Blood Angels list help!

I got this email today:

Hi Jawa,

I have been following you for about a year and a half (not quite sure) but it was back when you first posted your Venn Diagram of doom list.  Anyways I got into BA back then because I loved the idea of the Ba'al Predator. This codex comes in and things look better but once again the BA are more of a finesse army than kick to the groin army like wolves.  So in this edition I love the idea of the storm raven and am trying to make it work.  I have come up with 2 lists and I would like to know what you think about them.

List 1

HQ
-Reclusiarch 

Elite 
-Sanguinary Priest * 2 

-Assault Terminators * 10 
Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield * 10 

-Furioso Dreadnought 
Blood Fists 
Heavy Flamer 
Extra Armor 

Troops 
-Death Company *10 
Thunder hammer 
Power Weapon * 2 

-DC Dread * 2 
Blood Talons 
Heavy Flamer 

Heavy 
-3 ravens with EA 

In this list the Reclusiarch rides with the DC in a raven with the Furisio.  The Termies combat squad and hitch a ride on a raven with the 2 DC dreads and the priests ride with them.  Now I know I cant capture objectives, so my second list drops 1 raven, 1 DC dread, and 5 termies, and adds 2 AS squads with jump packs with various gear (generally 2 meltaguns, a PF on the sarge and a Infernus pistol on the sarge).  To finish the list we give one of the priests a jump pack and you have some objective takers or you can combat squad the meltas and run some deep striking suicide squads to pop tanks.  

Any advice?  Ive played 2 games with 1 raven (with DC inside) and done pretty well but I just like the idea of an air force.

Thanks, keep up the great blog.

-Frank 




Thanks for the email Frank!  First off, go with the second list.  I have been banging around a 3 Raven list myself and have come to the conclusion that to make it work, you have to go light on points for the rest of your army.  That means that terminators may be out of the question. First of all, they don't have jump packs so they cannot assault out of a Raven after it moves!  Also, Death Company are a fail for the first reason you pointed out. No takey objectivy! Plus we get into issues with Rage, and cost.  Death Company just arent that great for what you are getting at the cost, and they have a big drawback.  IF you were so inclined to play them, play a 5 man squad and buy a Dread, give the DC jump packs and attach the reclusiarch and let them go. Paint their raven black and it will be quite imposing!


Having said that, here is my suggested list. Bear in mind, this may not be the most competitive:


Libby JP
Reclusiarch JP Infernus


Troops:
RAS PW
RAS PW
RAS Razorback with your choice, flamer or bolter
Scouts x5 with snipers, sgt has Locator
DC x5 one pw, JPS
DC Dread, Blood Claws


Elite:
Sang Priest with JP and PW
x2 Furioso Dread your taste on free options


Heavy:
x3 Ravens extra armor


2k points on the nose.  


Seems pretty thin!  Libby, Reclusiarch and Priest join each of the two RAS and the DC.  Give the  libby preferred enemy and lance.  Or str 10.  Load them up in their favorite ride and have at it.  Infiltrate scouts and have a little fun with deep strike, or just reserve the ravens and bring them in off your edge moving 24".  Reserve the razor and have it come into claim objectives opened up by your shock troops.  


Weakness?  You got crap.  :)  10 marines and 5 DC to wipe out enemy defenders is iffy at best. 3 dreads is nice!  But not a sure thing. Odds are you are going to bring them on the table, and at 2k points there is so much enemy fire that they will all die.  Of course there are tactics you can try to use to keep them alive.  After all they are gunships.  Deep strike em, fire off all your load, hope you live! Honestly you need another 500 points to make this army effective. 


Not much more I can really say about it. These things are just too point heavy to make them useful. (They cost what a Valkrye should cost). Especially taking three.  My suggestion?  Take one.  Fill it with your DC and let them go have fun. Spend the rest of the points on some hard hitting ground forces.  Hopefully we will see some raven lists popping up after Hard Boys is over this weekend!  


Oh, and the Storm Raven conversion in the picture is for sale if any one wants it.  60 bucks plus shipping as is and it comes with a flyer base, and all parts needed to finish the conversion including all weapon options.


Jawaballs!




EDIT:
I was mistaken. Any model can assault out of a Storm Raven provided it has not moved over 12". Only models with Jump Packs can take advantage of the Skies of Blood special rule.