Starting BA

[kharn_the_betrayer]

I have been looking at starting a Blood Angels force for some time now to the point where I actually had a copy of the old paper codex but other things just got in the way. That being said I've finished up a LOT of projects as of late and am looking to add Blood Angels to my list of armies. I know the ins and outs of the older books and ran a couple of test armies with them (when they were still legal). I am now looking at working with the IX Legion and now that my Word Bearers are finishing up I'm still not sick of painting red. I know its a different shade of red but its still red. I'm not going to codex jump for popularity or anything like that its more just me working on one project then another. I've been wanting a Blood Angels force and just am now getting around to it. Though there are a couple of quick questions I have:

 

1) Is there a prefrence either way toward Tacticals or Assault Marines? I'm trying to decide which to build up first

2)I know that Rhinos are especially important to a BA list but is foot slogging decent for a start?

3)How necessary are special Characters to the book? I'm not always a big fan of taking them and try not to.

4)How are the BA books by the BL? I just thought I'd read them for a little better idea of what I'm doing or are they not good?

 

 

I know I need to get the codex and read through it thoroughly I just need to go to the store (my local GW has odd hours) I just wanted to get the answers before I really got to work doing all my planning and possibly using AoBR stuff as a starting point. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

KtB

[Red Fury]

1) All assault squads all the time. It has become very difficult for me to find ANY room for a tactical squad at all.

2) Razorbacks trump rhinos here. For a measly number of points you get that heavy weapon upgrade, the 120 point assault squad in a razorback has effectively displaced tac squads.

3) Not necessary, not like before. For the most part they don't give huge buffs to the army like the old Dante/Corb bubble thing. Although there are still bubbles from priests (generic and Corbulo) to grant FC and FNP. However, Mephiston is a BEAST. and dante makes all Sang Guard squads scoring, Astorath increases the chance of red thirst and unlock the limits on the DC...

4) I have no idea, I've never read one. Apparently they named one after me though ;)

 

-Fury

[Andrew_Beck]

3) golden duo is guaranteed to bring down the most brutal enemy hq. beside that nice buff from sanquinor.

[Morticon]

1) Is there a prefrence either way toward Tacticals or Assault Marines? I'm trying to decide which to build up first

2)I know that Rhinos are especially important to a BA list but is foot slogging decent for a start?

3)How necessary are special Characters to the book? I'm not always a big fan of taking them and try not to.

4)How are the BA books by the BL? I just thought I'd read them for a little better idea of what I'm doing or are they not good?

 

1. The preference is largely one of personal tastes. RAS (regular assault squads) at certain levels without packs and in a discounted transport are very cost effective. However, Ive had great success with Tactical squads in my lists and hardly ever run without.

 

2. Id hate to say any one type of list is not decent, because a good player can make most things work. But without transports you are hurting yourself. You guys need to be mobile somehow. 5th ed is objective based, and you need to be able to get your guys to that point. Of course, this only relates to tactical squads. Assault squads can get by without transports.

 

3. I think for getting a feel of the dex like before they are not that necessary. They are fun and fluffy however. Theres no reason not to include a character like Seth or Tycho, that arent game breaking in any way. Even Dante in this edition honestly. Mephiston is a monster, though. However, a standard Libby or Reclusiarch is as strong a choice as anything else. Cheap and efficient.

 

4. Everyone that read them has told me theyre awful and do the BA a great injustice ><;

[voi shet magir]

The (or my) preference is for Death Company, duh. All the troops after them are secondary consideration.

 

Mech armies cost a lot of money. Mech assault squads as troops are background-lame: the whole point is that tacticals are always volunteering to replace assault squad casualties, but the reason they do that is that they like flying, not cramming themselves into a metal box. forget footslogging: jumping, always. More than half mechanized starts to get a little boring and netlisty.

 

Named characters are really the only "lord" choices, to use a fantasy metaphor, the generics are very useful, but they can't make a character-driven army. They are really good, but BA generics are the total opposite of the space wolf versions. I think without Astorath, the list can be just a fast, punchy marine list, and with him their character shows more.

 

Even people with bad taste think the BA novels are bad. Maybe there will be something nice in HH someday.

[Sanguinarian]

Welcome to BA! Each of your questions have been debated on their own but here's the Cliff Notes:

 

1) Tacticals need 10 to get bonus weapons 1 heavy &1 assault; Assault Squad gets a special for every 5, plus 2 base Attacks vs. 1 for Tacticals. So, depends what your battle plan is.

 

2) You need to protect your scoring units inside Rhinos or Razorbacks, which are Fast; or inside Land Raiders which BA have in abundance.

 

3) Special Characters are fun, but expensive.

 

4) I enjoyed the books. IMHO, many here hold BL writers, namely James Swallow to too high of a standard. It's all fiction, so even if the books don't exactly match the facts, you can still get the flavor. Take them with a grain of salt, they're for entertainment purposes only.

 

Get the Codex. There's a lot of fluff and interesting facts about the Flawed Ones.

[Brother Kovash]

So far, the only special character I'm looking to include is Mephiston. Dante looks great of course, especially with his no scatter descent rule, so I might consider him down the line.

 

As for the assault squads, I'm going for a mix of mech and jump squads. Two squads in transports, two bouncing all over the place. Should be interesting.

[kharn_the_betrayer]

Thanks for the replies. I'll be picking up the codex with any luck today. So I should forgoe tacticals? Sadly my exp with the pdf book is limited and I do admit I miss the super chappies of doom. I may be posting lists soon. I only ask about the books as I heard the ones Mr. Swallow wrote on the BA were dredge but I know his HH stuff was decent enough (just finished his short story in Tales). Any other input would be appreciated. Also how bad is it to go nuts with shiny units? I try not to but I like a lot of the new models.

[JamesI]

I'd recommend using the new models to get some other stuff. DC boxes are great for building assault squads, Sanguinary Guard boxes are great for building ICs.

 

Lets you use new models without having to take all the shiny units.

[toaae]

So I should forgoe tacticals?

 

No. While most will tell you that they are worthless or that Assault Squads are better in any situation, I disagree. My tactical squads have been the most important squads in my games. They are a support force; I do not expect them to win the game for me, nor do I use them that way. They offer close-range fire support for my assault elements, and long-range anti-tank. They aren't for everyone, but you should at least look into them. The most important thing to remember is that Tactical Squads are not competing against Assault Squads for a certain role. They both occupy the same Force Organization slot, yes, but they serve two different purposes (beyond scoring).