Sunday, October 19, 2014

What I'd Like to see in Blood Angels 7th Edition 2014 REVISED

So before 7th ed dropped, there were the rumblings of Blood Angels. I did one of my "What I'd Like To See" (that link is to the BA one) posts discussing my hopes and dreams for the army, but now that there are rumours and 7th is actually out, I think it is fair of me to revisit the topic.
Not the official cover
Several of my previous comments stand so I will sum up the ones that don't require further discussion here
1- Inclusion of the Stormtalon
2- Fix Dante and Astorath so they aren't I1 (case 1, case 2, case 3)
3- Honour Guards with Techmarines
4- Moriar the Chosen back in the codex
5- A new blister pack Sanguinary Priest model with a grail bit.
6- Improve the Glaive Encarmine- stat bonuses rather than just MC, especially since they are 2 handed and I can't get an extra attack w/out the BA banner as a result.
7- Fluff/imagery for all 10 companies. I want to know what those banners look like.

First of all I want the feel of the codex to be less Vampiric and more Renaissance. Next I want it to be the first true assault codex of 7th. Shooting is king. Let BA shake that meta to the core so that every army from hence forth needs something assault oriented just in case... 

SO now to readdress a few things and give some new thoughts
[mephiston.jpg]
1- Mephiston as a Lord of War- I kinda like this idea. I mean it stinks that I may not be able to use him regularly in games, but he isn't really useful right now. He can just be challenged to waste all his bonuses for charging and he is not an independent character, so he can't join any squad. But as a LOW he can be made to fit his true fluff of being the most ultimate BA (pun intended) Space Marine Librarian EVAR. The only thing I worry about is an updated silly model. Santa Logan Grimnar was too much. I don't want to see Mephiston on a giant bat or anything, like something out of Nightmare Before Christmas. But this has some cool potential for a good model (I imagine him floating in the air like a Wood Elf Mage) and a Mastery Level 4 Psyker of DOOM!

2- Viable DoA/Jump Troop Armies- 7th unfortunately continued the 6th edition reserve rules, really gimping the Descent of Angels (DoA) rule and potential for BA DS shenanigans. With access to Jump Infantry as part of your troops, this delivery needs to be better. Auto loss with nothing on the board means DoA armies are not 100% viable and majority DS is a dangerous game. A way around this would be nice. Storm Ravens as dedicated transports could help this and unclutter HS some as well. 
 And though this will not happen, assaulting out of DS would be great. CC is not the name of the game in 7th and this would definitely shake that concept up. Maybe just maybe I will get to keep that on my Vanguard but unlikely. The only other thing I can think is that adapting DoA to allow them to run and shoot on the turn they DS, representing them opening fire during the descent.
Alternatively, a friend of my proposed BA units with DOA always getting to deploy second, to represent a rapid unexpected assault from the skies.
To me this point is HUGE as it can go a long way to making the BA a viable assault army in a game all about shooting.

3- Flesh Tearers Supplement- I think they are deserving of this and divergent enough from BA to get it. Some separate wargear (more eviscerators), a different Warlord table, greater use/access to Death Company (scoring DC perhaps?). Plus it allows them to slim the BA codex by one character (Seth), since they can't any other way, which it a relief (sidetrack- Thank goodness ALL BA models are already made. I would hate to have something cut from the Codex just because GW does not have a model for it yet).
Also not the BA cover, it is the cover for the forthcoming Lemartes book from BL as part of their ridiculous 6 month $450 rewards program.
4-  A One Week Release- WHAT! WHY WOULD YOU SAY THIS. I WANT NEW MODELS! NEW KITS! 3 WEEKS MINIMUM!!! WARGARBLLL! Well calm down and I will tell you. I think the line of SM and BA stuff is pretty full. Other than some character resculpts, I don't think BA are wanting for anything. They have all their characters, their own tank variant, their own dreadnought kits which makes 3 types of dreads, Storm Ravens come with BA Icons, Sanguinary Guard and Death Company kits. That is all pretty good IMO. Mix and match those last 2 with standard SM kits and you have plenty of Blood Angels.
As I mentioned earlier, a new Sanguinary Priest would be nice, but that can fit into a 1 week release alongside a resculpted Mephiston and/or Tycho.
I know some people want Sanguinary Terminators (you can make your own) and other crazy cool things, but I don't want GW to make them. I want FORGE WORLD to do it. I think this will lead to better looking models and better sets. The Signus book is slated for sometime in the next 2 years. I can be patient enough for that to get my fancy Blood Angels. Plus my wallet could use the break right now (especially once I buy the special edition BA codex). In the meantime, if you need fancy BA terminators, try buying Space Hulk off Ebay, or at least the Terminators.
5- Death Company with a purpose. In a game where everything is scoring with objective secured, DC is useless with their "we can never be a scoring unit" rule. They are great assault troops, but without scoring, a high cost and with 7th ed being the edition of shooting, they just have no place in the meta. To fix this and help with making number 2 possible, maybe allow DC to DS and assault, or give them Fleet (constant mad running at the enemy). Really, the +1 I for Furious Charge would be WONDERFUL to have back. Or at least lower the price tag to something I can stomach.

6- Land Raiders as heavy support. Having them as dedicated transports was cool, but it made some tactically flexible options impossible for me. I'd rather see this tank returned to where it belongs.
7- Access to Centurions. I am going to get 9 of these guys eventually anyways, and then stick them with a Sanguinary Priest in a Spartan Assault Tank and have them be part of my 8th Company detachment. It would be nice for that to be legal for me to do.

8- Grav Guns. At least in Centurions, Sternguard and Tactical Squads. I understand if it is too much for my assault squads, especially since I already have toys like hand flamers and Glaive Encarmines. Whether you like those or not, there have to be limits to what each faction has and its capabilities. No other SM army has those 2 things, why should I get their shinny stuff when they can't have mine.

What do you think? Did I miss anything?