Bolster Your Deathwatch Army With New 40k Releases
August 13, 2016 by brennon
Games Workshop have added some more units with upgrade kits that you can use to bolster your Deathwatch army in Warhammer 40,000. Characters are the key focus of this force and so it seems apt to start with them...
Things kick off with the Deathwatch Terminator Captain that you can see above. He looks like quite the stalwart veteran and that sword is rather awesome. Following on from him we also have the a regular Deathwatch Captain who is running around in your standard Power Armour.
There are going to be variants within these upgrade kits so while you might be thinking that your Captain might end up looking the same as everyone else's; you can switch bits around. Also, it's a Space Marine so raid your bitz box for more pieces!
Hit The Road
As well as the characters we've also got some bigger vehicles for you to consider. Any good Space Marine goes into battle within a Rhino so Games Workshop have added one.
If you want to rock up into battle with something a bit more destructive then you can also check out the Landraider too.
So there you have it. Some heavily armoured options for you to roll around with when it comes to battles. If you want to support your foot troops too then you can also pick up some Deathwatch Bikers too.
Not bad right? Space Marine Bikes have always been somewhat of a weird one but when you hear about how they work - essentially just ramming into you with guns blazing like a ceramite battering ram - they suddenly get a lot cooler.
Kill Team Reporting
As I mentioned at the start of this piece character is where it's at when it comes to Deathwatch. So, you can also now pick up Kill Team Cassius from Overkill on their own.
It comes with all the characters as you can see as well as a few extra bits and pieces. I have to say that I was surprised the bundled them all together like this. I would have liked to see them sold separately so I could pick up one or two for my role-playing group.
Ah well! A nice set all the same.
What will you be picking up?
"I would have liked to see them sold separately so I could pick up one or two for my role-playing group..."
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Aren’t those character models the same as have been around for years, but with a Deathwatch paint scheme? Or do they have a couple of Deathwatch-specific pieces like shoulder pads? Is there an upgrade sprue this uses to turn regular kits into Deathwatch? Perhaps the one that comes with the new battle set and which I assume is used to turn the Vanguard Vets and Dread into Deathwatch kits?
@angelicdespot I am afraid so. This is why GW runs into so much hate. After last week, when we had a really good value boxed set, that offered plenty of new models and some older ones at a really great price – we now get a bunch of re-packs each coming with a crummy extra new sprue. WHY GW WHY? You were onto a good thing, but instead of selling the new sprue on its own you decide to re-pack a load of old and indeed ancient models, throw in the new sprue and bang it’s a whole new product… Read more »
So are they not going to sell the Deathwatch upgrade sprue separately? That’s disappointing.
… and if they’d just sold the upgrade sprues individually people would be complaining that they’re ripping you off charging extra for no additional minis. There really is no winning in this situation is there?
Yes there is. They could do both. No one minds having options!
Actually, someone probably would still complain, but that’s inevitable. But I don’t think I’m odd to want to buy the upgrade sprue separately.
… and I’m sure they will sell it individually at some point (or someone will split some kits or something). Doesn’t really make sense for a business to release everything in one go.
Those vehicles don’t look new, except for the guy in the hatch. Could be wrong.
Why doesn’t it make sense to release them all together?
I mean, GW has been doing just that for a good while now- having every new release to go with a new supplement available all at once. So, why wouldn’t they release them all together this time?
Unless they have no intention of releasing deathwatch upgrade sprues separately.
Who knows, my guess is probably not – or at least not yet anyway, why would they when they can use the lure of the extra sprue to flog off a load more of the same stuff everyone has already.
And that my friend is why a few weeks ago I was angry with yet another space marine release. I compared it to a salad as in the dressing may have changed but its really just the same salad. GW could do much better but are always trying peddle out the old stuff as new.
Not everyone already has those minis. I don’t. I’m sure new players don’t either. If you already do, I suggest not re-buying it as you already have it.
Let’s see: Space Marine Razorback kit £25 Death Watch transport, which is basically a Razor Back plus an upgrade sprue £25 Wow I’m being ripped off by getting an extra free sprue which I can also use to upgrade 10 marines and 2 terminators. Honestly, I don’t get the anger. Unless of course you’re planning on ripping off all of the left shoulder pads and reprinting a space marine army? Or maybe you already own all the space marine stuff you need to build a new army in unpainted and unassembled plastic? In which case eBay and bits sellers will… Read more »
@erastus – I hadn’t realised they were charging the same as normal, so that’s good. I do still wish they were selling the upgrade sprue separately as a) I do have several unbuilt rhinos lying around and b) this is a hobby and I want the option of being able to buy the sprues I need. I would expect to get it at a discount if I was buying it with a kit (as it appears they are doing) but I would like the option of being able to pick it up on its own – as you used to… Read more »
Well I think we’ll have to wait and see. GW don’t release everything at once. There’s the new flyer at at least one more brand new character to come. I expect well then see the release of the veterans kit contained in Death Masque and perhaps the upgrade sprue.
I think it’s pretty good. Buy one character and get the upgrades to make a Deathwatch kill team (10models) from your existing collection of marines. Also, the Landraider has some extra value since normally each variant is a seperate box. This Landraider kit has the Deathwatch sprue And weapon options for the three different variants of Land raider by the looks of things.
At least they got that right. Don’t raze the price on the razor back as it’s only 3 small icons on the sprew that is of worth for that tank.
With that said, it seems like loads of useless repackaging that can be expensive for them when one simple clam-shell pack could do for everything, just like the stormcast eternal’s upgrade packs are dealt with.
Those bastards!! How dare they not charge extra for an upgrade sprue!
Adding a freebie upgrade sprue to an old kit to sell a few more = great business sense.
Sure, nobody gets shiny new stuff but if its the option of an older kit bundled with new bits or nothing, I’ll take the old kit. Not like those kits are bad minis either.
@erastus you don’t really see the point. The kit is ancient, GW aren’t selling many of them because no-one wants/needs them, so what do they do they create a new sprue that people actually do want, re-pack the old kit and throw in the new sprue to entice people to buy the same product all over again. It’s a cynical ploy to extend the life of old kits, nothing more.
Okay, fair enough. You call it cynical, I’ll call it clever 😉
I think I’ll go with cynically clever 😛
Maybe it was cleaver, maybe not. They’re definitely leaving some money on the table, it is just unclear whether it would make up for the extra investment that they didn’t put into these. There are definitely players who would have gotten really excited about new minis but are feeling apathetic about this release. Of course, they’ve also saved a bit of money by not making much new stuff, so this was at least the safe play- if decidedly less interesting than making something new. Personally, I’m really disappointed with how few of GW’s “new releases” are actually new. We get… Read more »
Take me back to the 90s when you would get one, maybe 2 new releases a month and nobody was unhappy with it because it was new shiny stuff. We have been spoiled by the weekly release schedule for too long and now even that is not enough for some folk.
I always wanted to create a pretty decent cypher model out of that kill team – shame they aren’t individually sold.
It is a shame, but If you just want the dark angel deathwatch chap, I suggest you look on eBay.
Those upgrade kits do look rather good.
Where is the problem with this? They are Space Marines so they use Space Marine Stuff and if you don’t have those models lying around those boxes are quite useful and I think the Veteran box will give you plenty of pieces to convert normal Marine boxes and it’s quite probably the will sell the sprue at some point online.
Are there really gamers who can make armies of space marines out of their bits box?
Maybe I’m just not in the audience for this, since I could/have totally done that.
In the U.S. Store all the repackaged items have been increased in price by about $5 just for the inclusion of the Upgrade sprue. I for one would rather them just put the Upgrade sprue available on it’s own for $5-$10 if they are going to charge me to put it in my space marine boxes anyway. I’ll just buy the regular marine vehicles and use the icons from the troop sets to upgrade the vehicles.
The price of the land raider is $5.75 more than a standard one. The transport is $0.75 more than a razorback and the captain with the upgrade sprue is $2.75 more. Upgrade sprues for other chapters are $13.50. Draw your own conclusions.
OMG I WANT THESE!!! Been waiting yonks for the hinted Codex Alien Hunters in White Dwarf that never came. What a fantastic release. Saving some money for this now!
its allways good to have variety.
Is there any hope they they’ll do the genestealer cult models as well? Or even a genestealer cult codex? I would be very interested to see if their going to do something for the Tyranids.
Hopefully they will but I think that might require a little more work. Deathwatch can be achieved via a simple upgrade sprue whereas the Genestealer Cult would require a significant amount of extra work. If they do make a Genestealer Cult though I have a brother who may well remortgage his house for it!
So they are old models? Don’t buy them you do not have to do you. I know lets belly ache about the fact that GW have gone about making a profit. Oooo a profit such an evil empire, how dare anyone make money at the cost of the customer. No wait a minute that’s what profit is making money by using what you have to hand and selling it for money with a large or small mark up. Bad company, down company! Or Profit is not a dirty word it is what enables this very site to continue, by paying… Read more »
Thank you chrisg, you just made my Sunday morning. cheers mate =)
Isn’t it common knowledge now that if GW releases the spures individually out the gate they’d be $15 minimum which then people would complain about as well, at least this way there is some value and later can release the sprue at a more reasonable price?
This is the first 40k army that has me excited enough to debate on picking up the game again in years so that’s something
Very well written chrisg. I am 39 now and have been following Games Workshop on and off since I was 13. It has not been an easy journey at times and a bloody difficult one at others(The death of the warhammer world). But nonetheless I have stuck with it as no matter what crap the real world throws at you it’s great to be able to come home and immerse yourself in some thing that gives me so much satisfaction. I used to follow Bolter and Chainsword as well as Bell of Lost Souls but these two sites have become… Read more »
Sorry to say but I am thinking of cancelling my subscription for the very same reasons.
To balance this out I think BoW have excellent balance of coverage between different companies and I also trust that they know what their audience wants and I happily continue to pay my subs going onwards.
I agree with solar. If it was not for BoW I might not had learned about this hobby beyond GW so I am happy that they do coverage about several game systems and models for them instead of just being just another GW fan site.
Have to agree with Solar and Mecha. BoW is the best site on the web for wargamers as far as I’m concerned and I am very happy with the way they cover everything. Its not a GW dedicated site so why would you expect them to pump out more GW dedicated content? If you want to see more GW related stuff then maybe you can contribute it the way other members of the site do – e.g.World War 2 and Infinity. If you do some good GW stuff then I’m sure BoW will give you a slot. Bottom line, there’s… Read more »
I agree. I’m sometimes critical of GW and/or their products and practices, but I remain a fan of their worlds and have a lot of nostalgia towards them. I like that I can get news of GW games via the main shows, comments pages and regular news updates, but I’m pleased to have that as part of a wider and more varied offering. I think there’s more 40K content on here than there used to be a year or two ago: battle reports, news, painting, terrain, projects, in depth explorations of the setting, etc. There aren’t many tactics articles, but… Read more »
Don’t get me wrong, I have also learned a lot about the wider hobby from this site. Unfortunately the hobby has become so wide and varied, hearing about new game system after new game system and Kickstarter after Kickstarter has got really boring and means the content I actually like (Hobby Lab, 40k, AoS, Hobby Lab, Malifaux, WM/H and also Hobby Lab) loses out on a lot of screen time to other (shinier?) things. What happened to the promised AoS coverage? I was very much looking forward to that as there’s not a lot of good quality AoS coverage available… Read more »
@ghostdog @lunchbox Ok help me out here 🙂 We produce 40k charted that goes out more regularly than any other game related show we make. What was wrong with the 40k battle reports we made so far, we have tried to keep them narrative and interesting? The last hobby lab was 40k based One of the last parts to painted was 40k based Aside from what we do to provide content to enjoy and explore 40K, this is a community site and we do rely on community members for input, support and engagement and enthusiasm. (Because remember compared to other… Read more »
Unless 40K is the only reason you come to the site, I can’t see any complaints over the amount of coverage it gets. From my vantage point, I don’t see any other games getting more coverage than it, and I don’t see any game whose company doesn’t work with BoW to provide content getting anything like as much coverage.
40k Charted is a great intro for people who don’t know much about the 40K universe, but not really of much interest to anyone who has followed 40k fluff since c1990. We see regular start to finish battle reports and “how to play” videos about Infinity, BA, KoW etc but the 40k reports are “live blog” style which feels broken up and difficult to watch IMO. I get that you can’t do everything to suit everyone and the 40k content that you guys put out is great from the view of a complete newcomer but compared to other content on… Read more »
Me to
@lunchbox – I appreciate where you’re coming from mate, really I do, but the danger now is that some GW fans appear to be lashing out at BoW and using them as a whipping boy for the negativity directed by other people who don’t represent BoW, not just on this site but on other sites as well. And by doing so they are doing the very thing they are accusing the negative / anti GW brigade of doing in the first place; i.e. its not fair for you to slag off the hobby I love but its still ok for… Read more »
You’re right. I believe that my annoyance at anti-GW propaganda and my feelings on BoW’s current direction aren’t necessarily linked. It is just that one has prompted me to comment and has drawn out comments about the other. I agree a more open discussion about the future direction of BoW would be most welcome. I know they listen to all of us and if I can do so without making it a rant about anti-GW comments that would be a lot more constructive. I did not mean any of my comments about BoW to come across as negative or ranty.… Read more »
Lol…rant away mate…it one of the things that makes life interesting! Sorry Lunchie, I should have elaborated a bit more (diplomacy was never my strong point!). I was talking in general terms and was trying to build on the points you made, which are valid, constructive and well thought out. The points I made were aimed at the wider community and not you personally – its quite obvious that you are upset and annoyed, which you have every right to be, but you are dealing with it calmly and rationally and trying to find a way forward, which in a… Read more »
Lunchbox is certainly right in that there are some who post on this site, who use every chance they get to moan about GW in an infantile manner, and it frankly gets tiresome to continually read those same comments regardless of what GW actually do. People complained about GW not opening up comments on their facebook page, but when GW eventually open things up on facebook, those same people then complain that it should have happened sooner. GW ultimately can’t win with those people, although they aren’t there to be won over, they are there to just complain. People complain… Read more »