2000 points deathwatch army advice

[whiteridder]

Hello brothers,

 

I need some advice before I'm going to post a list.

 

In november I got a GT game (well, 5 games on 2 days) of 2000 points. I still don't know what army OI want to play (Tau, tyranids, spce wolves or Deathwatch) but want some advice if I choice deathwatch.

 

At this moment I got 2 corvus blackstars, a watch master, a chaplain, 1 squad of 10 intercessors, 1 squad of 10 reivers, 5 stalker veterans with chainswords, 4 fragcannon dudes, and the rest is equiped with boltguns and powerswords. I also have 2 assasins, the culuxes en the eversor.

 

Planning to buy some stuff, but can you help me with some advice to build a good list?

 

I maybe want to buy 3 stormtalons, of the interceptor als a flyer detachtment.

 

And how to include the assasins without penaltys.

[vigitant]

With what you have, it'd be difficult to make a competitive DW list at 2k points.
with 10 intercessors, you've got the backbone of a solid battalion, though.
Watchmaster, 2 5m intercessor squads.  You need another HQ(I'd suggest kitbashing a TH/SS or TH/SB jump pack captain or a jump pack librarian).
You'd need another troop.  A beefed up primaris squad would be nice, or a vet squad(variations of 0-3 frag cannons, 1-2 storm shield/storm bolter vets, 0-1 terminator ps/sb, 1 vangaurd vet, 1 sergeant with sb/cs or possibly a power sword or xenophase, the rest sb/cs vets).

With a low model count, elite army, i wouldnt suggest doubling down on fliers.  it puts you in real threat of being tabled quickly, especially since your deep strikes are off the board the entire first turn.

As for the assassins:  if you want to run em, id suggest getting a 3rd assassin, probably a second eversor.

[Prot]

Competitive Deathwatch is very hard m extremely unforgiving. But there are some things you see a lot of. Personally I like a deep striking Dread but many take a deep striking Leviathan.

 

I personally think Deepstrike Primaris withHellblasters is something we do very well that no one else can do. Make sure a Captains with them.

 

The reason I mention this is not many people use it or expect it. They are easy for you to get together....as simple as an bay auction for the 5 standard Hellblasters in the DI box.

 

I agree with Vigitant on the Flyer. It’s very Lackluster, and severely overcosted. I only use it in ‘funsy’ games and I still usually regret it.

 

Our infantry is where our money is made. Some basic squads can get you some good success but the army is very tough to play with in competitive situations.

[SnakeChisler]

I've been having success with infantry based armies

 

stalker squad + 1 storm shield + 3 bikes + 2 vanguard 1 or 2 storm shields combat squad into fast and stalkers ( x 2)

Primaris 

5 marines + 5 hellblasters Combat squad 3&2 

5 marines + 5 aggressors     "                              (depending on opponent I sometimes don't CC)

5 Marines +3 aggressors or hellblasters (sometimes)

 

Aggressor loaded squads benifit from DS more often than not.

Watch master Watch captain Thunder hammer +SS +jump pack

 

generally have about 4/500 points left and I include an ally so your assassins would work, was gonna get a Leviathan but have come up with a supreme command of Dark Angels (Sammael + 2 Talon Masters)

 

Warlord trait ignores cover relic hot switch tactics and sometimes banebolts for the captain if he doesn't run the SS

 

Its a Spam army that really does a number on hordes + high toughness monsters (poison is still a thing especially stalker & primaris) the DA speeders pack a real wallop in combat as well and all the Deathwatch squads are obj-sec

[Prot]

I agree heavy infantry is our forte. But there are two things I have big problems with: Knights (or mostly T8 vehicles, Astra, etc.) and heavy Psychic. Even our CC is not cheap enough to spam.

 

Our infantry is so expensive, I have troubles included Culexus' and/or Helverins to fill those gaps. That's why often I DS a Ven Dread.  Hellblasters in bedded in Troop squads does some decent work. 

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I think Knights are on the way out of top meta lists. There is still some denial which is always amusing.

[SnakeChisler]

An option I take with Knights and psychic armies is to drop one of my talon masters and take Ezekiel for my allied detachment.

 

Bog standard Librarians ain't really up to much, the named librarians get 2 denies and Dark Angel, Blood Angel and now Space Wolves have more rounded powers with the puppies getting a super lightning on 1 cp if used with 2 other librarians. The DA psychic powers Aversion (-1 to hit on your profile) and Mind Wipe ((-1 to hit & -1 to leadership (permanent) when it goes off) have a disproportionate effect on big units and both of these shut down a whole range of weapon bonuses that explode mortals or extra shots on a 6. Dunno about blood angels.

 

I've switched my Jump pack Captain to TH + SS and I've also tried the longer range Plasma and Bolter on Primaris though to be honest it didn't make a lot of difference on the primaris

 

Don't feel bad about an ally GW didn't really give us anything for use against psychic heavy or Titanic units there's a few others to look at 3 Shield Captains springs to mind.

 

If you really want to kill knights take the one man army that is Roboute and DS Rievers into awkward places that the Knights can't see or get too. Big Rob's damage output is mental.

 

I just can't think of anything that would help that is purely deathwatch that could scratch the paint on a 3++ 28 wound mega Knight even the Leviathan's dropping in are not gonna put enough wounds out.

 

Sorry for the ramblings and a bit off topic but it is Monday after all

[BrotherAetherick]

I agree, if you don't mind souping, there are many more efficient options to take on knights than what DW can offer.

 

I used to use a Blood Angels battalion of smash captain, mephiston and 3x scouts but after the CP farm nerf, I have switched to the "Adeptus Astartes" psyker bomb for my anti knight needs.

 

1x Dark Angels libby with aversion and mind Wipe

1x Rune priest (I usually upgrade to Njall for +1 to cast and reroll 1 deny) with tempest wrath, wolf spirits, and flex

 

3x scouts of your favourite chapter.

 

This gives you 5 CP, and two -1 hit powers at 24", and 1 permanent -1 to hit at 18", and 2(3 if you take characters) denies.

 

No one gets chapter tactics and no stratagems are unlocked but those aren't needed for these units.

 

If you want to add Roboute you can drop the scouts, add another HQ (emperor's champ, another codex libby, etc) and slot him into a supreme command. He really puts the beatdown on knights as no one takes the 5++ in melee relic. Shooting into rotate ion shields with ion bulwark is a waste of time.

[vigitant]

I agree, if you don't mind souping, there are many more efficient options to take on knights than what DW can offer.

 

I used to use a Blood Angels battalion of smash captain, mephiston and 3x scouts but after the CP farm nerf, I have switched to the "Adeptus Astartes" psyker bomb for my anti knight needs.

 

1x Dark Angels libby with aversion and mind Wipe

1x Rune priest (I usually upgrade to Njall for +1 to cast and reroll 1 deny) with tempest wrath, wolf spirits, and flex

 

3x scouts of your favourite chapter.

 

This gives you 5 CP, and two -1 hit powers at 24", and 1 permanent -1 to hit at 18", and 2(3 if you take characters) denies.

 

No one gets chapter tactics and no stratagems are unlocked but those aren't needed for these units.

 

If you want to add Roboute you can drop the scouts, add another HQ (emperor's champ, another codex libby, etc) and slot him into a supreme command. He really puts the beatdown on knights as no one takes the 5++ in melee relic. Shooting into rotate ion shields with ion bulwark is a waste of time.

 

Yup, souping is the best way, for sure.

I'm running BA with a libby dread and a smash cpt, scouts, and 32 IG plus an ogryn bodyguard.  With a leviathan and a DW battallion.  15 cp and some melee beatsticks that can put some hurt on a knight.

 

With libby dread or Row-booty Girlyman, watch out for Gallants.  interrupt and death grip can ruin a melee converge, and makes trying to 1v1 them super risky.

[whiteridder]

what about the assasins. I'm still not sure about them. Can you take tham as an allied detachement, or you can only use them as that detchament with -1cp? I heard that you can only use them as an allied detachement if you use them as an assasin force. Can somebody make things clear for me about this?

[anarchistscourge]

You either take them as a single assassin in auxiliary detachment and get -1 CP. Or if your warlord has IMPERIUM keyword then you can include 3 assassins in a vanguard detachment but do not gain any CP.

 

Annoying as hell as I think a bunch of assassins with DW is quite fluffy yet we are penalised for it. Didn’t GW say when 8th was coming out, that the whole idea of CP was to reward armies that are being played fluffy?

[vigitant]

You either take them as a single assassin in auxiliary detachment and get -1 CP. Or if your warlord has IMPERIUM keyword then you can include 3 assassins in a vanguard detachment but do not gain any CP.

 

Annoying as hell as I think a bunch of assassins with DW is quite fluffy yet we are penalised for it. Didn’t GW say when 8th was coming out, that the whole idea of CP was to reward armies that are being played fluffy?

 

This.  Note that you dont get an HQ slot for the assassin squad, and the vanguard is still 3-6.  Assassins are still pretty solid, more so with some of the FAQ drops making small bases that can weave behind chaff more desireable compared to flying bikes that cant just charge over screen anymore.