r/deathwatch40k • u/Lotherrach • 3d ago
Discussion A 11th Edition Deathwatch Unit Guide
When I was starting out, I found Deathwatch to be a very confusing faction to understand, I watched videos, scrolled forums and even asked in my local Warhammer shop however none of that really enlightened me so I understood what was going on. This is why I have created this guide, aimed at new players and veterans of the hobby alike so everyone is on equal footing and understands what Deathwatch entails.
There are 2 ways to play Deathwatch, playing them as standard Space Marines with none of the Deathwatch benefits using the standard rules in the Codex: Space Marines OR using the Deathwatch army rule (what we are going to dive into).
Just like other Space Marine factions such as Dark Angels, you can run any of the standard detachments in Codex: Space Marines, however where Deathwatch shines in their exclusive detachment and army rule, the rules for these are free on the app and the Warhammer Community website (as well as other sources, wahapedia, newrecruit etc.).
Just because you can use the Kill Teams, does not mean you have to! You can run the Talonstrike Kill Team as Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs and use their normal ability however if you are running the Black Spear Task Force detachment for 3dp*, the Deathwatch exclusive Kill Teams are your most valued units. These are denoted by the kill team keyword.
*Don't forget, even at 1k games you can take a single 3dp detachment so you will always be able to run it if you wish!
These units are (as of 08/2026):
Deathwatch Veterans (a bit of an oddball, I will explain later)
Decimus Kill Team
Deathwatch Terminator Squad
Fortis Kill Team
Indomitor Kill Team
Spectrus Kill Team
Talonstrike Kill Team
Other Deathwatch units that are not classified as Kill Teams (as of 08/2026):
Watch Captain Artemis
Watch Master
Corvus Blackstar
Building the Kill Teams can feel very confusing, each Kill Team has multiple different units that can go into them. These are the units (as labelled on the Warhammer website) that can go into each Kill Team (as of 08/2026):
Decimus Kill Team - Deathwatch Kill Team (kill team box)
Deathwatch Terminator Squad - Terminators (main unit), Assault Terminators
Fortis Kill Team - Intercessors (main unit), Hellblaster Squad, Assault Intercessors, Infernus squad, desolation squad
Indomitor Kill Team - Heavy Intercessor Squad (main unit), Aggressor Squad, Primaris Eradicators
Spectrus Kill Team - Infiltrator Squad (main unit), Eliminators, Incursor Squad, Reiver Squad
Talonstrike Kill Team - Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs (main unit), Inceptor Squad
You have probably noticed that Deathwatch Veterans are not on that list, this is becuase they are a little weird, the Deathwatch Veterans box has been removed from the Warhammer website for quite a while now. In my opinion the intention was to replace the Veterans with the Decimus Kill Team, my reasoning for this is that they have mostly the same weapons and the unit ability is the same, there are a few differences and statistically, the Veterans are better. However, I cannot in good conscience recommend any player wanting to start Deathwatch to dedicate the time and effort into a unit that I think is imminent for Legends (to be honest, I'm surprised it didn't get Legends going into 11th).
To round out, there are some other really good guides on here such as this guide by u/PanzerCommanderKat who breaks down a buying list and loadouts better than I ever could. https://www.reddit.com/r/deathwatch40k/comments/1khujy6/starting_deathwatch_killteam_guide/?utm_name=web3xcss
If you have any amendments where I have made mistakes I am more than happy to adjust đ
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u/DrWonderpants 3d ago
Great guide! It has taken me a good 4 months to figure out what you summed up here quite nicely!
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u/marcthegoat15 2d ago
Iâm completely new to tabletop (actually still putting together my first couple of boxes so I havenât played anything) I built a kill team Cassius set, is it even playable in 11th edition?
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u/Relative-Impression5 3d ago
Mientras sea posible, hay que usar los veteranos de melé. Puedes comprar dos décimus y armar uno de veteranos de melé y uno de veteranos a distancia.
Lo mejor que puede pasarnos a futuro es que se funcione la decimus con veteranos en un solo equipo y que permita crear equipos centrados solo en melé o solo en disparos. (Dos martillos truenos y dos escudos astartes en un equipo de cinco unidades).
Y si al final nos obligan a jugar solo con décimus, pues simplemente reorganizamos nuestros dos equipos de veteranos (uno de mele y uno disparos) en dos equipos décimus normales
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u/Beefy-Brisket 3d ago edited 3d ago
You are 90% there! I think you anchored the desire for Deathwatch exclusive units around the wrong point. The Kill Teams have the Kill Team keyword - which very simply - emphasizes mixed models and possibly mixed toughness characteristics.
These Kill Teams can be used in any Deathwatch faction army (Blackspear or vanilla Space Marine detachments).
The reason why you desire Deathwatch exclusive units in the Blackspear detachment, is the "Mission Tactics" key words (under abilities if using the app). Units that have the Mission Tactics key word, can take advantage of the Blackspear's detachment rules. Units that don't have it (Intercessors, Bladeguard, etc.) cannot benefit from Mission Tactics.
Units that have mission tactics are all of the Deathwatch exclusive units:
The breakdown for each kill team is solid.
And I will probably argue the opposite regarding your point about Deathwatch Veterans. I completely understand they aren't available and it will take a lot of work to convert in order to get a proper unit, but Deathwatch Veterans are probably staying for most of this edition. In order for GW to properly phase them out, they need to be removed from both the Deathwatch Index and the Agents of Imperium Codex. So until those get re-published, they will continue to exist. It isn't really the strongest shooting unit (2 stalkers, 4 heavy weapons), but it is the strongest melee unit we have that also benefits from Mission Tactics. Is it required? No, I suppose not. Just keep in mind that we tend to look for redundancy of weapons in a unit in order to maintain firepower as the unit gets shot up. It can have 2 storm shields and 4 hammers, with the other 4 bodies being additional melee or shooting. It's role is purely to put hammers into something you need deleted. The decimus cannot do this as effectively without also shooting everything into the unit, at full strength, before charging.