40K: Our 5 Favorite Deathwatch Stratagems
The Deathwatch have a deep tactical toolbox to deal with just about any situation. We’ve got the book in hand and have been playing around with the different Stratagems. Here is our list of our 5 Favorite Deathwatch Stratagems.
Games Workshop showed off quite a few Stratagems from Codex: Deathwatch. We all know about their Xenos Specific Stratagems and their Doctrine-esque Stratagems.
Seriously – Swiss Army Knife of Grimdark
But now that we’ve had the book for a bit we wanted to go over some of the other stratagems that we’ve found pretty useful in our games. Here are our 5 Favorite Deathwatch Stratagems:
Teleportarium
Let’s start out with this gem. It seems like everyone is all about ‘Deepstriking’ these days but not everyone can do it like the Deathwatch. For starters, this Stratagem lets you drop in between 1-3 units for an equal amount of CP. Not only does this work for Deathwatch Infantry but it also applies to Deathwatch Dreadnoughts, too! Yes, GW may be tweaking the ‘Deepstrike’ rules with the beta rules, but you know what – coming in Second Turn isn’t that bad, especially when you can drop in a Dreadnought backed-up by some serious Infantry firepower!
Auspex Scan
Worried about your opponent getting the drop on you with their own ‘Deepstrikers’? Well with the Auspex Scan you’ll have them thinking twice. A 10-man squad of Intercessors getting to shoot you in rapid-fire range is already slightly terrifying. Now add in all the other tricks and traps they have, plus Special Issue Ammo and look out! That -1 to hit penalty is totally worth it (you’re still hitting at or better than most armies). If a Watch Captain is nearby they are also getting to re-roll 1s. If it’s a Watch Master, they re-roll ALL misses. Yikes! This one has been worth it every time.
Optimised Salvo
So just to clarify when a unit with Special Issue Ammo fires it’s ranged weapons, they can choose (as a unit) which type of ammo they are going to use. Based on the wording of the Special Issue Ammo rule this even applies when a unit is choosing to split fire for it’s attacks.
This Stratagem circumvents that restriction. Now you can split fire and use the Special Issue Ammo you want to use!
Tempest Shell
Tempest Shells are really important for the Deathwatch. While they have a lot of ways to deal with pretty much everything, Vehicles are a bit of a bane for them. Tempest Shells help to shore-up that weakness. D3 Mortal Wounds is might not sound like much but it could help you finish off a Vehicle. And you just have to roll to hit – no wound roll needed. If your Watch Master or Captain is the one making the attack you’ve got some REALLY good odds the attack will hit the target. Plus it’s 1 CP and you can do it every round. I’ll happily trade in a Bolter shot or two for an attack with Tempest Shells.
Clavis
Again, for all the same reasons listed above, the Clavis is one of our favorite stratagems. Combined with Tempest Shells, a Watch Master can do 2D3 Mortal Wounds a round to Vehicle. And in the Fight Phase, this doesn’t take away from your attacks – you just get those Mortal Wounds as a bonus as long as you spend the 1 CP. Worth it!
Codex: Deathwatch $40
Codex: Deathwatch is coming to stores this weekend – are you ready for the Imperium’s Xenos Hunters?
