This section of Codex:
Deathwatch lists wargear (including
Melee Weapons,
Ranged Weapons,
Special Issue Ammunition,
Armour,
Special Issue Wargear,
Relics of the Vigilant and
Deathwatch Vehicle Equipment) used by Deathwatch, along with the rules for using them in your games of Warhammer 40,000.
Profiles for the following melee weapons can be found in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook:
| The crozius arcanum is a Deathwatch Chaplain’s rod of office. It is the symbol of his authority and his weapon of righteous judgement all in one. Each crozius is an ancient relic, passed down from Chaplain to Chaplain and bearing each successive warrior’s legend in etched script around its haft. |
| A long and stout-hafted polearm borne only by the Emperor’s most trusted warriors, the guardian spear is two weapons in one. Beneath a powered blade crackling with disruptive energies, the spear has a compact bolter that allows its bearer to kill his xenos enemies at range. |
A model equipped with a guardian spear can fire it as a
boltgun with
special issue ammunition. It can also attack with it in the
Assault phase using the profile below. It can do both in the same turn.
Block:
Once per turn, in the
Assault Phase, a model equipped with a
guardian spear can attempt to block a single Attack that targets them. After the
To Hit roll is made, roll a dice. If the result is higher than the To Hit roll, the attack is blocked and has no effect. Attacks that do not have a To Hit roll cannot be blocked.
| The largest man-portable thunder hammer is used by the Deathwatch – a giant crushing tool of destruction so heavy that even a Space Marine cannot use it one-handed. Swathed by a powerful disruption field, the heavy thunder hammer is capable not only of cracking open a Carnifex’s exoskeleton, but also of smashing through its midsection to break the creature in twain. |
Pulverise:
If the
To Wound roll for an attack with this weapon is 6, the attack has the
Instant Death special rule.
Power Fist and Auxiliary Meltagun
| Though the priesthood of Mars forbids the wider Imperium to innovate or adapt in matters technological, the addition of one weapon to another is seen as a forgivable extension of the Omnissiah’s will. So it is that many of the weapons used by the Deathwatch have more than one role – the crushing might of a power fist twinned with the tank-busting potential of a meltagun being just one such example. |
A model equipped with a
power fist and auxiliary
meltagun can fire it as a meltagun instead of shooting another weapon, and attack with it in the
Assault phase as a power fist. They can do both in the same turn.
| Most relic blades have been in the service of the Imperium longer than the watch fortresses that maintain them. Some predate the Horus Heresy, originally wielded by the first and most powerful of the Space Marines, only to be passed to the founders of the Deathwatch at the dawn of the Imperium that exists today. It is seen as fitting tribute to those ancient heroes that these giant powered blades are still used to defend Mankind to this day. |
| Rarely seen outside the Deathwatch, the xenophase blade is an ancient and barely understood artefact weapon. Some believe it has its origins amongst long-defeated xenos dynasties, though speaking of its history has long been forbidden on pain of excruciation. Its efficacy is beyond question, for its blade ripples with a molecular realignment field that allows it to cleave through force fields and metaphysical wards as easily as it cuts through physical armour. |
Molecular Realignment Field:
Successful
invulnerable saving throws made against Wounds inflicted by this weapon must be re-rolled.
Profiles for the following ranged weapons can be found in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook:
Blackstar Cluster Launcher
| The Corvus Blackstar has two rear-mounted grenade launchers, allowing the pilot to sow a hailstorm of munitions in his wake as he strafes his primary targets. The launcher is capable of firing either crater-chewing frag clusters or a matrix of infernus grenades that leave burning promethium in the Blackstar’s wake. |
Unlike other
Bombs, a Blackstar cluster launcher does not have the
One Use Only rule and can be used each turn.
| The Deathwatch use shot selectors and bolt round harnesses that hold specialist bolt rounds. Dragonfire bolts are hollow shells filled with superheated gas that explode to saturate foes in cover, while kraken bolts utilise an adamantine core and improved propellant to penetrate the thickest hide. Hellfire rounds douse their targets in voracious acids, while vengeance rounds employ unstable flux core technology that makes them hazardous to use, but incredibly effective against armoured targets. |
In addition to their normal profile for their
bolt pistol or
boltgun (including
stalker pattern boltguns and boltguns that are part of a
combi-weapon or guardian spear), models with special issue ammunition can choose, in each of their
Shooting phases, to instead use one of the profiles below until the beginning of their next Shooting phase. All models with special issue ammunition in a unit must use the same type of ammunition when the unit shoots.
Profiles for the following ranged weapons can be found in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook:
Blackstar Rocket Launcher
| The pugnacious silhouette of the Corvus Blackstar heralds a barrage of missiles, each selected the moment before firing to maximise the destruction it wreaks. Whether air-to-air missiles guided to blast enemy aircraft from the skies or warheads designed to turn a strafing run into a violent visitation of hellfire, these munitions are delivered with pinpoint accuracy and perfect timing. |
| The cyclone missile launcher system is triggered at the blink of a rune to send pairs of missiles streaking into the foe – frag warheads designed to kill swathes of xenos infantry, or krak warheads that strike simultaneously to tear holes in enemy armour. |
A Terminator can fire his cyclone missile launcher in addition to his
storm bolter.
| The Deathwatch frag cannon is akin to a man-portable artillery piece, capable of laying down a horde-shattering salvo or a dense solid shell that can blast through adamantium at close range. |
Impact:
If the target unit is within 12", this weapon’s Strength is increased to 9 and its AP is increased to 2.
| Optimised for the close-quarters warfare typically fought in space hulks and xenos-infested asteroids, the Deathwatch shotgun has a hair trigger and a wide radius of effect. The Deathwatch shotgun can fire several distinct types of cartridge, ranging from the explosive cylinders of shot known as cryptclearer rounds to the fanning flame-bursts of the wyrmsbreath shell. |
| Deathwind launchers are fitted to some Drop Pods to provide a level of anti-infantry fire support to their passengers, giving them the precious seconds they need to secure a perimeter. |
| The hurricane bolter is not a single gun, but a combination of six bolters machine-linked to fire as one. When it fires, a staccato report cracks out – a moment later the fusillade of rocket-propelled bolts detonates with a series of ear-splitting explosions. |
A hurricane bolter consists of three
twin-linked boltguns fired as a single weapon.
| Heavy bolters fire huge mass-reactive bolt rounds, each more comparable to an explosive shell than a bullet. The Deathwatch mag-clamp rare suspensor discs onto their infernus heavy bolters that reduce the weapon’s effective weight considerably. Such weapons are further bolstered by underslung heavy flamers that can incinerate those enemies that make it through the hail of explosive bolts. |
|
Range |
S |
AP |
Type |
| Infernus heavy bolter |
36" |
5 |
4 |
Assault 3 |
| Infernus heavy flamer |
Template |
5 |
4 |
Assault 1 |
| Fitted with audio suppressors and a longer barrel that eliminates muzzle flash, the stalker pattern boltgun is ideal for long-range assassinations and picking off the leaders of the alien armies. |
| When the stormstrike missiles borne by the Corvus Blackstar detonate, they do so with the force of a thunderclap, ripping open their targets and stunning those lucky enough to survive. |
| The combi-flamer Artemis calls Hellfire Extremis fires not only specialist ammunition, but gouts of bio-alchemical flame that poison all living things. |
Hellfire Extremis is a combi-weapon with the following secondary weapon:
| The suits of artificer armour worn by the officers of the Deathwatch are collectively the most advanced in active use. Though these suits are as compact and self-contained as the more common marks of power armour, they have been embellished and improved upon by successive generations of artificers until they provide a level of protection surpassed only by the larger and more restrictive Terminator armour. Each is a work of art in its own right, treated and ornamented in the Chapter’s specialist armorium to fit the wearer like a glove. Upon its panels are the diverse honours and scrollworks of the armour’s owner, whilst beneath its layered ceramite are hidden sources of indomitable stamina and strength. |
Artificer armour confers a 2+
armour save.
| Terminator armour, also known as Tactical Dreadnought Armour, is the toughest personal armour in the Imperium. Massively bulky, it contains not only sophisticated sensors and teleport integrators but a full exoskeleton arrangement of fibre bundles and adamantium rods to support the heavy gauge plasteel and ceramite plates that form the outer carapace. |
Terminator armour confers a 2+
armour save and a 5+
invulnerable save. Furthermore, models in Terminator armour have the
Bulky,
Deep Strike and
Relentless special rules, and may not make
Sweeping Advances.
Profiles for the following special issue wargear can be found in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook:
| A short-ranged scanning device, the auspex utilises broad wavelength detection modes to pinpoint concealed enemies. |
A model with an auspex can use it in place of making a shooting attack. If he does so, target an enemy unit within 12" (this does not count as choosing a target for his unit to shoot at). A unit that is targeted by one or more auspexes has its
cover save reduced by 1 until the end of the phase.
| This artefact contains ancient machine spirits that can be projected through the air to disrupt a nearby mechanism. |
Subtract 1 from the Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill and Initiative characteristics of any enemy vehicles within 6" of a model that is equipped with a clavis.
| Some warriors wear a combat shield fitted to their vambrace to provide an additional element of protection. |
A combat shield confers a 6+
invulnerable save.
Deathwatch Teleport Homer
| Teleport homers emit a signal that allows orbiting Deathwatch Strike Cruisers to lock onto them with teleportation equipment. |
Friendly units composed entirely of models in
Terminator armour, or that have the
Sudden Onslaught special rule, do not
scatter when they
Deep Strike, so long as the first model is placed within 6" of the Deathwatch teleport homer’s bearer. For this to work, the bearer of the Deathwatch teleport homer must have been on the battlefield at the start of the turn.
| Digital weapons are concealed lasers fitted into rings, bionic implants or the knuckles of a glove. They lack range, but can be used in melee to take advantage of an enemy’s exposed weakness. |
A model armed with digital weapons can re-roll a single failed
roll To Wound in each
Assault phase.
| Perfected from their original design to better slay Tyranid monstrosities, these heavy shells incorporate a powerful bio-acid. |
Each time a weapon equipped with hellfire shells fires, the
controlling player can choose whether to fire a hellfire shell or to use the ordinary profile for that weapon.
| The iron halo is a powerful device granted to high-ranking Space Marine officers. Worn behind the head or incorporated into the armour, the iron halo contains an energy field that wards against the most potent xenos weaponry. |
An iron halo confers a 4+
invulnerable save.
| A jump pack enables the wearer to make great bounding leaps, or make a boosted flight over short distances. Jump packs also enable airdrop deployment, the wearer plummeting into battle from low-flying dropships, using controlled bursts to slow their descent. |
Models equipped with jump packs gain the
Jump unit type.
| A rosarius is worn by a Chaplain for protection and as a symbol of office. It emits an energy field that can deflect the blows of alien monstrosities. It is believed that the stronger its bearer’s belief in the might of the Emperor, the stronger a rosarius’ force field will be. |
A rosarius confers a 4+
invulnerable save.
| A storm shield is a large, solid shield that has an energy field generator built into it. Though the bulk of the shield offers physical protection, it is the energy field which is more impressive, as it is capable of deflecting almost any attack. Even blows that would normally cut through Terminator armour are turned aside with ease by the protective energies of the storm shield. |
A storm shield confers a 3+
invulnerable save. In addition, a model equipped with a storm shield can never claim the
+1 Attack for being armed with two
Melee weapons in an assault.
| A stasis bomb creates a localised bubble of space-time isolated from the rest of reality. They are dangerous to use at close range, however, and it is not unknown for the wielder to be caught in the stasis anomaly for all eternity. |
Once per game, when
Artemis makes close combat attacks, he can choose instead to make a single stasis bomb attack. If he does so,
roll To Hit as normal, but resolve the attack at
Strength D AP1. If the attack misses, however, Artemis suffers a Strength D AP1 hit instead.
| Teleport homers emit a powerful signal enabling orbiting Strike Cruisers to lock onto them with their teleportation equipment. By matching the exact coordinates of this signal, the risk of missing the intended mark is greatly reduced. |
Friendly units composed entirely of models in
Terminator armour do not
scatter when they
Deep Strike, so long as the first model is placed within 6" of Jetek Suberei. For this to work, Jetek Suberei must have been on the battlefield at the start of the turn.
Among the armouries of the Deathwatch are a number of items so powerful that their very presence on the field of battle could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Only one of each of the following may be chosen per army.
Only one of each Relic of the Vigilant may be taken per army. A model can take one of the following:
1 Can only be taken by a Watch Master. Replaces model’s clavis.
2 Replaces model’s Melee weapon.
| Arch-Magister Eryxia spent her entire life in search of the perfect bolt shell. She spent decades working with the Deathwatch, perfecting not only the specialist ammunition of their Chapter, but also the bolter clips that dispensed them. Though few in number, some of her finest creations are still extant, housed within ammunition clips chased in platinum. Whatever the nature of the foe, just one of Eryxia’s Banebolts, when delivered to the centre mass, can slay its target in a second. |
A model that is equipped with Banebolts of Eryxia can use the following special issue ammunition, in addition to any other types it can normally use.
Kill-shot:
If the
To Wound roll for an attack with this weapon is 6, it has the
Instant Death special rule.
| This artefact takes the form of an ornate tower shield; when its edge is slammed down hard into the ground, it projects a hemispherical force field that protects all those within its reach from baleful energies. Carried to war by those Kill Teams expected to plunge into the heart of the xenos hordes, it has saved countless lives, the bearer and his team fighting to victory as the dome-like force field keeps the worst of the alien scum at bay. |
If a model equipped with the Dominus Aegis does not move in the
Movement phase, its unit gains a 4+
invulnerable save until the start of your next Movement phase.
| The Beacon Angelis was devised to guide the Deathwatch to the threshold of the alien adversary. Housed within a reliquary, the Beacon Angelis calls out to the augur arrays of the Deathwatch with the voices of a hundred electric cherubim. Its summons is so strong it will draw the righteous unto its locale regardless of what darkness may surround it. |
Friendly units do not
scatter when they
Deep Strike, so long as the first model is placed within 6" of the model bearing the Beacon Angelis. In addition, once per game, at the start of any friendly
Movement phase, the bearer can use the Beacon Angelis to teleport his comrades to his position. When he does so, remove one friendly unit that has the
Deathwatch Faction from the board, even if it is
locked in combat. They then immediately arrive within 6" of the bearer, using the rules for
Deep Strike.
| The ancient clavis known as the Osseus Key is said to be the most powerful of its kind. Where the other such devices that still exist within the Imperium are made from sanctified platinum, the Osseus Key is made from the knuckles and phalanges of deceased Imperial Fist heroes that fought in the Horus Heresy. It was scrimshawed with inhuman care and imbued with the mightiest machine spirits of the age. Only those Deathwatch officers who have proved their valour beyond all doubt are entrusted with the Osseus Key, for no portal can bar its bearer from entry, and no xenos machine can stand before his wrath. |
The Osseus Key is a
clavis. In addition, if a model equipped with the Osseus Key attacks a
vehicle or
building in the
Assault Phase, roll a dice after all of its Attacks have been resolved to determine the effects:
| The power sword known as the Thief of Secrets is inhabited by a machine spirit that has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. When it tastes the vital fluids of an enemy, those liquids are absorbed into the blade and codified by the honeycombed array of logicum cells within. The biological secrets of the impaled creature are then analysed by the blade’s machine spirit, allowing its wielder to exploit the stolen knowledge from that point on. |
Biophage:
Whenever a model inflicts an unsaved wound with the Thief of Secrets, the weapon learns the weakness of that model’s unit and any other units of the same type (for example, if it wounds a Carnifex, it learns the weakness of all Carnifexes). Any future attacks made using the Thief of Secrets against units whose weaknesses are known to it will successfully score a wound on a
To Wound roll of 2+. This lasts until the end of the battle.
| This grimoire, bound in the skin of the alien, holds the most powerful truths the Deathwatch have uncovered about their xenos foes. The bearer can ascertain the vulnerabilities of those he is about to face – such knowledge has in the past saved not only the book’s custodian, but entire worlds. |
At the start of each of your turns, you can pick one of the
Mission Tactics. Until the start of your next turn, this tactic applies to the model carrying the Tome of Ectoclades, and all other models in its unit that have the
Deathwatch Faction. This is in addition to the benefits of any other Mission Tactic that may currently be active and affecting your Deathwatch forces.
Deathwatch Vehicle Equipment
Profiles for the following deathwatch vehicle equipment can be found in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook:
| The Corvus Blackstar bears arrays of sensor equipment that contain Vigilus-class machine spirits. Acting much as the auspexes borne by those Space Marines that hunt the alien across the battlefields of the Imperium, these arrays use wide-spectrum strafe readers to detect the presence of hostile life forms and war engines. |
A
Corvus Blackstar equipped with an auspex array has the
Strafing Run special rule.
| These hull plates are thrice-blessed by the Chapter’s Techmarines and anointed with the seven sacred unguents of thermic warding to protect against the extreme conditions of orbital re-entry. Such precautions also serve to thwart the fury of certain weapons, absorbing and dispersing even the most extreme temperatures and microwave emissions. |
Melta weapons do not roll an extra D6
armour penetration when shooting a
vehicle equipped with ceramite plating at half range or less.
| The hulls of Land Raider Crusaders and Land Raider Redeemers are studded with explosive charges designed to hurl shrapnel at the enemy as the troops inside charge out. |
Any unit charging into close combat on the same turn as it
disembarks from a
transport vehicle equipped with frag assault launchers counts as having
frag grenades.
| When a Corvus Blackstar comes under attack from enemy flak, missiles, or biological equivalents, the pilot will deploy a complex spread of sanctified flares and decoys from its infernum halo-launcher. These fan out around the Blackstar like the white-feathered wings of an angel from Terran myth, baffling and intercepting the incoming xenos munitions. |
You can re-roll failed
cover saves for a Corvus Blackstar that is
Jinking if it is equipped with an infernum halo-launcher.
| Locator beacons are often mounted onto Drop Pods and Corvus Blackstars. They provide a system of signalling packages, broad-spectrum communicators, and geopositional trackers. When activated, the beacon uploads detailed positional information to the Watch Captain’s tactical grid, allowing precision reinforcement from the second wave of the attack. |
Friendly units do not
scatter when they
Deep Strike, so long as the first model is placed within 6" of a model with a locator beacon. The locator beacon must have been on the battlefield at the start of the turn in order for it to be used.
