Battle Report: Blood Angels v Tau

(Image taken from www.danscottart.com/Images/BASquad.jpg)

Batrep time!

I got a game in yesterday at the LGS. I took my new Blood Angel jump-pack army for a spin. All I can say is wow! I had high expectations of the list, and they were met entirely. Maybe it was the poor army list I went up against, or the “out of practice” player I was playing, I don’t know. But the army did very well, with lots of versatility built in.

My list was the Descent of Angels list I had posted earlier on the site.
My opponent was running Tau. It wasn’t an optimized list, but there were still some things I was afraid of. His list was this:
Farsight with 7 bodyguards. 3 had missile pods and fusion blasters. 4 had plasma rifles and missile pods.
2x full Firewarrior squads on foot
1 Hammerhead with smart missiles
1 Broadside team with 2 suits, 4 shield drones and 1 marker drone
1 Piranha squadron with 3 Piranhas. 1 with fusion blaster and 2 with burst cannons
3 man Stealth suit team with a marker drone
1 squad of Pathfinders with 3 rail rifles (str6 AP3) and obligatory Devilfish

Mission was 4 objectives, with Spearhead deployment. Tau won the roll and decided to go first.

Turn 1 - He set up in his corner with Broadsides 3 stories up in the deepest corner, and a squad of firewarriors on the second floor, and an objective just below them. Fish was on the right flank of the building and the Hammerhead on the left. Further towards the middle was the Farsight Deathstar. Middle of his table edge was the second firewarrior squad, and the Stealth suits were in a building flanking the Farsight blob. He scouted his Pathfinders way on the left side of the board in another building. I deployed nothing, reserving all my units.

Turn 2 - He moves a bit to widen the board out (bad idea) and get some movement on his vehicles so they aren’t auto-hit in combat (good). On my half of the turn, 6 of 8 of my squads are rolled in. 2 extra ones coming in on the re-rolls from Descent of Angels rule. I first try to place my Librarian, Sang Priest and meltaguns from a combat squad in between the hammerhead, Farsight and the Fish. And mishap. I scattered into the Hammerhead engines. Had the squad not had 2 extra IC’s in it, it would have survived, but oh well, the dice Gods are fickle. So I lost about 1/5th of my army on the first scatter. I was pretty demoralized, and almost felt like calling the game there and then. But I’m a fighter, and wanted to see if my Angels could rally from the loss. All my other squads came down safely. The two Honor Guard squads and a combat squad with meltas landing where I tried to land the first squad, and the other two combat squads landing further towards the center in between the middle FW squad and the Farsight squad. Shooting saw me unloading everything into Farsight and his cronies. I had one bolt pistol wound in there, and he lost 2 suits to all the meltas. His 4+ invul saves were off the chain. Good rolling for him. No Vanguard came down so no assaults.

Turn 3 – He opened up on me. I lost both of my combat squads in the middle of the table and one marine each from the other 3 squads. Undeterred, my Blood Angels began to exact their vengeance. My two Vanguard squads landed in close proximity to Farsight and his overpriced suits. One Honor Guard squad took out the Stealth suits, one headed for the Broadsides. The remaining combat squad went for the central FWs and their objective. Librarian detached and went after the Hammerhead, and the Priest detached to join one of the Vanguard squads. I couldn’t shoot his XV-8s because I would lose charge range. Stealth suits were wiped out to a man. FW’s lost combat and were run down. Broadsides held with their stupid 2+ save. In the Farsight combat, most of my Vanguard failed, only managing a few wounds that were all saved. They struck back with Farsight whiffing completely, and the other suits’ blows were fended off with disdain. Full of disappointment in my pricey Vanguard, the two powerfists stepped up to the plate. Between their 6 attacks, 5 landed and all of them wounded, he then failed all of his 4+ saves, watching as his fancy suits were turned to mangled heaps of scrap and pulped blue alien. The one remaining suit promptly fled and was cut down mercilessly. On a side note, the Librarian only managed to immobilize the hammerhead with 4 str 10 attacks.

The game was over at this point, but we went one more turn to be sure, and a turn 3 walloping is not so fun, for the other guy at least.

Turn four saw my Librarian eat 24 pulse rifles and not survive, and I lost one Vet to a rail rifle from the corner. And that was it. Combat was lost by the Tau on top of the building. The suits fled from the fight and were executed as they turned their backs on the Emperor’s finest. Bottom of turn 4 ended with no Tau left on the board. Both tanks dropped to meltaguns, Firewarriors lost combat and were massacred as they tried to flee the Emperor’s justice. And the Piranhas also were scrapped by melta fire and a well placed Infernus pistol shot. Lastly, the Pathfinders were lost to the blades of the other Vanguard squad.
Complete Victory for the Blood Angels!

It was a good starter game for my new list. Lots of fun. The other list really just didn’t have a chance against mine. He needed two turns of shooting at me at least, but because of my deployment he only got one. Had my vanguard landed 2nd turn, it would have been even worse for him as I tied up Farsight in combat. But when I lost that first squad he had a fighting chance, although he couldn’t capitalize. His target priority was poor. Had he killed an honor guard squad with Farsight, it would have gone better for him, but the chips were not in his favor either way. Also, he shouldn’t have spread the board against me. It opened up spots for me to drop in and kill his dangerous squads, rather than forcing me out of his deployment and only offering up Firewarriors or Piranhas to my assault next round.

MVP for me was the Sanguinary Priests. They are so very powerful. Furious charge and Feel No Pain are very hard to deal with when they encompass my whole army. I made about 90% of my FNP rolls. His pulse weaponry was wounding me often, but my power armor and FNP just shrugged it off continually. Runner-up goes to my Vanguard squads. They were great. Very versatile unit as they are equipped to handle most anything, and assaulting out of deepstrike is absolutely invaluable in this list.

I love this list. It plays exactly how I like to play 40k. Dropping in where I want, shooting big things down, and then getting right into the mix with strong assault units. If I get the chance to play in ‘Ard Boyz, which I doubt, I will be using an expanded version of this same list. I need to keep playing it to get better at judging distances for my deepstrikes, so I don’t mishap so often.
Thoughts, comments, and criticisms are always welcome. Don’t be a stranger. If you visit, then leave me a comment, if nothing else than to tell me that I need to take more battle pics and paint my army!

Until next time!

Blood Angel Army List-Descent of Angels

I've been making lists and toying with ideas since the rumors started hitting the blogosphere about the new Blood Angels codex. I've had some lists I thought were strong, key word is thought lol, and some that were for fun. I think the new codex has lots of cool options, and thankfully some strong options as well. I've posted some of the lists I was going to try out.

One list variant I didn't think would be too powerful was the all jump-pack army. Who wants to start on the board and hoof it all the way across and get shot to pieces? The answer is nobody. Then I learned about the Descent of Angels rule that allows you to reroll the reserve rolls, and scatter is only 1d6. I didn't get the full import of what that meant until I started writing a list for an all jump-pack army. I was writing the list and seeing the units I could add in and the options available and I started to get really excited about the list. I then read Fritz's article about deployment and reserves and so on, and I got more excited. The idea of using m list in this manner was great. I love to assault, I love to deepstrike, and I love to play unorthodox armies.

So I had my list and was tweaking it and wondering how I could make it better. What were the weaknesses, where could I shore up some more strengths? Then I saw Stelek's jump-pack list, and it was the exact same in FOC composition as mine, excepting wargear in a few spots. I liked how he laid out the army and put redundancy in there to cover eventualities. He made the squads dual-purpose, in that they could kill armor or infantry on the charge. It made so much sense to me. Best of all, I already own the vast majority of the models needed.

So here we are. This is the serious BA army I will start to work on and tweak to my liking. The list I wrote was for 1750, because that is what I usually play.

HQ
Librarian x2 w/ jump-pack. Blood Lance and Sanguine Sword

Honor Guard x2 w/ jump-packs. 2x Melta

Troops
10 man Assault squad x2 with 2x melta and infernus pistol on the sarge

Elite
Sanguinary Priest x2 w/ jump-pack and power weapon

Fast Attack
Vanguard Veterans x2. 5 man. Glaive encarmine on sarge. 2x melta, 2x storm shield, power fist.

As soon as I get some time to play, this bad boy will be hitting the table at the FLGS. I'm super excited to try it out.

Comments and criticisms welcome. I'd love to hear others' ideas!

Blood Angels Mech List - Razorback Spam

So here is a list I cooked up last night while playing around with the new codex. I'm not going to say this list is super original, because the basis has been floating around for quite some time in various places.

So here's the list:

HQ
Librarian-cover save power, and maybe the lance power, not sure here.

Troops
6x 5 man Assault squad with melta in a Razorback with Lascannon and twin-linked Plasma

Fast Attack
3x Baal Predators with Flamestorm cannons, or Assault cannons, or any combination that you like.

Heavy Support
3x Predators with Autocannon and Heavy Bolter sponsons

Total points is 1750, which is what I usually play. But it gives you some wiggle room to add some elites, or add some sponsons to the Baals, or add some toys to the Assault squads to hit 2000 points. Maybe some Sanguinary Priests or lascannon sponsons on the Autocannon preds, you know, whatever your taste.

I really like this list, a lot. 12 tanks total, 6 of which are Predators, and all of which are fast vehicles. The list packs some serious fire power at 1750 and has the mobility to get where you want it to go, without suffering too much in firepower. Want to redeploy first turn without losing all your shots? Go ahead and make the 12" move with all your tanks and still fire your lascannons. Take first turn each time and watch as you play a refused flank on your opponent, and still fire 6 lascannons and 6 autocannon shots at him, minimum.

I need to start speed painting my Rhino/Razorbacks and Predators now.

Give me your thoughts on the list, improvements, problems, etc. Any ideas appreciated.

First Blood Angels List - For Reals this time!

Ok, so I looked some stuff up at the FLGS and solidified my DC list I just posted. I'm excited about the list. Funny thing is I have no scoring units. I have to wipe the enemy to win objective games. I think it kind of fits the while Death Company raving lunatics theme. The only victory is in annihilation of the enemy or death.

HQ-Astorath the Grim

Elites- 2x Furioso Dreadnought, 1xBlood Talons, 1x Blood Fists, heavy flamer, meltagun and magnagrapple on each

Troops- 20x Death company infantry, 5x power weapons
4x Death company dreadnoughts, 2x Blood talons, 2x Blood fists, Heavy flamer, meltagun and magnagrapple on each

Fast Attack- 3x Baal Predators. 2x with assault cannon and heavy bolter sponsons, 1x with flamestorm cannon

Baal predators scout ahead to get side shots or mow down infantry. Flamestorm moves fast to torch squads emptied out of their transports by shooting. Dreadnoughts advance at the front providing cover for the infantry, popping smoke first turn if there are no targets. Next turn is assault time, with the Dreadnoughts yanking tanks towards themselves for the infantry to chew on.

This list seems like so much fun to build and play. A serious alpha-strike list could damage me beyond repair, but that goes for most armies, and that is why it is just a fun list and not a tournament list.

Astorath has to make an appearance in the list, the reasons already given. But I can easily see myself subbing him out for a regular Reclusiarch as HQ. I really don't think Astorath adds anything to the list, other than coolness factor, which I can live without after a few games. The points drop would allow me to squeeze in a Librarian. The powers would be up in the air as far as what I would choose, but the psychic defense would be great.

So tell me what you all think, and I'll get cracking on a less gimmicky list.

First Blood Angels Army List

(pic taken from Bloodandblades.blogspot.com)
So for my first try at a list from the new codex, I am going to jump on the Death Company bandwagon. I realize that it won't be the most competitive list, but I am going for fun on this. Maybe it will be able to stomp face, but I'm not betting on it, lol.

So here is how the list will pan out I think. Granted I still have no point values, so this list is as rough a draft as you could imagine.

HQ
Astorath-because I love the model, plain and simple. He is on order and will be used, and lovingly painted ;)

Librarian-maybe one of these, probably not because of points issues. But the 5+ cover save would be nice for my DC charging across the board.

Troops
Death Company-30 man strong I think. Odds are it will be without jump packs, because it is too many points. Thanks for the screw-up on that GW. There will be some power weapons tossed in, and some fists or thunder hammers for tank smashing

Death Company Dreadnoughts-I will try to max these out in numbers. Put some blood talons on a few, a magna grapple or two, so I can bring the enemy to me. I just love death company dreads, and will need to get some more dread models.

Elites
Librarian Dreadnoughts- I can't wait for these. I want to look at them more in depth to see what options will be viable. But I'm thinking of jump pack power and the Preferred enemy power with Blood talons. Rerolls to hit, and wounds give extra attacks. That just seems crazy-killy to me.

Sanguinary Priests-I don't know if these guys will have a place in the army or not. I have to see the DC rules and the Priest rules to know what gaps need to be filled. The FNP will be great for a 30 man strong squad at the very least, especially for only 50 points.

Fast Attack
Baal Predators-Fast scout tanks will be awesome. Get into position to open transports or silence heavy tanks while my DC are coming to get them.

Heavy Support
Predators-maybe annihilators, because there is no ranged anti-tank in the list as of now. Although this slot will probably be empty. I just don't think I will have the points under 2K to get anything done. I usually play only 1750 or 1850 games, and all of this will probably not fit in. I will probably have to trim Astorath down to a Reclusiarch, and trim some power weapons/fists, and pare down the dreads while I am at it

So there it is. All over the board, little focus, lots of glaring holes, but I think it will be a friggen blast to play. Until I run into a fast mobile army that I just can't catch. I will have to use the DC infantry as a long strung-out net to hem the opposition in, then close in with the dreads to make them pay. But I will design the list and certainly play it a few times before I change it up to make a more competitive list.

Comments as always are welcome!

New Blood Angels are in!

So we all know the advanced orders are up. It was one of the best Mondays I have had in awhile :)

I have yet to see the codex in person,and it is killing me, lol. I need to see if the FLGS has their black box yet, and get in to see it. I am way excited about it though.

I am stoked to get into the book and start list building. It will start with all the fluffy, super-cool units and characters. I will have a few dreadnoughts in there, most likely at least one librarian dread. I will think I have the uber list, and I am sure I won't. It will be a process to get my list refined and tuned so be as deadly as possible. But the journey with a list is most of the fun.

Who knows what the dominant list type will be? There are a few archetypes that have been floating around in my head and the internet. Not that the two coincide, but here are some of my ideas.

1. Mephiston centered lists. This guy looks to be a CC beast. I will make and play a list with him for sure, and other will do so as well. If the non-IC thing is real, then delivery modes will be hard to come by. He won't warrant his own LR. He can't join in with other squads in Rhino/Razorbacks, and won't join footslogging units to hide him from fire. He will have to be bubble wrapped to prevent him from dying while crossing the board. And marines don't have any cheap bubble wrap, unless you are inducting IG. Who knows where this list will go.

2. Stormraven spam armies. I don't know the points cost for this guy, but again, I want to spam it. Don't know if it is a dedicated transport or a heavy choice, so I don't know how many will fit into a list. But the lists will appear and be played, despite the lack of a model. I know I'll be proxying Rhinos to start.

3. Dante deepstrike lists. I love to deepstrike, even though it is less than optimal in most cases. I just like the variability of it. When you stick the landing in the perfect spot it makes for a really fun game. It is too unreliable most of the time, but Dante fixes that. Apparently he doesn't scatter on a deepstrike. Granted you still have to rely on reserve rolls to get him in play, but most of the danger of the deepstrike is mitigated by his rule. Just imagine him droppping down with 30 death company, wherever he wants. Its ridiculous. With a model footprint that large, just imagine the amount of multicharges you could get. Upgrade the unit with Lemartes, and add in a Librarian for an added cover save from the incoming shooting you will get. It's gotta be a points sink, but loads of fun in my opinion.

4. Land Raider deepstrike. I don't imagine this will fare too well in the melta heavy environment that is 5th ed, but who doesn't at least want to try this out? Who doesn't want to drop some Land Raider Redeemers into enemy lines and melt faces? Don't forget you can still fire one weapon because of Power of the Machine Spirit after landing. Use the multi-melta to pop that Leman Russ, or chew up some Orks with your hurricane bolters or assault cannon. Or you could pop smoke to prevent some of the incoming damage from shooting. Then disgorge your termies or whatever other assault unit packed inside to chew up everything around it. Sounds like win to me!

5. My last entry is an all jump-pack army. I don't see the real merits of this incarnation, but I'm sure I will see it on the gaming board or on the interwebs. I've read that lots of people enjoy jump troops, but you will have a hard time convincing me it is as effective as a mechanized army. AP2 blasts will ruin your day, along with any AP3 or less weapons. This guy will show up, but I don't think it will last very long.

That's all I have for now. Granted those are really open-ended ideas with some wriggle room, but I'm sure you all get my point. Some other things you may see are triple flamestorm Baals, 8+ dreadnought builds, and librarian heavy builds. With the preponderance of cover saves in 5th, fast moving predators with Marine killing flamers are very attractive. Add in the sponson heavy flamers and you have some serious face melting going on. Who doesn't love armor 13 furioso dreads? Only the people being stomped on by them is all. Expect to see them in full force. I'm not sold entirely on the psychic powers, but I just need to see them in person to wrap my head around them all the way.

I'll start posting some more concrete list ideas when I have a tangible codex in hand and the points values. Until then, I'll just be dreaming in Blood Red each night . . .

Librarian Pics

This is my first Librarian that I had painted, and maybe one of my minis I am most proud of. This guy took lots of time to finish. I tried to be meticulous, and get every detail right. I did some of my first blending ever on this guy. I really like the model, and the Librarian part of it makes it even cooler for me. I love their iconography.

Here are some other shots. Please enjoy!











Comments and Criticisms welcome!