Xeno Hunters. There
are very few things in the 40k universe more “40k” than that designation. And now, I can field an entire army of
them? Fantastic.
When the new Deathwatch Overkill box came out, I read the
rules for using the models for 40k and gave a big “eh”; I didn’t typically play
Imperial Armies, and I wasn’t a huge fan of the way that the squads were layed
out. I was most disappointed in the lack
of Battle Brother Allies for Nids from the other half of the box, but the
Deathwatch half didn’t really register on my radar.
Until they announced that it would be its own codex several
months later. So cool!
So, I got my codex a little bit later than I was hoping to
due to some shipping issues (no biggie, it’s in my hot little hands now), and
I’ve got to say that the quality is very high.
I’m not sure they re-used any of the awesome art from the Deathwatch
RPG, but since they’ve never had a codex before, I believe most of the art is
original (and decent, at least). It
seems like they’ve tried to use the squads from Death Masque as much as
possible.
The rules are interesting; the formations really add
something new to the game. In the
Deathwatch formations, instead of just taking a combination of different units
and a set bonus, they instead combine the units to a maximum size of 10 models;
then give them a benefit. It’s sort of
neat to have a unit that’s a combination of Veterans, Terminators and Vanguard
all in one squad. The benefits are
pretty substantial (re-rolling to wound or armor pen against a particular force
org slot), but I’m not sure they overshadow the basic kill team formation, the
Aquila Kill Team, which gets to re-roll to wound and armor penetration rolls of
one against everything.
The special rule the army has is called Mission Tactics –
this rule lets you gain a bonus against a certain battlefield role type when
you enact it at the start of the game.
It lets you re-roll 1’s to hit against said unit type (or a squad
containing at least one model from that particular battlefield role). There are numerous ways to be able to switch
is as the game continues.
So, with that in mind, I’d like to briefly go over all the
various army selections.
HQ:
Watch Captain:
The
Watch Captain is just a basic marine captain that costs 5 more points, but has
special ammunition (the same as Sternguard, and this is a recurring theme in
the army for characters). He is a little
more limited in the wargear he can take, so no bikes for our lovely captain, or
any of the special Deathwatch swords/hammers.
I really feel like this is a missed opportunity for GW.
Watch Master:
The
Chapter Master analogue. Comes stock
with artificer armor, which is a nice touch.
Also comes with a great weapon, the Guardian Spear, which is basically
the same weapon that the Adeptus Custodes get to use. It’s a +1 Str AP2 at I weapon, so pretty
good; plus it has an inbuilt bolter with specialist ammo. He also lets you switch Mission Tactics an
additional time. He’s good, but I don’t
really see taking him a lot compared to some of the other characters.
Chaplain:
A normal,
codex standard Chaplain with less options (no bike or JP) and costs 5 more
points (for specialist ammo). Not a bad
deal, and can really augment some of the super bad ass Deathwatch CC squads.
Librarian:
Again, 5
more points..blah blah blah. However, an
awesome character for Deathwatch. Since
most of the formations, including the humble Aquila Kill-team, can take a
Librarian as an add-on, you can score just a ton of these dudes in your
army. Luckily, they have access to all
the new Marine powers as well, so you can really customize your psychic phase
with these bros.
Watch Captain Artemis:
I really feel like the special character Captain from Death Masque needs
his own mention. He’s 145 pts, so 50
extra points over a standard Watch Captain.
You get a power sword, unlimited use poison 2+ template, a great set
warlord trait (change Mission Tactics once), and FnP 6+. In addition, he has a Statis Bomb that lets
you make a D-strength close combat attack that hits himself if it misses –
which is pretty rad. He’s a great
character, well worth the extra points you pay for him. I’d take him over a standard Watch Captain
any day of the week (which you need one of in order to field the Watch Company,
which we’ll talk about later).
Elites:
Terminators:
Deathwatch Terminators are pretty boss, as
terminators go. You can take them in
squads of 1+ (another theme for picking units), and they’re Fearless
standard. Also, they have the option for
every single terminator to take a heavy or special weapon – I’d love to see a
squad of all Assault Cannons tearing up the field. The can also mix and match their squads –
like Deathwing, so some Assault Terminators and some shooty ones. Finally, they have the option to take a new
close combat weapon – a powerfist with a built-in meltagun. A super solid option for a squad that is
going to deepstrike often! I think they
really shine in the combined units with the different kill-team formations, as they
grant the squad fearless plus give some nice CC attacks.
Dreadnoughts:
Standard Dreadnought fare. If you bring them in the Decurion formation,
they can DS without a drop pod, which is nice.
Venerable Dreadnoughts:
Again, same stuff.
Vanguard Veterans:
Vanguard Vets are a little more playable in Deathwatch. With combined squads, they give you the
option to add some really cheap specialist close combat weapons to your units. They have Jump Packs stock, and come with
special ammo for their bolt pistols.
Definitely a great choice, either as part of a kill team or on their own.
