Most common BA builds

[bushman101]

I'm wondering what the common BA builds people are using or seeing.

I'm not asking about specific lists, but about concepts or themes.

Mostly I'm wondering what other BA players are doing for lists. I've played a few BA players, but they were just using the models they had, as opposed to what they wanted to play. Comparing notes will help me break any bad habits I've picked up.

 

I hear about Mech lists, Jump Pack lists, Razor Spam and balanced/'All comers' , but any others?

 

 

Thanks

[skawolf]

I am considering a raiderspam list with a storm raven w/ homing beacon to drop in my DC raider.

[Redfinger]

I'm wondering what the common BA builds people are using or seeing.

I'm not asking about specific lists, but about concepts or themes.

Mostly I'm wondering what other BA players are doing for lists. I've played a few BA players, but they were just using the models they had, as opposed to what they wanted to play. Comparing notes will help me break any bad habits I've picked up.

 

I hear about Mech lists, Jump Pack lists, Razor Spam and balanced/'All comers' , but any others?

 

 

Thanks

 

 

Those are about the basic ones as far as I know, mech, jump, razorspam, as far as a list being a balanced or "all comer list" it is very easy within all of those types to build balanced lists, all jumper lists being the weakest of those becuase of DOA limiting what options you can take.

 

Personally I try and build my lists as balanced as possible, maximizing strengths and minimizing weaknesses. There are of course time I run stuff for fun, but the LHS here throws monthly tournaments and I have had the best success w/ balanced lists.

 

Additionaly, I think that BA as an army realy benifits from a balanced and synergistic approach. So much of what we have can be made much more effective by making synergies. I think when you approach a list from that perspective, you end up having a nice, effective and capable list. I am new to 40k and I know nothing about editions 1-4, but I would suppose that in those additions "tableing" an opponent was a viable option, I dont see that happening so much, at least where I play, that is unless there were some gross tactical errors or poor list building going on. That being said it seems to me, he who can handle the most variables, has the best chance of winning.

 

Ashton

[Black Memories]

I agree with Red. Also don't mistake his saying "balanced list" means any of those lists don't fit that description, nearly every list type you have up there is able to handle a lot of other armies.

 

For example, just comparing BA armies with each other, I run a heavy assault mech list. This means usually a LRC and assault terminators, pred. Annihilators, Baals, vindi's, etc. I tend to do very well against razorspam lists, but theoretically my list would match up poorly against a pure jump troop armies, just due to numbers alone (and the fact that BA assault squads are some of the best troops in the game). That isn't to say the list I run is unbalanced, It's actually very balanced. Some lists are just going to be skewed to be better against certain enemies, there's no real way around that.

 

I also would stress that a balanced list is best, especially with an army like BA, because we have a tendency to be able to make a certain part of our army ineffectively-redundant, as opposed to statistically redundant to fight back against Murphy's law. I feel like BA armies often get into a trap where they have too much assault and not enough firepower, or too much firepower and not enough assault, or too much close range firepower and not enough long range firepower, etc. Just from my personal experience I've found that running a balanced BA force against any force seems to be stronger, and frankly makes you a better general. Basically what I'm getting at is Blood Angels seem to be one of the few armies where you don't have to spam units to be effective (not that spam is ineffective). I almost never have the same unit twice on a single list (even at higher point value games) because of the versatility of the army and its options.

 

As far as concepts, the list setups I personally excel at are heavy mech lists. My concept behind it is long range light tank/transport popping firepower combined with anti-troop firepower (Baals, LRC, Vindi, etc). Solid troop choices, I'm a huge fan of a full, combat-squaded tactical squad in a lazorback, and an assault squad with 2 meltas. The centerpiece of my army is usually the troop transport, either an LRC or a Stormraven filling with either the deathcompany/lemartes (stormraven) or a lib, sang priest, and assault terminators (LRC) that is the mobile firepower bunker that makes the opponent have a serious decision as to what his game plan is going to be. They can either fire everything they have at it, which sometimes works but more often doesn't, or they can avoid it entirely and I make them pay for it. Bringing the stormraven almost guarantees they will shoot at it because if they don't drop it in turn 1, they're getting assaulted in turn 2. Also with all the mobile cover, Mephiston is a terror for opponents in mech armies because they can't shoot him until he's on top of them. That's how I tend to run my armies anyways (I have a lot of points so I've run a bunch of lists, but that's my tournament-model concept at any rate).

[shatter]

There's kinda a few list variants based around all veterans (and 1+ chalice). They're not particularly favored on the interwebs though.

 

eg

 

Dante & priests

x sanguard (as troops because of dante)

 

Dante

HG/termies/VV/sternies

2+ sanguard (as troops because of dante)

 

'Gunlines'... whether mech' based or infantry (Plasma & priests for FnP).

Although as most rhino chassis vehicles are fast, and baal scouting means they behave very differently to vanilla marines in that one can retreat and fire all weapons whereas an opposing vanilla force can advance and fire half or worse. Stormravens, while having maybe too many rules (and therefore cost) can have pretty impressive shoot phases.

 

DC only builds. Lemartes is a beast!

(no scoring models, so one must table opponent on some games or draw or worse)

multiple DC squads with Astaroth (& stormravens, with or without dreadnoughts on the 'ravens.)

 

1 20-25 DC unit with 4-5 DC dreads and an HQ*

 

*My next army development will be along these lines except with meph & tycho and go the 'monstrous creature' type route

[HERO]

Still using the same 3/3 build from forever ago:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...howtopic=194257

 

A lot of people run the 3/3 with AC/LC Preds. At 2k, I run 3 squads of 10x ASM, 2 SPs on JP, Mephiston (or 2x Librarians) and the 3/3 config.

 

Baals offer great anti-infantry, AC/LC Preds are great at taking out armor and the rest is just beastly!

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

As a simple metric I think DoA and razorspam are the two most popular lists for competitive gamers. There are all kinds of lists you can build that are both fun and competitive to play.

 

0b :lol:

[Ozybonza]

Some more obscure lists:

 

Blood rodeo - bikes, attack bikes, priests on bikes and with JPs, JP assault squads

 

Drop podding assault squad lists, due to the free drop pod. Something along the lines of 6 x 5 man w/fist and melta or flamer, drop pod. Furiosos in pods also.... can mix it up withy some death company.

 

I've seen a few lists around based around Stormravens, but I don't expect these to be popular until they release a model for it.

[SamaNagol]

Oh yes.... Death Company armies are the most fun you can have with dice and a tape measure.

[Brother-Captain Devlonir]

I agree with most things posted here, BA does both spam and more balanced lists very good. Synergy is key here though and the synergy in our army comes from a few things:

 

- Cheap transports on RAS allows us to spam those

- With Jump Packs and Fast Vehicles being the norm, your entire army can move together even if you go balanced over specialized/spammy

- Scouting Baals combine well with a DoA list

- Our best IC always add something to either the squad they join, or in a 'bubble' (Sang Priest, Chaplain and Librarian)

- The bait-and-counter charge is a wonderful tool of the BA

 

My personal favorite is the balanced list, but that is mostly because when I beat someone at my LGS with it, they can't easilly specialize their army to beat mine the next game as another part of my list will then be too deadly for them ;)

I also feel we do great in what I like to call: functional redundancy without spamming. Many armies create redundancy or target saturation by spamming some deadly things. But in the BA, one unit can easilly be replaced by another, similar unit. So target saturation comes from a different source.. Example:

 

A Sang Guard, a Death Company and an Assault Squad all come roaring towards the enemy. Each does the exact same thing to the enemy once they hit them, but each does it slightly different and has their own specializations and weaknesses. Your enemy needs to choose exactly which to get the charge on himself, which to shoot and avoid and which to sacrifice his own units to. Many less experienced generals will often want to do everything they can to avoid the really hard hitting DC, but will not focus enough on the also hard hitting Assault Squad. Or they will fire all their AP2 weapons at the Sang Guard and not at the Death Company who are also normal marines without FNP when shot at with those kinds of weapons.

 

They are 3 different units, 3 different specialities, but your enemy has to take into account the same things: 3+ save, Feel No Pain and Furious Charge. As well as having nearly zero change to avoid all of them. When you go 4 RAS in Razorbacks the choice is a lot more simple: First anti vehicle to pop them, then anti troop vs the content. The balanced BA list is a different kind of spamming, and I love making builds to synergize like that.

[gustmic]

I would like to clarify some of the names that everyone seem to use.

 

The 'themes' that people use such as Mech lists, Jump Pack lists, Razor Spam and balanced/'All comers' should really be divided into:

 

- Mech

- Hybrid

- Foot

 

An "all-comers" list means that you have looked at your list and built it to meet most of the threats you will face from other codices, no matter if you go mech, hybrid, or foot.

 

For an all-jumper list (a "foot" list), you may include librarians with Blood Lance for the need of anti-psyker ability and anti-"parking lot" ability (commonly used by Mech).

Further, you may include lots of meltaguns as antitank and then charge the contents of the enemy transports with your fairly strong (when in numbers) assault marines.

Vanguard Veterans are included in the list so as to remove bubble-wrap units so that other elements of your army can charge on turn 3.

You may use mass-ML spam from Devastators to get some long-range shooting, but then you are not an "all-jumper" anymore, technically.

Finally, you may include Honour Guards what take up to four meltaguns to fry any real hard vehicles that you absolutely need to take care of from the beginning, e.g. Land Raider.

 

Well, I just wanted to straighten out some things so that we are naming things as they should be named.

 

/gustmic

 

Visit my WIP all-jump pack army (2000pts)

[bushman101]

thanks for the replies. sorry I haven't replied in a while, life is crazy at the moment.

 

Is anyone really using the Blood Rodeo? I've seen the list, but it uses all the elements that BA isn't known for (ie: Bikes and Terminators). Anyone having success with this list?

 

I forgot about a complete DC build. I think my head is still back in the past where DC were free and in limited numbers.

 

Any other list types out there?