Dark Angels Update 8/17/2026
One of those lists is, of course, going to be a Company of Hunters + Darkflight Pursuit list. There were a lot of those lists that performed well over the weekend, but there was one obvious choice. It wasn't played at one of the bigger events, but it was both an event-winning list and it won the most games out of all the lists I had to choose from. This particular list belongs to Cris Hernandez, and with it he went 6-0 and beat 45 other players at the Hole in the Wall GT held in Universal City, TX. Let's check it out.
With the power of Innes Wilson... Lion Dad - Warlord Azrael Attached: Assault Intercessor Squad: 5 choppy boys Sammael Ravenwing Command Squad: Recon Hunter Attached: Outrider Squad Techmarine Intercessor Squad: 5 bolter boys Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky swordy boys Land Speeder Land Speeder Land Speeder Vengeance: Nightforged Battery Land Speeder Vengeance: Nightforged Battery Land Speeder Vengeance: Nightforged Battery Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads Storm Speeder Thunderstrike
Well, it's official. There's a netlist. Don't get me wrong, I'm not throwing shade at anyone using a proven list, just that we've reached a point where the meta is solved, at least until GW does soemthing to shake it up on us. Which I think is coming, but I'll discuss that more in the Statistics section of this article. It's also handy for me because this list serves as a template for all the other CoH+Darkflight lists that did well, because they're all going to be variations of it.
Opponents can't afford to stage too far forward because of the Sammael threat. He and the Ravenwing Command Squad with Recon Hunter attached to the Outriders can potentially storm across 40" of table and deliver 12 Strength 6-7 AP -2/-3 Damage 3 attacks, hitting on 2's, potentially with Lance. Hilariously, that could potentially result in 24 hits just from the characters, because Sammy's melee attacks have Sustained 2 on them! Opponents who are not careful could have that unit in their deployment zone killing something important 1st turn, and then it's 31 Toughness 5 Wounds to chew through before they even get into the mid-board.
Getting there doesn't improve things much for them, because then they face Lion Dad and the unit of Deathwing Knights, not to mention being right where Cris wants them to be so he can pummel them with his Vengeances. Cris opted for the sword Knights - I'm not sure if that's common to the netlist or his innovation, but with Lance available on demand it does make sense. They can make a middle objective very hostile territory for anything an opponent might think about moving onto it.
The rest of the list is largely utility. Playing Recon successfully requires a lot of units that can go places quickly and often do actions as needed. Cris has Intercessors to mind his backfield objective, Assault Intercessors to join with Azrael and hang on his natural expansion objective, a Scout Squad (who are also important to forward-deploy and hold open a lane of advance for Sammy's unit), a pair of Land Speeders, and a Techmarine. The Techmarine is a bit of a head-scratcher. His job could plausibly be to trigger Lion Dad's Lion Op, or to support the Vengeances, but I think maybe he's in the list to go in Reserve and just pop out in a corner in the opponent's backfield Turn 3. Cheap, small base, hard to screen out, and a 2+ save so annoying to remove.
Cris started the event off with a bang. In the 1st round he delivered a 100-42 thrashing to Leagues of Votann (Farseekers; Needgaârd; Purge). 2nd round he schooled Ultramarines (Rec Force; Lib Con; T&H) 97-38. 3rd round Votann (Hearthguard; Needgaârd; Priority) came back for seconds and did much better, but Cris still prevailed 80-72. 4th round he squeaked out a 92-90 against Imperial Knights (Foebreakers; Valourstrike; Purge). 5th round he smashed Tyranids (Ambush; Vanguard; Recon) 100-47. 6th round he had a close game against another Dark Angels (Lion's Blade; Int Con; Purge) list, prevailing 100-90. Congratulations Cris!
That Dark Angels list is actually one of the other lists I wanted to review, so let's look at it now. Thors Ignerson went 5-1 and took 2nd out of 46 at the Hole in the Wall GT with a Lion's Blade + Interrogation Conclave list playing Purge. Let's take a look at that list!
You’re using what detachment???? Asmodai Attached: Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys Chaplain in Terminator Armour: Fulgus Magna Attached: Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky swordy boys Sammael Ravenwing Command Squad: Calibanite Armaments Attached: Outrider Squad: 3 choppy biker boys Chaplain on Bike: Lord of the Hunt Ravenwing Command Squad Attached: Ravenwing Black Knights: 3 awesome plasma biker boys Chaplain in Terminator Armour: Limitless Zeal Attached: Terminator Assault Squad: 10 chonky hammer-shield boys Chaplain in Terminator Armour Attached: Terminator Assault Squad: 10 chonky hammer-shield boys
You may be going "WTF am I looking at?" I did that at first before I had some time to think about it. What Thors is doing here is actually really interesting. First, there's the obvious - there are 28 Terminator bodies with 4+ Wounds and 4++ saves an opponent has to chew through, and those bodies want to come smack them in the face with Strength 6-8 Damage 2 attacks with +1 To Wound and most of them have Devastating Wounds. That's going to punch a lot of things to death. Plus there's Sammy's unit and the Bike Chaplain's unit. Sammy lets his unit go through walls, and the Lion's Blade Knights of Iron strat lets the Bike Chaplain's unit also go through walls. Calibanite Armaments gives the Ravenwing Champion's weapons +1 Damage, so he's doing 4 Damage attacks when he charges, and the Bike Chaplain's unit can get Precision in either the Shooting or the Fight phase with the Exacting Punishment strat - which is hilarious on a unit with a pile AP -3 Damage 2 plasma attacks
All that said, this list has a schtick that goes beyond just punching things to death. It's loaded to the gills with Battle-shock effects. First there's Int Con's detachment rule, which makes all units within 6" of a Chaplain unit -1 Leadership, and if a Chaplain unit kills a unit in the Fight phase, all enemy units within 6" of it have to make a Battle-shock test. Also, all units in Engagement range with a Terminator Assault Squad have to make a Battle-shock test at the start of the Fight phase. The Lion's Blade strat Overpowering Exaction can make an enemy unit in Engagement range take a Battle-shock test, either at the beginning of the Fight phase or in the Command Phase - either Command Phase, with a -1 penalty if they're in engagement range of a Deathwing or Ravenwing unit, which is Thors' whole list. On top of it all, Asmodai makes all enemy Character units in Engagement range with take a Battle Shock test at the start of the Fight phase, at a -1 penalty to the test, so it stacks with the Int Con's -1 to Leadership. Basically once a unit from this army makes it into Engagement range with an opposing unit, it's apt to have to make 2 Battle-shock tests with penalties before the Fight phase is over.
Oh and also Asmodai generates a CP in a turn in which he kills a Character, which makes up some for Azrael not being in the list.
It's kind of wild to me that Thors didn't spend a single point on a utility unit, not even Intercessors to hold his backfield objective. That's not as important when you're not playing Take & Hold though, and given the nature of his list, I'm here for it. If I have one small criticism, it's that I probably would have attached Asmodai to Bladeguard instead of Inner Circle Companions so the unit would have an Invulnerable save, but clearly the lack didn't hamper him much.
Thors got off to a good start. 1st round he bludgeoned Votann (Heartguard; Needgaârd; Priority) 100-63. 2nd round he administered a 100-47 trouncing to Death Guard (Vir Vec; T&H). 3rd round he inflicted a 100-26 brutalizing to T'au (Ret Cad; Purge). 4th round he scored a comfortable 93-77 against Tyranids (Ambush; Vanguard; Recon). 5th round he scored a solid 93-79 against more T'au (Ret Con; Purge). 6th round he went up against Cris' list, suffering a 90-100 loss, but he would have had the satisfaction of knowing he was playing a much more original list, and either way it shook out it was likely to be Dark Angels in the top 2 slots, so it was a win-win! Congratulations Thors!
The last list I'm going to review in this article was the top list at River City Rumble 40k in Edmonton, AB, Canada. Kyle Grant took a Company of Hunters + Interrogation Conclave (T&H) list and beat out 35 other players for the top slot. Let's check out his list.
Oops All Mounted Sammael Ravenwing Command Squad: Recon Hunter Attached: Outrider Squad: 6 choppy biker boys and 1 melta buggy Chaplain on Bike Ravenwing Command Squad Attached: Outrider Squad: 6 choppy biker boys Chaplain on Bike Ravenwing Command Squad Attached: Outrider Squad: 6 choppy biker boys Chaplain on Bike Attached: Outrider Squad: 6 choppy biker boys Outrider Squad: 6 choppy biker boys Outrider Squad: 6 choppy biker boys Ravenwing Black Knights: 6 awesome plasma biker boys Ravenwing Black Knights: 6 awesome plasma biker boys Ravenwing Black Knights: 6 awesome plasma biker boys
If you lost count, that's 59 bikes in one list. Kyle decided to basically flood the table with OC 3 bikes and dare his opponent to chew through them all. If he goes first, he has the opportunity to bottle his opponent up in his deployment zone with Sammy's unit. We talked about how killy it can be discussing the first list. That still applies to this list, but in addition to that it's 49 Toughness 5 wounds an opponent has to grind through just to get out of their deployment zone. Anything getting out of the deployment zone is then going to be set upon with units with + 1 Strength, +1 Damage, and +1 To Wound in the Fight phase, not to mention twin linked Devastating Wounds in the Shooting phase. For bigger, tougher things there's the Black Knights with their plasma talons and Devastating Wounds close combat weapons with Anti-Big Thing 4+ when they charge. Also, the Interrogator Conclave has the Battle-shock shenanigans we looked at previously, so there's a good chance opposing units are apt to be Battle-shocked when it matters, hampering their ability to score or have beneficial strats played on them.
If I have one small criticism, it's that I'd have attached at least one of those Bike Chaplains to a Black Knight unit instead of an Outrider unit, so Kyle could have had a unit with a flood of plasma shots to give Precision to, but I understand why he did it. The Black Knights don't really need +1 To Wound when they charge a Monster or Vehicle, because it doesn't affect their ability to do Dev wounds with Anti-Big Thing, whereas the Outriders are always going to benefit from +1 To Wound in the Fight phase. He's still getting up to 9 plasma shots with 3 of his units anyway, so he probably didn't feel the need to make the tradeoff.
Again, no points spent on utility units. The list is all-rumble, all the time. Chances are he's going to have something in places where he needs them to be, and he can sticky objectives with the Hunter's Trail strat, so he can keep pushing forward aggressively with everything he's got.
Kyle got the party started right with a 98-54 smashing of Chaos Daemons (Plague; Warptide; T&H). 2nd round he crushed Necrons (Cursed; Skyshroud; Purge) 100-35. 3rd round he trashed Orks (Equatorial; Freebooter; T&H) 100-45 - which doesn't surprise me, this list seems like it would run roughshod over Orks. 4th round he brought the pain to Chaos Marines (Solforged; T&H) 100-34. 5th round he ended with a 100-45 pummeling of Votann (Hearthguard; Mercenary; T&H). Well done Kyle!
Honorable Mentions
Mani Cheema, Grischa Gerwert, Jonathan Sleigh-johnson, Innes Wilson, Anthony Maugé, and Borja FM all went 5-1 at WTC Warmaster GT 2026 with CoH+Darkflight (Recon) lists. Alexandre Curulla went 4-1-1 with a similar list.
Mikey Herbert went 7-1 with a CoH+Darkflight (Recon) list at Warhammer 40,000 Grand Tournament - Warhammer Open Newport and placed 3rd out of 190 players.
Geoff Strasser went 4-1 with a CoH+Darkflight (Recon) list at Summer Slaughter: Warhammer 40K Grand Tournament.
Jorgan Goulet went 4-0-1 with a CoH+Darkflight (Recon) list at River City Rumble 40k.
Jarret Robinson went 4-1 with a CoH+Darkflight (Recon) list at Onslaught x Layton GT.
Shaun Reynolds went 4-1 with a CoH+Darkflight (Recon) list at 21st Legion Wargaming Presents: Heart of War 2026 40K hosted by Away Games.
George Kennedy went 4-1 with a CoH+Darkflight (Recon) list at Rose City Rampage II
Chris Titchenell went 4-1 with a CoH+Int Con (T&H) list at Summer Slaughter: Warhammer 40K Grand Tournament.
Zachary Francey went 4-1 with a CoH+Int Con (T&H) list at Hammer of Wrath GT.
Alden Rubin went 4-1 with a CoH+Fulguris (Recon) list at Warhammer 40k RocHard GT 2026.
De Cleyre Gregoire went 5-1 with an ICTF+Lib Con list at WTC Warmaster GT 2026.
Ben Tuttle went 4-1 with an ICTF+Lib Con (Priority) list at Grillin' Dice GT 2026.
William Marciello went 4-1 with a Wrath (Priority) list at Summer of War GT.
Jay Seebarun went 6-1-1 with an ICTF+Darkflight (Priority) list at Warhammer 40,000 Grand Tournament - Warhammer Open Newport.
Brethren, I salute you!
Statistics
Hoo boy, is there a lot to talk about here. Over the weekend, 77 players played 436 games and won 260 of them, earning a 60% win rate. Out of that, we had 26 X/0-X/1 results, 11 podium finishes, and 2 event wins.
Company of Hunters+Darflight Pursuit (Recon) was the most popular and successful detachments choice and dispo by far, with 33 players, a 68% win rate, 16 X-results, 6 podium finishes, and 1 event win.
An interesting blip in the statistics, Company of Hunters+Interrogation Conclave list had 4 players, an 80% win rate, 3 X-results, 2 podium finishes, and the other event win.
Inner Circle Task Force+Librarius Conclave (Priority) had 10 players, a 56% win rate, 2 X-results, and 1 podium finish
Wrath of the Rock had 8 players, a 54% win rate, and 1 X-result.
If Company of Hunters+Darkflight lists are taken out of the pool, the win rate for Dark Angels drops to a much more reasonable 55%.
What to Watch Out For
Based on the number of Top Three finishes, Orks are the top faction, with 4 lists featuring Freebooter Krew and a supporting 1 DP detachment, and 3 War Horde lists.
T'au are next, with 6 Top Three Retaliation Cadre lists and 1 Kauyon+EPC list.
Then, us, with 4 CoH+Darkflight lists, 1 CoH+Int Con list, 1 Lion's Blade+Int Con list, and an ICTF+Lib Con list.
That, honored battle brethren, is what I have for you. 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. Until next week my brethren. May the nerfing be gentle when it comes. For the Lion!
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