So the 9th edition Space Marine codex is out, and because of that i’m revisiting my old Deathwing army. With the new Index rules for the Dark Angels, there’s a brand new army on the block. i am actually thinking about dusting off the army case my Deathwing is in and putting them back on the tabletop. So what does this look like and why am i considering this now in the middle of a pandemic and almost a year of isolation? Well, the new rules are kind of neat.
Now i’ve been enjoying collecting and painting the army for years (and i need to finish up both), but this is the first time in a long time that i’ve felt that the rules actually want me to play a full Deathwing list. I can’t use the Deep Striking mischief of earlier editions to leave the entire army in reserve, but i can brew up a couple of fun lists at all four of the primary engagement levels.
First thing we’re going to take a look at how to build a Deathwing list in 9th edition. So let’s dig in and see what sort of hijinkery can be brought to a table near you. I’m going to talk in terms of a pure deathwing build because i frankly don’t want to invest in ravenwing, and if i were going to play Greenwing, i would probably end up playing something that’s not Dark Angels just to tinker with the rules for other chapters and ideas. This does impose some interesting limits for what can be brought to the table, but if we could bring whatever we wanted, then we’d be boring.
Force Organization Detachments and You
The heart of this army is going to be the Vanguard Detachment, pictured below.
While a little blurry, this gives you the lay of the land. This gives a budding Deathwing Commander one to two HQ choices, the option to take up to three troops choices, between three and six elites choices, and up to two choices from each of Fast Attack, Heavy Support, and Flyers. That’s a lot of potential for Deathwing players to come up with a wide ranging force. Let’s take a closer look at how this work with the Space Marine Codex.
Running a Terminators only Deathwing army limits the available HQ choices in the Space Marine Codex to the following choices.
Captain in Terminator Armour
Librarian in Terminator Armour
Chaplain in Terminator Armour
The Dark Angels Index also adds the following choices
Belial
Honorable mention to the Interrogator Chaplain in Terminator armour who should probably be here too, but is listed as an Elites choice instead.
Each of the three character choices in the regular marine codex have their expected advantages and abilities, but are missing an important thing when you bring them over to the Dark Angels (i.e. Deathwing) side. They gain the Deathwing keyword, but not the Inner Circle trait. What does that mean and why is it important? Well, the primary thing it does is that it means that those characters don’t have the “Rolls to wound this model are only successful on an unmodified to wound roll of 4 or higher” that the rest of the Deathwing Terminator brothers get. This means they’re easier to wound than their counterparts, and capable of being taken out of the fight more easily. Belial has the trait, so if you’re looking for survivability above all else in your Terminator HQ that you have to take, Belial’s a good starting point.
The other HQ you can bring is up to you and the playstyle you want to run. Either the Chaplain or the Librarian is a good match. However, with the amount of psychic shenanigans that are available in this edition and the ability currently to bring an interrogator chaplain as an elites choice, the HQ chaplain is probably the lesser choice.
Personally, i don’t like the Terminator Captain as a choice, given that Belial is 1 more Power Level than the Terminator Captain and has a better Wargear selection. The Terminator Captain can be equipped similarly (can actually be given Relic Blade/Storm Shield for hilarity) but he doesn’t have Inner Circle, and that’s a hard sell. 1+ Armor save/4+ Invul save is debatable against 2+/4+ with can’t be wounded on less than a 4. The Captain is 40 points cheaper with a Storm Bolter and a Power Sword, but is likely going to reduce that savings by adding better weapon choices.
The Terminator Librarian is a very cost efficient HQ choice for a game of Warhammer (if you’re not going to bring Belial). With a paltry 5 point upgrade you can give him a Combi-Weapon to handle a specific threat profile, and you can likewise tailor his force weapon to handle a specific enemy. The Psychic Hood let’s you handle some enemy psykers, and you can use psychic specific objectives by bringing the psyker along. He’s the most fragile of the core book characters, being a 2+/5+ and no Inner Circle Ability. However, you can screen him with other Terminators and hopefully keep him out of line of sight from things that want to end him. (If you’re not following the 40K canon, or playing a successor chapter, you can even upgrade him to a Chief Librarian and open up the floodgates of creative options).
The Terminator Chaplain rounds out the core three HQ choices. He’s also 6 Power Level, like the other two, and has a similarly limited set of upgrades for his equipment. Unlike the Librarian, he has a stock weapon choice, the Crozius Arcanum. The new hotness (to me anyway, i haven’t actively played in 2 and a half editions) is the Litanies ability. Every Chaplain knows the Litanies of Hate (Aura) and a second one of your choice. They activate on a 3+, which is nice, and like the Librarian, you can upgrade them to a Master of Sanctity for more options. Also of note is the Spiritual Leader (Aura) ability that every Chaplain uses, letting Deathwing Core choices use their leadership instead of the unit’s own. This is highly situational, since all of the Deathwing Core units are leadership 9 (with their sergeants) but it’s something.
Given all these details, my preference for selecting HQs on this style of a detachment for a pure Deathwing list is Belial first, and then a Terminator Librarian. Belial is a tough customer and has rules that enhance other Deathwing units around him. The Terminator Librarian also brings value to the table by protecting your units (somewhat) from psychic attack and opens up alternative ways to score points.
As you can only bring 1 Captain per Detachment, you can’t bring Belial and another Captain, which isn’t the end of the world. The Chaplain would also be a welcome addition as the next HQ choice, but the Vanguard detachment is limited to 2. Curiously, there are no Terminator Lieutenants (yet) so that option is unavailable for the Deathwing purists.
Another Important thing to keep in mind is that because your Warlord is not in a patrol, battalion, or brigade detachment, you aren’t going to get the CPs refunded for this detachment. That means you start a patrol sized game with 0 CPs, which is something you’re going to have to get used to. You’re going to be down CPs in every encounter you have, and the rules your army has are compensatory for that lack of options. Just keep in mind your CPs are precious resources in your army.
This seems like a good place to stop for now, but we’ll be back next time with a breakdown of the heart of the army, the Elites choices. We’ll see you then, Game Fans. Have a pleasant day.
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