Hello, I've planned a DW mission that's pretty much consists of the different choices in the rulebook.

The Kill-Team has been tasked with a vital mission for the invasion of a Tau held world in the Jericho Reach.

1st part: Stealth insertion with a boarding missile to a space-station defense-system.
Mission type: Sabotage.
Primary objective: Destroy the system that controls the defensive weapons orbiting the planet.
Secondary objective: Destroy any other important systems, such as augary relays, planetside defense guns, etc.(one objective for each system)
Tertiary objective: Eliminate targets of opportunity important to the space station, Kill the Xenos.

2nd part: Immediately drop-pod themselves planetside in enemy territory to breach a beachhead for the incoming Imperial troops.
Mission type: Assault, handled with kill-markers.
Primary objective: Hold the beachhead.
Secondary objectives: Decimate enemy resources and military capabilities, such as tanks, bunkers, heavy weapons, ammo depots.
Targets of opportunity, enemy commanders, etc.

3rd part: With the beachhead secured, infiltrate the enemy hold city and stronghold and start a hunt for the enemy commander.
Mission type: Assassination.
Primary objective: Kill the military leader of this planet. Battlesuit guy.
Secondary objective: Other targets of opportunity, enemy commanders, diplomats, and etherals. Destroy any important enemy facilities, high-command structures, defense systems, hospitals(yes hospitals), etc.
Tertiary objectives: Interfere or destroy with any troops or other threats to the established beachhead.

What do you all think? Have I missed anything? What I really need help with is background. I haven't been able to learn that much of the Jericho Reach. What is the most prominent tau planet the empire is besieging right now, who is the leader of the empire forces and the tau forces, likely resistance and requisition. Anything you can come up with would help me.

I think you've got a good start going in terms of the skeleton of the mission.

A map can be found here for the Jericho reach: Tau words are covered in a bluish type circle, they're mostly in the lower left hand side. I don't have the book on me to reference a good world.

For story, I'd really look into why the Deathwatch is being used on this world as a spear tip. Deathwatch, though for secretive and specialized missions, generally don't coincide well with crusader forces, which this sounds like a crusader mission. I'd say perhaps there was something discovered on planet that the Deathwatch wants, an artiiact, a inquistor being held prisioner. They might see the Tau Commander one of the bigger threats to the Jericho reach for some reason, or a few members of the Inquisiton really want a Tau Etheral to do some experiments on. Whatever the reason is they choose, that's why they decided to go in for them, and then the mission can then focus around that. While the main IG forces land and start doing their thing, the Kill team then moves onto their own objectives.

I'd also add in grabbing a hold of some Xeno tech if you're inclined to do so, as there are a few inquisitors and tech priests who'd like to examine some. This coudl be interesting because it puts them in direct opposition of the "We need to kill them" routine, and makes the players decide if they want to risk the secondary objective of recovery, or to just go with the mission as is.

Good ideas. You're probably right about the reason to why they're doing this, I just liked the sound of a pure and simple tactical battle mission, but it kinda doesn't go with the deathwatch thing.

The main problem with this mission is scale, it is a planetary invasion. There won't only be imp guards attacking but also space marines. To balance the enemy forces so that they are a manageable threat to the PC:s will be tricky.

Thanks anyway.

Well, that could make it interesting. Preliminary thought, there's the Etheral that the Deathwatch wants or some tech they're after. Then have the main assault be done by a more fantical chapter, like the Black Templars. Most Chapters wouldn't understand why the Deathwatch is trying to take prisioners, and a chapter like the Templars might find it heretical. So therefore their participation makes it look like they just want to help, but in turth, it's about moving ahead their goals.

At the arrays, they are disabiling them, but they're also locating the Etheral

At the beachehad, they're helping, but their idea is to distract main Tau forces

Then they go get him after that and go for extraction.

So the goals of the DW and the Crusade differe from time to time, and they don't report into each other at all, but often times their goals are similar in nature.

There is a section in the main book on 331 that discusses the relationship with the Crusade forces. Also on page 318 there is a bit under the heading "Joint Operations" that goes over how the conventional military machine might link up with the DW. Those two sections may help give you the motivation and ideas to get the DW and the Crusade forces working together in this case.

There is nothing stopping the DW from acting as the tip of the spear in this case, it just has to be a pretty good reason.

That said, Frostfire's ideas are good, and they keep the 'indpendant special ops' flavor going as well.

Yeah, no, I've already decided how I want to go about this and it kinda much follows Frostfire's ideas. All I need now is names for planets, locations, commanders and such. But I'm pretty sure that stuff is in the books. Thanks for your help.

As for a reason, I would say the liberation of an entire xeno held world would be in the general interest of the Deathwatch.