Dark Angels Update 5/4/2026


 Greetings honored battle brethren! It's the beginning of a new week, so it's time for the Dark Angels update! It was an active weekend with a lot of big events and a robust Dark Angels presence. Unfortunately, out of all that I only have one list to bring to your attention. 

Our one list this week was played heroically by PJ Brady, who went 5-1 and took 7th out of 88 with his Stormlance Task Force at the Bajio Open 2026, El Bunker, held in Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico. You can check out PJ's list on Best Coast Pairings. We'll discuss it below.

Vengeance Calls Lion Dad - Warlord Azrael Lieutenant with Combi-weapon Ravenwing Command Squad: Hunter's Instincts Intercessor Squad: 5 bolter boys Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys Land Speeder Vengeance Land Speeder Vengeance Land Speeder Vengeance Outrider Squad: 3 choppy biker boys plus 1 melta buggy Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads

It's been a while since we've discussed a Stormlance list in this blog, so just a quick reminder, the detachment rule allows all Adeptus Astartes units to declare a Charge after making an Advance or Fall Back move. So, the game plan with a Stormlance is ABC - Always Be Charging.

As you can imagine, in a detachment which allows unlimited Advance and Charge and Fall Back and Charge, PJ took a lot of good assault units: Lion Dad, 2 units of Deathwing Knights, a squad of Inner Circle Companions with Azrael leading it, and a Ravenwing Command Squad with attached Outriders. Not only are all those units good at punching things to death, but that's also a lot of Invulnerable saves for opponents to try and chew through. You can check out this article for why these units are good and why.  

I'm really interested in PJ's bike unit, because he did a thing I don't think I've seen before. Before getting to that, the strength of the combined RWCS+Outrider unit is that it bumps the Ravenwing Champion's melee to Strength 6 Damage 3 after a charge (and the other two members to Strength 6 Damage 2), and the Apothecary can resurrect slain members of the squad for added durability. The Hunter's Instinct enhancement allows it to come out of Reserve Turn 1, which includes Rapid Ingress, which lets PJ set it up for ideal charging potential. The interesting thing is that he included an attached Invader ATV to the 3-man Outrider squad. I have literally never seen that in a list I've reviewed before. I actually had a moment of confusion when I saw the points cost of the unit in the list before I realized what he did. I suspect he did it to save points over a 6-man Outrider Squad. The ATV is 20 points cheaper than 3 Outriders and brings 8 ablative wounds to the table. PJ can't have the Apothecary resurrect it, but it does afford him the option of taking wounds on 2 Outriders, then the ATV, then potentially the Ancient before he has to take wounds on that final Outrider and lose the Charge buff it provides. 

For fire support PJ included a trio of Land Speeders Vengeance, which are a nice, fast, versatile platform. They're not the greatest for popping heavier vehicles and monsters, but with their plasma storm battery being Twin-Linked, they can be relied upon to do at least some damage to them, and they'll absolutely murder most Infantry or Mounted units.  We're probably getting pretty close to the last ride for these guys, so it's nice to see a list do well with them.

For utility work, PJ brought the usual Combi-Lieutenant+Intercessors+Scouts trio. They clearly served him well.

PJ had a surprisingly low-scoring 53-48 against War Horde Orks in the 1st round, but a win is a win. 2nd round he crushed Recon Militarum 100-55. 3rd round he similarly murdered Infernal Lance Chaos Knights 100-55. 4th round he had a close 79-71 against Chaos Marines Pactbound Zealots. 5th round Infernal Lance Chaos Knights came back for more, and were again humbled 90-61. 6th round he took his loss, a bruising 50-85 against Mont'ka T'au. It's sad to for the loss to be in the final round, but on the other hand that is a 5-0 event start. Way to go PJ!

Statistics

It was a rough weekend for the legion chapter. We had 36 players play 187 games and win 72 of them, for a dismal 40% win rate. Only one of those games was an X/1 result, with event wins or podium results. 

As usual, Wrath of the Rock was the most played detachment, with 30 players who tragically only earned a 39% win rate.

Two players tried the new hotness, the Armored Speartip, and they managed a 50% win rate between them.

PJ earned an 83% win rate and the one X/1 result with his Stormlance

One player got a 60% win rate with a Ceramite Sentinels list.

One player got a 40% win rate with his Gladius list

Finally one diehard got a 33% win rate with his Unforgiven list.

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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