Chapter Update 3/16/2026
The best performing list of the weekend was Kyle Myers' Ironstorm Spearhead, which he used to go 4-1 and take 7th out of 37 at Palladium Games Presents "the dumpster fire gt" Spring Edition held in Phoenixville, PA. Here's Kyle's list on BCP. We'll take a look at it below.
Enter Lion-Man
Lion Dad - Warlord
Azrael
Captain in Gravis Armour: The Flesh Is Weak
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon
Techmarine: Adept of the Omnissiah
Techmarine: Master of Machine War
Assault Intercessor Squad: 5 choppy boys
Intercessor Squad: 5 bolter boys
Invader ATV: melta buggy
Land Speeder Vengeance
Land Speeder Vengeance
Land Speeder Vengeance
Ravenwing Darkshroud
Redemptor Dreadnought
Redemptor Dreadnought
Storm Speeder Thunderstrike
Kyle decided to lean pretty hard into the Strength 9 Damage 3 Blast plasma shooting, with a trio of Vengeances and a pair of plasma-toting Redemptors. It's a versatile choice, good into a wide variety of targets, particularly with the Vengeances' plasma storm battery being twin-linked. It also potentially gives Kyle two opportunities to have units shoot in his opponent's turn, once through the Vengeance's datasheet ability, once from the Power of the Machine Spirit strat. If he needs to pick up something tougher than Toughness 9, he's got the Thunderstrike to give his shooting +1 to Wound into a target, and he's also got access to a Sustained Hits+Crits 5+ strat (Mercy is Weakness) and an Ignores Modifiers strat (Unbowed Conviction) that can be played on any Adeptus Astartes unit. All his main shooting platforms also have secondary guns that can dish out Dev Wounds, potentially saving him from having to commit a second unit into a target that's already been gutted by one unit's shooting.
To make things more annoying for his opponent, Kyle has the Darkshroud he can position to give its protective aura to units on his expansion and the center objective - likely the pair of Redemptors, with Lion Dad positioned behind terrain where he could Heroic into anything charging either one of them. He's also got the Techmarine with Master of the Omnissiah to blank damage from a failed save once per turn, making picking up the Redemptors with shooting that much more unlikely.
For utility work, Kyle has the usual Intercessors and Combi-Lieutenant, but no Scouts, Instead, he has an Invader ATV. He's got Azrael to provide CP, likely attaching them to his Assault Intercessors for skirmishing with light units that get close to home, though there's a possibility he's attaching a Techmarine to the Assault Intercessors to pull some shenanigans and give his opponent target priority problems. Let's not overlook that Gravis Captain with The Flesh Is Weak, giving him a 4+ Feel No Pain. Between that, his Toughness 6, 4+ Invulnerable, and datasheet ability that halves damage from failed saves, he's a real nuisance to pick up, and having a small footprint would be hard to pick up.
Kyle started the event with a bang, scoring a Holy Toledo 100-15 into MortHam Death Guard in the 1st round. 2nd round he suffered a punishing 27-97 into Berserker World Eaters against a list I'd have thought his list could handle with little difficulty (60 Berserkers). 3rd round he crushed Court of the Phoenian Emperor's Children 92-55.
Man, if he plays into Thousand Sons, that'll be all four of the Chaos gods.
Anyway, 4th round he scored a comfortable 78-57 against Shadowmark Raven Guard. Finally, in the 5th round, he scored a close 84-79 against yet another Chaos Marine list, but sadly not Thousand Sons. Instead Phoenician Emperor's Children had another go, and suffered another loss. Well done Kyle!
Kyle's was the only list that went 4-1 over the weekend, but I'd also like to cover a list that went 4-2 at the biggest event of the weekend, The Colorado Cup '26 - Warhammer 40K, with 190 players held in Brighton, CO. Jordan Gledhill of Double Dutch Rudder went 4-2 and placed 40th with a Company of Hunters list. You can check out Jordan's list on BCP. We'll look at it below.
Speedy Dangles
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon
Ravenwing Command Squad: Recon Hunter
Ravenwing Command Squad
Ravenwing Command Squad: Master-crafted Weapon
Outrider Squad: 3 choppy boys
Outrider Squad: 3 choppy boys
Outrider Squad: 3 choppy boys
Ballistus Dreadnought
Ballistus Dreadnought
Centurion Devastator Squad: 3 grav-missile boys
Centurion Devastator Squad: 3 grav-missile boys
Invader ATV: melta buggy
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Storm Speeder Hammerstrike
Storm Speeder Hammerstrike
Vindicator
It's not often we don't see Azrael or Lion Dad in a list, but of all the detachments we have available, the Company of Hunters needs them the least. Particularly with this list. This is a pretty straightforward jail list, with the bike squads (and Scouts) in the list to bottle up opponents in their deployment zones, with powerful shooting elements to hammer enemy units from a distance while sitting on objectives.
The cork Jordan is shoving into the metaphorical bottle is three Ravenwing Command Squads attached to three Outrider Squads. Each of those squads is 24 wounds, and with three of that combined package that's 72 wounds an opponent has to chew through to get out of his deployment zone. Potentially more, because the Apothecaries can bring back destroyed bikes in Jordan's Command Phase, potentially adding 12 more wounds for an opponent to deal with. One of those squads has Recon Hunter, givng it a 9" Scout move. The Scout Squads can be placed to give Jordan the space he needs to use the Scout move so he can run that squad up his opponent's nose. One of the other squads has Master-crafted Weapon, which most people will consider just barely better than just running a 1990 point list. Most people are right about this, but I will say it's nice to have Precision if you're going up against a player using Sacrosancts led by a Hospitaller, or Wraiths led by a Technomancer.
The bulk of Jordan's shooting units have 2+ saves - a pair of Ballisti, a pair of Cent Dev squads, and a Vindicator. That gives opponents a bit of a stat check to deal with while they're also dealing with a bunch of rampaging bikers up their nose. The Ballisti and the Vindicator are providing D6 Damage shooting, while the Cent Devs with grav cannons are slinging a bunch of Damage 3 Anti-vehicle 2+ shots. I think the grav cannons are an unusual choice, but it is good to have that flat Damage 3 shooting, and the Cents are Oath-agnostic, getting rerolls from their own datasheet ability.
Jordan also a pair of Storm Speeder Hammerstrikes in his list. Hammerstrikes are, in a vacuum, the best of the three Storm Speeder variants, though there is a case to be made for the Thunderstrike in the right kind of list. Jordan's list doesn't really need it, as he's got guns that will wound most things on, at worst, 4's and likely 3's or 2's. What the Hammerstrike provides is Ignores Cover, which is very useful for lists relying on shooting things off the board, particularly if that firepower has low AP, as the Cents' grav cannons do. The Hammerstrikes pack a not inconsequential amount of firepower on their own, with 6 Strength 9 shots, 5 of which are Damage D6, 3 of those with Melta 2. Plus, they get the Ravenwing keyword in a Dark Angels list, which allows them to benefit from the detachment's strats, and they have the Deep Strike keyword, making it possible for Jordan to uppy-downy them at need.
For utility work, Jordan has the Combi-Lieutenant despite its unwarranted price hike, two squads of Scouts that doubtless help with the jailing, and an Invader ATV. I expect the Invader is his backfield objective holder. I know from experience it's just possible to have the Invader have one tire on the backfield objective and screen out that corner, and it has the right keywords to allow Jordan to sticky that objective and then put it in Reserve if he wants.
Jordan got the event off to a good start with a convincing 81-33 in the 1st round. 2nd round he got edged out 62-66 by War Horde Orks. 3rd round he crushed Guardian Battlehost Aeldari 100-47. 4th round he squeaked out a 77-75 Daemonic Incursion Daemons. 5th round he got his own back against Orks, with a close 84-74 against Green Tide. 6th round he took his second loss, 50-84 against Rubricae Phalanx Thousand Sons (THERE are those Tzeench bastards!). Good showing Jordan!
Honorable Mentions
This week the only honorable mention is going to Reunion Dumpster Dudes' Joshua Ellerbe, who with his Wrath of the Rock list went 3-2-1 at The Colorado Cup '26 - Warhammer 40K. Well done Joshua!
Statistics
It was a slow weekend for Dark Angels players, and not a very good one. We had 26 players who played 141 games and won 60 of them, netting only a 44% win rate and only the one X/1 result.
Wrath of the Rock was the most played by far with 12 players who scored a 45% win rate
Company of Hunters was tied for second place in most played, with 4 players who scored a 48% win rate.
Gladius was the other detachment with 4 players, who scored a dismal 31% win rate
Stormlance was played by 3 players who earned a 40% win rate.
Ironstorm was played by 2 players who scored a 60% win rate and the X/1 result.
Finally, the Bastion detachment was played by one would-be innovator, who sadly only got a 33% win rate.
That, honored battle brethren, is what I have for you this week. Be sure to check out Dank List Wargaming and Black Crow Gaming on YouTube for Dark Angels content created by real enthusiasts for the legion chapter. It's good to be back! I'm looking forward to a new year, both for putting my skills to the test and bringing you the news of our beloved army. As always, I hope you find my work enjoyable and informative. May we all strive ever for glorious victory! For The Lion!
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