40K TACTICS: Descent of Angels Lists

A Brief Introduction to Playing DoA Blood Angels Armies

By Black Blow Fly

Hello everyone. I’m going to discuss playing a pure style Descent of Angels (DoA) Blood Angels list. First we need to understand what is a DoA army. A DoA army is built mainly on units that have the Descent of Angels rule.  Lets “dive right in”…

* Characters with jump packs (includes HQ, Sanguinary Priests and Chaplains)

* Assault Marines with jump packs

* Vanguard Veterans with jump packs

* Sanguinary Guard

* Honor Guard with jump packs

You’ve probably noticed I did not include the Death Company. All of the units listed above can gain most of the offensive (furious charge & preferred enemy) and defensive (fearless & feel no pain) by attaching Recluisarchs, Chaplains, Librarians and Sanguinary Priests.

This army is the epitome of mobility and hitting as hard as possible. Drop in, shoot and then assault. It’s just that simple too. DoA armies should be played very aggressively. Competitive DoA lists have almost no units not equipped with a jump pack. The exception is a Stormraven and assault dreadnoughts embarked in them. Stormravens integrate perfectly with this style of play. Static units such as Devastators, tactical Marines and Scouts have no place in a DoA army. You win objective based games by overrunning your opponent’s units. There is no need to hold back units to babysit your own objectives. Killpoint games are pure win.

Playing a DoA style army means you will take advantage of the DoA rules when it is to your advantage, namely deepstriking jump infantry – they only scatter 1d6 and you can reroll unsuccessful reserve rolls. I have been playing deepstriking armies for years – Deathwing, Daemons… You name it. The DoA rules for jump infantry are just too good to be true when it comes to deepstriking. Often I see new player that start with all their units deployed on the table and count on their Librarians casting Shield of Sanguinius to make their way across an open battlefield. It’s not hard to deepstrike with the DoA rules and versus armies such as mech IG you want to come in very close blasting away with all your meltas. Apply the pressure early on to intimidate your opponent. There is a plethora of 4+ cover now so why waste points on an 5+ cover save? Wrecking vehicles with meltas creates even more terrain for cover. I’ve read plenty of batreps where the Blood Angel players did not take advantage of DoA and end up losing, eating one big pie plate after another. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s not wise to always blindly deepstrike – versus horde it’s typically better to start deployed on the table. Versus some armies (i.e., fast) you can bring in some of your units using normal reserves – you can fly in from own table edge and directly assault the same turn. Think of it this way – DoA armies are unhindered by the normal rules for deployment just like infiltrating and outflanking units.

Load up on melta weapons with your basic assault squad. Add a character with an infernus pistol and you can run an assault squad with up to four or more melta weapons. I hate to see shooty units of Honor Guard with four meltas or plasma – they have big red bulls eyes painted on their chestplates! The assault squad is the basic building block of a DoA army, combined with a Sanguinary Priest they can take down tough units such as Plague Marines, Khorne Berzerkers, Grey Hunters and monstrous creatures in close combat. It’s all about hitting hard first, charging in with all your chainswords revving strong.

I’ve outlined some of the basic concepts so let’s talk about the Stormraven now. The Stormraven is a fast resilient weapons platform that can also transport jump infantry. There’s a prevalent myth circulating on the internet that the Stormraven will always go down early versus shooty armies. The truth is that by utilizing the right tactics the Stormraven can often make it through to end of the game. You must identify the threats to the Stormraven and quickly eliminate them; that’s one roll where Vanguard veterans come into play. Make sure to move flat-out for the 4+ cover save when necessary, you can still fire one weapon even if its shaken due to Power of the Machine Spirit. I find one Stormraven at 1850-2000 points to be the right number. The Stormraven is your best long ranged anti tank firepower for DoA armies. I always run mine with extra armor, twin linked lascannon and a twin linked multi-melta. In many ways a Stormraven is the equivalent of a flying landraider but it’s more mobile and in the right circumstances can lay down more suppressing firepower. When I first started to experiment with DoA armies I used a rhino as a proxy; I always let my opponents be able to draw LOS to the proxy. The Stormraven is also great for contesting objectives late in the game.

Next I’d like to touch on the subject of Vanguard veterans. Heroic Intervention works very well with the Descent of Angels rules. Vanguard veterans are very flexible providing the opportunity to use a combination of power fists, thunderhammers, lightning claws, power weapons and stormshields. The only other unit with such close combat weapon options is Honor Guard. Honor Guard come with a cheap Priest built in but Vanguard veterans can be fielded with up to 10 Marines. You can take a squad of ten and combat squad them. Vanguard veterans are the ultimate assassins in 5th edition. You can drop in and assault the same turn. They are perfect for picking off annoying units such as Long Fangs and other heavy weapons teams. There are different philosophies how to field Vanguard veterans. A solid basic unit I often use is five veterans with one power fist and four power swords. If you arm them all with meltabombs they are also an excellent strike force versus walled up vehicles. I use mine as a shock troop. They drop in and destroy a key enemy unit, sowing discord and fear into the enemy line. If you decide to pay the points for stormshields they can often weather a turn of enemy shooting. If your opponent focuses on destroying your veterans then they are not shooting at your other units.