First Impressions of the New Blood Angels Codex

Posted by Ranillon on 8. April 2010 22:17

I want to spend time away from talking about that somewhat depressing, (relatively) new Tyranids codex to instead discuss its newest successor -- the Blood Angels book that came out last week.  I've only been able to spend a modest amount of time reading it, but I am already pretty impressed.  I am not sure how powerful the army itself may be (although I strongly suspect that it will be more so than less so) and I don't really care when it comes to liking it.  Rather, what interests me is how cool it seems, how much it stirs the imagination, and most of all make me actually want to play the force.  On all three I think this codex does a significantly better job than the new bug book.

Now on to specific observations:

1)  Why Take Dark Angels or Ultramarines?  Okay, I gripe about DA being under-powered all the time, but with this new book I am also wondering why you would even want to take vanilla Marines -- even with their still fairly new codex -- over Blood Angels.  BA can take almost everything that Ultramarines can.  The only things missing -- such as techmarine lords or the Thunderfire Cannon -- aren't high on the popularity list anyway.  Losing Combat Tactics is more serious, but hardly compares to what you get back in return -- a plethora of new units, hordes of fast tanks, nifty characters and new wargear, and abilities like Decent of Angels.  Even the Red Thirst is not a disadvantage -- I am hardly going to cry over having to trade in ATSKNF for Fearless and Furious Charge!

2)  Solid Troop Choices:  Unlike the Tyranids where there are really just two good types of troops -- Warriors and Termagants with Tervigons -- every option in the Blood Angel codex looks good.  You can take all the usual Marine picks plus Assault Marines, Death Company (though you are usually limited to one platoon of up to 30), and Death Company Dreadnoughts (also limited).  Even better, take the right special characters and suddenly Death Company becomes unlimited (and thus DC Dreadnoughts as well) or Sanguinary Guard (a sort of super assault marines) turn into troops.  Good choices make for more possible army designs, something I value highly.

3)  The New Stormraven Gunship:  A "mini" thunderhawk flyer that is as shooty as a Land Raider and can carry 12 models (or 6 Jump Pack Marines or 6 Terminators) and a Dreadnought at the same time! The only bad thing about it is that the model isn't out yet (and I'm not sure what it even looks like).  I'm sorry, but there has been nothing as cool as this out since the Valkyrie.

4)  Special Special Characters:  The Blood Angels get 7 new special characters (the eighth is from the Flesh Tearers, a successor chapter).  There is not a loser in the bunch and two of them even give you more Troop options.  What's more none make you groan over silly or lazy rules.  The fluff behind each fits what you expect from BA and at times is downright compelling.

5)  Flying the Unfriendly Skies:  Finally we get with Space Marines what I had hoped to get from bugs -- an all flying army.  And, it even seems effective!  You get HQ, Elite, and Troop choices that can all take Jump Packs.  Then the new Stormraven provides heavy support and can bring along Dreadnoughts to help out.  Add in some Land Speeders and you have all you need for a fast moving, hard hitting force.  It at least makes for an interesting alternative to Ravenwings and Wild Rider Hosts.

6)  Other Cool Units:  I like the idea behind Sanguinary Priests (units of Apothecaries that can go their separate ways!), Sanguinary Guard, the various Dreadnoughts (save maybe the Librarian version -- seems a bit over-the-top), and, of course, the Death Company which is nasty, if pricey.  I can't really find a true dud unit in the list, although this is partially due to it drawing so much from the tried-and-true Space Marine codex.  The only iffy unit I see is the Honor Guard, but not because it wouldn't be effective or has dumb rules.  It just seems a bit redundant what with all the other similar choices you have.

7)  Fast, Fast, Fast:  The ability of the Blood Angels to take so many Fast tanks -- pretty much every tank they have save Land Raiders count as Fast -- is nice and may be quite powerful.  It basically allows you to move an extra 6" while firing as much as other Space Marines that don't go that extra half foot.  It speeds up the BA in general and that in turn makes for more tactical flexibility and efficiency.

That's it for now.  Expect a more in depth look in the not so distant future.