Starting Dark Angels

[Captain Laavain Sunder]

Im really interested in starting a dark angels army, really interested in the background, concept and models of the army.

 

Ive heard rumours of the new releases of the armybook and models but i dont know if they are true rumours or just myths.

 

Ive brought the 6th ed rulebook and decided to bin my DE before i get a big enough force to get dissappointed in.

 

Can someone give me a brief down on the army as a whole, i mean i know BA are a very offensive force, as are BT and SW.

 

any comments are appreciated

[Raven Angel]

Well currently we have one of the older codexes and its kinda inflexable compaired to the SM books. We are expecting a new book soon but at this point their is nothing definite on a release date though some store are out of DA codexes and are saying they can't get anymore form GW.

 

In theory we are a balaced army with specalizied Fast Attack(Ravenwing) and Close Assualt(Deathwing) forces. In practice C:SM has done as good or better with most of this and had the bennifite of way more new units We don't currently get except through the Allies section. As to how DA plays right now it really remains to be seen how much the new core rules will effect the army.

[Gillyfish]

Firstly, welcome to the Rock.

 

Secondly, never bin any models!! :(

 

A new codex is rumoured for later this year/early next year. That makes it hard to say what our particular playstyle will be, but we have a reputation for ranged warfare as opposed to the cc focussed BT and BA. The interaction between the Ravenwing and Deathwing mean that you can bring terminator squads into play through deepstrike in turn 1. Currently, you probably need to create a force concentrated on the aforementioned 'wings' rather than traditional tactical, assault and devastator marines. Hopefully that will change with the new book, but those units still work well as support.

[Brother Immolator]

That makes it hard to say what our particular playstyle will be, but we have a reputation for ranged warfare as opposed to the cc focussed

 

Add some plasma to that statement and i can imagine a couple brothers with foam frothing from their mouths declaring you excommunicated!

[Ajax Tlamunus]

The Dark Angels chapter has existed since the beginnings of the game with Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader twenty-five years ago. But it wasn't until the introduction of

 

individual army sourcebooks, known as codices, for Warhammer 40,000 Second Edition that the full panoply of background information, iconography, and distinctive playstyle for the chapter really took hold. To date, there have been four Dark Angels codices: Second Edition's Codex: Angels of Death (which we shared with the Blood Angels), Third Edition's Codex: Dark Angels (which was revised roughly 3/4 of the way through this edition's life), and finally, Fourth Edition's Codex: Dark Angels. This last book is the "current" one as of this writing.

 

Across all editions, four things have distinguished the Dark Angels from the "standard" or "vanilla" Space Marines, currently represented by Codex: Space Marines, listed below. These four distinguishing features are pretty much what defines the Dark Angels as Dark Angels. When and if a new codex is released, I'd expect these elements to all be retained. I've listed them in a rough order of uniqueness:

 

1) The Deathwing Termininator Squads have always been amongst the premire elite units in the game. Under our last couple of codices, we've had the unique ability to mix shooting and close-combat weapons in the squad, which "standard" Space Marines cannot do. If we select the special character, Belial, Master of the Deathwing, we can field Terminators as Troops.

 

2) The Ravenwing a unique blending of Space Marine Bikes, Land Speeders, and Attack Bikes, have always been some of the best Fast Attack units in the game. As with the Deathwing, we can select the special character, Sammeal to field bikers as Troops. Slightly less unique as "standard" Space Marines can pull off a similar trick under their current codex.

 

3) The Mortis Pattern Dreadnought is a special variant of the classic Space Marine stompy walker `o doom. Where the Blood Angels have their special variant with two close comabt arms, the Dark Angels had a variant with two matched ranged weapons on each arm. Although missing from the current codex - but available from Imperial Armour Vol. 2 - the Mortis has been a mainstay of the chapter for decades.

 

4) The Dark Angels have a unique and subtle relationship with plasma weapons. In prior editions, we had either more widespread avilability of plasma weapons compared to the other chapters or we paid slightly less points for plasma weapons. Sometimes both.

[Brother Anders]

Not to mention we have the only Jetbike in the Imperium! XD And our scouts are superior to most (if not all) other scouts.

[Ajax Tlamunus]

I'd put Dark Angels Scouts on par with Wolf Scouts. The Dark Angels are probably the superior choice for snipers or ranged combat, but Team Jacob does very well in melee.

[Brother Anders]

I just had a game where 6 snipers, a sergeant, and a HB won an assault on a Black Templar combat squad with no casualties, just after the Templars shot them off an objective......... It was an odd day.

[Ronin_eX]

I'd put Dark Angels Scouts on par with Wolf Scouts. The Dark Angels are probably the superior choice for snipers or ranged combat, but Team Jacob does very well in melee.

 

It would be hilarious if the stat oddity ended up sticking around and our scouts became Elite scouts. It would basically follow the same evolution as the Wolf Scout. In 2nd Edition they got a funky name but that was all that was different between them and normal scouts. In 3rd they became a crack unit of lightly armoured veterans. It would be neat to see a similar evolution in the Dark Angels (maybe they become crack snipers and ranged combatants). But I am a little over tired and probably too easily amused right now. :)

[Ajax Tlamunus]

The Dark Angels -- or rather the game designers -- have always been a little indecisive about our Scouts over the years. On the one hand, they want the First Legion to stick almost entirely to the Codex Astartes baseline in terms of units, wargear, and overall chapter organization... on the other hand, they want us to have our super-elite Deathwing and super fast attack Ravewing.

 

The pragmatist in me sees our Scouts remaining Troops, but shifting to the WS3/BS3 statline and gear options of Codex: Space Marines... Hpefully with Sgt. Namaan returning as an upgrade character. GW seems very reluctant to publish any codices these days without giving multiple Troops choices.