Stormraven lore is a study on mobility and firepower. They can swoop in a strike squad or blow apart the enemy in seconds with heavy weaponry.
With the new rules spotted we wanted to see the history behind these flying behemoths. If you play Marines, good for you, you’re getting even more rules! If you don’t play Marines, keep waiting. Let’s all dust off our best jumpsuit and learn about the Stormraven Gunship!
Where Did It Come From?
While the Stormraven Gunship is relatively new for Space Marine Chapters like the Ultramarines or Blood Angels, the Grey Knights have been utilizing them for Millenia. Nobody knows how the Grey Knights found the technology so we’ll focus on the other chapters for now.
We love to think the Imperium works together and the Grey Knights just gave the normy marines the tech. The Grey Knights aren’t really known for sharing their secrets though… Even if it would help the rest of the Imperium succeed. So the other chapters had to search for millennia to find the build specs for this awesome gunship.
Sometime early in the 41st Millenium, they found the STC files in a forgotten Martian Archive. Through unknown bribes and much coaxing, the Adeptus Mechanicus deemed it worthwhile to help to marines and started producing the ships for them. Now that the more regular chapters have found how to build them, they have been adding them to their armories as fast as they can. Who wouldn’t want a ship that can deploy a unit in seconds and destroy half the army on the way there?
Uses On The Battlefield
Being small sometimes has it’s advantages. Since they are much sleeker than their cousin, the Thunderhawk Gunship, they can maneuver around the battlefield much faster and sneak through enemy surveillance. This allows them to send in strike squads anywhere the chapter needs and makes them far better for crowded environments. While a Thunderhawk could never fit in a hive world, the Stormraven boosts through the tight spaces with ease.
In terms of carrying capacity, the Stormraven can hold 12 Space marines and even carry a Dreadnaught into the fray with its Magna-Grapple. It may not seem like too much but a single strike squad of veterans can easily change the tide of battle.
When it comes to firepower, they have plenty! They can carry everything from Twin-Linked Heavy Bolters to Bloodstrike missiles to Multi-Meltas. They need to be able to cut through the enemy to get the marines where they need to go, and once they drop off their payload they have to make it home somehow. Even though they don’t have quite the armory of the Thunderhawk, they have more than enough to get where they need to go. When a fleet of Stormravens arrives, the enemy knows all hope is lost.
That does it for a quick history on the Stormravens. Are you going to add them to your army when the new rules officially come out?
Learn More About Stormraven
About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
