Ols School here and Blood Angels are the discussion point today (the photo reference to Twilight was too funny to resist) and now that the "sky is falling, new codex rules all" is wearing off, I wanted to take the opportunity to see what players from all over the blogosphere thought about them so far and what kind of list they are running up against (or what they are running..
I like the Blood Angels Codex and for as much hype as we had locally when they came out, not many players actually picked them up here. Of those lists I have seen run, none were too scary, though there are some nasty units on the table these days.
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How about in your area? Are they common, not so, ect?
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Another thing is the lists. Everyone seems to want to whip out Mephistion, but either puts him in a list that doesn't compliment him or swiftly realizes as us Tyranid players already have - that T6 with a 2+ save does not break the game or garauntee you will even see combat, especially with no invul. There is also the Decent of Angels Assault Marine spam, which can ruin Guard's day, but will just do dome armies a favor by bringing your little snacks to them - given 60 Marines is never really a laughing matter.
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I think one of the biggest stregnths this codex has is their ability to put a TON of AV13 on the table (eat that Auto cannon spam lists), mixed with resiliant, assualty troops and some decent HQ options. I have personally run into a 1850 that sported 3 Baals, 3 Vindis, 3 squads of assault Marines with Priests in Rhinos behind the AV13 curtain and all supported by Sanguinor and if the player would have used his army better, he really could have crippled me early enough that I wouldn't have recovered - the refreshing part of it was that there were no psychers ... while I like psychers it seems like the internet is abound with 5 libby lists and this was a pretty effective way of doing it without them.
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Anyway, what kind of lists have you run into the most with BA? Were they effective? How have you faired against them? What do you think of them so far?
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Finally, for you BA players old and new - What do you think? What do you run and how did you get to the list your currently running?
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Feeback is welcome, let's hear your BA experiences.
Of the BAs that I have played they have been so wrapped up in the new and shiny that they really didn't put much thought towards balance.
ReplyDeleteThe Mini Thunderhawk is very impressive and can get bad things in your back yard very quickly. Also, a flying, psychic dreadnought is truly a terror on the field if allowed to run unchecked. The last game that I saw one they podded in and psychic lanced 2 rhinos and a monolith in one shot ( it was a team game )
The one thing that I was really surprised by was the new jetpack troops. Yes they only scatter a D6, yes they will tear just about anything apart once they get on the field but to put so many points into one troop that may or may not make it to the board to do any good was really underwhelming. Take that last statement with a grain of salt, however, as mentioned before it was not with a balanced list.
The first thing I noticed no live up to its hype was bloodlance. The thing is pretty sweet on paper but I haven't seen it be that effective. Maybe because the players I've seen use it had bad luck? Who knows. I'd rather just drop a furioso for 75 points less out of space and melta a tank then charge in and start ripping things up. Having to test to shoot the lance and get blocked by hoods or eldar (though not as likely as missing with BS3, I know) and then every tank behind the first one getting cover really makes it not as awesome as I wanted it to be.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, is deathcompany. They're just poorly made and that's sad because as a 3rd edition BA player deathcompany were the hotness and the flavor of the army. Now I don't imagine seeing deathcompany in a good mid-to-low point game. Even at 'ard boys there was only one BA player with a squad of deathcompany. I remember just shaking in my boots at the sight of that deathcompany rhino in 3rd edition. Assault marines are filling the roll that deathcompany should have. Why not just have a squad of ten assault marines with a priest and not have to worry about the stupid rage?
I spent a long time going back and forth about what would I rather play, space wolves or BA. In the end because of how expensive BA assault vehicles are you might as well play spacewolves. Otherwise your ten assault troops are going to deep strike in or jump out of their rhino/razorback and get charged. Once you get charged you loss all the advantages you have. For SW this isn't a problem, plus, their tac marines are basically jump pack-less assault marines with bolters. They have 2 ccw and they have 2 assault weapons in the squad.
Personally, space wolves really trump BA in moderate games. I'm pretty sure in a head to head that wolves would not come out on top, but a SW list versus any other list will do just as good if not better than a BA list.
BA are fun because they have a gimmick of FNP and did well in 'ard boyz because at that level of points they can take most of their really cool stuff. But in normal competition and in lower points, wolves all the way.
I have started a BA army and I am going with a librarian as an HQ choice just to counter psychic powers with the hood. I personally think, after playing a couple BA armies with my Eldar and pounding them, that they are a good marine army, but need some finesse to play. I like the death company and the dreadnought selection with the exception of the Furioso Librarian. Its nice having an armor 13 dread but take away the nifty weapons and give it psychic powers is more of a novelty.
ReplyDeleteI was able to pimp 2 of them and Mepshiston in a tournament game thanks to my Avatar and Runes of warding.
The Decent of angels rule is nice but dropping into a zone and not being able to assault is an issue if you have a firing line of a bunch of big nids looking at you like "how am I going to get the meat out of that shell".
The BA codex is not all the blood and death people hyped it up to be.
The only BA army I've run against is xerohacks BA's which are heading to chicago for 'ard boys. I hate their speed and the outflanking preds more than anything else in the army.
ReplyDeleteIt also took a while to get used to the idea of a larger threat bubble on the BA vindicators.
The last adjustment I was forced to make is not allowing him to get the charge off, as a SW player I was used to not worrying about who charged who because I had counter assult, but when he runs those priests that give FA well its a game changer for sure.