3++ updated the Blood Rodeo for 6th Ed.back in July. Essentially, I have combined three separate articles to be able bring the concepts together into one place rather than ending up disjointed. Set aside a little time to read it through properly and be able to advance this conversation and Blood Angel army build.
First, bikes are improved. That constant Toughness 5 is a huge benefit.It is like strength five and six weapons with multiple shots where it tips from being lucky to wound to being useful and consistent. It also brushes aside instant death from missiles and melta weapons.Blood Angels' Bike Squads only score in one of the missions and cannot be unlocked as Troops Choices.
Here's the final
5th Edition 3++ Blood Rodeo to review:
HQ -
Librarian w/Bike, Blood Lance & Sanguine Sword
Librarian w/Bike, Blood Lance & Sanguine Sword
Elites -
5x TH/SS Terminators
2x Sanguinary Priest w/Jump Pack, Lightning Claw
Sanguinary Priest w/Jump Pack
Troops -
10x ASM w/2x meltagun, Power Fist, hand flamer
10x ASM w/2x meltagun, Power Fist, hand flamer
5x ASM w/meltagun, infernous pistol, hand flamer, melta bombs
Fast Attack -
8x Bikes w/2x meltagun, Power Fist, Attack Bike w/MM
8x Bikes w/2x meltagun, Power Fist, Attack Bike w/MM
Blood Rodeo is about using a screen of biker models to protect the
FNP/FC Assault Marines of a Blood Angels army for any unwanted
assaults/attention and basically ferry them into combat. In 5th edition this looked at bringing Bikes from the Blood Angels army
who had the benefit of FNP but as we all know, bikes aren't cheap and bikes
without combat tactics are bikes stuck in combat, particularly when they are a
screening force. The ASM + heavy units (TH/SS, Sanguinary Guard, etc.) were
used to try and break that stalemate and the Bikes gave the ASM some extra
ranged dakka and the ability to get off charges against their opponents.
There are a couple of things which make this list and concept
work. The first one is obviously scoring ASM. Whilst scoring bikes are arguably
better, we have scoring ASM which provides the list with the needed mobility,
special weapons and combat prowess across multiple units. Whilst ASM aren’t great
assault troops they are a sight better than Tactical Marines & Bikes and
when combined with the FNP/FC bubbles Blood Angels have access to, they are
greatly improved. This brings us to the 2nd point on why this list works.
FNP/FC bubbles. FNP makes the whole army (Bikes & ASM) very survivable,
especially in combat against anything without power weapons. As stated above,
FC makes the ASM ‘good’ assault troops and even makes Bikes on the charge
better than terrible but it still doesn’t make the army a good combat army as
an entity. This is where the Terminators come in and the major concept of this
list, bubble-wrapping.
This works by
‘wrapping’ the ASM with the combat squadded bikes. The bikes aren’t great in
combat even on the charge w/FC and are a higher toughness (which combined with
FNP makes them very tough against anything which doesn’t ignore saves) and are
therefore better able in this role to accept charges. This protects the ASM
from charges and because ASM have jump packs, they are able to jump over the
combat and assault the units engaged with the Bikes. Ergo, the Rodeo. This
takes advantage of both the FNP and FC aspects of the Blood Chalice to great
effect. Furthermore, with the FAQ changes to FNP/FC bubbles it is also easier
to get the ASM those benefits by tucking the Sanguinary Priests behind the
combat on the bike side (but not engaged in the combat). This is a key part of
how the army works and should be practiced as once FNP disappears you‘ve just
got a bunch of Marines & Bikes who are mediocre in combat. The obvious
alternative is to have the Sanguinary Priests assault with the ASM as you can
get an extra special weapon and a higher WS IC involved.
However, there is
still the glaring weakness of no real scary combat units in this list and
without VV or HG to suck up power weapon hits on storm shields, super combat
units which ignore saves can be very problematic for the Blood Rodeo. Enter
Stelek’s change: Terminators. Whilst TH/SS terminators don’t benefit from
Descent of Angels, deep striking them on the enemy’s side of the engagement
line (where the Bikes & ASM are involved in conflict) provides you with a
huge rock unit which will beat most other rock units in combat (and anything
else besides). This is another key point of the Blood Rodeo, where and when to
deep strike these guys. Sometimes it is better to run the Terminators behind
the Bike bubble-wrap and assault forward as a gap opens and sometimes it’s
better to reserve them and have them walk on. Let’s take a quick look.
Reserve on foot: the only time you really want to do this is when you are playing
defensively against armies like Daemons, Jumpers or Drop Pods. Since the enemy
is approaching you, by the time your Terminators walk on you have either
created a huge “no go” zone for your opponent or will be able to assault
something on the turn your arrive.
Reserve: this should be the most common option as you want your
Terminators to drop behind the engagement line and be able to wreck face by
either threatening more of your opponent’s army or countering super units. The
one problem with this is they may turn up later or earlier than you need them.
Walk: this should generally be against shooty lists with a large
amount of Ap2+ weaponry. Dropping these guys in will generally have them shot
to pieces by such weaponry as your opponent focuses on them. By deploying them
on the table, you’ve forced your opponent to make a choice on what to shoot.
Furthermore, armies like this such as IG and Tau need to be overwhelmed with
targets and don’t really have units the Terminators are designed to counter
anyway. It can also be difficult to bull the Terminators through your lines and
requires a bit of finesse to do so.
So why Terminators?
VV, HG or Sanguinary Guard would fit the theme of Blood Rodeo much better
whilst still providing either a strong combat punch or steely combat defences
through storm shields. For this however, we want both. This rules out
Sanguinary Guard as they are incapable of receiving an invulnerable save. HG
and VV are both options then (particularly VV who can benefit from Descent of
Angels and Heroic Intervention). However, for the point costs Terminators are
flat better as they have both great defences (2+/3++) and can dish out the hurt
with 10-15+ TH attacks. Whilst HG and VV can both get combat weapons like LCs
and storm shields for defence, that’s 35 points just for the upgrades and the
Terminators still have a better armor save and can deal more damage in combat
with their Thunder Hammers. Whilst they have less mobility, with the nature of
the Blood Rodeo they can generally get to where they are needed one turn after
they deep-strike in.
Let’s take a final peek at how the list operates on the table and what its
strengths and weaknesses are. In most games the
Terminators and 1 combat squad of ASM will reserve via Deep-Strike. This allows
the Blood Rodeo to land units behind the engagement line and expand the threat
zone. Whilst Blood Rodeo is a very mobile army, it is susceptible to being
bogged down in combat due to the lack of raw power by the ASM and bikes. The
majority of the time the ASM and Bike squads should therefore be combat
squadded. Whilst this gives you a potential ~15 Kill Points, meh, still less
than mech lists and it gives you a lot more flexibility and mobility. The bikers
then run as a screen for the ASM and will generally turbo-boost T1 for a 3+
cover with the ASM moving and running behind them. This gets the whole army
(minus what’s in reserve) in your face very quickly and once the Bikes are
engaged in combat, the ASM can jump over them and assault the units behind.
It’s important to attempt to focus the PFists squads on a unit you want dead
which the Terminators are unable to get to. The army also has a large amount of
melta and flamer weapons with which to tackle both infantry and tank based
armies and it’s important to try and de-mech your opponent ASAP so your ASM can
benefit on the charge. Remember, the Bikes are there to accept charges and die
whilst the real damage in combat comes from mass ASM attacks and the
Terminators.
Here's the 6th Edition Version of the 3++ Blood Rodeo.
HQ
Librarian w/Bike, Shield of Sanguine, Unleash Rage
Elites
2x Priest w/Jump Pack, Power Weapon
Troops
3x10x ASM w/meltaguns, PFist
Ally
HQ
Captain w/Bike, Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer, Artificer Armor
Command Squad, Bikes, 4x Storm Shields, 4x Power Axes8x Bikes w/2x
meltaguns, Attack Bike w/MM
Troops
5x Bikes w/2x meltaguns, Attack Bike w/MM
195 points gives us the basic squad with Bikes & FNP, so only 60
points left. Yikes. They cannot get any armor upgrades so storm shields to
avoid death to power weapons is pretty important. There goes all 60 points. A
Lightning Claw is what was used previously and they are still probably a good
bet as the storm shield takes away the advantages of the power weapon for
getting +1A. The Librarian is also giving them Unleash Rage which will be
helpful in making sure those hits count. I'd stick with Lightning Claws at this
point - without the +1A you're not going to benefit at all with power weapons,
Lances without Hit & Run are risky, particularly with the fearless units
abound, Axes you're just better off getting the Thunderhammer or Powerfist for
and Mauls will have issue punching through Marine armor though could be usable
for simple torrent. However, this unit is being run to deal with Terminators
and the like in combat so running mass Power Axes might be a good idea - leave
the anti-infantry/Marines up to the ASM.
Regardless, I'd pay the extra 15 points per model for a power weapon of some
type - if you end up using all Lightning Claws change the 4th one to a
Thunderhammer/PFist and if you end up using Power Axes, you can forego the last
(but grab some melta bombs in combat). Command Squad, Bikes, 4x Storm Shields, 4x Power Axes. At a minimum this puts you 60 points over. Time to shave some points and we'd
also like to buff our Captain a bit. We want to keep our ASM core - 30 ASM is
the minimum you really need to break things open and that's only the case
because we have some other scoring units + the Command squad. We'll look to
trim from one of the Bike squads then and turn one full squad into a half
squad. A full squad costs 280 whilst a half squad costs 205 giving us the 60
extra we needed for the Command Squad and 15 to play with. Perfect...
We can drop a final Bike from the small squad (still five strong with AB
so counts as a Troops unit) to get some extras here and there on the characters
or Command Squad (like plasma weapons, melta-bombs, etc.). Otherwise, that's
Blood Rodeo taken to 6th edition.
There's still a bit of inefficiency with the Priests + ASM and potentially
running this with the Marines as the parent list with attached ASM and then
some Hybridity with Dreadnoughts/Predators running around wouldn't go amiss.
The theory still works and as we looked at before with Jumpers in general, they
should fare fine in 6th edition. Bikers as a pure army probably aren't going to
work any longer - low model count with reduced cover hurts, particularly with
more AP2 weapons out there but should still work fine as a Hybrid army - as is
the case here. There are 50+ T4/5/3+ models out there and most of them have
FNP, so even mass plasma isn't going to chew through them. All platforms are
fast so mass melta is still an excellent option, particularly as they are
looking to engage the enemy though some Plasma might not got amiss on the Bike
platforms. Impact hits from both units can help raise the damage in combat but
it's still important to take down MCs/Dreads before engaging them, particularly
with the ASM who do not have combat tactics. Flyers will be an issue and you
could replace something on the Libby for Blood Lance but even then, that's only
one option and this lack combined with a general increase in power for 2+ saves in combat will probably
see this specific Jumper build be less viable than it was in 5th. Anti-infantry
is again mostly combat related outside of the Bikes bolters and with large
fearless units coming to play, this may end up being an issue for such armies
in 6th.
The updated Blood Rodeo is better. Although it has lost some durability, it has significantly increased its objective scoring power significantly. It is also more mobile losing the Assault Terminators. Without needing to deepstrike the Assault Terminators, it allows more of your army on the table immediately. As Stelek has already mentioned, Turn 2 is the new Alpha Strike. There are serious problems with leaving too much of your army in reserve with the decrease in cover and increase in power of overall shooting.
It is also nice for your opponent to see an interesting army being put across the table from them and that isn't Ravenwing. Please post your thoughts and ideas to improve this list in the comments.
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