Jump to content

Help Choosing - DE or BA


Wolf Lord Fenrir

Recommended Posts

Currently mulling over a new army, but can't decide between the two choices of:

 

Dark Eldar - General army with loads of those big Cronos things floating about

Blood Angel - All Death Company with Astrorath leading them.

 

I know the drawbacks and "you'll always lose etc" thoughts about all DC armies, but don't really care about wins or loses as I prefer to build armies along the themes I like. More of a painter, you see.

 

Roughly how many points would this force come to, so that I can get a handle?

 

 

Astrorath

Reclusiarch (or whatever he's called) suitably tooled up

10 DC Jump Pack - power weapon, plasma pistol, inferno pistol

10 DC on foot - Bolters, power fist.

DC Dreadnought - Bloodtalons X2, Ex armour if can be taken

Storm Raven - Suitable anti tank heavy weapons

Drop Pod for the Dreadnought

 

I've thoughts about another couple of units, which ones depends on the total points value of the above. This'd be the core of the army, athough I might bung a rhino in there.

 

Idea is for the Dread to drop on the enemy or deep objective in a "deal with that" bluff to draw fire away from the other stuff. Jump packs with Astro probably deep strike in or deploy where there is suitbale cover for them to move up the field. Bolter armed ones are in the Stormraven and drop down where needed to open up with supporting fire for the JP unit and dealing with appropriate threats. Storm Raven aims at armour as its main targets.

 

Afraid that GW asking £20 for a codex means that I'm only going to buy the DE or BA one once I've finally decided which force to head with.

Link to comment
https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/240981-help-choosing-de-or-ba/
Share on other sites

That lot comes to ~1300-1400 points. Drop podding the Dread may be a bad idea as it can't assault so will basically be standing there, unsupported, on turn one with a big 'SHOOT ME' sign on it. You could however put it in the Stormraven, which is an assault vehicle. Downside to that is that the 'raven is going to get everything thrown at it by your opponent. You've probably got enough points though for a second raven with another Dread inside so tha tmight be worth looking at.

The only problem i see with the list is the DC Jumpers as they'll rage towards things as long as your happy with that go for it i love the idea of all death company

 

I'd consider using Chaplains instead as their cheaper

 

Astorath - 220

 

Chaplain - 135

Powerfist and Combi Melta

 

5 Death Company - 245 Power Weapon

1 Powerfist

1 Plasma Pistol

1 Infernous Pistol

Jump Packs

 

7 Death Company - 145 (Chaplain Goes Here) In Stormraven

Bolters

1 Power Weapon

 

Death Compnay Dreadnought - 125

Blood Talons

 

Death Compnay Dreadnought - 125

Blood Talons

 

Stormraven - 200

TL Lascannon

TL Multimelta

 

Stormraven - 200

TL Lascannon

TL Multimelta

 

That totals 1495

 

The problem with Jumpy Death Company as they get mighty expensive ;) I would consider dropping the pistols and maybe only run a very small unit of jumpy DC with astorath and then get 2 bigger foot squads to ride in the two ravens with the two dreadnoughts and then beat face.

 

Gives you some ideas.

Drop podding the Dread may be a bad idea as it can't assault so will basically be standing there, unsupported, on turn one with a big 'SHOOT ME' sign on it.

 

That is rather the idea. I use it all the time with the Wolves and it's either "shoot the dread or get in the arse"

 

 

 

Perhaps two foot squads and a slightly smaller one of jump packs is the way to go then.

I'd add Lemartes to the choir. He can't be singled out in combat and will go on quite a rampage..

+1

Lemartes is always a party. Once his Fury Unbound special rule goes off I've seen him mulch almost entire squads single-handedly, and the standard DC clean up the dregs before they even attack back.

At the risk of some ire raising, i'd suggest going for the dark eldar. I presume you already have a marine army, so with that in mind i feel it'd be more worth while trying out a completely different force.

 

Marines for all their chapter based differences, have a common base to them. they're largely very forgiving with the 3+ saves and lovely statlines. Eldar armies on the other hand, are a trickier prospect. Dark Eldar are a fantastic army that come with some very apparent weaknesses. You'll strike faster than most people will conceive as possible and therein lies your advantage, get your opponent reeling on the first turn and go forth from there.

 

Like all eldar, they are very squishy. The FNP goes some way towards mitigating this but your HQ's will still be insta deathed by assault cannons. For a heavily mech reliant army, you dont have the luxury of splitting the enemy's anti tank fire in the way that other mech spam armies do. Your transports are made of paper and good intentions, bolters can bring them down so speed is the absolute key here.

 

Both are fantastic armies anyway, you wont go wrong whichever one you choose.

As much as I'm loving the Blood Angels icongraphy and background, the call of an army led by Duke Sliscus and composed completely of his girls is just awesome. Either way, really, but I think the DE army might be a little more interesting than the pure "beat face" theme of the Death Company. No real control, only one end game. Great if you like CC all the time, though.
I know the drawbacks and "you'll always lose etc" thoughts about all DC armies, but don't really care about wins or loses as I prefer to build armies along the themes I like. More of a painter, you see.

 

Actually, going from the above quote, I'm not sure how we are supposed to help you make up your mind. If you don't care a bit for competitiveness, and your preference is for "themes I like", I'd say you're about the only person who knows what that means. :lol:

 

I'd agree with Witchunter Kraine, though. If you have another marine army (something wolfy judging from your screen name and sig) go for the DE. It's always nice to have a change of pace --both in the creating and in the playing.

 

I know, I know, heresy...

 

On a more BA-positive note, if you get a chance to take a closer look at the BA codex, you'll notice that a DC Dreadnought actually doesn't need extra armor because its already got something better built in--being able to ignore both shaken and stunned results outright.

Dark Eldar it is then. I veered towards them last night, and the Cronos thing is too good to not use.

The Chronos/Talos is a fantastic kit and the Talos is a beast in CC (and can even kill tanks with a little bit of kitting), but I'm consistently underwhelmed by the Chronos. Its guns are too short of range to get the Pain Tokens on units early in the game when you need them- late in the game, you either already have them (because you're killing stuff) or you're dead (because you didn't kill anything.) That said, if you like it, it's not so bad you can't use it. If you're looking at the MCs, I would strongly recommend using a Webway Portal to get your units across the board faster- and coincidentally, WWPs fit rather well into a Haemonculous-themed list.

 

If you're looking at a ~2000pt list, the all-Death Company army can actually work reasonably well, you're just going to need to look at using transports (particularly Stormravens, but also Rhinos) and veering in some unusual directions with things. Obviously it's never going to be top-tier competitive, but from the sound of things that wasn't really your main worry. Death Company definitely have their drawbacks, but they they have some uses and loading up on them heavily can actually make for a fairly strong army when done right, since their extra cost is compensated for by the points savings in not taking Sanguinary Priests. However, this tends to be dependent on playing larger games where you can take advantage of them, so if you're playing a lot below 1850, the army is going to be disappointing.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.