Dark Angels: It's all about synergy

So Dark Angels are finally here and the codex has been out enough days to start making some early analysis. The codex looks solid, with several interesting builds, dirty cheap HQs (65 point for a divination Libby? count me in thanks), good terminators and bikes and an assortment of special rules/equipment that open up a lot of possibilities. So while I await the ton of stuff I ordered at Wayland to arrive, let's get onto the aspect that dictates the way this codex is meant to be played: sinergy.

That is, sinergy. While most units are rock-solid on their own, the codex is at its best when several units are used together with an specific aim. 1+1>2 when it comes to the performance of the DA. Now this is true of most armies, where individual units usually fulfill specific roles and it is the conjunction of each unit work taht brings to success. So for example, Devs remove transports and tactical squads move up to rapid range fire, etc. In the case of Dark Angels, the synergies seem to be stronger as the different units not only complement each other, but enhance their performance. Here are some examples:

Ravenwing + Deathwing.

 Both units have a set of rules that are very good on their own but excel when used together. The Ravenwing can start in the board at the edge of your DZ, then scout 12" to get to the middle of the board. T1 they can move (and turbo-boost if needed) to be in your opponent's gunline. T2 the Deathwing arrives within 6" from the teleport homer, so no scatter and use their now TL guns to beat some face.

At this point we have a solid anvil in the form of the Terminators, with storm bolters/heavy weapons and power fists, and a mobile anvil with the hit and run bikers, especially in the case of the Knights with their relentless TL plasma talons and S5 rending CCW.

This allows us to 1) move the Ravenwing up the board with a 2+ cover save, 2) bring the Deathwing exactly where we need them, and when we need them (use DW assault to select what comes in T1 and T2), 3) alpha strike when the DW comes (remember TL guns and split fire), 4) put a lot of pressure in your opponent and 5) overall dictacte the direction of the game.

Ravenwing bikers + Dark Shroud

This is an obvious one, the combination of the bikers' jink saves, skilled rider and the dark shroud aura give them a 2+ cover save, perfect to cover the space and get deep in your opponent's DZ. Unless they have weapons that ignore cover, the Ravenwing will get there intact. If there are, put Sammael in front of the unit spearheading the attack and let him take the hits. 4++ and Eternal Warrior will help.

Tactical Squad + Ravenwing + Devastation Standard

The thin green line

The Devastation Standard turns all nearby boltguns onto Salvo 2/4 weapons, meaning a static Tactical Squad will make 40 bolter shots at 24"... bring in a 65 point Divination Libby and said Tactical Squad does no longer have an anemic damage output. The problem is they need to stay static to do so, so deploy an Aegis Defence Line as fast forward as you can, then put the gunline behind. A couple of tactical squads, a command squad to carry the Standard and a Libby. More than enough to secure a couple of home objectives. The rest of the army will have to de-mech your opponent, and that is where these attack bikes and double-melta speeders from the Ravenwing come to help. Once the troops are in the ground, few will resist 80 bolter shots.

It is also worth mentioning the Rad Grenades from the RW Grenade Launcher that reduce -1T to the unit they hit, so these S4 shots wound MEQs on 3s, and insta-kill eldars and GEQs!! say hi Yriel :)

Ravenwing bikers + Devastation Standard

The problem with the previous approach was that the Tactical squads needed to remain static, which can be a tactical disadvantage sometimes. Another way to use the Standard is with the Ravenwing squads - a standard squad with 6 bikers and an Attack Bike will make 28 twin-linked S4 shots at 24", even with moving (Relentless, remember?). The overwatch fire would be quite spectacular if someone dares charge onto that, and if not, well they should have a 3+ cover save with a Dark shroud nearby. The problem here is that the Standard needs to be carried by the RW Command Squad, which can't have more than 3 members. That said, I wouldn't be too concerned about their survibability as this unit can turbo-boost and get the 2+ cover save, plus Sammael can always join and help tank any wounds coming through.

Belial + Deathwing

Belial has been designed to spearhead the Deathwing Assault, and does this very well thanks to his teleport homer and his special rule to never scatter when deep striking. Send him T1 along with a tough squad, and T2 the rest of the DW will arrive with no scatter. He also carries a nifty AP3 fleshbane sword (wounds everything on 2s) that strikes at I5, and makes precision shots on 5+.

Azrael + DA

As the DA Chapter Master it is only fitting that Azrael has great synergies with most of his army. Let's see. First of all unlocks the Doublewing, although this has its own problems (this goes for another post, but basically you can't have both wings with a significant strenght due to the points limit, unless you're playing above 2000 points). Strangely enough Azrael can't join neither Death or Ravenwing, but he does conferr his 4++ to the unit he is with. Enter veterans or tacticals and a drop pod to take him wherever he needs to be. Alternatively he can also stay home behind the ADL, manning the gun and helping supress any infiltrators/outflankers behind your lines.

On top of that, Azrael provides Ld10 army wide, which with Stubborn means leadership is not going to be a problem, gets to select the Warlord trait that he wants from the DA table and is a beatstick himself with his 2+/4++, 4W (wtf) and S6 AP3 precision power sword.

Librarians

With access to 4 psychic branches, including the coveted Divination, 65 points base and the ability to get special gear, well Librarians are a very interesting choice. With Terminator armour they can join the DW party and since they have access to special equipment, well they can purchase an auspex and reduce the cover of an enemy unit by -1, right before the RW Knights unleash a storm of plasta.

Conclusion

The Dark Angels are looking like a very solid codex that will have its peak performance when the different units work in perfect synergy. Hybrid builds will probably outperform themed armies like the very popular pure Deathwing as the codex seems built with the idea of combining a few DW/RW units with other support units and scoring troops. The special characters work in a similar way and even the new units excel at supporting others.

The Dark Angel, by Lionel P Johnson

Dark Angel, with thine aching lust

To rid the world of penitence:

Malicious Angel, who still dost

My soul such subtile violence!

Because of thee, no thought, no thing,

Abides for me undesecrate:

Dark Angel, ever on the wing,

Who never reachest me too late!

When music sounds, then changest thou

Its silvery to a sultry fire:

Nor will thine envious heart allow

Delight untortured by desire.

Through thee, the gracious Muses turn,

To Furies, O mine Enemy!

And all the things of beauty burn

With flames of evil ecstasy.

Because of thee, the land of dreams

Becomes a gathering place of fears:

Until tormented slumber seems

One vehemence of useless tears.

When sunlight glows upon the flowers,

Or ripples down the dancing sea:

Thou, with thy troop of passionate powers,

Beleaguerest, bewilderest, me.

Within the breath of autumn woods,

Within the winter silences:

Thy venomous spirit stirs and broods,

O Master of impieties!

The ardour of red flame is thine,

And thine the steely soul of ice:

Thou poisonest the fair design

Of nature, with unfair device.

Apples of ashes, golden bright;

Waters of bitterness, how sweet!

O banquet of a foul delight,

Prepared by thee, dark Paraclete!

Thou art the whisper in the gloom,

The hinting tone, the haunting laugh:

Thou art the adorner of my tomb,

The minstrel of mine epitaph.

I fight thee, in the Holy Name!

Yet, what thou dost, is what God saith:

Tempter! should I escape thy flame,

Thou wilt have helped my soul from Death:

The second Death, that never dies,

That cannot die, when time is dead:

Live Death, wherein the lost soul cries,

Eternally uncomforted.

Dark Angel, with thine aching lust!

Of two defeats, of two despairs:

Less dread, a change to drifting dust,

Than thine eternity of cares.

Do what thou wilt, thou shalt not so,

Dark Angel! triumph over me:

Lonely, unto the Lone I go;

Divine, to the Divinity. 

Lionel Pigot Johnson

Kudos to this delightful post at Pins of War.

10K pageviews and writing at Unforgiven Studios!

Hiya! I just wanted to announce a couple of good news. First the blog has hit its first 10.000 pageviews! this is a tiny number in comparison to the main blogs but hey, it has only been up and running for a few months so it's an important milestone for me. Thanks so much for the visits and the comments! appreciate it guys.

Second good news is that I'll be posting a weekly column on Wednesdays at the Unforgiven Studios blog. All the authors will be posting great content in the coming weeks so please come, have a look and let us know what you think!

The column is called Of Wolf and Man and will cover everything related to Space Wolves (surprise huh!). I've been for 15+ years in the hobby and I can say nothing compares to collecting and playing the mighty 6th Legiones Astartes. Grey Hunters, Long Fangs and the rest of their Fenrisian buddies just crap all over their Vanilla counterparts!

Take care!

Ezekiel ends the Rune Priest Myth and more

With the DA codex leaks flooding the interwebs we are learning a lot of interesting things. Let us briefly talk about some of the most surprising revelations:

Ezekiel: With all the talk on Belial and Sammael to an extent, the Chief Librarian of the DA has kept a low profile until now. He's a master 3 psyker with a default artificier armour, 3 wounds, access to divination and a couple of relics for a measly 145 points. For reference, Njal's 245 points only allow him to be level 2. What da fuq. Pretty good if you ask me, although he can have a difficult fit in army lists heavily based in the Death and Ravenwings. Oh and basic Libbys are only 65 points now. A psychic sale!

Fly away from the Flyers: The Nephilim costs a hefty 190 points, only 10 less than a Storm Raven and losses 1 AV point on each facing, the TL MM and the 12+1 transport capacity in an assault vehicle. The TL Lascannon can and should be replaced for the Avenger mega Bolter, which is sort of longer range assault cannon (but without rending). It has 6 AP4 missiles that are very meh. The Dark Talon doesn't fare much better at 160 points, although the real impact of the stasis bomb and the blind effects in games remain to be seen.

Standard-issue Standards: DA will have access to a large variety of Company/Chapter standards, all buffing nearby units. The most eye-catching is the Standard of Fortitude that grants FNP to units within a 12" aura for a hefty 85 points. A BA Sang Priest is 50 points but only has a 6" range. Plus the DA standard seem to be carried by non-ICs, and given it will likely be surrounded by hammenators and Knights, well odds are it will be rather difficult to get rid of it.

Challenge me if you dare: The Deathwing Champion from the Command Squad upgrade is just 5 points and gets the monstruous Halberd of Caliban, that strikes at I with +2S and AP2. In a WS5 2+ guy. Heck this guy can go head-to-head with many of the combat beasts out there and come back on top of them.

Gets cold plasma: We now know why this is called a storm battery, and is because it's rather bad. It can shoot 3 small blasts or 1 large but the range is just 24". Remember this is sitting on top of an AV10 Land Speeder so even boltguns pose a serious threat. Luckily for those that pre-ordered the model, the kit includes components for the Dark Shroud that, aesthetics aside, seems a much more usable option for the 80 points it costs.

Black Crowes: The Ravenwing command squad costs 120 points base with just 3 bikers and cannot be expanded, lest you add an IC. I'm not very sure on the viability of 3 T5 W1 3+ bikers.

I could ramble on and on but the idea was to select just a few interesting points. So what has surprised you the most / you're looking forward to?

New Dark Angels weapons compilation and speculation

So DA are finally up for advanced orders and we keep learning more and more about the new units. From a game standpoint what's really piquing my interest right now are the new weapons featured in this codex. We also know there will be some special rules but I don't expect anything fancy here aside of the rumoured one-time Smite ability on the Knights (that would be Ward-esque at S10 AP2 once a game). Here's a compilation of these new fancy toys and my own speculation on what the stats could be looking like:

Plasma Storm Battery (Dark SpeederVengeance): Is it me or this looks like a twin-liked version of the Plasma cannon found in the Leman Russ Executioner? that would be a 36" S7 AP2 Heavy 3, twin-linked! pretty devastating but sadly a AV10 platform with 2 hull points isn't exactly durable. I wonder what Mr. Vetock is keeping up his sleeve?

Rift Cannon (Dark Talon): This is the strangest of the lot. Rumours mention that the rift cannon being related to warp technology somehow ("cracks  a hole in reality and creates an implosion"). The look of the weapon is also that of a gun with a strong recoil and low rate of fire, so this is looking to be a blast, medium/large strength sort of gun. Perhaps with some fancy special rule (i.e. ignores cover or the like). My bet is S6-7 AP4 Large Blast Ordenance 1

Stasis bomb (Dark Talon): Very little is known of this, just that is featured in the Dark Talon  and that is one-time only. There's a hint in which the Dark Talon is good at both suppressing and weakening the enemy infantry, so this is where the bomb could come to play - causes some sort of adverse effects but no wounds. I just hope it's not like psychotroke grenades - keep the cheese away from DA please :)

Avenger Mega Bolter (Nephilim jetfighter): It has the looks of the Vulcan Mega Bolter (60" S6 AP3 Heavy 15) but the name is different and it seems a gun too large to be fielded in a light flyer; this a weapon is only found in some Titans and super heavy tanks after all. On the other end we have the Gatling psilencer that has a 24" S4 AP- Heavy 12 profile. Combined with the Heavy bolters this yields 15 S4/5 shots but its not very impressive in an army full of bolters of all flavours and plasma. I would also dismiss the gatling gun (S5 AP- Heavy 15) found in the Leman Russ Punisher as it is not a proper bolter gun (it belongs to the autocannon family).

Where do we end? the WD copy mentions the Nephilim being good at taking out enemy flyers (so AV10-12) and light mech, so I expect it to fall in a reasonable middle term between the OP Vulcan bolter and the meh Gatling psilencer. Some S6-7 with a high rate of fire. 

Something else to note is that the heavy bolters sponsons have only been spotted next to the Avenger Bolter but not with the Rift Cannon or TL las cannon. Perhaps an indication that the Avenger Bolter is a less powerful weapon than the others?

Blacksword missiles (Nephilim Jetfigher): Probably a sort of Hunter Killer missiles (S8 AP3 heavy 1 shot) or a small variation (like BA's Bloodstrike missiles found in their Storm Raven) that have AP1 instead. A completely different profile is not to be dismissed if we look at the missiles featured in the GK version of the Storm Raven, that are especifically anti-psyker. In any case a 1 shot missile and a different profile to the Skyhammer found in the Storm Talon (60" S7 Ap4 Heavy 3) if the illustration below is representative.

Plasma Talon (Ravenwing Knights): While this has the look of a twin-linked plasma gun, I suspect the name has been changed to accomodate different stats. Specifically a lower range as the bikes are very mobile themselves. So perhaps a 6" version of the plasma gun we all know (and that some also love).

Grenade Launcher (Ravenwing Knights): This again has the look of a known weapon (astartes grenade launcher) but rumour has it could be related to the stasis bomb, perhaps reducing the enemy to I1 so the hammers strike at the same time. Speaking of which, I don't think a unit that already sports TL plasma and thunder hammers really needs more toys.

Corvus Thunder Hammer (Ravenwing Knights): I dont expect it to be more than fancy Thunder-Hammer, not even master-crafted. A few thunder hammers in a highly mobile, T5/3+ platform is nothing to sneeze at, especially when you consider all those plasma shots before the assault!

Mace of Absolution (Deathwing Knights): Perhaps a master-crafted variant of the standard power mauls with the rumoured 1-time Smite ability.


Flail of the Unforgiven (Deathwing Knights Grand Master): This could honestly be anything, but I'd be surprised it's not AP3 or lower or will seriously suck at challenges. It would also make for a strange unit with 5 storm shields and not a single AP3/AP2 weapon. The shape of the weapon with multiple parts could suggest a re-roll to hit? (it already strikes at S6)


Massive Halberd of Caliban (Deathwing Champion): hmm power axes are already AP2 and have a Strenght boost. This is a 2 handed weapon so it needs to gain something over losing the ability to carry a shield or a gun. More strenght would just make it a bog standard power fist so... do you see where I'm getting? yes looks like there will be some fancy rule here. Astorath's Executioner Axe is a 2-handed axe and its special rule is making your opponent reroll passed invulnerable saves.

Anyway we'll only have to wait a few more days to find out. What are everyone's bets / guesses?

Accepting comissions again!

Well it's been a while but I finally managed to get enough time to accept comissions again. See below some examples of my work. I consider myself to paint high standard table top level, and I've been lucky enough to win best painted army at several tournemants. I can paint in a clean style (like the scouts or DA tacticals) or add weathering and chipping like the DW and DC dread) and use both brush/airbrush.

Anyway let the images do the talking! If you are interested send me an email to "ledzep[mynamehere] at hotmail dot com" or post a comment below.

Deathwing (Airbrush, magnetized arms)






Dark Angels Tacticals (airbrush)

Blood Angels Scouts, brush

Thunderwolf cavalry (brush, magnetized torsos and arms, custom snow base)

Death Company Dread (brush/airbrush, pigments, magnetized to use all options included in the box. Torso swivels around legs!)

 Space Hulk Terminators (conversions, airbrush)

Space Wolf Scout (brush, conversions, snow bases)

6th Ed Blood Angels Codex Review: Fast Attack

Welcome to the latest installment of the Blood Angels codex review for 6th Ed. Now it's time to look at the Fast Attack Choices. Other armies have great units in this slot like Vendettas, Helldrakes or Wraiths. How do Blood Angels fare in this slot? Well we do get some specialized units on top of the bog standard vanilla options. While none of them are especially flashy, there are some very interesting options for certain army styles. You may also want to take a look to the HQs, Elites and Troops review.

The Top Contenders

Vanguard Veterans: This is a unit that can deep strike reliably thanks to the Descent of Angels rule (1D6 scatter, can reroll missed reserves rolls) and can assault straight away the turn it arrives from reserve. This is quite a thing. In most cases this results in Vanguard Vets deep striking T2 with very little dispersion and assaulting a tank, a bubble wrap unit (i.e. Guardsmen so your ASM can access the tanks behind) or a dangerous unit to tarpit it. As always, good things in the 40k world are expensive and VV are no exception - the points start to add up very quickly. Give them a couple of them melta bombs, add a fist and a shield or two and they can reliably take on most things of the 40k universe (protip: always keep them within 6" of a Sang Priest and Libby). The Sergeant has a power or glaive sword by default so I would not add more stuff, said loadout already clocks at a whooping 220 points. The downside for VV  in 6th edition is the ubiquotous random charge lenght - since VV have used their jump packs to arrive from reserve, they can't use it to charge. So no RCL rerolls or hammer of wrath, but still a very interesting unit for certain army styles (i.e. take on the most inmediate threats for hybrid DOA armies, assault AA elements when playing Storm Ravens, stop that Land Raider full of Hammenators in its own DZ, etc).

Vanguard Veterans. Hitting hard since M31

Attack Bikes: Fast melta, T5, ability to get FNP and hide behind Preds / Vindies / Rhinos. This is quite good by itself and doesn't break the bank. Can be taken in units of 3 but are also useful as units of 1. Even with less AV13 or Razor spam armies it is still quite easy to hide the attack bikes, or at least get a cover save. However BA have no problems in getting fast melta through other means (ASM, Land Speeders, Storm Ravens) so there is some competition here. That said attack bikes are cheap and easy to hide and will find its place in many a BA lists. Their ability to maneuver in midfield and get in melta range, or put a couple of wounds in a MC makes them a common sight in the BA armies.

The situational choices

Baal Predators: Their firestorm cannon (S6 AP3 template) is devastating against MEQ, and we're seeing quite a lot of foot slogging marine armies nowadays. With their scout ability they can jeopardize the deployment of marine armies without transports (Rhinos are dead I hear you say?), eradicate Long Fangs and Devs, burn out of cover those pesky home scoring units and overall influence your opponent's deployment. The other option is the twin-linked assault cannon which is undoubtedly a fine gun by itself with good AI/AT duality. Both loadouts clock in at 115 points which is decent for a fast scouting AV13 vehicle; HB / HF sponsons can be added on top but the points add up very quickly. I would however be reluctant to field Baal Preds in 6th Ed as they operate in the 24" or less range, and are hit CC in a 3+/4+. This is pretty bad and means any powerfist, any melta bomb at 24" poses a serious threat, not to mention that it isn't hard to get a few plasma shots at the side AV11 armour. Baal Preds are still playable but require finesse and a very good coordination with the rest of units. Let's not forget their favourable FOC placement, allowing for lists with 6 Fast Predators, or 9 AV13 vehicles by adding 3 Furiosos.


Land Speeders: Same as their vanilla equivalents with a red paintjob. Most of what has been said of attack bikes can be applied to Land Speeders, with the caveat that the attack bikes are easier to hide and get access to FNP. Land Speeders remain to be an interesting choice, being able to threat infantry with the Heavy Flamers, tanks with the Multi-Melta or both with the common 5th Ed loadout of HF/MM. This is probably where Land Speeders are at their best, hiding behind cover or BLOS and being able to flame/melta anything that gets any close. They can't contest objectives like in the past (and really, it's not often that a Land Speeder gets to survive that many turns) but at least they now get Jink cover saves. Other weapon choices like the assault cannon or CML seem expensive for such a fragile platform.

Best leave at home

Bikers: These are the same as their vanilla counterparts but have the big caveat that BA have no bike command squads and can't be made scoring. If you like Marine Bikers, go Ravenwing, White Scars or plain vanilla. At most they will be led by a chaplain and get FNP, which is not bad at all. This is not a cheap proposition however and if you consider that their main purpose will be to move fast and engage an opponent unit, well we know the BA have plenty of hard-hitting, fast moving units elsewhere. So while they are not really bad per se, there's nothing they can do better or for less points than other choices.

Scout bikers: This is probably the only unit I would rate as plainly bad in the FA slot. Scout bikers are meant to be a harassing unit that scouts or outflanks and threatens your opponent from T1 but aren't really great at neither shooting or CC. They also get to place a mine that can kill a few GEQs and that's it. Now units like Vanguard Veterans, ASM or drop-podded Furiosos are a threat from T2 and something your opponent needs to react to or suffer the consequences, but Scout bikers are just a small nuissance that will hardly have any impact in the game's output.

Conclusion

Where other codexes get interesting, different units in their Fast Attack slots (Wraiths, Thunderwolves, Helldrakes, Vendettas to cite but a few) that are featured onto most lists, Blood Angels don't get anything specially good but instead a handful of units that can complement well different army styles. Vanguard Veterans aside the rest of options don't bring anything that other units in the codex can't deliver as well, but they add a different flavour to the list and are usable units. This is when generalship skills influence list-building and some of these units can be very useful in the right hands. Fortunately for the BA players, the rest of FOC slots have great options that make up for a somewhat disappointing FA section.