Deathwing: Characters
[Note: This tactica is now old, circa 4th Edition, and needs an update. Many facts will not be correct for current 5th Edition and 4th Edition Codex Dark Angels. However the general gist is pitched right.]
Written by: Ezzeran, a Deathwing commander
We now have access to 7 different characters in a DW army and their abilities, powers and stats are often different from our older list. With so many new options, wargear, weapons and stuff it's time to look at the role our characters play in a Deathwing army
Shooting
If you want a shooty character a Librarian is your friend. FotA is a great power and even the humble Smite (or whatever they call it now!) is an AP2 blast attack! A good second place is a Techmarine. His shooting will be limited to his combi weapon or stormbolter but he gives himself or the squad he's with a re-roll of their shooting. With a DW army though (or all DA for that matter) you must buy Terminator Honours so by choosing a shooty character often those points are wasted.
However if you just want your character to be able to shoot, rather than be dedicated to shooting, your options are limited. Terminators cannot have pistols so our choices are: Storm Bolter or Combi Weapon. That's it! There's nothing wrong with the storm bolter, its cheap and those two str4 BS5 shots are often useful. The combi weapon though is a better choice. At long range you only get one shot but up close it's as good as a storm bolter- two shots and Terminators can still assault after firing! Then of course there's the other half...
Combi-Plasma:
Great for popping two AP2 shots off at enemy Terminators
or even at vehicles. Overheat not usually a problem
since we have 2+ saves.
Combi-Melta:
Anti-tank, I give this to any character accompanying
an all lightning claw squad (usually a Chaplain).
Combi-Flamer:
Can be useful if you're deep striking in a squad with 2 heavy flamers!
I don't like these for characters, for them to be worthwhile you have
to kill enough enemy models to ensure you can't assault!
Assault
If you want a dedicated assault character then any HQ character will do!
All of them can be made into assault monsters. Weapon options for assaults
are many and varied, some people have favorites others claim to know what's
best. These are the models I currently use:
Master with twin Lightning
Claws:
Nothing says you're up for a scrap like paired Lightning Claws! With 6
attacks on the charge and re-rolls to wound you're an accomplished combat
monster. If you can get Furious Charge its even better (or ridiculous
as some would say!).
Master with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield:
To be avoided. I really like my model of this, TH&SS is just so cool!
But unfortunately the TH costs more than a power fist (which is just as
much use) and the SS is wasted on a Terminator.
Master with Sword
of Secrets:
This is basically the only reason to use a Master.
The other arm can have anything (I use a Combi-plasma).
Str 6 power weapon is great against marines and
works out about as good as a lightning claw. It
can also wound high toughness easier as well!
Librarian with Force
Axe:
I see no reason to give Librarians anything to
replace the force axe. I now have a shooting weapon
in the off hand but previously I did a power sword
conversion for that extra attack.
Chaplain with Crozius:
Again, why replace the crozius? I use a combi-melta
for my chappie but I can well see why a second
HtH weapon would be used.
On the whole any "Strikes at init 1"
weapons are wasted on characters. Striking BEFORE
marines with a power weapon is what you need.
I'd never use a chain fist for this reason, they
are better left for squad members! The humble
power sword is often enough and the cheap hero
with power weapon and storm bolter is not a bad
choice!
Characters Choices
Commander:
The basic hero is an expensive luxury these days.
We pay a lot of points for the "Rites of
Battle" rule which is all but useless for
Dark Angels. Both the Master and Captain must
have Terminator honours so getting into assault
isn't a bad idea. They are both equally good in
offense, the Masters' advantage is his extra wound
here. The Master also has Ld 10 which gives the
whole army Ld 10. Deathwing being Ld9 and stubborn
though this isn't really needed. Only use a Commander
if you're wanting the Sword of Secrets!
Librarian:
Many players first choice these days. The Librarian has access
to all the new psyker powers and is just as good as the commander in assault
(better with +D3 attacks or re-rolls!) He also comes with a force weapon
and phychic hood. Terminator Librarians, sadly, cannot have Familiars
so for them a Furious Charging command squad is a good investment. At
Initiative 6 you can often wound (then kill with the force axe) big enemy
creatures before they ever attack (Chaos Lords, Hive tyrants, Carnifexes,
Greater Daemons except LoC), Daemon princes all have Initiative 5 or less.
Again, it is difficult to justify the higher cost
Epistolary except for one point: Ld10. The Ld
is actually useful for the Librarian because although
he'll likely pass psychic tests with Ld9 the higher
is better for the phychic hood. Most enemy psychers
have Ld10.
The best psychic powers:
Smite
This is a good power, short range but
the AP is what you're after.
Fury of the Ancients
Many peoples' favourite. Long range and pinning.
Veil of Time
The re-rolls from this power are useful for shooting
and assaulting and are often better than the +D3
attacks.
Might of Heroes
+D3 attacks is great against lots of poor infantry.
Chaplains
My fav at the moment! The Litanies of Hate rule
is great, comes with a 4+ inv save (only one there
is in Deathwing) and a power weapon and is cheap!
I see no real reason to use the expensive Master
of Sanctity unless you have points spare and crave
the wound.
The temptation is always to put them with a 7
man lightning claw squad with Furious Charge in
a Crusader and execute a devastating assault on
turn 2. GO FOR IT!
Unless you're playing escalation this is a great tactic, it can easily
cripple the centre of an opposing force thus making the rest of the game
mop-up. Beware of counter-charges and firepower ambushes though as your
squad will be out in the open after the inevitable defeat of the enemy
squad.
Techmarine
I haven't used them much since they do little
of use. They're expensive, not as good in assault
as the other characters, too costly to hide and
use just to repair vehicles and cannot have the
servo-harness.
They may be useful for Dread repair but with no
harness its a poor chance of success. He does
have that re-roll for shooting though which comes
in handy for Cyclones once in a while.
Wargear
Teleport Homers:
a must for as many characters who can afford them!
Master Crafting
weapons:
an OK choice, I've seen it save more than one
Librarian! In fact the Librarian is the guy who
needs it most (against those tough creatures you
often NEED all the hits you can get so you have
a good chance of wounding!)
Adamantine mantle:
I've had a go with this a couple of times (last
game it saved my Chaplain!) I wouldn't say it's
compulsory but again, if you have the spare points...
Auspex:
I often buy these to fill out points. They are
rarely useful (you almost always need to roll
18+ on the 4D6) but for 2 points who cares!
Lion El Jason
Appendix to the character guide...
By Blackraine
Don't forget that now you can attach characters to command squads. The Master cannot be attached, but attaching a Librarian to a Chaplain's squad, or vice versa, can result in a very effective duo. Then of course, there's the supremely expensive "Attach both characters to a Master's command squad" option. If you don't mind paying around 600 points, you can have a cheap Chaplain, a cheap Librarian with Might of Heros, four Terminators including two assault cannons, and a Master with a Sword of Secrets, all with Furious Charge. Expensive? Heck yeah. Stupid to take in anything under 1850 points? Probably. Intimidating? You'd better believe it. Cast Might of Heros on the Commander and suddenly he has up to 8 attacks at 6 initiative and 7 strength on the charge... then you've still got 5 each from the Chappy and the Librarian!
Of course, as far as what's "cost effective"... this squad probably isn't. The Master alone, 9 times out of 10, will kill the entire kill zone before anyone else does their attacks. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you, but unless you're going up against a bunch of Khorne Berzerkers, you end up with a lot of wasted close combat ability. Of course, if you ARE going up against World Eaters... well, I've been using the above command squad (or variants of it) since the SM Codex came out, and they've almost won the game by themselves on numerous occasions. On far lesser occasions (maybe 1 in 10 games) they've lost the game for me by being annihilated on the turn they deep-struck.
Anyway... it's a fun option, and most people glance over it on terms of "cost effectiveness". Me? I don't mind losing if I have a squad that can rip its way through two bloodclaw packs and some wolfguard without hardly even a scratch.
