New Blood Angels!

I am still trying to wrap my head around 7th edition but I have some first thoughts on the new codex!

I think it is a great improvement. I pointed out my Lamenters list from BFS and saved about enough to buy another whole unit.  Some stuff is much cheaper and unfortunately some stuff is more expensive.

The winners:

Dante!  He is usable again. They made his ax go at normal initiative allowing him to take advantage of his high I score and swing away, and it is still STR +2 and AP2.  With his six attacks on the charge going at initiative 7 things are gona die.

He is now a must have for any assaulty BA army.

Oh and he is a Lord of War, which means you can take him in addition to 2 HQ choices.

Death Company.

The biggest issue with them was points. Without Jump Packs it was difficult to get them into combat. But Jump Packs used to cost 15 points for them which made it stupid.  Now JP cost 3 points a piece. This instantly turns JP equipped DC into a viable unit and a must have. A squad of 10 of them equipped with a few Power Swords and a fist will be among the top assault units in the game if they get the charge off.

Command Squad:
Maybe not so great a choice, but for 200 points you can get them on the table with jump packs, upgraded weapons and Storm Shields. A great unit for Dante to join.

Captain:
The BA had undeniably the worst SM captain in 40k. He was a joke. Now he is sick. Why? Well for 130 points you can get a 2+/4+ marine with 5 attacks on the charge at I6 and an AP2 power sword by taking the BA relic.  It is only 5 points more than a regular power sword!  What a steal!

+1 elite choice:
Fantastic seeing as how all of the good units are now elites...

Detachment:
+1 Initiative on charge! Welcome back to pre 6th ed assault glory!

And here is some of the bad...

Elite and HQ choices.  All of the wonderful killy stuff is wrapped up in Elite and HQ.  The priest got promoted and reduced to a single model per selection. No more flooding the table with FNP.  The Chaplain got promoted as well.  They are now competing with Librarians, Mephiston and the upgraded captain.  And it seems that every thing got slid into the Elite slot. DC, DC Dreads, Furiosos, Sang Guard, Van and Stern Vets, Termies. Holy Cluster of competition for available slots. Lucky we have four!

Dreadnoughts:
Not only are they more expensive, but a lot less killy with the removal of the meat grinder blood talons.  This is sad because BA still lack the torrent of fire that many armies had and the old talons helped balance that.  I simply can't see myself taking a dread any more with a BA force.

Troop Assault Marines:
Gone. Moved to Fast Attack.  Not a huge deal with the way the new game works cause you can still flood the table with assault marines, but JP troops were always a trademark of the BA and will be missed.

Troops:
Only 2 choices... Tacs and Scouts.  Scouts are crazy cheap though, 65 points for 5 snipers with cloaks.  Five tacs in a rhino are about 100.  But why bother. 240 points buys you 4 scout squads that your opponent will simply get bored of shooting at as they go to ground for 2+ saves and the ability to do some real, and annoying damage by picking out models and wounding big stuff.

What are my plans?  I am making a new army, going back to my roots.  Land raider of death with assault termies and a bunch of ICs.  The only problem is that it is much more difficult to do it.  I want that new Captain in there, and doing so means I only get one more HQ... so I get to choose between Priest, Meph who is now an IC and a Chap.  Priest lost the FNP bubble so he must be in the unit so he is needed which means I cant get my chap and meph.

How do I solve this?  Allies? Can I take a second BA detachment?  Or do I have to go with SM or SW allied force?  Rules guys help me out here!

jawaballs