Blood Angels Coming

[pretre]

Whether you’re into Blood Bowl, Blood Angels, or both, next week brings some exciting new pre-orders for you to get your hands on.

Codex: Blood Angels brings the scions of Baal into the new era of Warhammer 40,000 in full. This is one of the most exciting codexes in the post-Gathering Storm galaxy, featuring a wealth of new lore and a huge volume of new units, too. Inside, you’ll find how the Blood Angels are recovering – and even thriving – after their world was almost annihilated by Hive Fleet Leviathan, and how the latest wave of Primaris reinforcements are being accepted by the rest of the Chapter.

As for new rules, there’s all the awesome stuff you know and love from the rest of this edition’s codexes – Stratagems, Warlord Traits, Psychic Powers and more – as well as some special extras. You’ll now be able to clad the Archangels – the legendary, Terminator-armoured first company of the Blood Angels – in Cataphractii and Tartaros armour, diversifying the range of tactical options available to you. If you prefer aerial warfare, this codex sees the Blood Angels gain access to the popular Stormhawk Interceptor and well as the Stormtalon Gunship.

The new codex will also see the Blood Angels able to add a range of Primaris units to their army. To help, there’s a series of kits on the way, each featuring a unique Blood Angels upgrade frame containing weapons, shoulder pads and heads designed to make your squads fit with the rest of your Blood Angels collection. This frame will be available separately, too!

Finally, the just-revealed Lieutenant Tolmeron will be available to pre-order alongside the codex, making for the perfect leader for the rest of your Primaris Space Marine forces.

Meanwhile, in the somewhat more lighthearted (but nearly equally violent) world of Blood Bowl, another set of flaxen-haired exemplars are set to make their mark. Enter the Elfheim Eagles:

These guys are one of Blood Bowl’s most talented teams, using speed, skill and a healthy helping of arrogance to rise to the top of their league. They’re in plastic, too, making building and customising yours easy.

Accompanying the Elfheim Eagles is a range of accessories designed to make managing your Blood Bowl team simple, with team cards and skill bands. These are can be used to track special plays, players and skills gained during tournaments, and are a great way to avoid any mucking around with notepads and bits of scrap paper during your games.

The inaugural Blood Bowl Almanac is the perfect companion for every Blood Bowl player, combining rules from Death Zone Season One! and Death Zone Season Two!, plus much more besides. Within, you’ll find rules for everything from running your own leagues to arranging sponsorships for your players and using squigs as balls.

Finally, next week sees Middle-earth: Battle Companies arrive. Battle Companies is an exciting way to play The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey™ Strategy Battle Game with a mere handful of models, picking elite warbands from the world of Middle-earth and battling with them in intense skirmishes. As time goes on, members of your warband will distinguish themselves and gain new skills, adding a richness and a sense of progression to your campaigns. If you’ve been looking for a way into The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey™ Strategy Battle Game, or just want a new way to play with your existing miniatures, Middle-earth: Battle Companies is for you.

The post Blood Bowl, Blood Angels and Battle Companies: Next Week’s Pre-orders appeared first on Warhammer Community.

[spagunk]

Some real cool stuff. Will be getting codex, cards but am torn between a Redemptor or a box of BA aggressors or BA hellblasters.

This would be in lieu of the box of Custodes I was originally planning to get .

 

Edit: Crap, forgot there were cards too. Friggin A...

[spagunk]

These look pretty good and fluffy. Not too overpowered but definitely some strong combos. Strategic redeploy seems real nice for "oh [big bad swear word]" moments.

[Guest]

Happy and disappointed that the Red Thirst ability doesn't grant +1 Strength and +1 attacks instead of the +1 wound in those same circumstances. If they did, then they'd have the same ability as the khorne daemons....

[happycamper]

3 hours ago, paxmiles said:

Happy and disappointed that the Red Thirst ability doesn't grant +1 Strength and +1 attacks instead of the +1 wound in those same circumstances. If they did, then they'd have the same ability as the khorne daemons....

The plus 1 to wound is better than str

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, happycamper said:

The plus 1 to wound is better than str

Depends on the weapon, but yea, usually the +1 to wound is better. But it's +1 strength AND +1 attack for the khorne, while it's only +1 to wound for the BA. 

[WestRider]

14 minutes ago, paxmiles said:

Depends on the weapon, but yea, usually the +1 to wound is better.

The key point is that +1S is never better than +1 to Wound. They are the same in some circumstances, but +1S can never be better than +1 to Wound.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, WestRider said:

The key point is that +1S is never better than +1 to Wound. They are the same in some circumstances, but +1S can never be better than +1 to Wound.

My point doesn't disagree with this. All I said was +1 to wound is usually better. 

And again, it's +1 Str AND +1 Attack. I'd rather have more attacks and Str, than a flat +1 to wound. 

I will note that characteristics are fully calculated when used for the USER strength on weapons. So +1 Strength for a Marine is S5. A +1 Strength Marine with a Power Fist swings at S10. I'm not a math guy, but sounds like a story problem where you try to find the point where (user+1)*X results in a better modifier to wound than a +1 to wound and S: USER. 

 

[Guest]

Hmmm...Actually, if I have  Strength 1 and I swing at a target with toughness 1 my roll to wound is 4+. If I have +1 strength, my roll to wound is 2+. That's better than +1 to wound without the strength increase. 

Or if I have strength 1 and I swing against toughness 2 I would need a 6+ to wound. a +1 strength would bump this to 4+. Again better than only +1 to wound. 

Pretty obscure, but I suppose you could have your strength reduced to 1 via psychic powers/abilites and get stuck against ratlings in melee...

[happycamper]

That’s not how it works.  Modifiers are added after the doubling. So power first would be str 9

[Guest]

4 hours ago, happycamper said:

That’s not how it works.  Modifiers are added after the doubling. So power first would be str 9

Yes and no.  

In this edition, a model Current Characteristic is totalled with modifiers after doubling. That is true. This creates the model's Current Characteristic in that stat. So a marine with +1 Strength is Strength 5 for their current Strength Characteristic.

That said, the power fist (and weapons) do not affect the strength characteristic of the wielder. In this edition, the weapon's strength and the user's strength are seperate stats. 

Regarding the Weapon's Strength, If you read just about any description for Datasheets. For example, Page 5 of Index Imperium 2, you'll see that weapons are described at bullet 6. For Strength, it clearly states:

"Strength (S): How likely the weapon is to inflict damage. If a weapon's Strength lists 'User', it is equal to the wielder's current Strength. If a Weapon lists a modifier such as '+1' or 'x2' you should modify the user's current strength characteristic as shown to determine the Weapon's Strength. For example, if a weapon's strength was 'x2' and the user had a Strength characteristic of 6, that weapon has Strength 12."

 

So a marine with a power fist and +1 strength is only Strength 5 for their current strength characteristic. This doesn't change in the fight phase. However, their swings in the fight phase are resolved using the weapon's strength, which is double their current strength.

[WestRider]

4 hours ago, happycamper said:

That’s not how it works.  Modifiers are added after the doubling. So power first would be str 9

Pax is correct. This has somewhat changed in 8th, and is covered in the Designers' Commentary document. There are essentially two "phases" of determining what Strength a Model is striking at. In each of those two "phases", you do multiplication and division first, and then addition and subtraction. The example given in the Commentary is a Model with Base S3, under the effect of a friendly power that doubles its Strength and an enemy one that puts it at -1 Strength, wielding a PowerFist. The Model's current Strength is given as 5 ((3*2)-1), which the PowerFist then doubles to 10. If it were some sort of Relic PowerFist with a special Rule that to-Hit Rolls of 6+ were resolved at +1S, that would be applied very last, for a final total of 11.

[pretre]

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new Blood Angels codex is full of new Stratagems, psychic powers and ways to build your army, as well as a huge range of units new and old to add to your forces.

Firstly, while Primaris units were available to the Blood Angels before, this codex officially confirms their place and allows them to take full advantage of the Blood Angels abilities, Stratagems and relics.

Lots of people have asked us on Facebook about the Primaris Space Marines and “The Flaw”, the endless hunger for blood known as the Red Thirst, and the Black Rage, a state where a Blood Angel is overcome with visions of Sanguinius dying and falls into a berserker fury. The Primaris Marines are – at least, so far – immune to the Black Rage, but not the Red Thirst. However, they seem able to channel their fury more effectively, leading to fewer unfortunate “accidents”…

On the tabletop, this means your Primaris units will be able to take advantage of +1 to wound on the charge, just like the rest of your army. This is going to be particularly nasty on units like Inceptors and Reivers, who already excel in close combat – making them even more effective.

Another change to take advantage of is the introduction of Cataphractii and Tartaros pattern Terminator armour. If you’ve not used these different armour types before, they offer some unique benefits to your Space Marines, from a widened range of equipment to better saving throws.

Cataphractii armour is particularly great for Blood Angels armies. Usually, when equipping your Terminators for assault, you’d have to choose between the greater durability offered by a storm shield and thunder hammer versus the infantry-shredding fury of paired lightning claws. Cataphractii armour has a mighty 4+ save (at the cost of some mobility) before you equip anything else, allowing them to combine both offensive and defensive prowess.

Meanwhile, Tartaros pattern armour is the fastest kind of Terminator armour. The greater mobility permitted by this armour is represented by an extra inch of movement, while these suits can also be equipped with some weapons from the Age of Darkness, like an armour-melting plasma blaster.

It’s not just for your elites – if you want to make for a particularly durable leader for your army, the Captain in Cataphractii armour is a great option, sporting a mighty 3+ invulnerable save! Combine this with the Gift of Foresight Warlord Trait, and you’ll be able to go toe-to-toe with some of the deadliest combatants in the 41st Millennium with ease.

The Stormhawk Interceptor, Stormtalon Gunship, Hunter and Stalker are now available to Blood Angels players as well. The Blood Angels have long been known for their mastery of the skies, but outside of Forge World, all they had to secure their airspace was the Stormraven Gunship, a powerful option, but one that necessitated spending a lot of points. There’s now a much wider range of aircraft and anti-air vehicles available to you, making building your ideal Blood Angels lists much easier.

In short, this is the most complete Blood Angels codex ever, replete with powerful options that support a huge variety of builds, both for matched play and beyond. You’ll be able to pre-order your Blood Angels codex this weekend – in the meantime, the Start Collecting! Blood Angels box is a great place to begin your army.

The post New Units in Codex: Blood Angels appeared first on Warhammer Community.

[spagunk]

Certainly seems okay. not terribly ground breaking but looks like we will be able to hold our own if we get into combat.

So far it seems like a solid B+ from what I am hearing.

[peter.cosgrove]

5 hours ago, pretre said:

In short, this is the most complete Blood Angels codex ever, replete with powerful options that support a huge variety of builds, both for matched play and beyond.

Complete? Wrong. sorry but No Descent of Angels? No deep strikeable Land Raider? No ability to give every unit Black Rage? No ability to deep strike close enough that you can shoot inferno pistols? No ability to take Assault squads as troop choices? No inherent re-rolling of charge distance? No ability to deep strike dreadnaughts?

So Black Templars retain the honors of having the the best jump pack equipped chapter in the game? Instead of Blood Angels?

[CaptainA]

14 minutes ago, peter.cosgrove said:

Complete? Wrong. sorry but No Descent of Angels? No deep strikeable Land Raider? No ability to give every unit Black Rage? No ability to deep strike close enough that you can shoot inferno pistols? No ability to take Assault squads as troop choices? No inherent re-rolling of charge distance? No ability to deep strike dreadnaughts?

So Black Templars retain the honors of having the the best jump pack equipped chapter in the game? Instead of Blood Angels?

You don't nearly have enough of the picture and stratagems to make such an assertion.

[peter.cosgrove]

1 hour ago, CaptainA said:

You don't nearly have enough of the picture and stratagems to make such an assertion.

heh. Want to bet on that?

[CaptainA]

2 minutes ago, peter.cosgrove said:

heh. Want to bet on that?

[peter.cosgrove]

The only problem with Black Templars is Vanguard Vet's can't take combi-melta's. But neither can Death Company. You can take 6 Black Templar vets  for cheaper than 6 squads DC with Lemartes for the charge distance re-roll.

I like the red thirst triggering when charged however the current meta is shoot first, charge only when absolutely necessary and screen everything deep strike melta-able with cheap troops.

And, conceivably, you can get S6 in combat if you pay for a priest to hang with them. But now you are paying for both Lemartes and a Priest w/ JP. That's a hefty price to pay for S6. Base cost is something like 850 points.

Black Templar Assaults can take 3 plasma pistols and get a charge re-roll for the same price as BA assaults who can't. The only real demarcation is BA assaults can take 2 melta's at BS3+, Space Wolf Assaults can take 2 melta's at BS4+. And we haven't seen yet what Space Wolfs are going to get. And Space wolfs have the best dreadnaught HQ in the game, bar none, beats the Librarian Dreadnaught easily. 2x Lascannon hitting on 2+ with re-roll 1's, 5+ FNP, heavy flamer and 5 attacks at S12 AP-4 for D6 wounds, hitting on 2+ with re-roll 1's and rerolling wounds. Oh, and the extra command point just for having good ole Bjorn

BT crusaders can take both a heavy weapon and special weapon in troop squads of 5 with charge re-rolls, BA can't.

I would rather make a charge for first hits at S4 than miss a charge, get shot (a LOT) then get charged, get hits from the charge and THEN get S5 hits.

[peter.cosgrove]

Put it to you this way. If they scrapped the entire codex for one thing. Blood Angels get to re-roll charge distances, they would automatically be better than everything in the entire codex.

[MikhailLenin]

Peter.Cosgrove, if you have the Codex would you kindly share it with us that do not. I would like it in a PDF Format for easy reading by my bedside.

[peter.cosgrove]

1 hour ago, MikhailLenin said:

Peter.Cosgrove, if you have the Codex would you kindly share it with us that do not. I would like it in a PDF Format for easy reading by my bedside.

No, I don't. What I do have is knowing that I am pretty sure they will copy/paste from the SM codex, and the teaser shows the absolute best coming out in the codex, which means the stuff that isn't in the teaser is going to be less good than the teaser.

I also have about 110 BA models I've been playing since the Wardian days of 5th edition that says GW doesn't want to make the same mistake they made in 5th, that they overcorrected in 6th, outright nerfed in 7th (kinda, who knew the Wardite DA reformation would, heh, jink that way) and have been meta-banging since pre in june trying to make BA work.

As long as your opponent is willing to let you get melta's within 12 inches they are OK? but since the codex droppings have come and they didn't get anything besides Lemartes for charge distance re-rolling they have been left behind. And unless they can fix that in the codex they will stay behind the power curve for the entirety of 8th.

[MikhailLenin]

2 minutes ago, peter.cosgrove said:

No, I don't. What I do have is knowing that I am pretty sure they will copy/paste from the SM codex, and the teaser shows the absolute best coming out in the codex, which means the stuff that isn't in the teaser is going to be less good than the teaser.

I also have about 110 BA models I've been playing since the Wardian days of 5th edition that says GW doesn't want to make the same mistake they made in 5th, that they, possibly, overcorrected in 6th, outright nerfed in 7th (kinda, who knew the Wardite DA reformation would, heh, jink that way) and have been meta-banging since pre in june trying to make BA work.

As long as your opponent is willing to let you get melta's within 12 inches they are OK? but since the codex droppings have come and they didn't get anything besides Lemartes for charge distance re-rolling they have been left behind. And unless they can fix that in the codex they will stay behind the power curve for the entirety of 8th.

So wait, you don't have the codex?

But then how can you make all these claims without feeling like a jerk for making people feel bad for telling to be optimistic while you poop on them.

[peter.cosgrove]

I think some one is being over-sensitive. I never directed any comments towards anyone. I never used the pejorative "you" in the thread.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, MikhailLenin said:

But then how can you make all these claims without feeling like a jerk for making people feel bad for telling to be optimistic while you poop on them.

Wait....I recall you self-describing yourself as a jerk (could be misremembering). Why does it matter if he feels like a jerk?