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Hello Dakka,

The time is rapidly approaching that I've nearly painted all my BA models, so I'm starting to think about my next hobby project.

I'm sure many people these days when starting a new army are considering 'Allied forces' so you can get new minis on the table relatively quickly, and I'm looking for some advice on which forces would synergise nicely with my BA (and perhaps to a lesser extend my SoBs).

I've narrowed my choices down to Space Wolfs, Imperial Guard or Dark Angels, as stated in the title, I'll briefly talk about my reasons (tactical and non-tactical) for choosing these armies but I'm looking for some input about which would work best on the battle field.

I'll quickly touch on what forces I have for my BA, so you have an idea of the builds at my disposal - alot of my models are magnetised so I have a wide choice of wargear....

HQs
Libby - JP (Magnetised)
Tycho
Honour Guard (Magnetised)

Elites
Sang Guard (Magnetised)
Furioso Dread (Magnetised)
Sternguard Squad (5 man - Magnetised)
2 x Sang Priest (+1Sang Novitiate from Honour Guard) (All magnetised)

Troops
Tactical Squad 1 Flamer/ML (Static) - Sgt Magnetised
Tactical Squad 2 Fully magnetised
Death Company (10 man) Fully magnetised
Assault Squad 1 Fully magnetsied
Assault Squad 2 Fully magnetised

Transports
1 x Rhino / Razorback

Fast Attack
Attack Bike Squad (2 bikes - Magnetised)

Heavy
Stormraven (Fully magnetised)
Dev Squad (Fully magnetised) - Only ML painted however

Okay, so on to the allies:

Space Wolves - Really like the fluff for these guys, if I do a SW army I plan to model and paint them for pre-heresy and also use them with the appropriate HH forgeworld book once relised, so big expensive project with lots of conversions . I already own the Codex (ebay bargain), so I know the troops are good value, and HQs are decent (also the bonius of being able to take 2 HQs in my allies force if I wanted). I gather that the way to run SW is with lots of Long Fangs, obviously I can only take 1 squad as allies, so does this hamper their effectivness as a force. I want to keep my BAs as the Spear tip for assaults, so SW would allow me to include GH as a static holder for objectives and allow my assault maries to move forward - essentially using them as a better Tac squad equivalent. Perhaps a Rifleman Ven Dread in the Elites slot to add to the home fire base? My BA has little in terms of 2+ armour, so many wolfguard would be a good choice?

Imperial Guard: Literally the meat of the imperium, what's not to like! Again this would be a conversion heavy army as I've got a theme in mind, utilising bits from lots of different kits. I think I would really enjoy making building and painting this as it'd be a departure from Power Armour. My thinking with this is I could again use the Troops choices as cheap home objective holders, probably a couple of Vet squads with Plasma to start (to counter any Deep Striking Termies) and a company command squad, or go down the Infantry Platton Route and get loads of bodies on the table. Bonus of IG is obvious I can bring 3 tanks in a heavy slot, and my BA are seriously lacking vechicles and ranged support, I hear the Ordnance Battery units are good, so maybe some basilisks? Or Hydra for lots of Anti-Air? Speaking of Air, IG woudl also give me access to the Venetta which people always seem to be raving about. Another plus of IG is it might make me dust off my SoB, which I haven't used since the WD Dex came out...I already own the IG Codex also (anopther ebay bargain)

Dark Angels: I like the idea of a 'Dual Angel' Force, and I really like the Ravenwing fuff. I don't own the DA codex, so I don't know about about these guys and what they might be able to bring to BA force. However, I do own the models from the Dark Vengeance box, so I already have some models which I could get on the table, I don't think a HH era force wouldn't be suitable for these guys, as I understand alot of their identity and use of the Raven and Deathwing comes from post-heresy fluff. One thing that puts me off DA a little bit is that there's alot of new DA players at the club I've been frequenting, so I don't want it to look like I'm jumping on the bandwagon. But anyway, I like the idea of Termies/bikes as a troop choice option if I wanted, and as mentioned I have very little 2+ in my army, so these guys could fill this roll or add bikes which I can imagine working well with my jump troops...

It'll probably take a few months to finish all my BA stuff, so it's not like I'm gagging to start a new army, but I want to be prepared for when I've run out of things to paint. Any advice on what would work well would be appreciated, but obviously whichever I choose they will eventually become a standalone army as the model count increases.

Thanks for reading

D

SW: 2 units of Terminator WG led Grey Hunters is a good choice for BA. I don't think you need to include Long Fangs unless you want to replace one of your Dev units...I don't like running a single unit.

IG: You already mentioned the tip of the iceberg, lots of ways to go here. I personally like the idea of the ordnance batteries. Unless you go mech, BA takes a beating for a turn before they can get upfield.

DA: This is a lot more limited...you cannot get scoring DW or RW if you take them as allies. However, I do like what their cheapo tacticals can bring to support. But now we are competing against what Grey Hunters would bring, and I would prefer GH.

You seem to have a fluffy list already. I would choose whatever army you would enjoy expanding on the most. All 3 options you have will work well will BA in some form.

While it is true that you could not get scoring Terminators or Bikes from allies, but you could potentially get yourself 4 units of either.

Example:
HQ:
Belial
Deathwing Command Squad (w/ Halberd and Apothecary)

Troop:
Deathwing Terminators (Troop 1)
Deathwing Terminators (Troop 2)

Elite:
Deathwing Terminators or Knights

Playing a high enough point game he could get a potential of 36 models with 2+ armor saves and either 3++ or 5++ depending on how they are kitted out.

Realistically, I would probably do Belial with a 5-8 man Terminator squad for troops with another 5-8 man terminator squad for deep striking good ness.

What's the exact wording? You can unlock them as troops but they just don't count towards scoring?

reps0l wrote:
What's the exact wording? You can unlock them as troops but they just don't count towards scoring?

They are unlocked as troops ONLY if it is your primary detachment. They are still elite choices if it's allied. His above DA list as allies is not legal.

I don't recommend taking all that just to get some terminators anyway. The DW terminators are nice yes, but need to be used as part of a cohesive unit with the rest of the Dark Angels army, taken alone they are overpriced. Dark angels are about force multipliers and synergy, no single unit is greater than the sum of its parts with them.

DA can still be used as effective allies, but you need to go in another direction. Their libby HQ is VERY cheap (IE: their terminator armored librarian is the same cost as our power armored version). Azrael can be a great IC to some, but I don't see many effective uses for him with BA. Belial as an allied HQ is too expensive, you are paying to get terminator troops that you DON'T get.

DA Tac squads are super cheap compared to BA ones, their predators and whirlwinds are much cheaper than BA versions.

Black Knights can be an effective scalpel unit. The Deathwing Knights are actually priced pretty decent for what they give you, but they require a hefty investment to get their worth. (Land Raider + Deathwing Vehicle)


I don't know much about space wolves, but I do know they have the best all-purpose marine troops in the game. The long fangs are pretty nice too as always.

IG would probably be the best out of the three, if just for the bodies it gives you. You'll have a nice solid footprint for home-base objective holding, while the rest of your troops either defends it, or moves up to claim more.



Another option not stated in this thread is Grey Knights. They arn't battle brothers, but this doesn't hurt them much. Taking the Inquisitorial Warbands will give you VERY cheap bodies similar to IG. They also have a VERY high special weapon density (I'm talking 3 plasmaguns, 3 Plasma Cannons, and 6 bolter bodies in a single squad of 12 here for 132 points). You don't get as many bodies as IG, but the ones you DO get are far more deadly. Dreadknights are always nice too.

Thanks for the input guys.

I'm still really torn, but it does really suck about the DA codex not allowing me to bring Ravenwing as Troops in allies...They do get to take 5-man tac squads with a heavy weapon though, with AA rockets (whatever they're called). Maybe I should pick up their codex and build some lists with all 3 as allies to my BA.

I think i'm leaning more towards IG at the moment as there's just so much choice.

Grey Knights offer some interesting ideas, but I still haven't forgiven them for stealing alll the inquisitors from my Sisters of Battle.

One thing that puts me off about SW not I;ve had more time to look at the codex is that effective builds are pretty limted. It is all pretty much GH and Long Fangs and Wolf Guard. Admitidly how efffective their core units are (especially for the price) can't be denied. It seems they'd be doing very similar things to what my BA do...only better! Still, if I run BA and SW there's a lot of scope to make stupid 'Twilight list' jokes (Vampires and werewolves in space)...

Can anyone big up SW and convince me that they're worth taking?