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Hello fellow sons of Sanguinius, My plan for this topic is for it to develop into a database of information regarding our three troop choices, including what loadouts to equip them with and how to properly use them on the tabletop. Before that however, I will cover why troops are so essential to us as blood Angels players. Redundancy: Troops offer numbers where other units do not. Often times blood Angels armies can become very elite heavy and will often struggle to hold objectives, spreading themselves to thinly across the table. Troops such as scouts help balance this out for blood Angels players as they can deploy anywhere more than 9inches away from the enemies deployment zone - helping BA players start the game on an objective or in an advantageous position, while also not giving up too much if they are stopped dead in their tracks. Objective Secured: Another great reason to take troops. Objective secured is essential when it comes to objective based missions as so many times (In my personal experience anyway) it has won me games. Furthermore the new chapter approved missions rely so much of good board control I think Obsec is too good to pass up when you need to bunker down and sit on objectives for a few turns. Red Thirst: This is one of the aspects that make our troops better than normal Space marine troops. Being able to reliably wound T4 in combat on 3’s and T3 on 2’s is amazing (proving you charged or were charged anyway). It’s what makes intercessors actually rather scary with their two attacks base and the same goes for combat blade scouts squads. Command Points: This is the most important reason of why Blood Angels players need troops in my opinion, to fill the minimum requirements of detachments that give us the most amount of precious command points that we rely so heavily on. Descent of Angels, Honour the Chapter, Killshot, Death visions of sanguinius, forlorn Fury - just to name a few stratagems, are useless if we cannot afford them. Now that we have covered why I think it is essential blood Angels players use troops, I now would like to get into specifics, including loadouts and the correct play style of certain units. Scouts: The first unit here are humble scouts. At the lowest base price of 11pts per model, these guys offer the cheapest way of filling a battalion and in my opinion, they’re really good. Without looking at weapon options, any scout unit can infiltrate when they are deployed, allowing you to place them more than 9inches away from an enemy deployment zone. This allows them to camp an objective that is not in yours - which is super useful in itself. Furthermore, because they are placed before the game begins, they are able to act on turn 1 normally and can therefore move, shoot and charge, which makes certain weapon options more valid. Not only that, but even if you don’t go first and your opponent decides to shoot them off the board - then at least they’re not shooting at your other stuff. Loadouts I like: Barebones boltguns and Camo cloaks: I like these guys for one reason - objectives! These guys can safely infiltrate onto an objective and sit there all game if needed. Their boltguns give them solid midfield control and their camo cloaks help keep them safe while they camp it out. Combat blades and a special Pistol for the Sergeant: This loadout is my go to if I want a scout squad in my opponents face turn 1. The combat blades aren’t bad paired with the red Thirst and the pistol can help out once the scouts move in, or help clear models from a combat they might get stuck in. This squad is best used to deploy near a vehicle and if possible tie it up or a to take down a light screening unit. Loadouts I don’t like: Sniper rifles: I don’t like them. In my opinion they only pay off in number and even then they are expensive. I don’t bother with them most the time. I could maybe see the use for one squad with camo cloaks to camp an objective at the back of your deployment zone - but I still think I’d prefer to save the points and go with bolters. Loadouts I can’t speak for: I cannot speak for shotgun scouts as I have never fielded any. This is where you guys come in and I would be happy to hear your opinions of these guys. I could definitely see a squad of these guys coupled with an inferno pistol on the sergeant working well as an aggressive squad. Tactical squads: The traditional poster boys of the imperium. These superhuman warriors are unmatched by none (well kinda not anymore but still) I like these guys as well, but I only like them for specific roles that Intercessor Squads cannot do. For example, I like a unit in my deployment zone with a single cannon or a unit in a razorback with a special weapon or two. Which leads me onto the loadout section. Loadouts I like: Backfield lascannon support squad: Single lascannon and four bolters. Nothing fancy but it works. Get a few squad and sit them with a captain and they should do some work for you. Razorback backbone: Take a couple of razorbacks with a couple of tactical squads, throwing in a special weapon of your choice (Mine is either a melta or a plasma weapon of sorts) and you’re onto a good start to make the core of your force. In my opinion these are the best ways to run tac squads. The days of running a combi plasma and plasma gun to run as a mid field unit are gone I think - intercessors do it better, which is a good Segway into the last unit... Intercessors: These guys are the new dudes in town and they’re lean and mean. I think for blood Angels armies they are great and here is why. The favour a semi aggressive playstyle while also offering support as they push themselves up the board. The two wounds each, these guys help keep the core of your force strong while your elite units do the real work - not saying these guys can’t with their two attacks each coupled with the red thirst. I personally like taking 3 squads of these guys with a priest to help them punch other T4 troop equivalents on 2’s. I take bolt rifles on these guys, with a chai sword on the sergeant. I could also seeing auto bolt rifles working as well. Stalker bolt rifles are a whole different matter however and could only see them being used for a backfield unit to maybe replace sniper scouts (Offering the same save if in cover, ap-2, 2W, 2A, Higher LD for roughly 1 more melta bomb than Sniper rifle/camo cloak scouts. So that’s my opinion on our troops section. I’d love to hear your thoughts and the load outs that work/have worked for you!