40K TACTICS: Blood Angels – Descent of Angels vs Razorspam

Hi all. BBF reporting in again. Not too long ago I posted an article providing a brief introduction to playing DoA (Descent of Angels) armies. Today I will compare DoA with the razorspam approach.

What is DoA
To quickly summarize what is a pure DoA army, they consist of all jump infantry units plus Stormravens ferrying assault dreadnoughts. In my previous article I made a slight mention of the Stormraven. As a follow up to that article I’d like to mention here that the Stormraven is a solid choice for DoA armies as it can carry both a squad of jump infantry plus a dreadnought. The Stormraven is your best bet to get your dreadnoughts straight into an assault untouched prior to the first charge.

This is quite powerful as you have two separate assault units in one lot which can be used to setup a multi charge. The multi charge is very powerful versus hordes since when these enemy units are fearless (e.g., mob up, synapse) each enemy unit will have to take a number of armor saves equal to the difference in total wounds you inflicted versus the opponent. Successful multi charges are the bane of hordes as basically you’re getting a large number of additional wounds inflicted into each enemy unit locked in combat after all the assaults are over (i.e., No Retreat).

What is Razorspam
Now to provide a simple and easy to understand definition of a BA razorspam army… These armies typically consist of five to six Razorbacks carrying five man assault squads plus up to six Predators.

NOTE – If a squad of assault Marines forgoes their jump packs then they can take a dedicated transport with a 35 point in reduction.

The five man assault squads are either armed with a meltagun or flamer. Often the sergeant is naked but some will arm him with a power sword and attach a Sanguinary Priest.

All these vehicles feature the Lucifer patterned chassis which makes them fast vehicles – that’s right, they can all move up to 6 inches and fire all weapons, move up to 12 inches and fire one weapon or move flat-out up to 18 inches. That kind of speed coupled with the ability to still shoot is a huge asset for a mech list.

Typically the Predators consist of three Baals (Fast Attack) and three normal Predators (Heavy Support). Typically you will see the Baals armed with twin linked assault cannon turrets and heavy bolter sponsons. Flamestorm cannons on the Baals are seldom seen since you want to use your six preds (front armor 13) to screen the Razorbacks. A Baal with a Flamestorm cannon has to move away from the wall to shoot thus leaving a hole or decreasing the width of the AV13 barrier. The Razorbacks are typically armed with either the lascannon/twin-linked plasmagun or a twin linked assault cannon for the turrets. I prefer the former since it gives you some serious long range AT when coupled with the normal preds as the most common configuration for normal preds is an autocannon turret and lascannon sponsons. The lascannon/twin linked plasmgun turret on a Razorback can lay down some serious anti troop dakka at short to midrange when combined with the Baals.

There are some players who prefer to run up to two Vindicators – they also have the Lucifer patterned chassis and can move up to 12″ firing the demolisher cannon – effectively a mobile 36″ range. Vindis are an asset versus deathstars such as Nob bikers and Wolfstars. Often the Vindis are a high priority target which is not necessarily a bad thing as this draws some of the heat off our your other tanks. I think if you would prefer to run a Vindi then two is the right number for redundancy.

These armies typically feature two Librarians as the HQ so they can cast the Shield of Sanguinius for the 5+++ cover save to protect your tanks. Unleash Rage and Fear of the Darkness are also popular choices as well for the second psychic power.

Another popular choice is a squad of Honor Guard with four meltaguns riding in another Razorback. This configuration is for tank hunting, but they can also be equipped with plasmaguns as a defense versus units like Terminators or four flamers for horde control.

So the Razorspam list is both very shooty and highly mobile, able to lay down a withering amount of firepower early in the game. If the Predators are properly utilized as a mobile wall your Razorbacks have nice cozy 4+++ cover sitting behind the big wall of AV13.

One major weakness of the razorspam list is it’s devoid of any serious assault elements. Five man squads go poof versus more hardened close combat units and will be easily overrun by hordes if caught out in the open. I have seen a few lists that feature a unit of assault terminators in some type of Land Raider – the problem here being both the terminators and their dedicated transport are expensive, thus taking away from the overall number of vehicles. Right after the release of the new BA codex, Mephiston was almost always featured in this type of list. Mephiston is a fast one man wrecking crew and can hide behind tanks before he pops out to engage the enemy in close combat. These days I’m not seeing him nearly as much and I think a good number of players have figured out how to effectively counter the Lord of Death.

A common misconception in regards to the razorspam approach is that it’s neigh impossible to outflank the Predators to get unobstructed shots on the Razorbacks. Outflanking units can do it and so can deepstriking units. There are others too that can easily get around your armored wall of preds. As the number of Razorbacks starts to diminish so does the overall strength of the army, so you must protect these assets. Use your smoke launchers sparingly, only when you really start to feel the pressure starting to build.

On the other hand the DoA army is also highly mobile plus they are close combat monsters. I have played several games versus the razorspam and other mech armies with my DoA. For the most part they have always been big wins for me.

Finally it’s important to stack up razorspam versus competitive IG armies. It’s going to happen from time to time so you should go into these types of games properly prepared. Overall IG is not as mobile but it can easily match your shooting plus they have units like Vendettas that can alpha strike your parking lot if you’re not careful.

So in conclusion you’ve got a fast armored army that has a ton of shooting it can dispense. It’s weak when assaulted so you need to always maintain a safe distance if possible.

FINAL NOTE – Don’t be afraid to tank shock. This is a hidden forte of the army but seldom used, maybe because it has not been seriously considered as yet.