Greetings, fellow skeletons in the closet! Today, we continue our look at must-know stratagems with the Angels of Death: the Blood Angels and their sinister cousins, the Dark Angels. Please note that both the BA and DA have access to most of the same generic stratagems that vanilla Marines have (Auspex Scan, Killshot, etc), so ensure you read through the prior article in this series, found here.

Weapons from the Dark Age:

What it does: Increases the Damage characteristic of one Dark Angel unit’s plasma weapons by 1.

Increases the Damage characteristic of one Dark Angel unit’s plasma weapons by 1. Why it matters: As most plasma weapons have a Damage characteristic of 2 when Overcharged, that is a 50% increase in damage heading your way.

As most plasma weapons have a Damage characteristic of 2 when Overcharged, that is a 50% increase in damage heading your way. What to do about it: Depending on your opponent’s army composition, and your own, you may need to put a priority on eliminating his plasma-toting units, such as Hellblasters. In the case of plasma Inceptors, proper screening will be necessary as you will rarely be able to prevent them from shooting at least once before you get to kill them. If you have any abilities that impose negative to-hit modifiers on the opponent, using them on your key unit(s) may discourage your opponent from using his plasma weapons against it/them for fear of killing his own dudes.

Intractable:

What it does: Allows a Dark Angels unit to fall back and still shoot.

Allows a Dark Angels unit to fall back and still shoot. Why it matters: You are going to be a nasty surprise when that unit of Hellblasters you just charged falls back and lights you up!

You are going to be a nasty surprise when that unit of Hellblasters you just charged falls back and lights you up! What to do about it: If your opponent can’t fall back, he can’t use this strat. Therefore, ensure that you lock his unit in place by surrounding at least one of his models on three sides with your assaulting unit. Otherwise, it may be wise to just avoid assaulting a unit entirely – at least you’ll save yourself the Overwatch fire.

Speed of the Raven:

What it does: Allows a Ravenwing unit to shoot and charge even after Advancing.

Allows a Ravenwing unit to shoot and charge even after Advancing. Why it matters: Since this is basically the same strat that the White Scars have (Born in the Saddle), it is dangerous for mostly the same reason. At least the Dark Angels player is not able to use Scout Bikers with this strat given that they lack the RAVENWING keyword.

Since this is basically the same strat that the White Scars have (Born in the Saddle), it is dangerous for mostly the same reason. At least the Dark Angels player is not able to use Scout Bikers with this strat given that they lack the RAVENWING keyword. What to do about it: Same as with the Born in the Saddle strat. Do note however that Land Speeders DO have the Ravenwing keyword, so a unit of 3 can just move 20 + D6 inches over your midfield screens and BBQ some poor sods with double Heavy Flamers and charge a different unit, then fly off in their turn. Still doesn’t make Speeders an amazing unit, but it’s something.

Forlorn Fury:

What it does: Allows a Death Company Infantry unit to do a full move (incl. Advance) before the first turn begins.

Allows a Death Company Infantry unit to do a full move (incl. Advance) before the first turn begins. Why it matters: In case you weren’t tracking, Death Company are mean as hell in close combat, and this strat allows them to set up a T1 charge pretty easily if don’t deploy carefully. As most DC will have Jump Packs (and can therefore jump over your models) and have access to Honour the Chapter, they can penetrate deep in your lines and wreck havoc.

In case you weren’t tracking, Death Company are mean as hell in close combat, and this strat allows them to set up a T1 charge pretty easily if don’t deploy carefully. As most DC will have Jump Packs (and can therefore jump over your models) and have access to Honour the Chapter, they can penetrate deep in your lines and wreck havoc. What to do about it: The first thing to do is get a good grip on the lay of the battlefield – trying to use this stratagem without good cover would be suicidal for the BA player because his DC would be caught in the open and cut down in short order. Ergo, if there are some BLoS terrain features in midfield that the BA player can leverage, you will have to deploy your screens in a manner that they are positioned to block the DC’s route. If you have things that can infiltrate into midfield (the ever-useful Scouts, for example), you can set them up in such a way that the DC won’t be able to bypass them, cutting out a lot of the usefulness of this strat.

Descent of Angels:

What it does: Allows a Jump Pack unit that arrived by deep strike to roll 3D6 for its charge range.

Allows a Jump Pack unit that arrived by deep strike to roll 3D6 for its charge range. Why it matters: With 3D6 on hand, the unit should make the charge 74% of the time – and that’s before Command Rerolls. Given the lethality of Blood Angels jump units, their ability to jump over your screens and the Honour the Chapter strat, you should have a pretty good idea of how much of a mess this can turn into.

With 3D6 on hand, the unit should make the charge 74% of the time – and that’s before Command Rerolls. Given the lethality of Blood Angels jump units, their ability to jump over your screens and the Honour the Chapter strat, you should have a pretty good idea of how much of a mess this can turn into. What to do about it: Once more, it’s all about the screens and their position. Make sure your backfield is properly denied as well. If you have any stratagems or abilities that allow you to shoot at deep-strikers, don’t forget to use them.

Death Visions of Sanguinius:

What it does: Gives the DEATH COMPANY keyword to one Captain, Lieutenant or Chaplain.

Gives the DEATH COMPANY keyword to one Captain, Lieutenant or Chaplain. Why it matters: While the extra resilience and attack are nice, this strat is particularly significant because a lot of special abilities hinge on the DC keyword, like Lemartes’ auras for example.

While the extra resilience and attack are nice, this strat is particularly significant because a lot of special abilities hinge on the DC keyword, like Lemartes’ auras for example. What to do about it: There is not a great deal you can do about it beyond keeping in mind that the Character will now benefit from any abilities a DC model can benefit from, such as being able to reroll failed charges while within 6 inches of Lemartes. Just don’t be caught by surprise.

Upon Wings of Fire:

What it does: Lets the BA player redeploy a Jump Pack unit anywhere on the board outside of 9 inches from enemy models.

Lets the BA player redeploy a Jump Pack unit anywhere on the board outside of 9 inches from enemy models. Why it matters: While the sheer strategic power of being able to redeploy a unit anywhere at any time should be pretty obvious, remember that you can use Upon Wings of Fire in conjunction with Descent of Angels to really push things to over 9000.

While the sheer strategic power of being able to redeploy a unit anywhere at any time should be pretty obvious, remember that you can use Upon Wings of Fire in conjunction with Descent of Angels to really push things to over 9000. What to do about it: Destroy BA jump units with extreme prejudice – they can’t jump away if dey ded! Otherwise, move your units in such a fashion to form impromptu screens and thus deny the jumper the ability to get to where they need to be.

And so we conclude for the Angels of Death’s stratagems – man, the BA really have some sweet ones!

Join us again next time for a look at the Chaos Space Marines stratagems!

Cheers!