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

===Fast Attack===
*'''[[Assault Squad]]:''' With the overall reduction in army wide special rules, Dark Angels assault squads are no different from vanilla marines. They are extremely unlikely to gain the benefit of ''Grim Resolve'' unless they are stuck in a protracted combat, so you've got less need to take them when you can have Ravenwing except for the fact they are cheaper. For their part, they come with traditional gear for the same 13 points as a tactical marine, so you get a bolt pistol and chainsword which means they can perform comfortably at close ranges. The chainsword means each marine gets two attacks each hitting at 3+, making them equivalent to a rapid firing bolter to the face. When considering the change of edition, this can actually be an improvement in some cases since they used to hit equal WS opponents on a 4+. Meaning you have become more accurate, but have lost an extra attack on the charge ''(you strike first on the charge now)'' However, now that bolt pistols can shoot at enemies <u>within</u> the 1" range, so if they were already engaged in combat on their turn then they can shoot their opponent in the face before the Charge/Fight phases begin, which allows you to charge something else if you can free the unit up. Also with Grim Resolve if you are locked in combat you technically have not moved in the movement phase so you can reroll those ones to hit with your pistols, handy if you have plasma pistols in the squad. 
**Jump Packs are an optional extra at 3 points per marine and increase your move distance to 12" while granting the ability to Deep Strike unerringly so long as you are outside of 9" of the enemy, as well as the '''FLY''' key word, meaning you can assault aircraft and ignore terrain. ''(no more dangerous terrain checks either!)'' However there is no free transport if you choose not to take them and in fact it is now MUCH cheaper to buy jump packs for your squad than a transport.
***When taking jump packs (which you will, I know you've glued those on already) stay away from AAA units, at they get a bonus to hit your flying guys now. Icarus autocannons, hydra's, hunter/stalker, you name it, AND flyers can suddenly assault them as well.
***RAW means that Jump Pack Marines can take Land Raiders as Dedicated Transports.  However, LRs are around 240 points each. Something to consider for a high points game. Otherwise too expensive.
*'''[[Inceptor]] Squad:''' The confused offspring of an Assault Squad and a Seraphim Squad. The mortal wound caused by their pseudo-HoW might look good on paper, but when you only have 3 models in the unit and no melee weapons whatsoever the last place you want to be is in combat. Instead, take a page from the Seraphim's book and use your improved maneuverability to fire off strafing runs, courtesy of your Assault Bolters- effectively Assault 3 Heavy Bolters. Also, remember that the assault bolters are the assault-type so if you got to move in a hurry you can advance and still put out a good number of shots. Like Assault Marines with Jump Packs, Inceptors have the FLY keyword, with all the strengths and weaknesses that entails. (On the other hand, that does mean you can be a very good distraction if you force an enemy flyer into melee...) They won't get much benefit from Grim Resolve on your turn, but they're scary during Overwatch.
**Plasma Exterminators are a hard sell; you average 2 fewer shots per Inceptor in exchange for higher strength and AP -- according to mathhammer, plasma is a ''slight'' damage upgrade (with the impact most notable against stuff like Death Guard/Scarab Occult Terminators and vehicles) that will cost you 14 points per Inceptor. But the real problem is overcharging: while it helps make up that point investment, they will almost certainly kill themselves along with their target. Having Sammael nearby definitely helps out.
**As before, don't charge recklessly to try and get those mortal wounds (3 models, 1/6 chance, that's 58% chance of getting ZERO mortal wounds). But don't forget it entirely, assaulting with this unit can be a strategic choice. Charging a unit that is weak in CC will allow the Inceptors to avoid getting shot or to tie up the enemy unit for the next turn. Since the Inceptors have the '''FLY''' keyword, they can disengage next turn with no penalty and resume shooting. This is a tactical decision and will vary greatly depending on the enemy army.
**Inceptors are excellent fire support for Ravenwing given their weapons are assault meaning unlike a heavy bolter land speeder or HB bike squad they won't suffer for moving at the trade-off for shorter range and not having the Ravenwing keyword. Still, re-rolling ones from Sammael are good enough and the fact they can deepstrike and mobility alleviates their short-range weaponry. Run a pair of them to help support your Ravenwing anywhere on the table by taking out hordes or weakening heavier units with plasma. Hell, they can even work with Deathwing as they can deepstrike with them and gun down hordes while the Deathwing take on the bigger units. A great unit for all three wings with the price reduction they received. 135 points is a good price point for what they bring. 
*'''[[Suppressor]] Squad:''' Three-man squad only, functionally a long-ranged version of an Inceptor since they come with AP-2 autocannons.  Can {{WH40Kkeyword|FLY}} and Deep Strike but lack the Inceptor's T5 or mortal-wounds-when-charging. They can, however, chuck out smoke grenades, and if they make a kill in the shooting phase, that unit cannot fire overwatch in your charge phase. This unit is all but purpose-built to wreck Tau face, allowing you to shut down they're obnoxious For the Greater Good rule and flood their gunlines with Assault Marines, Terminators, and melee Dreads, as the Emperor fully fucking intended.
*'''Scout Bike Squad:''' Dark Angels now get access to Scout Bikes after never having them. For any vanilla chapter, they are GORGEOUS. For the Dark Angels though, you might want to think about including them. 
** Being only 23 pts per body after CA 2018, they pack an INCREDIBLE amount of anti-infantry punch supported by some incredible speed and good, point effective resilience. For 23 pts you get a scout, which moves 16", has T5 and W2, protected by 4+ armour save. That allows them to soak up a good amount of firepower-per-point, guarantee to reach melee for their melee attacks and close range for their rapid fire double-boltguns and their astartes shotgun. Each scout biker is packed with twin boltguns (24" S4 rapid fire 2), Astartes Shotgun (range 12 S4 Assault 2, half-range S5) and little pretty combat knife, functioning like a chainsword (bonus attack). That's 8 attacks in total per body, two of them at S5, because 16" movement will most likely let you reach the enemy and secure a charge. 
** Their weapon options enable you to exchange 3 models' twin boltgun for an Astartes Grenade Launcher, allowing you to lob frag and krak grenades up to 40" (46" with turbo boost) right from turn 1. Though sounds tempting throwing Krak grenades against multi-wound models or 3D6 S3 wounds against hordes, you cause more wounds against T3-T4 enemies with your 4 standard bolter shots at the same range than with frag grenades. Against tougher targets the bolter's damage output equals (or against single wound stuff, supersedes) the Krak grenade, and the Krak only gets better against T8 multi wound targets. You can also swap the Sergeant's bolt pistol to a storm bolter for a ridiculous 2 pts for even more dakka.
** Why would you EVER choose the regular bikes over them? Because they're lacking the RAVENWING keyword, meaning that they'll miss out not only on the 4++ save from Jinx, but also the sweet-sweet strategems, the cover-negating goodness of the Talonmaster plus the full re-roll offered by Sammael (meaning they'll have to settle with the regular, captain-equivalent Rites of Battle).
*'''Ravenwing [[Bike Squad]]:''' Typically the first thing that Dark Angels players look at when deciding on Fast Attack choices. Bikes got upgrades in general this edition as they have a move distance of 14", which the ability to advance another 6" ''(without rolling)'' and grant an extra wound as well as toughness 5. Their twin boltguns also have twice the damage potential as regular boltguns, firing an impressive four shots each up to 12". They are quicker and beefier than assault marines, although at 23 points per bike (twin bolters are 2pts) you can get a jump pack Assault marine for 15. As Ravenwing you gain the '''Jink''' rule, granting a 4+ invulnerable save against shooting attacks if you advance in the movement phase, and also if you advance you cannot shoot those bolters in your following shooting phase though with the Speed of the Raven stratagem you can shoot and assault. 
**As for close combat, any member can have chainswords for free - trading your bolt pistol for a CC attack with exactly the same profile. It is still advised to make this change, even though bikers are not really made for getting bogged down in close combat. If the enemy gets you with a charge, you'll still get to fight back with the survivors' 2 attacks. If you land a charge, you probably don't want to stay for turn 2 either.
**When going to use the Jink to its maximum efficiency, add 2 Flamers and a combi flamer ''(from the Index)'' to a minimum unit, and enjoy delivering 3D6 auto-hitting attacks up to 28" away.
**When going melta, equip 2 melta-guns and a combi-melta on the sarge and attach an attack bike with multi-melta for maximum output. It is best to soften up your target or have some heavy weapon support on standby as a single bad roll can leave that enemy dreadnought or carnifex just alive enough to eat you. The Attack Bike is still constrained by the Heavy rule and thus would also hit 50% of the time and cannot shoot when advancing. *Cough* Signal The Attack *Cough*
**When going Plasma, equip 2 plasma-guns and combi-plasma, you will have a dakka-dakka bike squad with 102 pts (34pts per bike) can deal 12 bolter shot and 6 plasma shot at 12" range, and go melee with 7 attack S4 ap0 d1, cheaper than a same-size Black Knight squad 114 pts (38pts per bike) deal 6 plasma shot at 18" range even advancing, and hit harder in melee with 7 attacks S5 ap1 d1-d3.
***ALAS, TWICE NAY!  In another Sneaky McSneakerly move, GW have binned Ravenwing's access to the Sarge Weapons List so the Ravenwing Sarge can only choose from Melee Weapons & Pistols.  Booooo!
****YAHA, GW have confirmed that you can use index entries if the selection is not in the Codex. Basically, if a unit/selection is not in the codex but is in the Index, look to the Index for your unit selection but pay the points and use the rules as detailed in the Codex. GW just want to simplify force creation for newbies by only including wargear available in the box.  
*'''Ravenwing Attack Bike Squad:''' Now at 4 wounds, these bikes are still amazing to use. Just pop 2 or 3 together with Multi-Meltas and watch three S8 AP-4 D1d6 shots take down your opponent's precious monsters in no time at all. Just be careful about the bike's placement, as they suck in melee (Don't be afraid to use the "Intractable" Stratagem), and the meltas, while amazing, are only 1 shot each, hitting on a 4+ after moving, because there is no more ''Relentless'' mitigation this edition. This is easy to work around, but it ''does'' require an HQ, such as Sammael, to help them out, but taking down an opponent's Hive Tyrant or Dreadknight with meltas is very satisfying, albeit statistically unlikely, unfortunately. Even with an under half range re-roll, with 2 hits out of 3 you're going to struggle to inflict 10 wounds. Soften up your targets and send these in to finish them off.
*'''Ravenwing Black Knights:''' These guys are in a constant battle with the [[White Scars]] for the crown of best bikers in the Imperium - well, in the fluff, anyway; in 8E, Ultramarines are the best Codex marines at bikes, so that's the comparison that it makes sense to draw: Ultramarines bikes can Fall Back from melee and still let loose with their guns. Now Deathwatch is also in the running as their bikes get access to special ammunition. Ravenwing Black Knights are roughly on the same level. Let's start with the bike: they come equipped with Plasma Talons, which are Assault 2 plasma guns that fire at 18" range that will only overheat if you decide to overcharge the weapon. Being an Assault weapon means they can advance in the movement phase and still fire their weapons at -1 to hit, so no having to choose between moving fast or shooting, Black Knights can do both whiles also gaining the 4+ invulnerable save that Ravenwing get. In close combat, they are no slouch, either: being a form of veteran, they have two attacks each, and strike with Corvus Hammers, which are S+1 AP-1 D1 weapons that cause d3 damage on a wound roll of 6+, so they can quite happily punch apart heavy targets up close and personal if they need to; this is on top of the fact that they ''also'' carry a bolt pistol, so where other bikers have the choice between a pistol '''OR''' a close combat weapon, Black Knights can have both, and can shoot their opponent at point blank range after tearing them apart with those pick-hammers. Bizarrely, the Corvus Hammer is an optional upgrade, but it's free so there is no point in not taking them. - just remember, you can't advance and charge, so don't try to go TOO fast. Also, the Huntsmaster can take a Meltabomb. Given its rarity, you'll probably never wanna spare on that 5 points. Black Knights are '''also''' members of the ''Inner Circle'' now as well, meaning they are now completely immune to morale issues and re-roll fails to hit against {{W40kKeyword|Fallen}}.
**One in three Black Knights can take a grenade launcher instead of their Plasma Talon. This has less usefulness than in previous editions because of the loss of stasis grenades ''(guess they eventually ran out of irreplaceable ammunition)''. HOWEVER, there is a Stratagem that allows a Ravenwing Grenade Launcher that can cause D3 Mortal wounds to an enemy, similar to Hellfire Shells although it probably isn't worth it as the Plasma Talon is overall better.  The grenades still have some utility, since Frag grenades can hit d6 target allowing you to attempt to tackle low toughness/armour hordes, while Krak does d3 damage per wound allowing you to take down big enemies even more quickly. Both grenades can also fire out to a range of 24", which is important to remember if you find yourself out of range of the plasma talons, or better yet, decide to shoot some grenades off at a different target more suitable to the weapon.  As of the codex, Plasma Talons and Grenade launchers are free; built into the cost of the Black Knight.
**This unit got some high-quality promotions in Chapter Approved 2018 and VIGILUS DEFIANT, becoming one of the sweetest, fastest and deadliest (both in melee and range) units in the entire codex. CA dropped their price by 8 points per model, making them 38 pts. Vigilus Defiant has given them (and whole Ravenwing) their own Detachement, which gives them abilities to safely overcharge their plasma (also upping their accuracy) and to move after fighting in close combat, making them able to charge-wreck faces-drive behind LoSblocks, before enemy can even try to shoot you back. These bonuses make White Scars moist and jealous at the same time.
*'''Ravenwing [[Land Speeder]]s:'''Just like regular land speeders, they lost deep striking, but gain the Jink rule that gives you a 4++ if you advance instead of shooting, as all of their weapons are Heavy. You can take 5 in a unit, and get the anti-grav upwash rule from 3, giving you a Movement of 20". You can go nuts and field 5 with a captain or Sammael and a rhino primaris to be nearby for almost auto-hits. Please note that a unit with 3 typhoons, 2 assault cannons and 5 heavy bolters, with re-roll 1's to hit from a captain, will still on average only score about 6 wounds on a rhino in a single shooting phase, and cost over 700 points, or 13,4 conscripts in cover. They are no longer the cheapest way to get lots of heavy weapons, especially with the [[Awesome|awesome]] but expensive typhoon missile launcher. Index users can equip with double heavy flamers for short range auto-hit trolling. 10D6 S5 AP-1 hits? Great for clearing up GEQ units like conscripts or even hurt characters if you can get them to be the closest target.</s>  Not anymore! At T5 they are quite easy to destroy with infantry weapons like lasguns or bolters, so the long-range fire support option of heavy bolter/typhoon is probably your best bet. But honestly, these are a bit overpriced at the moment. A 150 points for a typhoon landspeeder, I'd spent another 50 points and get that fully equipped predator instead.
**The absence of ''Relentless'' USR hurts these guys real bad.  Despite their large movement radius and potential reach with their guns, everything is a "Heavy" type weapon and will only hit on a 4+ when you move (except for Flamers). Due to their speed it may not be possible to get a captain's re-roll aura to cover them at all times, particularly if they're chasing something. If it's just heavy weapons you want it would be cheaper to consider Devastators or even Razorbacks.
** These guys are also heavily contested by the Attack Bikes. For +2 wound and +2" movement you'll pay 38 points more apiece at the cost of losing Grim Resolve (If you want to REALLY stay still) and losing out on things that don't affect vehicles such as with Apothecary healing. A unit of 3 Land Speeder with stock heavy bolter is as expensive as 5 attack bikes with the same load-out (plus the 5 TL bolter on them).
** Oddly enough, Land Speeders are your most accurate non-walker vehicles, hitting on 3+ with their S4. 2 attack apiece is not much, but if it is all you've got to remove that last Conscript from an objective, why not go for it? 
** With the new Speed of the Ravenwing strategem letting you pay 1cp to Advance and Shoot, a full size squad can gain the benefits of the 4++ and still get to shoot. For 1 CP. Probably your best target for it if you loaded up a full size squad of Land Speeders to give them a 'free' invuln save. Probably best on Heavy Bolter(97 per model) or Multi-Melta(114 per model)/Heavy Flamer models due to the Flamers negating part of the movement penalty which makes it quite an expensive unit at 485 - 570 points.
**NATCH, THERE IS A TRAP!  You min/maxes out there who rushed out to spam Speeders with double weapons might have to get your clippers out; there's no overlap between gunner and underslung weapons anymore.  In some sneaky-bastardly move from Index to Codex, GW binned heavy flamers from the top-mount plus heavy bolters & multi-meltas from underneath.  HB/MM up top only, AS/HF/TML down low only and it wasn't just us who got this.  Booooo!
***This falls under the same precedent as the autocannons on the Vendread. Index equipment, codex rules, and points.
*'''Ravenwing Darkshroud:''' A souped-up Land Speeder, having +1T and +3W over the regular ones. Its main shlick is the Icon of old Caliban rule, that provides a -1 to-hit aura for Dark Angel units within 6" against shooting - including the Darkshroud itself. You'll pay minimum 138 points to get almost the same defensive bonus that several sub-factions get by default, but hey, it's still better than nothing. Plus it's damn fluffy. Not much in the way of offensive potential though; it comes with a stock heavy bolter, which is almost never worth to upgrade to an assault cannon. Most of the time you'll want to advance for the 4++ save anyway, and since its 12" speed makes it a tad bit slower than the RW bikers, Knights and Land Speeders it supposed to protect. Stacks nicely with other penalties of all kind (Shroud of Heroes, Aversion, Hard to Hit, advancing, moving with heavy weapons, etc), as well as other bubble-characters like Ezekiel and Asmodai for old-fashioned [[Derp|prefix-star]] [[That guy|shenanigans]]. The 'Icon of old Caliban' rule does not stack, so no -4 to-hit if you take 4 of these babies. Watch out for long range guns that hit on fix numbers (Dark Reapers), or those who get bonus against models with the FLY keyword (Onager Dunecrawlers with the Icarus array)- your Darkshroud will be a primary target for them.
*'''Ravenwing [[Land Speeder Vengeance]]:'''This is Fast Attack now. At T6 and 9 wounds this is more survivable than the basic land speeder, as anti-infantry weapons only wound it on a 5+/6+. The plasma storm battery is a Heavy D6 Plasma cannon with 2 damage ''(or 3 on supercharge)'' which you can supercharge at the risk of suffering 3 mortal wounds and burning out the weapon for the rest of the game. This is probably the one plasma weapon you want to overcharge regularly so getting some re-rolls nearby might be a good idea. Very good for hurting big multi-wound models. The Land Speeder Vengeance also lasts longer with the 8th edition vehicle changes, as its own weapon no longer has a good chance to kill itself (unless you move and supercharge it). But the Ravenwing Support Squadron shall be missed and mourned. 

====Forge World====
*'''[[Tarantula]] Sentry Guns:''' Whoooo boy, these suckers got a huge buff in 8th edition. They ended up gaining a whopping +1 BS, along with Toughness 5 and 4 wounds, which makes them fairly sturdy for a 30 point model. In addition, they also now all count as separate units once deployed, so they can serve as some obnoxious MSU tools. Tarantulas can be equipped with the following loadouts:
**Twin Heavy Bolters: These are the default weapons. Good against infantry, but comes with the Caveat that it MUST target the nearest infantry model
**Twin Lascannons: The other default, good against tanks. Also comes with a restriction that it MUST target the nearest enemy tank.
**Twin Assault Cannons: Arguably the best option. Tarantulas with Dual-assault cannons lose their targeting restrictions, and gain a whopping 12 shots each at only a measly 45 points per model. These can be a goddamn steal for what they do, and can be considered practically mandatory.
**Multi-melta: Same deal as the Lascannons, but mathematically worse. However it does unlock your targeting restrictions, so a multi-melta equipped tarantula can fire at anything you want... on the incredibly rare occasions that you wouldn't want your multi-meltas firing at the closest enemy vehicle, such as when fighting tyranids or daemons.
*'''Tarantula Air Defense Battery:''' As above, but stuck with S8 AP-2 D3 D anti-air missiles that get +1 to hit against flyers and -1 against everything else. MUST target the nearest enemy flyer, but you were probably already planning to do that when you took this unit. 
*'''Land Speeder Tempest:''' A tiny drop in movement from the vanilla type, but has better toughness and Ld. Each one is equipped with an Assault Cannon and two Tempest Salvo Launchers (36", Heavy d3, S6 AP-3 2 D; shorter ranged and not as hard-hitting as a krak missile but more likely to get past armor saves). When Advancing, they must move between 20" and 35"; they also impose a -1 to hit against them in the next Shooting phase and prevents units without the FLY keyword from charging (or being charged by) them. 
*'''Deathstorm Drop Pod:''' A Drop Pod full of automated guns; it can choose either an 18" 2-shot gun with S8 AP-2 D3 D or a 12" 6-shot S6 AP-1 1 D gun. In either case, it must make 1 full shooting attack against anything in range (except for CHARACTERS, who still can only be shot at if they're the closest unit in range).
**Notable that drop pods in 8e no longer have to deep strike. You could just start them on the table. If your opponent is coming to you, this can have merit.