This week's battle report features my Deathwatch taking on the new Sisters of Battle Beta Codex in one of the new Maelstrom missions from Chapter Approved.
Chapter Approved 2018 saw many of the Deathwatch units get a reduction in points. I was keen to see how the army would perform with the addition of some new units to my force. The mission we were playing was Decapitation Strike, with Angus taking his Sisters of Battle to the field against my Deathwatch.
My army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment
Watch Master- Guardian Spear, Castellan of the Black Vault warlord trait (D)
Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol (WC1)
Kill Team 1- 9 Veterans with Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, Chainswords, Vanguard Veteran with Storm Shield and Bolt Pistol. (FT1)
Kill Team 2- 10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Rifles (KT2)
Kill Team 3- 5 Veterans with Meltagun, 3 Combi-Meltas, Storm Shield, Chainswords (KT3)
5 Bikers- Twin Bolters, Sergeant with Storm Bolter and Storm Shield (B)
Razorback- Twin Lascannon, Storm Bolter (Rz)
Battalion Detachment
Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Relic Blade, Bolt Pistol, The Tome of Ectoclades. (WC2)
Watch Captain- Combi-Melta, Xenophase Blade, Bolt Pistol (WC3)
Kill Team 4- 5 Veterans with 2 Frag Cannons, 3 Shotguns, Storm Shield (KT4)
Kill Team 5- 5 Veterans with 2 Missile Launchers, 3 Stalker Bolters, Chainswords, Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher, Power Fist and Storm Bolter (KT5)
Kill Team 6- 5 Veterans with 2 Missile Launchers, 3 Stalker Bolters, Chainswords, Storm Shield (KT6)
Rhino- Storm Bolter (R1)
Rhino- Storm Bolter (R2)
Venerable Dreadnought- Twin Lascannon, Missile Launcher (VD)
Primaris Apothecary (A)
I decided to mix things up a bit with my Kill Teams, adding some mixed squads to the force. The first one was to add a Vanguard Veteran to my Storm Bolter Kill Team. I would lose some Storm Bolter shots, but the ability to fall back and shoot would be a big boost for the unit.
I also added a Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher to one of my Missile Launcher Kill Teams. This would give me two extra missile shots, as well as make the unit immune to morale.
With the points drops, I also decided to try out a Venerable Dreadnought to add more anti-tank firepower, as well as a unit of Bikers to see if the points reductions made them more worthwhile.
I kept with my standard characters, but decided to change up the warlord trait for the Castellan of the Black Vault on the Watch Master. This would make his Guardian Spear 3 damage from shooting and D3+1 from combat. This should allow him to cause a lot of damage with his attacks.
