ARMY BUILDING RULES
Now that you’ve had a chance to peruse the rules, you’re ready to start unleashing carnage upon the battlefield. That being the case, it’s time to gather together an army that will win you glory on the field of war.
Each player in a Warhammer 40,000 battle commands an army. An army is a collection of one or more units of Citadel miniatures, and can consist of any number of models. Before any game, players must agree how they are going to select their armies, and if any restrictions apply to the number and type of models they can use. If you are using a Warhammer 40,000 mission, it may tell you how to select your army. If you are not using a mission, then you must decide what method of army selection each of you will use for yourselves.
Army Selection Methods
There are many ways to choose an army, and they all have their strengths. The first thing to determine is whether or not you and your opponent will be using points limits, and if so, what they are. Usually, both players will use the same points limit, but this does not need to be the case and is entirely up to you.
To use points limits, you will need to reference each unit’s points value, which you can find in its Army List Entry. Simply add up the points values of all the units in your army, and make sure that the total does not exceed the limit agreed upon for the game. It is worth noting that games with larger points limits, say 2000-3000 points, can take the better part of an afternoon to play, while games of 1000-1500 points can usually be completed in a few hours. Whether or not you decide to use points limits, the next step is to choose how your army is organised.
The two main ways of organising an army are the Unbound method and the Battle-forged method. Both players need not use the same method.
Unbound Armies
The Unbound method is the easiest way to organise an army: simply use whichever units from your collection you want. Besides being a quick way to get your models on the tabletop, the Unbound method also allows you to try out exciting combinations in your army, such as fielding a whole force of Tanks or Flyers, or even of special characters.
Battle-forged Armies
A player using the Battle-forged method must organise all the units they want to use into Detachments. Detachments are made up of units that conform to various requirements. For example, one common type of Detachment requires the use of at least one HQ unit and two Troops units; another might require that only units from Codex: Orks be included. As a reward for adhering to these requirements, each Detachment grants its own Command Benefits to the units within it, which can really enhance their effectiveness in battle.
There are many other types of restrictions and requirements that players might agree on for their armies. Requiring certain units or named characters to be present in your game, for example, is a great way to add a narrative for your
The Primary Detachment
Every army has a Primary Detachment. If you organise your army using the Battle-forged method, whichever Detachment contains your Warlord is your Primary Detachment. If you used the Unbound method, then once you choose your Warlord, every model in your army that has the same Faction as your Warlord is considered to be part of the Primary Detachment for all rules purposes. Of course, in an Unbound army, these models are not bound by any Detachment restrictions and do not receive Command Benefits.
Unique Models
Some models are noted as being Unique in their Army List Entry. Unique models include named characters and extraordinary units or vehicles, of which there is only one known example in the whole galaxy. Because of this, you can only ever include one of each Unique model in an army.
Detachments
Armies are usually structured organisations; even the Orks organise their warriors into mobs and warbands, though perhaps not with quite the same vigour as the Astra Militarum organises its squads, platoons, companies and regiments.
As discussed above, there are many ways to forge a collection of Citadel miniatures into an army ready to crush your enemies in games of Warhammer 40,000. This section focuses on the Battle-forged method. If you opt to choose an army using this method, your units are organised into Detachments and many gain special rules and in-game advantages.
We have included two Detachments at the end of this rules section, each with its own Force Organisation Chart, Restrictions and Command Benefits. You will find further Detachments to use in your games of Warhammer 40,000 in our codexes and other Games Workshop publications.
There is no limit to the number of Detachments a Battle-forged army can include and you can use any mixture of Detachments you have available, within the restrictions of the rules that follow. However, all of the units in your army must belong to a Detachment and no unit can belong to more than one Detachment. If you choose to use a Battle-forged army, you must tell your opponent what units belong to what Detachments and what Command Benefits each will receive (if any) before you start deploying your army.
Don’t forget that Detachments are entirely optional and you can still select an army by taking any models from your collection, as discussed in the Unbound method – it just means that none of the models in your army receive Command Benefits.
In order to organise their army into Detachments, a player will often need to use additional information found in their units’ Army List Entries, such as Faction and Battlefield Role.
Detachments and Deployment
Units that belong to a specialized Detachment for a faction all deploy at the same time. For example, a Deathwing Strike Force detachment from the Dark Angels contains Belial and two squads of Deathwing Terminators. When placing those units on the board for deployment, treat all units in that detachment as one unit for the purposes of deployment, and place them on the table at the same time.
The only exception to this is the core Combined Arms detachment, which units deploy one at a time as normal.
Battlefield Role
HQ
HQ stands for headquarters unit. A headquarters unit might be a heroic commander or fearsome monster. These models are amongst the most powerful in the game, and as leaders, they have access to more special equipment than anyone else. They are not invincible, but can provide a powerful spearhead for an attacking army and a strong core for a defensive one.
Troops
These represent the most commonly available soldiers in an army. This does not mean they are poor fighters – the category includes such troops as Chaos Space Marines and Ork Boyz, both formidable adversaries. Typically, these are the warriors that make up the bulk of an army. Their main tactical role is that of consolidating the gains of the army and defending the objectives that have been taken by more specialised units.
Elites
Elite units are normally powerful but expensive. They are the best, and often most specialised, soldiers an army has to offer, but there are rarely ever enough of them. In some cases they will be specialists, while at other times they will be more experienced versions of regular soldiers.
Fast Attack
Fast Attack units are generally faster than their comrades, and are masters of manoeuvrability. Often, they are used for reconnaissance and scouting, while at other times they are ferocious assault troops who rely on speed to get their bloody work done.
Heavy Support
Heavy Support units are literally the big guns of the army and include the heaviest items of equipment and the toughest creatures. However, they are also very expensive in points, so an over-reliance on them might leave you badly outnumbered.
Fortification
Fortifications are battlefield defences, including everything from barricades to towering fortresses. They are typically buildings and/or battlefield debris that your army has either constructed or captured just before the start of the battle. You’ll find a wide range of fortifications presented in Warhammer 40,000: Stronghold Assault, and further fortification datasheets feature in other Games Workshop publications.
Lords of War
Lords of War are the most powerful and destructive units to wage war in the 41st Millennium. They include towering monstrosities and super-heavy vehicles that bristle with enough weaponry to lay waste to anything foolish enough to stand before them. You’ll find a selection of Lords of War units in some codexes and in Warhammer 40,000: Escalation.
Other
Some publications introduce other types of Battlefield Role, such as Imperial Knights, and will include all the rules you need to include them as part of your army.
Selecting Detachments
You can include any number and type of Detachments in a Battle-forged army provided you have sufficient units. Simply select a type of Detachment and organise some or all of your units so that they fit within the restrictions and limitations detailed on that particular Detachment.
Later in this section you will find the Combined Arms Detachment and the Allied Detachment. Both of these can be used with any army. Each Detachment is split into three sections: Force Organisation Chart, Restrictions and Command Benefits.
1) Force Organisation Chart. This shows the number of units of each battlefield role that you may include in this Detachment. Black boxes are choices you must include to take this Detachment, whilst grey boxes are optional choices.
2) Restrictions. This lists any restrictions that apply to the types of units you may include in this Detachment.
Core Detachments
The following Detachments can be included in any Battle-forged army.
Combined Arms Detachment
RESTRICTIONS
All units chosen must have the same Faction (or have no Faction).
COMMAND BENEFITS
Ideal Mission Commander: If this Detachment is your Primary Detachment, you can choose to re-roll the result when rolling on the Warlord Traits table.
Objective Secured: All Troops units from this Detachment have the Objective Secured special rule. A unit with this special rule controls objectives even if an enemy scoring unit is within range of the objective marker, unless the enemy unit also has this special rule.
