Blood Angels Unit of the Week series Unit of the Week: Death Company Marines

[Jolemai]

 

Welcome to part one of the Blood Angels Unit of the Week series!

 
Following the release of the 10^th edition Codex Supplement, there is no better time to discuss all the units we have access to. Each week a different unit will appear, with the idea being that we discuss how best to use that model on the battlefield. Where part one will discuss the units from the units found within Codex Supplement: Blood Angels, parts two to four will discuss Codex: Space Marines, part five will be Imperial Armour, and part six will be Legends.
 
Note, this isn't to lament any nerfs, etc, from previous editions; the rules are as they are so try to unlock its potential for those who wish to use them all the same. Similarly, this thread is only for using the option being discussed; it matters not if you feel something is a better choice as such comments aren't constructive to the topic and shall be removed.
 
Without further ado, here's this week's entry:

 

 Death Company Marines

What are you thoughts here folks? How best would you use Death Company Marines?

• To compliment a list, or to build a list around? 
• Which Detachment are you using?
• What weapon options are you choosing?
• What delivery options are you using? 
• What deployment options are you using?
• Are they being joined by a Leader, if any?
• Stratagem synergy of note?

 

Over to you.

 

Please note the Death Company Marines with Bolt Rifles, Death Company Marines with Jump Packs will be discussed elsewhere.

[Jolemai]

Should you want your model on display here (or on another thread), then submit a photo here please.

 

(Once I work out how best to float it!)

 

***

 

As an aside, the thread setup may change over the coming weeks until I'm happy with them. This includes the photos.

[Kryczek]

I'm really struggling to see the use for these guys.  AI just do everything better.

 

Hope someone has something positive to say about them.

[Blindhamster]

I mean... they're a bit more survivable than AI, and their sustained hits ability is fairly cool.

 

But yeah, death company are not that useful outside of the jump version - particularly as they dont have particularly good character support.

[Karhedron]

They aren't my favourite unit but if you want to get the best out of them, load up as many plasma pistols in the squad as you can and always Overcharge. If you get any blowing themselves up, you can trigger the Sustained Hits. Add a Chaplain for the +1 to Wound and to overcome the OC0 and those Sustained Hits can get work done.

 

Alternatively, lead them with a DC Captain for the 6" Scout move to get them on their way towards the enemy.

[Indy Techwisp]

Are we talking about the Bolt Rifle, Jump Pack or Assault DC's here?

[Jolemai]

2 hours ago, Indy Techwisp said:

Are we talking about the Bolt Rifle, Jump Pack or Assault DC's here?

 

From what you've asked, it would be the "Assault DC". The other two will have their own thread.

[Darwhine]

Good morning.

The subject is particularly close to my heart because it is one of my favorite units and yet is - wrongly - considered weak by many streamers.

I fought for a long time on the French side to prove them the opposite with supporting figures but no one seemed to be interested.

 

 

In comparison, the jump pack DC can have 1 gun, an eviscerator, a gauntlet, per 5 and another gauntlet per unit. We therefore have a clear advantage over jump packs in terms of choice. But, the main difference that compensates for this loss is the ability of the DC on foot: they gain sustained hit 1 at the first hp lost and sustained hit 2 when they fall to half strength.

This is what makes the DC on foot one of the most lethal units in the Blood Angel codex.

 

What is most important to remember about DC on foot is that their lethality - mainly on targets with endurance and protection - decreases little or not at all when they lose models in their unit. As long as we keep the special weapons (evicerator and hammer/gauntlet) a squad reduced to two figures will lose very little DPS compared to a squad of 5; quite simply because the sustained hits on these weapons will compensate for the losses in the dps of the chainswords.

 

They are played in any detachment. The full reroll of the keys makes them autonomous from the oath of the moment.

They will be just as effective as a liberator with the strength and charge attack bonus, coupled with the possibility of advance/charge.

But the Angelic Inheritors detachment is not bad either, since with a character they will be able to reroll the 1 to wounds (which corresponds to the first level of the Lost Bethren detachment) and relaunch their charges (like the DC to jump pack ).

The best detachment remains the lost bethren which explodes the counters in terms of dps, to the point that the losses in the unit will make it stronger than the starting one.

In terms of character, I always give them a chaplain. The +1 to wound makes them monstrous.

The option of putting a DC captain is discussed when we have 1 pc and a stratagem to have "Lance";

this is the case in the "Angelic Inheritors" detachment which also provides:

-A resurrection optimization for the captain (which allows him to trigger his mortal wounds twice)

-The lethal hit in addition to "Lance"

-A stratagem of lone operative which will work very well with the captain's scout move.

The captain will of course benefit from sustained hit skills, which will further add to the dps.

Paradoxically, I find that the captain plays poorly in lostbethren, because the detachment does not have access to the +1 to wound apart from the chaplain and does not have access to the lethal hit either.

 

The Lost Brethren detachment remains the best for several reasons:

-It gives the reroll of wounds (which is not found anywhere else, except in "Angelic Inheritors" with the reroll of 1s).

-He has a stratagem that gives +1 in Strength, attack and AP (which can be compared to the bonus in charge of the Liberators detachment).

-It gives advance and charges (like the liberator).

-And above all, it allows you to hit while dying on 4+ (3+ if there is a chaplain nearby). This last point is crucial because it allows units to be “traded” even if the DC does not have initiative in close combat.

In addition to that, the penultimate FAQ allows the counting of units (under initial strength or under mid-strength) to be taken into account in the response. We therefore find ourselves in a situation where a unit of 10 which would be taken out in a combat phase, could respond with the 10 figures (statistically 7 since it is on 3+) under sustained hit 2 (which is normally impossible ).

 

Quote

Fight on Death: Some rules enable models to fight after they have
been destroyed, before being removed from play, following the
normal fight sequence (Core Rules, page 33). When doing so, those
models may Pile In (following all restrictions of Unit Coherency) and
then make melee attacks, selecting which weapons they will make
attacks with and the targets for those attacks, before resolving those
attacks. A model under the effect of more than one such rule can only
fight once after it has been destroyed. ‘Fight-on-death’ rules are
always resolved before the attacking unit (i.e. the unit that destroyed
the model that has that rule) Consolidates, and before any other
rules are triggered by the destruction of that model (e.g. Deadly
Demise). While making attacks due to a fight-on-death rule, the
destroyed model is assumed to have 1 wound remaining unless
otherwise stated. After a model has made its fight-on-death attacks,
any other rules that are triggered by the destruction of that model are
then triggered, and it is then removed from play – it does not
Consolidate. If more than one model from a unit is under the effect of
a fight-on-death rule, each of those models fights at the same time.
Note that, at the time a model fights on death, it is destroyed, which
may be important when determining whether that model’s unit is
below its Starting Strength/Below Half-strength.

As long as the chaplain is still alive to give his +1 bonus to wound and you are almost sure to turn over any opponent who had the very bad idea of charging at you.

 

In terms of statistics, what does that give?

Let us know that there is only one eviscerator, a hammer and the chaplain left in the unit. The unit is at half strength and therefore benefits from sustained hit 2. In lost bethren, I use 1 pc for the "lost to rage" stratagem which will increase the attacks, strength and AP of the weapons by 1.

Stats via UnitCrunch:

-10+ hp on a rhino (destroys it)

-20+ hp on marines (destroys an entire squad of 10 marines)

-15+ hp on terminators (it destroys 5 classic terminators)

-16 hp on a Landraider (destroys it)

-16 hp on Canis rex or a monolith

-10 hp to Mortharion.

 

The damages are colossal for just 3 models !

 

The problem remains to bring them into contact.

The best option remains the landraider: on board they move 10 inches, can disembark at 3 inches, advance (on average 3) and charge for 1 pc.

Which gives you a threat range of 16 inch + charge from T2 ... which is greater than a unit in jump pack which would only be 15 inch + charge in the same conditions.

 

This is why the DC on foot is in my eyes one of the best units in the codex ... but unfortunately I have not seen any streamer go further in their thinking than simply reading their datasheet.

Edited January 12 by Darwhine