Ravyn, Eternal Light

Ravyn stands as a beacon of hope within a sect consumed by an apocalyptic vision of the future. Off the field she possesses a calm and pious wisdom. In battle some believe her to be invincible. She takes no joy in killing, but neither does she shirk from it. When Scyrah is restored, the warcaster plans to embrace peace as readily as she now welcomes war. Ravyn is seen as a fighting embodiment of the righteousness of the Retribution’s holy cause.

Basic Info

Warcaster abilities:

• Focus Manipulation

• Battlegroup Controller

• Power Field

• Spellcaster

• Independent Model

• Leader

Feat : Firestorm

While in Ravyn's Template:Control range this turn, friendly Faction models gain boosted ranged attack rolls and Swift Hunter (refer her Abilities).

Abilities

• Template:Dual Attack
• Template:Quick Work
• Template:Sprint
• Template:Swift Hunter

Weapons

Hellebore
File:Gun icon.jpg		RNG			ROF			AOE			POW
		12			1			Template:-			12
Template:Magical Weapon Template:Blaster
Blade
File:Sword icon.jpg		RNG				POW				P+S
		2				7				13
Template:Magical Weapon Template:Weapon Master Template:Thresher

Spells

{{Category: Template:CountermeasureTemplate:Energizer Delete Template Template:SnipeTemplate:Veil of Mists }}[[Category: Template:CountermeasureTemplate:Energizer Delete Template Template:SnipeTemplate:Veil of Mists ]]

Theme Forces

• Template:Defenders of Ios
• Template:Forges of War
• Template:Legions of Dawn
• Template:Shadows of the Retribution. She gains "optional take down" in this theme.

Thoughts on Ravyn

Ravyn in a nutshell

Rayvn likes to support her army from the backline and gives them the tools they need to get work done from range. Snipe allows her army to shoot from further away, and Veil of Mists allows her to block LOS from incoming threats, both of which buffs her gunline army's survivability. Countermeasures can help neutralize enemy shooting, especially if you put it on a fast unit. Open Fire means she wants at least one, if not more, high value guns in her battlegroup so she can double tap. Her feat also enables ranged assassination opportunities not normally available to Retribution, as the troop's relatively low RAT normally stops them threatening high-DEF enemy warcasters/warlocks.

Ravyn isn't exactly a durable warcaster, but she is a Weapon Master with Sprint. She's capable of contributing to the fight against targets that have been softened up, and is especially brutal against infantry between Blaster and the "Melee attack → Quick Work → Swift Hunter → Buy another melee attack → Repeat" combo. Template:Tipbox

Feat thoughts

Quite an easy feat to leverage. Bringing hard hitting guns, it's quite click and play. Need to hit with everything this turn? Cool, pop feat and hit with everything this turn! Usually used to either gain a quick attrition advantage on large infantry forces with little anti-shooting tech (not too common nowadays) or to threaten assassination in conjunction with Snipe. Remember to cast Open Fire immediately after you feat! There is no "during activation" clause on the feat, so the extra shot(s) from Open Fire get the boost as well. Also consider a melee model with a gun (such as a Sphinx) can shoot with Open Fire, move with swift hunter then activate, so you get a pseudo threat extender for melee.

Obviously, an army of gunslingers would be nice, but with scenarios as they are, Ravyn is best served by something a bit more balanced.

Spell thoughts

• Countermeasure is a powerful upkeep that can deny a wide swathe of enemy shooting. It's usually best on a unit to increase the anti-shooting bubble, and preferably fast enough to get up to the enemy before being shot down.
• Open Fire is a force multiplier. Working on both ranged and melee attacks, it can let you finish off targets or help soften one up before the warjack goes in. With her feat, it's possible to make the ranged attack of the warjack accurate, useful for when considering assassination. You can also run a warjack up and make an attack with it via this spell for a little extra distance.
• Snipe is a basic but powerful spell. An extra 4" drastically increases the ranged threat of most models, making those with short range guns less susceptible to jamming and those with longer range guns able to fire with impunity. Definitely consider cycling this spell to get the most out of it.
• Veil of Mists is a great toolbox spell, capable of blocking LOS and helping your models through terrain or each other. You can also use it to move through enemy models, but keep in mind that the spell doesn't prevent free strikes - you'll want your models to have Parry if you choose to do this.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• If you use Thresher, you cannot make ranged attacks (despite Dual Attack)

  Dual Attack only allows initial ranged + initial melee, or initial ranged + power attack.

• A MAT 7, POW 13 Weapon Master is... not quite good enough to go toe to toe with much anything in close combat when its your warcaster, so keep her safe or she will most likely die.
• She's all about accuracy and denial, but has nothing to help with damage. Bring another list to crack bricks.
• There isn't many lists that she can run outside of a shooting one, and she has stiff competition from both Issyria and Ossyan when even running that much.
• If she does happen to go fisty cuffs hope its only single wound models or she might struggle.

Tricks & Tips

• Read up on Dual Attack if you ever plan on getting Ravyn's hands dirty in melee (and maybe even if you don't plan to), because she has a lot of options for her many attacks once she commits. Seriously.
• Pesky Stealth enemies giving you trouble and running out of guns? Run a Soulless Escort or similar bullet catcher right next to them (not engaged) and shoot him with your Blaster gun. Boostable POW 12 blast damage, right where you want it.
• Unlike Issyria and Ossyan, her main competition when running gun line lists, Ravyn shines personally more and more the closer she comes to late game. Once the model count has gotten low enough that she is no longer afraid for her life, Ravyn herself can put in a lot of work to securing and controlling scenarios, absolutely making mincemeat of contesting pieces through sheer mobility and volume of melee and ranged attacks. Still though, be careful not to overextend her; she is an infantry/solo blender in the best of times but her survivability is still pretty average.

List Building Advice

Strategy

Trundle up with her forest of guns, feat on second (maybe third if you went first and your opponent is being a bit on the slow side) to get a leg up on attrition, then use the numerical advantage to shoot the rest of the enemy army off the board and/or jam them out of scenario.

Theme thoughts

This theme gives you access to a solid combined arms list with enough guns to make Ravyn happy, while not depriving her of cheap, fast melee options as well

• Houseguard Riflemen and Stormfall Archers - both of these are solid ranged units to take advantage of Ravyn's feat. The former boasts very impressive range, at the cost of having a pretty low POW, while the latter trades volume of shots for the nice damage spikes of Brutal Damage on their bows and the added benefit of Repo[3"] from the theme. More importantly, however, both of these ranged units can benefit from the Houseguard Thane's Firing Solution, which allows them to ignore stealth, overcoming one of Ravyn's key ranged weaknesses.
• Houseguard Halberdiers - The Houseguard Thane's other special action, Desperate Pace, and they can start making headway up the table quite quickly. This potentially makes them a nice dirty target for Countermeasures, as they are likely to get stuck in well before anything else you have, and will start giving your opponent headaches. They are by no means tough or difficult to kill, but they are quite cheap, especially if you are bringing the Thane for his firing solution as well, thus leaving you more points for guns.
• House Vyre Electromancers - an interesting choice, if you want to rely on a few easily killable models and d3 rolls to kill mass low-ARM infantry. Cannot benefit from the Thane however, so YMMV.
• House Ellowuyr Swordsmen - another potential Countermeasures target, they don't give themselves the advance move, but you can get it from your Archers or Riflemen so its probably ok. They aren't otherwise especially fast, but their Blade Shield makes them an unappealing target for your opponents guns during their journey to get stuck in. Again, more of a nuisance than anything else, and noticeably more expensive than the Halbs, but the options is there if you like their models.
• House Ellowuyr Warden Executioner - Quick Work, Gun Fighter, Side Step and Swift Hunter on feat turn that’s up to 8 inches of bonus movement.
• Arcantik Force Generator - This word combination is absolutely terrifying with Ravyn. So here is the lowdown, 14" range weapon check, if it aims it and any other friendly jack within two inches gains, you guessed it +2" range on their guns, oh you thought I was done? You would be wrong, add Ravyn's snipe spell to add another +4" to the range and you have a grand total of 20" range weapon. And no still not done, while aiming the AFG can fire twice and has a 4" AOE that leaves rough terrain. So recap 20" range 4" AOE weapon that can create rough terrain. If you go first with Ravyn you will cripple your oppenent's army . . . unless their using Circle, then you're doomed. And it gets Swift Hunter on feat turn, letting it wobble around a bit and slightly mitigate its low SPD and Aiming requirements.

Tough, slow, expensive infantry with average to below average RNG guns. Doesn't really sound like Ravyn's cup o' tea, but there are some interesting options here.

• Dawnguard Invictors - the once red-headed stepchild of the Dawnguard, the Invictors have slowly begun to find a solid niche in the faction thanks to the theme here, and Ravyns does help a bit to maximize some of their strengths. The big thing on these guys is base RAT 6 and POW 12 on their guns, which means they are already much more threatening than their Riflemen cousins. However, this is balanced slightly by a paltry RNG 10 on their weapons, and a painful SPD 5. They help themselves a bit with their own CA, who gives them a turn of Snipe himself, while Ravyn can give to them every other turn, and the ability to Assault, effectively increasing there threat range by 8", for a total of 22". CRA means that they can get convincing work done outside of feat turn as well, and Repo[3"] keeps them slightly safe as they can jockey for position more effectively than the Riflemen.
• Dawnguard Destors are a debatably effective combined arms unit. The big thing here is POW 14 on their guns and their SPD 8, meaning their can deliver a few powerful gunshots with high accuracy under Ravyn's feat to exactly where you might need them, then use their Swift Hunter and Repo movements to (hopefully) stay out of threat in order to be able to shoot or alpha charge again. Alternatively, they make a rather sticky Countermeasures unit, as they are fast enough to get stuck in early and can be slightly difficult to remove in a timely manner, especially if purposefully targeting ranged specialist units. For a price premium, you can add the Dawnguard Destor Thane to this package to make them even more frustrating after they're stuck in.
• Dawnguard Trident - Watch this space! If this thing ends up as powerful after release as it was in CID, then we (and Ravyn) are in for a treat.

Sneaky, stabby, shooty elves doing what they do best. Low ARM and POW throughout, but with some interesting caveats. Raven likes shooting without being shot at, and this is the place to do it.

• Mage Hunter Strike Force - the Snipe, Feat, Go! of yesteryear might be no more, but that doesn't mean Ravyn doesn't like getting the boys back together for some old timey shenanigans. The MHSF with CA provides Ravyn with a lot of what she wants: Advance Deploying, Stealth, Pathfinder, ranged infantry that fixes their own damage deficit against warjacks (slightly) and can choose to ignore a bunch of obnoxious hindrances when shooting (but not Stealth unfortunately). If you play in Shadows, these are the backbone of your army, and they will only occasionally let you down. Special mention for being able to take Eiryss3, and thereby being able to Snipe Eiryss and the whole unit of Mage Hunters at the same time. Now that they have CRA too, they can fix their damage and hitting issues outside of feat turn as well, making them slightly more reliable as the game goes long.
• Mage Hunter Infiltrators - They are ambushing/advance deploying 10 man units with stealth, they make a really good Countermeasures target for this reason. With Eiryss3 the even have Mark Target so you can shut down shooting and amplify your own at the same time, plus they randomly have tough so even if killed they might stick around. Their Combo Strike hits so hard with Gang that they have a good chance of dealing with weapon crews, support solos, and even the occasional Shield Guard, and generally making your opponent sad.
• Moros - why would I need another hit buff when I'm taking Ravyn literally for that only reason, you might ask. Why indeed. But a little redundancy never hurt anyone, and this guys makes a pretty cool Open Fire target, potentially getting to paralyze 2 nasty things a turn. Countermeasures on him, as with all Stealth models, means that he can't be shot from outside 5" thanks to Stealth and can't be shot from within 5" thanks to Countermeasures, meaning your opponent will have to spent brain power trying to deal with him if they didn't bring the requisite answers. Plus, now that he has Parry, a well placed Veil of Mists can give him the same benefit as Garryth himself, and allow him to bounce over (or through, as the case may be) enemy models and into the squishy, vulnerable backlines without immediate repercussion.

Ravyn likes these support models that are available in various themes:

• Eiryss1 - The OG angry elf, Eiryss1 is available in every theme through the +1 Merc solo option and in Shadows base, but as soon as she joins she becomes Partisan meaning that all your sweet, faction only buffs are fair game on her. For Ravyn, this means Snipe and feat both serve to make Eiryss that much more frightening for your opponent's caster. This is how you facilitate a Ravyn assassination in the modern day. But don't forget, she's countered by all the other things that counter guns (Shield Guards, Stealth, Sac Pawn, etc.) so your milage may definitely vary.
• Fane Knight Guardian - Cheap and easy shield guard if you're worried about Ravyn or your other backliners taking too many potshots. Plus, he makes Ravyn much harder to hit if she decided to go full equilibrium gun kata, and can give her Parry for when she needs to sprint away from models she couldn't quite kill. If he survives into the late game, he can be a solid contesting piece while within 9" of Ravyn.

Battlegroup

• Hyperion - The strongest weapon in the game has a range of 12" base, now add Snipe from Ravyn . . . for an aimed POW 18 with 5" AOE and critical consume at a range of 16" (or 21" if Hyperion walks his full movement instead of aiming). Be afraid, be very afraid. And you can shoot it twice a turn thanks to Open Fire. Both of which get free boosts on feat turn for even more crit consumption. There are competitive lists that consist mostly of Ravyn and two of these bad boys. I hope you brought a couple 5" AOE templates because you're going to wear your first one out.
• Manticore - A stellar melee jack with a great gun too. Snipe pushes its range to 16" meaning you can place covering fire templates 20" from where they activated. 2 Manticores fill her WJPs exactly and you can cycle snipe between them. Apart from Snipe you can also use Energizer on them to great effect. Place a Covering Fire, then pull them back 2", so they are 14" away from the enemy.
• Hydra - If you want to focus more on infantry than a big costly colossal, the cheaper Hydra is another good option for Ravyn by virtue of having the longest base RNG of any battlegroup jack while fully loaded on focus. While it lacks the massive AOE style impact of the Hyperion, it serves fine as an effective spot removal piece, able to dig deep into the enemy's backline if he gives you LOS. And its fairly focus efficient too.
• Harpy - A surprisingly mobile light jack thanks to Flight, the Harpy boasts a ROF 2 gun at a respectable RNG and more than decent POW, and with a critical knockdown effect to top it off, meaning on feat turn you can fish for crits just like the Hyperion. Just be careful not to Thunderbolt something out of your range before you're done with it.
• Gorgon - A fully boosted POW 12 SP8 on a relatively cheap chassis. Another cheap alternative for mincing infantry. Just don't expect it to survive any retaliation.
• Daemon - An excellent pick, Energizer as quasi Repo is great for a gun jack and RAT 6 is essential to get mileage out of Open Fire. Thanks to Reload is is a beast on feat turn, as well. Just keep in mind the RFP of Vortex Blast prevents Swift Hunter.

Starting a 25 point Brawl list

In 2021.05 Phillip Melvin, one of the LOS authors, put together this list for the Brawlmachine format. It was then updated for the 2021.10 errata. He even wrote about it's playstyle and expanding it beyond 25 points, which you can read here

Theme - Defenders of Ios

Ravyn1: [+28 WJP]

• Aeternae: [16 pts]
• Daemon: [14 pts]

House Ellowuyr Warden Executioner: [6 pts]

Houseguard Thane: [3 pts]

Arcanist Mechanik: [2 pts]

Stormfall Archers: [7 pts]

House Vyre Electromancers: [5 pts]

Heavy Rifle Team: [Free] Template:Grey

Template:Brawl

Other

Trivia

• Ravyn's gun/halberd weapon, Hellebore, is named after a type of flower.
• Released in Forces of Warmachine: Retribution of Scyrah (Novermber 2009)

Video Battle Reports

• 2019.07 Feat Fetish, vs Caine2
• 2019.06 Lock & Load Iron Gauntlet Final, vs Iona1
• 2018.11 Deathclock Dave, vs Baldur1
• Template:VBR