I have been wanting to do a Deathwatch army for some time now and so when Kitty started painting up Tyranids, it seemed like a good time to finally take the plunge. Wanting to keep the force purely Primaris (which does not seem the best way to approach the Deathwatch, but I digress), I picked up the Combat Patrol and started putting together the first units of the Watch Company (or, at least, the first Watch Company but, again, I digress…).

For the paint scheme, I simply used the Classic Method described on the Combat Patrol’s page on GW’s web site:

  • Undercoat/base coat with Chaos Black Spray
  • Drybrush lightly with Dark Reaper and then Fenrisian Grey, concentrating on the edges of the armour
  • Do the metal with Leadbelcher, washing with Drakenhof for their left arm and chest eagle, Nuln Oil for everything else – both get a drybrush of Stormhost Silver
  • Leather straps and pouches are Dryad Bark, washed with Nuln Oil and drybrushed with Gorthor Brown
  • The dull gold is Warplock Bronze washed with Agrax, then drybrushed with Brass Scorpion and Skullcrusher Brass
  • Weapon casings are Khorne Red washed with Carroburg Crimson, drybrushed with Wazdakka Red and the merest touch of Wild Rider Red on the edges

And, aside from a few details here and there, that is about it. The last stage is the right pauldron which displays the individual chapter symbol – which led to a dive through my transfer sheets box, trying to dig up as many different chapters as possible. As well as the regulars (Ultramarines, Dark Angels, Space Woofs, etc), I also turned up some more unusual ones such as Red Hunters, Red Scorpions and Angels of Absolution. I ordered in the Imperial Fists and Iron Hands sheets from GW, and the chapter sheets they have started putting in White Dwarf now and again have been exceptionally useful.

The two characters you get in the Combat Patrol are a Lieutenant and an Apothecary, which are not super useful, it has to be said. The Apothecary is… fine, though better suited for a slightly larger force (though he does look funky in his mostly black armour – the White Scar chapter badge breaks this up nicely), but the Lieutenant is decidedly weak as his re-roll ability is pretty much over-ridden by the Deathwatch’s own army-wide bonus. However, I made him a Crimson Fist, so at least he may prove annoying when he comes back from the dead.

What I really want is a Gravis Captain with Power Fist and Sword to lead them, but he is proving exceptionally difficult to find (without spending huge amounts of money on eBay).

I have a soft spot for Aggressors whichever chapter they come from, and these three lumbering louts will be able to start pummelling aliens from some distance away.

You get a full squad of ten Intercessors in the Combat Patrol but, because of the way Kill teams are built, I broke them down into two units of five. They could be combined, or left as small units, but the intention is to be able to build them up with other Primaris marines, and then break the larger Kill Team back down into Combat Squads. That way I could have a long-ranged component to an assault-based squad, or really go full in on the close assault with a big unit of short-ranged murderers…

So, to this end, I have one unit with the shorter ranged Auto Bolt Rifles to lay waste to large units of weak infantry and the other has the Stalker Bolt Rifles to plink off enemies from afar.

Watch Companies rarely have more than 50 marines, so I am going to keep all the units small and thus have a decent spread of units. The next to be added will be five Heavy Intercessors and an Impulsor for someone to scoot around in, before getting some heavier firepower with three Eradicators and a Gladiator.

Not looking for this army to be sprawling, just a decent small size with a good range of options – though it has occurred to me that a second Watch Company comprising only Vanguard marines could be a really funky idea…