Editing Age of Darkness-Warhammer 30k/2.0 Tactics/General Tactics (section)

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

===The Force Organization Chart===
Also known as the Force Org chart, this is the basic framework for how you build your armies in 30k. If you played 7th and earlier editions you will remember it well. The standard Force Org chart is the Crusade Force Org chart, which is what most armies will be built around and is the most flexible for building armies. It is important to remember that you must adhere to the force org chart when building you armies and you are required to bring:
*1 HQ choice
*2 Compulsory Troops choices 
The Crusade Force Org chart also allows you to bring other units and you may also take:
*2 additional HQ choices
*4 additional Troops choices
*4 Elites choices
*3 Fast Attack choices
*3 Heavy Support choices
*1 Fortification
*1 Primarch (this and Lords of War may not cost more than 25% of the army's total points)
*1 Lords of War choice (this and Primarch may not cost more than 25% of the army's total points).

You can also bring a force of allied units to help aid you main force if you feel like mixing armies a bit.
You must bring:
*1 HQ choice
*1 Compulsory Troops choice
And you can bring:
*3 additional Troops choices
*2 Elites choices
*1 Fast Attack choice
*1 Heavy Support choice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another important thing to remember is 30k is a pseudo historical so certain things cannot be used in 30k as they where not around at the time or do not fit with the style. Much like you don't use WW2 infantry in a Napoleonic era game.
*Stuff you can't use in 30k:
**Mark VII or later armour as-is (unless you're playing a loyalist legion during Siege of Terra)
**Primaris marines. For the love of god, just don't.
**Fantasy Battle/AoS stuff in general. They look bad for regular 40k conversions (without major overhauling) and look even worse in 30k.
**Post Heresy symbols such as the Crux Terminatus and 40k specific symbols.
**Purity seals. One on the pauldron or chest as an oath of moment on the squad sergeant is fine but 20 of the fucking things covering a single marine is a big no no. Unless you're a Word Bearer, but then conversions are in order since theirs lack the wax part.
**Storm bolters. No really, they were made after the Heresy and so you need to replace them with combi-bolters.
**Xenos. This is a story about humans, no smelly aliens allowed (If you convert them into humans then some of the model ranges can be used, but don't put a bunch of Eldar Guardians down and say they are Milita levies).

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

===But I like my kidneys!===
Then you shouldn't be playing Warhammer. 

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

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