Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Deathwatch (section)

===Troops===
*'''Veteran Squad:''' AKA Deathwatch Kill Team, one of your two troop options, and what may well be the most complex unit in the whole Emprah-damned game. ''The Hammer to your Intercessors' Anvil'', the unit starts at 5 Vets, a Kill Team's core. So far, so good. Adding models is where things begin to get odd, since vets aren't your only choice. You have a plethora of transport options, including the bike-carrying Corvus Blackstar and teleportation, so that won't be much of an issue. Each model other than veterans adds abilities to your entire unit:
**'''Veterans:''' The default models, yet ''the best if what you want is to keep it simple'', praise Emps and pass the Special Ammunition. Deathwatch Veterans and their Sergeant share stats with a regular Veteran team. They have nice Leadership values and 2 attacks base. Up to four of them can take heavy weapons (like a different Devastator team), any of them can take heavy thunder hammers, and the sergeant can pick up a combat shield.
***Storm bolters make them '''your most cost effective source of Special Ammo'''. Marines, especially Vets, are a tad fragile for their cost. This fragility combined with their cost-effective damage output makes them a nice candidate for the Teleportatium Stratagem. Especially with combi-weapons, if you can afford them. You can also make them safer by giving the unit some Storm shields, terminators, or Stalker-pattern bolters so they can keep a healthy 30" distance and still shoot twice.
***While for melee they have the same limitations of a foostlogging squad, you do have neat transports. Heavy Thunder Hammers are kind of a gambit, but on the safer side, power weapons are nice and chainswords are free.
**'''Black Shield:'''  They can't take a heavy thunder hammer, but they do have an extra attack over their Veteran friends. He (singular) adds Atonement Through Honour, which ''forces'' the unit to make heroic interventions. Useful for a squad that wants to get in the thick of it. That doesn't necessarily mean flamers and power weapons, though they are useful; remember Vengeance has a 9" Rapid Fire range. Since this will enable the squad to support the units next to it, at the very least give them chainswords.
***It's worth noting the lack of minimum distance means that Atonement Through Honour is only ever a benefit as you can move a unit a fraction of a fraction of an inch, effectively not moving at all. 
***Having access to Troops with Heroic Intervention opens up a bunch of tactical options. You can get more movement, contest objectives, and get an extra fight phase while shooting in your next turn. You brought a Vanguard Vet with you, right?
***Heroic Intervention is one of the conditions that applies the Shock Assault rules to a unit, so should you use it to get a unit into combat, everyone gets an extra attack. 
**'''Deathwatch Terminator:''' Like the Elites version (up to three with special weapons) but with Defenders of Humanity instead of Teleport assault. More than firepower, '''you bring them to tank damage, especially AP0'''. They can also have TH/SS, but Veterans are better Stormshield bearers - they don't have to give up their shooting to get one unlike the termie, two 3++ storm bolter marines cost less than a single 3++ termie (25pts, you're NOT giving them Thunder Hammers) and if one of them tanks a lascannon, you only risk losing one wound instead of the 2W 2+save model. Keep your termies simple, focus on what you want the ''unit'' to do and they'll make their points back.
***They let the entire unit use teleport homers, allowing them to get out of trouble. You need Bikers to get teleport homers however (but you can use any tele homer), and they deactivate when enemies are within 9", so you'll only be able to relocate behind your lines. Good for supporting an allied unit, however.
***Oh, they also provide moral immunity with their Unflinching rule. For those times when your Ld9 rerollable unit loses 4 marines and you roll a 6 twice. Or to make Ld gimmicks irrelevant, that sort of "common" scenarios. Speaking of uncommon things, ''if'' you play Power Level ('''?!'''), termies are a good source of firepower.
**'''Deathwatch Biker:''' 14" move, T5 2W, with a Twin Bolter and a melee weapon (taking the bolt pistol is stupid). All of which is wasted unless you combat-squad three of them alongside two Vanguard Vets. Which is useful, since their Relentless Assault lets them charge even if they fall back. ''One'' comes stock with a teleport homer - more bikers don't bring more homers. They're not bad by any meaning of the word, it's just that terminators are better, and Vets are cheaper. If you really want Relentless Assault ''and'' a teleport homer, go ahead.
**'''Deathwatch Vanguard Veteran:''' While he lives, the entire unit can fall back and shoot. Doesn't have {{W40kKeyword|Fly}}, so various AA things don't get +1 to hit while shooting him or his squad. If you brought one for the Vanguard Strike rule, ''don't give him a Storm shield to tank wounds'' - if he dies, you lose the bonus. Now what? Give the storm shield to a regular no-name Vet, it's not like they gave up shooting to get the invul.
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'''Sample unit builds:''' Kinda straight forward, actually, since this unit only really has three weapon options: bolt weapons, power weapons, special weapons. Yup, dismiss pistols - they become less of an option when squad members allow you to fall back and charge again. Three tenets here: what you want them to do, how you want them to do it, and ''transport options''. As in, if they bring a Biker, they're forced to ride a Blackstar.
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*'''Shooty, aka "Normal":''' Vets with Storm bolters and free chainswords. That's it. Simple, flexible, <u>your best answer to hordes</u>, screw flamers. If you're worried about people shooting back at them, put a terminator in it. Threatened by high AP weapons? Further give two vets Stormshields. Not the terminator - he'll look dumb waving a hammer when everyone else is actually doing something. Give him an Assault Cannon instead, better than his Storm bolter in the 10"-24" range. Two such squads can fit in a Blackstar or LR Redeemer/Crusader.
**'''Tournament Standard:''' Most tournament lists run 10 or 9 man squads putting Stormbolters and Stormshields on your veterans and sergeant, then run 2-3 Terminators with Stormbolters and a power weapon of choice, usually the Power Maul. Then a vanguard veteran with boltpistol and Stormshield so you can fall back and shoot. Then finally you can add another terminator with the usual loadout or add a biker for the teleportation homer.
**'''Long ranged shooty:''' Vets with Stalker pattern boltguns. We're talking looong range - 30" is your ''normal'' shooty. We're talking shooting Borkan Tau back, ''twice and at AP-2''. Compared to the similar Intercessor team, they shoot twice, but have half the wounds. This relative fragility combined with their range means they'll attract Heavy Weapons' fire, so keep them in cover. Nice combo with Apothecaries, Vigilance Eternal Warlords and the Dominus Aegis relic. They can hold objectives and still contribute to the fight.
**'''Close ranged shooty:''' Vets with Storm bolters and free chainswords. Yup, still good. A Vanguard Vet is a good idea here. Maybe a Biker too, to hit back. ''Everything is a good idea as long as you can afford it''. If you close into flamer range (8") then give them Frag Cannons, NEVER flamers. How did you get there? That's an actual question - bring a Termie to survive footslogging, cover your precious Frag cannons (optional Meltagun fist) AND get them a ''teleport getaway''. Still fits in a Blackstar, though that'll force the Watch Sergeant to carry the Storm shield. Or bring additional Shotgun Vets if you want to advance without giving up shooting, yet still supplement the Frag cannon's flamer profile. Melta and Combi-meltas are better than Frag Cannons ''only'' within 6", keep that in mind.
**'''Melee:''' Same as above but with more power weapons. Can either keep a gun for closing in and falling back (Frag Cannon/Shotgun/''Storm Bolter''), or ditch them all for paired Lightning Claws/Heavy Thunder Hammers/Power Weapon + Storm Shield. Funnily, ''Vanguard Vets are a bad choice if the squad lacks guns''. Greatly benefits from a Biker and a Blackshield.
***'''Melee offshoot:''' You can split a squad of 10 into two squads of 5. Three Bikers + two Vanguard Vets is a nice way to keep the best from both worlds: They benefit from T5 and retain good mobility and Defenders of Humanity. Furthermore, they can have two SS/TH and use their Twin Boltguns after falling back, before charging once more, due to the Vanguard Vets. <u>Not even the actual Biker squad has that</u>.
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*'''Intercessor Squad:''' Intercessor Squads can be taken similarly to their vanilla cousins, but where they really shine is their role as the base for the mixed Primaris units called Fortis Kill-Teams. Where normal Space Marine armies can sometimes struggle to find a use for Intercessors, the Deathwatch actually appreciates them a bit more, namely as backfield cover-campers and cheap-ish wounds. Your normal Kill Teams, being as loaded with great gear as they tend to be, are damn expensive, while a unit of Intercessors is both tougher per model and unlikely to run you much more than their base cost even as they benefit from Special Issue Ammunition to take on threats their vanilla counterparts would normally struggle against. Take 5, then add other flavors of Primaris Marines to match the role you have in mind for them:
**'''Inceptor''': Allows the unit to shoot after falling back. It doesn't actually grant the {{W40Kkeyword|FLY}} keyword to any of them other than the Inceptor itself, so they don't need to worry about greater vulnerability to anti-air weapons. 
**'''Reiver''': Adds the Reivers' ''Terror Troops'' rule to the unit. Thanks to their shock grenade, they're good for supplementing a squad with Auto Bolt Rifles and a sarge with a power sword, or Aggressors which plan to get into melee. They can take a grapnel launcher which allows the unit be used to outflank ( no...the whole unit has to be outfitted with grapnel launchers).
**'''Aggressor''': Adds the Aggressors' ''Relentless Advance'' rule to the squad, with the added effect of also allowing the squad to move and fire heavy weapons with no penalties. Although the Aggressor can't benefit from the latter part due to its lack of heavy weapons, it's ideal combining with Intercessors and Hellblasters that are using either of their non-Rapid Fire options. Inceptors will appreciate not taking that -1 to hit when they Advance as well, especially the ones with Plasma Exterminators.  
**'''Hellblaster''': Does not add any extra rules of its own. It does, however, add a lot of extra firepower, and the Hellblaster definitely benefits from being in a unit full of models far more expendable than itself.
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'''Sample Unit Builds:''' As there aren't quite as many potential combinations to work with for these guys as there are for their shorter cousins, here are some example Primaris kill-team loadouts to consider using:
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***6 Intercessors with Auto Bolt Rifles (one of which is a Sergeant with Chainsword), 2 Reivers, and 2 Aggressors with Boltstorm Gauntlets. This results in a unit that will shit out 12-16 Special Ammo shots and 19-38 Bolter shots each turn from 18" away, can Advance and shoot with no penalty, and has Terror Tactics, Shock Grenades and 4 Fist and 18-20 Standard attacks; so they can inflict heavy damage in melee as well. And it only costs 238-246 points. It also counts as 12 models when transported, which would be a perfect size for the Corvus Blackstar...[[Rage|if it could actually transport the damned chads.]] Finally, you can combat squad without losing special rules on either unit.
***5 Intercessors with Stalker Bolt Rifles, 4 Hellblasters with Heavy Plasma Incinerators, and 1 Aggressor. This combo is a designated objective camper: the Intercessors act as ablative wounds for the squad and can also pick off light to medium infantry with Hellfire rounds, the Hellblasters take on vehicles and TEQs (possibly with the help of the Intercessors if they use Vengeance rounds for AP-3), and the Aggressor allows them all to move and shoot without penalties while providing a buffer against infantry that get too close.
***9 Intercessors with Stalker Bolt Rifles and 1 Aggressor. The idea behind this combo is simple – use the Target Sighted Stratagem to pick out a Character or two with Special Issue Ammunition and Damage 2 weaponry. With the Aggressor there to negate the -1 penalty to hit should you need to move to line up the perfect shot, you can take down nearly any Character in the game! (tactic from Las Vegas Open judge and recent Grand Tournament winner Mitch Pelham)
***5 Intercessors with auto bolt rifles, 2 Aggressors, and 3 Inceptors with plasma exterminators. This layout is points intensive, but remarkably durable. The entire unit counts as being Toughness 5 due to their Aggressors and Inceptors and the ablative wounds of the Intercessors help keep your Inceptors alive.  Further,   the Aggressors let all the assault weapons in the unit fire without penalty when advancing, which means that the Inceptors won't kill themselves if they roll a 2 following an advance.
***5 Intercessors with Auto Bolt Rifles, 1 inceptor, 4 Aggressors with Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets and Frag-storm Grenade Launchers. This combo is designed as an alpha/beta strike unit designed to shred hordes. Combine with the Teleportarium stratagem to negate the short range of the Aggressors' guns. The Intercessors provide additional fire support and ablative wounds, but can also split fire using their Special Issue Ammunition if needed. As with above, the entire unit will have toughness 5 and the addition of the Inceptor will let them fallback and keep firing if your opponent tries to assault the unit.
**Note that there is no real reason ''not'' to take the Chainsword on the Sarge, unless you want a Power Sword, as the Chainsword is free.
**Unless you're deep striking with stratagems or outflanking with a Reiver, these guys are your backfield campers. Their only transport doesn't let them do a max squad size with 2 Termies or Jump Packers like the standard vets, so instead deploy them normally and camp home objectives (with double firing Aggressors) or waddle up the field ignoring penalties to advance.
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