Auto include BA units

[tychobi]

I include my storm raven and 3 min scouts in nearly every list. Work horses in their roles and I just plain like em!

[Bonzi]

I think netlists are the death of any army. It boils down to math hammer in a vacuum with no respect for playstyle or tactics. Netlist is the most points efficient units played in the most redundant fashion using the most basic tactics possible. Even the mighty and fantastic captain Smash should only be taken if he fits your play style or needs.

 

Personally castle lists and gunline bubble synergy make me want to puke...but, some enjoy those lists. My must haves are not theirs.

[redshadow]

I always take captain smash, 3 intersessor squads, started taking two gatling redemptor dreadnoughts quite a bit and a couple of repulsors. That’s a lot of dakka to deal hordes and captain smash for taking out anything 400+ points.

Stick in a lieutenant and a captain in graves armour for rerolls and you have about a 1500pt army

[Wassa]

I always take captain smash, 3 intersessor squads, started taking two gatling redemptor dreadnoughts quite a bit and a couple of repulsors. That’s a lot of dakka to deal hordes and captain smash for taking out anything 400+ points.

Stick in a lieutenant and a captain in graves armour for rerolls and you have about a 1500pt army

 

 

But then aren't you pretty much just playing Generic Space Marines with a Smash Captain?

[Panzer]

 

I always take captain smash, 3 intersessor squads, started taking two gatling redemptor dreadnoughts quite a bit and a couple of repulsors. That’s a lot of dakka to deal hordes and captain smash for taking out anything 400+ points.

Stick in a lieutenant and a captain in graves armour for rerolls and you have about a 1500pt army

 

 

But then aren't you pretty much just playing Generic Space Marines with a Smash Captain?

 

 

That's what it means to play Primaris for now. There's only few chapter specific things one can do with the units available.

[Slothysaur]

 

 

I always take captain smash, 3 intersessor squads, started taking two gatling redemptor dreadnoughts quite a bit and a couple of repulsors. That’s a lot of dakka to deal hordes and captain smash for taking out anything 400+ points.

Stick in a lieutenant and a captain in graves armour for rerolls and you have about a 1500pt army

 

 

But then aren't you pretty much just playing Generic Space Marines with a Smash Captain?

 

 

That's what it means to play Primaris for now. There's only few chapter specific things one can do with the units available.

 

 

Honestly, we as Blood Angels play this list very well. I've shamelessly adapted a very similar list from neonmole (now if only I could paint and play it as well as him) and even though Smashy is the only "melee" unit in the list the Intercessors can hold their own* when needed. This kind of list wants to take and hold the middle of the board and that often means melee is within reach, whether we need to shut down a shooty unit or finish off a greatly weakened unit. +1 to wound on Intercessors is pretty nice for this purpose and I've used it almost every game. As a final bonus, Primaris look amazing flying Blood Angels colors.

 

*By this I mean they are like firm noodles, not wet noodles.

[Panzer]

Agreed, we do this kind of list better than most other chapters and Captain Smash is a HUGE help. Also Redemptor Dreads wounding vehicles and such on 2+ is hilarious.

[Vermintide]

I think people do tend to lose sight of the fact that really, Blood Angels are just the red Space Marine chapter. We get a few fluffy units and a nice chapter tactic, but at the end of the day the same things that work for other SM chapters will work for us. And that's how it should be.

Obviously it's nice to get wrapped up in the red thirst and try to make a full melee focused list, but there are other armies that will do it better. What you're getting with BA is some very scary assault hammers to go with your shooty anvil.

The units I'd consider auto-includes are just the ones that were the hottest :cuss back in the 90s, and most people will tell you they're amongst the least efficient in the codex. So it is indeed a very subjective topic.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I disagree for many reasons. For example our CT is one of the best.

[CommDante]

Morning all.  Thanks for all the great suggestions.  Just finished assembling the Libby Dread last night and plan to start painting after work today!  Soon to add some scouts and just because I love the model, a BA contemptor dread. 

[Wassa]

Morning all.  Thanks for all the great suggestions.  Just finished assembling the Libby Dread last night and plan to start painting after work today! 

 

Yep, I'm part way through painting mine so far!

 

If you haven't glued the main faceplate on then you can easily swap between all BA 3 dreadnought variants

[Vermintide]

I disagree for many reasons. For example our CT is one of the best.

 

I never said it wasn't ;)

 

I just think a lot of BA lists can sort of pigeon hole themselves, when we have the best of both worlds- 10 Blood Angel hellblasters next to a captain will serve the same purpose as 10 Black Templar hellblasters next to a captain.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

True but I prefer Ultramarines for shooty Marines. :) Still a big squad of Hellblasters is always a scary sight for any opponent . /thumbsup

[CrimsonExarch]

So from my experience:

1. Smash Captains- Insane work horses of our army. They are a huge threat to any big units like knights. I am a little concerned about them with the drastic increase in the prevalence of Vindicare assassins though.

2. Libby Dreads- I always include one in a list. They are strictly better than Mephiston after the points drop they received in CA. They are another huge melee threat and can move quickly thanks to Wings+Quickening. Never take more than one psyker in BAs though as its just sub-optimal.

3. Scouts- One of our backbone troops. Cheap, easy to hide, benefits from the beta bolter rule. I usually take them with a single heavy bolter for the hellfire rounds strat and camp them on objectives in the midfield.

4. Intercessors- After all the point drops on these guys they became pretty solid. With the bolter rule they are now an auto include. As a standard I run a double batallion with three 5-man squads of intercessors and three 5-man squads of bolter/heavy bolter scouts. 30 inch range, -1 AP bolters are really solid. Having 2 Attacks in CC also makes them versatile with the red thirst. I am never afraid to charge them into combat against the right targets.

5. One big melee blob of jump marines- For me this comes down to the choice of Death Company or Vanguard vets with Stormshield/Power fist. It depends on your meta. If your meta is horde-dominated then take DC. If it is mech-dominated then take the SS/PF VVets. Typically I run DC with Lemartes (no-brainer) and the VVets with Astorath.

6. Standard Box Dreads- A standard dreadnought with a twin LC and Missile Launcher comes in at 120pts. That is incredibly reasonable for an 8 wound, non-degradable gun platform that offers some good ranged damage output against heavy targets. They are also in the elite slot which helps for the next unit to be discussed.

7. Relic Sicarans Battle Tanks- With the fall of the Castellan, Sicarans have become even more viable than they were previously. Firstly, they have 14 wounds, degrade pretty well and have a base movement of 14inches which suits our mobile style of play. The accelerator autocannon is a very potent weapon against some of the best units in the game right now. The fact that it is particularly good at hitting targets with the <FLY> Keyword puts it in prime position to tackle the new "hotness" for eldar (spamming fliers). At the same time they put out a reasonable number of shots if you give them 3 heavy bolters, on top of the 8 shots provided by the autocannon. I am looking into a list that runs three of these for upcoming tournaments. The fact they are Relics is pretty negligible for us as BA players as they are in the ELITE slot....and we tend to naturally run PLENTY of elite choices in our lists.... Those 120pt box dreads are also a cheap and effective way of unlocking the Relic slots for these guys too.



 

[Demoulius]

Death company. They arent the flying bunch of murder-hobos that they used to be but I feel they are still very good. Power swords are now very cheap and a full squad kitted out and supported by Astorath/Lemartes can do an enormous amount of damage. Drop them in and get an almost guarranteed charge in thanks to clever strategem use and you can survive an unprepared (or inexperienced/cocky) opponent.

 

They are also a huge target magnet however and their 6+ fnp only goes so far to keep them safe from things that deny them their armour saves....

 

I used to be in favour of the tactical squads in previous editions but im leaning more towards Intercessors now. Those -1ap bolters are quite nice and the added range isent a bad boon either plus I love the models