From DavidB: Deathwatch (55 points)

My 40k forces have a win-draw record matched by their losses. I really like to have a theme/story for them and some units that get included are not the best but do add to the overall story for the force. I do have a few Marine armies and the Crimson Fist scout heavy force is very different from the Space Wolves and Dark Angel forces I have. Imperial Guard are my favourite force to field, but they really need some assistance from the more powerful human forces. The Inquisition goes a long way to fill the gaps, but even then access to a few elite power armour troops can sometimes be better.

Deathwatch marines really go a long way to plug that special forces gap and fit a lot better than Grey Knights. It's not a thematic stretch to include a squad or two of Deathwatch with a guard force especially when an Inquisitor or three are allied with guard.

I bought a get started collecting Deathwatch force just for adding them to my Imperial Guard as allies. I assembled the kit after lamenting I missed my chance for the Overkill game. My wife and parents had, unknown to me, already purchased the last copy for my birthday last year.

Kill Team really had me going for Deathwatch also, as who better for a kill team, but a force of Astartes Heroes assembled for just such a thing! Kill Team is what Deathwatch does, indeed it is Deathwatch. I was rather disappointed that assault troops, terminators, and bikers were not included in the kill team rules lists. They'll still get used as allies for the guard, but no skirmishing for these guys.

The Raven Guard and Blood Angel assault marines from the Overkill game. Both miniatures are packed with details from their chapters making them even more unique as Deathwatch.

As both were mounted on tactical risers, I felt obligated to show their jump-packs in use. The primarchs would often tweak their chapter gear for preferred tactics. Since Corvus Corax of the Raven Guard favoured aerial assault and stealth, I painted the Raven Guard exhaust in blue hues to denote a hotter more efficient fuel for longer and more frequent jumps.

The rest of the jump-pack troops come from the start collecting box and are built entirely for close quarter fighting with only the Sergeant having a pistol.

I used different power weapon effects with power lighting arcing on the storm shield, power maul and thunder hammers. The power sword and lighting claws just received a graduated blue tone.

The Overkill marines are mounted on bases from coolminiornot while the rest are on molded bases from Happy Seppuko. happyseppukko.com uses some molded rubber stamps which you can press modelling putty or clay into for textured bases. I have been using an asphalt base as it is generic enough to double for concrete, earth, desert, or even tundra according to how I paint it. Some were molded green stuff and another putty, but I found a thick enough base of air dry clay works just as well. The clay will need to be glued in place once dry but does dry and stick well to MDF with a thin coat of PVA glue.

A salamander marine terminator with a heavy flamer and power fist with a melta gun attachment.

He would rule in kill team( probably why he wasn't included as an option)

My favourite model from the overkill game is the white scar biker.

with the cyber hawk and all the sweet details, this is a very nice biker model. I still want a white scar force, but this single model will do for now. The deathwatch kits come with a nice selection of chapter specific shoulder pads and has a few extra blanks for hand painting. Even so, It was fun looking at successor chapters to alter the chapter colors. Since Overkill came with a Blood Angel and Raven Guard, I simply altered the colors for an Angel Vermilion, and a Hawk Lord. The Black Templar was selected as an assault marine just for a difference as usually the Black Templar's would be bolter and sword. The Thunder Hammer marines are a Howling Griffon and Salamander. Salamanders are known to be quite stoic and deliberative, so I liked the idea of a young salamander marine being a touch hasty and aggressive. perhaps he was sent to deathwatch to cool his eagerness down a little bit!

8 28mm troops for 40 points

one biker for 10

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Bah, everybody expects the Emperor's Inquisitors!

What they don't expect is a nice show of exhaust ports. You've done some sweet work on your flames, both with the salamander and the jump packs in use. You've also got some top notch basing going on there. One bonus point for each fire effect, and another two for the basework.

55 points well earned that man!