Starting BA

:laugh: thanks @Nacho libre, that's the way!

If you get the old battleforce kit, you get 10 man Tactical squads and Rhinos which makes your list Battle Forged AND lets you take the Baal Strike Force Detachment....because who cares about ObSec when you're drinking the blood of your enemy, right? I started my collection back up with two of these kits a few years back and didn't even know I needed the Tactical guys until 7th hit and then I was pretty stoked I had them. Plus 10 Assault and 10 Death Company is sweet.

That being said, I fucking -love- my Furiosos. I play them exclusively in Drop Pods these days, very rarely out of the back of a Stormraven.

I've always been decidedly 'meh' toward BA Terminators. When it comes to Elites we have SO MUCH TO CHOOSE FROM that I'd rather take Furiosos, Sanguinary Guard, and Death Company to fill those slots. I also play Grey Knights, Deathwing, and Imperial Fists and all of those armies have a heavy Terminator presence so I figured I'd just leave it be for the boys in red. It's really not that they don't work/aren't competitive, I just prefer the other Elites slots (that can Sweeping Advance).

Right now you own 10 Assault marines, 4 DC, and one Priest, yeah? I would get two more DC boxes, make them up with a Power Fist, then make the 4 your have here with two Swords and two Axes just for variety's sake. I always play a Fist or two in my squad these days, but have experimented with Axes and Swords with variable degrees of success. I face a lot of Walkers so having that S8/9 attack in there is key. The Priest can either be using Valours Edge or a normal Sword, but 5 points extra for AP2 is pretty much worth it. The only thing more effective as a one-weapon upgrade I'd wager is the Lightning Claw, which out preforms a Sword for wounds per round thanks to Shred...and you can stop caring about the stupid point for a Bolt Pistol.

Which of the big boxes do you think you want to pick up to expand your army?

EDIT: Is your name a reference to Battlestar Galactica? 'Cuz if it is that's awesome.

I really like the old box, but if you only want to get 10 Tactical marines you'll have to split them to 5 man squads to manage your Troops selections to play Forged, if you wanted to go Unbound I would say you should really go Unbound and take only the most killing-est of units which kind of shakes up your planned buys. If you can manage a pair of Razorbacks as transport for those two 5 man squads I think you'll be playing your Troops more toward the BA blitzkrieg approach to fighting. Even using two Rhinos and firing weapons out of the hatch is better than infantry standing around out in the open. May as well play out of the Space Marine Codex, y'know? I have a sniper Scout squad but really only rarely use them. Honestly I'd take an Aegis Defense Line with a Comms Relay before them in most instances but I also like playing heavy Reserve lists from time to time. I play a 10 man Assault squad with attached Priest as a part of a Baal Strike Force all the time and they're just like how DC used to be but one attack less per model (on the charge, anyway). DC I run sans characters because I don't have an Astorath model and want his debut on my battlefield to be appropriately epic (painted, not proxied) and they're pretty damn solid with all their attacks, cheap as fuck Jump Packs, and the +1 Strength and Initiative bonus granted by Furious Charge and our Detachment.

Either way....'cuz I wrote that first part, mild crisis at the homestead went down, then just now came back to it....

If you have/are getting the models you just listed I would recommend Drop Pods for the Dreadnoughts and thoughts on something for a third Drop Pod to capitalize on Drop Pod Assault. This squad should basically be tailored to your meta and the predominant types of unit type you face as far as my lists go (you could use your other 5 Assault marines for this, kitted with whatever special weapons/combi-weapon you'd like since you have 15 and this unit is ridiculously cheap, and they'll outperform Sternguard in an alpha strike I'd wager PLUS it would keep your 4th Elites choice free since the BSFD gives us that extra Elites lovin'). Alternately, you could dangle dual Stormravens to transport your Walkers across the table, but that leaves a lot of points tied up in Reserve/ spending a turn Zooming on with potential Skies of Fury/ finally disembarking and attacking (albeit out of an Assault vehicle). I've really never had much luck walking our CC oriented dreads across the table and the Libbynaught has been a pretty resounding waste every time I've used it. I typically play my Stormravens in a strictly anti-air role in larger games but there aren't a ton of fliers in my meta these days.

Am I getting some thoughts rolling here with all these ramblings?

EDIT: I really don't mean to make the Terminators out to be a bad idea, Hammernators are never a bad choice...I own around 30 of them. If that's the way you want to go it will work for you I'm sure, it's just that when I play Blood Angels I think of a fast and mobile strike force. To me Terminators just don't fit that bill. Not gunna lie, I got the Dark Vengeance rulebook off eBay cheap and totally wish I had have gotten the Deathstorm one with the BA artistry.

Just a couple of questions outside of the list there: are you aiming for a 1000 point list to play/what points level do you want to build for, and are you intending on playing Unbound or a Battle Forged army? Both affect what I would have to say about this list, though off the top of my head:

Starbuck said:

9 jp DC - PF 2xsword 2x axe

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I know I mentioned all of these upgrades, but I never meant for them to be in the unit at the same time. I mean, you can go all out like this but it's a lot of points.

Starbuck said:

5 tacticals - Lascannon X4

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Do you mean four individual five man Tactical squads or a Tactical squad that has four Lascannons? The latter would have to be a Devastator squad and further push you into Unbound territory (which is totally cool, but I feel there are different mentalities to how you choose the units for either approach).

Starbuck said:

Then i was thinking maybe astorath for the dc or Dante with some SG?

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Good stuff, for sure.

Starbuck said:

5 man dev squad with 4ML?

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This unit I have had really mixed results with, and it's always really come down to the style of list I'm facing. They're really good against a lot of things and really frustrating sometimes. My Heavy Support slots are typically occupied by two Stormravens and a Baal Predator, leaving the Devastator squads to my Imperial Fist collection.

Yeah ML Devs work, just like Hammernators. The reason BA appeal to me is because they're fast and like to get in close. Devastators and Hammernators don't fit that mold in my lists (Devs don't get close and they're both useless when it comes to speed). ML Devs are also nice because you can upgrade them to be your anti-air presence without using a Stormraven/allies...though it is an expensive route with limited results depending on your meta. Either way, here's a 1500 point list with the stuff @Starbuck here has/wants in their collection:

Baal Strike Force Detachment

Priest - Valours Edge, Jump Pack (goes with 10 man Assault squad)

9x Death Company - Power Fist, Jump Packs

2x Furiosos - Frag Cannon, Heavy Flamer, Drop Pod each

4x 5 man Tactical sqauds - Lascannon each

10x man Assault squad - 2x Meltas, Power Fist

5x man Assault squad - 2x Meltas, Combi-Melta, Drop Pod

5x man Devastator squad - 4x Missile Launchers

1477 points

I know I have added in a second 5 man Assault squad for the third Drop Pod, but it really was point/Pod filler. I like having one anti-armour Pod and two anti-infantry, lets me react as I need to my enemy's deployment. You also have 23 points for whatever you feel like adding in or swapping around in terms of wargear selections. Adding in Astorath, Dante, and some Sanguinary Guard requires a little bit of stripping down in this list (because that's easily over 500 points) but can be done without compromising it very much at all.