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Codex Review: Blood Angels Part 2: Blood Angels Units

Reecius

The Sons of Sanguinius are here and ready to tear a bloody swathe through the enemies of the Imperium! Read on to learn what they have to offer with their 8th edition Blood Angels 40k Codex. In part 2 we dig in to the Blood Angels unique units.

As always, check the Tactics Corner for more great articles, reviews and lists. You can read Part 1 of this article, here.

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Ranking System

Units

The Blood Angels now have access to loads of cool units they previously didn’t, such as Stormhawk Interceptors, Stalkers, etc. which add a lot of depth to the book. However, let’s dive in and take a look at the uniquely Blood Angel characters and units and “traditional” Adeptus Astartes units that have unique wargear options for the Blood Angels. This is a good place to mention that while many of the signature Blood Angels characters are very competitive choices, don’t make the common mistake of taking too many of them as they can eat up your points quickly. Take just enough to get the effect you want, and then lean into the power of Red Thirst to win melees.

Commander Dante is up first and the big cheese of the Blood Angels. Interestingly, I have gotten more folks writing in with strong opinions about Dante than any other unit in the book. He’s quite a cool character in the backstory and I think how effective he is or isn’t in the perception of the player depends on how he’s been built up to them in their minds. Whatever your perspective of him, he’s a very effective model available to the Blood Angels player. He isn’t cheap though, clocking in at 215 points but he gives you a lot for that price. For one, he’s equipped with the magical Jump Pack which in this edition is just incredibly useful. You can leap over screening units, stay off the table to avoid alpha strikes, attack powerful flyers in melee, and deep strike. And if all that weren’t enough, it also lets you leave combat and still shoot. All around, one of the best pieces of kit available to the Adeptus Astartes player, IMO. Dante also rocks an impressive statline, with the typical Space Marine bad ass numbers but 6 attacks and 6 wounds.  The Axe Mortalis is his signature weapons, which gives him strength 6, AP-3, D3 damage attacks in melee and if attacking a character, you also gain the ability to re-roll failed wound rolls. Dante also rocks a 2+ armor save, 4++ invulnerable save, a -1 leadership debuff to enemy units within 3″, and a Chapter Master full re-roll aura for friendly Blood Angels within 6.” If he is your Warlord, he also makes friendly Blood Angels within 6″ fearless, too. Lastly, he’s got the Inferno Pistol which is a 6″ melta pistol. This is very powerful on a model with a Jump Pack as if you play it right, you can often assassinate enemy characters and units that thought they were safe behind screening units. While Dante may not have some of the strategic benefits available to other Chapter Masters such as bonus Command Points, or a unique buffing aura that some Blood Angels players may have been looking for, he does deliver some serious melee punch and will often be right in the thick of the action with a unit of Sanguinary Guard, Death Company, etc., where he is a potent fighter and can be buffed up to deliver a crazy amount of attacks if needed while making all other nearby units better. Competitive.

Next up is Gabriel Seth who is the Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers. Seth is actually one of my favorite Chapter Masters in the game because he is so cheap. At only 135 points, you get a lot to love for that price point. He’s got fairly standard Chapter Master stats but with 6 wounds as the only the real standout in there. His weapon, Blood Reaver, is solid with a strength x 2, AP-2, 3 damage profile with additional attacks on 6+ to hits making him quite scary in melee. He also has a Chapter Master full re-roll aura at 6″ for friendly Flesh Tearers, and additionally, each time a friendly Flesh Tearers unit ends its consolidation move within 6″ of Seth, on the roll of a 6, they get to immediately fight again. What this all gives you is a Chapter Master that while slow and with no exceptional defense (3+/4++) outside of his 6th wound, is actually really good. I have had best results with him holding the rear, buffing shooting units and counter-assaulting. This strategy compliments his Warlord Trait well, where he can Heroically Intervene from 6″ away. However, if you want to play him aggressively which is more fitting to his backstory, you can you just need to consider how you will deliver him. For me, that would likely be in either a Rhino or Land Raider utilizing the Lucifer-Pattern Engines stratagem to move an additional 6″ (for between 19″ and 24″ of movement if you advance) or in a Drop Pod (which not at 85 points with the Storm Bolter is a more appealing choice) where he can get stuck in surrounded by MSU Deep Striking units who will best utilize his buffing auras, and dealing quite a bit of damage himself. In all, a great HQ choice. Competitive.

The Sanguinor is another excellent character available to Blood Angels. He’s very mobile, quite good in melee and has an absolutely awesome buffing aura, granting friendly Blood Angels Infantry units within 6″ a bonus attack. He himself also packs a 2+/4++, 5 wounds and attacks, a -1 leadership debuff for enemy units within 3″, a fearless aura for Blood Angels within 6″ (if he is your Warlord) and can charge even if he fell back from combat. This combined with the Jump Pack keyword make him extremely useful tactically and will catch players off guard that think he’s stuck in combat. His Encarmine Broadsword makes him strength 7, AP-4, D3 damage in melee, so he packs a serious punch. All this and only 170 points means he will be seen in many Blood Angels armies. Stuck in among units like Vanguard Vets, Death Company or Sanguinary Guard paired with either Dante or a re-roll melee character such as Lemartes, and your units become devastatingly powerful in the fight phase. As both of the units mentioned also have solid firepower, I prefer Dante in most instances for his re-roll shooting aura, but which characters you choose to use will largely depend on your preferences and overall list composition. As mentioned though, going too heavy on Characters can give you more buffs than you actually need and leave you low on bodies to take board control and win you missions. Regardless of the other characters chosen, it is a rare Blood Angels list that Sanguinor will not greatly benefit. Competitive.

Brother Corbulo is a solid support character. His only real limitation is that he is on foot in an army that wants to be flying through the air with Jump Packs. That said, he’s quite good. For one, he’s got 5 wounds and 4 attacks, hitting on 2’s in melee and shooting. Already, he’s more like a Captain than a Priest. His Warlord Trait makes him further tougher, with a 6+ FnP, re-rolling 1’s. He packs a decent melee weapon, Heaven’s Teeth, which is strength 5, AP-1, 1 Damage. His Far-Seeing Eye rule lets him re-roll a single die roll of your choice per turn for him which is nice, like a free Command Point every turn. He’s got the standard Narthecium rule allowing him to heal D3 lost wounds to a Blood Angels Infantry or Biker unit, or reviving a model in a unit on a 4+, and his Red Grail has additional cool rules, granting +1 strength to nearby Blood Angels Infantry and Biker units as well as giving them additional attacks in melee on 6+ to hit rolls. That is a hell of a lot of force multiplication for only 94 points. As stated, it is only the fact that he struggles to keep up with his army that makes him at all unappealing. But, if you can solve that riddle, he’s great. I would employ the same tactics as described with Seth to do that, or, if you are feeling creative and wanted to run a foot or Mechanized Blood Angels army, then obviously he’s a clearly awesome choice. Efficient.

The Sanguinary Priest and Novitiate are pretty much used in the exact same way as Corbulo. They have 1 less wound and attack (and only WS 3+ on the Novitaite), lack the Red Grail rule (although still boosts the strength of nearby Blood Angels by 1) but only cost 69 and 55 points respectively. Personally, I’d opt for Corublo as you get a lot of great buffs, but if you need to shave points here you go. As he is also on foot, he runs with the same restrictions and suggestions as Corbulo. He no longer has the option for a Jump Pack or what have you in the dex, but through the index you can access some of these older options such as the Priest on a Bike or with Jump Pack which is a far better option for this model to give him mobility and the ability to Deep Strike. As an HQ with the Priest or an Elites choice for the Novitaite, this is an all around excellent and affordable choice. On foot: Efficient. With Jump Pack: Competitive. With Bike: Efficient.

Chief Librarian Mephiston is a bad ass, pure and simple. He’s cool in the backstory and solid on the tabletop. He rocks impressive stats for a Libby, with 7″ move, WS and BS of 2+, toughness and strength 5, 5 attacks, a 2+ and a 5+ FnP style save. Excellent. He comes equipped with a Plasma Pistol and the Sanguine Sword, which gives him strength 10, AP-3, D3 damage attacks. That is some serious damage output! Considering he also comes with the Speed of the Primarch Warlord Trait, if you choose for him to be your Warlord he always swings first in melee which is really useful for getting maximum damage output from him. Lastly, he has 3 psychic powers plus Smite, and can cast and deny twice. Mephiston is an awesome psyker character, the only real downside is that he is on foot. However with the Wings of Sanguinius power, you can count on him flying up the table on the first turn to join his buddies, potentially moving 7″+D6+3″+12″+D6+3″ if he advances with both movements and casts the Quickening on himself. Those are his go to powers and you will really want to take them to increase his speed. Pro Tip: you will want to try and deploy out of range of enemy powers that allow them to deny the witch first turn if at all possible to increase the odds of getting this power off. Cast Quickening first, then have him cast Wings of Sanguinius to move in to position to do his thing. With the Quickening and potentially the Red Rage strat on him, he goes up to 4+2D3 attacks in melee, potentially attacking twice with Honour the Chapter for a total of 20 possible, powerful attacks. This means Meph can slice and dice with the best of them. He can also give himself or another unit an additional bonus attack or 5++. However, since he needs the mobility, you may find yourself getting only 1 of those additional buffing spells where a Libby with Jump Pack can focus only on buffing and get more of them off at the expense of not hitting nearly as hard. Often, taking one of each is a solid tactic as you can usually outcast your opponent’s ability to deny your powers. And finally, at a very reasonable price point of only 145pts, Meph is a steal for how hard he can hit and his overall utility. Competitive.

The Librarian Dreadnought is quite an appealing choice. With the extremely powerful Character keyword, the ability to cast psychic powers and being powerful in offense and defense, this is a well rounded model. When you factor in the very solid Blood Angels psychic powers, this unit can be a game changer. Wings of Sanguinius is almost a must to increase the model’s speed, and the Quickening is my second choice to dramatically increase successfully charging as well as his damage dealt in melee. Shield of Sangunius is also not a bad choice. Overall though, you have a Dreadnought profile Character model that can deliver quite a wallop in close combat with its Force Halbred or Fist, each of which does 3 damage a pop at either strength 12, AP-3 on the Fist or strength 10, AP-4 on the Halbred. At a price Tag of 172pts base, that is solid. Competitive.

Astorath the Grim is a character Chaplain and has some cool utility. He comes with a Jump Pack, WS and BS 2+, 5 wounds, 4 attacks and a 2+/4++. He also has the standard Chaplain re-roll misses in combat and leadership buff aura at 6″ but additionally makes Death Company fearless within that aura. He also packs a nasty melee weapon, the Executioner’s Axe, which gives him strength 6, AP-3, D3 damage attacks that cause 3 wounds on a wound roll of 6+. He has a once per game ability, Mass of Doom, which triggers at the beginning of the movement phase and affects all Blood Angels Infantry within 6″ as such: on the roll of a 1, the unit suffers a Mortal Wound, on a 2-5 the unit gets +1 to hit in the fight phase, and on a 6 the unit gains +1 to hit and a 4++ until the end of your turn. He runs 143 points which isn’t bad at all for what he gives you. The real question is why take him over Lemartes who performs a similar roll, is cheaper but whose Death Company buff is the superior (IMO) re-roll charges. As Astorath’s Mass of Doom is used at the beginning of the movement phase, you can’t use it the turn you come in from reserves, but you can use it in subsequent turns and it is REALLY powerful on big units like Death Company and Sanguinary Guard. Lastly, his Warlord Trait is the ability to Deny the Witch. In all, he’s a solid choice on his own. He hits like a kitted out Captain and comes with a Jump Pack. If you want to use him as a general combat/buffing character though, Dante is better. If you want to use him with Death Company, for me, Lemartes is the better choice. Efficient.

Lemartes I think will be seen in many a Blood Angels army for one very simple reason: he gives Death Company a re-roll charge aura. That is worth the price of admission alone. Beyond that, he is a souped up Chaplain with a Jump Pack, and boasting an impressive 5 attacks. All his other stats are stock standard apart from his special weapon, the The Blood Crozius, which makes his melee attacks strength 6, AP-2, D3 damage. As he has a re-roll misses in combat aura, that is some considerable damage output. Where he shines though, as stated, is in dropping down with a big unit of Death Company and using the Descent of Angels stratagem to really crank up the odds of making that charge from out of reserves and then giving them a big boost in accuracy in melee. All that at only 129 points and in an HQ slot makes him an all around excellent choice. If you opt for him to be your Warlord, he gains the trait allowing him to Deny the Witch. Competitive.

Tycho and Tycho the Lost are interesting in that they are dirt cheap HQ choices, particularly Tycho the Lost. They both come with standard Captain stats and gear, plus a special Combi-Melta, Blood Song, which is a Melta combined with a Master Crafted Bolter. They also have a bonus of D3 attacks when fighting Orks in melee, and their signature pimp-slap-attack: the Dead Man’s Hand, which makes their melee attacks AP-2. The difference between them is that Tycho is a Captain with the re-roll 1 aura, and Tycho the Lost is Death Company but no longer a Captain. They both have the 6″ Heroic Intervention Warlord Trait as well. While not the most appealing HQ choices in most cases, they are not at all bad for the points. Tycho weighs in at only 1 pt over a normal Captain on foot with a Combi-Melta but also comes with all his other cool rules. However, when was the last time you ran a Captain on foot with a Combi-Melta, lol? So, not bad at all, would be a solid choice to hold the backfield and buff shooting units or in a mechanized list. Tycho the Lost loses the buff aura but gains the Death Company keyword, giving him an extra attack on the charge, a 6+ FnP and access to any Death Company buffs such as the re-roll charge arua from Lemartes or a pre-game movement from the Forlorn Fury strat which can provide some tricky pre-game movement opportunities for you. Best of all, he is only 70 points! If you need to fill an HQ slot in your list and want something cheap that is surprisingly good…and for some reason don’t need a Lieutenant…then Tycho the Lost may be for you! Situational.

Blood Angels Tactical Squads and Devastator Squads are notable in that they have different wargear options than your standard Tactical Marines. They have the option for a Heavy Flamer in the place of a heavy weapon as well as the Inferno Pistol and Hand Flamer options for the sarge. This combined with the Red Thirst encourages a very aggressive play-style with them where typically I find either squad is best served holding the backfield. If you take a unit of 5 with a Heavy Flamer (or 4 Heavy Flamers in the Dev Squad) and a Combi-Flamer, perhaps a Power Sword on the Sarge, you’ve got a unit that can go hunt objectives effectively on their own and has solid assault defense as well as the ability to go in and beat up on other light units. If you slap two units in a Rhino and use the Lucifer-Pattern Engines strat, they get up the table in a hot hurry and can then deliver some flaming death. The Devastator Squads with Heavy Flamers can pack a wallop while the Tactical Marines are still not the most powerful unit in the world but I find them to be very useful for winning missions and unlocking CP rich detachments. Efficient.

Sanguinary Guard are a hammer unit for the Blood Angels. They all are Jump Pack equipped–the benefits of which we’ve covered numerous times–and have typical Space Marine infantry stats apart from 2 attacks and wounds with a 2+ save. That is quite impressive from the word go. Additionally, they come standard with an Angelus Boltgun which is assault 2, strength 4, AP-1, 1 damage and the sword is strength user, AP-3, D3 damage. Boom! That is a savage baseline. When paired with The Red Thirst and the numerous ways to gain additional attacks, re-rolls to hit, wound, etc. this unit ramps up in power very quickly. As they’re all multiple damage attacks too, this is the unit you use to defeat tough, multi-wound units. They chop vehicles, Imperial Knights, Magnus, etc. in half quite easily. With the Sanguinor nearby and possibly casting Unleash Rage on them, each model goes up to 4 attacks base. They also re-roll failed hit rolls for Sanguinary Guard if within 6″ of your Blood Angels Warlord, giving them a full re-roll aura from any character you choose, which is great. Further, they have a -1 leadership debuff to enemy units within 3″ of them. You can further boost this unit with a Sanguinary Ancient, whose banner allows you to re-roll 1’s to wound in the fight phase for them or any Blood Angels Infantry as well as granting a +1 leadership buff out to 6.” You can further enhance this with the Standard of Sacrifice relic which grants Blood Angels Infantry and Bikers a 5+ FnP style save. Alternatively, you can give any of them an Inferno Pistol, Plasma Pistol or swap their sword for an Encarmine Axe (+1 strength, AP-2, D3 damage) or Power Fist. These are a unit that can deal devastating damage and at only 35pts per model base are a steal. I prefer the standard load-out personally at maximum size, but mixing in some Inferno Pistols is a good idea as it allows you to possibly assassinate enemy characters or to take out transport vehicles and then charge the units inside, etc. This is a unit that no matter how you run them, you want support units enhancing them to get maximum mileage and will typically be delivering them via Deep Strike and the Descent of Angels stratagem. They also greatly benefit from Shield of Sangunius, Unleash Rage, the Sanguinor (who can give them a full re-roll aura and make them fearless if your Warlord in addition to his +1 attacks aura), etc. are all great choices to support these gents as is a Sanguinary Priest who can boost their strength and bring some of them back to life with a bit of luck. In all, a very powerful and fun unit. Competitive.

The Death Company Dreadnought is a beat-stick but tricky to play. Like all Dreadnoughts, they’re a bit of a glass hammer. He’s resilient(ish) at toughness 7 with 8 wounds and a 3+, but any dedicated firepower will drop him in his boots pretty quickly. However, if he gets there he packs a wallop. With 4 attacks (5 on the charge) and either re-rolls to hit with Blood Fists or re-rolls to hit and wound with Blood Talons (at the expense of being strength 10 and AP-2), both at 3 damage, and Red Thirst he will take a bite out of whatever he attacks. His melee weapons come with a Storm Bolter and  Melta Gun either of which may be swapped out for Heavy Flamers. He also has a 6″ pile in move which a lows him to snag another unit in melee after shredding the first, plus with a 6+ FnP save, he can last a bit longer than expected. Lastly, he may take Magna Grapples for 5 points which give him +2″ to his charge distance if he only charges a Vehicle. So, the old boy can kick some butt, but you have to get him there. His 8″ move is nice, but not enough on its own. Lemartes can give him a re-roll charge buff if within 6″ but otherwise he is largely hoofing it unless you want to stick him in a Stormraven. That’s not a bad idea at all, but you start putting more and more eggs in a single basket and if your opponent has the means to pop that basket turn 1, you are gong to be a sad panda. Your best bet with these gents is to use them in a list that has the means to present your opponent with too many targets and thus gives him the “school of fish” protection of safety in numbers. If this guy tries to Braveheart up the field solo, he’s unlikely to make it unless you find yourself playing an army that comes at you. Without a game plan to successfully deliver him in to combat, he’s a bit pricey to just toss in your list at 174 points base with the Blood Talons. Situational.

Death Company are in my opinion an all-star unit. They are a bit pricey at 20 points per model base, but for me, you get every point’s worth of value out of these guys. Stock, they’re 2 attacks base with +1 attack on the charge and a 6+ FnP. I’ve written pretty extensively on their uses here, and while that was for index Blood Angels, the same basic principals apply. IMO, they are best used kitted out to kill chaff units and vehicles/monsters that have a 3+ or worse save and are toughness 7 or lower, or toughness 9 and lower if a Priest is nearby. The reason being the staggering amount of attacks they pump out. Kit them with a Bolter and Chainsword, take a full unit, drop them down and pump out 30 Bolter shots and as many as 6 Chainsword attacks per model if fully buffed with Unleash Rage and the Sanguinor. That’s 90 attacks on the charge! If you further hit them with the Vengeance for Sanguinius strat (if facing Heretic Astartes units) for exploding 6’s to hit (exploding 4’s vs. Black Legion!) and have a re-roll aura nearby (Lemartes is great for that) you will find yourself averaging a total of 110 attacks, hitting with roughly 98 of them…lol. That is just silly damage output. With Red Thirst, you will wound anything on a 5+. most things on a 4+ or 3+, and chaff units on a 2+. Damn near nothing survives that. If they do, swing again with Honour the Chapter for another go around. If you want, slap a few Power Swords in there for that sweet AP-3. While you lose attacks, it really cranks up the damage output vs. higher armor targets. Additionally, Death Company keyword models exclusively benefit from Forlorn Fury which is a tremendously useful strat and can be used offensively to move up field pre-game to attack if you have turn 1 or defensively to move block very aggressive armies that can assault turn 1 if you are going second. This also makes Death Company without Jump Packs more viable as it gets them further up-field pre-game without a Rhino. This unit loves anything that can buff them up as in a unit of 15 you get a lot of mileage out of buffs that affects the unit. Shield of Sanguinius and Unlesah Rage are two of the best options available to you. In all, this is a signature Blood Angels unit that is incredible good in general terms but particularly in the current 8th ed competitive meta. Competitive.

The Blood Angels Terminator Ancient is a cool addition to the Blood Angels lineup as not only is it a Terminator Banner Bearer which is cool unto itself, but also can deep-strike and comes with either a Thunder Hammer or Lightening Claw, 5 wounds, 3 attacks and his banner gives you re-rolls of failed hit rolls in the fight phase. Not bad at all. However, at 108 points you have to ask why you would use him over say, a Chaplain, Dante, etc. The answer is that you may not. There are similar options available that give you mostly better results. However, if you want to leverage this guy I would do so using the Standard of Sacrifice relic for the 5+ FnP bubble with a full unit of Tactical Terminators (I prefer the Cataphractii variety) to leverage the Strike of the Archangels stratagem with a unit of tough Terminators. Now this is not likely an A+ tactic, although it can be quite good for rolling a flank with minimal support. Situational.

Blood Angels Assault Squads and Vanguard Veterans differ slightly from normal versions due to the fact that they can take different wargear options. Namely, the Inferno Pistol and Hand Flamer for the Vanguard and the option for Melta and Plasma Guns in addition to the pistol options on the Assault Squads. Both are solid choices. The Hand Flamer looks wimpy, but at only 1 point per model if you give each Vanguard 1 of them in a 5 strong unit, you get 5D3 auto hits which if hunting screen units, isn’t bad. That nets you 5 wounds on average where taking a Bolt Pistol wound net you 2 on average and an extra Chainsword would net you 2 also (3 if you charged on average due to Red Thirst). So, even over the course of two rounds of combat, the Hand Flamer is the better choice for attacking toughness 3 units in most cases and can potentially go hot and earn you as many as 15 additional wounds in a unit of 5. Not bad at all but certainly not an auto-take. Conversely, the Inferno Pistol gives you the ability to blast characters by making them the closest enemy model or to waste units with no invul save or to blast open vehicles, etc. They’re very powerful tools. However, I prefer to put them on Assault Squads typically and focus the Vanguard on killing light units. Alternatively, the Assault Squads can go for double Plasma Guns and a Plasma Pistol, or all melta for a mobile unit that can pack a serious punch. And of course, both units are significantly better due to Red Thirst on the turn they charge. Both units: Efficient.

The Furioso Dread follows the same general guidelines as the Death Company Dread with a few minor differences. Like the Death Company version, he quicker than the average Dread with a move of 8″ but will still struggle to get up the table in many instances. He packs a punch–not quite on the level of the Death Company Dread–but can take a Frag Cannon which is definitely how I would equip him along with a second Heavy Flamer. This makes him scary to charge and gives him the ability to smoke small units pretty easily. However, as stated, you have to have a strategy for either getting him up-field or to give him cover as he advances. Alternatively, you can use him as a counter-punch unit and play defense but if you find yourself facing a shooty army that won’t do you too much good. Largely, this is a unit that can be very good but you need to put some brain power into how to make it work in a list. If you drop down Death Company and Sanguinary Guard for example, your opponent will be too busy to deal with him and that buys you a few turns to trundle up the table and hit them in a second or even third wave of attacks. Situational.

The Baal Predator is a Blood Angels specific Predator Tank that is basically the same as a normal Predator but with different weapon options. It can take a Twin Assault Cannon or a Flamestorm Cannon for it’s main weapon, and either Heavy Bolters or Heavy Flamers as its sponson weapons. It’s a solid choice with good damage output but not a real stand-out option. The Lucifer-Pattern Engines strat gives them an extra boost, allowing them to advance an additional 6+D6.” This helps them to get into position quickly to hit your opponent with their shorter ranged firepower. Situational.

And there you are folks! The Blood Angels done and dusted. What do you all think?

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