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I think a Biologist with "Hunter's Eye" leading a 10 man brick of Heavy Intercessors might actually be pretty dangerous. That gives you 22 x S5 AP-1 Dmg 2 shots with Sustained, Lethal, and Ignores Cover, all with 30" range and the ability to advance and shoot (or even charge, if required). Against a MEQ target, this squad averages about 6-7 dead Astartes bodies in a single shooting phaese, so very good for taking enemy small units off objectives. Even against vehicles or Monsters with T9 3+ saves, they do an average of 6 wounds (if you OoM the target, it goes up to an average of 10+ wounds on the vehicle). Throw in the Heavy Intercessors extra durability on Objectives and I think you have a reasonably cost effective "Anvil" unit to anchor your line and also clear light-medium enemy units off Objectives with their own shooting.

Actually pretty similar to some of my predictions.

Lol... OK, perhaps a little true.

As someone who plays with the Phobos Captain in my list, his redeploy is quite valuable for my Infantry, but in the same breath, he cannot redeploy any vehicles, which is something I would like to be able to do (and something that would be fluff appropriate for IHs), so I don't think that Caanak Var having that rule would be a problem. As for CP generation, that is a valuable rule as well and I could easily see that being one of his primary abilities, as noted above.

Well, we have the official fluff preview for him, what do you all predict his dataslate rules will be? https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/vehi78kr/caanok-var-iron-captain-of-clan-avernii/ My guess is something like this: M5" T5 Sv2+(4++) W7 Ld6+ OC1 Ranged Weapons: -MCed Storm Bolter 24" A2 S5 AP-1 Dmg2 (Rapid Fire 2) Melee Weapons: -Axiom **Strike: WS2+ A5 S8 AP-2 Dmg3 **Sweep: WS2+ A10 S5 AP-2 Dmg1 Rules: Oath of Moment, Deep Strike, Leader (Assault Terminators, Terminators), FNP (4+) Cerebrex: Can redeploy 3 Astartes units before the battle begins (including into Reserves) Destructor and Sinistrus: At the end of each of your Movement Phases, he can pick one enemy unit within 24" and visible. All friendly Astartes units get -1AP for all attacks against that unit until the start of your next Movement phase.

Good points on both counts here.... I guess the best way to run this would be Gladius, where you can get an extra -1AP from Strats.

I am starting to think that 10 Sword Brethren, all with Chainswords, riding in a Land Raider Crusader with a Marshal and Lieutenant leading them, is a pretty ridiculous unit. Now that they get 6A each, hitting at WS2+, a 10 man squad puts out 60 attacks at S4 AP-1 Dmg1. Coming out of a LR Crusader, they get to reroll Hits and wounds of 1, they get Lethal Hits (from the Lieutenant) and Sustained Hits 1 (built into their chainswords), they get critical Hits on 5+s (from the Marshall), and they have +1 to wound against anything T4 or higher (from Accept Any Challenge). Taken all together, I think this unit can be a "hammer" squad that can take out enemy flagship units when required. For example, against an Imperial Knight, this squad averages 46 x AP-1 wounds, so about 23 unsaved wounds (and that is without the Marshall's and Lieutenant's attacks factored in). Against Deathshroud Terminators, the same squad averages 60 x AP-1 wounds, so 5 dead Deathshrouds (throw in their shooting and the Marshall and Lieutenant attacks and you likely will kill the whole squad and maybe even the character leading them). Even against a super tough unit, like Necron C'tan, this squad averages about 15 unsaved wounds, so enough to kill it outright in a single fight phase. Finally, against any horde infantry, like Orks or Guard or GSC or Nids, this unit obviously should be able to wood chipper through almost anything they hit. Bottom line, I think this unit might be a hidden gem within the new BT codex and I am excited to try it out, especially combined with some of the other great new tools (like BT Repulsors, the new Helbrecht, new EC, etc.)

Excited about the new Deathwatch KT, looking forward to what rules they get in 40K. Seeing all the custom weapons/models, I hope GW does something like this: M6" T4 W2 Ld6+ OC2 (Gravis models are 3W, T6, and M5") Special Rule - "Enhanced Gear and Tactics" - Reroll 1s to hit for all attacks and Ignore Cover with Shooting [Based on the models we see in the kit] 1 - Watch Sergeant - (x1 model) a) Xenophase Blade/HBP [or] b) DW Plasma Pistol (2 shot version of PP) and Power Weapon 2 - Phobos DW Marines - (x2 models) a) Paired MCed Combat Blades (4 x S4 AP-1 Dmg2, Twin-linked, Sustained Hits1) [or] b) Instigator Bolt Carbine (36" 1 x S4 AP-2 Dmg3, Precision, Dev Wounds) 3 - Gravis DW Marines - (x2 models) a) DW Frag Cannon (18" D3 x S7 AP-2 Dmg2, Rapid Fire D3, Blast) [or] b) Infernus Bolter (choice between Heavy Flamer or Heavy Bolter each time it shoots, both with AP-2) c) DW Heavy Bolt Rifle (30" 2 x S5 AP-2 Dmg2, Lethal Hits) and DW Grenade Launcher (30" 1 x S10 AP-2 Dmg D3+1) DW Tacticus Marines - (x5 models) a) PW and Storm Shield [or] b) Heavy Thunder Hammer [or] c) DW Plasma Gun (normal PG with +1 Dmg in both normal and overcharged mode) [or] d) DW Bolt Rifle (24" 4 x S5 AP-2 Dmg1, Dev Wounds)

I'm a big fan of 10 Sternguard led by a Sanguinary Priest in a Drop Pod. Against an OoM target, they get 30 x S4 AP-1 Dmg1 Dev Wound attacks, all with full rerolls to hit/to wound, then on the charge they get 51 x S6 AP-1 Dmg1 attacks and 5 x S10 AP-3 Dmg2 attacks, against with full rerolls. Add in a grenade for some MWs and this unit can be a threat to an entire spectrum of units (if you need to, you can give them Lethal Hits and Lance with a strat to upgrade their melee attacks even further). Being able to drop a unit like this at will anywhere on the battlefield more than 9" from enemy units I think can be quite a useful capability, especially for exploiting holes in their defense, move blocking, or giving him a "distraction carnifex" that he cannot ignore.

One of the biggest winners is the Librarian with "Fussilade" enhancement / 10 Sternguard - now that they can all fit in a drop pod, almsot no Vehicle or Monster unit is safe (even on turn 1)!

Being able to have attached characters makes such a difference in the usability of Drop Pods - there are numerous times where I considered taking them (I have 6), but ended up not doing it, at least in part because I couldn't take any characters with the full squad.

So I just did a RTT this weekend and my Azrael/Sternguard squad did very well, pretty definitely one of the all-star units every game. For only a 6 man squad, they killed well above their weight, taking out an enemy Hellblaster squad, Aleya/Vigilators, a Beast of Nurgle, and helping drag down a Great Unclean One (no easy feat, since it had the 4+++ FNP enhancement). They also survived a good amount of enemy damage, between their 4++ and once per game 4+++ vs MWs, and Azrael gave me a lot of extra CP (at least, until he died). Overall, for a 215 point unit, I am quite pleased with them and will definitely be keeping them in my future competitive list!

The Advance and Shoot/Charge strat would help a lot, but the +2S Strat for shooting won't really help (this combo works mainly on Dev Wounds). Also, the -1 to wound, combined with the 4++ from Azrael, could work well to keep this little unit alive a bit longer.

Anyone else having success with this combo? In my latest army list, I have Azrael attached to a 5 man Sternguard squad and, so far, they have been hitting above their weight for me. Combined with the Grenade strat and OoM, against a Necron C'tan (with its T11 4++ 5+++ FNP and half damage rule), between shooting and charging they average 10-12 unsaved wounds: -2 from Grenade -4-5 from Sternguard/Azrael shooting -4-5 from Sternguard/Azrael close combat That is almost enough to kill a C'tan by themselves, and easily enough to finish off almost any unit that has already been damaged a bit already. For only a 6 man squad (which can hide easily), I am finding that the combination of full rerolls to hit and full rerolls to Wound (from Oath of Moment), Sustained Hits 1 (from Azrael), 18 shots with Devastating Wounds (in Rapid fire range), 6 x S6 AP-4 Dmg2 melee attacks with Devastating wounds (Azrael), and 4 x S8 AP-2 Dmg2 / 16 x S4 AP0 Dmg1 attacks (Sternguard) can do a LOT of work. Add in the unit wide 4++ Invul, -1 to hit and free Cover outside of 12" (I play Vanguard Spearhead), and a once per game 4+++ FNP vs MWs (from Azrael), and so far this has been a very positive addition to my army. Currently, I am playing them primarily as an "Objective Contesting" unit that holds back (and generates extra CP from Azrael) until my opponent tries to grab Objectives in No Man's Land, then gang tackles that unit with the help of my fire base units if necessary. I am playing a tournament this coming Saturday, so we will get a resl test of how good (or not) this unit is after that, I think. Anyway, thought I'd share here, love to hear others' experiences, good or bad, running this combo!

Holy Toledo... IP with Impulsor and squad of Desolators... at half range, that's 10 x S10 AP-2 Dmg 6+1 attacks, plus you still have the indirect fire (5D3 +5 (blast) S4 AP0 Dmg 1 attacks) to help clear some enemy chaff on Objectives... expensive, but can deal with both heavy and light units each turn (don't forget the Impulsor's own Missile Array, Heavy Stubber, and 2x Storm Bolters)!