Review: Blood Angels Death Company army set

Following the Black Templars and Dark Angels, the Sons of Sanguinius are now receiving their own wave of new Primaris models and a codex for the 10th Edition. In this review, we take a look at the new Death Company-themed Blood Angels army set, including high-res sprue images and a preview of the new rulebook.

The Blood Angels army set can be preordered from Saturday, August 24, 2024. It goes on sale two weeks later, following a two-week preorder window. Please note that with all army sets, there will be only one production run, so it’s available only until stocks last.

Included in the box are a mix of old and new models:

• Astorath, High Chaplain of the Blood Angels
• Chaplain Lemartes
• 4 copies of the new Blood Angels upgrade sprue
• 10 Assault Intercessors (existing models)
• 10 Assault Intercessors with jump packs (existing models)
• a Brutalis Dreadnought (existing model)
• the new Blood Angels codex expansion book
• Datasheet and detachment cards
• new transfer sheets

Death Company army set models review

The army set mainly consists of old models, except for the two new characters. However, you get four (!) of the new Blood Angels upgrade sprues, providing the necessary 20 Intercessor-sized shoulder pads to equip all models with Blood Angels insignias. There is also a brand-new transfer sheet, which includes not only Blood Angels icons but also chapter symbols for the Flesh Tearers, Angels Sanguine, and Angels Encarmine.

High-Chaplain Astorath & Chaplain Lemartes assembled

The new model of Chaplain Astorath stays true to its predecessor in both design and pose, but it has now been scaled up to Primaris size. The model comes on a small sprue with a 40mm base, though there are no build or posing options. However, there is an optional part for base decoration: a Death Company helmet lying in the dust (Part 17). Assembly is straight-forward, though you might get a seam when you want to keep the jump pack and wings separate for painting, as half of the jump pack is fused with Astorath’s upper body.

Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.

The design of the new Chaplain Lemartes also strongly resembles the old model but with a different take on the pose. Lemartes is captured in a “come get at me” pose while standing on a scenic marble base. Although his body appears somewhat short in photos, his proportions seem correct in 3D. Like Astorath, Lemartes’ kit consists of a small sprue with a 40mm base. The highly complex model with its 26 parts is monopose, with no alternative bitz or build options.

The new Blood Angels upgrade sprue

The new Primaris upgrade sprue for the Blood Angels is a massive improvement over the previous version. Spread across two small sprue halves, you’ll find a total of 10 heads, 27 shoulder pads, various icons for tanks and Dreadnoughts, weapon arms, and decorative elements.

In detail, one set includes:

• 27 shoulder pads (6 regular Intercessor/Firstborn size pads, 5 Reiver/Infiltrator pads, 5 new size Terminator pads, 5 Heavy Intercessor/Eradicator pads, 3 Aggressor/Inceptor pads, 3 Bladeguard pads)
• 10 heads (1 Intercessor helmet, 1 Terminator helmet, 7 bare heads, 1 bare head for Terminators)
• 1 left arm with chainsword, 1 left arm with power sword, a two-handed eviscerator, 1 right arm with inferno pistol
• 1 Terminator chest plate, 1 Terminator left arm with power sword, 1 Terminator storm bolter piece
• 9 small Blood Angels trinkets, two banner tops, 1 tilting shield
• 8 vehicle decorations with a flat back (2 different blood drop icons, 3 winged blood drop icons, 3 crossed skull Death Company icons) – note that the Warhammer Community graphic is wrong here, the winged blood drop and Death company icons are included 3x per sprue, not 2x, as you can see in the sprue image

Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.

In total, you get four copies of the upgrade sprue in this box.

Assault Intercessors, Jump Pack Intercessors & Brutalis Dreadnought

Besides the two new Blood Angels characters and the upgrade sprues, the rest of the models are existing kits. We reviewed the Jump Pack Intercessors in this post, and for sprue images and details on the Brutalis Dreadnought, check out our review of Strike Force Agastus.

Blood Angels Codex expansion overview

The Blood Angels Codex Supplement comprises nearly 110 full-colour pages and comes in a stylish matte cover with red gloss foil accents. It is bundled with the datasheet cards (and the assembly guide) in a thin folder made of thick paper, held together by a red elastic band.

The book itself is similar in size to the Black Templars codex. It features around 40 pages of lore, though unfortunately with very little new artwork. This is followed by 10 pages of miniatures showcases and photography, including a Combat Patrol section with some basic painting guides, Crusade rules, and, of course, the new detachment rules and datasheets. There are three new detachments: the Liberator Assault Group, The Lost Brethren, and The Angelic Host.

15 datasheets are included. No longer included are datesheets for Librarian Dreadnoughts, Furioso Dreadnoughts, Gabriel Seth, Sanguinary Priest with Jump Pack, Captain Tycho, Tycho the Lost, and Brother Corbulo. The weapon loadouts correspond to the contents of the new Sanguinary Guard and Intercessors plus the upgrade sprue, not the older versions. So, if you have older models, you might need to adjust their loadouts accordingly.

Value

The Blood Angels Death Company box with its RRP of £140 / 180 € / $230 is one of the mor expensive army sets. However, if you add up the value of the models and the game materials, and calculate the cost of the four upgrade sprues separately, you get a total value of approx. £346. This equates to a saving of around 60% compared to buying everything individually, which is significantly higher than comparable army sets that typically offer a discount of around 30 to 40%. The downside is that many of the models aren’t new. Nevertheless, I think the box will sell out quickly due to the attractive discount, so check to see if it’s still available:

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