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Help building a Melee BA army?


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Hello, I am new to the TTG of 40k, but very familiar with the universe and books. I am currently painting up about 1000-1200 points of iron hands, but plan on using them as my shoosting boys. I love both the Blood Angel and Space Wolves lore and themes. The knightly angelic vampires with the best Primarch, the glorious and charismatic Sanguinius, and the vicious were wolf Vikings. My top three chapters have to be BA, SW, and GK, and I've actually written up my own chapter to include some shoosting marines, and an elite group using GK rules(don't worry, I'm not crazy enough to make a successor to the GK.) I have been asking across several forums, and haven't really been able to get a clean cut set of advice, so I've decided to come here, to the source. I want to run a melee based army, guys charging in with swords and axes, crackling psychic energy blasting away. I've been told two different things, space wolves and blood Angels. But space wolves just look like cavalry, and more geared towards shoosting. I want to choose BA as my main force, my army, but I need help figuring out how to build them as a good melee army of vampire warrior Knights? Is it possible, and what advise would you give to me for making a sword and board, axe and Chainfist bad boy army? I only play at FLGS, and don't care about competitiveness, but I also don't want to lose every game.
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Well, it seems you pretty much have the gist of it, Mist.  I've been away from the hobby for a while, but am getting back into it pretty hardcore myself.  A few suggestions I would have: 1) Get the BA Codex and try to become as familiar with it and the terminology as possible (if you don't have one).  

2) Fast units are pretty much key here these days, kind of like they've always been.  Transports and drop pods are needed for slow movers, and coupled with deep striking jumpers.  

3)  Compliment your units with one another to try to bring balance. 

 

Death Company have always been my favorite unit, and they are capable of being a game changer if they can survive to combat.  Pair them with a decent HQ choice and they can be pretty nasty.  Between the DC, Sanguinary Guard, Vanguard Vets, and Assault Squads you have several pure melee units to choose from.  Not to mention Terminator Assault Squads and CCW Scouts if you'd like :P 

 

You seem to be drawn to the BA for the same reason as most of us though, so just have fun with it!

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Hello, I am new to the TTG of 40k, but very familiar with the universe and books. I am currently painting up about 1000-1200 points of iron hands, but plan on using them as my shoosting boys. I love both the Blood Angel and Space Wolves lore and themes. The knightly angelic vampires with the best Primarch, the glorious and charismatic Sanguinius, and the vicious were wolf Vikings. My top three chapters have to be BA, SW, and GK, and I've actually written up my own chapter to include some shoosting marines, and an elite group using GK rules(don't worry, I'm not crazy enough to make a successor to the GK.) I have been asking across several forums, and haven't really been able to get a clean cut set of advice, so I've decided to come here, to the source. I want to run a melee based army, guys charging in with swords and axes, crackling psychic energy blasting away. I've been told two different things, space wolves and blood Angels. But space wolves just look like cavalry, and more geared towards shoosting. I want to choose BA as my main force, my army, but I need help figuring out how to build them as a good melee army of vampire warrior Knights? Is it possible, and what advise would you give to me for making a sword and board, axe and Chainfist bad boy army? I only play at FLGS, and don't care about competitiveness, but I also don't want to lose every game.

 

Hello,

 

First, i will give two piece of Information :

 

- For the "Vampire Warrior Knights" you came to the good neighborhood. Blood Angels, indeed possess lots of good close combat units.

- For the "don't want to lose every game"....errrr....actually, we are quite the lowest Space Marines/Imperial Faction. You can do good things....but well, we have the units but not the rules...

 

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if you are interrested in a Blood Angels army, i shall recommend you this Build :

 

Core (1HQ + 2 Troops + 1 Elite + 1 Support) :

- 1 Gets Started set (1 Captain in TDA + 1 BA tactical squad + 1 Predator Baal)

- 1 Scouts squad (Personnally, i recomment the "one shoot two hit" that is the Lost Patrol Box)

- 1 Sanguinary Guard (Cheap box with Good units)

 

First Optional (1 or 2 Fast Attack + 1 Elite)

- 1 or 2 Assault Squad Box / Death Company Box (You can use the Death Company to make it an Assault Squad)

- 1 Furioso Dreadnought Box / Death Company Dreadnought Box

 

Second Optional (1 Elite + 1 HQ)

- 1 Blood Angels Assault Terminator Squad (Note that you can equip them with Lighting Claw and use one of the spare shields to equip your Captain with it.)

- 1 Sanguinary Priest (For the Bling^^)

 

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With this, you got a 1400-1500 points army, for quite a reasonable price, with quite the strong potential. Yet i warn you again about the fact that Blood Angels are not currently favored by GW rule team.....I advice you to first download the Blood Angels Codex that you may easily find on one well know torrent to give you the Big idea of the Blood Angels faction.

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Death Company with jump packs and plenty of them! Add Lemartes or a Chaplain for boons. Dante and Sanguinary Guard plus a Priest, Mephiston or standard Libby for psykic shenanigans! Librarian Dreadnought, Furioso, Death Company Dread - take your pick!

 

Fast Vindicators in the vanguard, Baal Predators bringing up the rear, melta assault marines in pods, bikes and land speeders in support.

 

Blood Angels are MADE for close quarter combat :)

 

Oh and tactical marines in rhinos with flamer, heavy flamer and hand/combi flamer. Heavy flamer is Assault, not Heavy, so you can fire and still charge. Either that or CQC armed scouts to fill out your troop slots.

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You know, I had a realization today that fluff is the most important part to me, so I am willing to lose every time if it means I get to do honor to Sanguinius. Honestly, I've been reading the HH books, and he is just so amazing and layered of a character. I do think BA have the best fluff. I will be running them alongside some Iron Hands, so I will have a good support for them. I have created a little chapter of my own, using Iron Hands, Grey Knights, and Blood Angels(Mostly BA), with the Iron Hands to represent the enhanced constitution of the vampire thing, and the BA will be my fast attack melee, and the GK aspect has to do with my personal fluff. 

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Most of my armies attacking punch consists of one unit of sanguinary guard with a priest running alongside 2x seven man jump pack death company with a thunder hammer each. if you need to distract your opponent from shooting them, drop podding a furioso dred with a frag cannon on the sides of his lines is an amazing distraction.

R

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Pretty much BA works by just overloading your opponent with compact, but powerful threats that he has no hope to shoot down in the one turn or so he gets.

 

As such Pods are pretty necessary - you need to get a good mass in his deployment zone Turn 1.

 

Turn 2 whatever you have left from the first Pod Wave will shoot again and charge, hopefully backed up by some jump units that have now made it across the board. This happens as wave 2 of pods lands.

 

Turn 3 is when everything should be in a crazy combat.

 

In terms of Fire support our fast tanks, storm ravens and some good forge world options provide great dakka while we charge down.

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Oh and tactical marines in rhinos with flamer, heavy flamer and hand/combi flamer. Heavy flamer is Assault, not Heavy, so you can fire and still charge. Either that or CQC armed scouts to fill out your troop slots.

You may consider putting that squad in a drop pod to get them close to the enemy earlier.

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Oh and tactical marines in rhinos with flamer, heavy flamer and hand/combi flamer. Heavy flamer is Assault, not Heavy, so you can fire and still charge. Either that or CQC armed scouts to fill out your troop slots.

You may consider putting that squad in a drop pod to get them close to the enemy earlier.

Can confirm. This squad is glorious.

 

Two hand flamers are a must though, for rule of cool.

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Oh and tactical marines in rhinos with flamer, heavy flamer and hand/combi flamer. Heavy flamer is Assault, not Heavy, so you can fire and still charge. Either that or CQC armed scouts to fill out your troop slots.

 

You may consider putting that squad in a drop pod to get them close to the enemy earlier.

Good point! I'll be podding from now on...

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I have multiple tactical squads kitted for drop pod fiery death and I love them. However a good tactic to pass on to a new player is the cheap five man tactical squad with heavy flamer in a rhino. Two potential objective grabbers, good at flushing cover campers and most importantly, rhinos make excellent line of sight blockers for assault armies. Can be game changing.

R

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Yes - A fast shooting army for the BA would in my mind be based around our fast tanks. Vindicators and Predators (Baal and normal) gain most from fast, but move 12 and shoot razorbacks can help to provide assault cannon support when and where needed (or if you can source the bits, a heavy flamer razorback can be very amusing).

 

Other than that, if you kitbash a priest on a bike to go with attack bikes that can improve their durability and I find them a more survivable Melta delivery than landspeeders. 

 

Infantry we struggle though - while the Assault squads can carry special weapons, we don't have the Grav cannon devastators or Centurions that provide the mobile firepower to Codex Marines.

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