Testing Out Some DA Updates

I'm gonna play some test games with an 'updated' Dark Angels list this weekend. Here is what I'm working with. Note the list is going to be built to be fairly balanced, but isn't going to be strictly optimized for tournament winning. I am taking a look at what options are opened up with just the bare basic updates to the DA codex. For the most part units are updated to mirror Codex: Space Marines/Imperial Armor Volume II. The biggest changes appear in Ravenwing and Deathwing, but even those are extremely minor.




HQ:

155 Belial
- Sword of Silence (Master-Crafted Relic Blade)
- Storm Bolter
- Iron Halo
- WS 6

Elites:

125 Dreadnought
- Pair of Twin-Linked Autocannons

125 Dreadnought
- Pair of Twin-Linked Autocannons

Troops:

545 Deathwing Command Squad
- 1 Sergeant [Power Weapon & Storm Bolter]
- 1 Apothecary [Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield]
- 1 Standard Bearer [Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield]
- 2 Cyclone Launchers [Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield]
- 3 Deathwing Terminators [Pair of Lightning Claws]
- 2 Deathwing Terminator [Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield]

180 Tactical Squad
- Sergeant w/ Combi-Flamer
- Flamer
- Razorback w/ Lascannon & Twin-Linked Plasma Gun

180 Tactical Squad
- Sergeant w/ Combi-Flamer
- Flamer
- Razorback w/ Lascannon & Twin-Linked Plasma Gun

Fast Attack:

195 Ravenwing Attack Squadron
- 2 Meltaguns
- Meltabombs
- Multi-Melta Attack Bike
- Can turbo boost on scout move

195 Ravenwing Attack Squadron
- 2 Meltaguns
- Meltabombs
- Multi-Melta Attack Bike
- Can turbo boost on scout move

Heavy Support:

85 Predator
- Autocannon Turret
- Heavy Bolter Sponsons

85 Predator
- Autocannon Turret
- Heavy Bolter Sponsons

130 Devastator Squad
- 4 Missile Launchers

Total: 2000 points

Onto some explanation...

So, what we have here is a hybrid list that uses a massive wall of 11 terminators to advance upon the enemy. Most of the terminators have a 3+ invulnerable save, and all have Feel No Pain while the apothecary lives. Also remember the +1 attack to all terminators granted by Belial's Standard Bearer.

Belial's profile was updated to match normal Space Marine captains. His costs was adjusted up to fit his wargear (155 is the cost for a chainfist & storm bolter or pair of lightning claws on a TDA captain. Chainfists have the same cost as the relic blade, so the price seems right)

That squad is hugeley expensive, but the points are completely justified in this case. You can combat squad the terminators if you want or need, and lose a little bit of durability, since only one squad can then use the apothecary. I think this unit is going to be best used as a board-wide multi assault monstrosity. Using a 2-inch cohesion and a base diameter of about 1 1/2 inches, you can spread this unit out across 36 inches of the board. That's half the length of the long table edge!

That might not be the actual best thing to do, but it gives you an idea of the sort of coverage you can expect. Using this same unit to bubble wrap in another list could provide some very interesting results. Deep striking is not recommended since the unit has such a alrge footprint, but with the bikes available, you could make it passable given specific mission conditions.

The tactical squads have a weird update, but it lets them stand out. I left them with the ability to buy a special weapon at 5 men at their current codex price. They can purchase additional marines at 15 points a piece, making them identical to a codex space marine chapter once you reach 10 men in the squad (they get the discounted heavy weapon prices at 10 and get all the new sergeant options).

I feel the dual-flamer setup will be good for these guys when I need to clear something out at the end of the game to take an objective.

I removed the turbo-boost restriction on the Ravenwing bikes which lets them be much more aggressive and still retain at least some durability. I think this strengthens their role. The idea is that the base squad cost is the same. You can still purchase 3 additional bikes for 25 points a piece and the attack bike for 40 (with an appropriate cost for the multi-melta upgrade). This makes this Ravenwing squad 30 points more expensive than their codex equivalent. I feel that's an appropriate premium for their abilities. If you have 6 normal bikers in the squad, the speeder you choose has all the same options and costs as in codex: space marines and is never a scoring unit. All bikes are only scoring as troops (instead of attack bikes always being scoring units), and the attack bike still operates independently.

Obviously for this particular list, none of those changes really come into place, since I went with minimal squads, but these guys are there to crack the hard armor early so my terminators and autocannons can get to work.

The armor is present to keep up a theme of ignoring small arms fire and limiting the direction of my opponent's heavy weapons. The terminators will be very adept at absorbing fire at least for a couple of turns, and once they hit assault nothing in the game can really touch them reliably. This list should be extremely strong against missile spam lists, as the missiles will simply bounce off of the terminator armor, and a wall of termies can provide excellent cover for the armor.

I'm expecting a lot of 3+ saves on the other side of the field, so I'm not worried about my opponents having cover saves from my guys being in the way. If I face a horde, I'll adjust the deployment and movement stuff as appropriate for the game.

So, what are the general thoughts on this? Overpowered, Just right? It's not something I can take to a tournament, but my friends are willing to mess around with it. I think it's amazing how just a couple of updates can make such a huge impact on the viability of the DA codex.