Multiwing strikeforce by Deagle Raa

There is no finer sight than a combined Ravenwing and Deathwing force, somehow the synergy of the aesthetics of bone white and black perfectly mimics the synergy of their tabletop performance.

On the Ravenwing first, black is a very hard colour to get right, over highlight and it goes too grey, under highlight and it's just too heavy. This lot seems to be about right to me – and very neatly executed too. As their treatment is straight from the book so to speak (nothing wrong with that) they rely on the models themselves to give them personality – luckily Ravenwing bike models have enough of that built in. Sammy is excellent, great treatment on the flowing cloak and fantastic face.

Of the Deathwing element there is a shift. Cleanly and carefully painted in the traditional sense there is though more personalised touches that bring them to life. Belial is a prime example using a Forge World DW shoulder pad and a Black Templar tabard front for the classic robbed conversion; then add some items from the DA upgrade sprue dotted amongst the other squads' models and that's it.

Great attention and craft is evident in all the faces – the focal point of each model after all - these are superb in injecting a splash of characterisation that would be lost on a helmeted model. This is where the Deathwing squads far outshine the Ravenwing (Sammael excluded) for me – but then I'm biased anyway. Another aspect of these terminators I really like is the individual heraldry on each marine, a feature not usually seen in Deathwing armies. Incidentally many of these terminators are from the Assault on Black Reach boxed set and they blend in pretty well with their more multi-part brothers.

But as I said at the start - the real strength lies in the combination of these two Companies. The Deathwing squads might have the bit of flair that the Ravenwing squadrons lacks yet the Ravenwing is by far the more sinister looking of the pair. It's a very sharp looking 1500 point army in the classic mode.