What I Like Today - Azrael

Welcome to another WILT article for today, I've not had much chance over the last couple of days to get one done because I've been too busy. However, last night I was having a skim of the Dark Angels codex to check up some special rules I was unsure of and read Azrael's rules properly. I'd been using him in my last few lists in prep for a tournament soon but didn't realise he had a few of the extra rules.

Deathwing / Ravenwing
The original reason I chose to take Azrael was as a quick way of getting Deathwing and Ravenwing as scoring units, without me having to take both Belial and Sammael, as I don't own Sammael.

Azrael lets me take both for just over 200pts in one handy package.

The Protector
This is a suit of Artificer armour which also bestows a 6+ feel no pain, which means Azrael can happily tank wounds and deal with AP3 weaponry. The only downside is that it doesnt give the "Grand Master of the Dark Angels" the Eternal Warrior special rule.

Lion Helm
The Lion Helm is a cracking bit of wargear that gives Azrael's unit a 4+ Invulnerable save. Decent enough with a Tactical Marine squad, even better when you combine it with a big Imperial Guard platoon squad.

Warlord Traits
Azrael can choose any of the traits from the Dark Angels Warlord table, which is pretty handy too, as you can then tailor to what you need from the game. Personally I like the Feel No Pain within range of objective (although only on works on Dark Angels units) and also the modifiers to reserve rolls is quite handy too, so I can try and get Flyers on when I need to.

Rites of Battle
Something I didn't realise when I picked him is that he has the Rites of Battle special rule, meaning all units from the DA Codex use his leadership while he's on the table. Which means I don't have to be spending points on Veteran Sergeants in my units in order to get the LD boost on the unit.

Inner Circle
Azrael also has the Inner Circle special rule which makes him Fearless and also gives him benefits against Chaos Space Marine units.

Sword of Silence
Being a S6 AP3 weapon means that Azrael doesn't have to drop to 1 attack and use Krak Grenades against vehicles, which is pretty decent.

So that's it for now, so far I'm really enjoying my games using him, another WILT installment some time soon!

SB

(Song - "If You Love These People" from Man of Steel Soundtrack)