Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Dark Angels (section)

===HQ===

*'''Interrogator-Chaplain''' - He is the go-to Combat HQ. Same profile as a Company Master with -1 WS, but comes with Zealot and so is therefore better in the first round of combat and also acts as a close combat multiplier. Also causes Fear, and has a natural Preferred Enemy against Chaos Space Marines. He has the ability to take Terminator armour, a Bike or a Jump Pack and so can fit with virtually any other squad you want him to. Interestingly, giving him a power fist doesn't replace either his Crozius or bolt pistol, meaning he can bash regular troops with 4 str 6 attacks a turn, and then turn on the power fist when the bigger things turn up. The Interrogator Chaplain is advised. In addition, if you're fielding deathwing knights, this guy is nearly a must-have. With only one attack on '''SMITE MODE''', those maces must not fail, and he will ensure they won't. Or else he will bitchslap them in Belial's name. The only minor downsides is he can't take Artificer Armor, SS, and has one less WS. 
*'''Company Master''' - Basically a Vanilla Captain who has Grim Resolve and Deathwing instead of Chapter Tactics and ATSKNF. Take Artificer Armor, a Storm Shield, a Thunderhammer, and the Shroud of Heroes for a cheap and effective HQ.
**'''Deathwing Redemption/Strike Force:''' Terminator Armor, a Storm Shield, and the Shroud of Heroes on the CM is cheaper than Belial while being more survivable with T5 and Feel No Pain if he hangs out with Deathwing Knights. Since Belial is no longer necessary to lead a Deathwing Force, just use this. For the same 190 points as Belial you get Terminator Armor, Storm Shield, Shroud of Heroes, Digital Weapons,  Thunder Hammer and Relic Blade so you can choose between going at I5, S+2, AP3 or I1 Sx2, AP2. 
**'''Lions Blade:''' Company Master is pretty damn versatile being able to be put in almost every squad imaginable aside from Bikes since that's Sammaels job. Take him equipped in Artificer Armor and a Jump Pack with a Assault squad and Chaplain and that's a decently deadly unit able to be used aggressively or defensively as required. Another is a putting him in a Tactical Squad with Foe Smiter and a Relic Blade and enjoy the added dakka. 

*'''Chaplain''' - A general purpose support HQ. Allows himself and his squad re-rolls to hit in the first round of combat, no matter what, and comes with a Rosarius (4++) and a Power Maul. Can ride a Bike or use a Jump Pack, but cannot wear Terminator armour. Still costs as much as a Company Master, but doesn't have any special bonuses against the Chaos Space Marines. There's basically no reason to ever take this guy over his big brother unless you want a Battle Company; An Interrogator-Chaplain costs 20 points more for +1 Ballistic Skill, Attacks, Wounds and Initiative, plus has access to Terminator Armor and Relics. If you want cheap, just grab a Librarian.
*'''Librarian''' - Tied with the Techmarine for the actual cheapest HQ choice, clocking in at 65pts base, and can be upgraded to ML2 for the same price as Vanilla Librarians (finally). Has access to Terminator Armor, a Jump Pack, and Bike. Can use the Divination, Pyromancy, Telepathy, Daemonology, Telekinesis, or Interromancy disciplines making him useful in a broad variety of roles.
**'''Notes:''' Comes equipped with a Psychic Hood. All units within 12" of the psyker can use the psyker for Deny the Witch rolls. Usually improves the result by 1, by 2 if your psyker is level 2 and the opponent's psyker is level 1. If he's inside a transport, he can only attempt to Deny the Witch for the Transport. (Remember this when your with your biker/termie boys and want to give them some psyker protection so place accordingly)
**He's also one of the better candidates for taking a Conversion Field and/or an Auspex since he doesn't have his own invulnerable save off the bat and giving him an auspex doesn't particularly hinder his ability to blast things at range.
**Librarians are both good as in Terminator and Biker form either deepstriking or riding toward the enemy. Since most psyker powers are 24 inch and below with even our own discipline, being up close let's you use your mind bullets/power/buffs/etc if you want to be up close and smashing face. 
*'''Techmarine''' - Piggybacking off the Codex Marines, you get a Master of the Forge with a slightly higher pricetag, equal to the Librarian. Still no access to Conversion Beamers, despite the fact that GW has never actually released a kit they would still prefer that Vanilla marines got their imagined model sales. Also, unlike vanilla marines, Dark Angels techmarines do not get access to Chapter Relics. So basically you are taking Techmarines to fix your stuff and nothing else, unless you want your Camo-cloaked Scouts to get a 2+ Cover in Ruins with the Bolster Defences Rule.
**The Servo Harness is really up to you if you want to take it. Dark Angels techmarines are far less likely (especially on bikes) to be accompanied by Servitors. So on his own the harness becomes viable if you still expect him to fix things. Where Vanilla marines might take techmarines as challenge takers and use the harness to make him more threatening, Dark Angels tend to use them as support character so it's better to keep them out of combat. If you want to go into melee weapon with him, forget taking Power Axes or Thunder Hammers, take a Lightning Claw instead, which negates the need for a servo harness, since his servo-arm is a specialist weapon.
**'''Servitors''' - They help the Techmarine repair stuff (add 1 to the Blessings roll for each one that has a servo-arm). That's all you will use them for, because a 10pt Heavy Bolter or Multi-Melta and 20pt Plasma Cannon at BS3 is kinda wasteful, as they will need to be running around with their master repairing stuff. 50pts for a full squad. Stick the whole lot in a Land Raider or Thunderhawk Gunship (you rich testicle-deprived bastard) and laugh as the single gun your enemy's volley of Krak Missiles shot off repairs itself and shoots back. Oh, and don't leave them alone, they will probably Mindlock and stand there soaking up bullets with their faces.
**'''Alternate Take''': DA Techmarine might not seem as a good fighter because he can't beef himself up with vanilla Relics but he does have something to mitigate it with: the Conversion Field. As an example, the Field, a bike and a Lightning Claw clock you at 120 pts. which is a whooping 50 pts. less than a Claw/Fist Captain with a Bike and Artificer Armour. You're at -2WS, and -1W, I, A, Ld but if you throw him at right targets which he has a wide selection of you won't notice the difference. You can also throw a [[Dakka|(Relentless) BS5 improved Overwatch Combi-Grav]] in there by exchanging the Bolt Pistol/Power Axe (whatever you kept).

*'''Space Marine Command Tanks''' - 400 points nets you two awesome command tanks that the Dark Angels can use due to a designer's note!
**'''Rhino Primaris''' - Gives Dark Angels access to a 7" Blast Orbital Strike, more plasma from its Twin-Linked Plasma Gun instead of Stormbolter, and has a fancy Servo-skull hub which can either grant a friendly unit within 12" Snap-shots (including Overwatch and Skyfire) at full Ballistic Skill (Give that stupidly broken Invisibility power the middle finger), restore a nearby vehicle's hull point on a 2+, or give said Infantry unit Fearless. Also, you can co-ordinate Reinforcements by selecting a unit held in reserves to automatically come on. Can transport 6 models. Battle Brothers may utilize.
**'''Land Raider Excelsior''' - Gives Dark Angels much needed access to Grav-weaponry through its Grav-cannon and Grav amp for those re-rolls to wound and immobilize. Also has a 6+ Invuln and ignores Crew Shaken/Stunned results. Also can grant a single unit in 12" one of a huge selection of special rules for the turn (Counter-Attack, Fearless, Hit & Run, Interceptor, Preferred Enemy, Skyfire, Split Fire, or Tank Hunter), and gets +1 BS if a Rhino Primaris is within 24". Funnily, it's also a character, so it can be your Warlord if you choose. Can transport 10 models, Battle Brothers may utilize.

*'''Damocles Rhino (Forgeworld)''' Now 75 pts in IA12 and no longer takes up a HQ slot, so you still have to take another character. (but most expensive in terms of real money), but is still one of your cheapest HQs. Armed with nothing but a storm bolter and a searchlight for defense, with no transport capacity, it may not seem like an obvious choice. BUT, the Damocles true power lies in it's incredible support abilities, it allows a single Orbital bombardment in the same way as a codex chapter master, lets all teleporting units within 12" arrive without scatter and allows the owning player to modify reserve rolls by plus or minus one. This can be useful if you use a traditional CAD, since all the reserve enhancing special rules come from formations now and you might not want to take several squads of terminators; the modifier is also handy for flyers, drop pods, outflanking scouts / ravenwing bikes and land speeders, of which Dark Angels will have several. The damocles usefulness does not extend much past this however, and once the reserves have arrived and its bombardment spent theres not much you can do with it. 
**The new Rhino Primaris is ''MUCH'' better since even though it's over triple the cost of the Damocles Rhino, it also gets an uber-Land Raider, while both give out insane buffs even after the Orbital Bombardment and Reserve shenanigans are over. 
**However, the Damocles is cheaper and most importantly ''doesn't'' take up a HQ slot which has very significant implications, since slotless units can be taken as part of any detachment ''(this includes formations by definition)'' and still gain the command benefits of the detachment. So while you can't take a Rhino Primaris + Excelsior in a Lion's Blade, you can take a Damocles instead.

====Special Characters====
*'''Master [[Sammael]] of the Ravenwing''' - His statline's identical to a Space Marine Bike Captain's. He pilots the dangels last functioning Jetbike, which just so happens to be loaded with a Plasma Cannon and a Twin-Linked Stormbolter. He also carries a Bolt Pistol for that ever so helpful +1 attack. Notably, he can fire 2 of his weapons in the shooting phase. He swings an AP2 Master-Crafted Power Sword as he rides through the battle, and has Eternal Warrior and an Iron Halo. To replace the loss of Inner Circle (and no, since he's 2nd Company he doesn't get the Deathwing rule) he now just straight up has Fearless and Hatred (Chaos Space Marines).  A good, solid choice. How he rolls is up to your playstyle. Also, his jetbike model is one of the sexiest motherfucking models that GW has ever made. Also a rather uncommon shooty HQ.
**'''Sableclaw''' - Alternatively, he can take to the field in an AV14 on the front and sides, AV10 in the rear, Land Speeder armed with a Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter and a Twin-Linked Assault Cannon. With that Halo still working, meaning the speeder gets 4++. Also, now Sableclaw can use the Ravensword to dish out D3+1 S4 AP2 Ignores Cover (automatically hits invisible units if that's your target), randomly allocated attacks to a single enemy unit not locked in Close Combat that Sammael moved over in the movement phase. If Sammael moved over a vehicle, it hits the rear armor. He also has Scouts, Skilled Rider, and Hit and Run like the rest of his company.  The issue with Sableclaw is that it misses out on many of Sammy's more solid boosts in exchange to immunity to small-arms fire. Note, you cannot include Sammael and Sableclaw in the same army for the obvious reasons, and due to the wording this even circumvents Unbound shenanigans.

*'''Master [[Belial]] of the Deathwing''' - At first Belial ''looks'' like a Company Master in Terminator Armour with the option for either his sword of silence, a Master-Crafted Fleshbane power sword, pair of Lightning Claws, or a Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield, but looks can be deceiving. ''Any'' unit he joins does not scatter when deep striking, so look for combos. Also, Belial gained an extra attack, and re-rolls all failed hits in a Challenge, fitting the fluff of him taking down an Interrogator-Chaplain as an Initiate in less than a minute. Take the Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield loadout if you're gonna face a lot of AP2 weaponry and his iron halo won't hold out. Otherwise, his sword of silence is pretty nasty against most things and if you're taking him, take a DW command squad to keep his ass alive.
**Traditionally, Belial fares poorly when compared to other named heavy hitters. But give him a TH/SS and stick him an a tightly knit Deathwing Knight squad and his toughness jumps up to five, making him immune to insta-kills by Fist or Hammer and less likely to suffer regular wounds from random mooks. Sure, a Knight squad has no Apothecary, but he wasn't getting FnP against Instant Death anyway. It's sad that a Terminator Company Master with the same options plus the Shroud of Heroes is cheaper than Belial, while giving him T5 with FNP. Since Belial is no longer necessary to lead a Deathwing Strike Force or Redemption Force, there's little reason to not go with that.

*'''[[Ezekiel]], Grand Master of Librarians''' - He comes with the same statline of the Librarians of old, with stats comparable to a Company Master -1WS, and is a mastery level 3 psyker who can roll from Divination, Pyromancy, Telepathy, Daemonology, Telekinesis, or Interromancy in any combination. Given his gear, he's a really good choice for a boost to Deathwing knights to make them even more of a nasty unit. He also works well in a defensive line and Greenwing making them stronger in the assault phase with one more attack and Grim Resolve while handing out buffs or mind bullets.
**'''Gear:''' Ezekiel makes use of a master-crafted Force Sword (Great for getting a Force hit on target), a master-crafted Bolt Pistol, which will now get more use since Witchfire no longer hinders shooting, Artificer Armour (2+ armour save), and he carries the Book of Salvation, which gives all friendly models within 6" of him +1 Attack. It is awesome but do keep in mind it's on a model-by-model basis. He also comes equipped with a Psychic Hood, so all units within 12" of Ezekiel can use the him for Deny the Witch rolls. Since Ezekiel is Mastery Level 3, this helps quite a bit. Park him next to some Deathwing Knights with a Perfidious Relic and enjoy 3+ DtW against everyone with ML lower than 3 (which is like 95% of psykers in the game). What Ezekiel does ''not'' have though is an invulnerable save.
**'''Alternate Option:''' A real fun thing to do with him is to skyrocket a squads' attacks thanks to the Book and Rage from Interromancy. This works best in squads which can get Banners, which means everybody model there will have 6-7 Attacks, including TH/SS Termies and Deathwing Champion. Ezekiel himself will have a whooping 8 attacks, which could all be Instant Death thanks to Force (it isn't even the limit thanks to Librarius). Moreover, Command Squads can get FnP to keep Ezekiel alive a bit longer. Frankly, Deathwing Knights won't miss the extra Attack from the Banner if you do the same thing with them.
** '''FnP vs FoS'''. Keep in mind that: 1) an Apothecary can die; 2) Ezekiel gets 2+ Look Out Sir!; 3) Ezekiel can hide behind the tight Knight formation, not necessarily in the middle of it; 4) The stuff you ''really'' care to have FnP against denies it; 5) Knights are probably a more effective recepient for damage buffs. [[Skub|All in all, see for yourself]].

*'''[[Asmodai]], Interrogator Chaplain''' - Asmodai is back with a welcome buff, albeit perhaps still not an auto-take he at least has enough going to make him distinctive. He still comes loaded with his trademark Blades of Reason. You may scoff at their lack of an AP or strength bonus and its Specialist Weapon status,  but they cause Instant Death. And if that's not your thing he still has his Crozus Arcanum. He causes Fear and has Preferred Enemy (CSM), but all Interrogator Chaplains do that now. His latest buff is that he is now WS6 on a captain's stat line, and if he slays the enemy warlord in a challenge you immediately gain D3 victory points, which could be a game changer if he manages to cause a papercut with those blades of reason. Though he'll run into major problems versus Eternal Warriors or anyone geared/statted up to wipe him out and not worry about taking wounds against S4 AP- attacks. Imperial Guard warlords are fair game though.
**An ML1 Librarian with a Conversion Field, Prescience, and a Force Sword can do roughly the same job as Asmodai while having AP3 to boot, all for less points. And Interrogator Chaplain with Mace of Redemption will cost the same, kick his ass most of the time, AND be more generally useful (Instant Death is cool, but not much use against single wound models. S7 and AP3 on the other hand...)