Editing Warhammer 40,000 (section)

====Units====
[[File:Jump Troopers.jpg|350px|right|thumb|"With great balls I shall clad them"- Big E on Guardsmen]]

Each unit in 40K, whether an Imperial Guardsman, a Daemon Prince or a Falcon Grav-Tank, has a set of 'characteristics' that are compared to the statistics of whatever they are attacking to ascertain whatever roll may be necessary on a D6 to succeed in their action. The characteristics are as follows: Movement (M), Weapon Skill (WS), Ballistic Skill (BS), Strength (S), Toughness (T), Wounds (W), Attacks (A), Leadership (Ld) and Armour/Invulnerable Save (Sv). For vehicles; '''in 7th edition and [[Horus Heresy|Age of Darkness]]''' games it is simplified to Frontal, Side and Rear armor ratings, hull points (HP), and Ballistic Skill (BS). Certain units that are a mix between vehicle and infantry/monster, such as Walkers, who retain the Armour ratings and hull points in place of Toughness and Wounds, but use all remaining characteristics as well. '''In the latest edition, this was done away with for brevity.''' Depending on the type of attack made (shooting, assault, psychic, etc), different characteristics are used to resolve the attack. Some special close combat weapons, such as Power Fists, will enhance the characteristics of the user or provide other support bonuses. When shooting, the separate statistics of the weapon fired also come into play.

All units also have a "point cost", representing their overall worth and rarity in an army. There are a number of rules concerning selecting an army from a Codex army book, but one of the most important is the points limit. The points limit is the method used in W40k as an upper limit to army size and/or power. The most common type of W40k game is set at 1,500 points. For comparison, the average squad of 10 Imperial Guardsmen is worth around 60 points, and a Space Marine intercessor squad of the same size is worth 200 points. A single Grey Knight Dreadnought is 130 points. With any unit, upgrades can greatly increase their points cost and effectiveness. Fully-equipped Independent Characters can reach well over 100 points, for example, and the aforementioned squads will usually be equipped with more expensive heavy weapons, squad leaders, or other equipment. Army selection can be limited by the codex's Force Organization Chart; every unit is categorized as HQ, Troop, Elite, Fast Attack, Flyers, Heavy Support, or Lords of War, and the Force Organization Chart specifies the minimum and maximum number of each type of units any army may field in a single game. You may choose to ignore these charts and field whatever you like within the points value, but do so with a disadvantage in certain army-specific powers called Strategems.

Units usually fight as squads, though there are many exceptions. All infantry are formed into a squad with similar units and usually a squad leader (i.e. a squad of Ork Slugga Boyz led by a Nob or a squad of Guardsmen led by Sarge). Units such as vehicles/walkers (Tau Hammerhead, Baal Predator) are usually, but not always (in case of Sentinels and Jetbikes) fielded as a lone unit.

The role of hero units, known as ''Characters'', is an important one in 40K. They are the leaders for each army and one of the most powerful types of unit available to any player. Characters have the distinction of being able to operate as a single model. They can also be fluff-actual, named characters with their own history and unique appearance (such as Celestine the Living Saint), while others like a Space Marine Captain or an Ork Warboss are generic commanders. Both kinds can have a massive impact on the game, especially in the Shooting and Assault phases where their greatly enhanced weapons and abilities can be brought to bear and cause a big amount of [[Rage]] from the opposing player, or in area buffs, which greatly increase the effectiveness of nearby friendly troops.

Characters who are under a certain size (read: not FUCKHUEG) cannot be targeted if not the closest model to the enemy without special rules helping the enemy (e.g. a squad of red scorpions tactical marines cannot dive in front of a leviathan dreadnought). Let the plebs take the hits.