Starting DA in 6th

[Sunde]

I've been wanting to start a Dark Angel army for a while now, I know we have a new book coming eventually (based on rumors should be soon-ish), but I was wondering as of now what should I try to get to do 1500-ish point games as DA.

[Pbenner]

Power Armor DA? Ravenwing DA? Deathwing DA?

 

To be honest, if you are not 100% wanting to start immediately, it might be best to wait until the new starter comes out in a few months.

[Grand Master Belial]

First, I would decide what elements of the three 'wings' you would like. Right now a Death-Ravenwing combo is the most efficient force but hopefully the 'Green' wing will be made comparable to the Space Marine Codex version. That won't stop you from collecting them though.

[Bryan Blaire]

Well, you can't go wrong with standard Marine squads.

 

We really don't know what direction the DA will be taken, hopefully not far from where we are, but we could lose Deathwing weapon type mixing, our Ravenwing squad options might change, so to keep yourself flexible, I would magnetize OR just work on the basics: bikers without specials, Storm Bolter/Fist Terminators, and standard Tac squads.

[Adeptus-Alaska]

I would buy a battle force or a megaforce if you can still find one. also get a a few of the DA veteran boxes for the bitz. that will be a good start. or, in the alternative, try ebay. I have assemble an Apocalypse size army for very little cash. sure you will have to repair or paint strip some of them, but hey, it's a hobby. I'd rather spend time and effort than money.

[Sunde]

I would prefer a DW force, to be completely honest, I love termies with a passion (developed that from my GK) but at the same time the idea of using a ravenwing force to land my termies somewhere might be interesting. For the most part though my army would be focused on my termies.

 

Edit: I also planned on using magnets on most of my guys simply because if the book changes I dont want to be stuck with stuff that wont be fun for me (other than th/ss, that'll still probably be fun for me)

[Harleqvin]

Disc 1/8th" x 1/16th" or 1/8th" x 1/32nd" are good choices for rare earth magnets. Also a cordless drill or dremel* are good as a lot of the corded drills can be a bit to fast even for lowest speeds.

So if you are doing DW it wouldn't hurt if you got a box of each normal TDA and assault TDA (for the weapon options there,) and you can still get some of the AoBR TDA squads (those are just SB &PF though, power weapon for Serg,) for cheap compared to the normal sets on eBay but you may want to wait and see what the TDA squads look like from the 6th starter that should be coming out in a few months, if you can wait that long =D

[Sunde]

Disc 1/8th" x 1/16th" or 1/8th" x 1/32nd" are good choices for rare earth magnets. Also a cordless drill or dremel* are good as a lot of the corded drills can be a bit to fast even for lowest speeds.

So if you are doing DW it wouldn't hurt if you got a box of each normal TDA and assault TDA (for the weapon options there,) and you can still get some of the AoBR TDA squads (those are just SB &PF though, power weapon for Serg,) for cheap compared to the normal sets on eBay but you may want to wait and see what the TDA squads look like from the 6th starter that should be coming out in a few months, if you can wait that long =D

 

I appreciate the advice, I've been using small magnets for a while with my GK and daemons, Im cheap and lazy so I use a small hand drill for the magnets as I'm only ever drilling into plastic anyhow.

[Harleqvin]

Yeah... It's a pain in the butt to hand drill metal. It's why I got a cordless one. lqtm.

If you end up having a lot of those arms to drill and whatnot it helps a looot having an electric one and there are some cheap ones that aren't bad.

 

I am a bit like that too. I don't want to have to buy a crapload of models and not use most of them and I want to reduce the number of things I will have to buy as it is a bit expensive. I'm glad to see more and more people using magnets =D

[Cypher 102]

I magnetize my arms too. The problem I come across is a shortage of terminator shoulder pads. If you want to magnetize every single arm in your kit your going to have to order more.

[Sunde]

I magnetize my arms too. The problem I come across is a shortage of terminator shoulder pads. If you want to magnetize every single arm in your kit your going to have to order more.

What I had planned to do was order a set or two of the FW shoulders, they're expencive but I want my DW termies to look and feel the part.

[Adeptus-Alaska]

I would prefer a DW force, to be completely honest, I love termies with a passion (developed that from my GK) but at the same time the idea of using a ravenwing force to land my termies somewhere might be interesting. For the most part though my army would be focused on my termies.

 

Edit: I also planned on using magnets on most of my guys simply because if the book changes I dont want to be stuck with stuff that wont be fun for me (other than th/ss, that'll still probably be fun for me)

 

That's cool. My buddy does that. he takes belial, a crapload of termies, and his fast attack choices are all RW. I believe his last armylist was as follows;

 

belial

TDA chappy

2x DW dreads

7x DW squads

2x RW AS, loaded

1x RW SS

3x LRC

 

and he had some techmarines in there too but I forgot how many. I have never seen this many bone white termies put on the table before. I was scared, and i was his green wing element. our opponent, two guys playing tau, were terrified.

 

he totally carried that pocalypse game for us. his list was superb and he new exactly how to use it to the deadliest effect.

[Sunde]

I would prefer a DW force, to be completely honest, I love termies with a passion (developed that from my GK) but at the same time the idea of using a ravenwing force to land my termies somewhere might be interesting. For the most part though my army would be focused on my termies.

 

Edit: I also planned on using magnets on most of my guys simply because if the book changes I dont want to be stuck with stuff that wont be fun for me (other than th/ss, that'll still probably be fun for me)

 

That's cool. My buddy does that. he takes belial, a crapload of termies, and his fast attack choices are all RW. I believe his last armylist was as follows;

 

belial

TDA chappy

2x DW dreads

7x DW squads

2x RW AS, loaded

1x RW SS

3x LRC

 

and he had some techmarines in there too but I forgot how many. I have never seen this many bone white termies put on the table before. I was scared, and i was his green wing element. our opponent, two guys playing tau, were terrified.

 

he totally carried that pocalypse game for us. his list was superb and he new exactly how to use it to the deadliest effect.

 

What loadout did he use on the dreads?

Not familiar with the usual loadout for a DW dread honestly.

[gsm684]

I tend to go with anti-horde for my dreads, either assault cannons or plasma cannons. DW is always outnumbered and I find I have more than enough anti-armor between cyclone launchers and RW attack squads. I see less armor than I used to with the new edition, so I find anti-horde even more effective than I used to.

[Sviar]

What I had planned to do was order a set or two of the FW shoulders, they're expencive but I want my DW termies to look and feel the part.

 

Buy the DA bitz sprue and you will get DW shoulder pads alongside with robed DA and legs for one DW + more.

 

My antihorde (orks,nids) is a Vindicator and a Whirlwind they are cheap and reliable.

[Grotsmasha]

I recommend picking up a set of Aobr Termis for every Assault box you pick up, its almost as cheap as magnetizing and you get more termis!!! When I was buying for True Scale purposes (I've 80+), some were as little as $15 posted on eBay.

 

Jono

[march10k]

I used to run a deathraven list. It consisted of termies, bikes, and vennies only. It was amazingly good at the time. But that was a few years ago. In 6th, I would definitely not take the dreddies. What's the point of being venerable when it does nothing to protect against HPed to death? It does seem like the bikes are stronger now, though, what with a solid T5 (especially since it keeps bike characters and attack bikes from being insta-killed by krak missiles, and allows FNP to be used against kraks, lascannons, and melta weapons) and reduced cover saves against their shooting.

 

I would definitely go with pure thundernators, with the exception of belial himself. I'm seeing a ton of rending shooting, and much of that is precision shooting...getting your assault cannon picked out by a shot that allows no 2+ save is frightening! So having a backup 3++ is critical. Belial is a special case. Putting him in a thundernator squad with claws gives you enormous advantage in melee. You get to choose, in terms of challenges, whether to use I5 WS5 claws or a thundernator. If the enemy character has an AP2 weapon, Bels will almost certainly cut him down before he gets to strike. Unless he has an invul, in which case calling him out with the thundernator sergeant is best. Most of the time, bels with claws will mean 2-3 fewer enemies spamming non-AP melee attacks against your 2+ save, which could mean one less failed save every turn or two. With a thunderhammer, bels lives longer, but his squad pays the price!

 

I would go with one squadron of seven ravenwing bikes, giving the sergeant a power sword, and the squadron two meltas (multimelta for the AB). Attach an interrogator chaplain on bike with a powerfist (giving him the option of AP4 at initiative or AP2 at "dead slow". the sword-wielding sergeant can shield him from challenges, if needed).

 

After that, probably just spam thundernator squads with CMLs, just like post-FAQ 5th edition. I honestly thought that fewer vehicles (due to a fear of HP) would lead to less AP2/AP1 shooting, and that, combined with reduced cover saves and power weapons not being AP2, would lead to vastly improved survivability for termies. The only part of that that's panned out is survivability in melee. Outside of melee, I've been stunned by the amount of rending shooting, and disappointed to see that meltaspam is alive and well. So we can't get away from the 3++ like I'd hoped.

 

It might still be workable to do a mounted deathwing army with 3 assorted land raiders, which would reduce the need for storm shields by substituting the tank's armor...but that really only makes lightning claws, heavy flamers and assault cannons available, the tactical terminator is as dead as ever. The only way to fix that would be to make TDA proof against rending. And the problem with land raiders is that the very shooting (melta) that can reliably penetrate it looks like it won't be spammed an less, and it's also far deadlier, with 4+ being "boom," and only a 1 being a tolerable result.

 

And of course everything changes in a couple of months. So if you really want to do deathwing, go with tons of storm shields for now, and be prepared to rip the arms off (or magnetize the ones you put on now, and be prepared to make magnetized arms of other varieties later, if the codex changes things that much). But I'm leaning more towards a power-armored army now. Thundernator spam, even DWAing on Ravenwing telehomers, is Booooooring and inflexible. I really enjoyed mechanized deathwing in 5th, especially when I was playing wound-allocation shenanigans before the 3++ stormshield fix. I don't think that works any more.