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Hey guys. I've been collecting models for quite a long time but never really got into playing, despite owning rule books and trying to stay in the 'know'. I've played other tabletop games but it finally donned on me the thing I like about 40k is also something that is giving me some grief in getting to play.

Namely, I have been buying and assembling some Deathwatch models but I am not sure what configurations to make many of the models. I understand that it's ideal to have Kill Teams that fit specific roles but that conflicts with my hobbying desire to have a menagerie of different models with different weapons. Do you guys recommend just me modeling as it appeals to me, running that list and learning what was more effective and intriguing and then buying and building more specifically-geared models?

Or do people typically research and develop an army list prior to building out their first game-oriented units?

You would need to know whether the loadout of your guys is legal in-game. You'd have to check the appropriate codex / index for that.

Right, and I would do that. I am just saying do I build 5 shotgun marines or 1 shotgun marine to see how it does? Ite seems like in order to have the ability to make an adaptive list, there needs to be a ton of models that essentially sit in reserves until you 'figure it out'.

Whereas a model kit like the Cassisu Kill Team already has the load out predetermined.

Crispy78 wrote:
You would need to know whether the loadout of your guys is legal in-game. You'd have to check the appropriate codex / index for that.

Heh. I play in a fairly casual club, and have had zero problems keeping my Deathwatch in "roughly" organized squads, doing my best to keep it in five man squads. The nice thing about 8th is that you can universally split your fire now, so squads being specialized is still optimal, but not totally mandatory.

I have an "all heavy ranged" squad with 2 combi meltas (one with a storm shield), 2 frag cannons, and 1 melta. "All heavy melee" squad with Mace+Shield, 2 HTHs, 1 Shotgun/Powerfist, 1 Powerfist/Bolter. 1 light squad with bolters/chainswords and bolters/power swords. Run them in the right transports, with the right support, and you can totally get away with variety in your weapons.

As far as "trying it out" goes you have two options. Either you magnetise everything, or you just proxy until you find out what you wanna run. Most people will be more than happy to face a squad without arms with a weapon shoved in between its feet or something while you're trying out different loadouts. In general play, people aren't usually very worried about things like that.

If modeling is important to you and you're anything like me, there's no better way to kill the desire to work on models than having to conform to game needs rather than modeling what looks right. Worth considering...

Depending on how you load out your squads, the rules may or may not be detrimental. Mixing ranged and close combat weapons is only useful if the ranged weapons are meant to be used on the move so you can get into close combat. Since 8th ed allows you to split fire by model, a variety of ranged weapons in a squad is only ever a problem if weapon ranges are significantly different.

So a squad with one lascannon, one bolter, one shotgun and one plasma gun (just to throw together some weapons) can work, but you'd probably not get as much use out of the shotgun. Add a flamer, and you'll either not be using the flamer much, or you're on the move which makes the lascannon worse. But it works.

The real question is where you mean to play. I play in a fairly relaxed group, so Deathwatch with mixed weapon options wouldn't be an issue. If you have to play in a more competitive environment, you might run into trouble as in my experience competitive in 40k usually means spamming the same thing over and over, which from a modeler's perspective is just dull.

I think this hits the nail on the head. I plan on modeling these first squads as I see fit and making squads that make some sense to me, rules wise. I plan on playing in a more casual atmosphere and I will just be prepared to buy more models if I am ready to commit to certain strategies over another.

I like the idea of Kill Teams having variety, thats why I went with DW. But the considerations like range and guns/melee being in the same squad are certainly helpful tips.

Thanks a lot, guys!

 Geifer wrote:
If modeling is important to you and you're anything like me, there's no better way to kill the desire to work on models than having to conform to game needs rather than modeling what looks right. Worth considering...

Depending on how you load out your squads, the rules may or may not be detrimental. Mixing ranged and close combat weapons is only useful if the ranged weapons are meant to be used on the move so you can get into close combat. Since 8th ed allows you to split fire by model, a variety of ranged weapons in a squad is only ever a problem if weapon ranges are significantly different.

So a squad with one lascannon, one bolter, one shotgun and one plasma gun (just to throw together some weapons) can work, but you'd probably not get as much use out of the shotgun. Add a flamer, and you'll either not be using the flamer much, or you're on the move which makes the lascannon worse. But it works.

The real question is where you mean to play. I play in a fairly relaxed group, so Deathwatch with mixed weapon options wouldn't be an issue. If you have to play in a more competitive environment, you might run into trouble as in my experience competitive in 40k usually means spamming the same thing over and over, which from a modeler's perspective is just dull.