Goatboy’s 40K – Blood Angels Death Company Rocket Punch
I think the Blood Angel Book is actually a pretty decent army, and here’s just one scary example of why.
Goatboy here again and instead of reviewing all the nitty and gritty parts of the Blood Angels I want to instead look at a list idea I whipped up with Abe this past Friday. I think the Blood Angel Book – while kinda boring as it is just more Marines – is actually a pretty decent army. It might not be the flashy list but it is full of such aggressive Stratagems, Units, and builds that I think it will be an army we all should be prepared for. I don’t know how well it will “win” the updated missions but if you want something that plays fast, hits hard, and lets you feel a true bloodthirsty army (this army should be how World Eaters play too) then the Blood Angels are the list for you.
Putting Together the List
First of all – let’s look at the pieces that make this army tick. We have a few Stratagems that will see most Blood Angels players use, activate, and murderate the enemies units. The first one is Forlorn Fury. It is a 2 CP stratagem that lets you pick a Death Company Infantry unit and lets it move and advance before the game begins. If you have a properly configured Death Company – these guys are going 24+d6 inches on the first turn. Then they get to Assault you with whatever weapons they brought along with them. The other amazing thing on this is that the scout blockers and other units won’t be able to stop these guys. They can move, get close and be prepared to butcher or burinate the bubble wrap.
The next Stratagem that is also pretty dang sweet is Upon Wings of Fire. It is a 1 CP stratagem that lets you pick up a Blood Angels Jump Pack unit off of the table and then place them on the field more then 9″ away from an enemy unit. This can be a great way to ensure you get multiple Deep Strikes without the pesky issue of not having enough on the table top. You can build lists that don’t need this – but I see this as also a great way to go after your enemy in later turns as you finish your initial charge. Mix this with a special character and some other Stratagems gives you almost 2 Guaranteed first turn charges if you need them. The other Stratagem that combos with this is Descent of Angels at 2 CP. It lets you pick a Blood Angels Jump Pack unit and let them roll 3d6 for their charge range. Of course you are still limited to only being able to charge if you are within 12″ – but with some crazy movement abilities and other options you can easily hop over another unit and then hopefully get the unit you jumped over locked in with some specific Assault movement tricks.
There is a double assault Stratagem as well – but at 3 CP it is expensive and most likely not needed as you can easily hit with 2-3 units of 15 man strong Death Company – which should be more then enough to murder what you need too. Beyond this you should probably take The Veritas Vitae relic to try and regain a CP or two as this army will burn a ton on the first turn. From there you want to mix in some characters that help beef up the Death Company, get some troops to fill out a Battalion, and profit on the constant buzzing of the Chainswords and Powerswords powering up.
Let’s look at the initial list and while it is very extreme (45 Death Company) I think it is easy to make a pretty decent shell of an army out of this crazy example. I think a lot of 8th edition is all about applying pressure in ways to force the game to “finish” in the first few turns. Sure there are lists that can Survive – but finding a way to hit, kill important parts, and force your opponent to react is going to be a very strong way to win some of these games. The Death Company units Below are kind of expensive and I am sure you can cut some things here and there to help generate another Helblaster unit or something else to give you some ranged firepower. Alright enough of this – lets get on with the army – some explanation on choices and discussion on how it isn’t an expensive army to build.
Death Company HO!
Blood Angels Battalion – 3CP
HQ: Sanguinor – Warlord (Using his trait to let the Death Company not have to pass Morale. This can be good as it just means they have to kill the buggers)
HQ: Librarian with Jump Pack – Force Sword – (The Force Sword on a Blood Angel Librarian is going to be pretty gnarly – +1 too wound is just brutal on a -3 AP weapon)
HQ: Lieutenant, Jump Pack, Power Sword, Vitaes Artifact (Reroll 1’s to wound seems pretty good when you wound some things on a 2+-5+)
Troops: Intercessors X 5, Chain Sword (Strangely enough the Sarge for BA Primarius can’t take Power swords…)
Troops: Intercessors X 5, Chain Sword
Troops: Intercessors X 5, Chain Sword
Heavy: Hellblasters X 5, Plasma Incinerator, Chain Sword
Vanguard Detachment – 1CP
HQ: Lemartes (This guy lets you reroll charges, reroll hits, and gives the DC his Leadership. Plus he hits pretty dang hard)
Elite: Death Company w/Jump Packs X 15, Chainsword/Hand Flamer (These are the unit that moves first. The ability to throw out 15d3 auto hits with hand flamers is just nutty and a good way to clear out some bubble wrap to allow your other units areas to jump over and get mixed in with the enemy. You could dump in some power weapons but this is the sacrificial unit designed to get close, get in the way and be a pain in the butt.)
Elite: Death Company w/Jump Packs X 15, Chainsword X 12, Power Weapon X 7, Bolt Pistol X 8, Powerfist X 3 (The Toki unit)
Elite: Death Company w/Jump Packs X 15, Chainsword X 12, Power Weapon X 7, Bolt Pistol X 8, Powerfist X 3 (The Skwisgaar unit)
Using the List
Units on the Table
Flamer Death Company
Toki Death Company
3 Units of Intercessor
1 Helblaster Unit
Off the table
All the Characters and one unit of Death Company.
This hits right under 2000 pts and seems pretty dang rough to deal with if you don’t have Bubble Wrap, answers to murderous turkeys, and has decent counter assault. The big thing to remember if you do have the Wrap – is leave 6 inch gaps if you can between your layers. The rough ability to jump over, get involved, and hopefully tying as many things up as as you can will be important for this army. But the big question – is this type of army any good? I think so as it does a lot of what I like about the game right now. Tons of Board Control, fast movement, and the ability to punish incorrect deployments.
As this is just a straight Marine army it shouldn’t be too hard to get something like this together. The Dark Imperium gives you a good chunk of Primarius and then you just really need marines, jump packs, and the Sanguinor. Lemartes can be easily substituted with that cool Chaplain from BA and with some decent grinds through the discount marine lot that is Ebay I think you can easily put this together. Plus – the majority of the army is just black painted marines so heck it shouldn’t be too hard. This army feels like the World Eaters army but will have to wait for the future to come to get them.
Either way – be prepared to be hit by the Blood Angel freight train.
~ Do you think it can take on the game’s heavy hitters?
