BA Today

[Jolemai]

Death Company Dreadnought is the Unit of the Week

[Xenith]

Time to dine.

[Jolemai]

No photo(s), but Astorath doesn't work as a blonde...

[Jolemai]

Blood & Zeal HQ Stratagem is now live

[9x19 Parabellum]

0-8

 

That's my record for the last eight games I've played with Blood Angels.  The latest game, tonight vs. Custodes, I got tabled. I cannot remember the last time I got tabled in a game of Warhammer, 40k or otherwise.

 

My last eight games have been: AdMech, Eldar, Eldar, Grey Knights, Guard, Heroes of the Imperium (lysander, st. celestine, volus and RG), Dark Eldar Angels, and Custodes.

 

The last 3 games have been particularly bad.

Against Heroes of the Imperium, I lost despite having over 500 more points than my opponent.

Against Dark Eldar Angels, the score was relatively close (13 to 10), but I was nearly tabled, having only 3 tactical marines left on the board.

Against Custodes, I was tabled, and the score was not even close (14 to 5).

 

It doesn't seem like lately I have the answer to anything. If I have good melee, my opponent has slightly better melee.  If I have a strong shooting core, my opponent has more and further range shooting.   Big hits bounce off invuln saves.   Deep strikers fail all their charges while my opponents make theirs. Captain Smashy does his thing and then gets incinerated.

 

So, what are you guys doing? Someone tell me some good news about their Blood Angels because mine are getting turned to red paste.

Edited February 20, 2018 by 9x19 Parabellum

[Panzer]

not using stalker patterns is min-maxing? you and i have very different views on the term (and I've been a roleplayer and DM almost as long as I've been in this hobby haha).

 

Well yes, if you say that the Bolt Rifle is almost always better than the Stalker and thus not taking the Stalker isn't an issue that's objectively and without any form of judgement min-maxing. ^^

[Indefragable]

0-8

 

That's my record for the last eight games I've played with Blood Angels. The latest game, tonight vs. Custodes, I got tabled. I cannot remember the last time I got tabled in a game of Warhammer, 40k or otherwise.

 

My last eight games have been: AdMech, Eldar, Eldar, Grey Knights, Guard, Heroes of the Imperium (lysander, st. celestine, volus and RG), Dark Eldar, and Custodes.

 

The last 3 games have been particularly bad.

Against Heroes of the Imperium, I lost despite having over 500 more points than my opponent.

Against Dark Eldar, the score was relatively close (13 to 10), but I was nearly tabled, having only 3 tactical marines left on the board.

Against Custodes, I was tabled, and the score was not even close (14 to 5).

 

It doesn't seem like lately I have the answer to anything. If I have good melee, my opponent has slightly better melee. If I have a strong shooting core, my opponent has more and further range shooting. Big hits bounce off invuln saves. Deep strikers fail all their charges while my opponents make theirs. Captain Smashy does his thing and then gets incinerated.

 

So, what are you guys doing? Someone tell me some good news about their Blood Angels because mine are getting turned to red paste.

Sucks to hear it, man. Custodes, honestly, I can see being particularly tough since their new and people on both sides doesn’t know what to expect. And their a new army and a new kit so GW expects to sell a lot so expect their stuff to skew to the better/undercosted side of things.

 

Dark Eldar are so rare in general, that I find they are particularly tough to deal with because people aren’t used to them and/or the players who play them are particularly good since you kinda have to be with them.

 

Eldar are filthy cheesy xenos, so there.

 

Heroes of the Imperium is just place cheese (not that that is any consolation to you).

 

Imperial Guard, Ad Mech and GK can all have some pretty tough builds and with the first two especially sometimes it’s the luck of the draw. I tend to do Scout Swarms in my BA lists, so with IG, I tend to do well against infantry lists or AT tanks. But if they bring a few punishers, lights out for me.

 

A. Did you use the same list against each opponent? Or did you change it up each time? As frustrating as it can be, I recommend getting reps in with the same army for 5-10 games (depending on how frequently you play) whenever possible. I think all too often we look at listbuimding as this magic wand where sussing out 5pts more from a 2k list will somehow magically answer all our prayers and defeat any foe. On-field tactics and decisions is as important if not more so than other factors.

 

B . Speaking of listbuilding...mind sharing your list(s) that you used? Can’t hurt to take a look.

 

C. Speaking of tactics—and it’s hard to generalize across 8 games against different foes—have you been dogpiling things or spreading out the pain? I ask because a common theme I am seeing is trying to do too much in a single Turn. 1 enemy unit in the grave is worth 2 in the hospital: I find it’s usually better to kill what you can kill rather than leave a bunch of foes limping around. Custodes especially come to mind in that regard: even a single Custard can mess you up, so it’s (generally speaking) best to pour as much fire as is needed to wipe a single unit rather than pick off a guy or two from each squad.

 

D. As melee force, I think we can get overconfident. Yes, Red Thirst is great, but don’t forget your fundamentals: the single most important part of any melee in 40k is 1. Getting the charge 2. Getting the charge when YOU want it. This means holding off for a turn, or baiting your enemy, or dancing with him if needed. You can afford an 80% solution with shooting...you can’t always with charging. My last game I kept my 9-man Sanguinary Guard unit in Reserve for almost the entire game for that very reason.

 

Hopefully some of this helps, but definitely interested in hearing more details.

[9x19 Parabellum]

Sorry, Indefrag.  Dark Angels, not Dark Eldar.

 

To answer your questions.

A. No. Mostly because the games are typically at different points levels.  Those 8 games represent games at 1k, 1200, 1500, 2k and 2.5k

 

B.  Sure...well, I can't give you all 8 lists, but here are some common things that always get included.

 - a unit of 10 scouts with blade and bolt pistol, sgt with power sword. sometimes gets combat squadded.

 - a big unit of 10 tacs, usually with plasma, combi plasma, and plasma cannon, and power swrd on sgt.  Sometimes I use grav cannon.

 - a smaller unit of 5 tacs, usally with plasma and combi plasma.

 

-a captain smashypants type or similar variant

-a jump librarian or termie libby, usually with unleash rage and shield of sang

 

-either a sang or termie ancient with banner of sacrifice

-either a largish unit (8-10) of Death Company, usually with a couple power swords or power fist OR a unit of sanguinary guard, encarmine and angelus bolters

 

-depending on game size, a 5 man unit of assault marines, usually for grabbing objectives, or linebreaker or similar type stuff.

 

-A unit of 5 devastators, either with plasma cannons, missile launchers, or grav cannons, or some mix of 2 of those 3.

-A lascannon predator or flamer baal predator (depending on what the rest of my list looks like in terms of big guns vs. hoard control).

 

-A rhino or razorback (or 2, depending on game size)

 

C. I think I tend to spread out the pain too much.

 

D. That's probably true.  But lately, I've been thinking that maybe the way to view blood angels is just as a regular old space marine army (ie, lots of shooting), with a couple counter-assault elements on standbye/threat deterrence in the rear.

[The Unseen]

Well, it doesn't help that your taking fairly unimpressive units.

 

Tacticals and assault marines are basically just dead weight in a list, even with plasma, they are terribly ineffecient, which really hurts, especially in low point games.

 

Intercessors and scouts are a much better investment for troops, and company vets, vanguard, or more dc for jump troops.

[9x19 Parabellum]

Ok so I revisited my army vs. Custodes yesterday and found out I was 200 points lower than I was supposed to be (2k game and I only had 1800).  So that might have had a lot to do with it.

[RelentlessPursuit]

So today was my first game of 40k in 22years!

We took 750pts each and the game went surprisingly smoothly considering it was my friend and I's first foray into 8th.

The matchup was my bangles versus his Primaris Fleshtearers - I lost the first battle of the two we played and I learned A LOT.

Some huge mistakes on my part that I rectified in the second game for the win.

 

List was: (Battalion detachment)

Kidguinius (captain w/ stormshield , thunderhammer, jumppack(angels wing) artisan of war(trait) and the death company strategem.

Sanguinary priest w/ jumppack and stormbolter

5 Intercessors w/ grenade launcher + sgt w/ chainsword

2x5 Scouts with shotguns

5 Sanguinary guard w/ encarmine blades

3 Interceptors w/ assault bolters

 

Some notes on mistakes:

I figured the Sang guard would be great against an elite multi-wound army but hesitated and brought them down too late to synergize.

My deployment was really poor - I kind of set up like an objective game when it was No Mercy(doh!)

This poor deployment meant my sang priest, intercessors and 1 unit of scouts were AWOL most of the game.

His aggressors had an absolute field day.

 

Will add more later once its all sunk in a bit.

[Jolemai]

Ok so I revisited my army vs. Custodes yesterday and found out I was 200 points lower than I was supposed to be (2k game and I only had 1800). So that might have had a lot to do with it.

Worth getting Battlescribe on your mobile/PC?

[9x19 Parabellum]

 

Ok so I revisited my army vs. Custodes yesterday and found out I was 200 points lower than I was supposed to be (2k game and I only had 1800). So that might have had a lot to do with it.

Worth getting Battlescribe on your mobile/PC?

 

 

Yes. Doing it now :-)

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Welp. Having a pint in honor of the frater. Went from high 26-30°C to sub 5°C weather. Wasn't ready for this!

 

Hope you lot are busy bees and making awesome HQs! Cheers!

 

As Jol said in the B&Z thread, see you all in the Troop Stratagem!

[Oilsmith]

So today was my first game of 40k in 22years!

We took 750pts each and the game went surprisingly smoothly considering it was my friend and I's first foray into 8th.

The matchup was my bangles versus his Primaris Fleshtearers - I lost the first battle of the two we played and I learned A LOT.

Some huge mistakes on my part that I rectified in the second game for the win.

 

List was: (Battalion detachment)

Kidguinius (captain w/ stormshield , thunderhammer, jumppack(angels wing) artisan of war(trait) and the death company strategem.

Sanguinary priest w/ jumppack and stormbolter

5 Intercessors w/ grenade launcher + sgt w/ chainsword

2x5 Scouts with shotguns

5 Sanguinary guard w/ encarmine blades

3 Interceptors w/ assault bolters

 

Some notes on mistakes:

I figured the Sang guard would be great against an elite multi-wound army but hesitated and brought them down too late to synergize.

My deployment was really poor - I kind of set up like an objective game when it was No Mercy(doh!)

This poor deployment meant my sang priest, intercessors and 1 unit of scouts were AWOL most of the game.

His aggressors had an absolute field day.

 

Will add more later once its all sunk in a bit.

 

Yes, yes they did.

 

I was the opponent in this game and, as mentioned it was my first game in 8th... 7th... 6th... ahhh.. first game since about 4th if I'm honest. Naturally I made a lot of mistakes as well, but overall I was pleased at how smoothly the game went for both of us, even with my stopping frequently to make notes for a battle report to be written over the next few days.

 

My force:

 

1 x Primaris Captain in Gravis Armour (HQ)

1 x Primaris Librarian (HQ)

2 x 5 Intercessors (T)

1 x 5 Hellblasters (HS)

1 x 3 Aggressors (E)

 

This for a patrol detachment with no extra CP.  Selected partly for flexibility but mainly because they were (mostly) painted - unlike the grey legion sitting at home today.

 

Some notes:

The hellblasters were a little disappointing. Mostly they spent their first or second turn getting horribly killed and not trading for much value in return. I'm hoping that they will fare better against a more armoured list.

Captain was awesome and racked up a serious body count against sanguinary guard / priest but the librarian was somewhat lackluster. This is probably because I deployed him quite poorly in both games and wasn't able to use him as much as I could have (however when he was used he decimated a scout unit)

 

So, the Aggressors. They did two things exceptionally well - chewed through anything without decent armour and (shortly afterwards) drew fire away from my more vulnerable units as my opponent spent an awful lot of dakka trying to remove them. In the second game they were less effective due to being charged early and kept out of the fun - I've learned that deployment, once again, is the key with them and the units around them.

 

From my point of view I think that going forward I need to work on my deployment and threat assessments. Reflecting back at my notes and photos I realize just how open I left myself in some places. I will also be adding some more aggressors (just because) and getting my own Inceptors painted for larger games. 

 

I need to talk to RP about a battle report and a follow up day.

Edited February 21, 2018 by Oilsmith

[CaptainHelion]

Seems like it was a day of firsts for a number of us! Had my first game with Blood Angels in 8th, against my mate's AdMech.

Hooooboy, that was quite a game! Death Visions of Sanguinius and the Foresight Warlord trait was a fantastic combo, although as both my opponent and I noted, I was rolling a jammy number of 5s and 6s. Honour the Chapter, and Even In Death were exceptional, and I can see myself setting aside at least 2cp for Even in Death in most every game.

Powerfists and Thunderhammers are incredible with the +1 to wound, meaning I was wounding even his Castellans on 2s! Wow. Having been playing a shooty and relatively squishy army for all of 8th previously, the ability of the Sons of Sanguinius to utterly wreck face is astounding.

I took too many terminators, though, and found myself outmaneuvered in the objective game, leading to a narrow loss.

[Panzer]

 

The hellblasters were a little disappointing. Mostly they spent their first or second turn getting horribly killed and not trading for much value in return. I'm hoping that they will fare better against a more armoured list.

 

 

Yeah as noted before a number of times the Hellblaster have a huge target painted on their back so they either need to deploy out of LoS or inside of a transport ... which would be the Repulsor which would instantly add another 300-400 points to your army and has a huge target painted on its back as well due most likely being the only real target for anti-tank weaponry in the army. ^^

[Indefragable]

Figured I’d share this from a different thread:

 

While we’re talking creative uses for Wings of Fire, you can use to pick up a model and put it back down in the same exact spot if you like.

 

.....why the heck would you want to do that?

 

 

 

...to unlock Descent if Angels, of course. Make sure you get that charge off.

 

I had a game where I was slightly behind on VP, but had 3 cards with. 1. Kingslayer 2. Kill a character 3. Kill something in melee. I used WoF to move Captain Slamguinius 12” away from the enemy WL to make sure I could get that Charge off. Between him and the Sanguinor bouncing up the field already, I got all 3 cards (plus Slay the WL) easily.

[Jønke]

Smart... will remember that. Thanks for sharing.

[9x19 Parabellum]

Yay! I broke my 8 game losing streak last night. Sadly, it was against (drumroll)....a BLOOD ANGELS LIST! (Primaris).  Going to put up a batrep later today.

[Karhedron]

I have just put the finishing touches to my Captain Smash tonight. Just a fairly standard kitbash using SG and VV parts but I am quite pleased with how he turned out. With hindsight I think I should have chosen a head with halo to represent the Iron Halo but that is a small point. Both arms are magetised to future-proof him for 9th edition.

[Majkhel]

I love the paint job on the wings and loin cloth!

[Karhedron]

I love the paint job on the wings and loin cloth!

Thanks, they were both ever so simple but turned out really well. The loin cloth is Hormagaunt purple drybrushed but Ceramite white and then washed with Druichi purple.

 

The wings are Ceramite white, washed with Drahkenhof nightshade and then drybrushed again with Ceramite white.

[Panzer]

Random question: Was there a Deathwatch squad or more fighting during the Devastation of Baal as well?

[Silverson]

Random question: Was there a Deathwatch squad or more fighting during the Devastation of Baal as well?

There was no mention of them being there in the devistation of Baal book, not 100% sure if the codex says something but I don’t recal any being there.