New thoughts...

I'm going to have to reconfigure how I'm doing this...

Thinking about restarting with 6th edition, and just focusing on the armies there. That way, I'm not just arbitrarily posting stuff that gets changed in a couple of weeks or months...

I'm on a roll today! Now with edits...

Alright, the new Space Marines codex is coming soon, and I'm actually pretty excited for it, for one reason.

According to rumor, they're adding chapter-specific rules.

This has been something I've been looking for since I started getting into the hobby, back in 3rd edition. In honor of this, I present some fluff-y rules for chapters, as I feel I will think the rules insufficient in the end, regardless. These are meant to demonstrate how the chapters worked as I read of them in fluff and other sources. If you don't like how they work, then fine, but please comment on how.

Links are provided to various wikis about the Chapters. Some are for the 1d4chan wiki, which is the most entertaining of the wikis (and the writers do know their fluff), but some of it is NSFW content (of the foul language variety). Be warned.

White Scars
I think these guys have gotten it the worst. This one also gets the biggest makeover. So I present the following, with a few tweaks along the way. I've changed some things around here, just to make it a little more in the flavor of the chapter, in my opinion, and to make up for certain things. Such as placing Terminators and Dreads in Heavy Support, as they tend to not use many, and use them more for those roles. Also, I changed the Predators a bit and have them as Squadrons, as I think they would need it for the stuff I did.

And The Tanks are 5 pts more because the Blood Angels already did that.

According to the fluff, they specialize in bikes, fast moving vehicles, and hit-and-run strategies. They don't trust slow moving vehicles or armor (they allow whirlwinds because of their range), and putting their men in Dreadnoughts goes against their personal beliefs, so those are usually not seen in White Scars armies.

Chapter Rules:

• Sacrifice Combat Tactics for Hit-And-Run to all models on bikes.
• All Independent Characters must take a Space Marine Bike (price included).
• All Independent Characters, Sergeants, and Veteran Sergeants on Space Marine Bikes may replace their Bolt Pistol or Close Combat Weapon for a Power Lance (20 pts). Sternguard Bike Squadron, Command Squad, and Honour Guard models (if given bikes) may take them for 15. Champions (Company or Chapter) automatically take them, increasing their point cost by 5.
• The Power Lance is an AP 4, Unwieldy weapon. When a character using a Power Lance Assaults, it changes to S +2, AP 3, I +2 weapon.
• Honour Guard may take Space Marine Bikes for +15 points per model.
• You may take a maximum of one of any Terminator Squad and/or Dreadnought.
• All Dreadnoughts MUST take a Drop Pod (price included).
• Rhinos and Razorbacks may be upgraded to Fast vehicles for +5 pts/model
• Additional vehicle upgrades from the codex are allowed.

HQ

• Chapter Master: 160 pts
• Honour Guard
• Captain: 135 pts
• Command Squad
• Librarian: 135 pts
• Chaplain: 135 pts
• Master of the Forge: 135 pts

Elites

• Sternguard Veteran Squad
• Techmarine: 85 pts
• Legion of the Damned Squad
• Sternguard Bike Squadron: 175 pts (see below)

Troops

• Tactical Squad: 130 pts (see below)
• Scout Squad
• Space Marine Bike Squad
• Space Marine Scout Bike Squad

Fast Attack

• Assault Squad
• Vanguard Veteran Squad
• Land Speeder Squadron
• Space Marine Bike Squad
• Attack Bike Squad
• Land Speeder Storm Squadron
• Scout Bike Squad

Heavy Support

• Devastator Squad: 130 pts (see below)
• Chogoris Pattern Predator Squadron (see below)
• Chogoris Pattern Whirlwind: 90 pts
• Terminator or Terminator Assault Squad: 0-1 (see above)
• Dreadnought: 0-1 (see above)
• Venerable Dreadnought: 200 pts
• Dreadnought: 140 pts
• Ironclad Dreadnought: 170 pts

Units:

Sternguard Bike Squadron.............175 pts

• These are normal Sternguards, but on bikes.
• 1 Space Marine Biker Sergeant
• 2 Space Marine Bikers
• Equipped with bike, bolt pistol, ccw.
• Special Issue Ammunition is fired from the twin-linked bolter mounted to the bike.
• When used, it does not fire as twin-linked.
• May take up to 7 additional Space Marine Bikers for +35 pts/model
• Any model may replace its bolt pistol for the following weapons:
• flamer: +5 pts
• meltagun: +10 pts
• plasma gun: +15 pts
• Up to two Bikers may be upgraded to Attack Bikes for +40 pts/model
• They may be upgraded with multi-meltas for +10pts/model
• If the squad is subject to the Combat Squad Special Rule.

Sternguard Veteran Squadron............160 pts

• Sternguard Veteran Squads now include a Rhino.
• May be upgraded to a Drop Pod.......free
• or a Razorback.................................+5 pts

Tactical Squad............130 pts

• Tactical Squads now include a Rhino.
• May be upgraded to a Drop Pod.......free
• or a Razorback.................................+5 pts

Devastator Squad............130 pts

• Devastator Squads now include a Rhino.
• May be upgraded to a Drop Pod.......free
• or a Razorback.................................+5 pts

Chogoris Pattern Predator Squadron:

• Vehicle, Tank, Fast
• 1-3 Chogoris Pattern Predators: 65 pts/model
• Upgrade autocannon to twin-linked lascannon: +45 pts
• It cannot be upgraded with Side Sponsons.

Chogoris Pattern Whirlwind............90 pts

• Vehicle, Tank, Fast

Raven Guard

Another chapter that seems to have gotten the shaft. Trying to not only fix it up for them a bit, maybe give them a true leg up, in accordance with their preferred methods of fighting. 

The Raven Guard fight using unconventional warfare, guerilla warfare, and lightning attacks. Their preferred method is to use Scouts to recon the battlefield, and designate targets for Devastator and Assault Squads, who then either take them out at range or jump in and destroy them before they have a chance to communicate with higher.

Chapter Rules:

• Sacrifice Chapter Tactics for Heroic Intervention on all Jump Pack Models.
• Prepared Jump:
• When deploying units before the game, you must deploy at least 2 Troops. All other Raven Guard units may be placed in Reserve (even if it is more than half of your models)
• In any turn where Reserves would be allowed, you may roll a leadership test for every unit you control in play. If all tests are successful, you may deploy all Raven Guard Jump units in one turn.
• If a Raven Guard Independent Character is attached to a unit with Infiltrate, the unit may infiltrate as normal.
• Honour Guard and Command Squads may be given Jump Packs at +10 points per model.
• Only one Land Raider of any kind may be taken in a Raven Guard Army

HQ

• Chapter Master
• Honour Guard
• Captains
• Command Squad
• Librarian
• Chaplain
• Master of the Forge

Elites

• Terminator Assault Squad
• Sternguard Veteran Squad
• Venerable Dreadnought
• Dreadnought
• Ironclad Dreadnough
• Techmarine
• Legion of the Damned Squad
• Vanguard Veteran Squad

Troops

• Tactical Squad
• Scout Squad
• Assault Squad

Fast Attack

• Assault Squad
• Vanguard Veteran Squad
• Land Speeder Squadron
• Space Marine Bike Squad
• Attack Bike Squad
• Land Speeder Storm Squadron
• Scout Bike Squad

Heavy Support

• Devastator Squad
• Thunderfire Cannon
• Land Raider/Crusader/Redeemer: 0-1 (see above)
• Predator
• Whirlwind
• Vindicator
• Terminator Squad

Exorcists

Another cool little chapter that doesn't get much mention. Apparently they're a chapter full of nulls.

Special Rules:

• Remove Combat Tactics Special Rule
• Psychers targeting Exorcist Squads or characters with a Psychic Power test with -1 Ld (This includes Force Weapon abilities).
• Deny the Witch tests made by Exorcist units always pass on a 3+. If the unit has an Independent Character attached to it (not a lone Independent Character), that increases to 2+. Deny the Witch attempts against Force Weapons are taken as normal.
• All psychic powers have no effect when in assault with an Exorcist Squad (this does not apply to any vehicle, even those carrying Exorcist units or Dreadnoughts).
• Any unit containing any Psychers or Daemons must take a Leadership Test with -1 Ld to assault an Exorcist Squad (this does not apply to any vehicle, even those carrying Exorcist units or Dreadnoughts). Any model attacking an Exorcist model with a Daemonic weapon must take a Ld check in the same manner to use its ability.
• You may only take one Exorcist HQ choice (however you may take Command Squads and Honour Guards as normal).
• Due to the fact that Exorcists have an unusually high attrition rate through indoctrination, all squads aside from Tactical and Scout Squads are 0-1 entries.
• You may only take one Dreadnought of any kind.
• You may not ally Exorcists with other Exorcists.

HQ

• Chapter Master: 0-1
• Honour Guard: 0-1
• Captains: 0-1
• Command Squad: 0-1
• Chaplain: 0-1
• Master of the Forge: 0-1

Elites

• Terminator Squad: 0-1
• Terminator Assault Squad: 0-1
• Sternguard Veteran Squad: 0-1
• Venerable Dreadnought/Dreadnought/Ironclad Dreadnought: 0-1
• Techmarine: 0-1

Troops

• Tactical Squad
• Scout Squad

Fast Attack

• Assault Squad: 0-1
• Vanguard Veteran Squad: 0-1
• Land Speeder Squadron
• Space Marine Bike Squad: 0-1
• Attack Bike Squad: 0-1
• Land Speeder Storm
• Scout Bike Squad: 0-1

Heavy Support

• Devastator Squad: 0-1
• Thunderfire Cannon
• Land Raider/Crusader/Redeemer
• Predator
• Whirlwind
• Vindicator

Salamanders

Always loved these guys...

Special Rules:

• Remove Combat Tactics. All flamer and melta weapons count as twin-linked.
• Any Independent Characters may take artificer armor for 5 points less than normal.
• Any Independent Characters may take a Salamander Mantle for +20 points. This grants the model the Eternal Warrior USR.
• Any Character model may make any of its weapons master-crafted (re-roll fails to hit) for +15 pts/weapon.

Minotaurs

Nothing much to add here. They're just pretty cool.

Side note: They're in Imperial Armour 12. Haven't read it yet.

Minotaurs are rumored to crave the assault, will often use Rhinos to get closer to the lines as quickly as possible, and are found to carry assault weapons whenever possible.

Special Rules:

• Replace Combat Tactics with Counterassault.
• Any model in a Tactical Squad may replace its boltgun with a bolt pistol and close combat weapon at no extra points cost.

Black Dragons

Another cool group. They're in the 21st (cursed) Founding, and suffer mutations where they grow bony spines from their wrists and head, which they use in assault.

Special Rules:

• Replace Combat Tactics with Furious Charge
• All models count as having an additional close combat weapon. This does not impact models (such as Assault Squads) that have a bolt pistol and close combat weapon, or models with 2-handed close combat weapons (such as relic blades).
• Allies of Convenience with other Space Marines.
• Desperate Allies with Dark Angels and Grey Knights.

Soul Drinkers/Blood Ravens

I am going to go off of fluff for these, and this is fairly simple. They may take Chaos allies as Battle Brothers to reflect corrupted/mutated members of their chapter, the Warlord may upgrade any chainswords, power weapons, or lightning claws they own to Daemonic Weapons for +15 pts each.

Well, there you have it. Figured it would be fun to get all this stuff down. Somebody go play with some of these rules, tell me what you think.

Moar Random Musings...

Alright, I know I haven't posted in quite a while, but life is...weird... right now. That being said, this post is about a few ideas I've been kicking around, and will also post an army I've been working on.

• Imperial Guard Spam Platoon:
• The platoon consists of:
• Command Squad, with Chimera
• 2 Infantry Squads, with Chimera
• 4 Heavy Weapons Squads, combined into 2 6-gun squads
• You're probably already seeing where this is going. Keep your IS's on the ground. Load up their Chimeras with your HW squads, using the Chimeras to cover your troop movements. Your IS's are a counterassault element now. The fact that your HWS's are in vehicles means that you are not as hindered during movement. Not to mention that they can hold an objective while castling, and stationary fire 7 Heavy Weapons into an enemy (if loaded entirely with heavy bolters, that's 21 shots. I would use 3 missile launchers, 2 heavy bolters, and an autocannon, for 14-15 [3 missiles, 3 multilaser shots, and either 9 heavy bolter shots, or 6 and 2 autocannon).
• To add insult to injury, use an additional HW or Special Weapons Squad, combined into the Command Squad.
• Gunnery Sergeant Harker:
• He can be used one of 2 ways:
• Give the squad Camo Cloaks, Sniper Rifles, and a missile launcher or autocannon. Infiltrate them onto an objective. Thanks to the snare mines and sniper rifles, they can keep your opponent at bay, and deny some of his movements, long enough for your army to catch up.
• Give the squad Demolitions, and melta guns. No heavy weapons. Outflank them onto the board as a mid-late game anti-tank force.

Now to discuss my idea for an army. This is still in the planning stages, I haven't even calculated points, and need to double check the rules to see if I can do a couple things. It is as follows:

• Rune Priest
• Command Squad with Creed
• 2 Squads of Grey Hunters, one in a Rhino, the other in a Drop Pod
• Veteran Squad with Harker, sniper rifles, camo cloaks, Chimera
• Veteran Squad with Sgt Bastonne, melta guns, heavy flamer, shotguns/laspistols, Grenadiers
• Valkyrie Squadron
• 2 Squads of Long Fangs
• Hydra Flak Battery

Now, the idea is as follows. Keep in mind that some things will be sacrificed for points:

• Game starts with all but the drop pod GH's, Sgt Bastonne's squad, and the valkyries (carrying said squad). Long Fangs are placed in position with good lines of sight, cover and concealment. Place the Hydras centrally, using the same idea. Attach your Rune Priest to the Command Squad.
• Before the game begins, infiltrate Harker on to one objective, and use Creed to infiltrate the Rhino (loaded with Grey Hunters) to either support them, or hold another obj.
• First turn, Drop Pod Assault (half of 1 rounded up is 1) the remaining GH's into a support/counter position of the objective holders. 
• When your Valkyries come in, drop your othe Veteran Squad into a support/counterassault position. Keep your Valkyries on the board all game, targeting your opponent's troops.

And that's the jist of it. This will need tweaking and tuning, but I think it's fairly solid out of the gate...

Flyers!

As per the suggestion from 40kHobbiest, Flyers should be suggested. These guys could throw a few monkey wrenches in the game for a few reasons, and, now that they're in mainstream rules, we'll see them a bit more often. Here we're going to talk about their advantages, disadvantages, and how to take them down.

Alright, let's talk about the basics. We already had Skimmers, and they were, well, skimmers. They had a whole bunch of advantages, and some disadvantages. Personally, I love using them. There's a lot they bring to the table that works well with how I do things. As the hobby, and interest, grew, they made Forge World, and started making resin flyers, which they needed rules for. Initially, these were just rules for fun games, not to be used in tourneys or the like. However, with 6th Ed, they decided to make them official. They are a different, yet similar, beast to skimmers, but are used in many of the same ways. Here's the rundown:

Let's hear the good news first...
We'll start with advantages. Right off the bat is their Zooming movement ability. This makes it, as standard, an 18" Combat Speed and 36" Cruising Speed. That'll take a decent amount of firepower pretty much anywhere you want it on the table. This is especially effective with transport vehicles. When flying at either Cruising or Combat Speeds, they may fire up to four weapons at their regular BS. That's pretty huge. Many transport flyers also give you the opportunity to drop their troops off mid-flight, Deep Strike style. All shots against a flyer (unless using a Skyfire model/weapon) are Snap Shots, and Blast and Template weapons have no effect (for the record, I think blast weapons should work with a direct hit). They can leave the table and come back on later, and, lastly, any Immobilized result only locks their movement speed in place. This is a lot. A whole hell of a lot. You have, basically, a vehicle that's almost impossible to hit, being able to move across the board in a turn, while dropping off troops and firing four weapons in the process. Not to mention the Flyers that can use Hover, therefore switching between roles of Flyers and Skimmers within the game. You're able to deliver a TON of firepower wherever you want it, when you want it, and that deserves respect.

Alright, and the downsides:
First off, Zooming flyers must move a minimum of 18". If they don't or can't, they wreck themselves. Secondly, they must start the game in Reserve. Third, they may only make a pivot of up to 90 degrees in the beginning of the movement phase. Last, they are usually fairly expensive. (You get what you pay for). Now we get to go through how these are going to impact your game.
The first might not seem that bad, but it can still happen. You declare the move, and find out your opponent's squad is in the way. Now you have to move it back, and it wrecks. At least it could explode on top of them. By now, I'm sure you have read how I feel about Reserves. This rule actually ruins one of my IG builds (3 Squadrons of Valkyries and Vendettas, full of troops. Drop the main forces on the objective turn 1, and use the Air support to ruin troops and vehicles. Oh, and there would be a squadron loaded with troops equipped with meltaguns and demolition charges just to finish ruining my opponent's deployment zone). It's unreliable, and you can't make a functional army based on Reserves, in my experience.The last issue we need to address is the pivot. Again, this doesn't seem like a major issue, but it leaves the Flyer vulnerable. All its weapons are forward-facing, and this denies you the ability to fight a rear-facing model/unit, or attack the same unit two turns in a row.

What this means to the game:
You essentially have a very fast attack method that is very hard to take down. The low armor value doesn't mean a whole lot when you only hit on 6's. Playing with flyers means you can do a decent amount of damage, while a significant portion of your opponent's firepower is focused on your few models. Which means it's not focused on your forces. A well-placed flyer, or squadron, is capable of doing a lot of damage, and soaking up a lot of firepower. This means that players who do not have flyers should possibly invest in a few models with the Skyfire option, as a safeguard. One would have to be careful to make sure they have Interceptor, as well, or else you'll have weapons that are almost useless most games. I don't predict lots of them, but they're value on the table does change things, and a player would need to be prepared, either through emplacements or other things. I would suggest picking Flyers that are more Anti-Armor oriented, as having a fast anti-tank platform is incredibly valuable. The toughness, and the fact that you can distract a large number of forces only adds to that. Overall, I'm thinking about adding some to my play style, as this is a lot of advantages. The disadvantage to using flyers for your anti-tank, is your enemy's armor is loose and deadly until you can get them on the board. Overall, I think it's a win some, lose some situation. Flyers should not be discounted as just a new gimmick.

Dark Angels look...

Hey, got to take a look at the Dark Angels Codex, here's my thoughts:

• The Darktalon isn't really that great. It'll have its uses, but overall, meh.
• Same with the Darkshroud. It has some great buffs (It's shrouded, nearby units add +1 to assault results, and stealth), but overall, meh, for 80 points.
• Ravenwing Attack Squadrons can be 6 bikes, an attack bike, and a Land Speeder, but it can only Combat Squad with 6 bikes. I think it's significantly nerfed from the last codex.
• Support Squadrons can take 5 Land Speeders of any type.
• Black Knights can take up to 10 models. They all have Corvus Hammers, which give them +1 S and Rending. They also have Plasma Talons, an 18" Assault 1, Plasma weapon. 1/3 can swap for a grenade launcher.
• Deathwing Terminators can now take Plasma Cannons as a heavy weapon. They can also Split Fire. Vengeful Strike allows their weapons to act as Twin-Linked the turn they come in, if you use a Deathwing Assault.
• Models get +1 T if they are in base contact with at least 2 Deathwing Knights. You can see where this could be bad. Once a game, they may use their weapons Smite Mode to deliver S 10, AP 1 or 2 Attacks. And Storm Shields.
• Deathwing and Ravenwing Command Squads. Can be picked for any HQ Choice using Terminator Armor or a Bike.
• You still need Belial or Sammael to use Deathwing or Ravenwing as Troops
• Land Raider Vengeance: It's a Land Raider Vengeance, armed with a Plasma Storm Battery

Overall, I think pretty much all of what I said applies to them still. There's a lot of plasma weaponry that wasn't there before, but they play pretty much the same as previously stated.

Blood Angels

Let's get something straight here:
I don't like Blood Angels. I really dislike them. Mostly thanks to many butt-kickings that I received from their armies in my earlier days playing. To a newer, inexperienced player, they can seem like a daunting obstacle. To BA players, they can seem a nigh-invincible force. To me, they, and the 3rd edition Necrons, are the reason the Dreadsock  (NSFW) was invented. I will, however, give you your money's worth (Do you see what I did there?) of a rundown of the Army.

Alright already, we get it,so how do they differ from the other incarnations of Space Marines?
Well, there's a few differences in the units. There's also a few new units and vehicles. Oh, and Assault squads are Troops choices. Basically, they're a fast-moving, offensive, Space Marine army. All of their Jump Pack forces may re-roll their Deep Strike rolls from Reserve and Scatter rolls (Descent of Angels). Most of their units roll at the beginning of the game to swap "ATSKNF...," for Furious Charge and Fearless (The Red Thirst). This includes Dreadnoughts. Also, just like every non-codex chapter, They have a much better list of Psychic Powers. That being said, there are some unique units to the Chapter.

• Reclusiarch: HQ choice, basically a Chaplain that allows you to re-roll fails to hit (and wound with Death Company Squads). Chaplains are an Elites choice
• Sanguinary Guard: Elite Jump squad. Equipped with artificer armor, master-crafted power weapons, and an AP4 boltgun. And they're Fearless. But, they're expensive.
• Furioso Dreadnought: A dreadnought with two Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons. Can be upgraded with a Librarian (complete with Force Weapon and Psychic Powers), or with Lightning Claws that can pretty much allow infinite attacks. Also gets the Red Thirst.
• Sanguinary Priest: Basically, a cheap, roving Elites choice that gives any unit within 6" Furious Charge and FNP.
• Death Company: 3-30 upgradeable Troops (Jump Packs cost +15/model) with Rage, Fearless, FNP, Furious Charge, and Relentless. But they can't hold objectives. And are 20 pts apiece base.
• Death Company Dreadnought: Troop Choice. 2 Dreadnought CCW's. Subject to Fleet, Furious Charge, Rage, and None Can Stand My Wrath (ignores Crew Stunned and Crew Shaken).
• Baal Predator: Fast Attack Fast Tank with Twin-Linked Assault Cannon. Honestly, keep the turret as is.
• Stormraven Gunship: Expensive Fast Skimmer (Heavy Support). May carry 12 Models and a Dreadnought. Armed with Twin-linked Heavy Bolter and Assault Cannon (upgradeable). 

All this combined means speed, and lots of it.

How does this make them better?
It makes them fast and vicious. Between all the Furious Charge, Fearless, and Assault-driven abilities, equipment, and units, you've got a force designed to take out larger forces in quick, decisive rounds of Assault. This method works much better with Chaplains, Sanguinary Priests, and Reclusiarchs leading the charge.

What's the catch?
Your only really ranged units are Tanks and Devastators. Sure, you've got all those other units (Veterans, Terminators, Tac Squads, Scouts), but, let's face it, you're not playing Blood Angels so you can castle. You're playing to fly into your opponent's face and turn it into an Annihilation game before he realizes it, and exactly 5 seconds after he's lost two-thirds of his force. You pay for this in a question: do you go all-out assault, or risk losing front-line backup for long-range firepower (and if you get long-range firepower, is it enough)?

I've opted to purchase a bucket of glitter, clown makeup, and tell people I'm a vampire. Where do I start?
HQ. Get a Librarian at lower point battles, as he's still HQ, and gives you some tactical options on the cheap. Add a Reclusiarch later on (1000+ pts). Buffs are your best bet with this army. Also, Get Chaplains and Sanguinary Priests if you can afford it, for the same reason as the Reclusiarch. You want the majority of your Troops to be Assault Squads, with a mounted Tac Squad or Dev Squad for backup, which is where all those "buff" units and characters come into play. Death Company are cool, but be wary of using them, as they can't hold objectives and can be easily "distracted." On the other hand, you can have a Death Company Dreadnought for every 5 of them (It's a Troops choice, and, therefore, can take and hold objectives. HINT). As you're already focused on getting close in, I would suggest either small Devastator units with Razorbacks or using Tac Squads with Razorbacks for your anti-tank. Or you can do the "All In" option, take a bunch of Furioso/Death Company Dreadnoughts, and give them all magna-grapples or blood talons.

I'm staring down the table at a swath of Blood Red paint and angel wings. What do I do?
Stay calm. Use their lack of range to your advantage. Stay out of Assault range, and take out their long-range units quickly. Then turn your guns on Buff units and characters. Next comes Death Company. Remember, avoid assault, especially with them. If they're going to assault, and there's nothing you can do, force them into a disorganized assault, that way they lose their bonuses from Furious Charge and Rage. Regardless, keep them at bay. Crowd Control and Area Denial are very important. Make them come to you, and using the path that you want them to.

In conclusion...
Basically you're looking at an aggressive, infantry strong, Space Marine force. They've got their strengths and weaknesses, and I realize this closing is really weak, but it's all I gots. Until next time...

JaegerWolf

Dark Angels

Hey, this is a bit premature, as the codex is coming out soon, but figured with all the news and leaks some stuff about them should be shared.

Intro to the Dark Angels
Let me start by saying that I really don't know what to do with them. Personally, I think their models are cool, and they've got some awesome abilities, but I don't like their back story  and their play style is...weird. Allow me to explain. The Dark Angels are one of the founding Chapters (also one of the few that use the Codex Astartes for tp. That gets them cool points.), but didn't take part in the Heresy on either side, because they were slow to move. Their Primarch is named Lion'El Johnson, and he's a crappy leader. To further the whole crappy leader image, when the Heresy broke out, he decided to go, but stopped at home to leave his corrupt second-in-command (which there is question of whether he knew or not about that), and pretty much all the disloyal troops on his home planet. Missed the Heresy, came back, and Luthor (his #2 man) took control of the planet. So Johnson blew it up, big climatic sword fight, Johnson gets mortally wounded, blah blah blah. Now they hunt down the traitors that escaped. It's pretty cliche, and I'm not really a big fan of the story, because it comes down to Johnson being either a jerk, or incompetent, with his choices.

Force Composition:
Now, forces are usually spearheaded by either their 1st company, Deathwing, or their 2nd company, Ravenwing. Deathwing is Terminators. Ravenwing is Space Marine Bikes and Land Speeders. My issue is that they have 2 almost completely diametrically opposed methods of use, both are fairly expensive (points wise), and very little middle ground. But they do have perks. In previous editions, you could use Belial or Sammael, and they would make Deathwing Terminators or Ravenwing Attack Squadrons, respectively, as Troops. The rumor mill is saying the new codex will allow Deathwing or Ravenwing Commanders. Now to get into the rules and such. Keep in mind, with the new codex coming out, this may all be subject to change.

First off, the units mentioned will only be the ones with significant difference from Codex: Space Marines. As of writing this, they still get normal Dreadnoughts, Techmarines, Scouts, Tac squads, Assault squads, Dev Squads, Tanks, and Dedicated Transports. They get Company Veterans Squads, but I'm going to assume that's going to be replaced with other, more fan-service units, and generally not worth discussion. Second, Deathwing Terminators and Ravenwing Attack Squadrons may use the Combat Squad rules. Third, Dark Angels are, from what I see, supposed to be used with either Belial or Sammael.

Deathwing Terminators:

• They act as either Terminators or Assault Terminators on a model-by-model basis.
• Fearless
• Deathwing Assault: you may put them in Reserve, and Deep Strike half of your units (rounded up) on your first turn, just like Drop Pod Assault rules.

Combine all this with the ability to make them Troops choices (and therefore take and hold objectives), this is a huge improvement on the classic Terminator squad. They have greater tactical flexibility, and, as objective holders, give you a defense that's going to be pretty tough to get through. The downside is that they're very expensive.

Ravenwing Attack Squadron:
They're the same as a regular SM Bike Squadron, but with a few differences:

• Scouts (rumor states they'll get Skilled Riders, unsure if this will happen, or if this will be in addition to, or will replace Scouts)
• Fearless
• Maxes out with 6 regular bikes, 2 Attack Bikes, and a Land Speeder. When they Combat Squad, that allows them to break up into 3 separate entities (2 Squads of 3 Bikes/1 Attack Bike, and a Land Speeder)

This one is more of a significant departure from their Codex counterpart. The extra Attack Bikes and Land Speeder, while creating a significantly more expensive unit overall, give you much more firepower. As Troops, that gives you 3 very able, small units, to hold down the fort. Especially with good backup. I've stated before that Space Marine Bikes are a bit of a glass cannon, these guys definitely bring more to the fight.

New Stuff, Rumors, and Leaks:

Ravenwing Support Squadron:

It's essentially a Land Speeder Squadron, but with a couple of changes:

• Maxes out with 5 Speeders.
• May only take 1 Typhoon and 1 Tornado

Whereas the previous squads are usually just improvements on the original, the Support Squadron is more of a mixed bag. the 5 Speeder max gives you more firepower on the move, and more models, but the Typhoon and Tornado limit, well, limits your flexibility. As I have previously shown, there's lots of ways to set up a Squadron, but this kind of forces you to purpose-build it, without much ability for dual-purposing (example: you build a straight tank-hunter Squadron, you are banking on one Typhoon for anti-Infantry weapons). Personally, I expect them to either make them regular Land Speeder Squadrons, change the number of Typhoons and Tornadoes, or reduce the number of Speeders, but allow you to take Land Speeder Vengeances or Darkshrouds. More on that in a minute.

Librarian Powers:

I'm not going over them individually, but they're a hell of a lot better than Codex SM.

Newspangled Stuffs:

Alright, not sure how much of this will change, but here goes.

Deathwing Knights:

• Equipped with Storm Sheilds and power weapons specifically designed to kill Chaos Space Marines.
• Have abilities that allow them to be tougher. No idea how, though.
• There's a rumor about some special S10/AP2 attack that they can do.
• Personal thoughts: cool unit, probably expensive, probably not much of a game-changer, though. Lack of ranged weapons makes me cautious, and I don't trust the Dice Gods more than I have to.

Ravenwing Black Knights:

• Fast Attack, bikers, no idea aside from that.

Dark Talon/Nephilim:

• Dual Kit (I hate these, purely because I think it's laziness in their art team)
• Fast Attack Skimmer/Flyer
• Dark Talon looks to be almost pure Crowd Control, with Hurricane Bolters and other new weapons that aren't being fully revealed
• Nephilim looks Anti-Tank, with Heavy Bolters, and Lascannons that can be replaced with Mega Bolters and missiles

Land Speeder Vengeance/Darkshroud:

• Vengeance is Heavy Support, Darkshroud Fast Attack
• Heavy Bolter/Assault Cannon and some newfangled plasma gun (Vengeance)/something that gives buffs to nearby units (Darkshroud)

My Thoughts on Playing:

I think they already were meant to be played with either with the Ravenwing, and hard and fast, or with the Deathwing, and slow and purposeful. My prediction is that with the new Codex, it's going to stray even farther from the middle-of-the-road abilities, to be focused on one side or the other, with a couple of token units to make up for it. Both would make a pretty decent defensive-to-midfield army. The only problem is you're going to have to be extra careful with your points, as I do predict everything will have a high cost. If you can figure out a good balance between them, you could build a force to be reckoned with.

Thoughts on Playing Against:

This is fairly complex, as there's two styles to play against. With either, I honestly suggest playing numbers. There's a lot of firepower to compete with, so try and play hard and aggressive. Take out the heavier vehicles and transports as soon as possible, and what's left are all usually light Skimmers and Infantry (and small numbers of them, at that). Try to move in quickly for the kill. Terminators and Bikes are tough, but, if you wear them down with lots of focused firepower before going in for the kill with massively superior numbers, they will fall pretty quickly. If they manage to get the objective first, let them have it for a while, while you whittle them down to a more manageable size.

On crazy new stuff for the Space Marines:

Not sure how I feel about this, I just think it needs to be tossed out there. Between the Blood Angels Codex and this one, we're seeing a lot of new, crazy stuff come out for variant Space Marines. I'm still going to complain about the Space Wolves kinda getting screwed on that end, we got the Thunderwolf Cavalry and Lone Wolves, while losing the ability to field Leman Russ tanks. I mean, come on, they're named after our Primarch. Anyways, I'm hoping this means they will move the story forward, and we will see more new stuff throughout the Space Marines either in this edition or the next one. I'm worried that we won't, and the "splinter" Space Marine Chapters will continue to be less and less, well, Space Marine-ey.

Anyways, that's all I have. I will check in again when I can.

JaegerWolf