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

====Forge World====
*'''(Forge World) Deimos Pattern Vindicator Laser Destroyer:''' This thing brings to the battlefield the unique Laser Volley Cannon, which is a 2 shots Lascannon with a few twists: they only have a range of 36" instead of 48, they do a fixed 3 damages (so a little less than the average you do with 1D6) and can be overcharged to go to S10 AP-5 with a fixed 6 damages. The trade-off is that if they shoot that way, they take 3 mortal wounds on each rolls of 1. If it does not move, however, it can shoot twice, but not in overcharged mode. Also, note that it gets +1T and +1 wound compared to a predator but moves 2" less. All in one, this tank is kind of odd. It costs roughly the same as a classic predator with a full lascannon setup and can pump 4 shoots if it stands still, for an average amount of wounds slightly lower. Its overcharged mode might give you an edge on T5/T9-10 opponents or target with extremely high armor saves, so what you lose in range you get it back in versatility, at price: 2 shots against 4 and the risk of wounding yourself. Between increased durability, shorter range and movement, and varying fire modes, it is hard to draw a clear line between the Predator Annihilitor and the Vindicator Laser destroyer in term of battlefield role, but the latter being clearly less efficient while on the move, you might want to invest your money in other Forge World models.
*'''(Forge World) Relic Land Raider Proteus:''' The Proteus has two twin Lascannons like the vanilla LR, but it can choose to take a multi-melta or twin heavy flamer instead of a twin heavy bolter. (There's also an option for a single heavy bolter, but why would you even use that?) But its main draw is the Explorator Augury Web; taking it reduces the Proteus' transport Capacity to 6, but it prevents anyone from deep striking within 12" of the Proteus. Conveniently enough, that happens to be melta range for the multi-melta so suicide melta squads won't be able to get near it.
*'''(Forge World) Land Raider Helios:''' Also has twin lascannons, but it brings along a Helios Launcher- a Heavy weapon that fires 2d6 autocannon-equivalent shots (albeit only 1 damage) that can fire without LoS. A decent combo of the Whirlwind's different missile types, and it can transport 6 models too.
*'''(Forge World) Land Raider Prometheus:''' A fun toy for your Warlord- if he's embarked within it, one of the Stratagems played on your turn costs 1 less CP to use. It doesn't reduce the cost below 1, but it helps. As an added bonus, its attacks all ignore cover saves, which make its 24!!!!!! heavy bolter shots absolutely terrifying to light infantry. Carries 10 models.
** This is tantalizing, as the Blood Angels rely on unleashing many stratagems in the beginning of the game, while your terminator captain is cruizin up to the bad guys with his favorite blend of CC killers. 
*'''(Forge World) Land Raider Achilles:''' The rage-inducing and expensive Achilles is back in a big way in 8th ed. T8 with 19 wounds, a 2+ save, and a 4++ Invuln save for good measure makes this raider insanely tough. The Achilles is armed with a hull-mounted Quad Launcher and 2 sponson-mounted TWIN Multi-Meltas (Heavy 2). The Quad Launcher can fire Shatter shells at Heavy 4 S8 AP-2 3 Damage, or Thunderfire shells at Heavy 4D3 S5 AP0 1 Damage (and can target units not visible to the Achilles). It can also grab a hunter-killer missile and a Storm Bolter for a little extra dakka. This weirdness is compounded by a transport capacity of 6, including terminators and jump pack models. Seriously, go look up a picture of this thing.
*'''(Forge World) Mortis Dreadnought:''' Your go to dakka dread. It costs 5 points more than a standard dreadnought, with the exact same profile, but it brings the option to double down on weapons the regular dread cant. You can take a pair of twin bolters, autocannons, or lascannons, or a pair of regular missile launchers, assault cannons, multi-meltas, or heavy plasma cannons. All good choices for laying down firepower, with the best guns depending on what you plan to shoot and how many points you can spare.
**For the classic twin autocannon rifleman setup, you're usually better off with a regular dread. They have the same stats for a few points less, and it's the only gun the normal dread can double upon. Only take an autocannon Mortis if you really need heavy support instead of an elite. Unlike the Contemptor version, it has no degrading stats.
*'''(Forge World) Siege Dreadnought:''' This Dread specializes in short-range firepower, coming stock with an Inferno Cannon that acts as a souped-up heavy flamer (but costs more than a twin heavy flamer, for reasons) and a seismic hammer with built-in meltagun that suffers from a -1 to hit but will wreck anything that gets hit. With the ability to re-roll all to wound rolls of 1 in the Fight phase when targeting a BUILDING or a unit with a movement stat of 0", its niche as a building killer should be obvious.
*'''(Forge World) Contemptor Mortis Dreadnought:''' Better than the standard Mortis in every way, from the BS 2+ to the 5++. Apart from that, it can do everything the regular Mortis can, only better.
**Since the v1.1 FAQ/Update, Contemptor Mortises can once again take Cyclone Missile Launchers. The downside is, like their Terminator counterparts, they're still 50 fucking points for either Heavy 2D3 S4 AP0 D1 OR Heavy 2 S8 AP-2 D6D. With this in mind, however, it could be decent now that EVERYTHING has Split-Fire, and you're no longer hitting Flyers on 6s, but only 3+(!!) with at least 6W or more. Churn out some dakka with your two Kheres Assault Cannons (which, keep in mind, can ALSO fire at two different targets, as they are considered 'two identical weapons', and then slam a couple of Krak missiles at a Flyer that screams overhead. Or a tank, I guess, if that's your thing.
**The Contemortis (for short) with cyclone launcher and lascannons is basically superior to the Deredeo with its lascannon battery, costs less, and fires more shots. And a Predator annihilator, for that matter. But that's against vehicles, it's pretty much the same. 
*'''(Forge World) Relic Leviathan Dreadnought:'''  [[RAPE|'''I AM THE DESTROYER OF ALL THAT EXISTS, THE ANATHAEMA OF LIFE, HATRED AND WRATH GIVEN PHYSICAL FORM, I AM THE FUCKING LEVIATHAN DREADNOUGHT. POINT ME AT ANYTHING, AND IT WILL DIE, FROM THE LOWEST OF GUARDSMEN TO THE BIGGEST OF TITANS.''']] ''ahem'', enough of that nonsense! But Mr. Leviathan does have a few good points. The Leviathan Dreadnought is easily one of the deadliest single models in the entire game, barring actual ''Titans'', packing a series of quite frighteningly powerful weapons that can make short work of virtually anything. For Defenses, it packs a Strength and Toughness of 8, with a 2+/4++ saves the line, and a whopping 14 wounds. In addition, it actually received a fairly decent points decrease in 8th edition, having dropped in cost by 50 whole points even after all wargear is accounted for. A few things were lost though, as the Leviathan no longer has his frag-launchers or his rack of hunter-killers, but in exchange, his whole loadout has gotten huge buffs.
** '''The Cyclone Melta''' is capable of destroying a Land Raider in a single volley, while being able to shave off 15 wounds from a Knight(Leaving it sufficiently weakened that it will no doubt then die to being slammed with 15 additional wounds in melee).
** '''The Storm Cannon''' now has a whopping 10 shots, which do 2 damage each. While not quite as horrifyingly deadly against vehicles as the Cyclone Melta, it exchanges sheer output for more reliability. This can be useful since 2-wound weapons occupy a fair niche in the current meta, for their ability to 1-shot the numerous amount of Multi-wound models, without suffering from Overkill. This makes it the perfect weapon for dealing with models like Terminators.
** '''The Grav-Flux Bombard''': Now your dedicated horde killer. It deals 1d3 shots and gains an additional 1d3 shots for every 5 models present in the target unit. Which means the Leviathan can get a whopping 11d3 shots when targeting a mob of Conscripts, or [[Rape|22d3]] if equipped with two of these. This essentially means that the grav bombard is your designated weapon loadout if you expect to go up against Infantry Blobs, as it can fry an entire 50 man squad each and every turn. Fair to note, however, being strength 9, and dealing 5 damage to vehicles and monsters, and no armor save is gonna be stopping it. So it functions quite well against large targets AND blobs.
*'''(Forge World) Whirlwind Hyperios:''' While it's still best used against aircraft because of its +1 to hit against flyers (and -1 against everything else), Heavy 2d3 S8 AP-2 D3 D isn't something to take lightly.
*'''(Forge World) Rapier Carrier:'''  A dirt-cheap source of heavy bolter fire, which can also be used as a cheap counter to "light" superheavies like Knights if taken with Laser Destroyers or act as artillery if you use the Quad Launchers (added in the FAQ). Now coming stock with a 12-shot quad bolter at 3/4 of what you pay for a devastator squad armed with same, on a fairly sturdy chassis. Fills out the heavy support requirements of a Spearhead detachment really nice, but keep the gunners safe or it gets auto-removed just like the Thunderfire Cannon.
**<s>Quad Heavy Bolters are terrible, costing more than 2 twin heavy bolters for the same guns.</s>
**The average damage from a laser destroyer is less than its weight in lascannons - 183.33% of the damage for 240% of the price; the difference in strength will never matter against practical targets, while the improvement to AP will come up and won't make up the difference.
**As a result, hands down your best bet is always going to be the Quad Launcher.
***In Shatter mode this will, for 45 points, outdo two lascannons for 50 points, as losing a point each in strength and AP is more than made up for in doubling its attacks, and the difference in damage is not only slight, it also deals predictable damage, making it invaluable in many contexts, such as shooting Quantum Shielding.
**In Thunderfire mode, this will shoot what amounts to 8 heavy bolter shots, losing a point of AP in exchange for indirect targeting and improved range. This is inferior to the Quad Heavy Bolter option, so you should regard it as a bonus to the Shatter mode, rather than a good gun in its own right, and take this gun for the purpose of killing off enemy heavies, not massacring enemy lights.