Why chose Dark Angels

[Mr. Scrotato Head]

Hello all. I'm an experienced 40k player (Tyranids) and love the game. My son is an Ultramarines player. I have been thinking for some time about starting a second army but wasn't sure which way to go. Then I stumbled upon an amazing bargain at my local independent game store that put me in possession of a core Dark Angels army: 10 Dark Angels with Jump packs, 10 Terminators, several independent characters, and 90% of an unassembled and unpainted Land Raider. That and an additional 40 standard Marines with all manner of weapons. So basically my second army is basically decided. Now to pick the chapter. Given that the core is already Dark Angels I can certainly go that direction. But admittedly I don't know anything about the chapter. Everyone seems to be going Blood Angels and Dark Knights what with the new models and codexes (codexi?). I like the idea of going in a different direction.

 

What makes the Dark Angels such a great army to play? Don't have the codex so I can't find that out for myself. In your experience as DA players, what are the benefits of this Chapter? What makes it special? What are its drawbacks? Thanks in advance for sharing your experience and advice.

[Marshal Wilhelm]

Well, if you want okay, then Dark Angels might be for you :ph34r:

but I prefer the Emperor's favourite Chapter, the Black Templars. If you like DA bits, as I do, you can see they look for Templars too, if you look in the 'My Miniatures' section of my signature.

 

You'd never see such an enthusiastic recruit going begging on The Eternal Crusader, you know

 

[Interrogator Stobz]

You can pretty much disregard everything told to you by Marshal Wilhelm

 

You've come to the best ignore the rest :ph34r:

 

We DA players are a hard done by bunch, our dex is one of the average ones pre 5th. In saying that though post FAQ our Deathwing (A whole company of terminators) are among the best in the game point for point. Our Ravenwing (a whole company of bikes and speeders) are a great mobile suport force and rules wise we have cheap as Landspeeder Typhoons for fire support.

 

Also we have a great hoody wearing grimdark habit of keeping secrets the good old fashioned way i.e. Knocking off those that cross us.

We are the fringe of the goodguys and although we are loyal through aand through the others in the imperium may not agree with us.

 

Welcome to the Rock, long may you stay

(get a codex and download the FAQ as soon as you can for the full story)

 

stobz

[Droma]

Dark Angels are the kings of terminator armies. We also do bikes very well, including the only jetbike you'll find outside of eldar is ridden by one of our HQ's.

 

The most effective lists in our codex right now are Deathwing terminators supported with elements from either Ravenwing bikers or the battle companies to get either more infantry killing ability or more tank killing ability.

 

Our HQ's are only ok, nothing super killy in them. Our terminator captain lets you take terminators as troops and ravenwing captain(who rides the jetbike or a fancy speeder) unlocks bikes as troops.

 

Terminators are fearless, can deepstrike half your squads turn 1, and can mix ranged and close combat weaponry. We recently had a FAQ that updated our storm shields to 3+ invuln in both CC and shooting and our cyclone missile launchers became heavy 2. This makes melee focused squads with cyclone missile launchers extremely effective and cheep points wise.

 

Our bikes are also fearless. You can have 2 special weapons in a 3 man bike squad, attack bikes are cheap and can be given multi-melta's. Our typhoon speeders(heavy 2 missile luancher and either HB/MM) are cheaper than the other versions out there and make great mobile tank hunters.

 

Our regular marines have some benefits and some drawbacks. For full squads we are more expensive by about 10-15 points a unit. However we can have special weapons in our 5 man squads which the other codex's can't do. Our devs are on roughly the same price wise. Our assault marines are about 20 points over costed.

 

Our vehicles are about the same as everyone else although we do lack a couple since we are an older codex. Namely we don't have Land raider redeemers, storm ravens, ironclads, certain razorback loadouts, and thunderfire cannon. Our Land Raider Crusaders are cheaper though as they come with the multi-melta for no additional point cost.

 

 

DA don't do MSU(multiple small unit) spam the way wolves and BA do. You've got to be smart with list construction and leverage the advantages that the DA dex has going for it in order to make competitive lists. However if competitive isn't your thing then Dark Angels are great. We do very well in casual games and we've got some of the deepest and most interesting fiction of any marine chapter out there. Not to mention we've got 3 different paint schemes in a single army if you're bored painting all one color. We've also got lots of cool details to paint in robes, wings, and feathers. DA are an amazingly fun force from a hobby perspective.

[dizzy-xc]

What Droma said. The fact you can do a 2250 point game and using Belial, master of the terminator Deathwing, teleport half rounding up of all 45 Termies the 1st turn. Its crazy fun. The shock value alone is priceless. If that aint your meal ticket, then turboboosting 9 squads of bikes getting a 3 plus invulnerable then lighting up everything the enemy has on his table with Melta spam on game turn 2 is equally amusing.

 

Dark angels are the kinda evil fun you can only have this side of the Emperor. :huh:

 

The only thing tho, Droma, I thought per Land Speeder squadron only ONE Speeder of the 5 can be equipped with a Typhoon?

[Gillyfish]

Ultimately, the choice of an army should depend upon what excites you. Look at the Dark Angel models, paint schemes and read the background. If you think it sounds good then go ahead and collect them. Those are the things that first drew me in.

 

In game terms, the Dark Angels give you a number of options. You can go for a standard marine army (although currently the list means that it will pale compared to the standard codex list), a full terminator army or a light vehicle and bike army, or you can mix these in any way you like. Whilst other armies can arguably do that, you will see it happen more often with the Dark Angels - the list seems to lend itself more to that approach. So basically, the army can give you a sense of depth that you don't get with other armies - you can keep coming back to try out a new and challenging gameplay angle.

[Droma]

The only thing tho, Droma, I thought per Land Speeder squadron only ONE Speeder of the 5 can be equipped with a Typhoon?

 

That's correct and I don't think I mentioned otherwise in my last post lol. You can have a max of 3 of them but it takes up all your FA slots. I'm running 1 in my 2k list right now but I've got two 3 man bike squads with meltaguns and the sarge with powerfist to go along with it.

[march10k]

'couple things that haven't been mentioned:

 

For dirt cheap, we're pretty much the only game in town (BT, maybe?) that still gets table-wide LD10 off a captain. And a captain with just a power sword and boltpistol or a powersword and a stormbolter (I prefer the former) rings in dirt cheap, but hideously efficient.

 

For a pretty penny, you get a table-wide LD10 psychic hood. Somewhat situational, but with BA and GK ascendant at the moment, it's a VERY good investment. ("I'm sorry, but that razorhorde sitting in the open does not, in point of fact, have a magical *cough*psychic*cough* cover save. So sorry about your transports, Mr. space vampire!")

 

Does C:UM get cover-ignoring missiles for their whirlwinds? They're only AP5, but they're ungodly effective against hordes...

 

Did (I only skimmed, looking for a reference to a battle company captain) anyone mention bike/termie apothecaries?

[thade]

Well, if you want okay, then Dark Angels might be for you :D

but I prefer the Emperor's favourite Chapter, the Black Templars. If you like DA bits, as I do, you can see they look for Templars too, if you look in the 'My Miniatures' section of my signature.

Speaking as an impartial party (Saladmander's 7th founding successor), may I say that I lol'd at the very idea a BT player would be the first to respond in a DA forum to a post asking why a new player should chose the DA as a chapter. Freakin' funny.

 

Sorry for the meta. As you were.

 

Again, from my impartial stance, here are some reasons to select DA:

• Not only are they a forgiving color to paint (dark Green) but they look really cool with all of their hood/cloak bits. There's even a how-to on the Librariium regarding how you can use green stuff apoxy to fashion your own cloaks and hoods.
  
• They are (if I'm not mistaken) the oldest chapter; the very first one created by the Emperor.
  
• They killed some snot-nosed punk Black Templar that stuck their nose where it didn't belong.
  
• They can field an entire force of only Terminators; they are the first chapter to be able to do this and are renowned for it. It's called the "Deathwing", to add to its awesome.
  
• They can field an entire force of bike marines; they are the first chapter to be able to do this and are renowned for it. It's called...the something-wing. :)
  
• They're Space Marines with marine durability and marine weaponry. Marines in general are great for a new player as they're a very forgiving army (i.e. you can make some mistakes with them and still conceivably win).
  
• They have a really cool back story; peek through their codex at your local game store. Or look them up on the Lexicanum.
  

Hope this helps. :)

[Mr. Scrotato Head]

Thanks all for your comments and reasonings. I do believe I'll build my Space Marines as Dark Angels. The back story is outstanding and while the codex may be dated compared to other chapter options, I play 'nids as my primary army so I'm used to being at a disadvantage game-wise so no biggie. The Deathwing option will be a great model constructing opportunity, and the option to take heavy weapons in five-man squads will be great fun. Thanks again.

[Droma]

Not heavy weapons, special weapons. As in melta/flamer/plasma. You can combat squad a 10 man unit though and do it that way I guess, but you can't just take 5 dudes and a heavy weapon.

[march10k]

Actually...you can take heavy weapons in five man devastator squads...of course, they're nonscoring and the weapons cost more...but the option is there.

[Mr. Scrotato Head]

@Droma^ Thanks for the clarification on special weapons. Got ahead of myself with the typing.

[Dremen]

All of you have put good words forward for rules why you'd play. Bravo, but you failed to put forward the other half. We are the First, the Greatest, the Sons of the Lion and Loyal Servants of the Emperor.

 

Where even other Marines fall back and regroup, we hold our ground. The rites of the Order upon which we are based demand honor, sacrifice and determination. Our own brothers know little of our full story and no outsider knows of our past. We are the head of the Inner circle, Azrael, our Supreme Grand Master holds powers akin to that of a Legion not a Chapter. The winged sword, a symbol of swift destruction and retribution is OUR standard.

 

Saphon and Asmodai are claimed as heroes of the Imperium yet they are more akin to mad men placed in power... and thats how we like them. Deathwing, the inner circle, is trusted with our honor and our goal. They March as an endless wave, crashing down upon all before them to continue the hunt. The Ravenwing, speed and haunted visions are all that the enemy see as they die, cut down by blade and bolt.

 

Our Chaplains tear into a mans body as our Librarians rip into thier soul to extract the information we need. Our past may be tainted, Blessed Caliban may be gone, the Emperor may lie wounded but the First Legion, the First Chapter will never fail, we will not stop until the fastness' of our enemies lie burned around them and our souls are pure once again.

 

We are the Dark Angels! The First, the Honored, the Sons of the Lion! May his sight guide your path.

 

- Dremen, Master of the 4th Company

[Brother Kovash]

The reason I play DA is because to me, they have the closest feel to a knightly order in the 40k universe. They have embarked on a seemingly impossible quest to atone for what is the greatest crime possible, but they have to complete this task themselves without any outside help. Also, like others have mentioned, deep striking several squads of terminators on the first turn is priceless.