Old School BA – what units to choose?

[Hannibal]

Hi all,

 

today I talked about new projects with a friend of mine and we decided to run an OLD SCHOOL space marines project:

 

he is going to paint SW and I am going to paint BA. But it has to be OLD SCHOOL SM, so no primaris of any kind!

 

Well, that being said, which units would you choose for such a project and why? What does work well with BA?

 

I already own

 

• 10 men tactical marines
• 5 men Vanguard Veterans
• 5 men Devastators

Things I ´m going to get:

 

• Razorback
• Bikes
• 1-2 Trikes
• venerable dreads
• a flyer of some kind

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

HTG

Edited March 26, 2022 by Jolemai
Title

[Paladin777]

That's a good start. It's a you're gonna want another couple squads of tactical Marines, another box of vanguard veterans for a nice 10 man unit, and maybe a drop pod or two for some good Devastator alpha-striking. You might want to consider eventually getting a unit of terminators or two. I recommend assault and relic over the regular ones. Don't forget the sanguinary guard either!

 

The first born captain on a bike can be made quite effective as well.

 

Edit: MM attack bikes are also great.

 

Venerable dreadnaughts and ironclads are proppa stompy too!

Edited March 24, 2022 by Paladin777

[Jolemai]

Don't forget to check the Unit of the Week series for entries that may take your fancy - such as Death Company. Dante makes his way into competitive lists too, but most named characters remain serviceable and the rules still exist for Mephiston before he crossed the Rubicon.

 

Looking at the above, an Ancient and maybe a Lieutenant could help, maybe a Sanguinart Priest, and maybe one of the smaller Flyers would suffice.

[Xenith]

How old school are you going? Like, 2nd ed themed armies, so only using models available then, or old school as in just firstborn and no primaris?

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Or pre-indomitus codex astartes? 6 10-man tac squads, 2 10-man assault squads, 2 5-man dev squads, command squad and captain? With options for a chaplain, DC, and dreads? Hnnnnnnngh!~

[Hannibal]

How old school are you going? Like, 2nd ed themed armies, so only using models available then, or old school as in just firstborn and no primaris?

Well, it´s more like First Born Marines instead of 2nd Edition. Didn´t know that particular expression.

 

 

Or pre-indomitus codex astartes? 6 10-man tac squads, 2 10-man assault squads, 2 5-man dev squads, command squad and captain? With options for a chaplain, DC, and dreads? Hnnnnnnngh!~

It´s going to be something like this, I think.

[Helias_Tancred]

A 10 man assault squad with jump packs can work well for quick seizing and holding objectives.

[Karhedron]

Here are some of the Firstborn units I regularly field. It's not a definitive list, just stuff that seems to work well for me:

• Multimelta attack bikes
• Sanguinary Guard
• Vanguard Veterans with Lightning Claw and Storm Shield (optional Thunder Hammer on the Serg).
• Tactical squad with Grav cannon and combi-plas on the Serg
• Sanguinary Priest with Jump Pack and all the upgrades
• Razorbacks (one of the vehicles in our list that isn't too badly overpriced)
• Whirlwind (indirect fire is useful to have in this edition)
• Dreadnought with multimelta and heavy flamer (Ven Dread is worthwhile if you have the points)
• Librarian Dreadnought with Wings of Sanguinius (because who doesn't love a flying Dreadnought ;) ).