Bloodwing Again

If you'll remember, I've been wracking my brains to put together a good Bloodwing army.  For those of you just joining us, Bloodwing is a Blood Angels variant army with Dante in command, making Sanguinary Guard Troops choices.  It's an elite army, similar to Deathwing, Loganwing, and so on.  My previous efforts are here and here.  Stelek finally hopped on the bandwagon and posted his thoughts on Sanguinary Guard here. 

So, let's look again at what makes Dante and SG worth fielding.

Dante allows 1 unit to DS without scatter, obviously useful for bringing meltas and possibly flamers, depending on the enemy, into good position to do lots of damage.  Sanguinary Guard are very short ranged, so having accurate DS gives you a bit of breathing room and at least 1 assured KO on a tank or MC you may run across.  Dante also gives his unit H&R, meaning you can bounce out of unfavorable combats and head somewhere else.  This helps him avoid getting insta-killed (no EW and only a 4++), but it also lets you bring your shooting to bear anywhere you may need it (3D6" plus normal jump pack mobility is awesome) and ensures that you will get to enjoy Furious Charge as much as possible.  Dante also nerfs an enemy IC, which may not always come up but it does help remove one of the big threats to your SG: armor-ignoring killing machines that strike before them.

Sanguinary Guard themselves all sport power weapons, short range storm bolters with AP4, jump packs and 2+ saves.  Even without FNP they can shrug off most any weapon, but AP1/2 really scares them.  Infernus Pistols can swap in to help handle armor/tough targets, and a powerfist is never out of style.  A Chapter Banner in a unit is also a good bet to make the most of their power weapons.  FC makes them even more potent, and FNP just makes them ludicrously resilient against everything that isn't S8+, AP1/2, or ignores armor in HtH.

Right off the bat, we're led to Deep Strike as a way to avoid getting shot up on approach and make the most of Dante's rules as well as DoA.  All DS armies need a few things to work.  Librarians are a necessity for psychic defense and Blood Lance.  SHP in some form are needed for their FNP/FC bubble of awesome.  Vanguard Vets are needed to spearhead your assault, chew up bubblewrap/bunkers on the drop, and keep your opponent from being able to hold you at arm's length while shooting you up.  They, along with Honor Guard are also the only way to bring in Storm Shields.

So, after much deliberation, here's my latest try.

HQ
Dante
Librarian w/ jump pack, Blood Lance, Shield of Sanguinius
Honor Guard w/ 3 meltas, 2 flamers, powerfist

Elites
2 Sanguinary Priests w/ jump packs, hand flamers


Troops
Sanguinary Guard w/ 2 infernus pistols, powerfist, Chapter Banner
2x Sanguinary Guard w/ 2 infernus pistols, powerfist

Fast Attack
2x 5 Vanguard, powerfist, 2 single LCs, 3 storm shields

Total - 2000

So I stopped worrying about the 2nd unit of Honor Guard because the 1 extra storm shield and bodies really ended up costing a lot for not much benefit.  Vanguard can assault on arrival, and I can't just rely on 1 unit to see me through.  Dante goes with the HG most days to make the most of his melta (or support the VV), but he can also jump in with the Chapter Banner SG if I don't need the melta as much.  That would be a ton of attacks jumping in and bouncing away.  Vanguard are there to jump in, murder stuff, and then survive all sorts of punishment to follow.  They aren't quite as good as TH/SS Termies, but their added moblity, Heroic Intervention, and buffs from nearby Priests can tip the balance in their favor.

I'm still trying to decide on my Librarian's 2nd power.  Sword is handy for the extra S10 to bust Dreads or vehicles, but Shield gives me some protection against the scourges of my existence (AP2/1), and Unleash Rage just makes the SG that much more potent.  It'll all come down to more testing I'm sure.

So, thoughts on this latest iteration?