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I'm trying to start up a blood angels army via trading and wanted to make sure i don't get stuff i won't need in the army i want to build up.

After seeing the discussion on my 'what are the most competitive builds for BA' thread, i decided that i definetly wanted to do a DoA list. I like the idea of tons of assault marines getting in my opponent's first and all that.

So here's the next step...what are the best builds for DoA and why? Which units work best as supports for DoA?

Thanks in advance

If you are looking for a DoA list, you want 10 Assault Marines, 2 Meltaguns and a power weapon/fist in 6 squads.

you also want a Librarian attached to one of those squads, and a Sanguinary priest or three attached to those squads as well.

a few Furioso dreadnoughts in drop pods could not hurt either.

Thank you very much sir, any others want to chip in their 2 cents?

Personally, I would give 1 or even 2 assault units flamers to deal with hordes. They're cheaper and more effective against most foot slogging units.

I would highly suggest taking a unit of Honor guard with meltaguns and jump packs. It gives you another FnP bubble (you really don't need 3 priests) and a great way to deal with heavy armor.

Mephiston is very common in DoA lists and extremely points effective. Despite how powerful he is, I wouldn't take him in less than 1850 point games (if you take him at all). Still, he will single handedly wipe out units and vehicles if they don't deal with him...and T6, 5 wounds, 2+ armor isn't exactly easy to put down.

The last bit really depends on the direction you want to take. Some people like taking 6 predators (3 baal predators from fast attack, 3 heavy support) in addition to the jumpers. They can give your army some cover and a decent amount of longer-range firepower. I'm personally a fan of 0 vehicles. They're not fantastic, but I would take two or three units of ML Devastators as heavy support. They'll give you the long range firepower you need, while still nullifying your opponent's anti-tank weapons. When a lascannon's best target is 1 marine, you're doing it right

Siphen wrote:Personally, I would give 1 or even 2 assault units flamers to deal with hordes. They're cheaper and more effective against most foot slogging units.

I do not find this to be true.

Flamers work once then you are in assault, and usually you will only kill 2 or 3 people with a flamer, if you get to use them at all.

They are really a waste of points since they usually do not do much more than the base Bolt Pistol they get.

What's the best HQ(s) for DoA armies?

Captain with Jump pack, libbie with Jump Pack, Dante and Sanguinor

No model in the game fills me with as much hatred as Mephiston. If you are tactical in your use of him, he can hamstring an army on his own.

Siphen wrote:Personally, I would give 1 or even 2 assault units flamers to deal with hordes. They're cheaper and more effective against most foot slogging units.

I would highly suggest taking a unit of Honor guard with meltaguns and jump packs. It gives you another FnP bubble (you really don't need 3 priests) and a great way to deal with heavy armor.

Mephiston is very common in DoA lists and extremely points effective. Despite how powerful he is, I wouldn't take him in less than 1850 point games (if you take him at all). Still, he will single handedly wipe out units and vehicles if they don't deal with him...and T6, 5 wounds, 2+ armor isn't exactly easy to put down.

The last bit really depends on the direction you want to take. Some people like taking 6 predators (3 baal predators from fast attack, 3 heavy support) in addition to the jumpers. They can give your army some cover and a decent amount of longer-range firepower. I'm personally a fan of 0 vehicles. They're not fantastic, but I would take two or three units of ML Devastators as heavy support. They'll give you the long range firepower you need, while still nullifying your opponent's anti-tank weapons. When a lascannon's best target is 1 marine, you're doing it right

I've never seen Mephy in a DoA list, he doesn't have DoA! Don't get me wrong he's awesome but doesn't really fit DoA

thenoobbomb wrote:Captain with Jump pack, libbie with Jump Pack, Dante and Sanguinor

Libby with a JP, unleash rage and fear the darkness. Captain is not a good as a Libby for the same points cost, Dabte and Sanguinor are good, but high in points cost, it depends on how high a point game you'll be playing.

Assault squads are great but be careful if you run into a hard cc unit (Termies, Nobs with cybork bodies) you'll have a hard time with them. I like a dread in a DP or sometimes to add a little more firepower a Stormraven. Horde armies and be a little tough, so I agree with the flamers, I usually run 1 squad with PW and flamers, the rest with PF and Meltas

Vangurad vets are nice too, they can assault the turn they drop, either tool them up to be a hard cc unit (can get very expensive) or use them as a sacrific to tie up a unti that you don't want shooting you as you come down.

The standard DoA core is this:

JP Libby with Unleash Rage and either Shield, Fear or Lance

Sang Priests with JPs

Assault Squads: 10 men, PF, 2 meltas

Now, depending on points you just fit as many of these as you want. And then you add toys.

Toys that work very well with DoA:

Sang Guard
Vanguard Vets
Plasma Gun Honour Guard
Melta Gun Honour Guard

Toys that work quite well with DoA:
Death Company
Shooting Terminators
Assault Terminators
Mephiston
Dante
Sanguinor

Things people think work well with DoA but I don't agree:
Stormravens: One tank on the board is asking for it to be shot down. Wait til 6th edition.

Drop Pods: Read the Drop Pod Assault rule. You have to bring in half of your pods, rounding up on the first turn. Since the rest of your army comes in on turn 2, this is a very bad idea.


My thoughts:
Sang Guard: Great unit, tough and killy. Obviously they are best avoiding power weapons because they're very expensive to one shot. I use mine to wipe high armour units in one turn. Tac Squads, Oblits, Devs, Nobs. They're a big threat so they often take a lot of damage from shooting. Just get them stuck in. With a banner and the charge they do very well against hordes too. 10 bolter shots followed by 20 MC power attacks at str5 init5 (put them with a priest) is great.

Vanguard Vets: I've used these a lot and I just don't like them. Yes, the ability to assault from deepstrike is good, in fact you really pay for it. Hence, if you don't use the ability you've basically thrown away 100 points of your total. As such it's tempting to throw them right into the fray, most likely unsupported. I just think without kitting them out they don't do much damage and die too fast. And if you kit them out you're making an already expensive unit even more expensive.

Plasma Gun Honour Guard: I cannot say how fantastic these guys are, I think they are a must really. DoA struggles with MCs and these guys fill that hole nicely. Not only that but all MEQ shivers at the thought of 8 plasma shots coming at them. They carry a shooting power that is totally missing in DoA, and on the turn they drop you can also kill tanks in the rear armour if you need to.

Melta Gun Honour Guard: If you need more melta, here's where it's at. I've used these too and obviously they are very effective. I just think it's rare you need that much melta and those plasma guns are just so darned useful!

woah i really enjoyed that breakdown thanks a lot

how are riflemen dreads on DoA lists?

Akaiyou wrote:woah i really enjoyed that breakdown thanks a lot

how are riflemen dreads on DoA lists?

Thye are good in mech lists and hybrid lists, not so good if they are by themselves. Since most of your units won't show up till turn 2, it will be the only target for your opponent for 1-2 turns of shooting. if you are looking at some heavy support and you feel you need it, IMO you are better off with a unit of Devs and 4 ML's The cost is about the same but you now can take a little more hits (in the sense that there is 5 models) and they fit behind cover better. Otherwise go with a unit of plasma HG