Birthday Bash - Deathwatch List 2.0: Playtest revisions

Later in the month, I will be attending Dave's Birthday Bash 2.0 tournament. I have been painting and practising with my new Deathwatch army to try and get them ready for the event. This post will discuss some of my experiences with the army and what changes I have made to the list. 

As a reminder, the rules for the tournament are:

• 1500 pts army
• Single Combined Arms Detachment (CAD), no other formations or allies allowed. 
• Lords of War are allowed, subject to ITC restrictions.
• Tournament comprised of 3 Maelstrom games (maximum of 2 scoring cards per turn). 

Based on these criteria, I came up with an initial list based on the Deathwatch units that I had. This list was:
Combined Arms Detachment
Watch Captain Artemis
Librarian- Mastery Level 2, Force Sword, Meltabombs
5 Veterans- Heavy Thunder Hammer, 2 Deathwatch Shotguns, 2 Storm Shields, Power Maul, Power Sword
Drop Pod
5 Veterans- 4 Frag Cannons, Auspex, Storm Shield
Drop Pod
10 Veterans- 2 Infernus Heavy Bolters
Rhino
5 Veterans- Stalker Pattern Boltguns
4 Bikers- 3 Power Swords, 1 Power Axe
4 Biker- 3 Power Swords, 1 Power Maul
Garran Branatar- Terminator Armour, Heavy Flamer, Power Fist with Auxiliary Meltagun

I played a few practice games with the list and here are the lessons I've learned from the games. 

1. The army struggles with Vehicles

Aside from the Frag Cannons, there is little in the army that can deal with vehicles. The Frag Cannons are better going after infantry, as the template rounds will decimate any unit that they fire at. I brought Garran Branatar (the lone Terminator) to deal with vehicles, but he was really ineffective in this role. The Heavy Thunder Hammers could take out vehicles, but this would be a waste of the combat potential of the rest of the unit. 

A second version of the list would be need to include more tank busting capabilities. 

2. A Drop Pod is a poor delivery unit for combat

I put Artemis and his combat unit in a Drop Pod. Unsurprisingly, they are not the best delivery vehicle for a combat unit as they are unable to assault from it. Most of the time, Artemis and his unit are wiped out before they can get into combat. I need a better way to get them into combat. Deathwatch Shotguns are also pretty awesome. Being able to access multiple template weapons for free is great on the unit. 

3. Lone Librarian and Terminator are not effective

This was pretty much as expected, but a lone Librarian is not really too effective. I think the points would be better spent elsewhere and two HQ units in 1500 points is a bit much. 

In a similar vein, the lone Terminator was a nice idea in theory, but he didn't really pan out in the games. His Meltagun was pretty ineffective on its own and a 2+ save is not that hard to get past. I think I will drop both of them from my next list. 

Based on these experiences, I have come up with a second version of the list. 

Combined Arms Detachment

Watch Captain Artemis

5 Veterans- 4 Frag Cannons, Storm Shield

Drop Pod

5 Veterans- Meltagun, 3 Combi-meltas, Auspex

Drop Pod

5 Veterans- 5 Stalker Pattern Bolters

5 Veterans- 5 Deathwatch Shotguns, Storm Shield

Rhino

4 Bikers- Power Weapons, Meltabombs

4 Bikers- Power Weapons, Meltabombs

4 Vanguard Veterans- 2 Heavy Thunder Hammers, 2 Pairs of Lightning Claws

Corvus Blackstar- Inferno Halo Launcher

As you can see, much of the list has remained the same, but there have been some significant additions. 

The Frag Cannon squad has mostly stayed the same. I have lost the Auspex, as the new FAQ stops the Sergeant from taking an Auspex and Storm Shield. It's not so much of a loss, as the template rounds ignore cover anyway. I may actually drop these down to 2 or 3 Frag Cannons, as 4 may be a bit of overkill. 

I have added a squad of Veterans armed with a Meltagun, three combi-meltas and an Auspex. These should significantly help with my anti-tank requirements. With the right Mission Tactics, I should reliably hit with three or four of the shots and hopefully take out any vehicle. The Drop Pod should help them get into Melta range. 

A third unit of Veterans is armed with Shotguns and a Storm Shield. The Deathwatch Shotgun is pretty good. The template mode is great for multiple hits. I have initially put the squad in a Rhino, I might put them in a third Drop Pod if I have time to get one painted up in time. I will need to run the list past Dave though, I'm not sure if three Drop Pods is too much for the event he is running. 

The four unit remains with the Stalker Pattern Bolters. These are some great long range firepower and good objective holders. 

I split the Bike squads into two units of three and a unit of 2. This will give me an extra unit for claiming objectives. I'm not sure this is the optimal set up, but I'll see how it goes in a few games. 

I stuck with Artemis for my Warlord. He may not be the best, but I really like the model and spent so long on the painting that I want to take it. He will lead a unit of Vanguard Veterans. They get cheap weapons, so I took two Heavy Thunder Hammers and two pairs of Lightning Claws. I took the Corvus Blackstar to transport them. Even though it is expensive, it is the best delivery vehicle for an assault unit in the army.

So that is the second iteration of my Deathwatch army. I have a few weeks left to make any further revisions to the list before the tournament. One thing I am thinking of doing is adding a second unit of Stalker Boltgun Marines to the list. In order to do this, I would need to drop one Biker from each squad, lose one Frag Cannon and one of the Vanguards with Lightning Claws. This would give me another unit for shooting and for backfield objective grabbing.