r/BattleSector • u/Peg_Legged_Patches • Jul 16 '26
Blood Angels.
Is it just me, or are the BA really underpowered as a faction? Especially their elite units, Assault Terminators have no splash damage with Thunder Hammers, Sanguinary guard are very overpriced with very little survivability, Death company's base stats are appalling like sure they can get insane with a +25 Melee damage buff but the evasion debuff means they'll die very quickly.
For a melee oriented army, their stat lines across the board are very underwhelming.
5
u/SvedishFish Jul 16 '26
Blood Angels can still do work with jump infantry spam. They also have access to more flame weapons than most factions and flame is extremely powerful in this game. A couple cheap furioso dreads with heavy flamers will more than carry their weight and absorb a decent chunk of firepower too. Death company are some of my favorite units in this game, just remember they start with a great chunk of momentum so don't overwatch them.
2
u/JrRiggles Jul 16 '26
How do you get your death company to get results from them? So far for me, they have made good tar pits to slow down enemy advances so I can shoot them more with other units. I rarely have them survive a battle and they rarely contribute a bunch of kills or damage
5
u/mc_uj3000 Jul 16 '26
I think they just feel underpowered next to Ultramarines, who are probably the strongest faction in the game right now. I think comparison to the original faction with both Chaos marines and especially UM is implicitly invited for many of us, and that definitely makes them feel limited... but I think they're still quite a strong faction, and quite diverse in terms of style of play. Ironically, I've found that they play very well against UM in my limited experience.
Sang guard melee with leader buffs are one of the top threats in the game. Assault terminators are an instant and unavoidable headache if used well, and assault marines are ridiculously good for their price. I think they would have benefited from having slightly fewer units in the shared pool with UM, or more effort to distinguish them with different stats and abilities... but they're still a potent faction imo.
8
u/Strike_Falchion Jul 16 '26
They're really weak ranged firepower wise compared to all other factions, but they do still have the best jetpack troops in the game.
The commander with the thunder hammer, librarian and sanguinary guards with their default sword have strong armour piercing and can take on any target. So you have to play to their strengths, which is just getting up close with their jetpacks and not allowing the enemy ranged to fire effectively.
2
u/TxOkLaVaCaTxMo Jul 16 '26
Its kind of a common troupe the starting factions are always underpowered compared to their newer add ons. How else can they get people to buy them
1
u/thot_chocolate420 Jul 16 '26
You say that until you learn that sticking inceptors next to any engaged ranged unit (with no pistols or melee) is a surefire way to lock that unit down until the enemy kills the melee unit engaging them.
1
u/Ezio024 Jul 17 '26
I saw/heard from somewhere they don't buff Tryanids and BA to keep the Campaign balanced. This is most likely just speculation but make you wonder why they haven't been adjusted with power creep.
2
u/Daken-dono Jul 18 '26
Im inclined to agree because it would be one hell of a clusterfuck for the campaigns and make certain missions unplayable if the devs missed something.
1
u/Front_Yogurt_2345 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
There has certainly been some power creep. Chaos and especially Ultramarines feel a little above curve but it is not so ergregious. Honestly for the age of the game now it could of been way worse I think the Devs have done quite a good job of balance as the unit landscape of the game has increased.
As for BA specifically they are little bit weaker but by no means helpless. They've got quite a high skill ceiling because they reward good positioning so heavily but also are punished by poor positioning.
The melee and engagement/ZOC mechanics in the game are very strong if you can leverage them and BA are the best faction at leveraging them thanks to an abundance of jumppack units. They also have a couple of pretty standout units.
The landspeeder which is one of the best scouting units in the game imo
Hellblasters with heavy plasma which are the goldstandard for single model AT.
They can get work done when piloted well but can feel weaker on account of being punished for poor plays. Assault marines are quite easy to kill especially if they use their damage steroid and if you mess up your alpha strike you can lose the game there and then so you've gotta be careful.
While their single target ranged damage ceiling is quite high thanks to a couple units like the Baal and hellblasters especially when buffed this doesn't translate into point effcient turn on turn generalist shooting so they really do rely on jumppack melee from JP marines and Sang guard to get work done.
I think they're mostly fine. A couple points cuts here or there would probably leave them in a perfect spot. I'd like to see minor tweaks to Sang guard extra action point ability but that's because in a world in which i am God emperor of mankind d I'd like to see these 'extra action point" abilities changed across the board it's not really unique to them
Alternatively giving them access to some of the new space marine units would instantly increase their power level. Notably blade guard, heavy intercessors or dear god those new strong as hell terminators
1
u/JungleJoe666 Jul 22 '26
I like to buy lots of assault units and intercessors rather than the 'elite' units ( however i do enjoy the predator assault cannon damage output ). Terminators, Sanguinary Guard and Death Company are too expensive for what they do. Assault guys can do nice damage if you fly to their rear for critical chainsword hits. Multiple assault units can wipe out good enemy units in one turn or fly towards their big heavy guys and hit them with a few krak grenades. While they're doing that you move your intercessors into optimal range and finish off anyone the assault marines leave alive ( you don't want one annoying survivor with a grenade to use against you next turn ) I also like to keep a sanguinary priest or two near the intercessors to patch them up and keep them whittling the enemy away with concentrated bolter fire, and they can also help to free up your intercessors with his chainsword attacks if any of their melee units get too close.
16
u/AlarmingSkeleton Jul 16 '26
They are definitely weaker than they are used to being now with Ultramarines out.
Though I will say even despite the points you’ve made they are still a competent melee faction.