Death Company loadout advice

[Warsmith Aznable]

I've got my Death Company magnetised, so it's not a huge deal that I get it right the first time, but I was wondering what people would think of this as a basic load-out:

 

1. Thunderhammer

2. Chainsword and Inferno Pistol

3. Chainsword and Inferno Pistol

4. Powerfist and Hand Flamer

5. Power Sword and Plasma Pistol

 

Thunderhammer guy dedicated to hitting things really hard. The two chainsword/inferno pistol guys for general melee damage, since they can shoot with their pistols and get an extra attack with their chainswords. The Powerfist guy is to back up the Thunderhammer guy if necessary, but carries the hand flamer to guarantee hits on soft targets in cover if they happen to pass by any. The Power Sword/Plasma Pistol guy I thought would just look cool.

[sebs_evo7]

Completely up to you but i would drop all the special pistols to include more guys with chainswords

[Warsmith Aznable]

Completely up to you but i would drop all the special pistols to include more guys with chainswords

 

Inferno Pistol is 9 points, plasma pistol is 7, so I could get one more guy (if I had more than 5 models.) Doesn't shooting the inferno pistols in assault outweigh another body?

[Brother Crimson]

If you plan to use small dc squad(5) what I would advice is to specialize them.

 

Like 2-3 thunder hammer to get armored

2-3 power sword to kill marines with perhaps plasma pistol

Bolter chainsword for swarm, maybe hand flamers caus they are cool

 

It is much easier to play units with defined roles than a do it all.

[Warsmith Aznable]

If you plan to use small dc squad(5) what I would advice is to specialize them.

 

 

Yes, for now I've only got the five guys. I was thinking I would use them to counter hard units with goods saves and multiple wounds. Sort of just throw them at the most dangerous enemy to give the rest of my army some time to work.

[9x19 Parabellum]

Most people, including me, would probably argue to keep them a) specialized and b)don't overdo the special weapons.  Remember that you ARE going to take casualties, especially with the reduced FNP value that DC now have.  Which means loading up every Tom, Dick and Harry with a big pistol and big melee means they are going to get shot off the board and wasted points. DC are already very threatening with just a chainsword and bolter, wounding must stuff on 3's and 4's combined with volume attacks.  Personally, I think the best melee weapon for them is a powersword, as the -3 to armor save is fantastic when the main problem of powerswords (no str. bonus) is mitigated by our +1 to wound bonus.  Plus it's cheap (only 4 pts).

[Brother Crimson]

 

 

If you plan to use small dc squad(5) what I would advice is to specialize them.

 

Yes, for now I've only got the five guys. I was thinking I would use them to counter hard units with goods saves and multiple wounds. Sort of just throw them at the most dangerous enemy to give the rest of my army some time to work.

Look at your army and check what is needed most. DC have a very versatile loadout but they still work better with a defined purpose.

 

against hard save and multiple wound, this sounds like hammer and power fist, unless you mean primais marine and terminators, then go for power swords.

[Are Verlo]

As the posters above: keep them cost effective and stick with bolters and chainswords. Perhaps 1 power weapon per 5 marine. If you have a 10 strong unit it is possible to include 2 power wps or hammers. 5 DC with lots of bling will often be shot off the table fast and the unit can suffer few wounds before you have to remove hammers, fists and models with pistols & power weapons.

 

Edit: this is based on the assumption that you play with points. If you play with power levels, go with what you think looks good.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Are Verlo

[Warsmith Aznable]

Lots of good points to think about, I appreciate the input. I guess I see all the cool bits in the box and want to use them, but I'll try to restrain myself.

[Xenith]

Same as ever, boys over toys.

 

I'd go 50:50 special melee Vs chainswords, with a single hammer per 5 - the guaranteed D3 is worth it over the Dd3 of the fist.

I'd go with a single infernus in a 5 man unit to soften something up, or 3 in a 10 man when you really want to cripple something, however when the cost of your pistols begins to approach that of a multi melta attack bike or speeder, you need to rethink.

 

No reason not to take bolters, but I'd magnetise the bolter/pistol to future proof them.

[Ekfud]

Same as ever, boys over toys.

I'd go 50:50 special melee Vs chainswords, with a single hammer per 5 - the guaranteed D3 is worth it over the Dd3 of the fist.

I'd go with a single infernus in a 5 man unit to soften something up, or 3 in a 10 man when you really want to cripple something, however when the cost of your pistols begins to approach that of a multi melta attack bike or speeder, you need to rethink.

No reason not to take bolters, but I'd magnetise the bolter/pistol to future proof them.

Probably an ignorant question (and I’m yet to get a copy of the codex), but I take it the humble bolt pistol won’t be seen much for 8th then?

Apart from the fact the bolter looks a little unbalanced on an assault-pose mini with chainsword, I’m trying to convince myself not to hack up the ~20 assembled but unpainted dc I started work on in 7th. I figured bolt pistols were pretty safe permanent loadout on dc since they have been default since about 1994 :-)

 

[yes I know the whole forum is bolter AND chainsword but have always thought of it as one or the other]

[Charlo]

When a pistol no longer grants you an extra attack for pairing it with a Chainsword, you're probably better off giving them a bolter to add some more shooting.

 

You won't miss a single S4 shot in the rare occurrence you get to fire while locked in combat.

[Xenith]

Pistols are still fine and legitimate choices, however in my (and others) opinion, a bolter on a jump pack is pure gold. They were great in 7th with relentless death co, and let the DC charge. In 7th you also only took the pistols for the extra attack, as actually using them to shoot was a bad idea as you might shoot yourself out of charge range.

 

Pistols are overall less use than before, it's unlikely an opponent will let your death co hide in combat in their turn.

 

The bolter allows you to be doing damage from T1, then when you get close, double tap one unit and charge another.

 

You could always cut the bolters down, or use Deathwatch bolters which are smaller, or just say the pistols are bolters. Maybe a double barrelled pistol?

[Panzer]

I don't really see the point in taking a Bolt pistol if you can take the bolter and keep the chainsword. No opponent will want to stay in combat until your next turn (or even survive that long most of the time lol) and besides being able to shoot while being in close combat in your turn it doesn't give you anything over a Bolter anymore.

The only reason I can see to take a Bolt pistol over a Bolter is when it's like with Reivers where they can have either the "Bolter" OR the "chainsword" + pistol since there taking the pistol actually gives you an additional attack in close combat.

 

And yeah having super mobile Bolter is also a nice thing to have for sure.

[Ekfud]

Cheers - yeah I’m a little surprised that the choice isn’t as much of a trade off as previous editions. Ie loss of range/firepower in exchange for more cc punch. Maybe for the sake of keeping the models without full rework I’ll do the courts-as and leave bolt pistols on the minis themselves. Never know if the rules options will morph again :-)

[Brother Crimson]

I just added a chainsword « bayonette » on my bolters for DC here is the bolter/ chainsword loadout

[Xenith]

I just added a chainsword « bayonette » on my bolters for DC here is the bolter/ chainsword loadout

Good idea! I might add a bolter bulletnet to my chainswords!

[SM1981]

I really like the idea of DC with power swords against MEQ opponents (wound on 2's reroll missing 1's, at an AP of -3, with the presence of Lemerates and a Sang Priest). Or Power Axes for wounds on 2's, rerolls of missing 1's, and an AP of -2) against toughness 5 opponents, with the same buffing characters.

 

At up to 6 attacks a model, that is pretty meaty (2 bases, 1 on the charge, 1 for black rage, 1 for unleash psychic power, 1 for the presence of the Sanguinor).

 

And then you could also cast the attack twice power...

[Brother Crimson]

I think you mean 5 ;) black rage and charge bonus is the same.

 

Even without buffs it’s 3 powersword attack for 24/21 point. It’s not bad at all, normally you need veteran sergeant for this.

[SM1981]

I think you mean 5 ;) black rage and charge bonus is the same.

 

Even without buffs it’s 3 powersword attack for 24/21 point. It’s not bad at all, normally you need veteran sergeant for this.

Yep. Sorry. Over excited counting there.

[Lord_Caerolion]

To be honest I think GW underestimated how much people would run from assaults, they seem to be keeping pistols with the assumption that units are stuck in combat and you're guaranteed to get a shot, but in reality it's very unlikely that you'll get the extra shot. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a change that the pistol can instead be fired in every Fight phase, but at -1 to hit, or something like that.

[Panzer]

I'd agree on that. It seems GW expected the penalty not being able to shoot with that one unit is enough to prevent people from falling back all the time.

And that is without considering units with FLY keyword and bubble wrapping chaff that doesn't care about such a penalty anyway.

[Morticon]

When a pistol no longer grants you an extra attack for pairing it with a Chainsword, you're probably better off giving them a bolter to add some more shooting.

 

You won't miss a single S4 shot in the rare occurrence you get to fire while locked in combat.

 

 

A 100 times, this! 

[ThatOneMarshal]

Is MSU still the common way to run them now? I’m seeing a lot of people running 15 man units, are large blobs viable now?

[Brother Crimson]

Is MSU still the common way to run them now? I’m seeing a lot of people running 15 man units, are large blobs viable now?

Large squad work well with librarian that buff them with rage for an extra attack. Also stratagem that affects units like decent of angels and forlorn fury is better with squads of 15.