Deathwatch Terminators

[Just_Me]

In the same vein as my previous (http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?t=19313&highlight=deathwatch) thread I am now trying to decide on what chapters to use for my Deathwatch Terminator squad. My intention is no duplication of chapters (there are ~1000 chapters in the Imperium and the Deathwatch gives me the chance to explore/collect as many as I can), and currently my roster includes:

Raven Guard (Watch Captain)
Lamenters (Kill-team Leader)
Imperial Fists (Kill-team Heavy Weapons Specialist)
Space Wolves (Kill-team Melee Specialist)
Raptors (Kill-team Sniper Specialist)
Black Templars (Kill-team Tactical)
Blood Angels (Kill-team Tactical)
Dark Angels (Kill-team Tactical)
Storm Wardens (Kill-team Tactical)
Marines Errant (Kill-team Apothecary)
Ultramarines (Kill-team Tactical)
Sons of Medusa (Deathwatch Dreadnought)

I intend for one of my Terminators (the one with the heavy flamer) to be a Salamander as the Firedrake Terminators are legendary, as is the Salamander propensity for the use of heat and flame based weapons. One of the others will be a Nova Marine, as they are said to have access to a full company's worth of Tactical Dreadnought Armour and their history suggests that they favor the use of spectacular and devastating Terminator assaults, not to mention the fact that they have a notably close and longstanding record of service with the Deathwatch.

The other 3 (the squad leader and 2 with chainfists) are as yet undecided. I might use my own Chapter (the Black Gauntlets, which some of you may be familiar with from older posts/articles) for one of them, but I have a whole army of them already and would like the chance to showcase other chapters, preferably ones particularly associated with the use of Terminator Armour, and I'm open to suggestions.

[faolan]

You said you don't want to duplicate really, but, I'm sorry, you've kinda got to, given that Dark Angels and Terminators go together like white on rice.

I'd throw in a Hawk Lords I think they're call, bright purple shoulder pad with a raven on them like the Raven Guard have, and a Crimson Fist for sure. You'd be hard pressed to go wrong with Red Templars, Black and White Consuls, and other Dorniac chapters.

Go hit up http://warhammer40k.wikia.com and give a browse for the color and badge combos you really like.

[bloodangel 83]

Are you open for successor chapters then Flesh Tearers, Angels Sanuine, Blood Drinkers, Knights of Blood are a few from the Blood Angels, then you also have White Scars. BA83

[Chris*ta]

[QUOTE=faolan;181234]You said you don't want to duplicate really, but, I'm sorry, you've kinda got to, given that Dark Angels and Terminators go together like white on rice.

I'd throw in a Hawk Lords I think they're call, bright purple shoulder pad with a raven on them like the Raven Guard have, and a Crimson Fist for sure. You'd be hard pressed to go wrong with Red Templars, Black and White Consuls, and other Dorniac chapters.

I concur that DA are strongly associated with terminator armour, as they have a full company worth of suits and only ever deploy their 1st co. in terminator armour. Then again, an argument could be made for DA on bikes/a landspeeder.

Regarding Hawk Lords, I don't think there's anything to associate them with terminator armour specifically.

Crimson Fists I would think are more appropriate for Sternguard, due to the power that Kantor has to make them scoring.

Regarding White and Black Consuls, they have nothing to associate them with terminator armour, and, technically they're Ultramarines successors, not Imperial Fists (C:SM p. 8).

Coincidentally, regarding Red Templars, we don't know what chapter they're derived from, I assumed they were either distantly related to Black Templars, though considering their chapter symbol, they could be one of the chapters that has some connection to the Sisters of Battle, that, iirc, were mentioned in passing in the previous Codex. Again, as we've only seen one Red Templar, and he was riding a bike, there is nothing to specifically suggest terminator armour.

One chapter that I would suggest for a Deathwatch in terminator armour is the Blood Angels. They are connected to terminator armour in my mind due to their appearance in most versions of Space Hulk.

Other chapters I would suggest for Deathwatch (though not necessarily terminator armour) are those that have a variation on the wiped out/almost wiped out by xenos backstory. Such as Scythes of the Emperor or Crimson Fists (though that was an own goal, I believe :p).

[miteyheroes]

Iron Hands would be cool, they have good Terminator links with the old rules saying they have Terminator-armed Sergants in normal squads. Although I guess you may want to keep them to be Techmarines!

As you've got a Dark Angel already, how about one of the Unforgiven for the Terminator?

[Sarpedon]

Pick whatever chapters you want to, just about every chapter has a least a couple sets of terminator armor. Even those like White Scars who are seldom seen with them, they still have them. Also, what does it matter who are successor chapters or not or did I miss something?

[Paul]

I feel as though Iron Hands are underrepresented. :(

[Franek_Dolas]

Throw in a Space Shark and Rainbow Warrior!

[Cpt Codpiece]

Fluff wise DA do not fit in DeathWatch squads. especially not termies as they are members of the inner circle.

though if you really want a DeathWing termie in there you could say he was chosen as he was proven to be especially tight lipped about the whole fallen thing, maybe had a small chunk of memory wiped by librarians prior to being sent to the DeathWatch.

in case anyone does not know, the inner circle are the only members of the DA that know any hint of the truth about 'he who must not be named' (Luthor BTW) and his 'little calibanite schism' at the back end of the Heresy.

they despise any form of inquisition, simply because they may find out that some of the DA turned from the emperor. For this reason DA should not be included in Deathwatch squads.

[Just_Me]

Fluff wise DA do not fit in DeathWatch squads. especially not termies as they are members of the inner circle.

though if you really want a DeathWing termie in there you could say he was chosen as he was proven to be especially tight lipped about the whole fallen thing, maybe had a small chunk of memory wiped by librarians prior to being sent to the DeathWatch.

in case anyone does not know, the inner circle are the only members of the DA that know any hint of the truth about 'he who must not be named' (Luthor BTW) and his 'little calibanite schism' at the back end of the Heresy.

they despise any form of inquisition, simply because they may find out that some of the DA turned from the emperor. For this reason DA should not be included in Deathwatch squads.

All of that is true up to a point, but remember that while the Unforgiven place great emphasis on the hunt for the Fallen they are STILL Astartes, and Astartes with a particularly strong culture of personal honor at that, and they fight the foes of humanity wherever they meet them and work to uphold it's institutions (as long as they don't interfere with the hunt that is). It does make sense that members of the Inner Circle might be considered too valuable to the search to be secunded to the Deathwatch, but by the same token both logic and the "Deathwatch" RPG have suggested that the Unforgiven serve in the Deathwatch both out of a sense of duty AND the fact that it provides certain unique opportunities (not to mention opens doors that might otherwise be closed) in their search. So there might conceivably be circumstances where and Inner Circle member might be preferable to service in the Watch, particularly as their more complete understanding of the schism would afford them more freedom to act unilaterally in the absence of their chapter if it were required. Anyway, kind of a moot point as I don't think I will include a member of the Dark Angels in the terminator squad (one of the other Unforgiven is still an option on the table perhaps).

I did decide to make the leader a Blood Drinker for a couple reasons. First as people have pointed out the Blood Angels (and by extension all of the Sons of Sanguinious) have a strong resonance with exactly the sort of terminator actions the Deathwatch might be expected to undertake due to their inclusion in "Space Hulk." Second is that in my research I discovered that one of their greatest battle honours was when their 1st Company undertook a joint operation with that of the Novamarines to clear a space hulk. Both companies fought in full and achieved an average kill ratio of 53:1 against the genesteelers infesting it. As a Novamarine is already a member of the squad I thought it was fitting.

Several people have mentioned the Iron Hands and while I was originally planning to include one I have since changed my mind as I would want to significantly convert him with bionics to do him justice and I just don't feel like carving up one of my terminators to do that. And really I will probably save the Iron Hand for a Techmarine down the line. In the mean time the Son of Medusa in a Dreadnought will have to serve as a representative of that lineage.

I'm still looking for the last 2 terminators.

[bloodangel 83]

Sounds like a great project and I would watch this post. Will you be posting pics of the Deathwatch squad. BA83

[Just_Me]

Sounds like a great project and I would watch this post. Will you be posting pics of the Deathwatch squad. BA83

Yes, either here or in a new thread. The Deathwatch terminator squad represents the finishing (for now at least) touch to my Ordos Xenos army which has been years in the making. It originally started based around the old Witch Hunter's codex and the Deathwatch Kill-team pdf, but it has since outgrown it's own cobbled together rules. I've just kept adding to it and expanding it slowly between other projects to the point that it resembles no existing army list at all. It's really a labor of love at this point, though I've thought about writing an army list for unofficial use in friendly games.

Alternatively I figure I can use my Deathwatch Kill-team (minus apothecary and lightning claw guy) and Terminators as counts-as Sternguard and Terminators in some games, maybe in a Zone Mortalis (http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/Z/zonemortalis.pdf) game where they can work alone and be clearing a space hulk or something...

[miteyheroes]

I have a converted True-Scale Deathwatch Kill-Team that I use as a Loganwing. 11 dudes (10 marines and an inquisitor) in 1500 pts... It doesn't win, but it's good fun!

[Just_Me]

I've added an Iron Snake to the squad, mainly because they're cool and different rather than any particular association with the Deathwatch or the use of terminator armor. I still have one more slot to fill on the roster and I'm stuck. I want a chapter that has a). a visually interesting insignia that will be fun to paint, and b) a back story that is interesting and fits with serving in a Deathwatch terminator unit (e.g. some particular expertise in fighting aliens or using terminator armour). It's turning out to be a lot harder decision than you would think...

[faolan]

Out of curiosity, how are you mounting the pads? Are you skipping the Crux pad entirely, and just going witha modified GKT left shoulder, and a chapter right shoulder?

[Just_Me]

Out of curiosity, how are you mounting the pads? Are you skipping the Crux pad entirely, and just going witha modified GKT left shoulder, and a chapter right shoulder?

I'm leaving out the Crux pad and using the Deathwatch pad that was included on the standard terminator spruce (I ordered several additional pads from an online bits store). For the standard power armoured marines I just used the Deathwatch conversion pack from GW of course. There really wasn't much conversion involved in the Deathwatch pads, it's all of the chapter pads that keep giving me a hard time because I've had to hand paint/craft their insignia onto a standard blank terminator pad.

[Just_Me]

...and here they are:

Kill-team
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh16/Just_Me_Images/Deathwatch%20terminators/PC310324.jpg

Blood Drinker
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh16/Just_Me_Images/Deathwatch%20terminators/PC310325.jpg

Salamander
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh16/Just_Me_Images/Deathwatch%20terminators/PC310326.jpg

[Just_Me]

Iron Snake
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh16/Just_Me_Images/Deathwatch%20terminators/PC310329.jpg

Novamarine
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh16/Just_Me_Images/Deathwatch%20terminators/PC310330.jpg

Death Spectre
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh16/Just_Me_Images/Deathwatch%20terminators/PC310331.jpg

Sorry the images are only so-so, my camera tends to wash out my models and I have yet to figure out how to get around it (photography isn't my thing).

[bloodangel 83]

The squad looks great. Your off to a good start on the Deathwatch team. Keep up the great woek. BA83

[Chris*ta]

Is the 5th terminator from Scythes of the Emperor? They're about my favourite chapter ever, and highly appropriate for some xenos-busting.

[Just_Me]

Is the 5th terminator from Scythes of the Emperor? They're about my favourite chapter ever, and highly appropriate for some xenos-busting.

He is actually a Death Spectre, but their insignia is very similar. I was going to use a Scythe because (as you said) they are well suited to fighting Xenos, but then I discovered that after their near disaster with Hive Fleet Leviathan they have no remaining suits of Terminator armor. I was having trouble picking a final chapter but finally landed on the Death Spectres when I read they deployed in chapter strength against Hive Fleet Jormungandar. I'm still not 100% on the choice though, I like them but it makes for a lot of white shoulder pads in the squad. I'm considering changing him to an Executioner. I'd like to add a Scythe at some point, probably in a Vanguard squad.

[Arleucs]

Nice one,
will look great as the army expands

the termis might need a bit of lining though, to lighten the edges insted of being fully black as they are now

[faolan]

The reason it's washing them out is because of the flash. If you can disable the flash and have a well lit environment, that shouldn't happen.

Happens to me too, as it is :)

[mafiacheese]

I'm happy to see a Storm Warden on the roster!