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Who Are The Blood Angels?
Vicious and brutal, even by Imperium standards. The Blood Angels, adorned in blood-red armour, rain down the Emperor’s divine justice on enemies across Imperium space. But what sets the Blood Angels apart is a blood-curse (you’ve probably noticed a theme in the naming of everything to do with Blood Angels), in their DNA that causes soldiers to be lost to an uncontrollable bloodlust, much like Edward Cullen, but with less glitter. This is all thanks to the death of their Primarch during the Horus Heresy.
You see, during the Horus Heresy, the gene-seed (the genetic make-up used to create Space Marines) belonging to the Blood Angels was destroyed and someone thought it’d be a good idea to create a new one from their Primarch after he died. Spoiler alert - it wasn’t a good idea. The blood-curse sends soldiers off the deep-end as they feel the rage their Primarch felt in his final battle and then they get the fun of experiencing the death of their Primarch (essentially their father). But don’t worry, it’s not all bad, while they go insane they gain some strength of their Primarch and get to go down in the blaze of glory. Cheery stuff.
What’s In The Box?
This patrol is led into battle by a Primaris Librarian, who has some decent rules (at the time of writing, they may update the rules later on) allowing him to hold his own. Five Primaris Intercessors and 5 Primaris Incursors (which can be assembled as Infiltrators instead) make up the bulk of the group, with 3 Primaris Aggressors thrown who can deal out and take more damage than their brethren. Rounding out the patrol is an Impulsor tank, which is the basic vehicle of the Imperium and decent in a pinch. You also get two Blood Angels Primaris Upgrade Frames for some classic Blood Angel extras.
Blood Angels were the first army I painted before moving onto Orks. It’s a good box and gives you some decent units. Personally I would’ve preferred a dreadnought over the Impulsor tank but it’s not a deal breaker. Plus there are upgrade kits available online that can give the Impulsor some extra punch.
Are They Difficult To Paint?
As always, Space Marines are only as difficult as you want them to be. They’re accessible with a good learning curve and a chance to learn and grow your painting skills. You can simply paint them in the selected chapter colours and be done. And when you feel confident enough add in some chunky and standard highlights and, if you’re feeling brave, get some fine and spot highlights in there for extra definition. This kit also comes with extra parts that you won’t necessarily use, which means you have extra parts to practice with, including those tricky faces.
Although from a gameplay stance the Impulsor may feel like a mis-step, from a painting perspective it’s a great introduction to painting vehicles, with plenty of straight edges to practice those highlight techniques on. The red of the Blood Angels is very striking and achieves a great look very easily... it also means they won’t get dirty with all of that enemy blood you’ll be spilling.