Xenos Hunters…Heroes of multiple Chapters, it’s time for the Deathwatch to step up for a faction focus! 

In case you missed them, we’ve already covered Tyranids and Space Marines.

Whereas 10th has been full of unexpected changes, fans of the ‘watch will be happy to hear that Kill Teams are still a thing, only this time with simplified rules (which is the name of the game in this edition!).

Let’s check them out! 

Massive thanks to Games Workshop for giving us access to the rules a little early, and you can download them right now off WarCom!

If you would like to support the site then why not order your models through our affiliate Element Games and save yourself some money too?

We also have a whole raft of 40k 10th Edition and Leviathan content up, so be sure to check it out here on the site or on YouTube!

Army Rules

So the army rule IS Kill Teams. 

Basically this section explains how Kill Teams work, for example if different models have different toughnesses etc. It doesn’t however tell you how they are structured, that’s left for the datacards.

This does mean Deathwatch do not get the Space Marine Doctrines, however they do have Oath of Moment. 

Detachment: Black Spear Task Force

As with all the other forces on launch day, Deathwatch has the one detachment they can call upon. 

Black Spear Task Force works a little like Doctrines. Each battle round you can choose a tactic to switch into:

• Furor Tactics: All your weapons can Sustained Hits 1 (as written both melee and shooting)
• Malleus Tactics: All your weapons gain Lethal Hits (auto wounding)
• Purgatus Tactics: All of your weapons can Precision on a Critcial hit of a 6

Sadly they are once per battle, leaving you two turns of no tactics, however using the right tactic, with the right weapons in range could be deadly!

The detachment rules also tells you what you cannot take in a Deathwatch force, which is standard affair for veteran Deathwatch commander. Devastor squads, Assault Squads and Devastor squads all cannot be taken, along with any specialist Chapter units/characters (Wolfkin for example)

Enhancements

4 enhancements are up for grabs and most have names that have graced Deathworld books of old. No wasted space here, all of which could see usage.

Thief of Secrets ups your Armour penetration, strength and damage of all equipped melee weapons by 1, unless you manage to slay a single enemy model during the battle. If you do, you improve those 3 points by 2 instead.

The next one is locked to Watch Masters and Technarines only, but it’s a cracking piece of kit. The Osseus Key allows you to pick a Vehicle unit within 12” of the bearer (and in LoS). That vehicle then has to take a leadership test. If it fails said test then it cannot shoot during that phase…ommpfftt! If the test is passed then it’s -1 to hit, so regardless of the outcome of the leadership test your opponent will have a debuff of some kind.

Beacon Angelis gives the bearer and the attached unit Deep Strike. Also allows the unit to use the Rapid Ingress strat for zero CO.

Finishing on a high with Tome of the Ectoclades. When you pick a unit for your Oath of Moment, which Deathwatch do get, you get to pick a second unit! Two units you are rerolling hits and wounds against, tasty.

Stratagems

Again, all killer and no filler here.

Previously a mechanic for some units, this is where you’ll find 10th editions Special Ammunition.

On one hand it’s a shame to see it here, but in the other it’s cool that they are back and are useable by every Kill Team in your army. 

All of them affect two units of Kill Teams (your choice) and can only be used in your shooting phase when another different ammunition strat hasn’t been used. 

• Hellfire Rounds: Gain Anti-Infantry 2+ and Anti-Monsters 5+
• Kraken Rounds: improve AP by 1 and range by 6”
• Dragonfire Rounds: Gain Assualt and Ignore Cover

Those above cover a good percentage of strats, but you also have Teleportarium (pick up two Kill Teams or one other Astartes unit in your army at the end of your opponents shooting phase and remove from battefield. Your next Reinforcement step you bring them back in), Armour of Contempt (worsen AP by 1 on a unit chosen in your opponents shooting phase) and Adaptive tactics (stick up to two Kill Teams into one of the three tactics explained earlier).

Key Units

If you’re new to Deathwatch, then theirs one major unit type that we need to look at, Kill Teams (this should also be obvious by how many of the above content centres around them).

Kill Teams are made up of a core of a standard unit type, whether they be classic Veteran Space Marines, Intercessors, Heavy Intercessors or Incursor/Infiltatrors. You can then add different marines of the same type to expand your Kill Team. 

Depending on what you added you gained abilities or access to strats in the old book. In the new book it doesn’t matter. The cool ability for that Kill Team is just there.

Let’s run through all of the Kill Teams, as hopefully this will make the above make sense…

• Proteus Kill Team: Your classic Vets. The Old Marines. Comprises of 5 Vets and then you can add Terminators, Assualt Marines and/or classic bikers. Ability: Add 1 to Hit if the target unit is above half strength.
• Fortis Kill Team. 5 Intercessors and then you can add Outriders or Hellblasters (I’m guessing the new Flamer boys will be added to this soon?). Ability: Add 1 to Hit if the target unit is below half strength.
• Indomitor Kill Team. Comprises of 5 Heavy Intercessors, can then add Aggressors, Eradicators and/or Inceptors. Ability: Add 1 to Hit Rolls of the enemy unit is below starting strength, and add 1 to wound if below half strength.
• Spectrus Kill Team: Comprises of 5 Infiltrators and can add Reivers and Eliminators. Ability: At the end of opponents turn, if this unit is outside of 6” of any enemy units, it can be taken off the board and be put down via Deep Strike during your next reinforcement step.

They all now feel like they deserve a place in your lists. Indomitor and Spectrus Kill Teams jump out at me. With the amount of firepower your Heavy Intercessors, Aggressors and Eradicators can put out…imagine how much they’ll benefit from those pluses to hit and wound. Movement is always key in games of 40k, which makes Spectrus potentially a strong team to bring along. Free deep strikes mid game are nothing to sneeze at.

Summary

The Kill Teams now have cool abilities, especially when mixed with the available strats. They seem fun and fluffy.

They still have access to almost every Astartes unit (which I hope never changes) meaning variety is the spice of life, however, if you want to make the most of what this faction can give you you’ll want to get as many Kill Teams in your list as possible. 

Add to the fact that they can all go into the Blackstar, regardless of type, makes me want to field my ultimate Astartes again on the battlefield. 

If you want specialised marines, this is the faction for you. Now let’s go kill some Xenos!

Our thanks again to Games Workshop for sending us the rules to chat about! Starting or adding to your Deathwatch? Buy through our Element Games links to save money Vs RRP and help us out!