The Complete Blood Angels Beginner Guide: Key Stratagems, Units and Strategies
The Blood Angels are a brutal close assault army, but they're not exclusively melee. They have some great ranged firepower options to support your Red Thirst induced charges. Just like the red angels you command, your effectiveness as a commander will be your ability to resist your more violent urges in applying firepower, before ripping off heads!
The goal of the following section of the Complete Beginners Guide to Blood Angels is not to give an all encompassing discussion of every unit and combination in the codex. Instead, it'll be looking at the unique flavours of the faction, and the primary strategies or tactics you'll be using in your first few games.
Just like any Space Marine army your goal will be to dictate the flow of battle, using your more flexible troops to counter enemy plans. You won't have the numbers to absorb a lot of damage, but you should be able to mitigate a good deal of it through assaulting artillery, 2+ cover saves and sheer faith in the Emperor.
Faith rarely works though, so stick to cover and assaults. As a rule of thumb, shoot the melee specialists from cover, and assault the shooting specialists, and never let the enemy have their own way.
Blood Angels excel at the assaulting half of that philosophy, and will usually have enough jump pack troops to put chainswords exactly where the enemy doesn't want them. They are quite capable of puling off hard hitting first turn charges, even with the recent changes to Tactical Reserves. Most units will have brutal charges, and can be quite decisive.
However.
Blood Angels are not a purely assault army. Your Troops choices are mostly ranged combatants, and the number of specialist shooting units does actually outweigh the number of close combat units. Furthermore, Blood Angels are at their best on the charge, and normal Space Marines in the next round or two of combat.
What this means is that your charges need to be well targeted, and decisive. You don't want to be trapped in protracted combat, despite the protection it can provide from shooting. Ideally you will be delivering devastating charges in your own turn, and mopping up broken and bewildered survivors in the enemy's turn. This will allow you to move on to new targets in your turn.
To make that a reality, soften up charge targets with your firepower. Build a balanced force with this goal in mind.
That's not 3d6 and pick the highest, but 3d6, for a maximum of 18-inches. An average roll is 10.5-inches, which means you'll be getting your charge in about 75% of the time (which you can burn another CP for to re-roll the charge).
That's really good for melee units arriving by Deep Strike, but has been somewhat muted by the recent Tactical Reserves changes. It's still great for Turn 2 reserve melee units, and means that they can still swing their swords in the turn they arrive. Okay, they could do that already if they were just deployed normally, but this way they don't get shot up moving up the field.
Of course, if you wanted to combine into a huge meta-stratagem:
Fluff wise your hero is a dead man though, but you could change his name every game as a running gag.
... Just don't be too annoyed when an Alpha Legion Khorne Beserker unit does the exact same thing for 1CP.
These poor Sons of Sanguinius have succumbed to the Black Rage, and are plagued by visions of their primarch's death. Some go to the point where they believe they are Sanguinius in his last moments as he fought the arch-traitor Horus, and mark their armour where they received wounds in their visions.
They are an exceptionally flexible unit. Whereas before they were considered Loyalist Khorne Beserkers, with those Chaos Cut marines going to new heights of close combat specialisation (Strength 5, fighting twice each turn etc.), it is going to be unfair to compare the two. Instead, let's look at some of the benefits of the Death Company.
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Troops
Part 3: Key Stratagems, Units and Strategies
Part 4: Your First Army
Other Blood Angels articles
Until next time!
Thanks for reading.
If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Sharing this with your friends, and following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ would also be hugely appreciated.
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If you want to support me directly, use the affiliate links below. I get a small percentage of purchases you make her, and you get cheaper miniatures! If you really love what I do here, you can make a one off donation at my PayPal, or become a true hero to table top education and make a regular donation to my Patreon. Every Little helps!
The goal of the following section of the Complete Beginners Guide to Blood Angels is not to give an all encompassing discussion of every unit and combination in the codex. Instead, it'll be looking at the unique flavours of the faction, and the primary strategies or tactics you'll be using in your first few games.
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| Amazing picture by zmanwoo |
Overall Army Aim
Just like any Space Marine army your goal will be to dictate the flow of battle, using your more flexible troops to counter enemy plans. You won't have the numbers to absorb a lot of damage, but you should be able to mitigate a good deal of it through assaulting artillery, 2+ cover saves and sheer faith in the Emperor.
Faith rarely works though, so stick to cover and assaults. As a rule of thumb, shoot the melee specialists from cover, and assault the shooting specialists, and never let the enemy have their own way.
Blood Angels excel at the assaulting half of that philosophy, and will usually have enough jump pack troops to put chainswords exactly where the enemy doesn't want them. They are quite capable of puling off hard hitting first turn charges, even with the recent changes to Tactical Reserves. Most units will have brutal charges, and can be quite decisive.
However.
Blood Angels are not a purely assault army. Your Troops choices are mostly ranged combatants, and the number of specialist shooting units does actually outweigh the number of close combat units. Furthermore, Blood Angels are at their best on the charge, and normal Space Marines in the next round or two of combat.
What this means is that your charges need to be well targeted, and decisive. You don't want to be trapped in protracted combat, despite the protection it can provide from shooting. Ideally you will be delivering devastating charges in your own turn, and mopping up broken and bewildered survivors in the enemy's turn. This will allow you to move on to new targets in your turn.
To make that a reality, soften up charge targets with your firepower. Build a balanced force with this goal in mind.
In summary:
- Shoot the melee specialists, and assault the battered survivors.
- Close gaps and melee the shooting specialists.
- Apply firepower until you know your charge will wipe the enemy, or at even better, allow you to finish them off in two melee phases.
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| Unknown image... if you know whose it is let me know! |
Key Stratagems
CP = Command PointUpon Wings of Fire (1CP)
- Remove jump pack unit from battlefield in Movement phase, and Deep Strike it elsewhere with usual restrictions.
Descent of Angels (2CP)
- For a unit that arrived by Jump Pack Assault, roll 3d6 dice in the charge phase.
That's not 3d6 and pick the highest, but 3d6, for a maximum of 18-inches. An average roll is 10.5-inches, which means you'll be getting your charge in about 75% of the time (which you can burn another CP for to re-roll the charge).
That's really good for melee units arriving by Deep Strike, but has been somewhat muted by the recent Tactical Reserves changes. It's still great for Turn 2 reserve melee units, and means that they can still swing their swords in the turn they arrive. Okay, they could do that already if they were just deployed normally, but this way they don't get shot up moving up the field.
Of course, if you wanted to combine into a huge meta-stratagem:
Angels Descending Upon Wings of Fire (3CP)
- Deploy unit normally.
- Use Upon Wings of Fire to Deep Strike Turn 1.
- Use Descent of Angels to ensure your charge.
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| Unknown image... if you know whose it is let me know! |
Forlorn Fury (2CP)
- Death Company can move and Advance before Turn 1 starts.
Death Visions of Sanguinius (1CP)
- Non-named, non-primaris character gains Black Rage.
Fluff wise your hero is a dead man though, but you could change his name every game as a running gag.
Honour the Chapter (3CP)
- Attack again in the fight phase
... Just don't be too annoyed when an Alpha Legion Khorne Beserker unit does the exact same thing for 1CP.
Key Units
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| Image from Games Workshop |
Death Company
These poor Sons of Sanguinius have succumbed to the Black Rage, and are plagued by visions of their primarch's death. Some go to the point where they believe they are Sanguinius in his last moments as he fought the arch-traitor Horus, and mark their armour where they received wounds in their visions.
They are an exceptionally flexible unit. Whereas before they were considered Loyalist Khorne Beserkers, with those Chaos Cut marines going to new heights of close combat specialisation (Strength 5, fighting twice each turn etc.), it is going to be unfair to compare the two. Instead, let's look at some of the benefits of the Death Company.
- Jump packs allow them greater board presence, able to menace nearly the entire board (particularly through clever use of Wings of Fire).
- They can carry a bolter for decent ranged firepower in addition to close combat prowess.
- They can all carry hand-flamers, or plasma pistols and power weapons for dedicated elite or horde hunting.
- They have a unique stratagem which allows a movement phase as before the battle, meaning they can be in the enemy deployment zone on turn one.
- They have an extra attack on the charge (so 4 attacks each when armed with chainswords, with +1 to wounds).
- They have a 6+ ignore wound roll, which makes them just that much tougher than other close combat units.
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| Image from Games Workshop |
Recommendation: Vanguard Veterans and Sanguiary Guard fill the role of elite hunting melee units. I would tool the Death Company up with hand flamers and chainswords and go Troop hunting. They'll kick out more attacks than your other options, and can survive the mob a little longer.
Sanguinary Guard
Golden clad bodyguards, doing the Stormcast Eternal armoured angelic motif before Games Workshop even thought about the End Times. They fulfil a terminator role, but are equipped with jet packs to complete the vengeful angel theme.
An excellent elite unit, their models are some of the best Games Workshop has ever produced. They stand out well on the battlefield, with unique jet pack designs and armour. They have some really good options to give an army.
- Minimum unit size of 4, meaning you can model one of them into an Elite slot character (like the standard bearer) and not have to buy another box.
- Two wounds each and and a 2+ save means they're quite durable, but will certainly attract a lot of firepower (and sadly no invulnerable save).
- They all carry d3 Power Weapons.
- They have a very good bolter, which is Assault 2 and AP -1
- If next to the Warlord they re-roll To-Hit rolls.
- Can take Sanguinary Masks which lower Leadership
Recommendation: These are a good bodyguard/elite infantry hunting unit. They will not do as well against hordes as Death Company, or put out as much damage, but they have a good edge in durability compared to other options.
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| Image from Games Workshop |
Unique Dreadnoughts
Blood Angels have a great selection of dreadnoughts, and what they're for is fairly obvious. Both Furiosos and Death Company Dreadnoughts are close combat monsters, but try to avoid them being stuck in cheap horde units. They don't put out enough attacks to deal with very large units, and can be stuck thumping away at them for a few turns.
If you must though, pack an Inferno Canon on the Furioso Dreadnought, along with a heavy flamer. They will neatly deal with hordes!
Librarian Dreadnoughts are still a Blood Angel exclusive, and are a very good melee platform. They have a psychic power which enables them to fly across the battlefield like they were equipped with a jump pack, so they can be up in the enemy's face very quickly indeed.
Recommendation: If you like the models and want to take them, just be conscious that they are not invulnerable, and that they don't put out enough melee attacks to effectively deal with large mob units in combat.
Recommendation: If you like the models and want to take them, just be conscious that they are not invulnerable, and that they don't put out enough melee attacks to effectively deal with large mob units in combat.
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| Image from Games Workshop |
Baal Predators
A quick mention of this... it's nice as a variant to the Predator tank, but is somewhat awkward in practise. It can carry a good chunk of anti-infantry firepower, but a Razorback does a similar job for cheaper, at the cost of 1 wound and the Overcharged Engines. Overcharged engines sound good on paper, but you'll be losing a round of shooting to make much use of them as all the weapon options on the tank are Heavy.
With that said, the Flamestorm/heavy flamer variant makes for a hilarious anti-air tank, provided you park underneath a plane. Since the weapons automatically hit, then there's no benefit from super-sonic, and planes tend to be weakly armoured anyway.
Recommendation: A beast of a guard tank, but there's more flexible options available to you. You can somewhat model the Predator in the Start Collecting kit as a Razorback if your budget is stretched.
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| Image from Games Workshop |
Assault squads
Not a great melee unit, but notable in Blood Angels armies for being able to put 3 special weapons wherever you want on the battle field (dual special weapon and combi weapon on Sergeant). This can be done on Turn 2 via Jump pack Assault, or Turn 1 by burning Command Points for On Wings of Fire.
Recommendation: Triple plasma makes for a great harassing unit, and triple meltaguns can be a good anti-tank hunting unit. Never underestimate the surprise factor of a melta-squad dropping in behind that dreadnought working its way up the field.
Yes, that's 10 plasma shots which can Deep Strike or use Wings of Fire to hurt the enemy in their weakest point at any time. Pair with a jump pack Lieutenant and Captain for a very mobile fire base. Model with doves on the bases to make John Woo proud!
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| Image from Games Workshop |
Vanguard Veterans
Traditionally good melee unit, able to field power weapons and storm shields. I personally loved them, and built entire Raven Guard armies around them. But they also have something very special they can do... you can swap out bolt pistols and chainswords for dual plasma pistols. On every model. And they have jet packs.Yes, that's 10 plasma shots which can Deep Strike or use Wings of Fire to hurt the enemy in their weakest point at any time. Pair with a jump pack Lieutenant and Captain for a very mobile fire base. Model with doves on the bases to make John Woo proud!
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| Image from Games Workshop |
Special Characters
As this is a beginner guide, I'm not going into detail about Named Characters. However, it's worth noting that Blood Angels have one of the biggest stables of Named Characters for any faction, all of which can drastically change your strategies. Have fun reading about them!
Recommendation: Mephiston is very scary, both in fluff and crunch.
There are much more options available to you as a Blood Angel player, and there are probably some who are shouting at their monitors about me not mentioning Bikers or going into more detail about Vanguard Vets. Those are very strong units, but they're not uniquely Blood Angel. If you write a compelling case for them being the best units for Blood Angels though, please write it down in the comments below!
Next time we'll put together a starter 500 point army, which should get you into battles quickly.
Recommendation: Mephiston is very scary, both in fluff and crunch.
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| Uknown image.... if you know whose it is let me know! |
In conclusion
There are much more options available to you as a Blood Angel player, and there are probably some who are shouting at their monitors about me not mentioning Bikers or going into more detail about Vanguard Vets. Those are very strong units, but they're not uniquely Blood Angel. If you write a compelling case for them being the best units for Blood Angels though, please write it down in the comments below!
Next time we'll put together a starter 500 point army, which should get you into battles quickly.
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Troops
Part 3: Key Stratagems, Units and Strategies
Part 4: Your First Army
Other Blood Angels articles
Until next time!
Thanks for reading.
If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Sharing this with your friends, and following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ would also be hugely appreciated.
If you have anything you want me to look at, let me know in the comments below. I'll probably be able to write an article about that topic within a day!
If you want to support me directly, use the affiliate links below. I get a small percentage of purchases you make her, and you get cheaper miniatures! If you really love what I do here, you can make a one off donation at my PayPal, or become a true hero to table top education and make a regular donation to my Patreon. Every Little helps!
nice! Thanks for sharing and good too feel some of my own ideas for my (in progress) BA army are on the right track. I got the Baal Pred with the Start Collecting kit and would really like to make it work. It's potentially monstrous in anti infantry role and with the auto hits negating the minus from the move... it just needs to be kept safe but close to the skirmish line. .. while not getting smashed by enemy tanks and lazors!!
ReplyDeleteWould it work if you could follow the Death Company up the field moping up things that withdraw from combat with them?
Thanks for commenting! The Baal Predator is fairly monstrous provided you use it against its intended target: shredding light to medium infantry. I've written before about Firepower units being best used to destroy Objective Secured Troops. Crippling the enemy army's ability to score objectives nets you a win at the end of the game.
DeleteIt's hard to justify the points investment on the Predator though, with the Razorback doing largely the same job. I think the Baal Predator is best used to zoom into a position that puts it in a good field of fire of an objective, and put the fear of Sanguinius into any Troop that thinks of taking it. The difference between the Razorback and the Predator is the Predator finding a good place to park early on in the game, and the Razorback moving up with the main battle line.