Rampant Speculation: Blood Angels Codex?

[ElectricPaladin]

It's not going to be any time soon - though GW has been putting them out at a fair clip, so who knows? - but the Blood Angels codex is due for a rewrite. I'm curious to hear if any of you have any guesses, theories, or suppositions about what that new codex will include.

Will Blood Angels be saddled with centurions (I'm not a fan of the models) or will their BGD (Big Giant Dude) be something else? Will Blood Angels get an additional flyer to occupy the fighter/bomber role, or will they just have the stormraven (not that I'm complaining about the stormraven, mind you)? What do you suspect will be done to give the Blood Angels more of a punch in close combat? How will the the red thirst, the black rage, and the death company be expressed in the new codex?

Let's keep it friendly, civil, and do your best to make suppositions that can be backed up with evidence (I'm a science teacher even in my off hours, it seems...). That makes the conversation more interesting.

[lobster-overlord]

Considering it was 10 years between books, I doubt they have a huge need to redo it anytime soon. I think they'll stand by it for a little while longer and crank out some chapters we've never seen a book on first. And, as I never finished my first BA army which I started in 2001, I'm not too keen on them putting out a new book for me to change my army structure AGAIN. :-)

[MajorWesJanson]

Space wolves will almost definitely be before the BA.
Still, for BA, my guesses-
Vanguard, Sternguard, Tac squad prices brought into line with Codex: SM- SM got their units aligned with DA, and BA were aligned with SM before.
Grav guns added.
Probably more use of Blind USR for assaulting (glittering angels after all)

Kits
Combat flier, either add the storm talon, or a new flier (shared with Space Wolves?)
BA terminator unit (Sanguinary Elite?)
It would be nice to get a recut razorback or recut assault squad added to the release-
Razorback with all the weapon options
Assault squad with parts for 2 plasma pistols, 2 flamers, 2 meltas, and say 2 of each power fist, sword, axe, maul, and spear. Think the new vanguard vet box, but instead of a bunch of TLLCs and THSS, a massive variety of normal power weapons.
On the far out side of ideas, maybe a speeder tank, like the DA landspeeder vengeance, but with more hull points and non-plasma weapons, and less baroque.


As for schedule, I'd say something like Nids in Nov, IG in Feb, Orks in April, Wolves in June, Dark Eldar, Sisters, BA, Crons, GK, with supplements and model kits following that.

[vharing]

I honestly think that Blood Angels already suffer from an over saturation of units. I think any of the books that were updated 5th edition and then again in 6th have way too many units. Blood Angels got a bunch of new units in 5th, personally I feel we dont need more units.
Ps I have been playing BA since 3rd

[ElectricPaladin]

I honestly think that Blood Angels already suffer from an over saturation of units. I think any of the books that were updated 5th edition and then again in 6th have way too many units. Blood Angels got a bunch of new units in 5th, personally I feel we dont need more units.
Ps I have been playing BA since 3rd

I basically agree with you. We don't want more stuff. We want a few changes in the way the stuff we have now works.

That said, I suspect that we will get a BGD. I personally suspect a second flyer, to mimic the stormtalon. Either a dual fighter/bomber kit or just a fighter. And finally, I suspect that we may get some more ground-based anti-air - the vanilla marines got that, but the Dark Angels didn't, so the data is split.

I actively don't want us to get the first. I think this "flyer and BGD" parity between the codices is sucking a lot of the individuality out of the factions. I think the second might be funnish, but I don't think we need it. The last we also don't need, because the stormraven is already such a great anti-flyer flyer, in addition to carrying troops.

[daboarder]

I'd like to see rules allowing our veteran assualt squads to either "squad vector strike" or assualt fliers....

model wise, I just dunno what we'd get. an honour guard kit?

[plawolf]

General price drop, I think the HQs will be tweaked to put them in line with C:SM both points and stats wise. Some of the names characters will probably also get tweaks and maybe a few will get AP2 at normal I weapons to help them deal with 2+ saves.

The flak missile will be made an option in line with DA and C:SM, grave weapons will probably also be made available.

With every codex, they need new kits to help boost sales. But with BA already having so many kits, its hard seeing where they might add new units. I think BA will either get the stormtalon added, or have a new flyer, but with the stormtalon, stormraven and the DA fliers, I don't think marines need another flier, so stormtalon it is.

I think with the tac squad, and veterans getting updated for C:SM, BA would be a good time to update the assault squad box.

The DC will get a price drop, but they seem fine as they are, so I don't see big changes to them. For general rules changes, I would like BA to get the ability to use jump packs in movement and assault like the new raven guard, and being able to take 2 CC special weapons in regular assault squads instead of shooty special weapons would go a long way to making regular assault squads good choices. I would also expect elites like Sanguinary guard to get hit and run.

Since BA are so CC oriented, some ability to counter or negate overwatch would be useful, maybe limited to vet assault squads to help differentiate them from the new regular assault squads and VV and Sanguinary guard a little more, or such a rule might get added to the Sang Guard Death Mask.

Every release needs a big stand out kit, I would love it if BA got a plastic contemptor, but that may be asking for too much.

[daboarder]

a BA specific terminator kit would be nice......

[ElectricPaladin]

This is some good, hopeful stuff.

General price drop, I think the HQs will be tweaked to put them in line with C:SM both points and stats wise. Some of the names characters will probably also get tweaks and maybe a few will get AP2 at normal I weapons to help them deal with 2+ saves.

The flak missile will be made an option in line with DA and C:SM, grave weapons will probably also be made available.

With every codex, they need new kits to help boost sales. But with BA already having so many kits, its hard seeing where they might add new units. I think BA will either get the stormtalon added, or have a new flyer, but with the stormtalon, stormraven and the DA fliers, I don't think marines need another flier, so stormtalon it is.

You know what would sell like hotcakes? Make a Blood Angels-specific flyer based on the stormtalon, then sell a kit to convert it, with, I dunno, new wings, a new cockpit, and new weapon options, but based on the original kit. Man, would that ever squeeze money out of us.

I think with the tac squad, and veterans getting updated for C:SM, BA would be a good time to update the assault squad box.

The DC will get a price drop, but they seem fine as they are, so I don't see big changes to them. For general rules changes, I would like BA to get the ability to use jump packs in movement and assault like the new raven guard, and being able to take 2 CC special weapons in regular assault squads instead of shooty special weapons would go a long way to making regular assault squads good choices. I would also expect elites like Sanguinary guard to get hit and run.

I have a vague hope that the death company will go back to being random. It never made sense to me that in the fiction of the game, they are a collection of crazed marines who just lost it a few minutes before the battle began, but in the reality of the game, you buy them ahead of time as part of your list.

Since BA are so CC oriented, some ability to counter or negate overwatch would be useful, maybe limited to vet assault squads to help differentiate them from the new regular assault squads and VV and Sanguinary guard a little more, or such a rule might get added to the Sang Guard Death Mask.

Every release needs a big stand out kit, I would love it if BA got a plastic contemptor, but that may be asking for too much.

Plastic contemptor for Blood Angels? I'd buy the hell out of that.

[daboarder]

I have a vague hope that the death company will go back to being random. It never made sense to me that in the fiction of the game, they are a collection of crazed marines who just lost it a few minutes before the battle began, but in the reality of the game, you buy them ahead of time as part of your list.

But its not usually "just before the battle" its usually long enough before one that the chaplains have time to not only induct them into the death company...but also repaint their armour entirely....