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Hi all,

So a brief background before diving into the army lists. I've been in the hobby about 18 years, and collected a decent amount of Space Marines in that time. Never particularly attached to any legion/chapter. At the behest of my four year old son, I'm repainting my collection as Hawk Lords and Blood Angels. Why these two, I'm not sure, but there it is.

This has put me in the unusual position of trying to meaningfully divide my existing force into two workable armies. If you had to flip a coin deciding which army you would command, would you be sweating on the result, or reasonably happy with either? Should mention these are intended for casual play with friends/at FLGS rather than contesting tournaments.

Army 1 - Ultramarines (Hawk Lords) 2000 point Battallion:

HQ: Primaris Captain (Relic Shield and Master-Crafted Power Sword, Sanctic Halo, Warlord - Storm of Fire)
HQ: Sergeant Chronus

Elite: Primaris Apothecary (Seal of Oath, Warlord Trait - Adept of the Codex)
Elite: 5 Terminators (Standard Equipment)

Troops: 10 Primaris Intecessors (Stalker Bolters, 1 Astartes Chainsword, 1 Astartes Grenade Launcher)
Troops: 5 Primaris Intecessors (Auto Bolt Rifles, 1 Astartes Chainsword)
Troops: 5 Primaris Intecessors (Auto Bolt Rifles, 1 Astartes Chainsword)
Troops: 5 Tactical Marines (1 Multi-Melta)
Troops: 5 Tactical Marines (1 Multi-Melta)
Troops: 5 Tactical Marines (1 Multi-Melta)

Fast Attack: 3 Inceptors (Assault Bolters)
Fast Attack: Land Speeder (Multi-Melta)
Fast Attack: Land Speeder (Multi-Melta)

Heavy Support: 3 Eradicators (2 Melta-Rifles, 1 Mutli-Melta)
Heavy Support: 5 Devastators (4 Missile Launchers, 1 Cherub)
Heavy Support: Land Raider Crusader (Multi-Melta, Storm Bolter, Hunter-Killer Missile)


Army 2 - Blood Angels 2000 point Battallion:

HQ: Chaplain (Master of Sanctity, Jump Pack, Icon of the Angel, Warlord - Wise Orator)
HQ: Sanguinary Priest (Jump Pack, Teeth of Terra, Artisan of War - Artificer Armour)

Elite: 5 Vanguard Veterans (3 Storm Shields, Relic Blade, 3 Lightning Claws, 1 Power Fist)
Elite: 5 Terminators (Standard Equipment)
Elite: 5 Terminators (Standard Equipment)
Elite: 5 Scouts (2 Inferno Pistols on Sergeant, 4 Bolt Pistol/Combat Knife)
Dedicated Transport: Land Speeder Storm

Troops: 5 Assault Intercessors
Troops: 5 Tactical Marines (1 Multi-Melta)
Troops: 5 Tactical Marines (1 Multi-Melta)

Fast Attack: 3 Outriders
Fast Attack: 3 Outriders
Fast Attack: Bike Squad, 3 Bikes (2 Meltaguns, 1 Combi-Melta), 1 Attack Bike (Multi-Melta)

Heavy Support: Vindicator, Siege Shield
Heavy Support: 5 Devastators (4 Missile Launchers)

For consideration, the following units remain available to either army at this point:

2 Dreadnoughts
3 Rhinos
1 Drop Pod
11 Reivers
1 Librarian
Several Captains/Lieutenants
Many Tactical Marines

Thanks in advance for thoughts and feedback.

I'm a little confused as to what it is you are asking. Are you asking if these two armies would be balanced against each other? Are you looking for advice on each list? Are you looking to purchase anything new, or work with what you have?

If I had money on the line and you offered me my choice of army for a game, I would definitely go with the Blood Angel force. It looks much stronger. BA are probably just stronger than ultras in general and the list plays decently well to the BA strengths. Most of the units in the BA list are good units with a lot of value.

The Hawk Lords list while it does have a couple of stronger choices, it spends a lot of its points on units that are decidedly sub-par.

Not sure if that was helpful or not. If you could clarify for me what sort of feedback you're looking for I'll try to reply again with some better advice.

Apologies for not replying sooner, and thanks for the feedback.

For the most part, I was wanting to make the best of the collection I currently have, and in particular to make two reasonably balanced armies without additional purchases at the current time. While hardly being a tournament pro I'm confident if I was building from scratch I could make a stronger list for both armies, so the challenge here was to work within my own constraints. I take your comment that the Blood Angels list is the stronger of the two, and I agree - it leans into the strengths of BA much more strongly than the Hawk Lords list draws out the Ultras strengths. Not that Ultras are particularly strong, but not much to be done about that for now.

In both lists, I'd happily lose the missile devastators, however for the moment they are the best I have for some long-range fire support. Similarly I'd rather not have the Crusader in the Hawk Lords, even with the AoC buff and Chronus at the controls, as it's nearly 300 points I'm certain can be put to better use.

Over time I'll continue to expand the collection, and this should give me the ability to make both lists more competitive, while retaining the units my son is fond of, both for the sake of collection, and also keeping the peace.

Yeah... hm. I guess I would maybe go for a firstborn hawk lords list. Just to make it play more interesting, you could drop the land raider, add the 3 rhinos and go for a tac marine/rhino strategy. Possibly even throw in your drop pod with some tac marines. Try to squeeze in the Venerable Dreadnaughts in place of some of your Intercessors if you can.

It still wouldnt be as good as the BA list I think, but it would be fast, mobile, and able to secure objectives quickly. Also it would bring a lot of armor. That's not nothing. Lean on whatever you have for special weapons in your tac marine squads. Anything melta is good, plasma guns are decent.

Best of luck to you.