8th Dark Angels Tactica and Tournament Guide (in progress)

[Solrac]

Hey gang,

So I thought I would kick this off to replace my old Lion's Blade thread that so many of you contributed to and made the topic much more successful.

As all aspects of a Dark Angels army are now considered competitive I thought we would focus primarily on Tactica that you can use in any of your games and then specialised Tactica for tournaments. I will be hitting Tournaments heavy for the rest of this year cause you know, 8th got me very excited, but also gonna be trying to keep up to date with all the stuff that comes out of the woodwork.

I want get your input as soon as possible primarily for unit combos but also things you have found about playing the game in general.

I want to go over a lot of basics but also dive into some advanced stuff also.

Cheers guys looking forward to your input!

Disclaimer: As long as this disclaimer is here, this thread is still under construction. Thank you for your patience.

Prologue

The aim of this topic is to discuss Tactica for Dark Angels play in a competitive setting. Obviously you can then adjust these if you are playing a more casual or narrative game but the focus will mainly be Matched Play games using Points Values.

We will be covering all the units to give you a general idea on how they perform or how to use them but therer will also be a dedicated section for unit combinations with the way characters now work. List building is now more important than ever so it's best to build a list around a core focus and then add in supporting elements.

We will also be discussing Tournament play as they usually run custom missions. Tournaments will usually see a 2000pts limit as this is the new 1850pts from 8th edition. The most popular Tournament formats are currently:

Independent Tournament Circuit (ITC)

We will be covering the following topics:

Chapter 1: The Basics
Chapter 2: Advanced Strategy and Missions
Chapter 3: Unit Overview
Chapter 4: Unit Combinations
Chapter 5: Stratagems and Relics
Chapter 6: Current Tournament Builds
Chapter 7: Useful Links

Edited September 6, 2017 by Solrac

[Solrac]

Chapter 1: The Basics

This chapter covers the basics about the game that is different enough from last edition to catch people out. You would most likely have to factor these in to various parts of the game not just when playing (e.g list building).

Re-rolls and Modifiers

Re-rolls and Modifiers have changed significantly from 7th to 8th. There are fewer things that provide you with re-rolls and modifiers are now applied to your dice results rather than the models stats. I have highlighted it as it is extremely important that you shake off how modifiers used to work and see it for what it is now. These changes have also become very important during list building and setting up unit combos.

So that you better understand the order of operations, I have made the following example (with assistance from a few articles I have read on the subject):

Order of operations for rolling to hit are pretty simple to understand it's just a different way of playing the game and a lot of people don't like the way it has changed to. All modifiers apply to the results of your dice rolls

1. Roll to hit
2. Apply re-rolls
3. Apply modifiers

You would compare it to your ballistic skill at each step and at the end of the process would be the dice left for you to roll your wound dice.

So lets say a Heavy Bolter Marine moves and shoots and moving with a heavy weapon incurs a -1 to hit but he is also lucky enough to be within 6" of Azrael giving him re-rolls on all his failed to hit rolls (dice results).

He rolls a 2, 3 & 5

You would first apply re-rolls on failed to hit results. In this case you would re-roll the 2 as the other numbers have hit comparing to his ballistic skill. Lets say you re-roll it to a 4.

So now we have a 3, 4 & 5 heading into modifiers.

You would apply the -1 hit to these dice results which would end up like this:

2, 3 & 4 meaning you hit 2 out of 3 times.

This applies the same to anything needing particular dice rolls to trigger abilities. So to use Tesla as an example if the unit had a +1 modifier the tesla would trigger on your rolls of 5 and 6 (as 5s become 6s and 6s become 7s) and on a -1 to hit the Tesla would not be able to trigger at all. Notice how all of those abilities do say on a roll of X+ in this case 6+, the + meaning higher than 6.

Certain abilities during wounding and having + or - to wound modifiers will also work the same way and will follow the same order of operations (re-rolls before modifiers).

Abilities that Ignore Damage

Abilities that ignore damage are actually quite common (Nurgle's Disgustingly Resillient, Dark Eldar's Power from Pain, Venerable Dreadnought's Unyielding Ancient to name a few).

These abilities work similarly to the old Feel No Pain of 7th edition in which you essentially get another round of "saves" before removing casualties. There are however subtle differences to how they work now.

These abilities can always be taken regardless of weapon strength (the old instant death does not apply). However the enemy must roll a dice for each wound inflicted after Damage from a weapon is applied so if you use weapons with more than one damage you will have a higher chance to take these units down.

Example:

Let's square off against a Plague Marine with their Disgustingly Resilient rule that discounts damage on a dice roll of 5 and 6.
A Plague Marine has 1 wound so if we were to shoot a Supercharged Plasma shot that does 2 Damage and the shot hits, wounds and the Plague Marine fails its armour save, the Plague Marine would have to roll two 5+ rolls of Disgustingly Resilient to save it from death.

This works better than how Feel No Pain used to be as with Feel No Pain you would only need to roll one dice per shot however to counter that you couldn't use Feel No Pain with anything that caused instant death.

As you can see this is now a different way of balancing the rule and changes how you prioritise units with certain weapons.

Edited June 22, 2017 by Solrac

[Solrac]

Chapter 2: Advanced Strategy and Missions

So we have some Basic things above to keep in mind. Now we need to head into some more Advanced Tactica in all aspects of the game.

List Building

List building is more vital than it was before. While some units got cheaper, a lot of units (vehicles in particular) got a points hike because of their now improved survivability. Add to that the multiple detachments that are available with more to come in the future and the fact that Command Points can save your bacon you can start to see the focus there is now on building a quality list.

Since we are looking at competitive list building we are looking at getting bang for your buck rather than picking your favourite units (although sometimes your favourite units can be quite good). Make sure you check out the unit review section and the unit combinations to help you with this part.

So with this in mind there are a few ways I have seen so far to build a competitive list.

1. Focus on a Theme
Now I'm not talking about a narrative theme. I am talking about on the board do you want your army to be quick to take Maelstrom Objectives? If so you will focus on a fair bit of Fast Attack or Transport units. Do you want it to be Resilient? If so you will probably want a few Apothecaries, Azrael for his 4+ Invulnerable save aura etc. You need to choose the Theme you are comfortable playing with as well as keeping in mind the armies that you regularly come up against in your local area/Tournaments.

2. Focus on a Unit
Building a list around a unit can be quite rewarding. You will pick a hard hitting or incredibly resillient unit and invest points into making it better with Character buffs. From there you add units to support it. Pretty simple but harder to master as any wrong moves with that unit and you will probably lose the game.

3. Focus on Weight of Dice
This style of list building can be a lot of fun and see some very high model counts on the board. You will forgo trying to buff your units and taking the bare minimum HQs and just fill it with as much bang for your buck as you can. The more dice you throw the more likely you will eventually whittle things down.

In all instances it is important to practice, practice, practice. Especially for upcoming tournaments. The more you get the feel for your army the better it is and then you can make adjustments to make it that much better.

Know Your Enemy

If you can get your hands on the other army books, knowing what your opponent will do or what your opponents list is capable of doing gives you a massive advantage. It can take quite a lot of games but eventually you can remember most army units off the top of your head without referring to a book. With the rules for matched play being very defined, you can use these to your advantage.

For example if your opponent has 12 units and 6 of those have some sort of deep strike mechanic, it's pretty safe to bet those 6 units will be in your face turn 1. You can plan for that by deploying further back then normal so their longer range support isn't there and you can try and take out 6 units in the first turn rather than 12.

Deployment

7th edition was all about deployment. The importance of this has not changed. With the new deployment maps it has added an extra layer into the game. Individual stratgies for each deployment will be covered in the missions section later however I wanted to touch on it here also.

This also relates to Knowing Your Enemy above but with units being able to deep strike with prescision and also charging on the same turn, it is crucial you get your deployment right. If you don't know anything about your opponents army you need to specifically ask about the deep strike units to deploy accordingly. You have a lot of room to move on the board so make sure you are not caught out getting charged first turn or either bait a charge with a cheap unit so you can eliminate it in your turn.

 

Missions

Edited September 6, 2017 by Solrac

[Solrac]

Chapter 3: Unit Overview

In this chapter we will give an overview of each of the units we can use in the Dark Angels Chapter. We may touch on similarities with other units but the bulk of that will be discussed in the next chapter, Unit Combinations. We will not be comparing them to their 7th ed counter parts and instead try and have a "looking from the outside" mentality. I hope to eventually cover Forge World units but will start with the basic stuff first.

HQ

Azrael
Provides re-rolls to hit for all Dark Angels units within 6". Also the extra Command Point comes in handy.

Excellent value for his points and one of our best HQs. One of only few things in game that gives an invulnerable save bubble, and at 4++ to boot. That's 50% chance to ignore damage! Be careful its MODELS within 6', not units. One might say thus better for buffing vehicles, but if you have infantry just take the wound on your units within 6". His plasma gun is extra strong, and with rerolls feel free to be slightly liberal on overcharging. And he rocks in melee now. He is infantry so benefits on lots of things that infantry can do, as well as being able to go into transports (he no longer gives invulnerable save to embarked transport though).

Belial
Provides Hit re-roll 1s to Dark Angels units and Hit re-rolls to all dice for Deathwing units.

Another solid HQ choice at a very modest points value. Blends in super nice with Deathwing giving the all important rerolls and his sword received a very nice buff. The Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield makes him extra survivable vs high AP weapons. You should always include him when taking a sizeable Deathwing units.

Sammael
A very versatile character and provides Hit re-roll 1s to Dark Angels units and Hit re-rolls to all dice for Ravenwing units.

On Corvex - His jet bike Turbo Boosts 2d6 and most importantly is FLY which means he can fall back and still shoot. Always try and get the charge on Sammy as it makes his melee at x2 strength and 2 damage a piece really really good. Corvex is priced very well for his abilities.

On Sableclaw - A bit pricey but can be worth it in the right list. Sableclaw is an anti-infantry machine and sports 1 extra wound and 2" extra movement over Corvex. Sableclaw has the same rules with the Ravensword and also has FLY so a good combat character/hit and run character as you will get to mow down more troops when you Fall Back. It's main draw back is that it can always be targeted even though he is not the closest but a 4++ makes him survivable, his stats don't degrade and you can easily keep him alive with a Techmarine following on a bike (although this is more of a points investment). Another thing worth noting is Sableclaw is cheaper than 2 Speeders with Heavy Bolter/Assault Cannon but damage output will be higher as hitting on 2s with re-rolls.

Ezekiel
An excellent combat character and his buff makes him great in defence. He also gets to attempt to deny 2 powers in the nemy psychic phase rather than just 1 for the normal Librarian. The ability to pick your powers now makes him a better utility however still suffers from mobility issues being on foot.

Let's look at the Dark Angels Psychic Powers:

Mind Worm - Causes a mortal wound and the chosen unit can only attack in the fight phase last after all other units have attacked. This power is perfect to upset your opponents charges. Also as it is not a shooting attack it is also a good way to damage and upset characters.

Aversion - The chosen enemy unit suffers -1 to hit until your next psychic phase. Negative modifiers are now very brutal since they occur after re-rolls. Probably the best power we have and pairs up nice to debuff a really shooty enemy unit in conjunction with your own dark shroud/s.

Engulfing Fear - When cast it gives the Librarian a 6" aura where an opponent must take morale on roll two dice and pick the highest. Combines well with an Interrogator Chaplain. This also means that you must put your Librarian in the thick of it.

All the Psychic powers are good but personally I think Aversion takes the cake. Ezekiel has the benefit of knowing all three Dark Angels Powers + Smite so you can pick and choose what you need.

Asmodai
Not too bad points wise as a buff character. He provides all the buffs as a normal Interrogator Chaplain below but also gives all Infantry and Bike units +1 attack in the fight sub phase. Makes him an excellent line defender/counter attack unit. The Blades of Reason are still not worth it unless you are fighting somthing that is T7 and you wanna trade the -1 AP from the Crozius for D6 damage.

Lieutenants
Provides re-rolls of 1 to wound to all Dark Angels units within 6".

The only character to provide re-rolls to wound in our lists a very cheap HQ option.

The standard Lieutenant is very cheap and has access to a vast array of wargear if you want to beef him up to be shooty or assault for some line defence.

Primaris Lieutenants sport an extra wound. The Master Crafterd Auto Bolt Rifle is nifty with its Damage 2 but Power Swords are also great so they can be a melee defence for the unit they are buffing.

Company Master/Captains
Provides re-rolls of 1 to hit to all Dark Angels units within 6"

Company Master - Another cheap HQ to give Hit re-rolls to your troops. You can leave him on foot, give him a jump pack or Terminator armour to fill whatever role you need.

Primaris Captain in Gravis Armour - A very tough character to support your squads with access to some cool gear. At the moment mostly used as a line defender for the units he is buffing as Primaris Marines do not currently have transports.

Interrogator Chaplain
A HQ dedicated to buffing assault units with re-rolls to hit in melee or used on your battle line to make use of their leadership buff for morale. They have an extra bonus over the standard Chaplain where they debuff with a -1 to leadership to enemy units within his range which can be very potent.

On foot - Good for your battle line. Can be used in a Pod with a dedicated assault unit but can be prone to being stranded with it's 6" movement.

Terminator armour - Good to buff your Deathwing Knights if you want Belial to be buffing shooty units. Terminator armour makes him a tankier option.

On a Bike - Great movement but may not see much use anymore as Black Knights are not the hard hitters they were in combat

Jump Pack - Gains deep striking to buff your Assault Marines and has good movement

Chaplain
A cheap HQ dedicated to buffing assault units or used on your battle line to make use of their leadership buff for morale. If you have the points always go an Interrogator Chaplain above.

See Interrogator Chaplain review above for pros/cons of on foot, Terminator, Bike and Jump Pack variants.

Librarian
Librarians are a great supporting unit being able to cast two psychic powers and attempt to deny one power. You can pick two of the three Dark Angels powers and also knows Smite. Use him to debuff squads or use positioning to inflict mortal wounds on the target of your choice with Smite.

Choose which ever variant you need (Power Armour, Terminator Armour, Jump Pack, Bike) to fill the battlefield role you are after.

Techmarine
A cheap HQ with great defence and utility. His ability to heal D3 wounds from a vehicle with no roll required is excellent. Can get a bit pricey depending on the wargear but if you fully kit him out he is an amazing shooty character.

Put him on a Bike for the extra wound and movement speed as well as the extra dakka from the Twin Bolter if you have the points.

Rhino Primaris
Fantastic HQ choice albeit a bit pricey. Very durable and quick. The only unit in our current arsenal that can give a uniy +1 to hit which is very important for plasma weapons. The Orbital Array is very lacklustre however but I think the +1 to hit more than makes up for it.

Land Raider Excelsior
Very expensive HQ choice maybe more suited for a tank army list. It does provide re-roll to hit of 1 to units within 6" and is more survivable than a standard Land Raider with a 5++. Looks like a fun unit but wouldn't consider this in any competitive list.

ELITES

Champions
Champions have access to unique weapons not available to HQs (Blade of Caliban/Halberd of Caliban) and are good at assassinating weaker enemy characters, supporting other melee units or taking on non melee enemy squads on their own. Due to their points cost though it is usually better to kit out a HQ as they can acheive the same thing for similar points but also buff other units.

Company Champion - Good at defending any battle line or used aggressively out of a drop pod but main draw back is slow movement.

Ravenwing Champion - Very good mobility and firepower but can also rock it in melee

Deathwing Champion - Very tough with Terminator armour and can deep strike without a pod. This guy excels at taking out units with more than 5 models as he gets his bonus attacks.

Ancients
Ancients can be a nice force multiplier depending on how you use them.

Primaris and Company Ancient - the leadership buff is great. The slain unit being able to take a free shot or CC attack on a 4+ before it dies is not something you should rely on but can be useful especially if your whole unit is gonna get wiped out anyway. The Company Ancient can have decent wargear as a melee line defender.

Ravenwing Ancient - The +1 Attack is nice but bike units generally don't want to be in combat anymore. This is more useful for your Black Knights but even then Black Knights only want to get in combat with non melee focused units. Being a Character makes him good though and has the same wargear as a Black Knight so is a nice plus but may be a bit costly for what he does.

Deathwing Ancient - This guy is a fantastic force multiplier as all terminators like to be in combat. He can also have some great weaponry and can teleport in with the rest of your terminators. His cost though is something to consider. The +1 Attack is great but if he doesn't make it into combat it might have been better to have 2 extra terminators instead.

Apothecaries
Apothecaries seem to be great support characters in theory. The healing D3 wounds automatically is nice but reviving lost models on a 4+ seems a little unreliable. They can be a cheap way to fill required Elite slots though.

Apothecary - Very cheap for the utility he provides

Ravenwing Apothecary - Probably the best of the three and still reasonably priced as he still has the Plasma Talons and Corvus Hammer

Deathwing Apotehcary - Could only see this guy really used if you needed to fill an elite slot and needed to support your terminators. Storm Bolter is now cheap and good dakka but lack of a melee weapon means you will have to support him from charges.

Imperial Space Marine
Not a bad price point for a better version of a Grav Gun. No close combat ability but the pistol is nice. I don't think we will see him in many competitive games

Company Veterans
These guys are now our swiss army knife. You can kit them anyway you like and most options keep then reasonably priced. They also come with the Bodyguard rule that can help save some wounds crucial wounds going to a character. I think the best value for money build at the moment with these would be 5 Combi-Flamers in a Razorback. This squad would be excellent at clearing objectives.

Deathwing Terminators
Terminators are survivable and the changes to storm bolters means they are now very shooty. There really is no right and wrong in how you kit them however I would recommend at least one TH/SS Termie that you can allocate high AP weapons to.

I would still focus on shooting with these guys as Deathwing Knights are a better dedicated assault unit although these guys will definetly be able to kill tanks and transports in a pinch you just want to avoid getting them bogged down so they can keep shooting.

Deathwing Knights
Very durable with a 2+/3++ and 2 wounds although can be seen as pricey. A squad of Knights can wreck most things with the Master's Flail wounds can spill over to other models and the Maces being Sx2 without the -1 to hit like the fist. Can be very vulnerable if you deep strike them unsupported and they won't be able to catch a fast moving target so make sure to pick your charges correctly with these guys and save some command dice for a charge re-roll.

Dreadnoughts
Dreadnoughts benefitted a lot from the change in rules however they can no longer be embarked in a standard pod which can limit your options somewhat (unless you take the forgeworld pod). Dreads have a great array of weapons and can hit hard in combat. The Venerable Dreadnought is always worth the points upgrade where you can afford it for the increased WS and BS over the standard as well as the 6+ to ignore wounds.

The double twin autocannon is now the best load out for your dreadnought. Pumping out 8 S7 AP-1 D2 shots per turn at 48" can even shred other tanks and monsters purely with weight of fire. It cheaper in points than any tank and does not have degrading stats. Taking multiple for redundancy will also give you a fantastic fire base to build a list around.

 

Redemptor Dreadnought

Coming soon...

 

Reivers

Coming soon....

TROOPS

Tactical Squad
The Tactical Squad is still great. With the changes to Combi Weapons you can tot around with some good firepower. I think there will be no need to do Combat Squading anymore as Kill Point games are no longer that popular and there is only ever 1 Kill Point mission in ICT.

If you are using Tactical Squads to be your objective takers then 10 man squads will be the way to go as you hold objectives now by having the most models within 3" on the centre of the objective. In all other cases use 5 man squads.

Loadout wise you just need to choose what role they will be playing in your list. If they need to be mobile then go the Special and the Combi. If you want them for back field support with longer range heavy weapons a combi is also good but if you want some melee defence in case you get enemy units show up in your backfield having a Sergeant with a Plasma Pistol and Power Sword/Axe costs less than most combi weapons. Storm Bolter on a Sergeant is also a good option if you want rate of fire and throw more dice.

Scout Squad
Scouts are still nice and cheap and provide you with a fair bit of utility. They have an infiltration type ability which means the Bolter alpha strike can still be effective but depending on deployment, Shotgun alpha strike can be more effective.

They are cheap enough to bubble wrap your more expensive units to protect them from assaults. They are also a fantasticly cheap earea denial unit to counter all forms of deep strike.

Although an expensive upgrade, camo cloaks can make them more survivable if you intend to use them as forward objective campers.

Snipers are great for picking out squishy characters though need a fair bit of character support to make their shots count (re-roll to hit, re-roll 1s to wound). 5 can be a little lack lustre so if you are going to use Sniper Scouts you need to invest in at least 10.

Intercessor Squad
Intercessors have good range and moderate damage and are pretty survivable with two wounds although are a bit pricey. Their lack of transport currently hurts them a fair bit and because there are only 5 per squad they really require character support to make their shots count.

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Rhino
There is not much points difference between a Rhino and a Twin Heavy Bolter Razorback. You would only take the Rhino over the Razorback when transporting squads with more than 6 members. Still a very survivable transport.

Razorback
Although it can be viewed as expensive for a transport, the Razorback is now extremely effective combining excellent firepower with some very sound durability. The standard Twin Heavy Bolter is good but the Twin Assault Cannon is now king pumping out 12 shots and able to wound most big monsters/vehicles on 4s and 5s. Twin Heavy Flamers can also be very effective as they auto hit ignoring the heavy -1 to hit penalty when moving, perfect for trying to clear some objectives.

The Lascannon weapons are excellent but on a transport that you will, in most games, need to move around the table I think the weight of shots is better for the Razorback especially as it get's damaged and stat deteriorate. Put your lascannons on dedicated tank hunting units.

Drop Pod
Drop Pods are not what they once were due to their points cost and you now have to think differently about how you use them. Loading up a large cheap squad and saving the pod for a turn 3 drop for line breaker and enemy objective grabbing I think is a solid strategy. The pod itself is difficult to kill if you dont focus a lot of anti tank to remove it.

Also with the change to heavy weapons dropping a unit of Devastators for an Alpha strike is now very viable. You wont see as many pods as you used to though.

 

Repulsor

Coming soon...

FAST ATTACK

Assault Squad
The Assault Squad has seen some good improvements in this addition with the changes to deep strike. They are really good at assaulting objectives and having fly means they can assault flyers and fall back and still shoot. Take these guys more for killing line troops as they are too expensive to be a tar pit unit.

Inceptor Squad
Excellent short range firepower and with their deep strike rule means you can get them to where you want them. Not really assault orienteated due to their low model count and cost you can still use them to finish off a weakend squad. In terms of value for money unless you are going an all Primaris theme they are still a tad expensive.

Ravenwing Bike Squad/Attack Bike Squad
Now defined as a run and gun unit these guys put out some excellent short firepower and have excellent manouverability for taking objectives. They are not great in combat and if they fall back they cannot shoot so best to be kept at ranged.

Add in an Attack Bike for a bit of a tank for the unit. Multi-meltas are not worth it on attack bikes anymore due to their cost an -1 to hit when moving. A Bike Squad with Melta Guns I feel are now superior to the Multi-Melta attack bike. I wouldn't take Attack Bike Squads anymore due to their cost and if you were to add one to a bike squad keep it cheap with the Heavy Bolter.

Ravenwing Black Knights
Points cost on these guys now leave a lot to be desired. A fantastic shooting unit with their Assault 2 Plasma means they can turbo and still shoot giving you your 5++ from jink. They are still decent in combat however they are still more worth it as a run and gun unit due to not being able to shoot when they fall back.

Ravenwing Darkshroud
Now an auto include for any army. This guy gives you some solid defence with its -1 to hit aura and at 9 wounds is pretty durable. Assault Cannon is now always worth the points over the Heavy Bolter.

Ravenwing Land Speeder Squadron
These guys got more expensive however almost every variant can do some really good damage output. They are fast and more durable than they used to be. The Typhoon can pack a solid punch at long range and the Tornado is still excellent for anti infantry. The double multi melta variant is a tad expensive for it's output though. You will probably see a couple of speeders in an all Ravenwing Army due to the effectiveness of the Typhoon Missile Launcher.

Ravenwing Land Speeder Vengeance
Comparable to the other speeders the Vengeance is now quite good. Its cheaper than a Typhoon but slightly more expensive than a Tornado with Assault Cannon. Why should we take it though? The Plasma Storm Battery's standard shot is the same as a normal Plasma but with Damage 2. It's overcharge profile goes to S8 D3. This is huge as a set Damage 2 is more reliable than a D3 and the standard shot will still do it's work vs tanks. Also being Heavy D6 it should average 3 shots per turn which is decent.

FLYERS

Ravenwing Dark Talon
The Dark Talon is amazing. Being a flyer it can quickly get to wherever you want it and do excellent damage with the Rift Cannon and do decent damage to a hard to kill unit with it's bomb. Hurricane Bolters are also amazing as sheer weight of fire on that many bolters means even shooting at monsters or vehicles with T7 you still have a chance to cause some decent wounds. With it's hover ability you should never see it forced to fly off the table or crash and burn by blocking enemy units.

Nephilim Jetfighter
The Nephilim got a good boost to it's firepower this edition but is still more of a strafing run style flyer to kill ground targets. It's expensive in this role as the Dark Talon does everything better although the Nephilim has longer range so it doesn't have to get closer to the enemy. The Nephilim is also faster however the lack of hover hurts it quite a bit.

HEAVY SUPPORT

Devastator Squad
A very cheap way to get some Heavy Weapons in your army however 5 man squads are not very survivable. If you are looking to spam some low cost heavy weapons they will do their job fantastically. If you are planning to take all weapons (e.g Lascannons) that are available to a more survivable platform (e.g Predator, Dreadnought) then you need to evaluate your bang for buck.

Hellblaster Squad
Hellblasters have good range and the improved -4 AP over a standard plasma however they are costly and need character support to make them effective. The other draw back also being a lack of transport. Best employed at the moment as line defenders or too remove transports rushing your lines. I don't think you will see many in their current iteration in Tournament play.

 

Agressors

​Coming soon...

Predator
People have been put off by the points cost but the Predator now puts out a great amount of damage and is incredibly survivable. The Annihilator pattern in particular has become very popular because Lascannons have become a very effective anti tank weapon.

Vindicator
Decently priced with good firepower excelling at killing big monsters/vehicles or putting the hurt on large squads of elite units. The lack of range still hurts it though and the random shots means it is a bit unreliable.

Whirlwind
Cheap as far as tanks are concerned and it even has the same stat line as a Predator. Whirlwinds are now phenomenal the only drawback being you have to pay for which turret you will take into battle rather than just being able to choose which missiles you will fire that turn.

The 72" range and not needing line of sight makes it an ideal tank. The Castellan Launcher excellent at taking out infantry whilst the Vengeance Launcher is great at pumping multi damage shots into light vehicles and most monsters. The Vengeance Launcher is also great at taking out enemy artillery.

Land Raiders
Points investment is the biggest con of the Land Raider nowadays. Land Raiders ignore the heavy weapon movement penalty and are really tough to kill. Perfect for driving up the middle of the board soaking firepower and delivering a tasty melee squad. That being said the three variants also have their own unique pro's:

Standard - Boasts more firepower than a Predator and can keep moving to hunt armoured targets.

Crusader - Lots and lots of small arms fire and is the cheapest of the three.

Redeemer - Can be expensive however having two flamers that hit very hard means even if the tank degrades as it takes wounds it wont effect the bulk of the Redeemers shooting as the Flamestorm auto hit.

Mortis Dreadnought (Forgeworld)
Although I am not diving into a lot of forgeworld units just yet I did wanna include this guy in here because I think a double Twin Lascannon Mortis will be more popular than a Lascannon Predator. He has less wounds than a Predator, but, the Mortis doesn't degrade which means he's firing on 3+ all the time unless he moves. The smaller model also makes it easier to try and hide in a ruin for a cover save. Lastly it is not a Relic so there is no limit to how many can be taken. I wouldn't take the Autocannon variant though as a Venerable Dreadnought can have the same weapons and is better in all respects.

Edited September 4, 2017 by Solrac

[Solrac]

Chapter 4: Unit Combinations

Combinations of buffs will amp up your armies effectiveness up to 11. The key to character combos lies with how you build your army. In my experience it is better to focus building your character combos with specific units in mind and then build the rest of your army to support those units.

Azrael + Dark Shroud + Lieutenant
This is the ultimate buff combo better used for a gunline setup. It combines the perfect synergy of rock hard defense with excellent damage output.

In defence Azrael provides 4++ to all models within 6" whilst the Darkshroud provides -1 to hit to all units within 6". This means that if high AP weapons happen to make it through you will still have a 50% chance to stop the shot. The -1 to hit is also a major deterrent for anyone supercharging weapons or using Get's Hot style weapons. It's important to note that vehicles benefit more from the 4++ buff.

In offence Azrael provides re-rolls to hit (not just re-roll to 1s like Captains/Masters) and then the Lieutenant allows you to re-roll 1s to wound. This makes our already excellent Lascannons (and other heavy weapons) incredibly more potent when you need to destroy hard targets.

I have found this combo to be very effective with lots of Lascannon vehicles (Predators, Dreadnoughts etc.).

Belial
As mentioned in his unit summary, Belial is an auto include for any Deathwing themed army as he will provide re-roll to all hits (not just 1s) to all Deathwing units.

Sammael + Rhino Primaris
This is an idea I toyed around with however it is a very all eggs in one basket type build. You combine Sammael (who provides re-roll to all hits for Ravenwing) with a Rhino Primaris (which gives +1 to hit) and buff a large unit of Black Knights or Ravenwing Bikes. Black Knights in particular benefit the most as with +1 to hit they cannot kill themselves when supercharging their Plasma Talons as the +1 to hit affects your dice rolls after re-rolls so any rolls of 1s become 2s. The 2s will still miss however at least you don't kill any bikers. The Rhino Primaris also has the speed to keep up with the Ravenwing units.

Sammael is also an auto include to any Ravenwing themed army.

Edited August 1, 2017 by Solrac

[Solrac]

Chapter 5: Stratagems and Relics

Edited September 6, 2017 by Solrac

[Solrac]

Chapter 6: Current Tournament Builds

Edited June 22, 2017 by Solrac

[Solrac]

Chapter 7: Useful Links

Edited June 22, 2017 by Solrac

[dtse]

Hi solrac. I got a lot to write. Already been posting lots here on on the list forum for various wings. Just the last 4 days I have played 7 games against all different lists (as usual my opponents are "competitive" minded)

 

As usual all these games will be on our channel as batreps and I plan to do a video tactics soon. We also have our first tournament in 4 weeks

Edited June 19, 2017 by dtse

[Solrac]

Thanks dtse! I acutally do watch your batreps and Im sure I'll be picking up a fair bit of stuff from them. Also your post about the Rhino Primaris is excellent as it is the only thing in our list that gives +1 to hit that I've seen.

 

I played a Tournament practice game on the weekend with a full Deathwing list but lost 14 - 5 (though the game was much closer than the score makes it look).

 

Currently working on a double Battalion list with Azrael to get 10 command points.

[dtse]

I ran a double battalion today against sisters

 

Azrael

Primaris lieutenant

Company master

Librarian

4 tacs wth 4 grav cannons

4 rhinos

2 scout squads

Devs with triple lascannon

Leviathan dreadnought in Lucius

Dark talon

 

Tie game. Sisters are legit. 10 CP. lots of rerolls. That batrep should be up next week or week after

 

My more "hardcore" dark angels gunline list lost two games yesterday against a ridiculous demon filth list. But the game before that smashed an AM artillery spam list

[Kasil]

Hi Solrac,

 

I've always liked land speeders and was a little disappointed when i saw their cost, specifically with the typhoon ML.  It may be that the standard speeder is still viable given the new vehicle rules, but then I realized the Land Speeder Vengeance is actually cheaper and has better output and more survivability.  Thoughts on this becoming a standard gun platform for us?  Do you think the regular speeder with typhoon ML is still a decent piece?Thanks.

[dtse]

TML speeders is excellent.

[RayJ]

Out of curiosity, what's your channel, dtse?

[dtse]

Right there in my signature. I think I'm not allowed to plug it

[RayJ]

Gotcha. Those don't show up on mobile version :)

[gainsay]

Hi Solrac,

 

I've always liked land speeders and was a little disappointed when i saw their cost, specifically with the typhoon ML.  It may be that the standard speeder is still viable given the new vehicle rules, but then I realized the Land Speeder Vengeance is actually cheaper and has better output and more survivability.  Thoughts on this becoming a standard gun platform for us?  Do you think the regular speeder with typhoon ML is still a decent piece?Thanks.

 

speeders with two heavy flamers are really good. Also remember they can charge a unit like those kastlen robots then disengage shoot and charge again. Remember this is no lobger 7th edition the games totally different. 

also forgot to add the standard army comp with troops is dead in this edition there is literally zero reason unless you have to have +2 command points to play something like tactial marines. Play vanguard and run death wing ravenwing and some green tanks instead. 

[dtse]

Yup. Tacs become our chaff screen lol. Funny.

[Orkinstein]

I know it is a crazy talk. But after read index, I think If I have 9 Interrogator Chaplain, any enemies within 6" their LD will be reduced to 0. Which means that if they lost even just 1 model, in morale phase the unit will lose 3.5+1 models on average...

[dtse]

I'm sure similar situation of same rules don't stack

[Orkinstein]

I'm sure similar situation of same rules don't stack

Usually the rule says "within 6" of any", but Interrogator Chaplain and Ravenwing Darkshroud don't. I think FAQ will say no.

[dtse]

I'm sure FAQ will rule that same effects from identical rules don't stack

[Chaplain Lucifer]

Warhammer 40K unwritten rule #45

If something looks to good to be true in a non-Eldar book, then usually doesn't work. ;)

[Kewl Imp]

I think the FAQ will say the same effect by the same kind of model do not stack. It would allow for stacking effects without, lets say, three dark shrouds making the army impossible to shoot. It would allow a chaplain and an interrogator chaplain to stack their effects. It could allow clever army building by selecting different units for similar effects.

[dtse]

all im saying, don't go out and buy 3 dark shrouds....