Dark Angels rumors

cswang:

I've been reading the new novel Ravenwing, and while I'm not finished yet, the first battle introduces several new units we haven't seen before. I would not be surprised at all if these were cribbed from the new codex in some way.

First, we have the Vengeance-pattern Land Speeder. They're described, "Vengeance-class speeders spewed a torrent of plasma fire at the smoke-shrouded walls while rockets slammed into the ferrocrete barrier from the Tornadoes."

Then we have the Darkshrouds. They're described:

"Modified from the standard Land Speeder chassis, each anti-grav vehicle carried a pitted, ancient statue from the Chapter's fortress-monastery. The solemn hooded figures glowed with power, coils of cable sending nascent warp energy through arcane generators that threw out an all-concealing blanket of darkness. As they joined the attack, the shadow of the Darkshrouds enveloped the dropsite, obscuring the Thunderhawks as they touched down on plumes of plasma."

Also described are Dark Talon and Nephilim fighters. They don't have any physical descriptions, but the Dark Talons have Hurricane bolters and the Nephilims have Avenger bolt cannons and "Blacksword missiles".

Finally, we have the Black Knights, which appear to be the elite of the Ravenwing and "Sammael's chosen warriors". The book says they have "hammers with beaked heads" (it later explicitly describes them as shaped like raven heads), and they ride bikes with in-built plasma weapons. The unit leaders appear to hold the title of "Huntmaster". They also know more about the history of the Dark Angels and the Fallen than the rank and file Ravenwing, having been "inculcated in all seven Rites of the Raven, possessors of knowledge above their brethren, though not yet made aware of the Fourth Level of Initiation."