8th ed Eagle Knights list - blood angels

So following on for the other lists, here is the Eagle Knights list. This list is probably less set in stone than either of the other two lists as there have been quite a few changes from 7th to 8th, but I shall go into them more afterwards. So here is the list;

Preist    w/ bolt Pistol + Crown Angelic + Jump pack Command Squad w/ jumppack + 4x lighting claws + power sword + Champion + Novitiate Captian w/Power sword + Auspex + Jump pack                 Command Squad w/Jump pack + 3x power weapon + melta bomb + Champion + Novitiate                 Dreadnought                     Devistators w/3x Heavy Bolter tactical  squad w/Hand flamer + Heavy flamer                 tactical  squad w/Hand flamer + Heavy flamer                 tactical  squad w/Hand flamer + Flamer                 Assault squad w/10 marines Death Company Chaplin w/Angel wings                 Dreadnought                     Death company w/ jumppack + 3x power maul + 3x Plasma pistol                 Death company w/jumppack + 2x thunder hammer + 2x boltguns                 Death company w/Jumppack 1991

Preist    w/ bolt Pistol + Jump pack vanguard vets w/jumppacks + 4x lighting claws + 2x power sword + power axe                 Captian w/ Power sword + Jump pack                 Command Squad w/ Jump pack + 3x power weapon + melta bomb Champion w/Powersword                 Novitiate                 Devistators w/3x Heavy Bolter tactical  squad w/Hand flamer + Heavy flamer                 tactical  squad w/Hand flamer + Heavy flamer                 tactical  squad w/Hand flamer + Flamer                 Assault squad Sgt w/powerfist + 9x marines Chaplin w/ jump pack                 Death company w/jumppack + 3x power maul + 3x Plasma pistol                 Death company w/jumppack + 2x thunder hammer                 Death company w/Jumppack 1528

The first and most obvious thing, and one I've mentioned previously, is that the Dreadnoughts are gone. This instantly saves over 200 points, and when added to the other points savings, this leads to a massive points saving of over 450 points. Now, this is partly down some wargear disappearing, but some is just down to points drops. I'll run through from top to bottom.

One thing that is common across pretty much all the lists is the loss of relic items, in this case, the Crown Angelic. Not a major problem, as Fear seems not to be a thing anymore. The first big change is the changing of the command squad to the vanguard squad, turning this units in to a pretty good combat unit. Generally these boys will get used to counter charge or to pick off some weaker units, after the tactical squads have done their thing.

The nest units, the captain and command squad haven't changed much, just the command squad has split down into its core components, squad, champion and Novitiate. Not much has changed with the squads in terms of weapons or even models, all that has happened is the splitting up of the unit to conform with 8th edition. The rest of the core squads, the devastators and Tactical squads have not changed at all and the assault squad has gained a powerfist due to the reorganisation of the vanguard vets.

As for the death company, the Death Company Chaplin has become a normal Chaplin as the option for the DC Chaplin has disappeared. This again saves a few points, but i'm hopeful that the DC version will return with the codex. Now there rest of the DC have not changed either, they remain exactly as they were.

So in reality not a lot has changed, but in terms of points, things have changed quite a bit. Now, the DC squads alone were nearly 500 points under the old system, now however they are significantly cheaper, about 125 points. Now, I thought that this must be a mistake on my part, but its seems not, my pen and paper workings match Battlescribe. Now, this is probably due to the numerous power weapons and plasma pistols, but there has also bee a base cost drop as well.

This can be said for most of the units, although for many squads, such as the Tactical squads, this points difference has meant that overall the squads cost pretty much the same at 265 (7th) to 301 (8th), about 10 points per squad more expensive.

The next real question is what do I spend the extra points on? I have a few extra characters knocking around, another Captain, which will be useful for the tactical squads. But there is a whole other command squad. So a Champion and Novitiate plus 3 vets. Now the champion and novitiate are not a problem. Another Novitiate is always useful and a champion can always be used and as all these are non jump pack units, they will accompany the tactical squads and add some extra support and durability. The other three vets are a bit of a problem, they are armed with storm shields, pistols and power weapons. Now, in their current configuration, the closest I can come is Wolf Guard for the Stone Dragons. I could take a scalpel to the models and hack them to bits, but if I can I would prefer not to, so I think that moving them to the Dragons is the best option.