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Returning player, haven't played since 6th, primarily a Tau player before then. I'm wanting to make a Deathwatch list, but I'm inexperienced with building SMs, and not a lot of people around me play them.

I'm looking for a couple list ideas: 500, 1500, and 2000 - those were the costs I really played at before.

There's just a few DW-specific Killteams, along with all the other SM options. Not quite sure what's worth the points, and what isn't. I like more shooty lists, but it looks like DW can take some real solid melee units, especially with the xenos blade upgrades.

Thanks in advance!

 mega_bassist wrote:
Returning player, haven't played since 6th, primarily a Tau player before then. I'm wanting to make a Deathwatch list, but I'm inexperienced with building SMs, and not a lot of people around me play them.

I'm looking for a couple list ideas: 500, 1500, and 2000 - those were the costs I really played at before.

There's just a few DW-specific Killteams, along with all the other SM options. Not quite sure what's worth the points, and what isn't. I like more shooty lists, but it looks like DW can take some real solid melee units, especially with the xenos blade upgrades.

Thanks in advance!

So, at 500 points you are now forced to play one of GW's "combat patrol" boxes with set list contents. the Deathwatch box is 10 intercessors, a lieutenant and apothecary, and 3 aggressors. I would recommend that as the first thing you buy, as a base to expand on and learn the rules (which have changed significantly since 6th edition)

1500 point games aren't really "a thing" anymore, at least not rules wise. Its generally smaller 1k games or 2,000 points for "full size" games.

For a 1k list building on what you have in the combat patrol box, my suggestions would be a Watch Master, and several boxes worth of Deathwatch Veterans for him to lead. The can be kitted out in several different ways, but i'd suggest building a melee unit with sheilds and hammers, and a shooty unit with the heavy weapons. to round out this infantry heavy force, i'd add a Redemptor Dreadnought, with the plasma cannon & storm bolters and rocket pod.

End force looks like this:

1 watch master (warlord)
1 Primaris Apothocary
1 Primaris Lieutenant (power sword and bolt pistol)

10 intercessors, with 2 grenade launchers

3 aggressors (build with either flamers or bolters. the Combat patrol mandates flamers, but a lot of people like the extra firepower of the bolters and grenades)

5 deathwatch veterans:
... sgt with xenophase blade and long vigil ranged weapon
... 2 vets with deathwatch thunder Hammers
... 2 vets with Shields and Long Vigil Melee weapons.


5 deathwatch veterans:
... sgt with xenophase blade and long vigil ranged weapon
... 2 vets with Infernus Heavy Bolters (or Frag cannons, your choice)
... 2 vets with Sheilds and Boltguns

Redemptor Dreadnought with Macro Plasma Incinerator, Twin Storm Bolters, Icarus Rocket Pod, and fist with Heavy Flamer.

Total Points cost of that force is 970 points.

You have 30 points spare to use on Enchantments, and you can experiment on which you think its best.



Real world cost wise, the combat patrol box is $160, the Vets are $45 for 5, the watch master is $35 and redemptor is $75.
Total cost is $360, but that the MSRP/"straight from GW" price, you can usually find resellers working with a 10-15% discount on that. I dont know which ones operate in your area, so i would ask around your local community to find out where they buy from.




that should be enough to get started on, and to get enough of a feel for the army and the system that your expansion to 2k can be a little self-guided as you work out what else you need to round out that base. Things I would suggest are assault intercessors and Hellblasters (so you can mix your intercessor squad into Fortis Kill Teams), some of the new terminators when they get a full release (plus a character for them), more anti-tank weapons like a lascannon pred or a Gladiator, and some fast troops either with jump packs or in a transport for objecting punching.

hope thats a helpful summary!

xerxeskingofking wrote:

 mega_bassist wrote:
Returning player, haven't played since 6th, primarily a Tau player before then. I'm wanting to make a Deathwatch list, but I'm inexperienced with building SMs, and not a lot of people around me play them.

I'm looking for a couple list ideas: 500, 1500, and 2000 - those were the costs I really played at before.

There's just a few DW-specific Killteams, along with all the other SM options. Not quite sure what's worth the points, and what isn't. I like more shooty lists, but it looks like DW can take some real solid melee units, especially with the xenos blade upgrades.

Thanks in advance!

So, at 500 points you are now forced to play one of GW's "combat patrol" boxes with set list contents. the Deathwatch box is 10 intercessors, a lieutenant and apothecary, and 3 aggressors. I would recommend that as the first thing you buy, as a base to expand on and learn the rules (which have changed significantly since 6th edition)

1500 point games aren't really "a thing" anymore, at least not rules wise. Its generally smaller 1k games or 2,000 points for "full size" games.

For a 1k list building on what you have in the combat patrol box, my suggestions would be a Watch Master, and several boxes worth of Deathwatch Veterans for him to lead. The can be kitted out in several different ways, but i'd suggest building a melee unit with sheilds and hammers, and a shooty unit with the heavy weapons. to round out this infantry heavy force, i'd add a Redemptor Dreadnought, with the plasma cannon & storm bolters and rocket pod.

End force looks like this:

1 watch master (warlord)
1 Primaris Apothocary
1 Primaris Lieutenant (power sword and bolt pistol)

10 intercessors, with 2 grenade launchers

3 aggressors (build with either flamers or bolters. the Combat patrol mandates flamers, but a lot of people like the extra firepower of the bolters and grenades)

5 deathwatch veterans:
... sgt with xenophase blade and long vigil ranged weapon
... 2 vets with deathwatch thunder Hammers
... 2 vets with Shields and Long Vigil Melee weapons.


5 deathwatch veterans:
... sgt with xenophase blade and long vigil ranged weapon
... 2 vets with Infernus Heavy Bolters (or Frag cannons, your choice)
... 2 vets with Sheilds and Boltguns

Redemptor Dreadnought with Macro Plasma Incinerator, Twin Storm Bolters, Icarus Rocket Pod, and fist with Heavy Flamer.

Total Points cost of that force is 970 points.

You have 30 points spare to use on Enchantments, and you can experiment on which you think its best.



Real world cost wise, the combat patrol box is $160, the Vets are $45 for 5, the watch master is $35 and redemptor is $75.
Total cost is $360, but that the MSRP/"straight from GW" price, you can usually find resellers working with a 10-15% discount on that. I dont know which ones operate in your area, so i would ask around your local community to find out where they buy from.




that should be enough to get started on, and to get enough of a feel for the army and the system that your expansion to 2k can be a little self-guided as you work out what else you need to round out that base. Things I would suggest are assault intercessors and Hellblasters (so you can mix your intercessor squad into Fortis Kill Teams), some of the new terminators when they get a full release (plus a character for them), more anti-tank weapons like a lascannon pred or a Gladiator, and some fast troops either with jump packs or in a transport for objecting punching.

hope thats a helpful summary!

As a quick addendum, but on the "shooty" unit I would still take shield and LVMW. I and many other DW players have found the Boltgun is so ineffective and so impotent, you'll get more utility by having swords on the off chance you'll need them, than taking the boltguns. It's pretty horrendous. Also, don't discount the Missile Launcher. It's the only real anti-tank you have on these squads, and as such has it's own role between the three, Inf-HB is Anti-chaff/Meq with Overwatch capabilities, the Frag Cannon is Meq/Teq cracker extrodinaire but short ranged, and Missile launchers are your long-range anti-light vehicle/Chaff. I'd argue just magnatize the arms, and swap is you feel relevant.

On enhancements, i'd definitely recommend the "beacon Angelis" on the watch master and sticking him on the melee squad. The Beacon is 3-pts exactly and allows the unit to deep strike and use Rapid Ingress for free, meaning you can plop the melee squad in your enemy's movement phase, and charge in your upcoming turn.

 ProfSrlojohn wrote:

As a quick addendum, but on the "shooty" unit I would still take shield and LVMW. I and many other DW players have found the Boltgun is so ineffective and so impotent, you'll get more utility by having swords on the off chance you'll need them, than taking the boltguns. It's pretty horrendous. Also, don't discount the Missile Launcher. It's the only real anti-tank you have on these squads, and as such has it's own role between the three, Inf-HB is Anti-chaff/Meq with Overwatch capabilities, the Frag Cannon is Meq/Teq cracker extrodinaire but short ranged, and Missile launchers are your long-range anti-light vehicle/Chaff. I'd argue just magnatize the arms, and swap is you feel relevant.

On enhancements, i'd definitely recommend the "beacon Angelis" on the watch master and sticking him on the melee squad. The Beacon is 3-pts exactly and allows the unit to deep strike and use Rapid Ingress for free, meaning you can plop the melee squad in your enemy's movement phase, and charge in your upcoming turn.

So, my main reason for not suggesting missile launchers is that they dont come with the deathwatch vets box, so he'd have to source them somewhere else. I agree they are useful, just that its a lot of extra real world cost to get them into the army unless you already have some marines with missile launchers you can repurpose.

xerxeskingofking wrote:

 ProfSrlojohn wrote:

As a quick addendum, but on the "shooty" unit I would still take shield and LVMW. I and many other DW players have found the Boltgun is so ineffective and so impotent, you'll get more utility by having swords on the off chance you'll need them, than taking the boltguns. It's pretty horrendous. Also, don't discount the Missile Launcher. It's the only real anti-tank you have on these squads, and as such has it's own role between the three, Inf-HB is Anti-chaff/Meq with Overwatch capabilities, the Frag Cannon is Meq/Teq cracker extrodinaire but short ranged, and Missile launchers are your long-range anti-light vehicle/Chaff. I'd argue just magnatize the arms, and swap is you feel relevant.

On enhancements, i'd definitely recommend the "beacon Angelis" on the watch master and sticking him on the melee squad. The Beacon is 3-pts exactly and allows the unit to deep strike and use Rapid Ingress for free, meaning you can plop the melee squad in your enemy's movement phase, and charge in your upcoming turn.

So, my main reason for not suggesting missile launchers is that they dont come with the deathwatch vets box, so he'd have to source them somewhere else. I agree they are useful, just that its a lot of extra real world cost to get them into the army unless you already have some marines with missile launchers you can repurpose.

Fair point. I always forget not everyone has a massive marine bit box and can just add things. Though Missile Launcher's aren't the hardest to get a hold of, since they come in the Tac squad box and as such they're pretty common from bits sellers. But yeah, don't pay through the nose for them. Build the basic stuff, then pick them up of you want later.

I'm not sure I'd invest in the Combat Patrol box unless I was really dedicated to playing the format. The Intercessors and Fortis Kill Team really aren't compelling for us right now and that makes the only really interesting models in the box the Aggressors.

In terms of purchases you can go a long way with just Deathwatch Veterans. They're just our bread and butter. Great on their own or in a Proteus Kill Team. There are a lot of good ways to build your Vets. Magnetizing is a solid option though you can also just buy a box of tacticals or something and add on the fancy Vet weapons. A couple boxes are a great start to any collection. Four is not unreasonable in the slightest.

Beyond that understanding the Kill Teams dictates a lot of where you want to go next.

Proteus - uses the Vets as a base. One of the best KT options, but currently priced around taking 4 Terminators and likely a biker. You can swap that biker for a Hammer Vet or something similar easily enough and not lose out much. Deathwing Terminator or Space Wolf versions of the kits are very good for getting the weapon options we tend to lean on since we generally mix melee and ranged Terminators.

Fortis - this is the standard Primaris base. It's currently just kind of awkward, not having a lot of straightforward applications and limited build options. You can use it to provide some bodies in front of Hellblasters, but they lose shoot on death and taking a couple bikes and assault intercessors doesn't quite work as a dedicated melee unit either. I'd avoid for now.

Indomitor - Gravis based KT. Heavy Intercessors form a solid shooty core with a mix of Aggressors, Inceptors and Eradicators forming a solid amount of firepower. Really shines with a Biologis giving them Lethal Hits. Easily my favorite Primaris team at the moment.

Spectrus - The Phobos KT using Infiltrators as a base. There's some weird quirks to this one that makes it not quite as good as the sum of its parts, but its a fun hit and run team that can be built easily if you can find the old Phobos starter box. Without though, I do recommend picking up an Infiltrator box. They're really solid for Deep Strike denial and objective scoring and the Incurors you can build with the other half are something I regularly run now. Highly recommend them and maybe consider making them a Spectrus later.

Right now, Deathwatch seems to have shifted back to Firstborn marines.

The Watch Master has the very strong 'double the cost of an enemy's stratagem' ability and is pretty much an auto-take.

Deathwatch Veterans have Objective Control 2, Battleline and the Kill Team keyword. Since we get double value out of Stratagems on units with the Kill Team keyword, this is just way better than other Battleline units drawn from the SM Index. They can also have up to 4 heavy weapons in the squad, making them your Devastator squad replacement. It's an insanely versatile unit that can be played melee or shooty and honestly your entire army could be DW Veterans and you'd have a good time. They even have a good special ability (re-roll 1s to hit, reroll misses vs Xenos).

Deathwatch Terminators can have 3 heavy weapons in a 5-man squad. Even better, you can fold 4 Terminators into a Proteus Kill Team (including those 3 heavy weapons). This can get you a squad with 2 Fragcannons or Infernus Heavy Bolters and 3 Assault Cannons or Cyclone Missile Launchers, though sourcing the bits might be tough at the moment.

All the other Kill Team options are IMO inferior to just taking the baseline units from the SM Index. The Kill Teams cost more and generally have inferior special abilities. Though they don't get the double value from Kill Team Stratagems, they're still far better in other aspects (Intercessors for Objective Secured, Infiltrators for Omni-Scramblers). Any SM unit that is good will be good in Deathwatch as well.

xerxeskingofking wrote:

 mega_bassist wrote:
Returning player, haven't played since 6th, primarily a Tau player before then. I'm wanting to make a Deathwatch list, but I'm inexperienced with building SMs, and not a lot of people around me play them.

I'm looking for a couple list ideas: 500, 1500, and 2000 - those were the costs I really played at before.

There's just a few DW-specific Killteams, along with all the other SM options. Not quite sure what's worth the points, and what isn't. I like more shooty lists, but it looks like DW can take some real solid melee units, especially with the xenos blade upgrades.

Thanks in advance!

So, at 500 points you are now forced to play one of GW's "combat patrol" boxes with set list contents.

Incorrect. "Combat Patrol" is an optional way to play the game. Just like Crusade is.
There is nothing stopping you from simply making a 500pt force that follows the standard army building rules & using the mission generator deck.

The best DW specific squads atm are plain vets and DW terminators. All of the kill teams have to be taken as 10 man blocks to access specialists and with no combat squad rules anymore they cannot be broken down into interesting combos - so the small units fleshing your army out would have to be vets, terminators, or generic marine stuff.

Vets have the kill team keyword, so can benefit from all of the 2 for 1 strats DW have, and if you have a solid amount of vet/terminator models a Proteus killteam could be an option to try out.

Most of the primaris kill teams are underwhelming - as 5 man squads they generally get worse abilities than their generic marine counterpart unit, and currently a lot of the wargear you would expect them to have isn't a datasheet option (especially on the Spectrus team). Only exception to this is the Indomitor (Gravis) team, decent enough rule that they can be fielded as minimum size, and all of the specialists are quite good so a 10 man unit is alright.

As a centrepiece unit, I'd like to try out something like this: