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So Dark Angels aren't in a great spot right now, hopefully their codex will take care of that. But watching the recent batrep on SS82 it featured a dark angels army with a few units that seemed pretty strong, mainly the dark talon. I liked the Deathwing knights in theory, they did seem a bit pricey for their total damage output, but I then noticed a few nice synergies to explore.

This list starts with those ideas and expands on it. The Deathwing Ancient gives +1 attacks to all deathwing units within 6 inches, I love straight + attack auras and feel they're probably the strongest overall buff save of course guilliman. The ancient is also nice in that it's a 5 wound terminator character that brings a storm bolter and power fist, he's not as one dimensional as most ancients. But of course you want to maximize his buff, so I went with two units of 5 knights. Then I noticed Asmodai gave +1 attacks to all dark angels within 6 inches, now things started to heat up, all of a sudden that 50 point knight is on 4 attacks, 5 for the sergeant, and things are getting quite potent. Problem is the knights can teleport in, the ancient can teleport in, but asmodai cannot, I had to hold my nose and include a drop pod because I felt you really needed the +2 attacks to make this combo worthwhile.

Now what to fill that drop pod with? I'm not dropping almost 100 points for one model. Company veterans, anyone who reads my lists know I'm obsessed with these guys in this edition. They have two attacks base, sergeant has 3, and now Asmodai is giving them +1 attacks, sorry no deathwing here for +2, but now your power fist sergeants have 4 attacks, enter four 2-man squads of vets for four power fist sergeants. The other veteran is bringing a plasma gun and chain sword. The final slot in the Pod went to Azrael. Plus 1 command point, 4++ for the veterans, re roll all hits for everything, vets and knights, it all makes sense. An added bonus is that the ancient, asmodai, and azrael all have the deathwing keyword, so they're also each on +2 attacks. Now all of a sudden you have 3 characters, and 18 other very elite models dropping into your enemies ranks, sporting 3++/4++ and at least 4 attacks each, as well as 6 plasma guns.

Another pillar of the list are the dark talons, as I mentioned I was very impressed with the one on SS82, this thing is just doing some of the more powerful things in 8th edition, namely mortal wounds and undercosted rapid firing bolter fire in the form of the criminally under costed hurricane bolter. The stasis bomb on any 10 man strong squad is going to net you 5 mortal wounds on average, which is just fantastic, 24 bolter shots when in 12 inch range is very strong as the stormravens have shown, and the rift cannon has a very high probability for more mortal wounds, and is a great tank hunter, or even elite hunter. I wanted them to be thematic within the list and bring enough of it to be a real presence, hence the three of them.

At this point the list is extremely elite, and I needed both more bodies, as well as units to offset the number of deep strikers, enter the mortar teams, super cheap bolter fire that can hide in cover not needing LoS, and with great range just shoulder the burden of the small arms fire.

This list is not meant to be tournament competitive, but rather meant to be competitive for an FLGS environment, and hopefully a really fun list to play. On a side note I do think the codex is going to see a few of these units get cheaper, so there may be even more room for improvement to it.


Vanguard, Spearhead & Air Wing Detachments 7 CP

HQ – Azrael
HQ – Asmodai

Elites – 2x Company Veterans w/ Combi-Plasma, Plasma Gun, Chain Sword & Power Fist
Elites – 2x Company Veterans w/ Storm Bolter, Plasma Gun, Chain Sword & Power Fist
Elites – 2x Company Veterans w/ Storm Bolter, Plasma Gun, Chain Sword & Power Fist
Elites – 2x Company Veterans w/ Storm Bolter, Plasma Gun, Chain Sword & Power Fist
Transport – Drop Pod w/ Storm Bolter

Elites – Deathwing Ancient w/ Storm Bolter & Power Fist
Elites – 5x Deathwing Knights
Elites – 5x Deathwing Knights

Flyer – Ravenwing Dark Talon
Flyer – Ravenwing Dark Talon
Flyer – Ravenwing Dark Talon

Heavy Support – 3x Heavy Weapons Team w/ 3x Mortars
Heavy Support – 3x Heavy Weapons Team w/ 3x Mortars
Heavy Support – 3x Heavy Weapons Team w/ 3x Mortars
Heavy Support – 3x Heavy Weapons Team w/ 3x Mortars
Heavy Support – 3x Heavy Weapons Team w/ 3x Mortars
Heavy Support – 3x Heavy Weapons Team w/ 3x Mortars

Now that's an interesting list. I identified Deathwing Knights immediately as the best dark Angel index unit. +1 Attack with rerolls makes them literally twice as powerful.

Maybe swap Azreal and the drop pod for Belial and a Land Raider? I know it's not the sure thing like the pod tho.

What's an SS82?

SS82 = strikingscorpion82, a really excellent British based 40k youtube channel, featuring tactica, painting tutorials, but more importantly, some of the most polished battle reports out there, with hands down the best tabletops and terrain. Disclaimer: they don't usually play tournament competitive lists, but they always play solid, coherent lists with a defined game plan.

Thanks for the feedback, and remember, the knights in this list are on +2 attacks with re rolls. Also a land raider is fine in theory, but it doesn't provide that guaranteed turn 1 strike like drop pod + deep strike does, and it skews the points pretty wildly, parts of the list would have to be seriously pared down.

Also remember Azreal is just strictly better than Belial, he's giving all dark angels a 4++ within 6 inches, brings +1 command point, re roll all hits for everyone, not just deathwing, they have pretty comparable melee weps with azreal having one better strength and D3 damage along with additional mortal wounds, belial having the always wound on a 2+ and -1 to hit in combat, but azreal also has a combi plasma in which the bolter portion is -1 ap and 2 damage, I think azreal blows belial out of the water as a force multiplier, and overall weapon loadout.

List actually looks pretty solid, for dark angels. Possibly consider some lascannon teams over some of the mortar? The three dark talons put out a lot of bolter fire already, and the some extra dedicated anti tank might be useful.