Commander Dante: Anyone use Him?

[Rommel44]

Hey mates. While getting my Astral Knights Chapter put together, I liked the idea of running my Chapter Master with a Jump Pack and with an Assault or Vanguard Squad, when a friend just asked me why don't I just use Dante? He makes a good point, as Dante is a solid HQ and makes any unit with a Jump Pack better, however it made me realize that I have yet to see any BA players use him at all ever since there new Codex was released. Is he just not worth the points or is 8th because Assault Marines in general are not worth taking.

[TheMightyGabriel]

Hello brother,

 

it is my understanding that Assault squads with jump packs are not very cost efficient close combat choices with Blood Angels. Death Company and Sanguiniary Guard bring much more to the table for a similar amount of points. It seems Assault squads do better in pods equipped wtih 3 meltas for a 5 man unit. Dante's therefore a fluff choice imo, and a gambit that your jump units will not get destroyed by enemy fire before they can get into melee range. Remember you can't charge the turn you deep strike, and deep striking jump units does not prevent mishaps like Drop Pods do.
He can be worth the point, but only in an non-optimized jumping BA army :)

[BadDice0809]

He isn't a bad beat stick- you can use him like Draigo- as the center of a mini Death Star. Dante plus Sanguinary priest plus Sanguinary Guard is pretty hitty. 6 Str 7 master crafted Int 6 AP 2 Ahits on the charge, with H&R, EW... he tanks and dishes out the pain. His Warlord trait is the best BA one, but I tend to run a Sanguinary Priest as Warlord to use the VV for 2 strategic traits. Lets me throw him around with less fear of slay the warlord or kingslayer.

[Father Mapple]

Dante is a beast. He is, on the charge 6 attacks at WS6 S7 AP2 at I6 at least (7 if Corbs is around or Baal Force on the charge, or 8 together) and you can cast Quickening on him if you really want to completely mulch almost any other squad. He gives you reserves rerolls on Stormravens, any other Jump Pack units like Sang Guard or Death Co, and such. 

 

I put him with Death Co. many times. They're also resilient to small arms fire due to 3+/5+FNP, don't cost a ton to be effective (like, 5 + JP + 1 fist = 140, making a unit of 360, which isn't a huge sink), benefit from hit and run since you can escape out and keep getting the +2 rage charge bonus. Dante takes the Eternal Warrior lascannons or plasma on his 4+, and the death Co take the bolter/small arms. 

 

Pair them with a Sanguinary Guard Unit of 5 or 6 with a combat Priest for another unit of about 350, and you have two really good jump pack units that can come out of stormravents, 93% of the time are coming on turn 2, both are threats, and both create pressure. And your turn 1 drop pods, long distance shooting, etc, should be enough to make sure only those two units arent the only things being shot. 

[Rommel44]

Thanks for the feedback mates. In honesty, I don't think running a Drop Pod list with Blood Angels would be bad at all, especially if I combined Dante with it in a unit of Sanguinary Guard. At the moment, I was considering putting Dante and a Priest with Jump Pack in a 10x Man unit of Sanguinary Guard (2x PF, 2x IFP and Power Sword, rest w/Bolters and Power Swords) just to see what they can do. And with that, I was even able to include 5x Tac Squads in Drop Pods and have points left over to field either Dreadnoughts or Assault Squads in Drop Pods as well. Granted it was more of a fluff idea but I think it could be competitive. Thoughts?

 

Note: With the recent new SM Codex coming out, my Store Counts the BA Dreadnought to have the same attacks as the one in the new SM Codex to make things balanced. We don't do this for every unit FYI, just units that are similar in both the SM Codex and BA Codex until GW gets off there lazy @#! and FAW's it lol.

[Black Marshal]

I have taken Dante literally every game since 7th rolled out. he runs with 10 assault marines 2 meltas vet sgt with ip and fist. I null deploy and deep strike many units taking advantage of his reserves reroll and 1d6 scatter. I then drop in multiple threaths to make people have to think and make difficult decisions. i then stick dante up front and let him tank. he has won me so many games and has only died twice. Think about that in all my games he is leading from the front tanking wounds and has died twice. yes his is worth it. But he brings so much more than just being a tank. he brings specific army wide rules and unless you are going to take advatage of those rule and build a list around it then take a captain and save some points.

[Rommel44]

I have taken Dante literally every game since 7th rolled out. he runs with 10 assault marines 2 meltas vet sgt with ip and fist. I null deploy and deep strike many units taking advantage of his reserves reroll and 1d6 scatter. I then drop in multiple threaths to make people have to think and make difficult decisions. i then stick dante up front and let him tank. he has won me so many games and has only died twice. Think about that in all my games he is leading from the front tanking wounds and has died twice. yes his is worth it. But he brings so much more than just being a tank. he brings specific army wide rules and unless you are going to take advatage of those rule and build a list around it then take a captain and save some points.

Sounds like a solid choice for sure. What kind of list do you run with him? I was planning on fielding him with a nasty unit of Sanguinary Guard, along with units in Drop Pods and ally in the Skyhammer Annihilation Formation from the Space Marine Codex.

[knife&fork]

I would strong advice against Sanguinary guard as they get slaughtered by any AP2 weapon and are less survivable against grav due to that 2+. 

 

Jump pack DC will do better for the points and as mentioned above they benefit more from Hit n Run. Give them a sword and a fist if it's a smaller unit and then two fist and maybe 2 swords in a larger.

[Brother Raul]

Sanguinary guard is best kept small if including Dante and especially if running a priest too. x5 Sang guard, Dante & SP will do a LOT of damage.

[Charlo]

I think he works best in a regular assault squad as he deals so much damage on the charge it means you get the chance to be locked in combat thier turn and hit and run!

[Mr Smith]

I recently read The World Engine and started thinking about possible rules for some of the characters:

 

Assault Captain Zahiros

Stats - as for Space Marine Captain

Wargear - Power Sword, Bolt Pistol, Storm Shield, Jump Pack, Iron Halo, Frag & Krak Grenades

Special Rules - Independent Character, Shall Know No Fear, Chapter Tactics, Master of Sword and Shield (may still gain an additional attack for having an additional melee weapon while carrying a Storm Shield.)

 

Chapter Master Lord Amhrad

Stats - as for Space Marine Chapter Master

Wargear - Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol, Iron Halo, Frag & Krak Grenades, Wolves of Keyherdos (paired weapons; S +1, AP 2, Melee, Master-Crafted)

Special Rules - Independent Character, Shall Know No Fear, Chapter Tactics, Expert Duelist (in a Challenge may sacrifice a number of attacks to reduce his opponents attacks by the same amount if the opponent has the same Initiative or lower.)

 

Just some initial ideas.  I have no idea about points values, though.

[Rommel44]

I recently read The World Engine and started thinking about possible rules for some of the characters:

 

Assault Captain Zahiros

Stats - as for Space Marine Captain

Wargear - Power Sword, Bolt Pistol, Storm Shield, Jump Pack, Iron Halo, Frag & Krak Grenades

Special Rules - Independent Character, Shall Know No Fear, Chapter Tactics, Master of Sword and Shield (may still gain an additional attack for having an additional melee weapon while carrying a Storm Shield.)

 

Chapter Master Lord Amhrad

Stats - as for Space Marine Chapter Master

Wargear - Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol, Iron Halo, Frag & Krak Grenades, Wolves of Keyherdos (paired weapons; S +1, AP 2, Melee, Master-Crafted)

Special Rules - Independent Character, Shall Know No Fear, Chapter Tactics, Expert Duelist (in a Challenge may sacrifice a number of attacks to reduce his opponents attacks by the same amount if the opponent has the same Initiative or lower.)

 

Just some initial ideas.  I have no idea about points values, though.

I have yet to read the book but it looks awesome and I love the Chapters fluff. Are these supposed to be real weaponry from the Codex's or just from the novel? And what are the Wolves of Keyherdos exactly?

 

As for Dante, would he be better off with Death Company, Sanguinary Guard or regular Assault Marines? Personally I like the Sanguinary Guard for the MC Power Weapons and the AP 4 Bolters.

[Black Marshal]

 

Sounds like a solid choice for sure. What kind of list do you run with him? I was planning on fielding him with a nasty unit of Sanguinary Guard, along with units in Drop Pods and ally in the Skyhammer Annihilation Formation from the Space Marine Codex.

 

 

dante

 

priest inferous pistol, angels wings, valours edge

 

librarian, infernous pistol

 

command squad 3 ss 3 meltas jumppacks

 

10 tacticals melta combi melta heavy flammer, drop pod

10 tacticals melta combi melta heavy flammer, drop pod

 

10 assault marines, 2 meltas, vet sgt, infernous pistol powerfist

10 assault marines, 2 meltas, vet sgt, infernous pistol, powerfist

7 assault marines 2 meltas combi melta drop pod

 

storm raven,

 

1850 points at 2000 i switch the command and librarian for death company and astorath.

 

dante with an assault squad, priest with assault squad, librarian with assault squad, command squad solo and tacticals drop in and combat squad giving me 6 obsec units 20 meltas.

 

edited to finish post

[Indefragable]

 

 

Sounds like a solid choice for sure. What kind of list do you run with him? I was planning on fielding him with a nasty unit of Sanguinary Guard, along with units in Drop Pods and ally in the Skyhammer Annihilation Formation from the Space Marine Codex.

 

dante

 

priest inferous pistol, angels wings, valours edge

 

librarian, infernous pistol

 

command squad 3 ss 3 meltas jumppacks

 

10 tacticals melta combi melta heavy flammer, drop pod

10 tacticals melta combi melta heavy flammer, drop pod

 

10 assault marines, 2 meltas, vet sgt, infernous pistol powerfist

10 assault marines, 2 meltas, vet sgt, infernous pistol, powerfist

7 assault marines 2 meltas combi melta drop pod

 

storm raven,

 

1850 points at 2000 i switch the command and librarian for death company and astorath.

 

dante with an assault squad, priest with assault squad, librarian with assault squad, command squad solo and tacticals drop in and combat squad giving me 6 obsec units 20 meltas.

 

edited to finish post

Hmm. This list caught my attention. What Dante in the Command Squad for some increased survivability? Maybe my club is full of challenge cheeser characters but I tend to find ways to keep awesome units alive even longer.

[Indefragable]

The only reason I don't use Dante more (I use him 33% of the time) is because to get the most out of him you really have to build your list around him. Sure you can throw him in and he will do wonderful things but if you are gonna invest that much in a single dude, you might as well get your money's worth. The other reason is that he is an amazingly well balanced character. Not as powerful as he should be based on the Fluff (he's one of the Top 3 or 5 most powerful people in the entire Imperium) but I digress and am not complaining. He is not a pure beatstick nor is he a pure army buffer but he is no slouch in either of those.

 

Unless you are pinching points or going for a red bike theme (and thus do not need Descent), a Captain just is not going to cut it compared to Dante.

 

I usually use him with 5x Sanguinary Guard w/ Chapter Banner, PF, Inferno Pistol and Sanguinary Priest with JP, Honor's Edge and Bolt Pistol. Sometimes I'll put more Inferno Pistols or even Plasma pistols in there if I want to be particularly aggressive with DS. This gives Dante on his own 7x WS7 S7 AP2 MC Attacks on the Charge. This unit has killed Chapter Master Smashf****r*

 

 

*bit more to the story but that's the simple version.

[Rommel44]

True Dante is a strong character but I really don't see him as a character that you have to build a list around. Plan to test out a game with him with an Assault unit supported by Drop Pod units, as in my experience people will have to pick and choose units to shoot, especially with multiple squads in your face turn 1.

 

That being said, will try out Sanguinary Guard first or do many believe that Death Company is the way to go do to being a bit cheaper and having FNP. Or would you think that a Command Squad would be good enough.

[Indefragable]

True Dante is a strong character but I really don't see him as a character that you have to build a list around. Plan to test out a game with him with an Assault unit supported by Drop Pod units, as in my experience people will have to pick and choose units to shoot, especially with multiple squads in your face turn 1.

 

That being said, will try out Sanguinary Guard first or do many believe that Death Company is the way to go do to being a bit cheaper and having FNP. Or would you think that a Command Squad would be good enough.

I think in general BA's awesome characters require a bit more thought and planning to use "right." Dante, Mephiston, Astorath, Corbulo...none of them are bad on their own. But that's just me. YMMV

 

As for who to put Dante with, pick where on the Damage vs Survivability spectrum you want to be and go from there. DC is the raw killiest and Command Squad w/ Storm Shields offer the best survivability w/ 3x 3++/5+FNP (for JP units). Sanguinary Guard are in the middle being a bit hardier than DC but having damage output that is not that far under. SG can also take buffs that will also affect Dante (WS and FNP from Sang Priest, +1A from Chapter Banner). That is why, IMO, I usually put Dante w/ SG. But again, YMMV.

 

Edit: spelling

[Kamahl129]

Hey mates. While getting my Astral Knights Chapter put together, I liked the idea of running my Chapter Master with a Jump Pack and with an Assault or Vanguard Squad, when a friend just asked me why don't I just use Dante? He makes a good point, as Dante is a solid HQ and makes any unit with a Jump Pack better, however it made me realize that I have yet to see any BA players use him at all ever since there new Codex was released. Is he just not worth the points or is 8th because Assault Marines in general are not worth taking.

I use Dante in most of my 2k lists and he is a glorious monster! I stick him in a 10x Sanguinary Guard unit equiped with a chapter banner, 2x inferno pistols, and a power fist. I also run this unit with a Sanguinary Priest equiped with a plasma pistol and valour's edge to keep them alive. It's an expensive unit totaling out at 715 points. But it usually takes out over 1k points worth or more of enemy units with this setup.

[Rommel44]

 

Hey mates. While getting my Astral Knights Chapter put together, I liked the idea of running my Chapter Master with a Jump Pack and with an Assault or Vanguard Squad, when a friend just asked me why don't I just use Dante? He makes a good point, as Dante is a solid HQ and makes any unit with a Jump Pack better, however it made me realize that I have yet to see any BA players use him at all ever since there new Codex was released. Is he just not worth the points or is 8th because Assault Marines in general are not worth taking.

 

I use Dante in most of my 2k lists and he is a glorious monster! I stick him in a 10x Sanguinary Guard unit equiped with a chapter banner, 2x inferno pistols, and a power fist. I also run this unit with a Sanguinary Priest equiped with a plasma pistol and valour's edge to keep them alive. It's an expensive unit totaling out at 715 points. But it usually takes out over 1k points worth or more of enemy units with this setup.

Sounds like what I am trying to do when starting out. Can you give me an example of your lists when you ran Dante with a big unit of Sanguinary Guard? And do you give them Inferno Pistols or just keep them CC oriented.

[Kamahl129]

 

 

Hey mates. While getting my Astral Knights Chapter put together, I liked the idea of running my Chapter Master with a Jump Pack and with an Assault or Vanguard Squad, when a friend just asked me why don't I just use Dante? He makes a good point, as Dante is a solid HQ and makes any unit with a Jump Pack better, however it made me realize that I have yet to see any BA players use him at all ever since there new Codex was released. Is he just not worth the points or is 8th because Assault Marines in general are not worth taking.

I use Dante in most of my 2k lists and he is a glorious monster! I stick him in a 10x Sanguinary Guard unit equiped with a chapter banner, 2x inferno pistols, and a power fist. I also run this unit with a Sanguinary Priest equiped with a plasma pistol and valour's edge to keep them alive. It's an expensive unit totaling out at 715 points. But it usually takes out over 1k points worth or more of enemy units with this setup.

Sounds like what I am trying to do when starting out. Can you give me an example of your lists when you ran Dante with a big unit of Sanguinary Guard? And do you give them Inferno Pistols or just keep them CC oriented.

 

Okay

 

This is my standard 2k list

 

Dante 220 points

2x Sanguinary Priests (One equipped with a jumpack, plasma pistol and Valour's Edge) 155 points

10x Tactical Squad with heavy flamer and flamer 155 points

5x Combat squad 70 points

10x Sanguinary Guard 1x chapter banner, 2x inferno pistols, 1x power fist 385 points

1x Dreadnought with two twin linked autocannons 120 points

1x Furioso Dreadnought with a frag cannon 130 points

3x Drop Pods 35 points (two are free)

5x Assault Marines with 1x plasma pistol and 2x melta guns 120 points

5x Assault Marines with 1x plasma pistol and 2x melta guns 120 points

10x Devastators with 3x lascannons and 1x plasma cannon 215 points

1x Land Raider with a multi-melta 260 points

 

I put Dante and a sanguinary priest with the 10 man sanguinary guard squad, the tactical squad in the land raider, the furioso in a drop pod, the two assault squads in drop pods, and I put the stock sanguinary priest with the devastators.

 

It's a well rounded list that provides overwhelming fire support for the sanguinary guard.