Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Dark Angels (section)

===Elites===
*'''Deathwing Terminator Squad''' - <s>This is why you play Dark Angels.</s> Not quite, anymore. They are still Fearless Terminators and can be taken as Troops, they can still do that Deep Strike on Turn 1 and yes, they can trade their Powerfists and Stormbolters for Thunder Hammers/Storm Shields (now at +5 pts/model; it was too good to last, anyway) and Lightning Claws (for free because, y'know, they don't grant a 3++ save) where they see fit. For 6th ed, you can now have squads of up to 10 of these guys PLUS you can now give 1 in every five termies an assault cannon, a cyclone missile launcher '''OR''' a fucking plasma cannon! They are also going to be fucking expensive now, which makes giving your tac and scout squads some room; that and there are some tournies that don't allow for special characters, and it's been FAQ that they're still an Elite choice if taken as an ally, regardless if the special character(s) makes them troops or not, so you'll have to make do with them. Either way, Deathwing termies are versatile as all fuck and will either squish shit to dust or they are going to be hard to shift from objectives if taken as troops. Also can split fire & twin linked then turn they deepstrike.
**'''New Codex Note''': Deathwing assault now works on turn 1 OR 2. You choose the turn before game; everyone arrives that turn without needing to roll for Reserves.
*'''Deathwing Knights''' - Deathwing Assault Termies, basically. Let's say that Deathwing Terminators just aren't cutting it for you and you want a stiffer, more intractable close combat squad. Say hello to Deathwing Knights: rockin' a WS5, powermauls that can become S10 AP2 once per game and get a +1T bonus when all their bases touch, they'll take apart anything in HtH but for 235 pts. for 4 plus a champ and 46 for each one (a bargain, if you think about it - sorta...), they fucking should! You better not roll ones on assault or Belial will hunt you down and bitch slap you. They also buff any attached IC's with Inner Circle with +1T and should you be assaulting anything from Codex CSM, the AP of their weapons improves by 1 to a maximum of AP1. They can also take Perfidious Relics to get Adamantium Will; combine with Ezekiel for some high-yield Calibanian witch denial. While Deathwing Knights are a powerful melee beat stick they are grossly overrated because they can only have that melee prowess for one turn before they turn into crap so you have to pick and choose when you use it or you will be stuck fighting marines for the rest of the game.
**'''Alternate View''': This AP4 S6 normal attack without smite is a very good horde stopper, loose these guys on any sort of horde esque unit with a low save and being able to attack at normal Initiative pays off well. These are particularly devastating to orks. So there is a huge boyz mob approaching? Behold as your Knights break the unit in 1 turn and turn on smite and destroy his Warboss as well as the entire unit of meganobs he's hiding in in 1 turn using instant death. They will break any infantry blob in the game, and have the You Cannot Hide special rule to pick out that commissar in that huge guard blob weighing you down. These can be an unholy unit of plague-assault-terminators with power mauls if they are used against the right foe. Anything but Space Marines or Sisters is totally screwed, but since most armies are MEQs then it should only be whipped out when facing non-marines or CSM.
**'''Note''': I was bored, and decided to run some numbers on this new unit. I have failed to find any REASONABLE unit of equivalent cost(I excluded things such as 465 points of Chaos Cultists) that can take survive a fight with a ten-man unit of Deathwing Knights. Ten of these guys, with Belial, was fully capable of taking down Abaddon with 10 Chaos Terminators in one turn. Ten of these guys were capable of taking down MORTARION(!) in one turn. It might have been Mathhammer, but I'm certain these guys ain't nothing to fuck with. Damn it, I thought these guys were pretty awesome too, but fighting anything other than Chaos Marines makes the maces only AP 4, which is kind of meh
**'''DW Knights are Awesome''': DW Knights are the best overall melee variant of DW.  Why?  You only get S10 ap2 once per game you say?  3 reasons: 1) immediate return on points cost, and 2) SURVIVABILITY against small arms fire. 3) You can't forget the knight master ALWAYS has S6 AP3 base of 3 attacks.  In most cases termies are thrown right into the thick of a battle where they're most useful - so they won't be surviving the whole game anyway.  It's a waste of points to have them sit on an objective. So..  
***1) S10 ap2 at initiative 4 all but guarantees you'll kill that deathstar unit - Imperial Knight, Baneblade, Termies Squad etc. on Turn 2.  That's an immediate return on their points cost.  
***2) Termies generally don't go down to a few expensive power sword/fist units - they'll go down to a cadre of firewarriors, first rank fire, second rank fire lasguns, or massive boltgun fire.  You are after all assaulting or teleporting into the teeth of the enemy.  In this case, T5 makes a huge difference against S4 and S5 weaponry.  Those boltguns are wounding on 5's (33%) instead of 4's (50%).  Those lasguns are wounding on 6's (16%) instead of 5's (33%).  This means the chances of getting off a 2nd assault are much higher, or if you chose to teleport next to their gunline, the chances of getting stuck-in at all are much higher.
***3) In that 2nd assault against a 'soft' unit - your Knight Master alone, with 4 S6 Ap3 I4 attacks on the charge guarantees you'll chew through a Power Armoured Squad.  If he died already, the weight of wounds from WS 5, S6 + hammer of wrath means you will always win the assault - even against 3+ armour
***In short.  The DW command squad with champion, apothecary, and a few hammers/shields is marginally better in melee - but costs a LOT more.  The only reason to not take Knights is because they have no shooty weapons and are not troops.
***5) They can also provide toughness five to units of death wing terminators! Manuvering your knights and terminators together? End the movement so half of the terminators are in contact for t5! Alternatively you could deepstrike the knights near a terminator squad, then use the run move to surround them and provide t5!

*'''Company Veterans Squad''' - Imagine Tactical Marines with an extra attack and some individual wargear options. That's pretty much what this unit is. If you somehow forgot while reading through this page, Dark Angels are a shooting army and these guys can take combi-weapons, but don't have the benefit of Sternguard extra bullets, and can take a heavy and a special weapon at 5 guys and an extra special at ten. Your terminators and bikes should be getting into hand-to-hand, not vets, so don't get tempted by that extra base attack (Still, remember it. It might be better to exchange the extra turn of rapid fire shooting so you charge rather then be charged). Unless you are using Greenwing, in which case, ignore CC for the most part. Or you can give everyone (errata'd to everyone rather than only three) Plasma Pistols instead of Chainswords to make a Cypher Squad for close-range shooting. Or, if you're feeling really mean, take 3 combi-plasmas, take a plasma gun and then once per game, unleash a shit load of plasma fire over the enemy scum. Rather useful for taking out nid warriors, I find.

*'''Dreadnought''' - A versatile choice. Can do everything generally well. It can punch, it can dakka. Dark Angels might just be the one Space Marine army wherein the Hellfire configuration (lascannons and missile launcher) make the most sense, but the rifleman is also a good sell. If you really wanna smash things with your half-dead space marine robot, get yourself a venerable dread.
**'''Venerable Dreadnought''' - clocking in at 125 pts. with NOTHING, which is a bargain considering it has a BS and WS of 5. Compared to other Venerables in other space marine armies, it DOES NOT have the venerable rule, but it is a Deathwing Vehicle. Although since Deathwing Vehicles allow you to make your opponent re-roll results on the damage table; it pretty much does have the old venerable rule, just called something else and with an added bonus against CSM. Venerable dreadnoughts are recommended against CSM, to whom they will do terrible things.

*'''Mortis Dreadnought (Forgeworld)''' - It's your special dreadnought ''(all other chapters are limited to 1 per detachment)'' 115pts basic with 2 Missile Launchers, which can be upgraded to two Twin-Linked Heavy Bolters, two Twin-Linked Autocannons or two Twin-Linked Lascannons. It also counts as Skyfire/Interceptor while stationary - take double autocannons, and think of it like your space marine hydra flak tank. Take 2 or Mortis Contemptor. Actually, did the mathhammer, Twin-linked Lascannons are actually better than twin-linked autocannons in terms of skyfire 

*'''Contemptor Dreadnought (Forgeworld)''' - Yes, you get the basic one that regular Spess Muhreens get. The Contemptor is easily Forgeworld's most popular model and it's not hard to see why: excellent armour (13/12/10), WS 5, fleet, automatic shielding and a many, ''many'' weapon options available.

*'''Contemptor Mortis (Forgeworld):''' Probably the best Contemptor variant, this guy trades in <s>fleet</s> heaving a melee weapon for more dakka, and the ability to gain Skyfire and Interceptor by standing still. Here's your loadout: ignore everything and take 2 Kheres pattern assault cannons and a cyclone missile launcher. There! You're done. If you find yourself not in range of the assault cannons, move forward and throw down with a couple of missiles. If you DO have something in assault cannon range, hold still and let the hate flow - your dread will loose a total of 12 S6 AP4 rending shots at 24" on a hapless unit and if you stood still, you can drop 2 more missiles on the poor fuckers. You will tear apart tanks, mow down infantry and blast aircraft out of the sky with this fucking thing. is also a victim of Forgeworld's schizophrenia, this bad boy has been moved back and forth from slot to slot, IA2:2nd moved it back to Elites and took away its BS5, presumably to balance out the sickening build recommended above, still wastes things even at BS4 though.
**Also this is EASILY the best anti-air model you can take in Codex: Dark Angels. If you are struggling to win games against Chaos Daemon Flying Circus or Chaos Space Marine Heldrake spam, brining one of these guys is usually enough to single-handedly turn the tide against their stupid OP-as-fuck flyers and you'll only spend slightly more points going double Kheres-Pattern assault cannons/TW-LasCannons + Cyclone Launcher as you would on your own overcosted Nephilim Jetfighter.

* '''Prometheus (Forgeworld)''' - An uber crusader. Two quad heavy bolters is the same number of shots as hurricane bolters at <12", twice as many at 12-24, and can actually shoot up to 36, with the advantage of being S5. It's a HB dev squad, twin-linked.  Granted, it loses the assault cannon but it fucks with cover saves and boosts reserve rolls (2+ reserves ftw!). Don't put it near enemy heavy armour, but a solid tank overall. Is it worth taking in a Dark Angels list? Depends on whether your Deathwing are troops... since you're often competing for elite FOC space. ''However, if your opponent is gracious, the Deathwing can take a Land Raider of ANY type as a dedicated transport, you just have to pay the points cost to make it a Venerable one.''