Index: Deathwatch v.2.0 – The Goonhammer Review

Merry Grotmas! Games Workshop is releasing a new series of detachments – one per army, every day until Christmas. In this series we’re looking at these new rules, covering what’s in them, how they play, and how they’ll fit into the broader meta and your games. Today we’re covering a whole new Index for Deathwatch Space Marines.

If you were a Deathwatch player before tenth edition, it’s hard not to feel like you’ve been done incredibly dirty. First they seemingly forget about you for the better part of a year, leaving you out of points and balance updates (save for some early nerfs, however necessary), then your army gets more or less Squatted with the release of Codex: Imperial Agents, reduced to four datasheets in a weird hybrid book. Well I’ve got good news for you: We’re back to having a full army supplement to Codex: Space Marines, with a new (old) index and the return of the Black Spear Task Force Detachment. But is this just a reprint of old rules or is there something new here? Let’s dig in to find out.

We’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of these rules for Review purposes.

Why Should You Play This Faction?

Simply put, the Deathwatch are the coolest marines in all of Warhammer 40k. Forget the stupid wolf marines, toss aside the robed crazies, and ignore the pretty vampire weirdos. These are the Spec Ops of the Space Marine forces, elite warriors pulled from every chapter and dedicated to the eradication of Xenos threats. They have sick custom rules, slick black armor, and the only modern non-Primaris marine sculpts. There’s a reason Space Marine 2 starts with a Deathwatch mission.

In terms of rules, the Deathwatch are all about running small, highly specialized kill teams made of marines from different squads. These can be customized to your play style and refined based on which models and weapons you want in them.

Army Rule: Kill Teams

Each time an attack targets a KILL TEAM unit from your army that has models with different Toughness characteristics, until the attacking unit finishes making its attacks, use the Toughness characteristics of the majority of the models in that unit when determining what they need to roll to wound. If two or more values are tied, use the highest Toughness value.

For the purposes of determining which models can embark in a TRANSPORT, KILL TEAM models follow the regular restrictions.

This has been carried forward from the original Index, though the context in which you’ll apply it has changed. With Proteus Kill Teams gone, the only place this rule will see use is in Talonstrike Kill Teams, where you mix Intercessors with Jump Packs with Heavy Intercessors with Jump Packs (read: Inceptors). This effectively means that as long as you don’t add a T4 character to the unit, they’ll essentially be able to act as a ten-model T6 unit as long as you keep allocating wounds to the T4 Assault Intercessors. Think of it as having ten ablative wounds for your Inceptors.

In addition to this rule, Deathwatch regained the Oath of Moment rule from Codex: Space Marines, which is a significant improvement over their Imperial Agents version, whose army rule was “you can take this in other armies.”

The Detachment: Black Spear Task Force

The Deathwatch have one Detachment: The Black Spear Task Force. This is a revived version of the Detachment they had with the launch of tenth edition, pretty much recreated exactly. Teleportarium has been replaced with Site-to-Site Teleportation, which puts your units into Strategic Reserves and gives them the Deep Strike ability until the end of your next Movement phase. Otherwise, it hasn’t changed and well, it’s just OK. The different ammo types are interesting, and the Enhancements are solid. But we’re living in a post-Codex world, and you’re more than welcome to just take one of the Detachments in Codex: Space Marines. There are plenty of solid options if you want to go that route, and some interesting combos to consider with the abilities you get from the new and improved Kill Teams.

What’s New in this Index

We’ve already mentioned that the Black Spear Task Force is back, more or less in the same form as earlier. So what’s new this time around?

• Updated Datasheets. The Datasheets for Artemis, Watch Masters, and Veterans have all been updated to reflect the changes made in Codex: Agents of the Imperium. That’s a good thing for Artemis and the Watchmaster, less great for the Veterans, who lost some of their wargear versatility.

• Special Ammo. The biggest change to the Black Spear Detachment is to the three special ammo stratagems, which can now be used on any KILL TEAM unit and affect more than just bolt weapons. This opens up some crazy combos. 

• New Datasheet. Deathwatch Terminators have a new Datasheet, and it’s an improvement over the old one in the Index. Specifically, their Terminatus Assault rule has been improved, giving them re-rolls to Charge rolls and forcing Xenos units to take a Battle-shock test at -1 after they’ve been charged.

• Removed Datasheets. Deathwatch Bike Squads, Kill Team Cassius, and Proteus Kill Teams are gone, having moved on to Legends.

• New Kill Teams. The bulk of the Datasheet changes here are to the kill teams. We have a new kill team for Jump Pack Intercessors – Talonstrike Kill Teams – while Fortis Kill Teams can now have all the new toys Intercessors get, Indomitor teams can take more Aggressors and Eradicators, and Spectrus Teams can take more Phobos models. In addition to moving comps around, several teams got new special rules.

If you’re a veteran Deathwatch player, this new iteration of the army is likely going to look fairly familiar, but there are enough changes here to make for some interesting builds and tinkering. The Deathwatch are very much about playing around with weird combos and in the margins and there are still plenty of opportunities to do that with the faction in this new iteration. 

Five Things to Know About This Faction

• Kill Teams Are Your Unique Edge. If you’re going to play Deathwatch – actually play them, and not just run them as standard Space Marines – then you’re going to need to play with Kill Teams. Aside from Deathwatch Veterans (which can be run in units of 5), Kill Teams are expensive and inflexible, requiring ten models. But they have some real punch, often packing abilities that may be superior to their Codex Cousins. It’s worth looking into these and figuring out how you can make the most of them.

• You Aren’t Limited to the Black Spear Task Force. Don’t think you have to take the Deathwatch Detachment – there are plenty of solid ways to play this army with the Gladius Task Force or Vanguard Spearhead Detachments. 

• Special Ammo is Much More Special. You aren’t limited to the Black Spear, but you may want to take it now that the Detachment’s three special ammo Stratagems – Hellfire Rounds, Kraken Rounds, and Dragonfire rounds – can now be used by any KILL TEAM unit (this includes Terminators and Veterans), and not just on bolt weapons. This opens up a host of options and some pretty nasty combos.

• Fortis Teams Have a Lot More Options. Fortis Teams picked up a host of new tricks, owing to the inclusion of a number of new weapon options. You can’t mix Outriders into the unit any more, but now you can give them a pyreblaster or superfrag rocket launcher, turning them into more of a ranged threat. Their Fortis Doctrines rule has also been improved, giving you +1 to hit if your target is below starting strength and +1 to wound if your target is below half.

• The Corvus Blackstar is Still Bad. That poor thing hasn’t gotten any new rules this time around, either. And it’s still much too expensive for what it gives you. That said, it’s still cheaper than a Stormraven, with the same transport capacity.

The Kill Teams

There are four kill teams in Index: Deathwatch, one of which is totally new and the other three of which have had updates. Each of these teams has to be ten models, and there’s no Combat Squads ability to split them. That said, if you want to take five Assault Intercessors, you can just opt for a regular unit of them, so taking these is really more a question of how much you want the team-specific special abilities. And the good news there is that the ability Kill Teams get tends to be better than what these units normally get on their Datasheets, typically boosting their offensive output.

Talonstrike Kill Team

The new addition to the Kill Team roster, Talonstrike Kill Teams are where all the jump pack infantry went. These teams are made of ten models, up to five of which can be “Heavy Intercessors with Jump Packs,” i.e. Inceptors. That makes this the only mixed-Toughness option in Index: Deathwatch, as Inceptors have Toughness 6. 

Ability: Talonstrike Doctrines. Each time this unit is set up on the battlefield, until the end of the turn, improve the AP of weapons of models in this unit by 1, and Melee weapons in the unit gain [LANCE].

This is really good and would be absolute fire if you had a way to consistently make charges after setting up. Unfortunately there’s no transport you can take which can hold ten Jump models so that [LANCE] ability is limited to Deep Striking units, making it just kind of bad – if you get it, great, but it’s not likely. That said, getting +1 AP on the drop with 5 Inceptors is really good, especially if you combine it with something like Kraken Rounds in Black Spear or Strike from the Shadows in Vanguard Spearhead to get a +2 AP bonus. At AP-3, Assault Bolters suddenly become very nasty, though Plasma Exterminators at AP-4 or AP-5 are pretty spicy too if you’re combining them with Lethal Hits or Sustained Hits from Mission Tactics. This is a strategy that really requires you to be able to pull the unit back into deep strike repeatedly, and fortunately both the Black Spear and Vanguard Detachments provide that. And with five Jump Assault Intercessors in tow, your unit will be able to avoid the biggest problem Inceptors have – getting charged and being stuck in combat for a few turns. 

Also, by giving your Assault Intercessors Plasma Pistols, you give them the ability to tank failed hazardous tests for your Inceptors, since the Hazardous rule only requires choosing a model with a Hazardous weapon.

Note that, per the Leader rules, your attached characters won’t count for Toughness math – you use the Toughness of the bodyguard unit until they are destroyed, and the Toughness of that unit is determined by the Kill Team rule, i.e. the majority.

Fortis Kill Team

The old dog returns, but with a bunch of new tricks. Fortis Kill Teams have now picked up the toys they were missing from late ninth and early tenth edition, and can now include up to four each of plasma incinerators, sword and bolt pistol, and pyreblasters, and can add up to two superfrag rocket launchers. This is an interesting mix, and lets you build with a bit more focus than before, though the results are still going to feel pretty wild. The good news is that Fortis teams have an updated rule: They now get +1 to hit against units below Starting Strength, and +1 to wound against units below Half Strength. That +1 to hit is a solid buff to everything but Pyreblasters and the +1 to wound is a fine bonus when you get it.

If you’re going for maximum shootiness, you can take two rocket marines, four plasma incinerators, and then four bolt rifles, upgrading two of them to have grenade launchers. That gives you some solid ranged output and you can give the Sergeant a Thunder Hammer and plasma pistol for a little bit of extra juice. 

Is this hybrid something you’d actually want to run over say, a Desolation Squad or Hellblasters? Well, +1 to hit can be better than ignoring cover with indirect shots, and firing on death with Hellblasters doesn’t do anything until you die, plus you can buff the damage output on these shots with ammo Stratagems, and that might be enough cause to consider taking a Fortis Kill Team instead.

Fortis Kill Teams can be joined by a Watchmaster, Artemis, or any leader who can join a unit of Intercessors. To that end, Artemis is okay, giving the unit Lethal Hits, but not necessarily a better option than a Lieutenant or Apothecary Biologus.

Indomitor Kill Team

The big chonky boy Gravis Kill Team, these have been revised from their prior iteration, removing Inceptors but giving you the option to take up to three each of Aggressors and Eradicators in your unit with Heavy Intercessors. You’re pretty much always going to want three Eradicators here, giving one a Multi-Melta; the question is how many Aggressors you want to run. Let’s put a pin in that and talk about the unit ability.

The standout star here is the unit’s ability, Indomitor Doctrines, which gives the unit +2 Strength on its attacks when either attacking the closest eligible target or hitting in melee after a charge. That’s extremely good when you stop to consider the possibility of S11 Melta Rifles, particularly boosted with [ASSAULT] and [IGNORES COVER] from Dragonfire Rounds. S10 Power Fists from the Aggressors aren’t bad, either, and S6 Flamestorm Gauntlets which can get an AP boost via Stratagem are pretty scary as well. 

If there’s a weak link here you’d think it’d be the Heavy Intercessors, but they get a phenomenal glow-up here. Specifically, note that Deathwatch Heavy Bolt rifles are Damage 2. Oh and also? Their Deathwatch Heavy Bolters are Damage 3, with a 3+ to hit. Oh and they’re all AP-2 with Lethal Hits. That means a unit of these going after the closest visible target is popping out S7 shots at AP-2, 2 damage before any buffs are applied. That’s an insane damage profile to work with on a unit that can further buff their AP and the result is that a unit of seven Heavy Intercessors packing two heavy bolters plus three Eradicators packing a single Multi-Melta, with enough firepower to kill god, teleporting around the table and blowing up the nearest unit whenever it appears.

Merry Grotmas, Deathwatch players, this is your real present.

Spectrus Kill Team

Similar to the other Kill Teams, Spectrus Kill Teams received a bit of a shake-up as well. They’re now 100% Phobos marines, able to take up to ten Infiltrators, up to three Eliminators, and up to four each of Incursors or Reivers, in a squad of ten models. These teams have Infiltrators and Scout 6”, and have retained the Spectrus Doctrines rule, allowing them to leave the battlefield at the end of your opponent’s turn if they’re more than 6” away from any enemy units.

There are a few ways you can go with this unit but opting to make them full shooty seems like the best choice. That means three Eliminators with Bolt Sniper Rifles or Las Fusils, and for the record I like the idea of taking three Bolt Sniper Rifles and four Deathwatch Bolt Carbines for an insane character-hunting unit, giving one model a Marksman Bolt Carbine for the chance at a CP refund with the Infiltrator Comms Array.  These guys lose the Infiltrators 12” no reserves aura, so their value shifts to being character hunters, where having 11 PRECISION shots going out gives you a lot of power to work with once you start adding in special Ammo Stratagems.

That said, this is probably the weakest option of the bunch, since this is a bit of a gimmick and otherwise the melee and bolt carbine options just aren’t very good. The sniper unit is a fun concept, but you’re probably just better off taking another Indomitor Kill Team and killing the whole unit with raw damage output. 

Deathwatch Terminators

Though not a Kill Team, it’s worth talking about Death Watch Terminator Squads, who get a new datasheet in this Index. They pack a standard Terminator profile with Deep Strike and the Teleport Homer rule, but now they come with improved weapon loadouts and an upgraded Terminatus Assault Ability. Terminatus Assault now lets them re-roll charge moves, and when they end their charge move, they force a Battle-shock test on each enemy unit within Engagement Rage, giving those units a -1 if they aren’t IMPERIUM or CHAOS units. That’s a nifty ability that does a ton of work, and can be a big help for scoring or keeping an opponent off interrupts. On the wargear side of things, Deathwatch Terminators can customize like no one else, taking up to three Assault Cannons, Heavy Flamers, Plasma Cannons, or Cyclone Missile launchers per unit (even in a unit of five). 180 points is an incredibly good deal for five Terminators with three heavy weapons, and you can opt to drop thunder hammers and storm shields on the other two, giving you some extra ablative wounds for your unit and some brutal melee output.

Playing Deathwatch

How you play Deathwatch will depend heavily on your Detachment Choice, though you’re generally going to want to have a Detachment which gives you a lot of up-and-down action. That’s something you get in Black Spear and also Vanguard Spearhead, where both give you the ability to pick units back up and put them into reserves. Gladius is also perennially good. 

Before Agents of the Imperium, the core of a Deathwatch army – particularly one running the Black Spear Task Force – was Deathwatch Veterans. The ability to outfit a unit for melee with two thunder hammers per five models, plus Xenophase blades, shields, and power weapons gives you a potent melee missile that can re-roll hit rolls of 1 (or better) in melee, and giving one a Watchmaster gives them the ability to Advance and Charge. You can also join a Judiciar to the unit, gives them Fights First and some extra melee push, making them a nightmare to charge. 

As far as Kill Teams go, both the Talonstrike and Indomitor teams have some real punch to them. Taking a pair of Talonstrike teams and continually using the Site-to-Site Teleportation Stratagem on them to leave and return to the table, activating their +1 AP bonus each time is very strong, and decent with either gun loadout. Likewise the Indomitor Team just packs an insane punch at a large range, making them an absolute nightmare for enemy vehicles and heavy infantry. And while normally you can’t reach an opponent out of Deep Strike for Melta Range, you can throw down the Kraken Rounds Stratagem from Black Spear to add an extra 6” onto your range and get the damage buff out of deep strike. You can easily build an entire army of Deathwatch units that shape up to something competitively viable.

But you don’t have to: You’re also free to grab whatever the best marine units and combos are, so long as you avoid playing with the other CHAPTER units. In this case, the Indomitor Team is one of those, but beyond that you’ve got the same options as everyone else. Take a couple of five-man units of Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs and go melee heavy, pack a Rhino or two to transport your Veterans with their attached character, and take the vehicle support that makes the most sense. To that end, a Storm Speeder Thunderstrike isn’t a terrible shout for the extra wounding power against Monsters and Vehicles, as that’s something you’re likely going to struggle with a bit more and getting your Indomitors to a 2+ with their melta shots is pretty nasty.

If you’re taking a Captain, note that Watch Masters and Captains have identical abilities, but with different names, meaning you can use each of those abilities each battle round, letting you double up on free Stratagems.

A Sample list

There’s a lot to play with here, and my first instinct is to just dump all of the best stuff I just mentioned into a list.

A sample list - Click to Expand

OK so the idea here is that one unit of Veterans goes in the Rhino, and which one will depend on the opponent. Another big unit goes with the Watchmaster, who gives them Advance and Charge, and the small unit goes with the Librarian, though those can switch up depending on your Deep Strike needs. Speaking of Deep Striking, there are two Talonstrike Teams here and one Indimitor, ready to deliver haymakers at various ranges. They’ve got support from a Land Speeder Thunderstrike, who can pop out, tag a target, and then you can use your Indomitors to light it up, using Kraken Rounds to extend your range and AP as needed. 

This list almost certainly needs some refinement, and taking five units of ten marines is certainly a statement of some kind. It may be that it wants more small units of Veterans to work with, or a second transport. Hard to say at the moment, but this is where my head’s at, and it’s admittedly built a bit on Mark Hertel’s lists that saw success this past summer.

Final Thoughts

Upon first glance at the Index, it’s easy to see the same Detachment and datasheets we had previously and become disheartened. Dig deeper however, and you’ll find there’s a lot of very good stuff in this update, which builds on the Kill Teams concept and gives us some incredibly nasty units with some abilities that offer a substantial damage upgrade on their Codex counterparts. These units may cost a lot, but they hit so hard they’ll be worth every point. If you’re a Deathwatch player, this Index was worth the wait.

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