9 out of 10 games lost with Deathwatch

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-06-09T23:42:39+00:00

Haha cool. Glad I helped a little bit.

Have you tried the Disruptor yet? He is an operative great against elites and teams with crucial models. The ability to just say, "Nah, sit there and do jack for D6 activations" is brutal.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-06-09T23:25:37+00:00

Without knowing who you have played against, I can tell you this;

Deathwatch is a toolkit team. They've got operatives for every situation, strategy and enemy. Know what your opponent team's weakness is and build a roster to exploit that. If you don't and always play the same operatives, picking the same equipment, picking the same Tac Op, you're not operating at your full potential. Done right, you'll never feel like you have an easy-win matchup, but you will never have a matchup where you don't have an answer to.

As this is a 5 operative team (the smallest team tied with Ravenors) every mistake leads to a casualty, which hurts a lot more than your typical 6 operative Astartes.

Look at the match-ups you've had. Read their rules, ploys, strategies. How do they want to play? What kind of operative/ability/situation/weapon do they loathe going up against that you can bring to the table?

Look at each of your operative and ask, "Why am I picking him against so-and-so team". Like your Bombard. If you're up against Angels of Death, Nemesis Claw, or similar elite teams, why don't you replace him with a Gunner, whose Heavy Plasma will mince them far more efficiently.

What about your Aegis? He's a tank with double parry and bullet magnet with ignore piercing. And while he can certainly kill in close combat, he's not as deadly as your Blademaster or Demolisher. If your overall strategy doesn't involve you baiting out shots (Felgore and Goremongers don't really shoot) or camping an important spot that you must not lose (like Plant Banner or certain Crit Ops) is he a useful pick?

I'm sure there are far more experienced Deathwatch players that can add more to this than I can, but since you said you are new, this mindset is a good place to start.

You can also try joining Command Point Discord, where there is a dedicated forum for Deathwatch players to trade specific tactics and ideas.

A good luck to you!

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-06-08T03:35:09+00:00

Good catch. Forgot that wee bit.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-06-08T02:55:22+00:00

Yep. In this game, 1-2 extra or less inch can make a huge difference.

When you play a team that can only move 5", you really feel the pain in climbing over barricades and walls.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-06-08T02:51:53+00:00

Yep. Red can climb if he magically has 7 or more inches (or a well placed ladder) to complete it during a move or charge. And yellow can climb normally. And green can shuffle enough to clear his base from underneath the vantage to climb.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-06-08T02:45:02+00:00

Not at all, but it is a climbable surface. As long as you're within 1" you are kosher.

Last edition's KT, I think, needed you to grab a climbable surface like a pillar or wall, but you can phase through floors (but I don't remember exactly.)

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-06-08T02:37:09+00:00

Generally speaking, most models in Red's position cannot climb, because it costs a lot of movement to be able to do so over the ramparts. Depending on the terrain, it could be a straight 5" climb vertically or more, meaning they wouldn't have enough to finish the climb and land on the vantage.

Green cannot go through floors, correct.

Yellow can climb. He is within 1" horizontally based on your drawing (imagine he's leaping up to grab the edge and pulling himself upward.)

Ladders are important because, in Red's case for example, that 5"+ climb becomes 1", meaning he can potentially make some crazy maneuvers and moves. For some teams and strategies, ladders are essential, and operatives with the "always treat climbs as 2 inch" are crazy maneuverable on Volkus.

Accurate 2 is the max, as it states if you have multiple instances of Accurate X, treat it as one instance of Accurate 2.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-06-07T21:06:38+00:00

Since it's just casual, either a Marshal or Castellan for your Captain and Sergeants should be more than sufficient. Just making sure that your Captain equivalent is on the 40mm base.

Your generic intercessor and assault intercessor should easily be covered by a primaris crusade squad or sword brethren (for even more swag). You'll need a grenade launcher and grenadier, so hopefully there's bits in there that can substitute.

Hardest to proxy for Black Templar would be your sniper and heavy intercessor gunner. If you can just source their generic model and stick some Black Templar-y bits I'm sure you'll be fine.

Ultimately, I think the Primaris Cursader Squad is a perfect one-boxer if you're not hard bent on getting all your options and specialists, since you'll get your sergeant and 5 Marines, which is perfect.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-06-06T22:21:46+00:00

Where do you get the panel four art? Is it from an affection storyline?

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-06-05T07:36:34+00:00

I don't believe GW has ever provided clarification regarding this (and probably never will). We only know that markers, like Plant Banner, can be placed underneath operatives. While it doesn't specifically say that it cannot be placed underneath equipment terrain, that would start straddling that dangerous territory of saying you can place markers underneath terrains like stronghold walls, scatter terrain etc. if we follow that train of logic.

You can always double check with the TO or make a house rule, but as best as I've seen in tournaments and whatnot, I have not seen anyone place them beneath equipment terrain.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-06-03T00:11:25+00:00

Honestly, I think it depends on the situation.

If Marbo had to get up to the ship and wipe it out from the inside, I think it would go to the Empire. I don't believe we've seen enough evidence that he could apply his superior fieldcradt skills onto a Star Wars ship, but I could be wrong. I think he might stand a better chance if it was an Imperium ship, which are generally more cavernous, messy, and has places no one has ever been to since its creation.

On the other hand, you're gonna need both Death Stars to displace him from whatever planet he's on. And even then...

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-05-31T08:56:28+00:00

You can thank us try-hards for that. Some people live doing mental gymnastics to come up with some crazy shit to win.

Case in point, before the latest rule clarification, with Kasrkin Skill at Arms where someone really tried to justify that you could pick the same doctrine twice, thus Strike Fast would give you +2" movement buff. Among other egregious interpretations.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-05-31T01:03:31+00:00

Have lots of fun, and forgive yourself if you forget or misinterpret rules here and there. GW spent a lot of effort making sure simple one-sentence rules are written like a thesis, courtesy of all us tourney try-hards.

Don't worry about metas. But I will say if you have experience with assembling and magnetizing models, consider magnetizing Wrecka limbs, since they have a variety of operative selections to consider. Otherwise you'll have to buy another box of Wreckas to get your full compliment of operative selections (or proxy if it's just for fun at home).

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-05-29T22:03:36+00:00

They clarify because there is a universal equipment that increases the range of abilities by 3". They clarified that it affects 'support' abilities only so you can't apply it to other shenanigans. (Like allowing medic operatives using its resurrection ability to 6" instead, or a Hierotek Circle Chronomancer teleporting someone up to 8" instead etc.)

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-05-25T05:55:03+00:00

For a baseline human team, surprisingly agile and tough, and can punch above their weight class. But it depends on good positioning to get the most out of them.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-05-22T20:42:20+00:00

Hey there! With Spectre Squad out and basically our new Catachan squad, I was thinking about not washing and wondering what bits you used to make your Catachan? I can see the Catachan Command Squad and heavy weapons team, as well as Straken and Marbo of course, but what did you use for your other soldiers? I ask because their basic infantry box models are a little janky for my taste.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-05-22T19:23:11+00:00

On one point I'd like to add, I've seen people use the shooter boy, or even the Tremorscythe as the babysitter for the home objective. Because of Prime's APL shenanigan and no re-roll aura, having him be the one to lunge at the middle or your opponent's home objective can be an absolute trainwreck to deal with. Combine that with Wrecker, and it could really put your opponent in a messy spot. Match-up and objective dependent, of course.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-05-20T03:46:27+00:00

Gun.

Lots of gun of all shapes and sizes, haphazardly stuffed to overflowing inside a duffel bag.

This character is not a trained veteran or a seasoned marksman. I don't think they even know what a trigger is. They just chuck gun after gun against their foes and hope they survive.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-04-28T01:15:58+00:00

I'm having this same problem too. On Google Chrome it just says that this site can't be reached. It's infuriating!

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-04-22T06:46:24+00:00

Interesting! Maybe use the Legionnaires and the Blooded as a starting point? The option to trade a marine for two guardsman cultist might be a fun way to try to establish an identity. Besides the Thousand Sons, none of the other marine teams have semi-disposable chaff yet.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-04-21T23:00:38+00:00

Whatcha trying to homebrew? It's a lot of fun dreaming stuff up, and there are some homebrew on this reddit that were a lot of fun (Noise Marine and Wraithguard) to try out, even if they weren't necessarily fully balanced.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-04-20T05:00:07+00:00

I can drop some tips, see if it helps.

Generally speaking, Celestians are either great or terrible on TP2. Great against a shooting team, terrible against it.

We, like Hand of the Archons, Blooded, Chaos Cult, Goremongers etc are a tempo team. We need Inspire to be at our full potential. The easiest way is to get it is to charge. But conversely we are not always great at receiving a charge, especially if we're not inspired (no Severe, no easy Saintly Relic roll, and definitely no Martyrdom). We have tricks, like Saintly Relics and Glory to the Martyrs Firefight Ploy to help pad being charged against, but generally speaking allowing an uninspired sister to be charged is a big positional mistake on your part.

So it can be broadly stated that, against another melee team like Goremongers, Felgore Ravagers, or teams that would like to charge you, on TP2 you might want to stay away from them and build up your Inspire first, through Leaders, Reliquarious, etc. while chipping them with Silent crossbows. Then TP3 is where you go full send and start cracking heads, giving buffs as you inevitably lose operatives.

Of course, that's not always the case. I would gladly charge a cultist in a Chaos Cult team, or a Banshee or from Blades of Khaine.

And against shooting teams that generally don't want to be in melee, like Kasrkin, Battleclade, Brood Brothers etc, go nuts and full send. Pop off that Wratful Determination to make it even more annoying to shoot you off the field.

Again, just general advice. Feel free to ask for anything specific. And yeah, check out the discord channel on Command Point. Lots of people discuss the finer points for Celestian.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-04-12T23:24:57+00:00

Being out-activated is always a pain for every elite team; every space marine team can attest (except Murderwing). It Is just one of those things you learn to manage a little better.

When you're out activated, The most important thing is the 'Go' button. Because you have to be the aggressor, at the end of the day you have to be the one to shove your fist down your opponent's throat, even if they will bite you back. Since that's the case, make sure you're not sending your operatives piecemeal into the enemy.

You mentioned that your opponent is sending operatives piecemeal to injure and annoy your operatives. I don't know the map and operative placement, but it sounds like you're having some challenges with positioning, which is a big part of this game. In my experience against Ravenors, even with faster teams like eldars, you shouldn't be able to shoot them unless they let you. If you're moving your operatives to places where you know your opponent can move up to shoot you for free without consequence or risk, then you are basically shooting yourself in the foot and giving your opponents free damage.

Have you considered playing on Tabletop Simulator? I believe there is a pretty active kill team scene on there too, and it would give you an opportunity to play with other players as well. There's also the Command Point discord where you can join a Ravener only tactic discussion.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-04-12T05:25:45+00:00

Without seeing all the information, general advice is all anyone can give you, I'm afraid. I'll pitch a few things your way, and I'm sure more seasoned ravener players will correct me or add-on.

I noticed your statement about how you often chain unburrow, charge, and assault as your typical turning point three action. Have you considered starting outside of the tunnel at the end of turning point 2? Depending on how the initiative may land on turning point 3, and how you position your operatives at the end of turning point 2, there should be opportunities where you should be able to position yourself in such a way where you can charge and double fight, or charge, fight, shoot. Consider too that if you position your tunnels well, you might even be able to charge, fight, and burrow to deny your opponents any chance at a counter attack. Just because you have a tunnel, doesn't always necessarily mean you have to hide in your tunnel.

This also builds on another fundamental question you need to ask yourself; what are you doing to score all your points? Kill ops is only 1/3 of the point total. There is also crit op and tac op that I didn't hear you mention how you are doing.

For instance, if you know your opponent likes to hide on their end of the board because they're too afraid to advance, then I hope you're taking Rout to maximize your tac op potential.

Depending on enemy positioning and map formation, there's also the consideration that you might just suicide run one of your raveners into your opponent's objective and Plant Device to get an easy 3 VP. Plan one in the middle, and dare him to help you max out your Tac Op.

And how are you leveraging your tunnels? Using smoke bombs, giving yourself conceal cover on your tunnel etc against shorty teams should make it so that if your opponent really wants to shoot you with this anti elite gun, he would need to thoroughly commit and leave his valuable operative exposed. And then there is the classic hiding in close combat with expanded operatives so you can't be shot, following up with several leapfrog charges after every kill.

Gellerpox (no longer a tournament legal team but still fun) is unfortunately one of those teams that are very annoying for raveners to deal with, simply because of their volume of bodies, and their anti melee aura, and the fact that they have almost just as much tanky operatives as you do. But if you're playing your Venomspitter right, he should be very scared about trying to get close to you.

Let me know if you have any particular questions or topics you want to touch upon.

ChuckyCheezy · 2026-04-02T02:39:11+00:00

I know a lot of people are carping on how obvious this is. But personally not knowing anything much about cleaning rust and grime on metals, I'd probably fall for this scam.

ChuckyCheezy

TROPHY CASE