The upcoming Codex: Imperial Agents is the perfect tome for generals who prefer the most baroque elements of the almighty Imperial war machine. It is bursting with specialised units requisitioned by Inquisitors when their investigations call for more serious armed support. For the Ordo Xenos, these come in the form of the veteran Space Marines of the Deathwatch.
As the Chamber Militant of the alien-hunting arm of the Inquisition, the Deathwatch tend to fight as part of a larger Inquisitorial force when xenos influence threatens the Imperium. This is the primary way the Deathwatch are deployed in Codex: Imperial Agents, which includes datasheets for the Watch Master, Deathwatch Kill Team, and Corvus Blackstar transport, and a Detachment that brings back their classic, flexible Mission Tactics.
The good news is that you absolutely can field a whole army of Deathwatch Space Marines. You’ll require a copy of Codex: Space Marines, and can use any of the Detachments picking Deathwatch units through the Assigned Agents army rule found in the new Codex. This retains the thematic flavour of the Deathwatch with versatile veterans and airborne transports, while also granting access to the rest of the Space Marine armoury.
The Ordo Xenos and regular Space Marines can make use of the Deathwatch Legends datasheets in narrative games too. These include Kill Team Cassius and several highly adaptable Kill Team variants which mix and match a wide range of Space Marine units. These datasheets have the Deathwatch keyword – exactly like those in Codex: Imperial Agents – so they get full use out of the Ordo Xenos Detachment.
It’s not just the Deathwatch who can lend their aid to other Imperial armies – Assigned Agents allows all Agents of the Imperium units to join other factions. Perhaps you fancy deploying a squad of Imperial Navy Breachers alongside your Astra Militarum regiment – but there are cases where a carefully chosen squad can provide a serious boost. For instance, you can add serious melee strength to an Adeptus Mechanicus army with Grey Knight Terminators, or the Imperial Knights may wish to select some cheap infantry to hold backfield objectives and free up their big guys.
As a result, most Imperial Agents units have two points costs: a lower value for a full army selected from this Codex, and a separate, increased cost to reflect the impact they can have when included to mitigate the shortcomings of another faction. This has several advantages, and it means that points can be independently adjusted based on how effective a unit is in each setting.
You’ll be able to see these in the updated Munitorum Field Manual which will be released for free here on Warhammer Community at the same time the new Codex appears in stores. We will dig deeper into the Codex this week, with the branches of the Inquisition, the Detachments you can use for all-Agent armies, and more.