Dark Angels Codex Review: Part 2- Detachment Abilities

Part 2 of my Dark Angels Codex Supplement Review will take a look at the Detachment abilities that the army gains. 

General Abilities

Jink

Models in the unit have a 5+ invulnerable save against ranged attacks. In your movement phase, if the unit remains stationary, it loses the save until the start of the next movement phase. If the unit advances, they gain a 4+ invulnerable save. 

Ravenwing units in a Dark Angels detachment gain the Jink ability if they do not already have it. 

This is a bike boost for the mobile units in the army. In the index version, only selected Ravenwing (non-codex) units got this ability, but it has been expanded to include all Ravenwing units. This includes Bikes, Outriders, Attack Bikes and Landspeeders, to name a few. This gives the Ravenwing units a big boost in durability for no increased points cost, which is a pretty good deal! 

The Jink ability is also improved over previous versions, as you get it even if you don't get the first turn (a downside of the rule previously). This gives your Ravenwing unit a boost against enemy firepower, helping to survive the initial turn. 

A great rule, which has been improved further with the codex. 

9th Edition Maelstrom of War Review: Part 2- Stratagems and Missions

This part of the Maelstrom of War review will take a look at the stratagems and missions available in the new rules. 

Stratagems

The new rules have introduced four new stratagems to use in your maelstrom games. 

Fixed Determination (1CP)- Use at the start of the battle round, before generating Tactical Objectives. Select one of the Tactical Objectives that you generated in the previous battle round but did not score. That Tactical Objective is treated as having been generated for you this battle round and counts towards the limit of how many Tactical Objectives you generate in this battle round. 

A useful stratagem for ensuring that you can score big points in your turn. This reduces the chance of getting a random objective that you may not be able to achieve, and replace it with one that you are likely to score. For example, if you roll Tear Down Their Heroes or Cut off the Head in one turn and are not quite able to achieve it in one turn, but almost guaranteed to get it the following turn, such as removing the last model from a powerful unit or taking the last wound from a warlord or character. 

Probably not going to use it every game, but could certainly be useful to score points every once in a while. 

9th Edition Maelstrom of War Review: Part 1- Tactical Objectives

This weekend, I was able to pick up the new issue of White Dwarf with the new Maelstrom of War rules for 9th edition. I've been looking forward to this release since maelstrom was removed from the game. It was one of my favourite ways to play the game and I am glad to see it return. 

I'm going to take a look at the new rules and see how they compare. This first part will take a look at how the rules work and the six tactical objective categories that are given. 

Maelstrom of War

These rules once more simulate having to achieve random objectives each turn, this time through rolling on tables, rather than drawing cards. I am hoping that they release the cards in time, as it will save a lot of book keeping for both players as the game proceeds. 

There are 6 tactical objective categories that players can choose from in a mission. In most of the missions, each player selects three different tactical objective categories to draw from during the game; Objective categories Alpha, Beta and Gamma. 

At the start of the battle round, each player generates their specified number of tactical objectives (3 in most missions) by first rolling a D3 to determine whether the objective is drawn from the alpha, beta or gamma categories chosen. They then roll a D6 on the table to see which objective is active for their turn. 

Any duplicate objectives are re-rolled, as are any objectives that are unachievable- if your or your opponent's army lacks the keyword necessary to achieve the objective. 

As you can see, this process would be a lot easier with cards, but I think it will not take too long to get used to rolling for them in missions. You could even look to make your own cards to make things a bit easier. 

Each mission uses 6 objectives for a normal sized game, with each player placing three of them. Each objective marker must be wholly within your territory (your table half), but outside of your deployment zone. They cannot be within 3" of a table edge or within 12" of another objective. This forces players to move out, as they cannot simply sit in their deployment zone if they are going to go after the objectives. 

Dark Angels Codex Review: Part 1- Stratagems

Welcome to part 1 of my Dark Angels Codex Supplement Review, which will take a look at the stratagems available to the army. Not only do the 1st Company have access to all the stratagems in the main Space Marine codex, but they now have 17 additional stratagems with which to fight the enemies of the Emperor.

Stratagems

Wrath of the Lion (2CP)- Use in the command phase if a combat doctrine is active. Each time a Dark Angels model from your army makes an attack with a weapon specified in the active combat doctrine, an unmodified wound roll of a 6 improves the AP by 1. Cumulative with the active doctrine bonus. 

This is way too expensive. A one in six chance of getting an AP bonus on selected weapons is pretty poor, especially for 2CP. Might be useful if you really need to kill an enemy unit and it only cost 1CP, but I don't see this getting used that much. There are simply better stratagems to spend your CP on. 

Intractable (2CP)- Use in your movement phase when a unit falls back. The unit can still shoot. If they have the Inner Circle ability, they may fall back automatically and do not need to test. 

Now this is a stratagem definitely worth 2CP. The ability to fall back and shoot is great for most units in the game, especially since it is much more restricted with the changes to Fly. Being able to fall back with an Inner Circle unit is also a great bonus, without having to hinge on a Ld test. Capricious dice stopping your Terminators from falling back could ruin a battle plan, so having a guaranteed exit is probably worth it in some circumstances. 

Deathwing Assault (1CP)- Use when a Deathwing unit shoots. Add 1 to the wound roll if it was set up on the battlefield as a result of a Teleport Homer or Teleport Strike that turn. 

Another strong stratagem for the Deathwing. Getting +1 to wound on the turn they arrive with their Storm Bolters or Heavy Weapons is a great boost, allowing you to clear out enemy infantry with their massed firepower. Can be combined with Fury of the First for +1 to hit, making the unit even more effective on the turn that they deploy. 

Hobby Update 01/02/21- Dark Angels Deathwing Terminators

Today's Hobby Update features the Deathwing Terminators for my Dark Angels army. These had already been painted, but I painted the bases to match my other Marine armies. 

Army Showcase- Dark Angels Primaris Marines

With the new Dark Angels codex due out soon, I thought it would be a good time to showcase my Dark Angels Primaris Force. 

This army consists of most of the models from the two boxed sets that have been out for Marines. I have a number of Ravenwing units to add to the force to expand it if necessary. 

Hobby Update 06/01/21- Dark Angels Ravenwing Talonmaster

Today's Hobby Update features a Ravenwing Talonmaster for my Dark Angels army. This unit provides some very strong firepower and buffing abilities for the force. I've been thinking a lot recently about running an all-Ravenwing army once more in 9th edition. Can't wait to get playing again to try it out. 

2020 in Review- St Andrews Wargaming

Well, what a year this has been! 

I thought I would take a look back at the last 12 months to see my hobby progress and how the blog is progressing. Obviously, this has been a very different year for everyone, and has had a big impact on all aspects of life, including hobby work and output. 

Hobby Progress

This has been the year of the Primaris! Most of my hobby output this year has been adding Primaris models to my White Scars and Deathwatch army. The release of the awesome Indomitus boxed set provided a bunch of new units for both armies. 

Winters SEO battle report- Deathwatch vs Orks

I recently got to play Winters SEO again, this time my Deathwatch take on the Orks using the new Marine book. Follow the link to watch the game. 

Army Showcase- White Scars Primaris Army

Here is a showcase of the White Scars Primaris models that I have painted up so far. The lack of gaming at the moment has given me the opportunity to get more units painted up for my White Scars. Most recently, the contents of the Indomitus box have been added to my Scars, giving them more more power on the tabletop. 

I can't wait to get them back on the tabletop to test their abilities with the new codex. The army pictured below comes to about 2600 pts. Add this to almost 5000 pts of original White Scars, and it is quite a sizeable force that could be fielded in its entirety.