Blood Angels in 40k 5.0

After my perusal of fifth edition and the mission parameters, I wondered how I would adapt my Blood Angels list to accommodate fifth edition.

1. Need Troops: For BA, I have only 2 Troop Choices, Tactical Squads and Assault Squads. I will be moving away from taking assault squads solely because of the role that they play. In fifth edition, there is no need to wipe your opponent off of the board, the missions mainly focus on grabbing objectives with Troops choices. Assault squads are meant to destroy the enemy, not hang back and guard 2 objectives. Granted they are fast and can take objectives in my opponents deployment zone, but they are a bit costly and my mounted Tactical Squads are just as fast (Faster if I use overcharged engines). My Troops choices in fifth edition will be 10-man Tactical Squads with a Transport. I hope to take between 3 and 4 of these and split them into combat squads during missions where getting an objective becomes a priority.

2. The HQ's: Before I ran either Corbulo, Lemartes, or Mephiston; Rarely I would run a non-unique version of one of them, be it a Captain, Chaplain, or Librarian. In Fifth, Mephiston is a bit of a liability, he can be picked out by shooting if not attached to a squad, and the nerfing of Feel no Pain means he will be taking a LOT more wounds than normal, plus he is a but pricey. I am going to go with a cheaper HQ, either Corbulo or Lemartes will be leading my force. Lemartes is a bargain character and Corbulo is great at controlling the Death Company and using his medic ability from inside of a vehicle. Dante is nice, but he is a character for more of a "beat down" list, not this one. Tycho just sucks.

3. The Fast Attack: The main choice for me is Speeders or Attack Bikes? Attack Bikes win, hands down. It is easier for them to get cover saves, and they are cheaper than speeders. With the recent vehicular nerfs, speeders die faster than they ever have. Easy choice for me, 6 attack bikes in every Army list.

4. Heavy Support: The Baal Predator still rules this category with an Iron Fist. Being the only remaining Space Marine Tank to move 12 and fire all of its guns. The improved rules for taking saves vs. firing are beneficial to the Baal, as it may kill more unique squad models. For 125-140 points, it is a bargain. (A bargain of Slaughter)

5. Elites: Do not expect to see any of these pop up in my lists.

The ability of Space Marines (Soon to be all of them when the new Codex arrives) makes them very versatile and valuable on the battlefield. They can split into combat squads if the mission suits them, or stay as a 10 man unit when necessary.

As a whole, I think you will see some of the "power" lists go away because only Troop choices count as scoring now. Nidzilla usually has less than 20 models from the Troops category, and Rippers do not even count as scoring units. Mech Eldar will see a decrease due to only having about 2 units capable of holding objectives; not to mention the decrease in survivability of their Wave Serpents.

-Mike