Competitive Blood Angels Part 4: Time to Strike

  In the previous parts of this tactica series we have discussed some of the best units and elements of the Codex. Now it’s time put theory into practice and make some army lists. I will begin with a list focused on assault

 HQ

Librarian- 125

• Jump Pack
• Force Axe

Elites

Sanguinary Priest -75

• Jump Pack

Furioso Dreadnought- 175

•          Frag Cannon
•          DCCW wt HF
•       Drop Pod

Furioso Dreadnought- 175

•          Frag Cannon
•          DCCW wt HF
•       Drop Pod

Troops

10x JP Assault  Squad- 225

• Power Axe
• Meltagun x2

10x JP Assault  Squad- 225

• Power Axe
• Meltagun x2

10x JP Assault  Squad- 225

• Power Axe
• Meltagun x2

5x Assault Squad- 125

• Flamer
• Sergeant wt 2 Hand Flamers
• Drop Pod

Heavy Support

1x Stormraven Gunship- 200

• TL multi-melta
• TL Lascannon

1x Vindicator- 150

• Siege shield

1x Vindicator-150

• Siege shield

 This is obviously an assault oriented list. Featuring 30 assault marines, boosted with a librarian and a priest as well as lots and lots of support for these units.

 The basic idea of the list:

-Deploy 30 marines+ characters as close to the enemy as possible, taking into consideration the safety of the units ( aka do not deploy on open ground)

- 1^st turn, 2 furiosos arrive from reserves. Each one has 3 template weapons. Abusing the accuracy of a drop pod deep strike, place the dreadnoughts into the best position possible in order to achieve maximum template coverage. The key here is to go for a quick 1^st Blood, while throwing 2 bulky, 13AV dreads right into the heart of the enemy. Your opponent will most likely turn his attention to the furiosos, allowing the rest of the army to advance safely.

- Vindicators are here to soften up targets so that the assault  squads can finish them with minimum casualties. Furthermore, it can cripple most assault units in a single shot.

- The Stormraven is there as a cute anti-flyer option and provides some additional firepower.

- The 3^rd drop pod and its contents are fit to claim isolated objectives. They also have 1 flamer and 2 hand flamers to clear enemy units from cover. The option of 2 hand flamers is personal preference, and you can easily exchange them and the flamer for a meltagun and a power weapon, or something like that.

All things considered, I believe that as far assault BA go, this is probably one of the best builds possible. It makes a balanced, consistent force that maximizes synergy between units to get the most out of the force. Still, it is a list that relies heavily on the element of surprise and a suspicious opponent could possibly workaround it.

Next part will  feature a Land Raider heavy BA list. Thank you

 Stefanos Kapetanakis, out

Late summer post: 6th edition gets better!

Hello fellow wargamers,

Last year, when 6th ed was introduced, most people embraced it with joy, pointing out the spectacular new elements that were added to the game, bold changes that would allow for a broader spectrum of tactics, lists and strategies and so on. Everybody was loving the new edition and there was little to no whimpering, compared to previous editions or releases.

 During that time, my local community saw a bloom in the number of players, with many people getting introduced into the hobby, returning 40k veterans or people switching from Fantasy to 40k.  It seemed that 6th was going to be the best edition we have ever experienced.

Nonetheless, as time passed and players begun to attend tournaments, as more and more people started to dig into the rules and the metagame slowly took shape, it became blatantly obvious that there was no balance in the game. Necrons and IG were incredibly overpowered compared with the rest of the codices. In many cases, it was almost impossible to win with certain armies against those two monsters. And when people noticed that, they realised that there was something wrong with the game.

 Even after the release of the Daemon codex, there was still little competition for the aforementioned armies. Around that time, I saw many people quit the game, searching for alternatives…..in fact, it was a time when 40k was in a “ limbo” state.

 However….after all these months and after 5 6^th ed. Codices, things have changed.  All these new releases shed some light on some of the more underplayed armies and gave them new toys which changed the meta completely.

 I believe that the game is reaching its peak, as more and more codices will get an upgrade and a new balance will be instilled. With the current rate at which codices are released, I am confident that soon every army will be able to perform equally well.  Even now things are much better, and we already see some more variety in the armies and lists fielded.

That’s all I had to say.  Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Stefanos Kapetanakis.