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I'm rebuilding my Blood Angels army in preparation for the new codex in April and I was wondering what you've found to be more effective, Death Company with jump packs or in a drop pod?

With the last edition of the Blood Angels codex I always ran mine with jump packs but keeping them in the relative safety of reserve until they drop pod into the middle of enemy lines is a tempting prospect. Any insight and experience would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks in advance,

The Walrus

The problem with podding them is that they are built for close combat and they can't do that out of a pod. So in order to make them useful in a pod you give them bolters so they can rapid fire at something squishy as they can't get any special weapons like melta guns. This in turn reduces their effectiveness when they do get into assault as it denies them the bonus attack from having a chainsword and bolt pistol.

I think the majority of BA players use death company with jump packs for the mobility. A lot of use like to use rhinos too. Podding is very rare.

Death Company are expected to change in the new codex. Some rumors have them getting special weapons and other upgrades. Podding may become a better option then.

I am waiting until the release of the new codex and then I will build a new army.

G

Sounds like they have a new Vendetta-style fast assault transport. Just a hunch, but I'd take approximately as many as I possibly can of those and fill it with melta assault troops.

Please don't spam.

G

When you have seen the codex in this april, you would not have the interest to buy even a single drop pod.

Trust me.

I haven't used drop pods except for dreadnaughts since the middle of 4th edition. The rumor about a transport flyer is very exciting and from what I have heard it sounds like it's going to happen. What I am wondering is if GW releases the flyer as product will other SM chapters have access to it or will be exclusive to BA like the Baal predator and Furisio dreadnaught. If it's expensive, whose to say when Valkyries and Vendettas are AV12 all around and cheap for what you get, then you'll only be able to field two to three max.

G

It would be nice, but I'd doubt it. The main reason I say this is the DA codex didn't get a single change to any wargear once the SM codex was released. This would also be in line with everything you need to play an army is in one codex (IIRC, this is what GW is trying to do).

This is completely baseless speculation on my part, but looking at the Valk/Vend and their point cost, if the new BA flyer is:
AV12
Fast
Assault
10-12 models no Terminators for transport cap
2x T/L Assault Cannons

I think it'll probably be in the 150 price range. I don't think GW can afford to make it cost much more points-wise because a fully loaded Stormbird (or whatever they call this thing) would then run around 300-350 points.

Three flyers and their cargo would make up about half your army.

With a big new fancy model, I just don't see them making it prohibitively expensive (in game terms) because they're going to want every new player to buy 3. Unless they go crazy and it's some sort of AV14 flying fortress with nutzo stats...?

Thanks for the insight everyone. Looks like I'll be running my BA as vanilla until the new codex comes out. I'm looking to get some games in between now and then but I don't want to get some DC and kit them out all wrong for the new codex, plus the new Tantalus lander does indeed sound like a nice model.

As another question, what BA lists have you had success with recently?

Use the current BA list. I think it's still available for download. My friend who plays BA has fielded death company with jump packs and on foot. The deciding factor of their usefullness seems to be if they have a chaplain with them. They are good, but better if you can decide where and when to hit the enemy.

Most people consider there to be one good BA list at present, which is Dante/Corbulo dual bubble doom.

Twin linked SCs makes me barf a little.... sorry.

SCs are a big part of 5th.

G

The Dante Corbulo effect is just too much of a one-trick pony that is easy to avoid...Blow up Corbulo's rhino and...

Plus that's 300pts in HQ in an already expensive army.

LeMartes is a simple and cheap and useful HQ.

Furioso Dreads are a lot of fun in the current list, and the Death Company is great at tying up big units in CC for a turn so you can get the counter assault.

It actually pays to take a lot of assault squads as troops in the current codex, in my experience anyway.

At least it is super fun to play! You get to make the little Jump Pack noise a lot!

I used to enjoy running Lemartes with jump pack DC and mechanized infantry. That's back when we had chapter traits and I could give everyone 2A with True Grit...

Owain wrote:I used to enjoy running Lemartes with jump pack DC and mechanized infantry. That's back when we had chapter traits and I could give everyone 2A with True Grit...

That must be a loooooong time ago, 2nd ed?

Fetterkey has it right. Dual bubble. It's not as easy to get Corbulo out, as he usually rides the Crusader with the Death Co.

I'd probably be prepared to have 2-4 assault squads supported by 2-4 tactical squads in rhinos. It really does depend on the points cost for the tactical squads vs the assault marines so I wouldn't build out the special weapons yet or at least magnetize them. The rumours suggest that people that already have BA armies are going to have to do some adjusting.

I would avoid building the army around pods at this point because I don't really think the drop pod rules help assault squads all that much. I know that is debatable but it's my opinion for what it's worth.

I would expect furiosos to have a tweeked weapons layout so I wouldn't get too comfortable with the heavy flamer/ meltagun option it currently has. Magnets might be the way to go there.

I think vindicators are a safe bet for heavy supports and if you magnetize it well enough, the baal pred should be viable.

I would leave your rhino doors and front faces removable because they are bound to get the same treatment as the wolves, dark angels and templar. Expect a ton of bits to become available.

I believe they mentioned super charged rhinos. I'd think their army would be based around those. If you want to prepare for BA coming out you can get money for the new minis that are supposed to be coming out or by buying sets of assault marines and death company and such and not completely finishing them. Doesn't matter what army you discuss there are always changes to the codex when a new one comes out.

I use to run my Death Co with jump packs and jump pack chappy, but everyone would target that first and blow them to bits before they ever hit assualt. Sure it was great that nobody shot at the rest of the army, but it wasn't any fun using Death Co cause I never actaually got to use them. So, I just removed the jump packs to give them the protection of a land raider. I'm hoping to test this out tomorrow.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I use to run my Death Co with jump packs and jump pack chappy, but everyone would target that first and blow them to bits before they ever hit assualt. Sure it was great that nobody shot at the rest of the army, but it wasn't any fun using Death Co cause I never actaually got to use them. So, I just removed the jump packs to give them the protection of a land raider. I'm hoping to test this out tomorrow.

If they are getting shot at so much then you need to use them more wisely. Hiding behind terrain or vehicles. Using a turn to wait and move to a better position instead of attacking. Land Raider works too though. They can shoot at it, but they aren't likely to kill them. Not easily at least.

Force Organization Chart
Blood Angel FOC is divergant from the Ultramarine one:
-Dreadnoughts are heavy support.
-Furioso Dreads with droppods are fast attack.
-Twin scout entries are both elites, but one is scoring.
-Only dedicated ground transport is the Rhino (Razorbacks are out)
-Assault Squad and Tactical Squad are troops.
-Honour Guard can be troops if fielded with Dante.
-Jump pack units are in every FOC category except heavy support and HQ:
--Assault Squad - troops
--Honour Guard - elites
--Exalted - fast attack

Death Company is 0-1 and doesn't need a slot in the FOC

Units Rules
Tantalus Lander is a dedicated transport for everything in the army except tanks, Land Speeders and Exalted. Its weaponry is: 2 twin-linked assault cannons, 1 twin-linked special weapon.

Land Raider: Redeemer, Crusader and Standard

Terminator sergeants can get close combat wargear. There is a Terminator upgrade to allow shooting in an enemy phase.

Exalted: 4/4/4(5)/4/1/5/1+1/10/3+, jump troops, hit & run, furious charge, no red fury/combat tactics, power armor, stormbolter, power weapon, bolt pistol, no options, no transports.

Quite angelic: masterfully crafted slim armor, jump packs, mechanical wings, masks, long hair.

Named Characters
Erasmus: Furious charge, digital weapons (rending), master crafted combi melta: 18" S:8 AP:1 Assault 1, melta, reroll to hit, 4+ ward save, can chose one set of special rules:
-squad ignores red fury
-red fury and preferred enemy
-rage and feel no pain

Mephiston: 7/7/5/5/3/7/4/10/2+, FnP, Fearless, Eternal Warrior, Fleet, 2 psychic powers per turn.
More potent versions of Might of heroes, Transfixing Gaze and Blood Stasis powers:

The gun of Victor's servitor is 36" S:6 AP:6 Assault6

Psychic Powers
Quickening: Infantry moves as beasts, jump troops and walkers gain fleet.
Blood Stasis: 5" vortex of blood in base contact. Enemy models count as being in difficult terrain, and suffer one wound if they try to move and any of the distance dice shows a 1, Mephiston: can cast it in close combat centered on himself, and enemies attacking with a 1 suffer a wound.
Might of Heroes: one model in squad gets +D3 attacks, Mephiston: can cast it on himself.
Primarchs Grace: Squad may reroll dangerous terrain tests.
Transfixing Gaze: Target model must take a leadership roll off or not able to attack librarian, Mephiston: not able to attack any model.
Living Darkness: A template which blocks line of sight.

Fluff
Background: mainly Blood Angels and 4 successor chapters with one page each:
-Blood Consuls
-Angels Sanguine
-Flesh Tearers
-Angels Vermillion