Vash

I for one am welcoming all of this. My Deathwatch are eager to join the battle field once more. Most of your thoughts I agree with, and I think your going with the right approach by comparing with Shadow wars (GW has used boxed game before as testing grounds).

Sadly our codex was sub par when it came out and was even more so after the FAQ. After the FAQ going with a CAD was one of the only options for me to make my play style viable. St. Celestine became a "must" tagging along with bikers. Switching from alpha strike with drop pods for rhinos for some mobility and line of sight blocking schenanigans. Deathwatch with its current codex cannot compete on a competitive level alone at the moment. They are great allies though. But you need to take them as allies or CAD as their formations doesn't allow them to take dedicated transports. But all in all. I am happy with my deathwatch. I have won more than I have lost. Given, most of my games with them has been prior to the FAQ. In the future I'll be using them as allies or in a combination with other imperial armies if I want to stay competitive. For "fluffy/narrative" games I can field them as pure Deathwatch.

Oh my lord! Hats off mate! Impressive work.

Oh... :D My poor bikers. Well that good to know.

Thanks mate. Might be because we both are from the 80's that I add all these things :D I made another battle report with flashy sound effects after this one. Though its a Farsight Enclave vs Grey Knights battle report. Yes... foul xenon, but I do play other armies too :D Check it out if you dare (on my youtube channel) Thanks again. Well to be honest it was his first game with the GSC. And I was so pumped for this game and hoping to get my hands on a tough game. But... at this point level and with what he had painted it was hard for him unless he went first. And that is what we did in our second game. We ensured he got first turn. And that game was scary... he got the right psychic powers, perfect rolls on his cult ambush, and I was tabled in turn 3. Even though I was utterly killed, I was impressed over the GSC synergy when it all works. Well written codex, and next time I face him, I won't bring a friendly DW list. Though... it will be hard to beat the GSC with DW. Sp I might end up doing one game more with DW against the GSC and then ally some SoB into the mix (ordered som Grishnak War maidens... 50 of them)... Until next game, thanks :D

Thanks for the comment. I'll look into that. Still experimenting with the options I have. Thanks for posting it out :D

New battle report up. 1000 pts vs Genestealer Cults. Really loved the game, even though it went sideways for the GSC player. But... even though he made som misstakes, he picked up the game from mid to end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dcnXlIeE7o&feature=youtu.be We did play one more game directly after. This just because both of us wanted to see what would happen if he was guaranteed a first turn and better psychic powers (I did roll for size, and rolled a 6... but we decided to skip that for the sake of the alpha strike form the GSC). That battle report will be edited later on.

Gawd darn autocorrect :D Good catch guys! But in all seriousness... I guess I was hitting him with social weapons. Concerning the bolter + meltagun combo... I am currently using combi-meltas, but in recent games, I wish I had meltagun + boltgun. But I don't want to be there again with using incorrect army list (shotgun + boltgun). But you are right, the FAQ exclusively excludes only the shotgun. And to be honest, to keep my DW competitive I need that extra punch. Yah, 30k might not be up to date with the toughest codexes in 40k, but with that Fellblade I can't really see many solutions with the Deathwatch. There was ceramic plating on that thing too. I did have a level 2 librarian and an inquisitor with Technomancy, but the Fellblade was protected to some extent and I had to prioritise objectives. After the game I know more on how to tackle lists like he had. Looking now on a more psyker heavy list. 12 Hull points is pretty harsh... I am still struggling with if I should make a battle report video of it all... Its is one sided, and all I do is fighting to get some maelstrom points. Every turn the Fellblade takes out one or two units. I am now fearing that I will be doing more and more allying with the Deathwatch... much due to the upcoming Ultra Primach. Oh well, I'll pick my fights more carefully in the future :) I hate to do it, but I think need to avoid the really hard lists if I am going to make battle reports. I have no problems with uploading losses, but it should be interesting to watch it at least (heck my first battle report video was a loss). Anyhow, I am back to the drawing board and exchanging the twitter guns for some serious dakka.

WOW! Now I got my behind handed to me today. Both of us got mixed signals on how powerful or not powerful our armies were. I tuned down my army, as he said that 30k armies are bad vs 40k (which they are if you don't play a sub par codex). And for his defence, he saw my win two games of three (big wins and loss was against the tournament winner and I was the only one who took points from him). So his impression of Deathwatch was that the Deathwatch were a force to fear. When I saw his 30k army, and most specifically the Fellblade, I knew the outcome. I... am... dead... I had not brought anything at all to handle a super heavy of that caliber. The game was pretty one sided from turn 2 and forward. I also made a mistake with my list. Had one empty pod that was intended for a veteran unit with social weapons. Now I had a miss match of characters "just for fun". He excused him self, and wanted to have a rematch another day. Where we compare lists in advance. He also heard my story of the DW FAQ and how it affected us. In the end, I am not sad or angry/frustrated over the loss. Instead I got inspired of the 30k army he had, and got loads of useful information of the 30k universe. I recorded it all, but at the moment I am not really in the mood to edit it :) I am at the moment looking over my models what I could have brought to take down the Fellblade.

Well he is one of my oldest friends, and we have been at each others throats for around 19 years. Our games are usually very even, as we know each other very well and they power level we will bring. Also we inform each other before the game in detail of models included. But he has lost so many battles to me over the years, chaos codex... and his blind dedication to fluff/thousand sons, he decided to go for a tough list. Didn't suit him at all. Heck I had more fun than he did :) and I almost got tabled. I have not used Magnus myself yet. Being a background type of player I would use Magnus in Thousand Sons. I realize he is far more capable with Tzeentch based daemons (as is evidenced by the utter lack of Thousand Sons WITH Magnus at LVO), but I think it's fluffier to do so personally. Now I personally don't think Magnus is great with Thousand Sons because he's so cost prohibitive and not a GC. But that Daemon Tetrad is nasty in the right hands. I posted a batrep up where I had almost no models on the table by T2 with my Deathwatch vs. a Tetrad. Literally if the Daemon player gets first turn it's over. You are fighting a squadron of super beings with Iron Arm, FnP, re-rolling 3++ Invulns PLUS they are Shrieking you off the table while summoning more Warp Charges. Within 2 turns I remember losing over half my army while he generated about 15-20 models. Tetrad is pretty hardcore. I killed one model (a Nurgle DP with a 2 up jink of course.) But I will say this.... after some games against Cawl and with Celestine it is shocking to me how cheap they are, and they are not LoW. Cawl and Celestine are far superior imo to the likes of Draigo (30 points more) and Ahirman (60pts more) or Calgar (75 points more!). Two of these comparables are LoW. I have yet to lose Celestine, I have yet to kill Cawl. It seems like I could, but the effort required is huge and may cost you the game. Magnus can be a beast to take down in flight mode but at the cost of over 3 Belasarius Cawls? These two (Cawl and Celestine) are a total steal. This is why I think they bring Deathwatch into an area we've sorely lacked. In fact any army that has poor formations and has to hang on to a CAD is well suited to these two. I have not used Cawl yet and look forward to your batrep! I do own the model though so it's always possible. (I've been using Ultramarines with Celestine in lists and I think it's even more effective in those lists.) St. Celestine is, and has been, one of my favourite characters. Along the characters I love in the 40k universe are; Culexus, Marneus Calgar and Farsight (yah... xenon scum). Man, you want to see Cawl and St. Celestine in a battle report. Darn it.. just completed the list I will use, but it doesn't include Cawl :D I'll see what I can do. Problem is... he isn't painted!

Yah, I realised that now when I made some new lists :D So they are back in :) That's cool. I just had a game against Cawl last night again... wow is he ridiculous. I put 18 Grav Cannon wounds into him with my Ultramarines, he walked away from it. No problem. Wow. I have yet to kill him. Did you actually kill Magnus? I did know Cawl could be used with those special rules on Space Marines! Everyone I know that uses Cawls is playing Admech so that's cool to know. Belasarius pointing out Magnus in the sky .... very cool image. Side note, my Landraider never got to shoot again... d'oh. I thought of you as I pulled it in and out of my list 10 times before deciding to take the risk and play one again. Ouch. No I never even tried to go up against Magnus. Just focused on objectives and the demon princes. Cutting down the warp charges, to a more manageable level. Game ended in turn 5, and I was happy about that. I was down to Cawl (single wound), and a handful other soldiers. I took the primary objectives and hoped for the game to end. I would have lost the primaries in turn 6, and tabled in turn 7. To be fair, my opponent was not happy with his army. He had 4 flying demons, and magic dominance. So he had two areas of total dominance. There was little tactic, as he was "fairly free" to do what ever he wanted. He is going back to a more "normal" army next time. Even though he loses most of the games (chaos) he enjoyed the challenge and always brings out of the box tactics and lists. Next game is on Friday. I am giving my opponent a choice of two lists. One almost pure DW (have 2 ministorum priests and St. Celestine), and one combined with Cult Mechanicum. 2500 pts, casual game I would presume. He is probably bringing a 30k army with a super heavy (Iron warriors).

Might as well make this my thread for Battle reports. From what it looks like, I'll be recording one battle each week (if time permits). Aiming for 3 battle reports a month. Later on, in march, I hope I can gift myself a hobby room and perhaps get one kill team game and one normal 40k game per week recorded. Up next, this friday I'll be up against 2500 pts 30k of some kind. He won't tell me, but I he assures me that its not cheesy one, and only one super heavy. I'll be fielding a combination of Cult Mechanicum, Deathwatch (main force), and either Imperial agents or Execution Force (loved it last time I used it). Cawl and St. Celestine are making their appearance too. I am not sure I'll be done with Cawl... such a complex model to paint. But I hope I can get some basic base colours on him at least. Used Cawl once, and he is really great vs infantry. Spamming out attacks like crazy. Against monstrous creatures he is able to stand toe to toe with his re-roll feel no pain (and 5++ save). Also he unlocks a very useful relic for me. The Memento Mortispex. Allows tank/monster hunter, cognis weapons, or skyfire (chose one per turn). Had great use of this too last game. Three flying demon princes and Magnus... It allowed me to shoot at them in the air, and forced some of them to the ground. Once on the ground monster hunter kicked in. St. Celestine, well we do know about her already, and I have so far only used her with bikes (not enough Vanguards yet). I have to order/rebuild my bikes so my two power swords become power axes (as the third guy has). She unlocks Blade of the Worthy for the army, and I'll probably pick this up. Perhaps on a cheap inquisitor (since I might go low on points if I go with the Execution force). Anyhow, battle report will be up during the weekend.

Very hard question. In this particular game I would say yes, even though it didn't really show in "kills". Culexus drained out 6 warp charges at least each turn. Keep the Grey Knights at bay. Vindicare took out key members of infantry units (hammers). Callidus, held back a Purifier unit and librarian from the main Grey Knight force. Eversor... well he didn't really have a target. But non the less, he lure out the terminators. I'll be totally honest and say that the execution force can be really useful after seeing what they could do. But... it comes with a high price.

I found the list. Do not expect a hard hitting army :) And I even found a misstake... the captain may not have the Relic he is using as he is not a part of the CAD... DEATHWATCH 2600 COMBINED ARMS DETACHMENT 1090 ST: CELESTINE 200 1 The living Saint, 2 Geminae Superia DEATHWATCH VETERANS 215 5 Veterans, 1 Rhino Frag cannon x2, combi-melta x2 DEATHWATCH VETERANS 225 5 Veterans, 1 Rhino Frag cannon x2, grav gun x2 DEATHWATCH BIKERS 165 5 Bikers Power sword x2, power axe LAND RAIDER 250 1 Redeemer Multi-melta DEATHWATCH DROP POD 35 1 Drop pod STRATEGIUM COMMAND TEAM 455 WATCH CAPTAIN 145 1 Captain Blade of the Worthy, artificer armour AQUILA KILL TEAM 310 4 Veterans, 1 Black shield, 2 Terminator Frag cannon x2, shotgun x2, storm shield, power fist + shotgun, thunder hammer + storm shield x2 STRATEGIUM COMMAND TEAM 390 DEATHWATCH LIBRARIAN 95 1 Librarian Mastery level 2 AQUILA KILL TEAM 295 5 Veterans, 2 Terminators Frag cannon x2, combi-melta, shotgun x2, assault cannon + chain fist, heavy flamer + auxiliary meltagun IMPERIAL AGENTS 95 ORDO XENOS INQUISITOR 70 1 Inquisitor Mastery level 1, force weapon, rad grenades MINSTRATUM PRIEST 25 1 Priest EXECUTION FORCE 570 VINDICARE ASSASSIN 150 1 Assassin CALLIDUS ASSASSIN 145 1 Assassin CULEXUS ASSASSIN 140 1 Assassin EVERSOR ASSASSIN 135 1 Assassin Total models: 40 infantry, 4 vehicles Total points 2600

I'll see if I can find it. I usually just throw something together nowadays.