Support for Dozer Blades

[CitadelArmyGuy]

Many here know my opinion regarding the current state of the Blood Angel codex: We are a finesse army and our niche specialty is Resilient Mobility. With that in mind, there is a piece of wargear that is seeing almost no love over in the Army List subforum: Dozer Blades

Now, when you play to your codex strengths, and the codex strength is Mobility and Finesse, then every piece of gear that facilitates freedom of maneuver should be embraced.

For 5 points, your chance of being immobilized and losing a hull point (new to 6th ed) goes from 17% chance down to less than 3%

For such a huge bonus, I'm not sure why I haven't seen more people taking Dozers as standard. If you hit the 'modeling' speedbump there is always "Reinforced Treads" or "Shielded Sprockets" or misc other explanations without actually resorting to putting a dozer on the front.

With a Dozer equipped, Ruins go from your enemy to your bestest cover-save providing friend. Or perhaps opponents may expect you to avoid maneuvering through forests, so you can catch them by surprise when you stage your main attack straight through! If you'd like to hide a tank inside a LoS-denying piece of ruins and then pop-out the 6" to say hello, the Dozer makes the tactic extremely reliable. And at the very least, if your own (or enemy) vehicles start making inconvenient craters around the battlefield, then dozers became an excellent way to spend 5 points.

 

For me, in my opinion, Baals and AC/LC Preds absolutely require Dozers. I can't think of a reason why they shouldn't take them. For Razorbacks, well... then perhaps the decision becomes a little more situational. Thoughts?

[ianj253]

I never understood why many list on here didn't include dozer blades.  They open up your ability to freely move, without having to worry about being immobilized. I think they're even more important on Baals because of the assault cannons 24 inch range. 

[dadieau]

Not just the 24' range of Baals but Vindicators too. When I put a Vindiicator in a list I start with a siege shield and usually end up dropping it to a dozer blade. I perfer the shield, I can roll a lot of ones. I usually find that I can get away with just one side of an attack formation having the dozer/shield. There is usually enough open area for the other side to work well.

[Ushtarador]

I usually just forget about them (and the searchlights too). But I agree that they can be great, depending on the terrain. I always take them on the vindicators, as they usually want to get close to the enemy in a straight line.

On Baals I haven't missed them that much yet, mainly because scouting can get you into a great position in turn 0, so you can maneuver around terrain more easily. But I guess it also depends on the sort of terrain you have.

[CitadelArmyGuy]

The reason I'm opening up this thread now is because I'm in the same boat Ustarador --- for some completely bizarre reason, up until now I've simply overlooked them. In the last three games I've played with BA, I've started using them and I have been extremely satisfied with the results.

 

Another reason I left out--- if you have to pull a 24" escape maneuver, dozers ensure you won't care what's in the way. As for searchlights, I hate the fact we are paying for them. It is really strange, there is no rhyme or reason behind who is paying for SL and who gets them for free.

• For Free: CSM, DA, IG, SM, SW
• Pay 1pt: BA, BT, GK, SoB

[Brother Maikel]

My major problem with searchlights is that we have virtually no wargear in the codex costed anything other than a multiple of 5, so chances are once you've taken your first searchlight you'll have nothing to spend the other 4 points on except more searchlights.  And in the final analysis, I'd rather grab a meltabomb for one of my ASM sergeants than a searchlight or two.

 

Also, dozer blades are really easy to magnetize.

[BAJake]

My major problem with searchlights is that we have virtually no wargear in the codex costed anything other than a multiple of 5, so chances are once you've taken your first searchlight you'll have nothing to spend the other 4 points on except more searchlights.  And in the final analysis, I'd rather grab a meltabomb for one of my ASM sergeants than a searchlight or two.

 

Also, dozer blades are really easy to magnetize.

-I agree on the Searchlights, not really worth it.

-To quote every1 else, I think Dozer Blades are a great deal for Vindis and Baals, with that 24" range you can easily (has happened to me a few times) get immobilized out of firing range which will make the other 140 or so points you spent on the tank utterly useless

[appiah4]

For 5 points, your chance of being immobilized and losing a hull point (new to 6th ed) goes from 17% chance down to less than 3%

 

 

This for me is the problem.  7 of these cost 35 points. Assuming you get to use every single one of them in a game, you end up with saving one transport on average..

 

For the price of another transport..

 

Unless it's transporting something that HAS TO get SOMEWHERE I'd rather not take them.

 

And I don't build armies with units that have to do something.

[CitadelArmyGuy]

This for me is the problem.  7 of these cost 35 points. Assuming you get to use every single one of them in a game, you end up with saving one transport on average..For the price of another transport..

Ah see now I was sortof waiting for someone to bring up the balance issue--- meaning at some point, you're getting diminishing returns and sinking a no-longer small investment. 35pts is considerable, and the chances of needing all of them are very small. With playtesting, I've noticed that the AC/LCs and Baal Preds absolutely benefit from them--- the AC/LCs Pred still needs them because achieving optimal firing solutions often requires maneuver through terrain, despite its excellent range.

 

For Razorbacks, I wouldn't bother too much. In many cases for a Mech BA list, there are several competing options sitting on that 5pt mark; you've got meltabombs, flamers and the dozer. I would never ever take all three options, because sinking 15pts into an already overcosted unit (in comparison to other codex's Razorback Squads) is not a good idea.

 

For me, the meltabomb is a poor choice. BA Lists will usually have plenty of melta elsewhere in the list, and the target range for the MB is limited to non-Character Monsters and Walkers (otherwise the Sarge just gets challenged out... plus the MBs are Unwieldy). Since we are talking about a Razorback squad, they are probably not getting to charge, meaning those MBs are entirely for contingencies. For me, MBs are for Jumper Sergeants.

 

So that leaves the Flamer or the Dozer as viable options (or neither! cheaper is always nice). That is where it comes down to battlefield role and personal preference. Having 1 or maybe 2 Razors with dozers rather than all of them may be a nice balance, that way you can assign them specifically to a rough area and save the clear terrain manueuvering space for the ones without.

[Xenith]

 

For 5 points, your chance of being immobilized and losing a hull point (new to 6th ed) goes from 17% chance down to less than 3%

 

 

This for me is the problem.  7 of these cost 35 points. Assuming you get to use every single one of them in a game, you end up with saving one transport on average..

 

For the price of another transport..

 

Yes, but you cannot buy that transport on its own, you need another unit.

[Taranis]

I support dozerblades on vehicles whose facing is important. That is primarily to capitalize the most on sponson weapons. For vehicles with only turreted weapons its not nearly as relevant.

Basically vehicles costing less than 100 pts.

[Captain Death Crunch]

Dozers on Baals, siege shields on Vindicators is how I usually do it. Baals and Vindicators especially need some insurance to make sure they get where they're needed.  I hadn't thought about putting a dozer blade on a regular Predator before, but that's a good point CAG about getting into a good shooting position often requires moving into terrain. I'll try that next time :)