It’s the match of the century but it looks like point for point, Firstborn Death Company Space Marines put Primaris to shame.
In case you missed it, regular Space Marines got an extra wound from their old profile. On top of some extra girth, they’re also getting a nice wargear overhaul, putting Death Company under the spotlight for Blood Angels. Let’s talk about how potent these guys could be going forward.
Firstborn Blood Angels Death Company Put Primaris to Shame
So let’s talk about this. Blood Angels have regular Death Company and Primaris Death Company. However, due to sheer lack of mobility, if you’re taking Primaris Death Company you’re pretty much shooting yourself in the foot. This is solely in the fact that Primaris cant currently take jump packs, meaning it’s nearly impossible to turn 1 charge.
Also, now that Firstborn Marines have gone up to the same amount of wounds, they may just be better.
Using this datasheet as a reference, they have all the top picks of wargear for the Death Company.
With jump packs on each dude, you can possibly make it into melee on turn 1 with +1 to charge (combat tactics) and re-rolls to distance (every special rule just about in book confers this). With that said, since they get into combat so early, they normally are geared out with screen-killing wargear. Players normally keep things cheap and go with all Chainswords and maybe a Thunder Hammer or two sprinkled in for extra spice. Death Company might be even more killy now with Chainswords going to -1AP (-2 while in Assault doctrine).
Just How Killy Are They?
For argument’s sake let’s say a squad of ten DECO dudes is going against an Imperial Guard gunline. There’s a line of screens and a Leman Russ that you managed to put a single model into on the charge. There are eight Chainswords and two Thunder Hammers, with 5 attacks a piece (on the charge from Black Rage, Savage Echoes, and Shock Assault– yes it would need to be assault doctrine but there are ways around that with things like the Blood Chalice etc.).
That gives this a potential base damage of:
- x40 -1AP attacks wounding T3 targets on 3’s. (-2 if “assault doctrine”)
- x10 Thunder Hammer attacks with a potential of 30 damage. (blap!)
Those stats look great but one of the biggest problems Death Company units had was diminishing returns. They have the capability to kill just about anything. But they’re pretty fragile. Most of the time, a DECO squad would slam into a screen unit and decimate it only to be wiped on the opponent’s shooting phase.
Due to the fact that they’re currently not fearless (because apparently, frothing-out-of-the-mouth Marines that think they’re Sanguinius can still fall to fear), they’re an all-around pretty fragile unit. However, with the rework in Morale and the fact that they are going up to two wounds a pop, it’s quite possible to get a couple of turns of use out of them, especially with any changes after the Blood Angels update comes around.
Just a reminder, two wounds are huge, essentially doubling the effort the enemy has to put in to kill them. Then there is even a stratagem called Refusal to Die that can give either version of Death Company 5+ feel no pain save as well.
Let’s Talk Primaris
It’s quite possible that Death Company will be a regular Primaris dude’s worst nightmare in the future meta. Since Death Company models can be given just about any piece of wargear, that means you can put a 2-damage Power Fists in a squad as you want or even some grenade launchers. However compared to the normal Death Company Marines, they have fewer melee options and a few more shooting ones. They are also much more restrictive on how many they can take, only one can take a special melee option like a thunder hammer.
Now, they’re a few more points each (compared to firstborn) so if you’re going to go on the hunt for Primaris and use Death Company as a more cagey-reactive unit, you may want to run something like five Death Company with four Chainswords and a Power Fist. That’ll give you a wound soak on the dudes with the cheap-o Chainswords, but will also still afford S8 2-dmg swings on the charge with the Power Fists etc. The extra Chainsword attacks are just a cherry on top.
If you want multiple special melee weapons you’ll have to split up squads, meaning CPs and Stratagems will be slightly less effective overall.
Given the fact that they can’t be given jump packs if you want to go melee, you may want to float them up in Impulsors so they can go in and clean out areas where your opponent may have started the game with Infiltrators, Incursors, and War suits.
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Exclusive Stratagems Primaris vs First Born
On another note, as primaris, they can use many of the new and reworked stratagems in the Space Marine codex, which seem to be mostly durability-oriented. However, nearly all of the Death Company stratagems can be used on both firstborn and primaris, meaning firstborn might still be the way to go if you want to use them like you used to.
First Born only really get Hammer of Wrath (1CP) and Forlorn Fury over primaris, because you have to have a jump pack to use it. After you charge, roll a D6 for each model in the unit within engagement range, each roll equal to or higher than the enemy’s toughness results in a mortal wound.
Primaris get Transhuman Physiology (1CP for 5 model unit/2CP for larger) which can be used when the unit is attacked. If the opponent rolls a 1-3 on a wound roll against a unit who used this stratagem, it auto fails. Gene-Wrought Might(1CP) make 6s to hit auto wound.
And of course, both can use the Refusal to Die stratagem for a 5+ FNP as well.
+1 Attack, less special weapons, and no jump pack option while being more expensive but having a few extra different primaris-based stratagems doesn’t seem worth it. Especially if you expect them to function as they did in 8th. If you want a similar experience to 8th, you may just want to go the good old firstborn route.
These are just some of the uses players will be able to get out of Death Company in 9th edition going forward. We might just have to wait for the meta to settle and see how top players are taking advantage of the Blood Angels codex supplement going forward.
So what’s your opinion on the Death Company? Did we forget or mix up any rules? Let us know in the comments below!
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
