Last night I played my first game with my Deathwing at my local Games Workshop store. For every game, I will write a review of the lessons I learned. Rather than going into detail and writing a battle report, the focus is what did I learn from this game?
As I only have eleven models, I allied with a Space Marine player, and we faced off against a Dark Templar player. We weren't able to finish our game before it was time to go -- but basically he would have won. The things that hurt us (and me in particular) the most, were:
- Receiving most of the firepower on the battlefield, especially from sternguard coming deepstriking with drop pods,
- His Vindicator and finally
- His two Thunderfire Canons, hidden in 4+ cover.
Here is the army list I'm currently using:
HQ: Belial
- TH/SS
Troop 1: Deathwing Terminator Squad
- Sgt: Power sword & storm bolter
- Terminator #1: Power fist & storm bolter
- Terminator #2: Power fist & storm bolter
- Terminator #3: Chainfist & storm bolter
- Terminator #1: Lightning claws & Cyclone missile launcher
Troop 2: Deathwing Terminator Squad
- 5x Thunder hammer & storm shield
Total: 685 points
1. Keep playing to better understand how Deathwing armies work.
Because I still have less than 1000 points and only eleven models, playing with allies who compensate
2. Prioritise.
My guys may have awesome saves, but when everyone shoots at them, they die. By prioritising, I do the most damage possible before attracting almost all the firepower on the tabletop.
As an example, I decided to deepstrike my shooty terminators behind his dreadnought, while my ally had a clear shot on it with two heavy multi-meltas. On one hand the redundancy ensured the demise of his unit, but on the other hand I could have deepstriked next to his vindicator with Belial and the first squad of terminators, which included a chain fist and a twin-linked cyclone missile launcher; twin-linked because it was benefiting from the Vengeful Strike special rule.
In short, watch out for redundancies.
3. Being a bullet-magnet eventually hurts: a squad or two of wound sponges would be useful.
I'm considering an extra ten terminators (for a total of twenty) divided into four squads. The questions remains however: how to arm them?
A lot of the forums I've been visiting suggest a list that's very heavy on storm shields and thunder hammers, however I'm hesitant about this, since the Vengeful Strike special rule (twin-linked when deepstriking), makes terminators with storm bolters a very attractive option.
On this note, the player who beat us recommended that I have more than 50% of my army capable of shooting, once again, especially because of how good the Vengeful Strike special rule is.
4. Too slow and lack of maneuverability: Consider purchasing bikes and/or a Vindicator
Bikes would give my army speed; a vindicator is simply an awesome tank to field, and helps attract a lot of attention as well.
Finally, I asked for advice based on my army list and last night's game on 40kOnline.com. Here's the post and their response (note that I made a mistake when mentioning the sergeant's load-out).
Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page! :)
As I only have eleven models, I allied with a Space Marine player, and we faced off against a Dark Templar player. We weren't able to finish our game before it was time to go -- but basically he would have won. The things that hurt us (and me in particular) the most, were:
- Receiving most of the firepower on the battlefield, especially from sternguard coming deepstriking with drop pods,
- His Vindicator and finally
- His two Thunderfire Canons, hidden in 4+ cover.
Here is the army list I'm currently using:
HQ: Belial
- TH/SS
Troop 1: Deathwing Terminator Squad
- Sgt: Power sword & storm bolter
- Terminator #1: Power fist & storm bolter
- Terminator #2: Power fist & storm bolter
- Terminator #3: Chainfist & storm bolter
- Terminator #1: Lightning claws & Cyclone missile launcher
Troop 2: Deathwing Terminator Squad
- 5x Thunder hammer & storm shield
Total: 685 points
Lessons Learned
1. Keep playing to better understand how Deathwing armies work.
Because I still have less than 1000 points and only eleven models, playing with allies who compensate
2. Prioritise.
My guys may have awesome saves, but when everyone shoots at them, they die. By prioritising, I do the most damage possible before attracting almost all the firepower on the tabletop.
As an example, I decided to deepstrike my shooty terminators behind his dreadnought, while my ally had a clear shot on it with two heavy multi-meltas. On one hand the redundancy ensured the demise of his unit, but on the other hand I could have deepstriked next to his vindicator with Belial and the first squad of terminators, which included a chain fist and a twin-linked cyclone missile launcher; twin-linked because it was benefiting from the Vengeful Strike special rule.
In short, watch out for redundancies.
3. Being a bullet-magnet eventually hurts: a squad or two of wound sponges would be useful.
I'm considering an extra ten terminators (for a total of twenty) divided into four squads. The questions remains however: how to arm them?
A lot of the forums I've been visiting suggest a list that's very heavy on storm shields and thunder hammers, however I'm hesitant about this, since the Vengeful Strike special rule (twin-linked when deepstriking), makes terminators with storm bolters a very attractive option.
On this note, the player who beat us recommended that I have more than 50% of my army capable of shooting, once again, especially because of how good the Vengeful Strike special rule is.
4. Too slow and lack of maneuverability: Consider purchasing bikes and/or a Vindicator
Bikes would give my army speed; a vindicator is simply an awesome tank to field, and helps attract a lot of attention as well.
Finally, I asked for advice based on my army list and last night's game on 40kOnline.com. Here's the post and their response (note that I made a mistake when mentioning the sergeant's load-out).
Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page! :)
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