Tactical advice.

[shortysl]

Ok, so this week i have a battle coming up against my friend's Flesh Tearers. It's been a long time since i used my Dark Angels and i'm a big advocate of the 'make the enemy react to your plan, don't react to theirs' school of thinking. However, i'm having a bit of trouble developing a plan to combat an army like the Flesh Tearers to begin with. I know they are extremely mobile and exceptional in combat (duh) but they're not lacking in the ranged combat department either. While perusing the Dark Angel codex, i noticed that we lack any unique units that distinguish us from the Blood Angels. While we have the Deathwing and Ravenwing, other Chapters now have units that are very similar. My plan currently revolves around establishing a firm firebase and causing enough casualties early on so i will be able to handle the inevitable assaults (similar manner to fighting orks). I have units that can take the fight to the enemy but i believe this to be very dangerous against an army that is so inherently deadly in combat. If any of my brothers on this forum have got experience in fighting the Blood Angels successfully, i would appreciate any advice or tactics that come my way.

[LardO'Blood]

Do you have any idea of what he will play?

What do his lists normally look like?

[skink]

I'm also very interested in tactics against BA; a friend is starting to play them again. He'll be running jet pack and melta heavy and tank light lists, with not a huge amount of long range fire power.

 

shortysl, is this similar to what you're expecting? I doubt I'll be coming up against Seth though...

[Decoy]

BA move fast and hard, and in combat, they're beasts, hands down. To put it bluntly, you won't survive a protracted combat with them, so don't even try unless you're certain you'll win.

 

They rely on their speed, their Feel No Pain, and their Furious Charge bubbles to keep 'em alive. Use that to your advantage; Shoot them with AP2. Plasma Cannons are always good against any MEq, and there is no difference for the BA in this regard.

 

Might I suggest running Ravenwing, if you can? I don't know what type of force you're using, but the one thing BA -can't- cope with is their inability to beat anything faster/more maneuverable than them. Scoot around, turboboost, take shots when you can while staying out of 18 inch range. You won't inflict any immediately crippling attacks, but you'll whittle him down. Moreover, if he does catch a unit of bikers, the BA Furious Charge will be negated by the T5 of the bikes. Furthermore, when supplemented by a Termie squad or two, you could conceivably kite away part of his army to be ambushed by terminators. Failing that, the Terminators could set up a "No-Fly Zone", because of pure ranged firepower. By the end of it, all you have to do is outlast him, as opposed to delivering a hammerblow for the win.

[shortysl]

My army list runs as follows:

 

Belial with SB/PW (only conversion i've made so far)

Int Chaplain with TDA, SB/PW

 

Deathwing Fire Team with CML and CF

Deathwing Assault Team with Standard and Apothecary

2x Tac Squads with PW and Meltagun (Rhinos for both)

 

Dread with TLLC/ML

Dread with MM/PF and Drop Pod

Dread with AC/PF

 

6 man Ravenwing Attack Squadron with PF, Meltagun and Flamer, plus Attack Bike with Multi-Melta.

 

He will be running a lot of Death Company, Sanguinary Guard, Vanguard Vets, Assault Squads. Probably Lemartes and Mephiston plus whatever goodies he fancies at the time. He knows his army's strengths and he's very good at playing to them.

[Decoy]

If anything, I'd suggest breaking that RW squad into two squads of three. Let's face it, if they get caught, they're going to die. May as well minimize the loss.

 

Your Dreads are beneficial, but depending on whether or not he uses DoA, the one in the Pod might be useless. Just don't get him dropped amid the enemy all by his lonesome, and he should be able to wreak some havoc.

 

However, for now, I defer you to your fellow DA folk, as they might be more knowledgeable. (That, and I have to go pick up my lady.) Good luck!

[Brom MKIV]

While at first glance BAs look superior, they actually have some weaknesses that can be exploited. BAs have several viable builds, but usually like to focus on their primary strengths; namely DoA or medium armour spam, i.e. lots of AV13 preds and dreads. DoA have a noticeable lack of small arms firepower, relying on closing with the enemy. Dont expect to beat their combat specialist units in CC, rather keep your distance until youve reduced his squads to manageable sizes as you should be able to outshoot this type of list. VV and DoA in general can be annoying but as stated earlier you can creat "no fly zones" allowing you to predict his placement. Conversely the medium armour spam lists can pack a scary amount of anti-infantry firepower, as well as quite a bit of CC punch via dreads. Against both types of lists Missiles are going to be very effective, bypassing their FNP bubbles and power armour alltogether as well as providing long range AT, preferably on fast platforms allowing for easier shots at side armour. I have also had very good success against BAs with min sized RAS squads with 2 MGs + MMAB. Make sure your squads have PF/CFs or THs as you dont want to get into protracted combats with their dreads. Not much time to think this out as im at work, hope it helped.

[skink]

These were my thoughts Brom; castle up (as I shouldn't be dominated by templates) and shoot his squads to bits with loads of double toughness/AP2 and better. Within the games I've watched, it seems fairly easy to put wounds on, but then the FNP simply shrugs them off.

 

For the most part, I'm expecting squads of 5 men, so I figure if I can get them down to 3 or less by the time they reach me, they'll just bounce of my wall of (hopefully pretty much intact!) Terminators. What about speed bumps to act as distractions? Though I suppose that enemy units in combat can't be shot at, and if the opponent is even vaguely switched on they'll just go around...?

[shortysl]

This is all great feedback guys, and it's all appreciated. The tactics coming forward seem to pretty much meld with what i was planning anyway; that is create fire lanes and fill them with rockets, plasma and bolts. I have a few tricks up my sleeve to keep him off balance (fast moving bikes, dreadnought in drop pod etc) but it's good to know that my tactics aren't too naive or obvious. I'll be on again before the game happens but i'll post a brief rundown of how things go after the event. Who knows, maybe i'll even catch on to one of the Fallen. For the Lion!