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Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch – Tyranid Invasion is a turn-based tactics video game developed and published by Rodeo Games. Initially released for iOS on July 16, 2015, ports for Windows and PlayStation 4 were released as Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch – Enhanced Edition. It is based on Games Workshop 's tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000.
Oct 9, 2024 · The Deathwatch were formed during the 32nd millennium, a thousand years after the Imperium was split by the Horus Heresy. It was during this time that an incredibly large force of Orks began its assault on Terra (Earth).
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Oct 19, 2016 · There’s a lot of talk about the Deathwatch at the moment in the Warhammer 40,000 community, with the recent releases of two boxed games and an army, as well as accompanying short stories and novels.
- Overview
- Chapter History
- Watch Fortresses
- Watch Stations
- Deathwatch Organisation
- Deathwatch Veterans
- Chapter Rivalries
- Deathwatch Combat Doctrine
- Deathwatch in the Jericho Reach
The Deathwatch, known also as the "Long Vigil," and the "Long Watch," is a unique Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes comprised solely of Veteran Space Marines that serves the Ordo Xenos of the Imperial Inquisition as its Chamber Militant. They are the warriors of last resort when the Inquisition needs access to firepower greater than that which the Astra Militarum or a team of its own Acolytes or Throne Agents can provide.
Across the galaxy there are innumerable hostile alien civilisations that threaten Humanity, from the green-skinned Orks, to the monstrous Tyranids, sadistic Drukhari, spectral C'tan, and undying Necrons.
It is the sacred task of the Deathwatch to stand sentry against all of these terrible xenos races and many more besides. They are ready to act when such ancient evils rise to threaten Mankind once more. The Space Marines of the Deathwatch form the first, and often only, line of defence against these inhuman horrors.
Unlike other Space Marines, the ones serving in the Deathwatch are not truly a separate Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes; rather, they are a collection of Veteran Space Marines drawn from all of the different extant Chapters who serve together in the Inquisition's service for a discrete period of time.
To be chosen by one's Chapter to serve in the Long Vigil of the Deathwatch is a great honour for any Space Marine. Only the most elite and experienced members of a Chapter are ever chosen for this extremely hazardous tour of duty, the specifics of which must be kept secret by Inquisitorial order and sacred oath even from a Deathwatch Astartes' home Chapter.
Deathwatch Space Marines do not usually form the standard tactical groups like squads and companies generally used by the Adeptus Astartes. Instead, they operate as small, special forces units in close-knit groups of specialists called "kill-teams."
Origins
The exact origins of the Deathwatch are uncertain, but its inception can be traced to the period known as the Time of Rebirth in 544.M32, and the arrival in Imperial space of the largest Ork WAAAGH! seen since the Ullanor Crusade during the closing years of the Great Crusade. Led by the mysterious warlord known only as The Beast, this Greenskin invasion threatened the very Throneworld of Terra itself. During this conflict, remembered as the War of the Beast, it was the newly-elected lord commander of the Imperium, Chapter Master and sole surviving member of the Imperial Fists named Koorland who devised the concept of utilising small, veteran Astartes kill-teams to eliminate vital strategic assets of the encroaching Greenskins and eventually, The Beast itself. Though reluctant at first to acquiesce to the lord commander's plan to approve the creation of such a force, desperate times called for desperate measures. Therefore, the High Lords of Terra consented to Koorland's proposal. The original recruits for this newly created elite force were drawn from the survivors of the various Chapters who took part in the initial invasion of The Beast's capital world of Ullanor. These Chapters suffered severe losses during the invasion. Thus standing in vigil over their fallen brethren, the seeds of the Deathwatch were sown. Lord Commander Koorland eventually came to an agreement with the Inquisitorial Representative Wienand to assuage any doubts by the rest of the Senatorum Imperialis that the Deathwatch would fall under the purview of the Inquisition, but an Astartes would ultimately serve as Chapter Master. It was in the wake of the War of the Beast that the Inquisition itself was divided into the first two of the Ordos Majoris, the Ordo Malleus and the Ordo Xenos. The Deathwatch was chosen to be an integral part of the newborn Ordo Xenos and serve as its Chamber Militant the way the Grey Knights served as the Chamber Militant of the Daemon-hunting Ordo Malleus. However, there are conflicting accounts which state the Deathwatch's origins occurred somewhat differently, and that it was founded at an unknown time centuries ago. These records state that a conclave of Inquisitor Lords -- the Apocryphon Conclave of Orphite IV -- convened with the sole purpose of formulating an Imperium-wide strategy to combat the many xenos threats that assailed Mankind. The members of this conclave were, in the main, drawn from the ranks of the Ordo Xenos, all of whom shared the belief that one day, there would come a time when Humanity would be consumed by slavering xenos beasts, or enslaved to creatures of unutterably alien origins. They foresaw an age when every alien life form in the galaxy, and others from beyond it, might rise up and the Age of the Imperium would come to an end. They had no inkling when such a terrible age might come, but they knew with dreadful certainty that it surely would, and they determined that no effort should be spared to avert such an end. The conclave sat for many standard years, and bitter debate raged back and forth between Inquisitor Lords of many different positions. Some believed that every trace of alien life should be purged from the galaxy, while a few advocated the formation of alliances with those alien races like the Craftworld Aeldari that could be tolerated. Some spoke of the existence of ancient, god-like beings that have slumbered since before the birth of Mankind awakening to enslave the galaxy, while others foresaw that death would come at the hands of invasion from other galaxies entirely. While many Puritan Inquisitor Lords declared the conclave itself an admission of defeat for even countenancing that Mankind might not prevail against these threats, wiser counsel prevailed, and a strategy was eventually formulated. The conclave would request an audience with the assembled Chapter Masters of the Adeptus Astartes, and ask of them a solemn undertaking. It is not known how many Chapter Masters assembled to hear the words of the conclave, for such an event has only occurred a handful of times in the long history of the Imperium. Nor were the words of the Inquisitors recorded for posterity. Certainly, enough Chapter Masters must have answered the call, for a quorum of sorts was convened. The conclave presented its prophecy to the Chapter Masters, evoking the galaxy-wide threat of the ravening xenos. The Chapter Masters, every one a veteran of a thousand campaigns against the terrors of the void, listened to the Inquisitors' words, and withdrew to consider the matter. The results of the Chapter Masters' deliberations were delivered to the conclave at sunrise the next solar day. Each of the masters and Inquisitors took a solemn oath together. They would form a new Chapter, consisting of Veteran Space Marines highly experienced in combating the xenos. This Chapter was dubbed the "Deathwatch," for it would stand guard against the doom foretold by the conclave. Thus, to this day, this joint oath still stands. The battle-brothers of the Deathwatch take the war against the alien to the very darkest reaches of the void, bringing to bear such force as no individual Inquisitor could hope to muster. In this mission, the Ordo Xenos and the Deathwatch are equals, the Inquisitors rooting out and tracking down the foes for the Deathwatch to eradicate. While neither party is subject to the command of the other, both work in concert towards their common goal, according to those oaths made centuries ago. The two work closely together, ever watchful for that fateful day when the prophecies of the conclave are realised. Whatever the truth of its birth, since the Deathwatch's inception in the 32nd Millennium, there have been periods when the Imperium dared to believe it was holding the xenos menace at bay. By dint of countless martyrdoms, this hidden order has kept the segmentums of the Emperor's domain safe -- until now. The crises of the Time of Ending and the Era Indomitus have exposed how thin a line lies between the present and the alien apocalypse feared by all Mankind.
War Upon the Brink
In the 41st Millennium, the shield of the Deathwatch has been shaken, shivered and brought to the edge of destruction. Never before have so many threats to the fabric of Humanity's realm risen up at one time; never before have so many powerful xenos species sought to take the galaxy for their own. A thousand horrors gnaw and tear at the fabric of destiny, foes old and new emerging to take their chance as Mankind is torn apart by its long and escalating war against Chaos in the Era Indomitus. The Craftworld Aeldari fight for a resurgence ten millennia in the making, taking no prisoners as they seek to burn brightly before the end. Their vile Commorrite cousins, the Drukhari, intend to line their larders of damned souls before the apocalypse breaks, raiding in never-before-seen numbers to leave once-thriving worlds empty of sentient life as their collections of chattel slaves grow ever larger to feed their dark appetite for suffering. The Necron dynasties awake faster than the Deathwatch can put them down, long-buried undying armies lurching to life as ancient overlords attempt to restore a lifeless order to the era of mayhem that greets their awakening. The Orks, a threat long turned upon itself by the Deathwatch's surgical raids, are finally uniting under the prophet of Armageddon, Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. Their green tsunami of violence -- the Great WAAAGH! -- is set to drown the stars. On the Eastern Fringe the tech-savant armies of the T'au Empire expand aggressively, their invention of the ZFR Horizon Accelerator Engine pushing them across the Damocles Gulf to steal worlds from the Imperium at a shocking pace. Further out drift the numberless bio-ships of the Great Devourer, the extragalactic menace that is the Tyranids. Hive Fleets Behemoth and Kraken push the rapacious tendrils of their remaining splinter fleets further coreward with every standard year, leaving nothing but scoured balls of rock in their wake. A dozen others encroach upon the Imperium's borders, their living bio-ships creeping from the void in numbers beyond sane measure. Perhaps it is Hive Fleet Leviathan that should be feared the most, for its splinter fleets emerge from under the galactic core in the Era Indomitus to menace the Segmentum Pacificus and the Segmentum Solar -- the seat of Human civilisation itself. With every standard year more requests are levelled unto the wider Adeptus Astartes by the Deathwatch, citing ancient oaths to claim tithe after tithe. Yet the astropathic messages flow both ways. Hundreds of Chapters are formally requesting their battle-brothers be discharged from their Long Vigils and sent back, despite the tarnishing of their honour that this entails. In this time of woe, every Space Marine is vital in the war against the dark powers that seek to capsize reality itself. Whether Humanity will survive to see in a new age is unknown, but the Deathwatch is fighting with every iota of its strength to ensure it.
Notable Campaigns
Since the Deathwatch's inception in the mid-32nd Millennium, there have been periods when the Imperium dared to believe it was holding the xenos menace at bay. By dint of countless martyrdoms, this hidden order has kept the segmentae of the Emperor's domain safe. Now, as the Great Rift ravages the galaxy in the Era Indomitus, the stakes of that battle have never been higher.
The Deathwatch is the most vigilant defender the Imperium has to guard its borders. It operates from remote stations known as "watch fortresses," each absent from Imperial records, as to the Deathwatch, obfuscation is another moat with which to keep its castles strong.
Each space-borne watch fortress is a sovereign domain ruled by the Space Marine officer known as its "watch commander." On his authority, entire sectors are put to the torch without question. These strikes are so effective that the grand crusades of attrition which typify Humanity's approach to war are made unnecessary -- many growing threats are contained and expunged before the wider Imperium is even aware of them.
Each Deathwatch stronghold operates under a shroud of secrecy, standing as a hidden sentinel over a select area of the Imperium's dominion. Some are space-borne void fortresses that monitor a specific threat -- i.e. Castilos Nullifact watches for the rise of the long-slumbering Necron dynasties in the north of the Ultima Segmentum, whereas Fort Pykman monitors the Ghoul Stars and the horrors that lie beyond. Others instead keep watch over a specific area in which aliens have been sighted in great measure.
There are those smaller outposts called "watch stations" which house a garrison of only a handful of battle-brothers, whilst the largest of watch fortresses play host to multiple entire Watch Companies, each of which comprises four full kill-teams. Regardless of size, these space stations bristle with weaponry -- islands of sanity and strength in the midst of the endless sea of stars.
The watch stations are fortified outposts used by the Deathwatch throughout the galaxy. There are many watch stations scattered across the worlds, moons, and cold void of the Jericho Reach for instance, and no two watch stations are quite the same. Some take the form of single-blocked, armoured bastions from which eagle-headed gargoyles glare out at the silent expanses of Dead Worlds. Others are complexes of forbidding towers strung through the peaks of lunar mountain ranges, while yet others are small, jagged void stations that watch from the blackness of space, bristling with auspex arrays and seer-webs. No matter their location, all watch stations exist to serve the Deathwatch as bases of operation, and as an ever-vigilant gaze on the Deathwatch's assigned sector of the galaxy.
Each station is fitted with highly advanced sensors that constantly gather information about the area around them. These sensors gaze far into space, scour the air for communications of all types, and even skim the Warp with powerful witch-sight augurs. All the information gathered by a watch station is stored in data reservoirs in the heart of the station. When any Deathwatch Space Marine leaves a watch station, it is his duty to take a copy of the information gathered by that station and return it to one of the main watch fortresses for entry into its records. Small, high-speed, Warp-capable vessels known as "Dark Hunters" are designed to slip unseen through the stars while they make their rounds, harvesting each watch station's valuable data.
Thus, the Deathwatch sees much that passes in the Jericho Reach and other regions of the galaxy that eludes most others. All watch stations house weapons and materiel caches to some extent; arms that can be accessed by any Deathwatch kill-team that needs them. Many also have extensive medical, analysis, and armoury facilities that any Deathwatch kill-team that needs them can avail themselves of, although to gain the full extent of their use, the specialised skills of an Apothecary or a Techmarine are required.
Most watch stations are not physically manned by battle-brothers, except for when they function as a base of operations in the field. Many watch stations can go for solar decades without a battle-brother crossing their threshold.
Joining the Deathwatch
It is considered a great honour among the Space Marines to join the Deathwatch, for in many ways they are a level above their kinsmen -- the elite of the elite. Just as the Adeptus Astartes are recruited only from the most promising warriors of all Mankind, the Chapter is formed from only the most talented and lethal of proven battle-brothers who have already earned Veteran status. This makes it an Astartes force truly like no other. The Deathwatch is organised into small, elite companies, much in the style of a Space Marine Chapter. Its numbers are not recruited from a single homeworld, however, nor from trusted source planets rich in quality genetic stock. Instead the organisation is comprised of Space Marines from Chapters that have pledged to tithe a portion of their strength to the endless war against the alien. Its ranks number only heroes, and each of them has already proven himself an expert alien hunter even before his training as a Deathwatch operative began. Should a battle-brother consistently excel in the slaughter of the alien, he will invariably come to the notice of the officers of his Chapter. Most commonly it is the captain of his company that vouches for his skill in combat against the alien, his Apothecary that attests to his impeccable physical ability, and his Chaplain that weighs his strength of character and the sanctity of his soul. If all three officers are in agreement, the Chapter Master is consulted, and with his approval the potential recruit's fate is set. Though it may be Terran years until he is finally called upon to join the Long Vigil, he will become one of the most specialised of all the Imperium's defenders, every waking solar hour given over to a single overarching goal -- the eradication of the xenos foe of Humanity. Most of the Chapters in the Imperium will despatch a brother chosen to join the Deathwatch after a ceremony to mark his departure. The Ultramarines gather as much of the relevant company's strength as possible, saluting their departing comrade as he boards the black-hulled Thunderhawk that will take him to his new life. The Dark Angels Chapter sends him on his way under an oath of secrecy, reminding him that he must never speak of hidden truths. Regardless of Chapter, the occasion is always a solemn one. All know in their hearts they will likely never see their brother again -- he will join the front line in the war against the alien as a martyr to the cause. In recognition of his probable fate, the initiate's power armour is painted jet black. Upon arrival at the watch fortress that will become his new home, the Deathwatch recruit begins a punishing regime of physical and mental conditioning that takes him to the peak of efficacy. He may have faced dozens of alien species in his former life, but thousands more haunt the dark reaches of the galaxy. Through a gruelling new course of hypnoindoctrination, the recruit's subconscious mind is filled with every detail the Deathwatch has gleaned about the nature of its xenos nemeses. So it is that when he comes to battle an alien he previously considered unknown, its weak spots and vulnerabilities rise unbidden to the forefront of his mind. Once a Space Marine has completed his training, any former rank he may have held in his Chapter is put aside, and he is assigned to a squad known as a "kill-team." Each of these groups is a band of disparate battle-brothers taken from as many as ten different Chapters, all of whom have their own cultures, specialities and insights into the arts of war. This can lead to friction and rivalry as personalities clash and spark against one another, but the members of the team share the same core ideals, and have sworn the same vows -- to defend Mankind no matter the cost to themselves. The Space Marines that fight together in these kill-teams inevitably bond in adversity. Every team learns to respect and even rely upon its differing methods and abilities. By the time the kill-team plunges into the white heat of battle, it has been forged into a weapon far stronger than the sum of its parts. As any swordsmith knows, the finest blades are made of many layers, and must be folded together, beaten, and tempered before they can be considered masterpieces of their craft. It is just so with the Deathwatch kill-team; each squad is a unique and exceptional weapon whose edge has been honed so finely it can topple an alien empire with a single, well-placed strike. As the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos, the Deathwatch is formally tasked with the study and, if necessary, the extermination of dangerous intelligent xenos species encountered by the Imperium. They are also tasked with the observation of alien races, and the acquisition of their devices, artefacts and other technology for further study by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Sometimes it is necessary to use a weapon against the enemy who created it, although this is never done lightly. The Deathwatch is constantly vigilant for sabotage, or to advise if it is truly safe to use a weapon of xenos origin. The Adeptus Mechanicus is always on the lookout for alien technology; for instance, the C'tan Phase Sword, used by the Callidus Assassins, was recovered from a Necron Tomb World and successfully integrated into the arsenal of the Imperium. The Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes are bound by an ancient oath made to the Emperor to provide troops to the Deathwatch. However, particularly amongst some of the more radical Space Marine Chapters, this can be a great test of duty, especially for those like the Dark Angels or the Black Templars that see the Inquisition as corrupt and an enemy of the rightful political independence and autonomy of the Adeptus Astartes. Although there is no question of any Chapter or Space Marine failing to fulfill their ancient pledges, Chapters like the Iron Hands, Dark Angels, Space Wolves and Blood Angels have a notoriously strained relationship with the Inquisition. It is not unheard of for Radical Ordo Xenos Inquisitors to find the secondment of Deathwatch troops to their command facilitated by aiding one of these Space Marines Chapters against the political machinations of a puritanical Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor. Other Chapters such as the Ultramarines, Crimson Fists and Imperial Fists have a far closer relationship with the Inquisition as a whole and the Ordo Xenos itself. Space Marines from these Chapters are more frequently and in greater number inducted into the Deathwatch, although a kill-team may be made up of any variety of Astartes as the resources of the Ordo Xenos' Chamber Militant are positioned around the galaxy. The Space Marines making up a Deathwatch kill-team can vary hugely in personal philosophy, culture and custom but are bound together by their loyalty to the Emperor and their zealous hatred of the alien enemies of Humanity. A Space Marine will remain with the Deathwatch until the Inquisitor leading the detachment or his watch master deems that the necessary tasks have been completed so that he may return to his Chapter with honour.
Structure of a Watch Fortress
The Deathwatch's bases of operation are spread thinly across the galaxy, and neither their commanders nor even the Inquisition know of them all. In the darkness that permeates the galaxy in the Era Indomitus, each is a blazing watchfire set to illuminate the abhorrent xenos, and a node of a reticulated shield that spreads over the Imperium. Every Deathwatch fortress and station forms an unsleeping network, ever alert to alien existence. By necessity, the Deathwatch maintain a great many assets in every segmentum. The Chapter's primary stations are their watch fortresses, the majority of which are an orbiting void station rather than an emplaced planetary bastion. Their locations are kept absent from Imperial records, and many exist above inhabited Human planets unaware of their silent guardians. The largest watch fortress is Talasa Prime -- not a single station, but an entire world gifted in perpetuity to the Deathwatch by the Ultramarines Chapter from the Realm of Ultramar in the Segmentum Ultima. Talasa Prime was long the primary training station for the Deathwatch, but since the emergence of the Great Rift, the influx of battle-brothers from those regions of space beyond the light of the Astronomican now designated the Imperium Nihilus has all but stopped. Rumours suggest the watch fortresses of Praefex Venatoris and Fort Excalibris now share responsibility for this duty in the Imperium Nihilus. Each Deathwatch outpost maintains training facilities, but many operate primarily as listening posts or rearming and coordination hubs. Some watch fortresses are relatively young, having been founded mere standard centuries ago to monitor a specific threat. Others are ancient, the proud standards in their Sanctums Bellicos embroidered with electrotapestral lists of thousands of actions. Every modest notation is a battle or clandestine operation that saved billions of lives, whether from xenos blades or from the excoriations of the Imperium after suspected contamination. Every watch fortress is a sovereign domain, standing sentinel over an appointed area of the Emperor's realm. Each may be responsible for a number of outlying watch stations, but many of these smaller bases are just as independent of higher authority. Though separated by gulfs of space, the hierarchical structure of most watch fortresses are identical. Ultimate responsibility is vested in a watch commander -- one who has fought with the Deathwatch for Terran centuries. Usually this will be a watch master or in rarer cases a highly-experienced watch captain. Supporting the watch commander are the members of his strategium, which includes Deathwatch Librarians, Deathwatch Apothecaries, Deathwatch Chaplains and Deathwatch Dreadnoughts, whilst his Deathwatch Techmarines are entrusted with rule of the Armoury, and his watch captains and watch lieutenants with providing strategic and tactical counsel as well as the leadership for four largely independent kill-teams, which together comprise one "Watch Company." The specialist officers common to almost all Adeptus Astartes Chapters maintain duties in the Deathwatch similar to those they performed in their former brotherhoods. Thus, Deathwatch Techmarines are entrusted with the watch fortress' vehicles and wargear, overseeing legions of servitors and maintaining the integrity of the Chapter's specialist equipment and war engines. They also use their esoteric training in the arcane machine lore of the Priesthood of Mars to assess the capabilities of xenos vehicles and the effects of alien weaponry upon Deathwatch power armour. Within their own spheres of expertise, Deathwatch Apothecaries, Librarians, Chaplains and others preserve the purity of a watch fortress' battle-brothers, maintaining vigilance for the taint of the alien -- whether this be the biological, the empyric or even the spiritual. Each Watch Company -- typically five in number within each watch fortress -- is headed by a watch captain and his two subordinate watch lieutenants. He and his warriors are identified by markings in black and red that are unique to their Watch Company and commonly applied to armoured poleyns or greaves. Most Watch Companies are smaller than their Codex Astartes-presribed equivalents, usually comprising no more than fifty Space Marines divided into 4 or 5 kill-teams and often far fewer. The martial prowess, xenophobic zeal and specialist weaponry they carry, however, mean that these Deathwatch Veterans are the equal of any entire Space Marine company. Though the greater structure of a watch fortress is traditionally kept sacrosanct, the kill-teams of a Watch Company under the command of a watch captain are flexible in the extreme, capable of rapidly adapting from one mission to the next. In times of war against a transparent threat, some may be specialised towards combating a particular breed or even rank of xenos. This may result in battle-brothers moving from one kill-team to another. It is rare for kill-teams to be kept cohesive for long, though there are those whose histories have spanned the centuries, forming bonds of brotherhood so strong they are counted amongst the foremost assets of the Chapter. While some missions call on kill-teams to form squads that correspond to Codex Astartes-approved designations, just as often they prepare unique kill-teams optimised to perform particular goals. These teams are made up of warriors equipped to deal with a wide range of enemies and mission types. Some are chosen for their versatility when facing unknown foes, while others are assembled with exacting duties in mind. Though the greater structure of a watch fortress is traditionally kept sacrosanct, the kill-teams under a watch captain are flexible in the extreme. In times of war against a transparent threat, some may be specialised towards combating a particular breed or even rank of xenos. This may result in battle-brothers moving from one kill-team to another, or may lead to entire kill-teams of the same type of specialists, such as Aggressors or Bikers, being fielded. It is rare for kill-teams to be kept cohesive for long, though there are those whose histories have spanned the Terran centuries such as Kill-team Cassius, forming bonds of brotherhood so strong they are counted amongst the foremost assets of the Chapter. No two kill-teams are ever the same. One may comprise Deathwatch Veterans wearing a mix of Tactical Dreadnought Armour and Mark VIII Errant Power Armour. Another fighting on the same mission may include some battle-brothers firing from the hip as they sprint to the next fire point, accompanied by others riding Assault Bikes and yet more powering skyward as they ignite Jump Packs. Even if the fusion of weapons, armour and wargear is identical, the complement of battle-brothers bearing them each bring a subtly different blend of skills and experience to the mission. The deployment of even a single Deathwatch kill-team is the unleashing of a powerful group of transhuman warriors, each a hero of their parent Chapter, fighting together to pool their specialist expertise. Few that face them live. Their presence in a war zone -- for those Imperial servants actually aware of it -- means the suspicion by the Inquisition of a gravely serious xenos threat and a thanks is offered to the Emperor for their vigilance. To authorise the deployment of an entire strike force or Watch Company of such warriors is to acknowledge an apocalyptic alien danger to Humanity. Each kill-team is normally commanded by a Deathwatch Veteran with the rank of sergeant, usually originally earned with their parent Chapter, after whom the kill-team takes its name. However, whenever one of a watch fortress' command staff takes leadership of one of its kill-teams, the name is changed accordingly -- for example, when led by Deathwatch Epistolary Galius, Kill-team Tidaeus, named for Sergeant Tidaeus, would become Kill-team Galius for the duration of that mission. All kill-teams can adopt more specialist configurations at the behest of its leader, but when the nature of the enemy is unknown, it is common for Firstborn kill-teams to adopt Aquila tactics, a wide-spectrum offensive pattern capable of adapting to overcome any obstacle, or to serve as a Fortis Kill-team, which is the most effective and adaptable of the Primaris Marine-only kill-teams which have become common in the Era Indomitus. At the time of the Ghosar Quintus Anomaly, the team led by famed Ultramarines Chaplain Ortan Cassius was arranged in this pattern -- its formal designation was Aquila Kill-team Cassius.
Specialist Ranks
The Deathwatch is uniquely organised as a formation of Astartes since the Veteran Space Marines that make it up are drawn from many different Chapters. After being seconded to the Deathwatch, these Space Marines are specially trained in small units called kill-teams to counter xenos threats. They are sworn to serve an open-ended term with the Deathwatch. When they return to their Chapter of origin, the former members of the Deathwatch take their hard-won knowledge with them to share with their battle-brothers, as well as supplies of specialist anti-alien weaponry. Specialist ranks and positions within the Deathwatch are very similar to those of Codex Astartes-compliant Chapters with the exception of a few unique specialist positions that are only found in the Deathwatch, including: •Deathwatch Apothecary - Deathwatch Apothecaries take on a number of additional duties over those performed in their parent Chapter. For starters, they must master the genetic inheritance not only of their own gene-seed, but of a myriad of other Chapters too, so that they might monitor and maintain the Astartes organ implants of all their fellow Space Marines, each of which may be drawn from a different Chapter with a different genetic inheritance. In this matter, Deathwatch Apothecaries occupy a uniquely trusted position. Aside from monitoring the state of the Space Marines' implants and altered transhuman metabolisms, the Apothecaries must also be ever alert to the risk of alien contamination, as Deathwatch kill-teams often come into contact with numerous xenos species and the bacterial life they contain. The greatest duty that a Deathwatch Apothecary must perform is to recover the gene-seed of a fallen battle-brother, so that it may be returned to his parent Chapter, and he may live on through the creation of future generations of Space Marines. •Deathwatch Assault Marine - Assault Marines are specialists in the brutal art of close quarters combat. They carry a range of weaponry, usually a lethal combination of a pistol and a melee weapon, the most common being the iconic Bolt Pistol and chainsword. Many choose to take to the battlefield equipped with a Jump Pack, allowing them to close rapidly on their foes, often descending from above in a devastating charge. A Deathwatch Assault Marine is likely to be a warrior who has mastered all of the methods of war, and discovered that he is most skilled at close combat. To serve as an Assault Marine is to go quite literally face-to-face with the most terrible of Humanity's foes, and to have pitted wits against the vilest of beasts countless times, and won. When serving in a Deathwatch kill-team, it is the task of the Assault Marine to close with and engage the enemy in an overwhelming charge. Many of the alien foes the Deathwatch must face are ravening beasts sporting multiple, diamond-hard claws, whipping tentacles, slavering maws or carrying all manner of deadly close combat weaponry. •Deathwatch Black Shield - Amongst the ranks of the Deathwatch there are anonymous warriors that bear no Chapter mark, their right pauldron showing only featureless black. By ancient tradition, a Space Marine with his heraldry obscured may present himself before a Watch Commander and petition for admittance to the Deathwatch. He may not be questioned or pressed to divulge anything about his origins, all such information having been ritually obliterated by the removal of his Chapter's mark. Should he be accepted, only the silvered skull of the Deathwatch will mark out the allegiance of these so-called, "Black Shields", who shun the company of other Space Marines until the time of battle is upon them. Such warriors are unique to the Deathwatch and even there, they are regarded as figures of ill-omen. •Deathwatch Champion - Deathwatch Champions are among the mightiest of the Emperor's Chosen. A Deathwatch Champion fears no alien monstrosity or xenos death machine, his skills and armaments the equal of anything the foe can bring to bear. His coming is an inspiration to his battle-brothers and a terror to his enemies, as he is an all-destroying comet blazing across the battlefield in an arc of glory. A Space Marine in the Deathwatch may be elevated to the status of Champion by several means. Most commonly it is bestowed by a Watch Captain in recognition of a mighty feat of arms in battle. However, Deathwatch Champions are also elevated on the strength of their longstanding courage and steadfastness, by the turn of the Emperor's Tarot or by a common acquiescence of their battle-brothers. •Deathwatch Chaplain - Deathwatch Chaplains act in a similar role to those of other Chapters by serving as the spiritual leaders of battle-brothers undertaking their Vigil with the Deathwatch. However, the challenges facing a Deathwatch Chaplain are unique. The rigours of serving in the Deathwatch can be sorely vexing for Space Marines accustomed to the rigidly ordered life of their own Chapters. A Deathwatch Chaplain must study extensively during his training. He must know the beliefs and values of a thousand different Chapters and their sometimes contradictory legends of the Primarchs by heart. A Deathwatch Chaplain must become a dedicated scholar of the Primarchs and of Chapter histories originating at the very dawn of the Imperium. Thus, when a Deathwatch battle-brother stands at the brink of despair or impotent rage, the Chaplain will know the right liturgies and catechisms to speak, and which Chapter heroes or legendary battles of the past to cite that will inspire the warriors of the present. •Deathwatch Devastator Marine - Devastator Marines are those battle-brothers tasked with manning the heaviest and most powerful of portable weapons. In his parent Chapter, the Devastator Marine might recently have ascended from the 10th Scout Company, and therefore be undertaking a crucial stage in the process of mastering all of the arts of war. In the Deathwatch, however, it is more likely that the Devastator Marine has already served in his parent Chapter as a Devastator, Assault and Tactical Marine, and is returning to the role he most excels in -- the application of overwhelming firepower. In battle, the Deathwatch Devastator Marine carries one of a wide range of heavy weapons, and his role is to provide fire support for the other members of the kill-team. It is often the case that a concentrated burst of fire from a heavy weapon like a Heavy Bolter or Plasma Gun will force the enemy to seek cover, thus allowing the kill-team to advance across otherwise perilous ground. •Deathwatch Dreadnought - Rare as it is for a Space Marine to be revered enough to become an Old One, it is rarer still for a member of the Deathwatch to achieve the same honour. The circumstances of the small unit actions undertaken by kill-teams often make it impossible to retrieve a fatally injured battle-brother and inter them within a Dreadnought's cybernetic life-support sarcophagus in time to be transported to a Watch Fortress. Even if such is achieved, the Space Marine must be worthy and willing to remain with the Deathwatch, effectively renewing their vows to serve with the Long Watch in perpetuity. Finally, permission must be sought and received from the Space Marine's own Chapter that he may remain with the Deathwatch. Should all these difficulties be overcome the sarcophagus of a Deathwatch Old One is placed in a great sepulchre with others of its kind in one of a handful of hidden Watch Fortresses. There the Old One will sleep away the centuries until the Techmarines awaken him to seek his knowledge or send him into battle once more. •Deathwatch Veteran - The Deathwatch is not formally divided into full separate companies of one hundred Astartes each as are other Space Marine Chapters. The basic tactical unit of the kill-team is the only truly set organisation used and individual kill-teams can often change their composition from mission to mission as ordered by the watch captain in ultimate command of them. Nonetheless, there are 1st Company Firstborn and Primaris Marine Veterans to be found in the ranks of the Deathwatch, expert warriors who have come to perform their Long Vigil and bring their considerable prowess to the service of the Watch. More rarely a Space Marine will win such renown within the Deathwatch that he is accorded the rank and privileges of a 1st Company Veteran in recognition for his zeal and purity during his Vigil. When the battle-brother returns to his Chapter, it is rare for his Chapter Master not to acknowledge this honour, inducting him into the 1st Company, or that Chapter's equivalent, at the first opportunity. •Deathwatch Veteran Biker - Where a Vanguard Veteran represents the pinpoint application of close combat force, the Deathwatch Veteran Biker is a nigh-unstoppable battering ram. A Veteran battle-brother at full sprint can break limbs with the weight of his charge, but one hurtling upon the dense tonnage of a Space Marine Assault Bike can plough through an entire battle line, guns blazing and chainsword juddering until dozens lie slain in his wake. The Veteran Bikers of the Deathwatch are excellent shock troopers, especially when several ride to war side-by-side. When the order for the final charge comes, theirs is a blunt and unsubtle duty -- to smash aside the alien's defences so that the xenos army's throat is exposed for a killing strike. As with many elements of their alien-hunting brotherhood, however, the Veteran Bikers' role is multifaceted. •Deathwatch Terminator - A Deathwatch Terminator, usually part of a Deathwatch Terminator Squad, is a Veteran Firstborn or Primaris Space Marine who serves in the Deathwatch Chapter as a Terminator or Assault Terminator wearing Tactical Dreadnought Armour. The indomitable Deathwatch Veterans honoured to wear the hulking Terminator Armour are an inspiring sight to their brethren. Deathwatch Terminators carry the most powerful close combat weapons and the strength and durability of their armour allows them to take the heaviest ranged firepower directly into hidden xenos lairs. •Deathwatch Forge Master - A Techmarine who wins sufficient renown may eventually be raised to the honoured rank of Forge Master within the Deathwatch. A Forge Master oversees the manufacture and maintenance of Deathwatch armaments of all kinds in a particular watch fortress. A Forge Master must also deal with all manner of xenotech captured by kill-teams on their missions, studying, categorising and determining its potential value or threat. A Forge Master is commonly a close confidante of the Watch Commander and acts as central cog in the functioning of the whole watch fortress and its associated kill-teams. Whether in a watch fortress or out on a mission, the Forge Master's position is one of the gravest responsibility, for kill-teams rely on the quality of the Forge Master's work in environments where a single faulty bolt round or inoperable vox receiver could spell disaster. •Deathwatch Keeper - A Deathwatch Keeper is a Veteran Space Marine and extremely capable warrior with many long standard years of service. Keepers are often equipped with ceremonial weapons and armour to make their status clear to all. They are often armed with tall powered glaives, double-handed chainswords or even incredibly ancient Las-lances. Richly embroidered robes cover their armour, save for their helmet and shoulder guards. Their helmets bear the Imperial Aquila or the icon of the Deathwatch, cunningly wrought into their faceplates. Beneath their robes their power armour is of the earliest and most hallowed marks, hailing from the days of the Great Crusade. Keepers appear most prominently on watch fortresses where their imposing figures bar entry to areas placed off-limits to ordinary battle-brothers, and stand sentinel over the captured xenos imprisoned within their walls. Even an Inquisitor may not pass a Keeper without special remit from the watch commander. Keepers occupy positions of the most solemn trust as guardians of the sacred and the most profane objects in the care of the Deathwatch. They fulfil sacred duties that in other Chapters would more commonly be undertaken by Librarians, Apothecaries or Techmarines, but amongst the ranks of the Deathwatch such specialists are too few and their tasks too many for this to be practical. Instead these burdens are undertaken by battle-brothers who have served the Watch across many decades' Vigils. Keepers are entrusted with all manner of things important to the Deathwatch -- everything from alien prisoners to the starships carrying kill-teams across the void. •Deathwatch Kill-marine - A Deathwatch Kill-marine is a specially trained battle-brother, skilled in solo operations, who is sent to investigate and exterminate where possible or to call in backup where it is truly needed. Not every xenos-related threat demands the full deployment of a kill-team, but many seemingly inconsequential incidents can be harbingers of a greater threat that would be unwise to ignore. Under these circumstances, a watch captain will deploy these lone Kill-marines to carry out their sacred duty. Scout Sergeants often make superlative Deathwatch Kill-marines with little additional training but these specialists are drawn from all the ranks of the Deathwatch as needed. A certain independence of thought and great personal strength of spirit are in many ways more important than exceptional stealth skills for a Kill-marine, for they must possess the right temperament to operate for long periods of time cut off from their kind and from their Chapter. Kill-marines spend time living alongside those they must ultimately defend, sharing their trials and seeing the world through their eyes. •Deathwatch Librarian - Librarians are those Space Marines born as psykers, able to wield the powers of the Warp against the foes of Mankind. Most of the Librarians called to serve in the Deathwatch hold the rank of Lexicanium, the most junior of the four ranks of the Space Marines' battlefield psykers. They are nonetheless warriors of fearsome ability and renown. However, a small number of higher-ranked Librarians do serve -- the most senior become the watch commanders' most valued counsellors. Within their own Chapters, Librarians may have different titles and unique methods of utilising their powers. Librarians fulfil a number of roles within the Deathwatch. Chief amongst them is that of the combat psyker. Librarians are also the guardians of the secrets of the Deathwatch. Within each watch fortress is to be found the sealed Vault which stores weapons and relics too dangerous to be allowed to fall into the hands of Mankind's enemies. Also within the Vault is an archive of forbidden knowledge. Not even the watch commander has access to these archives -- only the Librarians are entrusted with their access codes, and only they are judged strong enough to withstand the sanity-shattering secrets sealed within. •Deathwatch Epistolary - Often, the lowest-ranked Librarians, known as Lexicaniums, most commonly undertake a Vigil within the Deathwatch. It is rare, but not unknown, for individuals to unlock psychic powers through their experiences during their Vigil that raise them to the rank of codicier or even epistolary while still in the Watch. Other Librarians return to the Deathwatch later in their lives in response to a personal request from the Watch Commander, to finish some matter first unearthed in their formative years or simply because they have come to believe the threat of the alien deserves special attention. Such renowned individuals hold a high rank within the Deathwatch and are liable to be consulted on all major undertakings. •Deathwatch Tactical Marine - Tactical Marines are the most numerous of Space Marine warriors, and as their name suggests they are equipped and trained to fulfil the widest range of battlefield roles. Armed with the iconic bolter, Tactical Marines provide the bulk of a Firstborn kill-team's firepower, which they are able to lay down in a devastating fusillade even as they advance implacably towards their objective. Most battle-brothers taking up service in the Deathwatch have advanced to the position of Tactical Marine in their parent Chapters, and so are Veteran warriors well-versed in the many disciplines of war. Truly, there are very few enemies that the Tactical Marine has not encountered and defeated, and no battlefield holds any terror for him. •Deathwatch Techmarine - Techmarines are highly valued for the important role that they perform in the Deathwatch. Their skills in the operation of machines and techno-arcana are an asset to the day-to-day operations of the watch fortresses and the advanced technology the Deathwatch has access to within its Vaults at the heart of each watch fortress. These weapons and items of equipment are known to be more exotic than even the rare Conversion Beamer. Many are unique, and all are sealed within the Vault at the heart of each watch fortress. Just as the Librarian has exclusive access to the reams of forbidden knowledge in each of these archives, so the Deathwatch Techmarine keeps his portion of the Vault sealed to all but his fellow Techmarines. There are weapons kept within the Vault the likes of which are thought to be unique in the galaxy, their secrets impenetrable even to the highest-ranking tech-priests of Mars. •Deathwatch Vanguard Veteran - The Veteran Assault Marines sent to the Deathwatch are melee experts beyond compare. Many have put down looming alien monstrosities with no more than a Combat Knife and gut instinct. Once seconded to a watch fortress, these killers are armed with a profusion of weaponry and equipped with a comprehensive knowledge of alien anatomies that makes them hideously effective. Where a marksman of the Sternguard has to anticipate his target's movements to make the killing shot, the Vanguard face the xenos beast face-to-face, and more often than not their blades find their mark with unerring precision. •Deathwatch Intercessor - Intercessor Squads form the beating heart of the Primaris Space Marine forces. Harking back to the single-armament squads of the Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade, every Intercessor is armed with one of several marks of Bolt Rifle. These weapons boast superior range and stopping power to even the holy boltgun, allowing Intercessor Squads to level withering storms of firepower that annihilate many enemies before they can even bring their own guns into range. Against those few foes who survive the concentrated fire of their bolt weapons and the detonations of their Frag and Krak Grenades, the Intercessors' physical strength and resilience is so formidable that they can withstand the most horrific wounds without falling, and punch clean through steel plating to rend the flesh and bone beneath. Amongst most Space Marine Chapters, Intercessors form part of the main battle line. They are relied upon to hold their ground against onrushing foes, secure key objectives and wear down the enemy’s strength with weight of fire. Their role in the Deathwatch echoes this in microcosm, for they form the backbone of the Fortis Kill-teams, or else deploy as compact teams of Intercessors from different Chapters. No matter the nature of the foe, be they ferocious Clawed Fiends, scuttling Hrud or technologically advanced T'au, the survivability and firepower of the Intercessors is an invaluable asset. Anyone who has ever seen such a warrior pick off one Necron after another from extreme range, tear the arms from a charging Ork, or endure the hissing bite of an Asuryani Striking Scorpion's mandiblasters long enough to snap the xenos' neck, knows that the Intercessors are to be respected and feared. •Deathwatch Heavy Intercessor - A Heavy Intercessor is a Primaris Space Marine who serves on the battleline and are a potent defensive force. Clad in thick Mark X Gravis Power Armour, Heavy Intercessors are used to secure ground already won and are immovable in its defence. Always ready for any sign of enemy counterattack, they stand firm, laying down volleys of heavy fire that keep all but the most determined or foolhardy enemies at bay. •Deathwatch Assault Intercessor - Assault Intercessors are Primaris Space Marines who are among the most widespread close support units in a Space Marine Chapter's arsenal. Firing their Heavy Bolt Pistols as they close upon the foe, they charge into the fray, where they make short work of their enemies with brutal swings of their chainswords. •Deathwatch Inceptor - Inceptors are fast-moving Primaris Space Marine shock troops. Equipped with heavy, built-in Jump Packs and wearing heat-shielded Mark X Gravis Power Armour, they are capable of making combat drops from a planet's upper atmosphere, streaking down upon the battlefield like living missiles from the troop bays of orbiting battle barges. Upon landing, they raise a sweeping storm of fire with their brutally effective Assault Bolters or terrifying Plasma Exterminators. Hails of mass-reactive shells and searing plasma bolts spew from their barrels, blasting apart everything in their vicinity in a tornado of gore and sun-bright energies. Inceptors employ their speed and punishing firepower to launch advance strike missions. They slam down into the midst of the foe to slaughter command personnel and destroy rear-line strategic assets, before leaping away from retribution in huge, rocket-assisted bounds. They are deployed by Space Marine Chapters for beachhead clearance operations, diversionary raids and decapitating strikes, relishing the opportunity to perfect each new role. The Deathwatch have found ample use for squads of Inceptors amongst their ranks. Given the element of surprise, and a clear approach corridor, they can perform a similar role to Purgatus Kill-teams. Indeed, many watch captains have met with considerable success pairing these two forces together, using their Inceptors to mow down bodyguards and cut off the xenos commanders' escape while gunship-mounted Purgatus teams swoop in to strike the killing blow. The Onyx Patrol and Watcher Keep, in particular, have also found great success pairing their Inceptors with Venator Kill-teams, the two elements combining their speed and firepower into a hard-hitting and strategically flexible whole. Such tactics have proven the bane of Craftworld Aeldari and Drukhari alike, and have sealed the complete extermination of the Harlequin Masque of the Sudden Exclamation. When they fight as part of a Fortis Kill-team, Inceptors fulfil a somewhat different role. The speed afforded by their heavy Jump Packs allows them to operate as forward scouts for their battle-brothers, moving at the forefront of their kill-team to spy out enemy locations, or ascending to commanding positions where they can spy out the wider strategic picture. They are equally adept at reacting swiftly to developing situations, jetting across the battlefield to come to the aid of beleaguered comrades or defend vital locations. Though they do not wield dedicated close-combat weaponry, the battering-ram impact of an Inceptor jetting into battle with his engines howling is enough to shatter bones and crush armour plate like foil. Inceptor battle-brothers from certain Chapters have become especially prized amongst the Deathwatch. The noble selflessness and airborne skill of the Blood Angels, the headlong aggression of the Flesh Tearers and the mastery of situational warfare displayed by the Raven Guard all lend themselves well to the Inceptors' role. Those watch masters furnished with an abundance of such effective shock troops have taken to altering the composition of their Fortis Kill-teams to include increasing numbers of Inceptors. Such tactics have proven effective for countering swift, swarm-based foes such as Tyranids, and are coming to be relied upon by many watch fortresses. •Deathwatch Hellblaster - The galaxy seethes with dread terrors, monstrous beasts and heretical war engines that vent their fury upon the Emperor's servants. It is the job of the Hellblasters to eradicate such abominations. With searing plasma they scour them from existence, until nothing but glassy craters and glowing clouds of ash remain. Amongst the Space Marine Chapters, Hellblaster Squads act as single-armament fire support teams. The entire squad carries potent Plasma Incinerators, directing these weapons against priority targets that threaten the advance of the Adeptus Astartes. Often a squad of Hellblasters will be all that stands between a rampaging monster or xenos walker and the rest of the Space Marine strike force. Thus, each Hellblaster must be ready to concentrate their fire upon such targets to the exclusion of all else, sending pinpoint shots into their target's weak spots no matter the risk to themselves. This ethos is epitomised by the Hellblasters' ability to overcharge their weapons and deliver a truly ferocious volley of plasma, at the risk of enraging their guns' volatile Machine Spirits to a lethal degree. Hellblasters do not risk self-sacrifice lightly, for they recognise their value to the Imperium of Man, but they will chance death without a second thought when the stakes are sufficiently high. Considering the plethora of monstrosities fielded by xenos armies, it is no surprise that almost every watch fortress has a standing requisition order for Hellblasters. Many watch captains prefer to field these warriors as Roboute Guilliman intended, lacing small squads of them in amongst more varied kill-teams to provide reliable close-range fire support. Indeed, the watch fortresses of Doombreak, Furor Shield and Indomitus Point have taken to using Hellblasters much like lighter, more manoeuvrable Devastator Squads in order to deal with the hulking Tyranid and Greenskin monstrosities they face. When fielded as part of a Fortis Kill-team, Hellblasters adopt a protective role. They cover their brothers' backs, calmly picking off foes that pose the greatest threat to their team. They use their weapons to eliminate enemy leaders, blast tanks and walkers to glowing slag, and breach armoured hatches that may bar the kill-team's path. More than one watch fortress has already started fielding Fortis Kill-teams that include a higher proportion of Hellblasters amongst their ranks, pairing them with Malleus Kill-teams to annihilate heavily armoured enemies at both long range and close quarters. A Hellblaster's Chapter of origin can have considerable impact upon his approach to warfare, and his role within a Deathwatch kill-team. Those battle-brothers drawn from the Imperial Fists, for example, demonstrate a particular talent for knocking out enemy siege engines with their Plasma Incinerators, coupled with a stubborn determination to do their duty no matter the cost. By comparison, those from the Iron Hands have the ability to rapidly cogitate the changing target priority values of the enemies around them, while Scythes of the Emperor Hellblasters are as skilled as they are ruthless in exterminating Tyranid bio-horrors. An experienced watch captain will seed in the most appropriate Hellblaster battle-brothers to each Fortis Kill-team, dependent upon qualities such as these, and upon the enemy they are likely to face. Thus a kill-team about to descend into an Ork stronghold would likely boast Hellblasters from Chapters such as the Black Templars or Crimson Fists, who have long specialised in fighting Greenskins, while those facing the T'au might gain a Hellblaster from the Raven Guard Chapter, who fought valiantly against the T'au Empire during the campaigns of its Third Sphere Expansion. •Deathwatch Aggressor - Living up to their designation, Aggressors form the most belligerent of all Primaris Space Marine squads. Their hulking suits of Mark X Gravis Power Armour and resilient physiques allow them to withstand punishing hails of enemy fire, into which they typically advance with complete disdain. Indeed, the relentless advance of an Aggressor Squad is a psychological weapon in its own right, for panic spreads quickly through the enemy ranks when these walking tanks stride inexorably through the heaviest fire the foe can muster without so much as slowing. Though slower than their Intercessor Primaris brethren, Aggressors excel in short-ranged firefights, where their pugnacious suite of weaponry can pile the bodies high in a matter of moments. When equipped with Boltstorm Gauntlets and Fragstorm Grenade Launchers, the Aggressors sow rippling explosions through the enemy lines, shredding the foe in a blizzard of blood and shrapnel. Conversely, when armed with Flamestorm Gauntlets the Aggressors engulf their victims in a point-blank inferno that can clear a bunker complex or scour a trench line in solar seconds. In either case, their crushing fists make short work of those enemies foolish enough to engage them hand-to-hand, while also allowing these warriors to stave in a ferrocrete bulkhead or crush a tank's tracks with a single thunderous punch. Aggressors have seen considerable use by Watch Companies that face lightly armoured but numerous xenos foes. Against bellowing Ork hordes, tides of hissing Tyranid warbeasts and screeching Kroot mercenaries alike, Aggressors cause absolute carnage. Deployed at squad strength, drawing upon the wisdom and experience of several Chapters at once, they form bulwarks to break the momentum of the enemy's advance, or unstoppable linebreakers to crack enemy strongholds wide open. As part of a Fortis Kill-team, Aggressors provide their battle-brothers with devastating point-blank fire support, and selflessly soak up the incoming fire of the foe. They specialise in breaking open seething nests of xenos horrors, smashing down barred doorways and purging alien warriors with killing firepower as they lead the advance of the Deathwatch. •Deathwatch Reiver - Skull-helmed terror troops that strike from the shadows with devastating force, Reivers embody the most frightening and inhuman aspects of the Adeptus Astartes. They are masters of stealth, slipping deep behind enemy lines or dropping secretly onto planets solar weeks in advance of any other Imperial forces. However, unlike more conventional scouting forces who withdraw once their task is accomplished, Reivers drop their shroud of secrecy when the moment to strike is at hand. Then they launch their assault in shocking and terrifying style. All of the Reivers' highly specialised equipment is tailored towards their unique strategic role. Their Mark X Phobos Power Armour boasts auto-dampened servomotors and virtually silent power plants, ensuring that they can approach to within arm's reach of the enemy without being heard. Their death-mask helms incorporate elaborate suites of auto-senses, vox-thief and auspicator arrays, prognosticator spirits (artificial intelligence targetting routines) and other techno-arcana. These allow them to see in multiple spectra over great distances, track audio and life signs of enemy sentries, and rapidly predict patrol routes and the like to ease their infiltration duties. Some Reiver Squads use Grav-Chutes to drop silently into hostile territory, guiding their descent with the streamlined fins on their armour. Others traverse even the most treacherous terrain using grapnel guns and high-tensile adamantium climbing lines, allowing them to approach through territory that their foes have discounted as wholly impassable. In these ways do Reivers attack from unexpected quarters, the better to shock and disorient. When the Reivers strike, they do so in whatever way will best spread terror and panic through the enemy ranks. Hurled clusters of Shock Grenades pump out savage cacophonies of mind-shredding sound and bewildering sprays of hololithic imagery intended to terrify and confuse. The Reivers' vox-modulators transform their battle cries into monstrous roars, while their Heavy Bolt Pistols boom and monomolecular Combat Knives slash through flesh and bone. The strike of a single squad of Reivers is enough to collapse an entire battle line, convincing the foe that a far larger force besets them, or eliminate key command elements to leave the enemy reeling. The Deathwatch have found numerous uses for Reivers. Deploying them at kill-team strength, they capitalise on the accumulated skill and wisdom of multiple Chapters' Reivers to create superlative infiltration and destabilisation units. Such warriors excel against ill-disciplined or superstitious xenos races, who scatter in abject terror when their attack begins. When faced with the less comprehensible psychology of alien races such as the Tyranids or Necrons, Reivers have proven better employed as members of Fortis Kill-teams. Their scouting abilities, mastery of stealth, and strengths as sudden ambush-killers are a substantial boon to their battle-brothers. That is not to say that teams of Reivers cannot have a deadly impact against such inhuman foes. Fort Prescience has found particular success in its battle against the swarms of Hive Fleet Leviathan by combining Reivers drawn from the Raven Guard, Hawk Lords and Lamenters and using them as dedicated synapse-beast hunters. •Deathwatch Outrider - An Outrider is a Primaris Space Marine who rides to battle on a Raider Pattern Combat Bike. Outrider Squads advance ahead of the main Space Marine lines, guard the flanks of larger formations and hunt down enemy infiltrators to the Adeptus Astartes' battlelines. When battle is joined, they conduct lightning fast hit-and-run attacks on defended positions and run down those who would try to escape the vengeance of the Chapter. The Raider Combat Bike, designed like most of the vehicles and wargear used by the Primaris Marines by Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl, shares a lot of similarities with the standard Space Marine Assault Bike, including a twin-linked bolter weapon load-out and double exhausts. However, the engine block is even more heavily armoured, and the front suspension has undergone quite an evolution. While speed, weapons and armour are certainly important for a combat bike, they are nothing when compared with performance. The Raider Pattern Combat Bike is also excellent on the battlefield as long as its rider can dominate its bellicose Machine Spirit. With battle-brother and bike in harmony, victory is all but assured. •Deathwatch Eradicator - An Eradicator is a Primaris Space Marine dedicated to a close range fire support role, particularly against enemy armour and fortified positions. Before the molten ire of an Eradicator Squad's thermal ray Melta Weapons, heavy armour and static defensive positions stand little chance. Eradicators wear the heavier Mark X Gravis Power Armour pattern, allowing them to stride unharmed through waves of incoming fire before bringing their own destructive weaponry to bear at close range. •Deathwatch Infiltrator - An Infiltrator is a type of Vanguard Space Marine which are Primaris Space Marines who are responsible for disrupting enemy communications and sabotaging targets of opportunity. Clad in Mark X Phobos Power Armour, the first the enemy sees of Infiltrators is a cascade of choking smog as they hurl a barrage of Smoke Grenades, masking their advance. As the foe peers into the swirling cloud, the Space Marines bring their targets down with disciplined bursts of fire, the augur-scopes of their marksman Bolt Carbines lighting each victim up for the kill. Aside from their weaponry, the most important tool at the Infiltrators' disposal is the Omni-Scrambler. This portable, back-mounted device intercepts wave signals across a broad spectrum, scrambling frequencies and diverting holo-broadcasts to ensure that enemy communiques never reach their intended recipients. Infiltrators are drilled in self-sufficiency and survival techniques, and some squads have their own medicae specialists called Helix Adepts to perform the sacred duty of recovering the gene-seed of fallen brothers. •Deathwatch Incursor - An Incursor is a close support Primaris Space Marine unit that fulfils an aggressive, close-quarters gun-fighting role within Adeptus Astartes forces. Their missions typically see them storming defended positions, sweeping the flanks of spearhead advances or rapidly knocking out strategic enemy assets such as power generatorums and communication centres. Key to this role are the paired wargear technologies of their Occulus Bolt Carbines and the Divinator-class auspexes that feed directly into their highly advanced transpectral combat visors. •Deathwatch Eliminator - An Eliminator is a type of Vanguard Space Marine who are dedicated marksmen. These fire support Primaris Marines haunt the shadows of the battlefield, seeking out high-value targets and bringing them down with pinpoint volleys of bolt rounds. Eliminator Squads utilise a particularly stripped down version of Mark X Phobos Power Armour. This allows them to operate with maximum discretion as they stalk their prey. Their primary armament is the Mark III Shrike Pattern Bolt Sniper Rifle. The optical sights of this weapon can be tailored for any situation, from thermoscopic vision to precision auspex scans that can penetrate several metres through solid matter. Once marked, there is nowhere for an Eliminator's prey to hide, and no amount of protective armour that can stop the killing shot. Each member of an Eliminator Squad carries spare magazines filled with special issue ammunition, tailored for every tactical eventuality and variety of target. Hyperfrag rounds detonate in a shower of shrapnel, sending out a cloud of lacerating shards that devastates closely-packed infantry. Executioner rounds, by comparison, are sophisticated self-guiding missiles slaved to a miniaturised cogitator that can seek their target behind cover, even changing direction mid-flight with tiny bursts of ballistic propellant. Mortis bolts, meanwhile, spew self-replicating mutagenic toxins into the flesh of the target, causing the rapid and complete collapse of all vital biological systems while making for a horrifying spectacle into the bargain. •Deathwatch Watch Commander (Deathwatch Watch Master) - Watch commanders are the senior-ranking Astartes within the Deathwatch, usually bearing the rank of watch master, and serve as the commanders of a Deathwatch watch fortress or other Deathwatch headquarters installation. Their role is equivalent to that of a Chapter Master of a Space Marine Chapter, save that there are many of them scattered across the galaxy in the myriad watch fortresses of the Deathwatch. They are the finest warriors of the already elite Deathwatch at the very pinnacle of their abilities, for their tactical acumen and uncanny skill at combating the alien is nearly unsurpassed within the Adeptus Astartes. The knowledge and experience a watch commander has gained through standard centuries of combat, against the various xenos threats from his time spent throughout the ranks of the Deathwatch, have taught him valuable lessons in the art of war, trained him in the various facets of military strategy and honed his martial instincts to a level nearly unmatched even by the other elite xenos-hunters of the Deathwatch. A watch commander acts with authority as he sees fit, according to his own counsel and judgment, answerable to no one except his fellow watch commanders, the Inquisition and the Emperor of Mankind Himself. Watch masters are the foremost xenos hunters in the galaxy. They are counted as heroes even amongst the highest echelons of the Adeptus Astartes, for these warriors have tested their mettle against a hundred species of aliens and emerged triumphant. They have such intense charisma and martial and command ability that within the Deathwatch their every word is law. Their mission is to ensure the survival of the Human race, and it not one they take lightly. No less a body than the High Lords of Terra has been known to seek their counsel -- for in the business of laying low the alien, the watch masters are without equal. Though they theoretically return to their original Chapter once their duties are discharged, watch masters usually prove so vital they are never allowed to leave their post. Often, watch masters shoulder their duties alone, seeking the solace of pure thought in long periods of solitude. Yet their actions send ripples throughout history, almost always for the betterment of the Imperium. The watch masters hold a position of such trust and authority they have access even to the archives of the Inquisition. Even merciless Inquisitor Lords treat these transhuman warriors with a degree of deference, for of all the Imperium's defenders, the Ordo Xenos know best how grave a burden the watch masters bear. On a strategic level, the watch masters work ceaselessly to outwit and outmanoeuvre the warlords of the alien races, to stymie invasions before they occur, to bring ascendant dynasties to their knees, and to wipe out parasitic species that would otherwise infest great swathes of Imperial space. It speaks to their quality that they can actually achieve such goals in practice. Knowledge is power, after all, and they use it well. When the watch masters take the field, their standard centuries of experience are focussed to a deadly point, a weapon specifically made for the task of slaying xenos bioforms. Wisdom is far from their only tool. They go to war girded in the finest Imperial war-tech, the artefacts they bear so precious they would make a magos weep oily tears of envy. Just as the hero of an ancient people was once given the keys to his city, the watch master is given the key to Humanity's domain -- the clavis, a wrist-worn repository of Machine Spirits (artificial intelligences) from the Dark Age of Technology that can open any door, and in theory, take control of any Imperial machine. Watch masters are clad in precious masterpieces of the artificer's art -- each a formidable and ornate suit of Artificer Armour. They carry the fabled Vigil Spear, symbolic of their role of sentinel, and the same weapon borne by the Emperor's personal warrior elite, the Custodian Guard of the Adeptus Custodes, though modified to fire the signature special-issue bolt shells of the Deathwatch. When a watch master joins the fight on the front line, which happens rarely, he cuts down his foes with a cold precision that leaves monsters and tyrants slain in his wake. •Deathwatch Watch Captain - Space Marine company captains are superb leaders with a depth of experience excelled only by the Chapter Master himself. A Chapter's captains are inducted into the greatest secrets and mysteries of their order with the most binding and terrible oaths and when it is time for a new Chapter Master to be chosen he will most likely be elevated from amongst their ranks. When the time comes and they are nominated to be seconded to the Deathwatch, these captains dutifully set aside their own desires to remain with their company and undertake their Vigil with humility. The Deathwatch traditionally extends the rank of captain to a Space Marine company commander during their Vigil, but most captains entering the Watch refuse to accept such a lofty position until they have earned it. Thus, the scarred hero of a thousand battles will accept a role in a kill-team as a simple battle-brother under the command of an individual several centuries his junior until he feels he has learned the ropes. Deathwatch watch captains are also raised from battle-brothers who have served in the ranks of the kill-teams with great distinction and undertaken many Vigils in the Watch. A particularly skilled xenos-hunter may be called to duty with the Deathwatch repeatedly. Eventually such a renowned battle-brother may be afforded the honour of assuming the rank of watch captain and leading the kill-teams he has fought as a part of for so long. •Deathwatch Watch Lieutenant - A watch lieutenant is a Firstborn or Primaris Space Marine lieutenant who serves as one of the two subsidiary officers of a Watch Company under the command of a watch captain. In the wake of the resurrection of Primarch Roboute Guilliman in ca. 999.M41 and his revisions to the Codex Astartes, the rank has been introduced to all the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, including the Deathwatch, since the start of the Indomitus Crusade. A lieutenant normally serves as a demi-company leader, with two assigned per full company of 100 Space Marines. In the Deathwatch, where a Watch Company rarely has more than four kill-teams, each comprising on average 10 or sometimes 15 Astartes, they rarely command more than 50 Astartes. Watch lieutenants act as the right hands of their watch captains by providing flexibility and helping to direct their battle-brothers in engagements, as well as providing strategic and tactical advice alongside their watch captain in the strategium of their watch fortress' watch commander. •Deathwatch Watch Sergeant - A watch sergeant is a Veteran Firstborn or Primaris Marine sergeant of the Adeptus Astartes who has been seconded to the Deathwatch Chapter and now serves as a noncommissioned officer in command of a Deathwatch kill-team or as a sub-commander to a kill-team's chosen leader if the mission profile calls for accompaniment by a higher-ranking officer. A watch sergeant can serve as the commander of a Deathwatch kill-team composed of 10 Firstborn Space Marines or Primaris Space Marines. Watch sergeants often bore the rank of sergeant in their parent Chapter before secondment to the Deathwatch, but many give up the rank when they first enter their Long Vigil. Instead, many watch sergeants earn the rank anew when they are selected from those hardened Deathwatch Veterans who have survived and thrived through several standard years or even solar decades of service to the Long Watch. It is essential that a kill-team be led by a canny and daring individual capable of divining the flow of battle for those opportunities that will allow his squad to maximise its tactical advantage, and it is quite common for squad sergeants to be seconded from their Chapter's elite 1st Company. This is to ensure that the mainstay of the Chapter's battle forces are led by the most experienced of its warriors. •Master of the Hunt - Over the centuries since its founding, the Hunting Grounds of Watch Fortress Erioch have always been overseen by a Master of the Hunt. Always bestowed on a senior Deathwatch Space Marine with vast experience in both the hunting of xenos and the training of Space Marines, the title of Master of the Hunt is as unique to the Jericho Reach as the Hunting Grounds they oversee. Often extremely old, even by the standards of long-lived Astartes, and typically heavily scarred by centuries of service, each of these Veterans has overseen the daily operation of the Hunting Grounds during the decades of their stewardship. They are responsible for maintaining the facility and keeping it stocked with xenos specimens, and work closely with the fortress' Forge Master to keep the numerous arcane mechanisms found within the complex operating.
Even among the mighty Space Marine Chapters, those warriors who live long enough to earn the title of Veteran are uncommon, many falling on the battlefield after only standard years or solar decades of service against overwhelming odds. Unlike the Astra Militarum or the Imperial Navy, where a man might be considered a veteran if he survives his first taste of combat or earns a campaign ribbon, a Space Marine's Veteran status only comes after genuine achievement, and then only at the end of long years of bloodshed and hard-won victory.
The Deathwatch is no different, and those battle-brothers who spend their years of secondment fighting the xenos foes of the Emperor are only considered to be doing their duty. Mere survival is not enough for a Space Marine; as the Emperor's favoured sons and chosen warriors, they are expected to acquit themselves well in combat, their foes are expected to die upon their bolt shells and chainswords, and the honour they earn is the honour of their Chapter.
The recruitment processes for the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes are as varied as the iconography on their power armour. Some recruit exclusively from the lands of their homeworld while other Chapters utilise a wide swathe of planets for finding new battle-brothers, drawing from worlds scattered throughout the Chapter's dominion.
No matter where the initiates are recruited from, one thing remains the same -- the new Space Marine will undergo a long, rigorous series of challenges and trials before he is fully one of the Emperor's finest. It is through these tests and trials that the bonds of brotherhood are first forged for the Space Marines.
The time spent learning the beliefs and battle doctrines of their Chapter shapes the mind-set of the battle-brothers and how they view their duty to the Imperium and Chapter. These fundamental beliefs are so strongly ingrained into a battle-brother that they can bring him into conflict with other Imperial servants who have a different world view than the Chapter. These are the challenges all members of the Deathwatch must overcome if they are to serve their ancient oaths successfully.
When a Chapter sends one of its brothers off to serve the Deathwatch, it can be something of a culture shock to the Space Marine in question. Everyone expects a Space Marine to follow whatever orders he is given, but behind the armour is more than an automaton.
A battle-brother's training and beliefs are deeply ingrained, even part of his genetic make-up, so coming to grips with his new role in the Deathwatch can be very trying -- not that an Astartes would ever let that be known.
Becoming part of a new squad under the auspices of the Deathwatch organisation creates many new challenges for an inductee. First of these trials is determining his role amongst his new squad-mates. He must learn how to fight alongside these new battle-brothers who each bring their own battle tactics and methods to the unit.
Deathwatch Space Marines will usually operate in individual battleline squads, known as a "kill-team." Each kill-team is led by an Inquisitor, the watch captain who commands the Watch Company of which it is a part or a Librarian.
Their missions range from those undertaken alone and without support to accomplish their goals with minimal combat engagement to outright battle while re-enforcing allied Imperial forces like the Astra Militarum, Sisters of Battle or other Space Marine Chapters against alien incursions.
The highly perilous and vital nature of their missions means that Deathwatch kill-teams have access to exceedingly rare or advanced Imperial equipment, such as Heavy Bolter Gyro Suspensors, M.40 Targeters, and numerous types of specialist ammunition, such as the fragmentation Metal Storm shells or the high-powered Kraken penetrator bolts.
If the situation offers no alternative, they will utilise advanced xenos weaponry and equipment to accomplish their mission. The Deathwatch often utilises unconventional means of insertion, such as teleportation, high altitude Grav-Chute drops and Leagues of Votann-built Termite tanks.
Sometimes, the situation may be more than even a dozen elite Space Marines can handle, and because of this, Deathwatch Space Marines are able to freely requisition any and all Imperial forces they deem necessary to complete their task, from individual brother Space Marines of other Chapters to entire regiments of the Astra Militarum.
A member of the Deathwatch speaks with the full authority of the Inquisition and also possess the unlimited (in theory) political authority of that organisation and its servants.
The Deathwatch has stood sentinel in the Jericho Reach long before Achilus launched his Imperial Crusade to reclaim that lost sector. For millennia, it has watched, waited, and fought amongst the lost stars and abandoned worlds of the Reach.
Its domains have stood since a time now long forgotten and lost to the oblivion of dead history. It has seen worlds conquered by the Imperium fall once again to darkness. Its watch has been a thing of millennia. Ancient secrets, long since locked and sealed, are now open, and there can be no doubt: the hour has come round at last, and the future, so long awaited and dreaded, is here.
The domains of the Deathwatch in the Jericho Reach exist to aide it in the Long Watch. These places are held by it and it alone, secret and well-guarded. These domains range from the vast and mysterious Watch Fortress Erioch, which circles a dying star, to the many lesser watch stations standing silent vigil on forlorn worlds, airless moons, and in the dead marches of space throughout the Jericho Reach.
These domains best serve the Deathwatch by providing places where they can gaze into the darkness beyond, re-arm, gather information, or (as a last resort) hold the line against the many enemies of Mankind that infest the Jericho Reach. The Deathwatch moves between these secret domains using rapid strike vessels and reconnaissance craft, often unseen by both enemies and allies.
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Oct 27, 2024 · The Deathwatch is freed from the usual technological dogma that plagues the Imperium and their arsenal also consists of vast amounts of Xenos technology. Their wargear is highly specialized and reflects the varied requirements of their mission and vast array of potential threats.
