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Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Steelcity

For those interested in a 100% full codex I thought I'd share the book I use for my homebrew games. The general design philosophy of this book (and ALL of my books) is that there should be no BAD units. It's utterly absurd that as warhammer players we've grown accustomed to awful units as normal. In my opinion, bad units means bad design which equals a poor writer. Part of my goals was to bring really low caliber units at least up to a usable level while adding in some unique and flavorful options. If you take away thunderfire cannons and grav bikes then Marines are an extremely bland and sub-par army which shows GW doesnt have a lot of imagination imo.

Pet peeves about marines in general include:
Bolt weapons suck
marines generally suck on a model per model basis compared to other units
assault is horrible
walkers are horrible
army feels very static
mat ward not understanding that red thirst is supposed to be a relatively bad thing..

I tried to fix that with this book and while I'm sure the internet at large won't agree with all my changes, ultimately it's what me and my friends enjoy as I encourage creativity in my campaigns. (If a unit sucks, then propose a fix).

This new version includes psychic powers, warlord traits, relics and upgrades for every single unit BA currently has (and I added some from Codex SM but only units that make sense under their version of the codex astartes). I also added Moriar the Chosen because I made a custom model for him.

If you have a cooler idea for something let me know! But REMEMBER some units received very significant buffs (like dreadnoughts) which may seem like they are overpowered compared to current books when in reality they were absolutely terrible so they needed massive help Feel free to check out my completely redone Apoc book and Biel Tan supplement. Trust me, you'll enjoy Apoc A LOT more.

6th Edition Blood Angels Codex

This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 2014/03/02 10:16:27


Keeper of the DomBox
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Portland

Not to nay-say, but it seems like it would make more sense to start with the generic Codex: SM and work from there, if you're going to do stuff like change how bolters work or stats of rhinos.

I agree that Marines could use some re-statting, and expect that they haven't seen it because of how many books are based on the same stats, which is why it seems odd to start with a specialist/mod book rather than a core one.


My painted armies (40k, WM/H, Malifaux, Infinity...) 
   
Made in us
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Steelcity

I understand what you mean, but the reason is that no one in my group plays standard marines so there just isn't a reason to update it as I tend to update books based on what armies are being represented in my games.

However, this book did start out with the current SM book as a base hence the references to it in the wargear section. There would only be a few units that would need further updating considering the SM book is so new (such as centurions). BA share a ton of the same units.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/12/14 05:27:39


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Portland

Oh, makes sense in that context, yeah.


My painted armies (40k, WM/H, Malifaux, Infinity...) 
   
Made in us
Fireknife Shas'el





United States

I do agree with the sentiments in the OP, though I feel like that's what GW was going for. Unlike Tau or Eldar, Space Marines have far more generalist units. If you want to be good in assault, you can get your vet sargeant some new kicks. If you want to be good at shooting, take some special weapons. If you want to be fast, take some bikers. Of course, Space Marines are a bit bland because of this.

However, I like your codex.
   
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Good Ol' Texas

I would add in a AP2 Relic. Something like the Spear of Telesto? Also, I think Red Thirst should give Rage or Shred instead of Rampage.

Looks good though.

Lucarikx

EDIT: I noticed that no vehicles had Fast. Is this done on purpose?

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/12/16 03:25:26



 
   
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Steelcity

Thanks for the feedback and I thought about the Spear but that's Sanguinius actual weapon and it's not exactly made to be wielded by a normal astartes. As for AP2, I thought that Remembrance would be too powerful being AP2 with the sweep ability and Flesh Tearer can be AP2 if you rend. Perhaps, I could give Remembrance multiple attack modes where AP2 loses the sweep attack.

My problem with shred is that it's an ability that has an incredibly powerful multiplier effect. Reason I picked rampage is that I was envisioning them redoubling their efforts against greater odds, and I didn't want the models to just become death company (I know its a minor distinction but they different phases of the flaw).. I was going for having the red thirst be a bit different in game terms. That's why they suffer automatic wounds if they lose combat because they're fighting so ferociously and actually injuring themselves in the process.

Also, barely any units have rampage and it's an interesting ability

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/12/16 03:30:46


Keeper of the DomBox
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Made in us
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Good Ol' Texas

Awesome, I totally understand your reasoning.

Any chance we could see squads of Sanguinary Guard large than 5 man? I would take a squad of 10 if I could.

Lucarikx


 
   
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Steelcity

Yeah that's a good point, I was thinking about that as I don't know why they are limited to 5 man units. My only thing is that I'm fairly strict on fluff limitations so no more than 30 guard in an army.. Drives me crazy that somehow Crowe can lead 60 Purifiers into battle when less than that exist..

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/12/16 13:26:00


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Steelcity

After tinkering a little and play testing some I did increase the size of sanguinary guard, also revised the mass reactive core rules, brought back different item costs for sergeants and re-worked some relics.


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Charging Bull






Whats the reasoning behind removing fast rhino chassis? One of your complaints was that the army was too static, removing fast makes the vehicles very static....
   
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Steelcity

Actually there is but apparently one of my revisions removed the description of what Overcharged Engines actually does from the armory. You can see it in the wargear section for 10 pts.

It basically does the same thing but allows you to pick and choose which vehicles have it, instead of a flat tax on all vehicles.

(Edit - Fixed it and added some amenities to the book)


This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/02/05 18:08:18


Keeper of the DomBox
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Made in us
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Steelcity

Radically changed how the codex looks to make it less like a simple word document and more like an actual codex, including cover art!

We've been play testing a lot of these changes for use with standard marines and it's been pretty promising. If you've played 40k for a long time you've probably realized how completely terrified GW is of changing anything to do with the iconic marine armies and that is why they are stagnate.

-------------------
Some random change logs if anyone is actually reading this :p

Warlord trait Blood of the primarch now applies from when a model is engaged in CC until he is no longer engaged.

Warlord trait armored assault changed from +1 movement to Move Through cover and walkers gain fleet

Warlord trait shattering charge clarified to only restrict overwatch against his own unit

Clarified half-range on suspension web only applies to heavy and salvo

Glaive encarmine can only be sword or axe

Gave Fury of Baal the interceptor rule

Clarified that Remembrance bonus attacks are calculated after pile-in moves

Extra armor to instead ignore first penetrating hit

Overcharged engines to make all vehicles fast but cease working on 1 or 2

Corrected bloodstrike missile range

Changed Axe Mortalis to only cause instant death on to-wound of 6.

Changed Rite of Vindication to increase Str and Init by 1 instead of granting smash

Changed The Sanguinor's blessing to simply affect 3 unit sergeants, but no longer grants an extra wound

Increased Moriar the chosen's and Death Company Dreadnoughts point cost by 10 to include automatic extra armor. Removed searchlight.

Changed assault squads to be able to take melee weapons and melta bombs in addition to special and ranged.

Changed sternguard to have the veterans of many campaign rule like vanguard but with different options

Rhino repair rule works on a 4+

reduced cost of razorback to 40 and increased cost of lascannon options

increased cost of land raider blessings to 20

increased cost of heavy bolter sponsons on Baal to 30 and on predator to 35

Increased cost of heavy bolter attack bikes to 50 but lowered multi-melta upgrade to 5 points

raised cost of scout bikes to 17

Removed ability for tactical squads to take chainswords, they can take combat blades.

Added the Hold at All costs rule for tactical squads

Added concussive blast rule to drop pods

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I don't like twin-linked on the storm bolter; it's supposed to be roughly equivalent to the twin-linked bolter on CSM Terminators, not strictly better. I'd also advise dialing Mass-Reactive Core back to Shred at half range period; it's much simpler to remember while in play.

Storm Shields are supposed to be 3++ Inv period; I'd be the first to observe that Assault Terminators need to pay for the shields but I don't think dedicated assault units in today's game need the nerf.

Blood Chalice and the Shroud of Sanguinius should probably read "friendly models with the Blood Angels' Chapter Tactics rule", as-is if you take a two-detachment army at 2,500pts Sanguiniary Priests from one can't help out the other detachment.

Terminators don't need the increased durability from the -1S-to-AP4-or-worse-weapons rule and it's a needless complication; I'd advise cutting that entirely.

I don't like the Counter-Charge rule on the Captain; there's already a USR entitled Counter-Attack that does almost the exact same thing excepting that it actually helps the unit. I'd advise giving the Captain and his squad Counter-Attack.

I'm sure there are more holes I could pick in this, but those are the ones I see at first glance.

Balanced Game: Noun. A game in which all options and choices are worth using.
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Steelcity

I'm not very concerned about comparing it to the combi-bolter because the problem with tactical terminators is that the stormbolter simply is a bad weapon as it has 0 advantages over a single bolter if within 12". That's dumb, it's 2 bolters hence it's twin linked.

The rule for stormshields for a very long time is that they only worked in close combat. If you combine that with the new terminator armor rules you get a fairly resilient unit. It's all about layered changes, with the land raider being stronger you need the 3++ less outside of combat. I just don't agree that a shield should provide full protection from everything all the time. It's easier to balance units when they don't have such an ability or crutch.

I look at things from a long term perspective, terminators are bad and have been bad for a very long time. The only reason they were decent is because of storm shields, if I get rid of that crutch I can improve them. They should be much more durable against small arms, and this helps. Tactical terms dont get used because A) their firepower sucks relative to tactical squads and B) they die easy. I wanted to address those.

I see your point on the blood chalice and shroud.

I agree that the name counter-charge isn't that great of a name, however, the goal is NOT give them just counter attack but instead give them a jump pack based ability because that's the theme of the captain (just like how Sm captains let do stuff with bikes). I like the idea of them meeting the charge head on with their jump packs to give them bonuses of charging instead of just +1 attack because BA are based on charging.

Thanks for the feedback tho

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