Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Blood Angels (section)

===HQ===
*'''Captain:''' The most basic version of the Captain is the no-frills HQ choice: access to a variety of wargear, good overall stats, and grants all nearby friendly '''BLOOD ANGELS''' units the ability to re-roll a result of 1 to hit, which you should use to keep your plasma weapons from killing you as this lets you roll those lethal 1s away (do note vehicles have the '''BLOOD ANGELS''' keyword too. Enjoy your semi-twinlinked Land Raider Crusader). His master-crafted boltgun is AP-1 and deals 2 damage, but a shooty Captain might be better suited to using a Combi-Weapon. The storm shield isn't a must-have, since he comes with a 4++ by default, but it's there if you want it. 
**'''Captain with Jump-Pack:''' You're playing Blood Angels for the Sauce,  and here it is, boyo. This build is affectionately titled [[Chapter Master Slamguinius]] and it earned it for a [[Rip and Tear|FUCKING REASON]]! Although giving your captain a jump pack doesn't give him the durability of a bike, it does give him the advantage of a very special rule, {{WH40Kkeyword|Fly}}, and by the God-Emprah, isn't that what being a Son of Sanguinius is all about?! This might seem standard to all you 7th edition players, but being able to jump over combats and fights to get all your veterans stuck in can change a fight from a battle of attrition to outright wiping out the enemy squad, either during the Fight Phase itself or the Morale Phase after it. 8th edition makes this doubly important due to the new rules allowing an engaged unit to Fall Back from close combat during the opponent's Movement Phase, which subsequently exposes your fighters to enemy shooting from other units, which means enemy heavy shooters will often be screened by chaff exactly for this purpose. Bikes are still vulnerable to this tactic despite their speed, whereas jump troops with {{WH40Kkeyword|Fly}} can simply jump over the screening units and proceed to beat the snot out of the valuable and dangerous enemy shooters hiding at the back. He also gains the ability to Charge and Fight against FLYERS, which can be interesting if a foe is mistaken enough to let your jump Captains get too close to their Flyers. {{WH40Kkeyword|Fly}} also gives you the ability to shoot after Falling Back from a fight, so if you get in over your head you can still fire off a smattering of Boltgun or (combi-weapon!) shots as you get away. All that aside, don't forget that it also makes you vulnerable to anti-air weaponry, so watch for anything that gains bonuses against flyers.  Use Honor the Chapter, and Only in Death Does Duty End, and keep this dude going for as long as you can, consider him expendable and perhaps not the warlord, use these two stratagems and he can take on anything. So, when a daemon primarch starts his spiel on how the corpse emperor is a dick but his legions were much stronger than today's Marines, politely explain him the virtues of present day Blood Angels... and then beat his chest like a bongo. This might cost a bunch of CP on top of what you paid to kit the captain but killing a 600+ pts centerpiece unit almost guarantee by turn 2 is basically always worth it.
**'''Primaris Captain: '''Comes stock with a bolt pistol and a master-crafted auto bolt rifle like the Lieutenants, but can also take a Power Sword or switch the auto bolt rifle out for a master-crafted stalker Bolt Rifle (which is Heavy 1, but gets a 36" range and AP-2). Apart from the extra wound and attack that come with the Primaris statline, he's more or less the same as a vanilla Captain but with fewer wargear choices. Since the Primaris Captain can only footslog if you don't pay up for a Repulsor, give him the Stalker and put him near the objective to snipe at targets with either Devastators, Cent-Devs, and Company Vets without transports or Hellblasters with Heavy Plasma Incinerators to make the most of their ranged weapons. For 92 points you can take a power fist and plasma pistol, making him perhaps the most well rounded of all captains along with crazy Tycho.
**'''Captain in Gravis Armour:''' Has a 5" move, and the same 3+/4++ save as the regular Primaris Captain, but the Gravis Armor pushes him to T5 and W7, making him very hard to kill with small arms. Unlike the other Captain versions, his wargear is fixed; specifically, to a master-crafted power sword that deals one more point of damage compared to the regular power sword, and the Boltstorm Gauntlet (a combined 3-shot bolt pistol and power fist). Cheaper and differently resilient than the Terminator Captain, but not as flexible.
**'''Primaris Captain in Phobos Armour:''' A Primaris Captain with a combat knife (+1A), and a sniper rifle equivalent (30", Heavy 1, S4, AP-2, D2, can target characters, but does NOT cause mortal wounds on a wound roll of 6). Also has a camo-cloak (+2 to saves when in cover instead of +1), an omni-scrambler (no enemy deepstrikes within 12"), and concealed positions (deep strike, but before first turn). You'll want him to give his re-rolls to your Eliminator teams or Infiltrator squads. Like the Lieutenant, this guy is really nothing more than an old, cranky primaris marine...and overcosted to boot.
**'''Captain in Terminator Armour:''' Your bread and butter HQ, good at everything, great at nothing, now in Terminator Armour. Must buy at least a Power Sword and Storm Bolter, can take items from Terminator Combi-Weapons and Terminator Melee Weapons lists, and if he takes a Power Fist, can take a wrist mounted grenade launcher. May also buy a Storm Shield. A decent fighting unit, he comes stock with a 4++ thanks to his Iron Halo. Provides a 6" bubble that provides re-rolls of 1's to hit to friendly Blood Angels. Can become pretty killy if you kit him out to be, the codex was fairly nice to us. It's worth noting that chainfists are straight-up garbage, at a point more than a hammer in exchange for ''less'' damage (the better AP wouldn't be enough to make chainfists good even at Thunder Hammer prices).  None of the weapon choices you can't access as a Terminator, like a Power Axe, are a big problem, due to the same weapon advice applying from the regular Captain, above - you should be choosing from the Power Sword, Power Fist, and Thunder Hammer.  The Power Fist gets special mention, though, because of the grenade launcher, which is the only way to get a second gun onto this guy, which can be a pretty big deal on the turn you deep strike in.  ''Don't'' go double lightning claw - you don't have the necessary mobility to go without any guns at all.For your ranged weapon, the Storm Bolter really can't be beat, although a Combi-Flamer can be good on Overwatch if your opponent is idiotic enough to charge you.  The other options don't pair well with you - you don't want to risk overcharging plasma on a piece this costly, and the melta's limited range combines very poorly with your limited mobility.
***The armor provides a decent save, and he'll always have the 4++ to fall back on. If you drop a CP to give him the Black Rage, you can give him all the benefits that apply, namely +1 attack and 6+++ FNP. Pretty much all of the warlord traits will give you a boost: Soulwarden will allow you that clutch defense of Psychic powers, Speed of the Primarch will ensure you actually manage to fight, Heroic Bearing will buff your bodyguard (you ''are'' dropping him down with a Terminator escort, right?) and make sure they can just flat out ignore Morale, Artisan of War is ok - but an extra bit of damage on a ranged or melee weapon is nothing to sneer at. Gift of Foresight is one of the best for a beatstick, if you did drop a CP for Black Rage his FNP roll is 5+++ and re-rolls all ones. Honestly you really can't go wrong with any of the Warlord Traits except maybe Selfless Valour. If it doesn't work for Black Templars it won't work for us. As for Relics, if you want a beatstick, the Hammer of Baal is your go-to choice, as you're unable to take The Angel's Wing - mitigated in that you can just teleport down. S8 AP-3 D3 with a +1 to wound roll from the red thirst is just brutal, and an extra attack from the Black Rage can make or break a fight phase. Paired with the above Veritas Vitae gamble (on a different character of course), you might even get that point back and be all the better for it.
**'''Captain in Cataphractii Armor:''' Compared to basic Terminator armor, your movement is even worse, at only 4", and when you Advance you have to halve your result, so you can only move 7" per turn at most (usually 1.75"), but your invuln is boosted to 3++ without consuming a weapon slot, although you do pay more than you theoretically would for a Storm Shield. With a Storm Bolter stock and the ability to replace it with Combi-weapons (except for combi-grav, but that's a worthless piece of shit anyway), this is going to be a Deep-strike reliant character, which is not a bad thing, considering what army we're talking about. Also pretty good in melee, thanks to that boosted invulnerable save and the fact that you don't need to give up the possibility of bringing along a decent gun or lightning claw pair for a storm shield. Keep in mind, however, that with such astronomically high saves, you pretty much invite the opponent to focus mortal wounds on him, against which he has precisely no built-in protection unless he's around the Standard of Sacrifice or you gave him the Death Visions of Sanguinius for that sweet sweet FNP. More limited than the other Terminator Captain because his Power Fist can't take a grenade launcher, so you're almost certainly going to keep the Storm Bolter to maximize your ability to shoot things while waddling slowly around the battlefield. Much of the equipment advice from the standard Terminator Captain applies here. This models is now a much more viable option as it dropped 31 points and only costs 95 points without equipment (now only 118 points with Thunder Hammer and storm-bolter)
**'''Captain on Bike (Legends):''' The bike gives you +1 Toughness, an extra wound, 14" movement, and the Turbo-Boost ability, and costs ''less'' than the Gravis Captain. Apart from that, everything that can be said about the regular Captain goes for this guy, too. If you were thinking of taking a regular captain without a Jump Pack and ''not'' alpha strike (for whatever ungodly reason you'd do that in a Blood Angel army, you luddite), take this guy instead. He's better in almost every conceivable way. He can cross the board quicker, while keeping pace with your vehicles, he's shootier by a wide margin, and he's infinitely more survivable if someone does try to hit him, while being just as killy when things get personal. Kitted out with the ''Hammer of Baal'', ''Speed of the Primarch'', and an inferno pistol makes this guy an even scarier version of Smashfucker. Moral of the story, if you're going to take a non-terminator captain, always put him on a bike, or with a jump pack.

*'''Lieutenant:''' 60 points gets you a Marine Captain-equivalent with -1 BS and Ld, but with the re-rolling 1s to hit replaced by wound re-rolling. Good if you want to re-roll wounds instead of hits and/or are on a budget, as they're only 60 points each if bought individually and come with far more customisability over their Primaris counterparts. They have to be set up at the same time, but don't need to be in unit coherency and are treated as separate units. However, the Primaris versions may be worth the 10 points more, unless you're planning on transporting them in a non-Repulsor vehicle, running a pure mini-marines army or REALLY need that 10 points. Add a Captain for re-roll hits of 1, and you've got yourself a mean gun line or assault group. If you have to choose one or the other, rerolling 1's to wound is mathematically equivalent to rerolling 1's to hit unless the weapon does something different on specific rolls. Lieutenants' reroll to wound is better with flamers and sniper Scouts, and Captains' reroll to hit is better with overcharged plasma or with stratagems that trigger on a 6+ to hit, but the rest of the time, their auras are equivalent. Remember, you can take 2 in one slot for twice the re-rolling action. No bikes sadly, but fortunately they're allowed their jump-pack to keep up with the units they're buffing.
**Re-rolling 1s to hit or to wound are mathematically identical in terms of the effect on your damage output - both increase the overall number of wounds inflicted by 16.7% (alternatively, think of it as multiplying it by a factor of 7/6).  If you have to choose between one or the other, go with reroll 1s to hit because it helps you avoid plasma guns blowing up in your face, but what you really want is both: if you already have a captain, grab a lieutenant for your next HQ slot (or vice versa).  The two auras complement each other very nicely, and wherever possible you should try and keep your units in range of both. 
**'''Primaris Lieutenant: '''Like the standard versions, but Primaris, with +1 A and W. They're armed with Assault 3 Bolters (that do 2 damage) which can and probably should be swapped for Power Swords for the better chance to hit. Like the standard Lieutenants, they also allow friendly '''BLOOD ANGELS''' units re-roll to wound rolls of 1. As is the case with all Primaris Marines, they're rather inflexible but are tougher than their counterparts to compensate. Now that the codex is out they have a few more options one of the best is giving them the Mastercraft Stalker Pattern Bolter and teaming them up with a Devastator or Centurion camping squad.
**'''Lieutenant in Phobos Armor:''' Another Primaris variant, this one has a D2 boltgun that ignores cover and the standard Lt. bonus. Also has deep strike and a unique Knife Fighter ability; unmodified hit rolls of 6 count as 2 hits instead of 1. Not like it'll matter much because he only has a basic CCW. 
*'''Chaplain:''' Cheap HQ with his stock wargear, great in assault army like Blood Angels. He lets same Chapter units in 6" use his leadership and re-roll all failed hits in melee (which isn't any better than re-rolling 1s on WS2+ models, don't forget). A good support choice to back a choppy squad. Particularly useful helping Thunder Hammer Vanguard/Company Vets mitigate their -1 to hit, or a Death Company squad to buff more fighters and help with their higher morale vulnerability. Comes stock with a bolt pistol and Crozius, which is now somewhere between a power axe and maul at S+1 AP-1 D2. Can take a power fist (which is a terrible waste of points, since you've got Red Thirst and already paid for the Crozius), swap his bolt pistol for something from the pistol list, and can strap on a jump pack, which you should probably do. Honestly with a newer beautiful model and how BA are a very assault based army, he's an amazing choice as an HQ.
**'''Chaplain in Terminator Armour:''' As above, but with 5" movement, one more wound, and 2+ armor. Note that you can only swap the storm bolter for a combi-weapon, so actually slightly less effective in melee against armored opponents, as you have no way to take a power fist, but you shouldn't have been considering that anyway; you should really keep the storm bolter, as well.  Assuming you listen to reason, the meaningful comparison here is that he costs 12 more points than a Jump Chaplain with base wargear, but has much better ranged output and durability, in exchange for drastically hampered mobility and an inability to fall back and shoot.
**'''Chaplain on Bike (Legends):''' For 7 points more than a Jump Chaplain, 14" movement, +1 T and Wound, and ability to Turbo-boost, plus a compulsory Storm Bolter. Good for keeping up with your jump pack cc oriented squads, also tougher than a jump pack chaplain.  Can swap his bolt pistol for a second storm bolter for even more dakka
***Note that unlike the rest of the chaplains, these guys won't be likely to get the fancy new litanies due to being in the Legends list. While this is nice since you won't need to worry about constantly rolling to keep the buff up, you won't get the chance for anything else.
**'''Primaris Chaplain:'''They get the usual Primaris buffs (+1 A/W) and the usual points hike (only 5 points, in this case). Comes with the same litanies/morale buffs and the crozius, but also packs a new toy: the Absolvor pistol, a 16" S5 AP-1 Pistol. Like most Primaris HQs, his wargear is fixed and cannot be changed. Without the option of a Bike/Jump Pack, you can only footslog him or put him in one of the Primaris grav tanks.
**'''(Forge World) Chaplain in [[Dreadnought|a Goddamn Dreadnought]]''': [[Rape|NOW AN HQ CHOICE CHARACTER]]. The Chaplain Dreadnought is the go-to answer for players wishing to run an All-dreadnought army. This is one of the best models space marines can currently use in 8th arguably the best outside of special characters. It's a character that can't be shot at unless it's by snipers (which it'll shrug of anyway) or it's the closest model, a dreadnought that CANNOT BE SHOT AT. It possess a 5++ save and also buffs the strength of friendly models fighting the same unit as the dreadnought, has heroic intervention and every wound it takes it gets to make a roll, on a 6 it ignores the wound. It's also reasonably priced considering it's many advantages, 204 points vanilla but can be cheaper or more expensive depending on wargear choices (taking an assault cannon makes it cost 183 as an example). Despite it's strengths ultimately it's buff is weak; more a bonus than something your army can rely on, if you want a HQ that buffs than the Chaplain Dreadnought is a bad choice, however, if you were planning to bring a dreadnought and/or want a tough and killy HQ then the Chaplain is a fantastic option that also saves you an elite or heavy support slot. Although it is buff weak, the Chaplain Dread does give an alternate source of bonus Strength to nearby units, meaning when combined with the Sanguinary Priest your basic troops will be Strength 6 and anyone with a TH or Fist will be Strength 12 [[Anal circumference|and thus able to wound anything that isn't a Lord of War on 2s]].

*'''Librarian:''' Flexible buff unit and source of mortal wounds, thanks to Smite. His Psychic Hood adds 1 to Deny the Witch tests against Psykers within 12". Equipped with a force stave/sword/axe (you should keep the sword, for the same reason most of your army prefers power swords - the Red Thirst), frag and krak grenades, and swappable bolt pistol. Can take a jump pack. Use him to buff your melee squads with +1A, or anything at all with a 5++.
**'''Primaris Librarian:'''Can only use a Force Sword and Bolt Pistol, but gains the extra attack and wound that all Primaris Marines get. Also fairly cheap compared to other upgraded Librarian versions, at only 5 points more than a stock Librarian. It's carrying your best sword option and probably best pistol option already (as why would you invest points in a better pistol on a non-jump librarian?), so if you're going to footslog a librarian (the Primaris can't get in most of your transports, but Wings of Sanguinius works just fine on him), definitely a good choice.
**'''Librarian in Phobos Armour:''' Primaris Librarian with a camo-cloak (+2 to saves when in cover instead of +1) that makes him extra durable in cover, and concealed positions lets him deploy with your other sneaky marines. Has access to a special psychic discipline focusing on stealth, of which he knows two and can cast two. (Including one that's basically Warptime!) Comes stock with psychic hood, force sword, and bolt pistol.
*** Frankly, this option seems to be the only Vanguard HQ worth the points. The others look cool, but neither has a single melee attack with an AP value, and the captain has a single bolter shot at AP-2!?! This guy can genuinely hurt people with smite and his force weapon while providing tactical viability.
**'''Librarian Dreadnought:''' Our super special dreadnoughts have definitely seen an improvement. Now at 142 points for storm bolter, or 154 with melta/heavy flamer, this unit is just tooooo good to pass up since he's cheaper than Mephiston. Their stats are the same as every other dreadnought barring their WS2+ and {{W40Kkeyword|character}} keyword, making them hard to shoot, since they have W8 like your other basic dreads. Their force halberd means they will be hitting at S10 AP-4 D3; coupled with the Red Thirst, you'll never actually use that Furioso Fist you had to pay for, so it's a good thing the Halberd is free.  Has the same psyker stats as your other unnamed librarians, even the psychic hood. The Storm Bolter is a pretty reasonable choice, but the Meltagun will hit on a 4+ on the Advance, if you were rushing into position to cast, while the Heavy Flamer is best for using Wings of Sanguinius to Fall Back and Shoot.  Sadly, can't drop his smoke launchers for a magna grapple, no matter how entertaining it would be. This model can be your warlord, and makes a FINE candidate for Artisan of War when applied to the Force Halberd. Doing this reduces the need for the awesome yet constraining combos you see below, allowing you to use them anyway, or apply powers and CP elsewhere. Regardless though, much like Slamguinius, Smashnought will pulverize literally anything without an invuln save; it all depends on whether you want to dish out 6-8 wounds or 12 or more. Finally, remember returning fire... Once the dread hacks apart its first victim, its a safe bet to assume some big guns are going to wind up pointing in his direction and he will likely be out of his character bubble. Perhaps not the best warlord? As a character with only 8 wounds, the Librarian Dreadnought can only be shot at in the Shooting phase if it is the closest unit.Since he has the CHARACTER keyword, use the Red Rampage Stratagem on this guy should successfully charge into melee for and extra D3 attacks.  It will please you. When equipped with a meltagun, this guy becomes a brutally effective monster hunter. Consider: smite in the psychic phase, melta in the shooting phase, then charge and finish off what's left with the halberd. This guy is one of your prime candidates for Quickening+Wings of Sanguinius, giving you a net movement speed of 12", then a re-rollable charge with +3" to boost, then getting into melee with an unbelievably good melee weapon for typically 5 attacks; the only other Librarian you can field with a melee weapon on par with that Force Halberd is Mephiston. However, with no invulnerable save, don't be surprised when this thing disappears after a couple of effortless swings from any melee weapon that does multiple damage with AP-3 or better.
***Biomantic Sarcophagus is a must-take with this guy.  The amount of free re-rolls makes a huge difference.
**'''Librarian in Terminator Armour:''' Your more combat oriented Psyker. Must buy at least a Force Stave and Storm Bolter, and can replace the Storm Bolter with a Storm Shield (via the Index) or an item from the Terminator Combi-Weapons list, and may replace his Force Stave with either a Sword or Axe (you want the Sword). Comes stock with a 5++ for his Crux Terminatus, and thanks to his Psychic Hood adds 1 to Deny the Witch tests for Psykers within 12". Can manifest two powers in the Psychic Phase. Occupies a nice balance between a combat character and a buff unit. Have him Teleport into battle behind your Death Company before they get into combat, throw your magic at them, and let loose with the charges.  10 points less for the Terminator Suit over a Jump Pack, but is your only access to a built-in invulnerable save for your Librarian.
**'''Librarian on Bike (Legends):''' 14" movement, +1 T and W, and ability to Turbo-boost (and a compulsory Twin Boltgun) compared to a normal librarian; can swap his pistol for a combi-weapon, which you should only be considering a Storm Bolter for, or another pistol, which is less compelling. Good for keeping up with your jump pack melee oriented squads or other bikes.  Costs a point ''less'' than his Terminator cousin (before you pay for a second Storm Bolter), but can't Deep Strike or ride a Transport.

*'''Sanguinary Priest:''' Your standard unit modifier and helpful in all situations to any BA unit. Comes with a bolt pistol, chainsword, frag and krak grenades.   Most of his extra weapon options, as well as his biker version, have been moved to Legends, sadly.  Blood of Baal returns his Jump Pack option though, or you can throw him into a Stormraven if he shows up without it. Buffs your {{W40Kkeyword|blood angels Infantry}} and {{W40Kkeyword|Bikers}} by offering a 6" bubble of +1 Strength, as well as healing a multi-wound Infantry or Biker model within 3", or bringing a fallen model back to life on a 4+ - the bringing back from the dead is on a d6 roll of 4+ and if failed he does nothing for the rest of the turn. Works well with more expensive models like Terminators and Sanguinary Guard, keeping their health up as they make their way towards the enemy.
**'''Sanguinary Priest with Jump Pack (Index/Blood of Baal):''' 12" movement, {{W40Kkeyword|JUMP PACK}}, and {{W40Kkeyword|FLY}}, and Jump Pack Assault, for only 10 more points.  Pairs well with Sanguinary Guard, Vanguard Vets, Death Company, etc.  The codex doesn't feature the option to equip with a jump pack, so refer to the index/Blood of Baal for this one.
**'''Sanguinary Priest on Bike (Legends):''' 14" movement, +1 T and W, and ability to Turbo-boost (and a compulsory Storm Bolter) compared to normal priest - as well as becoming a {{W40Kkeyword|BIKER}} - for 25 more points. Sanguinary Priests, both regular and biker varieties, work amazingly with units armed with Power Swords. S5 AP-3 is a nasty profile that can put wounds on most things reliably, particularly since you will reliably have the Red Thirst up - you'll wound T4 or less on 2s!  The +1S is particularly nice because, per the Designer's Commentary, Strength buffs happen before a melee weapon's Strength is calculated - so e.g. Power Fists and Thunder Hammers go to S10.  The synergy with Red Thirst is strange because Red Thirst is a flat +1 to wound but +1 or even +2S only sometimes helps - for example, Blood Angels Thunder Hammers will wound T6 on 2s without the Priest's help - but you'll still get better results combining the priest with multiplicative melee weapons, for a net +2.

*'''Techmarine:''' At the end of movement phase can (now without roll) restore one {{W40Kkeyword|blood angels vehicle}} model within 1" for 1d3 lost wounds. Equipped with a servo-arm and power axe by default. Can take a jump pack, servo-harness, and can swap out his pistol for another pistol or a combi-weapon (the storm bolter is the big draw here). Most importantly, you can swap out the Power Axe for a Chainsword to get one of the cheapest HQ options there is (45 points).  Blood Angels has some great HQ options, but the Techmarine is a good way to pay an HQ tax. Hand him a Veritas Vitae and park him near some artillery.
**'''Techmarine on Bike (Legends):''' 14" movement, +1 T and W, and ability to Turbo-boost (and a compulsory Storm Bolter) compared to a normal Techmarine, but pays 25 points for the bike (not including the Storm Bolter attached to it); the mobility is excellent for keeping up with what he wants to repair, but be aware the bike isn't free. Same advice applies about his other wargear.
**'''Techmarine with Jump Pack (Legends):'''  Badly overcosted, at more than double the cost of the footslogging Techmarine before wargear - has neither a servo-arm nor a conversion beamer, which is the only way in the game to make that happen, but the jump pack costs so much you're actually ''far'' better off just shelling out for a bike.  Can still repair vehicles just fine, mind you.  There's a rules explosion if you take both a servo-harness and a jump pack (which is not banned); until it's FAQ'ed, both will resolve, and the jump pack will take your servo-arms away, leaving you with a jump pack, flamer, and plasma cutter.  Theoretically, the same thing will happen if you swap your servo-arm for a conversion beamer "before" taking a jump pack, but the RAI on that ''seems'' clearer.  [[skub|Discuss any rules clusterfucks with your opponent before you exploit them.]]

*'''Rhino Primaris (Legends):''' One half of the Command Tank duo, the Rhino Primaris distinguishes itself from the basic Rhino by 3 things: its twin plasma gun, the ability to call an orbital bombardment (a single blast that can deal d3 Mortal Wounds to all enemies within d6" of a targeted point and doesn't need line of sight, but can only be fired once per game), and its servo-skull hub. The hub allows the Rhino Primaris to buff allies within 12" with either a +1 to hit, a -1 to morale tests,  or healing a wound (for vehicles only). It only has room to transport 6 units, though that's just enough for a Captain and his Veteran Squad.
**Never fire the plasma gun on overcharged mode; the risk of destroying the Rhino Primaris isn't worth the extra damage. 

*'''Land Raider Excelsior (Legends):''' The other half of the Command Tank duo, which comes with a 5+ invulnerable save, the Captain's ability to grant re-rolls for hit results of 1 for units within 6" of it, a pair of twin lascannons, and a grav-cannon/grav-amp combo. If you take it, take the Rhino Primaris too - it'll gain a +1 to hit for all shooting attacks if it stays within 24" of the Rhino Primaris. Apart from that, it's fairly similar to the vanilla LR, albeit better able to take on heavy infantry thanks to the grav-cannon. 
**As is the case for the Rhino Primaris, do ''not'' overcharge the plasma gun part of the combi-plasma. Your lascannons do everything that an overcharged plasma gun shot can do, without the risk of killing yourself in the process! 

*'''(Forge World) Damocles Command Rhino:''' Costing almost twice as much as normal Rhino, but with one transport place for character, this gives you one-use Orbital bombardment, which on 4+ hit every unit in 6" from point on a battlefield you choose ( -1 for Characters) and deals D3 mortal wounds. Second ability is generating 1 CP per turn if your warlord is embarked and roll less than his LD. This is helpful, but most Blood Angels potential Warlords doesn't fit Rhino (jump pack, terminator armour, Dreadnought)
**This vehicle is useful against cheap horde armies, which probably have more Command Points than you.

====Special Characters====
*'''Astorath:''' Astorath has gained some fun special rules. His axe is now basically a relic blade, which on a 6+ to wound is a flat 3 damage. All BA within 6" re-roll hits in the fight phase and can use his leadership for morale tests; death company instead become fearless. Astorath now gains the very cool rule Mass of Doom, which you may activate once per game at the start of your turn. Roll 1D6 for each friendly BA infantry unit within 6". On a 1, the unit takes 1 mortal wound. On a 2-5, add 1 to all hit rolls made in the fight phase. On a 6, same as above but the unit also gains a 4++ invuln until the end of your turn. So, just before your big 15 man death company charges, you can probably give them 2+ re-rollable attacks for maximum rape, and you only kill one of them with odds 5/36, since they can FNP the mortal wound from the Mass. Combine this with Librarians, Sanguinary Priests, and Ancients to get the maximum bang for your berserker buck.
** Mass of Doom is no joke. Whatever Astorath says takes your Death Company WAY beyond enraged. Enjoy your renewed title as the premier alpha strike combo. Combined with the Red Thirst, your DC will become incredibly efficient in melee armed with power swords [which are now cheap as chips]. Against other MEQ, you're hitting and wounding on 2s and 3s with re-rolls and AP-3. With a priest or sanguinor (who also has deep strike), the buffs just keep building and building and building... there is really no comparison. Be careful, though, as you're going to wind up the same way as many iterations before, completely butchering the first target and getting left alone and likely facing lots of retributive firepower the next turn. Go play ultramarines if you want to be cool, calm, and collected.
** Unfortunately Astorath is shadowed by Lemartes ability. The ability to re-roll charges is too crucial for a Death Company list and its just too expensive and redundant to realistically run them both. Unless you're re-enacting the Diamor campaign. FOR SANGUINIUS!
** Double unfortunately, Mass of doom and Litanies of Battle need to be used at the '''beginning''' of your movement phase, but the deep strike happens at the '''end''' of the movement phase, so you can't use it on a unit that is deep striking this turn, nor can you use it while deep striking Astorath himself.
** Only 105 pts to run this Angel of Death.
** Thanks to Blood of Baal, Astorath has gained a serious buff in the form of the Master of Sanctity keyword. This brings with it the ability to take 3 Litanies of Battle and use 2 each turn. 
***Unfortunately bumped down to only knowing 2 litanies from the Litanies of Battle as of the 01/06/20 FAQ, but can still use 2 each turn.

*'''Brother Corbulo:''' Corbulo is a buffed Sanguinary Priest with some cool wargear.  14 points buys you the standard lack of ability to choose different wargear for a named character, but +1 BS with his Bolt Pistol and Grenades, +1W, and his melee gains +1S and -1AP due to him gaining +1A but swapping out his chainsword for Heaven's Teeth, resulting in no net change to attack volume.  His Blood Chalice grants 6+ exploding hit dice during the Fight phase to infantry and biker units within 6" (including himself, naturally).  He also has the Far-Seeing Eye, which grants a single re-roll on anything for Corbulo 1/turn, which you will generally want to apply to his Narthecium, either to heal more wounds (bringing his average healing up from 2 to 2.33) or increase his odds of raising the dead from 50% to 75%, but it's worth noting his re-roll is Cawl grade, not just on failures, so you can use it to guarantee his bolt pistol or krak grenade hits or wounds, or to raise his krak grenade's average damage from 2 to 2.33.  He has no jump pack. Like other priests, he is cheap and a genuinely good option.
**Like Mephiston and Tycho, this dude prefers to rock and roll without a jump pack. He does complement vanguard vets and death company rolling around in transports very well, as they can simply conga line to leave someone close enough to Corbulo to pick up the buff. His explosions work on ''all'' {{W40Kkeyword|blood angels}} units, so you can apply him to dreadnoughts, or even Stormravens if you're feeling silly.  He's also amazing paired with a Company Ancient, as his explosions happen during the Fight phase regardless of weapon type, giving you access to shenanigans like exploding the dice for inferno pistols.
**Makes a fine support unit for Aggressors. Makes them tougher, hit harder, and hit more often. Aggressors are well suited to foot slogging so no worry over transportation issues.

*'''Captain Tycho:''' Tycho changed a bit with the codex. Like usual, he is a captain with a master-crafted boltgun like other captains, but it has a meltagun strapped to it, and he has a 2+ save and doesn't like orks, gaining 1d3 attacks against them. He also got back Dead Man's Hand for Melee purposes: S User AP-2 D1, which is a lightning claw that doesn't re-roll wounds/a power sword with 1 worse AP/a power axe with 1 worse S.  Meh.
**Like his psycho version, his greatest advantage is a low points cost, paired with a durability upgrade; actually building him from a Captain is impossible, but his melee weapon is approximately as good as a chainsword (it's worse against anything with 0 or 1 penetrable save, such as Storm Shield MEQs or Genestealers, but better against anything with 2 or better, so is approximately a wash), and his ranged weapon is indisputably better than a combi-melta (a Captain with a Combi-Melta will run you 2 ''more'' points than Tycho), so if you were going to field a footslogging combi-melta no-melee-upgrades Captain, this is the way to go, but why would you do that?  His severe lack of mobility fails to impress.
**'''Tycho the Lost:''' Edgy Tycho now doesn't help his friends. He loses his re-roll aura (making him less accurate without external support), but gains the Black Rage for a 6+++ and +1A on the charge, and drops 25 points in cost - but why would you do that?  If your goal is paying HQ taxes cheaply, you can take a Sanguinary Priest for 1 point less, a Techmarine for 8 points less, or a Lieutenant for 10 points less, all of whom provide actual utility - and the Black Rage doesn't really impress on a model carrying a weapon that shabby. With the red thirst, black rage, and AP-2, he will surprise you. If you assault the same model you shot with your melta gun in the shooting phase you stand a good chance of killing it, unless its a vehicle or MC of course.
** Tycho the lost is a bargain no matter how you add things up; the problem is his questionable purpose in a BA army. Don’t use him as a frontline HQ or melee powerhouse, load him in a stormraven and place him behind your enemy or in an inconvient position. He will take dedicated effort for your opponent to remove him and will hamper their main effort. He’s great at snatching far off objectives. Also does a great job of preying on vehicles or other weaker units. He’s also a great distraction. Get creative with him.

*'''Chief Librarian Mephiston:''' The only ''named'' Primaris character for BA's, Mephiston is similar to last edition, with 6 Wounds and 5s for S, T, and A instead of 6s like the days of yore (or 4s for a standard librarian), but he makes up for it in other ways. His Sanguine Sword is now a Power Fist with no to-hit penalty; his other benefits include M7 (although he has no jump pack), BS2+ with his Plasma Pistol, a 2+ save, a 5+++ FNP, Denying 2 powers instead of 1, and knowing 3 powers instead of 2, but that last is particularly lackluster, as he can still only cast 2; you'll probably want to take Unleash Rage (or Quickening, if you want him to buff himself better [[derp|since THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE MEPHISTON!]]), Shield of Sanguinius, and Wings of Sanguinius on him, then only cast the third power when you really need to get him into position.  All of those benefits will cost you 57 points over a normal Librarian, or 52 more than a Primaris Librarian (which has the same W and A as him).
**Mephiston has an excellent statline, lots of melee power (combined with a Sanguinary Priest, he can hit at S12!), can buff himself and/or others well, and is priced decently. He makes a good HQ (although his warlord trait is lackluster). His only weaknesses are no way to generate anything better than a 5++, allowing basic power swords to hurt him, and no means to deep strike with other choppy units. otherwise, he can perform any HQ role quite well. He's in direct competition with a librarian dreadnought, given how much of his special character oomph was directed into making him beatstickier.
**'''Chief Librarian Mephiston (Legends)''': The now-outdated, non-Primaris version of Mephiston.  No point taking him even if allowed, as the new Mephiston is better ''and'' cheaper, unless you want to put him in an older transport.

*'''Commander Dante:''' Despite being the "I'm too old for this shit" character, Dante is still a beatstick. Coming in with the classic wargear of The Axe Mortalis (a relic blade that re-rolls failed wounds against {{W40Kkeyword|character}}s) and an Inferno Pistol, 2+, 4++, and a jump pack, Dante hasn't really changed much, but does have W6 and A6. A lucky lascannon can still kill him, but he is a whole bunch tougher against small or even medium arms fire. Dante loses out on his cool tactical and jump pack warlord rules and now has a 6" bubble of re-rolls of all failed to hits, which is... alright. But you're not taking him for those, you're taking him for the 6 inch bubble of giving morale rolls the middle finger from his built in Warlord Trait - meaning that whoever you select as his bodyguard won't break for shit - although it's worth noting you can put that trait on any unnamed Warlord you like. 
** Unleash Rage and Red rampage. 10 Attacks. Nice 
**For vanguards and assault marines, this is great, but since the most commonly used Dante bodyguard, Sanguinary Guard, get re-rolls to hit within 6" of your warlord already, this is kind of shit, so you probably don't want to take them - instead, take Company Veterans with Jump Packs, for the same job, or don't make Dante your Warlord.
***This boy is 25 pts cheaper as of Chapter Approved 2019 now only costing 150pts! He is not and should not be used like Calgar, Abbadon, a hive tyrant, an Avatar, etc. Dante's main draw is his exceptional alpha strike potential. For best results, consider not deep striking him. Instead work up the board normally using your character status as protection, or jump out of a stormraven. You need to damage your opponent as much as possible in one turn, that means getting very close in the movement phase, inferno pistol in shooting phase, successful charge in assault phase with those juicy 6 attacks and ideally red rampage for D3 more. Lower their damage bracket so they cant strike back as hard. If everything goes as planned, he is a top notch character assassin. Otherwise, Dante just doesn't have the staying power of other models in his weight class. 
** Take a vanguard detachment with Dante and back him up with three standard dreads packing lascannons w/ fist/storm bolter (heavy flamer if you must). March them up the board, they will take a beating and will protect Dante, likewise they will throw out a lot of dakka thanks to re-roll all hits. Once you get close Dante can jump ahead, or swing around to slay the most opportune target, and dreads will dish out some hurt with all their re roll fists hits. 
** Alternatively, he's a great buff for a gun-line.  Have him sit back with several lascannons and pop enemy vehicles, re-rolling all misses, and let Lemartes and DC charge in and wipe out everything else.

*'''Lemartes:''' Lemartes is still the mad-capped berserker that we all know and love, with some differences in this edition. Gone is his crazy approach to getting wounded and getting angrier, but his wounds have gone from 2 to 4, and his base attacks are a respectable 5. As Death Company are no longer fearless (disappointing), you do have the option to use Lemartes’ Leadership of 9 (immunity until 4 models drop) if within 6”, should your crazy marines need to take a leadership test; note that Lemartes ''can't'' buff non-Death Company, unlike Astorath or normal Chaplains. The best thing here, though, is that Lemartes allows re-rolls of failed charges for Death Company, on top of providing them with re-rolls to hit in the Fight phase (which, again, he can't provide to non-Death Company). Quite handy when Jump Pack assaults will be at least 9” away to start with.  At only 100 points, this Death Company deep strike bomber is a bargain.
** Blood of Baal changes things up a bit. He still has Black Rage due to an FAQ put out on 01/06/20 and now knows Litany of Hate/1 Litany of Battle/Invocation of Destruction and can recite 1 each turn, on top of his natural aura to re-roll DC charges and melee hits. Consider taking Mantra of strength to turn him into even more of a beatstick.

*'''The Sanguinor:''' Our special snowflake is now a very pointy snowflake. Basically a copy of Dante for 20 points less now (since he dropped 20 and Dante dropped 25), with -1 wound (he is affected by his own aura, so his attacks match Dante's unless they're together, in which case Dante pulls ahead by 1), but his weapon is AP-4 vs Dante's AP-3 (and doesn't re-roll wounds against anything), and he retains his aura of fervour, granting +1 attack to BA infantry units within 6" (but ''doesn't'' grant re-rolling misses, making him better at buffing melee but worse at buffing ranged), making him a natural fit with Sanguinary Guard/Jump Company Veterans/Vanguard Veterans as warlord. He may also fall back from combat and still charge that turn, and is wearing a Death Mask. All this for noticeably less than Dante. So yeah, if you want a slightly less tough, more/differently buffy guy, pick the Sanguinor; otherwise, if you want a more focused killer, Dante is your man.
** Pretty solid warlord, and will make power fist sanguinary guard quite gnarly. A better take over Dante unless you really want an inferno pistol and/or improved 1v1 combat ability
** He does very well with Sanguinary guard... but also makes death company alarmingly good. With +1 A, they will hit 6 times with chainswords, or 5 times with power swords OR thunder hammers. Hey, where is the chaplain?
** Don't forget to throw his grenades, its not like they will kill much, but i`d be a shame to waste his awesome ballistic skill.

====Successor Chapters====
*'''Gabriel Seth ([[Flesh Tearers]]):''' Thankfully moved from the LoW section, Gabriel is a Captain with +1W and the usual Chapter Master aura of re-rolling ''all'' failed hits (which doesn't matter for 2+ models, but is twice as good for 3+ models); his melee weapon is a Thunder Hammer with +1AP and +1WS (that is, no inaccuracy penalty, but only AP-2), and he carries a Bolt Pistol.  His aura also lets {{W40Kkeyword|Flesh Tearers}} (including himself, as always) who finish a consolidate within it roll a d6, and on a 6+, it can fight again.  RAW, technically if this happens the unit can never Fight again, but it [[skub|seems]] clear the RAI is simply that the second Fight's consolidate doesn't get to roll (the rule actually says the unit fights for a final time, but "probably" means a final time ''that phase'').  He also has a personal rule that a 6+ to hit in the Fight phase for him inflicts an additional hit without rolling.  At only 135 points, he's pretty ok - since he's A4 base, his total expected attacks that hit are 5.83 after accounting for his automatic hitting and re-roll aura, up to 6.81 after his very low chance to do the entire thing a second time; a strictly theoretical Primaris Captain (to match Seth's Wounds count) with a Thunder Hammer would cost you 108 points, hitting at -1AP, and actually connecting only 3.89 times, and both would behave the same way at range. Cheap re-rolls like Seth cannot be overstated, seriously its like deathwatch watch masters. 
**The biggest problem with him is that he cuts off your access to the good relics if he or any of his chapter are your Warlord, forcing you to make do with an only slightly upgraded power sword that's usually not even as good as a master-crafted power sword.  His aura is good, but it's not losing access to the Veritas Vitae or Standard of Sacrifice good; ultimately, his melee weapon is the Hammer of Baal at 1 worse AP, and his aura effectively combines Dante's with Corbulo's, so he doesn't bring much unique to the table, unfortunately.
***All that being said, if you're a Flesh Tearers player, you're used to getting fucked over. RIP AND TEAR
**Combine him with three lascannon/fist dreadnoughts in a vanguard detachment. He is a great way to bring a re-roll for all hits and makes three normal dreadnoughts brutal. They get re-rolls hits with the fists as if they had two, and your lascannons are re rolling hits as you slowly march up the field, plus 24 T7 wounds is a great bodyguard for a character/warlord. Add in reivers or Vang Vets deep striking to handle any hordes and you have a solid base for your army.
** For 110 points he does give re-rolls to all hits. Ironically, this makes him an affordable way to significantly boost a gun line, which you will send in counter charges and deep strikers overhead once the enemy breaks the final protective line. Playing BA reactively is difficult, but can work really well, who knew this dude is a prime candidate for the commander? Perhaps the flesh tearers are remodeling their combat doctrine... or perhaps not.
*'''Malakim Phoros ([[Lamenters]], Forgeworld):''' 115 Points for a +1W & A Captain and re-roll wounds, with a relic blade equivalent and 12" inferno pistol?????? THAT. IS. DAMN. GOOD. The Lamenters shit days are over with these guy. Simply plant him next to all the dakka you can muster and let rip! Perhaps not as scary as his 7th edition stats, the Lord of Ruin still dishes out the pain with the best of them. His pistol, Catechist, is still a 12" Inferno Pistol, and his Glaive of Lamentation is a Power Fist with -1S -1AP, which is practically speaking better without a Sanguinary Priest on hand, due to the Red Thirst; with one, you're actually at -2S relative to the Fist, which is a bit more noticeable, but nothing to get worked up over.  His special rule, "The Lord of Ruin", turns him into a super-Lieutenant, allowing all {{W40Kkeyword|Lamenters infantry}}, {{W40Kkeyword|dreadnought}}s, and {{W40Kkeyword|biker}}s (i.e. all of your Red Thirst units) within 6" of him to re-roll ''all failed wound rolls'', which is ''drastically'' better than re-rolling all failed hits, in practice. Due to how well the Red Thirst already buffs your melee wounding, if you use Malakim to buff melee wounding as well, you'll want to bring weaker but cheaper melee weapons, like power swords - he won't really help your Thunder Hammers more than a Lieutenant would, but your Power Sword infantry will go from wounding Land Raiders 58.33% of the time with both a Priest and Lieutenant on hand to 75% of the time with Phoros and a Priest - and they cost a ''lot'' less.  Combine him with a Captain on anything that has a 2+ to hit to functionally achieve re-rolling all failed hits and all failed wounds, or for melee, with a Chaplain or Terminator Ancient.
**There are basically two good ways to use Malakim.
***You can stuff him in a Stormraven to speed him up; his buff won't help anyone until he gets out, but you can more easily get him where he needs to go this way.  
****This is the only practical way to get him to buff melee combat; the best fellow buffer he can have for that is generally a Sanguinary Priest for +1S. A Librarian for Unleash Rage can also help, but buffs a single target, rather than employing an aura, on top of being able to fail the buff.  You should put a Dread on board and as many Company Veterans as you can, but, of course, be aware that melee units that can't {{W40Kkeyword|FLY}} may have trouble deleting units that can only be charged by models with {{W40Kkeyword|FLY}}; instead, since Phoros and the Priest are both auras, you may want to dump them somewhere, then deep strike in many small units of Jump melee troops to try and ensure charges get through.  If you want more room on board for more chargers, remember Priests, Librarians, and Captains can all take Jump Packs, and get to where they need to be themselves.
****You can also field this ranged style (see below), or mix the two; Sanguinary Guard can {{W40Kkeyword|FLY}}, carry both a melee weapon and a gun, and, near Phoros, re-roll all failed hits ''and'' wounds; give them plasma pistols, a ''Company'' Ancient, and a Sanguinary Priest, then combine the lot of it near something you want dead for deeply satisfactory plasma spam.  Not remotely as good with inferno pistols, due to short range and Malakim being slow, or angelus bolters, which have the range, but are insanely overcosted.  
***You can, instead, just walk him up the field, like how Codex Marines field Guilliman. This is clearly best with ranged; since Phoros can't buff most vehicles, you're looking to field Devastators, Hellblasters, and dakka Dreads (especially Leviathan Dreads), essentially.  Note that this is perfectly fieldable on a Stormraven - you can stuff Phoros, 2 Heavy Flamer Devastators squads, and a Leviathan Dreadnought on a Stormraven, with room to spare for an additional buffer if you want one on board.  You can't stuff Hellblasters on one, so for them, make sure you bring a Company Ancient to let them shoot twice when they die, and a Priest is still a good idea to stand them back up, on top of the Captain you'll definitely want.
**Since we're already using Forgeworld, remember that we can make use of Chaplain Dreadnoughts. The +1S buff from the Chaplain Dread stacks with the +1S from a Sanguinary Priest, which stacks with any x2 melee weapon for a net +4S on top of the weapon's buff (i.e. net +8, or S12, for all of those S4 guys you were bringing); between that and the Red Thirst, you can easily get Malakim up to wounding Land Raiders on a 2+ (he'll be at S9), and your S12 punchers will wound even the incredibly rare T9 and T10 targets out there on a 2+.
***Potentially Hilarious Idea: Put Malakim in a Vanguard Detachment with 3 Furioso Dreads armed with Heavy Flamers and Frag Cannons for self-contained 9D6 auto-hits, re-rolling wounds. Really who even needs Chapter Master?
**** You guys are looking at things the wrong way. Phoros and Aggressors (a full vanguard with 3 squads should suffice, maxed out even better!) are a match made in heaven. His very unique wounds re roll works better and better as volume increases. 6 mans squads of aggressors can pump 100 or more shots a turn, assuming 2/3s of those hit, re rolling the wounds allows you to engage anything from T4 to T8 and up. Basically, aggressors work wonders on hordes by themselves. Throw in re rolls to wounds and they can take on any target. Plus you have power fists to finish off T8... Aggressors like to hug cover and let the enemy come to them, a perfect match since Phoros is only 1" faster. Phoros makes a great unit (Aggressors are easily one of the best if not the best infantry in all of the Astartes codex) phenomenal.