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 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I'd make a Deathwatch box that had actual Deathwatch minis in it.

I came here to say this, but was beaten to the punch.

I would have thought at least adding a single deathwatch model or weapon would have been a minimum requirement for a deathwatch-specific box set, but no. Plain old space marines. I actually put some thought into it, and it's actually pretty difficult to make a -worse- deathwatch combat patrol box than what they're doing.

I predicted a while ago that GW were going to effectively squad deathwatch as an option (not actually remove it entirely, but just remove all the unique features so it ends up as vanilla space marines but with a couple of gimmicks). I was shouted down because "they are getting a supplement" but... yeh. So far, so terrible.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Remind me again what are the actual Deathwatch units?

Corvus Blackstar, Artemis, Watch Master, Kill Team Cassius and the Veterans kit...so that's effectively two named characters(Artemis and Cassius), another character, a flyer, and a 5 man model box.

You never were anything but 'vanilla space marines with a couple of gimmicks'. And the previous Deathwatch box wasn't really a big seller it seemed. Mostly because, y'know...named character.

Deathwatch Bikers with special ammunition? (no longer exists)

Deathwatch Terminators with special ammunition? (no longer exists)

Deathwatch terminator with meltafist? (no longer exists)

deathwatch shotgun squad? (exists, but unplayable, and the options/weapons aren't in the combat patrol box)

deathwatch frag cannons? (exists, but very bad now, and the options weapons aren't in the combat patrol box)

The ability to take kill teams? (exists, but the options in the combat patrol box don't allow for any legal killteam combinations)


I mean this is all off the top of my head, I'm sure there's other weapon/option combinations that have been (up until now) common deathwatch abilities that this box set -could- have promoted but didn't.

EDIT: Infernum Heavy Bolter, and the Prometheum Heavy flamer. Either/both of these could have been used in this box set.

I mean Space Wolves are getting a reiver squad with special anti-psyker abilities (separate from their box but still a release). Deathwatch could have gotten a shotgun+ccw unit, hell it could even have been reivers with shotguns, though most people would have been happy with just bog standard vets. But instead they get... normal vanilla intercessors, without the ability to take special ammunition for them. So ultramarine intercessors, without buffs of being an ultramarine lol.

 Kanluwen wrote:
So basically out of all of the units you noted, you understand that most of them are just wargear right? That there wasn't actually a special Deathwatch Biker or Terminator kit with special ammunition?

Yeh, but that's the point, none of that wargear is in the new box set. None of it. And not a single unit in the box set can use SIA.

I mean at the end of the day, pretty much all units in the game are "X basic unit but with Y wargear options", so I'm not sure where your argument is coming from.

The space wolves box set also seems pretty lackluster tbh, as it could have included some wolves or something, but I don't play SW so that's not an argument I can make.