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| Lancahsire Wargaming |
A couple comments were asked recently from my battle reports regarding Rifledreads in BA army lists. The short answer is - they are a fine choice. The longer answer is more in-depth :P. First, we'll send you back to the BA Heavy Support comparison we've done before. Missile Devs, ACLC Preds and Rifledreads are all excellent choices but bring a different set of options and type of firepower to the table. They are all ranged support but their tiny differences in setup can make a big impact upon the army. This is outlined in the linked post.
And this is the tip of the iceberg in relation to whether, or rather - when, Rifledreads are useful for Blood Angels lists. Rifledreads provide very reliable S7 from afar which can move and shoot (though not at significant rates), climb ruins, tarpit enemy units (and be tarpitted themselves) and has two weapon systems which can see over Rhino chassis. The main issue here is the firepower is S7 - great for suppression or dropping AV10/11 targets but AV12 or above becomes an issue. This is fine if you have other weapons capable of handling that armor value at range.
And this is where the army I was using in the Battle Reports was coming undone and where a lot of armies out there do as well. Looking at the army in isolation, I have the firepower to deal with whatever tanks are thrown at the list - there's lots of S8 melta and ranged S7/8 firepower for support. The problem is the majority of that ranged support is S7 and the S8 is on quite fragile platforms (Typhoons and to a lesser extent, Attack Bikes). Having great suppression fire and melta is fine and dandy but having minimal chance to affect AV12+ armies or units at range can put such an army at a significant advatange.
This is a case where another Heavy Support choice would be more viable or increased strength firepower needs to be gained elsewhere. For example, keeping the Assbacks would best be served by changing the Rifledreads to ACLC Preds. You're keeping the mech theme and bringing in some S9 firepower at range whilst still having four heavy weapon shots. There are LoS issues to be considered but the ACLC Preds are more mobile than their Vanilla counterparts. Flip this around and keep the Rifledreads but change the Assbacks to LasPlas and you're still getting that increased strength in ranged support fire.
This will be taken into account as I update my list - hell even bringing in something like six Typhoons could be a possibility as long as there isn't a heavy reliance on ONLY S7 at range with melta to back it up. It's too easy for melta to be consistently delayed against the opponent's firepower targets for S7 to be relied upon so ensuring there's multiple higher strength guns in the backfield is important. If you're taking Rifledreads then, which is a solid and good choice, you need to ensure there is heftier firepower in other Force Organisation slots to ensure AV12+ at range isn't a liability for the army.
