STARTING A DEATHWATCH ARMY IN 11TH EDITION: ONE VOW, EVERY CHAPTER
The Deathwatch are veterans seconded from every Space Marine chapter, repainted black and silver with one shoulder pad kept in home colours. This page covers the Veterans kit to start on, the Watch Master and borrowed Marines that follow, and the Corvus Blackstar.
One box, no two kill teams alike
Begin with the Deathwatch Veterans kit. It is the heart of the range and the reason to collect the faction. The sprues are overloaded: xenophase blades, heavy thunder hammers, shotguns, frag cannons, and enough shoulder pads to represent half the Adeptus Astartes. One box builds a kill team that no two collectors assemble the same way, and because every marine can carry a different chapter's heraldry, a single squad becomes a tour of the whole setting. If you love variety but hate committing to one chapter, this is the loophole. Paint the black armour first (a fine edge highlight is all it needs), the silver arm second, and treat each home-chapter pad as a small reward at the end.
Recommended: Deathwatch Veterans
Watch Master, then borrow from the Marines
The Deathwatch range is compact, which helps your buying discipline. Add a Watch Master to lead, an imposing sculpt with his clavis and guardian spear, then either a second Veterans box to deepen your options or units from the wider Space Marine range, which the Deathwatch has always borrowed from freely. Terminators or Vanguard-style veterans in black slot straight into the vigil's look. Where the range has rotated, do not guess: the current starter set and the faction's current catalogue tell you what the Watch fields today.
The Corvus Blackstar
The Deathwatch's dedicated gunship is the one answer for a centrepiece: a matte-black drop-ship, sleek and sinister, that looks like it is breaking atmosphere on a shelf. It is a kind painting project for a large kit, with big smooth panels, silver trim and a few glowing sensor accents. Finish it and every army photo you take afterwards has a spine.
Organisation shifts between editions
Points and datasheets changed with 11th edition, and how the Deathwatch is organised on the tabletop has moved more than most factions over the years. Check the current datasheets and points before you build a roster. The models endure; the paperwork changes.
One gunship is enough
- A third Veterans box before the first two have their chapter pads painted. The vigil rewards patience.
- Borrowed Space Marine vehicles bought on impulse. The Blackstar lands first.
- Chasing every relic bolter loadout. Build what looks heroic, learn the army, then optimise.
- A second gunship. One is a centrepiece; two is a storage problem.
Vaults of the watch fortress
Every kill team's deeds are recorded in the vaults of the watch fortresses, and a compact army makes your own record short. Write each kit into it as it arrives, boxed, built or finished. With this few units the finished column can catch the owned column, which most collectors never see, and a whole faction fully painted is worth the vow. The complete roll of what the Watch fields, past and present, is on the Deathwatch faction page under Data.