Deathwatch at my First GT - Thoughts and things I learned

[leth]

Hello Everyone, 

 

So this past weekend I went to my first GT, I went 3-2.  One of my losses I actually won, but got rushed at the very end and made 1-2 mistakes/later found out the person was not playing his army list by the rules(Yannari Soup). However I also played the Rapier wrong(I thought they were D6 like the IG ones, they are 4D3).  What really killed me was that they decided at the event that merged squads still counted as two units for ITC(also that I didnt take mortars for 9 man units) - That was a list building mistake that gave my opponents a free 4 points on secondaries. 

 

Not really going into the details of each game(since I dont remember) But I will highlight what came to mind.

 

Here is my list

 

Deathwatch Battalion

 

HQ

Watchmaster - Warlord (Grand Strategist - Always Started on the table before I put things in Deepstrike/used any strategems)

 

Sat in the corner and was me safe warlord(only died in my first game), buffed the home intercessor squad/rapier while providing defense against CC for my basilisks. 

 

Watchmaster - Tome of Ectoclades - Deep Strike 1

 

He was one of my Three planned deepstrikes.  There was only 1 game where I didnt deep strike and that was nurgle horde. Re-roll all was huge against everyone, although the -1/2 does put a significant dent in our shooting.  Still not often enough to justify a captain. Tome saved me SO many CP, I only actually changed my army tactics once the entire tournament because of the tome.

 

Troops

Veterans Squad - Deep Strike 2

5x Veterans - Storm Bolters, 3x Storm Shield

5x Bikes - Chainswords

 

These guys were solid.  Being infantry for all of them made it so they were SUPER durable with nearly everything being ruins. For the sake of not getting into a rules arguement I did not have them go into or over ruins at any time.  It sucked having that handicap but I just didn't want to deal with it. Basically wound allocation went this way. First death was a veteran, after that Multiple Damage? Veterans. -2 or more? Stormshields. Otherwise it was all on bikes(unless I would drop to fewer bikes than veterans).  Having the mix and additional wounds/toughness made them SOOO much more durable while not losing out on volume of shots.  I wanted a Vanguard but the loss of T5 was just not worth it. Also being able to split them into a unit of 5 bikes and 5 veterans was super helpful for board presence.  Bikes were able to get to things like nurglings and other screens out of LOS turn one to clear them out for my next turn deep strike. 

 

Intercessors Squad - Deep Strike 3

5x Intercessors - Bolt Rifles

4x Aggressors - Bolt

1x Inceptor - Bolt

 

Not much to say other than....ALL THE BULLETS. Holy crap were these guys the MVPs the ability to turn almost every shot into wounds is huge! They killed 13 plaguebearers on overwatch(Re-roll all misses, gave them +1 and re-roll 1s to wound. Even though it is fewer shots, I think the inceptor adds quite a lot to the unit.  6 5 -1 shots may not seem like a lot, but against things that are T8? Significant since it wounds twice as often.  In the future I am going to shift to Auto Bolt Rifles.  While it has 6 less range I found that there were so many times I only got 1 shot, or had to use the tempest rounds to get two shots instead of being able to use helfire.  It also puts the entire units effective range at 18+ reliably for full shots. (I actually paid for autobolt rifles and forgot all tournament soo.....)

 

5x Intercessor Squad - Bolt Rifles

 

Great backfield defenders, Also a solid barrier for my artillery while still getting to shoot. Nice to have with the watch master for the buffs. Again, paid for auto bolt, forgot and treated them as bolt rifles.

 

Heavy

Rapier - Quad Launcher

 

Played them wrong(4d6 instead of 4d3) but they are still a super solid addition.  Having the option to go Heavy 4 Str 8 -2 Dmg 3 was pretty helpful in a few games, especially since the army in general has a hard time killing T8(as I learned in the first game).  It basically has the perfect stats for hurting plague drones.

 

Also learned that the crew is not actually firing the rapier, so it can still fire while the crew is in combat.  Downside? The rapier does NOT get mission tactics - Hurts its ability to wound things - Still has DW keyword for re-rolls. Be careful how it is deployed in ruins! if you want to do the heavy shot then you will have to get around the walls/floors somehow. 

 

 

IG Battalion (Mandatory) - Vostroyans

 

I will be shifting these to Cadians going forward. Didnt realize the re-roll ones applied to vehicles. This is mostly the standard IG CP battery, however I added in a few things to try and fill gaps in the army.

 

HQ

Commander - Kurovs Aquila (-1 CP)

CP regen - Standard

 

Lord Commissar

 

Didnt do anything, I just took him as my second HQ because I had him painted, sucks and not worth the extra 5 points.  Guardsment are usually not in a situation where +1 leadership is worth it. 

 

Troops

3xInfantry Squad

 

These guys were great for board control, eating bullets, and giving me more bodies.  Having them in range of the Custodes banner made them last longer, but they still died pretty quick. I made a mistake of not taking Mortars(make them a 9 man unit) and most of my games would have had a bigger split in points if I had done so. New lists will take that into account. 

 

Heavy

2x Basilisks

 

Another MVP of the game.  A basilisk with 9 -3 Dmg d3 is perfect for hunting some of the targets that we have a hard time with.  They are also fantastic backfield unit hunting for things like intercessors or other more durable stuff.  Because they are self sufficient with their re-roll number of shots I just plop them in opposite corners, one with my defended firebase and the other on its own.  It either gets ignored, or they chase it down and are out of the battle.

 

Custodes - Supreme Command

 

HQ

3x Custodes Bikers, Hurricanes - One with Auric Auquilas(-1 CP)

 

These guys were really good. They claimed objectives, held the line, and were able to put the hurt on a bunch of units.  Problem was that they didnt really fill a role that I needed.  I need help with T7/8 Vehicles, That is where they are okay, but dont really do enough to finish targets off. With top tables full of things like bloat drones and plague crawlers, I think units that can kill them reliably.   They also made it easy for my opponent to get head hunter. Everyone builds their list with the abilities to kill custodes bikes.  1-2 failed saves and they were dead from things like plague swords.  Because I am deathwatch the hurricane bolters didnt really add much that my other units didnt already have covered. Dropping them going forwards

 

Elite

Custodes Vexilla - 5+ Invul Banner and Axe - Deep strike(-1 CP)

 

This guy was in deepstrike with my Deathwatch, the banner really helped them stay alive against units like Dark Reapers.  Also helped my guardsmen survive by keeping 2-3 models alive denying a lot of points since they had to finish them off to get their points.  Also - He can throw a tanglefoot grenade in both the movement AND assault phases.  This is HUGE for preventing my gunline from getting charged.  Overall a really solid addition, Will really miss having him in my current list, but I will try to make it work. 

 

Basically I went into the tournament looking for experience more than thinking my list was optimized.  The ITC mission format requires a lot more strategy in list building which I messed up on in multiple ways (10 man IG, so many characters). Made my opponents secondaries pretty easy. I knew that my weakness was vehicles/titanic T7/T8 but figured I would see how well I could do.

 

Game re-caps

 

First Game - Tyranid Tytannic Monstrous creature list - Loss

 

Not much to say here this is the exact sort of list I knew I was going to have a hard time with going in. I killed one of the 3, and put 4-5 wounds on another.  Game ended because we ran out of time on turn 4, otherwise it was just going to be a wipe.  

 

Second Game - Blood Angels/Adeptus Mechanicus - Win

 

This was a rough game for him.  I was able to bullet down all his CC units(death company and sanguinary guard), 2+ isnt as impressive when you are making 50 of them. One of my captains got into combat with his robots after they had locked down so they couldnt move.  Solid win

 

Third Game - Yannari Eldar - Loss(technically)

 

Shining spears are flipping fast! Luckily my watchmaster was able to save enough to survive, preventing him from soulbursting and killing everything in the backfield. I was able to use terrain to limit how effective his dark reapers were, making him use(and fail a few) powers to try and make things happen.  5+ Invul/stormshields kept my units alive and gave me board control.

 

This one I feel a little salty about because he had already conceeded, but I felt that we should end it right.  TO ran over and basically forced us to end in 3-4 minutes(while they let other people play for another 10 minutes) and I forgot my game plan when he disrupted my train of thought. Ended up losing 16-17. Still, this was Yannari Eldar so I figured I did pretty well.

 

Fourth Game - Nurgle Daemons - Win

 

This was a rough game on the first turn he made 8/8 Invul saves on my multi damage weapons and made 10/12 5+ FNPs.  I was like this is gonna be a bad game.  Luckily the Shield Captains managed to get some damage on them. 

 

From the second turn onwards it was a massacre.  Finished off all three bloat drones and then it was just clearing his plague bearer horde which my aggressors did with gusto.  Clear win after the bloat drones went down, but it really highlighted the weakness I already knew I had - T7/8 vehicles.  

 

Fifth Game - Space Wolves - Win

 

He was a pretty solid player, I liked what he was doing with his list, but it was a codex book versus an index book.  He had 1-2 moments where his characters on wolves killed my shield captains. 1-2 failed saves is all it takes and it basically ate up lots of CP every turn.  I did enjoy killing Bjorn with my Stormbolters using the re-roll wounds against warlord strategem. Tanglefoot Grenade + Ruins kept my backfield alive since he couldnt get into combat with my dudes, while I also kept him from getting away (-d6 to move and -d6 to charge, used once in each phase). 

 

So overall was 12th out of 40 people.  Not bad for the first time playing deathwatch since they dropped.

 

Lots of little thoughts - Have a referance for everything that is start of turn/when they activate.  My opponents were kind enough to let me do things like declare mission tactics at the start of my shooting phase, as well as tome, because I had forgotten about them. I was also out of practice and so made some mistakes with measuring/forgetting what a unit was doing that cost me a lot of points(like having a unit in place for recon, forgetting when I charged, and then being out of that table quarter).  Deathwatch has a bunch of little things that are important to keep track of.  Add on 1-2 different detachments and all of the strategems that go along with them? Gonna have a hard time if you dont practice and keep track, especially when you are under a time crunch.  I need to make reference sheets going forward.

 

One thing that I think is very important is that we have to roll a LOT of dice, especially with re-rolls, this took a toll on my back and it was super sore for two days(not injured just heavily used). It also used up a LOT of time. I need to try and streamline this process somehow and will be bringing more dice to my games.  

 

This is not everything, but if people have questions about specifics let me know and I will try to remember. I dont have the lists memorized, but I have a general idea. 

[leth]

So my current post GT list is as follows

 

2x Watchmaster - Warlord/Tome

 

3x Veterans - 3x Storm Bolter 2x Storm Shield,

Vanguard Vet - Stormshield/Bolt Pistol,

3x Terminators 3x Powermaul/Storm Bolters

Watch SGT - Stormbolter/Xenophase Sword

Black Shield - Stormbolter/Thunder Hammer

 

 

5x Incercessors, 4x aggressors, 1x inceptor

5x Intercessors, 1x aggressor

 

2x Rapier Carrier - Quad Launcher

Relic Leviathan Dreadnaught - 3x hunter killer missle, 2x Storm Cannon array

 

Cadian Battalion

Commander - Kurovs

Primaris Psyker

3x Infantry Squad - 2x Mortars

3x Basilisks

 

1992

 

Leviathan will on average kill a Bloat Drone as well as put a significant amount of damage on a knight. The hunter killer missiles are huge, for 18 points you get 3 missile shots.  If you consider than most missile launchers MIGHT get 4 shots in a game, hunter killers are 24 for 4 shots versus 25.  Add in that all the hunter killers can be shot in the same turn? WAY better for everything but the flakk missile strategem. 

 

The Heavy 4 shot on the rapiers was awesome and so I am adding in a second one. However both of the rapiers could easily be swapped for something else - just needs to be heavy to unlock the relic leviathan. 

 

Switched to a Cadian Battalion because that re-roll 1 on the basilisks when they sit still is huge.  +6 range to lasguns is not worth it compared to that. Also the +1 to hit strategem for vostroyans didnt come up often enough to be worth it. 

 

I miss the custodes but I feel like I have filled the gap.  I do wish I would work in the banner guy but not worth it since the amount of points it takes to get the strategems is not worth it.

 

Just to avoid the headaches with bikes and pissing people off, until an FAQ I will be dropping bikes from my kill teams. Since I am taking terminators for durability, and giving up custodes, I might as well add a little CC threat to the veterans unit.  The combination of the thunderhammers and the Power Mauls will make them a solid CC threat against most units in the game.  

[xenomortis]

Thanks for the write up, some really good tips to take away

 

What will you change for the next GT?

[Mobius0288]

Add in that all the hunter killers can be shot in the same turn? WAY better for everything but the flakk missile strategem. 

 

You wouldn't be able to use hunter killer missiles with the flakk stratagem, but yes those missiles are pretty underrated.

 

Deep striking your leviathan? He's definitely going to be the target as soon as he drops.

 

You have a lot of artillery! Do you tend to have issues against flyers?

[leth]

Thanks for the write up, some really good tips to take away

 

What will you change for the next GT?

 

Hey! so the first post is my planned list for tournaments going forwards with more comments! I update it as I get more thoughts. The exact combination of points/equipment in the Veterans squad is changing.  I want to put 1-2 more things in, but I feel like the Auto Bolt Rifles are significant on the intercessors since I keep finding that I want the Aggressors up front, which means that the intercessors are 2-3 inches further back, often taking them out of double tap range(I dont want to land any closer than I have to for getting shot more/charged). Same for the backfield defending unit, more shots is almost always better than an additional -1.

 

 

Add in that all the hunter killers can be shot in the same turn? WAY better for everything but the flakk missile strategem. 

 

You wouldn't be able to use hunter killer missiles with the flakk stratagem, but yes those missiles are pretty underrated.

 

Deep striking your leviathan? He's definitely going to be the target as soon as he drops.

 

You have a lot of artillery! Do you tend to have issues against flyers?

 

 

Yeah that is the only downside, but honestly I have not found a unit in DW that I would give a missile launcher anyway. 

 

Leviathan deep strike will be opponent dependent.  Even then, at 24 inch threat range it doesnt have to be too close.  I can easily put the Primaris between the leviathan and my opponent. 

 

 

I have not actually faced any fliers yet with this list.  ITC and most mission packs emphasize being able to claim objectives, multiple fliers are not able to do that.  However if I do face a flier I will probably try to land within 12(if eldar fliers) give my unit +1 to wound, and hope that I get enough on it to cripple it. 

 

Artillery is never a bad thing, especially with the amount of LOS blocking terrain that people have on the table.  It is so easy for someone to hide a 5 man unit all game and just get free points.  Lots of Artillery makes it so that is not as reliable while I also get reliable shots.  Basilisks are able to kill basically any typical backfield holding unit pretty reliably.  Add on that they bring much needed STR 9 and we are in business......plus FW had a deal on 3 of the Solar Auxillia Basilisks/Medusa kit........DONT JUDGE ME THEY ARE GORGEOUS

[Reviler]

If your going forward list only comes to 1992pts why not add a mortar to the last infantry squad for 5pts. Takes you to 1997 and means all three infantry squads are only 9 models for ITC

[Burias-Drak'shal]

Hellblasters not useful with deathwatch ?

[Prot]

Thanks for the write up. I had to laugh when you mentioned squad size. I just played an ITC event where I was one of the few that brought 10 man squads.

[Vel'Cona]

Thanks for the write up. I had to laugh when you mentioned squad size. I just played an ITC event where I was one of the few that brought 10 man squads.

 

I had really thought MSU was the champ for 8th, but TBH it seems to be shifting somewhat with several armies.  I think it really comes down to what you need the unit to do, and how you can maximize your Detachments for effective CP generation.

[Lemondish]

 

Thanks for the write up. I had to laugh when you mentioned squad size. I just played an ITC event where I was one of the few that brought 10 man squads.

 

I had really thought MSU was the champ for 8th, but TBH it seems to be shifting somewhat with several armies.  I think it really comes down to what you need the unit to do, and how you can maximize your Detachments for effective CP generation.

 

 

Keep in mind that generation shouldn't be the only thing you consider when talking about the CP management. It's honestly a balance between effective CP generation AND effective use of those CPs. The +1 to wound strats are half as effective when using MSU squads, which means you're not as effective here even if you generated a handful more CP in list building with smaller squad sizes.