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Hi I am looking at starting a Blood Angels army and this is my idea so far:

140 - Librarian - Plasma Pistol, JumpPack

090 - Sanguinary Priest - Plasma Pistol, JumpPack

250 - Assault Squad (10) - Thunder Hammer, 2x PlasmaGuns
250 - Assault Squad (10) - Thunder Hammer, 2x PlasmaGuns

135 - Predator Tank - Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons
135 - Predator Tank - Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons

What do you think? I have heard that plasma guns stop the assault marines from assaulting, what's the deal with that?
If that is the case would it be better to take meltaguns and for go the extra range? Where should the extra 20 points be spent from equipping meltaguns rather than plasmaguns?

All feedback and suggestions are much appreciated - Thanks

Hi I am looking at starting a Blood Angels army and this is my idea so far:

140 - Librarian - Plasma Pistol, JumpPack

Looks fine to me

090 - Sanguinary Priest - Plasma Pistol, JumpPack

And again

250 - Assault Squad (10) - Thunder Hammer, 2x PlasmaGuns
250 - Assault Squad (10) - Thunder Hammer, 2x PlasmaGuns

Unless you are like me and insist that the coolness of the thunderhammer overules the points cost over a power fist, take power fists.

135 - Predator Tank - Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons
135 - Predator Tank - Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons

Fine

What do you think? I have heard that plasma guns stop the assault marines from assaulting, what's the deal with that?
If that is the case would it be better to take meltaguns and for go the extra range? Where should the extra 20 points be spent from equipping meltaguns rather than plasmaguns?

All feedback and suggestions are much appreciated - Thanks

The issue i see is the assault squads will really do their damage in CC, personally i would drop the specialist weapons in favour of power weapons and a flamer perhaps. the reason i say that is lets say you take meltaguns, if you pop that tank (coz thats what you have taken them for) that CC squad cannot assault what comes out of it. I would drop the plas/melta and rely on your preds popping the armour so your troops can assault, even maybe squeeze an attack bike or 2 in the in list for this. I would then look at flamers on the squads.

Reference the assaulting after shooting plasma, aren't Jump infantry relentless, or is that only death company? If it is the case yes you can shoot then assault.

If a squad destroys a transport, they are allowed to assault the contents. Use assault weapons like melta or flamer on assault troops, not rapid fire.

Rapid fire weapons work great on bikes, however, since they get the relentless USR.

Plasma Guns are rapid fire, thus you cannot assault after using them. Melta are not, and I'd probably just take melta guns, but I hate vehicles and MC a lot, and always run into both it seems.

I do still like the thunder hammer, that extra 5 points gets you to knock something down to initiative 1, which can be helpful against mutli wound models. And hell, it just looks cooler than power fists!

PS: mixer, DC are relentless, ASM are not.

For an assault squad meltas are preferable. you CAN assault the contents of a destroyed transport and meltas are Assault 1, whereas Plasma guns are rapid fire and can killl your own troops. they do get 12 inch extra range but this is besides the point, as assault squads work in charge range.

Yes I am like mixer86 and I do insist the extra points are well spent in the coolness factor of thunder hammers

However MG look better than plasma guns. Is there anything that plasma guns do apart from the extra range that meltaguns don't do better?

Having Meltaguns unfortunately leaves 20 points leftover (back to square one ) What would you suggest? Stormbolters on Preds, Meltabombs etc??? (given the stubbornness to use TH...... sorry )

What about Infernus pistols instead of plasma/melta guns? How do they work?

Infernus pistol is a meltagun with 6 inch range. However it still counts as a CC weaon. but it needs to be withing 3 inches for extra d6 of armor pen. decent choice.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
give one of your hq's powerweapons perhaps? also are you to cool for a baal predator or something?

The infernus pistol seems just too short range for the bonus of another close combat weapon. Practically hugging a target that you are expecting to explode!

Seems meltaguns are the way to go then, being the same range as the bolt pistols they should fit in well.
The librarian does have a force sword and I don't plan on getting the preist into lose combat but maybe a powersword or lightning claw? It would fill in the remaining points...

What do you think?

Baal preds are pretty cool, especially with the flamestorm cannon but the pred adds a bit more long range and customisation. Vary its cost from 70 - 180 wheres the baal is either 115 or 145.
I think close ranged flamersupport would be awesome!

Thanks - any ideas?

Melta is the way forward in y opinion

Plasma guns are money on tactical squads (works well with bolter) and bikers. Bikers can double tap plasma, and still assault. Pretty handy. Plus we, can get FNP and armor saves on terrain tests. I drive my bikes through trenches and through terrain all the time.

i personally hate plasma ( for good reason ._. )

melta is a cheaper approach and gives you good anti tank on everything

libby swap pistol for melta bomb

priest swap pistol for melta bomb ( and mabye a power weapon )

assault should go power axe 2 melta and melta bomb, thats normal meta for them at our place, the cheapest and the most bang for your buck

preads are fine ( i hate the autocannon las version but what ever )

another way to go is the flamer way where everyone has hand flamers and flamers

Martel732 wrote:
If a squad destroys a transport, they are allowed to assault the contents.

Really? not got the rule book to hand, where does it say you can shoot one unit (IE. the vehicle) then assault a separate unit (IE. whatever was in it)?

other than that i would go melta or massed flamers, though melta is a better choice in your list.

Under the transport section. It's the only exception to the assault-what-you-shoot rule.

Coolio, will have to have another read of that.

Cheers

The rule is actually the same as in 5th. Melta was more important in 5th, but its still pretty good in 6th.

I run BA and personally I overload plasma pistols. Love them...good range, great strength, great AP, just gets hot but rarely happens and half the time it doesn't kill me anyway. Good choice not putting a power weapon on the Priest I use them to decline challenges...I usually roll Power Swords and Melta Bombs but to each his own. With the Libby I suggest trying to find 50pts to make him a Lvl 2 Psyker(forget the name)...I usually take Shield of Sanguinius(5+ cover in the open) and roll on Biomancy for his 2nd ability. Being able to cast Shield and either activate that Force Weapon or cast your other ability is really key in my opinion. Having no warp points left when you really need one is a big bag of suck.

Well if I ran meltaguns I could get an epistolary...

175 - Epistolary
075 - Priest
240 - Assault
240 - Assault
135 - Predator
135 - Predator

I does mean both the libby and priest only have bolt pistols (+ force sword chain-sword respectively) but that can't be much of an issue?

Now that psychic powers are random..... (I think) Will the epistolary upgrade make a lot of difference? I'm not sure how it works yet.....

As far as I knew you could still take whatever powers you wanted from certain codices(I think that how you say codex plurally) unless they stated otherwise. For instance I play Blood Angels and Grey Knights and as long as the power is coming directly from that armies respective codex you can choose it...if you want generic powers from the lists in the rulebook you must roll on them. I know BA can take Biomancy which is what I always roll on...If you google Blood Angels FAQ(I believe this is where I found it) you can pull up GWs official "update" to the codex which tells you what tables you can roll on if you don't take your chapters powers

I wish you weren't so partial to the hammers because they really are a waste on Sergeants..,you will get challenged and you will die before you get to attack, that's the bottom line. But I totally understand playing something because you like the looks or fluff...Personally I'm obsessed with Jump Pack Death Company even though they are WAY overpriced and can't capture objectives but man are the models cool and the history even cooler. Best part about them is you can equip them however you want because they can't be challenged, only the Chaplain with them can.

Thanks I will have a look at the updates and FAQ.

The thunder hammers are there for coolness and to identify the Sargent as the leader but I did expect them to do something as well...
I'm open to other equipment but it might take a bit of convincing as to the wow factor. sorry if I was too misleading (thunder hammers do look amazing though)

What about the sergeants having a power sword and combat shield (boltpistol)?

That still leaves 20 points leftover (again!)

Thunder Hammers and Power Fists are amazing on anyone that can't be challenged. GW put this challenging crap in 6th edition and it drives me insane because your are either dead before you swing because it allows them to pick out your sergeant or nullify his damage with a cheaper easy to kill sergeant while his squad beats up on yours. WORST RULE EVER!! And I, like you, think the hammers (and Force Axes) are baller which is one reason I retired my Blood Angels until the new codex launches and picked up an army that can equip anyone in the squad with power weapons(Grey Knights). They don't have nearly as good a backstory or the ferrocity of the Blood Angels but they win, which my Blood Angels had a serious problem doing. My last escalation league was 6 months long and I think I finished something like 5-40.

Powersword and meltabomb is much better. You won't instant kill anyone but you are effective in most close combats(stay away from 2+ saves) and you can still pop a tank. Scibor has a few cool swords for sale but they aren't cheap. It's tough to find custom parts because there isn't a lot o money in them and GW is really strict about using there name and property to advertise websites.

If you want hammers run Death Company...anyone can use one and they can't be challenged. I also believe Sanguinary Guard can use them and not be challenged but you have to check on them being able to...don't have my codex in front of me

Thanks - sorry I updated the last post while you posted yours so I didn't see it till afterwards :(
The rule does seem to limit the equipment options slightly.

Although what about combat shields?

A storm shield might work too? but I don't know how to rework the points.
The sarges would still have meltabombs as well.

175 - Epistolary JP
075 - Priest JP
235 - Assault 2x MG, PS, Combat Shield, Melta Bombs
235 - Assault 2x MG, PS, Combat Shield, Melta Bombs
135 - Predator AC, LC
135 - Predator AC, LC

With the spare 10 points maybe a hand flamer on the priest?

Thanks

I like that combo better but do you put your sergeant up front to eat incoming damage or use it strictly for cc? hmm...I'll check back in a few hours to see if anyone else has input I have work in 5 hours and need to sleep...good luck

If I went for PS and combat shield I would probably keep him alive until the assault phase... Let him try and win the challenge i suppose...

The hand flamer doesn't seem that strong, should I just put dozer blades on the preds or maybe meltabombs on the priest and just leave 5 points?

Thanks

Hand flamer is getting better as Xeno lists get more and more popular. It's a full sized template that doesn't roll to hit and ignores cover. Despite AP 6, it can still do some damage.

Oh OK thanks, so a handflamer would be worth equipping to the priest.

This looks like the final list:

175 - Epistolary, JP

085 - Sanguinary Priest, JP, Hand Flamer

235 - Assault Squad, 2x Meltaguns, PowerSword, Combatshield, Meltabombs
235 - Assault Squad, 2x Meltaguns, PowerSword, Combatshield, Meltabombs

135 - Predator Tank, Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons
135 - Predator Tank, Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons



Thanks for all you help and suggestions, very much appreciated.

Feel free to add ideas that might improve this list and any ideas on expanding it to 1500, I'm thinking Mephiston, and Stormravens maybe....

list is perfect now, but why are you getting the epistolary?

I like taking the Epistolary upgrade personally because you have to cast Shield EVERY opponent shooting phase so your other skill becomes pretty useless and Biomancy has some nice buffs for a Libby IMO

If you take Shield of Sanguinius, you can't take any rulebook powers. It's all or nothing.

If you want rulebook powers, Epistolary is worth thinking about. If you want BA powers, skip it.

You generate warp charge every player turn.

just another one, wount it be better if you had 1 full squad and 2 5 man squads each with a melta gun? so this way the 2 5 man go after objectives and the 10 act as a kill squad