[DW] Blackthorn and Swordhand: OOC Thread

[Slips]

This all sounds a bit OP and seems like the rest of the Kill Team will be a bit useless.

 

Not really.

 

For the most part, a fair few of these Bolt Shells are locked behind Renown Requirements. For Reference:

Dragon Fire Shells: 28 Req per mag / Respected

• Reduce damage by 2; sets people on fire.
• People on fire can spread it to others nearby and cause panic. Good at clearing hordes of non fearless or quasi-fearless mobs or things with high armour and low toughness since fires damage bypasses armour when dealing damage.

Hellfire Rounds: 25 Req per mag / No renown

• Ignores Natural Armour trait; Righteous Fury on 9 and 10; Heavy Bolter RoF to S/-/- with Blast (3); +1 Damage to hordes magnitude per hit.
• Very good at killing Tyranids especially Tyranid Hordes; makes Bolters equivalent to Heavy Bolters in terms of relative damage potential vs Tyranid Hordes.

Implosion Shells: 27 Req per mag / Respected 

• Deal an additional 1d5 Agility Damage (if a characteristic is reduced to 0, the target cannot use ANYTHING that relates to that characteristic. In the case of agi, that usually means no longer being able to move)
• If youre against Slaaneshi Daemons, Eldar or whatever that uses high agi, useful to pin them down and neuter their main advantage.

Kraken Round: 5 Req per mag / No renown

• Increase Pen to 8 and range by 50%
• Most generally useful shell. With the Marksman talent which lets you shoot at long and extreme ranges at no penalty, a regular Bolter with Kraken shells can attempt shots at up to 450m away.

Metal Storm Rounds: 15 Req per mag / No renown

• Reduce Damage and Pen by 2, gain the Blast (2) quality.
• Useful for killing hordes and hordes of expendable mooks; specifically non Tyranid-Like hordes. Otherwise, relatively meh.

Stalker Rounds: 5 Req per mag / No renown

• -30 to awareness tests to try and hear the shots and only doable at half the normal range and reduce damage by 2. If used in a Stalker Bolter, no damage reduction and no test can be made to try and hear the shot.
• Sniper round; use it in a Stalker Bolter and have a Cameleoline (Raven Guard marine for extra shenanigans) to essentially be an invisible death dealer.

Vengeance Bolts: 25 Req per mag / Famed

• Gains Felling (1) (targets hit reduce their Unnatural Toughness trait by 1 level when calculating damage reduction) and Pen increases to 9; Weapon missfires and jams on a 91-00 roll.
• God for killing big monsters (other marines included).

Witch Bolts: 12 Req per mag / Distinguished

• Reduced targeted Psykers Psy Rating by 1 for 1d10 rounds per hit, target may no longer Push their psychic powers and if they have the Warp Instability Trait, must test willpower to check for disruption.
• Essentially really good vs Psykers and Daemons.

And, obviously, if we have multiple tactical marines and devastators, instead of everyone going all-in on an ammo type and realising that the ammo we took isn't going to be all that useful, we can mix and match as we see fit to be better equipped to deal with more or less any situation that arises.

Remember, too, that all marines have 3 Frag Grenades as standard issue and if me and another friend in a Deathwatch game can 2 man a magnitude 60 horde, both as Tactical marines, then while the devastators will be even better at murdering them, we'll all more or less have the job of making sure the Horde doesnt surround them thus making them unable to use their Heavy Bolters effectively.

 

Additionally you can't use Basic or Heavy Class weapons in Close Combat (The exception being the Nova Marines Naval Boltgun which is essentially a Bullpup bolter) so if the mooks get to our boys, we're going to get drowned in attacks and take some heavy hits.

 

Furthermore, all bolters, which deal explosive damage, all get a bonus vs Hordes essentially doubling our damage output vs them. So its not like they'll dramatically outshine us at clearing them.

 

Clearing and mowing down Hordes is kinda the purpose of a Heavy Bolter Devastator so it makes sense that thats what they'd excel at when you add the appropriate specialist ammo.

Edited January 23, 2018 by Slips
Clarity :p

[A.T.]

 

Still a Heavy Bolter + Kraken rounds is priceless... Pen 8 and a range of 225m (after changes) with a RoF of -/-/6? Yes please! And cheap too! only 10 Requisition by the rules sating that in the backpack ammo supply (that is automatically issued with heavy weapons), add 5 to the requisition total.

 

Special ammo backpacks for heavy bolters are +15 requisition rather than +5 (errata), and that is on top of the basic cost of the ammo. So a kraken backpack costs you a full 30 requisition points for 42 shots, and once that is depleted you need to reload every 6 rounds with regular ammo.

 

As powerful as they are (and they are powerful) i'd still rate something like a stormbolter for pure, efficient horde mulching.

[bluntpencil]

 

 

Still a Heavy Bolter + Kraken rounds is priceless... Pen 8 and a range of 225m (after changes) with a RoF of -/-/6? Yes please! And cheap too! only 10 Requisition by the rules sating that in the backpack ammo supply (that is automatically issued with heavy weapons), add 5 to the requisition total.

 

Special ammo backpacks for heavy bolters are +15 requisition rather than +5 (errata), and that is on top of the basic cost of the ammo. So a kraken backpack costs you a full 30 requisition points for 42 shots, and once that is depleted you need to reload every 6 rounds with regular ammo.

 

As powerful as they are (and they are powerful) i'd still rate something like a stormbolter for pure, efficient horde mulching.

 

 

It's unlikely that you'll need to fire 42 times, to be fair. If you need to fire that many times, you've some serious problems. Also, from a meta PoV, that would require 42 rounds of combat without resupply, in which the Devastator can fire without interruption, which is very unlikely.

[Dosjetka]

I'm happy with the swap if the two of you are. How come, Dos?

I became thoroughly disapponted with my character concept and preferred to dump it and start over with a class that suits me better.

[Nineswords]

 

I'm happy with the swap if the two of you are. How come, Dos?

I became thoroughly disapponted with my character concept and preferred to dump it and start over with a class that suits me better.

 

 

Really curious, what aspects didn't you like?

[Steel Company]

Mol, I saw that you changed my Chapter stats to what they should be, would you like me to re-roll my WS and Int again? I ask as it can be a difference for an Assault Marine.

 

 

 

 

I'm happy with the swap if the two of you are. How come, Dos?

I became thoroughly disapponted with my character concept and preferred to dump it and start over with a class that suits me better.

 

 

Really curious, what aspects didn't you like?

 

 

 

I second this aspect as well.

[Dosjetka]

I'm busy with a funeral until tomorrow evening and then I'm working all day Saturday so I'll only have the time to answer on Sunday/Monday. Sorry for keeping you all waiting. :(

[Steel Company]

I'm busy with a funeral until tomorrow evening and then I'm working all day Saturday so I'll only have the time to answer on Sunday/Monday. Sorry for keeping you all waiting.

 

 

No problem, sorry for your loss.

[Xin Ceithan]

I'm busy with a funeral until tomorrow evening and then I'm working all day Saturday so I'll only have the time to answer on Sunday/Monday. Sorry for keeping you all waiting. :(

Sorry for your loss. But these are the things we can't really schedule ahead.

[Xin Ceithan]

Just noticed that I still need to roll up Wounds and Fate points.

 

I've been looking over the Skill sets and bionics and want to run some thoughts by you guys...

 

Bionics

Sensor Augur (Common -starting Techmarine)

Left Hand (Exceptional - Chapter trapping )

Bionic Eye (Exceptional - PoV)

Bionic Arm (right- Exceptional -PoV)

 

Do the boni stack from the hand and arm when rolling for Tech Use ?

I would be at +20 from the bionics with an additional + 10 from Electrograft Use (Starting Techmarine Skill)

 

I could up that with another 10 from Tech Use +10 buy buying the advance from the Iron Hand Chapter tree ..or should I spent those points elsewhere to avoid being a one trick pony?

 

My other 500 pts are going into The Flesh is weak, obviously.

 

Still buggered I rolled up the run of the milk Armour mark ...at least the battle damage trait lets me add some bonding studs and replacement panels to my sketches :p

[A.T.]

Still buggered I rolled up the run of the milk Armour mark ...at least the battle damage trait lets me add some bonding studs and replacement panels to my sketches

You are a techmarine - if you'd rolled fancy armour you would just be disappointed to lose it when you upgraded to artificier :p

 

AFAIK you wouldn't combine the bonus from the arm and the hand as you'd have to replace the hand on the arm with the other hand... if that makes sense?

[Xin Ceithan]

That is what I'm trying to figure out. it states that the hand ( left side) gives the bonus to skills but not strength, but the arm would give the + 10 to both (so I am thinking the arm includes the hand since it details " fine manipulation " in the description - which is why I'd choose the right arm).

You are right on the Artificer Armour ... looking forward to Cylon Style MkII / III helmets :)

[Mazer Rackham]

Molotov,

 

I was thinking:

• Name and speciality
• Rank before being sent to Deathwatch;
• Combat awards or significant symbols (i.e, Iron Halo);
• Chapter summary (add links if canon, or fan made Index Astartes);
• Character and demeanour traits (KEYWORDS);
• Physical appearance;
• Armour Mark, significant weaponry and other trappings or trinkets;
• Brief combat record

Happy to do a draft version and figure out the word count, as it's easy to start going long essays.

 

I'd like to second this if no-one else has, it would help me at least, especially with a lot of changes that have occurred, I can know my battle-brothers at a glance so to speak.

 

In addition, I would like to present this for your amusement/entertainement:

 

Akkad sat alone in the aft storage compartment of the Cobra class Destroyer Defensible, looking over the sum total of his possessions. Thanks to the great wealth and the ease with which the factorums of the Maelstrom Zone could produce the basic needs of his Chapter, the Astral Claws had granted him both weapons and armour.

 

His MkVII warplate sat on the arming station, glinting a wicked crimson in the light provided by the red lamps around the room.  His personal weapons sat on a workbench to his left, a bolt pistol, field stripped for maintenance, a combat blade freshly oiled and whetted and beyond them, an old friend from his days as a Devastator, the massive - by human standards - heavy bolter he called "Cadence".  One hundred battles lay upon it, scores of ritually inscribed shells had barked forth their mighty thunder, slaying the enemies of man.  Deep chips and scratches marked where the weapon had served to shield him from axe blows of the vile Orks, talons of the hated Dark Eldar, ritual blades of the filthy traitor.  Every time, Cadence had marked the tune of their death.

 

The most important trinkets fell under his gaze.  As he smiled at the word, his hand reached out and picked up one of the few, what he would generously call capsules, but even he would admit such a word was too grandiose.  The ends of two cut-down heavy bolter shells had been battered into shape and pressed firmly together to make a container.  Upon each was inscribed the name of a battle or world he had visited.  He looked at the one in his hands, twisted the two halves and the earth within released the scent of a battlefield a hundred years old.  The vox crackled into life from the speaker on the wall, dragging him to the present.

 

"We are approaching rendezvous with the Deathwatch transport Brother Akkad. Be ready."

"Acknowledged."

 

Suddenly he felt free of the burdens he carried.  Perhaps another opportunity, similar to that which he had experienced with Melindra Orduul, the Rogue Trader.  He called to the servitor in the back of the room and began to armour himself.

 

MR.

[Commissar Molotov]

Indeed, Dos - I hope you are holding up well, all things considered.

 

I have created a google document here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=17tRBHLqj7QNKEY0cf88iCySGNW-R2oF8_23OSFe-Ggk which will allow you to collate any information on your Marine whilst we are waiting.

[Steel Company]

Indeed, Dos - I hope you are holding up well, all things considered.

 

I have created a google document here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=17tRBHLqj7QNKEY0cf88iCySGNW-R2oF8_23OSFe-Ggk which will allow you to collate any information on your Marine whilst we are waiting.

 

 

Looks good C.M., would be nice if I could add Tyber to it.

[Steel Company]

++++ Just to make sure that no one forgets about this...++++

 

Sitting in the chambers assigned to him, Tyber looks over his few possessions of the material world; His Bolt Pistol field stripped, it’s pieces laying neatly ordered on the white cloth, his Chainsword also field stripped and lastly his arming sword beside the whetstone that was used for sharping. His cool blue eyes wandered back to the Chainsword, it had been assigned to him by the Death Watch Quatermaster, in his mind he had all the training needed to use it, yet it was an odd item, not something normally found within the Dragons of Caliban. The Dragons of Caliban prefer the use of their arming swords, as for them promethium is always in short supply outside of the motor pool. The Dragons’ reliance on armoured fighting vehicles stretches their ability to produce promethium in large enough quantities for such wasteful expenditures as Astartes Bikes and flamers. The moving parts of the Chainsword also presented a problem, repairs for them often fell to the Techmarines, whom always had their hands full with maintaining the vast pool of tanks that the Dragons’ used, often said tanks dated back to the very crusade with the Sicaran pattern being the preferred battle tank, this had given rise to the prominence of the arming sword with in the Chapter. It always just worked, no reliance on a motor or fule, it was easy for each brother to maintain without assistance from the Techmarines. For Tyber his arming sword was also a source of meditation, sharpening and polishing the sword centered him with his place in the universe.

 

Tyber’s eyes drifted over to his battle plate, he knew he was to send it for painting to Death Watch black, but he was left unsure about what to do for his right pauldron. Tradition allowed for it to maintain his home Chapter’s colours, yet the Dragons left the majority of their armour unpainted, only their pauldrons were coloured, that colour being the original legion colour of black. Absentmindedly, he reached for his arming sword and the whetstone and begun to sharpen his blade, while pondering this issue. After what seemed like an enterinty, he chose to keep his pauldron black, palcing a note for the serfs that would be handling this change in colour detailing his choice. Placing his arming sword down, he pulled on a simple tabard before taking his plate to the armoury.

 

++++ What I figure Tyber would be doing after first setting foot on the watch station+++++

[Xin Ceithan]

Sorry for the delay. Flu rebounded, feel I owe Pappa Nurgle some tribute before doing some more work here.

[Slips]

Just want to add that if you're completing your character or have them completed already to not forget that Power Armour adds 1 to our Movement Brackets (found on Page 27 of the Core Book).

 

So, if you have Agility 30-39, in Power Armour, you're using the Agi Bonus 4 row. If you have Agility 40-49 you're using the Agi Bonus 5 row and so on and so forth.

 

It is also worth mentioning that if anyone here rolls for Mk VI Corvus power armour, that the suit itself grants +10 Agility which corresponds to another +1 to your marines Movement Bracket for a total of +2 when fully armoured. So, taking the above example, a Marine with Agility 30-39 in Corvus would be using the Agi Bonus 5 row and a 40-49 would be using the Agi Bonus 6 row.

 

+++

 

Additionally, I will also add that, for the purposes of Calculating Carry, Push and Lift weight, you add your Strength Bonus and Toughness Bonus and consult the chart found on page 208 of the core book.

 

So, using my character for example: Solastion has a Strength of 50 outside of Power Armour which, due to Unnatural Strength (x2) gives him an SB of 10. In Power Armour, he gains a further +20 to Strength which is calculated after Unnatural, however, his Power Armour History gives him a further +10 for a total of +30 or an SB of 3.

 

In total, his SB in Power Armour is 13. With a Toughness of 49 for a TB of 8, we add that to 13 for a total of 21 between Strength and Toughness. Consulting the chart we see that, surprisingly for an Apothecary, he goes outside the limits of the Chart but hey, the math checks out.

Edited February 4, 2018 by Slips

[Commissar Molotov]

Hi guys, I've been ill for the last week and busy with work at the same time. I'm still waiting for some updates from players to ensure character sheets, etc., are completed. Anything that we can do to support one another would be hugely appreciated. The character sheets are in the second post of the thread. 

[Dosjetka]

Right, I'm back from the UK and ready to get rolling again. I'll do my best to get another character up and running by mid week. Thanks all for your patience! :tu:

[A.T.]

I think i'm done save for minor things (skill totals, etc).

Have the books to hand if anyone is still looking for a chapter,

[Steel Company]

I think i'm done save for minor things (skill totals, etc).

Have the books to hand if anyone is still looking for a chapter,

Only book I'm missing is the Emperor's Chosen....

[Steel Company]

Right, I'm back from the UK and ready to get rolling again. I'll do my best to get another character up and running by mid week. Thanks all for your patience!

 

 

Any ideas Dos? I'd be happy to be a sounding board for ideas...

[Dosjetka]

Considering a Novamarine who's spent most of his time aboard the Chapter's fleet.

60+ years of service so far, volunteered for Deathwatch service to 1) learn more about Xenos, particularly Eldar, and 2) increase his chances of getting promoted within his Chapter.

[Slips]

If you do go for a Novemarine, make sure you read up on their unique Naval Boltgun.