The Unholy Union

Team Jacward.

Alright guys, I think I got something going here with 2 of my marine armies.  So as you guys know, I have Space Wolves and Blood Angels.  I took a look at the Allies chart today and noticed both to be Blood Brothers.  Why?  I have no fucking clue.  I guess the whole thing about Werewolves and Vampires hating on eachother isn't true in the 40K universe.  They are, after all, Battle Brothers until death!

Anyways, here's the list I'm thinking about trying for 1750:

1749
14 VP

HQ:
Rune Priest (RA, WTT) = 125
Librarian* (JP) = 125

TROOP:
9x Grey Hunters (Rhino, WG/PF/CbM, Plasma Gun, MotW, WS) = 243
9x Grey Hunters (Rhino, WG/PF/CbM, Plasma Gun, MotW, WS) = 243
8x Grey Hunters (Rhino, WG/PF/CbM, Plasma Gun, MotW, WS) = 228
10x ASM* (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250

ELITE:
Wolf Guard
Sanguinary Priest* (JP, MB) = 80

HEAVY:
Vindicator (DB) = 120
Vindicator (DB) = 120
Stormraven* (EA, TLLC, TLMM) = 215

The idea behind this list is pretty simple.  You take your generic 3x Grey Hunter squads and you put them in the list along side your Rune Priest who always takes Divination.  The great thing about the Rune Priest is that his Runic Weapon remains unchanged in the new edition.  If a psychic power succeeds anywhere within 24" of you, you have the ability to nullify it on a 4+.  This gives you an insane amount of psychic protection in an addition where everyone and their mother loves psychic abilities.  On top of this, I'm giving my Rune Priest Runic Armor now every chance I get.  The 2+ armor save and the innate psychic defenses that it sports is just too good not to take for the points.

Let's go over some psychic powers really quick.  Divination, is in my opinion, the best psychic lore in 40K.  If you have armies that can take this lore, you pretty much want to take this lore.  The free spell that they have, Prescience, is basically a pumped-up version of Guide that extends out to 12", and lasts until your next phase.  I don't know what to say except for that's amazing.  Next, you have Misfortune and Forewarning, both extremely strong spells that can be used against the enemy.  Ideally, if you have two psykers who have Divination (which SW and BA can), you can cast Prescience on your unit and Misfortune on the target unit and basically ram it into the ground.  Re-rolling ALL saves is no joke, it's basically a better version of Doom due to the number of raw causalities you can inflict on the enemy.  The best part about this is that it lasts until your next turn as well, so stacking these two abilities is batshit crazy.

This brings up something really clever:  Since BA and SW can both take Divination, why not take both right?  While powerful, we shouldn't discount some of the other psychic powers that the two armies can mix up.  BA have access to Telepathy, something that SW does not.. so with that, you gain Psychic Shriek, Puppet Master, Invisibility and Hallulncination.  The unfortunate thing about Telepathy is that its most powerful powers require you to be a ML2 Psyker.  That's 50 extra points for Epistolary that I simply do not have.  That means you have to look at the cheaper lores; Divination already being a fantastic buy, Biomancy for the chance to get Enfeeble, but most importantly, the BA book lore.  The main things that stand out here is Unleash Rage for the squad the Libby is in, Sanguine Sword to make you S10, Blood Lance so you can throw it at fliers (yes, it auto-hits), and Shield of Sanguinius that gives your Libby and "any unit" within 6" a 5+ cover save.  With a good amount of vehicles in my list, and a Flyer, I can cast Shield to give the Sons of Russ and the Stormraven a happy go lucky 5+ cover.

Now let's think about something really quick.  We all know Divination is good, but I think a mix between Divination and Blood (just calling it this from now on) is the sweet spot.  I can only take 2 skills though, so I think for my first trial, it'll be Sanguine Sword and Blood Lance.  Unleash Rage is not needed with the Rune Priest to cast Prescience, but the S10 and auto-hitting S8 AP1 Lance is always good.  Shield of Sanguinius is incredibly strong if you're running your dudes behind or near the Grey Hunter wall, but I think I'll be placing my Libby, SP and 10x ASM squad in reserve along side the Stormraven.  I want my forces to hit the enemy lines around the same time and with the fury of an angry god.  This first list you see here, will be all about offense (the way I like to play).

Well, I don't think I have anything else here to cover.  The Vindicators are there because I like them, the Grey Hunters are the staple, and the Libby + ASM provides a nice little wild card.  The inclusion of the Stormraven gives me a solid AA platform, and if worst comes to worst, I can throw a Blood Lance at enemy fliers and skewer them out of the sky.

BR: 4K BA vs. Necrons

NOW UPDATED WITH BATTLE REPORT!
11-16-11
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33985835@N06/page2/
Pages 1+2 has the game photos.

Haven't played the game yet, but I will be playing it in the next couple of hours.
It will be a 2v2, Blood Angels vs. new Necrons, 2k points each player, so 4k total on each side.

My list looks like the following:
Mephiston
3x 10x ASM w/ PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns
2x Priests w/ JP
3x Baals w/ TLAC and HB sponsons
3x Preds w/ AC/LC config

My friend's (Darian) list:
Astorath
3x 10x ASM with PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns
2x Priests w/ JP
Furioso Dreadnought
Contemptor Dreadnought (FW, opponent's permission approved)
2x Stormravens w/ TLLC and TLMM, totting Dreads in the back

BR: BA vs. GK, SW vs. BA

Fun times to be had!

Well guys, no pictures, but I do have some hysterical fun times to tell you.  My friend took all the pictures so I'll probably just upload them later.  Don't worry, the BRs I'm going to share to you will be pretty epic.  First thing's first:  We played two games tonight, one with my Blood Angels vs. his Grey Knights, and then another with my Space Wolves vs. his Blood Angels.  Which one is more awesome?  I'll let you folks decide.

My list:
Dante
Librarian w/ JP, Sanguine Sword and Unleash Rage
3x 10x ASM w/ Fist/Infernus and 2x Meltaguns
5x Sanguinary Guard w/ CBanner and Fist
Chaplain w/ JP
2x Sanguinary Priests w/ JPs
3x AC/LC Predators

His list:
Draigo
Librarian w/ MC Halberd, 3x Skulls
Sanctuary, Shrouding, Might and Vortex
10x Paladins, 4x Psycannons, BBanner, the works
5x Paladins, BBanner, 2x Psycannons
2x Rifledreads
Dreadknight w/ Heavy Incinerator, Teleporter

Space Marine Mixed Armor Tactica

This is the long awaited vehicle tactica that deals with different armor groups, notably the AV13 toys that Space Marines have to play with.  One of the biggest follies in the 40K gaming community is that Predators and Vindicators suck because of their static nature and fixed firing ports.  A lot of people see this as a weakness because these two tanks, as dominate as they are in the front arc with their AV13 hulls, have AV11 side armor.  This means that every time they pivot and shoot, they're as durable as Rhino.

That must suck right?  Wrong.  This guide will show you the folly in your ways with some tested battle formations.  I took all these pics using my iPhone since my attempts at MS Paint sucked harder than it should have.  Keep in mind that this tactica is designed for a mechanized army.  Some elements in this guide may or may not work depending on what you field.

BR: 2K BA vs. Air Cav IG

I looked across the table in fear when Chris pulled out 2 Valks and 4 Vendettas...

2 objectives - one in mid, one on the far top left (from my side of the table)
Dawn of War - 1st round is night fighting.

My list:

Blood Angels Expeditionary Force
Mephiston = 250
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250
2x Sanguinary Priest (JP, MB) = 160
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145
Predator (AC/LC) = 135
Predator (AC/LC) = 135
Predator (AC/LC) = 135

Thank you Chris for supplying your army list!

Steel Legion Air Drop
CCS, Astro, OotF, 4x Plasma in Chimera
Vets 3x Melta in Vendetta, Heavy Bolters
PCS 4x Plasma in Valkyrie, MRP, 2x HBs
Infantry Melta in Vendetta, Heavy Bolters
Infantry Melta in Vendetta, Heavy Bolters
HWT Autocannons
HWT Missile Launcher
SWS 2 Flamer, Demo in Valkyrie, MRP, 2x HBs
SWS 2 Flamer, Demo in Chimera
2x Leman Russ, 2x Lascannons, HB Sponson

I was a little fuzzy on my DoW deployment rules but my opponent was a champ and refreshed my memory.  Dawn of War deployment kind of sucks and there's no way in hell I'm going to reserve vs. an IG list with an Astropath and Officer of the Fleet.  I win the roll to go first but I let him take first turn.  He chooses to hold everything in reserve while I keep everything off the board so I can roll up from the board edge when the game starts.

My 1750 BA, SW and DE

Blood Angels

1750
11 kp

HQ:
Librarian (JP) = 125

TROOP:
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250

ELITE:
2x Sanguinary Priest (JP, 2x HFlamer) = 170

FA:
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145

HEAVY:
Predator (AC/LC) = 135
Predator (AC/LC) = 135

I could run Mephiston at this point level, but then I would only have 20 boots on the table.  I don't know about you guys, but I get really shaky when 2 groups of 10x ASM is all I have for scoring.  By dropping Meph and a AC/LC Predator, I can fit another squad of 10x ASM in there with the same melta-loving configuration as the other ones.  I find that to be a much safer option.  The 2x Sanguinary Priests on JPs will carry around some Hand Flamers and call it a day.  They're there only to spread the 6" bubble of FC/FNP love.  With 5 AV13 tanks on the table, I'll have plenty of shielding and cover against my enemies as I advance up the field in full speed.  The 11 kill points is also very low since I'm making my enemies work extra hard for each 10-man T4 3+ FNP unit kill.  As for psychic powers, I'll probably take Sanguine Sword and Shield of Sanguinius.  Unleash Rage can work as well since there's no such thing as overkill for Blood Angels.  At 2K, the Librarian disappears and Mep-shit-on you takes his place.  Add one extra AC/LC Pred and we're good to go.

BR: 1750 BA vs. CSM

Long table sides
6 objectives, terrain was medium

My list looked like the following:

1750
11 kp

HQ:
Mephiston = 250

TROOP:
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250

ELITE:
2x Sanguinary Priest (JP, MB) = 160

FA:
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145
Baal Predator (TLAC/HB) = 145

HEAVY:
Predator (AC/LC) = 135
Predator (AC/LC) = 135
Predator (AC/LC) = 135

His army:

Chaos Lord of Slaneesh in TDA w/ Daemon Weapon
Flying DP of Nurgle
5x4 squads of Noise Marines with Blaster Masters
10x Khorne Berserkers in a Rhino w/ Fist and PP
5x Chaos Raptors w/ Meltaguns and Plasma Pistol
Possessed Vindicator
Chaos LR with CSM Termies w/ Fists, cbM
2x Chaos Dreads w/ Autocannons, Heavy Flamer

The problem with this list is how ridiculously few troops I have on the field.  If I wasn't a lazy bastard, I would probably have more ASM, but since I'm reluctant to build any, I just decided to field 20 of them.  In short, this is probably the worst case scenario for me since it was max objectives and he had loads of troops everywhere (Noise Marines) in min squads.

BR: 2K Blood Angels vs. Tau

Today, I played my first game of 40K in months.  I finally decided to get my damn Blood Angels on the table and they played against my friend JR's Tau.  We played a Battle Mission game and there was 3 objectives 12" apart from eachother spread out on the map.  The first marker was placed in the middle, I placed the 2nd 12" directly to the left of that and the third one he placed by his deployment zone.

My army list looked like this:

Mephiston
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns)
10x ASM (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns)
5x ASM (RB TLAC, PW, Meltagun)
5x ASM (RB TLAC, PW, Meltagun)
Corbulo
Sanguinary Priest
3x Baal Predators (TLAC/HB)
2x Vindicators (DB)

His army had:

HQ Suit with BS5 and Missile Pods
3x 3x suits with Plasma/Missiles
2x units of Kroot
2x units of Fire Warriors in Devilfish
2x 2x Broadsides
1x Hammerhead with Railgun
2x 2x Piranhas with Fusion

He rolled for first and deployed.

Making Dante work

Dante is one of my favorite characters in all of 40K lore.  He's one of the oldest living Space Marines and he has fought against the enemies of the emperor for over a thousand years.  In the latest codex, he's a little overshadowed by big bad Mephiston, but he can certainly hold his own still.  It didn't take me long to make a list based on this honorable and respected Chapter Master.

Before we move onto the actual list, let's talk about Dante himself for a sec.  He has Death Mask of Sanguinius which is basically a Death Mask plus an added curse.  Before forces are deployed, the mask curses an enemy independent character and nerfs him by -1 WS, W, I and A.  This makes any combat character think twice before engaging in combat and makes every psyker (for the most part) die in 1 perils.

Dante also has the Axe Mortalis which is simply a humble MC Power Weapon, an Infernus Pistol, 2+/4++ save with 4 wounds and I6, but no Eternal Warrior.  Having come with a Jump Pack, he has the Decent of Angels special rule, as well as Tactical Precision and Surgical Strike.  Tactical Precision makes it so any squad that Dante joins do not scatter the turn they come in and Surgical Strike gives them Hit and Run.  This can make Dante's squad exceptionally dangerous when deep striking next to vehicles or refreshing combat with Furious Charge.  Dante also allows Sanguinary Guard to be taken as Troops.. which is a small plus.

Blood Angels released!

Well, aside from me picking up my 3 boxes of Baal Preds, 2 boxes of DC and 2 boxes of Sanguinary Guard, there's not much to say.  In fact, I don't even have time to write!  I need to build another Baal Pred and start digging through my old stuff, ripping off shoulder pads and replacing them with some new DC iconography.

Depending on the speed of this weekend's build fest, I might make some kit bash some Captains, Sanguinary Priests and Librarians and post the pics here.

Let me know if you guys are building as frantically as me, trying to get some playtest games in.  Otherwise, enjoy this blood-soaked weekend everybody!  I'll be using this post to update.

BA: Vindicators vs. Predators

My list is pretty much done.  I have solidified my HQ choices, my troops and my elite slots.  My plan for this weekend is to finish my 3 Baal Predators and incorporate them in every list I can.  I just love the look of the thing!  There's nothing more badass than a tank can fire spew out more ammunition than your opponents can handle.  Since my list is mostly mechanized, I need a Heavy support choice that can fit the needs of my army.  I'm talking about the Vindicator or the AC/LC Predator.

One one side, we have the Vindicator:  It can move 12" and shoot a S10 AP2 Large Blast Ordnance shot thanks to the Fast rule.  Remember what I said about S10?  S10 can threaten anything in the game.  When it's a 5" large blast template, the kill potential just goes through the roof.  When a demolisher shell lands on a group of marines, they just disappear.  Even with a 4+ cover save, you're going to be looking at a good amount of them dead.  Vs. vehicles, the S10 plus the Ordnance rule means you roll 2 dice for Penetration and take the highest result.  This means it has a 1/3rd chance to penetrate a Land Raider as long as it hits.  Considering the size of the thing, you have a 1/3 chance to roll a hit, give or take 2" on top of the BS4 scatter and you'll probably land a shot.  The Vindicator mauls lesser vehicles like a grizzly bear to a poodle though you should probably shoot at bigger, more juicier targets such as Nob Bikerz or Tyranid Warriors.  Anything that's T4 or T5 (or T4(5) bikes) gets instantly killed under the destruction that that the Vindicator can spit out.  Multi-wounds mean nothing and it's literally one of the only units in the game that threaten everything on the table.  Because of this well-known fact, it attracts a insane amount of attention of the battlefield; almost to a point where nothing else exists.

Vanguard, SG or Honor Guard?

Today, I'm going to compare these three units and highlight the good and bad of each one.

Vanguard Vets for Blood Angels are simply better than their C:SM counterparts.  Not only are they cheaper, but they have Descent of Angels ontop of Heroic Intervention.  Vanguard Veterans can reliably come in at the right place and the right time to assault anything in the game.  They can take special pistols, carry power weapons and use meltabombs against those stationary artillery units.  The best thing about these guys is their ability to come down and turn the tide of battle instantly.  If you're stuck in combat with a squad that's wearing you down or if you're getting bombarded from afar from some artillery vehicle, Vanguard Veterans can save the day.

For these guys, I prefer a cheap and effective layout:

5x Vanguard Veterans (3x PW, 2x MB) = 205

Keep in mind that the squad leader already comes with a power weapon so you're only paying for 2 more.  For these guys, a Power Fist is another strong investment because of the 2 base attacks, but I prefer Power Weapons and Meltabombs instead.  The reason why is because they're supposed to act as a counter-charge element that can free up tarpits (near a FC/FNP bubble) or destroy non-moving vehicles.  This is why my cheap squad has 3 guys with power weapons.  The rest of your army should have fists already so I'm not really worried lack of S8 on these guys.

My Blood Angels unit bucket

So with the release of every new codex, I look through the book and find the best stuff and the worst stuff.  I erase all the garbage units (Chaos Spawn) in my head and concentrate on two sets of units; my competitive units and my fun units.  The competitive units are normally the best units in the codex; whether its because they're cost effective or just really good.  The fun units are the units that are fluffy, fun to take and mess around with, but I wouldn't take them in a serious game.  I completely understand that by dismissing the "garbage" units I throw out half of the units that I can possibly play.. but this is a money game in every sense of the word.  Maybe it's the RTS gamer in me that makes my use of resources so overly-critical, but I think anything with limited expenditure should be taken seriously.  It's all about being cost effective ingame, and in real life because you should only purchase models you know you'll use.

Before we continue, understand that these are my opinions on what the best choices are.  You don't have to agree, in fact, I encourage you don't.  That way, we can all engage in a wider spectrum of gameplay and playtest diversity.

Here is my competitive units bucket:

Fear of the Darkness

Summoning the indescribable malice of the Warp, the Librarian unleashes a mighty wave of sheer terror, piercing every creature's soul with the horror of death and revealing their utter insignificance in the face of an uncaring universe.

- 4th Edition Space Marine Codex

One of the funniest psychic abilities I have seen in a long time is Fear of the Darkness in the upcoming BA Codex.  It's a psychic shooting attack at 24" that forces the enemy unit to make a morale check at -2 leadership.  If you fail the morale check, you immediately flee 2D6" towards your closest table edge.

While it might not look so hot at first compared to some of the other abilities, let's look at all the dirty things we can do with it.  That way, when you do it to your opponents, you can kindly guide them to the rulebook while they nerd rage.

My Blood Angels army list

All this talk about Blood Angels and no army list..  Let's change that right away!  Here is my current 2K army list that I plan to field as soon as I have the book in my hands.  This army will follow the same philosophy as my other lists in terms of army design.  To make things a little easier, I think I'll just break the list down and analyze each and every piece separately.

HQ:

Mephiston = 250

My HQ choice is going to be the Lord of Death himself.  He provides my army with that much needed Ld.10 Hood and acts as a Greater Daemon mounted on a 25mm base.  Because of his amazing statline and small stature, he can easily hide amongst a fully mechanized army.  His ability to fly increases his threat range by a ton, so I don't need to worry about obstructing his influence on the battlefield.  Mephiston can cast 3 psychic abilities a turn; Sanguine Sword which gives him S10, Wings of Sanguinius that allows him to fly and Unleash Rage which gives him Preferred Enemy.  All of these will be instrumental in making him extremely dangerous to the enemy.  Remember what I said about S10 weapons that ignore armor:  They pose a threat to everything on the table (especially when it's a force weapon as well).  Peace out Trygon.

Blood Angels Psychic Powers

After going through the codex a couple of times, there were a few things that I noticed about the psychic powers available for the Blood Angels. For one, they're really good - I would say on par with the Space Wolves in terms of effectiveness. It's not surprising that the last three Marine books have strong psychic potential and Librarians being very cost effective options.

Let's go down the list really quickly and see what the Blood Angels have..

Smite - Same as C:SM. 12" S4 AP2 Assault 4.
Might of Heroes - Gives you +D3 attacks.
Wings of Sanguinius - Redbull gives you wings. Not really, but you get Jump Pack movement.
Unleash Rage - You and your squad gains the Preferred Enemy USR this turn.
Blood Boil - Pick an enemy unit from 12". It takes a wound with no armor save. If you roll 5 or less on your psychic test, you choose the model.
Blood Lance - 4D6" straight line that ignores friendly models. Enemy units touched by the line takes a S8 AP1 Lance hit.
Shield of Sanguinius - All friendly units with 6" of you get a 5+ cover save.
Fear of the Darkness - 24" Enemy unit takes a morale test at -2 to their Ld.
Shackle Soul - Enemy needs a leadership test to do anything; move, shoot, run, assault.
The Sanguine Sword - Your Librarian has S10 this turn.

So now that's out of the way, let's talk about what really stands out. In my previous article with Space Wolves, I talked about Murderous Hurricane, Living Lightning and Jaws of the World Wolf being big players. In this new Blood Angels Codex, I can see Sanguine Sword, Unleash Rage and Blood Lance/Fear of Darkness being the winners. Of course if you're a Librarian Furioso, the Wings of Sanguinius will be top priority (that and probably Might of Ancients or Blood Lance). Nobody wants to fight a AV13 Dreadnought with WS6.. let alone one that can fly.

Seth and his Flesh Tearers

One of the new Special Characters in the Blood Angels Codex is Chapter Master Seth. He's CM of the Flesh Tearers.. a rather savage and bloodthirsty successor Chapter of the Blood Angels that's dying from Black Rage.

Ingame, Seth is pretty interesting. He has the same statline as a SM Captain (3+/4++) but he has 4 attacks and a S8 Rending 2h Chainsword. It counts as a normal weapon and thus is not a power weapon (boohoo). If you look it closely though, you'll notice that S8 Rending is actually pretty dangerous. In Fantasy, there's a thing called Killing Blow that basically kills you outright if you roll a 6 to wound unless you have a ward save. In 40K, there's a thing called Instant Death.. which is pretty much the same thing. Anything that's double your toughness can kill you instantly and S8 is right at that sweetspot for instant killing MEQ. With 4 attacks, 5 on the charge, 6 if you take him with Honor Guard and a Chapter Banner, he basically wounds any MEQ on a 2+ and any failed armor saves means the target dies (unless he has Eternal Warrior). Any multi-wound models traveling in 3+ gear should be wary of such a thing.. making Artificer Armor so much more important. To make matters worse.. if he rends with his S8 Chainsword, this truly becomes something worthy of Killing Blow. When that happens, you tell your opponent to make that 4+ invul or die. Just imagine a huge Chainsword ripping through your opponent's power armor, spilling his guts and flinging them all over the battlefield. And mind you it's just a Chainsword.. so it might take a few tries for it to completely cut through - quite awesome if you ask me. Oh, and the S8 Rending also auto-pens a Land Raider if he rolls a 6. At 160 points, he might be worth considering.. especially if you want to run a Flesh Tearers army.

Best of the Blood Angels Codex

Most cost effective HQ:
Librarian followed by Reclusiarch. You either choose to take a cheap psyker with a Ld.10 hood and awesome psychic abilities (such as Blood Lance, Sanguine Sword, Unleash Rage..) or you take a super Chaplain that has +I/A/W and makes your squad Fearless/Re-rolls to hit. Both are good choices with the Chaplain slightly more expensive.

Best Troop choice:
Aside from your basic Tactical Squad, you can now have 10x Assault Space Marines without Jump Packs in a Rhino, Fist and 2x Meltaguns for 250 points. That's pretty amazing if you consider how many attacks they can have and the fact that you can take 2x Special Weapons. With Fast Rhinos, you can move 18" your first turn and get ready to party the next. A close contender for second is probably smaller ASM squads in a Razorback. If you drop Jump Packs from them, you get a 35 point discount on your next transport. That's pretty damn good.

Best FA slot:
I only see one unit here that stands apart from everyone else, and that's the new Baal Predator. For 145 points, you get a Baal Pred with Scout and Fast, Twin-linked Assault Cannons and HB sponsons. The runner up in this field is Vanguard Veterans with their ability to Heroic Intervention off Decent of Angels. DoA allows your reserve rolls to be re-rolled and you only scatter 1D6" for Jump Pack units. Now that BA VVs are 5 points cheaper than C:SM equivalents, you can deck them out with some weapons and go hunting reliably.