I'm interested in the Tau and battle suits. And N0-1_H3r3 wrote up a fantastic Eldar write up (check his signature).

signoftheserpent said:

Full Contents:

Tau

Broadside Battlesuit, Commander Flamewing (Unique Tau Master), Ethereal, Shield Drone, Kroot Mercenary, Kroot Shaper, Krootox, Knarloc, Great Knarloc, Kroot Hound, Pathfinder, Vespid Stingwing

Tyranids

New Tyranid Weapons (Spike Rifle, Spine Fists, Strangle Web), Tyranid Psychic Powers (full and expanded rules), Carnifex, Dagon Overlord (Unique Tyranid Master), Gargoyle, Lictor, Purestrain Genestealer and Purestrain Broodlord (those created directly by the Hive Fleets, rather than spawned by infecting hosts), Ravener, Ripper Swarm, Trygon, Tyranid Warrior Prime, Tyrant Guard, Venomthrope, Zoanthrope

Orks

Ork Boy, Ork Meganob, Ork Warboss, Big Mek Wurrzog (Unique Ork Master)

Other Xenos

Bruul Parasites (mind-controlling creatures), Crotalid (crocodilian creatures that migrate through the Warp), Diablodon (saurian predator native to Aurum), Lacrymole (shapeshifting infiltrator creatures), Loxatl Mercenaries (reptilian xenos often found allied to the forces of Chaos)

Radicals and Heretics

Inquisitor Thaddeus Hakk (radical Inquisitor), Apostate Cardinal, Pontifex Guard (heretic bodyguard for Apostate Cardinals), Magos Phayzarus (geneseed-eating Heretek Magos), Irradial Cogitator (daemonically-possessed computer), Samech Redemption Servitors (cyborg scavengers employed by the Hereteks of Samech), Slinnar War Machine (soul-fuelled automata-warriors), Spire Slayers (murder-automata created to appear as gargoyles or other statuary, designed for mass slaughter)

The Forces of Chaos

Bloodthirster, Great Unclean One, Keeper of Secrets, Lord of Change, Kyrus the Chantleader (Unique Chaos Space Marine Master)m Bloodletter, Daemonette, Pink Horror, Plaguebearer, Chaos Space Marine Sorcerers, Khorne Berzerkers, Noise Marines, Obliterators, Plague Marines, Possessed Chaos Space Marines, Weapons of Chaos (Sonic Blaster, Doom Siren, Blastmaster, Blight Grenades, Plague Knives, Berzerker Axe), Chaos Psychic Powers (Bolt of Change, Doombolt, Nurgle's Rot, Warptime, Wind of Chaos)

Advanced Adversaries

Horde Tactics, Psychic Hordes, Hordes versus Hordes, Endless Hordes, New Horde Traits (Focussed Fire, Reform, Rally, Tactical Formation, Volley Fire, Reckless Charge, Mass Assault, Dirty Fighters, Wild Fire, Rampage, Psychic Shadow, Group Mind, Fanatical Devotion, Relentless, Spawn), Massed Battles, Turning Points

I, too, would have liked it if the Eldar had been included, but there's enough here to keep my attention for awhile. I was particularly hoping for the Bloodthirster and Carnifex so it's good to see them included.

The Eldar don't really have a role in the Jericho Reach. Why would they suddenly have loads of different forces there?

BYE

N0-1_H3r3 said:

I'm interested in hearing more about this. No rules about hordes vs. vehicles though?

Alex

H.B.M.C. said:

The Orks aren't really a main player there, either. There's just a short blurb on them in the Jericho Reach history, IIRC. Yet the Orks got a few entries. There wouldn't need to be a ton of forces there, but it would have been nice to see some DW-level Eldar antagonists.

The Orks are an ever-present part of 40K. They are like vermin - they are everywhere, always, and you can never truly get rid of them.

Now the book's out I can say this - once you see the Ork section (or see how many pages it takes up), you'll change your tune.

BYE

I would expect that the Xenos Compendium for RT later this year will have plenty of eldar goodness. And probably more orks.

H.B.M.C. said:

So seeing the Ork entries will make me decide I don't ever want to introduce Eldar to my group? I'm not quite sure that'll happen, but we'll see. Assuming the previous list of content was correct, I'm aware that there are only a handful of Ork entries. At least that provides some examples, which is more than the Eldar. Thank goodness for the Eldar in the CA, even if they need to be tweaked a bit to be suitable for a DW game.

Still, even with the absences I look forward to seeing the Tau, Chaos, and Tyranids in MotX.

Brand said:

LOL I figured it was something along those lines, but my original post was about wanting Eldar so I ran with it. And what I said was right - the Orks aren't one of the big 3 but still got mentioned, albeit it only briefly. I'm perfectly fine with most of the info being on the Tyranids, Tau, and Chaos (hereafter to be known as TTC); they're the primary antagonists, after all. I was just hoping for some official DW-worthy Eldar stats. They may not have any official presence, which is fine, but it's not like they would never have a reason for showing up and they are one of the most prominent Xenos forces in the galaxy.

Ummmm the Eldar DO have a presence in the reach, as they periodically turn up to attack the bearer of one of the relics the deathwatch holds....

N0-1_H3r3 said:

H.B.M.C. said:

And to answer the question: because the GM has decreed it so for his game, and because they are an integral part of the setting and uniquely occupy a position (more than the Tau) where they can be both protagonist and antagonist. It makes no sense to me for FFG to limit their - and thus our - options this way.

Guys, FFG needs to save some ammo for Deathwatch 2ng Gig (a la Ghost In The Shell).

Alex

signoftheserpent said:

Brand said:

I see eldar and dark eldar cropping up more in the Black Crusade books personally. There is nothing wrong with focussing and doing a few groups of enemies really well in any given book. Looking forward to my copy arriving by the weekend, can anyone who has it already comment on what they did with weapon stats? I assume the pre-errata ones were used but were the "less dice optional rules" included also or as a reference table at the end?

I agree with HBMC - it's a setting issue. I don't have a problem with Deathwatch being light on Eldar.

There was a huge amount of whinging about the absence of space marines, Tau, kroot etc when the Dark Heresy setting was first created. But I liked it: different parts of the 40kRPG setting have diffferent adversaries.

The Calixis Sector is a frontier sector with minor Ork problems, a couple of local Xenos races...and lots of cults and heresy.

The Koronus Expanse has Eldar, Orks, Kroot, a few local Xenos...and loads of unexplored space to put whatever the hell you want in.

The Jericho Reach is a true fallen sector, which has Tau, Chaos Marines and Tyranids...and a few bits and pieces of other stuff.

Black Crusade will no doubt have vast amounts of gribbly chaos weirdness.

The alternative is a setting that has bits of everything...but that to me degrades the uniqueness of a particular region of the Imperium. It seems to me ridiculous that a single world, subsector or sector would be prone to attack by every single type of adversary in the galaxy. We've seen that approach adopted with things like the Medusa campaign for 40k proper, and that just came across as forced and implausible. Form a gamer standpoint, having a world fought over by every single race in 40k makes sense...but from the point of view of creating a logical, rich and vivd setting, it's a mess.

I like FFG's approach, personally. If that means fewer Eldar for Deathwatch for the time being, well... it's a price I'm prepared to pay.

I hope my MothX will reach me next week, this depends on possible delays caused by the island volcano. Until then, can any one tell me something about the Xenos and Chaos Weapon stats, are they based on the new optional rules (more Semi-Automatic RoF instead of Fully Automatic)?

H.B.M.C. said:

The Eldar are one of the biggest and oldest (older than Chaos) parts of the setting. Saying they aren't part of the Jericho Reach setting is not smart from a business perspective. FFG can and have designed the JR as they see fit. and we can critique accordingly. So while you can argue they aren't part of the JR, it's rather silly to choose to omit Eldar. Whether it's difficult or not is really not the point.

Lightbringer said:

It's an issue of choice. If they gave you the Eldar stuff but you were happy for the JR to be Eldar free then you can ignore it. If you are in the opposite camp, then it's a lot harder.

I have no problem with the multi corebook format for different 'careers'.

I do have a problem with the omission of canon material such as Eldar, and also Dark Eldar and Necrons. You can reason it away anyway you please, but the bottom line is that it shouldn't be FFG's call to make that decision for the players.

If anything Eldar should replace Chaos in the book; DW are ordos xenos not malleus.

BUT more eldars means less of something else.

Chaos, while not the primary mission on the Ordo Xenos, is a typical adversary in the Reach. What's more with the Crusade happily pitting against it. Deathwatch isn't obly about big bad mothafuckas killing big bad xenos, there is also an underlying political setting, the DW being divided between its core duty (keeping watch over the Reach and blasting Xenos) and what "feels right" (helping the Crusade, saving peoples' souls from Chaos...).

Though I admit that having no eldar in MotX is tough and unjustified, I understand that some choices had to be made, and will happily stick with N0-1_H3r3's write-up.

As for the Necrons, the setting pre-dates their apparition.

signoftheserpent said:

signoftheserpent said:

How about we wait until MoX comes out before jumping the gun.

And Necrons are not known as a threat in the game's timeline anyway, and don't really have much of a place. An appearance in MoX would be nice, but quite surprising.