Are Dark Angels Good?

[Merellin]

So, I kind of wnat to start Dark Angels as they have cool models but.. I'm not sure how to build them.. The Deathwing and Ravenwing detachments seem not too good.. Deathwing detachment, You auto lose turn 1 if you dont bring another detachment, Ravenwing detachment has 3 HQ's but only 1 avalable HQ to chose from and he's a special character.. So, Should I make a regular CAD or their decurion style detachment and run them similar to regular marines? Anyone have any tips?

[TheDukeOfBlood]

i'm still a bit new to the whole 40k experience, but both deathwing and ravenwing are far from unplayable as far as I can tell.

as far as your questions go.

ravenwing, deathwing and greenwing kind of mix well together as long as you don't use all 3 combined in the same army too much.

if you want to play pure deathwing you can still play a deathwing strike force(page 158 of the codex) with turn 1 venerable dreadnoughts.
For the deathwing redemption force you can use above detachment for surviving turn 1.
Alternatively you can use a land speeder spearhead formation from the space marine codex and let them soak the damage for a turn.

Ravenwing can use both the ravenwing strike force or the CAD, however the CAD is obviously more flexible when it comes to unit choice and caters more towards a greenwing or ravenwing\greenwing list.
I asume you meant the lion's blade strike force whith the decurion style detachment. You can consider it, but a demi-company already cost 350 points minimum asuming you only take 5 men squads, now double that number to 700 for upgrading your squads to 10 men and you already have a third of your army worth of marines of some sort or more than half if you decide to take a second demi-company for the free transports. Anyway, you can see what i'm getting at.

Ofcourse I can have it all wrong :p, but that's my 2 cents.

[Dalleron]

The ravenwing are the better of the 2 strike forces. But DA work best when you use both of them together, with some green sprinkled in.

[LCS]

It took 20 years, but yes.

[SnakeChisler]

They have the same core as the Marine book

A number of different unique characters units & models with plenty of scope for hobbying with pimp frames galore.

Some powerful & unique formation an rules buffs, their own Warlord traits and psychic table

They play quite differently to standard SM for general lists you can get in quite a variety ex-

Deathwing strike force
Librarian, Deathwing Knights, Venerable Dread - under 600 points for the formation which get some nice buffs
Ravenwing strike force
Sammael Ravenwing command, Dark Talon, Dark shroud

Add to a Lions blade for overwatch at full BS

Nearly all DA HQ's are fearless and the army has stubborn, the chief librarian Ezekiel has some nice buffs and they have their own version of a psychic conclave

Competition wise double Lions Blade will get you free transports & Raven wing are still viable though some match ups you'll not be able to deal while others will have a bad day dealing with you

[AlexRae]

Not unplayable, but can't really compete on their own with top power builds

[Chris*ta]

I'm sad no one's made a joke here yet :(

"Are the Dark Angels good?"

Well, that depends on if you ask Azrael, or Luther ;)

[Merellin]

I'm thinking of trying to build them up using a regular CAD.. And try to use a bit of everything, Mixed army stuff..

[Defenestratus]

So, I kind of want to start Dark Angels as they have cool models but.. <clipped that which does not matter>

Full stop.

This is all that matters.

Who cares how they play as long as *YOU* love the army and models.

You'll have fun with them regardless of whether or not they're "good". If you're worried about what's "good" when you select your army then you'll never avoid disappointment with your army because at some point, the army will not be as good as when you first started it.

[Merellin]

Well, With Good I dont mean super strong, I dont want super strong armies.. (Thats why I avoid regular eldar and stopped playing necrons, They are too strong so nobody enjoys facing them..) But I still wantto be able to stand a chance at getting close matches and not get roflstomped every match because thats not fun for either player. As long as the matches are close, I dont mind if I win or lose.

[Defenestratus]

Well, With Good I dont mean super strong, I dont want super strong armies.. (Thats why I avoid regular eldar and stopped playing necrons, They are too strong so nobody enjoys facing them..) But I still wantto be able to stand a chance at getting close matches and not get roflstomped every match because thats not fun for either player. As long as the matches are close, I dont mind if I win or lose.

The attitude that just because someone plays a specific army that they aren't enjoyable to play against is a pervasive ideology that must be destroyed.

[Thaldin]

I only play Eldar/Harlies. I will not give up the army I have played since 1990/1991 just because of other people's opinions ( *air quotes* facts). So every time Eldar rise in power, I tend to get crap until I kindly point out that it is the only army I have played since before some of the people I have played against were born. They quickly quiet down at that point.

And because I enjoy the army, if I am tending to ROLFStomp people, I try to mix it up. 2 weeks ago, I played a 500 point guardian host... and I got destroyed. The only reason it was "close" was because we were doing a maelstrom game. But it was an experiment and I had fun because I enjoy the army and the story behind it.

TL;DR - Play what you want, others be damned =)