Codex: Blood Angels

Okay, now that we're only three weeks away from the release of the new Blood Angels codex, we have a lot more solid information as to what's in it by people that have seen the actual book.

One of the things I want to talk about is the Descent of Angels ability. The entire army is subject to this rule and it is rumored to say that all Blood Angels models wearing Jump Packs may re-roll their reserve roll and they roll only one d6 for scatter. I really really like this rule as it seems the Blood Angels would definitely have a firm grasp on how to land after using their Jump Packs, however I don't think they're good enough with them to get a rule like that. They're an assault army and the Jump Pack is just another tool to them from what I've read over the years. The entire army should have Furious Charge by default, or at least get to pay for it for a few extra points per model as opposed to being Deep Strike masters. I see a rule like that belonging more to Raven Guard instead, as a majority of their army is either in Jump Packs or Speeders.

Another rule I'd like to talk about is how some of our vehicles are now "fast". I have one word to sum up my opinion on that: "excellent". I'm tired of rolling for Over-Charged Engines (OCE) as most of the time in my games I either roll a one meaning the vehicle couldn't move that turn or I'd roll a two or three and move as normal anyways. Now not only do we get the effect automatically but they expanded the ability from Rhinos and Baal Predators to Razorbacks and Vindicators. This is going to give the army a better ability to respond to situations, grab/contest objectives at the last minute, and just plain get across the table faster. I'm going to be watching a lot of battle reports this summer and probably making a few myself to see how much more of an impact this rule will make.

And finally, the most talked about entry in the Blood Angels codex is their new skimmer. So far it has been called the Storm Harbinger and the Stormraven, and it's inclusion in the army has been debated since late January when the original rumors of it's existence surfaced. Apparently it will actually be in the codex though the model won't be a first wave release. My guess is that they'll make it a summer release with any other Apocalypse super heavies that might be planned for that time. I'm also thinking there will be a third book for Apocalypse allowing all chapters of Space Marines to use it as Games Workshop is probably not going to spend that much money on a plastic mold for one army.

Well, I gotta run, so be on the lookout for new videos on my Sons of Sanguinius YouTube channel in the next week or so as I start to review the rumors during the lead-up to the release!

News and Updates

I know hit has been two weeks since I've posted anything on this blog, and I apologize to anyone who's been reading this. I've been fairly busy and have had a lot going on, but I'm back and this time with a few updates.

First, we all know that the Blood Angels 5th edition codex has been around the Internet and back now, but apparently there's a problem with it. Reports have hit Bell of Lost Souls that the PDF that has been floating around may not be entirely accurate. We know that most of their rumors came DIRECTLY from the PDF so at the moment everything is in limbo. However, when you sit back and think about what could possibly be presented in a new Blood Angels codex, the PDF is likely not far off. So I say go ahead and play-test it and see how you like it, because I'm thinking that it's not far off from what will be hitting shelves this April.

Second, with the new Tyranids codex having been out for a month now, there are some interesting strategies (and arguments) that have been going around. It's still too early to tell what the new standard Nid list is, but there are several units that appear to be a mainstay across the board. Over the next few weeks I'll post some unit reviews and interesting combos that are hidden in the book.

And third, after receiving my tax return one of the things I decided to do was complete my Chaos Daemon army (of the Khorne variety). I picked up a couple of new units and finally rounded out the army. I'll be posting pictures of the collection soon along with maybe some battle reports.

So, be on the lookout for new posts as I get a few things in order. This should be an interesting spring!

2,000 points - new Blood Angels

Here's something I came up with after going through the new Blood Angels codex (well, at least the rumors) a few times.

2,000 points:

HQ
Astorath the Grim

Elites
7x Veteran Assault Marines (2 Inferno Pistols, 2 Power Weapons)
-Storm Harbinger (Twin-Linked Flamer)

Troops
10x Tactical Marines (Flamer, Missile Launcher, Inferno Pistol, Power Fist)
-Storm Harbinger (Twin-Linked Flamer)
10x Tactical Marines (Flamer, Missile Launcher, Inferno Pistol, Power Fist)
-Storm Harbinger (Twin-Linked Flamer)
10x Tactical Marines (Flamer, Missile Launcher, Inferno Pistol, Power Weapon)
-Rhino

Fast Attack
8x Scout Bikes (Inferno Pistol, Power Weapon)
10x Exalted

60 models, 4 vehicles

So with 3 Storm Harbingers I figured I'd be able to put my army where I wanted to while still being able to pull some dirty Eldar/Tau tricks of mobility/denial. The Scout Bikes let me place a Stealth Locator Beacon anywhere on the table so that I can have deep-strikers not scatter, so I can place X amount of Storm Harbingers (or the Exalted) in reserves and have them freely enter the opponents side of the table and wreak havoc. Astorath will of course join the Veterans in their Storm Harbinger, so I'll be able to hop out after going 12" and still assault with 3 models with power weapons. Additionally, Astorath makes the entire army Stubborn so no silly Red Thirst for this list! And I know there's no Death Company, but I wanted to try making a Blood Angels list where I didn't feel like I was REQUIRED to take them.

This is just an initial look at the possibilities that lie in the new Blood Angels codex, coming out in April. This list isn't "perfect" but it seems pretty cool considering we're now able to do things well that we couldn't do at all in the last codex.

Here's to hoping that the rumors are true!

Blood Angels

After compiling a lot of the rumors and having seen the PDF that is floating around, I am very excited about the new Blood Angels codex.

There's a lot going on with this codex and it will DEFINITELY need a good read-through before designing any lists, so I'm going to be reviewing each unit on my YouTube channel starting when it releases.

Until then, be on the look-out for more Blood Angels releated articles from myself and the Games Workshop daily blog.

A new list, a new strategy

So, after play-testing a bunch of the lists I put up here and others that I built on Friday nights at my LGS, I decided to try something new based on a lot of feedback I had gotten from multiple sources including Auxellion. Here's a list that has three elements to it: A fast assault element, an objective-holding shooty element, and a deep-striking/outflanking element.

HQ

• Swarmlord with two Tyrant guard (Lash Whips)

Elites

• 3x Hive guard
• 2x Zoanthropes (Mycetic Spore)

Troops

• 15x Termagaunts (Toxin Sacs)
• 15x Termagaunts (Toxin Sacs)
• 15x Termagaunts (Toxin Sacs)
• Tervigon (Adrenal Glands, Catalyst)

Fast Attack

• 7x Shrike Brood (Scything Talons, Devourers, Adrenal Glands)
• 20x Gargoyles (Toxin Sacs)

Heavy Support

• Trygon
• Trygon

So, the Shrike Brood will fly behind the Gargoyles while the Swarmlord and Zoanthropes advance behind the Termagaunts. The Trygons will Deep Strike and the Tervigon will Outflank for gaunt spawning and overwhelming a flank. The Hive Guard will take cover mid-field for some nice vehicle harassment, and the cool thing about this list is that all three elements will have Synapse and Shadow in the Warp (with backups). I believe I have enough distraction units (Gargoyles, Trygons, Zoans, Gaunts) to let the REAL nasty stuff do what they need to do (Swarmlord, Shrike Brood, Hive guard, Tervigon) which would be winning the game, or at least that's the plan.

Hive Fleet Hydrus, Concept Art

So after finally coming up with a Hive Fleet name, I've also decided the paint scheme I want to use. Thankfully I have Dawn of War II, so I can apply practically any paint scheme I want to Marines, Eldar, Orks, AND Tyranids. Here's what I came up with:

 

So, the main body will be Bleached Bone covered in a Gryphonne Sepia wash, with the muscle fibers and other minor details starting as Dark Angels Green then being highlighted up to Snot Green. The chitin will be Chaos Black with Regal Blue highlights, though at this point I haven't determined if I'm going to highlight the Regal Blue with Skull White or just use Ultramarines Blue.

Soon I'll add some pictures of some tests of this paint scheme.

The end of Star Wars

I was poking around Wizards of the Coast and I came across something that has tore a chunk out of my gaming heart.

Quoted from Wizards of the Coast's website:

There have been several questions lately regarding the future of the Star Wars Miniatures and Roleplaying Game and until now I haven’t had definitive answers to give you.  After a lengthy evaluation, Wizards of the Coast has decided not to renew the Star Wars license with Lucasfilm. We’ve had a long and fantastic run, but with the economic downturn, we have made the tough decision to discontinue our Star Wars lines.

The license officially ends in May this year, with WotC product available through August. In the meantime, we have awesome new products still coming your way. This week, we released The Dark Times minis and Galaxy of Intrigue RPG. We’ll have more coming with Masters of the Force minis in April, which will have some of your most favorite characters along with rare creatures from the Dejarik Holochess game that have never appeared in our game. We’ll also release The Unknown Regions RPG in April, which includes entirely new planets and mini-adventures for each world.

We are finishing the line with a bang so look for special programs at your local game store to stock up on favorite sets before they go into the vault. We will continue to support our Star Wars forums on the Wizards Community site so you can reach out and chat with us and other fans.

While I know the news is disappointing, we wanted to make this announcement as soon as possible and thank you for being such great fans. It’s been a fantastic ride with the Star Wars community and working with Lucasfilm. We hope you enjoy the next several months of great products. You never know when we may circle back again!

Greg Yahn

Director of Marketing, Wizards of the Coast

What does this mean for all of us that play Star Wars Miniatures and the Star Wars Saga Edition Roleplaying game? Well, I'm GLAD to say that Wizards won't be screwing up rules or stats anymore and that some other company will probably JUMP on the opportunity to put out Star Wars products, with my guess being Fantasy Flight Games.

Stay tuned and maybe before Christmas we'll have news of what's going to happen to these games...