Hello again fellow nerdists, it’s Garfield here to talk about one of my slow grow armies, The Death Watch.
On the back of the their Codex release, Death Watch are back on the scene in a big way and made Primaris marines the true super troopers they were always meant to be.
For my HQs I’ve gone pretty standard. My first is the Primaris Captain. He will give me the reroll 1s that a lot of armies rely on and is a pretty sweet model. In the future I might upgrade him to a Watch Master but at the moment this model fits in nicely to my list.
My second is the age old Captain Artemis. I remember when this bad boy came out in the old Inquisitor game. Fantastic model, fantastic fluff…. he’s in. His Stasis Bomb is cracking and a nasty surprise for anyone who doesn’t know what it is.
The fact that Primaris marines can now take special ammunition on their Bolt Rifles makes them pretty awesome. Vengeance rounds with -3AP are bringing the juice but, in my opinion, it’s all about Hellfire Rounds. The wounding chart in 8th edition is great, but to get a 2+ to wound takes some serious weaponry. Hellfire rounds do this to everything, bar Vehicles and Titanic units. This is great. Forcing your opponent to keep making saves is important and they’ll eventually roll 1s on their terminators.
Another special rule out of the codex is the ability to mix and match Primaris marines in a unit thus bestowing their abilities throughout the unit. Whilst on paper this sounds amazing, I think this is trying to make a unit a Swiss army knife, and when all said and done, Swiss Army Knives are shit. I think it’s much better to have a unit focus on one thing, whether it be anti-infantry or anti vehicle and stick to it.
One exception to this rant is Hellblasters. Throwing one of these bad boys into a unit is never a bad thing. Which type of Plasma gun is up to you and would depend on what you want from it.
My other infantry units are going to be small squads of Veterans. Each unit is going to have a particular job to do and not be a Jack of All Trades.
One of the units is going to be a 5 man sqaud made up of a Sergeant and 4 Veterans with Frag Launchers. I don’t know if this is competitive or even good. In this case, I don’t care, it’ll look awesome and who doesn’t like rolling 8d6 auto hits? No one, that’s who and their job is pure horde control and squad wiping.
The other unit is going to be pretty straight Veteran unit made up of 1 sergeant and 4 Veterans. Standard stuff really.
I’ve also decided to add in a Land Raider Crusader. I’ve always loved this tank. Make sure you bring enough dice to the game when you bring these bad boys. SSSOOO MUCH DAKKA. Hopefully this fire magnet will survive long enough to get my Fragstreet Boys to the party in time. I also own the model which is probably the main reason it has made its way in.
“What about shoulder pads and Icons?!” I hear you ask. I have a plan for that. I am planning on buying some insignia from Shapeways and Pop Goes The Monkey https://www.shapeways.com/shops/popbits . There are plenty of Chapter icons I can choose from and there are one some “Demon Hunter” icons that are made to go on marine shoulders. Stay tuned on how this turns out.
Now to add a little sizzle to the steak. Imperial Guard. I’ve decided to add the standard Battalian made up of 2 HQs and 3 units of guardsman. In my opinion this is a standard Plug’n’Play for any Imperium Player. 5 Command Points for so few points is a must. I expect Knight players to be doing to same going forward and is pretty much the standard among competitive Custodes lists.
For the HQs I’ve gone Company Commander and a Primaris Pyscker. These are standard for any Guard Player. Very cheap and effective in what they offer.
The Company Commander is my Warlord. He has Grand Strategist Warloard Trait and Kurovs Aquila relic thus making him the ultimate CP farm. This unit is pretty standard amongst Guard armies.
I’ve thrown in a Leman Russ to boot. These rolling fortresses are fantastic. The ability to shoot the turret twice is brutal (potentially broken?) and offer some real backfield bite. They also require some pretty dedicated firepower to remove.
I’ve also added in a Taurox Prime and a unit of Scions. The Taurox Prime with Gatling Cannon is one of the most efficient units in the game in both damage output and points. In my opinion you cannot beat them.
Here’s my list so far:
++ Unbound Army (Faction) (Imperium – Death Watch) ++
+ HQ +
Primaris Watch Captain: Power sword
. Master-crafted auto bolt rifle & bolt pistol Master-crafted Auto bolt rifle
Watch Captain Artemis
+ Troops +
Intercessors
. Hellblaster: Bolt Pistol, Plasma incinerator
. 4 x Intercessor: Bolt Pisto, Bolt rifle
. Intercessor Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Bolt rifle
Intercessors
. Hellblaster: Bolt Pistol, Plasma incinerator
. 4 x Intercessor: Bolt Pisto, Bolt rifle
. Intercessor Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Bolt rifle
Veterans [9 PL, 85pts]
. 4 x Veteran: Boltgun
. Watch Sergeant: Boltgun]
Veterans [9 PL, 181pts]
. 4 x Veteran w/ Death Watch Frag Cannon
. Watch Sergeant: Boltgun
+ Fast Attack +
Bikers
. 2 x Biker: Twin boltgun
. Death Watch Biker Sergeant: Inferno pistol, Power fist, Twin boltgun
+ Heavy Support +
Land Raider Crusader: Twin assault cannon , Two Hurricane Bolters
++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Imperium – Astra Militarum) ++
+ No Force Org Slot +
Regimental Doctrine: Cadian
+ HQ +
Company Commander: Chainsword, Grand Strategist, Kurov’s Aquila, Laspistol, Warlord
Primaris Psyker: Force Stave , Psychic Maelstrom, Terrifying Visions
+ Troops +
3 x Infantry Squad: 9x Guardsman
. Sergeant: Laspistol
Militarum Tempestus Scions
. 4x Scion: 4x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Tempestor: Plasma pistol, Power sword
+ Heavy Support [10 PL, 190pts] +
. Leman Russ Battle Tank: Battle Cannon, Heavy Bolters, Lascannon , Track guards
+ Dedicated Transport +
Taurox Prime: Storm Bolter, Taurox Gatling Cannon, Two Hot-shot Volley Guns
++ Total: [99 PL, 1748pts] ++