Codex - Drop Troops

Codex: Drop Troops is a created by the Elysian Drop Troops Discord community. Originally a super-niche Imperial Guard regiment sold only by Forge World, the Elysian Drop Troops were the premier grimdark paratroopers of the 41st millennium, until someone at FW decided that we can't have nice things. We originally had full rules and an Imperial Armour series, but were dropped completely from the official rules with the release of the Imperial Armour Compendium at the start of 9th edition, having only a couple of unique units move to Warhammer Legends, even though our Regimental Doctrine now no longer exists in the rules, so you can't even legally play with Aerial Drop. Drop Troopers who can't, well, drop.

But the bright side of killing off a much-loved Guard regiment is that it often has fanatically loyal followers. They banded together on Discord and launched the Alpha version of Codex: Drop Troops in August 2021. (Version 2.1 here).

These are completely unofficial, homebrew rules created bby the 700+ members of the community. You can find the page for the current Elysian rules (and just how god-shit awful they are) in the official game here.

Introduction to Codex: Drop Troops

Codex: Drop Troops is a fan-devoted labour of love at 180 fully-illustrated pages replete with custom lore, artwork, model galleries and rules. The Codex is a standalone, independent document set apart from Codex: Astra Militarum and focusses on the Airborne regiments of the Imperial Guard and their Imperial Navy aircraft.

In both the lore and the game, Drop Regiments are comprised of typiccally elite light infantry who specialise in dropping (often in great numbers) behind enemy lines to capture strategic locations and disrupt the enemy. Often drop assaults are made in concert with ground forces who will then attempt to break through and reinforce them. Drop Regiments generally can't take heavy equipment such as tanks, so they rely on superior air power for fire support, but as a result are quite brittle and will often found themselves surrounded by superior enemy numbers. As a result Drop Infantry are typically better trained and have higher morale and discipline. Well, some of them...

Following the Horus Heresy, Rowboat Gorillaman decreed that the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy should be split up, so that if a Commander turn Traitor no one man could field such combined power. This extends not just to capital ships in space, but right down to any airborne aircraft such as Valkyries and Marauders. This is, obviously, a bit of an issue since your drop boys and the Valk pilot might want to be discussing where the fuck they're going first. As a result, the aircraft are still nominally part of the Imperial Navy, but often get seconded long-term to Drop Regiments and establish a close working relationship with them. However, this does sometimes provoke the ire of more puritanical members of the Holy Ordos.

The upshot though is that a Codex: Drop Troops force gets a lot more out of their aircraft than standard Imperial Guard detachments. The Codex also covers much more than just the Elysians, but also the Harakoni Warhawks, Phantine Skyborne, Hell Harlots, D-99 and rules to create your own.

Why Play Drop Troops of the Imperial Guard

If you thought that regular Imperial Guard needed a wheelbarrow to carry around those great brass balls before charging a Carnifex with a flashlight and a butter knife, then the Drop Troops really dial that up to eleven.

From a gameplay perspective, Imperial Guard Drop Troops ditch the grinding war of attrition for rapid strikes from the air. Tanks and heavy artillery get left behind in favour of elite infantry, powerful aircraft and a few light vehicles - with strong synergies between them. This is a highly tactical army to play as you will start games with having most of your army able to deploy from deep strike, allowing you to quickly capture key objectives and neutralise key threats. However, since you have an army of entirely T3 5+ infantry and T7 3+ aircraft - with no invulnerable saves - you will get ground down and take casualties, fast. The key between victory and defeat will be in how effective your opening turns are, and if you can have the patience to keep some units in reserve turn 2 and 3 and deploy them to disrupt your enemy's initiative. As your units are also still cheap, it is very viable to play this as "horde deep strike".

Pros

• Lots of cheap infantry that can be buffed through the Orders system by their Officers.
• Drop Troop infantry benefit from Aerial Drop, higher Ld and can take better gear such as krak grenades, demo charges and aux grenade launchers.
• You're still effectively a horde army, so losses won't hurt you as bad as some armies. You can also afford to sacrifice units to keep the enemy tied up.
• You have a variety of elite infantry options with specialist weapons and abilities. Special Weapon Squads and Sappers can bring melta and plasma to eliminate high threat units, and Stormtroopers and Forward Recon Squads are useful for handling objectives. Sniper Squads are some of the most point-efficient anti-charectar in the game, and can be further buffed with camo-cloaks and anti-material rifles.
• Your Aircraft are your mainstay for heavy fire support, with lots of synergies, Pilot Aces and stratagems to get the max out of them.
• Valkyries in a Drop Troops army are Dedicated Transports, meaning you can field a lot more Aircraft per Detachment than any other army in the game.
• Air Cavalry lets you Deepstrike on Turn 1, copying SM Drop Pods.
• You have shit tonnes of opportunities to create your own regiments and kitbash your own unique guys.
• The Codex has a full suite of Crusade rules, and also has a Custom Aircraft Loadout tool that lets you make some crazy combinations for aircraft in casual games.
• There's a lot of fun in playing homebrew rules. It is YOUR game, YOU can make it what you want, and this can help encourage other players too, so long as both players agree before the game.

Cons

• Expect to take high casualties. Your whole army is either T3 or T7, with no invulnerable saves. Your strength is in numbers.
• You have the volume to be capable in shooting and melee, but you excel at neither. Most 40k armies are specialised and will be hitting on you for less one way or the other.
• Your infantry greatly rely on Officers, who are very fragile and easy to pick off. They need to be protected by other infantry squads and your elimination of enemy sniper and anti-charectar units is key.
• You trade tanks for aircraft, which are great and have universal -1 to hit protection, but are less resilient than T8 Leman Russ tanks. You also need to be careful with the rules for Aircraft in 9e, as you can easily overshoot the board and put your flyers into Strategic Reserves. It's smart to pre-plan flight paths, or put your Valks/Vendettas/Vultures into hover mode.
• FW Elysians have been Out of Production for many years, and authentic kits go for $$$ on eBay. Your best (legal) options are to either kitbash your own Regiments or turn to the miracle of 3d printing.
• As a homebrew Codex, this army has no official rules support. It is therefore highly unlikely that you will ever be able to play a Drop Troops army in a GW store or tournament setting; this is best kept for club and friendly games. You may also find that "meta" players will refuse to play you, or worse if you do end up winning they may just complain that your homebrew codex was OP. Or it may just be that they are That Guy. But then again, do you want to spend 2 hours playing a twat like that in the first place?
• Because the rules are fan-made, there is also likely to be a lot of bugs and errors in the rules, which is why the dev team chose to release in Alpha state first to gather playtesting and feedback. It will take time to balance out the rules and expect plenty of significant changes to come in later versions.

Special Rules

• Defenders of Humanity: Troops gain Objective Secured.
• Air Cavalry:
• Aerial Drop:
• Command Squads:

Regiments and Regimental Doctrines

Elysia: Drop Expert - The classic Elysian Drop Troops, loosely based on French Foreign Legion Paratroopers, even though they seem to almost always die in the official fluff. Got invaded by Chaos Space Marines during the Great Rift and are in the middle of battling it old with the help of the Emprah's Golden Boys.

• INFANTRY units with this doctrine can Advance and still Shoot with any weapon type that is not a Heavy weapon. When they do so, they suffer a -1 to hit penalty. Assault weapons may shoot without penalty.
• INFANTRY units get the benefit of Rapid Fire at 18", rather than 12" as normal. Hot-shot Lasguns get up to 12" instead.

Harakoni Warhawks: Armoured Descent

• INFANTRY units with this doctrine get 4+ SVs with carapace armour.
• 6+ FNP to Vehicles and Infantry wearing carapace armour. Helps your boys be more durable during the fight.

Phantine Skyborne: Wings and Talons - The small number of "ground" forces supplied by the planet of Phantine during and after its liberation in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Though best known for their elite pilots who uncharetaristically do not form part of the Imperial Navy, Gaunt's Ghosts do pitch in with a battalion of their paratrooper infantry during the Siege of Ourenberg. On the battlefield they enjoy unique synergies between their infantry and aircraft, as they are the only Guard regiment in existence that officially has their own aircraft.

• A <PHANTINE> AIRCRAFT that targets the same enemy unit as a <PHANTINE> INFANTRY unit during the Shooting phase may re-roll hit rolls of 1. Army wide Officer of the Fleet / Tactical Air Controller.
• A <PHANTINE> AIRCRAFT gets to treat themselves as having double wounds for purposes of the vehicle damage chart. One half of the Valhallan doctrine, but only benefitting Aircraft.

Hell Harlots: Overhead Assault

• Units with this doctrine always wound a non VEHICLE unit on a 4+ with a close combat weapon.
• When resolving an attack made in the Fight phase, an unmodified wound roll of 6 is resolved with a bonus of -1AP

Arnheim Pathfinders: Utrinque Paratus - Modelled on a blend of modern-era and WW2 British Paratroopers, these guys strike a dashing sight in their maroon berets and are known for their ferocity on the battlefield even in the face of impossible odds. True to their Arnhem / Battle of Britain roots, they benefit from buffs in the Morale phase and harder-hitting aircraft.

• INFANTRY units with this doctrine ignore combat attrition modifiers for morale tests.
• AIRCRAFT with this doctrine may re-roll wound rolls of 1.

Custom Regimental Doctrines

With The Greater Good, the IG can follow in the footsteps of several other factions in making their own Regimental Doctrine, combining two of the following rules:

• Agile Warriors: Infantry can re-roll advance dice.
• Combined Auspex: When a vehicle fires Overwatch within 3" of another vehicle from the same Regiment, it hits on a 5+. Half of the Mordian doctrine.
• Disciplined Shooters: Infantry with Rapid Fire weapons fire an extra shot at 18" instead of the usual distance. Half of the Armageddon doctrine. A defensive buff pretending to be a offensive one, as many foes at 18" out won't be able to launch a charge in their next turn, (18" away moving 6" closer gives them a 12" charge)
• Fire from the Hip: Infantry can shoot Rapid Fire weapons after advancing, with a -1 to hit. Before considering this trait remember that there is an order that lets you do this for free with no penalty.
• Gunnery Experts: When rolling to determine the number of shots it fires, a vehicle can re-roll one of the dice. Half of the Catachan doctrine.
• Jury-Rigged Repairs: At the start of the turn, roll a d6 for each vehicle that has lost a wound. It heals one wound on a 2-4, and d3 wounds on a 5+. Who needs Enginseers?
  • Further, you can take Gunnery Experts, and genuinely run some potent vehicles.
  • Stacks with Enginseers: force your opponent to kill the tank or suffer. Double trouble on Atlases; not only can they repair other tanks, they benefit from this Doctrine themselves!
  • While other regiment's tanks may shoot more accurately or more efficiently, this will make your tanks the toughest, forcing your opponent to kill tanks outright, lest you rebuild them with Elmer's glue and MRE wrappers.
• Lords' Approval: Infantry melee weapons get -1 AP if within 9" of an Officer (which includes tank commanders). No matter how many ways you stack the odds in your favor for CC, other CC armies will still smash you ('Nids, Orks, Chaos, naked women with giant chainswords...) You might as well optimize for solid ranged warfare and/or durability of your vehicles.
• Monster Hunters: Heavy weapons inflict 1 mortal wound against Monsters on an unmodified wound roll of 6.
  • This has a more noticeable impact the weaker the weapon's S, AP, and D, especially if you haven't got access to the ability to re-roll successful wounds. Focus on weapons with high A instead - heavy bolters and flamers, gatling cannons, etc.
• Pyromaniacs: Flamers, heavy flamers, and twin heavy flamers re-roll wound rolls of 1. A very nice effect, but irritatingly leaves out vehicle-specific weapons on things like Hellhounds or the Malcador Infernus.
  • This got indirectly buffed in 9th, as now all the weaponry that this would effect has a range of 12" instead of 8".
• Slum Fighters: Infantry scores an additional melee hit on an unmodified melee hit roll of 6.
  • See Lord's Approval above. It's cool, but certain aliens are literally bred and evolved to slaughter you in melee. You can fight a little harder and kill a few more with this in melee, but you can do far more at range, out of melee. That said, it works like +1 to hit only better, so it's most noticeable the worse your WS - put this on Conscripts to make them hit like regular soldiers.
• Spotter Details: +6" to the range of heavy weapons with a range of at least 24". Half of the Vostroyan doctrine.
  • Especially potent on Demolisher & Punisher Russ's, giving them a 35" grinding advance threat range.
• Wilderness Survivors: Infantry that did not advance get the cover save bonus to their saving throws. Not bad, as you can still move and even get within 12" (or 18" if you combine with discipline shooters (hint hint)) of the opponent and use cover out in the open. In fact, if for some reason you want to charge the enemy, you'll get the bonus against Overwatch shots, and even less likely, if you end up still in combat in the following shooting phase, it'll work on any pistols you get shot with.

Maintaining Regiment Doctrines

Most units in Astra Militarum detachments (excluding Superheavy Auxiliary detachments) benefit from a regimental doctrine if every unit in the detachment has the same Regiment and/or is on the list of units that do not break regimental doctrine. These units include:

• Aeronautica Imperialis. Not "this unit, and that unit", but all Aeronautica units, like Vendettas.
• Militarum Auxilla AKA Abhumans, each and every single one.
• Ministorum Priest and Crusaders. Not Adeptus Ministorum units, just those two.
• Officio Prefectus AKA Commissars.
• Militarum Tempestus units won't prevent your army from getting a Doctrine, but they themselves won't get their Storm Troopers doctrine unless all other units are Tempestus themselves (or people from this list). So, if you want to bring Artillery or other vehicles, you'll need to bring them in a separate Spearhead detachment.
• Scholastica Psykana AKA Primaris Psykers (no relation), Wyrdvanes, and Astropaths.
• Tech-priest Enginseer (either your copy, the elite with Astra Militarum, or AdMech's copy, the HQ without) and Servitors. Not Forge world units, just those three. Remember this is an Astra Militarum Detachment. They DON'T gain a Dogma, NOR AdMech Stratagems, Relics or Warlord Traits. If you want those rules, you can bring them in a separate Vanguard detachment, for all the good it'll do you.

As alluded to above, Superheavy Auxiliary Detachments don't benefit from Doctrines. If you want a LoW with a Doctrine you need to take them in either a Superheavy Detachment (3-5! Lords of War), a cheaper Supreme Command Detachment (3-5 HQs plus 0-1 LoW), or give it the Steadfast Leviathan Tank Ace trait in a Superheavy Auxiliary Detachment.

• The Death Korps of Krieg and Elysia can also be selected as your Regiment, though they do not have a proper Regimental Doctrine. Instead, they get a modified unit and Order selection with several choices unique to them, along with a number of special rules that more or less form a Doctrine. They lack any unique Warlord Traits, Stratagems or Relics, but have access to all the regular ones. Check out their sections towards the bottom of the page for more information.

Warlord Traits

Pilot Aces

Did you like the Tank Ace from the Psychic Awakening book ? Then you can now have similar abilities for your planes ! Your Drop Troops can skip taking a warlord trait and/or use a stratagem to apply an Ace Pilot trait to an eligible aircraft. Regular aircrafts and super heavy aircrafts are separated in two different ability list. As the Tank Ace, Brood Brothers detachment cannot include an Ace Pilot. These traits also cannot be given to a named character.

Aircraft Ace abilities can be taken on any unit with that is not a super heavy aircraft.

• Tank Buster: Re-roll wound rolls of 1 when targeting enemy VEHICLE or MONSTER during the shooting phase (no bonus against enemy AIRCRAFT, only ground stuff)
  • Do you like A-10 Warthog ? Now you can go brrrr with your Avenger and blast away those tanks with more efficiency.
• G-Force Junkie: You can pivot 180° before moving your aircraft instead of the usual 90°.
  • Simple, but it might save you if you screwed your positioning. Being forced out of the table for a full turn might cost you a lot.
• Insane Luck: Your aircraft get 6+ Invulnerable Save.
  • Aircrafts are harder to kill than regular vehicle, having a little more tankiness might save you against dedicated AA weapons and other lucky shots.
• Dog-fighter: Your aircraft add +1 to hit against enemy AIRCRAFT.
  • Helpful when you specialized your plane for ground target hunting and your enemy bring its own air force. Don't forget you cannot cumulate modifiers anymore so if you spec your planes with AA missiles this trait won't really help you.
• Master Mechanic: Reduce ranged weapon damage against your aircraft by 1 (to a minimum of 1).
  • For when that hydra really want you dead. Will make your plane harder to damage and might keep you longer in the better damage bracket.
• Well-stocked racks: Re-roll the (one or any) dice when determining the type characteristic of a ranged weapon your aircraft is equipped with.
  • Perfect choice when you want the most out of your anti infantry missiles and rockets.

Super Heavy Ace abilities

• Bombardier: Add 1 to the dice roll to see if an enemy unit is damaged by bombs.
  • Bombs are one of only source of mortal wounds for the Drop Troops. More reliable damage is always good
• Full Payload: Always deal maximum damage on D3/D6 damage ranged weapons.
  • Mostly only useful on the Marauder destroyer for its missiles and lascannons.
• Shatterer of Will: -2 leadership for one enemy units that was damaged by your aircraft in the shooting phase until the end of the turn.
  • when you really want the enemy to run away.
• High Altitude Deployment: Your aircraft can only be hit on 6+ until it start moving.
  • If you don't have the first turn and don't want your expensive plane to be useless or destroyed before you actually use it.
• Steadfast Leviathan: The user can benefit from a Regimental Doctrine even if they're in a Super-heavy Auxiliary Detachment.
  • Marauders are very expensive and being able to field your nice model without investing your points (and selling one organ or two to actually get that many models) is a very good thing.

Secondary objectives

9th Edition Warhammer 40,000 places emphasis on scoring and holding points, primaries will always be your most consistent source of points. You score 5 points per turn for holding an objective, 10 points for holding two or more objectives, and 15 points if you meet the other two requirements and hold more objectives than your opponent. However, you can tailor your secondary objectives based on the scenario and the opponent's army composition.

Purge the Enemy

- Assassinate

Not the best thing we've got going for us. Yes you can probably pick off an enemy if they over-extend, but we don't have the melee or sniping potential we need to make the greatest use of this. Side note, expect a lot of people to take this against you.

- Bring it Down

Now this is more up our alley. The guard has plenty of ways to kill tanks, including a few tanks of our own, or the ever-reliable (if pricey) Lascannon. Of course your enemy needs to bring enough tanks to max this out.

- Titan Slayers

This is probably our best pick from this category. Between the aforementioned abundance of AT we can potentially bring, Old Grudges allows you to declare "fuck that thing in particular" on any titanic unit to reroll wounds.

- Slay the Warlord

This is almost never a good idea, simply because if you're able to do this, you probably could have made more points with another secondary.

Warpcraft

-Mental Interrogation

This one is okay. However, your psykers are already going to be stretched fairly thin casting buffs on your swarms of infantry, so taking a power off to cast this can be a serious drain on your casts.

-Psychic Ritual

This is an interesting one. Guard can hold their ground, particularly if you brought bullgryns and have relatvively cheap psykers, meaning it won't be the end of the world to allocate one to the ritual. It's a serious risk, but has serious reward.

-Abhor the Witch

This isn't one you want to take much unless you plan on running Krieg. The main reason being that it can only be taken if you haven't brought any psykers, and even after the cost increase on astropaths, their buffs are still crucial for keeping your infantry on their objectives.

- Pierce the Veil

Potentially a good one considering you should have at least one Astropath near your expeditionary force.

No Mercy, No Respite

- Thin their Ranks

This is one of the better ones for guard. Between Blast, flamers, and good old massed flashlight fire we have plenty of ways to clear lots of light infantry, and have enough big guns to bring down something big enough to be worth 10 points if we ever see it.

- Attrition

Not a good one for guard. It is said that guardsman lives are like amunition, a valuable resource, but one that should be expended without hesitation. Guard specialize in MSU and we lose guardsman squads like anyone near the bloody magpies lose relics.

- While We Stand, We Fight

An interesting one to be sure. Our most valuable units are more often than not literal tanks, and can be screened quite nicely by guardsman squads and bullgryns. Worth considering if you plan on playing your tanks like its 8th edition.

- First Strike

Did somebody say 600" range with no need for line of sight? Guard arty is some of the best at punching down squishy units on the other side of the field. Furthermore, this makes it easier for us to consider the other half of the secondary, killing more than we lost. If you're up against a melee army that comes online in the 2nd or 3rd round, this can be an almost certain 8 points.

Battlefield Supremacy

- Engage on All Fronts

Considering the standard guard tactic is to drown the enemy in your own blood, this one seems made for us. With an aggressive army like the Catachans and cheap troops to spread the field, it isn't difficult to cover the board in bodies.

- Linebreaker

This doesn't play to our strengths quite as well. The Imperial Guard is a strong shooting faction, even if we do have nippy vehicles like our newly buffed Hellhounds and buff schwartzenager men to go punch the enemy to death with. If you're punching the enemy back all the way to their deployment zone great! But by that point you were probably winning anyways.

- Domination

Pick this one if you plan on going with a more elite, more defensive army using bullgryns and probably cadians. Otherwise Engage on All Fronts is better.

Shadow Operations

- Raise the Banners High

Similar to Domination, this one is good if you plan on doubling down on take and hold. Guard is one of the best armies for these missions, as we've got plenty of bodies we can leave to handle the actions. Taking a single guardsman squad out of the action for a turn won't hurt us nearly as much as some armies (looking at you Custodes)

-Investigate Sites

This one is tricky, as it means we not only need to take the center of the board, but also clear it and keep it clear long enough to pull it off. However, we've got plenty of tarpits and roadblocks to slow the enemy down, and as stated, enough MSU to not be hurt by losing one for a turn.

- Repair Teleportation Homer

This is probably the worst out of these for us. It's not that tricky to slingshot a unit of Guard into the back line, but keeping them there through the entire enemy turn is another matter entirely. Guardsmen are versatile, surprisingly deadly in large numbers, and have the biggest balls in the galaxy, but they do die remarkably quickly without some serious support.

Stratagems

Universal

Standard strategems that can be used by any and all Regiments.

• Aerial Spotter (2 CP): Use at the start of the shooting phase. A Wyvern or Basilisk can re-roll failed hit rolls in this phase. If you're sitting your artillery still like a good guardsman, this stratagem will bring your hit rate up to 75%. Just imagine a Wyvern with 75% of its average 14 shots hitting (especially since they already reroll failed wounds).
• Consolidate Squads (1 CP): Use this stratagem at the end of your movement phase. Select two Infantry Squad units within 2" of each other that share the same <Regiment>. The selected units combine to form one big unit. Who didn't see this coming? Allows you to sort-of recapture the blob guard armies of yore and use less orders/get more out of buffs, but it'll now cost you command points. Also a good option to 'save' orphaned special and heavy weapons by adding them to less mauled squads. Use this properly and your opponent will tear their hair out trying to kill off the growing pile of heavy and special weapons you're rolling together like a meaty snowball of doom. Combine with your strong morale abilities to ensure special weapons survive all but the heaviest shooting, and fold them into the next squad down the line at your leisure. Them give the whole mass an order and clean up.
• Crush them! (1 CP): Use this stratagem at the start of your charge phase. A Vehicle Unit may charge, even if it has advanced this turn. In addition, all attacks made by the vehicle will hit on a 2+. Remember how the Baneblade family has 9 powerful melee attacks that are reduced in effectiveness by WS 5+? This will fix that in an instant and make sure that even dedicated melee units won't want to get into its newly boosted charging range (Tallarn Titanic units also have their heavy weapons count as assault if they advance... Just throwing that out there). Another clever use of this is to get Sentinels into melee with great reliability. No, they can't fight too good, but that's not the point - the point is its a T6W63+ model fighting, not your flimsy infantry!
• Defensive Gunners (1 CP): Use this stratagem when a charge is declared against one of your vehicles. When it fires Overwatch for the rest of the phase, it hits on a roll of 5 or 6. Mordian vehicle formations can serve as a literal wall of iron in front of your infantry, as the enemy won't be able to slip through them without declaring multiple charges. And you thought charging a Wyvern was already a risky proposition. For further hilarity, use this on a Mordian Malcador Defender, and it will actually shoot more accurately then when it's normally shooting!
• Fight to the Death (1 CP): Any Imperial Guard unit can take a morale test on 1d3 instead of 1d6. You've got plenty of morale improving abilities already, but it's cheap and could be useful in an emergency. Now that commissars got the nerf this one got a lot more useful. You might want to use this stratagem if you’re using infantry or vets and need them to survive morale, and don’t have anything else to buff leadership nearby. It’ll help them survive losing 3-5 guys at once much more easily.
• Fire on my position! (3 CP): Use when the last model is slain from an Astra Militarum unit equipped with a vox-caster, before removing it from the table; for each unit (friend and foe) within 3", on a 4+ that unit suffers 1d3 mortal wounds. Note, specifies unit with a vox-caster, not model (you use it when the unit dies, not the specific model with the caster), and if several models all die together, you can choose which is the last to be removed from the table, to maximize the potential victims of this stratagem. Useful if your squad was wiped by several MSU units and/or characters.
• Go! Recon! (1 CP): Use this stratagem at the beginning of your shooting phase; select a unit of Scout Sentinels. They immediately move 2d6", but cannot shoot or charge this turn. Useful for getting a Scout sentinel to an unguarded objective or out of trouble, but only applies to one unit, and can't be applied to an Armoured Sentinel; sacrificing a turn of shooting makes it extremely situational, and it doesn't even benefit a unit with a chainsaw blade, as they can't charge, either. It does not however, prevent you from popping smoke, which given that you can't shoot anyways, you might as well.
• Grenadiers (1 CP): Use this stratagem before an Astra Militarum Infantry unit either shoots or fires overwatch. Up to ten models in the unit that are armed with grenades can throw a grenade this phase, instead of only one model being able to do so. Vostroyans are better off using Firstborn Pride with FRFSRF for offensive purposes, since it affects more than just 10 models, but this can be a powerful tool for any regiment in Overwatch on a roll of 3 or more (especially Mordians). Bullgryn Frag Bombs can become a hail of bolter shots.
  • Extra powerful in Cities of Death, where grenades both reroll all failed wounds and get the maximum possible amount of hits. That's 60 for ten models.
  • Can also give Scions squads a nasty bite. Krak grenades will do a better job versus tanks than a hot-shot lasgun. 6 of them can supplement the squad's special weapons nicely, especially since scions are out of order range a lot more often.
  • Krieg Combat Engineers are white hot death with this stratagem! The whole squad carries Acid Gas Bombs, AP-2 DD3 Grenades that wound non-VEHICLES on a 2+, and have good AP to melt entire squads of Space Marines. And that's not all - the entire squad also carries krak grenades, allowing you to take a bite out of tanks and buildings if you wish. For 1CP, it's possible to erase nearly any unit stupid enough to get too close.
• Jury Rigging (1 CP): Use this stratagem at the start of your turn. Select a AM Vehicle in your army, that vehicle can't move, charge or pile in this turn but immediately heals 1 wound. Can only be used once per turn. Good for giving that little push into a better health bracket if an Enginseer isn't around (or it wasn't enough), and you can still shoot with the targeted vehicle.
• Imperial Commander's Armoury (1/3 CP): One use only. Use "before the battle" and you may take 1 additional relic for 1 CP, or two additional relics for 3 CP; all relics must be different and given to different characters.
  • "Before the battle" means, surprisingly, "before the battle". Use it to get the Dagger of Outflank before deployment? It works. The Grand Strategist WT needs the Warlord to be already on the field (which won't happen until the deployment phase) to refund your CP, so that won't work. But enemy Kurov's Aquilas do work, since they only need to be written in the enemy's roster, not any "while this Warlord is on the battlefield" limitation. You spend CP and gain extra toys before the battle, simple as that.
• Inspired Tactics (1 CP): An officer can issue 1 more order. You can only bring so many Platoon and Tank Commanders, after all, and not everybody is Creed, Pask or Kell. Its important to remember because this will help you squeeze out one more Move! Move! Move! order in attempt to snag an objective or hurriedly tie down an enemy unit trying to do the same.
• Mobile Command Vehicle (1 CP): Use at the start of a turn; pick a Chimera in your army and until the end of the turn, any embarked officers may issue orders to units outside the vehicle, measuring range from the vehicle. He is also treated as having access to a Vox.
• Opening Bombardment (2 CP): One use only. After deployment but before the first battle round, each enemy unit on the battlefield suffers a mortal wound on a 1d6 roll of 6+. Like Fire on my position, this can be useful against MSU, but less so if they hid themselves inside transports.
• Officio Prefectus Command Tank (2 CP): Commissar Tank! Pick a Leman Russ at the start of the first round, before the first turn - it gives all Astra Militarum units within 6" of it Ld9 for the rest of the game. It also lacks the Summary Execution rule while granting a superior LD buff, so you should always consider taking this stratagem over a regular Commissar. "Drive me closer, I want to hit them with my sword!"
• Splash Damage (1 CP): When attacking with the main weapon of any Hellhound subtype and the target is in cover, you can re-roll the wound roll.
• Strike First, Strike Hard (1 CP): In the shooting phase of the first battle round, select a unit of Armored Sentinels or Scout Sentinels. Their attacks gain +2 to hit. That trio of lascannon Sentinels just got a lot more threatening. Makes for an interesting distraction: Does your opponent shoot down the armored sentinels which are tougher than average for their price?? OR, go after the bigger tanks which they really should be shooting at??
• Take Cover! (1 CP): Use this stratagem in your opponents shooting phase if they target one of your Infantry units. That unit immediately adds 1 to their armor saves until the end of the phase. Can get Scions up to 2+ in cover.
• Tank Ace (1 CP): One use only, used before the battle begins. A vehicle from your army (Not a named one though, sorry Pask) gets a Tank Ace ability.
• Vengeance for Cadia! (1 CP): Any Imperial Guard unit can re-roll failed hits and wounds versus Chaos when shooting or firing overwatch. Scary, but keep in mind it affects Vehicles too. From the humble Sentinel to the mighty Manticore and Baneblade, the Stratagem's effects are far more powerful than its cheap cost would suggest.
• Vortex Missile (3 CP): Nuclear launch detected, for when targets require not so much strategy as a "fuck you". Use this stratagem when you get to fire a Deathstrike missile (pay after rolling the 8, before resolving the shot). You can re-roll all failed to-hit rolls with the weapon, and add 1 to the roll made to determine if nearby units within 6" of the target unit are hit (so a 3+, rather than a 4+). If a model is wounded but not slain by the attack, roll an additional die, on a 6 it suffers 1d6 additional mortal wounds. Makes the missile go from 5.25 mortal wounds dealt on the target + 1 to each nearby to 8.46 + 1.72 per each nearby, but the amount of variance is very high, and that assumes you're shooting a parking lot, as single-wound models won't trigger the stratagem's extra mortal wounds.

Psychic Awakening Stratagems

Added in the Greater Good, these stratagems are useable by all Regiments.

• Concentrated Fire (1CP): Heavy weapons team gains +1 to hit and wound when targeting a single enemy unit. Cadian HWTs, especially when under orders, become ruthlessly effective!
• Deft Maneuvering (1CP): Armored Sentinels can pop this when shot at, halves all damage inflicted. Make them the toughest 35 point model in the galaxy bar none!
• Direct Onslaught (1CP): Wyvern or Manticore gains +1 to hit when shooting at a visible enemy.
• Experienced Eye (1CP): When shooting with veterans improve AP of all ranged weapons by -1 for a single shooting phase. Up to 4 AP-1 lasgun shots per veteran? AP 4/5 plasma/meltas? AP 2 Autocannons? Don't forget shotguns!
• Focused Bombardment (1CP): Master of Ordinance's artillery becomes 6 shots rather than D6.
• Furious Charge (1CP): Ogryn models inflict 1MW on the charge for each 4+. Not bad on a bigger unit, since regular Ogryns are reasonably priced.
• Hail of Fire (2CP): When shooting at an enemy VEHICLE a Leman Russ fires max shots with all multi-shot weapons. This seems to be pretty strong. A LR command tank with a Demolisher Cannon should be strong enough to destroy a Land Raider or damage a knight with its main gun only. Then again it needs to be in range for this.
  • Use this stratagem with the relic Battle Cannon, Hammer of Sunderance. A full payload of 12 shots that do 3 damage a piece? Unlike the short-ranged demolisher, you can do this from 72" away. Have fun!
  • Don't forget the Executioner with sponson Plasma Cannons or a Conqueror with triple Heavy Flamers!
• Head First (1CP): +2" to charges after disembarking from a chimera. Useful for a few niche units like crusaders, Ogryns and their smaller cousins, Catachans.
• Psychic Conclave (1CP): Used on a Primaris Psyker (note that this is using the keyword, not the unit name - Aradia Madellan has this keyword and is thus eligible) and Wyrdvane Psykers when within 6" of each other; 2+ to cast and able to manifest 1 extra power each. This is pretty good, as it makes extra smites all the more dangerous after you cast your standard Psychic Barrier and Nightshroud. It also can make Aradia's power go off fairly reliably.
  • If you're interested in pure damage the best way to go about this is to take a Primaris with Psychic Maelstrom (your choice for the other power) and 7 Wyrdvanes in a valkyrie along with a command squad full of plasma, and air drop them next to something you hate. Come the psychic phase, pop three Smites and a Maelstrom. The 'smitebomb' averages 6.8 mortal mortal wounds, after which you hose down your target with overcharged plasma. Don't worry about overcharging without a reroll buffer - if you punch your opponent this hard the unit doing the punching isn't going to live much longer. Runs about 300 points, and can be a distraction Carnifex if your opponent knows what's coming. Note, however, that the above average can vary wildly due to the large number of rolls involved.
• Relentless (1CP): Non-TITANIC unit may use top bracket of damage table. This is a pretty strong stratagem. Your enemy (almost) destroyed one of your key units? I say fuck him, shoot with full BS anyway! Malcadors like this, as they are some of the largest non-titanic models.
• Rolling Death (1CP): Taurox unit that shoots after moving 1/2 distance or less receives +1 to hit. Better on Taurox Prime than a standard Taurox, obviously It cannot be used on Taurox Prime, obviously.
• Shield of flesh (1CP): Use on Bullgryn unit, when closer to enemy models and within 3" of an infantry unit, that unit is -1 to hit.
• Splash Damage (1CP): Hellhound turret weapons gain reroll wound rolls if the target is in cover. Sadly, notably does not affect the Artemia Hellhounds, since it specifically names the standard variant's weapons.
• Strike First, Strike Hard (1CP): An Armoured or Scout Sentinel unit gains +2 to hit for the first battle round. This actually makes armored sentinels with Lascannons, Plasma Cannons and, most importantly, Hunter-killer Missiles pretty darn good - they don't have Vehicle Squadron this edition, so the stratagem benefits up to three sentinels at once. Equipping them with HK's makes for a particularly mean sucker-punch on turn 1; 3 attacks, hitting on 2s, S10 AP-2 Dd6? Yes please. Lascannons are nice too, but you only get the stratagem once - might be better to give them flamers, smack an enemy tank so hard it'll wonder where you hid that Manticore, and then charge and harass infantry for the rest of the game.

Rulebook Stratagems

Just in case you forget, the following stratagems can be just as crucial as the ones above, if not more so. 9th Edition changed up some stratagems, while adding in several new ones. Prepared Positions was deleted.

• Command Re-roll (1 CP): Changed up a bit from 8th Edition. Re-roll a single Hit roll, Wound roll, Damage roll, Saving throw, Advance roll, Charge roll (this means you re-roll both dice), Psychic test, Deny the Witch test, or a roll to determine the number of attacks made by that weapon. It's much more narrow in its application, as you can tell. No more re-rolling shrugs or objective-based rolls.
• Counter-Defensive (2 CP): Used in the combat phase after an enemy unit that charged has fought. Pick one of your units to immediately attack.
• Cut Them Down (1 CP): Used when an enemy unit Falls Back, before models are moved. Roll a dice for each model in your army that is within Engagement Range (0.5") of that unit. For every roll of a 6 that enemy unit suffers 1 mortal wound.
• Desperate Breakout (2 CP): Used in the movement phase. Pick a single unit in your army that is within Engagement Range of an enemy unit. Roll a dice for each model in your unit. On a 1, the model is slain. Then, they may make a fall back move, passing through enemy models as if they weren't there. At the end of the unit's fall back move, if any models still remain within Engagement Range of an enemy unit they are automatically destroyed. The remaining unit may not perform anything else this turn, even if they have an ability to do so. This is here to help you in case those Orks or Genestealers attempt to wrap around a unit to prevent you from falling back and save them from being shot at (unless you're Valhallan). However, you cannot order them to "GBITF". The value is in freeing up the wrapping unit for the rest of your army to shoot.
• Emergency Disembarkation (1 CP): Used when a Transport model in your army is destroyed. You can set up disembarked units within 6" of the Transport model, but now are destroyed on a 1 or 2. Again, wager a 1/3 chance of dying (risky but acceptable) vs being auto-deleted by a bubble-wrapping horde unit (which is quite infuriating) trapping you inside of your transport.
• Insane Bravery (2 CP): This stratagem can only be used once per game. Used at the start of the Morale Phase. Automatically pass a morale test for a single unit of your choice. This is one you should save for a Conscript/Combined Squad.
• Overwatch (1 CP): Used in the Charge Phase. Pick a single unit that an opponent's unit declared as the target of a charge, it may fire Overwatch. It's now a stratagem, goodbye shenanigans.

Wargear

Melee Weapons

As a rule of thumb, all of the following are available as options to Sergeants and Characters. The Guard do have a few other melee weapons (Ogryn and Rough Rider units mostly), but they'll be detailed in their unit entries later on.

• Chainsword: SU, AP0, D1, bearer gains +1A. Some credit must be given to the old standby. In addition to being free, it gives an extra attack with it. This serves to make units like Rough Riders a lot nastier than they might look from their statline (Rough Riders effectively carry two of these, giving them 2 bonus attacks with this profile), and is why Infantry Squad Sergeants should give all of the other options here a complete miss, unless maybe they have a priest.
• Power Sword: S+1, AP-3, D1. Even at 5pts and with the new 9th edition S bonus, it's not enough for your S3 models - and the S4 models prefer the Fist. You should generally avoid this unless you're looking for a budget choice for Catachans or plan on taking one of the numerous relic swords the Guard get.
• Power Fist: Sx2, AP-3, D2, bearer suffers -1 to their hit rolls. Company/Platoon Commanders and Lord Commissars won't feel that too much, but Veteran Sergeants may. While expensive, almost everything that can take this will see the best results from it.
  • The Vostroyan Warlord Trait makes this deadly and their Relic armour can keep him alive long enough to use it.
  • Catachan Company Commanders are the most obvious choice for a power fist, and they become S8 with their Regimental Doctrine. Have him order Fix Bayonets to himself and a nearby Infantry Squad (preferably a combined squad) and put them both in buff range of Straken and a Priest. That's nine S8 powerfist + fifty-four S4 attacks all hitting on 4+.
• Power Maul (Legends): S+3, AP-1, D1. The new 9th edition S bonus is effectively Sx2 for you, making this a budget powerfist. That being said, it's generally worth shelling out for the powerfist unless you're going against other T3 W1 models.
• Power Axe (Legends): S+2, AP-2, D1. the only thing that this isn't Legends for is an Enginseer. Your best bet against Marines, since every bearer goes up to at least S5. Exceptions are the Catachans (naturally); they prefer the sword against T4 targets since they go to S5 and get an extra point of AP, and the axe against T3 targets since they now wound on a 2+.

Ranged Weapons

Basic

• Autogun: 24", rapid fire 1, S3, AP0, D1. Think of it as a lasgun that cannot FRFSRF. Previously only available to Ministorum Priests, now Veterans can take these for some reason. Would be cool if they had special ammo or something so they had a reason to exist.

• Shotgun: 12", assault 2, S3, AP0, D1, becomes S4 if the target is within 6". Available to your Commanders (Index) as well as to Veterans, with whom they go well alongside their plethora of flame weapons.

• Laspistol: 12", pistol 1, S3, AP0, D1. A lasgun that's a pistol. More of a placeholder than anything else, but it's free. Just about anything in your army that can take something better should, but some things are stuck with one, like the Master of Ordnance.

• Lasgun: 24", rapid fire 1, S3, AP0, D1. Your trusty flashlight hasn't changed. What changed is the way strength rolls against wounds, allowing it to wound T5 on a 5+, and T7+ is no longer immune to them. Paper stats aside, the sheer number of these you can field and combined with FRFSRF will make even Terminators shit their ceramite-plated pants.

• Bolt Pistol: 12", pistol 1, S4, AP0, D1. 2pts for a real pistol for your sergeants and free for Commissars. The only advantage the bolt pistol has over the boltgun is that it can be fired in close combat, if you expect your squishy meatbag Guardsman to be fighting there for some reason. Worse than the boltgun, better than the laspistol.

• Boltgun: 24", rapid fire 1, S4, AP0, D1. 2pts allows your Sergeant/Character to actually contribute to a firefight instead of merely looking cool. This is realistically the only option you should be taking. You can somewhat kitbash these by clipping off the lasgun magazine and barrel and replacing with a boltgun magazine and flash hider.

• Hot-Shot Laspistol: 6", pistol 1, S3, AP-2, D1. What it says on the tin, but only 6" range means you may not even get to shoot it in overwatch before a charge. Creed has two, just because. If you find yourself within the 6" range to fire it, you may as well just throw a krak grenade instead, which is better in every other way.

• Hot-Shot Lasgun: 18", rapid fire 1, S3, AP-2, D1. Available to Scions and Krieg Sergeants and Grenadiers. The short 18" range makes it unable to rapid-fire right after a Deep Strike natively, even though its most common carriers love Deep-Striking. Considering the number of mobility options available to Scions though, as well as new regimental rules, and this downside can quickly be mitigated. Having massed mid-AP weapons would usually be a reasonable counter to MEQ's, but you still wound on a 5+.
  • This basic infantry weapon became widely feared after the Greater Good update; Iotan Dragoons gain +6" range with rapid fire weapons, allowing you to fire it out of Deep Strike. Lambdan Lions improve the AP of their weapons by 1. Kappic Eagles gain +1 to their hit rolls after they disembark, thus hitting on a 2+.

• Plasma Pistol: 12", pistol 1, S7, AP-3, D1, may gain +1S and +1D but hit rolls of unmodified 1 kill the bearer. An actual officer's weapon, it's a toss-up between this or the boltgun for most models, but your Scion Sergeants in PlasmaTrooper squads will love this.

Grenades

• Frag Grenade: 6", grenade d6, S3, AP0, D1, blast. Damn near every Infantry model in the Guard carries them.
  • Note on the maths: if you're able to issue FRFSRF in rapid fire range, you're statistically better off taking the flat four lasgun shots over the average 3.5 shots a frag gives you. However, your sergeant will never do worse with a frag when compared to his laspistol.
  • Not bad on their own, but they really shine when you use the Grenadiers stratagem on a BS3+ Veteran Squad jumping out of a transport; most of the stats aren't great, but 10d6 attacks will still decimate most units.

• Krak Grenade: 6", grenade 1, S6, AP-1, Dd3. A rarity in the Guard, available only to Scions, Kriegers, and a few characters.
  • Another one that can be combined with the Grenadiers stratagem. Most of your Stormtroopers will be minimum strength to get past their paltry Ld7, but this may see use in your 10-man Krieg units or a single ten-man SS Squad for a Krak-ikaze.

Special

• Flamer: 12", assault d6, S4, AP0, D1, automatically hits. Being an assault weapon that always hits, there's no penalty for advancing and firing, especially for Special Weapon Squads. Flamers are most effective when taken in Catachan Special Weapon Teams or flamer Command Squads because they can reroll their D6 shots with the Burn Them Out! order.

• Grenade Launcher: 24", assault d6, S3, AP0, D1, blast or 24", assault 1, S6, AP-1, Dd3. The mini missile launcher isn't bad, but there are better things available. It's main problem is that meltaguns, plasma guns, and flamers cost 5pts too.

• Hot-Shot Volley Gun: 24", heavy 4, S4, AP-2, D1. A Militarum Tempestus-exclusive, replacing their access to the sniper rifle (also mounted on Taurox Primes). This, and not the flamer, is the Scion's response to hordes.

• Meltagun: 12", assault 1, S8, AP-4, Dd6, gains +2D if the target is within half range. Good against anything with lots of wounds, not just Vehicles. As of Chapter Approved 2020, you're paying 5 points for regular guardsmen and 10 for anyone with BS of 3+ or better (Scions and Veterans).
  • Note on the maths: On a model with BS3+, the meltagun within half range has a slight advantage in terms of average damage dealt per point over a supercharged plasma gun in rapid firing range against T8/3+ targets and TEQ-characters. Guys with a BS of 4+ are almost always better off with plasma as they get two shots and aren't as expensive if they melt themselves with it.
  • The choice between plasma and melta should be based on what you want your Infantry units to be doing. If your dudes are going to be sitting in a static gunline, plasma is the better choice due to the range. If you are getting your men close to murder bigger things, melta can be the better option.

• Plasma Gun: 24", rapid fire 1, S7, AP-3, D1, may gain +1S and +1D but hit rolls of unmodified 1 kill the bearer. Now that Marines are W2, expect to be seeing a lot more of these and for the points cost to increase because GW base all points costs around their golden boys. Given that you have a huge variety of ways to re-roll 1's (Take Aim order, Cadians Regimental Doctrine, Harker's Hellraisers from Harker (obviously), Hero of Hades Hive from Yarrick, etc.), casualties from supercharging can be easily minimized.
  • Given it has the same 24" range and rapid fire profile as boltguns and lasguns, plasma guns should be the default special weapon choice in most squads. Remember, it is 5pts on BS4+ models and 10pts on BS3+ models as of Chapter Approved 2020.

• Sniper Rifle: 36", heavy 1, S4, AP0, D1, may target Characters even if they aren't the closest model and wound rolls of unmodified 6 inflict a mortal wound in addition to any other damage caused. At 2pts no matter the BS of the bearer, this is your cheapest special weapon. The weak stats and low odds of even inflicting the additional mortal wound means these should be spammed as much as possible to do something of note or not taken at all.

Heavy

• Autocannon: 48", heavy 2, S7, AP-1, D2. A good all-rounder, but worse then the heavy bolter and frag missiles against Infantry and worse than the lascannon and krak missiles against Vehicles. However this weapon is amazing when spammed, which it should be. It's cheaper than the anti-tank weapons and the long range lets you have a lot of overlapping fire arcs among your army. You should be letting your anti-personnel weapons and anti-tank weapons fire first, and then you use your autocannons to pick off any priority targets that are left. With heavy bolters at D2, these are only better than them against T6 and 10-13, and even then, only by 33%, unless ACs get buffed as well.

• Heavy Bolter: 36", heavy 3, S5, AP-1, D2. It's still standard on every vehicle in your motor pool and it's better than the autocannon against T4 and less, with the exception of T3. The heavy bolter is alright, but nothing to write home about.
  • With the advent of 9th edition giving this weapon D2 and all Marines W2, you now want the heavy bolter against MEQ's instead of the autocannon; the one extra shot helps make up for your BS4+ and 36" is long enough for most boards. It's even also better than the autocannon against heavy vehicles T8/9, and just as good against T7.

• Heavy Flamer: 12", heavy d6, S5, AP-1, D1. Can be taken on most Vehicles in place of the heavy bolter, as sponson weapons for the Leman Russ, and in Command and Veteran Squads. This almost strictly better than a flamer, with the only downside that it can't advance and fire (outside of Tallarn Vehicles). Not a bad choice on Leman Russes and Chimera, especially if they are expected to be close to the fight.

• Lascannon: 48", heavy 1, S9, AP-3, Dd6. The ever-reliable Imperial tank-buster, the improved strength over missile launcher is critical; krak missiles wound on 4's while the Lascannon wounds on 3's against T8 targets and the extra AP doesn't hurt, either.

• Missile Launcher: 48", heavy d6, S4, AP0, D1, blast, or 48", heavy 1, S8, AP-2, Dd6. Still the Jack of all trades, still the master of none. At its current point cost, specializing with mortars and lascannons is generally a more efficient option.

• Mortar: 48", heavy d6, S4, AP0, D1, blast and does not need line-of-sight. The has been the go-to for heavy weapon teams on competitive tables. While not terribly powerful, being able to fire out of line-of-sight is an asset the Guard can always use.

Other Wargear

• Vox-Caster: Your only Infantry wargear in this section. This machine is the beating heart of the Orders system. If an Officer is within 3" of a model with a Vox, and the target squad also has a Vox (and is of the same <Regiment>), the range of the order is tripled to 18". The important thing to note here is that it means your Officers can improvise their command structure a lot more - any Vox can send, and any Vox can receive, as long as the Officer and target squad share regiments. It is entirely legal - and fluffy - for your Platoon Commander, his assigned Vox operator having been killed, to run to a nearby squad of Tempestus Scions and commandeer their Vox Operator to continue sending orders! This also means you don't need to rely on flimsy four-man Command Squads for your Officers to send orders out; squads of Veterans with sniper rifles and heavy weapons, and even Militarum Tempestus Scions can be used as "command" squads.

• Augur Array: The vehicle may re-roll one hit die per game, at a cost of 5 points; with the vast array of other possible sources of re-rolls, this upgrade should be taken with a bucket of salt. Can be used to fill out points in a list, and could prove useful. Auto take in power level games. Very much worth a look now that guard are no longer CP factories.

• Dozer Blade: Adds one to melee hit rolls when charging. Not bad per se, at 5 points, for that rare situation where you want to charge with a Leman Russ (finishing off MCs, for instance). Can be combined with Crush Them! if you're trying to hit something giving you a penalty to hit, and has some synergy with Straken's aura. Or if you just want your tanks to look cool.
  • Actually crush them just forces a +2 to hit regardless of modifiers, probably not worth it considering how many CP you'll have.

• Hunter-Killer Missile: This is a slightly more powerful Krak missile launcher (S10 AP-2) that can only shoot once per game, at 5pts. Not bad on Pask or a Tank Commander for a little extra punch on turn 1. Sentinel squads can spam these like no-ones business, even better with the new stratagem to give a sentinel squad +2BS, load up 3 with lascannons and HK missles and DELETE a single piece of armor t1.

• Pintle Heavy Stubber: 2 points for 36" Heavy 3 S4 AP0 D1 is a bit more to think about it; outside of Tallarn. Compared to the storm bolter, it's the same cost, but for extra range and more shots from 12"+ away. Take this if your vehicle is sitting still, otherwise grab the storm bolter if you're running all over the place.

• Pintle Storm Bolter: 2 points for 24" Rapid Fire 2 S4 AP0 D1. A perfectly respectable option on just about everything, and particularly useful in Overwatch.

• • When considering whether you should take the heavy stubber or the storm bolter, it comes down to how far you expect the enemy to be in relationship to your vehicle, specifically if you think they will or won't be within 12" of you. The heavy stubber has an extra shot over the storm bolter outside 12" as well as having a longer range. By contrast, the storm bolter will have mor dakka in its preferred range of 12", not to mention that, unlike its competitor, it's not a heavy weapon, so it would suffer a penalty to hit when firing at units within engagement range.

• Track Guards: Easily the most useful of all the vehicle upgrades. Makes the vehicle ignore the damage table in respect to degraded movement range. This one does actually make sense to take as it will keep your vehicles agile even when they're on their last wound.
  • As far as upgrades go, 5 points (latest errata dropped from 10 to 5!) is an investment - put it on a Hellhound and laugh as your opponent fails to escape its auto-hitting cleansing flames even when its down to 1 wound!
  • Also useful on Leman Russes (particularly Tallarn who want to be moving) and short-range tanks like Demolisher and Eradicators.

Heirlooms of Conquest

Relics return in the new Codex. Like Warlord Traits, the regiment-specific ones really are regiment-specific, so custom regiments can only use the Universal list, but once again, this list contains the best options anyway, Kurov's Aquila and The Laurels of Command. The only one available to Tank Commanders is the Relic of Lost Cadia (Cadia only); The Tactical Auto-Reliquary of Tyberius has no keyword restrictions beyond being Militarum Tempestus only, but there currently aren't any Militarum Tempestus Vehicle Characters.

• The Blade of Conquest: Replaces a Power Sword. At S+2 AP-4 D1d3 it's better than a Relic blade...but if you want one why not take an actual Relic Blade on a SM (who are much more than just dudes with Str4)? But if you're bent on demonstrating mortal hands are worthy of this Macharian blade, an Armageddon/Catachan/Vostroyan Company Commander with their respective trait, or Lord Commissar, could make something out of it, especially when supported by the usual retinue of Ogryn Bodyguard, Priest, Commissar Yarrick, Bullgryn, Crusaders and Conscripts (plus Straken for Catachans). The Guard may be a shooty army, but mortals can still fight the good fight with blade, boot and bodies. Plus the sword is only 5pts, try having some fun.

• The Dagger of Tu'Sakh: Infantry officers only, per the FAQ. During deployment you can set up the bearer and one INFANTRY unit of the same Regiment (if the bearer has one) in ambush behind enemy lines. At the end of any of your movement phases these units may launch their attack. Set them up within 3" of each other, more than 6" from any battlefield edge, and more than 9" away from enemy units. Surprise Special weapons are always welcome, especially when they're a part of a bigger plan instead of just them.

• The Deathmask of Ollanius: Infantry only; the bearer has a 4++, and once per game, at the start of your turn, can heal 1d3.
  • An Ogryn Bodyguard with a Slabshield and Bullgryn Plate will now have a 2+/4++, massively increasing his durability for non-Mortal Wound threats, risks that are both diminished by it suddenly healing 1d3W, helping the overwhelmed Field Medic.

• The Emperor's Benediction: Replaces a Commissar's or Lord Commissar's Bolt Pistol, giving it +2 shots, -1AP, and +1D. While it can also target Characters like a 12" sniper, it can't do so when the bearer is within 1" of the enemy, unlike the very similar Imperial Fists Spartean relic Bolt Pistol. Still, better than a Plasma Pistol.
• Kurov's Aquila: Officers only (now including Tank Commanders!). Every time your opponent uses a stratagem, roll 1d6, and on a 5+, you gain one Command Point. The only relic available to non-Cadian Tank Commanders. Punish Ultrasmurfs for their recycling command points!
  • Unfortunately you can only regain one per battle round, so the days of old where you could recycle CP left and right are gone. Still, being able to get one when your opponent spends is still good and you can combine this with the Grand Strategist warlord trait to have even more chances to reclaim them.

• The Laurels of Command: One of the better relics too! Officers with Voice of Command. When the bearer issues an order to a friendly <regiment> unit within 6" of them, roll a die; on a 4+, the bearer can immediately issue them another order, which does not count against the orderer's maximum, and can trigger Laurels again. Also the only way in the game to stack multiple orders on one unit, though the bonus orders can't be the same as the first (so no, you can't use Fix Bayonets like 10 times if you keep making the roll).
  • Has phenomenal scaling with a Cadian warlord with Superior Tactical Training; every order issued can cause an 'exploding' propagation of orders, easily allowing one man to command very large numbers of units. The easiest way to resolve having both is as follows: 1) Issue an order to unit A. 2) Roll for STT; on a success this order affects unit B as well. 3) Roll for Laurels; on a success, go to 1 for unit A's next order. 4) Repeat the process on an unordered unit.

Unit Analysis

• Keywords: Common keywords are Astra Militarum, Imperium, and the placeholder <REGIMENT> which can be substituted for Cadian, Catachan, or the like.
• Sergeants: Like most armies the Guard's infantry (and cavalry) squads have non-commissioned officers leading them. These Sergeants (or Bone'Eads, if you're an Ogryn) have +1 Attack and Leadership over the rest of the squad, and in Infantry squads they swap the longarm of the rest of the unit for a laspistol and chainsword. Infantry Squads, Scions, Veterans, Rough Riders, Ogryns, and Bullgryns all have sergeants in some form, none of whom cost more than the non-Sergeants in the squad with them.

HQ

Regimental

• NAMED ACE: 35pts.

• Drop Company Commander: 40pts.

• Drop Company Commissar: 40pts.

• Drop Platoon Commissar: 30pts.

• Ground Scanner Officer: 30pts.

• Recon Platoon Leader: 75pts.

• Sentinel Commander Vehicle: 55pts.

• Tauros Commander Vehicle: 50pts.

Officio Perfectus

• Drop Lord Commissar:

Troops

• Drop Trooper Squad:

• Forward Recon Squad:

Elites

• Command Squad:

• Sappers Squad:

• Special Weapons Squad:

• Stormtrooper Squad:

• Tactical Air Controller:

• Master of Ordnance:

• Veteran Squad:

• Ogryns Bodyguard:

• Drop Ogryns Squad:

Dedicated Transports

• Aquila Lander:
• Arvus Lighter:
• Tauros Maximus:

• Valkyrie Airborne Assault Carrier:

• Valkyrie Sky Talon:

Fast Attack

• Drop Sentinal:

• Recon Bike Squad:

• Armoured Sentinels:

• Tauros Assault Vehicle:

• Tauros Medicae:

• Tauros Venator:

Flyers

Standard Flyer rules for your reference: Airborne (model cannot charge, can only be charged by Fly models, and can only attack or be attacked in the fight phase by Fly models), Hard To Hit (enemy shooting attacks against this model suffer -1 to their hit rolls), and Supersonic (pivots up to 90 degrees before moving in a straight line and advances 20" instead of d6").

• Valkyrie: The original badass of the skies can hold 12 Astra Militarum Infantry, with Ogryns counting as three models. The most modestly-armed of the three IG V-flyers, it comes stock with a multi-laser (36" heavy 3 S6 AP0 D1) and hellstrike missiles (72" heavy 1 S8 AP-2 Dd6, roll 2d6 for damage and discard the lowest). The multi-laser can be swapped for a lascannon and the hellstrikes can be swapped for two multiple rocket pods (36", assault d6, S5, AP-1, D1). You can take a pair of optional heavy bolters. Obviously it would be best for you to match the weapons to their best role, anti-tank or anti-infantry. Additional special rules include Hover Jet (loses the three flyer rules to reduce their movement to 20") and Roving Gunship (it if's hovering, it gains +1 to hit rolls). Grav-Chute Insertion allows models to disembark from a Valkyrie, but if the Valkyrie has moved more than 20" then disembarking models are killed on a d6 roll of 1. Disembarking models cannot move again this turn and most deploy more than 9" away from enemy models.
  • Candidates for embarking include Command Squads (Guard or Scions) with special weapons and Cyclops Demolition Vehicles. Otherwise drop a squad of Ogryn and hope for a nice, long charge distance or drop them into cover to set them up for a move and charge next turn.
• Valkyrie Sky Talon (FW Legends): An Elysian-exclusive variant, this model has a heavy bolter and two hellstrike missiles (two, not the one that the regular Valkyrie has), which can be swapped for two multiple rocket pods. The main difference is that you swap the Infantry transport for the ability to carry one Elysian Tauros model (which are fast enough that they don't need help getting around the map unless you're playing apocalypse and even then artillery will make a bigger difference) or two Elysian Drop Sentinels.
• Vendetta Gunship: A Valkyrie whose first words were "fuck tanks". The three usual rules and hover jet, alongside its transport capacity of twelve models make it capable enough for dropping troops, but note that it doesn't have the Grav-Chute Insertion rule of the Valkyrie. But obviously, you're not taking her to mainly transport things, since the Valkyrie does it better and cheaper. No, you're taking her for the three 72" twin lascannons she has as standard. Two of the twin lascannons can be swapped for the hellstrike rack (72", heavy 2, S8, AP-2, Dd6+2), but you shouldn't do that as you're swapping four lascannon shots for two weaker attacks that may do more damage, but not as much damage as two additional lascannon shots. Finally, she can also take two heavy bolters. With 9th edition removing the -1 to hit rolls for moving and firing heavy weapons if you're a Vehicle, this model is back in relevance now. Note, however, that it does not have Roving Gunship, which means the improvement in tank-hunting power over a Valkyrie is less than you might think. This will hit 3 times on average with tank hunting weapons, versus the Valk's two. Your call whether that's worth 80 points and tbe loss of Grav-Chutes.
• Vulture Gunship: The last of the V-flyers, this is the only one without transport capacity and is a true gunship. With a Valkyrie's statline, the Vulture comes stock with a heavy bolter, hellstrike rack (72", heavy 2, S8, AP-2, Dd6+2) and two multiple rocket pods (36", assault d6, S5, AP-1, D1). You can swap the hellstrikes and rockets for two punisher gatling cannons (24", heavy 20, S5, AP0, D1). Good for mulching guard-shaped enemies (statistically, it'll delete an Infantry Squad a turn) and hurting heavier Infantry with sheer volume of fire. The range in the guns is deceptive - 24" is a lot meaner than it looks when it's mounted on a platform that can cover nearly four feet of board space without advancing. You'll get exposed to enemy fire, but you're Hard to Hit and have more wounds than a Leman Russ. Never take it into Hover mode unless you absolutely have to - it's lost its Strafing Run rule in 9th, so you get nothing from staying still.
• Avenger Strike Fighter: Brrrrrrrrttttt! Someone put the A-10 Thunderbolt into 40k. With T6 ,W14, and Sv3+, the Avenger is decently rugged, but can't stand up to sustained fire for long. Two lascannons and a heavy stubber are secondary weapons, you're taking this thing for the 36", heavy 10, S6, AP-2, D2 Avenger bolt cannon. With 9th edition giving Marines W2 and heavy bolters D2, this model no-longer fills a niche it used to, but it still looks cool-as-fuck.
• Voss-Pattern Lightning (FW): With the same profile as the Avenger, the Lightning nominally carries more anti-tank firepower but not that much. Two lascannons are standard and a hellstrike rack is optional (72", heavy 2, S8, AP-2, Dd6+2). Honestly? You have better anti-tank firepower.
• Lightning Strike Fighter:
• Thunderbolt Heavy Fighter: The Thunderbolt has an extra wound and point of toughness over the other fixed-wing Flyers. A quad autocannon and twin lascannon with optional hellstrike rack make up their armoury. Can be thought of as a tougher and longer-ranged Avenger Strike Fighter.
• Thunderbolt Fury Heavy Fighter:

Heavy Support

• Sentinel Powerlifter:

• Support Sentinel:

• Heavy Weapon Squad: Three Heavy Weapon Teams. Some of the most point-efficient firepower in the game - at the cost of ALL durability. You have no extra bodies with lasguns to take wounds for you, no Sergeant to bolster leadership, and you're still T3 with a 5+ save - if these guys get caught by anything more energetic than a gretchin's sneeze they'll die. Even after the point hike, mortars are still the best option - LoS blocking in addition to their long range will let these guys survive until turn 2, and 3d6 S4 shots is nothing to laugh at, even at AP0 and D1. The Blast revision has helped them - they're a genuine threat to hordes now - and the Concentrated Fire Stratagem makes them a threat to Marines, even without orders. With orders they turn into consistent anti-infantry damage, and this goes even further if they're Cadian.
  • 50 points gets you 6 wounds and either three Mortars, Autocannons, or Heavy Bolters. For 55 points you get Missile Launchers or Lascannons.

• Cyclops Demolition Vehicle: Bonus points for painting a Kamikaze headband on the model. M10", T6, W4, and Sv3+ means a flock of these models should get to where they want to be going. The demolition charge they carry hits hard, with 6", heavy 2d6, S9, AP-2, Dd3, blast. When this model attacks, it makes attacks against EVERY visible enemy unit within range and is destroyed afterwards; RAW, this makes it one of the best Character-killers in the game. It cannot complete actions or capture objectives, but it CAN fit in a Transport while taking up the space of six models and cannot shoot in a turn they disembarked. It is also more likely to explode, going off on a 5+ and inflicting d3 MW's on all units within 6".
  • NOTE: The Cyclops can only detonate if it is chosen to shoot while within engagement range. Because there's no way to get into engagement range and shoot without giving your opponent a turn first, for this thing to actually go off means it's been in melee for a turn and your opponent has both failed to kill it already and not fallen back from it - an extremely rare circumstance, and not one to be relied upon. Take this to scare your opponent off of objectives or force him to devote AT weaponry to getting rid of it - but don't expect to actually kill anything with it.

• Sniper Squad:

Lords of War

• Marauder Bomber: 40k's version of the B17 'Flying Fortress' and probably one of the largest flyers in the game (and one of the largest you can actually afford). Two twin heavy bolters and a twin lascannon make up the fixed wargear, alongside Airborne, Supersonic, and Hard to Hit from the Flyer section. You then have a choice of two heavy bombs or two inferno bombs. Both are one-use and one-per turn, but you select a point the model moved over to be the target. With heavy bombs, roll a d6 for each unit within 6" of the target point and subtract one if that unit is a Character; On a 4-5, those units suffer d3 mortal wounds, rising to d6 mortal wounds if the result was a 6. Inferno bombs are slightly different, with you rolling for each unit within 9" and subtracting one if the unit is a non-Vehicle or non-Monster Character unit and inflicting d3 mortal wounds on a 4+. It should be noted that this affects ALL units, not just enemies.

• Marauder Destroyer: A slightly tweaked Marauder Bomber, for when you want moar dakka instead of moar bombs. She carried a marauder autocannon (literally a heavy 12 autocannon), twin heavy bolter, twin assault cannon, a single heavy bomb, and an optional hellstrike missile rack (72", heavy 2, S8, AP-2, Dd6+2).

Fortification

• Drop Weapons Platform:
• Tarantula Sentry Gun:

Regiments

ELYSIA

In the grim darkness of the far future, ...
... On the tabletop, ...

Regimental Doctrines - ...:

Warlord Trait - ...:

Relics -...:

Stratagems - ... (_ CP):

Special Characters

Tactics

Harakon

In the grim darkness of the far future, ...
... On the tabletop, ...

Regimental Doctrines - ...:

Warlord Trait - ...:

Relics -...:

Stratagems - ... (_ CP):

Special Characters

Tactics

Cascadia

In the grim darkness of the far future, ...
... On the tabletop, ...

Regimental Doctrines - ...:

Warlord Trait - ...:

Relics -...:

Stratagems - ... (_ CP):

Special Characters

Tactics

Phantine

In the grim darkness of the far future, ...
... On the tabletop, ...

Regimental Doctrines - ...:

Warlord Trait - ...:

Relics -...:

Stratagems - ... (_ CP):

Special Characters

Tactics

Arnheim

In the grim darkness of the far future, ...
... On the tabletop, ...

Regimental Doctrines - ...:

Warlord Trait - ...:

Relics -...:

Stratagems - ... (_ CP):

Special Characters

Tactics

Hell Harlot

In the grim darkness of the far future, ...
... On the tabletop, ...

Regimental Doctrines - ...:

Warlord Trait - ...:

Relics -...:

Stratagems - ... (_ CP):

Special Characters

Tactics

Tactics

Matchups and Counter-play

<tabs> <tab name="10th">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (10th Edition)

General Tactics	General Weapons Terrain
Imperium	Space Marines (Black Templars, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Deathwatch, Space Wolves) Grey Knights
	Adeptus Mechanicus Adeptus Titanicus Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Sisters of Battle
	Adeptus Custodes & Sisters of Silence Imperial Agents (Inquisition, Rogue Traders, etc.)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons World Eaters)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Chaos Titans
Eldar	Eldar (Craftworlds, Corsairs, Harlequins, Ynnari) Dark Eldar
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults
Votann	Leagues of Votann

</tab>

<tab name="9th">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (9th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications Tactical Terrain Weapons Apocalypse
Imperium	Space Marines (Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Space Wolves) Grey Knights
	Adeptus Mechanicus Adeptus Titanicus Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Sisters of Battle
	Adeptus Custodes & Sisters of Silence Inquisition Officio Assassinorum Rogue Traders
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons World Eaters)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Craftworld Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins Ynnari
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults
Votann	Leagues of Votann

</tab>

<tab name="8th">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (8th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications Apocalypse
Imperium	Space Marines Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Talons of the Emperor (Custodes and Sisters of Silence) Adeptus Mechanicus
	Adeptus Ministorum (Sisters of Battle and minor factions) Adeptus Titanicus
	Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Inquisition Officio Assassinorum
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults

</tab>

<tab name="7th">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (7th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications
Imperium	Space Marines (Siege Assault Vanguard) Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Adeptus Custodes Cult Mechanicus Skitarii Adeptus Sororitas
	Imperial Knights Inquisition Officio Assassinorum
	Imperial Guard (Armoured Battlegroup Death Korps of Krieg Assault Brigade Death Korps of Krieg Siege Regiment Elysian Drop Troops D-99)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines Khorne Daemonkin Chaos Daemons Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins Corsairs
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks Ork Dred Mob
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults

</tab>

<tab name="6th">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (6th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications
Imperium	Space Marines Blood Angels Dark Angels Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Adeptus Sororitas Inquisition
	Imperial Guard (Armoured Battlegroup Death Korps of Krieg Assault Brigade Death Korps of Krieg Siege Regiment Elysian Drop Troops) Militarum Tempestus
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines Chaos Daemons Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Corsairs
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks Ork Dred Mob
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids

</tab>

<tab name="All">

Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (All)

General Tactics	General (8th) Movement (8th 7th) Psychic (8th 7th 2nd) Fortifications (8th 7th) Tactical Terrain Apocalypse (8th)
Imperium (8th)	Space Marines (8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd) Blood Angels (8th 7th) Dark Angels (8th 7th) Deathwatch (8th 7th) Grey Knights (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd, AKA Daemonhunters) Space Wolves (8th 7th 6th 5th)
	Talons of the Emperor (Custodes and Sisters of Silence) (8th 7th) Adeptus Mechanicus (8th 7th) Adeptus Ministorum (Sisters of Battle and minor factions) (8th 7th 6th 3rd, AKA Witch Hunters) Adeptus Titanicus (8th)
	Imperial Knights (8th 7th) Imperial Guard (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd) Inquisition (8th 7th 6th) Officio Assassinorum (8th 7th)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (8th 7th 6th 5th) Death Guard (8th) Khorne Daemonkin - 7th Edition Thousand Sons (8th) Chaos Daemons (8th 7th) Chaos Knights (8th) Renegades and Heretics (8th 7th 6th)
Eldar	Eldar (8th 7th 6th 5th) Dark Eldar (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd Revised) Harlequins (8th 7th)
Necrons	Necrons (8th 7th 6th 5th 4th)
Orks	Orks (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd) Ork Dred Mob - 7th edition (6th 5th) Ork Kult of Speed - 3rd edition Feral Orks - 3rd edition
Tau	Tau (8th 7th 6th 5th)
Tyranids	Tyranids (8th 7th 6th 5th) Genestealer Cults (8th 7th)

</tab>

</tabs>