Primaris Blood Angels

[Aothaine]

 

 A small unit is all i tend to use because from a lore perspective it makes sense, and I honeslty don't feel they're really needed - they just aren't that great anymore, all the things that made DC great in 3rd/4th ed are barely even a thing anymore.

 

First-born DC are incredibly strong and can be an absolute terror of an alpha strike. Chainswords and bolters is all you need with them. Multi-charge almost guaranteed 1st turn. They are also amazing cleaners. Wait until T3 to drop them in to clean up what is left of your opponent.

 

 

 

I really do feel like the recent update rewards not going for the hard and fast first turn assault too, make full use of the various levels of the doctrine to achieve success sort of thing.

 

I think this is most likely going to be one of the most competitive ways to use Blood Angels. All Primaris is not really necessary. But it can be done now and be successful imho. Still, I stand my by my original opinion about the release really making me think that Blood Angels will be better as a First-born & Primaris army mixed. 

[SnorriSnorrison]

 

*snip*

 

Interestingly, Eliminators out perform Devastators.

 

In terms of speed, I think auto bolt rifles are the way to go - 3 shots @24" regardless of moving or standing still and they can be fired even after advancing - which couples well with our +1 to advance rule. meaning they can move 7+1d6 (10") a round and still put out a lot of shots. The Repulsor and Impuslor are also faster than traditional marine transports generally so they don't lose out there either.

 

I think the unique unit thing is interesting, mostly because I've never used much death company - usually only a unit at most, and more often than not, none. I similarly only really used a single unit of sanguinary guard at most, usually only using DC OR SG, not both as well. But to me, they aren't what makes blood angels, blood angels, they're part of it, but never felt like a necessity. Similar to how I more often than not used on foot characters, most notably Tycho whom was my captain of choice for many many years. I'd go as far as to say I absolutely loathe Death Company heavy armies or the full Death Company armies. If Blood Angels fall on that scale that often - they wouldn't exist. A small unit is all i tend to use because from a lore perspective it makes sense, and I honeslty don't feel they're really needed - they just aren't that great anymore, all the things that made DC great in 3rd/4th ed are barely even a thing anymore.

 

 

I think this is a big part of why i found the switch to primaris blood angels so easy, i've always liked to play with foot sloggers in transports and fairly limited jump pack presence. I've never over indulged in the BA unique units and actually rarely used a bunch of them. So Primaris were essentially a straight upgrade to my preferred play style.

 

I really do feel like the recent update rewards not going for the hard and fast first turn assault too, make full use of the various levels of the doctrine to achieve success sort of thing.

 

 

Valid points, I shall address them chronological order.

 

Eliminators have Damage 3 with their las fusils, true. Devastators offer more flexibility yet through their load-out options, though. It comes down to which unit you prefer. I absolutely love devastators, and while Eliminators look very cool, the whole infiltration-theme is something I dislike about Primaris.

 

 

Yes, Intercessors outperform Tactical Marines in their role as anti-infantry core troops as I mentioned, but they lack flexibility still. Faster than footsloggers, obviously with their weapons. How many Repulsors would one field though? To me, that's the Primaris equivalent of a Land Raider, and if you played more than 1, you'd be short on points very quickly. While the Impulsor is nice, it's still 50€ for a beefed-up Razorback. Not a rules-matter, true, but something influences my opinion. Speed is, as I mentioned, part of the Jump-Pack unit approach for me. Assault Marines used to shine, now it's more VAS, DC and SG. Still, those are units which were kind of unique to BA when they could be fielded as troops (RAS), or when they used to be unique (VAS, now VanVets).

 

 

Oh, I wasn't actually only talking about Death Company. I agree with you though, the whole idea of turning everything BA have into Death Company is ridiculous and mostly just a crunch approach to making a harder list and being able to deal with threats that your other units can't on turn 1.

Despite that, I have to disagree with your statement that DC aren't good anymore - they're one of the best units in the codex by far, their damage output and delivery options are above anything other chapters can field. Wulfen come close, but with the new rules, I think DC would smoke 'em. I'm biased, though. :D

So, uniqueness to me isn't only Death Company this, Death Company that. Baal Predators, VanVets, yet another thing the codex boys got from the Ninth, Sanguinary Guard, it's the love of Blood Angels for Jump Packs and fast, hard-hitting units, and with Blood of Baal, there's more incentive to go that route than in a long time. Just look at the relics!

 

 

Well, that's good for you then! With that mindset, I'd agree that it's easier to go full Primaris; not everyone has that, however. It's undeniable that you lose out on some of BA-unique units when only playing Primaris-only, and some of the traditional playstyles.

 

 

I'm inclined to agree, GW is moving away from that turn 1 all-out charge ever so slightly, so that the shootier armies have better chances to hold on from there, with all the tagging via consolidate that's going on.Then they introduced the Vanguard units and the big dreads, and it all went south. :D

Charging turn 2 is fine for me, going through the doctrines is nice, albeit predictable. So having the option for a turn 1 assault with two hard as nails JP units is a good way to keep your opponents honest.

 

 

All in all, I'd say the mixed approach is still preferable until new Primaris units come out.