# blood angels psychic powers



## Caliban (Nov 27, 2010)

released at the same time(ish) as space wolves and with a large variety of powers at their disposal the sanguine host should have some amazong tactics up their sleeves.

whilst the wolves your spoilt for choice, the blood angels seem to have a load of SM powers, a few exceptions obviously. i then looked at ol' mephs and found him a little suffocsting. he can cast three powers a turn, but only has three to chose from. that seems poor as a start but ass to this they're sanguine sword (he's already strength 10) wings (Jump pack?) and unleash rage (upgraded chaplain)

i've a history for being horrivly wrong so can someone show me the light!


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Yes mephiston can only use the three powers he comes with but all of them make him a badass in CC. He is not strength 10 already, he starts a strength 6, so Sanguine Sword is still very nice. Unleash rage does not make him a chaplain, it confers the preferred enemy special rule, while similar to a chaplains ability this can be used in every combat phase not just the turn that the unit charged. Finally, you have it right about Wings of Sanguinius as they make him move as thought he has a jump pack. So I don't see that his only being able to take the powers listed as being a limitation at all. These combined with his Transfixing Gaze ability make him an absolute beast.


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## ChugginDatHaterade (Nov 15, 2010)

Mephiston is redickydonky. Thats really that can be said


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## steelwraith (May 12, 2009)

being able to cast 3 a turn real handy if you fail to 'cast' a power or if it's nullified by a rune preist or hood, you can always try again 
it also allows you to kill carnies and the like in one go , via the force weapon, go wings, rage , force weapon


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## Caliban (Nov 27, 2010)

i'm not disputing that hes a monster but he doesn't have any choice! look at a normal librarian, two powers, one cast a turn. you have to make a choice. even the epistolary (?) has the initial choice of powers. 3 is great for all your reasons above, only its really 2 because of wings. i just think another 2 powers would mae a better character and open up more options. i.e. if facing eldar the sanguine swoed isn't too useful. at strength 6 all but wraiths, phoenix's and eldrad suffer instant death on a 2 plus. this can also be applied to the IG. no doubt he's a solid character, i just want to see him rip up tigurius, thats all


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## Angelofblades (Dec 22, 2006)

Here's an excerpt from a BA tactica I wrote a while ago:

Psychic Powers 

I believe that BA libby's are a big part of the BA game. There's just so much they have to offer. Now of course, depending on the set up of your librarian, and your intended use, will also depend on what powers to give him. I'll go into details about each power and worthy combination's.

Blood Boil

It's a decent power, gives you a chance to possibly snipe out singular models of your choice, but that's a low chance. If you're looking to branch out from the norm, I would wholly suggest this power. It's decent, in that it's an auto-wound and no armor save, so this means that it bypasses Feel No Pain on units that have FnP, however, since it is a shooting attack it will force you to pick that unit as your charge target. Also it's short range, kinda already puts you in the position to have to charge whatever you shot at.

Fear of the Darkness

It's really quite a situational power. What happens if you're facing a Fearless army? Then it's useless. It's both easily, one of the weakest powers in the listing and can be one of the stronger ones. It's actually pretty useful for a drop pod or deep strike BA army, especially if you're going to go up against heavy infantry opponent's.

Might of Heroes

A oldie but a goodie. Still not a bad power to have, allows the extra attacks, it's something I would give to an Epistolary upgrade. Works well as a combo if your lucky enough to get the libby in a unit with the Blessed Sergent, if you're playing with Sanguinor.

Shackle Soul

This is another "off the wall," power that I believe is pretty underestimated. Forcing Leadership tests for any action an enemy unit wants to take is a pretty big deal. Most of the time, we really don't care about taking Leadership tests because they happen only once in a blue moon, but this forces it every single bloody time. The only issue is it's short range and that it's a shooting attack. This would be a great power to put on a libby that DS's in either on jump packs or by Drop pod. Better even if that libby was in a unit of Sterngaurd.

Shield of Sanguinius

My personal favorite. If you plan on playing the mechanized spear, then this is the power for you. A constant cover save for all your vehicles is a huge game changer. It allows you to play with lightly armored AV 11 with a bit of impunity, safe in the knowledge that you can now threatened your opponent with your razorbacks or forward Rhino squads and still keep them relatively safe from enemy shooting.

Smite
Meh, it's not really that great of a power, S4, most people will claim cover saves against it, and then not care really. One power you can afford to over look.

Blood Lance

Our very own JotWW, BA style. Not so great at killing infantry, but almost infinitely better at dealing against vehicles. This is a great choice for DS'ing libbies or jump pack libbies. Gives them the ability to pop pesky armor, especially at range. The only problem is the random range, other than that, it's a great choice for a power. Now to note something interesting about this power. While it's not that great at killing all infantry, there is a specific type of infantry that it finds use against. T4,Mutli-wound infantry, like Tyranid Warriors or Ork Nobz, while depending on the angle, the unit may gain cover saves, it's the fact that it causes ID that should worry those units.

Sanguine Sword

Another great choice for the close combat libby at heart. What's awesome about this power is that technically, it's a one cast only. All you have to do is cast the power once, and it's on permanently. Since there's no clause for when the power ends, only a clause of when it begins. It's definitely a choice that will compete heavily against Might of Heroes and Unleash Rage.

Unleash Rage
Preferred enemy is awesome. That's all there is to it. You will notice, it has an ending clause, something that Sanguine Sword definitely lacks. Regardless, depending on the unit he's with it turns them from awesome, to godly. This is another personal favorite of mine, especially since I put the libby attached to a terminator unit. Allowing re-rolls to hit and often re-rolls to wound since I have lightning claws.

Wings of Sanguinius 

Better used on Furioso dreads, the only other time you should find this used is for a libby on a bike, even then, that may not even be a good choice. Make sure you know what your needs are and what you want out of the librarian, make sure you choose the appropriate power for his use.


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## Barfy (Dec 30, 2010)

Hey guys. Meph can assualt any unit he wants. Cast wings successfully 3 times plus 6" assualt range plus run (infantry unit type even though he is a monster!) gives him a heady assualt range of 43"-48". For this reason when talking about Wings as a power for Meph you can't call it a jump pack. He is what the BA call a sniper :wink:

Edit: Can run and assualt because he has fleet for peeps that don't play BA


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## Wolf_Lord_Skoll (Jun 9, 2008)

Barfy said:


> Hey guys. Meph can assualt any unit he wants. Cast wings successfully 3 times plus 6" assualt range plus run (infantry unit type even though he is a monster!) gives him a heady assualt range of 43"-48". For this reason when talking about Wings as a power for Meph you can't call it a jump pack. He is what the BA call a sniper :wink:
> 
> Edit: Can run and assualt because he has fleet for peeps that don't play BA


Ummm, that doesn't work. When you cast Wings you move as Jump Infantry which gives you a 12" move. You can only move once in the shooting phase, which gives him an assault range of 19-24".

So still good, but he still can be denied charges, either by sheer distance or clever use of screening


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## Barfy (Dec 30, 2010)

Wolf_Lord_Skoll said:


> Ummm, that doesn't work. When you cast Wings you move as Jump Infantry which gives you a 12" move. You can only move once in the shooting phase, which gives him an assault range of 19-24".
> 
> So still good, but he still can be denied charges, either by sheer distance or clever use of screening


Oh yeah you are right. Sorry I thought he could cast wings, move 12", cast wings move 12"...

You are correct though he just moves 12" in the movement phase. Still if he fails the pyshic test the he could just cast Wings again. So 19-24" assualt range is pretty much nailed on.


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