Hello all!
Rawdogger here to talk about an army near and dear to my heart, the Dark Angels. All but confirmed to be the next codex released after this weekend’s Space Marines, the Dark Angels have traditionally been seen as the red-headed stepchildren of the 40k universe or at the very least Games Workshop’s Space Marine beta test. As far as I can remember the Dark Angels have had their codex released before the vanilla Space Marines which lead to a lot of frustration in the community when the non-green Marines would get all the cool new toys and rules. The news that the Dark Angels would be getting a codex release AFTER the general Space Marine codex was music to the ears of the 40k community, since it meant that the emo boys in green would most likely get all the swag that their bros would be getting. With this key fact in mind here are the top 10 things I would like to see with this new Dark Angel codex release.
10. Grav Weaponry – This was the ultimate gear grinding point for Dark Angels players after their release in the 6th edition. Immediately after the Dark Angels codex was released the Space Marines codex came out with a brand new type of weaponry called Graviton Weapons. The world was never the same again.
9. Improved Fliers – Currently the only fliers available to the Dark Angels are the much maligned Nephilim Jetfighter and the Ravenwing Dark Talon. Both of these fliers costs an absurd amount of points without doing much in the game. I’m not saying to put in Stormtalons or Stormravens but at least get the fliers they have up to speed with the rest of the game. This is certainly going to happen since they really couldn’t have sold too many of these kits.
8. More A.A – This kind of goes along with their flier issue. The Dark Angels need anti-air in their codex. No 25 point strength 7 Flakk Missiles do not count as anti-air. I see no reason the Stalker/Hunter tank couldn’t be included in their thin heavy support section. Hopefully they make the Nephilim Jetfighter into a true tank and flier hunter.
7. A Buff Belial – Does any other character in the 40K universe solicit the same ‘meh’ reaction that Belial does? An incredibly over costed and underpowered character, Belial’s current stats and abilities do not properly reflect the bad ass the Grand Master of the Deathwing should be.
6. Deathwing Troops – Without the character tax. Look, the Deathwing go with Dark Angels like peanut butter goes with chocolate. Making the Deathwing troops without having to take an expensive character would make sense and having the objective secured special rule would go a long way to making the Deathwing a must take option again.
5. Better Deathwing – Yeah I have two wishes for Deathwing in my list, you want to fight about it? Not only should we see the Deathwing get a point reduction due to the confirmed reduction of points per Terminator in the upcoming Space Marine codex, but they should also get a boost to their WS to reflect their status as the most elite of the elite 1st Company Terminator squads.
4. Scouts with Space Marine Stats – It has been confirmed that Space Marine scouts in the new codex will have the same stat line as a Space Marine albeit with the same 4+ armor save. If the Dark Angel’s Scouts do not get this same boost I’ll be as emo as Sammael at a Taking Back Sunday concert.
3. Ravenwing and Deathwing Formations – This should almost be a sure thing. I would love to see Deathwing and Ravenwing formations that give them cool bonuses when taken.
2. Lower Point Costed Special Characters – With the exception of Azrael, the Dark Angels characters are all horrible over costed. Do you remember that they have a Chaplain character named Asmodai? I didn’t! They also have a Grand Master of the Librarians named Ezekiel who has a power called Mind Worm that no one ever takes. The majority of the character sculpts also need to be completely re-done, as well as the pigeon toed Belial model that came out with the last codex. The fact that the late 90’s Tigurius model was not redone for the new Space Marine codex does not bode well on that front, unfortunately.
1. Bring back the Brood – I really hope that Games Workshop delves deeply into fractured and troubled past of the Dark Angels. This was a Space Marine legion where half of the legion sided with Horus while half remained loyal to the Emperor during the Horus Heresy. They’ve got some baggage. I want to see dour armies lead by terrifying skull faced Chaplains that strike fear into the hearts of the traitors they hunt down.
So what do you want to see with the imminent release of the Dark Angels Codex? Do you think that Games Workshop will finally show these dudes with ‘tudes the love they’ve been denying them all of these years?