Where the Watch Masters are the masterminds of their order,
Watch Captains are its fiery swords. These heroes of the
Imperium lead the Deathwatch into the thick of the fight,
binding their Kill Teams together into armies of black-clad killers
whose mission is the systematic annihilation of the enemy force.
Each Watch Captain is given jurisdiction over four Kill Teams,
including their vehicles and the battle-brothers that attend them.
It is the captain’s duty to learn and understand the
personalities and motivations of the Space Marines under his
vigil. After all, every Kill Team boasts an array of radically
different individuals hailing from all over the galaxy. Without a
guiding hand, the resultant clashes of culture and ideology could
become a liability – but with the guidance of a born leader,
each team is forged into a weapon far greater than the sum
of its parts.
No warrior reaches such esteemed heights without having
proven himself in a dozen theatres of war. Many Watch
Captains were once in command of a Space Marine company;
amongst their number are Wolf Lords, Khans, Iron Fathers
and luminaries from a hundred different Chapters. Some are
promoted from within the Deathwatch, their conduct so
exemplary they attain this rank within the Chapter. Regardless
of their history, they think of little else than how best to slay
those forces that threaten the Imperium. They do so not only
by launching pinpoint strikes, but also by conducting the
resultant battles themselves. Armed with an arsenal of specialist
wargear, at close quarters they can fell the strongest xenos
goliaths. The Watch Captains of the Deathwatch have seen alien
horrors beyond number, and remained stoically defiant.

Hailing from the feral world of Posul, Artemis was once a
savage and battle-hungry tribesman. His courage and ferocity
was such that he became legendary upon his home planet,
and his rivals hunted him to attempt to consume his body and
thereby steal his strength. He killed them all in a frenzy of
violence, but sustained several mortal wounds in return. He
was snatched from the brink of death by the Mortifactors
Chapter, however, and healed. After thirteen years of service as
a Space Marine, he was judged so capable a warrior that he
was seconded to the Deathwatch. Since then he has saved the
Polyglot System by uncovering and eradicating the Genestealer
Cult that sought its domination, destroyed a nascent infestation
of Enslavers by sending a barrage of cyclonic torpedoes to
strike Tarrenhorst, and turned Waaagh! Thrashfang upon itself.
In the course of duty he has lost an eye, an arm, and dozens
of trusted brothers – though ultimately this has only increased
his burning need to hunt and slay the alien wherever it lurks.
‘DO NOT ASK, “WHY KILL THE ALIEN?” RATHER, ASK,
“WHY NOT?”’
- Watch Captain Artemis

The Corvus Blackstar is a sleek and deadly aircraft, much
prized by watch fortresses across the galaxy. Like a knife
slipping in between the ribs of a colossus, the Blackstar
penetrates the outer defences of the alien host to strike directly
at its heart. Though small enough to slip through the sensor
grids of most xenos strongholds, its weapon systems are highly
advanced, allowing the Blackstar to cause devastating impact for
a craft of its size.
The war hangars of the Deathwatch are replete with every
kind of aircraft the Adeptus Astartes have ever sanctioned.
However, such is the Corvus Blackstar’s quality that it is used
almost exclusively in Kill Team missions that involve
air-to-ground engagement. Primarily it fulfils the role of
transport, combining the hurtling speed of the Drop Pod with
the manoeuvrability of a Stormtalon Gunship and the offensive
capability of a far larger craft. Propelled by vectored engines
mounted on the wing and behind the craft, the Blackstar is
nimble enough to dart through winding canyons, the elegant
star-spires of a craftworld, or even the guts of a Tyranid hive
ship in order to bring a surgical strike to the enemy’s heart.
Once in position it changes from fighter craft to hover vehicle
with a twist of the engines, its front-mounted doors yawning
open with a hiss of pistons so that the Deathwatch operatives
inside can leap out and charge directly into the fight.
The pilot of each Blackstar is a veteran Techmarine who has
earned the right to field it over long and arduous years of
schooling. The pilot uses the same machine each time; so
intense is this training that the Techmarine’s indomitable will
and that of the aircraft’s machine spirit become interlinked. This
allows the pilot to pull off aerial manoeuvres so spectacular he
can leave all but the pilots of the unnaturally skilled Eldar
floundering in his wake.
The Corvus Blackstar’s first priority is often to secure aerial
supremacy. To ensure its Kill Team reaches the fray intact, the
Blackstar will plummet through low orbit to fall upon the
aircraft or winged bioforms of the enemy like a raptor diving
into a flock of prey. Once on the tail of its victims, it will shoot
down the enemy craft it judges to be the greatest threat. While
many Blackstars mount twin-linked assault cannons, some bear
a prow-mounted lascannon array, able to channel the
penetrative power of the godhammer pattern guns to destroy
heavily armoured targets. Many of these craft carry a Blackstar
rocket launcher under their wings, equipped with a profusion of
missiles. These allow the pilot to choose dracos air-to-ground
warheads that turn swathes of xenos-infested ground into
flesh-melting conflagrations, or corvid rockets whose spiteful
machine spirits seek and destroy enemy aircraft so that their
master might rule the skies alone.