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I've been thinking about adding some Sternguard to my BA for a little while, I like the models and the general consensus seems to be that Sternguard are decent in any Space Marine codex. My question is what is their optimal loadout in a Blood Angel army.

I know a lot of regular space marines run combi-meltas, but that is something that BA can do with assault squads for cheaper than Sternguard Vets. I was leaning towards 3 - 4 combi-gravs for a drop pod delivery of Sternguard that can take out Centurions or something equally scary, and then hunker down on an objective and use the special ammunition to support some of my other troops. Hopefully the threat of an incoming Furioso/Death COmpany squad can help take some of the heat off of them when they come in. Thoughts?

I still use a moderate number of combi-meltas just so they can engage units with AV values. I don't use sternguard in pods anymore, but if I did, I guess I'd consider grav. Of course, I've stopped using melta ASM as well, so that makes melta a priority again for Sternguard.

There is always a case for naked Sternguard in a pod. The Combi-Weapons end up being pretty expensive, and there are better units for getting whatever you are trying to Combi. I run two full squads with five Combi-Melta each in Drop Pods in my Crimson Fists army, but I could probably do the same if I ran them in Blood Angels. The real question is if 50 pts in Combi weapons will encounter enough stuff for those meltas to be worth it.

Yeah, the special ammunition is good on its own but I play some people who regularly run Grav Centurions, and I have struggled against them. 15 shots wounding on at worst a 3+ for my army is brutal, and it takes some time for most of the rest of my army to get there. I figure that a unit that can come in and no be assault dependent would be a good counter... plus grav weapons wreck Centurions. Paying 40 - 50 points to remove a unit like Centurions, and then having a unit with some options due to special ammunition sounds like a good deal to me.

If you are worried about Grav Cents, using the poison ammo will probably suffice. The volume of shots will break through their armor saves well enough. Grav always works best on a Relentless platform, so I would recommend Grav Bikes if you want to deal with them.

Poison is definitely good for making my opponents roll dice, but that 2+ save really makes relying on that not the most attractive option... pretty much I need to come in and do some serious damage to them or I will be feeling the pain. Grav Cents are so freaking good it drives me crazy.

Doing the math putting 9 or 10 Sternguard in a Pod w/ 4 combi-grav weapons costs about the same as a fully kitted out squad of 3 Grav Centurions. It's worth it to me to come in, blow them up (at least 2 of them dead), and then still have a unit that can throw out some supporting fire or, if needed, assault something. Thanks for the input though, it doesn't sound like I was too far off base.

Plasma is an interesting middle ground. It can pop light/med armor, and has a longer double tap range.

Naked, MAYBE a heavy flamer- Combi is a waste on these guys, when so many other units do the other tasks better IMO.

It's good to not be helpless against vehicles.

Martel732 wrote:
It's good to not be helpless against vehicles.

Could always stick a Melta bomb on the Sergeant. Then you can deal with MCs and GCs as well, albeit poorly.

 casvalremdeikun wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
It's good to not be helpless against vehicles.

Could always stick a Melta bomb on the Sergeant. Then you can deal with MCs and GCs as well, albeit poorly.

What Sternguard squad will ever need it?

Martel732 wrote:
It's good to not be helpless against vehicles.

I do agree with that, but I also have a very hard time thinking that a Marine army would have trouble popping vehicles with every other unit basically. Shooting these guys at a vehicle is a massive waste of their capabilities.

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:

 casvalremdeikun wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
It's good to not be helpless against vehicles.

Could always stick a Melta bomb on the Sergeant. Then you can deal with MCs and GCs as well, albeit poorly.

What Sternguard squad will ever need it?

One that has no other ability to deal with a vehicle. Krak grenades only go so far.

Edit: fething autocorrect.

 Btothefnrock wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
It's good to not be helpless against vehicles.

I do agree with that, but I also have a very hard time thinking that a Marine army would have trouble popping vehicles with every other unit basically. Shooting these guys at a vehicle is a massive waste of their capabilities.

What if you want to kill a transport and then assault with DC? What if you are up against Baronial Court? There's lots of reasons to have as many squads as possible be able to damage vehicles.