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Sadly....I think Deathwatch isn't a viable army. My Black Spear list at 1850 is barely 45 some models spread over 6 units.

I think this book is destined to allow you to create allies. Hey let's bring an extra libby and a squad with frag cannons!

My Imperial Fists Sternguard 1st company counts as DW list just feels stronger than the lists I have made. More models, almost the same firepower, scouts, and bolt pistols on my veterans! I miss out on rerolls on special and heavy weapons ( and to wound rolls) vs certain opponents for always being able to reroll 1's with bolt weapons.

Anyone else have this feeling? Am I missing something?

Not really surprising. None of the Militant Arms of the Ordos were ever suppose to be standalone armies. They were always suppose to be supplementary forces or surgical strikeforces, never a large march army. If they were, then there would be no point for the Imperial Guard or Space Marines.

The true disappointment, I would say, is that they don't seem to have any specializations towards Xeno races. Like, nothing that could take advantage of the Tau's reliance on Firepower that other marines don't have, nothing that could disrupt Eldar psychic Powers that other imperial forces don't have, and so forth.

This is not really surprising honestly, by itself its fine under 1250 points, anything over 1500, on its own, its not going to fair well. It makes a great addition to any 1850 army though. Say you make 1000 points of space wolves our what have you and you have a spare 850 points to toss around, BAM death watch for support, a great addition.

On its own its very weak in larger games simply because it wont be able to soak up all the bullets being tossed its way in such a low count army.

As an army of its own, I am not interested. As an ally to my Black Templars or Crimson Fists, it is a fun addition.

The true disappointment, I would say, is that they don't seem to have any specializations towards Xeno races. Like, nothing that could take advantage of the Tau's reliance on Firepower that other marines don't have, nothing that could disrupt Eldar psychic Powers that other imperial forces don't have, and so forth.

Seconded.
DW should be specialized to extinct xenos. But this isnt the case.

 wuestenfux wrote:

The true disappointment, I would say, is that they don't seem to have any specializations towards Xeno races. Like, nothing that could take advantage of the Tau's reliance on Firepower that other marines don't have, nothing that could disrupt Eldar psychic Powers that other imperial forces don't have, and so forth.

Seconded.
DW should be specialized to extinct xenos. But this isnt the case.

Extinct isn't a verb. The DW options do lend themselves quite well to killing aliens, but mostly because half the book is just a copypasta of C:SM. Could do with targeting wargear that makes jinking useless, or purchaseable Hatred(Xenos).

In the DW rpg it is fairly obvious that sometimes there are no space marines or grey knights that the DW has to take up the mantle. If there is a deamon prince tearing through a war zone they can stop they will make the attempt if its tactically prudent.

So I find the way they were made in the codex makes sense. They do have a focus on fighting xenos, but that specialized training has prepared them for anything really. The Grey Knights might be ideal to take on chaos forces, but sometimes you don't have them the DW are easily the next best thing and probably in their own way equals to fighting chaos.

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:
Not really surprising. None of the Militant Arms of the Ordos were ever suppose to be standalone armies. They were always suppose to be supplementary forces or surgical strikeforces, never a large march army. If they were, then there would be no point for the Imperial Guard or Space Marines.

The true disappointment, I would say, is that they don't seem to have any specializations towards Xeno races. Like, nothing that could take advantage of the Tau's reliance on Firepower that other marines don't have, nothing that could disrupt Eldar psychic Powers that other imperial forces don't have, and so forth.

Except GK. They're a really well made standalone army in my books. Also Sisters are capable on their own as well, at least in the fluff.

My GK army tops out at 35 models at 1850 points. Having 10 extra models would be Huge!

SJ

I think it's an army made to be en allied force, and there's nothing wrong with that. A squad of dudes and a character in a Blackstar is a tidy little allied unit that can fill out the allied detachment FoC.

Exactly, it's meant to be like th cherry on top of an army you are making or an easy way to bump up your points of an army. With DW you can very easily go from 1500 to a 1850 or 2k list with a squad or two, and a drop pod or black star

I agree with MechaEmperor7000 mostly, I'm dissappointed they don't have specific anti-Xenos rules. For example, Xenos Inquisitors in 5th Ed GK could get Plasma Siphons that reduced all plasma based weapons to BS1 within 12". This included all "Plasma" weapons, Eldar starcannons and crucially, Tau Pulse weapons. Sure, its powerful, but deepstrike a Captain with this super-anti-Tau device into the enemy lines seems exactly like something Deathwatch would do.

The closest we get is the anti-Nid Hellfire round but as a generic round.

What about a device that disrupts Necron Reanimation Protocals within 6"? Or Xenos weapons like the Scythian Venom Talon? Or anti-Eldar weapons such as a sensory overload bomb (wounds Eldar on 2+, no saves) or White Noise device (wounds Deldar on 2+)? Or something that affects Orks like a virus sprayer (template that murders Orks really good?)

Or at least, formations that specialise in killing certain races? Like, instead of Malleus Teams being anti-Heavy Support, they are anti-Tyranid? Or Furor being anti-Ork?

 Deadshot wrote:
I agree with MechaEmperor7000 mostly, I'm dissappointed they don't have specific anti-Xenos rules. For example, Xenos Inquisitors in 5th Ed GK could get Plasma Siphons that reduced all plasma based weapons to BS1 within 12". This included all "Plasma" weapons, Eldar starcannons and crucially, Tau Pulse weapons. Sure, its powerful, but deepstrike a Captain with this super-anti-Tau device into the enemy lines seems exactly like something Deathwatch would do.

The closest we get is the anti-Nid Hellfire round but as a generic round.

What about a device that disrupts Necron Reanimation Protocals within 6"? Or Xenos weapons like the Scythian Venom Talon? Or anti-Eldar weapons such as a sensory overload bomb (wounds Eldar on 2+, no saves) or White Noise device (wounds Deldar on 2+)? Or something that affects Orks like a virus sprayer (template that murders Orks really good?)

Or at least, formations that specialise in killing certain races? Like, instead of Malleus Teams being anti-Heavy Support, they are anti-Tyranid? Or Furor being anti-Ork?

If they didn't do any of those things its probably for consideration for gameplay. You could litteraly turn Deathwatch armies in the ultimate list tailored army capable of negating or destroying the strongest asset of any xeno race. Plus, it would lead to the question of alien having tailored their weapons to kill Space Marines or humans in general. I would bet Dark Eldars have poison specifically designed to do so, so have tyranids. Tau would have studied them and design weapons against them too. You see where this leads.

Parts of the DW codex add interesting things to other armies, but they are not competitive as a stand alone force.

They give options for side-grade gape fill units for other imperial armies.

It is better that they are specialized against specific FO slots, than specific races for tournament/league play. Taking a list of "anti ork marines" is not useful if no one shows up with orks. No one likes paying points for something that has 0 function.

You can play Kill Team with them pretty handily - need a fast melee unit? Take one VV marine, no need to pay for those extra four bodies!

Line unit? DW Vets got you covered for all eventualities!