When 10th edition Warhammer 40k was released, Peter told us what he would do with Orks in the new edition. Despite being a primarily Age of Sigmar site, this has proven to be a popular article and so (eventually) I am expanding the series.

We did do a Blood Angel 1,000 point army for 9th Edition, but this is a different opinion based on the changes in models and rules in 10th edition.

As with all these articles, there are some affiliate links for Element Games (UK) and Amazon (US) if you want to buy them. But Bricks and Mortar first! You’ll miss your FLGS if it shuts down.

Combat Patrol Blood Angels

Like the other boxes the Combat Patrol box is filled with goodies and makes for fantastic savings when you’re starting out in collecting an army for 40k. They are RRP of £100 (US/UK), but most FLGSs provide a discount on this.

Inside the box you get:

Blood Angel Captain (£26)
10 x Assault Intercessors (£40)
6 x Sanguinary Guard (£74)
Blood Angel Upgrade Sprue

That’s a total of £140 if you were buying these kits separately, meaning you get a saving of £40.00. Plus the upgrade sprue.

Total So Far

This is 490 points towards our target of 1,000 points.

Getting to 1,000 points

To get the Blood Angels Starter Army to 1,000 points we’re going to add a few extra units that’ll give you something different to paint and increase your speed towards the enemy.

• Tactical Squad (£37) (UK/US)
• Rhino (£35) (UK/US)
• Dreadnought (£44) (UK/US)
• Baal Predator (£45) (UK/US)

This gets us to 975 points, and if you are worried about Tactical Squads disappearing in a future edition just swap them out for an Intercessor Squad.

Codex Costs

As everyone who buys from Games Workshop knows, once you’ve got the models you’ll need the Codex. For Space Marines that normally means two are required. And Blood Angels are no exception, so you’ll need Codex: Space Marines (UK/US), and Codex Supplement: Blood Angels (UK/US). Total £57.50 (Ouch!)

Total so far at RRP: £318.50 (not cheap, but remember this is Space Marines, and the second-hand market is worth looking at either locally or on Ebay)

The Army List

This is the list I’ve come up with

HQ
Blood Angel Captain – 80 points

Troops
10 Tactical Marines – 140 points
10 Assault Intercessors – 150 points

Dedicated Transport
Rhino – 75 points

Other Datasheets
Baal Predator – 135 points
Dreadnought – 135 points
6 Sanguinary Guard – 260 points

975 points

Blood Angels Captain

An HQ choice is mandatory, included in the Combat Patrol, and gives you a nice model to lavish your new painting scheme on. Paint the Tactical Squad or Intercessors first to get a scheme you like though. Don’t expect miracles from him, but he’ll be able to attack smaller units and hold up larger ones.

Tactical Squad

Tactical squads are great for holding objectives, and their bolters can kill many opponents with low or limited saves. If you are concerned about the old armour disappearing in the near future, you can use Intercessor Squads for these instead.

Assault Intercessor Squad

Iconic Blood Angels (and included in the Combat Patrol box) these guys are great at assaulting the enemy and throwing out a volume of attacks. They can force the enemy to react by getting near them, but they are slow… so…

Rhino

The Intercessors get a Dedicated transport to get them to the enemy quicker, and get killing sooner. Don’t expect it to survive a direct hit from Lascannons, but the speed here is essential to get the most out of the Intercessors.

Baal Predator

Iconic! A close assault predator which will rip through enemy troops. Don’t expect it to hurt other tanks though so you need to be a little careful with deployment and moving. Keep it near the Rhino and you’ll be able to break through a lot of what will stand against you at 1,000 points.

Dreadnought

Whilst I have chosen the ranged Dreadnought here to provide some anti-tank firepower, any Dreadnought can be used in this force. Ebay (UK/US) is a great place to pick up Dreadnoughts as they are often in starter sets. This is also a way to save some money.

Sanguinary Guard

6 Sanguinary Guard form your hammer. With their Jump Packs they will get to the enemy quickly alongside your Rhino and Baal Predator and their or spears can rip into the enemy on the charge.

Another iconic unit and another painting scheme to learn as well.

WHAT NEXT?

If expanding the Blood Angels Starter Army to 2,000 points I would definitely pick up another Combat Patrol box set, and augment the Sanguinary Guard with Jump Pack Assault Intercessors.

Another Iconic unit is the Death Company, and they are great if you want to try painting and highlighting black.

Alternatively, if you like the way the tanks play pick up a Land Raider Crusader as another transport vehicles and put the second unit of Assault Intercessors in it.

I hope you enjoyed this Blood Angels Starter Army article. How would you build a 1,000 point list from the Combat Patrol Box? There may well be aspects of the codex or units that I have not included that you think should be, so why not let us know in the comments below.

— Declan and Eeyore