75 Power Level Order Of Battle For Narrative Event - Looking For Advice On Wargear Choices

[Masked Thespian]

Hi there.  It's been a while since I posted here, but then it's been a while since I've been active in the hobby.

 

I've recently purchased a ticket for the Rising Tomb event, a Narrative Event being held at Warhammer World in early September, to get myself back into the hobby.  The rough plot of the event is that Necron technology is emerging on an Imperial world and the players are descending upon the world to claim it.  I figured that my Watch Fortress would love to get its hands on some of this Necron technology so I'm going to be taking my Deathwatch.

 

I only have a handful of assembled Deathwatch models, though I own almost an entire Watch Fortress's worth of them (and intend to eventually assemble and paint them all), so I had a bit of a blank slate when it came to choosing which units to take.  I ended up choosing an army based around Watch Company Tertius, as I've already chosen exactly which units/kill teams are in each Watch Company of my Watch Fortress.

 

The rules for the event are that you take along a 75 Power Level Order of Battle and for each of the five games you play you choose a 50 Power Level army chosen from that Order of Battle.  Before the event begins and after each game you play you can spend Requisition Points appropriately and, after games, you get a small amount of time to progress your army using the Narrative rules, so they'll gain experience, Ranks, and Battle Honours accordingly.  It's worth noting that the organisers have told me that you can't use the Increase Supply Limit Requisition, so that 75 Power Level is all that you're allowed to use over the course of the weekend.

 

I'm looking for some advice on the Order of Battle I've chosen, in particular the weapons, Relics, and Warlord Traits that I can choose.  I'm 99% sure that this is the army I'm taking, unless someone gives me some significant reasons to change it.

 

75 Power Level Order Of Battle

HQ: Watch Captain in Terminator Armour, 6 PL

HQ: Ordo Xenos Inquisitor, 4 PL

Elites: 5 Company Veterans, 8 PL

Elites: Invictor Tactical Warsuit, 8 PL

Troops: Proteus Kill Team with Watch Sergeant, 4 Veterans, and 5 Deathwatch Terminators with three Plasma Cannons, 2 Storm Bolters, 3 Power Fists, 1 Chainfist, 1 Power Sword, and a Deathwatch Teleport Homer, 17 PL

Troops: Spectrus Kill Team with Infiltrator Sergeant, 5 Infiltrators (1 with Helix Gauntlet), and 4 Eliminators, 17 PL

Heavy Support: Thunderfire Cannon, 6 PL

Flyers: Corvus Blackstar, 9 PL

 

The core of the army, included in each game, is going to be the Watch Captain, the Inquisitor, the Thunderfire Cannon, and the Proteus Kill Team, all in a Patrol Detachment.  That leaves me with 17 Power remaining, into which I can slot one of the following sets of units:

• Spectrus Kill Team
• Corvus Blackstar + Company Veterans
• Corvus Blackstar + Invictor Tactical Warsuit

giving me three distinct armies to use throughout the course of the five-game event.

 

Generally, I intend to take the Secure Xenotech Agenda in each game I play (as it thematically fits with the overall theme of the event) and will use either my Terminator Combat Squad or the Infiltrator Combat Squad to take it early and then move quickly back to my deployment zone (either with the Teleport Homer or with the Guerilla Tactics Strategum).  I'm not sure what other Agenda to take, but as my army is pretty flexible I can probably do well at most of them.

 

Overall, I could do with advice on the following:

• Watch Captain in Terminator Armour; whilst I would prefer to keep him (for narrative reasons), I am relatively receptive to swapping him out for a Librarian or a Chaplain.  If not, I would be interested in suggestions for his weapon choices, Warlord Trait choice (as I'll likely spend a Requisition Point to give him one), and Relic choice (as I'll likely spend a Requisition Point to give him one of those, too).
• Inquisitor; again, he has been included as a narrative choice.  I'm not too willing to swap him out, but may well swap both him and the Watch Captain above for a Librarian and a Chaplain if given that advice.  Otherwise, I don't think I need any advice here, as I'm planning on giving him the Mental Interrogation Psychic Power, spending a Requisition Point to give him the Warlord Trait Ordo Xenos: Esoteric Lore, and am pretty sure that I'm giving him a Force Stave and a Needler Pistol or Plasma Gun for his weapons.
• 5 Company Veterans; I would like to have these Marines geared up for melee combat, to travel in the Corvus Blackstar until they get to a juicy target.  However, I do recognise that outside of the dedicated melee combinations (Thunder Hammer + Storm Shield, twin Lightning Claws) it may be more prudent to gear them up as a melee/ranged hybrid (maybe with a combi-weapon and melee weapon each).  I'm also aware that they may be better off as a 5 man Deathwatch Veterans squad, due to having access to Deathwatch Bolters and Combi-Weapons, a Xenophase Blade on the Sergeant, and a Heavy Thunder Hammer, so that is something I'm keeping in mind.
• Proteus Kill Team, Deathwatch Veterans; I'm intending to give these five models Deathwatch Shotguns, so I have a mobile, flexible shooting unit.  Shotguns preclude any other weapons, though, so I'm considering not giving the Watch Sergeant a Shotgun and instead giving him a Xenophase Blade and a Combi-Melta (the longest-ranged Assault weapon he can have).  I'm also debating giving one of them a Deathwatch Frag Cannon, since both of its firing modes are Assault so I can make use of it too.
• Spectrus Kill Team, Eliminators + Helix Adept; I'm unsure whether to give the four Eliminators all Sniper Bolt Rifles, or a mix of Sniper Bolt Rifles and Las-Fusils.
• Invictor Tactical Warsuit; overall I have no idea what to arm this with, but there are only a couple of choices so I don't imagine that it'll be too difficult.  I'll be magnetising all of the options anyway, so I don't have to make my mind up straight away.
• Corvus Blackstar; again, I have no idea whether I want all anti-infantry, all anti-vehicle/monsters, or a blend of the two, but I have plenty of time to decide and, like the Invictor, I'll be using magnets.

 

Any other general Deathwatch Narrative Play advice will be welcomed.

[Smoke Frog]

I agree the inquisitor would be great fun! Though probably mostly for fluff?

 

I really like the spectrus kill team. One cool version of the team I have seen is 5 infiltrators (one with helix), 4 eliminators (sniper bolt rifles), and one incursor with haywire mine. Split in combat squads with the 4 eliminators + helix infiltrator, and 4 infiltrators + incursor with mine. This way both have the 12" infiltrator deep strike bubble. The eliminators have the helix adept bonus, and the rest of the infiltrators now become a slightly more annoying speed-bump unit that can slow down the enemy advance across the midfield of the board. Or can park themselves on an objective and dare the enemy to charge them with the threat of the haywire mine. Won't stop a determined opponent but may cause bit more damage than 5 straight eliminators. 

 

I like the idea of the invictors too! Especially if backed up by a few infiltrators? Really cool conceptually if nothing else, they seem very deathwatch-cover-operative to me. 

[Masked Thespian]

9 hours ago, Smoke Frog said:

I agree the inquisitor would be great fun! Though probably mostly for fluff?

Yes, definitely. In the background of my Watch Fortress, he's the highest ranking member of the Ordo Xenos there, so he's chosen to lead this expedition to claim the Necron technology.

That's also the reason I have a Thunderfire Cannon, too, as I wanted a Techmarine in the army to evaluate the tech on the fly, but didn't feel I had enough vehicles in the army list to make it worth having the HQ version.

 

9 hours ago, Smoke Frog said:

I really like the spectrus kill team. One cool version of the team I have seen is 5 infiltrators (one with helix), 4 eliminators (sniper bolt rifles), and one incursor with haywire mine. Split in combat squads with the 4 eliminators + helix infiltrator, and 4 infiltrators + incursor with mine. This way both have the 12" infiltrator deep strike bubble. The eliminators have the helix adept bonus, and the rest of the infiltrators now become a slightly more annoying speed-bump unit that can slow down the enemy advance across the midfield of the board. Or can park themselves on an objective and dare the enemy to charge them with the threat of the haywire mine. Won't stop a determined opponent but may cause bit more damage than 5 straight eliminators.

That's an amazing idea, and I'm definitely going to borrow it and use it here!

9 hours ago, Smoke Frog said:

I like the idea of the invictors too! Especially if backed up by a few infiltrators? Really cool conceptually if nothing else, they seem very deathwatch-cover-operative to me. 

Definitely. I'm very much looking forward to building, painting, and playing this army.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Masked Thespian
Correcting auto correct spelling error (in to I'm)