Deathwatch Kill Team: An Overview
- vergaragiacomo92
- Sep 1
- 8 min read
Thank you Games Workshop for the advance copy of Tomb World. Today I wanted to write about Deathwatch, the ultimate Xenos Hunting force the Imperium has! The Kill Team brings new and familiar operatives that many players will enjoy. They are also highly adaptable, meaning they can take on almost any Kill Team.
Special Issue Ammunition will help you eliminate specific targets every turn, and each operative can perform 2 different 1AP actions when they counteract.
The team has a total of 11 operatives to choose from. 6 in Tacticus Armor, 3 in Gravis Armor, and 2 in Phobos Armor. There are no “warrior operatives,” each model can only be taken once, and of your 5 operatives only 1 can be in Gravis Armor. Also, you are not required to take a leader operative.
Tacticus:
The Watch Sergeant
All squads need a good leader and good leaders bring good utility to the team. The Watch Sergeant lets player use a Strategic Ploy and a Firefight ploy for 0cp, he grants 1 extra piece of equipment, and he is armed with a plasma pistol and power sword.
This operative is very reliable and can deal some good damage; he is never a bad pick and will probably see the table most games. Oh yeah, did I mention he has a PLASMA PISTOL AND POWER SWORD!
Blademaster Veteran
Armed with the Xenophase Blade and Special Issue Bolt pistol, the Blademaster Veteran can fight multiple operatives he is in control range of with the Sweep profile of his blade. His Adaptive Swordsmanship ability ignores changes to the hit stat of the Xenophase Blade and can strike first before the normal order as long as it’s a parry.
So he can parry twice if he is initiating the fight. (He parries before the normal order, then he parries in the normal order). Doing this will likely parry out most enemy operatives that hit on 4+.
I’d take the Blademaster into weaker operatives, elites, and even into dedicated melee operatives. Like the Watch Sergeant this operative is a solid pick.
Aegis Veteran
The Aegis Veteran, the bulwark of the team, brings defensive abilities like parrying twice with his storm shield, the Shock rule on his power maul, and reducing ranged attacks with Piercing by 1. Yes, you can reduce Piercing 1 to 0. On top of all that, he has a 2+ save.
With the Sanctus-V Bioscryer Cuffs equipment, which you will definitely be taking every game, he can last even longer than expected (regaining D3 health or removing poison can really extend his life).
The Aegis is perfect for when you need to control a point, take a Security Tac Op that may require holding a terrain piece, or to counter aggressive melee operatives.
Demolisher Veteran
This operative lives by the ABCs of Warhammer, Always Be Charging! When on the attack this model is a power house gaining Brutal when Fighting and Ceaseless if he performs the Charge action that activation. All packed with a 6/7 damage Thunder Hammer! That's some serious power … but if you aren’t on the offensive then he doesn’t get all these bonuses. Hitting on 4+ without Ceaseless and Brutal is okay but I’d rather take an operative who is a bit more reliable.
The Demolisher does reduce damage to a minimum of 2 which can keep him fighting a little longer, but on a 5 man team you’ll really want everyone to pull their weight.
Really consider your options before taking the Demolisher into the Kill Zone.
Marksman Veteran
This guy will infuriate opponents on Close Quarter maps. He has a stalker bolt rifle that hits on 2+ and he can perform the Guard action on any Kill Zone and if he’s in a Close Quarter Kill Zone, he can Guard for free after taking a free Shoot action from the Guard action he performed that same turn!
Thankfully, he cannot Counteract if he does this.
He is an absolute menace in Close Quarter Kill Zones and will probably be taken on each of those maps.
Deathwatch Gunner
A boy and his Heavy Plasma Incinerator, what more can I say? He hits hard and has Piercing 1. Partner him with his bandmate, the Disruptor, and you got a hit single on the Billboard top 100. Strong operative in most lists. He will be seeing the table a lot of the time.
Plus you can give this weapon Blast with your Special Issue Ammunition.
Gravis:
Bombard Veteran
The Deathwatch Frag Cannon makes its return strapped onto a 18W model, the Bombard Veteran! Holy cow is this weapon strong; with both a 5/7 Piercing 1 and a 4/5 Torrent 2 profile the weapon has a lot of flexibility. HOWEVER, there is another operative that shares a similar role to the Bombard, that operative is the Breacher.
Breacher Veteran
Although the Bombard has an impressive profile with a tough body; The Breacher has just as much toughness and flexibility thanks to his grenade launcher. In addition to that he has a Melta bomb and can shoot twice with the Hellstorm Bolter (if you don’t want to spend the extra AP to shoot again with the grenade launcher).
The advantage the Bombard has is the 5/7 shell profile against elites. That little extra damage could be enough to break them; while the Breacher’s Krak and Frag profile can easily deal with 10 or less wound models.
It’s hard not to take the Breacher in most scenarios, but even if you take the Bombard you will probably be alright.
Horde-Slayer Veteran
Now here is a great pick into any strategy. The Horde-Slayer plays great into hordes and elites and normal sized teams and NPOs and so on and so on. With the option to fire the heavy bolter or the infernus heavy flamer and having 18W, which can help if you want to get up close and tank enemy fire while purging Xenos, this model has a lot of ranged flexibility.
Keep him in Close Quarter Kill Zones and watch as the flamer purges enemies with ease. Add Devastating Wounds onto lethal attacks in this type of environment and I promise enemy operatives will fear this veteran.
Phobos:
Headtaker Veteran
More reasons Phobos players will likely switch to Deathwatch is the Headtaker Veteran. Equipped with all the gear Revier operatives would have access to in the Phobos Strike Team; this veteran will leap, drop, and double strike enemies from conceal before they get a chance to respond.
Like in the Phobos Strike Team, if he wasn’t visible against the enemy operative he charges he can push 2 successful attack dice through before the enemy can retaliate. With a 4/5 blade he can make short work of 10W operatives; and because he can charge from Conceal he can keep himself safe, which is needed since he only has 13W.
If planned correctly, he can be an amazing operative when playing aggressively against weaker enemies.
Disruptor Veteran
Eat your heart out Phobos Strike Team, the power of Omni-Scrambler is back and improved by the Disruptor. Being able to delay the activation of a single model by up to 6 activations is strong. On top of that the Disruptor allows players to use the Advance Auspex Scan ploy for free (as long as he meets all the criteria for it) and he doesn’t need to be the one shooting the target.
You can set up a lot of shots for operatives like the Gunner and Marksman.
The Disruptor also has decent shooting, but we’ll find his real use is in controlling the Kill Zone. I expect to see the Disruptor in most team compositions.
Now that we’ve seen the operatives, let’s see what they can take to the Kill Zone.
Equipments
Ammunition Reserve
This equipment allows the team to use an additional Special Issue Ammunition ability in a turning point once per game.
This will come in clutch when you need just a little more firepower to deal with some tough enemies.
Digital Weapons
Like the Striking Scorpions, Deathwatch has a way to deal 1 damage before a Fight action. This is a once per turning point ability so its power is reigned in, but this 1 damage could be the difference whether your veteran survives a fight or not.
Sanctus-V Bioscryer Cuffs
A 5 man team has to be working at peak performance to win and S-V-BC lets the team do that by healing D3 wounds, removing a token such as Poison, or by removing APL changes to operatives. Each operative can do one of the 3 options once per activation before or after an action.
Players will always take this equipment.
Scrutavore Servo-Thrall
Once per turning point, an operative can perform a mission action for 1 less AP, and you can perform a mission action even if enemy operatives are in that friendly operative's control range. If you do perform the mission action while in control range of an enemy operative then you risk losing your Thrall via a dice off against your opponent.
This is a great piece of equipment and sometimes all you need is this ability to go off once, which could decide the fate of the battle.
So you have your operative and you have your gear, but what about tactics?
Strategic Ploys
Mission Tactics
This ploy asks that the Deathwatch player choose an order type, Engage or Conceal, their operative's weapons gain Balanced when Shooting or Fighting against an enemy with the chosen order token.
Great Ploy, I can see this taken almost every turn
The Long Vigil
If Deathwatch Operatives are being shot at while you are within your territory, you can re-roll one of your defense dice.
This can be good if you take Security Tac Ops or when you play defensively.
The Shield That Slays
When your operatives are within your opponent's territory, they reduce Normal and Critical damage of 4 or more by 1.
If you decide to play very aggressively, the damage reduction will keep your operatives in a bit longer.
And They Shall Know No Fear
You can ignore the downsides of being injured. If I recall correctly, all Loyalist Astartes have this rule.
Strong, useful, and solid Ploy.
Friefight Ploys
Suffer Not The Alien
This ploy lets you re-roll any number of dice against non-Imperium and non-chaos operatives.
Flavorful, but you may not use it all the time.
Auspicator Tracking
Before an operative performs an action when it Counteracts they can change their order token.
This leads to some cool setups or defensive plays that your opponent may not see coming.
Advanced Auspex Scan
This ploy gives Saturate to your ranged weapon when targeting the selected enemy operative. That enemy operative can also not be Obscured.
This is pretty good and will come in handy, especially if you take the Disruptor Operative. Who allows you to use this ploy for free!
Transhuman Physiology
Turn a normal save into a critical save; always useful.
I think Games Workshop nailed it when it came to Deathwatch. They are flavorful and feel powerful. Exactly how they should be.
What do you think? Do you like their rules? Do you like the new models?
Thank you for reading, I hope you learned something.
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