A Good Deathwing Core

[Prot]

Hey guys,

 

I know I keep asking Deathwing advice.  I pushed myself to put together 4 boxes of terminators. Plus the Dark Vengeance Termies and my Belial finally game in...oh and a Librarian Terminator that I don't know if I'll use now that I've read some of your comments on my other thread.

 

So I'm stalled in list creation. And I will probably play 1500pt games to start but honestly, we pretty much play 1850 here usually. 

 

SO assuming 5-6 Knights, Belial and the stuff I told you about, what is your idea of a solid 'Core'? I'm thinking HQ and troops.... but specifically what are the best troop configurations.

 

This part has stumped me. I know Deathwing Termies are troops, but I've taken a chance and put together 2 Missile launcher Termies with Shield/Hammer. The other special weapons I have access to are an assault Cannon Termie and a heavy flamer guy. 

 

The odd thing is with Chaos this felt so much easier because the combi weapons were so accessible. Yes they were 'fire and forget' but for the price they were pretty darn good. 

 

Now I find I don't even know what to start out with as the core. Is a 10 man termie squad good or horrible? I used to precision deep strike my Chaos termies sometimes with multiple flamers and destroy large squads of enemy crap.... but this doesn't seem that valid for Deathwing. 

 

Is the Assault Cannon even worth it? He came from the DV set, and I'm having trouble convincing myself that the point difference is worth it to downgrade a Missile Launcher to this guy.

 

So as you can see I'm not sure where to start. At 1500 I was thinking two 5-7 man squads of terminators. At 1850 trying to get that to 3 x 5 man ? And Beilial in both cases with the Librarian with Divination?  Any suggestions for starting a core of the army?

[Brother Turok]

I used to run mixed temi squads but have learned that shooty DW squads usually do the best in 6th edition (as 6th edition is super shooty).  My terminator squads are as follows:

 

sarge ps/sb,

assault cannon (way better than cyclones in 6th imho)

three sb/pf (sometimes I throw in a chain fist). 

 

Remember they get twin linked and split fire when they deepstrike... very deadly.  The AC can take on pretty much anything from MC's to troops or light to mid armor with rending.  I would take the cyclone launchers if they had skyfire, but as far as I know they don't so I don't. 

 

I run the following for 1850:

Belial + DW Knights

2 DW squads (troops)

1 scout squad w sniper rifles and one skyfire missile launcher

2 Black Knight squads

1 Neph fighter

3 devi squads (6 man, 3x skyfire missile launchers in each)

   +either a terminator or bike chaplain or a librarian to ward of those pesky psychers

 

The devi squads and scouts provide anti air/anti armor support and can take many wounds before they lose their usefulness.  The scouts and termis stay mobile and take objectives/kill things.  It has worked well for me against marines, chaos, and tyranid and demon flying circus armies. 

 

That's what I run anyway, hope that helps!

[Brother Bahram]

Welcome to the Rock, Brother!

 

You have choosen the funniest and hardest army to play.

First read this article - Deathwing Tactica
then is this a great one - Mech/Deathwing by march10k
 

[Isiah]

Core Deathwing? Belial and two squads of Terminators. The most important point is magnetise arms for total interchangeability otherwise you will need - like me - a lot of models to act as weapon alternatives :)

 

As 'core' Deathwing I'd also include a 7-man DWK unit too for inclusion in larger games, and a Librarian in Terminator armour.

 

This will provide you a solid base to add other units to as you need.

 

Cheers

I

[SvenONE]

Curious why anyone would argue against a terminator librarian, I think they are a bargain for what they bring to the table.  25 terminators is a good start for a DW army.  I think in the 2K and upwards range Deathwing really starts to shine.  A Landraider is also pretty important so I'd try and find a way to get that in there.  Don't forget that HQs can still take the regular vet command squad, so you can put the cheaper command squad with a S.Fortitude inside rather than spending it on a DW one.

[[TA]Typher]

Curious why anyone would argue against a terminator librarian, I think they are a bargain for what they bring to the table. 25 terminators is a good start for a DW army. I think in the 2K and upwards range Deathwing really starts to shine. A Landraider is also pretty important so I'd try and find a way to get that in there. Don't forget that HQs can still take the regular vet command squad, so you can put the cheaper command squad with a S.Fortitude inside rather than spending it on a DW one.

I sometimes field a bare bones lib w/o term armor in my DW. In a LR with a group of knights he really doesn't need the upgrade.

 

Sometimes points are tight or i use those upgrade pts to make him lvl 2

[Darkangeldentist]

The core of any Deathwing army will always be Belial and at least 2 squads of Deathwing terminators, just like Isiah said. After that it's about personal preference, taste and what kind of stuff you face on a regular basis.

 

When I last fielded a pure Deathwing list it was 1500pts and featured Belial, 3x five man Deathwing terminator squads armed with a pair of assault cannons and heavy flamer between them. The rest of the points were spent on a basic librarian and a pair of Land raiders with twin lascannons and heavy bolters. It was very well-rounded and reasonably successful on the table. (This was last year so escalation had not landed at the time.)

 

Dual Land raiders are a great addition to many Deathwing armies due to the benefits they bring, namely a means of delivering and protecting a unit of terminators to where they need to be safely and without worrying about enemy guns until the land raider is destroyed. Between the tanks themselves and the units inside you can generally keep the rest of the Deathwing in the army safely in reserve to Deathwing assault in when you need them. Depending on which varient you bring they also add valuable firepower to tackle different threats. Crusaders and redeemers help against infantry whilst the traditional land raider has respectable tank busting firepower with its lascannons. This can help determine what weapon loadouts you want for your terminator squads.

 

I take a mix of assault cannons and heavy flamers in my squads alongside as many stormbolters as I can because my land raiders and powerfists are what I rely on to crack armour. Assault cannons are good weapons that threaten a wide range of targets from infantry to monsters and vehicles. The cyclone is a little better against light to medium armour than the assault cannons and the frag missiles can do well against infantry if your opponent obligingly clumps them together but it is more expensive and lacks the same potential as the assault cannon due to rending. The heavy flamer I adore deep striking and using Belial to get a pinpoint landing with it. Twin-linked flamers are evil when you can place them well and I have seen many games swung early on by the damage it has dealt. It is a limited and niche weapon though. Lastly the plasma cannon I have still not fielded, it is temptingly priced but I can't bring myself to take the risk currently.

 

Deathwing knights I am increasingly fond of but I regard them as a luxury choice in a Deathwing army, regular units come first and their role almost requires a transport.

 

Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

[Isiah]

I agree on the 'Raiders. I know folks prefer the Crusaders and tend to see the regular versions as poor relations - but the tl-lascannons have always served me well meaning the DW squads can be geared ballistically for anti-infantry work.

 

It suits me - but not everyone ^_^

 

Cheers

I

[Prot]

Well after careful consideration and taking in the advice of this thread (Thank you very much for that), I have decided on the following core at 1850:

 

3 x units of 5 Terminators.

 

10 will stay together, unless it is objective based, and then they may split up, giving me the 3x5 scenario. In victory points, it would stay 10 + 5.

 

The ten man squad is vanilla, except for 2 sets of hammer/shield, Cyclone dudes. The 5 man squad is vanilla with a single Assault Cannon.

 

This 'core' is combined with the idea of two landraiders. One crusader, one regular. I admit I'm fairly uncomfortable with this idea.

 

I've posted my list and it has zero comments, but if anyone sees anything out of wack I'd appreciate a comment or help..... My game is tomorrow night and I could face just about anything but it will be competitive. Thanks again.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/289327-1850-pretty-pure-deathwing/?p=3648335

[Isiah]

Well after careful consideration and taking in the advice of this thread (Thank you very much for that), I have decided on the following core at 1850:

 

3 x units of 5 Terminators.

 

10 will stay together, unless it is objective based, and then they may split up, giving me the 3x5 scenario. In victory points, it would stay 10 + 5.

I like this - should work well.

 

Cheers

I

[Cactus]

I know it's been pointed out on your army list thread but it's worth repeating; Deathwing squads do not have the combat squads rule, so you can't split the 10 man unit at deployment.

[Prot]

I know it's been pointed out on your army list thread but it's worth repeating; Deathwing squads do not have the combat squads rule, so you can't split the 10 man unit at deployment.

 

Oh crud. Thanks... I didn't know anyone replied to it... lemme go check. ;)