Hello all! Sorry for the long delay, I’ve had life things happening recently and haven’t had a lot of time to game or write about gaming, but I think the 8 of you who actually read this rag will hopefully forgive me. In fact, to make it up to you all I’m prepared to send you a nice cash reward for continuing to read my blog. Just send me your bank account and pin number and I’ll deposit the reward in a timely manner.
ANYWAYS
Today I wanted to talk about running a shooting based Dark Angels army. Since 6th edition began I can say with certainty that my primary army has been Dark Angels. I, like most of the online community, at first felt that the 6th edition Dark Angels were a bit meh and didn’t really sync well with the other 6th edition (hardcover) codices. They don’t have a lot of anti-air, which is pretty crucial in a world of Hell-Turkeys and Flying Croissanwhiches. What they do have in their OWN fliers are overcosted and underperforming, in my opinion. It’s not that they are bad, per se, its just that there are units in other codices that do the same thing for a lot less points. While the Dark Angels certainly have a lot going for them in terms of elite assault units, you have to understand that 6th edition does not cater well to them. Have you actually tried to run dedicated assault units in a competitive tournament setting? You will be blasted off the table by turn 3 and left wondering where it all went wrong. Why did your cat bite you in the toe when you were putting on your socks? Was it because your girlfriend left you when she found out you were wanking it to My Little Pony fan porn? I don’t know, I can’t answer that. All I know is that while the Dark Angels codex certainly has some cool looking and themed units, their point costs are just too high in an edition dominated by low costing, high power outputting units (Tau, Eldar, etc).
I was ready to throw in the towel with the Dark Angels, to be perfectly honest, until I started realizing the point decreases in units that I had previously been overlooking. Old stand by units like the Whirlwind and Predators were point costed much lower than any previous iteration of Space Marine codex. It soon became evident that I had been getting distracted by the new shiny Terminator suits and lighting fast motorcycles while overlooking the REAL gems of the Dark Angels codex, the DAKKA. GIMME DAKKA!
Here are some examples of units that I have been using almost exclusively in the past couple weeks. After I will show you a shooty list that I think really has a shot in competitive play.
· Whirlwinds – These guys took a significant point reduction and have gotten even BETTER in the 6th edition due to how great barrage now is. The ability to demolish backfield wimpy units and negate cover saves has won me more games than I care to admit.
· Predators – Again we have a significant point reduction. I have always been a fan of these, what with and AV of 13 and the ability to shoot 2 strength 7 AP 4 Autocannon and two strength 9 AP 2 Lascannon shots a turn you can really put the hurtin’ on some Wraithknight or Riptide ass.
· Land Speeder Typhoons – I sound like a broken record but again the point reduction really has these guys as a must take. Put them near a Librarian with Divination/Preciensce and you twin link their missile launchers and heavy bolters. WINNING.
· Dark Shroud – Ok, this isn’t really a shooting unit but it will keep those shooting units alive longer with the ability to give Stealth to any unit within 12”. If you are running your gunline behind and Aegis (as you should) that is a lot of AV 13 tanks with a 3+ cover save.
· Dreadnaughts – These guys can come CHEAP for a ton of Dakka. Personal favorite is the Twin Linked Autocannons but the Missile Launcher/Lascannon is also fairly devastating (and expensive!).
· Tactical Squads – I have been putting these guys in Razorbacks to defend against Hell Turkeys and they're fairly reasonable price wise. Just give them a special weapon and run the Razorback with Assault Cannon or Lascannon turrets. Really fast scoring units are great.
So here's the current 1850 list I'm running.
Dark Angels 1850 - Space Marine Allies
HQ
Librarian (Lv.1) Divination
TROOPS
5 man Tactical Squad with Meltagun, Razorback with Twin Linked Assault Cannons
5 man Tactical Squad with Meltagun, Razorback with Twin Linked Assault Cannons
5 man Tactical Squad with Flamer, Razorback with Twin Linked Lascannons
FAST ATTACK
2x Landspeeder Typhoon
Darkshroud
HEAVY SUPPORT
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons
Whirlwind
ELITES
Dreadnaught with Twin Linked Assault Cannons
Allied Space Marines
Librarian (Lv.1) Null Zone and Gate of Infinity
10 man Scout Squad
Storm Talon with twin linked Assault Cannons and Skyhammer Missiles
Thunderfire Cannon
So, what do you guys think?