Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th 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 a faction 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 sci-fi movies and/or have a preference for robots that aren't from anime, go nuts with the [[Necron|metalheads]] or the [[Adeptus Mechanicus|cogboys]].

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, swarm 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 since more than a few factions lean towards one extreme or another. 

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. As of 9E, it also adds the Crusade campaign system, which allows units to gain experience and grow stronger (or weaker, if they're unlucky in the post-battle sequence and get Battle Scars) over time and has an initially fixed Power Level limit that can itself be improved through the course of the campaign. It's a bit too complex to describe in a couple of paragraphs, but we've got a page for it [[Crusade Rules|here]].

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: it doesn't have rules so much as guidelines. 

===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 was Buff Edition and 9th isn't looking too different just yet, 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.

9th edition has introduced a big change in how the auras themselves work, however. As a rule, only units which have the {{W40kKeyword|CORE}} keyword can benefit from an aura. Generally, that means Troops, most Elites, and a handful of units in other FOC slots (mostly infantry, but a few vehicles may also have the keyword depending on the faction). Characters on the other hand do ''not'' have this keyword and so cannot buff themselves or receive buffs from other characters.

===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 FAQs,[[Chapter Approved]], and the balance datasheets.

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 1-2 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 easily massed weapons that can pick off infantry at long range such as 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. With 9E, you should also consider taking at least one Blast weapon such as a Battle Cannon, as Blast weapons are guaranteed to land a high number of attacks against units with many models in them. 

*'''"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). 

* '''Plan ahead with Stratagems:''' 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're not thinking hard enough. 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. 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.
**Since 9E now gives all armies a set number of CP for certain army sizes and reduces CP if you take too many detachments, it makes conserving what CP you have slightly more vital. If your army's battle-forged, you gain a single CP each command phase - sounds good, until you realise just how much you might be needing to use those 1 CP stratagems. This CP cap also cripples putting in allies or multiple detachments, since the only effectively "free" detachments are the base detachments that house your warlord (or the Supreme Command Detachment + 1 other if you grabbed Bobby G, Magnus or Morty, and that implies you both have their respective factions and can afford the points cost to field them, neither of which is guaranteed).

* '''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. Also important is that 9E has given a fixed level of CP available to both sides at certain army sizes. General point-levels for 40k include:
**'''200-500ish points:''' 3 CP. 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:''' 6 CP. Kitchen table level. Common for new players testing a few units out. 
**'''1500 points:''' 12 CP. This is generally considered the smallest point level for tournaments.
**'''1750 points:''' 12 CP. 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:''' 12 CP. Most popular game size for 8th edition, used in most of the biggest tournaments. 
**'''3000 and Beyonddddd''': 18 CP. ''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, (BUT 9e means monsters and vehicles can still shoot at you even if they're engaged in close combat, so watch out). 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. 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 9th.
 
Advantages:
*Small units don't suffer as much from morale (in theory - an unlucky combat attrition test can actually do more damage to your unit).  
*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. 
*It's 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.
**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.
**'''Objective Secured''' and its army-specific equivalents override this rule for squads that are affected by it (usually Troops), so long as the contesting units do not also have the rule. 

Disadvantages:
*Small units are more prone to dying from overwatch
*Small units don't fire overwatch as effectively as larger units
*You fill detachments faster with smaller units, potentially costing you more command points. 
*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.

===Stratagems 101===
Stratagems are special abilities triggered by expending Command Points (CP), and are activated in the new Command Phase that occurs at the start of a turn. 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 collection of 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-Offensive (2 CP)''': Now reworded to work outside of the charge phase. After an enemy fights at all (including just regular melee), you can then fight with one of your own.
*'''Cut Them Down (1 CP)''': After an enemy unit declares that they are falling back, you can trigger this. Roll a d6 for every model in your unit that is engaged with the enemy, you deal a mortal wound on a 6.
*'''Desperate Breakout (2 CP)''': During the movement phase, you can select one engaged unit. Roll 1d6 for every model in that unit, with each 1 counting as a casualty. After resolving your rolls, the unit can immediately fall back, running through enemy units they come across. However, if you stay within engagement range of any enemy units, you will lose models until you are again free. This is a seriously risky move, as once you use this, the unit can't do anything for the rest of the turn, overruling any rules that would otherwise let them charge or shoot after falling back. It also doesn't work if the unit you're locked in combat with has rules that prevent falling back.
*'''Emergency Disembarkation (1 CP)''': If a {{W40kKeyword|transport}} unit is destroyed, you can use this to give you a better position at a higher risk. The passengers can immediately set up 6" away from the transport and are immune from any explosions. You now roll 1d6 for each model that was in there, with a 1 or 2 meaning a model dies. These survivors can't charge or use heroic intervention after bailing. 
*'''Fire Overwatch (1 CP)''': Perhaps the greatest change of 9E, the age of constant overwatching is no more. Now you can have only one unit fire overwatch (hitting on 6+) against a charging enemy. That said, some armies (<s>e.g. Tau</s> No longer) have alternate methods of overwatching and it can also be enabled by being in specific forms of terrain, so keep the exceptions in mind. 
*'''Insane Bravery (2 CP)''': Automatically pass a Morale test. This has been nerfed to be usable only once per battle.
*'''Heroic Support (1 CP)''': Most major characters, like Space Marine Captains, have special rules that limit you to taking only one per detachment. This Stratagem reduces this restriction so you can take two per detachment instead. Needless to say, there's a lot of stuff you can do with this but since you can only use it once per game you should think ahead about what your extra character should be.

===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 or mega-formations to make your force into a single Detachment, you now are capped in how many detachments you can take based on game size. 1 detachment at combat patrol, up to 4 detachments for incursions. In addition, every unit in your army must share a faction keyword or be unaligned; 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.

Depending on the size of your game, you will be allotted a certain number of CP. While almost all of them will rake CP, you will often be able to make back your first detachment's CP cost through putting your Warlord in there or in a Supreme Command detachment (although the latter applies only if your Warlord has some specific keywords). Knowing which Detachment types will work best for your army will help you significantly when listbuilding.  

Most of the game's detachments are summarized in the table below.

{| class="wikitable sortable center mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+ style="white-space:nowrap;" | '''Detachments Table'''
! scope=col rowspan=2 | Name
! scope=col rowspan=2 | <abbr title="CP Cost">CP</abbr>
! scope=col rowspan=2 | <abbr title="Refunded CP if Warlord is in Detachment; exceptions noted below">RCP</abbr>
! scope=col rowspan=2 | <abbr title="Must all units in this detachment share a faction.">Faction</abbr>
! scope=col rowspan=2 | Other Restrictions
! scope=col rowspan=2 | [[File:WH40KDedicatedTransports.png|center|Dedicated Transports, 1/{{W40Kkeyword|infantry}} unit]]
! scope=colgroup colspan=2 | [[File:WH40KHQ.png|center|HQ]]
! scope=colgroup colspan=2 | [[File:WH40KTroops.png|center|Troops]]
! scope=colgroup colspan=2 | [[File:WH40KElites.png|center|Elites]]
! scope=colgroup colspan=2 | [[File:WH40KFastAttack.png|center|Fast Attack]]
! scope=colgroup colspan=2 | [[File:WH40KHeavySupport.png|center|Heavy Support]]
! scope=colgroup colspan=2 | [[File:WH40KFlyers.png|center|Flyers]]
! scope=colgroup colspan=2 | [[File:WH40KLordsOfWar.png|center|Lords of War]]
! scope=colgroup colspan=2 | [[File:WH40KFortifications.png|center|Fortifications]]
|-
! scope=col | Min
! scope=col | Max
! scope=col | Min
! scope=col | Max
! scope=col | Min
! scope=col | Max
! scope=col | Min
! scope=col | Max
! scope=col | Min
! scope=col | Max
! scope=col | Min
! scope=col | Max
! scope=col | Min
! scope=col | Max
! scope=col | Min
! scope=col | Max
|-
! scope=row | Patrol Detachment
| 2 || 2 || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || 1 || 2 || 1 || 3 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! scope=row | Battalion Detachment
| 3 || 3 || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || 2 || 3 || 3 || 6 || 0 || 6 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! scope=row | Brigade Detachment
| 4 || 4 || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || 3 || 5 || 6 || 12 || 3 || 6 || 3 || 5 || 3 || 5 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! scope=row | Vanguard Detachment
| 3 || 0 || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || 1 || 2 || 0 || 3 || 3 || 6 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! scope=row | Spearhead Detachment
| 3 || 0 || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || 1 || 2 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 3 || 6 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! scope=row | Outrider Detachment
| 3 || 0 || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || 1 || 2 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 2 || 3 || 6 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! scope=row | Supreme Command Detachment
| 0 || data-sort-value=1 | <abbr title="Refunds your most expensive refundable detachment: 2 for a Patrol, 3 for a Brigade, 4 for a Battalion">0-4</abbr> || {{no}} || Max 1/Army<br>Max 1 Unit/Detachment<br>{{W40Kkeyword|PRIMARCH}}/{{W40Kkeyword|DAEMON PRIMARCH}}/{{W40Kkeyword|SUPREME COMMANDER}} Only<br>Must contain {{W40Kkeyword|warlord}} || {{no}} || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0
|-
! scope=row | Super-Heavy Detachment
| data-sort-value=3 | <abbr title="3 for non-Titanic, 6 with">3 or 6</abbr> || 0 || {{yes}} || 3 CP: No {{W40Kkeyword|titanic}} || {{no}} || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 5 || 0 || 0
|-
! scope=row | Super-Heavy Auxiliary Detachment
| 3 || 0 || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0
|-
! scope=row | Fortification Network
| 1 || data-sort-value=1 | <abbr title="If all units share a faction and that same faction is shared across your warlord's detachment">1</abbr> || {{no}} || Max 1/Army<br>No {{W40Kkeyword|warlord}} || {{no}} || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 3
|-
! scope=row | Auxiliary Support Detachment
| 2 || 0 || <abbr title="This detachment can have min 0, max 1 Dedicated Transport, which is not a function of having INFANTRY">0-1</abbr> || Max 1 Unit/Detachment || {{no}} || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|}

====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. Also useful for armies with HQ and troop taxes. All of the dual faction boxes like Dark Imperium and Shadowspear have pre-built Patrol Detachments, so you could easily slot one other into your army if you have the points. <div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Units:''' 1-2 HQ, 1-3 Troops, 0-2 Elites, 0-2 Fast Attack, 0-2 Heavy Support, 0-2 Flyers, 0-X Dedicated Transport where X is # {{W40Kkeyword|infantry}} units taken.
*'''Restrictions:''' All units must be from the same faction.
*'''CP Cost:''' 2
*'''Command Benefits:''' +2 CP (full refund) if you have your Warlord here. Drukhari get 4 CP if they have at least three Patrol Detachments, which overall covers their combined CP cost. </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 reasonable requirements and options unless someone skews their list towards a more specialist role.  Has more Elites slots than Fast Attack or Heavy Support, so better for factions with better Elites choices.<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.
*'''CP Cost:''' 3 CP
*'''Command Benefits:''' +3 CP if your Warlord is here.</div></div>

====Brigade Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">Requires the most units. 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.
*'''CP Cost:''' 4 CP
*'''Command Benefits:''' +4 CP if your Warlord is here.</div></div>

====Vanguard Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">The Elites-focused detachment, costing 3 CP for the investment you put into it. You will be lacking in CP if you only run with a Vanguard Detachment 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.
*'''CP Cost:''' 3 CP
*'''Command Benefits:''' N/A </div></div>

====Spearhead Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">The Heavy Support-focused detachment, provides a lot of possible firepower for a 3 CP cost. 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.
*'''CP Cost:''' 3 CP
*'''Command Benefits:''' N/A. 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, a 3 CP cost for the investment you put into it but generally less expensive than Vanguard and Spearhead Detachments. Building an army [[White Scars|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.
*'''CP Cost:''' 3 CP
*'''Command Benefits:''' N/A </div></div>

====Supreme Command Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">The superheavy HQ-focused detachment, making this the most niche Detachment option. As of 9E, there are few options for this detachment, all of them quite powerful: [[Morvenn Vahl]], [[Belisarius Cawl]], [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka]], [[Shadowsun|Commander Shadowsun]], [[Roboute Guilliman]], [[Magnus the Red]], [[Mortarion]], [[Angron]], [[Abaddon]] the Despoiler, [[Be'lakor]] and the [[Silent King]]. Each of them is already a massive gift for your army while also giving you the same CP discount as having a regular warlord.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 1 HQ or Lord of War
*'''Restrictions:''' This unit must have the {{W40kKeyword|Primarch}}, {{W40kKeyword|Daemon Primarch}} or {{W40kKeyword|Supreme Commander}} keywords. This model must also be your Warlord.
**In most cases, this will be a redundant rule as many of these units will already have a rule forcing them to be the Warlord.
*'''CP Cost:''' N/A
*'''Command Benefits:''' Select one of the following:
** +2 CP for any Patrol Detachments in your army.
** +3 CP for any Battalion Detachments in your army.
** +4 CP for any Brigade Detachments in your army.
</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.
*'''CP Cost:''' 3/6 CP.
*'''Command Benefits:''' This detachment costs 3 CP if the detachment contains absolutely no {{W40kKeyword|Titanic}} units. Otherwise, it costs 6 CP. </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 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. <div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 1 Lords of War
*'''Restrictions:''' None
*'''CP Cost:''' 3 CP
*'''Command Benefits:''' None</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
*'''CP Cost:''' 1 CP
*'''Command Benefits:''' +1 CP if this detachment and the Warlord's detachment share a faction keyword (this giving you Imperium Players the fun shittons of special setpieces)
</div></div>

====Auxiliary Support Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> 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.
*'''CP Cost:''' 2 CP
*'''Command Benefits:''' N/A</div></div>

====Arks of Omen Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">The new combined-arms detachment introduced in the Arks of Omen Grand Tournament Pack, [[Games Workshop|which basically renders the Battalion, Vanguard, Outrider, Spearhead, Super-Heavy, Super-Heavy Auxillary, and Fortifications Network Detachments obsolete]], as it does all of their jobs better than they do. You can only take '''one''' AoO detachment and get no CP for doing so, but it doesn't cost CP or preclude you from taking other detachments (or even allies), but its sheer adaptability is unmatched.

To create an Arks of Omen Detachment, you simply choose a HQ unit, and then pick one of the five other main unit types to be your three compulsory choices, which can even be [[Powergamer|Lords of War!]] From there, you can dump a whole load of other units in to suit your taste, including Fortifications and more Lords of War, and you can take Elite characters like an [[Apothecary]] or a [[Painboy]] in different slots than other Elites to save even more space. 

This one-size-fits-all approach gives it an enormous amount of flexibility on paper: it's even bringing back soup! With the Battle Brothers rule players can bring an extra detachment of allies, albeit with some limitations that haven't been fully revealed.  

But as it has only just been introduced, it remains to be seen if it will actually produce balanced armies.

 <div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 1 HQ (except for Imperial Knights or Chaos Knights because they don't have any HQ's), 3 Troops OR 3 Elites OR 3 Fast Attack OR 3 Heavy Support OR 3 Lords of War
**'''Optional Units:'''+3 HQ, +9 Troops, +3 Elites, +3 Elites (Characters), +3 Fast Attack, +3 Heavy Support, +3 Lords of War, +2 Flyers, +3 Fortifications, 1 Dedicated Transport per {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} unit taken.
*'''Restrictions:''' All units must be from the same faction (and it can't be {{W40kKeyword|Imperium}}, {{W40kKeyword|Chaos}}, {{W40kKeyword|Aeldari}}, or {{W40kKeyword|Tyranids}} - they still have to be part of the same sub-faction).
*'''CP Cost:''' 0 CP
*'''Command Benefits:''' None. 
** Well, this gives no intrinsic benefits, the Battle Brothers rule does help all the special allied detachment rules remain relevant.
***Any {{W40kKeyword|Imperium}} detachment can also include either a {{W40kKeyword|Agents of the Imperium}} Patrol or Auxiliary Support detachment, an {{W40kKeyword|Imperial Knights}} Superheavy Support detachment composed of one {{W40kKeyword|Freeblade}} model, or {{W40kKeyword|Votann}} Patrol detachment.
***An {{W40kKeyword|Asuryani}} or {{W40kKeyword|Drukhari}} detachment can also include a {{W40kKeyword|Harlequins}} detachment.
***A {{W40kKeyword|Drukhari}} detachment can also include a second {{W40kKeyword|Drukhari}} detachment, though the two detachments must have separate keywords (thus, if one uses {{W40kKeyword|<KABAL>}} the second must use {{W40kKeyword|<COVEN>}} or {{W40kKeyword|<WYCH CULT>}}).
***An {{W40kKeyword|Astra Militarum}} detachment can also include a {{W40kKeyword|Militarum Tempestus}} Patrol detachment.
***A {{W40kKeyword|Genestealer Cults}} detachment can also include a {{W40kKeyword|Brood Brothers}} Patrol, Auxiliary Support, or Superheavy Support detachment.
***Any {{W40kKeyword|Chaos}} detachment can also include a {{W40kKeyword|Chaos Knights}} Sperheavy Support detachment composed of one {{W40kKeyword|Dreadblade}} model.
***Any {{W40kKeyword|Traitoris Astartes}} detachments can also include a {{W40kKeyword|Legiones Daemonica}} detachment.
****Any god-aligned armies ({{W40kKeyword|Emperor's Children}}, {{W40kKeyword|Death Guard}}, {{W40kKeyword|Thousand Sons}}, {{W40kKeyword|World Eaters}}) can only take an allied detachment that is of the same god as their own.
***A {{W40kKeyword|Legiones Daemonica}} detachment using the {{W40kKeyword|Disciples of Be'lakor}} Army of Renown can include one {{W40kKeyword|Traitoris Astartes}} Patrol detachment and a {{W40kKeyword|Chaos Knights}} Superheavy Support detachment composed of a single {{W40kKeyword|House Korvax}} model.
</div></div>

====Boarding Patrol Detachment====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">A smaller, more contained army list, this list is meant to more accurately portray the conditions of mustering a team that would be part of a boarding Detachment. Unlike the AoO detachment above, this is more meant to work in lower-point games as some sort of midpoint between Kill Team and regular 40K at 1000 points or lower. This does unfortunately come at the cost of several upgrades no longer applying and some abilities needing reworking.

Despite this, however, this does come with a lot of caveats to cater to the specific builds of the many armies available. Some of these do a lot to keep them viable in such cramped close-quarters scenarios while others seem to be just mean-spirited nerfs.
 <div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*'''Mandatory Units:''' 0-1 HQ, 0-3 Troops, 0-3 Elites
**Unlike other Detachments, there isn't necessarily a mandatory unit choice that you need to fulfill, for whatever reason. This means you can field a whole army of poxwalkers and plague marines and not care about a plague lord at all. Doing so would be stupid though with the buffs they do provide.
*'''Restrictions:''' There's a lot of them, so listen up.
**All units must be from the same faction (and it can't be {{W40kKeyword|Imperium}}, {{W40kKeyword|Chaos}}, {{W40kKeyword|Aeldari}}, or {{W40kKeyword|Tyranids}} - they still have to be part of the same sub-faction).
**Only one {{W40kKeyword|Character}} model may be taken.
**Any units with {{W40kKeyword|Fly}} cannot be fielded, as are those with {{W40kKeyword|Cavalry}}, {{W40kKeyword|Vehicle}}, {{W40kKeyword|Monster}}, and {{W40kKeyword|Titanic}}.
**You can only field a unit at its minimum size. Units of 5+ models must split up into multiple boarding teams, pretty much giving the Combat Squad ability native to marines to everyone.
*'''CP Cost:''' 0 CP
*'''Command Benefits:''' None. 

Uniquely, these aren't all the restrictions out there. Alongside the restricted loadout, there's also a bunch of faction specific restrictions to consider as well, enough for GW to release [https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/qPJwZxeX8lH4HarK.pdf a full document about these limitations].

<tabs>
<tab name="Imperium">
'''[[Adepta Sororitas]]'''
*You may take up to three characters, but only one may have 5+ wounds. [[Ephrael Stern]] can circumvent this despite being accompanied by Kyganil.
**Despite these rules, the Triumph of Saint Katherine is blocked off. Guess even the Sisters aren't zealous enough to take the irreplaceable relic coffin onto a space hulk.
*No character can take the Rapturous Blows Blessing of the Faithful.
*Repentia squads can only be taken in squads of 4 or 9 models, with the latter requiring you to split the squad into one boarding team of 5 and one team of 4.
*Arco-Flagellants can only be taken in squads of 3, 5, or 10 models.
*You can take one Dominion Squad despite being Fast Attack.

'''[[Adeptus Custodes]]'''
*No Shield Captain can take the Unstoppable Destroyer upgrade.
*Trajann Valoris can't take any enhancements, but he's already way too powerful to need it.
*You can only field a Knight-Centura if you take one other {{W40kKeyword|Anathema Psykana}} unit.
*You can take one Witchseekers squad despite being Fast Attack.
*You can only take Wardens in squads of 3 or 6 models, with the latter splitting the squad into two smaller teams of 3.
*You can only take Allarus Terminators in squads of 1-3 models, with the option to split each one up into their own one-man teams.
*Daughters of the Abyss only applies to Psykers that can see the sisters.

'''[[Adeptus Mechanicus]]'''
*Doctrina Imperatives only work if your warlord is a Skitarii Marshal. Similarly, Canticles only work if the warlord is a {{W40kKeyword|Tech-Priest}}.
*You cannot take a Datasmith. Just as well, their viability laid more with the Kastelans.
*You can only take a unit of Servitors if you take at least one {{W40kKeyword|Tech-Priest}} model.
*You can only take one squad of Kataphron Breachers and Destroyers each.
*The Shroud Protocols dogma works on enemys over 6" away.

'''Agents of the Imperium ([[Inquisition]], [[Imperial Navy]], [[Adeptus Arbites]], [[Officio Assassinorum]])'''
*Taking an Inquisitor allows you to take other {{W40kKeyword|Inquisition}} models despite lacking the Agents keyword. This also makes Acolytes troops instead of being Elites like usual.
**You can take multiple {{W40kKeyword|Inquisition Character}} models, but only one can be an Inquisitor.
*You can always take Assassins despite Character limitations, but they cannot be the Warlord.
*Daemonhosts, Jokaero, and Assassins cannot take Enhancements.
*When setting up the army, you need to pick between Acolytes, {{W40kKeyword|Navis Imperialis}} troops, and {{W40kKeyword|Adeptus Arbites}} troops. One of these gets ObSec.
*Voidsmen-at-Arms do not split up when making boarding teams.
*If you only take Exactor Squads and no characters other than the assassins, you can give one sergeant an enhancement as if they were a character.
**Curiously, you might be asking "WTF is an Exactor Squad?" Is GW hinting at a possible Arbites Kill Team in 2023...?
*Daemonhosts lose their Daemonic Power rules and just get +1 to S and A as compensation to speed things along.
*Jokaero can be placed in an entry zone alongside another {{W40kKeyword|Inquisition}} unit that isn't a Daemonhost.
*Assassins lose Independent Operative and Polymorphine, instead being able to deploy anywhere within 6" of one of your entry zones.

'''[[Astra Militarum]]'''
*You can take up to three characters, but only one may have 5+ wounds.
*You can add only one {{W40kKeyword|Attaché}} model to each Command Squad. Despite this pushing a squad above the size limit, you can't split them into boarding teams.
*You can only take a squad of Servitors if you also take an Enginseer to keep them in line.
*You cannot split up Infantry Squads.
*Aerial Drop is removed for obvious reasons.
*Psychic Maelstrom is now WC8.
*Recon Operators doctrine now gives your models the ability to move 6" before the first turn.

'''[[Grey Knights]]'''
*You cannot buy Wisdom of the Prognosticars.
*You can take one Interceptor Squad despite being Fast Attack.
**Though usable, they suffer extreme limitations. Their teleport packs only give them a movement of 6" with a once per game ability to teleport, letting them move while ignoring models and terrain, [[Derp|but only as fast as they can normally walk.]]
*You can only include one unit of Servitors if you also take a Techmarine to mind them.
*If the Tide of Shadows is dominant, enemies count any models over 6" away as being behind light cover.
*Psychic Power Changes
**Fatal Precognition and Fires of Covenant as well as any other Sanctic witchfire powers can only be used once per phase.
**Gate of Infinity is now WC11.
**Vortex of Doom is now WC10.

'''[[Space Marines]]'''
*You can take one {{W40kKeyword|Primarch}} unit despite them being a Lord of War - which might mean there's plans for more than just Bobby G to wake up...
**Funnily, this is only exclusive to the loyalists. Apparently Mortarion, Magnus and Angron are just too big to fit in such a tiny cabin. Even with Magnus able to change his size via psychic cheats.
*You can take a squad of Assault Marines or Fenrisian Wolves despite being Fast Attack. If you take Assault Marines, then they can't buy jump packs.
**The wolves can't take any actions.
*You can take an Eliminator Squad or Hellblaster Squad despite being Heavy Support. If you take a Hellblaster Squad, then they are set to a size of 5 models.
*You can only take a squad of Company Veterans if you also take a Captain. This squad is set to a size of 5 models.
*You can only take a squad of Servitors if you also take a Techmarine to mind them.
*Combat Squads is considered redundant considering that the basic rules force all squads to split into 5-man boarding teams.
*Outflank does not work.
*The Stealthy and Shadow Masters chapter tactics work on enemies over 6" away.
</tab>

<tab name="Chaos">
'''[[Chaos Daemons]]'''
*Flamers can be taken despite the ban on flying.
**Exalted Flamers cannot take Enhancements.
*Horrors splitting can push a squad size past its initial size, so you can't split them off mid-game.
**Blue Horror squads cannot be split up at all.
*A pack of Flesh Hounds can be taken despite being Fast Attack.
*Any models with {{W40kKeyword|Fly}} can no longer do so.
*Warp Storm Changes
**Descending Shadow now works on enemies beyond 6" away.
**Malicious Misdirection does not work.
**Burning Terror costs 5 WST
**Wave of Sickness costs 4 WST
*Psychic Power changes
**Bolt of Change is now WC9.
**Infernal Gateway is now WC10.

'''[[Chaos Space Marines]]'''
*You can take two HQ choices, but one of them must be the Dark Commune. [[Pyrovore|Given the latter's tier of useless, this rule is essentially useless]].
*You can take more cultists, but the number of {{W40kKeyword|Cultists Core Infantry}} units cannot equal more than double the number of {{W40kKeyword|Traitoris Astartes Core Infantry}} units.
*You can take one squad of Unnameable Beasts despite them being Fast Attack.
*Cultist Mobs can't be split up into boarding teams.
*When splitting up Accursed Cultists into boarding teams, one will only contain mutants while the other will only contain Torments.
*Only one Legionaries squad may take the Balefire Tome.
*Possessed Marines have a set squad size of 5 models.
*Masters of Duplicity (aka the [[Alpha Legion]]) works on enemies over 6" away.
*Psychic Powers changes
**Warptime is now WC9.
**Possession is now WC8.

:'''Cult of the Arkifane''' - A specialized CSM detachment for the cultists of [[Vashtorr]].
:*You have three additional Troops slots...
:**That said, you can only take {{W40kKeyword|Cultist}} units, including the Dark Commune.
:**You cannot have more Accursed Cultists than you do Cultist Mobs.
:*You cannot take any enhancements aside from the faction's "Technoarcane Blessings".
:*None of your units can split into boarding teams.
:*Psychic Powers changes
:**Warptime is now WC9.

'''[[Death Guard]]'''
*You can take up to two characters, but one of them must be a {{W40kKeyword|Foetid Virion}}.
*You cannot take the Unstable Sickness or Viscous Death contagions.
*You can take one squad of Unnameable Beasts despite being Fast Attack.
**As an added bonus, these gribblies gain T6 and Disgustingly Resilient.
*You can only take one squad of Cultists, and the total number of Poxwalkers and Cultists squads cannot outnumber the number of Plague Marine squads.
**Cultists and Poxwalkers cannot be split into boarding teams.

:'''Gellerpox Blight''' - A specialized DG detachment making use of the [[Gellerpox Infected]].
:*You can only take Gellerpox Infected and Mutoid Vermin...oh, and maybe one generic {{W40kKeyword|Death Guard Character}}.
:**Gellerpox Infected are treated as having the Troops role.
:**You cannot take more Mutoid Vermin than you do Gellerpox Infected.
:*Gellerpox Infected must be split up into two boarding teams: One made of the basic mutants and the other made of Nightmare Hulks.
:*Mutoid Vermin must be split into two boarding teams of 8 models each.

'''[[Thousand Sons]]'''
*You cannot buy Legion Command upgrades.
*You can take one squad of Unnameable Beasts despite being Fast Attack.
**''Fated Mutation:'' A new rule for the gribblies, pretty much letting you pick out which roll you want for mutations instead of rolling for them.
*You can only take one squad of Cultists, and the total number of Cultists and {{W40kKeyword|Bray}} units cannot outnumber the number of Rubric Marine squads.
*When splitting Scarab Occult Terminators and Rubric Marines, the team without the aspiring sorcerer lose the casting and any rules around it.
*The Malevolent Change Cabbalistic Ritual casts 5 Cabal Points.
*Psychic Power changes
**Warp Reality treats open hatchways as viable terrain.
**Sorcerous Facade is now WC11.
**Baleful Devolution is now WC9.
**Dark Blessing is now WC9.
**Temporal Surge is now WC9.

'''[[World Eaters]]'''
*You can take one squad of Unnameable Beasts despite being Fast Attack.
*You cannot take more Jakhals than you have Khorne Berzerkers.
*Jakhals cannot be split up into boarding teams.
*Kharn's The Betrayer ability only works on models he can see.
*You gain 1 BTP for each model destroyed. Adapted to account for the much smaller scale of the game.
*Khorne Bererkers lose the Blood Surge ability.
</tab>

<tab name="Aeldari">
'''[[Eldar|Aeldari]] (Craftworlds, [[Ynnari]])'''
*Despite having the same keywords and being in the same codex, Harlequins cannot be added here.
*Units with the Favoured of Khaine rule (read: Phoenix Lords) cannot take Enhancements.
**Phoenix Lords also cannot do the Secure Site action.
*Only one {{W40kKeyword|Aspect Warriors}} squad can take an Exarch Power.
*Warlocks can always be taken in units of 1-5 models.
*Guardian Defenders and Storm Guardians can take Serpent's Scale Platforms and Heavy Weapons Platforms despite pushing the squad size past its starting size. When splitting up the squads into boarding teams, one such team will consist of 6 models and the other 5 models.
*Battle Focus is dead. Welp, there goes pretty much all the battle strategy of the Eldar.
*Boarding Actions count as Patrol Squads for the sake of Strands of Fate.
*When enemies are charged by units using Howling Banshee Masks or Terror's Lament, they cannot use Set to Defend.
*Craftworld Attribute Changes
**Hunters of Ancient Relics does not work.
**When using the Fieldcraft or Masters of Concealment attributes (or Gloomfields), they work on enemies over 6" away.
*Executioner is now WC9.

'''[[Dark Eldar|Drukhari]]'''
*You cannot use Lords of Commorragh upgrades.
*You can take one squad of either Clawed Fiends or Khymerae despite not being able to use a Beastmaster and being Fast Attack units.
**Any {{W40kKeyword|Beast}} units can't operate hatchways and lose their Beasts of the Arena rule.
*Mandrakes lose the Fade Away ability.
*You can only include one Court of the Archon, but it can only be comprised of one of each model.
*Your Archon gains the Raid Mastermind ability if you take one model of Kabalite Warriors, Wyches and Wracks, allowing all relevant units to take Obsessions.
*Obsession Changes
**Agile Hunters does not work.
**Acrobatic Display cannot let a unit move through walls and closed hatchways.
**Speed of the Kill cannot let a unit advance any further than 6".

'''[[Harlequins]]'''
*If you don't take a Solitaire, you have two HQ slots you can fill with characters.
**Only one such character can take a Pivotal Role.
**If you take a Solitaire, they can't take Enhancements or a Pivotal Role.
**If a Death Jester with the Lord of the Crystal Bones Pivotal Role hits an enemy, the enemy can't Set to Defend or Fire Overwatch.
*Solitaires lose Blitz.
*The Harlequin's Panoply can't let you move through walls or closed hatchways.
*As with the errata, you don't start with any Luck of the Laughing God re-rolls, you can only chance them.
*Psychic Power Changes
**Twilit Pathways is now WC8.
**Mirror of Minds is now WC9.
**Webway Dance is now WC6.
</tab>

<tab name="Xenos">
'''[[Genestealer Cults]]'''
*You can take up to three characters, but only one of them can have 5+ wounds.
*You cannot buy Proficient Planning upgrades.
*Brood Brothers cannot be taken - Not like we even know if any allied detachment rules work in this format.
*Neophyte Hybrids cannot be split into boarding teams.
*When a unit summons the cult, the number of models they restore is halved. This ability also can't be used more than once per game.
*Walls are considered obscuring terrain for the sake of the Exposed condition.
*''Concealed Ambush:'' Instead of Conceal, this requires your opponent to set up their army before you do.
*The Subterranean Ambushers cult creed apply on enemies over 6" away.
*Mental Onslaught is now WC9.

'''[[Leagues of Votann]]'''
*You cannot upgrade a Brôkhyr Iron-Master into a Brôkhyr Forge-Master.
*You can take one Thunderkyn squad despite being Heavy Support.
*Enemies don't get Judgment Tokens from using the Fire Overwatch, Set to Defend, or Operate Hatchway actions.
*The Multiwave Comms Array lets the unit with it always count as being under the Kâhl's aura.
*When using the Crushing Contempt power and rolling higher than the enemy unit's Leadership, the enemy can't Fire Overwatch or Set to Defend.

'''[[Necrons]]'''
*You can take up to two HQ choices, but one of these must be a generic {{W40kKeyword|Cryptek}}. This does circumvent the no-fly zone restrictions if anyone asks.
**You can only take a squad of Cryptothalls if you take a {{W40kKeyword|Crpytek}} to mind them.
**You cannot buy the Atavindicator, Metalodermic Tesla Weave, or Quantum Orb Cryptek Arkana.
*You can take a unit of Scarab Swarms or Ophydian Destroyers despite being Fast Attack.
*You can only take a Canoptek Plasmacyte if you also take another {{W40kKeyword|Destroyer Cult}} unit to protect it.
**A Plasmacyte can also accompany any such unit (except the Skorpekh Lord) in an Entry Zone when setting your units up.
***As a matter of fact, you can't set up ANY units in the same Entry Zone as the Skorpekh Lord if they're the warlord. Blame the snootiness getting to their head.
*Any models with {{W40kKeyword|Fly}} can no longer do so.
*''Lurking Horrors:'' Enemies take -1 to hit Flayed Ones. 2spoopy4u2hit
*Dynasty Changes
**Translocation Beams lets you move through models, but not walls and closed hatchways.
**Aggressively Territorial and Eternal Conquerors doesn't give all units ObSec, but it makes {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} units count as having one more model for the sake of capping.
***Relentlessly Expansionist only lets units move 6" before the first turn.

'''[[Orks]]'''
*You can take up to two characters, but one of them must be a Runtherd. You can only have one such Runtherd in your detachment.
*You can only take one Kustom Job in your detachment.
*You can only take one squad of Gretchin. This squad cannot be split into boarding teams.
**When setting up this squad, you can also put the Runtherd in the same Entry Zone as the grots.
*You can take one squad of Flash Gitz despite them being Heavy Support.
*You can only take two squads of Meganobz.
*If a model with a tankhammer misses, that model dies and their unit suffers a messy d3 mortal wounds.
*Kommandos' Neck Slittaz applies to anyone within 1" of an open hatchway or when using a Distraction Grot.
*Kultur Changes
**Taktiks applies to any models over 6" away from the enemy.
**Lucky Blue Gitz does not give everyone ObSec, but it makes all {{W40kKeyword|Infantry}} units count as having an additional model for the sake of capping.
*Da Jump is now WC 11.

'''[[Tau Empire]]'''
*You cannot buy Prototype Systems.
*You can buy a hover drone for your Ethereal despite the ban on flying.
**You can also buy a {{W40kKeyword|Crisis}} or {{W40kKeyword|Stealth Battlesuit}} unit (including Farsight) despite this same ban.
***Farsight only has 3 Attacks for some reason. Is a Crisis Suit really that clumsy in such cramped spaces?
*You can take a squad of Pathfinders or Drones despite being Fast Attack.
**Despite being able to field Drones as a unit, you can't attach them to another squad. Similarly, your Fire Warriors can't take their turrets. [[Derp|Despite the Eldar getting theirs]].
*You can only take {{W40kKeyword|Kroot}} units after taking a squad of Carnivores. Sadly, Vespid are not given such niceties.
**One squad of 1-3 Krootox Riders can be taken via this way, despite having the {{W40kKeyword|Cavalry}} keyword.
**A squad of Kroot Hounds can also be taken via this way despite being Fast Attack.
***Kroot Hounds can't perform any actions.
**{{W40kKeyword|Kroot}} squads cannot be split into Boarding Teams.
*Any models with {{W40kKeyword|Fly}} can no longer do so and gain a move speed of 6".
*Manta Strike does not work for obvious reasons.
*Tenet Changes
**Masters of Urban Warfare and Camouflage Experts affect enemies over 6" away.
**Strike Fast applies to all Entry Zones instead of a Deployment Zone.

'''[[Tyranids]]'''
*Neurothropes, Venomthropes and Zoanthropes can be taken despite the ban on flying.
**That said, the option between Zoanthropes and Venomthropes is mutually exclusive; you can't take both broods.
*You can only field one Lictor. Presumably, this also applies to the Deathleaper.
*You can take a unit of Ripper Swarms despite being Fast Attack.
*Hormagaunts and Termagants cannot be split into boarding teams.
*Any models with {{W40kKeyword|Fly}} lose the ability to do so.
*You can ignore walls and closed hatchways for the sake of determining who's in Synapse or who can benefit from Synaptic Link - unless it's to see who can cast psychic powers.
*Biomorphology Changes
**Synaptic Goading does not work on all {{W40kKeyword|Endless Multitude}} units, instead only letting one unit move 6" before the first turn.
**Tunnel Networks and Naturalised Camouflage works on enemies over 6" away.
*Paroxysm stops the target from using Set to Defend or Fire Overwatch.
</tab>
</tabs>

</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 mega-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''.
Of note, specialist detachments are no longer legal in matched play.
*Replacing them are ''Armies of Renown'', which are essentially the same thing but they don't cost a CP to enable.

===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 being the Deathwatch. 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.