New BA player

[dbecer01]

Hi, I just picked up the Dark Imperium box, and am going to use that as a base for a BA force. I was looking through the codex, and was wondering what the difference is between Death Company and the Sanguinary Guard? Do they have different applications in battle?

[Palwatch]

Both are useful but opinion is divided on which is better.

 

DC cost less but die faster. Their 6 up feel no pain is essentially useless in a game chock full of multi damage weapons. Their extra attack on the charge is good coupled with an extra attack from chainswords combine to make their attack output awesome. With +1 to wound on the charge they can make excellent MEQ or lower killers. Combined with a reroll to charge and reroll of hits from Lemartes they are a terrifying unit. They can take Thunder Hammers too which is great. You sort of have to pair them with at least a chaplain because their leadership is awful. You could find yourself losing a lot of them unless you compensate for that. 

 

Pros - cheap. lots of attacks. wide variety of weapon load-out

Cons - die way too easily for the cost, need at least a chaplain to accompany them. 

 

Sanguinary Guard cost a lot more but their 2+ armour save will guarantee at least a 5+ save against even the most vicious of weapons and 2 wounds makes them super durable. They have a limited number of weapon load-outs, but those weapons are excellent. The Encarmine weapons are buffed power swords/axes, while the powerfist comes in at the same cost as the enarcmine sword making it almost an auto take. Their angelus boltguns are 2 shout assault ap-1 boletrs with is handy against meq or lower. They become even better when a sang priest or sang ancient is nearby, but their killer app is the ability to reroll all failed hits when withing 6 of your warlord (heirs of azkellion). As your army will always have a warlord by default you dont necessarily need extra HQs to make them tick. 

 

Pros - harder to kill than DC, heirs of azkellion buff 

Cons - cost a lot, limited weapon loadout

 

Personally I use Sanguinary Guard more than DC, but they both have uses. 

[Karhedron]

Agreed, both units hit hard but Death Company are more fragile afterwards which makes them a bit of a glass hammer unit. They also excel against slightly different targets.

 

Sanguinary Guard come with AP-2/3 weapons and a relatively small number of attacks. This makes them dangerous at taking on small, tough elite units. Against a horde, they will often struggle to kill enough to earn their points back although hordes on turn will struggle to make an impression on their 2+ save and 2 Wounds.

 

Death Company on the other hand churn out a bucket of attacks very cheaply. A Deat Company Marine with Jump Pack, Bolter and Chainsword costs just 20 points but gets 2 S4 shooting attacks at close range followed by 4 S4 attacks on the charge at +1 to Wound. Death Company can also carry much heavier weapons so can threaten tough targets. In smaller games (1500-ish points) I favour a 10-man squad of Death Company with a couple of power swords and a couple of power fists but that is just a personal preference.

 

The other thing to consider is Character support. Blood Angels have lots of characters who can buff both units. Almost every character in our Codex who can take a Jump Pack can buff both units.

 

In the case of Death Company, once character stands out and that is Chaplain Lemartes. As well as allowing Death Company to reroll all misses, he also allows them to reoll failed charges. This is particularly important if you wish to assault from Reserve with them and use the "Descent of Angels" stratagem. Also, Lemarts himself counts as a member of the Death Company meaning that he benfits from his own rerolls. If you just want one character to accompany the Death Company, Lemartes is the #1 option in my oppinion. He is also pretty devastating in Close Combat too.

 

For Sanguinary Guard, it is a bit harder. A Sanguinary Priest (if you take the Jump Pack option from the Index) gives a very useful +1S and helps to heal wounded models. A Sanguinary Ancient allows them to reroll 1s to wound in Close Combat and also gives them a special 5+ extra save against damage if you take the relic "Standard of Sacrifice". The Sanguinor gives them +1 Attack which is a big bonus as they all have expensive weapons and also makes a decent choice as Warlord to allow them to reroll all misses thanks to "Heirs of Azkellon". Oddly enough, the only HW choice who does not work especially well with the Sanguinary Guard is Dante as "Heirs of Azkellon" duplicates the effect of his own "Chapter Master" rule.

 

Whether you opt for Sanguinary Guard or Death Company will often depend on personal taste and the rest of your army. In larger games, you may well find that taking both is a good option. A co-ordinated charge from both units, backed up by a couple of characters will tear the heart out of most armies.

 

One piece of advice I would give is not to take small squads as they are too easy to render harmless with just a few casualties. I would get 2 boxes and run them as 10-man squads (or 9 Sanguinary Guard so you can build one as an Ancient with banner).

[dbecer01]

Thanks guys, this helps out a ton!

[BluejayJunior]

Welcome to the Blood, Brother. The others have good commentary on the SG and DC. I have been mostly running Sanguinary Guard, but that is mostly due to them being some of my favorite models.