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

==Allies==

===Battle Brothers===

*'''Black Templar:''' Now part of Vanilla Marines, but don't stop there. Black Templars have gotten better now they have access to the new shiny stuff Vanilla gets. Plus they still kept some of their traditional feats (Land Raider Crusaders are still Dedicated Transports to Crusader Squads). Crusader Squads are the Beatstick, throw in some Neophyte with Shotguns and they can be both a Dakka and chopy unit. Combine this with the Flyers they have, it makes them somewhat a versatile ally choice. Although if you want pure melee punch, Blood Angels can do this better. Still, Black Templars are not a bad choice.

*'''Blood Angels:''' Probably the best CQC Allies for the DA. A lot of their units are fast moving and hits foes really hard and they aren't bad at shooting. But in all honesty, we have a lot of options to gun Xenos/Heretics down dead, so you should just focus on stuff that rapes in melee and shit like that. Sadly, sanguinary priests blood chalice works only with BA units, so no FNP and Furious Charge to your Deathwing knights. However Shield of Sanguinius works with all units and Darkshroud gives Stealth to all friendly units, not only DA ones. So you can give all your army a nice +4 cover save. FNP Fearless Marines with 4++ save and maybe pseudo Fleet from Azrael are great also.

*'''Imperial Guard:''' A great opportunity of mending the fails of your Codex. Forget flakk missiles, Dark Talons and Nephilim Fighters, just paint black a Vendetta, draw some feathers on the wings and call it Dark Vendetta, for instance. You can even take a squadron of 2 or 3. And,of course, you can take a blob of guards, join Azrael and have 30-50 miniatures with ++4 save, Fearless, and Furious Charge. Weeee!

*'''Vanilla Marines:''' They're basically the exact same as Dark Angels: shooty and power armor. Hell, Greenwing are identical in points and near-identical in loadout. The new Codex brought in new units like Centurions and decent anti-aircraft tanks in addition to the units that Dark Angels couldn't get in the first place, like half-decent aircraft, masters of the forge, sternguard & vanguard veterans, ironclad dreadnoughts, scout bikers, thunderfire cannons as well as detachment-wide chapter tactics, all of which allows you to tailor any allies detachment to make up for any deficiencies in your own force. Or vice versa to make things extra interesting. Also, don't miss Chapter Master Smashbane, which is damn good HtH unit in Ravenwing and Greenwing.
**'''Siege Assault Vanguard:''' actually a better choice for you than using the vanilla codex since there is less overlap with the things you can already do. As for the special siege objective; Dark Angels already have scoring bikes and terminators covered to secure that objective early so you can use the vanguard list to fill in the gaps with vehicle/dreadnought squadrons or extra Centurions if you were that way inclined. If you feel dirty about having to include an extra chapter just to get access to models you otherwise could not use (such as Stormravens / Ironclad Dreads) then just paint them Green anyway and use the sub-optimal Astral Claws tactic which is practically the same as greenwing anyway, though best use of the vanguard does depend on better tactic selections.
**'''RavenGuard:''' Raven Guard deserve a special mention. Imagine taking a Librarius Conclave, giving them bikes and distribute them among your ravenwing squads. They will have a rerollable +2 cover save thanks to shrouded. Even their name combo well: Ravenguardwing!

*'''Grey Knights:''' Generally the same as our Deathwing, except they're psychic-aholic rather than Gunzerker. We can bring Terminators as troops like they do, except theirs are basically cheaper unless they go overboard with them. Overall there are better options, but taking them can be fun if you're going against CSM and Daemons, so you can take on the Chaos Marines, and the Grey Knights can rape Daemons REAL hard!

*'''Sisters of Battle:''' A surprisingly good choice fluffwise as well as crunchwise. Angry battle nuns fighting with angry battle monks? Looks like sunday school let out early this week. The current Act of Faith system and unit size requirements has made MSU and Immolator-spam viable strategies, both of which are solid choices for an allied detachment. For Dark Angels specifically they bring a lot to the table: strong mobile close combat, ally with sisters and bring Saint Celestine and some seraphim. The Avenger strike fighter is a good choice, as is the Exorcist. And lastly who doesn't want to get the Sisters chocolate flamers all up into our plasma peanut butter? Plus every Imperial ally wants to get their hands on the Dominions cover-ignoring Meltaguns, and now we can stick them in a Drop Pod, if a Scouting Multi-Melta Immoltator isn't good enough for you.

*'''Skitarii:''' Early impressions show there's a good deal to like, Troop choices are decent with enough and the Vanguard's Plasma Calivers will make your Angel's giddy. The Elite and Fast Attack choices look like they'll play very nicely with your Ravenwing army being incredibly quick and can keep up with the advance of the army and able to move into a combat just as your bikes have hit and run. The Sydonian Dragoons especially seem like they'll mesh very well with Ravenwing. Heavy Support gives you a boon in the Onager Dunecrawler and its Icarus Array for 125 points gives you a Missile Launcher, a 5-shot Gatling rocket launcher and an Autocannon all with Skyfire, and if you don't have that Mortis Contemptor or Deredeo, this is a good looking budget option.

*'''Space Wolves:''' New allies rules make Space Wolves battle brothers, and with the new codex we have some new synergies to consider. Lets see what wolfies offer to us: Jaws of the World Wolf is now Focused Witchfire, so a stasis grenade or five can help pick off those characters. Bjorn gives you +1 on the seize, which with Deathwing Assaults and Scouts moves could be important. Wolves also have cool new fliers, which have the same schitzoid loadout problems as Angels fliers but at least have Assault Vehicle. [[Deathstar Units|Azrael with 15 Blood Claws with 4++ save, Fearless and Furious Charge inside a Stormwolf]] is a thing that exists. They also have cheap servos with the possibility of taking one special weapon on 5 man squads, razorspam, scoring terminators with mixed arms, missile spam, divided fire and giant wolverine steeds. Pretty solid, but Dark Angels can achieve most of those things on their own, and instead of wolves have bikes which look less stupid in the future.

===Allies of Convenience===

*'''Eldar:''' The jetbike units and Wave Serpents are FUCKING AMAZING and make an excellent pairing with the Ravenwing. You could also use Fire Dragons mounted in a Falcon for some forward-ranging tank or monster killing power, or to punch out a squad capable of usefully tank-tarpitting Deathwing Knights. Not to mention the Wraithbone units got buffed into the stratosphere with Destroyer Weapons out the ass.

===Desperate Allies===

*'''Tau Empire:''' Not a bad choice, especially since they just got a new codex. As usual, their basic philosophy is "extra fire power that can help wreck shit at long range". The Crisis suits are golden, and goes well with a Ravenwing list, as they're both mobile and shooty with Plasma Rifles and other useful weapons. Hammerheads are also a worthwhile choice if you choice the Railgun option, and fire warriors with their Pulse Rifles will prove to be better than the Boltgun. Play them correctly, and the enemy won't be alive to get close enough. They should be too occupied to be dealing with Fire Warriors, at the least. Unless you're going plasma-heavy, as they are probably the one army with more plasma than you (take a Hammerhead with tau Ion Cannon and disruption pods. Do it!). Ion has been introduced, and it is soooo much better. Ion Cannon now has a new trick up its sleeve. At S8 AP3 Large Blast when overcharged, nothing short of a TEQ will get an armour save. They also have the best long-range anti-tank in the game, so they can provide fire support for your Spess Mehreens. (Look to Riptide if you're interested in Long Range Support).
*'''Dark Eldar:''' They are really speedy, but you also potentially have Ravenwing, so One Eye Open is a little more pronounced working alongside the emo relatives of the Craftworlders. However, if you're running Deathwing lists then use these guys as distractions while you get your Deathwing into position!

===Come the Apocalypse===

*'''Necrons:''' Another shooty list aside from Tau and Guards. Necrons can provide you a catacomb command barge beatstick, something sufficiently terrifying to keep your enemy from moving into assault for an extra round or two (especially if they're using an expensive HQ choice). Necron troops choices can serve as highly efficient response groups, combining four haywire shots and ten rapid-fire gauss zaps with one of the most universally effective fliers in the game for a meager 190 points. Would you rather have two terminators and one assault cannon, or one annihilation barge (90 points for a tesla destructor, tesla cannon, and AV13 until they start beating on it)? To put the cherry on top, none of these units really need or want to be close to the rest of your army, so you can easily step around the one eye open rule. Want an ally that can give you your daily doses of speed, anti-armor, and AP2 melee without stealing all your thunder(points)?  Look no further than these badass space Egyptians.

*'''Orks:''' Want a horde?  The orks love pushy melee fighting. Though they might be slow, a footslogged group of standard ork boys can shield your more powerful and expensive units with a wall of cheap meat. They'll provide a screen against assaults (which your troops can then jump in on, if you so desire), and a 5+ cover save. The one eye open rule is pretty irritating here, but 6th edition's premeasuring rule should let you keep that separation, and even if you can't... well, it's only a 1/6 chance anyway, and it doesn't occur in melee combat.

*'''Tyranids:''' If you want a horde army, Orks just do it better. The new releases for Tyranids means that ''One Eye Open'' isn't as much of an issue as you can just deepstrike all your Tyranid stuff in with their bio-organic drop pods and shit.

*'''[[Heresy|The Forces of Chaos]]''': <s>WHAT?! YOU'RE WORKING ALONGSIDE THE FALLEN AND THE MONSTROSITIES OF THE WARP?!</s> Yep. You can have Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Daemons as allies at Come the Apocalypse levels.

===Other Detachments===
====Inquisition (Battle Brothers)====

If you don't care about the fluff, why haven't you taken it yet? Seriously, you get 3 Elites Choices (Read: 3 units of Inquisitorial Henchmen) and each of them can take a transport like a Rhino, or a Chimera or a Land Raider or a Valkyrie. 
That makes it worth it right up front, but with the right load out, they can fill holes in your army, so this should be your first choice right here. 
*Inquisitorial Valkyries make up for the Dark Angel's immediate lack of aerial transport options (outside of a Storm Eagle or Caestus Ram) letting you move tactical squads around the tabletop far quicker than in Rhinos.
*Inquisitor detachments can take a Land Raider Prometheus as a dedicated transport, this saves your primary detachment from using up an Elites slot which should be put to best use on Deathwing and Dreadnoughts. Inquisitorial Land Raiders also get Truesilver armour that provides daemon defense and warp stabilisation fields for teleport shenanigans.
*Servo-Skulls and Mystic henchmen work really well alongside Deathwing, but also alongside Drop Pods and Assault Squads. While Ravenwing do get teleport homers, having Inquisitor stuff works on all deep striking units and also give you more table coverage for incoming units, particularly on the first turn for Deathwing Assault.
*Consider taking a Inquisitor in a Valkyrie and a tarpit or two of Acolytes, while still having a full artillery battery from allied guard and doing some screening with large blocks of bolter brothers; or a four lascannon Devastator squad buffed by a psyker Inquisitor with a Conversion Beamer. If there's something your current army is lacking, the Inquisition has something that can compensate for it.

====Imperial Knights (Battle Brothers)====

An Errant Knight titan is probably a good bet for players looking for some reliable long range anti-tank/anti-TEQ killer.   The Paladin Knight brings some long range high strength high AP shooting (Double shot battle cannon? Hell yeah) to an army that can really use some for only two termies more than two Leman Russ Tanks.  And thanks to 7th edition rules updates these things now score no matter what detachment they are a part of, so charge him at the enemy lines faster than you can say DISTRACTION CARNIFEX. Thanks to their Str. D CC arm, they can reliably deal with with most monstrous creatures with ease, barring Skarbrand and maybe a Wraithknight. Also, Seer/Screamer-Star or any other re-rollable 2+ bullshit?  Meet D-Weapon. If you fight a Riptide heavy list, <s>these might become your best friend</s> <s>you still cannot catch the fuckers.</s> Bitch please, you have a 12" movement and a 2D6 charge. The Riptide has a 6" move and a 2D6 jump, and limited space to escape with given how they'll be hiding at the back like sissies. Plus, they're shit at killing the Knight.

====Legion of the Damned (Battle Brothers)====
Because it is now a Codex in its own right, Dark Angels can troll themselves by taking [[Fallen Angels|mysterious Astartes who appear out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly]]. You couldn't take them before, so now this is a treat. Like the Inquisition codex, the LotD can be taken as an additional detachment separate from the Allied detachment. More over, the detachment has a min of 1 elite, so there is no unit taxes, as you pay for exactly what you want.

You only have one unit, but you can bring up to 4 of them. You get Fear, Fearless, Slow and Purposeful, 3++, and all shooting Ignores Cover. Yes, all of it, including any special or heavy weapons. They are also one of the 2 units that can take Heavy Flamers. As a Dark Angel you will be used to things Deep Striking, meaning you can one-two punch a combination following a Deathwing Assault. On the downside they can't be joined by Independent Characters (not that you'd need to) and you don't care about chapter tactics, since that is a vanilla thing. Unfortunately everything these guys do, your [[Deathwing]] can also do and in some cases do better, and in many cases your terminators can score while 3++ is just as vulnerable to high volumes of high AP fire (lasguns/bolters) as Greenwing are. The big draw here is Ignores Cover, which when coupled with the flexible armament of a tactical squad essentially makes them just that: A very good alternative to a Tactical Squad.

*'''Animus Malorum''': Sergeant Centurius' soul-eating skull gives the bearer and his unit FnP, and any unit which fails a Fear, Morale, or Pinning check within 12" of the bearer has a randomly chosen model immediately removed as a casualty with no saves allowed (although LoS! can still be used). Every model that is removed this way grants a +1 modifier to the FnP roll (up to a 2+) for the remainder of that turn. At only 35 points for a sergeant to use it, it's a steal.
*With the increasing amount of low AP weaponry that cover ignoring, these guys have some merit. They can hold objectives and mow things down. Strike them near things with low AP weapons (Give them a Plasma Cannon to see S7 AP 2 Ignores Cover Blast) or the backfield and watch them turn firefights around. They will die to massed fire (But then again, what in this game doesn't?) but can tank low volume high power hits. Sure, you can minmax a list and leave them at home but how many of you are playing in world class tournaments and need 1d4chan tactics? They are good, but not uber. Most of all, they are fun.
*Pro-Tip: You can use them as mobile cover for any troops and/or assault screens, especially if they have the Animus and/or rolled Spectral Bulwark.
* Do you like Plasma Spam? Do you hate how your opponent always hug cover against your Plasma guns? These guys can take Plasma Cannons and ignore cover. Have them come in when your opponent scurries their heavy infantry into cover, then as he gloats about your cannons becoming expensive frag missiles, poof these guys in and remind him of their Ignores Cover ability.

====Officio Assassinorum (Battle Brothers)====
Because having access to 4 unique killers is freaking amazing. Note if you cannot decide on 1, the Execution Force Formation allows you to field all 4, but it is very expensive.
*'''Callidus Assassin:''' Meant for taking out that 1 important target. She can infiltrate 1" away from an enemy regardless of LoS, and forces all opponents to snap-fire at her the first turn she's on the table. She also has Hit and Run so she can pull out once she does her job. Her Neuro-Pistol is a poisoned 4+ AP2 flamer, and her Power Sword is AP2 and ignores Invulnerable saves on a 6 to wound.
*'''Culexus Assassin:''' Because fuck everything. Seriously this guy is dangerous, forcing opponents to hit him at WS/BS1 and ignoring armor saves in combat while inflicting ID on a 6 to wound. (Psykers are always ID when taking wounds against this guy), while nullifying all psychic powers within 12", and forcing all psykers to harness powers on 6s. Just don't use Ezekiel or his Librarius Conclave anywhere near this guy.
*'''Eversor Assassin:''' Good at killing hordes thanks to his gauntlet and the fact that he explodes on death.
*'''Vindicare Assassin:''' Snipe 1 specific model out form enemy squads, like a hidden Meltagun/Plasma Gun/Lascannon/Power Fist.