Blood Angels have all the basic tough, elite stats, weapons and tanks of most space marine armies, but with a few extra rules and variants that give make them faster and more combat oriented. They can stand back and form a gun line, but if that is a preferred style of play it is probably better to go with a more static-based space marine army such as Imperial Fists or Ultramarines. Blood Angels excel at close up, in-your-face fighting and hitting the opponent almost before the battle lines are drawn. With that in mind, how do commanders decide what will be in an army and how can they use the Sons of Sanguinius to full effect?
Warhammer 40k Blood Angel Armies Like Combat
Getting up close and person is what the army does best, and this is reflected in the codex itself. The troops section gets an expansion from the usual marine choices of tactical squads and scout squads with the addition of assault squads, as well as having Death Company (both troops and dreadnoughts) which are mentioned later. This means that armies can include entirely deep striking or jump-pack equipped troops. This is a huge bonus in mobility and also gives a commander the threat of attack anywhere on the board with deep striking squads that can capture objectives.
Speed is not just limited to the jump infantry. Almost all Blood Angel vehicles are fast, meaning transports can get squads to medium and close range with the enemy quickly and decisively. It also means that they can carry their heavy hitters further and still fire.
Blood Angel Close Support and Tanks
Blood Angel rhino-chassis vehicles are all fast, meaning that predators, razorbacks and whirlwinds can all move an extra 6 inches and fire all of their guns. It also means that the vindicator becomes an even more attractive choice in a Blood Angels army as it can move 12 inches and still fire its main gun, which can mean a strength 10 AP 2 template on the enemy’s head in the first turn – never a fun prospect.
The army is also the first to field the blood raven assault transport. In essence a mini version of the thunderhawk gunship, it can sport a range of weaponry, move 24 inches a turn and carry a 10 man squad and a dreadnought. Couple that with assault ramps to charge after disembarking and armour 12 all round for defence and it becomes a very popular choice with Blood Angel players.
Blood Angel Character choices
Along with an array of colourful and hard hitting special characters, the army list includes a few changes in how characters and support characters are presented. Although the usual Space Marine choices of generic chaplain are in the list, there are now smaller versions as well that can be taken as elites choices. Further, there are sanguinary priest which can be taken as up to three for one force organisation slot. The chaplains make a unit fearless, confer re-rolls to hit in the first turn of combat and come ready for war at only 130 points. Sanguinary priests cost more to tailor to your squad choices (e.g. a jump pack to work with your assault/troops squads) but they give the squad and all other squads within 6 inches furious charge and feel no pain, making them better in defence and attack. Because of this priests are pretty much ubiquitous in a blood angel army, and often form a good central node to pinion your forces around.
James Barry - James Barry is a freelance writer, director and producer. He has worked in a huge range of jobs from the esoteric to the mundane
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