So, it's been a while since I've even thought much about my Blood Angels army, mostly because I've been painting Dark Elves, Orks, Salamanders, and Wolves as fast as I can, which leaves little room for Blood Angels. My current Blood Angel list certainly isn't super competitive, with lots of inefficient points spent on inefficient units. I aim to stop that inefficiency, and make the army as competitive as I can.
I suppose I should start off with my current list. Call it laziness after my sad showing at 'Ard Boyz this year, I just didn't feel like exploring them any more. So, I made a list with models I owned and has units I sort of liked.
I don't really remember what point level it is, it's somewhere around 1750 or 1850. Here it goes:
Mephiston
10x Assault Marines w/ 2 Melta, PF, Infernus Pistol (w/ JP)
10x Assault Marines w/ 2 Melta, PF, Infernus Pistol (w/ JP)
5x Assault Marines w/ Melta, PF, Infernus Pistol, Razor w/ HF
5x Assault Marines w/ Melta, PF, Infernus Pistol, Razor w/ HF
Sanguinary Priest w/ JP, Infernus Pistol (goes with JP squad)
Sanguinary Priest w/ JP, Infernus Pistol (goes with JP squad)
Sanguinary Priest w/ Infernus Pistol
5x Devestators w/ 4x Missile Launchers
5x Devestators w/ 4x Missile Launchers
5x Devestators w/ 4x Missile Launchers
And that's it. Not a whole lot to offer, to be honest. Kind of a bland, bare-bones assault force, with FNP and FC everywhere, and also lots of melta (4 melta in each jump assault squad). The missiles can be useful, but aren't nearly as cheap as Long Fangs. Mostly, since I use the same models for both Blood Angels and Space Wolves (cuz I'm obviously just following the Codex Creep, and it's not an issue of money or anything) I have the models for the Devestators, so that's what I'm using. No real reason other than that.
I think in the end, it's the assault marines that really weigh this army down. It's just... pretty super-meh. 30 attacks with Furious Charge still only kills like 10 orks (if I'm lucky), or 3 marines. Not terribad, but then you have to think: how many points am I spending on that squad?
This is where I hang my head in shame and say... 340 if I include the priest, which is how the list is built. I can kill 3 or 4 marines on the charge with a 340-point unit that has FNP. My hitting power vastly diminishes after first turn too. For 340 points, there are wolf lords who can do any amount of terrible things to an army by himself. Way more than this squad can do. Mephiston himself is almost 100 points less! And if something good charges that squad, it goes poof real quick- the Priest dies so easy too!
I'm honestly not getting 340 points worth from that squad. 200 points would be more like it. So, what do I replace it with? I'm not sure yet. Everything in the codex is just so damn expensive!
In addition, the devestators are alright, but really, they're just trying to keep up with Longfangs. They can't do that, and I'd go as far as to say that they are significantly worse than Longfangs, since they can't split fire, and don't have counterattack (which honestly makes a huge difference). What can I replace them with, that makes my long-range firepower better? Again, I'm not sure. Preds stand out as the obvious choice, though I'm not sure how much better a tank sporting an auto cannon and 2 las cannons can be. Guess I'll have to look closer at it all.
What about Mephiston? Is he worth it? Right now I'm convinced that he is, but I'm willing to admit I'm wrong if he proves otherwise. Maybe he's worth it, but maybe two librarians with jump packs are more worth it. Or maybe I just need to add another HQ.
So, this isn't a post to show how to easily make Blood Angels work- it's more of an opener thread. I need to take another look at my Blood Angels, and see what they can do. I'm going to start doing unit analysis on them, and making changes to my list. Hopefully soon I'll have the models I want to use finished, and I can start using this army for my Weekly Battle Reports.
Let me know what you think. Haha, feel free to rip apart my poor excuse for a list if you want- I'm well aware that it is flawed, I won't be too offended. ;-)
