TACTICA DARK ANGELS By Marcos Fernandez ( Smoking Frog ) |
This article has been reproduced with kind permission from the author. It's use here is not intended as a challenge to the original authors copyright and is reproduced here for the sole purpose of enhancing the Dark Angel spirit and the warhammer 40,000 experience |
Troops Tactical Squad: By far the best Troops choice in the game of 40k, the humble Tactical squad lives up to it's name beautifully. It is best used as anything, really. You can use it as a fire support unit, by loading it with a heavy weapon, and using the many bolters in a suppressive role. You can use it as a tactical unit, by effectively giving it one heavy weapon and one special weapon, giving it the capability to fulfil both the role of a fire support and close combat support unit. Or you can load it with a special weapon and arm the sergeant with a close combat weapon and a pistol, and mount them in a transport, and you make it a "hard-to-pushover" close combat unit. Whichever way you decide to use it, use them wisely. They can take a fair amount of fire and survive, and being Dark Angels they will benefit from the Intractable rule in that they wont ever run away. But don't put them in impossible situations. Scout Squad: The Scout squad is similar to a Tactical Squad, but cheaper and with lighter armour. They also have close combat weapons as a weapons choice, a great boon in an assault, great for supporting your main advance, not good on their own in the open. Dense terrain is their battlefield. Scout squads can be armed to suit any role, most favourite role is suppression by use of sniper rifles to cause havoc amongst enemy units. Basically, these guys can be fitted for any role, however they can only support, forming them as a main battle unit will invariably turn your plans into dust. Go ahead and use them like that if you are confident, and prove me wrong. Fast Attack Ravenwing Bikes: The Ravenwing is the elite 2nd Company of the Dark Angels, and when you use their equipment, you should expect the best. Ravenwing bikes are their staple unit, but in a Battle Company force, they are an elite version of the standard Bike Squadron. A Ravenwing bike can re-roll difficult terrain tests and they benefit from the infamous "jink save". You can use these guys to pepper enemies from their flanks, and cause havoc behind enemy lines, and what's more you can slink into difficult terrain confident that you wont lose any bikes, and that the enemy wont be capable of hunting you down properly. When arming them with special weapons, use the same one twice, to max out your capabilities in that field (ie; tank-hunting with two meltaguns, infantry-burning with two flamers). Do not ever charge into assault with these guys, and never put yourself in a position where they will be assaulted. They cannot hold their own effectively in assault, so only do it when confident in victory, which is when the enemy is withered down to small numbers. Ravenwing Attack Bikes: These bikes are great support platforms for Ravenwing bike squadrons, in that you can attach them to one and maximise its role in hunting tanks and/or infantry, and is great also in its own squadrons. They benefit from the same "Ravenwing" special rules as the bikes, and are effectively bikes with a heavy weapon. Use them as you would the bike squadrons, only in a more "fire support" sort of way. Ravenwing Land Speeders: As far as Land Speeders go, these are the best, both for weapons options (anything is OK) and for the "Ravenwing" special rules. They are best used from a distance, so they don't get peppered by small arms fire, and also because the weapons are usually just as effective from a distance as from close up (with the exception of mulitmeltas, try to get close to vehicles when you are using them to benefit from two dice for vehicle penetration). A favourite armament for them is the Heavy Bolter/Assault Cannon combo, but any combo or even just individual weapons works beautifully. Use these vehicles wisely, don't let them get shot at, keep moving to benefit from the skimmer and Ravenwing special rules. They are fragile and powerful at the same time. Battle Company Bikes/Attack Bikes/Land Speeders: Effectively these units are Space Marine Codex units, in that they are used from the codex and in no other way. They are not Ravenwing, so do not benefit from any of their rules. You would use these units if you wanted only to use normal bikes, attack bikes and land speeders. You benefit from cheaper points costs, and you effectively use them the same way as you would the Ravenwing units, however most players prefer paying the extra five points for Ravenwing units just because they know they're cool. The option is here however, to use normal Battle Company Squadrons. The Sixth Company is where the Battle Company Bikes and Attack Bikes originate from, and the Seventh Company has the Land Speeders. Mark these units appropriately. Assault Marines: Assault Marines are the best close combat unit we've got. They are equipped with jump packs so they make it to the enemy quicker. They can eat up units in assault, and are best used when supported by nearby units, such as mounted Tactical Squads. When using them, try to have the maximum number of marines available in the unit, so it doesn't suffer from the effects of being outnumbered, and can chew up through most enemy squads that way. As with all Fast Attack options, protect these guys from enemy fire, or your massive assault will slow to a grinding halt. Scout Bike Squad: I personally see little use to this squad, however, that does not mean it's useless. The Scout Bikes have the "Scouts" special rule, which effectively allows them to position themselves in tactically beneficial locations before the battle even starts. I see this tactic as very useful for skirmishing moves, and the cheaper cost of this unit is also a great boon. However, I personally can't see this as a viable unit to use, however, I would enjoy seeing this unit being deployed and used effectively. Heavy Support Devastator Squad: An effective fire support unit, these guys have the power of a tank when firing, with the versatility and flexibility of an Infantry unit. While terribly expensive, a Devastator squad can lay low most vehicles with their many lascannons, or suppress most enemy infantry squads with heavy bolters. Alternatively, you can use plasma cannons to devastate heavy infantry units and light vehicles, or combinations of weapons to take out both armour and infantry. All in all, this squad is an effective heavy support option, if expensive. Whirlwind: Indirect fire is a luxury for all Space Marines, but the Whirlwind provides this option, as well as the option to lay mines in the 4th edition of 40k. This vehicle is best used out of sight, behind a hill for example, to lay some large ordinance blasts on enemy units. Alternatively, you can lay mines in strategic locations, to force the enemy to either take risks, or find alternate paths. It has weak armour, so by no means put this in the line of fire. Predators: The main battle tank of the all Space Marines, this is especially true with the Dark Angels who are known for their reliance on their body of troops, as opposed to armour. The Predator can be configured with either a twin-linked lascannon or an autocannon on the turret, known as the "Predator Annihilator" and the "Predator Destructor" respectively. Most players will tell you that it is best to fit lascannons for side sponsons on the Annihilator, and Heavy bolters on the Destructor, though other players will often mix their weaponry to deal with both armour and infantry. Whichever configuration is used, these tanks can take a modest amount of damage from the front, and are great assault tanks. Land Raider/Land Raider Crusader: Little needs to be said about the most heavily armoured and most powerful tanks in the Imperium. Most effective when carrying a Terminator squad, so they can be spewed forth into the thick of battle, both variants can hold their own for a long time on the battlefield and bring a lot of death in its wake. They are heavy fire magnets though. Vindicator: Armoured like a Predator, but armed with a Demolisher cannon, this tank is a great close support tank. Its cannon can obliterate most opposition, or scare your opponent into making mistakes during deployment. Watch out that it doesn't scatter amongst your own troops though, I've lost battles when that cannon scattered into my main battle lines. Transports Rhino/Razorback: These are your main transport options. Both have weak armour, though it's mostly impervious to small arms fire. These are great for delivering tactical squads to the thick of battle, or Devastator squads to better firing locations. The difference is that the Razorback has a heavy weapon and thus a smaller troop carrying capacity. The Razorback makes a great support tank as well as a transport, but the Rhino can take large squads into battle with little harms coming to its passengers. They have weak armour and will crack under heavy fire. Drop Pod: This is a new vehicle for all Space Marines. It allows you to deep strike the unit it belongs to (or dreadnought) in any Standard Mission without your opponents consent. Indeed very useful for certain special situations. It counts as immobile the turn it drops in, and stays there for the remainder of the battle. For the Dark Angels, this would only be occasionally useful, since most Dark Angels armies are fairly shooty or quite balanced. |
TACTICA BATTLE FORCE |
