Age of Darkness-Warhammer 30k/2.0 Tactics/General Tactics

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"Night falls on the Golden Age of Humanity.
Sons shall turn upon their Father,
and his worlds drown in blood.
The Eye will open,
and the Galaxy will Burn."

– Alan Bligh

This is the current edition tactics page for the Age of Darkness ruleset. The previous editions can be found here.

Below, you will find general tactics and tips for building armies and playing The Horus Heresy, also known as Warhammer 30k, using the 2.0 Age of Darkness rules.

In the grimdarkness of the 31st millennium, there are only beakies.

Required Books[edit]

  • The 2.0 Age of Darkness Rules.
  • Your army's Rulebook. May be in PDF form at the moment.
    • Liber Astartes and Liber Hereticus provide rules for the general Legiones Astartes army list as well as the respective legions based on their allegiance.
    • Liber Mechanicum provides rules for the Mechanicum's forces as well as special detachments for Knights and Titans.
    • Liber Imperium provides rules for the Solar Auxilia as well as a way to include the agents of the Divisio Assassinorum. It also includes the Talons of the Emperor!
    • The Ruinstorm Daemons will get a PDF armylist.
    • Blackshields and the Knights-Errant will be getting their own book at some point in the future.
  • Campaign Books for potential battleplans. So far the only one confirmed is Siege of Cthonia.

Key differences between old 30k and 2.0[edit]

Most Legion and army rules have changed so you'll need to check out your new rules since your force will likely operate in a different fashion to how they used to. In addition there are new USR's and changes to some of the existing ones so you will also need to check over them to see if they do the same things that they used to. While somewhat humorously a few of the new additions to 2.0 appear to have been taken from Warhammer Fantasy 8th edition, continuing the trend of new 40k editions copying Warhammer Fantasy/Age of Sigmar, the the biggest influence for 2.0 appears to be 3rd and 4th edition 40k (which makes sense considering both this new rulebook and the 4th edition rule book were written by Andy Hoare), making the game a real return to what made 40k what it is today. As such a lot of the changes from the old Age of Darkness ruleset and the new one will be very familiar to people who have played the older editions of 40k.

The big changes in 2.0 are:

  • Movement: Gone are the universal movement values for unit types, movement is now a value on each units similar to 8th/9th edition 40k, AoS and WHFB. Interestingly while 6" remain the standard for humans, Space Marines have been given a movement Value of 7" to better represent their superhuman speed, making them run at the same speed as Eldar do in 40k. Take that, you knife eared bastards.
  • Reactions: The new gimmick for 2.0, reactions allow units to make tactical choices in response to actions taken by the opponent during their movement, shooting and assault phases, allowing units to fall back, trigger overwatch, counter charge, return fire, etc. during the opponents turn. This seems to be an attempt to balance against the person who goes first and also allow more interactive between both players during the entire game, not just during their own turns. Normally only one reaction can be taken during each phase, but pretty much every faction has one "advanced reaction" the army can do in a specific phase, albeit under far stricter circumstances. Some people view it as an interesting addition, some people view them as shitty stratagems with no CP requirements, which imbalance the game. Will people be happy and learn to love them and not argue? Do you really need to ask that?
  • Psychic Phase: It's gone. Seeing that 7th edition's clunky psychic phase that had been plaguing heresy for years, and the fact that a single army almost always got to use it unopposed, FW seems to have just wiped it from the game. This news was met with most peoples rejoicing and some people's dismay. Psychic powers are now done in specific phases as stated by each psychic power, and each discipline has two powers that the psyker automatically has access too, so not more rolling for powers (thank god).
  • Weapon Skill: Melee combat has been made far more brutal and much less forgiving as a combat is capable of slipping into one sided savagery if engagements are not thought out by one of the sides. You now only hit on 4's if you WS is equal to each other, with a unit hitting the other on 3's if it has better WS and 2's if it has double or higher WS. The same applies in reverse as having worse WS means you hit on 5's and having half or less WS means you hit on 6's. This makes high WS characters and Primarchs absolutely savage in most engagements, hitting most things on 3's and 2's, and even having having a 1 WS difference between a two units can really throw one unit on the backfoot and make the combat an uphill battle for them.
  • Revised USRs: You'll notice quite a few new and revamped USRs and unit types, all to account for the fact that it's no longer moored to the old system. This results in things like Plasma weapons having a pseudo-Rending that won't work on vehicles and Line units essentially gaining ObSec.
  • Scoring units: Scoring is now determined by the type of unit it is, not which Force org slot it fills. Units with the Line sub-type are now your scoring and denial units and while most troop choices will have them some don't, so you'll need to double check the unit sub-type and make sure you bring units that can actually secure the objectives.
  • Blast Weapons AP: After a general amount of complaining from the community that there were too many AP3 and AP2 Blast weapons, the new edition has heavily reigned back most of these weapons (arguably going to far in the other direction), by either reducing the Blast size, increasing their AP so most artillery guns now sport AP4 as the standard AP value, or both. This means that most of the old reliable MEQ and TEQ squad clearers are no longer effective at these jobs and while some have become effective at other things, such as the Demolisher cannon becoming a fairly effective anti-monster/vehicle/fortification weapon, figuring out new ways to deal with 3+ and 2+ saves will be important.
  • Night Fighting: actually means something now, and most missions have it. If either of the players declare they want to use those rules, on a roll of 2+ they are in effect on the first turn. You can't draw LoS to an enemy further than the 24" unless a unit has some way to ignore it, AND all units receive -1 BS and LD. Night Fighting and Cognis allow you to ignore all limitations; other stuff like Auguries only the 24" LoS part. Be mindful about it when writing your roster: just standing there getting blasted off the board with no way to retaliate is not fun.

Key differences between 40k and 30k[edit]

30k is a very different beast to modern Warhammer 40k, despite not looking like it on the surface. Firstly while 9th 10th edition 40k uses AoS as it's basis, 30k uses 7th edition 40k as it's basis, which means many things that disappeared from 40k are still around in 30k, most notably Armor Values for Vehicles (except for Dreadnoughts and Land Speeders, which have Toughness and Wounds like infantry), Universal Special Rules, paying for wargear, Initiative and the Weapon Skill of units interacting with each other. These differences means that Horus Heresy plays much more like the older editions of 40k, with a lot of the same caveats. The direction of tanks is important both to keep them alive and because their guns can't magically shoot through the tank to hit someone on the other side. On the infantry front, you need to be more considerate when you pick targets for shooting, since you can't fire what ever you want at how you want. Everyone must shoot at the same target, you can only charge units you have shot at, and you can only charge after shooting if you shoot Assault or Pistol weapons or have not fired your weapons at all.

One of the big differences between 40k and 30k is the community approach to army building and theming (discussed in further below), as 30k is pseudohistorical and the 30k community has become more focused on balanced and fluffy army lists over hyper-competitive army lists. As a result army lists designed to purely crush your opponent and not built around any sort of cohesive army theme are not well tolerated by the existing 30k community and failure to comply with the social standards put in place will get you labelled a "prick" and no one will want to play with you. This scenario can easily be avoided however by simply picking a theme, painting your models and not being a cunt while building your army list and actually playing the game.

So you want to build an army[edit]

They key to building a good army in the Age of Darkness is to bring a good balance of what you will need, as if you don't have the tools to fight what your facing you're not going to last very long. Tanks and vehicles are tougher than they are in 40k and you will need to bring some dedicated units to kill them, and even one Leman Russ Squadron can cause an absolute headache if you haven't brought any anti-tank to deal with them. On the flip side, infantry units are typically a lot larger in 30k than they are 40k with Space Marines being able to take up to 20 men in one tactical squad, and Militia being able to bring 50 fuckers for a mere 100 points so not having units capable of destroying or routing infantry can be just as much of a problem. Finally scoring units are vitally important in most games of 30k, as only a select few units in an army can actually score thanks to the new Line sub-type, so make sure you bring enough units to hold the objectives since you can wipe out most of an army but lose on victory point if you didn't bring enough troops or all your scoring units got wiped out.

The Force Organization Chart[edit]

Also known as the Force Org chart, this is the basic framework for how you build your armies in 30k. If you played 7th and earlier editions you will remember it well. The standard Force Org chart is the Crusade Force Org chart, which is what most armies will be built around and is the most flexible for building armies. It is important to remember that you must adhere to the force org chart when building you armies and you are required to bring:

  • 1 HQ choice
  • 2 Compulsory Troops choices

The Crusade Force Org chart also allows you to bring other units and you may also take:

  • 2 additional HQ choices
  • 4 additional Troops choices
  • 4 Elites choices
  • 3 Fast Attack choices
  • 3 Heavy Support choices
  • 1 Fortification
  • 1 Primarch (this and Lords of War may not cost more than 25% of the army's total points)
  • 1 Lords of War choice (this and Primarch may not cost more than 25% of the army's total points).

You can also bring a force of allied units to help aid you main force if you feel like mixing armies a bit. You must bring:

  • 1 HQ choice
  • 1 Compulsory Troops choice

And you can bring:

  • 3 additional Troops choices
  • 2 Elites choices
  • 1 Fast Attack choice
  • 1 Heavy Support choice

Warlord Traits[edit]

While each faction has their own unique traits, some restricted to Loyalist or Traitor forces, these will always be open to every army.

  • Bloody-Handed: Any fights within 12" of your warlord count as if they scored an additional wound for the sake of combat resolution. The army can also make an additional reaction during the assault phase so long as they're alive.
  • Stoic Defender: If the warlord and any unit they join shoots and deals unsaved wounds, the enemy must take a Pinning check. The army can also make an additional reaction during the shooting phase so long as they're alive.
    • Pinning is an absolutely dangerous deal in this game, so the ability to pin with any weapon, even bolters and lasrifles, is pretty major.
  • Ever-Vigilant: Whenever the warlord and their attached unit runs, they move an extra distance equal to the Warlord's Initiative +1 instead of the unit's lowest Initiative. The army can also make an additional reaction during the movement phase so long as they're alive.

Army theming[edit]

So you've picked the army you want to build? Good. Now we can proceed to army theming, which entails building you list around a you chosen armies personality. This is actually a very simple concept but it can be given a good amount of depth and provides plenty of opportunities to create unique and clever army lists.

NOTE: You do not have to make a themed army, you can just build an army and fill it with things you like (though keep it balanced). However narrative play is very big in 30k and most people do build thematic armies. In addition most armies in Heresy do play very well when built around a certain theme or narrative list.

To begin with you can very simply build you list around your chosen armies personality and known quirks, (e.g. a White Scars bike force, an Iron Warriors Artillery battalion, a Blood Angels assault army, ect...) which is a perfectly acceptable and suitable approach to build armies. Basing armies on the forces and characters from the Horus Heresy books, both the Black Library and Forge World black books, is another simple but effective way of building themed armies (e.g. building an army based around Autek Mors and his Iron Hands or a Sons of Horus Terminator army led by Abaddon).

It is also very easy to make a Your Dudes army in 30k, even if at first it doesn't seem like it. You can put an interesting spin on an army by making your own personal fluff for the force, with you own personal characters and story for them (e.g. a group of Ultramarines who have been cut off from the Legion and have been slowly whittled down until everyone left is the survivor of dozens of battles making the force a very veteran centric force). And since the Legions were so big and the Heresy was so encompassing, you can come up with hundreds of different and interesting army themes for your force, whether it is the Loyalist elements of a traitor legion, traitor elements of a loyalist legion, a chapter with specific specialisations, a company dug in to a world they were sent to garrison or a group of Black Shields who have left to do their own thing (not that those are receiving rules any time soon, or ever). The possibilities are near limitless. This does come with the caveat that the army should be connected to the Heresy in some way and just saying "yeah this is my 40k chapter, but in Heresy" is boring and going to drop you down a couple of rungs on the 30k community social ladder (but making a specialised legion chapter that are the origin of Your Dudes in 40k is very acceptable and very cool). Non space marine forces such as Militia and Cults or, to a lesser extent, Solar Auxilia (since those have strict patterns of Void Armor) are also very open to the Your Dudes treatment and are arguably more flexible to some of the more out there army themes, as Militia and Cults pretty much requires you to convert your own army and no one will get angry at a Redcoat themed Solar Auxilia army or something like that.

An important thing to note is that the existing 30k community enjoy to making balances armies, that revolve around their armies story and themes. This means it is VERY frowned upon building hyper competitive and broken armies since these are not fun to play against and will almost guarantee you won't get a game with someone. This does not mean you cannot bring strong units, but remember to keep your armies balanced and fun to play against. One unit of battery of Quad mortars in your Death Guard with Phosphex shells is strong and fluffy. 12 Quad Mortars with Phosphex shells, taking up your entire Elite choice in your White Scars Army is unfluffy and bullshit.

Another important thing to remember is 30k is a pseudo historical so certain things cannot be used in 30k as they where not around at the time or do not fit with the style. Much like you don't use WW2 infantry in a Napoleonic era game.

  • Stuff you can't use in 30k:
    • Mark VII or later armour as-is (unless you're playing a loyalist legion during Siege of Terra)
    • Primaris marines. For the love of god, just don't.
    • Fantasy Battle/AoS stuff in general. They look bad for regular 40k conversions (without major overhauling) and look even worse in 30k.
    • Post Heresy symbols such as the Crux Terminatus and 40k specific symbols.
    • Purity seals. One on the pauldron or chest as an oath of moment on the squad sergeant is fine but 20 of the fucking things covering a single marine is a big no no. Unless you're a Word Bearer, but then conversions are in order since theirs lack the wax part.
    • Storm bolters. No really, they were made after the Heresy and so you need to replace them with combi-bolters.
    • Xenos. This is a story about humans, no smelly aliens allowed (If you convert them into humans then some of the model ranges can be used, but don't put a bunch of Eldar Guardians down and say they are Milita levies).

You can argue that Space Marines are Space Marines and that these social rules are just "gatekeeping" and "elitism" and you can continue to argue these things while you are nailed to cross for using a Stormcast model as a Space Marine Praetor, but this is how the 30k community has operated since it's formation and they will have no problems ostracizing you if you act like this (i.e. a cunt). So if things like being told to fuck off for building broken armies or using Primaris or Stormcast models is a deal breaker for you, then 30k is not the game system for you.

But I like my kidneys![edit]

Then you shouldn't be playing Warhammer.

But on a more serious note, a lot the Heresy stuff is still resin and sold on FW making it a more expensive game system to play than 40k (only marginally but still). Luckily a lot new plastic kits have been released specifically for 30k (with more on the way) and there are a lot of conversions and units you can make from the cheaper GW plastic lines, so if you have grown fond of your organs and starting a drug empire seems like too much hassle there are "cheaper" alternatives you can use from GW. There is also 3d-printing and bootleg copies, but don't try bringing those in GW stores.

  • Stuff you can use in 30k:
    • Those plastic space marine kits made specifically for Heresy (duh). As an added benefit these won't be at risk of going out of stock anytime soon.
      • You could also use the 40k Tactical Marine Squad, albeit not out of the box. Hear me out: if you're willing to put the work in, shaving off the chest eagles, clipping the helmet crests until the helmet is flush, filing the knee pads to a point and adding either some sculpted cables or some guitar strings to make a suit of MKV plate is among the easier conversions out there.
      • Note the above requires a LOT of converting and really should only be done if you like converting or have spare 40k Tacticals laying around, given a 40k Tactical Squad of 10 marines costs US$55 ($5.50 per marine) compared to a 30k Tactical Squad of 20 costing US$80 ($4 per marine).
    • The plastic Custodes and Sisters of Silence made for Heresy (double duh).
    • Mars pattern vehicles (this would be the GW Rhinos and the vanilla Land Raiders, though Mars pattern is smaller than newly-made Deimos, so it can cause trouble in hyper-competitive environment).
    • Castraferrum Dreadnoughts.
    • Any GW Space Marine in Mark II-VI armours.
    • Imperial Guard models.
    • The less goofy plastic Mechanicus models (like all the Techpriest models).
    • Pretty much any human model with the Purity seals/Inquisitorial/post Heresy symbols shaved off. Even Converted Warhammer Fantasy models can work for Militia.
    • Plastic Knights. They have rules for 30k and have their own army list.
    • Converted Chaos models. While Chaos Space Marines wear an unholy mix of mk VI and VII, thanks to an idiot who sculpted Word Bearer Praetor it's now a Heresy accurate armour mark, and with some work can be used for late Heresy Word Bearers, Sons of Horus, and Black Shields. Possessed can also be used for Gal Vorbak. Daemon engines can be used by Traitor Mechanicum (not Defilers though, those were made after the Heresy) in conversions and Daemons of the Ruinstorm are literally just Daemons, and the whole army based around converting your own force (more specific details about their conversion opportunities are on their tactics page).

And on the flip side a lot of 30k stuff is usable with 40k and by extension kill team.

Unit Types[edit]

  • Infantry are the same as ever. Generic, without special rules, and only accompanied by other infantry and primarchs.
  • Armiger units are similar to Dreadnoughts in that they're oversized vehicles that have stats like monsters. Poisoned and Fleshbane weapons must re-roll to wound them and they can shoot all guns in a turn, even after moving. Unlike Dreads, Armigers only get Stubborn.
  • Automata represent the majority of the Mechanicum's forces. They are all Fearless and attacks from Poisoned and Fleshbane weapons must re-roll a successful wound roll. However, a unit that has any can't make Reactions and they can't be joined by anything except other Automata unless something overwrites this.
    • Cybernetica units give Automata all the perks of something like a Dreadnought (shooting all weapons after moving without penalty, immunity to Initiative penalties when charging through cover) with the great drawback of Programmed Behavior (unless a Cortex Controller is nearby, this unit must shoot or charge the nearest enemy). Considering the power of automata, it requires you to pick which ones you want to keep an eye on while leaving the rest to fire on autopilot.
  • Cavalry covers bikers, Land Speeders (a new addition to the list), and traditional cavalry. They can't be pinned and fall back 3d6". While they can move through difficult terrain at full speed, difficult terrain counts as dangerous terrain for them.
  • Daemon models are, of course, for the Ruinstorm Daemons. They always gain a +1 Strength and Toughness bonus on turns 1 and 2, lose that bonus on turns 3 and 4, and take -1 to Strength and Toughness on turns 5 and 6, which worsens to -2 from turn 7 onwards. Daemons always have Fear (1) and are immune to it while always being able to rally automatically. However, they can't opt to fall back if they can't hit a vehicle and failing a morale check for any reason costs them d3 wounds. Force weapons are also Instant Death for them.
  • Dreadnought models are now more like monsters than vehicles, gaining a toughness score and save instead of armor values. Like Automata, they are Fearless and attacks from Poisoned and Fleshbane weapons re-roll a successful wound roll. In addition, they can fire all their guns and count as stationary when doing so, meaning they can fire their assault cannons as part of an overwatch reaction. They can also charge after shooting even if their weapons would normally disallow it.
  • Primarch can go without any further explanation. They're pretty packed with rules, coming stock as Independent Characters with Eternal Warrior, Fearless, IWND (5+), Bulky (4), and Relentless who must always be the army's warlord. They can never suffer any stat penalties (aside from wounds, of course) and thus always fire snap shots at their base BS. On top of that, any attacks the primarch makes in melee can be distributed on any enemy of the player's choosing, meaning you can always throw wounds at any special weapons hidden in the back.
  • Vehicle models are as they have been, with unique firing arcs for their weapons and armor values for each side that weapons have to breach on a d6+Weapon Strength. AP2 and AP1 weapons add to this roll, which improves their effectiveness too.
    • Bombard represents vehicles built to mount heavy cannons, such as the Cerberus. They have no restrictions on firing Ordnance weapons when moving at Combat Speed but can only fire a single Defensive weapon when moving at Cruising Speed.
    • Fast vehicles are more mobile, always counting as moving at combat speed unless they move Flat-out (and they're the only vehicles that can do so).
    • Flyer vehicles are pretty obvious. Aside from all the other vehicle rules, they can only use the Evade reaction and always begin play in reserves. Flyers can zoom, letting them move super-fast while still being able to shoot, but they have a minimum movement quota they can make unless they explode.
      • Hover gives a flyer a second mode of movement, allowing it to act like a Skimmer.
      • Lumbering flyers are essentially superheavy flyers like the Thunderhawk. This gives them all the defensive benefits of being a superheavy.
    • Reinforced units are heavy tanks like the Kratos and Land Raider whose reinforced armor is better at surviving heavy damage. They ignore Crew Shaken and are not restricted to firing Snap Shots if affected by Crew Stunned (although they're still unable to move or pivot for the turn if they get that result).
    • Skimmer vehicles like land speeders technically can move over any models and terrain but can never start or end a turn on them. Ending movement on such terrain forces them to make a dangerous terrain check. In addition, an immobilized result wrecks them.
    • Slow vehicles are extra tanky, but...well, slow. They always count as moving at cruising speed but attacks against them roll an additional d6 for penetration, throwing out the higher roll.
    • Super-Heavy vehicles represent LoW choices like the Fellblade or the Mastodon, only able to react against other superheavies. They always count as having never moved for the sake of shooting and can split their fire across multiple targets. The Explodes result merely deals d3 hull points of damage and any other vehicle damage results are ignored. If this vehicle dies, it immediately explodes, dealing an S7+d3 AP4 hit to anyone within 6+d6" and forcing a Pinning test if they survive.
      • Knights and Titans are essentially superheavies that can punch each other, can move over Infantry and Cavalry units, and perform Stomp attacks.
    • Transports, of course, transport a certain number of models, with the Bulky rule now giving you a distinct number of slots that a model can take up if they can take them.

Unit Subtypes[edit]

  • Character models remain the same as before, able to issue and accept challenges from other characters.
  • Cybertheurgist units are capable of using Cybertheurgy Rites, exclusive to the Mechanicum.
  • Line units are your basic grunts, the equivalent of ObSec in modern games. Each one always counts as a scoring and denial unit.
  • Antigrav units represent stuff like jetbikes and Land Speeders. They can always fly over any terrain but can't start or stop any movement in impassible or dangerous terrain lest they take a dangerous terrain check. Antigrav units also can't benefit from cover saves.
  • Artillery can go on things like Rapiers. These must be accompanied in a unit where there are models without this subtype or else they are removed as casualties. Taking one hobbles their mobility a lot, as they can't run or charge, can't react and are unable to make sweeping advances. Any sweeping advances flat-out kill them and they can never count as a scoring or denial unit.
  • Guardian units can attach to other units despite any unit type limitations, which also means that they can join their charges in transports. Guardian models protect their owners from anything that targets characters like Precision Shots, meaning that they can protect from even Primarchs. However, these units must attach to characters, as otherwise they suffer -1 to Initiative and -2 to Movement while being disallowed from running.
  • Heavy units largely represent heavily-armored things like marines with boarding shields and Cataphractii terminators. They can re-roll saves against template and blast weapons, but they can't run and any movement during a reaction must take a -1 penalty.
  • Light units represent lightly-armored troops like Scouts. These units gain +1 to their run distance or any movement during a reaction (which stacks with rules like Fleet (X)) and can fire snap shots after running, but they can't take cover saves after running.
  • Monstrous is for bulky things like Castellax and greater daemons. They can never be pinned and can always fire any weapons they have, counting as stationary when doing so. They can also charge regardless of any shooting attacks they make.
  • Paragon units are the best of their kinds, most commonly seen on Paragons of Iron in the Mechanicum. These units cannot suffer any penalties to their stats like Primarchs. They can also fire any guns they want in a turn, even after moving. The only drawback, if you can even call it one, is that they cannot join any units.
  • Psyker represents...well, psykers.
  • Unique units are just that. You can only take one Unique unit of a given type in each army, though you can take two different units that each have the subtype. They are also restricted to whatever wargear is on their army list profile even if their Legiones Astartes (X) rule would normally let them use something else.
  • Skirmish represents scouts and other units that rely on speed and cover to survive. They have a larger unit coherency range and improve their cover saves by 1.

Universal Special Rules[edit]

Oh yeah, these are back too! And a lot of them got revamped to boot. Not helping is that there are rules not only in the main book, but also in the Libers.

  • Adamantium Will (X+): Gone are the Deny the Witch rolls. All of them. In their place, Adamantium Will (X+) has been reworked to become an invulnerable save against any psychic weapons and force weapons.
  • Armourbane (X): Same as ever, this lets you add an additional D6 when rolling to penetrate a Vehicle, but it also lets you re-roll to wound Automata and Dreads, which are no longer Vehicles and are more like Monstrous Creatures. While it has a version for melee and ranged weapons, it also has a version for Melta weapons, which emulates the classic Melta dependence on firing them at half-range in order to work at maximum effectiveness.
    • As Armoured Ceramite is no longer a commonplace necessity, expect to see this used way more often.
  • Assault Vehicle: Assault Ramps. Anyone who disembarks from this vehicle unless the vehicle also arrived in from deep-striking that turn can charge.
  • Barrage: Blast weapons that can fire at enemies they can't see but doing so means that they can't subtract their BS when rolling to see how far it scatters. If it fires multiple times, then any subsequent blasts that scatter have to be positioned that their pie plates are touching the original.
    • Rocket Barrage: Weapons with this rule gain Rending (4+) and Pinning if the model equipped with the weapon didn't move in the movement phase. Lasts until the controlling player's next turn.
  • Battlesmith (X+): A model with this rule can forego shooting to repair Vehicles, Automata and Dreads they're next to or riding in. On a roll of X+, this model may restore a lost Wound/Hull Point, repair a destroyed weapon or repair an immobilized result. Note that this can't be used on any turn where the repairer is pinned or falling back.
  • Battle-Hardened (X): When registering whether an attack's Strength is enough to cause Instant Death to a target, this rule adds X to the target's Toughness, thereby potentially foiling the attempt. However, take note that this will not affect what the weapon has to roll to wound, which can be trouble in its own way.
  • Blast (X"): Same as ever, pie plates are used to determine who is hit by this weapon, the X determining the size of the plate as opposed to the old Small/Normal/Large/Apocalyptic Blast of yore. You roll to see where it scatters, with the distance subtracted by the shooter's BS.
  • Blind: Models hit by a weapon with this rule must pass an Initiative check or else be reduced to WS1 and BS1 until the end of their next turn.
  • Bulky (X): Replacing stuff like Very Bulky with numerical values for Terminators and Primarchs, models with this rule now count as X models when determining transport capacity.
  • Brutal (X): One wound with this weapon actually counts as being X wounds, meaning that this can be vital in taking down multi-wound models like Terminators that much quicker.
    • Note: This is wounds not hits, so on 1 wound models is merely a higher chance to kill that model and is meaningless on 1 wound models if they wouldn't get a save anyway. Like Mortal Wounds, they can't spill over.
  • Chosen Warriors: The rule most familiar to anyone with a command squad. Models with this rule can issue and accept challenges as though they were characters.
  • Concussive (X): Models wounded by a weapon with this rule (regardless of whether or not the wound was saved) must pass a Leadership check or suffer -X to their WS until the end of their next assault phase.
  • Counter-Attack (X): When a model with this rule is charged, they gain X extra attacks for this assault phase. Note that this has no effect when the charged unit is either already in combat or if they used the Hold the Line reaction.
  • Crawling Fire: The fun Phosphex rule. After placing this blast, the pieplate can move 2" in the direction of any models so long as it lets them cover more things.
  • Crusader: This model rolls an additional D6 when rolling for Sweeping Advance and discards the lowest roll.
  • Cumbersome: Models fighting with a weapon using this rule can only make one attack using WS1.
  • Deadly Cargo: Sometimes even a simple ding can cause a tank to go up in flames. If a vehicle with this rule loses a hull point in any way, roll a D6. It explodes on a 6 without question.
  • Deflagrate: The Volkite rule. After resolving any wounds by a weapon with this rule, you score an additional number of hits equal to how many unsaved wounds were made. Of course, these new hits can't score more deflagration.
  • Deep Strike: One of several ways to drop a unit during the middle of combat.
  • Destroyer: Not only is this now a weapon type given exclusively to superheavy units, but it's also providing special rules as well. This is the replacement for last edition's Strength D - instead dealing an additional d3 Wounds/Hull Points worth of damage.
  • Duellist's Edge (X): Familiar to anyone using Charnabal weapons. When fighting in a challenge, this model improves their Initiative by X.
    • Reach (X): A more reliable rule, this just flat-out gives the Initiative bonus to anyone using them.
  • Eternal Warrior: If a model with this rule suffers Instant Death, they only get their wounds reduced by 1 wound instead of dying outright.
  • Exoshock (X+): If a weapon with this rule scores a Pen on a vehicle, roll a D6; on an X+, this scores a second Pen.
  • Fear (X): Fear is now numerical. All enemies within 12" of this model must reduce their Leadership by X when making morale checks, regroup checks or pinning checks. Note that just because a model causes Fear it isn't automatically immune to it, because that requires...
  • Fearless: Auto-pass all pinning, regroup and morale checks and ignore Fear. However, models with this rule can never use reactions that grant a save or damage mitigation roll of any kind and can't fail a morale check if their weapons are useless.
  • Feel No Pain (X+): If this model takes an unsaved wound, you can roll an additional D6 and ignore the wound on a X+.
  • Fleet (X): When a whole unit with this rule runs, moves as a reaction or charges, they add +X to the total move distance. Note that if the unit has mixed Fleet values, then you need to pick the lowest - even if there is none.
  • Fleshbane: This weapon always wounds anything that isn't a vehicle or a building on a 2+. However, recall that automata and dreadnoughts force these weapons to re-roll to wound.
  • Force: Before attacking with a weapon using this rule, you can choose to make a Psychic check as if this were a power. If this check passes, then the weapon doubles its Strength. No longer as devastating as before, but it's still potentially quite dangerous, especially to units with the Daemon subtype, which it gains Instant Death against (along with the Strength bonus, making it better than before against those specific types).
  • Firing Protocols (X): This model can shoot X different weapons in the same shooting phase.
  • Furious Charge (X): This model adds +X to their Strength when they charge.
  • Gets Hot: When shooting with this weapon, a natural 1 to hit (or a 1-2 to hit for a vehicle) deals an instant hit with an AP similar to the weapon. For template weapons, you only suffer it when you roll a D6 before attacking and suffer a 1. While most things can ignore it, cover saves and Shrouded don't.
  • Graviton Pulse: Instead of rolling to wound, models hit by a weapon with this rule must roll under their Strength on a D6 or suffer a wound. If this was on a blast, then the ground under this pieplate counts as difficult and dangerous terrain.
  • Guided Fire: This weapon doesn't need LOS to fire.
  • Hammer of Wrath (X): A model with this rule deals X AP- hits at the end of a charge, counting as happening on Initiative 10.
  • Hatred (X): An old classic, this model re-rolls to hit specific enemies during the first turn of a fight.
  • Haywire: When this hits a vehicle, dreadnought or automata, roll D6 for effect. On a 2+, this deals a glancing hit/deals a wound that can only be negated by an invuln or damage mitigation. On a 6, this deals a penetrating hit/deals a wound that negates all saves.
  • Hit & Run: A unit with this rule can opt to leave a fight at the end of an assault phase by passing an Initiative check. If passed, this unit moves 2D6+M" away from the enemy.
  • Independent Character: As expected, this is a character that can join any other unit they want.
  • Infiltrate: After everyone is set up, this unit can be placed anywhere on the board so long as it's at least 9" from the enemy.
  • Ignores Cover: Look at the damn name.
  • Instant Death: Any unsaved wounds from a weapon with this rule (or any weapon where its Strength is double the Toughness of the target) instantly kill the target.
  • It Will Not Die (X): This model can heal a lost wound on a X+ at the end of each turn.
  • Lance: Any attacks by a weapon with this rule against a vehicle count any AV above 12 as just being 12.
  • Legiones Astartes (X): Just there to identify what Legion this unit is in, if at all. Note that X just means you can assign it to any legion. You can't mix Legions within a single detachment, they need to be taken as allied detachments instead.
  • Lingering Death: The other fun Phosphex rule. After the blast is resolved, it remains on the ground, counting as dangerous terrain for anything that isn't a vehicle.
  • Loyalist/Traitor: Only exist to strictly enforce that certain units or characters can only be fielded in Loyalist or Traitor armies.
  • Master-Crafted: Same as before, this lets a weapon re-roll one hit roll.
  • Monster Hunter: This model can re-roll to wound automata, dreadnoughts, primarchs and anything with the monstrous subtype.
  • Move Through Cover: This model ignores difficult terrain.
  • Murderous Strike (X+): A weapon with this rule counts as being Instant Death on a X+ to wound.
  • Night Vision: Negates Night Fighting and Shrouded saves.
  • One Use/One Shot: This weapon has a single use before breaking into uselessness.
  • Outflank: This unit can arrive from reserves using a Flanking Assault, emerging from the edge of the board.
  • Pinning: A non-vehicle unit that isn't engaged and lacks Fearless hit by a weapon with this rule must pass a Leadership check or be pinned. Pinned units can only fire snap shots and can't react, making this way more dangerous when compared to before.
  • Poisoned (X+): Attacks against non-vehicle units always wound on a X+. While this can work on automata and dreadnoughts, you do need to re-roll to wound these units.
  • Power of the Machine Spirit: This vehicle can split its weapons to fire on multiple enemies.
  • Precision Shots/Precision Strikes (X): A hit roll of X+ will hit the unit of your choosing. Shots is for shooting, Strikes is for melee.
  • Preferred Enemy (X): A model with this rule re-rolls 1s to hit and wound this unit. This works both with shooting and melee.
  • Rad-Phage: The radiation rule. Any unit that suffers unsaved wounds from a weapon with this rule takes a permanent -1 to Toughness. While spamming Irad Cleansers and Rad Grenades doesn't work, anything else that messes with Toughness does.
  • Rage (X): This model gains +X attacks on the charge instead of just 1.
  • Rampage (X): If this model is outnumbered in a fight, they gain X extra attacks. Note that units with Bulky will count as however many models for the sake of this rule.
  • Relentless: This model can fire Heavy and Ordinance weapons after moving, counting as they stood still. They can also charge after firing Rapid-Fire, Heavy and Ordinance weapons.
  • Rending (X+): When this weapon rolls a X+ to wound, the hit counts as if it were AP2. If used on a vehicle, a penetration roll of X+ adds +D3 to the attack's Strength with the AP remaining the same.
    • Breaching (X+) A scaled down version of Rending, seen mostly on plasma guns. This still counts as AP2 on a X+ to wound, but is now ineffective on vehicles.
  • Shell Shock (X): Pinning checks caused by a weapon with this rule must take a -X penalty.
  • Shock Pulse: Vehicles, dreadnoughts and automata that are wounded/suffer a Pen from a weapon with this rule can only fire snap shots for the next turn.
  • Shred: Now far more common on chainswords, this allows re-rolls to wound.
  • Scout: After everyone is deployed, this unit can move forward (6" for infantry, artillery, dreads and automata, 12" for anything else) so long as they remain 9" away from the enemy.
  • Shrouded (X+): Another damage mitigation roll, made after failing the save.
  • Pathfinder: A unit with at least one model that has this rule auto-passes dangerous terrain checks.
  • Skyfire: A weapon with this rule hits Skimmers and Flyers at full BS but must snap fire to hit anything else.
  • Slow and Purposeful: Like Relentless but this model cannot run, sweep, or make reactions.
  • Sniper: This weapon always fires Precision Shots. Does not work on snap firing.
  • Specialist Weapon: This weapon does not confer a bonus attack for dual wielding unless used alongside another Specialist Weapon.
  • Split Fire: A unit with this rule can fire at as many different enemies as they have weapons. Unlike with 8E onwards, this is not on by default.
  • Sudden Strike (X): On the Charge, Improve Initiative by X, until the end of the assault phase. No bonus on Disordered Charges.
  • Sunder: Re-roll to penetrate vehicles and buildings, keeping the second roll.
  • Strafing Run (X): When this Flyer shoots at anything that isn't a flyer, their BS improves by X.
  • Stubborn: A unit where at least one model with this rule ignores penalties to Morale and Pinning checks and any Leadership penalties.
  • Support Squad: This unit can't be used as a compulsory FOC choice.
  • Swarm: Instead of being its own unit type, it's now a rule. This unit still suffers double wounds from any template or blast weapons.
  • Template Weapons/Hellstorm Weapons: The Flamer classic. No rolls, it always hits anything the template falls under. If used for snap shooting at anything charging or within 8", then the weapon scores D3 hits. Of course, the Hellstorm template still exists, stuck to only seeing use on superheavies.
  • Torrent (X"): The skinny end of the template can be within X" away from the firing model, allowing more flexibility in firing.
  • Twin-Linked: Shooting with this weapon re-rolls to hit. Templates instead re-roll to wound. Blast weapons can re-roll the scatter die and distance, but you must take this second roll.
  • Two-Handed: A weapon with this rule can never benefit from dual wielding.
  • Unwieldy: Unless this unit is a dreadnought or monstrous, attacks from this weapon are made at I1.

The Turn[edit]

The turn system has been dialed right back and is now very similar to older editions of 40k, with its three phase system being near identical to 3rd and 4th edition 40k. None of those pesky psychic, charge, fight and command phases. Just the Movement, Shooting and Assault phases.

Movement phase[edit]

It's the phase when you move... that's about it. Each unit has it's own movement characteristic and while most units of the same type will have the same movement characteristic you might have to double check every now and then. Making sure you make good movements can be more complex than initially thought as, as haphazardly marching towards the nearest objective can leave you out of cover and get you torn to shreds by high AP weaponry. Also beware counter movements by your opponent to intercept you units and try to predict charges and counter reactions to you can keep your units safe from melee blenders or so you can get your melee units into combat effectively.

  • Don't forget Reserves are deployed during the Movement phase, and Deep Strike this edition is downright ridiculous. First of all, you bunch all Deep Strikers together and then roll for all of them once. Then, if the roll is a success, you deploy one model from one unit anywhere on the map 1" away from the enemy and roll a scatter; if you end up outside of the battlefield, on top of an enemy model or Impassable terrain, your enemy can move that model 18" anywhere. But wait, I can hear you ask, what if I'm scattered full 12" and can place my model there, how's that "where I want"? Well, you don't have to deploy the squad in base to base contact, unlike previous edition! That means that a conga line of 5 Marines on 32mm bases will end up whenever you desire in 13,5". All subsequent units from Deep Strike arrive on the same turn within 12" of the first unit (not model!), which gives an unprecedented freedom of maneuver.
    • And now you can charge out of Deep Strike and Flanking Assault. From 1" away. Better pack those Augury Scanners and Helical Targeting Arrays! Add Vox Disruptor if you're feeling particularly paranoid.

Shooting phase[edit]

The phase when your army unloads their guns and a good time to hand out some significant hurt on your opponent's forces. It's pretty similar to how it's always been so there isn't much to talk about here other than picking your targets well and anticipating the possibility of the opponent using Return Fire to try and get in a few shots of their own.

  • Unlike previous editions, vehicles don't get cover saves and at best are Obscured Targets which provides them with a measly 6+ Cover Save.

Assault phase[edit]

The phase where you charge, fight and die like men. You pick the unit you don't like, declare the charge and you roll 2D6 to see if you get to them like before, though a few more things need to be considered. Firstly Overwatch is now a reaction and can only be done once per-turn so you don't need to be as scared about it as you were in the previous edition. In addition the new WS chart means that throwing that squad of WS4 Tactical marines into that WS5 command squad is an even worse idea than before, since the new WS chart now means that you only hit each other on 4's if you have equal WS, while the guy with the highest hits on 3+ and the guy with the lowest hits on 5+. This can get even more one sided if one of the units in combat has double the WS of the other, since the side with double WS will be hitting on 2+ and the other will be hitting on 6+. This means combat should be more carefully considered than before, as a bad matchup can be even harder to win than in the previous edition of 30k as a squad with a good WS can tear apart other units with far greater ease than before. Secondly, one should remember new Charge distance modifiers: for example, Movement of 8-10" gives you +1", as opposed to 1-4" that deducts it.

  • Oh boy, Heresy 2.0 hasn't been released, and Fight phase is already broken: a single model unit can't kill more than one model on charge with minimal effort from the player getting charged. For example, if Player 1 charges Tactical Squad with their Dreadnaught, the latter's coming in base contact with one enemy model only (because initial charger must be moved by the shortest possible route to the closest enemy model). The problem is, where in previous edition models must Pile In in their Initiative step, now they may do so, so Tactical Squad is just standing there, watching their comrade, the only model in base contact with the Dreadnaught, getting slaughtered. Player 1 then rolls, say, 4 attacks at I4, hits and wounds with all of them. Player 2 removes one marine in base contact with the Dreadnaught and discards all other wounds, because no models are locked in combat at I4, thanks to how a wound pool in Fight phase now works. Needless to say, this mechanic of optional Pile In moves and wounds distribution can easily be abused.
  • Be mindful that in this edition, the wording of engaging in combat has changed a little. What we're interested in is this bit: "models in unit coherency with another model from its' own unit which is in base contact with an enemy model". Skirmish sub-type like NL Raptors have 3" unit coherency, with all the shenanigans it entails.

Morale[edit]

The thing that determines if your units stay and fight or turn and run for the hills. Moral tests are taken when a unit loses 25% of the models in the shooting phase or it has been beaten in combat. Upon failing a moral test units will fall back, simulating the unit routing or retreating to a more advantageous position. A unit will continue to fall back during each turn until it makes a successful moral test to regroup. Units falling back from combat are also subject to their opponent making a sweeping advance test to finish them off, where both units compare their initiative + die roll. If the unit that is falling back has an equal or higher result, it escapes, while if the unit that is trying to run them down has the higher result the falling back unit is wiped out. This can be pretty brutal and it can be a serious punishment for units that were thrown haphazardly at the nearest enemy unit.

Psychic Powers[edit]

WE 3rd EDITION NOW! With the psychic phase having been removed, psychic powers are a bit different than how they were in 7th. Firstly, you can now pick your powers and don't have to waste your time rolling for them, and since there is no psychic phase, powers are now taken in the specific phase noted down on the power itself. In addition, warp charges are gone and a psychic power is now manifested by taking an unmodified leadership test; if you pass, the power is manifested like 6E and prior. If you fail, the Psyker (or the unit they're in, your choice) suffers PotW, D3 Wounds that can only be saved by Invulnerable saves (and not mitigated by FnP either).

Also of note is that the disciplines are also drastically trimmed down since you're no longer needing to roll for powers.

Reactions[edit]

The new gimmick feature for 2.0, reactions allow you to take actions during your opponents phase and "react" to what they are doing (and allows GW to move closer to Alternating Activations without actually commiting. The Scoundrels). This can range from returning fire at a unit that just shot at you, to charging your opponents models that got too close during their movement phase, to old standbys like Overwatch. Depending on which reaction is used, reactions can be taken during the opponents Movement, shooting or assault phase with typically only one being allowed to be taken each phase, but some rules and warlord traits allow you to take up to a maximum of three per phase. Additionally, each faction tends to have at least one "advanced reaction", which is usually more powerful than the standard reactions but has more specific triggers and can usually only be used once per game. Units can't make Reactions if they're Pinned, falling back, or locked in combat.

<tabs> <tab name="Movement Phase"> Triggered when an enemy moves within 12" of one of your units.

  • Advance: The unit can move a distance equal to their highest Initiative stat towards the enemy that triggered this reaction. Vehicles can pivot up to 90 degrees and move 6". Pretty much used to block off enemies from vulnerable units or to prepare for a charge on your next turn.
  • Withdraw: The unit can move a distance equal to their highest Initiative stat away from the enemy that triggered this reaction. Vehicles can pivot up to 90 degrees and move 6". Vital in pulling units out of charging range.
  • Interceptor: Only triggered if an enemy unit arrives from reserves and is within LoS of one of your units. Your unit can immediately shoot at them, though vehicles can only fire defensive weapons.
  • Death or Glory: Only triggered after a vehicle rams your non-vehicle unit, hits are resolved, and you pass a morale check. One model from that rammed unit can make a ranged or melee attack that auto-hits the vehicle's front armor. If it destroys the vehicle or causes a Crew Stunned/Immobilized/Explodes result from a penetrating hit, then the model gets to live. Otherwise, they die.

</tab> <tab name="Shooting Phase"> Triggered after the enemy shoots one of your units, but before you start removing any casualties.

  • Return Fire: Your unit can immediately shoot back, though they can't use any weapons that ignore LoS or use Barrage. Flamers and the like can only be used if the enemy is within 8" (of the unit, not the Flamer-toting model), firing as though they were overwatching. Vehicles are similarly restricted to firing only defensive weapons. In either case, your unit is considered stationary so they can fire their worst without any worry.
  • Evade: Your unit gains a 5+ Shrouded save for this attack. This doesn't stack with any other instances of Shrouded, but it's just as valuable in saving units since it's a save-after-save like FNP. Naturally doesn't work for immobilized units and gets ignored by some equipment.
    • Previously, this didn't work on Vehicles. However, the FAQ corrected this so that "all models in the reacting unit gain the Shrouded (5+) special rule against all wounds, glancing and penetrating hits inflicted as part of the shooting attack that triggered this reaction."

</tab> <tab name="Assault Phase"> Triggered once the enemy charges one of your units but before any models are moved (regardless of whether or not the charge is successful).

  • Overwatch: The old and venerable classic. Fortunately, your unit counts as though they didn't move so you can still fire your heavy bolters and the like without worry.
  • Hold the Line: Roll a morale check for your unit. If it passes and your enemy charged successfully, the charge will count as disordered. If the enemy charge failed, then any other charges against this unit will count as disordered. If you fail you fall back as normal for failing a moral check. However, if the charging unit can still reach your unit with its charge roll, after your unit has fallen back, it is destroyed.

</tab> </tabs>

Warhammer 30,000 Tactics Articles
General Tactics
Imperium
Chaos
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