It has been sparse out there on the Internet for BA content and other blogs already have gone on unofficial hiatus or have shifted their focus to other armies. You can see almost all of them in the blogroll on the right. Instead, enjoy some Demon slaughter and rising Red Thirst.
I think for me it is just that there is nothing really new since 6th ed came out... The Flier conversion for the Storm Raves is neat, but the Raven was never really severely undercosted like the IG's Vendetta or the Necron things that became fliers so it really isn't as much a problem for folks to face, nor is it overpowering for us to field. Vehicles are still decent, but going all Infantry has taken a serious hit with the Chaos Heldrake release... To be honest, my Fleshtearers simply cannot compete with a well designed CSM army. Yes, I now HAVE a Raven (kind of, picked up a conversion of a Valkyrie in a trade), so I have a chance...
ReplyDeleteWe did not get a new flier, limiting the fliers to specific books seems an odd one for a company wanting to sell more models... Especially since the Raven is no longer GK/BA only now... Now it is only my Wolves who completely lack a flier... No real defense against fliers either. Yes, we CAN take an Aegis/Bastion with the gun mount, but... Once people have figured out how to avoid/deal with it, not so good and you wind up playing down a fair number of points against the other army...
Losing the ability to fully reserve completely killed my full Drop army. Making the "gun line" or "leaf blower" armies more powerful... Now with so many "ignore cover" weapons and options, the old standby of Scouts or even troops holding ruins or other cover is simply not a viable option...
So: no new content, the loss of one or more viable deployment options and an inability to realistically deal with fliers on their own... Well, makes fielding my old FT force far less appealing. :-) Sorry, a bit down at the moment about a lot of the changes and appearance of "Codex Creep"... YMMV as always...
That is the unfortunate thing. The codex cannot be played as it was meant to be. Its strengths have been limited and its weaknesses have not been improved enough to offset this.
ReplyDeleteThough, i'm stuck with Blood Angels for many reasons. First and most important: i've spent a lot of money on them and can't afford to spend the same amount of cash (or even lot less) to build a new army. Second: it took me more than 2 years to fully paint a decent force, now it really pisses me to start again from scratch. Third: it's silly from GW and deeply insulting to simply render obsolete an army people have spent so much money and time to build. So, for people like me who are stuck with Blood Angels, willing or not, can you make some posts explaining what kind of tactics we can adopt, how we can build our lists etc...? Would be really useful, thanks.
ReplyDeletewhatsgoingon, thanks for dropping by. If you want a "competitive" army, essentially you need to make your Blood Angels an ally to a better army like IG for example. Your next best choice is to keep your BA as primary and ally it with another army. I only run pure BA though.
ReplyDeleteTactics are generally at the unit level while strategy is probably what you mean. My thoughts on this are that you need to create unbalanced lists which will mean you will smash your enemy or get rolled over because our codex is not able to create an effective enough all-comers list. I will be dealing with this in future posts but graduate school, job and children are keeping me very busy.
That sounds interesting, looking forward to it. Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteHow are pods not an option? The 50% rule dosnt apply since the unit has to start i. Reserve, and you don't get whiper for no models on the board. It clearly states game turn not player turn in faq. i found pod ras and pod sg with priests to be verry lethal. and hg with meltas placed right can hurt or take down most flyers.
ReplyDeletePlease remember to always cite where you get a rule from and page so everyone can find it.
ReplyDeleteMain Rule Book FAQ 1.4 (April)
Page 10
Q: Do units that are transported in a vehicle that MUST start in
reserve count towards the number of units that can be placed in
Reserves? For example, must I count the units in a Drop Pod or
Valkyrie towards the 50% of units I can place in Reserves? (p124)
A: No.
When PChappel said drop, I think maybe he meant like a Descent of Angels list rather than a drop pod list.
I'm no expert, but i'll throw in my 2 cents.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion our BA armies should still be fine. DOA lists, although fun to play, were never competitive. You just have to set up a more well rounded list.
Things that still are strong:
Going full mech is not as nerfed as it appears to in 6th, yes it is easier to glance veichles to death, but you will get more dmg off due to less stuns.
BA Razorspam (TL plasma, LC) with libby shield for cover saves let us move and shoot very well, with the added shield from libby 5+ they can still take a beating.
Death Company:
Boltgun DC are now extremly cost effective per point. They shoot, assault and soak dmg very well. For 20 points per model they are also MVP's against the plasma meta (fnp). If you throw in a power axe and a sword they can deal with most units pretty well. POD and Rhino as viable transports, though pod seems strongest.
Bikes:
Bikes are strong in 6th, and our bike squads while not unique for BA are still something we can field.
Assault Marines
Still viable running with jump packs and starting on the table. Space wolves meq might be stronger head to head, but mobility and controling assault ranges is still an advangtage they do not have.
Devestator squads still very strong vs horde, power armor and MC.
Aegis Defense Line something to consider now.
Sternguard: Alot of strategy discussion on them, worth taking a look at.
Allies:
This is probably a requirement for most races in a competitive tournament list. BA being no exclusion. IG and Dark Angels seem like strong picks off the top of my head.
Stormraven: Overrated
My conclusion in 6th so far.
People are still winning tournaments with outdated codexes. Strategy, execution and plain old dumb luck count for alot. Mobility is often overlooked because it's harder to measure.
Anon, it's true, the problem is also psychological as top "competitive" players also know that another army can do what the Blood Angels can in a build but more efficiently. You want bikes, you run Ravenwing. You want Devastators, you run Space Wolves Long Fangs, and you need to take an ally if you want cheap troops.
ReplyDeleteYour competitive advantage is essentially knowing your army inside out and beating the guy across the table from you rather than just his list.
Yeah, SW do dev's slightly better and Vanilla does Bikes slightly better, but we bring Fast mech and DC to the table. Fast tanks have better synergi with bikes.
ReplyDeleteI think DC are extremly strong in 6th, though i think people in general are using DC incorrectly. I see people pimping them out with either Jump packs or to many power weapons, pushing the avg. cost anywhere from 35-45 points.
They simply are to efficient to just focus down for the opposing team.
Keeping the cost of them to around 23 points (8 with boltgun,2 axe/fist) you are looking at a rather cheap unit with rapid fire and 10 ap2 attacks on the charge.
I'm not sure how you can get 10 AP 2 attacks from two DC.
ReplyDelete3+1+2? or is it 2+1+2? Base attacks,assault and rage.
ReplyDeleteWhops,confusing myself here. They get +2 on assault 1+1 and have 3 in base?
ReplyDeleteYou dont really need power weapons invested though. 10 Boltgun DC and a chaplain (300points) will on avreage do over 5 unsaved wounds vs a TH/SS squad before they can strike back. Rapid fire (20) then 40 attacks on charge. 60 attacks (40 with reroll tohit/wound)
ReplyDeleteThough getting successful assault can be difficult without a land raider.
If you have two Death Company with axes, I count two base attacks x 2 models = 4 base attacks. They get two more each on the charge (Black Rage) which brings this up to 8 total.
ReplyDeleteQuote rules, please!
Big Rule Book p. 41 (Rage)
In a turn in which a model with this special rule charges into combat, it gains +2 Attacks for charging, rather than +1...
+1 A for having 2 CCW's
ReplyDeleteI believe you need to have two axes or two power fists on the same model to get that bonus.
ReplyDeleteIt does work for the bolt pistol/ chainsword combo, though.
axes are regular power weapons, therefore they do not need an additional "specialist" weapon for the extra attack in CC.
Delete