Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-26027210-20150120202922/@comment-25869775-20150123224230

You want a ranged army. 7th edition is more ranged than close combat when it comes to a tactical based army (as opposed to a horde army). And that fits DA. Get some tactical squads for troops; two of those and a devastator squad should be a good meaty center. For "powerhouse" there are two ways I would suggest to go, either DA characters (they are very good usually) and you can have them supported with veterans, or if you don't want characters then definitely go for a hefty Deathwing.

Have a fast attack option, 2 land spears are good enough. Assault squads/bike squads are rarely large enough to stand against a chaos close combat unit, or a big ork unit (unless you feield a 50 strong Ravenwing ofcourse). For transport try to divide it up, maybe the elited in pods and troops in rhinos, or vice versa. You need ranged fire power to win as a sm army in 7th edition. Have a predator in there, Land Raders are good if you want your Hq not in the pods... Think firepower and you'll be okay.