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Ok Dakkaites of the world, I'm going to be honest, and say that i have no idea how to make a blood angels list that will work in today's metagame. I'm somewhat unfamiliar with MEQ armies, seeing as i primarily play Dark Eldar, and other Xenos armies from time to time. If people could give me advice on what would work in the meta, hopefully I'll be able to make a good list and post it on here. Thanks!

New 1000 point DoA list i came up with

Blood Angels 1000

HQ:

-Librarian...125 pts
-The Sanguine Sword
-Unleash Rage
-Jump Pack

-Elites

-3x Sanguinary Priest...270 pts
-Jump Pack
-Power Weapon

Troops:

-10x Assault Marines...235 pts
-Sergeant w/ Powerfist
-2x Meltagun

-10x Assault Marines...235 pts
-Sergeant w/ Powerfist
-2x Meltagun

-10x Assault Marines...235 pts
-Sergeant w/ Powerfist
-2x Meltagun


total = 1010

Well I can give you a bit of an over view.
There are a few ways to play blood angels such as DoA or razor spam.
DoA being all jump packs and vets everything deep striking etc etc.
Razor spam well spam razor backs with 5 man assault squad in each because of the discount.
My opinion:
I have played razor spam it is incredibly boring and ya you sit back and shoot.
DoA not too much of a fan on having to rely on something that is not certain like hey i could get really unlucky and get 2 squads turn 2 and then not get any more till turn 4 (chances of that happening are low but I have seen it happen) then you could get picked apart.
Personally I run a hybrid list if you can call it that I have jumpers backed up with a couple of Baal preds and a vindicator (because fast vehicles are awesome).
So here are some tips that work in general.
Librarian is the best Hq choice hes cheap gives major buff and is just really effective. The powers I recommend would be shield of sanguinious a 5 up cover save may not sound like much but it has saved me and my vehicles many times. Second would be unleash rage so you can re roll to hit with your squad. Dont bother with the epistolary upgrade because he can cast shield in the opponents shooting phase and unleash rage in your assault phase.

If you run razor spam the 2 most effective backs would be twn assault cannons and las plas. Fast vehicles ftw.

If you are going to run assault squads a good set up is 10 men jump packs 2 melta guns and a pf. Onto that add a priest with a jp gives feel no pain and furious charge. That really makes your marines hit hard and live longer.

If you want to run baal predators I suggest the assault cannon and hb if you want I like em because hey I get a scout move get set up nicely then move 6 shoot all guns (once again fast vehicle) and repeat.

Vindicators apart from being a sweet model they are also very effective because they can move 12 inches and still shoot their big gun. I prefer mine with a siege shield so he goes where he wants and shoots making it an effective 36 inch threat range which is good.

Vets are a bit tricky because of what you want to give them to make them hard hitting and livable. Maybe a ss and pw combo is always nice but costs lots of points. Thats a very personal thing.

Thats what comes to mind so far now you have to choose what you want to play and ya. good luck

The two ways I've seen most people play BA, is razorspam, or DoA.

Razorspam is basically a bunch of assault marines without jump packs in cheap razorbacks, with a few niffy units here and there to add a punch, always have sang priests. I don't play this army, but have seen it work out pretty well.

DoA army is what I play, all jump pack assault squads, pack in a lot of melta, a lot of sang priests, usually a honor guard, and maybe some vanguard vets, or Dante, then just reserve the army and drop down only inches away due to DoA, or keep them on the table and use their higher mobility to keep control of the table.

My list at 2000pts usually is:
Dante
libbie, (blood lance, shield)
honor guard, melta, storm shield
3x sang priests
3x assault squads with 2 meltas, and a PF
vanguard vets, 5, power weapon x2
vanguard vets, 7, 2 meltabombs, pf, thunder hammer, stormshield.

That's usually the list i play and it works out well, sometimes i drop or cut down on the vanguard to beef up the honor guard or throw in some more assault squads. I also am fiddling around with trying out some land speeders or some dev squads but so far i like this list, not the most competitive, but it works, and you can make a very effective DoA list.

I really enjoyed playing a DoA army with Furioso Dreadnaughts /w Frag Cannons in Drop Pods. Don't care much for Stormravens, too squishy.

i wanna include some death company lol
i feel like i want to play a DoA list. Getting into CC fast is why i wanna play BA, and i wanna take a dreadnought or two. Why do you think the stormraven is too squishy? I like it. I was also thinking about taking a squad or two in a landraider, just because it can be used as a DT

SomaRukido wrote:i wanna include some death company lol
i feel like i want to play a DoA list. Getting into CC fast is why i wanna play BA, and i wanna take a dreadnought or two. Why do you think the stormraven is too squishy? I like it. I was also thinking about taking a squad or two in a landraider, just because it can be used as a DT

200+ points for AV12 with at most a 4+ save. eh...

You need to take a lot other vehicles to draw fire with.

The Sr is armor 12 this means anything can kill it missile launches auto cannons etc (everything better than a hb).

Wait a while before using a dc they are not easy to play and if not used properly they are a waste of points because they end up chasing a rhino all around the board good times.

DoA takes time to get used to and especially against guard they have templates and you are bunched up nicely hmmm that will most likely not go well. Try running them across the board you can get better cover and you can make it across and be in cc turn 2 (thats before the bulk of your forces are in cc for a DoA list)

ok well, i made a DoA list,ill post it above and as for what you said CowPow if i play guard i can just use my DE
i don't really play in any tournaments, but i do enter one from time to time, so i like to keep my lists competitive enough to do well lol. Only one person in my group of friends that play 40k plays guard, so i won't have to play against them that often, unless i do enter a tournament, in which case most of the tourneys that my flgs offers are doubles tournaments, so i will have a partner most of the time.

Ok I just learned really fast what works and what dosnt there are lot of guard players at my local store and well playing them and a couple wolf and chaos armies and you get an idea of what works looking forward to the list


Automatically Appended Next Post:
You made a bit of a mistake with the points the 10 man squads cost 235 points not 215.
Drop combi melta on the lib not worth it take shield instead of sword you will need it for DoA.
Vets need ss or they will die fast lcs and ss and a guy with th ss works.
Also not too sure about your honor guard set up.
You have 1 priest you definitely want at least 3 to go with the assault squads so i suggest you drop the honor guard give the vets shields and get 3 priests with jp.

cowpow16 wrote:Ok I just learned really fast what works and what dosnt there are lot of guard players at my local store and well playing them and a couple wolf and chaos armies and you get an idea of what works looking forward to the list


Automatically Appended Next Post:
You made a bit of a mistake with the points the 10 man squads cost 235 points not 215.
Drop combi melta on the lib not worth it take shield instead of sword you will need it for DoA.
Vets need ss or they will die fast lcs and ss and a guy with th ss works.
Also not too sure about your honor guard set up.
You have 1 priest you definitely want at least 3 to go with the assault squads so i suggest you drop the honor guard give the vets shields and get 3 priests with jp.

yeah, i did make a mistake on that math
ill probably drop sword for shield on the lib, and remove Combi melta
should all the vets have storm shields, or just one?
Ill probably remove the honour guard as well, its a bit pricey. Im gonna add in those priests, didnt realize what they did lol, theyre awesome.
also, what else should the vets have, or could you just give me a loadout?

They are awesome and all the vets need shields because they will get hit hard because they are quite strong. Also I recommend when you deep strike your unites make them run and spread out out even plasma templates hit all or almost all of them. If you are feeling lucky deep striking a unit with a priest near the vets and getting the priest close to them can give them furious charge too so they hit harder and go befor most things.
Vets with lcs and ss look really sweet by the way.

ok lemme change the loadout on my vets then


Automatically Appended Next Post:
340 pts seems a lot to spend on a 5man unit though

couldnt you just drop the SS, and add in 2 more sanguinary priests?

If you add priests to the vets then they dont get heroic intervention as in they cant assault after deep strike.
The vets are expensive points but hey they will live thats the thing and even if you didnt give them the shields they still cost as much as an assault squad almost. They are huge points but they can make themselves worth it just a matter of how they are used.
Personally I dont run vets because there is so much I could spend the points on but most people only know the extremes as in Doa or razor spam there can be armor and assault troops. Just saying.
But ya vets they are costly but can be devastating.

My preference are 2 Storm ravens filled with Death company and 2 Death company Dreds with Blood Talons.

HQ Librarians Shield of Sanguinius and Blood Lance are what I run.

Then I have a 5 Man scout Squad with Snipers and Razorback Spam.

You've got the heavy hit and the pure anoyance of the razorback spam. Works well.

those vets are wayyyy too expensive. I feel like at least. They don't all need to be beefed up, and they def don't all need shields.

I feel like you need to keep them lightly armed with a very distinct purpose, treat the upgrades as if they were special weapons for a squad. I like to give them meltabombs, PF, and then something else, usually a thunderhammer, so they can deal with tanks, and some heavy armored troops. I just find that when they are have so much gear it is so easy for them to get blasted apart, and there goes 300 points... I play a lot of guard, and I find the best way to avoid those nasty blasts, is to get rid of them with the melta/pf, and if that doesn't work get into assault. So my vanguard squads are either assaulting a tank to get rid of it, assaulting a nasty unit assault along with some assault marines, or are assaulting a very bad unit, so they can get stuck in combat for a turn and not get blasted away. So I never really want them to be a deathstar unit, just one that performs a certain task very well. I would give your vanguard one thunderhammer, one LC, and one or two stormshields. You use the stormshields for wound allocation. I would also give yourself an honorguard since that gives you another feel no pain bubble!

There has been some good arguments in previous topics on how to make a good DoA army, trying to find the forums for you:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/334165.page
Cant find the topic that is like 10 pages long and just goes on and on about equipping vanguards haha.

and here are some battle reports where you can watch DoA work:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/325594.page

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/324069.page

hope any of that helps!

You have the basic idea of a DoA army down. I like that you've avoided vehicles and equipped your Assault Squads appropriately. Taking a Librarian HQ is also the way to go.

Sageheart is correct, those Vanguard squads are bloated beyond belief. I strongly feel that giving a VV squad 5 Storm Shields is a terrible idea. The problem is that the Storm Shields do not improve the Vet Squads resilience against small arms at all. Given that the whole purpose of a VV squad is to drop close to the enemy, this is a problem. They will also probably be the only things in your army without FNP since they shouldn't be joined by ICs, which makes the problem worse, since it makes them an even more attractive target.

I have not played this style of army yet, but I have considered it. My take on VV's is that they need to be reasonably cheap to be a good fit. I'd recommend trying 5 man squads with a Power Fist Sarge, Jump Packs and no additional wargear. This squad costs 175, just over half the ones you're currently considering. You want to use them to assault either vehicles or shooting squads like Long Fangs or Lootas the turn they drop, to reduce the damage the rest of your army takes.

My other quibble is that you can probably do without 1 of the Priests. I would propose arming the VV squads as I've suggested and dropping 1 Priest to take 3 VV squads. Here is what I'm proposing:

HQ: Librarian w/ Jump Pack, Shield and Unleash Rage 125
EL: 2 Sanguinary Priests w/ Jump Packs 150
TR: 10 man Assault Squad w/ 2 Meltaguns and Power Fist 235
TR: 10 man Assault Squad w/ 2 Meltaguns and Power Fist 235
TR: 10 man Assault Squad w/ 2 Meltaguns, Lightning Claw and Meltabombs 230
FA: 5 man Vanguard Veteran Squad with Jump Packs, PF Sarge 175
FA: 5 man Vanguard Veteran Squad with Jump Packs, PF Sarge 175
FA: 5 man Vanguard Veteran Squad with Jump Packs, PF Sarge 175
Total: 1500

Another option would be trading VV Squads for Devastators. You could swap two VV Squads for 2 Devastator Squads with 4 Missile Launcher, and take a third Priest with no Jump Pack to go with the Devastators.

Sageheart wrote:those vets are wayyyy too expensive. I feel like at least. They don't all need to be beefed up, and they def don't all need shields.

I feel like you need to keep them lightly armed with a very distinct purpose, treat the upgrades as if they were special weapons for a squad. I like to give them meltabombs, PF, and then something else, usually a thunderhammer, so they can deal with tanks, and some heavy armored troops. I just find that when they are have so much gear it is so easy for them to get blasted apart, and there goes 300 points... I play a lot of guard, and I find the best way to avoid those nasty blasts, is to get rid of them with the melta/pf, and if that doesn't work get into assault. So my vanguard squads are either assaulting a tank to get rid of it, assaulting a nasty unit assault along with some assault marines, or are assaulting a very bad unit, so they can get stuck in combat for a turn and not get blasted away. So I never really want them to be a deathstar unit, just one that performs a certain task very well. I would give your vanguard one thunderhammer, one LC, and one or two stormshields. You use the stormshields for wound allocation. I would also give yourself an honorguard since that gives you another feel no pain bubble!

There has been some good arguments in previous topics on how to make a good DoA army, trying to find the forums for you:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/334165.page
Cant find the topic that is like 10 pages long and just goes on and on about equipping vanguards haha.

and here are some battle reports where you can watch DoA work:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/325594.page

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/324069.page

hope any of that helps!

Thanks for the advice! I also feel that the vet squads are wayyyy too expensive, i dont really wanna waste 680 points on 10 marines, and i will check out those topics that you linked.

Also, can anyone tell me how BA Armies do in tourneys? From what i hear, IG is a tough opponent to play against, but what else?

I would add GK too that list. Cotaez would wreack havoc on a DoA list.

InquisitorVaron wrote:I would add GK too that list. Cotaez would wreack havoc on a DoA list.

How so?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
edited list to 1000 points

BA does pretty well in torties as far as i've seen.

@MrEconomics: I like the list you put there, only issue is I think having three Sang priests is very helpful, There are some times you are stuck dividing up your army and having the many sang priests can help keep the FnP on the units, if you dont want 3, then you can have a honor guard.

I also would have the vanguard with two special weapons, so one PF, and the sarge with a thunderhammer or a pw. then some meltabombs if you need it. The thunderhammer is just cheaper with a vanguard sarge. I like having the two weapons. Just my own personal likes.

I also like stormshields, but only one either in a large vanguard squad or in a honor guard squad.

also consider Dante. I know he's expensive, but just having him drop down, no scatter with a libbie with blood lance and an honor guard of meltaguns can really knock out IG parking lots and other nasties. it works for me a lot.

Thanks for advice. How does that 1000 pt list look?

I like the list, i wouldnt give the PWs to the sang priests, you don't really want them in combat, since they are independent characters they can be pickedout in close combat, if your opponent is smart they can get rid of them fast, i would give them combi-meltas or flamers instead

sageheart is right take the pw off the priests. Give liby shield and unleash rage its way better because you cant use rage and sword in the same turn.

ok, i'll remove the PW from the priests.
Are they going to be assaulting with the Assaut Squads?
And also, why is the 5+ cover save good? Wouldn't your regular save be better anyway?

They are going in the assault squads they are at the back of the squads giving the buff.
Sword and rage you can only use 1 a turn so if you are not in cover the 5 up is pretty good it saved my tanks and men several times mainly good for saving tanks.

cowpow16 wrote:They are going in the assault squads they are at the back of the squads giving the buff.
Sword and rage you can only use 1 a turn so if you are not in cover the 5 up is pretty good it saved my tanks and men several times mainly good for saving tanks.

ah ok

I like shield, it can help at times.

Why does everyone do rage though, hope that isn't a stupid question, I've always just loved blood lance.

Sageheart wrote:I like shield, it can help at times.

Why does everyone do rage though, hope that isn't a stupid question, I've always just loved blood lance.

idk, preferred enemy is always nice. I might just do the sanguine sword and blood lance. Don't really see the necessity of shield in this list b/c of no vehicles

yes but when you are not in cc melta plasma and big guns hurt you and this way you get a save.
I run 10 man squads of assault marines re rolling to hit is pretty good especially when the attacks are at str 5 thats why that is good lance dosnt do too much damage also psychic hood is nice can stop enemy psychic abilities.
sword is just hey you give the lib a couple more attacks tops where as buffing the unit will do more on average.
Main thing tho if you take shield you can cast 1 in your turn one in his turn id you dont you can choose 1 power to cast in your turn so might as well get the bigger bang for your buck.

Sageheart wrote:I like shield, it can help at times.

Why does everyone do rage though, hope that isn't a stupid question, I've always just loved blood lance.

Blood Lance can be unreliable in my experiences. Unless you're practically breathing on the unit/vehicle in front of you it's a crap shot to wether or not you're going to hit the target. Unleashed Rage always allows re-rolls provided you can get into CC, something the Blood Angels are remarkable at doing.