Saturday, June 25, 2016

Horus Heresy Review: Blood Angels Legion Rules

Background Material Evaluation.
From the twisted inhabitants of Baal, their Primarch's gene-helix literally re-wrote them to be the perfect warriors on a more fundamental level than even the Space Wolves underwent.

The background material supplied in Retribution points to a painful transformation from mortal to Astartes, more than any other legion. Not only does the physical change take its toll, but the mental change too has a high price tag to be paid. This nicely (and grim-darkly) hints at the thirst and the rage contained within 40k codex rules.

Legion Rules Review.
There are a number of special rules associated with the Blood Angels. I'm going to start with the main "drawback" one. Its called Host of Angels and means that a detachment of this legion may not have more vehicle units than space marine units with the Blood Angels special rules. A direct consequence of this is that certain rites of war will simply not be available to them. Clearly, the Blood Angels are based around infantry from this rule alone.

Without Remorse, Without Relent combines with this to ensure that the Legion marines may never go to ground out of volition. Plus, they must always sweeping advance. This gives some back up for the marine based army that the previous rule encourages.

Lastly is the one that they're getting a lot of renown for: Encarmine Fury. This is a great rule and gives a one "pip" bonus to wound in close combat when using a melee weapon. This is outstanding in a legion vs. legion battle as a S=4 vs. T=4 roll now requires a 3+ to wound and not a 4+. This rule gives the Blood Angels a huge edge over other Legions. Better yet, the Blood Angels player can save points on powerfists and just get power axes instead in a number of cases. Since it is a unique rule, it will combine nicely with other close combat rules from the main rulebook as well.

Wargear.
There's a small host of special war gear available to the Blood Angels.

Replacing a volkite serpent with a hand flamer is a nice touch … but probably won't be taken much unless its on a praetor.

Replacing a plasma pistol with an inferno pistol is attractive as an alternative melta option.

A blade of perdition is fine for a HQ selection that cannot take a paragon blade, but otherwise if you don't want AP2 at initiative, just take a power fist to be honest.

And then there is the assault cannon! Beautiful stuff really with decent strength and shot outputs, even if there is a risk of it jamming since it is a prototype weapon compared to its 40k analogue. Take them with a heavy support squad and watch when your opponent asks to see the rules for themselves when you pick up a large handful of die.

Summing up.
We'll look at rites of war separately. But overall, the Blood Angels are wanting to be an infantry based army with plenty of focus on close combat to take advantage of the Encarmine Fury. Take some drop pods, rhinos, or jump packs to ensure a rapid insertion and you have an army to match the Emperor's Children for sheer speed and punch, let alone a flare for artwork on their vehicles and banners. 

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