Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics (section)

==Listbuilding 101==
Money, time, and (a lot of) effort.

Pick an army you like, for whichever reason, and memorize its index/codex. Start with an HQ and two Troops. Troops are the backbone of many armies, although you don't technically need any to play a game if you don't want 'em. They tend to have average statlines, but are reliable and good for holding objectives since Battle-forged lists give them a rule that keeps other units from contesting their held objective unless they also have a similar rule. HQs are almost always characters that either act as tough beatsticks or grant buffs to everyone around them; sometimes they can even do both at once. 

Next, decide on a play style. Even within an army this can vary a lot, as Mech Guard is very different from Blob Guard, and Bike Marines are different from Drop Assault Marines.

Note that it's acceptable to go through these two stages in the opposite order. Pick a play style and then an army that fits it. If you want to drown your enemy in cheap bodies then you don't want to play Space Marines, but Orks, Nids or Imperial Guard are good for that. If you're a treadhead then you might find yourself at home in the Guard rather than Dark Eldar, but if you like flyers and fast, paper-thin vehicles they fit the bill (plus their vehicles are *gorgeous*). For the people who love fielding teams of advance battlesuits and a more standard sci-fi force we have the T'au, while if you have a penchant for scratchbuilding stuff out of trash you are at home with the [[Orks|space fungus]] and their ramshackle vehicles and weapons... and if you like 80s scifi movies and/or have a preference for robots that aren't from anime, go nuts with the [[Necron|metalheads]].

Next if you want a chance of winning you need to balance enough anti infantry power (typically high number of shots at mid-low strength and AP with 1-2 damage) to counter hordes (Guard,Orks,Nids) and enough anti-tank power (few shots at high strength, high AP and high damage) to counter a wall of tanks, heavy infantry, and/or monsters (Guard, Space Marines/Chaos Space Marines, Nid-zilla). Most armies fall in between these categories, but it's best to keep the extremes in mind when building your army.

It's also a good idea to look over the codex and tactics for armies other than your own, so you know what kind of forces and strategies other players will bring to the table.

Knowing the ruleset being used is also important: Matched Play is assumed to be the default in our articles, but a lot of alternate options open up when using the Power Level system featured in Narrative Play due to the majority of weapon upgrades being free under those rules. And of course, Open Play is even more of a divergence since it completely ignores the Force Organization Chart, keyword limitations, and any equivalent to points costs: instead, it's just about flooding the board with the most overpowered units you can muster, for better or worse. 

===A Note on Characters===
It's been pointed out by many a player that quite a few characters, including most if not all current Chapter Masters, aren't quite as powerful as they were in 7th Edition. Dante is one example. In 7th Edition he was pretty awesome and had several very useful traits that allowed him to dominate. The same goes for other characters. Those aspects features less in 8th, as it appears GW have geared squads and characters towards a more realistic rule set. Okay, so Dante is a supremely skilled and capable leader in the fluff, but he's no god. 8th Edition seems to point towards getting players to use an army that has multiple parts that must work well together, much like a real army, in order to get the most out of them. To that end, the big guys, such as Primarchs and Daemons ARE really nasty, but most are over 10 wounds, so you can shoot on sight. In short, 8th Edition is Buff Edition, with only a small handful of exceptions that require specific builds to work properly. Use characters to get the most out of your other squads and vehicles. Azrael, the Dark Angels Chapter Master, is a great example, and works well with Hellblasters, allowing them to fire supercharged plasma shots with a greater chance of survival.

===Building a Successful 40k Army===
"Good players build a list to deal with whatever may come their way. Bad players build a list [[WAAC|hoping their opponent cannot counter it.]]"

In theory, two people can attempt to build armies to out-tailor and out-counter each others' hard counters, but in practice, it's easier to attempt to strive for something resembling a "Takes-All Comers" (TAC) army; if nothing else, sticking with the same army and gradually making adjustments to it as you learn what works and what doesn't work, will improve your skill as a player, compared to going [[That Guy|"Fool, you think your Wraithknight can save you next time. I shall return with 20 lascannons!"]]. It will also save you money in the long run, since skewed lists built around [[Cheese]] tend to get hit pretty hard by the [[Nerf|Nerfbat]] of the FAQ's and [[Chapter Approved]].

So, what makes a TAC list anyway? What with fliers, and psykers, big tanks and giant robots, what *can* we include to make our army safe and sane? Although these are not fundamentals, in many cases, the following are safe bets:

*'''Strength 8+, D6 damage''' Generally, a good starting point for your army is to include enough models that can deal effectively with Toughness 7/8, 10+ wound enemies. Lascannons, brightlances, meltaguns, battle cannons, thunder hammers. Anything with strength 8 or more and dealing either 3+ or D6 damage is good. Whilst even a lasgun or boltgun can wound a battle tank with some lucky rolls, this is so ineffective that you can't rely on them to finish off a tank save in very large numbers (and if you have that many they should be shooting targets they're more likely to wound anyway). Strength 6 or 7 is not enough to reliably threaten Toughness 7 or 8 and typically only do 1 damage, but they can be used to supplement the above-mentioned weapons if needed. 

*'''Anti-infantry''' You will need something to take out massed infantry. Either units with weapons that can pick off infantry at  long range of lasguns/shuriken/bolters, weapons with a lot of shots like burst cannons or assault cannons, or good assault units with a lot of attacks like Gaunts, berzerkers or ork mobs. Having AP on it is nice, but anything higher than AP-2 is overkill unless your opponent's troops are all MEQs at minimum.

*'''"Plasma"-equivalent weapons''' Plasma and similar weapons (strength 6-8, 2 or D3 damage) are reasonably effective against both big units (tanks and monsters) and against infantry. However, they are never as effective as dedicated anti-tank weapons against tanks, or anti-infantry weapons against infantry. While plasma has its place as a multi-functional weapon, it is best used alongside decent anti-infantry and anti-tank weapons as a sort of middle-ground, so it can respond to your opponent's composition. If he has a lot of tanks, it can be used as additional anti-tank firepower and serve quite well. If he has a lot of infantry, it is better at killing infantry than a lascannon (for the points you spend on it). However, its favored targets by far are heavy infantry units with 2+ wounds and high armor saves that are too tough to be reliably taken out by more common anti-infantry weaponry but aren't tough enough to justify the use of anti-vehicle weapons against them in normal circumstances- Terminators of all kinds, Tyranid Warriors, Ork Nobz, and so on. 

* '''Take only the HQ you need:''' Many HQs have historically been overcosted while not contributing to your army as a whole. There are many notable exceptions to this rule, but for many armies, an HQ is an expensive tax you build into your army's cost. 8E has made this even more prominent: as compulsory troops do not exist in some of the alternate FOC types, HQs fill the role of compulsory units instead. In general, the two extremes for HQ units are: a pure beatstick, or a pure buff dealer. Most will fall somewhere to one side of the spectrum. 
**When choosing buff-HQ's, you should make the most of their buffs. Look at the buff and see what units benefit the most from this so you can make good combinations. For example: Re-rolling hit rolls is a nice buff. But it's better on units with worse WS since they'll have a larger increase in the damage they do compared to high WS units. Pay attention to keywords as well, as something may work only on infantry, and bikers may not be infantry. Also, pay close attention to if the rules mention 'model within 6" ' or 'unit within 6" ' as this can make a major difference in how you need to place the units on the field. For detachments with multiple buffing HQs, try to make their buffs synergize with each other: a good example of this is pairing a Space Marine Ancient (which allows slain infantry units near him to make one last shooting or melee attack when they die) with an Apothecary (which has a chance of bringing the slain infantry back to life again). 

* '''Command points or, "build an army, not a CP battery":''' In matched play and narrative play, Command Points give you access to Stratagems. These 'super-powers' for your army can make a big difference in how your army works, especially if you've designed your army with specific stratagems in mind. HOWEVER: having a lot of command points is NO substitute for a good army. Having a lot of command points may seem a good idea, and some armies have options to recover or steal more command points during the game to get even more. But what use are 10 command points if you only need 3 for your super stratagem and the rest are used on some non-critical re-rolls? If you end the battle with command points left over, you've got too many. If you think in turn 4 "I wish I still had command points for a re-roll", ask yourself what parts of your army you would have to give up to get more command points and if that sacrifice will have improved your army. 
**Use your command points wisely. Most command point abilities are very potent and will more often than not make the difference between who wins and who loses. Even two Brigade Detachments likely won't allow you to just waste them. A bad player could use 10 command points or more a turn. The smart thing is to use special abilities for your army as sparingly as you can. Make sure you know what stratagems are good options for your army and save your command points for these. Better to have CPs and not use them than to need them for your 'mega ultra killy combo' but run out the turn before.
**Following the second Big FAQ, only 1 CP can be gained or refunded per Battle Round unless using specific rules like the Tallyman's Seven-Fold Chant.

* '''Know your Point Level:''' A 2000-point game is *not* a 1000-point game with 1000 points tacked onto it. As your games grow in size, you need to make sure you have a unit to cover every need that might crop up during a game. Support characters with auras suddenly become more viable when they have 5 units within their aura instead of just 1. General point-levels for 40k include:
**'''200-500ish points:''' Rock-paper-scissors level. At this level you're fielding an HQ and one or 2 units, so making a TAC list is very difficult.
**'''1000 points:''' Kitchen table level. Common for new players testing a few units out. 
**'''1500 points:''' This is generally considered the smallest point level for tournaments.
**'''1750 points:''' While generally not the most popular format, it provides players more time to complete their rounds. It is being used in some GW-run tournaments after allegations of some dicks abusing the time limit on rounds. 
**'''2000 points:''' Most popular game size for 8th edition, used in most of the biggest tournaments. 
**'''2500 and Beyonddddd''': ''WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!'' '''Ahem''': This point level generally lends itself to an entirely different kind of play. Here you're not worried about composition, so much as sheer firepower. Spamming Titanic units, and units with extreme range will get you much farther here than 6 troop choices all kitted out. Remember that Eldar Rifle that has a range of 160"? Here's where you can actually shoot from one corner to the other of a Double-Lengthwise Table that's the staple of 6000 point games. Chapter Approved 2017 gives more information on how to run these kinds of games, although it strongly suggests that you just use Open Play to do so. 

====General Advice====
*'''Cicadas and you!''': Cicadas follow an evolutionary stratagem known as "Predator satiation", other wise known as "The predators can't eat all of us!". I mention this because it's something to keep in mind. While it's true that pure armies like the archetypes listed  below take effort to use successfully, there is something to be said in running lots of something, since you know your opponent can't kill them all. It's OK to have a strong theme and have a predominance of one type of unit since you know your opponent can't wipe you out the majority of your army fast enough with the dedicated weapons they have, just don't use it mindlessly and grab nothing but Gaunts or Terminators or something. As ever balance is key, it can be an imbalance, just so long as there is some balance. This balance is mostly in the weapons you yourself can bring. Often specialising on one type of unit severely limits the types of weapons you can bring yourself (see Gaunts). If you can bring enough different Anti-infantry, Anti-tank and long and short-ranged firepower by taking one type of unit, you can make it work. This doesn't work for every unit, as for example terminators can be dealt with effectively by both anti-tank weapons and massed anti-infantry shooting. 

*'''Build an Army, not a Mob:''' Remember that your units should support each other. Generally, you want to avoid "Pure" armies, or gravitating towards one extreme of list-building. While running a pure foot horde may look aesthetically appealing, it will suffer against players running mass mechanized vehicles (plus it will be a major chore to paint, and your turns will take forever...). While running a small elite squad may play quicker (and be cheaper), each casualty *hurts*. Notable "Pure" armies that can work with some luck and effort:
**'''The Scuttling Swarm:''' Aka "Horde" Tyranids; Tyranids in theory can drown an opponent in bodies and win (This also works for Guard). Key word is "in theory." Hell, this is even more plausible with 8e letting everything wound on a 6 no matter their toughness. The issue is, most of those attacks will be single damage so will take ages to chip off points from beefy models (but on the bright side, it also makes tarpits into a potential death of a thousand cuts for even dedicated melee units/characters). Also, the aforementioned issue of your turn taking forever. On the other hand, Objective Secured has been replaced with "whoever had the most models on the objective controls it", which means a large enough horde can make an objective nigh impossible for an opponent to take. While Objective Secured is in Chapter Approved and each Codex released has added an equivalent rule to its corresponding army, that won't mean much if the swarm outnumbers the opponent's Troops, or if the opponent is relying on FOCs with few Troops slots. Also, the amount of units with the FLY special rule in some armies (looking at you T'AU) means tarpitting won't work all the time.
**'''Aspect armies:''' Eldar aspect warriors fall into this category, as do primaris marine armies. You have elite units, generally with good saves, but still weak against specific weapons. Each type of unit has its own role to play, and if your opponent takes out the two units that are a threat to him, you may suffer. Coordination and hiding your units behind terrain are key strategies to these armies as they don't always stand up to a straight shoot-out with most armies. When playing these elite armies, it is very important to be aware of what your army is weak against, and prevent your opponent from using his most effective units against you. Plus, with all of your units being so specialized, it only takes the loss of one squad to leave the rest of the force all but unable to handle a given type of opponent. 

*'''Successful tournament armies generally have a few things in common:'''
**Hard-hitting units. Things with high strength and either a large number of attacks/shots or multiple damage per wound (3, D6, or similar). Dark reapers, dreadnoughts, Manticores, death company with thunder hammers, crisis suit commanders with 4 fusion guns, etc.
**Mobility. Whilst any unit can walk around and still shoot, successful armies have a way of getting a unit where they need it fast. Options include fast units like bikes, jump pack infantry, tanks or 'deep striking' units, whether normally or with some stratagems.
**Resilience. In 8th edition, you need to be able to survive an opponents first turn with your key units intact. Either by fielding multiple key units, so your enemy can't take them out all at once, or by using transports or reserves/deep strike to keep them out of the way. Other options include penalties to hit for enemies, line of sight blockers or fortifications or characters that grant bonuses to defense.

More detailed specifics will are found in the "Individual Army Tactics" of course.

'''Small units or big units''': Utilizing multiple small units (MSU) has both advantages and disadvantages in 8th.
 
Advantages:
*Small units don't suffer as much from morale. Either the unit is dead entirely, or you will have a good chance of passing the morale test. 
*Enemies will score overkill more quickly, wasting firepower because you have no more models to remove. An enemy may score 10 wounds on a 10-man unit, or split fire and score 7 and 3 wounds on 2 five-man units, leaving you with 2 living dudes. 
*You fill detachments faster with smaller units, granting more command points. 
*Its easier to find cover or block line of sight to a small unit. 
*When shooting, it's better to shoot with 2 five-man units than 1 10-man unit, because you can see how the first five do before deciding what to shoot at with the other five, preventing overkill.
*Sergeants/leaders/etc. A unit often comes with a leader for free, with better stats. By taking multiple small units you get more leader-models for the same price.
*Small units offer more flexibility in movement and can be used as speed bumps more effectively.

Disadvantages:
*Small units are more prone to dying from overwatch
*Small units don't fire overwatch as effectively as larger units
*Big units are more resilient to being charged, as they have a good chance of surviving to strike back.
*Big units have more attacks in combat so are more likely to cause significant casualties.
*Stratagems. A lot of stratagems let a unit do something special, like shoot or attack an extra time. However, you can only use each one once a turn so these are much more effective on bigger units. If you have stratagems in mind that you think you might want to use, keep these in mind when deciding how many guys your unit will include.
*Scoring is done by counting the 'most models within 3" of the objective", so more models give you a better chance of capturing an objective, but not all models need to be a single unit. 
*The player with fewer(!) individual units will have a good chance of getting the first turn. 

With the new Chapter Approved released, each unit in the 'Troops-Slot' gains an objective secured special rule, allowing to take an objective even if the enemy has more models in range of the objective marker, as long as those models are not Troops themselves. This makes MSU built of Troops even more playable.

===Stratagems 101===
Stratagems are special abilities triggered by expending Command Points (CP). You can use as many Stratagems as you like so long as you have the points to use on them, but you can only use a single Stratagem of a given type in each phase. Stratagems have a wide variety of effects, from buffing your units to weakening enemies to inflicting mortal wounds. In Matched Play each stratagem of a given type can only be used once per turn, so make them count.

The exact mix of Stratagems available to your army depends on your chosen faction, the mission type, and whether you're the attacker or defender in said mission (if there is an attacker/defender). However, the following four Stratagems are available to everyone regardless of the circumstances. Learn them well, as they can save your ass:

*'''Command Re-Roll (1 CP)''': Re-roll any single dice. Simple, but infinitely effective. Whether you're trying to wring out a little extra damage from a lascannon shot that rolled a 1 for damage or trying to re-roll a critical save, you will learn to love this Stratagem.
*'''Counter-Defensive (2 CP)''': After an enemy that has charged fights, choose one of your units and fight with it next.
*'''Insane Bravery (2 CP)''': Automatically pass a Morale test.
*'''Prepared Positions (2 CP)''': This was a beta stratagem available in the 40k FAQ released on September 28 2018, and officially became a rule in the April 29, 2019 FAQ. This stratagem can only be used by the player going second in the first battle round. Use this Stratagem at the start of the first battle round, before the first turn begins. Until the end of the first turn, all units from your army that are wholly within your Deployment Zone receive the benefit of cover, other than {{W40kKeyword|Titanic}} and {{W40kKeyword|Aircraft}} keyword units, or units with the Flyer or Fortification Battlefield role. This applies even while they are not entirely on or in a terrain feature. A unit that is already receiving the benefit of cover gains no additional benefit from this Stratagem.

===Detachments for Dummies===
Outside of Open Play where anything goes, your army needs to be Battle-Forged in order to be usable. While in 7e this meant using either the old Combined Arms Detachment of previous editions or one of the faction exclusive FOCs to make your force into a single Detachment, you now can build an army composed of as many detachments as you see fit to use (as long as it remains within the points limit, of course). In addition, every unit in your army must share a faction keyword or must be unalligned, Genestealer Cults are a special case in this regard; their Brood Brothers rule allows them to bring an allied Imperial Guard detachment for each GSC detachment taken, even though they do not have a common faction keyword. Many tournaments, and by reflection game stores, do limit lists to three detachments.  While some of the detachments are very similar, if not identical to, the CAD, many more are modified to emphasize a specific non-Troops slot.

Each Detachment you take will grant you the use of a certain number of Command Points. Everyone starts with 3 CP, but the total number can vary depending on how many Detachments you take and what types of Detachments those are. Knowing which Detachment types will work best for your army will help you significantly when listbuilding. 

The first Big FAQ mandates that every unit in a Detachment must share a faction keyword other than {{WH40Kkeyword|IMPERIUM}}, {{WH40Kkeyword|AELDARI}} or {{WH40Kkeyword|CHAOS}}. They can still be taken in the same army, but they'll have to be in separate Detachments. 

====Patrol Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">Generally only good for 500 pt games and if you want to bring a small amount of units from a different faction from the one forming most of your army. All of the dual faction boxes like Dark Imperium and Shadowspear have prebuilt Patrol Detatchments, so you could easily slot one other into your army if you have the points. <div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 1 HQ, 1 Troops
**'''Optional Units:'''+1 HQ, , +2 Troops, +2 Elites, +2 Fast Attack, +2 Heavy Support, +2 Flyers, 1 Dedicated Transport per other choice taken
*'''Restrictions:''' All units must be from the same faction.
*'''Command Benefits:''' None. Drukhari get 4 CP if they have at least three Patrol Detachments, but in tournaments this is not viable because then you are locking yourself out of having any other Detachments. </div></div>

====Battalion Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">Probably the most common and powerful type of detachment, striking a good balance between a high CP yield and reasonable requirements and options, you will usually see between 1 and 2 in each army unless the army includes a Brigade or is heavily skewed towards a specific battlefield role.<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 2 HQ, 3 Troops
**'''Optional Units:'''+1 HQ, +3 Troops, +6 Elites, +3 Fast Attack, +3 Heavy Support, +2 Flyers, 1 Dedicated Transport per other choice taken
*'''Restrictions:''' All units must be from the same faction.
*'''Command Benefits:''' +5 CP    (originally +3 CP in rulebook, Errata'd to +5.)</div></div>

====Brigade Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">Requires the most units and provides the most CP. Not good for most armies outside of Apocalypse-size games, but armies that have cheap units in every slot (Astra Militarum being the main one) or that play a single sub-faction can use it without spending too many points.<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 3 HQ, 6 Troops, 3 Elites, 3 Fast Attack, 3 Heavy Support
**'''Optional Units:'''+2 HQ, +6 Troops, +5 Elites, +2 Fast Attack, +2 Heavy Support, +2 Flyers, 1 Dedicated Transport per other choice taken
*'''Restrictions:''' All units must be from the same faction.
*'''Command Benefits:''' +12 CP    (originally +9 CP in rulebook, Errata'd to +12.)</div></div>

====Vanguard Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">The Elites-focused detachment, provides very little CP for the investment you put into it, you will be sorely lacking in CP if you only run with Vanguard Detachments and most Elite units work best in conjunction with other units, running just a single Vanguard Detachment or even multiple Vanguard Detachments will usually not be the strongest option, it is more of an option to get extra Elites or to ally with the elites from a different sub-faction.<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 1 HQ, 3 Elites
**'''Optional Units:'''+1 HQ, +3 Troops, +3 Elites, +2 Fast Attack, +2 Heavy Support, +2 Flyers, 1 Dedicated Transport per other choice taken
*'''Restrictions:''' All units must be from the same faction.
*'''Command Benefits:''' +1 CP. </div></div>

====Spearhead Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">The Heavy Support-focused detachment, provides little CP for the investment you put into it, building an army based entirely around vehicles can make for a hard-hitting and survivable force, but it will usually lack in other areas, such as board control which can be difficult with a smaller number of units and a lack of screening units will hurt you, especially if your Heavy Support units cannot FLY.<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 1 HQ, 3 Heavy Support
**'''Optional Units:'''+1 HQ, +3 Troops, +2 Elites, +2 Fast Attack, +3 Heavy Support, +2 Flyers, 1 Dedicated Transport per other choice taken
*'''Restrictions:''' All units must be from the same faction.
*'''Command Benefits:''' +1 CP. Astra Militarum LEMAN RUSS models in a Spearhead Detachment get Objective Secured. </div></div>

====Outrider Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">The Fast Attack-focused detachment, provides little CP for the investment you put into it but generally less expensive than Vanguard and Spearhead Detachments. Building an army totally devoted to going fast can work depending on the missions you play.<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 1 HQ, 3 Fast Attack
**'''Optional Units:'''+1 HQ, +3 Troops, +2 Elites, +3 Fast Attack, +2 Heavy Support, +2 Flyers, 1 Dedicated Transport per other choice taken
*'''Restrictions:''' All units must be from the same faction.
*'''Command Benefits:''' +1 CP</div></div>

====Supreme Command Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">The HQ-focused detachment, most characters perform a support role, making this the most niche Detachment option. The Lord of War option makes it the cheapest way for armies to give a single Lord of War the benefit of a Chapter Tactic/Regimental Doctrine/etc/etc. It can be powerful if you have HQ units that are worth spamming or if you want to stack a huge amount of different buffs around your army, the Space Marine Smash Captain with Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield whose job is vehicle hunting instead of inspiring his troops or the Thousand Sons Terminator Sorcerers whose main job is dishing out damage with their psychic powers rather than buffing their dudes are worth spamming for example, in the past Heretic Sorcerer spam and Tau Commander spam were such powerful tactics that one got nerfed to the brink of existence and the other got limited to one per Detachment.<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 3 HQ
**'''Optional Units:'''+2 HQ, +1 Elites, +1 Lord of War, 1 Dedicated Transport per other choice taken
*'''Restrictions:''' All units must be from the same faction.
*'''Command Benefits:''' +1 CP</div></div>

====Super-Heavy Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">The Lords of War spam Detachment. Command benefits are better than the other mono-FOC Detachments, but it will fucking eat up your points like there's no tomorrow. If you field this in a friendly game or a 1000 point game you are probably [[That Guy]].<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 3 Lords of War
**'''Optional Units:''' +2 Lords of War
*'''Restrictions:''' All units must be from the same faction.
*'''Command Benefits:''' +3 CP. Knights get +0 CP if the Detachment only includes Armigers, +3 CP if the Detachment includes 1 non-Armiger and 6 CP if the Detachment includes 3 non-Armigers.</div></div>

====Super-Heavy Auxiliary Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">As most people will almost certainly only have one LoW in their armies at any given time, this is the detachment they'll use to get their Primarch/Knight/Baneblade/Wraithknight onto the field, unfortunately it doesn't give you any CP for your investment and faction-based benefits like Chapter Tactics don't apply to these Detachments- use a Supreme Command Detachment with an optional LoW if you want that.<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 1 Lords of War
*'''Restrictions:''' None
*'''Command Benefits:''' None</div></div>

====Air Wing Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">The Flyer detachment, best suited for factions that want to milk their flyers for all they're worth. Also, the only detachment that gives you Command Points without an HQ (or three superheavies). Note that the big disadvantage of this Detachment is that units with the ''Flyer Battlefield role'' can't contest objectives, and if you only have these units on the table you are automatically tabled. Be careful if you plan to sink a lot of points into these Detachments.<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 3 Flyers
**'''Optional Units:''' +2 Flyers
*'''Restrictions:''' All units must be from the same faction.
*'''Command Benefits:''' +1 CP</div></div>

====Fortification Network====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">Your buildings, fortresses, and walls. Being able to field large numbers of fortifications was something of an issue in 7th, but this detachment allows you to keep your turtle up to your heart's content (or at least take 6 fortifications if you're in Matched).<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 1 Fortification
**'''Optional Units:''' +2 Fortifications
*'''Restrictions:''' None; most fortifications are Unaligned by default
*'''Command Benefits:''' None
</div></div>

====Auxiliary Support Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">Unlike all other Detachments, you '''''lose''''' CP for every Auxiliary Support Detachment you bring. Needless to say, you should avoid taking this type of Detachment at all costs. If you really want a single character like Celestine or a Contorted Epitome and don't have the points to bring enough cheap units to have the detachment qualify as a Patrol, or if you just want a single Space Marine squad or Deathwatch kill team for fluff reasons, you're stuck with this. It is the only detachment in which you can bring under strength squads to matched play, so there is that.<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 1 HQ '''or''' 1 Troops '''or''' 1 Elites '''or''' 1 Fast Attack '''or''' 1 Heavy Support '''or''' 1 Flyer '''or''' 1 Dedicated Transport
*'''Restrictions:''' Can only consist of a single unit.
*'''Command "Benefits":''' -1 CP</div></div>

====Specialist Detachments====
Not a detachment on their own, Specialist Detachments are an upgrade to regular detachments and the spiritual successors of the 7E formations, but now they function like "premium" Warlord Traits, Stratagems and Relics locked behind a 1CP paywall. More fluffy than OP (''usually'') and the real meat of Specialist Detachments are the Stratagems (i.e. the Specialist Detachment's benefits only kick in if you're willing to sink a lot of CP into them first), so the fanbase didn't rage that hard this time. <sub>Imperium Nihilus - Vigilus Defiant campaign supplement, 2018.</sub>
*A detachment may be so upgraded only once, ''even if the Specialist Detachment upgrade affects different units in it''.

===Making the most of Detachments===
*You get to choose a special ability for each Detachment in your army if all the units in that Detachment share a specific keyword, although sometimes Auxiliary Support Detachments and/or Super-heavy Auxiliary Detachments do not benefit from these abilities, in addition, Chaos Space Marines don't get the benefit for these abilities except on Infantry, Bikes, and Hellbrutes and a few units in other armies are also exempt like Necron C'tan. These special abilities can play a huge role in how powerful a unit is and how it should be used most effectively, grouping units together so that all units in your army benefit from the most beneficial special ability for that unit can make your army more successful, although it might limit the benefits your characters can give to what units. You can read what special abilities are available to different factions in the faction army tactics pages found at the bottom of this article. 
*FAQs have explicitly stated that detachments whose different sub-faction keywords (such as {{WH40Kkeyword|Chapter}} and {{WH40Kkeyword|Regiment}}) have the same name do not allow buff sharing, so don't get cheeky by naming your custom IG regiment "Ultramarines" and expect it to do anything beyond making you look like a dick.
*{{WH40Kkeyword|IMPERIUM}} Space Marines gain additional rules when the entire list contains nothing but Adeptus Astartes and an additional rule if the entire list contains nothing but models from a single Chapter sub-faction, the only exceptions are Deathwatch and Space Wolves which have yet to be updated in Psychic Awakening. Sisters of Battle likewise gain an additional rule if their army contains nothing but Adeptus Ministorum units.

===Looking for advice===
[[File:Poorlist.png| thumb|right|Note the large amount of excess information]] 
[[File:Watwhy.png| thumb|left|I really hope you wouldn't do this, Anon-kun]]
[[File:Muchimproved.png| thumb|right|A much-improved version]]

So you've managed to hamfistedly slap together your first list, and it's even won you a few games, but is it good? Probably not. So, you go to one of [[/tg/|TeeGee's]] list threads and immediately get yelled at for your poor formatting, lack of experience, and general overall [[neckbeard|clean-shavenness]]. Here is a list of some DOs and DON'Ts:


*DO:- Post what you want to do with this list (tournament, casual etc)
*DO:- Post the points limit
*DO:- Post the total cost of each model (for characters) or unit
*DO:- List the upgrades a unit has taken
*DO:- List the dedicated transports a unit has taken
*DO:- Clearly identify which detachment each unit belongs to

*DON'T:- Post the individual cost breakdown for each upgrade
*DON'T:- Post the individual stats of a unit
*DON'T:- Copy the list directly from battle scribe (or equivalent) 
*DON'T:- List ALL the war gear/special rules a model/unit has
*DON'T:- List all the command benefits an individual detachment has
*DON'T:- Bump excessively either, as that will diminish the likelihood anons will respond
*DON'T:- Be a wanker to somebody who gave you negative feedback; they gave it for a reason

Remember: To get feedback from an anon who either plays or knows your army, that anon first has to see the army list. (duh) This means you might have to post it a few times, at different times of the day, or include an image in the post. The less-played the army is, the less likely you will be to get feedback the first time you post. Chaos usually gets feedback first time, but Sisters generally have to repost a few times. (also, duh) Just be patient.