What are the best Blood Angel units?

[Son of Lorgar]

I was totally planning on playing chaos, but then my friend gave me the Blood Angel codex for free. So I guess I am fighting in the name of the emperor. :P

Anyways, I want to start planning out my army and was just curious to see what units people consider the best and what people would suggest I stay away from. I'm still going over the codex, so any other advice would be appreciated too. Thanks! :to:

[fivepointedstar]

if you're liking chaos you'll love C:BA lots, and lots of options to take, and surely not enough force org points to go around. depends on you style of play, but with black rage, and the red thirst be prepared for CQB

[NExOBLIVISCARIS]

you can never go wrong with a regular assault squads (which are troops) i never realy see a list without a priest. apparently mephestion is a beast that gets hurt not very often and when he does its from himself(plasma pistol and psikic tests) every rino based vehical is a fast type so you can move 12" and still fire all weapons. baal predetors are great against hoards to. hope this kind of helps

[mustardParty]

BA have lots of fun toys, but we pay through the nose for them. This ends up making BA kind of a finesse army, IMHO. I've found that a lot of our sexiest stuff never gets a chance to perform to its potential - not because it preformed badly, but because their very presence on the battle field altered the way my opponent played their game in order not to get engaged with my killer units. This has its own value that can't be quantified on a points basis.

 

2 Things scare my regular SW opponent most, the extremely deadly Furioso Dread, and my Vanguard Veterans. Lots of time the Furioso isn't engaged until turn 4, but only because my opponent has completely altered his play to avoid being taken apart by it.

 

The Furioso has front AV13 - most stuff has an extremely hard time with it once it's in close combat - and with 2 blood talons (dreadnought lightning claws) every unsaved wound it makes becomes another attack you get to make right away! This can kill a whole squad of MEQ by itself!

 

And my Vanguard - I just love this unit. Any Blood Angel with a jump pack benefits from Decent of Angels, so this unit can reliably be on the ground by turn 2 or 3 every time, AND scatters 1d6 less - which makes Heroic Intervention extremely reliable on the turn that it deep strikes in. Extremely deadly! Excellent way to assassinate that troublesome Long Fang unit right off the bat.

[BigBaals]

Regular assault squads, priests, vanguard vets, librarian. Those are my tier 1 game choices and winners, with auto cannon/lascannon preads as a valued addition to take on long ranged anti tank and monstrous creature duty.

[KhorneHunter57x]

Flamestorm Baal Predators can be pretty evil when used right. The combination of Scouts and the Flamestorm on a Fast vehicle can be pretty effective. That said, they are not as good against tanks, so you would need some AT firepower.

 

Also, as others have said, Assault Squads (especially with Priests), Librarians, and Furioso Dreadnoughts.

 

I don't think that there are really any units to avoid using, so I think that your choices should really come down to personal taste.

[Ranwulf]

In my opinion? Best Special Character?

 

Mephiston. He is a beast in CC, pretty much destroy any 'box" he wants. I ALWAYS use him. I like him too much(besides he is the Chapter Master Rules of my Chapter Blood Knight).

 

Elite: Dreads. Use them, love them. Libby Dread are usually my favorite, and they are quite powerful.

 

Sanguinary Priest. Never seen a list without them. Too good to let it go.

 

Troops: Assault Squad. Use with a Sanguinary Priest for Maximum effect! (I use them with a Rhino).

 

Death Company. I LOVE THESE GUYS! With a Reclusiarch they are the worst ENEMY EVER.

 

Death Company Dread. SOOOOO GOOOODDDD, well, for CC anyway. Be sure to get a pair of Blood Talons.

 

Fast Attack: Baal Predators: Use it and LOVE IT!

 

Heavy: Either Fast Vindicator or Autocannon/Sponsoons Lascannons Predator.

 

Ran

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I play a pure jump infantry army so taking that into consideration here are the units I like best:

 

HQ - Dante*, The Sanguinor

Elites - Sanguinary Priest, Chaplain, Furioso dreadnaught (Blood Talons)

Troops - Sanguinary Guard*, Assault squad

Heavy Support - Stormraven

Fast Attack - Vanguard Veterans

 

There are plenty of other great choices but those above are what have worked best for me so far.

 

0b

[JamesI]

So far, my favorite Special character is Astorath (I'll be honest though and admit so far the only special characters I have used are Astorath in normal play and Mephiston and Lemartes in one Apoc game).

 

Assault Squads are in my opinion the best troops choice. Jump packs or cheap transports, 2 meltaguns.

 

I like Vanguard, though its easy to make them too expensive (same with Honor Guard).

 

Vindicators are my favorite tank in the new codex.

 

And of course, the Sanguinary Priest.

[Sorien]

Regular assault squads are very, very good when backed up by a priest. Almost too good actually, considering the availability of special weapons and cheap optional transports.

 

Blood talons are, well, IMO, over powered. I run 2 dreads in pods (one furioso, one DC) and they are the workhorses of my games. They are really good at dealing with the units your RAS can not.

 

Honor guards are good because they give you a priest that can't be picked out in close combat.

 

Any fast vehicle is good, giving you mobility and firepower at once. Moving 6-12" could mean the difference between a front and side armor shot.

 

Basically there isn't anything *bad* in the BA codex. You probably won't see too many Sternguard or captains being played in BA armies, but that just means there are better use of points elsewhere.