Tactica: Blood Angels (part 2: "Troops & Transports")

So after a while I continued with my project of making BA at least a decent army. And here might be the most difficult part to write since our troops are numerous (unless I'm mistaking, Blood Angels have the biggest amount of "natural troops" so troops that don't need any HQ to be troops). You know. Total of five different troop choices and not one of them great. We have solid choices and then some unstable ones, but none game-breaker. But let's see what we got:

Troops

Tactical Marines:
I'll be brief here. They can hold an objective and advance in a Rhino, but they cost a lot when compared to their actual effect in game. If you want an all-shooty list for BA, go nuts and take these as they will suit your theme. In an assault list they will be easily left behind and Rhino is a lot of points for a metal bawks with zero shooting abilities. If they could get a special weapons for five guys like regular Tacticals, I'd be happy. But now they're no. Preferred load-outs:

• 10 Tacticals in a Rhino. Flamer + ML + combi-gun to Sgt.
• 5 Tacticals, meltagun + combi-melta in Drop Pod with some nasty special character. They'll blow up a tank (hopefully) and bodyguard your HQ or Priest or anyone. Corbulo might do fine bodyguarding them as a scoring unit.

Scouts:
Once again there are guys who could be much more reliable and useful if we had the toys that regular Marines have (hinthint: a Skimmer that can carry these guys). They are here to fill the Tactical Marine's job for BA. They are cheap. They keep the objective. That's it. Note that the Sgt. can still take combi-guns and Power Fist so a larger squad might have uses. But still, if you want CC-abilities, the Scouts are somewhat poor answer and if you want bolterfire there's always a bunch of Tacticals for you. I guess Snipers would be the way to go. But since they are medicore with their relatively high cost and ineffectiveness of BS3 snipers, don't count on it. Preferred load-outs:

• 5 Scouts with Snipers and camo cloaks. Cheap objective-keepers. The ML/HB is not worth it in my opinion.
• 7-8 Scouts. CCW's and Sergeant with combi-gun. Why? You can take the Locator Beacon for reserves. It may be little help for our Assault Marines, but remember that Terminators still benefit here. A random unit that has little use in competitive game but will make a fun unit that supports your other army and after it runs to the nearest objective.

Death Company:
Yes. None can argue with they killing power. But many argue with their usefulness. Let's list the Pro's and Cons:
- expensive
- too powerful charge will wipe the enemy in first turn and leave DC as a target.
- jump pack option costs ridiculously much
- they rely on charge a lot
- not scoring
+ expensive? yes, but for 20 points you have a marine with WS5, Relentless, FnP, Furious Charge, Fearless and Rage.
+ choose your targets and they'll wipe it out
+ unlimited PW's

So lots of cons, but they are still valid choice if you wish to get rid of some enemy unit. Of course the Chaplain/Reclusiarch is a good addition to them, but is not needed as even five guys can deal 25 WS5 S5 hits on charge with I4 and they have 3+ armor and Feel no Pain. What they truly need is a transport. Land Raider is reliable, but expensive. Drop Pod is quickest but will leave the unit exposed for a turn. Rhino/Razorback choice isn't impossible, but needs some positioning and some more luck. Preferred load-outs:

• 6 Death Company in Razorback with bolters and Thunder Hammer.
• 9 Death Company in Drop Pod, bolters and a Power Fist or two. Add in either Reclusiarch or Corbulo.

I really think that unless you have them in LR, bolters is a way to go, simply because they still have Relentless so rapid fire bolters + charge. And PW's and such work in DC squad because they can't be challenged out.

Death Company Dreadnought:
This is limited to one for every five DC in your army. But still, a Dreadnought as a troops choice. 
Awesome. This allows unque lists with total of 11 Dreanoughts (three Furiosos as Elites, three regular as Heavy Support , 25 DC, leaving 5 troops slots and all can be filled with DC Dreads). 23 on dual FOC. I won't even count how many you can take if you have double FOC and Astorath... So that's awesome. You know what else is? His CC-abilities. Still has WS5 and 5 attacks on charge (3 + 1 for two DCCW's + 2 for charge/Rage). Speaking of which, always take two Blood Talons. Just too good to pass. After hitting you will kill anything unless it has 2+ armor and even then something. Once again delivery is important so Drop Pod is your way to go.

Assault Marines:
The heart and sould of any Blood Angels army. They are relatively cheap, handle hordes in CC and can get a special weapon for every five guys. The Sergeant should take a PW (or Fist) for them to actually do something in fight. But they are still troops, they aren't meant for killing the enemy army, that's a job for elites, fast attack and heavy support.  They are mobile and can therefore take objectives for you while killing some squashy enemy troops. Always remember Decent of Angels. With only d6 scatter they can reliably deep strike behind terrain in cover and jump over it the next turn. Another thing to remember is their 35-point discount on transports. Preferred load-outs:

• 10 Assault Marines, 2x Meltagun, Power Axe. They need Priest and cover to survive.
• 5 Assault Marines, special weapon of your choice, 20-point Razorback. Really cheap unit that can take an objective and provide supporting fire with Plasma gun & Razorback combo and they act as an counter-assault unit if enemy gets too close. My personal favourite.

Troops overall:

This might be my favourite squad in my collections

Well you know how troops are. I guess I wouldn't field any of these if they weren't mandatory. But they play an important role in any army. Always remember that this game is about objectives so that's what your troops should focus on, not killing the enemy. The best scenario is of course if you manage to do both of these. My top three best troops for Blood Angels:
1) Assault Marines. Why? They are reliable and have mobility, which is the key behind every succesful army. Small fast squads that do well in close combat, this is what BA is about.
2) Scouts. Why? A little squishy maybe, but basically every load-out works for these guys. Wanna keep objective? They're like Tacticals that can take HB. Squishy Guardsmen ahead? Charge! MC's? Let me fetch my sniper.
3) Death Company. Why? They may not be scoring, but they will demolish anything on charge when equipped right.


Dedicated Transports

Rhino:
Pass. It's expensive and only works for full Tactical Squads. If you have them, I'd still concider leaving it at home. Mainly because we also have...

...Razorback:
Only five points more expensive than Rhino and packs some fire-power. Regular Heavy Bolter is reliable anti-infantry, tl-Lascannon helps your anti-tank, Assault Cannon is good, but expensive and my favourite is tl-Plasma Gun and Lascannon. A combination that only works with BA since our tanks are fast. Move 12" and fire both guns.

Drop Pod:
It's dirt cheap (comes free for ASM), fastest way of delievery and won't mishap. Allows Dreadnoughts to get quickly to their targets and let's you fire in the rear armor of enemy tanks. Melta will also like since it has so short range. One benefit of pods is also that you can have reliable first turn deep strike that will easily give you first blood when played right (Furioso, Sternguard).

Land Raiders:
Yes, they are Transports for BA. They are awesome. Good for Assault Marines and Death Company, but meh for Tacticals/Sternguard because the ability to assault is wasted. It is expensive so in games less than 1500 points I'm really on the edge of using it. One of the best BA lists include squads of five Assault Marines in 4-5 Land Raiders, but they are expensive money-wise so it's not meant for everyone. But remember that they also give you serious fire support, so which one is the best choice?
Redeemer specialises in close-quaters and is ideal if you're against 3+/4+ armor saves. Transport capacity of 12 and it being 10 points cheaper makes it a medicore all around choice.
Crusader is better against hordes but also needs to get close. It also has the biggest transport capacity so if you have big squads it will be a good choice
Regular one has best anti-tank abilities so it can fill gaps in your army, but the HB doesn't mix with that. It also has transtport capacity of only ten models which is not cool. A solid choice if you have small squad.

Transports overall:
Pretty much every one of them works and when combined with Assault Squads they become relatively cheap as well (okay, 215 points may not be cheap, I get it). But you know what? There's one thing I must say. You see, each army has one unwritten rule. The Rule you shall not break. For Blood Angels it's simple: never, under any circumstances and I mean never. May you deep strike a land raider. Just don't or I'll hunt you down. Anyway, top three:
1) Razorback. Why? It's fast vehicle, it has nice gun (and good uprgades). What else is there to say?
2) Land Raider Redeemer. Why? Do I really need to explain why a AV14 vehicle that has two S6AP3 flamers, power of the machine spirit, transport capacity of twelve and assault ramp is good? Well, there you had it. It gets your CC-freaks efficently to the enemy and kills infantry reliably while doing so.
3) Drop Pod. Why? It gets whatever you want where-ever you want in turn one. I like to add in locator beacon to make it the center of my following deep strikers.

Seriously, don't do it. Ever.

And there you go. Some good units, some not so good but all valid choices. These two should work together as the backbone of your army. But that's all you're gonna get from me today. I'll return sooner or later with the final part that focuses on Fast Attack and Heavy Support. I also realised that I forgot to add Honor Guard in my HQ section so that is also coming up!


- Simson