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So Tell Me About Blood Angel Sternguard

I spent the morning searching and found lots of articles about using Sternguard, but all of them either discuss using Lysander and Kantor, but I am running a Blood Angles List so I don’t have that Option.

I am familiar with all of the Combi-Weapon and Drop Pod Doctrines and if I can get the parts I will probably go with Combi-Plasmas [Yes I Love Plasma]. I am also thinking of getting them each a Drop Pod.

Currently my One Blood Angel Sternguard has:
Sergeant with Power Fist and Combi-Plasma
7x Bolter
2x Plasma Guns

I am just wanting some opinions on the current Sternguard

Also some advice about Special Ammunition.

Dragon Fire Bolts:
Vengeance Round:
Kraken Bolts:
Hellfire Rounds:

I am also thinking of adding more Sternguard, one with 2 Heavy Flamers [Using LotD Figures] and maybe ather one with 2 Heavy Weapons.

Haven't used sternies in the way you've described before, but I can help with the ammo.

Dragonfire is pretty obvious in use.
Kraken works best against scouts and FW, With these rounds you can beat the tau at their own game.
Vengeance I have not had the pleasure of using sadly. Seem very interesting though.
Hellfire is without a shadow of a doubt, gonna be your go to ammo. If you could use a bolter in a situation, the hellfire is more then likely gonna be better.

Anpu42, I think you will find this article to be of interest re: Sternguard ammo

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?autocom=ineo&showarticle=423

The basic conclusion is that it is often best to use hellfire rounds or more specifically...

Attacking lower toughness units in cover, Dragonfire bolts are often the best. Hellfire rounds are the best generalist rounds, especially for higher toughness models. For Toughness 4 and lower, Vengeance rounds and Kraken bolts are only really effective in the open for their AP boost.

Thank you I will defanatly Read it.
I forgot, I do have a Sang. Priest [with a Storm Bolter] with them.

Ive had experience with all types of ammo, And i must say sternguard are one of my favourite units in the space marine codex.

Example of the use of hellfire rounds. Take 6 tactical marines. 6 tactical marines are not hard to kill with a couple bolter shots right?

Now change that wound on a 4+ to a wound on a 2+. Kill those tactical marines with a certain amount of hellfire rounds. Wouldnt take much would it?

Now look at a trygon. Mathematically, it will take the exact same amount of hellfire rounds to kill as it will 6 tactical marines. Pretty impressive?

Hellfire rounds are the number 1 choice for killing MCs, and specifically C'tan and Greater Daemons, who have (usually) 4+ saves but are toughness 6-8, making them very hard to kill. Hellfire rounds should also be your standard used ammo, they are very reliable. Never fire normal bolter shots from sternguard.

Vengeance rounds are useful, and although it seems great, the chance of blowing yourself up with them is highly minimal. Something like 5.5%

5 sternguard rapid firing at chaos marines will (mathematically) inflict 3 casualties. 5 tactical marines rapid firing at chaos marines will inflict 1.

Dragonfire rounds are extremely useful against orks and tyranids. Lootas love cover, and hate fire. Dragonfire will burn em out at a reasonable distance, it will simply slice through them.

Kraken is your long range, anti medium infantry. Ap4 will punch through upgraded veterans and 'ard boyz, as well as broodlords and warriors.

very good unit

Thank you all with the info on the Special Ammunition.
What I am wondering about more is the "Special/Heavy" Weapon Choices.

Anpu42 wrote:Thank you all with the info on the Special Ammunition.
What I am wondering about more is the "Special/Heavy" Weapon Choices.

Imo unless you REALLY want to give up the boltgun, just stick to a few combis here and there

I wouldn't ever take any special heavy weapons because then your wasting your points you are spending on the boltguns, and sternguard with four combi-meltas can deal with anything period.

I was thinking a Pair of Heavy Bolters or Heavy Flamers.
I would love to do the Combi-Weapon thing, but I can't Find Any!

Quotin' myself from B&C in this thread(incase you couldn't read it there):

My general rule of thumb is to use hellfire rounds unless other ammos would remove -all- of a targets saves, or the intended target is over 24". I don't have the mathhammer saved but this is my personal rule of thumb.
For example:
Hellfire default except:
Dragonfire for 5+ sv or worse in cover.
Kraken 4+ sv or worse in the open, or past 24".
Vengeance 3+ sv in the open.

I mostly don't use vengeance rounds at all, preferring to fire my combi meltas because of the "gets hot!" rule you have to roll seperately for every "gets hot!" weapon(overheats), because the rule states the save(s) must be taken by the model firing. I have used them once or twice and hellfire rounds are only moderately less effective vs MEQ, but the dice rolling involved is aggravating.


I suggest you offload the combi plas from the sergeant to a bolter marine. It makes no difference but you don't want to chance losing your SCCW.

You can find combi weapons in the commander box(one combi-melta, one combi-plasma), or slice up the special weapons you have spares of and slapping them haphazardly onto bolter bits , like this example: http://42ndcadian.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-make-combi-weapons.html
I could have pulled better examples I have bookmarked from the B&C, but it's currently down.

Chapterhouse studios makes a real nice metal magnetized combi-weapon set, but it's a little on the spendy side for sternguard, better to hack up spare special weapons you have lying around IMO.

You have access to something that other armies don't with sternguard. Sanguinary Priests. So using combi-plas and vengeance rounds are even more viable to you now more then ever. A blood chalice in a squad of sternguard would be insane so my personal take is have at least one squad. Sure both the priests you take and sternguard are taking up two elites choices but you have two more priests to throw around and in medium sized games I don't think it's a problem. I use sternguard a lot and even though I don't play Blood Angels I think you could have great success with them.

The only benefit I see for a BA Sternguard unit is the attachment of a Sang. Priest
giving them furious charge and FNP.
With FNP the unit becomes tougher, while furious charge is not that great for Sternguard
since you want them shooty.

In general I agree that you don't want to lose special ammo for heavy or special weapons. That said, I often run my vets with a heavy flamer, because it nicely compliments their anti-infantry role, plus it allows me to have a rhino with a heavy flamer!

wuestenfux wrote:The only benefit I see for a BA Sternguard unit is the attachment of a Sang. Priest
giving them furious charge and FNP.
With FNP the unit becomes tougher, while furious charge is not that great for Sternguard
since you want them shooty.

not bad if you have a bunch of combi flamers/meltas and want to finish the rest off

But a vanilla Sternguard unit can be led by a Librarian with gate.
This is a great tactics if two Sternguard units in Pods arrive close to the enemy
and unload their rifles.
Next turn the Libbies gate the Sternguard. Pods with locator beacons are your best friend here.

Agreed that since you love Plasma a SP giving FNP would be handy as it would for the Gets Hot special round. With the rest of the Bloods being hot to get into HTH, this makes a nice fire base unit to support the more CC oriented units. Price out the Hvy Wpns and they are not much more expensive than a devastator squad and truthfully much more devastating with their rounds. Because their bolter rounds make them very anti-troop, I would consider Hvy Flamers, Missile Launchers and Hvy Plasma as top choices and depending on what you plan on doing with them. (Stationary firebase, moving assault support.) If the rest of your list is short of AT, you can always do that relatively cheap and still - due to the bolter rounds - be a vicious anti-troop shooty unit.

Only risk is the Black Rage and then if you take a Heavy type weapon, they will not be firing it at all. So to be safe you may want to stay special weapons, combi-weapons and heavy flamers.

Well as far as I can tell we are facing a Fortification, but the bigest armor is Vindicators.
For the Fortification I am sort of counting on Melta-Bombs.
I was also thing of Giving my Assualt Squads Infernus Pistols.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

DAaddict wrote:Only risk is the Black Rage and then if you take a Heavy type weapon, they will not be firing it at all. So to be safe you may want to stay special weapons, combi-weapons and heavy flamers.

But they can suffer from the Red Thirst and that give you is Furrous Charge and Fearless, it does no make you move.