[ajefferism]

Hi,

I'm a Tau player and I'm thinking of buying a second army of Blood Angels to compliment my shooty Tau. I really love the story/look and tactics (assault and more assault!) of the Blood Angels, again I think their CC nature would compliment the Tau greatly. Also, I heard that they are getting a codex update sometime next spring. My local game/comic store is having a big sale on Warhammer on New Years day and I wanted to get a bunch of Space Marine/Blood Angel stuff to get me started.

I already have Mephiston, and I heard Corbulo and Dante were the other two good HQs to have.
The store I'm buying at has plenty of generic Space Marine stuff but not much Blood Angels, i think the only specific BA thing they have is a Furioso Dreadnought, which I plan on picking up.

The store has a SM Megaforce and also the Battleforce, I think I was leaning towards the Battleforce just because the Megaforce has a Predator and Dreadnought that I wont need (im gettin the Furioso and I'll be getting a Baal Predator from GW later too). I'll probably buy another Tactical squad to make it so I have 20 Tac marines.

I was thinking of getting a regular Land Raider with TL Lascannons to have some sort of anti-tank/mech ability. Also, I wanted to get a drop pod to probably use with my Furioso or possibly some troops.

The store I'm buying doesnt have Death Company so I'll eventually get those through GW. Also I was thinking of picking up LaMartes to keep them in line.

Basically I want to buy a small army to start with. Something balanced with a "one of each" mentality so I get used to how BAs special units (and space marines in general) handle. Then, when the new codex comes out I'll be able to figure out what new units or upgrades will be good to focus on as my army grows.

General questions: What troops are best to focus on with BAs? Assault with the jetpacks? Are Termis a good option? Regular Tacts? How about the Furioso, is it good to have him Venerable, or is that over kill? Are there any other generic SM units that fit well into a BA army?

Any comments are welcome!

 

[4theEmperor!]

Welcome to the Joy that is the Sons of Sanguinius!!

It sounds like you have some very good ideas about the force and your plans are sound. Corbulo is a must-use for every list. He gives every BA unit within 12" Furious Charge, which is awesome. You need to get him to the front lines, however, for that to work, and I recommend the BA Rhinos with the overcharged engine.

I would say Dante is also a must-use model, but he is priced quite high. He also affects all BA units with a model within 12", but he gives them the Preferred Enemy special rule, which I suspect will change with the new codex. It is simply too powerful. It was written back when preferred enemy simply meant you always hit on 3's in close combat. Now it means you re-roll all CC attacks. Sick!

Mephiston is a holy terror too and the model is AWESOME!

LeMartes is good, solid, inexpensive. I like him! Honestly, there is no reason to take a no-name character with BA. By the way, the BA chaplains have not been nerfed like Codex Chaplains have. They get 3 attacks and have WS5 and BS 5. Lemartes is great, because he also has 3 wounds!!

I run almost entirely jump packs. I include a tactical squad and a devestator squad without JP, and I run some Multi-melta attack bikes and a Baal pred. Lately I've been dropping one or two Furioso Dreads in drop pods, but they eat up points I like to put into jump packs.

The jump pack list is super-mobile, but the shooting is very weak.

Veteran assault squads are fun, but be careful not to sink too many points in. They can all be kitted out differently. Unfortunately, the BA storm shields are not as good as Codex Space Marines storm shields. That will probably change with the new codex. For now, the Veteran Assault Squads can get them.

Always max out on the FREE Death Company. Do NOT buy more than one or two extras. I usually don't buy ANY. I just take the free ones and they ROCK!! I run them with jump packs. They would be excellent out of a landraider to though!!

I also love to play Honor Guard. I put them in practically every list. They are veterans and get lots of power weapons which I love! Again, I give them jump packs.

Look around and see what other people play. BA are still competitive and they look awesome when well-painted. They are fun to play too! What more could you want??

 

[ajefferism]

Welcome to the Joy that is the Sons of Sanguinius!!

I run almost entirely jump packs. I include a tactical squad and a devestator squad without JP, and I run some Multi-melta attack bikes and a Baal pred. Lately I've been dropping one or two Furioso Dreads in drop pods, but they eat up points I like to put into jump packs

I also love to play Honor Guard. I put them in practically every list. They are veterans and get lots of power weapons which I love! Again, I give them jump packs.

Look around and see what other people play. BA are still competitive and they look awesome when well-painted. They are fun to play too! What more could you want??

Ok so it seems that the good way to go is jumppack based Assault and Honor Guards. I guess I should just stick with one squad of Tacts and instead get more Assault or Honor Guards.

You brought up a point I had a question about which was speeders vs bikes? I've played against speeders and they've seemed pretty useless and easy to take down, do bikes have more options?

Thanks again for the feedback

 

[4theEmperor!]

Many other players use tactical squads to good effect...but I happen to prefer Jump Packs every where and that list/style serves me very well. Furthermore, if you want a lot of tactical squads, you may as well play Codex Marines. The best thing the BA have to offer are scoring assault squads...

I think attack bikes with MM are excellent. Many here on LO would agree they are likely the Space Marines' best anti-tank unit available. They are cheap. You can get 4 of them for cheaper than a 10 man Dev squad with 4 missile launchers. They are Toughness 5, and have 2 wounds, but a krak missile will cause instant death, so protect them with cover and use Turbo Boost to get them into prime position to harass your enemy vehicles.
Your other attack bike option is the heavy bolter. This is 10 points cheaper. with the lack of long range shooting that Jump Pack armies suffer, this is also a good option and it supports the Baal (btw that is pronounced "Bay-L" and not like "ball") predator which also puts out a high volume of anti-infantry fire.

Bike squads are excellent and would complement the jump packs well. You really have to be picky on how you spend your points. Make sure your unit choices support each other. You could drop Dante and take a bike squad instead. Which will give you the better result? I do not know...

 

[ajefferism]

Many other players use tactical squads to good effect...but I happen to prefer Jump Packs every where and that list/style serves me very well. Furthermore, if you want a lot of tactical squads, you may as well play Codex Marines. The best thing the BA have to offer are scoring assault squads...

I think attack bikes with MM are excellent. Many here on LO would agree they are likely the Space Marines' best anti-tank unit available. They are cheap. You can get 4 of them for cheaper than a 10 man Dev squad with 4 missile launchers. They are Toughness 5, and have 2 wounds, but a krak missile will cause instant death, so protect them with cover and use Turbo Boost to get them into prime position to harass your enemy vehicles.
Your other attack bike option is the heavy bolter. This is 10 points cheaper. with the lack of long range shooting that Jump Pack armies suffer, this is also a good option and it supports the Baal (btw that is pronounced "Bay-L" and not like "ball") predator which also puts out a high volume of anti-infantry fire.

Bike squads are excellent and would complement the jump packs well. You really have to be picky on how you spend your points. Make sure your unit choices support each other. You could drop Dante and take a bike squad instead. Which will give you the better result? I do not know...

I dont see a lot of other space marine players using assault jump packs so the fact that they are a scoring troop choice definately picques my interest in them.... instead of getting the regular tacts to boost my battleforce box i may pick up some more Assauts, i like that mobility advantage.

I've been wondering what a good anti-tank/mech option for BAs, I'll try the melta bike option and maybe compliment it with a regular land raider to be my anti armor option. Trying to making things balanced.

Thanks again for the advice!