After complaining about Games Workshop taking too long to post another preview it is only fitting that I am delayed in posting today’s review of the Deathwing Preview. This preview confirmed some of our speculations from earlier in the week but at the same time left several things mysterious unsaid. Today, we learned about the new specialist detachment, the rites of initiation, and two new stratagems.
Yesterday, we speculated that the Deathwing would receive similar detachment rules to the already previewed Ravenwing 2nd Company rules. We can now confirm this hypothesis. A Vanguard Detachment made up completely of Deathwing and Inner Circle keyword units grants Deathwing Terminator, Assault Terminator, and Relic Terminator Squads objective secure thanks to the 1st Company rule. Additionally, you receive a command point refund for the detachment. A sweet 3 command points if you were wondering. This definitely opens the playing field for a 3 detachment list swarming the board with all sorts of objective secure. We also see that it is a conscious decision to not grant objective secure to the elite elements of the 1st and 2nd Companies because both the Ravenwing and Deathwing Knights are not mentioned.
What is mentioned, however, is how you can more easily maintain an all Deathwing detachment by initiating various vehicles, mostly transports, and a few characters into the Deathwing through the Rites of Initiation rules. Previously, if you wanted to add a Captain, Dreadnought, or a Land Raider to the Deathwing, you had to spend command points. Now, in a manner equivalent to the Chapter Command rules in the Core Space Marine codex, you simply spend additional army points to give your units the Deathwing keyword. This means that you cannot put Bladeguard Veterans in an Impulsor in this detachment but a Repulsor is still an option. Curiously, the Rites allow you to induct any unit that can transport terminators into the Deathwing but it isn’t specific like it is with the Repulsor or Land Raiders. I wonder if this means there is something just around the corner from Games Workshop directly or Forgeworld. Also, thanks to a cheeky footnote, it appears that the Infantry keyword units will receive the Inner Circle rule. Your captain and other such units would then receive Transhuman Physiology, can only be wounded on a 4+, for free.
The way you upgrade your units into the Deathwing isn’t the only change we saw today. The stratagem Deathwing Assault no longer lets you shoot twice in the turn you deepstrike. Deathwing Assault now gives a terminator unit that shoots in the same turn it deepstrikes +1 to wound when it shoots instead. Considering that it was 2 to 3 command points depending on the size of the squad in 8th Edition, I would much rather take +1 to wound for a single command point. When one considers that you can put a heavy flamer, a plasma cannon, an assault cannon, and a cyclone missile launcher into your terminator squads, you will be wounding most infantry models in the game on 2+. Luckily, there is no tax for using it on a bigger squad now and hopefully it doesn’t get FAQed into costing more in the future.
The Deathwing didn’t only get+1 to wound while shooting. Deathwing Knights received +1 to wound and an additional -1 to Armor Penetration when their fight for 2 command points thanks to No Foe Too Great To Subdue. When I saw that regular terminators were getting +1 to wound when they shoot, I thought that this would spell the end of the Deathwing Knights. When one rightly ruminates on the matter, they realize Deathwing Knights now hit on a 2+ when they fight and they are strength 8 with their Maces of Absolution. This means they should be able to pulverize anything toughness 7 or less on a 2+ and have an advantage on toughness 8 by wounding them on a 3+. This kind of melee power will devastate many and make Deathwing Knights just as attractive as their ranged brethren.
As excited as I was to see that I was right about the specialist detachment, that we finally received formal information about the Rites of Initiation, and witnessed a pair of appropriately powerful stratagems, I am left pondering what is missing. We did not see any Deathwing Specific warlord traits or relics. We know there is a Super Doctrine thanks to yesterday’s preview but it was not revealed today. I guess Games Workshop thinks there still needs to be some sort of magical surprise under the Dark Angels Christmas Tree and I eagerly await opening those presents next weekend. Until next time,
Keep it Dank,
Bailey
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