The Blood Angels B&C Forum and Resources Links

OwlandMoonGuy · April 1, 2006

Welcome to the BA forum!

This corner of the B&C is dedicated to Codex: Blood Angles and thereby the Blood Angels Space Marine Chapter and its successors. Contained herein are the collected thoughts of a great many good BA players, so hopefully you'll find it both useful and interesting. So whether you are an avid fan or just curious about the Astartes’ blood red Chapter please feel welcome. The forum holds useful resources for inductee & veteran alike.

If you can't find what you're looking for, always remember; Searchy is your friend! If your topic of interest isn’t at first apparent give the search function a try before starting new threads.

Before you begin posting, please read and be aware of the Rules of the B&C, all of which apply here.

Posts appropriate for this forum include:
- BA army list reviews; i.e. based on Codex: Blood Angels
- Questions & clarifications of BA related rule interpretations
- BA Painting, Converting & Artwork
- BA Battle Reports
- BA Fluff & Fiction
- BA Rumors
I think you get the idea.

Why play Blood Angels?

This question is more than a little subjective. In any regard, here's the best answer that has ever graced this forum. Learn it all by heart, ask questions later..^_^

The Blood Angels have, without a doubt, the very best Chapter fluff in the Imperium. We aren't all lame and disgusted with our bodies to the point of hacking bits off to be replaced by cybernetics, nor are we all goody-goody blue funboys with no real fluff short of, "Uhhhh... we got our asses handed to us by the 'nids." We aren't scouring the galaxy, searching for our brothers who turned to the dark side and might out us while living in a floating rock because we blew our own homeworld up. We aren't self flagellators in yellow armor, we aren't all albino with schtoopid mutant weirdos, we don't have lame claws growing out of our forearms, and we do not enjoy chowing down on a steaming bowl of dog food just before licking our balls and rolling over for a nap.
We are among the oldest lived space marines. We are possibly the only ones who appreciate, and create art. We have a true hero Primarch that died in the service of the Emperor. Our Primarch didn't have canines, he didn't have pallid skin, or one freaky eye; he had wings! He had precognition without dabbling in the chaos arts. The Blood Angels are proud, yet not self-important. They fight as well as any marine, yet at the same time hold themselves back to keep from falling into the abyss of the Rage. I could go on, but I'd be speaking to the converted...

The popularity of marine armies waxes and wanes as GW focuses their baleful eye on each one. While our rules may suffer in light of the current armies, there will always be a core cadre of players who play them because they are just so dang bitchen' regardless of the rules.

Oh, I almost forgot... the Blood Angels are red. Not some fairy lame color like blue or yellow. Not presumptuous goth black, or goth-lite gray. Not green (I mean, green?) or white (coming up with a primary color was too difficult for them). They are red; the color of blood, violence, and Taiwanese hooker lipstick. In other words, the color of why it's good to be a marine!

-Soular; 01/25/2005

Blood Angels basics

Links to various online resources concerning the BA.

- GW Blood Angels page With the redesign to the GW website, all the BA units for order and articles should be linked to that page.
- Blood Angels: Index Astartes
- Official GW FAQs

Painting Blood Angels
The following are tutorial posts dedicated to painting various aspects of BA armies.
* BA Codex Colors - Brother Jazzman
* Lucumon's Black - Lucumon, and his Tutorial
* Rhino markings-Excellent Rhino Markings from Epic.

Blood Angels in 5th Edition

The newest BA Codex was published in April 2010, There is a seperate FAQ thread dealing with it here.

Successor and DIY Chapters

There are a number of known Successor Chapters, from the Second Founding, based on Sanguinius' geneseed:

* Angels Encarmine,
* Angels Sanguine,
* Angels Vermilion,
* Blood Drinkers,
* Flesh Eaters,
* Flesh Tearers.
* Lamenters

Q:So, can I make up my own Blood Angels successor Chapter?
A:The short answer is yes, you can make a Blood Angels successor. There are, however, special considerations that you should take note of when creating a new BA successor. First is the need to include the known genetic flaws within Sanguinius' geneseed: namely, incorporating the Black Rage and Red Thirst, and the need to include some variation on the Death Company.

A number of B&C members have taken the skeletal information available from C:BA concerning some of the Second Founding chapters, and developed them into fully-fledged Marine forces:

* Index Astartes: Iron Willed Angels, the Angels Sanguine Space Marine Chapter - OMG
* Index Astartes: Blood Drinkers Part I and Part II - Jux2p0ze
* The Flesh Eaters - Chaplain Desmodus' masterpiece.

With the publication of the latest Codex, the Flesh Tearers became a fully supported success with specific rules for Seth, their Chapter Master. These were derived from an earlier set of rules that appeared in the publication, Index Astartes I, pg 48.

Q: Are Flesh Tearers rules still legal in 5th edition?
A: The rules are out of date, and will not be allowed in tournaments, but in friendly games they may still be accepted.

"The Blood Angels' Successor Chapters were created before discovery of the Blood Angels' flaw... doubtless there are many in dark and far-flung corners of the galaxy, each trying to battle the legacy that is the Red Thirst.''

This quote has been used by most to suggest that the High Lords of Terra stopped using Blood Angels gene-seed once the effects of the Red Thirst were recognized. Since the fluff is not specific as to when the flaw was discovered, it has been suggested that BA successors should generally derive from early foundings, with between the 3rd ~ 10th Foundings as a basic guideline. (The 2nd Founding Chapters have been provided in Codex: Blood Angels and are listed above).

It is known that during the 21st Founding, experimentation was conducted upon the Lamenters, who are Blood Angels successors. It can be assumed that similar experiments may have happened during the 13th Founding.

What do I have to take into account when making a BA successor?
In the headings that follow, the differentiating qualities that define Blood Angel Chapters are provided. To some extent, fluff for a BA successor should include or account for these specific attributes.

Genetic Differences between Blood Angels and other Marines
As stated above, the primary issue related to the line is 'the flaw', sometimes synonymously called the 'Red Thirst', and its most typical manifestation, the 'Black Rage'. The presence of the flaw creates the psycho/spiritual tendency for BA marines to become overwhelmed with visions of their Primarch’s historic death. Every BA marine must exercise extreme discipline throughout their lives to inhibit its degenerative effects. Despite their best efforts, for many BA marines the Flaw ultimately leads them to progressive stages of hallucinogenic incoherence and ultimately madness.

The Black Rage is used to describe the BA’s tendency to ?lose control? in the heat of combat. Those that ?succumb? to the Rage but are still capable of fighting are organized into Death Company formations where they can honorably serve their last for God-Emperor, beloved Primarch and Chapter (Index Astartes II, pg. 33). If they do not find death on the battlefield, their fate is even more tragic still. Read the full description in Codex: Angels of Death, pgs. 19-21.

Another related condition is the BA’s reported tendency toward vampirism. In Codex: Angels of Death, pg. 19, the lust to drink blood is specifically called, The Red Thirst. Like true vampires, the lust to regularly consume blood is hinted at being insatiable, even when there’s no ready enemy to serve as victims.

There are still other genetic differences as well. Blood Angels enjoy longevity well beyond their fellow marines. Dante, the most famous of the BA Chapter Masters is reputed to have lived over 1,100 years (Index Astartes II, pg. 37). Also of note, the process by which new marines are genetically altered from their host inductees is much shorter than a typical marine. The reuse of altered blood, taken from the Sanguinary High Priesthood, accelerates the formation process to little more than a year ? a full third less than the typical three-year period required of a more typical marine transformation (Index Astartes II, pg 33).

BA Chapter Organization
At the player’s option, a DIY based on the Sanguine geneseed can also employ the basic differences exhibited in the BA Chapter organization. The following is a summary of these differences (See Index Astartes II; pg. 35-36 and Codex: Angels of Death pg. 49). Note: Being assigned to any kind of assault unit is considered an honour for BA marines no matter where they serve in the organizational structure.

BA Chapters include Veteran Assault troops as part of their 1st Company makeup. (Though with the changes in 5th edition Codex Space Marines and Codex Blood Angels, many chapters have Vanguard Veterans and Blood Angels also have Sternguard Veterans, though the number of Vanguard units always exceeds Sternguard units)

The entire 8th Company is dedicated to Assault troops.

10th Company Scout Units are not necessarily all newly inducted marines. Blood Angels Scouts are taken from the most fiery individuals in the Chapter: battle-eager warriors who hunger for close combat. (Codex: Blood Angels, pg. 3). It's therefore not unknown for BA marines to live out their entire career serving as Scouts.

As noted above, the Death Company adds an additional formation to the Chapter that's not accounted for in the other company distinctions (it very literally is an 11th, Death Company).

Relation to the Imperium, other marine Chapters and the Inquisition
Chapters from the seed of Sanguinius tend to be viewed with suspicion by the rest of the Imperium. The general citizenry fear rumors of the armored vampires that may fall upon them in the night, lusting for their next meal. Other marine Chapters view their uncontrollable rage as reckless and tactically questionable. The Inquisition, both the Ordo Hereticus and Ordo Malleus, are always quick to consider the potential for taint within the Sanguine seed; mutation from their winged primarch and warp-taint from their Khorne-like lust for blood.

Such factors make the BA a reclusive lot but from what they suffer from their suspicious nature they more than make up for in their battle prowess.

Nevertheless, it is clear to any who study the martial records of the Blood Angels that they enforce the Emperor’s will with a fervor and zeal that equals or exceeds that of any other Chapter.

The most notable instance was during the wars of Armageddon, Dante being appointed as head over the joint forces for his, “legendary leadership” (Codex: Armageddon, pg. 3).

Morticon · November 17, 2010

THE BLOOD ANGEL RESOURCE THREAD

Thank you to all the Frater that have helped find or source links to various resources.
You can add to our growing resource thread by commenting in this thread -> index.php?showtopic=218378&st=25&start=25