40K Review: Blood Angels Rundown, HQs Part II
Mr. Black here, once more continuing our arduous look at Codex: Blood Angels. This time we’re focusing on non-character HQ’s in the book.
Alright, like last week, we have a lot to get through, so we’re wading right in.
*Note: This will be short, as Librarians, Chaplains, Captains, they’re all things we’ve seen before in other codices, and as such, talking on about their distinct usefulness is just covering a topic that has already been handled elsewhere.
Librarian
Looking at the Blood Angels Librarian we see stats that are, well, Librarian-like. If you’ve seen them in Codex: Space Marines and Codex: Space Wolves you’ve seen them here, and besides, we all know the real meat of Librarians are the Psychic Powers.
Blood Boil: So here we have an effect that makes a unit within 12 take a wound with no armour save, roll low enough on the Psychic test, and you get to choose the target model. Frankly, this is underwhelming, only dealing one wound and needing a low roll to achieve the real benefit of the power… In the end, there are much, much better choices.
Fear of the Darkness: Nice range on par with your Bolters, causing a morale test with a slight negative or the unit flees… While I can see the usefulness of this power some of the time, not effecting units that never fall back hurts it severely and, like Boil Blood, there are better powers.
Might of Heroes: Making a return from the .pdf codex we have Might of Heroes, which since then remains unchanged. +D3 attacks is a lovely effect and makes the Librarian (or Power Fist, or other Independent Character) that much more dangerous on either Assault Phase and will quickly help mop up almost any enemy unit.
Shackle Soul: This is an interesting power, forcing the opponent to make a Leadership Test when it wants to do… Well basically anything, or preventing it from doing such. In the right circumstance, it can be a game-turner, as odds are a unit that is moving, shooting, and assaulting that turn will fail at least one of them, and if it’s moving, then you may very well have stopped the other two as well. A tactical power that I can see an Epistolary taking as a backup means of survival.
Shield of Sanguinius: Similar to the recent Space Wolves psychic powers it seems the Blood Angels too love getting a mobile cover save for their units. We’ve seen this before in Ork Kustom Force Fields and the aforementioned Space Wolves, and I’m sure most players already know the frustrations of a Rune Priest or Big Mech riding along center-army in a Land Raider/Battle Wagon.
Smite: Straight from Codex: Space Marines
The Blood Lance: Basically a Jaws of the World Wolf, except this ones targets units and not models with a meltagun equivalent (sans the melta) lance shot…and with a random range. Given the mobility the Blood Angels enjoy and this line of vehicle-killing power, it comes high on my list of powers to take, especially as, from the wording, it would appear to ignore LoS, so vehicles hiding around buildings or larger tanks will still feel the blunt of it’s wrath.
Sanguine Sword: Maxes out the Librarian’s Strength. A handy tool to punch through tanks and walkers who should stumble into your way. For ICs and such, I find it would still be better to simply rely on the Force Weapon the Librarian has.
Unleash Rage: I consider this our replacement for Dante’s old Preferred Enemy power. Sure, it only effects the unit you’re in, but when is re-rolling not a good thing? This also may remove some Chaplains from lists, as now you have a Litany that can be used even if you’re charged, and every single turn there-after.
Wings of Sanguinius: If you wish to save on points, this power takes the place of a Jump Pack, or upgrades a bike to jet bike if you’re going that route… For the standard Librarian, I don’t much care for this power, as the others are just too good… Now the Furioso Librarian Dreadnought, that’s a different story…
Final Comments: There are some killer powers to be found in this codex, and with the right set-up you can make a Librarian that is cheaper than any special character yet boasts and impressive tactical arsenal. Definitely a top pick in the book.
Reclusiarch
Remember those old 4th Edition Space Marine Chaplains? The better combat stats, the high Initiative and BS, third wound… They where cool weren’t they? Space Marine players missed them with the advent of the new codex; some stormed the forums with a zealous rage to rival the models they had lost, yet overall it was an immense disappointment to see the, to me, rather pointless nerfing of one of the trademarks of the Space Marine.
And now we have Blood Angels Reclusiarchs, who are in every way the old Chaplain Space Marines miss, also now with the option for an Infernus Pistol, not to be confused with the Inquisition Inferno Pistol, the difference being this one is AP:1 and not 2. So here we have a duel slap in the face to Codex: Space Marine players as well as those who enjoy the Forces of the Inquisition.
The only difference to normal Space Marine Chaplains is slight, and may possibly not even matter to some armies. That difference is in their Liturgies of Blood, which not only act as the typical Chaplain re-roll, but so powerful is their oratory that Death Company re-roll misses to wound. And that, dear readies, is very, very scary. Again, a slight difference, but when faced with the fact you can theoretically have a whole army of Death Company, being lead by pissed off Reclusiarchs and Chaplains, and we see a very hard hitting army take shape.
Final Comments: The Reclusiarch brings back an old favorite to the Space Marine army, combining high combat prowess with cheap wargear options allowing multiple special weapons (such as the old combo of Crozius and Powerfist). The value and “bang-for-the-buck” power of the Reclusiarch make him my top pick for non-character HQs.
Captain
And here we have the trademark Space Marine Captain, if you’ve ever looked at a Space Marine codex, you’ve seen this guy. From standard wargear to abilities he is in every way the equivalent to the vanilla-marine version, so let’s skip right over the basics and go to what makes him uniquely Blood Angels!!
Hmm… Well, for starters, he has all the standard options available to most Captains, ie, Power Fist, Power Weapons, Thunderhammers, etc, etc all that… Aside from that…
Nothing. Nothing at all. There is unfortunately nothing uniquely Blood Angels about Captains, they don’t even have The Red Thirst! In addition to that, they have actually lost options compared to their Codex: Space Marines brothers, lacking both Relic Blades (the chapter as a whole has this issue) as well as options for Artificer Armor. The last one I am particularly touchy about, as given the chapter’s history they are the master artisans and crafters of the Adeptus Astartes. Now, I understand chapter background and fluff changes from edition to edition, but this note is still listed in their background, so for the exclusion of such weapons and wargear, items specifically said to only be able to be made by master crafters, to me is just downright puzzling!
But enough of that rant, overall, how does the Captain measure up? Well as I mentioned previously in my Special Character review, there are several characters that come close to the cost of a decked out Captain, and in most every case presented, I can seldom think of a scenario in which I would rather invest the points in a Captain vs. Commander Tycho or even Chapter Master Gabriel Seth. Now, he is not without his merits, and the joy of customizing your own unique character is not lost to me and, such as with every Captain, he has most any options you can think of (aside from the above mentioned), so designing a character of your very own is still an option, just one that I find is, unfortunately, going to be overshadowed by the massive number of Special Character choices presented in this codex.
Final Comments: In times past the Captain was the trademark HQ of Space Marines, but it seems with the advent of newer codices his place of honor slips lower and lower in light of new and exciting Special Characters. This, combined with the lack of two character-defining items available to other Captains, unfortunately place the Blood Angels Captain low on my list, falling behind the tactical powers that Librarians and Reclusiarchs bring to the table.
Honour Guard
I have mixed feelings when it comes to the Blood Angels Honour Guard, as while certain aspects of them I feel will save you points and made a viable addition to the army I can’t help but look across the page at the Sanguinary Guard and think they do the same job only better…
Starting off, the squad comes with a built in Sanguinary Novitiate, which is a fancy way of saying “I can’t take any other wargear but I’m a Sanguinary Priest”. This is one of the initial benefits of the Honour Guard: they come with a Sanguinary Priest, and thus Furious Charge and Feel No Pain, built right into the unit. This has the added benefit of creating a source of above mentioned abilities that cannot be individually targeted, one of the major drawbacks of the (relatively) easy to kill Sanguinary Priests.
In regards to wargear you would be hard-pressed to find a loadout for the Honour Guard you cannot make reality. Vast options for wargear, ranging from Jump Packs to Power Fists to Thunderhammers to every basic marine Special Weapon give the Honour Guard a fierce bite, if loaded out properly, and given that the unit can take any Dedicated Transport they wish, again ranging from the versatile Blood Angels Fast Rhino to the mighty Land Raider Crusader and we, in theory, have a unit that is above-average in power.
Also, since we’re talking about wargear, the Honour Guard have one of the best squad upgrades for the points. For only a few points more you can upgrade one member to a Blood Champion, which absolutely not a mark of devotion to Khorne. Not-devoting yourself to Khorne will yield the chosen champion enhanced WS, a power weapon, and a combat shield, again with the added benefit of not being able to be individually targeted.
One of the major issues plaguing the Honour Guard actually lies right across the page from their codex entry: the Sanguinary Guard. The comparisons will be many, as they carry similar wargear and come at a comparable point cost. So what separates the two? Well, I don’t wish to get into the Sanguinary Guard too much in this section, mainly keeping it to the topic of choice, but basically both squads can pack full power weapons, both can come with Jump Packs, both can take meltagun or Infernus Pistols, both can take the Chapter Banner… See where the comparisons are coming from?
So which is better in the end? Well there are a few differing factors: the Honour Guard have more attacks, the Sanguinary Guard have a better armour save due to Artificer Armour. The Sanguinary Guard have Death Masks and Angelus Boltguns, the Honour Guard can take any dedicated transport… I could go on and on, but this isn’t answering the initial question.
Basically, when it comes down to it, it’s going to heavily depend on player choice. It is true that the two are incredibly similar, but the small changes can make a major impact on just what each unit is capable of. They are both hammer units meant to lay the hurt on your opponent, and they both do it well, just in slightly different ways… A major plus for me though is the Honour Guard don’t have bat-nipples ornately placed on their armor…
Final Comments: Serving as a small, highly customizable strike-unit the Honour Guard can be tricked out most anyway a player wishes, serving to fill any niche role the army may be lacking, or just serving as a powerful bodyguard unit for any HQ unit you wish to field.
~And there we have it, the complete rundown of the HQ choices available in Codex: Blood Angels. Definitely a lot of viable options in both Special Characters and normal ones, enough options to surely sate the liking of any Blood Angels Player. Sure, there are some rough spots, but that’s true of any codex. The rest of this book is fantastic, and full of options that trump even the awsomness of the HQs, but you’ll see that soon enough when we move to the Elites part of our rundown. Until then! -Mr. Black
