2K pt BA Army

[Brother Cruorem]

Here’s a BA army I’ve been thinking up.

HQ Lib w/ JP, Sword & Shield 125pts

Reclusiarch 130pts

E Chaplain w/ JP 125pts

Sanguinary Guard w/ Chapter Banner, PF 240pts

Sanguinary Priest w/ JP, PW 90pts

Sanguinary Priest w/ JP, PW 90pts

T Assault Squad w/ PW, 2 meltaguns, melta bombs Drop Pod 230pts

Assault Squad w/ PW, 2 meltaguns, Drop Pod 225pts

Assault Squad w/ PF, meltagun, flamer 230pts

Death Company (8) w/ 3 PW, Drop Pod 240pts

HS Predator w/ heavy bolters, EA 115pts

Vindicator w/ EA 160pts

So the Lib, Chaplain, and one of the SangPriest go with the SangGuard. I know the SangGuard aren’t the most reliable, but I love the idea of flying termies and I plan on hiding them behind everything I can before jumping into combat. The Reclusiarch will go with the Death Company in the DP. I plan on having them drop in late game to clear any enemy held objectives or just at a nice sized chunk of infantry. The other SangPriest will go with the Assault Squad with the PF and jump packs. The 2 DP Assault Squads will be the first DPs to drop in next to the scariest mech units and blast at them with the meltas, they will be combat squaded for more target choice. The HS will do their thing and help screen the SangGuard group. I think it’s a pretty solid army, but wanted to get some of your opinions on it.

[lowdog]

Why use drop pods on your assault squads? I don't see a reason to remove the jump packs unless you are going for razor-spam. Jump Marines can already deep strike, and with Descent of Angels you won't scatter as much, so you're nearly as accurate as a drop pod, except that they retain higher mobility in later turns.

[Brother Cruorem]

I was using the DPs to make sure that they came in on the first turn to kill some stuff and distract from the rest of my force.

[AirHorse]

The lone autocannon pred doesnt quite seem to fit right, one pred on its own isnt gonna be too great in my opinion. You could shave some points accross your list in general and get the pred a buddy to make them much more effective at opening up transports etc or change it to a baal pred with twin-linked assault cannons(which I reckon is more effective on its own).

Could also switch things up a bit more and convert the assault squad with jps to two five man squads in razorbacks with twin-linked assault cannons. Nets you an extra sergeant and some bonus points for something else, perhaps an extra body in the death company or make both squads six man or maybe you could even squeeze a landspeeder in.

[lowdog]

I was using the DPs to make sure that they came in on the first turn to kill some stuff and distract from the rest of my force.

Coming in first turn doesn't seem that important with this list. I'd swap out the drop pods for jump packs on the assault marines and a rhino for the Death Company (maybe with Extra Armor?). Then I'd angle for getting second turn and hold your entire army in reserve. There's a main page article about Descent of Angels and I think it says you can use Descent of Angels not only to reduce scatter but also to reroll your reserves roll (don't have BA Codex in front of me).

So your opponent loses an entire turn or two of shooting, then you drop in damn near every assault squad (can even combat squad for more targets for your meltas), then bring in your tanks, who can move fast and still fire. Zoom the DC Rhino 18" and pop smoke, then get it into assault range.

Anyways that's just my thought. I see a lot of people like to do razor-spam, which if you're swapping out the jump packs at least you're getting more firepower from the razorbacks. It just seems weird to me that you'd swap out jump packs that already let you deep strike to get a drop pod for deep striking. You get the first turn drop, sure, but as mentioned previously, by coming in later you deny your opponent shooting targets anyway, and you are trading in greater mobility for the rest of the game.

[Brother Cruorem]

Losing the DPs and getting a Rhino for the DC is sounding like a good idea. I keep forgetting that decent of the angels lets you reroll reserves. I just wanted to make sure that the RAS w/ meltas came in together so my opponent would have to spread out there fire.

[AirHorse]

Drop pods are still pretty useful for a blood angel player though. When a jump pack squads deepstrikes into the game it is gonna be very clustered up, meaning you either have to miss your melta shots when you enter or be very vulnerable to templates when you enter. Drop pods also provide alot of cover for your units when they enter, if you choose your positioning wisely you can deny your opponent shots, or at the very least protect your units with cover saves.

I think your original list had a nice mix, but perhaps you could tweak it more(similar to what i mentioned earlier) by changing some of your 10 man squads into two five man squads. You always get the points discount on the drop pods anyway so by taking two five man squads you get a second drop pod for only 10 points more. By doing this you could also switch up your death company to use a rhino and still have three drop pods to get you that nice first turn assault on your opponents heavy transports before they can get into the game.

[Angelofblades]

I think you have too many Death Co and no PF's or Infernus pistols.

What happens if your DC go towards armor they can't touch or a unit they can't wound? you're screwed. I would suggest giving the Reclusiarch an Infernus Pistol, and adding a PF to the Death co, as well as dropping a Death Co.

Drop the Chaplain, not necessary.

If your going to take a predator w/ heavy bolters, then take the Baal predator. Don't bother taking the dakka pred when the baal pred is so much better.

vindicators are better in pairs, I would find the point for them, drop EA for a siege shield.