With the release of a new Raven Guard Character – Aethon Shaan I figured it would be a good time to look at the best sneaky options he has available in his brand-new detachment Shadowmark Talon.
Goatboy here, I really like the new Aethon Shaan model, and find his rules dang endearing. It makes me want to build out a Raven Guard army using a bunch of jump Marines, Scoutie Marines, and a plethora of sneaky options. I have a nicely painted Shrike too and while he isn’t the big bad leader anymore, he still has some powerful interactions in the army. I will probably do a list build out after I finish my upcoming World Eaters dance at the end of the month but let’s rate those sneaky marines.
Lieutenant With Combi-Weapon
Here is the model all love to run down and kill when we are playing against a Marine player. This lone operative little jerk is a Tyranid attack survivor that is just a bit tougher to kill than you would expect from a Marine Character. He has 4 wounds, a 5+ Feel No Pain, and can make a normal move if someone gets within 9″ of him. All these things make for an annoying little guy that you will for sure see in this type of army. He also has the Phobos keyword which lets him chain off some Stratagems and even get a little bit of the Uppy/Downy action we all loathe when playing against a Callidus Assassin.
Incursor Squad
Here is a nice little cheap Phobos unit that while not amazing on paper does do its job well. They have a 6″ scout, Sustained Hits 1 close combat attack, and even a nice little Mortal Wound bomb they can throw out. If it hits a vehicle, it could do 2d3 Mortal wounds which is amazing in this Knight heavy meta. Really there is a lot to love about these guys and they fit nicely within the army. Heck you could see 2 taken as another option to help “push” out the armies influence and go grab an objective or two.
Librarian in Phobos Armor
Here is a neat little leader that gives out a Lone Operative type of effect for any unit he joins. While this isn’t always the best it does help to join him up to a unit within your Backfield and give you an option that holds your base and is very hard to remove. He again has the Phobos Keyword which helps him out and lets you utilize some of the fun nonsense in the Shadowmark Talon detachment like Into the Darkness to go back into reserves or Feint and Thrust for fallback/advance/shoot/charge. He can also take the Enhancement Coronal Susurrant to get a 12″ CP tax bubble for the enemy which can come in handy.
Scout Squad
This unit is amazing in this army. You have a unit that Infiltrates, has a 6″ scout move, can go back into Reserves, and is dang cheap. All of those are amazing. You then add in that a ton of Strats work better on the unit and you have an option that will show up in this army and be a pain in the butt to deal with.
Kayvaan Shrike
I know he lost his Chapter Master status with Aethon leading the Ravenguard but his guy is still good. He can join Vanguard Veterans or Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs which allows those units to gain the Phobos keyword, the unit gains Lone Operative like ability, the ability to get Uppy/Downy powers, and even let the Intercessors get OC 2. All these things strapped to a decent amount of Melee attacks means that little unit of Intercessors can be a major pain in the butt.
~Victorus Aut Mortis (Raven Guard Battlecry)
Thomas Reidy, aka Goatboy, the ever-evil member of BoLS. I do arts, play 40k, and even paint a lot of stuff. I have been playing Warhammer 40K since the 1990s, and have won multiple national events including Adepticon and GW GTs. I’ve been writing for BoLS for 15 years. Look at my Instagram to see what I am working on – or working on for someone. I am always doing something hobby related.