Getting back into BA?

[Guardian of the Rage]

Hi all,

 

Quite while since I was active in this forum...

 

I am thinking that it is time to get back into GW and getting things out of the loft I came across my old blood angel army.

 

I read up and realised that the rules have actually changed a few times since I played, last game was in 5th edition, and the codex had change. Naturally I went down to get the rulebook and the codex to discover that the game must have moved on quite a bit...

 

In the tactics forum, I will ask some more general advice questions on the changes. In this forum I want to ask you guys for some advice on updating my collection and which things have changed the most.

 

I have the following painted to a (relatively) good standard and I am willing to remodel weapons, add/remove jump packs and buy more stuff obviously.

 

Captain - jump pack, large ornate spear

Command squad - jump packs, champion, apoth, standard, PF and 2 power weapons

Librarian - force sword, jump pack

Chaplain - on foot as standard

Sang priest - jump pack and bolt pistol

 

Death company (10) on foot with PF x2 and pswords x2

Death company drop pod

Furioso dread (1) talons and heavy flamer upgrade

 

Tactical squad (10) with sgt psword, flamer and ML

Rhino

Tactical squad (10) with PF and combi-melta on sgt, meltagun, MM

Drop pod

Scouts (5) sgt PF

Scouts (5) with 4 snipers and an ML

 

Assault squad (10) sgt with Thammer and inferno pistol, melta gun x2

Assault squad (10) sgt with PF, flamer, meltagun

Assault squad (5) jump packs removed, sgt with PF and inferno pistol, meltagun

Razorback as standard

Attack bikes (2) MM x2

Land speeder typhoon (1)

 

Devastators (10) lascannon x2, ML x2

Baal Predator with HB sponsors

Baal predator with flamestorm and dozer

Predator destructor with HB sponsors

Vindicator with siege shield

 

Looking at the rules, I guess initiative 1 weapons on sgts is no go now and that the DC need jum packs for that ludicrously cheap price. Also, the warlords and formations/detachments are a big change. Further, flyers seem like something that needs to be either exploited or countered.

 

I am not sure exactly where to start other than to say that I would like to get to a 2250 point list ready asap.

 

Many thanks in advance,

 

GotR

[Xenith]

Welcome back to Baal!

 

Welp. The thing about having a good, varied army like yours is that nothing in there has been invalidated!

 

Make one of the armies that you made in 5th ed, and note that it comes in at probably 200-300pts cheaper. Now add another unit and youre done.

 

I1 weapons are still good, they just dont capitalise on the +1 I from charging that the BSF grants.

 

The main things your collection seem to be missing to fully exploit the codex are sanguinary guard, a storm raven and Dante.

 

Consider getting these to fill in the gaps so you can very your play style when you like.

[Jolemai]

Firstly, welcome back :)

 

A lot of what you have is still useable and relevant today. Of course, a Stormraven is probably the choicest purchase given it can perform well in the air-to-ground or anti-air roll rather well. It's arguably also the best way to get your (as it is) Furioso into combat.

 

Power fists on Sergeants become a problem due to challenges, however, this can mitigated by sending them into combat more than 2" away from an enemy character or, having an IC with a weapon that strikes at initiative in the squad. For example, in the previous edition I ran Corbulo in a RAS whose Sergeant has a power axe.

 

You've got the basis of a typical jump list in that you can have RAS following behind rolling cover. This still works today but it requires something with a bit of omph, especially at 2250. Putting a jump pack on the DC and your Chaplain will help, or you could get some Sanguinary Guard if you wanted. For both of these squads, the debated sweet spot is around eight models or so but it's entirely up to you.

 

Your single Drop Pod can still be used for ten DC if you wish, your Furioso (if you can change it to a Fragioso configuration) or better still, your five man RAS. Give them a second melta gun and possibly put another inferno pistol on the sergeant and have some fun with that.

 

Just some initial thoughts and I'm sure others will contribute :)

[BloodTzar]

Welcome back !

I do feel your pain, I still have 3 LRC's as leftover from my 5th ed RAS LR spam with all the SPries that I have now as tax for having DoA list as well

On the other hand I would personally suggest to go with the trend and try to prepare to have an answer for the new hits;

• Trip-tides
• Tau-dar high T spam
• Serp-spam
• OPcrons
• Cent-star
• (definitely more to mention, however I am still getting familiar with all the dirty GW tricks)

I would personal suggest to add;

• Mepthiston (still nice WC genrator S10 with zillion attacks in T2) + Sterns (combi weaps into the face) + POD - you can proxy some tacticals to playtest them, overall the new box is very neat
• 3x3x Bikers (dark vengeance ones are cheap with a great pose) with 2 grav+combi grav sarge (nets very cheap)
• 5x RAS in pod with 2 melta+combi melta - POD ( very useful to be able to get 3 melta shots for very cheap - if u have magnetized jumpacks this might not be issue at all)
• Raven's (I do tend to run them in pairs or with another flyers)
• Fire Raptor (If you want to get some neat fire-power; I am more than happy that I have sent the extra bit for this flyer)
• Allied Stromtalon (well you need to pay the allied tax; however you get very nice fire base that might come on the board with the SR )
• Get your DC some jump packs they synergies very well with DROP POD army; as the enemy has lot of targets in DZ while DC jumps across , however doesn't work much against Serpent-Spam

PS. Still one unit I am not sure, however I see its potential is 5 tac term with Chain Fist and HF in DP with death storm

PS.2 Oh almost forgot that people nowadays tend to add; Imperial Knights (ugliest thing out there IMO, perhaps few FW are cute) D weapon (+decent stomp potential) outside Apoc may be appealing and useful, however not my cup of tea because of how fragile(AV13/12 with 4++ and 6HP ) they are and the looks.

Hope this helps,

~BT

[Xenith]

Welcome back !

I do feel your pain, I still have 3 LRC's as leftover from my 5th ed RAS LR spam with all the SPries that I have now as tax for having DoA list as well

On the other hand I would personally suggest to go with the trend and try to prepare to have an answer for the new hits;

• Trip-tides
• Tau-dar high T spam
• Serp-spam
• OPcrons
• Cent-star
• (definitely more to mention, however I am still getting familiar with all the dirty GW tricks)

You may wish to translate this into english for someone that it just getting back into the game?

In any case, I wouldn't worry about such stuff unless you are going to play in hardcore tournaments, or your gaming group is uber competitive.

[lfhoule]

Make one of the armies that you made in 5th ed, and note that it comes in at probably 200-300pts cheaper. Now add another unit and youre done.

I would caution that, for me anyway, the difference in points between editions is rather fleeting, Yes, this new edition does lower the costs for a fair number of units, but then you have to pay MORE to get back what you had originally in 5th. As an example, the basic tactical squad in 5th was 75 points for a Sgt. and 4 marines: a Sgt. that was Ld. 9 and 2 attacks base. New codex the cost is 70 points for the basic tac. squad, but the Sgt. is Ld. 8 and 1 attack base, with the option of spending a melta gun to make the Sgt. veteran to get back the stats you had in 5th. It took me a several attempts and head scratches to figure this out while wondering how the heck I was able to fit a small Sternguard squad in my 5th ed. army when I couldn't do it now... and all the while wondering if I was "cheating" by using more points than agreed to when building my army... not that it helped me win much.

[Xenith]

Yes, they go up and down. The tactical squads havent really changed too much, assault squads are 20 points cheaper, but the big savings were in my jump DC and 5 man sanguard unit.

[Shaezus]

Hey GotR and welcome back!

 

On top of what's already been said, just want to mention a couple of things.

 

Detachments: The most popular BA - only detachment is the Baal Strike Force (BSF), but the universal Combined Arms Detachment (CAD) is appealing to us because of our unique relic, the 'veritas vitae'. For the cost of 3 meltabombs this gives your warlord a second roll on the strategic traits table. One of the CAD bonuses is re-rolling warlord traits, so with the Veritas Vitae you can get two re-rollable rolls on the strategic table, which is generally accepted as the best of the tables for us to use. Move through cover makes your jump infantry ignore dangerous terrain checks, and infiltrate on three of your units is pretty sick. Just remember they cant assault or be assaulted on turn one if they infiltrate.

 

Flyers: All depends on who you will be playing and what they will be using, but I have found that flyers are not common enough to worry about spending points on anti-air. There is much debate about land raiders vs storm ravens as assault transports; each has their pros and cons, but again I wouldn't worry about having flyers in your force. Incidentally if you want the best air and anti-air, look to forgeworld models such as the fire raptor and sicaran.

 

Assault squads: BA now have one of the cheapest and most lethal melta delivery options: The 5-man 'meltacide' squad: 5 ASM with 2 meltaguns, sergeant with 2 inferno pistols. In a drop pod. With ASM as fast attack now, 10-man squads are unnecessary.

 

Anyway hope that helps. Good luck!