# Blood Angels or Tyranids?



## Astronomer (Sep 17, 2010)

Hello...Im new here and to 40k. After lots and lots of researching I have narrowed my army choice down to 2 armies, Blood Angels and Tyranids!

I love Close combat and charging in to beat down my enemy. That has always been my style in every game ive ever played. Well it seems BA and Tyranids are the armies I have pretty much settled on due to the fact that they both can do Close Combat very well. Plus they both look simply amazing! My question is what army should I go? I understand it might be rather I want Quality or Quantity but if I can get more information on these armies id greatly appreciate it! 

First off is Blood Angels the most common space army played? Beacause its going to be very hard to talk myself into an army that is played by 50% of the population. I mean Space Marines are already the most played army and if Blood Angels are the most commonly played chapter then I dont know if I could play them. Being called a band wagon, newb army, or something along those lines isnt my thing haha. I know Space Wolves are common, along with Ultramarines, Vanilla marines, and Black templar. 

Also Tyranids seem amazing with their Genestealers but im afraid of getting raped all the time vs mech armies which seem to be the new thing in 5th Ed. 

So...Is Blood Angels a good choice or Tyranids and why? I need to figure out what army Im going to play b/c i will be going to the store tomorrow and picking up a codex and then making a proxy army to play against my friends CSM or IG. 

Thanks in advance!!!


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## KingOfCheese (Jan 4, 2010)

Blood angels are quite common.

And Tyranids answer to Mech is Hive Guard and Zoanthropes.


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## Astronomer (Sep 17, 2010)

So whats it like to play with/against Nids?


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## Astronomer (Sep 17, 2010)

Any others have an opinion?

after comparing SMs codex and BA Codex...theres almost no difference...maybe a few rules but the prices and stats are about the same...and in some cases cheaper for the CMs...

I guess after looking at the army really hard...the only really reason I like BAs is b/c their assault Terms with thunder hammers and storm shields inside a land raider is just so sexy...and on top of that I watched a video were an assualt term army raped 3x Carnafexs...which was depressing...

Are there any other competitve CC armies?


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## HKJGN (Jul 18, 2010)

Honestly, when you've weighed all the options like that, it's of my opinion (and i assume, possibly most WH40k players) that it's up to whoever you think is cooler. Read their history and story and form an opinion of wether or not the army is 'You'.

In the end, no army is a poor choice, they're all incredible, and noone's going to call any army a 'noob' army, there are some that are better suited for newer players but in reality, any army is badass, and any army is going to have its solution to one problem or another.

i think the lack of response is because most players are going to tell you what i just said here(also because this seems more like a 'General 40k' post, but I love to talk shop so i'll help out), a good suggestion is to buy their codex, or the WH40k rulebook (cause you'll need it anyway), in them there is a pretty decent definition of each army, as well as some stats. You can't go wrong with BA or Tyranids for assault based forces, so you're stuck with reading the fluff and deciding for yourself.

---Blood Angels Fluff---
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I can offer some info on the Blood Angels, they're one of the first founding Chapters of the Imperium, and were even there to defend the Emperors throne during the Horus Heresy. their Chapter's Primarch, Sanguinus, even Killed the Wretched traitor, and lost his life in the process.

Because of their long Heraldry, the Blood Angels take great pride and honor in their Duty to the Emperor, Most will charge head long into battle, and prefer the adrenaline rush of close quarters battle. Almost like a rage, the Blood angels will sometimes loose control of themselves in combat, and war on like mad men. This is a founding testament to their Primarchs Ferocity in combat, as well as his curse.

When a Blood Angel is Indoctrined into the Chapter, he is required to inbibe the blood of Sanguinus himself. This blood contains not only all of his genetic material that builds them into super human near-gods, but also his memories. the Final battle of Sanguinus is said to be in this blood gene, and when afflicted, a blood angel can lose his grip on sanity as the pain and anguish of their beloved primarch distorts their perception of reality (Some even Hallucinate that they ARE the primarch, or are following him in combat against the traitor Horus). 

when this Occurs, they are no longer capable of anything but thirsting for blood and combat, these poor souls are then sent away to become faceless Ghosts of the Death Company, a Final shot of Glory for the Cursed men who are no longer fit to live, their only pennance is an Honorable Death at the hands of the emperors enemies.

Because of this, the Blood Angels are often feared by the Imperium, or hated by the other Marine Chapters (Some feel the Gene Curse makes them tainted by Chaos), the Ultramarines have an almost Antagonistic view to the Blood Angels, even though once they were both there to Defend Terra.

Sadly, this means that the great honor of the Blood Angels is slowly dying out, as more and more Marines succumb to their fate, leaving fewer and fewer numbers of soldiers. Until then the Blood Angels charge headlong into their destiny, with no fear of death or pain, for what greater pain is there than for the great and noble deeds of their chapter to one day fade into nothingness, a lost memory of the Galaxy?

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---Blood Angels Gameplay---
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On a non-fluff note, Blood Angels are /not/ marines, in the fact that A. they field Assault Squads as troop choices B. Their Land Raiders /literally/ fall from the sky, and C. their entire army is almost always Close Combat oriented, or High Speed Mechanized.

The blood angels smaller tanks are Fast capable, meaning you can move twice as fast and fire all of your guns, they have some of the most Powerful HQ choices for a Marine army, and almost 1/2 the codex can drop out of the sky (If not /ALL/ when using drop pods)

the Red thirst makes them equally crazy amongst the other armies, Marines with Fearless? AND Furious Charge? o.o thats not good.. especially when they're zipping around on jetpacks or 12+ movement . this ability is equally enhanced by Asaroth, who can make it happen on a 3 instead of a 1, making its chances 50% more likely.

Sanguinary Priests replace Chaplains, FNP and FC are incredible in Jump Pack squads as it essentially turns them into Death Company without the Rage and Liturgies rules normally applied to them.

they're the only chapter to have 3 Dreadnoughts, one Elite, one Troop, and one Heavy, totaling a possible 9 walkers, admittedly not the best, but Christ, it's incredible to watch.. the Death Company Dreadnought is also by far the silliest and most immensly powerful anti troop choice available when dealing with +4 < or less saves, imagine if you will a lawn mower, and its slowly going over your opponents Tyranids... yeah, that just happened..

BA lists also seem to have the widest possibly Variety, depending on your play style, they're Mechanized, they're infantry/jump pack, or they're specialized with lots of interesting Elite choices and HQs. and as marines, they retain the most balanced effort of armor and firepower, meaning that they're forgiving, should you screw up too bad.

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---Nids and other armies.. Choice is Yours---
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i'm not a Tyranid player, but you'll find Tyranid players who can tell you just as much stuff as i have, both in Fluff and in gameplay. again the only difference is who seems more like you, are you the Honorable, Gloryseeking, Loyal servant of the Emperor? do you seek the thrill and blood pumping action of melee? swirling swords and crashing blows sound like the bells of angels to you? or are you the mad, thirsting, predator of the universe? do you seek to devour all life? an animalistic need to find more prey, consume, and continue your hunt? the Predator or the Warrior, thats pretty much what you're really comparing. all things aside game wise, you can figure out later, but if you can't look at your army, look at thier background, and watch them play and go 'man, that's just too Effing Cool', then they aren't the army for you. I like to think of an Army like a tattoo, my father used to say "if you want a tattoo, make a picture of it and put it on your nightstand and go to bed, every morning look at the tattoo and look at it again before you go to bed, after a month or two has gone by, and you still like looking at that tattoo, then it's probably alright to scar it permanently on your body for the rest of your life." When you buy these guys, you're buying them cause you want to play them, and i mean Extensively.. this game isn't cheap, you can't go around buying 4 or 5 different armies, and their Resale value is pretty poop cause this hobby is one part playing and one part building, like going to a Water park but only sitting in a Kiddy Pool, you're missing half the fun!

and yeah, there's plenty of CC armies, the Black Templars, Space Wolves, the Orks, the Chaos, CSMs... pretty much the only 'shooty' armies would be Tau, Imperial Guard, and uh.. sometimes Eldar.. but Eldar tend to float between 'shooty' and 'psychic' and 'melee' it seems.. although i'll admit i've yet to experience them much. But most armies besides Tau and IG have great GREAT Close Combat choices, so it's again up to you who seems more interesting Story wise.

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## angelXD19 (Feb 11, 2010)

there are plenty of competitive CC armies. In the space marine category there is space wolves,blood angels, black templar.
other non space marine
tyranids,orks,daemons ( if you take that route ), csm ( also if you take that route ). there is quite a bit. just look at all the options if you really like CC


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## HKJGN (Jul 18, 2010)

yeah, i was trying to get to that, but unfortunately i only know a handful of knowledge regarding other armies besides BA and IG, so.. lol.

i just figured since he was on a route, sure of 2 he wanted to play, i'd give him the Fluff and see if any of it he picks up on


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## AngelofDeath (Jul 1, 2010)

I thought I would add to this that Sanguinary priests do not replace chaplains in the BA army... they are very good for your troops but the chaplains are in the BA army and are beefed up ever since they got liturgies of blood rather than liturgies of battle... sry just thought that I would point that out.


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## HKJGN (Jul 18, 2010)

i may have overstated that, i know chaplains are good still but you see them alot more in DC, but in most cases its cheaper to take lemartes over a chaplain when leading the death company (costs less to use him..)

Chaplains are just more expensive than Sang priests, so for FNP id rather priests.


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## Uilleam (Nov 23, 2009)

Both armies are very common to see on the table. But I haveta say I like the Tyranids more. Combination fluff, models, and abilities. Plus alot of Blood Angel armies are pretty cookie cutter in my experience.

Either way you'll have a rock solid army!


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