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So I'm building up my army. I've played a few games in the range of 500 to 900 points. And now I have some new additions that will take me up to 2000 points.
I'm looking for some advice on tactics on how to run a Blood Angels Mech focused army.

My list includes:
1x Land Raider Crusader, Multi-Melta
4x Razorbacks, Lascannon + TL-Plasmagun
2x Land Speeders, 2x Multi-Melta
2x Storm Ravens, TL-Multi-Melta, TL-Assault Cannon

I've got a Librarian with Shield of Sanguinus, Unleash Rage accompanied by 10 Assault Marines in the Land Raider. And the Razors all have 5 Assault Marines with a Meltagun. (There's a 10 man Tactical Squad holding the back field.)

My initial feeling tells me there's two ways to play this:
1. Put the LR and Razors in a wall (using the Librarian's Shield) and roll them forward 12" a turn, firing as much as possible.
2. Hold the mech wall back and wreck as much as possible until the enemy comes to me.

Also, I've never used Land Speeders before, so I'm not sure what's an effective use for them. I've definitely got them geared for tank hunting, but in a pinch I could use them to thin out some high AP infantry. If I go with an aggressive start to the game, would I want to deep strike them? Or is that a suicide run? (Not that I expect AV10 to last all that long.)

Any discussion or advice on tactics is greatly appreciated.
(Please let me know if you would like me to post the full army list.)

You want to make the enemy come to you if possible. Obviously, some lists have too much throw weight for this. Then, you have to go forward asap.

Unfortunately for your case, I think attack bikes are now vastly superior to land speeders. They are employed similarly, but attack bikes can be granted FNP, and can fight back in HTH. A real problem is that landspeeders can easily die before they get within melta range, even with jink. I run my attack bikes with my jump pack guys as one big unit that all gets FNP love from a priest.

If you have a land raider, already, you may want to consider using DC in there instead of assault marines that already get cheap transport options. Or assault terminators.

Yes, I just advocated DC for this particular list. It's because it already contains my preferred deployment method for them.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Sure, post the full list. You might be wasting points somewhere. And BA can't afford to waste points anymore. Not that it was good to waste in 5th, but now our collective gonads are really in a sling in 6th.

Ok, so here's the list:

Blood Tigers (Blood Angels Successor Chapter)

Librarian, 125 pts (Terminator Armor, Force Axe-Halberd, Bolt Pistol, Shield of Sanguinus, Unleash Rage, rule of cool: "Awesome Sauce" Wings)

Assault Squad, 470 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 7 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 2 Assault Marines (Flamer)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Power Fist, Lightning Claw, Meltabombs)
Land Raider Crusader (Multi-Melta)

Assault Squad, 170 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol, Meltabombs)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Assault Squad, 170 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol, Meltabombs)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Assault Squad, 170 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol, Meltabombs)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Assault Squad, 165 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Tactical Squad, 170 pts
_ 7 Tactical Marines (Boltgun, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Tactical Marine (Flamer)
_ 1 Tactical Marine (Missile Launcher)
_ 1 Tactical Sergeant (Boltgun, Bolt Pistol)

Land Speeder Squadron, 80 pts (2x Multi-Melta)

Land Speeder Squadron, 80 pts (2x Multi-Melta)

Stormraven Gunship, 200 pts (TL-Multi-Melta, TL-Assault Cannon, 4x Bloodstrike Missiles)

Stormraven Gunship, 200 pts (TL-Multi-Melta, TL-Assault Cannon, 4x Bloodstrike Missiles)

2000 Total Points

I have 40 Power Armor troops in 6 squads for scoring (2 of which can Combat Squad, although the 10-man Assault Squad is probably going to stick together). I'm a little leery of dropping a 10-man scoring squad for a 10-man Death Company (as awesomely scary as Death Company + Unleash Rage would be). I believe that I would have the equivalent points to trade the 10-man Assault Squad for a 5-man Terminator Assault Squad, but again, I'm leery for trading out for less scoring troops. I'd like to hear your thoughts on both options.

Talk to me about trading out the Land Speeders for Attack Bikes. I've never used either before. What do they excel at, and where would they fit in an army like mine?

-- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Looking at the entries for Attack Bike / Bike Squad, I see that for the exact cost of the 2 Land Speeders and Libby's Termy Armor upgrade, I could trade for 2 Attack Bikes with Multi-Melta and a Biker Sanguinary Priest. Would that be a better points investment? (And if so, should the bikes be one squadron or two squadrons?)

For the trade out of the 10-man Assault Squad for Death Company, I could do a straight trade for 10-man Death Company with no extra weapons (10 pts left over). Then I'd have to start borrowing points from other places to maybe add in at least one Power Fist. What's the typical weapons load out for a 10-man squad of Death Company? (I would think something like 3 or 4 Bolters and a Power Fist and the rest as Chain Sword/Pistols?)

You are missing sanguinary preists. You would want at least one for your big squad I would imagine.
What is the tac squad for? This list seems to want to move together as a unit to take advantage of the big shield of sanguinus bubble from the lrc, but they are on foot and will be left behind. If you just want home objective campers, take some scouts. They are cheaper and you won't have to worry about going to ground every turn.
You are taking stormravens purely for the anti-air it seems? That's wasting their potential in a BA list a little bit. They are excellent combat transports and should at least be partially used as such.

 Dok wrote:
You are missing sanguinary preists. You would want at least one for your big squad I would imagine.
What is the tac squad for? This list seems to want to move together as a unit to take advantage of the big shield of sanguinus bubble from the lrc, but they are on foot and will be left behind. If you just want home objective campers, take some scouts. They are cheaper and you won't have to worry about going to ground every turn.
You are taking stormravens purely for the anti-air it seems? That's wasting their potential in a BA list a little bit. They are excellent combat transports and should at least be partially used as such.

Interesting points.
Points-wise, a 10-man Tac squad is equal to a 10-man Scout squad + Camo cloaks. Unless you're suggesting down grading to a 5-man Scout squad.
As far as the Stormravens, maybe I could put one or even two of the 5-man Assault Squads on board, and then they can drop off an assaulty charge somewhere late game to claim an objective. (And it also protects them from being shot out of their Razor.)
For the Sanguinary Priest, I'm not quite sure what to do there... I definitely would like one for the Land Raider squad, but points are tight. If I trade out Land Speeders for Attack Bikes, I can get one on a bike for them, but that's not as big of a multiplier as putting one with the big Land Raider squad. I need to think about how to tweak one more into the list.

I don't ever use stormravens as transports. Ever. Keep them as anti-air and things will go much better. Anything you put on a stormraven can't possibly assault till turn 3. That's too late. Matches can be over by then. Avoid reserves, because anyything you try to protect will just make your other stuff have to take more fire.

As was mentioned, put in at least one sanguinary priest.

Ok, so here's an alternative that amps up the assault with DC and THSS Termys:

Librarian, 100 pts (Force Axe-Halberd, Bolt Pistol, Shield of Sanguinus, Unleash Rage)

Terminator Assault Squad, 220 pts
_ 3 Terminators (Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield)
_ 1 Terminator (Lightning Claws)
_ 1 Terminator Sergeant (Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield)

Sanguinary Priest, 50 pts (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)

Death Company, 465 pts
_ 4 Death Company (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 4 Death Company (Bolter)
_ 1 Death Company (Power Fist, Bolt Pistol)
Land Raider Crusader (Multi-Melta)

Assault Squad, 170 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol, Meltabombs)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Assault Squad, 170 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol, Meltabombs)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Assault Squad, 170 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol, Meltabombs)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Assault Squad, 165 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Scout Squad, 90 pts
_ 4 Scout Marines (Sniper Rifle, Bolt Pistol, Camo Cloak)
_ 1 Scout Sergeant (Sniper Rifle, Bolt Pistol, Camo Cloak)

Stormraven Gunship, 200 pts (TL-Multi-Melta, TL-Assault Cannon, 4x Bloodstrike Missiles)

Stormraven Gunship, 200 pts (TL-Multi-Melta, TL-Assault Cannon, 4x Bloodstrike Missiles)

2000 Points Total

Librarian goes on board the Land Raider with the Death Company for Shielding the mech wall. (And using Unleash Rage on Death Company.) The Priest goes with the THSS Termys on board one of the Stormravens. The other Stormraven can hold one of the 5-man Assault Squads.

Am I sacrificing too much from scoring troops to get the offensive power of the THSS Termys and Death Company?

To Martel's point, if I wanted to keep the Death Company, but trade what was the Land Speeders and is now the Termys for something in the range of Attack Bikes for more Multi-Melta, I have 220 points to work with (and a Priest already in the list that can be upgraded to a biker). That might be something like 2 squadrons each of 2 Attack Bikes with Multi-Melta. Which option makes more sense in this list?

I think this list is having a bit of an identity crisis as to whether it wants to be aggressive from the start, or passive-aggressive, waiting until the right moment to spring into agressiveness.

"I think this list is having a bit of an identity crisis as to whether it wants to be aggressive from the start, or passive-aggressive, waiting until the right moment to spring into agressiveness."

This, sir, sums up the BA's problem in 6th. Assuming an all comers list, can we afford to fall all over ourselves rushing into combat when there are so many lists now that give us HTH trouble on top of the assault nerfs?

You do have 25 scoring models at 2K . I don't think that's the problem. It's that you have no ranged firepower. it's the BA in 6th..... no good answers.

Martel732 wrote:
"I think this list is having a bit of an identity crisis as to whether it wants to be aggressive from the start, or passive-aggressive, waiting until the right moment to spring into agressiveness."

This, sir, sums up the BA's problem in 6th. Assuming an all comers list, can we afford to fall all over ourselves rushing into combat when there are so many lists now that give us HTH trouble on top of the assault nerfs?

You do have 25 scoring models at 2K . I don't think that's the problem. It's that you have no ranged firepower. it's the BA in 6th..... no good answers.

More Heavy Support like Rifleman Dreads and Predators?

Allies?
Which allies can give us that ranged fire-power?
Tau (Broadsides, Crisis Suits)?
Eldar?
Grey Knights (Psyfleman Dreads, Psycannons)?
Necrons?

Razorbacks and preds are what I'd take in a BA list now.

Pack out the troops with MSU TL-Las and Las-Plas razorbacks.
Pack out FA with Baals
Pack out HS with Preds or vindis depending on your meta.

Cheap HQ, bob's your uncle, you've got a pretty decent list.

Ok, so here's a tweak to get some more long range fire power, while still not sacrificing the same amount of anti-air:

Librarian, 100 pts (Force Axe-Halberd, Bolt Pistol, Blood Lance, Shield of Sanguinus)

Chaplain, 100 pts (Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol)

Death Company, 465 pts
_ 4 Death Company (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 4 Death Company (Bolter)
_ 1 Death Company (Power Fist, Bolt Pistol)
Land Raider Crusader (Multi-Melta)

Assault Squad, 170 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol, Meltabombs)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Assault Squad, 170 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol, Meltabombs)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Assault Squad, 170 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol, Meltabombs)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Assault Squad, 165 pts (Remove Jump Packs)
_ 3 Assault Marines (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
_ 1 Assault Marine (Meltagun)
_ 1 Assault Sergeant (Chain Sword, Bolt Pistol)
Razorback (Lascannon, TL-Plasmagun)

Scout Squad, 90 pts
_ 4 Scout Marines (Sniper Rifle, Bolt Pistol, Camo Cloak)
_ 1 Scout Sergeant (Sniper Rifle, Bolt Pistol, Camo Cloak)

Stormraven Gunship, 200 pts (TL-Multi-Melta, TL-Assault Cannon, 4x Bloodstrike Missiles)

Predator, 135 pts (Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons)

Predator, 135 pts (Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons)

Aegis Defense Line, 100 pts (Quad Gun)

2000 Points Total

Since the Death Company already have FNP, there's no need for a Sanguinary Priest. And with the addition of a Chaplain for the Death Company, there's no need for the Libby's Unleash Rage. This frees him up for Blood Lance or Smite depending on needing more Anti-Tank or more Anti-TEQ. And since I dropped one of the Stormravens, I've added in an Aegis Defense Line and Quad gun for the Scouts to sit on with an objective, and the Scout Sergeant can man the Quad Gun for Anti-Flyer or Anti-Infantry with Precision. And now having 2 Predators in the mech wall will add to the long range lascannon fire-power. This puts 8 lascannons and 2 Autocannons on the mech wall. (Will the six inch bubble of the Libby's Shield cover a Predator and 2 Razors on each side?)

Now for deployment with a mech wall and an Aegis... do I want to deploy the Aegis as far forward in my deployment zone as I can, and then line up the mech wall behind it with the Quad Gun squeezed into the line for the Shield effect? Does that give me a 2+ cover save (4+ from Aegis and then +2 from Shield), or is the Shield just a static 5+ that doesn't stack? If it does: Awesome sauce! If it doesn't, Aegis 4+ is better than Shield 5+, so my enemy needs to come to me while I sit back and shoot.

(And with the inclusion of a Chaplain, now I need to find a second pair of slightly smaller angel wings for the Chaplain model {not to exceed the awesomeness of the Libby's wings}. And I have a question about the Chaplain's weapon: the codex entry says that the Crozius Arcanum is a Power Weapon. Can I model it as a Power Axe?)

The BA FAQ states the crozius arcanum as a power maul. It is set in stone.

I'd use the libby for shield and maybe blood lance? Or maybe shield and sword? Normally, I'd say divination, but I don't see many good units to cast on in this list.