This past month saw the release of the latest offering in the Psychic Awakening series, Blood of Baal. This volume includes new rules for Blood Angels and Tyranids,both of which got some pretty good buffs, the Blood Angels really came out on top with this book. So much so, in fact, that it is my opinion that Blood Angels are now a tier one army in competitive 40k.
Rather than go on a long review about the book itself, I'm going to highlight what I feel are some of the best changes, some tactics and synergy to use to make the most out of the new book and finally a look over my current Blood Angels army list.
The Big Changes
First, we have updates to several datasheets including, of course, the new Primaris version of Mephiston. He is essentially the same as before only he now has 1 more attack and wound. And he got a points reduction. He was already good but now is probably an auto-take in most Blood Angels armies henceforth. Additionally we saw updates to Astorath and Lemartes which now have access to the coveted Litany abilities, themselves big game changers for the army. We also get the official Sanguinary Priest with the option to add a jump pack which is actually quite an important addition for the army. Of course there are several other datasheets presented in the book, including Death Company Intercessors, and the newish units that released long after the original codex.
We finally have access to Combat Doctrines just as normal Marines, which is honestly a huge boost. Additionally, Blood Angels have their own special ability which triggers during the Assault Doctrine if your army is entirely composed of Blood Angels; Savage Echoes. While the Assault Doctrine is active (turn 3 onward) when a Blood Angels unit charges, is charged or performs a Heroic Intervention, add 1 to the attacks characteristic of models in that unit. This also combos with Shock assault which basically does the same thing. What this means is that when you get to turn 3 your Blood Angels units are putting out some real pain on the enemy. We'll get to more of that in a bit.
Red Thirst has also seen an update from the standard codex version. Now in addition to giving Blood Angels +1 to wound in the Fight Phase, it also lets them add 1 to all Advance and Charge rolls. This is a huge boost for the army. Flesh Tearers also get their own version of this, but it is simply not as good as Red Thirst. Being able to need an 8 out of reserves to make a charge is a huge boon for this army.
As mentioned above, Blood Angels now have access to the litanies for Chaplains, which is really nice. They even have their own special litany which allows you to choose a Blood Angels unit within 6" and when that unit makes a wound roll during melee all unmodified 6s become AP -4. Not a bad buff, by any stretch, but Canticle of Hate is where it's at for Blood Angels. If this litany is inspiring then any units within 6" of the Chaplain may add 2 to their charge rolls and pile-in and consolidate an additional 3".
New Stratagems. Boy there are a lot of new stratagems in here for Blood Angels. Many of them were simply ported over from Codex Space Marines, but Blood Angels have access to several clutch stratagems which I will cover here:
- Refusal to Die: 1 CP Once per turn only. Give a Death Company unit a 5+++ to ignore wounds. This goes a long way to help increase the survival of those Death Company. An amazing strat.
- Death on the Winds. 1 CP During the Fight Phase select one Sanguinary Guard unit. Until the end of that phase treat a result of a 1 on the d3 damage as a 2 instead. Sanguinary Guard can dish out a lot of pain in this updated and this really ramps up the damage.
- Unbridled Ardour. 1 CP Select a Blood Angels unit during the Charge phase. That unit may perform a Heroic Intervention as if it were a character and may move 6". This is probably one of the more underrated strats in the book, but it is extremely good for counter charging units.
These are just 3 of the main standouts. Naturally there are some other amazing strats such as Transhuman Physiology, Duty Eternal and Hero of the Chapter. And of course they have all the strats in their current codex as well. This means that of all the Marine variants, Blood Angels have the most stratagems available to them which gives them a lot of flexibility in list design.
Blood of Baal Tactics and Synergy
These updates have really ramped up Blood Angels to a tier one level. In the hands of a capable general they can really cause havoc on the table top. Let's take a look at some of the key synergies you should be running.
Death Company blobs supported by Lemartes. 15 Death Company with 4-5 thunder hammers and chainswords and boltguns on the rest. Sure you can deploy them on the board and move upfield with Forlorn Fury if you go first. But that requires deploying them on the table and risking them getting shot up. We don't want that especially given the rise of units such as the Thunderfire Cannon and other units which ignore line of sight. It's best to just stick this blob in deep strike.
Lemartes you will want to actually deploy on the field. With units such as scouts and infiltrators to screen out, Lemartes will most often be safe. You will want to deploy him either last or close to the last drop. And you'll want to put him down near where you want the Death Company to hit in turn 2. At the start of the battle round you want to pop off the Canticle of Hate. Move him up and advance if needed (don't forget your +1 to the roll if you advance). On turn 2, the Death Company will come down by Lemartes and the fun begins.
When the Death Company drop, you'll likely want to send in your Smash Captain with Angel's Wings first to prevent overwatch. Losing Death Company to overwatch is one of the most frustrating things to deal with and Blood Angels have no way to stop that other than using either the Angel's Wings relic or the Flesh Tearers warlord trait character to deny overwatch. So, if facing a nasty gunline like Iron Hands, who can buff up overwatch to 4+ to hit, you'll want to keep that smash captain close by so he can deny that overwatch.
So, the Death Company have dropped and now you need a 7 on the dice to make a charge and next to Lemartes you can reroll this giving you about an 82% chance of sticking that charge on 2d6. Which is nice because this means you are no longer dependent on Descent of Angels. Sure, you can use it if you want, but your chances are high enough after the litany goes off to hold back the CP if you wish and have a great chance of landing that charge. You'll want to leave enough room for Lemartes to get in there as well. Because we want to get the extra movement on pile-in and consolidation. Getting 6" on these gives you some incredible distance to cover and goes a long way in allowing you to finish off a couple of good targets and wrapping up a unit to prevent the Death Company from being shot in your opponent's following turn. This can often be a game changing move if pulled off appropriately.
Now it is turn 3 and you're going to drop in the Sanguinary Guard at this point and this is where the meat grinding begins. Savage Echoes is kicking in at this point meaning that combined with the Sanguinor buff, which you will most certainly want nearby, each Sanguinary Guard is swinging 5 attacks each! That is a ridiculous amount of attacks. Throw Unleash Rage on them and now that number is 6 attacks each. This is a murder blend unit of death and by the time they come in, they should be in a good position to get to something good. If not, don't be afraid to drop them down behind terrain and wait maybe another turn to make a move. Having a unit like this in the late parts of the game when resources are thin for your opponent can be devastating.
Ideally, on turn 3 you'll want to drop them in perhaps next to Astorath (who can throw down 2 litanies) for Canticle of Hate. For sure you're going to want the Sanguinor, Sanguinary Ancient, and probably a Sanguinary Priest with the new relic Icon of the Angel. The Icon is, in my opinion, one of the best relics in the army and easily an auto-take. It allows any unit within 3" of the bearer to re-roll any number of dice when making a charge move. That is huge combined with +1 to charge rolls. Now, the Sanguinary Guard, Sanguinor, and Sanguinary Ancient are needing an 8" with a re-roll to get in. This is still only around a 65% chance to get in. But having Descent of Angels in your back pocket with a re-roll for Sanguinary Guard, something they did not have before this update, is huge in ensuring they get in. It also helps make sure your buff characters like Sanguinor aren't trailing behind and not in combat.
When this unit sticks it's charge you are looking at 45-50 power fist attacks on Turn 3! You'll want your warlord or a similar character nearby to give them a re-roll buff. With the Priest in range of the unit they are STR 10 which combined with Red Thirst is enough to wound anything in the game on 2s. And of course with the Sanguinary Ancient you'll be re-rolling 1s to wound. Let me make this perfectly clear, there is nothing in the game that will likely survive this sort of damage output. Not a knight, or a similar super heavy. You'd be hard pressed even to find a titan that would not fall from this barrage of attacks. Simply put, whatever this unit touches dies. Period.
The Sanguinary Ancient relic banner Standard of Sacrifice is still the go to here. The new relic to give the unit an extra 2" to movement is nice, but these guys need to survive. Between Transhuman Physiology and the Standard of Sacrifice, you have a unit that is incredibly hard to remove and capable of dishing out some pain.
My Current List Post Blood of Baal
Blood Angels have always been a CP heavy army and with the release of Blood of Baal they are even moreso than before. So, we want a list that can maximize their CP. At minimum I think you need 2 Battalions. The list I'll be running features 3 Battalions. That is 18 CP and most likely by turn 3 you'll be out of Command Points entirely. But hopefully by then you've done enough damage that it won't matter. Anyway, on to the list
++Battalion++
Captain, Jump Pack, Thunderhammer, Storm shield (Angel's Wings, Hero of the Chapter: Artisan of War)
Mephiston
3x 5 Scouts, Combat Knives
++Battalion++
Lemartes
Astorath
2x 5 Scouts, Boltguns
5 Infiltrators
++Battalion++
The Sanguinor, Warlord
Sanguinary Priest with Jump Pack (Icon of the Angel)
3x 5 Intercessors
15 Death Company with Jump Packs, 4x Thunderhammers, 1 Power Fist, 10 Chainswords, 11 Boltungs
9 Sanguinary Guard, 9x Power fists, Angelus Boltguns
Sanguinary Ancient, Sword (Standard of Sacrifice)
In the pre-game you're spending 3 CP to take all the relics. Another CP for Hero of the Chapter, which is clutch as it lets you get that smash captain up to 4 damage on his thunderhammer without basically giving your opponent the Warlord kill. And we'll spend another CP for Death Visions on him to get that extra attack on the charge and 6+++ (which we can boost to a 5+++ in turn one with Refusal to Die.) That leaves you with 13 CP to spend during the game. Plenty to do most of the tricks you'll want to do with the army over the first few turns.
The first turn is generally about movement and positioning. You're moving Lemartes near where you want the Death Company to drop in turn 2. Most of the time this will be at the heart of the army. You're also deploying with forward pressure with the Infiltratos and combat scouts to hit screens hard in turn one. Intercessors are typically in the backfield slowly advancing upfield or sitting on objectives as needed.
Turn 2, the Death Company drop in, as described above, with Lemartes buffing them they can cause a LOT of damage and can wrap up a unit to keep them from being shot up. This also helps protect incoming characters like Mephiston, Smash Captain (if you haven't sent him in already) and Astorath.
Turn 3 the Sanguinary Guard drop and the real party begins. As noted above these guys just begin to plow through anything on the board.
I have tested this list over several games against a variety of builds and it has performed quite well. It is, of course, not without it's weaknesses. Infiltrators really make this army hard to work using deep strike shenanigans. Tau and Iron Hands overwatch can hurt as well. Against many armies, and dare I say, most armies, however, you can do a massive amount of work with the new Blood Angels.
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