Warhammer 40K: Lost Relics of the Raven Guard
With more Space Marine Chapter Supplements on the way it’s time to visit the history books to see what Relics could return for the Raven Guard!
Games Workshop has teased us with four more Space Marine Chapter Supplements – we took some guesses at what those books could be. So with that in mind, we’re digging through the old relics from Angels of Death. It’s a quick look at the Relics of the Ravenspire:
The Armour of Shadows
This one was great for adding a few of Universal Special Rules (USRs) to a character. The character would recive Stealth or Shrouded, depending on what rules they already had. It also gave them an armor save of 2+ which basically meant they got artificer armor. This could be implimented for their supplement with some minor tweaks – it’s probably going to increase their armor to a 2+ and might even make them even harder to hit from range. Those sneaky Raven Guard…
Ex Tenebris
If you’re looking for an easy update, this one has you covered. It’s a really fancy boltgun; An Assault 3, Rending, and Precision Shot Boltgun! Assault 3 ain’t bad – but honestly, I’d probably rather take Rapid Fire 3 thanks to Bolter Discipline. Rending could be converted in a few different ways. It could bump the AP to -2 or -3 or you could let this weapon cause mortal wounds on 6s. As for Precision Shot, well, that would take some more work on the designers part. Can the wielder pick the target model? Or maybe you can target characters even if other units are closer? This could go back to the drawing board.
Nihilus
This is another boltgun replacement if you can believe it looking at the stat-line. It’s a Bolt Sniper Rifle now! Well, at least it could be. Shadow-shot isn’t really needed any more as anyone can split fire. Armourbane made it more effective against armor. It would be cool to see this one reworked completely to fit better in 8th, especially with all the crazy ammo types and weapon options these days. Also Veteran Scout Sergeant? Uh-oh…
The Raven Skull of Korvaad
And the award for the creepyisy Raven Guard wargear goes to… this thing! Anyhow, it’s a boost to WS and Leadership of the model with it. And it the bearer is killed, you’d mark the position on the table and all Raven Guard within 6″ gain Hatred and Rage. Cool. Personally, I’d rather it be more inspiring while the bearer was alive, but maybe that’s just me. Aura buffs are a thing now and this could easily be re-worked to fit more in that vein for 8th edition.
Raven’s Fury
So back when Hammer of Wrath was a different thing, this jump pack added +2 strength to those attacks and gave them the Strikedown special rule. Now in 8th, this jump pack could simply provide some mortal wounds on the charge. Maybe on a 2+ it does a mortal would or if you wanted to get spicey, make it D3 mortal wounds! Ouch.
Swiftstrike and Murder
These weapons actually replaced TWO different weapons – the bearer’s bolt pistol and their Melee weapon. And in Melee, they function as a combo that added ton of USRs. In 8th, let’s just say that these weapons cause additional hits on 6s and have an AP -3. In addition, they could cause mortal wounds on 6s to wound in addition to any other damage. That could be a solid start but for a relic slot, I think it should do more – I’m just not sure what else it would need.
Which of these Relics should make the jump to 8th and how would you change them up?
