Who is this Dante they speak of?

[Freman Bloodglaive]

Played a game against a very small Blood Angel army at the local store.

 

I took:

Rune Priest: tempest's wrath, murderous hurricane

Wolf Priest: jump pack

10 Grey Hunters, 2 plasma, plasma pistol, power fist

10 Grey Hunters, 2 melta, plasma pistol, power fist

10 Skyclaws, flamer, power fist

6 Long Fangs, 3 missile launchers, 2 lascannon

 

He took:

Dante

Gabriel Seth

5 Sanguinary Guard, power fist

5 Assault Marines, power weapon

10 Tactical Marines, power weapon, meltagun, plasma cannon split into combat squads.

 

Playing on a 4' by 4' board.

 

He spreads across the board, I deploy in a tight little group on my right hand.

 

Start of game: Dante curses my Wolf Priest, and I curse Matt Ward in my head. It turns out good for me later. His assault squad and long range combat squad succumb to the blood rage.

 

First turn (he gives me first turn): I advance from the corner, but not that far. I cast tempest's wrath. My Long Fangs target his ranged combat squad and in a singular failure to hit, kill one.

 

He advances, Dante and the Sanguinary Guard swing wide, while Seth and the short range combat squad, along with the assault squad advance up the centre, but hide behind a building. Tempest's Wrath kills one Sanguinary Guard. His plasma cannon targets my Fangs, hits three, and then fails to wound.

 

Second turn. I hold my ground now. Tempest's Wrath goes off again and again my Fangs target his ranged squad. This time they kill two. Being fearless they don't care.

 

This time he moves towards me with Dante et al. Another Sanguinary Guard gets caught in the tempest, perhaps it's those big wings they wear? Seth and his squad step out of cover, ready to make a heroic advance. Plasma cannon targets Fangs, this time the Pack Leader and a missile launcher die.

 

Third turn. Plasma hunters advance towards Seth. Wolf Priest and Skyclaws leap towards Dante and his Guard. Rune Priest attempts to cast Tempest again, but some Warp entity attacks him. The Hunters blaze away at Seth's squad and whittle it down. A flamer, some bolt pistols, and the Long Fangs shoot the Guard and reduce them by one... oh well.

With a howl the Skyclaws throw themselves at Dante and his squad. Dante swings his mighty axe... once, twice, thrice... and one Skyclaw crumples to the ground... I'm sure Dante mutters something about getting the batteries checked.

With 31 attacks (with re-rolls) the young cubs beat on Dante and his Guard, and despite their ancient and revered armour Dante is wounded twice, and the standard bearer falls. The Guard with the power fist prepares to strike, but before he can my Wolf Priest (who really deserves a name of his own) strikes at initiative 3. Even with only three attacks charging he manages to inflict a wound that takes out the last Sanguinary Guard before he can strike.

With a howled curse the power fist wielding Skyclaw plunges his clawed hand into Dante's chest and rips out his twin hearts.

 

Fourth turn. Seth and his squad charge the plasma hunters, and in an example of tremendous bravery they fail their counter-attack roll. However, Seth's weakness against power armour shows and no one is killed by his massive chopper. The sergeant compensates though, cutting down four Wolves as the veteran warriors pull down two Blood Angels. Despite their losses, and perhaps embarrassed by their previous weakness, they hold their ground.

 

The Rune Priest falls back from his squad, heading towards the Long Fangs as the melta hunters prepare for melee. The Fangs themselves finally destroy the remaining tactical marines. The hunters charge Seth and Co. and take down the rest of his support squad despite losing one man to Seth's whirlwind of death™ and another two to his sergeant. Seth himself suffers the same fate as Dante, as flesh and blood are ripped apart by a power fist.

 

The Rune Priest surveys the battle from his vantage point with the Fangs, admiring the spattering of red gore that matches the armour plates strewn around. He nods sagely.

 

"That's how we roll."

 

My opponent acknowledged his army was a bit small, but because he's working on a Fantasy army he hasn't had the time or money to make it larger. Still, it was a fun little game.

[Grimtooth]

His list was horrid. Not because the amount of models, but running such high point characters.

 

Great list of your own that shows mass troops supported by smart and effective hq choices can smoke a gimmick list.

[Freman Bloodglaive]

Thanks, that's pretty much my standard 1000 point army now. At the store we play on the small table, so I don't need Rhino mobility. Jump packs allow me to get there "fastest with the mostest" when need be.

 

If I were taking a Blood Angel army I'd probably stick to the single librarian plus lots of (jump) infantry list. Really, given that librarians have the ability to buy a jump pack, Wings of Sanguinus is good for only two units. Librarian Dreadnoughts and Mephiston.