Dark Angels Update 4/27/2026 - Corrected
I'm inclined to wonder if maybe some of our player base is migrating over to playing Ultramarines, or at least using that rules set. Inner Circle Companion models can stand in for Victrix, so assuming one has a solid collection of the models both armies have in common, swapping over would only require a few strategic purchases. Ultramarines are one of the bullies of the meta at the moment. Over the last couple months they've consistently been among the top three factions of the weekend, and according to the faction ladder given on the Art of War Down Under podcast I just listened to, Dark Angels are third from the bottom over the most recent measurement period. Based on what I've seen, I believe it. One might make an argument that Dark Angels are a newbie faction and that will tend to depress the win percentage, but the same could be said of Ultramarines, and as previously mentioned they're on top of the meta. Being a Dark Angels player is definitely playing on Hard Mode at the moment.
Happily, I do have some lists to talk about. This week's top Dark Angels player is Jay Seebarun of Sturnguard Fat-Tits, who went 4-1 and took 3rd out of 28 players at The 2026 South-West Swordwind Grand Tournament in East Huntspill, England. You can see Jay's list on BCP. We'll check it out below.
Dark Angels: BH Wrath
Lion Dad - Warlord
Azrael
Captain: Ancient Weapons
Chaplain in Terminator Armour: Deathwing Asault
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Desolation Squad: 5 steely-eyed missilemen
Eliminator Squad: 3 shoot-n-scoot boys
Incursor Squad: 5 spotty boys
Infiltrator Squad: 5 stay-off-my-lawn boys
Inner Circle Companions: 3 spooky awesome swordy boys
Repulsor Executioner with heavy laser destroyer
Repulsor Executioner with heavy laser destroyer
Sternguard Veteran Squad: 5 awesome bolter boys
It just so happens I was toying with the idea of a Wrath list with a pair of Repulsor Executioners, but Jay beat me to it, and podiumed an event with his. His list has some obvious differences from the typical Wrath list we see. The main difference is that it's a lot more shooty than a typical Wrath list. A pair of RepExes pack a lot of guns, which will make opponents want to stay out of sight as much as possible. To complicate matters for them, Jay also included a Desolation squad, so he has something to hit hiding units with. They're also a unit that takes the Relics strat well, bumping the Vengor launcher to Strength 9 and the Castellan launchers to Strength 6. Plus, if Jay needs them to, the Desos can step through the wall they're hiding behind to use their Superkraks on something. I imagine that's a late-game move, because if you do it too soon you're apt to lose the squad.
Also contributing to the shooting, Jay included an Eliminator Squad with las-fusils and an Eliminator bolt carbine, allowing them to make a normal move after they shoot. This is a choice I'm not sure I'd make, because 5 more points would get you an Eradicator squad, but the Eliminators would be a nuisance for opponents to deal with. Jay might hold them in Reserve, pop them out, have them shoot something, then move them again, potentially getting them onto an unattended objective. He might use Relics on the squad too if he needs the las-fusils to finish off something big. Additionally, Jay included a squad of Incursors for that buff they give to his shooting.
Any opponent thinking they can deal with Jay's list by getting into close combat Engagement range will quickly get disabused of that notion by Lion Dad, the one Deathwing Knight squad, Azrael and his three Inner Circle Companions, and the Ancient Weapons Captain attached to the Sternguard. It's actually fairly likely that Lion Dad and the Knights go upfield, probably dropping around the opposing expansion objective, while Azrael, the Captain, and their respective squads bat cleanup on anything that may find its way into Jay's backfield. The Sternies can contribute a bit of Devastating Wounds in the Shooting phase too. I'm also inclined to think the Captain may be in Jay's list to provide a discount on Inescapable Justice (second Oath strat), because RepExes work better with Oath.
For utility work, Jay has Intercessors and Infiltrators, plus the inexpensive units like Incursors and Eliminators can be tasked with scoring Secondaries as needed.
Jay had a good start to the event, scoring a comfortable 1st round 91-74 against an Ultramarines Gladius. 2nd round he scored a solid 87-70 against Scintilliating Daemons. 3rd round he was obliged to knock the other Dark Angels (Gladius) player down from contention with a 68-61 win. Sadly 4th round was a loss, a bruising 71-88 against Green Tide Orks. He came back for a smashing 90-49 against Conceited Emperor's Children. Well done Jay!
The other two lists we have to look at this week were both played at Oz-Con 2026, a 5 round and 48-player event. The top performing Dark Angels list from Oz-Con was Jason Brown's Gladius Task Force, with which he went 4-1 and took 5th place. Here's Jason's list on BCP. We'll check it out below.
Indeed, sir. The last charge of Sammael and his Immortals... (I love the Tombstone reference!) Lion Dad - Warlord Azrael Sammael Captain in Gravis Armour: Artificer Armour Intercessor Squad: 5 bolter boys Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys Gladiator Lancer Gladiator Lancer Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys Land Speeder Vengeance Land Speeder Vengeance Outrider Squad: 3 choppy biker boys Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads Storm Speeder Thunderstrike
This is a nicely balanced list, with a good mix of shooting and punching. The shooting elements are the pair of Gladiator Lancers, the pair of Land Speeders Vengeance, and the Storm Speeder Thunderstrike. They give Jason a lot of tools for dealing with things at range. The Lancers obviously have those big Lancer laser destroyers for taking down big targets and popping transports, but they also bring a veritable bucket of dice they can throw at chaff. The Vengeances have the plasma storm battery for ruining the day of mid-range to elite Infantry, and they can be called upon to punch up into tougher targets with some degree of reliability. Both the Lancers and the Vengeances can more reliably put wounds on big things when they're shooting into a target picked out for them by the Thunderstrike, which can be held in Deep Strike reserve and brought in when Jason needs that buff the most. It also occasionally gets lucky with its own guns into bigger targets, and it never hurts to have a fast, tough platform with a 14" move and Fly in your list.
Jason's list is a little lighter on punching than we often see with Dark Angels list, but that doesn't mean opposing units faces are safe from knuckles. Lion Dad, Azrael with Inner Circle Companions, and Deathwing Knights are all adept face smashers in their own rights. Plus, Jason included Sammael and a unit of 3 Outriders, who are basically a Sammael delivery-and-buffing system. The package gives Jason a fast Advance+Charge threat independent of Doctrine choice, and while accompanied by Outriders he's definitely the second-most punchy Dark Angels character, behind only Lion Dad.
For utility units, Jason has Intercessors to hold his backfield objective, Scouts for the usual early screening and hopefully secondary scoring afterwards, and the Gravis Captain with Artificer Armour. Yes, the Grav Cap is fairly punchy too, but I think his real utility is that he's a single model on a 40mm base that's unreasonably difficult to pick up for the points, being Toughness 6 with 6 Wounds, having a 2+/4++/5+++ and halves incoming damage. Jason can keep that sucker in Reserve until he needs to accomplish a positional Secondary, and opponents will have to be really paying attention to make sure they've completely screened out his ability to step on the table. Plus, I've got a notion his secondary purpose is to trigger Lion Dad's Lone Op when Jason wants to forestwalk the boss someplace inconvenient for his opponent.
Jason had a solid 1st round, scoring a comfortable 81-61 against Houndpack Chaos Knights. 2nd round he absolutely obliterated a Chaos Daemons Incursion 96-17. 3rd round he had a close loss, 75-81 against a Thousand Sons Grand Coven (played by the player who took 3rd place). 4th round he mauled an Iron Hands Anvil Siege Force 100-45. He ended the event with a 5th round hammering of Shield Host Custodes, 99-22. Well done Jason!
We'll close out the list reviews with Dylan Wentz's Wrath list. Dylan went 3-1-1 at Oz-Con 2026 and took 9th place. You can see Dylan's list on BCP, and we'll break it down below.
01 Hopefully I roll 4’s Lion Dad - Warlord Azrael Ancient in Terminator Armour: Deathwing Assault Captain in Gravis Armour: Ancient Weapons Lieutenant with Combi-weapon Intercessor Squad: 5 bolter boys Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky swordy boys Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys Eradicator Squad: 3 chonky melta boys Gladiator Lancer Invader ATV Land Speeder Vengeance Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads Sternguard Veteran Squad: 10 awesome bolter boys
Dylan's list starts off with the framework of a fairly typical Wrath list. He's got Lion Dad, two squads of Deathwing Knights, Azrael, a bit of long-distance shooting, and the classic Intercessors+Scouts+Combi-Lieutenant trio. A big brick of Sternguard Veterans don't make it into every Wrath list, but it's not unusual to see, providing both a means of doing mass Devastating Wounds to an opposing unit and another pretty good Fight phase threat with the Deathwing keyword, so it's a Leonine Aggression threat.
Besides the Sternguard, Dylan brought a Gladiator Lancer, a Land Speeder Vengeance, and a small Eradicator squad. We've already discussed the virtues of the Lancer and Vengeance. I will say it's little unusual to just see one Vengeance in a list (I like to run a pair in proximity to goad opponents into triggering the retributive shooting ability), but it's a versatile platform and well worth running solo. The Eradicators are a short range threat, but they're a short range threat that can step through walls, and they'll make an opponent think twice before having a Monster or Vehicle enter their threat envelope. Plus, they provide ablative wounds for the Ancient Weapons Grav Cap, and as a package they are a two-phase unit.
Dylan started the event with that most rare of results, a tie, going 73-73 in the 1st round against Scintillating Daemons. 2nd round he crushed Berserker World Eaters 95-47. 3rd round he drubbed Skitarii Mechanicus 99-66. 4th round he scored a comfortable 81-62 against Houndpack Chaos Knights. Sadly he ended the event with a bruising loss, 45-92 against Pactbound Chaos Marines played by the player who took 2nd place.
Statistics
It wasn't a very busy weekend for Dark Angels players. Just 13 players went to GTs over the weekend, playing 63 games and winning 32, for an unsusually high 52% win rate. There were 3 X/1 result from that. One list podiumed, but there were no event winners.
Edit: It turns out when an event with over 200 players, 10 of whom are Dark Angels players, doesn't post their results till Thursday, it can make a blog author grind his teeth and have to edit his entry. There were actually 23 Dark Angels players over the weekend, which is still only about half that of the weekend before, but that's more in line with the overall difference in total players. It did, however, result in the Dark Angels win rate being a less-suprising 49%.
The majority of Dark Angels players played Wrath of the Rock over the weekend - 10 15 all told, for a 50% underwhelming 46% win rate and 2 X/1 results
The other 3 Six players used the Gladius, scoring a 60% 61% win rate and picking up the last X/1 result.
One player tried the Company of Hunters and managed a 50% win rate
One player tried the Firestorm Assault Force and scored a 25% 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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