My favourite army through 5th edition without a doubt - these guys saw me through for an invitation to the 2012 masters. (I think i finished 17th but someone dropped out!)
The army was based on 5 units. Yes, just 5 - Here's the army list;
Mephiston, Lord of Mind Games - 250
3 Sanguinary Priests - 2 Power Weapons - 180
Assault Squad - Meltagun, Power Weapon Meltabomb - 130
Razorback - Lascannon twin Plasmagun, Searchlight - 56
Assault Squad - Meltagun, Power Weapon Meltabomb - 130
Razorback - Lascannon twin Plasmagun, Searchlight - 56
Assault Squad - Meltagun, Power Weapon Meltabomb - 130
Razorback - Lascannon twin Plasmagun, Searchlight - 56
Assault Squad - Meltagun, Power Weapon Meltabomb - 130
Razorback - Lascannon twin Plasmagun, Searchlight - 56
Attack Bike - Multimelta - 50
Attack Bike - Multimelta - 50
Attack Bike - Multimelta - 50
Devestator Squad - 4 Missile Launchers - 130
Devestator Squad - 4 Missile Launchers - 130
Devestator Squad - 4 Missile Launchers - 130
(list is around 1710, would throw in a mix of Dozer Blades or Extra Armour dependant on how important troops were at the tournament)
Ok, so why was this army good?
- Mephiston threat bubble (12" move, d6" fleet, 6" assault, potential 24")
- The abundance of 4+ FNP throughout the whole army (incl meph and the rockets).
- Fast multimeltas for that pesky av 13+.
- In my opinion the best utility troop choice in the game. Whatever they couldn't kill in the shooting phase they would deal with in assault.
- Great fire support from the razorbacks and 12 missile launchers. Once you got those rockets into area terrain they were very hard to shift with the 3+/4+/4+.
- AV 11 tanks for getting into cover, protecting my troops inside and the attack bikes behind.
- Initiative 5 power weapons on the charge. Strength 5 wasn't too bad either! Killing those inferior brother chapters on a 3+
'Does my army work in 6th?'
The answer is probably not, unless you were using Necrons.
So let's look at some specifics, what's changed in generic rules terms for team Edward? Those of you that have begun to flirt with the new rules will notice that every single point above has changed for 6th....Do'h!
- No more extra movement on fleet for Mr Meph, but a reroll of the 2d6 charge is nothing to be sniffed at. Threat range going from 21" to around about 19" with a reroll on charge is a big difference, especially when its all being affected by terrain. Although access to psychic powers (especially the biomancy ones, +d3 Str and T anyone?) could be veeeery interesting for this fella
- FNP has shifted from a 4+ ignore by ap 1 2, power weapons and double toughness to a 5+ just ignored by double toughness. Not sure how i feel about this, 5+ saves (damn you trollkin tough saves that i never make) never seem to be reliable enough to mix into a game plan. Maybe this is how venom spam players feel?
- Blood angels no longer striking at initiative 5 when they charge is a seriously big deal. The ability to hit without retaliation in 5th was very strong. Expect to lose a lot more red models this time around if you're going combat with initiative 4.
- Fire support was great in 5th with the abundance of tanks that needed destroying. No glance shenanigans back then. Nowadays are we going to see less tanks? I would imagine so. And are they easier to kill? Yes. Perhaps not such a need for all these heavy weapons? Autocannons are the way forward!
- Fast melta may still be needed, and the bikes can pretty much take care of themselves nowadays what with only being instant killed by str 10 and a jink save.
So let's take a look at some generic rules that are going to affect the Blood Angels as a whole.
Rage - Oh hello! Ding ding ding we have a winner. Previously rage was very bad - so much so that you just simply could not take units that had it. Having to move towards closest units is not what you want to be doing and was very easy for your opponent to take advantage of (sending out a rhino for them to chase all game)
Now Rage gives you +2 attacks on the charge and has no detrimental affects. I cannot stress how this is such a win for this army. Time to dust off your Death Company and Death Company Dreads and get them onto the table.
Fearless - Win! Again fearless has been changed to have no major detrimental effects. No longer do units with this rule take saves when losing a combat, you simply do not run away. The standard passing all morale/leadership/pinning tests still applies. All gravy - there is a but though. Be aware that you cannot declare to automatically fail your Our Weapons are Useless rule and therefor will still be stuck in combat with dreadnoughts with or without a power fist!
Capturing Objectives - Right lads let's actually get out of the tank and do some work shall we? No more sitting in those rhinos and claiming that objectives whilst you opponent bounces rockets off your cover save. Something to think about is how weight of fire is going to play a big part in moving units from objectives. 3+ 5++ fnp is good, but not against 50 boltguns when you have 5 marines.
So back to the drawing board i guess? I'm going to do this the old fashioned way - and I'd recommend you do too (or find someone on the internets that already has!) by looking at each individual unit from the codex and re-evaluating what they can bring to the army.
Until next time...
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