Combat Doctorine

[Lord Dacius]

So reading through as much background information as I can find on the 'net and in books, I am hard pressed to see the difference in fighting style between companies 3-10, and any other codex chapter? This is in no way meant to be an insult to the hallowed Angels of Caliban, but I do seek guidance on how to make a Dark Angel greenwing, not a Green C:SM army. Is this to be done with the various fearless bubbles that we can create (sacred standards, the book of salvation and what not) or by taking as much plasma as you can (which I still don't understand the fetish for plasma, did the DA save the forgeworld Ryza i think it was that had the best plasma tech a some point?)

 

Or is the true way to make a unique Dark Angels battle company to include elements from the Ravenwing and Deathwing? The Dark Angels for some reason always make me think of a more ranged army, sit back and shoot them and move, rather than our Wolf and Vampire inclined brothers. Is this a mistake on my part or am I on the right path?

[Bringer of Redemption]

Fearless bubbles are useful, but they come at a cost, so while I wouldn't rule them out, I would consider carefully weather you want them or not. (i.e. Could you spend the points you dumped into the command squad for the banner on making your troops more durable?) What is more useful is the rights of battle rule--while it's not perfect, it's a solid approximation of fearless without the drawbacks--not taking wounds in combat if you loose--and with it, you can count on your troops not to break. It's not that it's impossible for them to have to fall back or fail leadership, it's just difficult, as there are only three ways the dice can come up that negate our LD 10 without modifiers.

 

As for plasma, it's good in places, and there is probably nothing quite as effective against some of the higher toughness nasties out there (wonderful for killing hive tyrants--if you live long enough to get in their face with it), but it too has drawbacks. Namely, rolling ones and then failing saves. As for the whole plasma thing, the last explanation I saw that fit the fluff was that as the First Legion, we have access to the older tech that the rest of the imperium no longer knows how to mass produce.

 

Finally, while I have a great deal of respect for those who attempt to play only with elements from companies 3-10, I would say that that is far from the best way to play the DA. In short, other chapters can do it cheaper (weather or not they can do it better is the subject of various threads here on the B&C, and I don't want to get into that here). On the other hand, if you don't want to use pure Deathwing or Ravenwing, or some combination thereof, using some of those units in a list that has it's core in the battle companies adds a unique flavor to the list, as they have abilities that balance out some of the shortcomings in the Greenwing, and they are also distinct from the similar unit types other chapters can field.

 

--BoR

[JeffJedi]

Well fluffwise we do have Company Vets in our 3-5 companys, even though they are not much different in the game. Maybe they should be 0-2 Troops choice instead of elites.

 

This would give us a better than average Tac Squad with access to more equipment, but keep us from being pure codex by not having Sternguard and Vanguard units. And if a Company Master was a required HQ choice to unlock the unit as a troops choice it would be perfect.