Hello, I will be playing in a deathwatch game starting at rank 4.

I was going to play a space wolf tactical marine because I want to play a gray hunter like character. I have no interest in be a leader like character as someone else will be an ultramarines tactical made to be a leader. After doing some reading though I thought, why be a tactical marine?? I could chose assault marine and lose the jetpack, get wall of steel and lightning attack with cheap weapon skill and strength. I can still be almost as good as a tactical with a bolter, ok ballistic skill, and signature wargear bolter.

Basically it seems like I can make a better well rounded fighter with an assault marine rather then a the tactical because of the bonus to your ballistic skill and the bolter is good all by itself. Being an assault marine I can be good in melee with their talents and still be almost as good with a bolter as everyone else(besides a devastator)

Not knocking the Tactical Marine and I know this is pretty munchkiny but it looks like you can remove the Tactical's biggest weakness, melee, and still have most of his shooting skill. Keep in mind I only thought about this when the prospect of double tacticals came into my mind and was wondering how useful another tactical would be.

So what do you guys think? It seems like a good idea to me unless im missing something important.

nolsutt said:

Specialty in DW does not directly relate to what role a Marine has had before coming to the Deathwatch. Instead it signifies what the PC has been ordered to further specialize in, what he is supposed to contribute to the team. I am talking about Assaults, Devs and Tacs only of course. Techmarines, Libs and Apothecaries are a different matter.

So your Grey Hunter can be any of those other three. But don't discount the Bolt Mastery Special Ability of the Tactical. You can build a very shooty Marine with it and the many shooty Talents a Tactical gets.

Alex

One house rule we adopted to make Tactical marines more flexible is allow the special ability to share chapter abilities to work both ways. IE, allow tac marines to count as being another chapter when another character uses a chapter squad mode ability. It lets a tactical marine be useful even when he's not acting as leader.

Using an assault marine isn't a bad choice either. It really just depends on how shooty you want to be.

Assault marines don't get much 'shooty' stuff at all, compared to Tacticals.

Yeah, but they've got enough to be dangerous with a gun. Though all things considered, the only thing a character really needs to be good a shooting in these games is a gun.

Daisuke said:

That is relative. A Tactical with a Bolter (or god forbid a heavy bolter) with Bolter Mastery special ability, Bolter Drill, Kraken rounds, Mighty Shot, etc. ... well, it doesn't even compare.

Alex

Might I suggest:

As you're coming in as a rank 4 marine, consider the Devastator.

You were a Grey Hunter. You're getting a little long-in-the-fang and have decided to mag-clamp the bolter in lieu of something heavier.

My main reasons are: 1.) Devs have access to Stalwart Defense at Rank 1. Spend a fate point and declare you aren't moving and you take 2 points less damage and can parry every incoming attack. 2.) Space Wolves (thanks to the errata now) start with counter-attack, giving you a return blow for each of those incoming attacks you parry.

So, you set up at the end of a hallway with your heavy flamer, laying waste to any and all that come rushing at you. Should they actually make it through the flames, out comes the chainsword and it's parry/strike, parry/strike, etc... ad-infinitum.

And the dev class has all the shooty bells and whistles you need to keep you happy if you just want to blast away with your bolter: Mighty Shot, Crack Shot, Deadeye Shot, Bolter Drill, Hip Shooting, Marksman, the list goes on...

bmaynard said:

Agreed. Since he doesn't care about leadership, a dev would be a great choice for a Space Wolf.

My Deathwatch character is a Space Wolf Assault Marine and it's great fun, but I've seen Blood Angels and Storm Wardens getting better mileage out of the Specialty.

FistoImperialis said:

Or Black Templars. Especially with Holy Vengeance. Space Wolves can get interesting though when they work in concert. I have a SW Assault player and a Runepriest player. Now we haven't played together yet but I expect some good squad mode synergy in close combat, especially when the Runestaff sees its use.

Alex

Thanks for the replies guys.

I think Im going to go with the Devastator specialty and use a Heavy Flamer. I like the idea of that Stalwart defense and Counter Attack. Maybe I will stick with a normal bolter though, I think a Grey Hunter would favor shooting over melee at this point in his career though.

I play a Wolf Guard/Skald character (he was recently elevated to Wolf Lord Blackmane's Wolf Guard). I am the leader of our group but I can give you ideas on making a very Space Wolf-ish character out of a Tactical Marine.

Firstly, Elite Advances. I don't hear much about them on the forums but they are a great way to branch out. As such my Tactical Marine is both a shooter (he loves his Storm Bolter) however he uses a Power Sword for melee combat, and since the Errata he will also be bringing his Chainsword along as well because he is going to try and get Two-Weapon Wielder (Melee) early and Swift Attack so he can be MORE effective in melee.

My biggest suggestion is Elite Advances....find the path best suited to what you wish to be then look into the others for ideas on how to be even better. Yes, you lose a bit of xp but in the end I believe it is worth it.

muzzyman1981 said:

Tacticals can get Double Team at Rank 1 too. If there is another Space Wolf one your kill-team (like another Tac or Assault) who can get Double Team, a SW Tactical can be really fun if you use the SW Squad Mode abilities together. And Tacticals are shooty. My are they shooty with a Bolter and Bolter Mastery. In fact I believe they can outshoot the Dev with a Heavy Bolter or Storm Bolter.

Alex

Well maybe not that much AK lol but they are definately shooty and can be very much so....I am almost able to take down a mag 30 horde with one good round with my Storm Bolter and Metal Storm rounds.

muzzyman1981 said:

Against a single enemy you can outshoot a Dev. You take Bolter Mastery, Bolter Drill and Mighty Shot. You get a +2 damage per hit that the Dev doesn't.

Btw, I don't allow Storm Bolters to score up to 8 hits (+1 Explosive) against hordes but only 4. My rationale is that a two-shot hit only hits one creature, thus only increasing the chance to cause a wound. It does not increase/double magnitude damage in my game.

Alex