GW revealed some of the new 40k Psychic Awakening rules for the Deathwatch Space Marines! Check out the latest updates on what they’re getting soon!
Warhammer Community revealed some new Deathwatch rules that are just ahead. Sit back and jump right in as we go over what these elite Astartes will be bringing to the table.
Deathwatch Psychic Awakening Rules Coming in White Dwarf
In case you missed it, the Deathwatch and Harlequins aren’t getting their full book release like everyone else. What might be a bit of a bummer to fans out there, your Psychic Awakening is coming in the next White Dwarf. On the bright side though, you won’t have to pay $40 for your rules support.
GW Reveals New Deathwatch Psychic Awakening Rules LATEST
This update brings the Deathwatch in line with the rest of their Adeptus Astartes brothers. They gain the Angels of Death suite of abilities, including Shock Assault, Bolter Discipline and Combat Doctrines.
Giving the Deathwatch all the fancy bells and whistles other Astartes have on top of their insanely powerful special ammunition is huge. We don’t have any details on their specific doctrine bonus. But oh man, it all just sounds really strong already.
Don’t forget currently per the Deathwatch FAQ you can’t get the best of both worlds with Bolter Discipline:
New Stratagems Coming to the Watch
Surprisingly enough, GW actually revealed a bunch of Stratagems the faction are getting in this teaser. So far, there’s:
Duty Eternal, for example, allows your Dreadnoughts to stride through hails of enemy fire virtually unscathed, while Veteran Fury gives Terminators +1 to hit on all attacks for an entire phase.
Editor’s note: this is the pre-FAQ version of this strat.
Duty Eternal is looking pretty standard issue. Definitely useful if it’s the old version but we doubt it.
Another dope stratagem to look at is Veteran Fury. What makes this pretty potent is that it’s only 1CP and you can use it in any phase. Have those storm bolters with special ammo hit on a 2+ and pop the strat again in close combat for ignore the negative to hit with power fists.
Intercessors are getting the bolt rifle support package as well. When you start thinking about what kind of ammo you can combine with these, things realy get disgusting. Why not pop Boltstorm to auto-hit everything using ammo that always wounds on a 2+ (hellfire rounds)?
Now think about all the -AP/range shenanigans for Vengeance and Kraken rounds combined with the Target Sighted strat. Gross.
This is just a taster of the 14 Stratagems that will give your Deathwatch a plethora of additional tactical options. Many of them can be further enhanced by the six new Litanies of Battle that Deathwatch Chaplains will have access to. Your close-range bolt rifle volleys will benefit from the +1 to wound that Catechism of Fire provides, or +1 to hit from the Recitation of Focus, while other litanies will allow more reliable charges, enhanced melee ability or even the ability to shrug off mortal wounds.
The Deathwatch are also getting the Chaplain litany package. Of the ones previewed, they’re fantastic with Intercessor gunlines making special ammunition bolter spam all the more appealing.
Intercessor Sergeants Get More Wargear Options
Another sweet little tidbit of information that GW gave us is that Intercessor Sergeants will be more flexible from now on.
…the update gives Deathwatch Intercessor Sergeants new weapons options, including hand flamers, power fists and thunder hammers, providing you with loads of new tools to use in purging the xenos from the Imperium!
Overall, it seems like Deathwatch have mainly been “caught up” with all the other Astartes. But on that note, thanks to special ammunition, they’ll be able to really excel past other Chapters in the shooting phase.
After seeing all of this brought into focus, how do you think the Deathwatch will play on the competitive table? Will we see Intercessor spam lists similar to the Imperial Fists?
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About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
