Greetings all.
I'd like to start out by saying this is a discussion about what changes people hope to see in a new 7th Edition update to the Blood Angels. Not so much wish-listing, but that is going to occur to some degree in these kinds of discussion. Secondly, I don't want this to devolve into a 'make
BA part of the Space Marine book' argument. If you feel Blood Angels should be part of the general Space Marine codex, then make a separate thread about it if you wish. I'd like this thread to be about what changes we as
BA players might expect in a new codex, or would like to see.
I'll go through a few things I expect to stay the same, and things I'd like to see.
General:
-Relics! Perhaps a special Death Mask relic (different from Dante's), along with weapons of different kinds and some armor or equipment.
-Special Rules:
-Decent of Angels: Works very similar to how it does now, reroll the reserve for units entering play from reserve using jump packs or if they have unit designation: Jump Infantry, and only scatter 1D6" instead of
2D6" when determining where they land.
-Black Rage/Red Thirst - I like how it's implemented in the codex currently, wouldn't mind if it stayed that way, but we may see a change. No idea.
HQ:
-Captains: Give them the ability to have Artificer Armor, please. I can live with everything else, but I want my Captain to have Artificer Armor and a Jump Pack.
-Chaplains: I expect them to pretty much the same, possibly the only way to get them if they remove the 2 wound version from the Elites section. Rules wise I expect they'll still confer a bonus to the Death Company of some sort when attached to them.
-Librarians: No more
BA specific powers. They gain whatever book powers Blood Angels will have access to (Divination & Biomancy are two very likely candidates), likely they will be functionally the same as
SM librarians otherwise.
Special Characters:
-Dante: Hoping he'll FINALLY get Eternal Warrior, which he desperately needs being armed as he is. Otherwise he'll have a relic or two, and whatever chapter master rules they deem he should get. I for one would prefer something that allows him and his unit to charge the turn he hits the table from deepstrike. He's always costs a LOT of points every codex and while he's cool, I always feel like I'm over-paying for him. Equipment: Axe Mortalis (Relic):
ST:+1,
AP:2, perhaps make this axe not swing as unwieldy when Dante charges as part of it being master crafted. Artificer Armor, Inferno Pistol (standard meltagun profile but retaining the Pistol profile for the bonus
CC attack), Iron Halo, Frag/Krak Grenades, Jump Pack, and Death Mask of Sanguinius (Give him the Fear Universal Special Rule, plus whatever other rules they give Death Masks as purchased by Sanguniary Guard).
-Mephiston: He's pretty great as-is. I can't think of anything needed that I would change, maybe make his force sword master crafted. Other than that, maybe giving him a basic 5+ invulnerable save, but he doesn't really need it honestly.
-Chaplain Lemarties: Again, characterful model and rules, but in order for him to really be able to take advantage of the bonuses of his black rage effects, I feel like Eternal Warrior wouldn't be out of place. That, or give him an extra wound and the It Will Not Die Special Rule perhaps.
-Astroath the Grim: Cool character concept, but I never liked this character's implementation or lore personally. He'll likely stay in the codex, very similar to how he currently is. I don't think he'll get much of a change beyond any generic changes they make to chaplains as a whole.
-The Sanguinor: Another cool character concept that I felt was poorly implemented. It's certainly an interesting idea, but I for one wouldn't mind seeing this character not return in the new codex. That's not to say the character isn't effective, he very much is, I just don't like how forced the character feels. The same could be said of Astorath.
-Gabriel Seth: Don't expect much of a change here, very cool model and a fun character to run. I don't know if they'll change much on him at all, other than to possibly make his chainsword more like the Teeth of Terra, but with his get one swing on every adjacent model rule instead of his # of attacks, etc.
-Captain Tycho: We'll likely get good old Tycho in regular and Death Company variants. He'll perhaps have a Relic in his Dead Man's Hand item, with the Master Crafted Combimelta he carries, the Blood Song. Don't expect this character to change much.
I hope to see the troops section remain the same, though I expect to see Land Raiders go back to Heavy Support instead of being dedicated transports and they'll very likely lose the ability to deep strike also.
Other than that, I have a quiet hope for other characters, namely Dante and Mephiston, getting the Chaplain Lemarties treatment. I.E. a Re-sculpt.
For those that have never seen the comparison.
Old and Busted:
New Hotness:
One of these things is not like the other.
I can say that both Dante, and Mephiston have aged remarkably well, but I for one would love to see them both redone. If I had to choose one to be updated, it'd be Mephiston though. Dante is still serviceable, if not a little top heavy, and you can make a decent plastic Dante out of Sanguiniary Guard parts as well without too much hassle.
That's my thoughts on the matter. Looking forward to seeing what others have to add. Thanks for reading and I'll catch you guys soon.
Take it easy.
-Red__Thirst-
