile company whose success depends upon speed and hard-hitting surprise . Despite his well-noted audacity, Sammael's reign at the head of the company has already been unusually long and successful. Although masterful at orchestrating distracting manoeuvres and feints, if given a chance, Sammael much prefers to take matters into his own hands. From the saddle of Corvex, his Jetbike, a relic from the bygone Age of Technology, Grand Master Sammael cuts down any foolish enough to face him. In battle he wields the razor-honed Raven Sword, an heirloom that has served all Ravenwing Grand Masters before him. Since the Great Rift's birth in the Era Indomitus it has become harder and harder for Sammael to conceal the Fallen's existence from those of his warriors not inducted into the Chapter's Inner Circle, as Fallen activity has dramatically increased since turmoil in the galaxy surged. Whilst he has had great success hunting his Chapter's chief quarry, Sarnmael broods on those Fallen who have escaped from him, and his determination to see all be brought to justice has never been greater.
- Grand Master Gideon- Gideon served as the 347th Grand Master of the Ravenwing. He was killed more than a standard century ago after his body was shattered by the Chaos Titan Traitorous Ire. As he lay dying, though blood-flecked lips the old master declared his successor, Sammael, and passed unto him the ancient relic Raven Sword as he breathed his last.
- Nereal - Recruited on Kimmeria, the very same world as Supreme Grand Master Azrael, Nerael very nearly failed the Dark Angels' punishingly difficult aspirant tests. Nerael pushed through the incredible pain of the monster hunts and the psychic invasion of his mind with sheer force of will alone, earning a place in the 10th Company. He soon began to excel in all areas of training. His dogged determination set him apart, even from those as mentally and physically robust as Space Marine recruits have to be by virtue of their position. Nerael was implanted with the Primaris Marine gene-seed organs as a part of his induction into the Dark Angels. Upon ascension to full battle-brother, he progressed through many companies before returning to the 10th as a member of that company's standing Vanguard squads. There, serving in a number of different capacities over the course of many battles on Talegoh VII, he unknowingly helped the Ravenwing secure a member of the Fallen. His skills at hunting down quarry without thought of rest impressed the 2nd Company greatly, and as a result battle-brother Nerael was inducted into their number as a member of the Ravenwing.
- Sabrael - Sabrael is a Black Knight of the Ravenwing and a member of the Inner Circle. He is also the current wielder of the Blade of Corswain, a master-crafted Terranic Greatsword once possessed by the legendary hero Corswain. This ancient relic is awarded as the "bladesman honour" to the finest swordsman in the Ravenwing. During the prelude to the Battle of the Caliban System, Sabrael aided Grand Master Sammael, Annael and Calatus in detaining the notorious Fallen Angel Cypher before he escaped. During the battle, he battled Daemons with his relic sword.
- Annael - Annael is a Black Knight of the Ravenwing. Originally he served as a part of the 5th Company until his ascension to the 2nd Company. During the final stages of the Battle of the Caliban System, Annael took control of a Ravenwing Dark Talon and flew it into a Warp rift created by the forces of Chaos. Using the aircraft's Rift Cannon he was able to seal the breach at the cost of his own life.
- Tybalain - Tybalain was a Black Knight Huntmaster of the Ravenwing. He was slain during the Battle of the Caliban System.
- Phanuel - Phanuel is the current company Champion of the Ravenwing. He was among the Dark Angels forces that took part in the War of Beasts on Vigilus. It had come to the attention of Supreme Grand Master Azrael that several captured Fallen had confessed in quick succession of a massing gathering of their traitorous number upon Vigilus. Azrael immediately dispatched four full companies, along with elements from both the veteran Deathwing and Ravenwing. These elite warriors fought a number of Fallen Angels within the Vhulian Swirl, a massive storm formation only endurable by those clad in power armour. Unfortunately, the heart of it could not be penetrated due to the hurricane force winds. Eventually the storm cleared by a means that Dark Angels later learned was the Voidclaw -- a large-scale Graviton doomsday device that threatened the stability of the Nachmund Gauntlet itself. The storm's dissipation revealed an ancient structure called the Citadel Vigilant, which the Dark Angels immediately attacked. They discovered scores of Fallen were garrisoning the structure, led by the Librarian Osandus. The ensuing fight wa full of bitter hatred, with the Unforgiven suffering enormous casualties. It was here that Phanuel claimed the heads of a number of the traitors with his Blade of Caliban.
- Astegar - Astegar was a Champion of the Ravenwing who took part of the Dark Angels' campaign known as the Faithlock Prosecution, in which warriors from nine of the Unforgiven Chapters united to defeat the forces of Chaos on the besieged planet. While official Imperial records are lacking in detail on the Faithlock Prosecution, the Dark Angels' own roll of honour heaps praise on the names of Ravenwing Champion Astegar and his warriors, who rode at the side of Interrogator-Chaplain Commeg in the final assault against the Chaos forces. During that battle, where the lord of the Faithlock was run to ground, Commeg was mortally wounded. As Apothecary Sograel recovered the Chaplain's gene-seed, Astegar not only slew the Faithlock's Warp-altered bodyguards but captured their foul lord for interrogation as well.
- Zaelion - Zaelion was a former Company Champion of the Ravenwing who wielded a Blade of Caliban that signified his esteemed rank.
- Aquila - Aquila was a sergeant of the Ravenwing that took part in the Purging of Kadillus Harbour on Piscina IV to evict invading Orks from the planet. During the battle, Aquila was detailed to scout to the east in an attempt to locate the original landing site where the Greenskins had first made planetfall. During their initial scouting expedition, Scout Sergeant Naaman insisted that something was wrong and that they should press further eastward than they originally planned. Despite his initial reluctance, Grand Master Belial sided with Naman's assessment and ordered Aquila to proceed further east. The Ravenwing encountered a much larger force of Orks already marching from the east towards the lightly defended Imperial line at Koth Ridge. If the Dark Angels didn't take drastic action, Belial's forces would be caught within a pincer movement. As the Ravenwing squad attempted to make their way back and warn Belial of the encroaching Orks on their position, most of Aquila's warriors and all of Naaman's Scout Marines were subsequently killed by the Orks. Aquila heroically sacrificed himself in an explosion that killed both himself and a large Nob to buy more time for Naaman to make good his escape. He did so not only for the scout sergeant to pass on vital intelligence, but to also ensure Naaman would pass on his wisdom to future generations of warriors of the Chapter.
- Balthazan - Balthazan was a member of the Ravenwing squadron under the command of Sergeant Malachi on the planet of Boab fighting against invading Orks. During the subsequent fighting Balthazan was trampled underfoot by a Gargant.
- Meneraeus - Meneraeus was a member of the Ravenwing who took part in the War of Beasts on Vigilus, commanding Unforgiven forces on the battlefield. He fought alongside the White Scars before disappearing with his troops for an unknown agenda.
Company Appearance
Company Badge
The company icon of the Ravenwing Company is a single angelic wing with its talons gripping a sword.
Company Colours
The Ravenwing Company's Astartes do not use the same dark green colour scheme for their armour and vehicles as the rest of the Chapter. Much like their counterparts in the Deathwing Company, the Ravenwing's members wear the original deep black power armour colour used by the Dark Angels Legion during the Great Crusade before the Horus Heresy.
See Also
Sources
- Codex Supplement: Dark Angels (9th Edition), pp. 14-17, 20, 23, 26, 32, 42, 44-46, 48-50, 54, 56-58, 63, 66, 72-77
- Codex Adeptus Astartes - Dark Angels (8th Edition), pp. 16, 44-47, 79, 103-104
- Codex Adeptus Astartes - Dark Angels (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), "Ravenwing Support Squadron"
- Codex: Dark Angels (6th Edition), pp. 14, 16, 20-21, 23-25, 31, 35, 46-51, 58
- Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition)
- Codex: Dark Angels (3rd Edition)
- Codex: Angels of Death (2nd Edition)
- Death from the Skies (7th Edition), pp. 10, 32
- Deathwatch: First Founding (RPG), pp. 48-49
- Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Defiant (Supplement), pg. 42
- The Horus Heresy Book Nine: Crusade (Forge World Series), pp. 42, 104-105, 116-117, 125-126, 158, 161, 170
- White Dwarf (Sept 2019), Index Astartes: Dark Angels by Callum Davis & Elliot Hamer, pg. 30
- White Dwarf #96 (28 Nov 2015), Parade Ground: Ravenwing Command Squad Astegar, The Raven's Claw, pg. 22
- Eternal War (Comic Anthology), Ravenwing by Bill Kaplan
- Angels of Caliban (Novel) by Gav Thorpe, Ch. 3
- Dreadwing (Novella) by David Guymer, Ch. 2
- Descent of Angels (Novel) by Mitchel Scanlon
- Lion El'Jonson: Lord of the First (Novel) by David Guymer, Book 9, Part 1
- The Purging of Kadillus (Novel) by Gav Thorpe, The Tale of Naaman: Cut and Run
- Ravenwing (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
- The Unforgiven (Novel) by Gav Thorpe