Editing Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Deathwatch (section)

==Unit Analysis==
===HQ===

*'''Watch Master''': Chapter Master equivalent. Has the CM's statline with Artificer Armor (2+) and an Iron Halo (4++). He allows you to change the mission tactics one extra time, and comes with a Guardian Spear and Clavis. However, you're still S5 with the spear, and S6 with krak grenades, so if you're going to base a squad around him, make sure someone is packing some form of CC anti-tank (Chainfist, Meltabombs, Heavy Thunderhammer). May take Special Issue Wargear and/or Relics. In general, he is more of a support character for a melee-oriented Kill-team — use him to win challenges, kill 2+ models before I1, and de-buff vehicles, but be mindful he is not a true combat monster.
*'''Watch Captain''': Literally a vanilla Captain with Sternguard Special Ammunition for his pistol/Combi-weapon/Boltgun. 95 points compared to his vanilla counterpart. He can take Artificer Armor, Terminator Armor, a Jump Pack, a Storm Shield, Special Issue Wargear, ranged weapons, melee weapons, and relics. Also if you want free ranged dakka for a squad he can swap his pistol for a Bolt gun for free. Basically a build-a-bear HQ of your choice, tailored to what squad he'll go with. The FAQ gave him back his special ammo in case he takes Terminator Armor. Grab that Combi-weapon! Just don't go crazy with  [[Plasma|Vengeance Rounds]]. Unless you want to see how long Terminator Armor keeps him alive. 
*'''Chaplain''': An HQ with Zealot (Fearless & Hatred), 2 wounds, a 4+ Invuln, a Power Maul, and Special Ammunition. At 95 points, he's fairly cheap, and you can't really go wrong. Excellent force multiplier and excellent choice vs Melee-based Xenos like Orks and Tyranids. Stick him in with Vanguard veterans and Terminators to really get the most out of Zealot. However, his mobility is ONLY locked to a transport or on-foot, as he can't grab a bike or jump pack. May take items from the Ranged list, Special Issue Wargear, or Relics.
*'''Librarian:''' Cheap and is a great force multiplier. 70 points compared to the 65 point vanilla, but more or less has the exact same rules. He gets a Force Weapon and a Psychic hood, and has Special Ammo for his Bolt Pistol or Combi-weapon if you want to give him one. He can be upgraded to ML2, and gets rolls on every rulebook discipline and Space Marine exclusive psychic powers. Can also take Terminator Armor, Ranged Weapons, Special Issue Wargear, and Relics. Terminator armor may be worth it since unlike Chaplains and Watch Captains he doesn't have an Invuln. The FAQ gave him back his special ammo in case he takes Terminator Armor. Grab that Combi-weapon!

====Special Characters====
*'''Watch Captain Artemis (Death Masque):''' Hailing from the days of ''Inquisitor,'' Artemis is a character with two extremely awesome pieces of wargear. Power Sword, Special Ammo, a Stasis Bomb, and the Combi-Flamer Hellfire Extremis. The bomb allows him to exchange his attacks in melee to drop a Strength D attack on his enemy, potentially killing himself if he misses the shot. It's suicidal, but it's a killer way to make a statement. Hellfire Extremis? An <s>unlimited</s>(nope, faq'ed) One-use Combi-flamer with Poisoned (2+). Say goodbye to those Guardsmen, Gaunts, Cultists, and Orks. Also makes Overwatch horrifically painful. Finally, he has a 6+ Feel No Pain, for what that's worth. Of course, you can use him in place of a regular Watch Captain in any Deathwatch formations. Include him in a Watch Company and stick him into a Strategium Command Team with a Chaplain, so he can re-roll his attempt to hit with the Stasis Bomb if needed and kick ass in general (though he won't get Furious Charge, he will benefit from Zealot as normal).
**'''Note:''' Artemis is pretty fucking amazing against Gene-stealer cult
*'''[[Ortan Cassius]] (Overkill):''' Lesser in every effective way to his Codex counterpart, Deathwatch Cassius loses his Combi-flamer Infernus, his Chapter Tactics, his Warlord trait, his Feel No Pain, his Preferred Enemy (Tyranids), and is T4 instead of T6. What does he get for it? Special Issue Ammunition. For his bolt pistol. He is ''exactly'' the same cost as a regular Deathwatch Chaplain and they use the same model to represent one in the Codex. However, he's been FAQ'ed to get Mission Tactics, though.
*'''Jensus Natorian (Overkill):''' Like Cassius, compared to a Codex librarian, this angry Magpie kinda falls a little short. He has no Chapter tactics, no optional wargear and again, the only thing Jensus has to show for it is Special Issue Ammunition. Reminder, he is ''exactly'' the same cost as a regular ML2 Deathwatch Librarian and they use the same model to represent one in the Codex. FAQ'ed to be able to use mission tactics, and every Deathwatch psychic power, so he's a bit more able to pull his weight, now.

===Troops===
*'''Veterans:''' Sternguard Veterans as Troops. Veterans with the same basic wargear as Sternguard and universal Special-Issue Ammunition conferred by the Deathwatch. 22 points per model (same as Sternguard). Minimum squad of 5, maximum of 10. May take up to 4 heavy weapons. Any veteran may take a Heavy Thunder Hammer (lol S10 AP2) for 30 points. One may become a Black Shield for 15 points, and one may be upgraded to Watch Sergeant to access Xenophasing blades and the Special Equipment List. These are your very expensive, but very versatile Troops choice. For the same price of Sternguard, you can access a far more versatile selection of wargear to suit your short-ranged shooting needs. Treat them exactly as their statline and wargear list shows: Space Marine Veterans with fantastic short ranged shooting wargear veterans. This means enjoying the versatility and power of Deathwatch equipment, but also being mindful of only having 3+ armour saves (base) and none of the durability shenanigans like Iron Hands Chapter Tactics or easy invulnerable saves. They are powerful shock troops and pair well with your access to dedicated transports, but they are only as durable as Tactical Marines and can become VERY expensive targets.
**'''Black Shield:''' One (and only one) Veteran in the unit may be upgraded to a Black Shield, gaining WS5, the (Character) rule, and the special rule '''Atonement Through Honor''' which lets the Black Shield double his attacks (before any modifiers) while locked in combat that either outnumbers his unit, or a unit that  an Independent Character, Monstrous Creature, or Vehicle. Naturally, you can kit him out however you want, but it makes sense to give him some hardcore melee options and throw him into the thick of it with a small unit of melee Vets. With a pair of Lightning Claws that's 6 AP3 Shred attacks against enemy mooks on the charge. All at WS5. He's a blender! The Black Shield cannot take the Heavy Thunder Hammer as it does not count as a Veteran when choosing weapons.  This has been confirmed by the official FAQ
**You can take up to 4 heavy weapons. You can take dedicated transports (helloooo drop pods). You can take the shockingly powerful Frag-Cannon which fires at ASSAULT 2 (holy shit you can move and fire normally AND assault). One of the Frag-Cannon's profiles is 12", S9, AP2, Assault 2. This monster of a weapon clocks in at the same price of a lascannon. That is to say, you can have a squad of 5 of these veterans packing 4 Frag-Cannons in a drop pod. Use Drop Pod Assault and Inertial Guidance to land where you want, when you want. Disembark and put 8 lascannon shots into your target. Clever positioning of your drop pod and cover means your squad could even survive a full turn while the opponent now needs to maneuver to respond to the shitstorm developing in their lines.
**And you can give these in-your-face pseudo-Devastators Storm Shields too. 3++ Assault heavy weapons. Doing 1D3 (template weapons with multiple shots still do only 1d3 hits in Overwatch) S6 Rending Overwatch hits. From each gun. Also remember that Mission Tactics plus some Kill-teams and proper targeting allow you to have what amounts to close-range [[Cheese|~BS5 Tank/Monster Hunters Assault Lascannons]]. Truly Deathwatch has some godlike firepower at their disposal.
**See that Close Combat Weapon listed in their wargear? Seems useless without a pistol or a second CCW, doesn't it? Well, you can exchange it for a second boltgun, then replace it with a Special Weapon (but, by FAQ, shotgun and bolter are specifically forbidden as a combo). Or, take your boltgun and exchange it for a second Melee weapon. This works in the same way SM Biker upgrades work — they can exchange their bolt pistol for a chainsword, then replace it with a Special Weapon (otherwise they would be unable to take any specials). So you can have any combo you wish. Screw combi-weapons, just take a heavy flamer (!) or a meltagun for the same cost. 
**Be aware, when building a squad of Deathwatch Space Marine from the Kit, there are only one-handed Bolters. What that means is when you want to build your Vets with only Bolters you need to have some left arm-bits laying around. Or you can give every Veteran a Powersword for the left arm, but that would be crazy, right? RIGHT!?

*'''Squad Donatus (Overkill):''' All members have veteran stats, power armour, frag and krak grenades, special issue ammunition, and ATSKNF. They cover all their bases decently enough, but they suffer at any focused task between only a combi melta and frag cannon for heavy weapons and only a power sword and plasma pistol to fight anything MEQ and up in melee.
**'''Vael Donatus (Ultramarine):''' Squad leader purely because GW is still waving their massive blue boner for Ultramarines and is only equipped with a boltgun and has Precision Shots
**'''Drenn Redblade (Space Wolf):''' Rookie of the team, holding the rank of Blood Claw, but still has the statline of a veteran. Bolter, TWO close combat weapons, and counter-attack (3 attacks minimum, +1 whenever he's charging or being charged).
**'''Rodricus Grytt (Imperial Fist):''' Devastator sergeant, has the Frag Cannon troopers everywhere now enjoy.
**'''Ennox Sorrlock (Iron Hand):''' Moderately unremarkable, but at least his model has bionics the Hands are famed for, which come with FNP 6+ and a simple combi-melta.
**'''Zameon Gydrael (Dark Angel)'''
Company Champion, but doesn't lead the team due to the aforementioned Ultraboner. Comes with stubborn (which means he loses out on the BS2 Snap-Firing his chapter normally gets), a plasma pistol, and power sword.

*'''Squad Crull (Death Masque):''' No, not [[Crull|that one]]. This guy is a vet with Hatred, a xenophase blade, and a combi-melta. His team is composed of two swords and bolters, one stalker bolter, and one Infernus HB with Hellfire shells. Though not packing pistols harms their melee game a bit, everyone having ammo means they're an ideal force for eliminating enemies at range.

===Elite===

*'''Terminators''': Same price as old Terminators at 40 points each. Very expensive, but they all start with ''Fearless''. Every one can swap their Power Fist for a Power Weapon free, or take a Power Fist with an in-built Melta-gun for 10 points. Fuck that vehicle. If that is not your style, you can also equip EACH model with your choice of a cyclone missile launcher, an assault cannon, or a heavy flamer. So you can create ''Relentless'' Devastator Terminators the likes of which haven't been seen since the Horus Heresy. This gets expensive fast, but having up to five assault cannons in each squad puts out an immense amount of dakka, and five heavy flamers in one squad is the bane of all horde/assault based armies. Or you can also do your best Deathwing impression replace the model's weapons with mix-and-match Lightning Claws or Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields. Just be aware you are going to face a couple unusual limitations. You start with one model (and just one) in the unit and can only get a maximum of five models in the unit. Also, they can't take a sergeant, which isn't an issue given each one can be kitted out to deal with literally anything. An expensive squad consists of 5 Terminators with Cyclones and TH/SS coming to 75 points each to deal with pretty much anything your opponent can bring, and you generally don't want to build a squad like this because they'll be split between wanting to make their points back in melee and wanting to make their points back at range.  If you have them focus on their missile launchers it'll be really hard for them to use their melee weapons and if you have them focus on their melee weapons (usually by running them inside a transport before assaulting) then they'll almost never use their missile launchers. Single model spam is also an effective use of Terminators, they can deep strike, contest objectives, and are a big enough threat that the enemy must dedicate at least some firepower to kill, otherwise they'll have a Powerfist rampaging through their backfield.
** One of the more versatile load outs is buying a full Termi squad Melta Powerfists and Cyclones. Allowing them to keep their Storm Bolters. This makes them a huge threat to infantry blobs, vehicles and MCs while being able to throw out some decent Overwatch or Assaults in return. Just make sure you bought Teleport Hormers to get them in range of what ever you want removed from the table. [[fail|As Deathwatch Terminators can't take Dedicated Transports at all]].
**'''Garran Branatar (Overkill):'''  One of the few models in this formation to have something akin to his Chapter Tactics, with a 4+ FNP against flamer weapons, and his '''FLAMER ONLY''' re-rolls to-wound and armour penetration rolls. Not sure why you'd use his heavy flamer for armour when he has a melta gun, but whatever (well because that's a pretty venom you have there ''*Burns xenos*''). His fist and mounted meltagun are also Master-crafted and he gets Split Fire (which is only applicable in the Kill-Team Cassius formation, since he doesn't have independent character and thus cannot join any squad), making him not only almost twice the price of a basic Termie, but also very worth it. Might see some use as a kamikaze unit in regular games, if you've got the points leftover.

*'''Dreadnought''': It's a Dreadnought, it gets your ''Mission Tactics'' like your other Deathwatch veterans. However it doesn't have access to Heavy Bolters or Autocannons. Not a huge issue since those don't come in the plastic kits, but be aware of that when building your own. 

*'''Venerable Dreadnought''': It's a slightly pricier Dread. It does Dread things while also being slightly tougher but with the same options.
**'''Venerable Dreadnought Nihilus:''' A Blackshield Dread with a Plasma Cannon. Though he lacks the melee guts of the un-dreaded Blackshields, he does come with a 6+ Invuln that ups to 5+ when hit by Witchfire. At the very least, he's capable of handling himself if he's alone.

*'''Vanguard Veterans''': Same as Vanilla, but at 25 points per model, they get Special Ammo for their bolt pistols. Just like terminators, you start with one model and can only get a maximum of five in the unit. Second, no sergeants, which means no relics or special wargear. the last part is less of an issue since you can pretty much kit the unit out for whatever you need dead, but the former means that any casualties you take are going to hurt. Like Terminators, single-model units aren't a bad option here, they can get a cheap power weapon and/or meltabombs and be just enough of a threat that the enemy has to do something. 
**'''Edryc Setorax (Overkill):''' Twin lightning claws, jump pack, deep strike, and stealth. Also has Shrouded for the first game turn, and can use his jump pack for both movement AND assault, and re-rolls failed HoW attacks. Much better than the next guy on this list...
**'''Antor Delassio (Overkill):''' Hand flamer, chainsword, deep strike, and furious charge. Pretty unremarkable in every way, though that flamer can help soften mobs before the charge.
**'''Squad Galatael (Death Masque):''' A vanguard vet with Precision Strikes, a plasma pistol, and a sword. His team has two heavy hammers, one sword and SS,  and one maul and SS. Shove the shields up front to weather the blows, keep the hammermen alive to kill shit with hilarious overkill.

===Fast Attack===

*'''Bikers''': They have the Skilled Rider and Split Fire USR, get Special Ammunition default on their Twin-linked Boltguns, and can get Power Weapons for 5 points, cheap as chips! However, like Terminators, they start out with 1 guy at 30 points and can only be upgraded to 5 bikers total. Still, each and every one gets a Power Weapon for 5 points! Just like Vanguard Veterans and Terminators, single model units of bikers can be a huge annoyance for the enemy, taking a bit of firepower to kill and raging up the field with a Deathwatch teleport homer.
**'''Jetek Suberei:''' Power sword, special issue ammunition, split fire, hit and run, skilled rider, and +1S to HoW hits. Not too bad, but remember he can't be taken as part of a squad, like the the Vanguard guys and the Termie. If he's used on his own, use him to pester big units and then run away, looking for a good place to bring in Terminators with his Teleport Homer.

*'''Rhino''': The classic metal box returns to the Deathwatch. Reliable and cheap as ever, the Rhino is great for getting your squads into combat quickly. In addition to using Rhinos as cover and blocking, you can take advantage of the number of Assault 'heavy' weapons Deathwatch have like frag-cannons and Infernus bolters. Have small squads with these weapons riding in your Rhino and fire from its hatches while protecting them from all the AP3 being thrown around. You can force your opponent into slagging the 35 point Rhino (and potentially just giving you cover) or deal with your harassment for the rest of the game. The Rhino and Razorback are also worthy ground transports when you can't afford more Corvus Blackstars and can't rely on the fickleness of large numbers of drop pod reserve rolls. The Rhino is still cheap and still gets you exactly where you need to go.

*'''Razorback''': What's known in military terms as an Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), the Razorback is basically a Rhino that trades 4 of its transport capacity for a turret gun. It is one of the best choices for a SM army themed on firepower. The Razorback was almost made for Deathwatch. As Deathwatch, you can expect to take lots of small, focused squads of around 5 men. The Razorback is an ideal carrier for those men with its smaller transport capacity. In addition to the firepower it packs, you can make use of the Assault 'heavy' weapons Deathwatch brings like frag-cannons and Infernus bolters to ride into battle, disembark and shoot the enemy to hell while the Razorback gives fire support. Perfect for situations where you don't need all the transport space Rhinos have but still want to have useful transport. More importantly, it's your most cost-effective form of long-range firepower since Deathwatch doesn't get Predators.

*'''Drop Pod''':Also great, mainly because of its ability to deep strike into the most useful position. Inertial Guidance lets it avoid scattering onto impassible terrain and models, which prevents Deep Strike mishaps that don't involve the table edge. Excellent tool to hunt tanks with squads of melta, or drop down a Dreadnought where they least expect it. These transports suffer from the "Half on turn 1, half regular reserve" rule common to deep-striking forces nowadays (bring an odd number of them if you bring more than one, because the "half on turn one" is rounded up). However, even a single Drop Pod is a major psychological tool. A Deep-striking Veteran squad or Dreadnought is almost guaranteed to change how your opponent deploys, so consider this carefully.
** Thanks to 7th, Drop Pods are now scoring. And if they delivered an ObSec troop squad to the battlefield, they're also denial units.
** Also note that the Drop Pod is one of two units able to take a Locator Beacon, good for Deep Striking reinforcements for whatever the Drop Pod was carrying. Pair with your new and awesomer, customisable Terminator squads.
**The time honoured tradition of having Sternguard Veteran suicide squads in drop pods can still be done as Deathwatch and since you're taking them as troops, you can have even more dropping fun. However, don't just treat veterans as one-hit suicide squads from drop pods. Clever deployment and use of cover and the drop pod model itself can leave you deploying in positions where you can cause damage but your opponent can't lay down their entire army on your next turn. Your veterans get expensive, so try and get the most out of them before they die.

*'''Corvus Blackstar''': UH-60 Blackhawk in '''SPACE.'''The air transport Space Marine players have been waiting for since the beginning of time. The Corvus Blackstar is a 180 point Assault Transport with 12 transport slots and can carry Jump Pack Infantry and Bikers. Has Armoured Ceramite, a Blackstar '''Cluster''' Launcher (granting Large Blast Ignore Cover Bombs), a Twin-linked Assault Cannon and 4 Stormstrike missiles. For 5 points, you can take Wargear to re-roll Jink saves. 10 points gets you Strafing Run. You can replace the assault cannon with a twin-linked lascannon for free and replace the missiles with a Blackstar '''Rocket'''Launcher for large blast , Ignores Cover bombs (which is a mix of large blast and strength 6 skyfire missiles. GW nomenclature at its finest). The Blackstar helps plug several holes in a Deathwatch Army, giving it ranged AT with some staying power which it normally lacks.
**'''Loadout:''' You want the Auspex Array. Strafing Run cuts your miss rate in half versus the majority of targets in the game. The main question then becomes whether you want to keep the Stormstrikes or take the Blackstar Launcher. Given 99% of players outright ignored Skies of Death, the Skyfire bonus for the Launcher is mostly pointless, and Deathwatch do not lack for anti-infantry. Keep the Stormstrikes, and focus on a trouble target.

===Heavy Support===

Deathwatch get the same three Land Raider variants that all Loyalist Marine variants get: The Phobos, Crusader, and Redeemer. That's it. They're expensive, not durable enough for their points in a game where Grav can neutralize them, or Haywire can kill them. To top it off, Deathwatch get the Black Spear Strike Force and Blackstars for getting into position even faster. In general, it's best to ignore this slot. To add insult to injury, Deathwatch have no Techmarines or even any formations that might patch over their known deficiencies.