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I was called into question on my list which includes a lot of DW terminators who use the Deathwing Assault special rule (arriving turn 1 or 2 via deep strike automatically). The gentlemen I was playing said I needed to start with 50% of my forces on the table, and therefore, not all of my DW terminators could deep strike.

Is that accurate? Does the 50% rule supersede my special rule? I'm still learning the game so figured I would ask here.

Your special rule doesn't force them into reserves, so they still count. This is reinforced by the Dark Angels FAQ, which makes it explicit.

Yeah, they still count. As Chrysis said they don't have to start in reserves, nor are they embarked on anything that has to start in reserves so they are not exempt from the 50% count.

Dark angels blend fast bikes and terminators very well, you might enjoy having a few small bike squads on the table to help keep your terminators from scattering.

Here are the FAQs for 40k