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Hello everyone,

This is my first post on these forums. I recently started playing 40k and I'm considering converting my Ultramarines into Blood Angels. I don't have a lot of squads but here is what I have so far:

1 Captain (AoBR)
1 Terminator squad (5 man AoBR)
1 Assault Terminator squad (5 man)
1 Dreadnought (AoBR)
2 Tactical Squads (10 each)
1 Scout Squad with Sniper Rifles (5 man)
1 Vindicator
1 Land Raider Redeemer

I know most of these guys are shooty, but I was intrigued by the Blood Angels mobility and close combat capabilities. I was wondering if you could help direct me on what to buy/convert to make a more close combat oriented BA army.

Thanks!

If I were you, I would buy a space marine battleforce and a death company box. The reason being is that its a better deal altogether than buying the BA battleforce box + the contents missing from the space marine battleforce.

I'll just copy/paste cost analysis..

_____________________

BA Battleforce

10 man tactical squad
5 man assault squad
5 man death company
1 rhino

Price: $100 (USD)

If not bundled.. (Going in order I listed)

37.25 + 29.75 + 33 + 33 = 133

So you save $33

C:SM Battleforce

10 man tactical squad
5 man combat squad
5 man assault squad
5 man scout squad
1 rhino

Price: $90

If not bundled..

37.25 + 22.50 + 29.75 + 22.50 + 33 = $145

You save $55

Huge difference in savings huh?

So lets say you buy a scout squad and combat squad boxes seperately and add them to the BA BF. 22.50+22.50 = 43.00. Your savings covered 33 of it so you shelled out $10 more.
$100 + 43 = $143


So lets say you buy a death company box with your C:SM BF. It is $33. Your savings covered all of it so you still have $22 saved.
$90 + 33 = $123

_____

Enjoy, most people will probably advise getting a battleforce for your guys at this stage in the game.

The first thing i would do is convert those Tacs into assault marines.

this will require you to get a transport for them(at least a Rhino) because they don't have jump packs.

First, welcome to the noble Blood Angels.



I'd recommend against buying the BA or the vanilla battleforces. Sure, the cost for the box is much less than the cost of the units inside, but buying plastic models you won't end up fielding doesn't make it a good buy. So let's break it down:

Vanilla Battleforce wrote:10 Man Tac Squad
5 man Combat Squad
Rhino
5 man Scout Squad
5 man Assault Squad

Cost $90

Good Stuff: Assault Squad (your bread and butter as a BA player)
Okay Stuff: Rhino (if you run a mech BA list, or field DC, you'll want one)
Bad Stuff: Scouts, Combat Squad, Tac Squad (they just aren't used in BA lists. scouts probably the most of the 3)

BA Battleforce wrote:10 Man Tac Squad
Rhino
5 man Death Company
5 man Assault Squad

Cost $100

So, you lose a Combat Squad and a Scout Squad, and you gain 5 Death Company troops, for $10 more. The DC will get you more mileage than what you lost, as they're used in some BA lists, but more for fun than anything (because the Rage USR makes them unwieldy).

---

Now, it's worth pointing out a few things you might not have considered:

(1) You could always use the DC bits from a BA battleforce to mix and match with the Assault Squad pieces and make them all Assault Marines with extra BA bling on their armor. That makes the BA box a little bit of a better buy, but not much.

(2) You shouldn't ever buy a rhino. As I'm sure you realize, the Rhino chassis is the basis for most of the SM vehicles. That means, through the wonders of magnetism, you could invest money in a Baal Predator (which is awesome) instead. Turret on = Baal, turret off = Rhino. This makes the battleforce a slightly worse buy because you have a single-purpose vehicle instead of a multi-purpose one.

(3) Some people will be quick to tell you that you can take your Tac Squads, buy Jump Packs, Chainswords and Bolt Pistol arms off eBay and turn them into Assault Squads. If you buy the battleforce planning to do this, and add in the shipping costs/expense/hassle of finding those bits on eBay, you're suddenly not saving as much as you thought you were...

---

Now, let's look at what you have:

1 Captain (AoBR): convert him into a librarian or use him as a counts-as. I have never seen a captain in a BA list.
2 Terminator Squads (1 shooty, 1 assault) and 1 Land Raider Redeemer: These work okay in a BA list as a death star unit. Obviously using Termies restricts some mobility, but the Land Raider takes care of that. Stick a Sanguinary Priest in there and you'll scare some folks.
1 Dreadnought (AoBR): There are lots of dreads in the BA codex. They're a bit underrated, IMO, and can be a lot of fun. If you're worried about WYSIWYG, plan on doing some conversion work if you decide you like furioso/DC dreads better.
2 Tactical Squads (10 each) and 1 Scout Squad with Sniper Rifles (5 man): I don't know how much use you'll get from these, unless you want to convert/proxy them as Assault Marines.
1 Vindicator: No changes here, gives a lot of firepower to a BA list, I've seen a bunch of lists with these.

What you can add to the list:
- Assault Marines: Can I say this enough? You need more. If you're feeling daring, magnetize their JP's so you have the option of going with LasPlas Razorbacks or Jump Packs.
- Baal Predators: Super mobile with good firepower in a FA slot. You want 2-3
- Librarian: Unless you use a unique HQ, librarians are pretty much a default. If you want a little artistic freedom, build your own from a commander box instead of buying a metal model.

Anything else will come down to your own desires of what to add to the list. I would peruse the 40k Army List forum and the 40k Tactics forum to get an idea of how people build lists in BA, and what units they like and don't like.

So it seems that the battleforce boxes aren't advised. Would my next step then be to buy two or three assault boxes and maybe an HQ? I could also try converting my tactical marines or would that be more expensive as opposed to buying the assault marine box?

it would be quite difficult to convert your tactical marines. You don't have the running legs or the chainswords/pistols that are needed. Contrary to the above poster, tactical squads can be used to hold back or middle of the board objectives and its perfectly fine to run one in your list. I say build them as is.

You have to decide what YOU want! Do you want run mech, jump heavy, mixed list, storm ravens? I run a mech list(razorbacks, predators, vindicators) and a jump army(lots of jumppack assault squads, sang guard, death company). Buying assault squads/baal preds/sanguinary priests are generally a good starting point.

For an hq either go with a librarian or a reclusiarch as the BA captain doesnt compare to its SM counterpart. Or you could go with a named character, i've had success with dante, sanguinor, mephiston and astorath so far.

So figure out some kinda of an idea on what list you want to run. You'll almost always some assault troops and take advantage of the fast blood angel vehicles