Oh, that was ages ago! I guess I was talking about people on the boards at the time or something, opinion's shifted a lot on them over the years. I'd like to take credit for it, but they are (or at least were) Chad's favorite faction, so I think he deserves a bunch of it too
Certainly I was exempting myself from that one in any case, though I'll admit it wasn't clear from the post.
Anyway, Ravenwood comments.
First, the overall
bad news:
-Ravenwood has some unit cost issues, mostly because unlike say Hawks, a full line of Ravenwood foot with just a few support dudes is pretty awful. The Elven foot are by and large also hilariously swingy in how well they tank; 3/1 means you hold up ok against 5/5 guys, but 6/5 is dire news. Overall it isn't as bad as High Elves since your basic versatile foot are cheaper, but you also don't really have a Battle Squad equivalent; cheap, solid tanks don't occur in Ravenwood.
-Ravenwood courage is a problem. You don't have any courage boosting command cards or abilities; closest it gets is Aspect of Wolf which lets you survive a rout, but has some great alternate modes so you'd really rather not.
-Animal units are hard to use. Wolfkin suck (sorry Wolfkin) but Wolf Packs, otherwise an interesting unit, are hard to manage without them. Bearkin have an issue where they pay for a 6 strength that is often not very useful, and they're only sort of ok as tanks, and Bear Packs are pretty decent but the command card thing is annoying. This isn't to say these units are worthless (even Wolfkin can have their place) but they are not bread and butter units.
-Spirit Guidance isn't a very sexy army ability, compared to ones like Faith Armor and the like. It has its place, and is phenomenal on Ravenwood Archers, especially against guys who are relatively easy to hit and hard to would, which is to say pretty much anyone other than other Elves. 234 is pretty steep for a core archer, but if you aggressively 'guidance them, they rate a damage a turn on 2/3 line units, which is pretty sweet in the right circumstances.
-Ravenwood Bowmasters look like a headlining artillery unit, but they really aren't. They have their place (mostly in Elf on Elf battles of various sorts) but they aren't staples like Hawk Longbowmen, so if you try to use them like that, you'll be sad.
However! There is a fair bit of
good news!-Because of the general lack of tanking, Brownies are awesome. They're dirt cheap and hold up quite long with their 2/1 defenses and 13 courage. You can also play command cards on them if you want. Two units of Brownies backing each other up is about Battle Squad in cost; it isn't as good, but there's some joy in having two units instead of one, and you can put Brownies up against the bad attackers in other factions and have them hold up ok for a few turns.
-Ravenwood's versatile foot have Nets, which are both cool and make opponents nervous because they mean your damage is pretty unpredictable.
-Ravenwood Spearmen are IMO some of the best deals in the game in terms of a Sword -> Spear conversion. They're comparatively cheap to upgrade, gain a die (critical with Nets) and Nets + hit bonus are particularly scary to cavalry. They're very flimsy to a charge since impact hits are bad news on 1 toughness, but a lot of cavalry, particularly light and medium cavalry, have trouble hitting them, so with a Parry or something they're unlikely to take much damage outside the impact hit, and they'll hit back something fierce.
-Ravenwood concentrates force like virtually no one else. Their core archers are very dangerous with Spirit Guidance, Centaurs hit like a rocket powered truck, and Stag Cavalry are nothing to scoff at either. Your lack of tanking is made up for by the high chance you'll be able to pick a unit that displeases you and be pretty sure you'll reduce it to slag within a turn of engagement.
-Aspect of Wolf is one of the best command cards ever, and a few of their other ones are quite nice too. (Be sure to check the main site -- several of them have errata that makes them stronger.) Aspect of Wolf is particularly sweet because it gives +1 MC to a guy, making the already speedy Ravenwood Elves have a nice unexpected burst of speed from time to time. Opponents often forget it is in the deck, and if they don't, that can be just as bad for them, since they need to play around it, which is both difficult and can lead to wasted command actions and other issues.
-While a lot of Ravenwood's units outside the basics are generally not great, they do have a lot of diversity, and all of them have their place. The line is usually 3/1, but they have 2/2 Bearkin and Centaurs, 1/3 Bear Packs, and even a 1/4 Giant Tree of Doom if they want. This means it is harder for opponents to decide what attack stats they need compared with facing say the High Elves, where 6 attack skill is clearly going to be key. Your line moves 3.5", but you have a 5" move core and good enough archers to get away without core infantry, so if the scenario or situation demands, you can take a very mobile force. You also move through woods without any penalties, which is ludicrously good on some Kingdoms maps.
-6 skill archers are a big asset in general, and the Centaurs also have 6 skill, giving a nice ability to go against hard to hit guys.
Overall tactics:
Ravenwood wants to find 1-2 weak spots in the enemy line and hit them hard and fast, busting through and rolling the whole thing before the line units can (inevitably) get scared and flee. The powerful archers and cavalry are the heart of the faction, dealing punishing blows right where needed. You can go through the middle of a line by focusing archery supported with Spirit Guidance on even a relatively hardy unit like a Battle Squad or Orc Swordsmen, or you can be a brutal flank threat with Stag Cavalry or Centaurs. Centaurs in particular are terrifying to opponents because they'll plow through even some line units if used appropriately, so unlike many cavalry they can be deployed on the front lines if the situation merits. Learning to use them is hard, but if you do, they'll be a star virtually every time, though they do fear missile fire to a certain extent. (Pro tip: direct control them to avoid final rushes but leave them on close; stopping just short of an enemy unit and tossing a volley of javelins is often the best play since unlike Umenzi Javelineers Centaurs will throw when final rushed by an enemy even if they were in range to throw on your turn!)
When building your army, make sure you have a plan to hold the front line (a few two's-companies on Ravenwood Spearmen are probably acceptable) and enough breakthrough units to threaten in a few places. When deploying and giving orders, focus on deploying the breakthrough units last, so you can see as much of the enemy plan as possible before deciding where to hit them. In play, your focus should be blasting through in one or more of those areas as quickly as possible, and while taking as little damage elsewhere as possible. Throw blue cards on your tanks very aggressively, as they need the help, and save your punishing red cards to punch open those holes (or use those CAs to Spirit Guide your archers.) Remember you can play a red card on a Centaur's javelin volley and then play another on the charge. Don't be afraid to burn CAs to arrange for Centaurs to get extra volleys on people, but also don't be afraid to charge them when the time is right; time is very rarely on your side, as you are trying to create an opening to annihilate the enemy before they beat up your Spearmen, who inevitably lose long fights against other factions' line units due to their courage if nothing else.
Whew, hope that helps. As for Chad, our schedules haven't allowed us to meet for a while, so I haven't seen him.
