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

====Deathwing====
*'''[[Deathwing]] Terminators:''' Elite Terminators with the ability to customize their loadout to suit your needs. So you can have a combination of ranged guys with melee dudes and have a squad for all occasions and being ''Inner Circle'' they thankfully pass all morale checks they are required to make, so they don't have to worry about losing extra guys as a result of a poor leadership check. What's more is that even the basic guy is the same points cost as a normal "codex" terminator ''(23 points before wargear, 34 with the standard Bolter/Fist combo)''. However, they don't have the ability to deploy Teleport Homers to the battlefield and leap to it in an "emergency" as vanilla Terminators do; but the benefits available to Deathwing outweigh any lost rules from core Terminators. Thanks to the codex they can now combat squad, so you can essentially have Terminator Assault squad and a regular Terminator squad in the same slot if you like, although any Watcher in the Dark has to be assigned to one unit or the other.
**The changes to power weapon rules means that the Sergeant may actually want to keep his sword in this edition, rather than it being a useless hunk of crap. It is worth giving him LC to make use of his 3 attack base or giving him a TH/SS combo. 
**One dude in every five can take a heavy weapon as normal, but their list also includes the Plasma Cannon, which doesn't overheat in this edition unless you overcharge it. Option wise though: Don't take the Heavy Flamer. If you're Deep Striking these guys (which you really should!) then having an 8" range isn't helpful if you have to be more than 9" away. For the Plasma Cannon, it's okay compared to the Cyclone Missile Launcher, due to being half the cost, and thanks to Grim Resolve, you have easy access to re-rolling 1s to help keep him alive. However, the -1 to hit when moving prevents you from overcharging unless you want your precious plasma cannon to blow up immediately. If you have the points, then taking a Cyclone would be better since you still get a Storm Bolter too. The Assault Cannon is also a good choice, at only 1 point pricier than the Plasma Cannon, excelling at cutting through hordes, which the rest of the squad is forced to equip itself to fight, with their storm bolters.
**Note that by taking a 5 man Terminator Assault Squad and 5 man Terminator Squad as a Combat Squaded 10 man squad, the Terminator Squad will be able to take an additional Heavy Weapon, courtesy of the five models in the Assault Squad.
**Actually, you can mixmatched anything. Say hello to 10 men Hammernator with 2 of them carry Cyclone Missile Launcher.
**Deathwing Terminators can take a Watcher in the Dark, allowing them to negate an incoming psychic power on a 3+ once per game. It's pretty cheap for only 5 points and it can really be useful against armies that excel in psychic such as 'Nids or Chaos. However, it's pretty useless against armies with little to no psychic such as Tau or Necrons.   
*'''Deathwing Cataphractii Terminator Squad:''' A cross between the dakka of normal terminators and the defensiveness of Storm Shields, these Deathwing Terminators bear a 4+ Invulnerable save, but are stuck with a 4" move and must halve all advance rolls. Either keep them in a Land Raider/Stormraven or Deep Strike them to get anywhere, never footslog these guys. Sadly can only take a Heavy Flamer as a Special weapon, but the Sergeant can have a Grenade Harness, and they can all take a pair of Lightning Claws or swap their Power Fists for Chainfists.
**They can swap their power fist to a single Lightning Claw, so they can clear out hordes by shooting their Combi-Bolter and still hit hard with accuracy S4 ap2 d1 with reroll failed wound from the claw.
*'''Deathwing Tartaros Terminator Squad:''' This time the Deathwing get an all-important extra inch of movement. However, your weapon options have changed and you're stuck with a 5++. You can only take a Heavy Flamer and Reaper Autocannon for a special weapon. One in five can have a grenade harness without replacing a Storm Bolter, and the entire squad can take Chainfists, or single or doubled up Lightning Claws, but the Sarge gets access to a Volkite Charger([[derp|which can't do extra damage on a 6+ like Admech or Forgeworld Volkites]]) or a Plasma Blaster for busting caps in other TEQs. Effectively giving you five special weapons in a squad of ten. To get the most out of their firepower, it's best to Teleport Strike your Tartaros or load them into a Storm Eagle.
**Fastest Terminator variant (6" move). Best if used with a transport they can disembark from or footslogging. Otherwise, alternate terminator variants are superior.
*'''Deathwing Knights:''' They lost a whole bunch of special rules this edition but Deathwing Knights are still excellent melee specialists. They lost their Fortress of Shields ability, but they gained an extra wound for being Terminators. Their Maces of Absolution are still scary, striking at S8 AP-2 and doing [[Rip and Tear|THREE damage each]], basically losing out to Thunder Hammers by a point of armour penetration but with no drawbacks to accuracy. This means a squad of these guys can theoretically take out any high-value target in one turn of combat. The problem is their mediocre number of attacks and since damage does not carry over from dead models it means they are liable to become swamped by hordes. What they really need is back up from external abilities that grant rerolls, dice modifiers or additional attacks. Strangely enough, compared to the last edition these badass Knights aren't effective as hordes as they use to be. Let their brothers deal with chaff and let these guys deal with the heavy stuff. 
**The Knight Master's Flail of the Unforgiven is an exception to the normal rule, excess wounds inflicted on one model do carry over to the rest of the unit, and with his base value of 3 attacks at S6 AP-3 and 2 damage, he has the potential to take out six guys all by himself; making him the guy to deal with hordes while the rest of his unit knock lumps out the biggest thing in front of them.
**Deathwing Knights also get a Watcher in the Dark for the ability to nullify a psychic power affecting them once per game. The same tactics for the watcher apply here as well. 
**An argument could be made as to whether a squad of Knights is any better than a squad of TH/SS Terminators in the long run, now that Thunder Hammers no longer need to strike last: They both have the same basic profiles and a 2+/3++ save and hit at S8 and do three damage. A squad of Deathwing Terminators generally ''hits harder'' due to the increased armour penetration and can also customize itself to varying purposes, such as by adding a Cyclone Missile Launcher. Deathwing Knights do have the advantage of accuracy; being able to hit on 3+ and cost four points less per man ''(the Mace & Flails are free, so that's 35 points per man plus 2 for the storm shield for a total 37, whereas Hammernators cost 23 points per man, plus 18 for the hammer and shield for a total 41)'' Maces do absolutely fine against enemies with either poor regular saves or good invulnerable saves, as the increased penetration of the Hammer is lost against anything with a save of 5 or worse <u>OR</u> an invulnerable save of 4+ or better, so in those cases the Deathwing Knights are undoubtedly better.
**These guys are great but do need some support from characters. An Interrogator-Chaplain will make them even more deadly with his rerolls and if you don't mind the investment, you could get a Deathwing Ancient to follow them too. All of the above can teleport in together, or you could fit them in a Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer or a Storm Raven for more mobility and firepower support.
***Consider running a Librarian (terminator armour or otherwise) with the knights. Righteous Repugnance gives you re-roll to hit AND to wound, which is actually better than the chaplain's aura! Just remember, casting isn't guaranteed to succeed (unlike the aura, which is always on) and even if you pass, your opponent can attempt to deny the power with a psyker of their own.
**With Ritual of the Damned, cackle like a madman when you place a Deathwing Knight squad outside of 6" of an enemy unit. Unlike the similar Grey Knight teleportation doctrine, but much like the Custode Vexillia Teleport Homer, Combined Assault makes '''no restriction on charging'''. Have fun!
*'''Deathwing Champion:''' The 1st Company Champion is still here, and capable of cutting guys in half with that halberd of his, though his rules have turned him into a bit of an inconsistent oddball, so his focus has changed. He strikes three times at S7 AP-4 and does D3 damage, that S7 means he wounds T4 on a 3+ ''(rather than a 2+ back in 7th)''. He can reroll failed to-hit rolls against Characters, but his halberd grants him D3 extra attacks if his target unit contains 5 or more models, so it's as if he can't decide whether he wants to take on single opponents in honourable combat, or get stuck into bodyguards. But he's pretty good at both though.
**Deathwing Champions are a one-per-army deal, so you can't have multiples. 
**In terms of close combat damage against lone characters, the three Champions fall pretty close to each other. The Deathwing Champion has one higher AP, but often a character has some form of invulnerable save, that will make AP less of a concern beyond 3+. The deciding factor will be mainly their prices and the rest of the army; you can field almost 2 Company champs for the price of a single RW/DW champion. However, it would be a waste of a Rhino/Razorback trying to keep up with a RW HQ and pairing the Greenwing champion in with guys in Termi-armor would just look retarded.
**If for some reason you -really- want his 2+ to wound against MEQs again, pair him with a Chaplain Dreadnought. Be mindful of the cost, though.
**Waste of points and slot. Costs as much as most Terminator HQs, doesn't fill required HQ slots, no ranged attack, only 5++ invulnerable save, bonuses against characters look good until you realize that he hits on 2s anyway, so re-rolling hits is the same as re-rolling 1s. Weapon is basically equal to to the DA Relic Heavenfall Blade. A Master in Terminator Armor with Heavenfall Blade and Storm Shield costs less points, has 2 more attacks than the base DW champion, and this model's re-rolls apply to all attacks, not just those against characters.
*'''Deathwing Apothecary:''' So somehow being a member of the 1st Company makes Deathwing Apothecaries inferior. They may have gained a better save and an extra wound, but they lost an attack somewhere while putting on that suit of terminator armour and [[Fail|this is still the case in the latest codex.]] This coupled with the fact that they have no melee weapon at all means these guys just suck in close combat. But that just means you aren't tempted to do anything that an apothecary shouldn't be doing in the first place, his job is to heal allies, not get stuck in with the beatsticks.
**, Unlike Champions, you can have as many Deathwing Apothecaries in your army as points/slots allow.
**The Deathwing Apothecary does have some advantages over other Apothecaries. While the movement is much slower, it can Deep Strike, has a more reliable Invulnerable save and more importantly, has a 2+ save rather than a 3+.He also has a stormbolter, letting him add some ranged firepower to whatever unit he's supporting. 
**The challenge to viability is that he doesn't heal anymore than a regular apothecary, yet costs more. And since the cost of the apothecary limits your inclusion of other models (because you could buy them instead), he has to heal a lot more to justify himself. 
*'''Deathwing Ancient:''' In addition to the traditional banner bearers, you get Deathwing and Ravenwing standard bearers. So comparatively, the Deathwing version is equipped with Terminator Armour, granting him an extra wound, 2+/5++ saves and the ability to Teleport Strike as well as coming with a Storm Bolter & Power Fist as standard, but is able to swap his gear for a pair of lightning claws or Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield combination. Note that the codex Chapter Ancient only comes with a Power Sword and some grenades, so immediately the Deathwing Ancient is more threatening and more customizable, however, this obviously comes at a greater cost. Furthermore, the Deathwing Standard has a more specific purpose; granting +1 attack to all Deathwing unit within 6" of himself, so if you play with a few squads of Deathwing Terminators or Knights you'll definitely want this guy to hover around in the background. Weapon wise, keep him with his stock Power Fist/Storm Bolter. The chainfist is 10 points more expensive and isn't really worth the ten points and then the LC/TH+SS takes away your shooting which is quite important, especially if you stick him next to some Deathwing Knights who don't have any shooting anyway. Yes, it's only a Storm Bolter but it's better than nothing. 
**When moving into charge range it can be a challenge to keep your units inside his buff-bubble. When your unit goes charging off and this guy doesn't make the charge you may find your unit suddenly out of his banner range. Take care.
***A way to avoid leaving his buff bubble is to play with pile-ins. Remember, you only need one guy from the squad in base-to-base. As long as all the other members are within 1" of him, they can attack as well. Use this to your advantage to stay in the range of the banner and still get all your attacks!
**Note all major characters ''(except Sammael and traditional Chaplains)'' have the Deathwing keyword, so they'll benefit from the extra attack as well.