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Hey guys I'm new to Warhammer, bought the DVengeance kit last Xmas, and I am now obsessed with learning to play and painting/assembling a decent Dark Angels army!

I'm just going to start messing around with 500/1000 point fun games, but if I'm going to spend the money and time assembling and painting all this stuff I want to make sure my squads and their respective load outs are optimal for when I decide to play in more competitive games.

So, I have the following:

Interrogator Chaplain
DVengeanc set
Dark Angels expansion for DV
Assault Squad
Devestator squad
Tactical Squad
Dreadnought



My questions are:

1.Optimal load outs for Tac, Dev and assault marines, not looking for perfection here, just what would be good for general competition.

2.Optimal builds for the 3 squads in the Dark Angels box (DW Knights, command or terms? RW command or BK? Nephilim or regular?)

3. What would you buy next?

If it helps I, planning on building all three types of army's for DA (green,death and raven wing), so whatever you guys think is best, I'm like a babe in the woods with this stuff.


Sorry if I seem a little vague, but I'm new to this and just want to make sure I'm not just snapping together a bunch of crap that'll get stomped by anything.

Thanks!

Dark Angels as a whole are less competitive than Codex Marines, though they did get some boost with the new codex.

Ravenwing, OTOH, is very strong against anything that doesn't have access to much Ignores Cover, as my poor old Necrons found out last year.

Deathwing are borderline unplayable, unfortunately (terminators just suck). Plus you can't have an army all in reserves any more as they turn up t2 (so you autolose at the end of t1... derpy).

The problem with Greenwing is you just have worse options/lack the strongest options out of the vanilla codex.

To try and address some of your questions:

Tac squads are best run without a heavy weapon. You're using them to hold/contest objectives, so MSU is best. I like 5-man squads with combi-weapon on the sarge and either plasma, flamer or melta depending on what you're going to target with the unit (light infantry, heavy infantry/ MC's, tanks). I'm not sure if Dark Angels get access to Battle Company (i.e. Company Support- free transports!) but this is a very strong build as you drown the table in units with ObSec and a fair amount of survivability.

Devastator Squads - I generally go with ML or LC. Don't mix and match weapons; these guys are your specialist anti-tank/MC unit. If DA get access to them, Grav Cannons are pretty sweet, but the short range means you'll need to get up close and risk being shot up, in which case a few bullet sponges might be useful.

Assault squads, frankly, suck. Double flamer isn't too bad though.

Black Knights are amazing as are RW Command. DW Knights are probably the most competitive of the DW choices.

If you want to win - I'd go full Ravenwing. Buy speeders and darkshrouds, use supporting fire, laugh as your bikes get a 2+ re-rollable cover save, have twin-linked plasma weapons, are amazing in assault, auto-pass terrain tests, can hit and run, and have access to psychic support and FNP (apothecary).

Welcome to the Dark Angels, they are one of my favourite chapters and I have been using them since 3rd edition. As for your questions:

1. If you have no transport options, it is best arming the tactical squad with some long range firepower, such as the missile launcher or plasma cannon and plasma gun. Grav cannons are very popular on devastators at the moment, but again, you will need some transport to get them into range. I normally run mine with 4 missile launchers. This gives them the option to take on tanks or infantry (with krak and frag grenades, respectively). I would keep the upgrades on the assault marines light. Plasma pistols are pretty useless to me, but a couple of flamers would be good for dealing with infantry. You might also want to give the sergeant a power weapon or power fist for some punch in combat.

2. I think Deathwing Knights are the best terminator option. The bonus toughness is useful for keeping them alive and the AP3 at initiative weapons will be useful for taking on most unit. For the Ravenwing, I would be inclined to build them as Black Knights. The command squad is great, but you will probably want to add them second to bulk up the unit.

For the fighters, I like the Dark Talon. It's main gun is very powerful for taking out most units, but it is useless against other flyers. The Nephilim is decent, but I haven't really used it much. I've magnetised mine so that I can use both options.

3. For what to buy next, I would recommend a drop pod and more bikers. Another Black Knight boxed set will take the unit up to 6 and allow you to use them as a command squad. Black Knights are the real winner in the codex and they are very useful. I would also think about expanding the number of Ravenwing Bikers too. A Darkshroud is useful for your Black Knights or other Ravenwing to make them much harder to kill. The drop pod would serve as a useful transport for a tactical squad or your devastators.

Hope that helps. I have written my own reviews of the DA codex that you may find helpful. You can find it at http://standwargaming.blogspot.co.uk/p/dark-angels-codex-review-7th-ed.html

Ravenwing is definitely the strongest choice. That 2+ rerollable jink is just really hard to get through. You have to really focus your fire.

If you're looking at tournament play then my advice would be to go ravenwing heavy. However, as someone previously mentioned they do suffer from the whole ignore cover thing. Overall, if you're going to go with a well rounded army then play what you like, really. Terminators are just too expensive for what they do but they are a fun unit to experiment with and the deathwing knights are awesome and have turned things around for me on more than one occasion. As for the loadout, I'd recommend grav weapons as your go to (especially on bikes).

Units that I would recommend:
Dark Shroud
Ravenwing Knights
Librarians
Land Speeders
Interrogator chaplins

Units I would recommend staying away from:
Deathwing Terminators
Nephilim (jury's a bit out on this one as new DFTS)
Land Speeder Vengeance
Land Raider
Asmodai
Regular Chaplins

Everything else is a big MAYBE and depends on your play style.

Best of luck, brother.

For the LION!

ShtSho wrote:

My questions are:

1.Optimal load outs for Tac, Dev and assault marines, not looking for perfection here, just what would be good for general competition.

2.Optimal builds for the 3 squads in the Dark Angels box (DW Knights, command or terms? RW command or BK? Nephilim or regular?)

3. What would you buy next?

If it helps I, planning on building all three types of army's for DA (green,death and raven wing), so whatever you guys think is best, I'm like a babe in the woods with this stuff.


Sorry if I seem a little vague, but I'm new to this and just want to make sure I'm not just snapping together a bunch of crap that'll get stomped by anything.

Thanks!

I generally run Tacs at 10-strong with combi-melta toting sergeant, a meltagun, and either a grav cannon or a multi-melta. I tend to use them Rhino-born, because I don't have enough drop pods to do a drop pod army. I always combat-squad them.

My knee-jerk reaction to Dev and Assault Squads is to say don't use them at all, but you might be looking at the Lion's Blade detachment, which makes them mandatory. For Devs, I'd say 5-strong with either 2 grav cannons or 2 multimeltas in a Rhino, roll them up and park them on an objective. Assault Squads, 2 flamers is the way to go, but don't use them at all unless you're working a Lion's Blade.

Currently, my favorite Heavy Support choice is a Relic Sicarian Battle tank, which is pricey money-wise, but it actually does what I want a HS choice to do.

I'm going to add to the voices advising you to not commit too heavily to Terminators - they just don't have either the punch or the resiliency their price suggests they should have.

Ravenwing Knights, on the other hand, are a fantastic unit. I've been running them as a Ravenwing Command Squad, because it frees up a Fast Attack slot and it grants access to the Apothecary. The Apothecary upgrade just has to save one member of the squad to make it worth the points. Plus, even if your opponent is packing Ignores Cover, T5 with a 3+ save and then 5+ FNP is some fair resiliency.

Flyer-wise, it's a tricky question. I'd say the Dark Talon is the sexier of the two, but Dark Angels basically don't have any good anti-air ground units, so the Nephilim is kind of necessary. Strategically placed magnets can let you swap back and forth between the two with one kit. It makes the assembling more involved, but it's like getting double your money's worth from the kit.

Buy next? A Dark Shroud, then Sammael (on his jetbike), then another Ravenwing Knights/Command Squad box, then more Ravenwing Bikes and Attack Bikes. I'm not a frequent tournament player, but I like to support my Ravenwing with some Greenwing. You've got a fair bit already, so I'd say another Tac Squad with grav and melta goodness and a couple Rhinos are good additions to your collection. And, if you want to splurge and treat yourself, a Relic Sicarian from Forge World.

I'd really recommend the Ravenwing, they're one of Dark Angels strongest points. I normally play with at least one Terminator unit, and at least one Knight unit. The Knights are very useful, especially for taking on more powerful units. As for terminators, well... they can be useful, but they are also quite underpowered.

If you're going to use greenwing, take at least one unit of Knights, for taking out any threats. As I mentioned, Ravenwing are very good, and could possibly be the best bike unit for any army (excluding White scars).

Wow, just wow thanks so much everybody! You guys answered my questions perfectly! I've already started assembling, I have a ton more questions and I know I'll get the right answers here, thanks again!