The Independent Tournament Circuit otherwise known as the ITC is in it second year, already doubling in size of participating events. The ITC  is centralized on the American West Coast. No other region is more dedicated to the ITC, becoming the standard for tournaments large and small. One of the biggest selling points for the ITC is the army specific tracking and awards. Last year I was able to snag the best Ork player with my Green Tide army. I didn’t win any tournaments, but constantly placed in the top 25% for the events I attended, the system allows event slightly above average players a chance at winning something. The ITC provides incentive for players to field underused armies; with the way the ITC system works, you are not stuck with just playing one army for the entire year either. Like Orks, I am going to try to win another best award with another underused army: Dark Angels.

The poor Dark Angels have been in a funk pretty much for their entire existence. It always seems like they get maybe one to two months to shine. The current Dark Angels codex suffered a one-two punch. Dark Angels were the first codex to take advantage of Stealth and Shrouded, but less than four months after release the Tau codex hit and no cover save was safe. The final blow though was the Space Marine codex, as White Scar armies did everything Dark Angels could do, only better and for less points…oh and lets not forget Grav weapons. However, for all the Dark Angel problems, it is problem easily fixed by just point reductions; the outline of a great codex is there, all it needs is a 7th edition “blanding” to bring it up to speed.

Now that I just bashed Dark Angels, why in god’s name would I want to play them and play them competitively?

Like I mentioned earlier, the ITC format is part of it, another part is all the Dark Vengeance models I have lying around. I decided it was time to put all those Dark Angel snap on models to some use. Games Workshop does an amazing job with their starter sets and Dark Vengeance is no different, the detail and variety is great. So, how could I make a Dark Angel list that was functional, effective, but most importantly stood a chance in a Tournament? Well one shining beacon of light has appeared, a Christmas gift bringing uniqueness to the Dark Angels: Dataslate: Dark Angels Librarius Conclave. As part of the 2014 Advent Digital calendar the Librarius Conclave was missed by many.

The Librarius Conclave is a formation with the following rules…

Requirements: 1 Ezekiel, 2-4 Librarians
Restrictions: All units in this Formation must have the Dark Angels Faction.
Special Rules: Empyric Connection: At the start of the Psychic phase, you can nominate one model from this Formation. If you do this, the nominated model has access to any psychic powers known by other models from this Formation within 12″ until the end of the phase; however, other models from this Formation within 12″ of the nominated model cannot
manifest psychic powers until the end of the phase. Furthermore, when the nominated model makes Psychic tests this phase, he will harness Warp Charge points on a result of 3+ rather than 4+ if there is at least one other model
from this Formation within 12″.
Focused Interromancy: When manifesting the Mind Worm psychic power, models in this Formation can double the power’s maximum range if there is at least one other model from this Formation within 12″.

In a world, with Seer Council, Daemon Summoning, and Centurion Stars, this Formation can bring any Dark Angel army on equal psychic footing. At worse you generate five Warp Charge dice and at best 11 dice. That doesn’t include any more dice you might throw in from a Primary Detachment Psyker. Dark Angel Librarians also have Divination instead of Biomancy.

This Formation got the ball rolling for me on Dark Angel list design. Obviously, this Formation can be used with other Battle Brother factions, but I wanted to see if it could keep it “in-house” and bring some tactical nuance to a full Dark Angel army.

Currently, the ITC only allows two Detachments/Formations for use in army construction, designing a list around the Conclave meant dealing with those restrictions. Typically when I design a list I take things to an extreme then dial it back to find some sort of equilibrium. My first lists with the Dark Angels went full Conclave trying to beat my opponent in the psychic phase. Problems arose  around three major points; mobility, point sinks, and Ezekiel. Mobility luckily had an easy fix, I could put the Librarians on Bikes, it not only gave the Libbies speed it also provided some defense. Taking Bikes meant I was going to sink a lot points into these Libbies, so finding the right wargear balance critical. Ezekiel was another problem, not because he is terrible, but because he basically forces you to take a Tactical Squad because can’t get a Bike or Terminator armour. Once, I settled on these Biker Libbies it become clear Ravenwing was the path to take. Ravenwing currently are overcosted, playable only two ways; either minimal Objective grabbing squads, or as large Bolter Banner units. Since I was investing a lot of points on the Formation; I went for an MSU approach, and unlike Space Marine bike units, you can take a unit of three and still get Objective Secured.

Ravenwing also means deciding between Sammael or Azrael on who better to make them Troops. I started playing with Sammael because of things like Eternal Warrior, but after play-testing enough I ended up with Azrael. Azrael just brings so much to Dark Angels, he gives LD10 to all units while he is alive, 4++ save for any unit he joins, and he can pick his Warlord trait. Azrael most important role though is beefing up the backfield tactical squad, along with Ezekiel gives it me two 2+/4++ multi-wound models. With the bulk of my army settled, I still needed some sort of hammer unit and one of those amazing Dark Angel Banners. The Banner of Fortitude with its Feel No Pain bubble, is for Bikes just too good to pass up, especially with so many things being AP3 or lower. To get the Banner of Fortitude I took a Ravenwing Command Squad, these Black Knights are pretty good, with Plasma weapons and Rending Assault. They also have access to another toy the Ravenwing Grenade Launcher, with Rad Shells to reduce a unit’s Toughness. Since I see many Gargantuan Creatures, taking their Toughness down is critical, so the Grenade Launcher made perfect sense. Finally, I needed a way to deal with suicide units that might Deep Strike and destroy my Command unit, luckily the Dark Angels have an answer with the Power Field Generator. The Generator creates a small 3″ bubble of 4++ and if spaced properly can save many a bike.

All combined, I have a highly mobile units, with layers of defense. Unless it is Destroyer Weapons I have a pretty good chance of getting at least one save or two saves most of the time. These defenses only increase with the use of Psychic Powers like Invisibility and Shrouding. I can also play around with Divination for Forewarning, Daemonlogy for Summoning or Sanctic powers like Hammerhand or Sanctuary, depending on my opponent. Then there is also most my army having Hit & Run and Scout, I can null deploy and come in from all sides. The army can also bring a unique Psychic Shriek Alpha Strike against the unprepared. The tactical options are vast and with Objective Secured all over the board, it means even one lonely bike can win me a game. The list also plays well with the ITC Missions, where you have multiple ways to get enough Victory Points for a win.

Enough teasing, here is my current ITC Dark Angel list, I imagine you won’t see anything like it around.

Tastytaste Dark Angel ITC Master List

As always if you can think of ways to improve it, while still keeping it all Dark Angel let me know!

Warning

Tits for Tournaments is rated factually opinionated. Expect results, army lists, and some light bitching about boring spam lists to follow.