SOAPBOX SUNDAY: THE BLOOD ANGELS CODEX! Dave and Bigg go head to head in a review of the new Blood Angels Codex. Please leave your thoughts, and discuss the Codex in all its glory! Remember S. Sundays only last for the Sunday and is your opportunity to discuss the given topic. Keep it clean and friendly GaTers!. Blood Angels codex review Head to Head Review, By Dave Bottomley and Bigg This is the 5th incarnation of the Blood Angels army list since its introduction in Codex Angels of Death. We would both like to say that as Gamers we both try to build armies that work within the context of the background. So most of this review is based around that point of view. Big changes from last codex: Furious charge added across the board. Assault squads moved back to Fast Attack. Tactical squads have access to a Heavy Flamer. Baal Predators moved to Heavy Support. Dante gets Eternal Warrior, and his Axe Mortalis now strikes at I value!. Sanguinary discipline psychic powers. The Death Company have a substantial reduction in jump pack costs and have been moved to the Elite section. Blood Talons now have new rules which make them stronger but have less attacks. Unit prices brought into line with other Marine Codexes Still no Stromtalon Gunship. No Space Marine Hunter/Stalker or any new Anti Air Units. Our thoughts: Dave: Some have said that this codex takes away a lot of the uniqueness of the previous addition. I disagree, GW have followed a fairly standard way of presenting current marine codexes - standard squads, a couple of chapter specific squads and further special rules to provide further distinction between forces. Id argue that the extras that they bolt onto the standard codex are where a marine army really gets its character. Within the 40k universe itself, the Wolves are presented as the ultimate divergent chapter, set down according to Russ vision. Everyone else chose to follow the codex pattern, some more closely than others. Bigg: On receiving the new Blood Angels Codex I couldn’t help but notice that the quality of the product was yet again top notch I had hoped this was a sign of what was to come. Sadly I was to be disappointed. I would have to say that what I discovered inside was my worst nightmare and truly horrific to a character player like me. The Blood Angels have become a chapter that could and probably should, have been represented in the space marine codex. Dave: To this end, in the fluff, the Blood Angels follow the Codex Astartes fairly closely, the same make up of companies, same number of companies. Its in the special rules and additional units that the Blood Angels retain their uniqueness over other marine armies. I agree with Assault marines being moved back to Fast Attack, I also agree with Death Company being moved to Elites. Both, in my opinion, fit better with the established fluff. Bigg: They do maintain some fluffy and characterful units, I will say that for them, which given the severity of the changes I feel lucky to have. But the codex only seems to represent the old school codex following Blood Angels, with a lot of new creative fluff ignored. which is no good for any Flesh Tearers, Flesh Eater s players etc, and effects a whole myriad of other Blood Angel descendant chapters out there. Dave: The Blood Angels now have Furious charge across the board - this, in my eyes, is a welcome return to the BA, it provides a buff to the charge - a fluffy and characterful rule and a nod to their rage in the initial stages of combat. Bigg: I’m glad we have kept Furious Charge as a rule, and I’m even more happy that it has been rolled out across the chapter. I am however a little disappointed at the Sanguinary Priest losing the ability to award the Angel Feel No Pain. It stems the lunatic fringe and blood madness and for me takes away a central core characteristic. Replacing Feel No Pain, is the Blood Chalice rule that awards any unit containing plus one weapon skill, so not an entire loss, but an uncharacterful none the less. Dave: The Warlord traits - all of these complement the Blood Angel way of war, Descent of Angels is in there, but the others all add a bit of character to your army, and indeed, make your warlord that little bit more unique. Bigg: I Totally agree with Dave on this point , the Warlord traits are very fluffy and full of character. I particularly like Red Rampage. Dave: The Baal strike force - this presents a force org chart that displays how the Angels frequently deploy. Its still a combined arms detachment but the rules attached make more of a nod to the established background. The addition of the extra elite slot works when you take into context that the Death Company have moved there. Bigg: What can I say about the changes to the force organisation chart??, they certainly do represent a codex chapter. However my Flesh Tearers, Assault Squad army is now completely illegal and apparently un fluffy!??!. Honestly from what I have come to expect from a Blood Angels or a descendants army, the new codex genuinely fails to hit the mark. In the last codex I saw growth of character, freedom of choice and unique character in abundance. All the Blood Angel codex chapter players could still play in that fashion, and all the players that wanted the unique close combat assault armys could take them to!. Now though , you can longer can you represent a Death Company formation (lets hope the Apocalypse Formation still stands). Assault Squads have been moved back to Fast Attack, killing the Flesh Eaters and Tearers etc. Dave: The new Sanguinary psychic discipline, the relics of Baal and the new tactical objectives also all work in bringing to the fore the Blood Angel way of war. All provide extra character whilst supporting the fluff. Bigg: Plenty of familiar psychic disciplines here that really give themselves over to a character Blood Angels army. I have yet to play using the new Tactical objectives, but from they look of them they have been very well thought out and add to the overall feeling of the new codex. Dave: The special characters, Dante et al, and the extra units (Death Co, Sanguinary Guard etc) all provide extra layers of character to the basic codex template. A Tactical marine is a Tactical marine - however once youve added FC, a Heavy flamer option, and +1 initiative for being in a Baal strike force, plus any extras conferred by Corbulo or a Sanguinary Priest, thats when you get a Blood Angels Tactical marine. Thats where you find their uniqueness. Bigg: Yaaahhhh Seth made it, and given a pretty hefty discount to. In fact all the characters have!. Still I feel they have lost something as a whole in this codex. Astaroth cannot make Death Company troops and Seth can no longer Lash out or attack all in base to base contact with him, he does however gain Rage and Red Rampage, which when you look into is a substantial win in my book. Dave: There are omissions that I find disturbing to- not least of which is the lack of reliable anti air. I do think the Hunter/Stalker should have been added to the army list. I dislike having to rely on Storm Ravens and flakk missiles. I would have liked to have seen armies based around other descendant chapters too, possibly with some tweaked chapter tactics. Bigg: Wait a codex chapter without anti air????…. I have no words to describe it than “just foolish”. I will refrain from further comment as my black rage hasn’t quite abated. Dave: I still find Librarian dreadnoughts a bit jarring - I do think that other chapters should have access to them and Im glad that deep striking Land Raiders are out but with all things being equal, I have to say that Im happy with the new codex. Yes, my army has required some tweaking and rearranging, but you know what, every new codex has brought this, its part of the evolution for the game and you know what they say, a change is as good as a rest. Bigg: Summing up I feel that the codex for me personally has fallen very flat and has not only lost its uniqueness but lost essential and hard gained character. As a characterful Flesh Tearer’s player, my army at the moment needs a hell of a lot more than tweeking. I genuinely cannot play the Flesh Tearers as I feel they were meant to be played. I had hoped that new codex would progress, unfortunately it was not be. The codex quite thoughtfully has been hacked and slashed, into what amounts to an army that should’ve been in the Space Marine codex alongside the Sons of Guilliman Dorn and Corax etc. It will make great Armies and formations none the less, but codex armys generally do. As for a characterful Blood Angels or descendant army, the choices of
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 15:25:37 +0000
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