The Kill Team: Tomb World boxed set is available for pre-order on Saturday, arriving with two fantastic kill teams: the Necron Canoptek Circle and the Deathwatch.
The Deathwatch are the quintessential kill team; this is the name given to their specialised squads of veteran Space Marines deployed on behalf of the Ordo Xenos whenever a deadly alien threat surfaces.
You only get to take five warriors to each bout – selecting from a pool of 11 different operatives. You may not take any doubles, and each team can only support one warrior in Gravis armour. There are two sets of five Space Marines in the new box, giving you a healthy roster to draw from. Here’s a breakdown of the available builds.
The first body wears Tacticus armour and can be built either as a Watch Sergeant with a power weapon, or a Blademaster Veteran armed with that signature xenophase blade – an alien weapon turned against its former owners.
The second Space Marine is also in Tacticus gear, and may be equipped as a Demolisher Veteran with a two-handed thunder hammer, or issued a storm shield and power maul to assume the mantle of Aegis Veteran.
Your third operative wears Tacticus armour, and can either be a Gunner Veteran or a Marksman Veteran. The former hefts a heavy plasma incinerator, and the latter a precision stalker bolt rifle.
Number four wears the lighter Phobos armour. The Headtaker Veteran wields two combat blades and packs a grav-chute and grapnel launcher for unparalleled manoeuvrability. They may alternatively become a Disruptor Veteran, a sneakier feller equipped with a marksman bolt carbine and an advanced omni-scrambler.*
Finally, the Gravis armour pattern comes with three options. Make a choice between the Horde-slayer Veteran with an infernus-pattern heavy bolter, the frag cannon-toting Bombard Veteran, or the Breacher Veteran, who uses melta bombs to obliterate armoured targets and rattles off the rest with their hellstorm bolt rifle.
Deciding on a role for your operatives is only the start. There’s a wide choice of 16 helmeted and unhelmeted heads across the sprues, and the operatives are also compatible with most of the other Space Marine heads in the range.
The magic touch is the collection of right-arm shoulder pads. Every Deathwatch operative hails from a different Chapter, and these pauldrons are their primary calling card. There are 16 standard shoulder pads, alongside seven for Gravis and six Phobos to choose from. Three Tacticus pads are left blank, as well as one Gravis and one Phobos pad, while the rest feature a sculpted chapter element.
The Tacticus Marines have emblems for the Brazen Skulls, Exorcists, Wolfspear, Emperor’s Spears, Scythes of the Emperor, Storm Lords, Blood Knights, Red Scorpions, Iron Snakes, Black Talons, Iron Hands, Brazen Claws, and Lamenters**.
Gravis pads include livery for the Salamanders, Raven Guard, Imperial Fists, Dark Angels, Flesh Tearers, and Novamarines, while there are Phobos pads for Ultramarines, Blood Angels, White Scars, Brazen Minotaurs, and Raptors. Of course, some of these icons are shared between Chapters – only separated by colour schemes – so you could have Crimson Fists, Hawk Lords, and more if you want.
This kit is a brilliant resource for kitbashers and Deathwatch aficionados alike. We can think of at least one person pacing Warhammer Community towers impatiently as the pre-order date gets closer…
* There is literally no egg in the galaxy he can’t benedict.
** Yes, those check marks on the Lantern shoulder pad are sculpted in too – no more wobbly freehand required.
