Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team (HoR)/Tactics/Deathwatch(8E)

The transition from early 7th to 8th Edition wasn't as smooth as many have hoped for the HoR Deathwatch. Much of the ultra-customizing that people of fond of was stripped and some of the slots were swapped around in order to accommodate the codex and the new arrivals. Your prices are also a good deal higher than those of an equivalent model from the base marine opus, which means that your team will be on the small side.

Your common keywords are Imperium, Adeptus Astartes, Deathwatch

General Rules

• Elite Kill-Team: Though you'll never encounter this outside of campaigns, this makes it so that your Core models are restricted to which honors they can take as if they were Special choices made Core.
• Mission Tactics: You can now focus this rule to a single dastasheet instead of a slot, meaning you now re-roll 1s to wound Dire Avengers or Termagants instead of all Troops or all Heavy Supports.

Wargear

• Stalker Bolter: The standard weapon of the Deathwatch units, these are essentially 30" bolters with two firing modes: An S4 AP4 Rapid Fire or an AP5 Heavy 1 Sniper shot.
• Additional Ammo: Taken from FFG's grand catalog, All leaders (and certain veterans) can buy special sorts of ammo. Kit out according to the enemies present, because each is meant for a specific situation. Metal Storms work on Gaunts and other armorless guys, Firestorms are anti-covercampers, Vengeance Rounds are for other Marines, and Hellfires are for killing big guys like Wraithguard.
  • Metal Storm Rounds: 18" Range S3 AP-, but are Assault 2 in return.
  • Firestorm Rounds: Plain bolters with the Flamer USR from HoR, forcing enemies to test for Initiative or catch fire and take an S3 AP- hit every turn after the first until they pass Initiative.
  • Dragonfire Rounds: Bolters that Ignore Cover.
  • Vengeance Rounds: 18" S4 AP3 rounds with Gets Hot, meant for Space Marines.
  • Hellfire Rounds: Bolters with S1 AP5 and Poisoned (2+).
• Master-Crafted Weapon: It's an MC weapon. If you have a Salamander Leader, grab another for free.
• Overcharged Weapon: Gives a single gun +1S but also Gets Hot, which makes it a bit risky. It's especially worse on Plasma weapons, as they now explode on a 1 or 2.
• Suspensors: A rather nice upgrade, this allows a Heavy weapon to fire at full BS even if the model moved, but only at half-range.
• Smoke Grenade: A harmless grenade that gives you a Large Blast worth of temporary 5+ cover until the next turn. If you ever felt like playing Cyrus, roll it.
• Auxiliary Grenade Launcher: Allows a gun to fire a grenade as well as fire, this won't get much use unless you have a strict idea what it's for.
• Auspex: See codex; spend a shooting turn to drop an enemy's cover save by 1.
• Bionics: A way to grab a 6+ FNP, but it's usually cheaper to run Iron Hands unless you need another tactic.

Leaders Only

• Triflame Vambrace: A curious item from the FFG catalog, this is a flamer with three modes: A murderous 6" S6 AP2 kill-shot, a 12" S5 AP3 blast, and a standard Template with S4 AP4. Remember that flamers work differently here, and that the enemy must test for initiative or go on fire, and for every successive initiative test they fail, they win a S3 AP- hit. Remember to cheer for them. A close ranged piece of gear, it is properly best for a close combat character, as a guy like that are more likely to be within range. I mean, 6"? Basically charge-range.
• Refractor Field: A 5++ save. Nice if you can add it in, though expensive (yes, 15 pt is expensive in Kill Team). If you encounter many Fire Dragons or similar troops, the Refractor Field can be very good, though Cover might be just as good in that case. Fuckin' Fire Dragons.
• Purity Seal: Increases the Leader's Inspiring Presence range to 12", which is a good help for a support leader, and is cheap to boot. Unfortunately, Marines tend to be hard to break in general,so maybe leadership isn't too much needed. You decide.
• Marksman's Honour: Re-rolls 1's to-hit. Not a bad item, but some guys do have better ways with their specialties, like Imperial Fists. For anyone else, this is both cheap and useful, letting you re-roll half your misses. Remember to use an Overcharged weapon with this one.
• Skull of Brantor: A Servo-Skull that reveals absolutely anything within 24" of him. Nice and cheap way to foil an ambush or spot campers, and is an absolute pain for sneaky troops with big guns, like Kommandos with Skorchas. Believe me, I've tried.

Sergeant Only

• Krixian Chainglaive: A fierce melee weapon from FFG with S+2 AP4, Rending, and Specialist Weapon. Its use is fairly rounded, and can be effective against anything you might encounter - It's actually a wonder that this thing haven't got Unweildy, too.
• Larraman's Blessing: An item now lifted from Last Stand, this gives a Sergeant FNP. Neato. If your team is mostly fast and sporadic, this can be a lifesaver, since your Leader will be more exposed. On the other hand, if you are planning to make a strong core of Marines running together, this is pretty useless, since the Apothecary does the same thing, but for anyone within 6".
• Imperial Laurel: Gives models within 6" a re-roll on morale. If you're debating between using either this or the Purity Seal, take this. It's cheaper, and a bit more reliable. Again, Leadership is rarely a problem for Marines, as the combined cheese of ATSKNF and Ld 8 makes them all but unbreakable. Debate is on about this being able to let te Sergeant re-roll morale too, as that would be very important when hitting the "50% of team downed"-point.

Champion Only

• Remembrance Shield: This replaces a Combat Shield and gives all models within 6" +2 to Deny the Witch. But watch out for the Eldar, as they'll now gain Hatred against you (it's got Soul Stones on it, who knew?). Unfortunately, Eldar are also some of the best Psykers in the game, so... Guess you can't eat your cake and dispel psychic powers too. If running a Champ with a Apothecary, on top of whatever regular Marines you have, you can make a 12" bubble of FNP and 4+ Deny the Witch doomage.
• Valour Crest: Gives all models within range of his Inspiring Presence Stubborn. If you're running more Dark Angels, it's generally advised not to use this. It could be useful for other Chapter Traits though. Stubborn is generally best for tarpits and units, that want to win through attrition, and since most of your models are expensive as hell, this has very little use. Maybe if you make a Black Templar Champ with this and two to five Assault Marines without Jump Packs, you might be able to do the attrition like the best of them, but don't hold out on it.
• Salvation of Correus: A CCW with Poisoned (2+), this is a really risky idea. If you can pull it off, kudos to you, but this IS just a CCW, do don't bet on winning with this, even with the Black Templar Tactics. It has the potential to be both hilarious and fluffy, though, having the Champ challenging a big enemy gribbly and then duel it out for the next four rounds, emerging with red armour and the enemy's guts in his hand.

Lexicanium Only

• Soulstorm Staff: Dawn of War reference aside, this staff can shoot an Assault 1 Template with S4 AP1d6. Curiously, this doesn't count as a power, so you can fire this AND any other powers, meaning you can double-tap this with some Smites. It is shortranged though, so maybe hold out on it, unless he's in Terminator armour and packing close combat prowess, in which case... What the hell kind of Lexicanum are you building?!

Apothecary Only

• Laurel of Endurance: Pricy, but it gives the Apothecary FNP (3+). Just remember that nobody else gets this, so don't try to suicidally charge someone with a whole team and think they'll make it. What your gits do get is a 5+ FNP, by being close to the Apothecary, so you could let the Apothecary get into combat with a horde of Assault Marines.
• Purification Vials: A one-use grenade that's S1 AP- and Poisoned (2+). Really not an advisable idea unless you're seeing hordes, and even then, you're practically within charging range. For example, you could use it on an Ork Mob of five, throw the grenade, get a few Orks, who'll likely die, which lets another few Marines sweep them up easier.

Terminator Only

• Auto-Launcher: Gives a Termie infinite Assault Grenades, but they can't be thrown as weapons. Your Termie might be able to get off two charges, but it is unlikely that a slow model like this will achieve anymore than soaking up damage and then charging, for which you have two Assault Grenades (A frag and krak-grenade), so this is rarely useful. Also, what Initiative does Termies hit with, at least Tactical Termies? Yeah, this has little use.
• Cataphractii-Pattern Terminator Armour: Your heavy-ass armour. Gives a 4++, but exchanges Relentless with S&P. Beware using this, because you're giving up the option to Overwatch for a better Invul, but then again, now you are tanky as all hell. If possible, give this guy a Heavy Weapon, simply because of how hard he'll be to remove.
• Tartaros-Pattern Terminator Armour: Your assault armour. Grants the wearer Sweeping Advances. Definitely a more advisable choice over the Cataphractii, as this is cheaper and offers the ability to run, and frankly, who needs that much defense?
• Teleporter: A Termie gives up assaulting for a turn and gets a 2d6" shunt wherever he wants. Good for setting up traps, and Termies being Termies, you'll want to be faster. Combine with the Cataphractii-Pattern for a hellishly tough, incredibly shooty and fu- fu- fuckin' FLYING Terminator!

Techmarine Only

• Photon Beam: If you want an alpha-strike from an unexpected source, this is it. A 36" Assault 1 blinding shot that causes no damage, but blinding opens them up to other assaults.

Unit Analysis

Your FOC is as follows

• 1 Leader
• 1-20 Core
• 0-3 Special

Leaders

• Deathwatch Veteran Sergeant: The basic all-around leader, he gets a Veteran's statline with an extra wound. He can grab just about whatever he wants and then some, including the Watch Master's Custodian Spear and shields. He also possesses the Captain's aura to re-roll 1s to hit.
  • Biker Sergeant: The mobility and survivability boost of these babies is something to never look down on. Adding to this is a new aura, allowing allies to charge after falling back.
  • Vanguard Sergeant: The cheapest of your leaders despite toting a jump pack. While mostly similar, he trades the spear for the option to buy a big hammer. He also has an aura to allow allies to shoot after falling back, which is a curiosity.
  • Terminator Sergeant: For only 3 points, the Sarge can grab Termie armour, granting him better protection, but costing him versatility. His aura now allows you to auto-pass rout tests, which is pretty hefty to consider in a small team like this.
• Deathwatch Champion: Imagine taking out the Champion from your Command Squad, give him another wound, and you'll be pretty much what he is. He's the challenge-based HQ that can re-roll to-hit and to-wound, but he can benefit a bit from BT or BA tactics. He can buy a Storm Shield if you want extra protection, and he can get a Relic Blade or a Thunder Hammer.
• Deathwatch Warden: A Veteran equivalent to Chaplain. Their loadout is limited to pistols and the Armoury, but they maintain the litanies and can grab a jump pack for better movement.
  • Deathwatch Primaris Warden: Your bigger chaplain-lite. Their loadout is static, but that's fine since you get the decent absolver pistol and can stack on special ammo.
• Deathwatch Codicier: A smaller Librarian (with a Vet's statline plus a Wound). They're rather slim on loadout, but they can grab jump packs and can take a power from ANY of the chapter-exclusive disciplines.
  • Deathwatch Primaris Codicier: Expensive as shit for a bigger libby and a virtually barren loadout list.
• Deathwatch Intercessor Sergeant: Take your veteran sergeant, make him an intercessor, and there you have it. The reason why he's cheaper? Well, he left behind the aura and it costs 12 points to buy it back. As an added goody, he owns a chainsword, so you could totally buy a second one and start showing them how good your rip and tear game is, and then keep your bolt rifle to maintain the shooty.
• Deathwatch Aggressor Sergeant: These are your heavy assault boys if you buy the aura, as it lets allies shoot assault weapons after advancing with no penalty. This is a really good idea with any force specializing with their ammo.
• Deathwatch Reiver Sergeant: The spoopy not-scout boss. He's not much different from the others, but he can buy an aura that shares his leadership-debuff aura with others.
• Deathwatch Inceptor Sergeant: Big dumpy jetpacks. They can buy an aura to let allies shoot after falling back, making them most comparable to vanguard sergeants, and probably better for the role since they can carry two big guns.
• Deathwatch Hellblaster Sergeant: The only reason you'd take this guy is because of the price. His options are limited entirely to his guns, and he can't even buy an aura.

Core

• Deathwatch Terminator: Basic termies with all the utility in assault and a gun per three. Since HoR isn't as overrun by super-killer guns, they get to be a bit more useful. Sadly, they lose the ability to buy other patterns.
• Deathwatch Veteran: Basic vets with the ability to take a special or heavy weapon for every 5 men. They unfortunately don't get bonus ammo, so they're gonna be relying on their Stalker Bolters. Since they have a lot of slots for core choices, you can build them up for guns.
• Deathwatch Vanguard Veteran: Locked to their jump packs, but they're absolutely free to buy whatever they want in terms of melee and pistols.
• Deathwatch Biker: Sadly, these guys are locked to being choppy, as their only guns are the bolters on the thing. At least we can buy a shield to protect them.
• Deathwatch Intercessor: An intercessor, now with ammo and the option of one launcher per five.

Special

• Deathwatch Apothecary: This guy is the same as a vanilla one with a 3" range for his narthecium rule and a genuine option to grab a bolter instead of being pure choppy. You can also nab a bike.
  • Deathwatch Primaris Apothecary: The double pistols is pretty much proof enough if any was needed at how he should be shooting.
• Deathwatch Artifiex: Though there are not vehicles in here, you do have the generic tech adept's ability to roll off special effects, all of which would work just as well for the Deathwatch.
• Blackshield: A kamikaze veteran. His Atonement through Honour rule makes him useful to intercept charges, since his thing is breaking into the fights of others and then wasting them in melee.
• Deathwatch Scout: It's curious to see a scout as a Special, but it makes sense where he belongs once you notice his special rule: One character can always be targeted as if they're the closest. Snipers are a go.
• 0-3 Deathwatch Aggressor: Your big heavy gunners, though they don't benefit from ammo. You bring them for their hail of fire, which makes multi-target firing a good move.
• Deathwatch Inceptor: Big jumpy marines.
• Deathwatch Hellblaster: Cheaper than the rest by far, these guys provide safe, reliable anti-whatever fire.
• Deathwatch Reiver: Your other scouts are a lot more mobile. Though not as sneaky and lacking in the sniping department, you do possess a superior ability to set up as you wish and a better melee game.