So with the not so recent release of the Angles Blade supplement, the Blood Angles, and therefore the Eagle Knights, have new ways to be fielded. When the Angles of Death supplement came out, it changed how I looked at the Disciples, and this has done the same to the Knights. However, what are the options and are they ones that I will be able or willing to field? Ill go through all the options and look at there options as to whether they are any good for me or if they fit my fluff.
Ill start with the command options of the Angels Blade Strike Force
First up is the Golden host, which consists of the sanguinor or Dante and a unit sanguinary guard. As I have none of these units, they won't be making an appearance, even with the cool ability to charge from reserve.
Chapter ancients consists of various dreadnoughts. Seeing as I'm being forced to field dreads in the main formations, I've no interest in fielding more as command units.
Leader of the angelic host gives you numerous options for commanders. The list includes a Terminator Captain or Captain Tycho, a Librarian or Mephiston, a Sanguinary Priest or Brother Corbulo, in addition you can take a command squad or a storm raven. This is my command option of choice, although Tycho, Mephiston and Corbulo are more or less not options as I don't own the models and they are BA specific and I try and stay away from chapter specific models. The terminator captain is also out as it doesn't fit with my fluff. This means that its either a librarian or a sanguinary priest, both of which are good options. In my Initial list I had a librarian but later changed it to a priest and I think ill be sticking to this. The main reason is that fielding my vanguard vets is now a lot harder, so they will be switching up to form the command squad option within this command choice. The storm raven is not an option as I don't own any.
The core choices are nothing out of the ordinary, with the standard demi-Company and the archangels demi-company.
The 10th Company Ambush Force is the same as the marine version with 3-5 scouts squads or scout bike squads. Not owning any scouts is a bit of a pain as these are cheap ways of filling the auxiliary slots. Anyway, as I don't own any scouts I can't field this.
The Lucifer Armoured Task Force could be a fun formation to field but with a techpriest, 1 to 3 predators of either type (Baal or standard) and 1 to 3 land raiders of any type, I'm quite a few models short! I could convert some Rhinos and a techpriest but I'm still short a raider.
The Storm raven Squadron is a straight up no go, I don't own a storm raven let alone the 2 needed to field the force.
The Rapid Assault Force is another good option with 1 - 3 units of Assault Marines, Bikes, Attack Bikes or Land Speeder. As I have no speeders or attack bikes so there not options and although I have bikes and they do fit the fluff in terms of speed and mobility, they are for the Guardians ravenwing, and as such i would not look to field them here. That leaves the assault marines, which fit perfectly with my current army, and would mean that with the Demi-Company I would be able to field all my assault marines as I currently do.
The Fire Support Force is the last option and consists of 1-3 units of Devastators, Vindicators or Whirlwinds. I don't own any vindicators or whirlwinds, although I probably could convert some rhinos. Devastators are a better bet as I own plenty but they don't seem a very good fit for the Knights.
This is all the options for the main formation, but there is another option, Lost brotherhood strike force. This consists of the death company as the core of the force.
The command option is 1 to 3 Lemartes, Astorath, or a Death Company Chaplain. Having a chaplain in the core I would probably go with Lemartes, even though I generally stay away from named characters. The core is the same as the Death Company Strike Force above with 3 DC squads, a dread and a chaplain. With these options, the formation is a possibility, however the auxiliary options are not great.
The auxiliary options are the Archangels Orbital Intervention Force, the 10th Company Ambush Force, the Lucifer Armoured Squadron, the Stormraven Squadron, and the Rapid Assault Squadron. Of these only the rapid assault force is any good it clashed with the DC for models as both would really require jump packs.
The Demi-company is similar to the standard marine one, but has two notable exceptions. The first is the choice for the commander with either captain/command squad or chaplain/furioso dread options. Of these, ill be going with the captain and command squad option as I don't own any models that can be used as a furioso dread. That and I already have the command squad setup. The rest of the demi-company is formed of e tactical squads, one assault squad and a devastator squad. The annoying addition is that you also have to take a dread, just a standard one but still, I'd rather not have to take one. From this option, I would be looking to field the units as cheaply as possible, but still retain the chapters flavour and flamers!
The other option is the Archangels Demi-company formed of a terminator captain, 5 units of either sternguard, vanguard, assault terminators or standard terminator's. In addition you need to field 2 furioso dreads. This option again is not viable as I have no furioso dreads. In addition fielding terminators in any form is not in the chapters fluff. I could get away with just a captain and then the sternguard and vanguards and could still keep my fluff, but the dreads still present a problem.
The Auxiliary options also give some issues. There are lots of options but as usual there are quite a few that are not any good for me as I don't have the models or they doubt fit the fluff.
The first option is probably the best, the Death company strike force consisting of 3 squads of death company, a death company dread and the new death company chaplain. This is defiantly a prime choice for me, as it fits the fluff and gives some cool rules, its just a shame that I have to take another dread I don't want!
The Archangels Orbital Intervention Force consists of 3 squads assault terminators or standard terminators. Again, not fielding terminators, so not an option, even with the charging from reserve.
All in all, while there are lots of options, there are only a few that are any good for me due to the composition of many of the formations. With all these options in mind I have been looking my list and will post an updated list next week.
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