Where to begin at 1k Deathwatch

[infyrana]

So I might have found an opportunity to play a few games in 8th edition, as my evenings are short I figured a small elite force of 1k-1250 pts would provide me with something quick to build and fast to play (read: die).  My opponent would likely be playing Imperial Guard or the new 40k Death Guard stuff he's been collecting.

 

The main draw to this army, I won't lie, are the Frag Cannons.  Between them, Stormshields and Shotguns, along with the black armour and low body count to better give each marine a story, it all adds to the appreciation.

 

Currently I own a 5-man sprue of Deathwatch models and an additional 3x frag cannons and 3x stalker bolters.  I have a spare Razorback with twin lascannons and a dreadnought or two I could re-use, plus a half dozen more bodies and some jump pack troops spare.

 

If I find it's viable, I'll probably purchase a second 5-man Deathwatch sprue for 15+ marines.  I'm open to HQ options but might bite the big end of the stick with the Watch Captain model and some transport, a Blackstar Corvus.

 

I know the 8th ed DW codex isn't yet on the books, but here's the rough idea:

 

Watch Captain

5x Squad (unknown weapon options)

5x Stalker bolters

5x w/4x FC and 1xSS+Combi

Razorback TLLC

Corvus

 

Thoughts, opinions, advice and wisdom are all appreciated please.  I still have a tonne of questions, but I can save those for now

 

On a slightly major issue - which sources of rules/FAQ's do I need to obtain beyond the BRB?

[Vel'Cona]

Stacking all your FCs in one place is dangerous practice.  I'd spread them out a bit more to avoid having them wiped out in a single shooting phase (though this could still happen).  This will also help to get better coverage as 24" can be surprisingly troubling in terms of board control.

[infyrana]

Thanks for the tip! Does the same go for the stalkers, or play that unit differently? Not seen any bat reps with them in yet.

[Vel'Cona]

Stalkers are a bit different because of their longer reach and the reduced cost of their guns.  Also, note that while they CAN move and shoot Stalker Veterans often won't want to.  They're a good choice for a high ground/fortified position, especially if you need to hold an objective.  You won't see them used as often since they took a small hit in 8th edition (IMO, YMMV) but I think they're still a viable choice.

 

Just remember that DW in general are a very tough force to play.  Our infantry are expensive, our tanks/walkers are nothing special (compared to C: SM et al) and our flyers are solid but hard to leverage depending on your local meta.  As a purely Index-based army, our options are much more limited than "codex" chapters (including DA/BA) but that doesn't mean DW are unplayable.  I'd just encourage you to try a bit of everything and don't get discouraged if your first few games are a bit rough.  It's much more satisfying when you can make DW work than other armies and you can't beat the look and character of Xenos Hunters in either case!  :)

[Toomanyprojects]

I'd consider some appropriate pruning to take a watch Master instead of a watch captain. Performance in stats and wargear is about the same but the ability to re-roll all misses (watch master) vastly trumps the ability to re-roll 1s (watch capt)

[infyrana]

Ideally I'd like to avoid magnetising with this small force, do you think I'll be safe with a 5-man unit of stalkers? Maybe bolter proxy at worst case scenario depending on the codex.

 

Watch Master, that's probably the chap I mean! The buffing bolter polearm model. Best in the corvus with a shooty unit, with the FCs or sitting back with stalkers?

 

Are there any good guides on how to gear my unspecified geared squad(s) ? I would like to sprinkle some shields for survival, a single shotgun (modelling) and either a useful mix of gear or split into two squads and do shooty (extra FCs) and an assault squad.

[LunarSol]

That's more or less the direction I took.  Watch Master + a cheaper HQ, 3 Vet squads, 1 stalker squad and 2 squads with 2 frags and a storm shield each, Corvus, Razorback.  It works fine, its a bit frail, but that's the DW for you.

[Major_Gilbear]

Also, just to note, but the cost of Special Issue Ammo is baked into every DW marine; so every eligible weapon that you eschew for a different upgrade is actually costing you more points than you might think.

 

General suggestions:

• Small squads are often better
• Bolter squads with a small number of upgrades are "best value"
• A power weapon, a Storm Shield, and chainswords are reasonable upgrades for a typical bolter squad
• Try to spread your Frag Cannons out a bit; 2 per 5-man squad max.
• Stalker Bolters are best consolidated into squads that want to stand still.
• Shotguns, Heavy TH, and Infernus HB, are all rather expensive/unhelpful for what they do. By all means add a few for Rule Of Cool, but don't go mad with them.
• You'll want some long range antitank support; Dreads and Razorbacks with Lascannons are good, take a few.
• Librarians are a reasonable source of Mortal Wounds, and are pretty fluffy in a DW force too.

If you're going to get some more models, don't forget the Start Collecting DW set - it's good value, and if you end up with any spare Artemis models, they are nice to convert into other characters.

 

Good luck...You'll need it! ;)

[infyrana]

Thanks for all your replies so far, all reassuring to read I'm not too far off the beaten path with this little project!

 

@Major_Gilbear: That's definitely a good point to remember about SIA, no deduction for switching out your bolter.  I plan to avoid overdosing on the special weapons with the exception of the afore mentioned FC/Stalker weapons.  Ideally I'm not intending to field the Infernus HB and only a single of each HTH and Shotgun anytime soon (short of a codex buff).  I'm a little stuck as to what I give anyone wearing a Storm Shield - should I give them bolters, ccw's or ?  A lot of people on here just list the equipment, but never the combinations thereof to understand how it's distributed (relevant in terms of losing models etc).  Maybe - FC x3 / SS+Bolter, SS+Combi-Melta for one unit and FC / FC / Shotgun (or HTH), SS+CCW(?), SS+Combi-Melta for a second (if legal)?

 

Shame the Chaplain doesn't have the same potential as a Librarian or I'd be all over it!  I can definitely supply Dreads for LasCannons - so np there!  DW Boxsets for sure - I'm debating how to make my next purchase based on the outcome of advice from this thread!

 

Any thoughts to the odd Terminator or Jump Pack troop to mix in and where to put them?  Or even any recommended FW dreadnought type models to help fill in gaps for the future?

 

*edit for mixing my letters!

[Saxxon the Dragoon]

A Corvus is one of the best vehicles you can take, but as a weapons platform (infernum, twin assault cannon, hurricane bolters, blackstar launcher) is going to cost you 249 points, thats 1/4 of your whole army right there. While it does have 14 wounds and good stats all around (but lacks power of the machine spirit, so keep that in mind) its hard to justify it in a 1k list unless your adamant about it.

 

Frag Cannons are going to be your bread and butter, try to take 2 squads with 4 frag cannons each. With it having an 'anit horde' firing mode and an 'kill monstrous creature/tank' firing mode they can be amazing, but incredibly costly. Taking 1 squad of 5 with stalkers is pretty good though. if you are trying to be cheap, take 2 squads of 5 with stalkers and put them in 2 razorbacks with twin lascannons and a watch master and you will have your firing base right there. I also recommend having 1 melee built squad, because are going to need it.

 

so within 1k here are the 2 different recommendations I have.

 

Route 1: cheap and hard hitting. Keep the watch master with the stalkers and razorbacks to reroll misses.

1 watch master

2 5 man squads with stalkers

2 razorbacks with twin lascannon and storm bolters

1 squad with 4 frag cannons, sergeant with a storm shield and whatever.

1 squad of melee built veterans (2 storm shields, combi-melta's and power swords/mauls)

and maybe another razorback or rhino for your melee squad.

 

Route 2:

Watch Master

watch captain

Corvus

2 5 man melee squads

3 5 man stalker squads spread out over the map to deny deep strike territory

Put the watch captain and 2 melee squads in the corvus, run it up the field and drop your melee squads and captain off to capture objectives and harass the enemy.

Keep your watch master in the back with your stalker squads. Depending on your your loadout is, you might still have the points to take a heavy bolter razorback with storm bolter or two, to help spread the anti-tank firepower so it isn't entirely focused on your corvus.

 

 

I would say that in a 1k list, venerable dreads are too expensive for only 8 wounds, especially since they dont have an invul save. You are better off taking razorbacks with twin lascannons. For roughly the price of a venerable dread with a lascannon, you could get 2 lascannon razorbacks with storm bolters, and thats 20 wounds while the dread only has 8. as well as twice the lascannon shots and twice the storm bolter shots. and you can use them as transports and sit them on objectives.

The Corvus is amazing, but if its your only vehicle its probably dead by turn 2. hard to justify in a 1k list, but mandatory in a 2k list.

Stalker teams are amazing, especially if you are using poison rounds, and with a captain or watch master nearby it will allow them to reroll failed hits, same with your lascannon razorbacks. sitting a captain or master next to all your razorbacks and stalkers is a good idea.

Fragcannon teams are incredibly powerful but incredibly expensive, it would be hard to justify more than 1 team of them unless you are committed to the use of them in a 1k list. in a 2k list 2 teams of frag cannons is recommended, but be careful with your placement/use of them. They are really pricey and you can get tabled if you arent careful.

 

last recommendation is dont group up all your units closely together. 1 well placed charge with a unit big enough and horde enemies can easily wrap up 2 or even 3 squads in a charge and pile in. Spread your teams out some (but close enough for aura buffs) and dont be afraid to move units in the path of charges. If the squad survives the fight phase, you can have that squad fall back so that way your other teams can fire on the enemy squad. The Deathwatch is best used as a shooting army, try to keep them that way. Nearly every other army can field bigger units than you to tied you down in melee, dont be afraid to fall back and let your vehicles and ranged teams tear them up after you used your bait squad to force the charge and get left out in the open.

 

:edit after posting and saw your added comment

Any thoughts to the odd Terminator or Jump Pack troop to mix in and where to put them?  Or even any recommended FW dreadnought type models to help fill in gaps for the future?

 

*edit for mixing my letters!

if your running squads at 5 men, its not worth taking terminators. They are way overpriced for a single one and considering you can reroll moral checks, its not worth taking for the insta-pass for moral.

 

Jump packs on the other hand arent a bad idea, but it depends on how you plan on using them If you want to put them with your frag cannon squads, then YES. Give a marine a jump pack, storm shield and maybe a power sword/maul, and give the sergeant a storm shield and power weapon, and use them as charge bait. Let your sergeant be the save-soaker, and keep the vanguard alive through the fight phase and then you can just fall back and unload more frag cannon shots. But bear in mind I would play against  a few opponents before investing in this idea heavily. its a nasty trick, but very expensive point wise to do this. But if you are commited, here is what a squad like that would look like (if the purpose is to be charge bait and soak wounds for frag cannon assault teams). 1 sgt with storm shield and power sword, 4 fragcannon vets, 1 terminator (to soak wounds and saves) 1 vanguard vet with storm shield and power sword, and maybe 1 or 2 standard marines to soak wounds and have a watch captain with them. Put them in a corvus, run it up the map, drop them off next turn with your corvus in hover mode and act like a gunship while you drop off your troops and let your squad be charge bait. let them be charged, and try to survive. Fall back on your next turn, let stalker marines and your gunship unload while you do parting shots with your frag cannons.

 

Its an incredibly High Risk/High Reward tactic. otherwise its most likely not worth taking vanguards in with your normal vet squads unless you plan on doing the 'fallback and fire' tactic on a regular basis. Your better off just taking a vanguard squad by itself.

[infyrana]

@Saxxon: That's awesome information, thank you!  Might take me a few goes with the army builder to process the ideas there, but definitely a lot to think about and ties in with a few things I've been reading.

 

Might struggle getting a second razorback initially, but we'll see!  Looks like the Start Collecting + Corvus + Watch Master sets will get me straight on the path to having this fully fleshed out with what I already own.

 

Are there set builds for the Corvus?  I might choose to magnetise the main weapon options if it really needs it.

 

Thanks again all, very helpful indeed :)

[Saxxon the Dragoon]

@Saxxon: That's awesome information, thank you!  Might take me a few goes with the army builder to process the ideas there, but definitely a lot to think about and ties in with a few things I've been reading.

 

Might struggle getting a second razorback initially, but we'll see!  Looks like the Start Collecting + Corvus + Watch Master sets will get me straight on the path to having this fully fleshed out with what I already own.

 

Are there set builds for the Corvus?  I might choose to magnetise the main weapon options if it really needs it.

 

Thanks again all, very helpful indeed

The Corvus base is 160, and it comes with twin assault cannons (44 pts) and  2 stormstrike missiles (21 pts each) for 246 without anything else. Taking Hurricane Bolters adds 10 points (worth it), and you can replace the stormstrike missiles for blackstar rocket launchers for 15 pts each. putting it at 244 points, with an infernum halo launcher (because for 5 points why not to add an addition -1 to hit when you have supersonic, auspex array is 5 points but its up to you if you want to take that over the infernum) that puts the Corvus at 249 (which is how I have both of my Corvus's loaded out with). If you go with the twin lascannons at 50 points it gets more expensive and honestly thats too much points for an aircraft thats going to be pretty close to enemy formations anyways. Put them on your razorbacks and keep them in the back field. Let your Corvus gunships thin out the crowds by drowning infantry in saves.

 

With the twin assault cannon getting 12 shots (hitting on 4's because it doesnt have power of the machine spirit, same with the blackstar rockets), hurricane bolters with rapidfire 6 (so 12 shots if your target is within 12"), and another 12 shots with the corvid missiles with the same profile as the assault cannon, thats 36 shots, 24 of which are STR 6 AP -1. Having 2 of these with the same loadout is 72 shots you can unload with, not including any other shooting or any potential rerolls if you have a watch master or watch captain within 6 of them. NOT TO MENTION that the Blackstar Cluser launcher will do mortal wounds on any rolls of 6 when flying over a single unit. And you can just put the corvus into hover mode, move 10" over a unit and then move 10" back to where it was so you can keep bombing units EVERY TURN with each corvus (but only 1 unit each, you cant fly over multiple units and bomb each of them, that would be completely broken).

 

You really dont need to magnetize it. With the assault cannons or the lascannon being the only primary weapons, the other thing you would possibly switch out are the missile launchers, and honestly I would take the Blackstar over the Stormstrike any day. You could magnetize between the infernum halo and the auspex, and switch out as need be (being able to reroll 1's when shooting targets without FLY may be more your thing if you are going to be short on HQ's on the field). Its all up to you, but honestly the Corvus is too good not to include in your army if you playing more that 1k points. My thread's last post has my current list for my 2k deathwatch army, so if you want to take a gander it may interested you. But I would still say that you should try to playtest your DW list before fully investing. If you are going to try taking frag cannon squads, be prepared to do lots of bits ordering on ebay because the start collecting box only comes with 2 frag cannons, and standard DW veteran box only comes with 1 frag cannon (same with the kill team cassius, it comes with 1 frag cannon).

[infyrana]

Thanks again! Already have a couple extra frag cannons and stalkers in the mail, bits ordering is fine when they're available. Trying to pickup grytt on the cheap too :). Noted on the shear number of dice for the corvus, 8th sure does put a different spin in all those lesser used setups! I've already checked out your thread, some goodstuff in there :). I take it you've play tested a fair bit? Not a luxury I really have sadly.

[LunarSol]

For what its worse, there's not even really a reason to magnetize the Corvus weapons for the most part.  The Auspex/Halo Launcher and Hurricane Bolters basically just sit on top of the thing and are easy to add and remove as you see fit.  The Twin Assault/Las Cannon barrels fit really snug on their pegs and hold fine without glue.  The only thing that isn't easy to swap is the missile option.  I came up with a stupidly convoluted way to magnetize it anyway, but its probably the least valuable WYSIWYG bits on the model anyway.

[infyrana]

I have a couple of further questions please!  These questions relate to expanding a Deathwatch army without the use of Primaris.

 

- How many 5-man squads is sufficient for when expanding to 2k points? (I'm thinking 4-5?)

 

- Frag Cannons: I really like these (model / concept), is there a point when you can have too few or too many at 2k - x4, x6, x8+ ?

 

- Stalker boltguns: same again, is one squad sufficient as you increase beyond 1k points, or should I look at a second squad?

 

- Chaplain, I don't see too many of these ever in use, I'm guessing he's used as a cheap HQ filler for the battalions, can the awesome model be of any use whatsoever?

 

- Adding Inquisitors:  Tempted by the Grayfax model, I already have the old Assassins to use - does this addition to the list provide us with any support whatsoever?

[Saxxon the Dragoon]

I have a couple of further questions please!  These questions relate to expanding a Deathwatch army without the use of Primaris.

 

- How many 5-man squads is sufficient for when expanding to 2k points? (I'm thinking 4-5?)

 

- Frag Cannons: I really like these (model / concept), is there a point when you can have too few or too many at 2k - x4, x6, x8+ ?

 

- Stalker boltguns: same again, is one squad sufficient as you increase beyond 1k points, or should I look at a second squad?

 

- Chaplain, I don't see too many of these ever in use, I'm guessing he's used as a cheap HQ filler for the battalions, can the awesome model be of any use whatsoever?

 

- Adding Inquisitors:  Tempted by the Grayfax model, I already have the old Assassins to use - does this addition to the list provide us with any support whatsoever?

I would say in the 2k range, you should have at minimum 5 squads. below 1k its fine to only have 2-3 squads, but when you branch out to 2k thats when armies start getting fairly large (especially guard). Especially if none of your squads are going to be more than 5 vets.

 

In the 1k territory, you can get by with 4 frag cannons (depending on your list and your opponent), but at the 2k range anything less that 8 and your going to have a hard time dealing with large squads. Combi-bolters and stalker bolters are good for dealing with MEQ units, but when going against hordes you arent going to have enough firepower. Whats so good about Frag cannons is that even if you cant fire them in frag (or they wouldnt be that useful), shell fire is great for dealing with light vehicles or monstrous creatures. How you spread your Frag cannons out is up to you (2 squads of 4, or 4 squads with 2, etc) but dont put them in the back field, they need to be up front and preparing to be charge bait.

 

at 2k, you should have at least 1 dedicated squad of stalkers. Since you dont have access to sniper rifles or scouts, and most other heavy weapons are limited to terminator armor or stupidly overpriced (infernum heavy bolter). its not a bad idea to have 2 squads of 5 stalkers in the back field (with a watch master or captain for rerolls) with any razorbacks or dreads you may have.

 

Chaplains would be amazing if they could take jump packs, but unfortunately they are still locked out for no good reason even though Chapter Approved gave deathwatch access to jump pack Librarians. IF you want to take a chaplain, you either want him with your assault marines or your melee squad. Since he allows your to reroll failed wounds in the fight phase, and you can use his leadership to keep your melee squad from losing men in the moral phase if you have more than a 5 man squad.

 

If you dont plan on taking a librarian, Greyfax isnt a bad counter-psyker unit. Granted you would have to take her as an auxillary unit (since they arent battleforged if you put her in your detachment unless you are going for an Imperium detachment instead of deathwatch). Not a terrible idea, but you may have better luck with a vindicare or callidus assassin over greyfax. it really depends on what you are using her for. If she is your anti-psyker, then you would be better off with a librarian. But if you are using her primarily for something else, then look to see if an assassin would be better for your army. If greyfax is still overall more useful than an assassin or librarian, then take her.

[whiteridder]

Well I'm going to use also a 1000 points list and I'm also new with it. Im going to use 2 squads and 2 coruvs blackstars with a master and an assasin.

 

For a 2 K list I would say buy some transport (like razorbacks) and 2 or 3 extra squads. Corvus blackstars are really nice, but they dont have PotMS. You can see the tips at my post in the deathwatch army lists

[infyrana]

@whiterider for sure I plan to use my two unbuilt rhinos as razorbacks for this project. Have a lasc turret, just need to see if I still have the assault cannon turret from LR sprue. Tips read and apprectiated cheers, good notes on adding the assassins too.

 

@saxxon thank you for the advice. 5 squads was where I wanted to max out with additional troops coming via VV or termies and bikes etc. Leaving the remaining points for doubling up on razorbacks and blackstars. I still want to run a dread or FW variant (Levi / contemptor / deredeo) since the rules now make them all more durable than 7th.

 

I might grab a few more frags then and magnetise, same for stalkers. Chaplain advice is great, I think he could be useful as a melee boost if I keep the other hq in the backlines, great model too.

 

New DG and IG will be what I will face, haven't read up on the new DG 40k stuff yet as I can't afford to be swept up by any more awesome models lol. Can grayfax help me here as an imperial detatchment rather than auxiliary? I really don't like the libbie models much at all.

[Saxxon the Dragoon]

@saxxon thank you for the advice. 5 squads was where I wanted to max out with additional troops coming via VV or termies and bikes etc. Leaving the remaining points for doubling up on razorbacks and blackstars. I still want to run a dread or FW variant (Levi / contemptor / deredeo) since the rules now make them all more durable than 7th.

 

I might grab a few more frags then and magnetise, same for stalkers. Chaplain advice is great, I think he could be useful as a melee boost if I keep the other hq in the backlines, great model too.

 

New DG and IG will be what I will face, haven't read up on the new DG 40k stuff yet as I can't afford to be swept up by any more awesome models lol. Can grayfax help me here as an imperial detatchment rather than auxiliary? I really don't like the libbie models much at all.

FW contemptors are awesome, as you can see from my profile pic I an very happy with my Salamanders relic contemptor. If you do plan on taking a contemptor, I recommending getting the cyclone launcher too. its cheap moneywise, but 50 points, but you do get to fire 2 frag or krak missiles a turn. So if you plan on using the contemptor you might want to consider getting one. Now I cant recall if the DW can use contemptors (I didnt bring my books to work with me so I will have to check when I get home), but I dont remember if contemptors are in the army notes as being able to be taken. I wouldn't go with the deredeo or levi dreads for deathwatch, too slow and too much points for a job that can be done by a corvus. If the deredeo gets locked into combat your screwed, and DW dont have the free models to bubblewrap all your important units.

 

I really wish the chaplain could take a jump pack, because I would love to throw him in with a squad of assault marines with lightning claws and storm shields to wreak havoc in the back lines after getting out of a corvus, and using the chaplain to charge and absorb overwatch so my assault marines can then charge safely. But apparently GW doesnt want my money so I could buy another jump pack chaplain and a squad of assault marines.

 

As for DG, they have disgustingly resilient. So the best way to deal with them is to just unload so many wounds that not even their 5+++ saves them. And depending on the IG army, you will either be drowned in the bodies of guardsmen, or have to deal with lots and lots of vehicles. Dealing with guard spam shouldnt be too difficult, but if its tank spam, you might have a tough time.

As for the imperial detachment, I guess you could run it as that, I dont think DW have any special rules that would bite you if you arent deathwatch battleforged. And considering CA only gave us 1 warlord trait and 1 relic and I think one or two special strategem, its not like you would be missing out on much anyways.

[infyrana]

Apologies to necro my own thread but I'm reluctant to start another!  Due to other factors this (and all my other projects) got put on hold a while back, but it would appear that I might have the time to restart this project where I left off!

 

Since my original post, I've added a few more models (thanks to cheap Conquest magazines who gave me the reason to buy Primaris models):

 

Watch Master

Artemis

15x armless DW bodies

1x Frag Cannon IF Marine

1x Corvus

1x Ven Dread

3x Rhino / Razorbacks (2x TLLC / 1x TLAC options)

1x Primaris Captain (grav armour model, worth converting?)

6x Primaris Intercessors

6x Primaris Reivers

1x Imperial Knight Warden kit

+Few random marine models I could spare for Smash Captain, Vanguard Vets and Terminators.

+Excess of Frag Cannons and Stalker Bolter guns, spare Jump Packs.

 

What's missing?

 

-Storm Bolters (need to purchase some as they appear to be heavily praised)

-10x DW-scaled marines (most of my spares are 3rd ed with some Mk3 marines?)

-Primaris models (see below)

 

 

Do I grab another SC box for those 10x marines and to convert the second Artemis into a smash captain?  If so, is running a second Ven dread worth it?  I could probably convert it with a Death Company carapace into a Chaplain Dread with TLLC/DCCW?

 

Boltstorm Aggressors - worth it for my single Intercessor squad ?  Primaris don't really do it for me, but these guys I like.

 

Are squads using Frag Cannons with Shotgun support viable in any combination?

[Irbis]

-Storm Bolters (need to purchase some as they appear to be heavily praised)

-10x DW-scaled marines (most of my spares are 3rd ed with some Mk3 marines?)

 

Eh, if you're good with file/hobby knife, you can probably convert storm bolters out of two DW bolters (as they are shorter) with not that much effort. Alternatively, look at bit sites for Blood Angel tactical squad bits, people rarely buy these so storm bolters from it tend to be quite cheap.

 

You might also want to stick 1 infernus bolter into stalker squad, both for charge deterrance and MW stratagem.

 

Shotguns are ok, they just suffer from not being storm bolters for nearly the same price. In general, every single DW assault weapon IIRC has really stupid pricing and should be 2-3 pts cheaper.

 

I'd wait for CA changes before converting anything, especially problematic FW stuff, it might get hit with nerf bat soon, but second dread might be nice to provide a bit of saturation.

 

As for gravis captain, as I suggested in other thread, he could easily be converted into model with combi-plasma/melta-fist terminator captain stand-in, giving you nice support for your deep striking squads, I suppose?

[Prot]

If you like the boltstorm Aggressors by all means include one in your Intercessors. I often advance with my Fortis and can cover good ground while still shooting to full effect with the right Boltbrifles equipped.

[infyrana]

@Ibris - I'll take a look at the bolters tonight and see if it's possible but I'm not convinced. I hardly see any storm bolters on the bits sites I know no doubt in part due to DW use, but after market versions are doable.

 

Infernus bolter noted cheers, I had plans to make some heavy bolters and missile launchers if I find the bodies for them. I guess a couple of combi melta in a frag squad would be better than shotties then?

 

Gravis got into terminator proxy sounds good, thank you!

 

@Prot - I do like them, but would 3 aggressors be better than the 10 vets with SB's and a second dread? I'm trying to justify both but not coming out on top hehe.

[Irbis]

Infernus bolter noted cheers, I had plans to make some heavy bolters and missile launchers if I find the bodies for them. I guess a couple of combi melta in a frag squad would be better than shotties then?

 

Honestly, I like to run squad with all storm bolters plus 1-2 frags thrown in for heavier work, cheap and surprisingly good. Combi-melta suffers from range (you need to clear chaff first), I find combi-plasma better most of the time. Although terminator captain with two melta guns is quite good, he never misses and is a lot easier to fit in unexpected spots.

 

Also, you asked what melee, I'd suggest all chainswords where possible, two power weapons on characters, plus maybe a storm shield somewhere to keep things cheap.

[Prot]

@Infyrana

Personally I’m not huge on Aggressors on their own but with Intercessors you can maximize and mix them with stuff like Inceptors.

 

Perhaps the Chapter Approved will have some good news there.

 

On Dreadnoughts in comparison; I have to confess I’ve come back to the quite a bit for basic heavy armour punch which the codex is weak on.