Hey Game Fans, we’re back with some more work on our Warhammer 40,000 army and working out a list and some other nonsense. The first part of the process for me personally is to put together a list of the units i have and what they are armed with. So i spent a chunk of time on Sunday making a list, checking it twice, and seeing what models i had from my 7th edition version of my Deathwing list. Bear in mind, this list has precisely 0 dreadnoughts in it, and i have also left out the Land Raiders that would be traditionally carrying my guys into battle as well. So let’s dig into the Models i have, and see what sort of trouble shakes out.
The List
Terminator HQ Choices
Belial (Equipped with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield)
Belial (Equipped with dual Lightning Claw)
Note: I can only use one of these at a time, though i could use one to represent a Company Master in Terminator Armor with the appropriate loadout. I am also missing the other version of Belial, with the Sword of Silence and the Storm Bolter.
Terminator Librarian (New Plastic Kit)
Terminator Chaplain (Old Metal bastard)
Terminator Heroes (Elites choices that used to be part of the command Squad)
Deathwing Ancient with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield
Deathwing Champion with the Halberd of Murdering Murdefaces
Deathwing Apothecary with Storm Bolter, Power Fist and Narthecium
Deathwing Terminators
14 Terminators with dual Lightning Claws
17 Terminators with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield
7 Terminators with Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield and Cyclone Missile Launcher
4 Terminators with Power Fist and Plasma Cannon
2 Terminators with Power Fist and Heavy Flamer
4 Terminators with Power Fist and Assault Cannon
5 Terminators with Chain Fist and Storm Bolter
4 Terminators with Power Sword and Storm Bolter
23 Terminators with Power Fist and Storm Bolter
4 Deathwing Knights with Mace of Absolution and Storm Shield
1 Deathwing Knight with Flail of the Unforgiven and Storm Shield.
The Breakdown
So what i have are a bunch of units that can do a lot of different things, depending on how i want to to put them together. Deathwing Terminators have 2 wounds each (like most Terminators) and the Unforgiven Rule, which does a couple of neat things. The primary benefit i am looking at is the “Units with the Unforgiven rule automatically pass Morale Checks.” This isn’t the most awesome rule on a unit with 9 leadership on its sergeant, but it can be the difference between the last two Terminators sticking out a fight or running away.
The other unique thing that Deathwing Terminators can do is they can mix ranged weapons and melee weapons in their squads. No other Imperium aligned Terminator can make the same claim, and this makes Deathwing Terminator Squads extremely versatile.
Now, I can run 1 Heavy Weapon per 5 Deathwing Terminators, and i currently have 17 Heavy Weapon equipped Terminators (7 with Cyclones, 4 with Plasma Cannons, 2 with Heavy Flamers, and 4 with Assault Cannons). I have 63 other Terminators of varying capability. There are at the bare minimum, 4 Terminator Sergeants with Power Sword and Storm Bolter. I can also pull two more sergeants with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield out of the ranks, and 1 LIghtning Claw Terminator Sergeant out of the bunch.
This means that i have 7 Sergeants for my force at full Deployment, (Right Now). The minimum sized unit is a 5 man Terminator squad with a Sergeant and up to 1 heavy weapon in the squad. For extra points (or increasing the Power Level of the Unit) i can add five more Terminators with up to 1 additional heavy weapon in a squad. For those of you keeping up at home, that means a typical full squad has approximately 10 models (1 Sergeant, 2 Heavy Weapons, and 7 Troopers).
So i have to sort of pick and choose how i want to kit out these squads for dealing with problems. A Sergeant is required for each squad, so i am probably going to put the first four sergeants up as Power Weapon/Storm Bolter. I have the option of running 1 Heavy Weapon per five, and my gut reaction runs one of two directions.
First Squad
The First squad i want to kit out for Close Combat, and that means probably a combination of Lightning Claws and Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminators. For a Heavy Weapon, i have 2 decent choices and 1 that’s situationally good depending on how we’re building the armies for the game that day. The Heavy Flamer and the Assault Cannon are solid heavy weapon choices for a squad of Terminators in a lot of roles. I don’t feel bad about taking either one, and in big squads i can take 2 of them. If we’re playing a Power Level game, i’ll consider taking a Cyclone Missile Launcher onto a Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminator. Cyclones, however are obscenely expensive points wise, so if we’re playing a regular points army list, i will probably skip those.
Second Squad
The other squad i’m likely to field is a Ranged Combat Terminator Squad. This means most Terminators will likely have a Storm Bolter/Power Fist weapon load out, with heavy Weapons thrown in as needed. Again, in most cases, i’m personally going to look for high shot volume which means Assault Cannons and Heavy Flamers. There are specific cases that Plasma Cannons are good for, but the cost of overcharging is probably too steep for most games. I will probably include a couple of Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminators with this squad to give them a 3+ Invulnerable save to keep them in the fight longer.
Force Options
As it sits now, i can probably run two each of the following:
Close Combat Squad
Sergeant with Power Sword/Storm Bolter
2 Deathwing Terminators with Storm Shield/Thunder Hammer
1 Deathwing Terminator with Lightning Claws
1 Deathwing Terminator with Heavy Weapon
Shooting Squad
Sergeant with Power Sword/Storm Bolter
2 Deathwing Terminators with Power Fist/Storm Bolter
1 Deathwing Terminator with Heavy Weapon
1 Deathwing Terminator with Storm Shield/Thunder Hammer.
I also have a 5 man Deathwing Knights Squad for extreme close combat beat downs. This means a likely starting point is 1 Close Combat Squad, 2 Shooting Squads, and the Unit of Deathwing Knights.
So that puts us at 4 Elites choices in a simple Vanguard Deployment, with some extra slots left over for extra elites choice Heroes (Probably the Ancient and the Apothecary, but a big enough game invites the Champion).
HQ Choices
HQ choices are always going to be odd for this army because each one does a different thing for the army. Belial and The Chaplain both allow situation specific re-rolls (Belial’s is better for a pure Deathwing army, but the Chaplain can get work done in the fight phase. The Dark Angels specific Psychic Discipline has some interesting interactions with your opponent, and the Librarian adds the ability to try and unbind your opponent’s psychic mojo. The only other psychic defense the army has access to are Watchers in the Dark, who are 1 shot psychic power sponges. I haven’t decided which i plan on taking yet, but i am leaning towards the Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield version of Belial.
Conclusions
That’s the start of my reorganizing and rearranging my Deathwing for 8th edition, and I have some things i need to pick up for the army. I’ll cover that, (and my Armoury of Dreadnoughts and Land Raiders) next time. Game On, Game Fans.
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