Starting Blood Angels

[Boomkapow]

Hello all!

 

I'm new to these forums and new to 6th ed. I bought the codex but that's it. I don't want to drop a bunch of money on models I will not use. Also, I would prefer not to assemble my models in a way that I will not want to use them (wysiwyg that is). So I would love to do a list heavy on jump troops. What would you all recommend buying first and what would you equip them with? Thanks!

 

Boomkapow

Neophyte to the Blood Angels Chapter

Index Astartes 

[Vivster]

Welcome to the B&C,

 

Well if you want to start a jump army (even though they are not that effective in 6th ed) i would suggest you buy two assault squads for your 2 troop choices - since they are the bread and butter of a blood angels army and I would suggest to give them something like:

 

• 2x  Melta Guns, Power Sword w/ Melta Bombs for the sergeant
• or 2x Flamer or 2x Plasma and the same load out for the sergeant. 

Then I would suggest get a Librarian for you hq choice with a jump pack and psychic powers of your choice - since they don't affect the model's look. 

 

So that should easy get you to a 500 point list to get started and see whether you enjoy playing such a list - since blood angels though good are not that powerful in 6th edition and you will have to focus if you want to do good. - That dosent meant dont play them - personally if u love them play them - i know i do and i dont regret ever picking them :). Make sure whatever army you choose whenever - remember to enjoy their stories

 

Also hopefully you have a rule book - if not look on ebay to see if anyone is selling the dark vengeance one cheaply. And remember paint your models, if you have any doubts look online, on the B&C Forums or your LGS - PROBE QUESTIONS AND PEPPER PEOPLE WITH SCENARIOS OF COLOUR UNTIL THEY RESPOND - this is will certainly help as you will develop your knowledge on painting. 

 

Then flesh out your assault marines and get some elite choices (ie. dreadnought), then get heavy support (ie. stormraven, devs etc), then feel free to do whatever you want. It is your hobby! Your journey

 

Enjoy

[Zynk Kaladin]

Ah, a new son of Sanguinius.  Welcome young cherub!  Are you prepared to be flocked by gorgeous women daily whilst giving the enemies of Man a gruesome death?  I SURE AM!

 

I'm going to be copying/modifying what I wrote for a previous dude so here goes:

If you haven't checked out the BA resources please click here.  It will give you an overview of just about every unit in our codex and some additional cool stuff to know.

Here's some simple steps to starting an army!

 

1) Get a 6th edition rulebook (I recommend Ebay)

2) Get our Codex. (check!)

3) Read and study them like holy scripture.

4) Pose for the ladies.

5) PLAN BEFORE YOU BUY!  I'M HERE FOR YOUR WALLET, BROTHER!

6) Get super glue, a paint brush, a hobby knife, primer, and paints

7) PLAN YOUR ARMY LIST!  SANGUINIUS BE WITH YOU!

8) Buy

 

Now for #7 I will give you my personal opinions on what's "core" for Blood Angels.  You DO NOT have to follow my suggestions.  It's YOUR army.  Go
crazy(within rules and reason)!  The rulebook requires you to have at least 1 HQ choice and 2 Troop choices.  I'm going to pick choices that allow you to learn all of the basic rules AND are VERY effective.  Therefore, here's what I suggest:

 

HQ:
Librarian with force axe and jump pack.  Librarians are very good at buffing your army with spells and dishing out the hurt on your enemy. 
Since you're playing Angels, a jump pack is often necessary if you want him traveling with Assault Marines.  The axe lets you chop through the heaviest armor, but it's slower.  You will learn how psychic powers work in 40k.  You can choose not to attach the jump pack and put him with the tactical marines or keep it on and place him in the assault squad. Either way I often give him the prescience psychic spell which allows you to re roll failed hit rolls.  Great army booster!

Troop Choice 1: 

Assault Marines with two meltaguns and a power sword(or lightning claw) sergeant.  Assault marines are THE bread and butter unit of Blood Angels.  The meltaguns are a very effective close ranged solution to enemy vehicles and the power sword helps you chop through basic marine armor with ease.  They all have jump packs so you'll be getting them into close combat.  Therefore, you will learn the close combat mechanics of the game.

 

Troop Choice 2: (EDIT: You want a jump-stong list, then?  Ignore this and add a 2nd assault squad! I recommend the 2nd squad gets a power axe)

Tactical Squad with plasma gun and missile launcher.  Ah, the iconic basic marine ranged unit.  Nothing like bolter fire to make the Emperor proud.  The plasma gun puts the hurt on marine-level armor while the missile launcher gives you a long ranged solution to enemy vehicles (krak missiles) and light infantry(frag missiles).  Keep these guys out of close combat and in ranged combat. You will learn how the shooting  mechanics work in warhammer.

 

Other great choices:

 

Elite:
Sanguinary Priest with jump pack and axe:  A sanguinary priest is great at helping your army.  He gives your squad Feel No Pain (FNP), which essentially gives you an extra 5+ dice roll against small to medium arms fire.  Also, the squad he is attached to gets Furious Charge which gives them +1 strength when charging an enemy squad.  This lets your squad have an easier time wounding your enemy.  Therefore, place him with your assault marines.  They'll need FNP to weather the storm of enemy fire until they get close enough to assault.  Then Furious Charge lets you PURGE IN THE NAME OF THE EMPEROR.  The Priest is a great choice to have in my opinion.  I give him a power axe.

 

Dedicated Transports: (EDIT: You don't have to worry about rhinos so much in a jumpy list, but Drop pods are good to know about later when expanding your list)

 

1)Rhino for your tactical squad.  Rhinos let you get your tactical squad where you want them faster than having them footslog across the board, which takes up precious turns.  The transport also gives your embarked squad protection against small arms fire.  Your enemy will have to dedicate some anti tank just to get your guys out of there.  Great choice for tactical marines.

 

2)Alternatively, if you want to get into the fight FAST you may give your tactical squad the iconic Drop Pod.  Drop pods let you enter the table on turn 1 wherever you want.  You may scatter a bit, but generally it is a very safe delivery system for your marines.  You get into your enemy's lines fast OR you can get to an objective fast.  The drop pod is a great choice if you want to learn deep striking rules, which Blood Angels LOVE.

 

I would suggest plenty of other units after these, but this is sufficient for your basic core Blood Angel army.  If you like what you've read, go out and get started, brother.  But I can not stress enough your planning phase.  Read the rulebook.  Read your Codex.  Know EXACTLY what you want before you walk into the store.  Your wallet will thank you.  If it could it would make you a cake. 

 

If you have any questions, please ask!

 

EDIT TLDR:

1 Librarian(JP, Axe)

1 Sanguinary Priest(JP, Axe)

10 Assault Marines(x2 meltaguns, sword)<- libby and priest go here

10 Assault Marines(x2 meltaguns, axe)

 

This core comes out to 665 points.  The rest is a matter of what's your desired theme!  Death Co?  Sanguinary Guard?  Dreadnaughts?  Etc.

[Boomkapow]

I will for sure go pick up some assault marines. Thanks for the tip. But why are they bad in 6th? Seems like deepstriking troops are rampant in the few games I have watched.

 

On another note, what is good for Blood Angels? I like your idea of the dred. I love the dreds for BAs. 

 

Thanks for the response!

[Boomkapow]

Thanks for the post FD. I will visit that site immediately and (continue) reading my codex like scripture. Thanks!

[lfhoule]

As well as the above suggestions, I would also recommend getting  at least a  box of Death Company, even if you are not looking to add DC right away. You can build the figures and paint them up as various ICs, and you spread the rest of the bits around the other models to make them more BA. Plus, it is the only source for our specialist pistols (Inferno and hand flamers).

[Alyssis]

I would say that you shouldnt buy any assault marines at all.. Just buy Death company, and Sanguinary Guards! Paint them red, and enjoy those awesome blood angels details! You will get a whole bunch of shoulder pads, and detailed weapons, all made for blood angels. The reguler assault marines are older, and comes, in my opionion, quite boring,,! 

If you buy 3 packs of DC, and one pack of Sanguinary guards, you get to make 14 reguler assault marines, 2 sergeants, and 4 meltas.. You will however need to buy those meltas from somewhere else.. i recommend buying the meltas from GW's homepage, as they sell 5 for a cheap ammount, compaired to other bit sites.. Everything else, you should buy from cheaper 3rd party sites! Do this, and the troops alone will get you to 420-450 points, depending on what you use on the sarge.. I have double plasma pistols on them, and it does very well!

[Jakbal]

I would say that you shouldnt buy any assault marines at all.. Just buy Death company, and Sanguinary Guards! Paint them red, and enjoy those awesome blood angels details! You will get a whole bunch of shoulder pads, and detailed weapons, all made for blood angels. The reguler assault marines are older, and comes, in my opionion, quite boring,,! 

 

If you buy 3 packs of DC, and one pack of Sanguinary guards, you get to make 14 reguler assault marines, 2 sergeants, and 4 meltas.. You will however need to buy those meltas from somewhere else.. i recommend buying the meltas from GW's homepage, as they sell 5 for a cheap ammount, compaired to other bit sites.. Everything else, you should buy from cheaper 3rd party sites! Do this, and the troops alone will get you to 420-450 points, depending on what you use on the sarge.. I have double plasma pistols on them, and it does very well!

 

I think that this is pretty good advice ... with the one problem that all the extra details in the DC box make painting a bit tough for the beginner (in my opinion).  I would buy 1 Death Company and 1 Regular Assault Marine box, and the bash kit them together (spread out the details).  But that is just my 2 bits.  

 

I'm actually about to pick up a 2nd box of Death Company just for the bits!

[Alyssis]

That could also be true.. It proberbly comes down to experience and such tho.,. I started off with DC, and absolutely no painting experience at all.. My first models was painted simple, but even with just a few colours, they looked better then the reguler ones that i got when buying the battleforce..! Whatever he chooses, at least he has some things to choose from! :)

[Boomkapow]

Well I bought a box of DC today. You're all right, they come with a crap load of bits! I assembled them as non-jump pack marines. I figured they would be better this way as they don't suffer from rage while in a rhino. Would you all use a melta pistol or flamer pistol. I'd say melts for sure if they had jump packs so they can land and blow up a tank. But in a rhino I'm just not sure...

[phabulous]

Well I bought a box of DC today. You're all right, they come with a crap load of bits! I assembled them as non-jump pack marines. I figured they would be better this way as they don't suffer from rage while in a rhino. Would you all use a melta pistol or flamer pistol. I'd say melts for sure if they had jump packs so they can land and blow up a tank. But in a rhino I'm just not sure...

 

Rage is actually good in 6th ed. You have full control over your units unlike in 5th ed, and it confers +2 attacks on the charge instead of +1. So no real need for the rhino except to protect them, but arguably they are better in a drop pod

[Boomkapow]

Soooo....jump packs?

[Alyssis]

Using jump packs on DC, is expensive.. Most people will say to expensive, and hardly ever do it, unless its for a fun game, and you dont expect to win..!

I have a whole bunch of DC's, but what i regret the most, is that i could have used 20 of them as assault marines instead.. I rarely find myself using them at all, but i lack ASMs!

[Leonaides]

Jump packs are ok on small dc units, say 5-6 models. Larger squads should go in some sort of transport tho...

[Taurmino]

I am in the same situation. i bought a battle force and have the 5 man ass squad built as well as the tac squad. should i build the dc as 5 dc or 5 ass to fill out the first squad?