You were witnessing some bad luck, my friend. it's 5+ to wound with a lasgun, the marine gets a 3+ save against it, and if they fail that, it gets a 4+ feel no pain save. To see death company get whittled down by anything less than overwhealming lasgun fire is to see extreme bad luck in action. Likewise, 3-4 attacks each, at I 4-5, 3+ to hit (and reroll misses) with a 2 or 3+ to wound, against IG saves, unless the guy is dumb enough to charge against some knot of multiple squads there'sno way he;s going to get bogged down in assault unless he's insanely unlucky.
you said assault squads were better, but the DC has more attacks, better durability, is fearless and usually costs much less than an assault squad.
I won't go so far as to say the DC is broken or overpowered, but I really don;t think witnessing an incompetent/unlucky player qualifies you to call them useless. They;re a very good, cheap unit. The only time I;d call a deathc ompay useless is if you play without a chaplain and end up with a couple of lone berserkers who charge blindly and get avoided or killed. A good sized DC is always a good thing
Fallen Angel, while I can respect the strict "Play it the way your codex says or don't play with that codex" standpoint (rules are rules, after all), your last sentance is a bit lame. You may as well say "Except for all the tons of differences, they;re no different than codex"
Sure, they;re not as far off as space wolves, but the rage, unit choice and furious charge is a big difference. I would love to play a BA scoout army, but I don;t want a DC in it, even though they would be fantasticlaly useful (and cheap). Sure, I could play codex, but I;d lose furious charge, the chance for extra movement, and I;d need to go out and buy some more regular scouts
Anyhow, that said, I do understand the 'play it straight' philosophy, it;s how the rules work.
Anybody else?