How good is death company gonna be

[Brandoncbaker]

With the so as much accepted pumors that have been around,and a rather large BA army. I was thinking how good Death Company will be.

Let's recap.. This I10 attack on the charge with Jump Packs.. That makes me want to take away there Stormraven,and put Jump packs on em ,and deep strike .

And what about the rage plus 2 attack on the charge thing.. With two CCW,I'll get 2 base,2 for rage charge,and 1 for two weapons at str 5 on the charge..not to mention the above stated I10 attack...YES PLEASE!

[Kawauso]

Yeah, sounds like they're going to get a significant boost.

Which is good, because I love fielding them, but 35 points for a guy with a pistol, chainsword and jump pack is nooot cheap, 3+/FNP or no.

[Anggul]

I still don't think 15pts each for jump packs is worth it even now. It should have been 10pts really. Also, I think the I10 charging attack will only be caused by jump infantry who actually make it into base contact, whereas any who are attacking by virtue of being within 2" of another squad member in base contact wouldn't get it as they haven't actually crashed into the enemy like the ones in front have.

Or at least that seems to be the way the game is going, which I like.

[Wolfshade]

I always ran mine with either power weapons or jump packs both 15pts.
The I boost and rage bonus attacks looks more likely that i'll be dropping the power weapons and loading the jump packs, need to paint a storm raven black...

[Mephiston69]

I think they would also be viable with just boltguns. Throw them in a rhino or razorback and once they get in close they rapid fire their bolters and charge. It's (relatively) cheap and it nets you 4 attacks on the charge for each model, since they're already base 2 attacks. And if you have left over points give one or two models a power sword or power fist to get some anti-heavy infantry in there

[Tynskel]

I run mine as 5 Marines: 1 Bolter PF, 2 Bolt Pistol PW, 2 Bolter PW, and Lemarties. Jump Packs, in a Stormraven (Lascannon, Typhoon, Ex Ar), with a DC Dread with Blood Fists and Hv Flamer.

[Mephiston69]

Well that sounds like a points-cheap unit

[plawolf]

Well I still don't think DC is that worth it because FNP is going to be nerfed don't forget, and with cover being nerfed as well, you really need transports or jump packs.

As already pointed out, even with the I10 bonus, jump packs are still not really worth it for DC @15pts a pop, but with the new flier rules, stormravens suddenly becomes a hell of a lot more attractive, so a stormraven full of DC plus a DC dread should pack one hell of a punch even without jump packs.

Trouble is such a unit will be damn expensive, and with rage, will be hard to control once you drop them off, so it's likely to be overkill against most things, and liable to be unreliable after the first strike. It's also a lot of eggs in one basket.

With the boost to jump packs, I think normal BA JP assault marines spam will be more popular, and could easily seriously curb the effectiveness of glass cannon CC deathstars like DCA, Wenches, 'stealers and banshees etc.

[Wolfshade]

Trouble is with DC is that it can easily get out of hand taking power fists/thunderhammers and the what-not

[thecactusman17]

A well-kitted deathstar of Death Company, if deployed right, is absolutely terrifying. If the new rules enable easy, consistant deepstrike and even more chances to attack, they are going to be absolutely spectacular.

[Corvus-Master-of-The-4th]

Well I still don't think DC is that worth it because FNP is going to be nerfed don't forget, and with cover being nerfed as well, you really need transports or jump packs.

I would suggest Feel No Pain in some cases is getting a damned site better, as officially it is a 5+ against all wounds minus Instant Death... So they in many cases have earned a save against Plasma Guns! However it does mean they aren't as tough against Bolters :D

[Wolfshade]

A well-kitted deathstar of Death Company, if deployed right, is absolutely terrifying. If the new rules enable easy, consistant deepstrike and even more chances to attack, they are going to be absolutely spectacular.

Quite true, though knowing my luck the would end up laying chase the transport in a well formed raging conga line :(

[Brandoncbaker]

Well with there being no penalty for rage I'd say it's a go

[Tynskel]

Well that sounds like a points-cheap unit

Yup! It is a center piece, and kicks butt.

Now when Lemartes gets tickled, becomes 8 str 8 attacks on the charge (assuming he impacts).

[Coyote81]

Yup! It is a center piece, and kicks butt.

Now when Lemartes gets tickled, becomes 8 str 8 attacks on the charge (assuming he impacts).

8 Str 8 attacks at AP4/AP-, yea because other eilite close combat units are going to be scared of that. I think my DC are going to be taking a PF wielding Reculisarch or Chaplin instead. Stupid power maul rules, probably the thing I hate the most about this addition. But thats a good thing, since it's so minor.

[dirkspair]

i like my DC, 8 of them for 240 pts.
2x bolter
2x BP+CCW
1x power axe + BP
1x power sword + BP
2x PF + bolter

that is 12 bolt shots before the charge, (18 CC attacks ST5 AP-, 5 CC attacks ST5 AP3)at I4, (5 CC attacks ST6 AP2, 8 CC attacks ST9 AP2) at I1

it is pretty unlikely that they all get to do their attacks, but whatever they hit will feel the sting, i tell you that :)

[thecactusman17]

Unless I missed it, I think that powerfists get their bonus for extra cc weapons again, so there isn't a point to taking bolt guns any more.

Also, shooting before charging (except at very close range) us now a serious liability. Only do it against the very toughest opponents, like terminators.

[dirkspair]

Power fists are still specialist weapons, so no +1 attack for extra CCW.

[cobra6]

This is a shooty game now; DC with bolters are actually a very shooty unit, one of the best marriages between shooting and assault in the BA codex. It may not be a good idea to unload on a unit that's, say 6" away before charging, but after moving by all means rapid fire at the unit that's 10" away or fire bolters at the unit 14" away. Soften them up for next turn. You need to be planning assaults a turn out now anyway. And in terms of loosing an extra attack because of no pistol, well.. you get two attacks from Rage now anyway, so that makes up for it. Besides, after you wipe out a unit on the turn you charge, you have to stand there with your pants around your ankles to get shot at (twice!) before you can charge safely back into CC. I think it's actually better to have a few less attacks and maybe leave a few survivors to be wiped out in their own CC phase so you can charge right back in.

I've used bolter DC to really good effect in the last few games I've played over the past few days. They've really come into their own, IMO. Also, Lemartes is absolutely murder against vehicles now, but much less scary against anything else wearing power armor or better. I'm thinking of re-kitting my JP DC for dedicated vehicle hunting as a result, still not sure.

Finally, speaking of Death Company, DC Tycho may now be the most terrifying "character" in the BA codex now, along with Gabriel Seth. While Astorath and Mephiston are plinking off of terminator armor, DC Tycho comes in and absolutely tears them apart. I had never used him before, but he's been pretty amazing in the last two games.

[JMichael]

I will be taking Blood Angels as Allies for my Sisters.
Right now trying to decide between Assault troops or Death Company. I am also looking at a dreadnought (either Librarian or Death Co Dread).

Just a quick comparison (keep in mind I am not a SM player, but Eldar and Sisters).

172pts = 9 Assault Troops (8 + Sgt), sgt can take special wpn and be called out in challenge. 28 Attacks on Charge

175pts = 7 Death Co w/Jump Packs(no sgt!) any/all models can take special weapons. 35 Attacks on charge, FnP, fearless, relentless.


To me looks like Death Co is by far the better choice (and a troops choice too-though not scoring).
I plan on taking a Jump pack Chaplain as my HQ (already have one from 2nd ed).
Any reason to take Lemartes? He's more expensive than my HQ Chaplain and Decent of Angels seems useless as the Death Company don't have it too (am I mistaken on this?)

And one last thing. Are there actual rules for the Forgeworld Chaplain Dreadnought?

[Bob821]

I think they are going to be good. Watching them rage towards a weak unit when you oponents 'death star' was sat half an inch further away waiting to be torn limb from limb was the worst thing about them. With this gone I think we are going to see a lot more of them. Being such an iconic part of the fluff thats has to be a good thing. Lemartes and his rubbish power maul is a bit upsetting though.

[PhoenixFlame]

I'm seriously looking at the idea of running a deep striking/jetpack DC in my upcoming lists in light of the changes brought to us by 6th ed. I am however a total BA novice and was wondering if any of you more experienced BA players could give me some suggestions regarding build and load out for such a unit in both the 1500 and 2000 point ranges.

Thanks :)
Phoenix

[Mesi]

8 Str 8 attacks at AP4/AP-, yea because other eilite close combat units are going to be scared of that. I think my DC are going to be taking a PF wielding Reculisarch or Chaplin instead. Stupid power maul rules, probably the thing I hate the most about this addition. But thats a good thing, since it's so minor.

Er yeah, they should. 8 strength 8 attacks at initiative 6 destroys walkers, has a field day with tanks. Destroys most non MEQ elites. And then instant kills most things in the game if they fail their saves. And that's not counting the rest of the Death Company behind him, who you can put a fist or two on for clean up. Add in that you're likely to get the charge, so you get to re-roll everything.

You can't target him out except with precision strikes, and then can look out sir. Lemartes became a very scary dude. Mauls in general have their place and people really need to get over this omg power weapons don't ignore all armor kick. They were too good before for too low of a points cost.

Torrent of attacks works well too, and that's how Death Company kills things. You make people roll dice, and the more dice they roll the more they will fail. They only thing that will really give Death Company a problem with Lemartes are Nob Bikers and GK with Halberds.

[StraightSilver]

People used to laugh at me when I turned up with a full Death Company list.....

They're not laughing now, DC Dreadnoughts are now quite a scary prospect, and DC in general got a massive boost in the new rules now that you actually have some control over them.

The only thing that still lets them down is their inability to hold objectives, but couple of standard scout or tactical squads can sort this out.