XENOS HUNTER

XENOS HUNTER
Precipice is a lawless place where humans and aliens regularly join forces to explore the
depths of the Blackstone Fortress. Such alliances are nothing short of unthinkable to most
loyal Imperial servants, particularly alien hunters such as the Deathwatch Watch Master.

he Deathwatch Chapter of Space Marines EVER VIGILANT

WATCH MASTER
was first established during the traumatic If you fancy playing Over the next few pages, you’ll find rules for using
events of the War of the Beast in M32 to this army of one a Deathwatch Watch Master in your games of
safeguard the Imperium from the threat mission, you’re Blackstone Fortress. Like other high-calibre
going to need a
of alien invasion. Watch Fortresses were set up Watch Master! The characters such as the Eversor Assassin and the
across the galaxy, and battle-brothers were drawn Deathwatch Watch Harlequins Solitaire, the Watch Master is a
from virtually every Space Marine Chapter to Master, available solo-play character and fights entirely alone. This
from the Games
garrison them. Workshop website, may seem like a daunting prospect, but as you’ll
is the perfect kit. soon see, he’s more than up to the task!
Each fortress is commanded by a Watch Master, a He even comes
with a key-holding
veteran warrior with many centuries of battlefield servo-skull for The Watch Master is unique in that you don’t get
experience and alien-hunting knowledge. Their unlocking tricky to roll four activation dice for him each round. No,
superhuman physiology makes them a formidable fortress doors. you get to roll six! This means the Watch Master
warrior in their own right, but their specialist can thunder into a room, fire off a few rounds of
wargear turns them into a veritable avatar of specialist ammunition from the bolter integrated
destruction. Clad in an ornate suit of power into his guardian spear, chop up any survivors,
armour and armed with a formidable guardian then smash his way out the other end of the room
spear, there are few enemies that can stand with all the alien-hating prejudice you’d expect
before the indomitable might of one of these from one of the galaxy’s foremost warriors. Let the
deadly xenos hunters. purge of xenos begin!

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 NEW RULES

AN ARMY OF ONE
Blackstone Fortress is a game that can be played as both HARDLY A CHALLENGE:
a single player and multiplayer experience. Whether one When making event rolls, use the following table instead of the
explorer takes control over an entire group and leads them to one in the Combat booklet.
victory, or a group of friends decide to tackle the challenge
of the fortress as a team, there are pitfalls and challenges SOLO PLAY EVENT TABLE
aplenty for all.
ROLL EVENT
Bring It Down!: Make one attack with every hostile
But what if a single hero took to the field of battle who was
that has line of sight to an explorer. If a hostile does
powerful enough to handle the threats of the Blackstone 1 not have line of sight to an explorer, they make one
Fortress alone? A warrior so mighty that not even a Chaos Move action towards the nearest explorer.
Space Marine or an entire group of Negavolt Cultists was Unfulfilled Destiny: Do not make a destiny roll at the
enough to give them pause? 2-3 start of the next turn.
Wave after Wave: If possible, every hostile that has
Well here it is: a ‘what if’ scenario in which we present a potent been slain during the combat encounter is returned to
warrior who is quite capable of completing an expedition by
4-6 the battlefield as reinforcements (pg 13 of the Combat
themselves, and with activation dice to spare. To set up an booklet).
expedition using this fell-handed explorer, use the rules for Dangerous Conditions: Draw two encounter cards.
setting up a one-off expedition, with the following changes. Any twists on those cards apply for the rest of the
7-10 combat. If neither encounter card has a twist, repeat
this process until at least one encounter card that has
Stage 2: When setting up a one-off expedition, during stage 2, a twist on it has been drawn.
you can pick the Deathwatch Watch Master as an explorer. If
Deadly Escape: The leader replaces the portal furthest
you do, no other explorers can be picked. This means that only from the explorer with a maglev transport escape
one player can be an explorer in this expedition, and one other chamber. If more than one portal is equally far from
player can be the hostile player. 11-14 the explorer, the leader can pick which one to replace.
If this event has already been rolled, or if an explorer
has made a Summon (4+) action, treat this result as a
Stage 3: Note that some exploration cards require more than
‘Bring it Down!’ result instead.
one explorer. If one of these is drawn during the expedition,
draw a different challenge from the remaining challenge 15-17 Inspiration: The explorer receives 1 inspiration point.
exploration cards instead. No Limits to My Slaughter: The explorer can make
18-19 one Move action and then one weapon action.
Stage 4: Pick an unused explorer initiative card to represent the Lucky Find: The explorer can draw one discovery
Deathwatch Watch Master.
20 card.

Stage 5: Do not set up any spacecraft.

Stage 12: The leader reads the following:

‘The denizens of the Blackstone Fortress shift uncomfortably

in their lairs. Feral Ur-Ghuls pause suddenly to sniff the air
as they travel through the shadows, their predator’s instinct
recognising an apex threat. Even the deranged minions of
Mallex whisper amongst themselves of a fresh terror that
hunts them, one that will not rest until they have all been
eliminated. Even as such rumours are brutally put down, in
the distance, panicked screams and terrified howls begin to
echo down the corridors …’

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 DEATHWATCH
WATCH MASTER
Watch Masters are the foremost xenos hunters in the galaxy.
They are counted as heroes even amongst the highest echelons
of the Adeptus Astartes, for these men have tested their mettle
against a hundred species of aliens and emerged triumphant.
They have such intense charisma and ability that within the
Deathwatch their every word is law. Their mission is to ensure
the survival of the human race, and it not one they take lightly.
No less a body than the High Lords of Terra has been known to
seek their counsel – for in the business of laying low the alien,
the Watch Masters are without equal.

Though they theoretically return to their original Chapter

once their duties are discharged, Watch Masters usually
prove so vital that they are never allowed to leave their post.
Often, Watch Masters shoulder their duties alone, seeking the
solace of pure thought in long periods of solitude. Yet their
actions send ripples throughout history, almost always for the
betterment of the Imperium.

The Watch Masters hold a position of such trust and authority

that they have access even to the archives of the Inquisition.
Even merciless Lord Inquisitors treat these men with a degree
of deference, for of all the Imperium’s defenders, the Ordo
Xenos know best how grave a burden the Watch Masters
bear. On a strategic level, the Watch Masters work ceaselessly
to outwit and outmanoeuvre the warlords of the alien races,
to stymie invasions before they occur, to bring ascendant
dynasties to their knees and to wipe out parasitic species that
would otherwise infest great swathes of Imperial space. It
speaks to their quality that they can actually achieve such goals
in practice. Knowledge is power, after all, and they use it well.

When the Watch Masters take the field, their centuries of

experience are focused to a deadly point, a weapon specifically
made for the task of slaying xenos bioforms. Wisdom is
far from their only tool. They go to war girded in the finest
Imperial war-tech, the artefacts they bear so precious they
would make a Technomagos weep oily tears of envy. Just as
the hero of an ancient people was once given the keys to his
city, the Watch Master is given the key to Humanity’s domain:
the clavis, a wrist-worn repository of machine spirits from the
Dark Age of Technology that can open any door, and in theory,
take control of any Imperial machine. Watch Masters are clad
in precious masterpieces of the artificer’s art, each a formidable
and ornate suit of armour. They carry the fabled guardian spear,
symbolic of their role of sentinel, and the same weapon borne
by the Emperor’s personal warrior elite, the Custodian Guard,
though modified to fire the signature shells of the Deathwatch.
When a Watch Master joins the fight on the front line, he cuts
down his foes with a cold precision that leaves monsters and
tyrants slain in his wake.

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 NEW RULES

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