Start Collecting BA box

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

Greetings Brothers!

 

I'm thinking on returning to 40k, but I'm still undecided which Space Marine Chapter should I choose. I was never a tournament player, but I would like to make an army, that will stand his ground on the battlefield. The goal is not to be the "top dog" in every tournament, but I didn't want to be smashed by every one who I meet at the table...

The catch is, that I didn't have that many money to buy everything at once (definitely not now, before the holidays), so this project will be at slower progress rate, that one would think.

One of my favorite Chapters in the lore are the Blood Angels, and I like the figures to. 
 

I thought, that for christmas I ask for some models. If I finally decide, and I choose the Sons of Sanguinius, then my question would be - is the BA Start Collecting box any good? Could I use the content relatively competitvely? 

 

[Xenith]

Hello and welcome to Baal!

 

For your money, the Start Collecting! Vanguard box that will be coming out soon may be better. Another option would be the Dark Imperium set if you can find someone to offload the Daeth Guard onto.

 

The BA set is nice, but doesnt contain units that feature in "competitive" armies. You could paint the tactical marines as death company if you rustle up some jump packs. The Baal Predator isnt in a great place right now, being overcosted relative to the much cheaper razorback. 

 

For not much more than the SC box, the Blood Angels are getting a special boxed set this christmas, which swaps the tactical marines for intercessors, then adds in sanguinary guard, death company and a chaplain. Its a decent buy if you are starting out, and then you can decide whether to increase the DC or SG to 10 men first. It's about double the cost, though.

[Aothaine]

I second the Christmas box if you are looking for a box. Depending on the funds available you might also want to consider buying and building your army piecemeal. It ends up being a little more expensive but you won't have to deal with having a huge box of minis right away when you're getting back into the hobby. 

 

Something else I would recommend is possible buying one of the $15 easy to build boxes of the primaris intercessors. Paint one of each in the chapters you are considering picking and find out which one you enjoy working on the most. Keep in mind you're going to be spending years building and painting the army. Make sure you like the work and colors. 

 

Also, I would really try to avoid picking an army because of the rules. This can really backfire on you as the rules change. The only people I would suggest ignore this are people that drop $6-$12k a month in building the new "best" army for competitive play. If you play the army you love you will find a way to make sure it is middle of the pack. Hell, The Spider from Tabletop Tactics was winning tournaments with Dark Elder back in 7th  with a codex that was ancient.

 

If you like the lore and display of the Sons of Sanguinius the most, go for them. If you like someone else better, go for them. The game is only part of the hobby and it is a small part at that. Most of the hobby is building, painting and looking at the glorious army on display you've created.

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

Thank you both for the suggestions!

If the rumours are correct, than the christmas box will be priced far beyond the money I currently have at disposal. And if I'm correct they will be only a limited time offer. A SC box would be something, that is the biggest thing, that I can buy at once, but I wouldn't throw away the idea of buying and building this force slowly. It is always better to go step by step forward, than having a huge pile of unbuilt and unpainted miniatures.

 

Maybe I wasn't fully clear, but I'm not a WAAC guy, but I still want to have not just a nice collection, but something that can stand his own on the tabletop. Years ago I had a really big Imperial Guard army (back in 5th), but was always smashed in the ground by WAAC shenanigans. It took away all my enthusiasm for an army, that I liked and cared about. Then I started a Space Wolf army, and kept it as fluffy as I could, got called powergamer, but still got hit hard by finely defined lists... I don't think that it was fair, and I hated to go down playing with the locals...

I sold my 40k armies, and went to the Age of Darkness, because I loved the setting and the models, and there was such a nice and appreciative community. I didn't cared for the games (as I only had one or two years ago), because I love everything about the Heresy.

But now I wanted to jump back to 40k, because I met a new player. As I encouraged him to get into the hobby I found, that I wanted to return to play again. 

 

I looked for something that I could love again, and the Sons of Sanguinius where always one of my favorite. And I want to play an army, that is more melee-oriented. I love the Vanguard Veteran Marines and Death Company too, and it seemed, that choosing the Blood Angels would be a great idea. Now with the new SM Codex around I'm a bit unsure, but honestly I didn't like the Codex chapters that much (except for Imperial Fists, but I'm really struggling painting yellow...)

 

I still have some unused Mk3 bodies from my Iron Hands army in 30k. Not sure on what to do with them too

Edited November 13, 2019 by TheDreadfulSagittary

[Aothaine]

Painting yellow can be difficult for sure. If you're set on Blood Angels you should build them. Just remember any army can hold it's own in 8th ed despite what some of the WAAC players on this forum say. But the most important part of this is enjoying your army. It sounds like you would rather be playing narrative games anyway. I would just focus on building what you think looks cool at the start. Just make sure you get 1-3 troop options that are different so you can test stuff out. :D

[Xenith]

I still have some unused Mk3 bodies from my Iron Hands army in 30k. Not sure on what to do with them too

Paint abs on them

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

Painting yellow can be difficult for sure. If you're set on Blood Angels you should build them. Just remember any army can hold it's own in 8th ed despite what some of the WAAC players on this forum say. But the most important part of this is enjoying your army. It sounds like you would rather be playing narrative games anyway. I would just focus on building what you think looks cool at the start. Just make sure you get 1-3 troop options that are different so you can test stuff out.

 

As the narrative side - yes, I would totally do a Defenders of Terra style army, with Imperial Fists, Blood Angels and White Scars, old marine style  One of two units and one HQ for every legion... But that would be absolutely unreasonable, as I would never ever have the chance to play with them  

I'm not sure, if I would like to have another army just for the showcase. I might drop the idea of the new army.

 

 

I still have some unused Mk3 bodies from my Iron Hands army in 30k. Not sure on what to do with them too

 

Paint abs on them

 

 

If you can't have it, paint it? 

[Aothaine]

 

As the narrative side - yes, I would totally do a Defenders of Terra style army, with Imperial Fists, Blood Angels and White Scars, old marine style  One of two units and one HQ for every legion... But that would be absolutely unreasonable, as I would never ever have the chance to play with them 

I'm not sure, if I would like to have another army just for the showcase. I might drop the idea of the new army. 

 

I think there was a misunderstanding. What I meant was build what you like but make sure you have like 1 unit of Intercessors, 1 unit of Incursors, 1 unit of Scouts/Tactical Squads/ Etc...

 

Give yourself options for your troops selection so you can test stuff out. :D

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

So, it seems, that I made my choice, and I would like to go with the Angels of Sanguinius forward...

 

Which unit box would you recommend to get first? It could be anything, even a Character. First, I want to paint up some BA to know, if I made the right choice  As I unfortunately didn't have infinite time and money I would like to go with one unit box after the another. It might be a slow start, but then maybe I will have enough time to paint them up before I got the next one 

 

So, what would you recommend? 

[FuryofBaal42]

From what I've seen, BA tend to like the following units:

 

-Scouts (either with bolters or close combat knives)

-Intercessors 

-Death Company

-Sanguinary Guard

-Aggressors

-Lemartes

-Mephiston (wait for the new Primaris one)

-Commander Dante

-The Sanginor
-Librarian Dreadnoughts

-Inceptors.

So I'd pick whichever of these you think is coolest and try it out :)

[Aothaine]

Don't forget that we are getting Death Company Intercessors in a few days as well. Also, building an entirely primaris force is something very doable and fluffy after the most recent events on Baal, see Devastation of Baal. 

 

The first born are really good and the sculpts GW has provided for Blood Angels are top notch! Just keep in mind they are slowly being phased out. This phasing will most likely take years though. So build up what you want and be sure to browse the blogs on this forum if you have the time. A bunch of veteran Blood Angel players on this forum are outstanding painters and you could find a style you really like. For me it is Neonmole's GrimDark scheme where the colors are really toned down. I really like it. working on getting all the materials I'll need to try and recreate it for my Flesh Tearers. I think it will look even better on a darker red with some Tamiya Clear Red blood effects on the blades. Pretty positive I'll be doing up all of my Flesh Tearers with bases from the Devastation of Baal. I have loads of extra Tyranid bits I plan on painting up as Hive Fleet Leviathan.

 

Really look forward to what you decide and build! Be sure to keep us all updated!

[Panzer]

Don't forget that we are getting Death Company Intercessors in a few days as well.  

Just keep in mind that those are an Elite slot option so you still need your 3 Troops units to fill a Battalion detachment. This has a very negative impact on the usefulness of DC Intercessors as they are not that much better than regular Intercessors and you could spend those 100-200 points better on something else instead. 

[Indefragable]

Whatever you do,I whole heartedly recommend every BA player pickup at least 1x of each of the following:

 

-BA Tactical Marines

-Death Company

-Sanguinary Guard

 

...the amount of juicy BA bits and gribblies in each of those kits is insane and can easily be stretched across almost your whole collection. Secondly, the DC box especially contains a great assortment of weapons (2x hand flamers, 2x inferno pistols, power sword, thunder hammer, power fists, chain swords galore, and even just plain bolsters that look sweet) as well as jump packs and interesting posed legs which can be used for other units as well. 
 

Even if you don’t end up running Tactical squads, that box has lots of great bits and can be used to stretch out the Devastator, DC, etc... kits as well, all while having thematic bits. 
 

Of course your budget is your own, but as you can swing it those three kits are well worth it.

[Majkhel]

Just to add to Indy: DC sprue also gives BA-themed backpacks that look equally good on Primaris.

 

To the point, I would start with some troops to work out the paint scheme. Intercessors would be best because of large flat areas of their armor. Scouts have many small details.

[Xenith]

This might sound odd at first but bear with me... you may be better off getting the Space Wolves start collecting set to start your Blood Angels army.

 

 

 

 

Whatever you do,I whole heartedly recommend every BA player pickup at least 1x of each of the following:

 

-BA Tactical Marines

-Death Company

-Sanguinary Guard

 

...the amount of juicy BA bits and gribblies in each of those kits is insane and can easily be stretched across almost your whole collection. 

 

Seconding, or thirding both of these ideas. I've been very tempted to get the SW box. You basically get intercessors and aggressors at retail value, then you can maybe sell on the upgrade sprues and wolf character to make the box pretty cheap. Aside of finding half a tooth and claw or wake the dead box, I think this is the best, cheapest way to get into Primaris. 

 

Otherwise, the BA sets are indeed a gold mine. I think I've bought like 3x Sanguinary guard boxes, but have only made 5 of them as sanguard. The rest have become ornate sergeants or whatever. The heads in particular are amazing for veterans. Shoulder pads can be a bit clunky, but theyre still ace. 

[Panzer]

Whatever you do,I whole heartedly recommend every BA player pickup at least 1x of each of the following:

 

-BA Tactical Marines

-Death Company

-Sanguinary Guard

 

...the amount of juicy BA bits and gribblies in each of those kits is insane and can easily be stretched across almost your whole collection. Secondly, the DC box especially contains a great assortment of weapons (2x hand flamers, 2x inferno pistols, power sword, thunder hammer, power fists, chain swords galore, and even just plain bolsters that look sweet) as well as jump packs and interesting posed legs which can be used for other units as well. 

 

Even if you don’t end up running Tactical squads, that box has lots of great bits and can be used to stretch out the Devastator, DC, etc... kits as well, all while having thematic bits. 

 

Of course your budget is your own, but as you can swing it those three kits are well worth it.

 

Yeah even with my full Primaris army I've ordered a bunch of Sanguinary Guard bitz from ebay and such and am debating orderding Death Company bitz as well.

[Xenith]

 

Whatever you do,I whole heartedly recommend every BA player pickup at least 1x of each of the following:

 

-BA Tactical Marines

-Death Company

-Sanguinary Guard

 

...the amount of juicy BA bits and gribblies in each of those kits is insane and can easily be stretched across almost your whole collection. Secondly, the DC box especially contains a great assortment of weapons (2x hand flamers, 2x inferno pistols, power sword, thunder hammer, power fists, chain swords galore, and even just plain bolsters that look sweet) as well as jump packs and interesting posed legs which can be used for other units as well. 

 

Even if you don’t end up running Tactical squads, that box has lots of great bits and can be used to stretch out the Devastator, DC, etc... kits as well, all while having thematic bits. 

 

Of course your budget is your own, but as you can swing it those three kits are well worth it.

 

Yeah even with my full Primaris army I've ordered a bunch of Sanguinary Guard bitz from ebay and such and am debating orderding Death Company bitz as well.

 

 

For the cost of the bits, you might be better just getting the box itself. The DC box has like 14 pads and 10 heads. 

[Panzer]

 

 

Whatever you do,I whole heartedly recommend every BA player pickup at least 1x of each of the following:

 

-BA Tactical Marines

-Death Company

-Sanguinary Guard

 

...the amount of juicy BA bits and gribblies in each of those kits is insane and can easily be stretched across almost your whole collection. Secondly, the DC box especially contains a great assortment of weapons (2x hand flamers, 2x inferno pistols, power sword, thunder hammer, power fists, chain swords galore, and even just plain bolsters that look sweet) as well as jump packs and interesting posed legs which can be used for other units as well. 

 

Even if you don’t end up running Tactical squads, that box has lots of great bits and can be used to stretch out the Devastator, DC, etc... kits as well, all while having thematic bits. 

 

Of course your budget is your own, but as you can swing it those three kits are well worth it.

 

Yeah even with my full Primaris army I've ordered a bunch of Sanguinary Guard bitz from ebay and such and am debating orderding Death Company bitz as well.

 

 

For the cost of the bits, you might be better just getting the box itself. The DC box has like 14 pads and 10 heads. 

 

 

Perhaps. So far I've saved money but only because I don't really need all the Jump Packs and angelus bolter and such from the SG box. I was mainly buying the heads and shoulders. I'll check what's cheaper if I decide to get a bunch of DC bitz, though that one is still up in the air. ^^

[Aothaine]

 

Just keep in mind that those are an Elite slot option so you still need your 3 Troops units to fill a Battalion detachment. This has a very negative impact on the usefulness of DC Intercessors as they are not that much better than regular Intercessors and you could spend those 100-200 points better on something else instead. 

 

We could get a Death Company Detachment in Blood of Baal. Having specialist detachments are pretty much the norm in these types of books. Never know right?

[BluejayJunior]

 

 

Just keep in mind that those are an Elite slot option so you still need your 3 Troops units to fill a Battalion detachment. This has a very negative impact on the usefulness of DC Intercessors as they are not that much better than regular Intercessors and you could spend those 100-200 points better on something else instead. 

 

We could get a Death Company Detachment in Blood of Baal. Having specialist detachments are pretty much the norm in these types of books. Never know right?

 

I kind of doubt it. After the 2 Vigilus books, they have seemed to move on from the idea of specialist detachments. I don't think either of the other PA books have them. It seems like they tried it out, but it wasn't something they decided to stick with. 

[dread05]

 

 

 

Whatever you do,I whole heartedly recommend every BA player pickup at least 1x of each of the following:

 

-BA Tactical Marines

-Death Company

-Sanguinary Guard

 

...the amount of juicy BA bits and gribblies in each of those kits is insane and can easily be stretched across almost your whole collection. Secondly, the DC box especially contains a great assortment of weapons (2x hand flamers, 2x inferno pistols, power sword, thunder hammer, power fists, chain swords galore, and even just plain bolsters that look sweet) as well as jump packs and interesting posed legs which can be used for other units as well. 

 

Even if you don’t end up running Tactical squads, that box has lots of great bits and can be used to stretch out the Devastator, DC, etc... kits as well, all while having thematic bits. 

 

Of course your budget is your own, but as you can swing it those three kits are well worth it.

 

Yeah even with my full Primaris army I've ordered a bunch of Sanguinary Guard bitz from ebay and such and am debating orderding Death Company bitz as well.

 

 

For the cost of the bits, you might be better just getting the box itself. The DC box has like 14 pads and 10 heads. 

 

 

Perhaps. So far I've saved money but only because I don't really need all the Jump Packs and angelus bolter and such from the SG box. I was mainly buying the heads and shoulders. I'll check what's cheaper if I decide to get a bunch of DC bitz, though that one is still up in the air. ^^

 

 

With the money I spent buying bits from the Sanguinary guard box, I could easily have bought a full SG box and have something left even. All the extra heads go to veterans and the jump packs go to DC.

[Panzer]

 

 

Just keep in mind that those are an Elite slot option so you still need your 3 Troops units to fill a Battalion detachment. This has a very negative impact on the usefulness of DC Intercessors as they are not that much better than regular Intercessors and you could spend those 100-200 points better on something else instead. 

 

We could get a Death Company Detachment in Blood of Baal. Having specialist detachments are pretty much the norm in these types of books. Never know right?

 

 

Possible but I doubt it.

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

Some great suggestions, thank you all!

 

Because of various reasons I won't be buying any Start Collecting boxes, I just want a unit box, that I could assemble and paint.  A small start, but maybe worth it (definitely, if it ends up them painted, and not left within the Box of Grey Shame)  I've been looking for the Tactical Box for a while now, and it looks definitely like one, that is worth the money with the massive amount of content, so I might get it first. 

I will be getting Fear to Tread to. Something to read during the holidays 

[Aothaine]

Here is another option you can roll with that is really good.

 

 

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Blood-Angels-Crimson-Spear-Strike-Force-2019

[Blindhamster]

It's a good collection so long as you're happy mixing primaris and regular marines (which lore wise -we should be, but many seem to not like the visual of mixing them).

 

Sanguinary guard feel like real winners of blood of baal... HOWEVER they're now very very CP hungry.

 

The karlean model is bad. And has been given away with almost anything BA related. The inclusion of DC chaplain is cool though.

Edited November 30, 2019 by Blindhamster