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Hi Folks,

I'm running Necrons and have seen some stuff on DakkaDakka about deathmarks but I just don't see how they are good enough to take up an elite slot. From what I can see they deep strike in and get between 5 and 10 shots depending on your scatter. If the target is marked then you have a decent chance of hitting. I've read people saying to take a despairtek and use his abbsyal staff but being a template weapon you better land real close. Am I missing some important piece here? I know if I dropped in on some grey hunters they would have me for breakfast unless I managed to get within 2 inches of them to start. They way I scatter I'd probably end up taking all sorts of mishaps.

Flamer Templates have a decent enough range. 5 Deathmarks + the Cryptek are . . . around 100 points? A bit higher maybe? For something that has a decent enough chance to oneshot anything without a good invul? Well, there's worse ways to spend points.
Also, you should look up the thread someone did on Vanguard Vets scattering a while ago. It should give you good ideas for ideal placement to still get a template off (I think it was somewhere around 3-4 inches away from the target)

And anyway, what else would you use an elite slot for?

The point of a deathmark squad is not to cause massive amounts of damage to a squad.
Their primary functions are the following -

a) Distraction unit.

b) last minute objective takers

c) MC killers

d) Small squad killers (its possible, I've killed 5 man SM units with just one squad)

e) Anti-heavy weapons. Drop them next to a squad of longfangs and watch your oppenent sweat.


The ability to stick a despairtek with them and get the 2+ to wound with his AP1 flamer is just a bonus .

Seriously, I run Nids. Deathmarks are some of the best MC killers out there - toughness 6? who cares. Wound on 2s ...

Wraithlord/wraithguard are also less than keen on deathmarks, or against other Necrons get the C'tan or the spyders.

Chaos Daemons players will drop down 105 points of poisoned flamers that ignore armor/cover quite regularly. I would look at Deathmarks as a unit that can do this for about the same cost, except they can wound with their template on a 2+ and take some rapid fire shots at the enemy too.

They are situational, but they also must be dealt with and the Cryptek is (annoyingly) everliving so he can pop back up and flame again 1/3 of the time.

hey I like that cryptek idea. Hadn't even considered that. i looked at Deathmarks and went: "Really?". But that could be devastating if you popped back up like that once or twice! It's a "roll in Vegas" kind of unit. Love those.

1) Note the Crytek cannot Deep Strike with the Deathmarks

2) If you use it with Grand Illusion, you may put an extra token (that has not been FAQd away, but it's a pretty beardy move, so let your opponent know you will do it)

A unit is allowed to use the veil move as it deploys from reserves so yes it can deepstrike into play. It can arguably not be used to ethereal intercept if it has a cryptek.

severedblue wrote:1) Note the Crytek cannot Deep Strike with the Deathmarks

2) If you use it with Grand Illusion, you may put an extra token (that has not been FAQd away, but it's a pretty beardy move, so let your opponent know you will do it)

Despairtek gets veil of darkness allowing him to deepstrike.

As for your point 2, I'm sure anyone doing this would lose an opponent off the bat.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Actinium wrote:A unit is allowed to use the veil move as it deploys from reserves so yes it can deepstrike into play. It can arguably not be used to ethereal intercept if it has a cryptek.

Considering this (Below) is in the FAQ:

Q: Do models from a Royal Court that are attached to a
Deathmark Squad benefit from the Hunters from
Hyperspace special rule? (p90)
A: Yes.

I would argue that they also benefit from ethereal interception.

The current raw is that the veil specifically replaces a regular movement with a deepstrike move, it doesn't actually give a unit the 'deepstrike' special rule so the unit cannot be placed into 'deepstrike reserves' at the start of the game if it has a cryptek so is ineligible for ethereal interception.


Also, most people are actually okay with the grand illusion trick, they are largely not okay with the interpretation of veil deepstrikes as redeployment for a new hfh token every move.

Actinium wrote:The current raw is that the veil specifically replaces a regular movement with a deepstrike move, it doesn't actually give a unit the 'deepstrike' special rule so the unit cannot be placed into 'deepstrike reserves' at the start of the game if it has a cryptek so is ineligible for ethereal interception.


Also, most people are actually okay with the grand illusion trick, they are largely not okay with the interpretation of veil deepstrikes as redeployment for a new hfh token every move.

Hm, I'd have to re-read the veil rules, but I won't open that can of worms here because of the contradicting FAQ statements.

You must know a grip of more generous players than me because everyone I know would balk at trying the grand illusion thing and they'd probably punch me if I tried the deep strike thing (not that I would, that's just ridiculous).

Though honestly I don't think people understand the meaning of the "re-" in the statement of "redeploy".

But anyway, I can see what you're saying about ethereal interception.

If you want to bring them in more reliably than just DeepStrike and risking the scatter you can always purchase a Scythe for them. If it's destroyed you go back into reserve and then just DeepStrike in (unless there is a juicy target close to your table edge of course).

If it's not destroyed you get them where they need to be quickly and add another threat.

Or you can purchase the Scythe and still DeepStrike them in. Now you have 2 threats.

Actinium wrote:A unit is allowed to use the veil move as it deploys from reserves so yes it can deepstrike into play. It can arguably not be used to ethereal intercept if it has a cryptek.

I'm not sure I understand this. Actually the whole ethereal intercept thing is causing me some consternation. It says you can deepstrike on your opponents turn. What's the advantage to that? Do you get to shoot? Wouldn't your opponent just shoot you and assault? What am I missing here? I've only been playing regularly now for a few months so I wouldn't doubt it's some sort of rule I'm missing...

necron99 wrote:

Actinium wrote:A unit is allowed to use the veil move as it deploys from reserves so yes it can deepstrike into play. It can arguably not be used to ethereal intercept if it has a cryptek.

I'm not sure I understand this. Actually the whole ethereal intercept thing is causing me some consternation. It says you can deepstrike on your opponents turn. What's the advantage to that? Do you get to shoot? Wouldn't your opponent just shoot you and assault? What am I missing here? I've only been playing regularly now for a few months so I wouldn't doubt it's some sort of rule I'm missing...

We don't know the full scope of the advantage of that yet, not until 6th. As it stands now, you can deep strike in on your opponents turn which gives you the opportunity to do a normal phase with them next turn (walk, shoot, assault (if phaeron overlord is with them)). If you DS on your turn, you can only shoot or run.

Okdoke - yep, I bet you're right about the 6th edition. That makes sense...

As I read the rules, you can't deepstrike if you have a cryptek attached to them, but you can have them on the table turn 1, then when they use the veil they can mark a target, so an opponent might as well let them deepstrike in since it won't change anything game-wise

Exalted Pariah wrote:As I read the rules, you can't deepstrike if you have a cryptek attached to them, but you can have them on the table turn 1, then when they use the veil they can mark a target, so an opponent might as well let them deepstrike in since it won't change anything game-wise

Or you can veil them in from reserves so they're not a target on the table right from the get-go.

Kevin949 wrote:
We don't know the full scope of the advantage of that yet, not until 6th. As it stands now, you can deep strike in on your opponents turn which gives you the opportunity to do a normal phase with them next turn (walk, shoot, assault (if phaeron overlord is with them)). If you DS on your turn, you can only shoot or run.

Correct. Regarding the benefit in 6th edition, if you believe the leaked draft, movement and assault are united in one phase and followed by the shooting phase. For the deathmarks, this is even more advantageous, because you can DS on the opponent's turn after he has moved (reactionary), so they do not get assaulted on that turn, but when their turn comes, they can now move on foot to get closer safely and hose down the mark with the abyssal staff and double-tap rapid fire. That is much safer than what they must do right now from the viewpoint of DS mishaps, and it does not result in any more shooting that they must endure under 5th ed. rules.