This section details army special rules including Astra Militarum Special Rules, Tactical Objectives, Warlord Traits and Wing Leaders.
Astra Militarum Special RulesAstra Militarum Orders‘Bring it Down!’
‘Fire on my Target!’
‘First Rank, Fire! Second Rank, Fire!’
‘Forwards, for the Emperor!’
‘Get Back in the Fight!’
‘Move! Move! Move!’
‘Smite at Will!’
‘Suppressive Fire!’
‘Take Aim!’
Heavy Weapons Team
Voice of Command
An officer can attempt to issue an order provided he is not locked in combat, embarked in a vehicle or building, falling back, or has gone to ground. Issuing an order does not prevent the officer’s unit from acting (shooting, Running etc.) later in that phase. Incompetent CommandIf a double 6 is rolled for the ordered unit’s Leadership test, the order does not take effect, and no further orders can be issued, by any officer, for the remainder of this turn.Inspired TacticsIf a double 1 is rolled for the ordered unit’s Leadership test, once the order has been resolved all further orders issued, by any officer, are automatically successful for the remainder of this turn.Issuing an OrderTo issue an order, declare the order your officer is attempting to issue and select a single friendly non-vehicle unit from Codex: Astra Militarum that is within 12" of the officer – this can be the officer’s own unit if you wish. We call this unit the ‘ordered unit’. The ordered unit must then take a Leadership test to see if the order has been understood and acted upon. If the test is passed, the order takes effect as specified in its description.If the test is failed, the order does not take effect. Unless an order causes the ordered unit to make a shooting attack or Run, receiving it does not prevent the ordered unit from acting later in that phase, whether the order was successful or not. Orders cannot be issued to embarked units or units that previously received an order that phase (whether or not that order was successful). Unless otherwise stated, orders cannot be issued to units that are locked in combat, are falling back, or have gone to ground. Special RulesAll Power to Weapons!If the Stormlord does not move, it may fire its Vulcan mega-bolter twice in the following Shooting phase (at the same target or at different ones).All-terrain APCThis vehicle re-rolls all failed Dangerous Terrain tests.AmphibiousA Chimera treats all water features as open terrain when it moves.Artillery BombardmentThe Master of Ordnance may make a shooting attack with the following profile:
An Artillery Bombardment is resolved separately from other Barrage weapons fired by the same unit in the same Shooting phase, but must choose the same target as the rest of the unit. If a hit is rolled on the scatter dice, the blast marker scatters 2D6" in the direction shown by the arrow on the ‘Hit’ symbol. If an arrow is rolled, the blast marker scatters an additional D6". If the Master of Ordnance has line of sight to his target then he reduces the total distance scattered by his Ballistic Skill. Aura of DisciplineAny friendly unit from Codex: Astra Militarum within 6" of a Lord Commissar uses his Leadership for any Fear, Morale or Pinning tests.Awaken the MachineIn each of your Shooting phases, instead of firing his weapons, the Enginseer may choose a single friendly Astra Militarum vehicle within 12". That vehicle gains the Power of the Machine Spirit special rule until the end of the turn.Blessings of the OmnissiahIn each of your Shooting phases, instead of firing his weapons, an Enginseer may choose to repair a single friendly vehicle that he is in base contact with or embarked upon. To repair a vehicle, roll a D6 and add 1 for each Servitor with a servo-arm in his unit. If the result is 5 or more, you may either restore a Hull Point lost earlier in the battle, or repair a Weapon Destroyed or Immobilised result suffered earlier in the battle; this is effective immediately.Chain of CommandA Lord Commissar may only be your Warlord if you have no models with the Senior Officer special rule in your army.Clarion Vox-netAny friendly unit from the same Militarum Tempestus Platoon within 18" of the Tempestor Prime can use his Leadership for any Fear, Morale or Pinning tests.Cold Steel and CourageColonel Straken and all friendly units from Codex: Astra Militarum within 6" of him have the Counter-attack and Furious Charge special rules.Combined SquadInfantry Squads have the option of forming Combined Squads. The decision to form Combined Squads must be made immediately before determining your Warlord Traits.If the Astra Militarum player wishes to deploy his forces in this way, then any Infantry Squad may join another Infantry Squad from the same platoon. For example, an Infantry Platoon consisting of a Platoon Command Squad and three 10-man Infantry Squads can instead choose to deploy as a Platoon Command Squad and a single 30-man Infantry Squad, or a Platoon Command Squad, a 10-man Infantry Squad and a 20-man Infantry Squad. If you decide to form Combined Squads in this manner, they are treated as a single unit for whole of the game. Crack ShotShots made by Pask’s Leman Russ can re-roll armour penetration rolls against vehicles, including glancing or penetrating hits, but the second result must be kept. Furthermore, the turret-mounted weapon of Pask’s vehicle gains an additional benefit depending on its type:
Deadly RiposteWhen fighting in a challenge, a model wielding Celeritas has an invulnerable save of 4+. For each successful save made by the model during a challenge, it can immediately make an attack with Celeritas that hits automatically and has the Rending special rule, even if the model is slain as the result of failing other saves at the same time.EarthshockAll models under the tremor cannon’s massive blast marker that were not removed from play as a result of that shooting attack must take a Dangerous Terrain test once the hit has been resolved.Grav Chute InsertionIf a Valkyrie or Vendetta has moved more than 6", passengers may disembark, but they must do so as follows. Nominate any point over which the Valkyrie or Vendetta moved this turn and deploy the unit as if it were deep striking onto that point. If the unit scatters, every model must immediately take a dangerous terrain test. If any of the models cannot be deployed, the unit is destroyed.Gung-hoColonel Straken must always issue and accept a challenge whenever possible.Heroic SacrificeIf Nork loses his last Wound in close combat, he may immediately make his full complement of Attacks against the unit that killed him at the same Initiative step, even if he has already made his Attacks in that Fight sub-phase. These Attacks may be exchanged for a Thunderous Headbutt as described below. Nork re-rolls failed To Hit and To Wound rolls when making the attack(s) granted by this rule. He is then removed as a casualty.Iron WillIf Yarrick loses his last Wound, place him on his side instead of removing him. At the start of your next turn, roll a D6. On a 3+ he regains a single Wound – place Yarrick as close to his previous position as possible whilst remaining more than 1" from any enemy models or impassable terrain. On a 1 or 2, Yarrick is removed as a casualty.It’s For Your Own GoodIf a Primaris Psyker suffers Perils of the Warp whilst in the same unit as a Commissar (of any type), the Primaris Psyker will be executed – after resolving the usual effects, remove the Primaris Psyker as a casualty.Lasgun ArraysA Chimera has two separate arrays of three lasguns – one array located above each side of its hull. Up to six models in the embarked unit (a maximum of three per array) may fire one lasgun each from these lasgun arrays, provided those models are not using the Chimera’s Fire Points this turn. To represent the unusual nature of these weapons, use the Chimera’s Ballistic Skill for these shots – the lasgun arrays can shoot at this Ballistic Skill regardless of how far the Chimera has moved. If the Chimera has suffered a Crew Stunned or Crew Shaken result, the lasgun arrays can only make Snap Shots. Lastly, each array may shoot at a different target to the Chimera’s other weaponry, though all lasguns in the same array must shoot at the same target.Leman Russ CommanderA Tank Commander starts the game in a Leman Russ tank, leading a Leman Russ Squadron. Note that any type of Leman Russ can be taken as the Tank Commander’s vehicle, and that it can have any upgrades usually available to that type of tank. The Tank Commander’s tank is a character, has Ballistic Skill 4 and can be chosen as your army’s Warlord. If his tank is Wrecked or suffers an Explodes! result, the Tank Commander is killed.A Tank Commander and his Leman Russ Squadron count as an HQ choice for the entire of the battle. The Tank Commander’s Leman Russ cannot leave the unit or join another unit, even if the rest of his squadron are destroyed. Limited AmmunitionA Manticore Rocket Launcher carries a rack of four rockets. Only a single rocket can be fired by a Manticore Rocket Launcher in each of the Manticore’s Shooting phases. Furthermore, until it has been used, each rocket counts as a separate weapon when determining Weapon Destroyed results. Make a note each time a rocket is fired or destroyed; once the Manticore Rocket Launcher has fired all of its rockets it has run out of ammunition and cannot be fired again.Listen Up, Maggots!If Kell is in the same unit as Creed, Leadership tests for orders issued by Creed can be taken on Kell’s Leadership, not that of the ordered unit.Look Out – Arghh!If a Wound is allocated to a character in this model’s unit (other than another model with this special rule), that character automatically passes its Look Out, Sir test if it can make one. The Wound must be allocated to the model with this special rule instead. If there is more than one model with this special rule in a unit when a Wound is allocated to a character, the owning player can choose which of them to re-allocate the Wound to.Loyal to the EndNork must declare a Glorious Intervention whenever possible and will automatically pass the test to take the place of a friendly character in an ongoing challenge. In addition, a Commissar or Lord Commissar will never shoot Nork as a result of the Summary Execution special rule.MindlockUnless it includes an Enginseer, an unengaged unit that contains at least one model with this special rule must roll a D6 at the start of its turn. On a roll of a 4+, this special rule has no effect this turn. On a roll of a 1, 2 or 3, the unit is mindlocked until the start of its following turn. A mindlocked unit may not voluntarily move, shoot or charge, and orders issued to it have no effect. A mindlocked unit must still complete compulsory moves, such as Pile In and Fall Back moves.Mobile Command VehicleAn officer embarked within a Chimera may still issue orders to squads. Measure range from any part of the Chimera’s hull.Navy OrdersAn Officer of the Fleet may take a Leadership test at the beginning of your turn, before any Reserve rolls are made. If the test is successful, choose one of the following Navy Orders to immediately take effect. If you have more than one Officer of the Fleet, all modifiers are cumulative.
No Ordinary WeaponA deathstrike missile cannot be destroyed by a Weapon Destroyed result, only delayed. Similarly a Crew Stunned or Crew Shaken result does not prevent a Deathstrike missile from launching (see The Hour is Nigh).PummelX is equal to the number of Basilisks and/ or Colossus firing.PunitiveA weapon with this special rule always wounds on a roll of 4+. In addition, when making armour saves against attacks made by a weapon with this special rule, a roll of 3 or less will always fail, even if the target’s Save characteristic is 3+ or better.Senior OfficerThis model can issue up to two orders each turn.Shoot Sharp and ScarperRatlings can make a shooting attack and then Run in the same Shooting phase.Summary ExecutionIf the Commissar’s unit fails a Fear, Morale or Pinning test, after any re-rolls it is entitled to, the owning player can opt to have his Commissar summarily execute one of the Astra Militarum models in the unit. Roll a D6; on a 3+ you choose which model is executed, on a 1-2 your opponent chooses instead – note that neither player can ever choose to execute the Commissar himself. The executed model is immediately removed as a casualty with no saves of any kind allowed. Provided a model was executed, the unit is then treated as having passed the test.Supreme CommanderCreed can issue up to three orders a turn. Creed can issue orders that can only be issued by models with the Senior Officer special rule. Failed orders issued by Creed must be re-rolled.Sworn ProtectorKell must declare a Glorious Intervention whenever possible and will automatically pass the test to take the place of a friendly character in an ongoing challenge.Tactical GeniusIf Creed is your Warlord he has 2 Warlord Traits instead of 1. You can either roll twice on the same Warlord Traits table or once each on two different Warlord Traits tables (if rolling twice on the same Warlord Traits table, re-roll any duplicate results).Tank OrdersA Tank Commander can roll 2D6 at the beginning of the Shooting phase. If the total result is 9 or less, choose one of the following Tank Orders to immediately take effect.
The Hour is NighThe Deathstrike Missile Launcher may not fire on the first turn of the game, or if it has moved earlier in the turn it wishes to fire. In the Shooting phase, if you wish to fire the Deathstrike Missile, roll a D6 with the following modifiers:
Thunderous HeadbuttNork may elect to exchange his normal attacks in close combat for a single Thunderous Headbutt with the following profile:
War HymnsA Ministorum Priest can take a Leadership test at the beginning of each Fight sub-phase in which he is locked in combat. If the test is successful, choose one of the following war hymns to immediately take effect.
He’s Behind YouMarbo must always be deployed in Reserve. When he arrives from Reserves, place him anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 1" away from any enemy model. He cannot move in the Movement phase of the turn on which he arrives from Reserves.Like a ShadowWhen Marbo destroys an enemy unit with a Sweeping Advance, Consolidates or successfully breaks away from combat using Hit & Run, you can remove him from the battlefield and place him into Ongoing Reserves. If you do so, mark his final position before he is removed with a suitable marker – a coin will do. When he arrives from Ongoing Reserves, place him anywhere on the battlefield that is within 18" of the marker you placed and more than 1" away from any enemy model. He cannot move in the Movement phase of the turn on which he arrives from Ongoing Reserves.LonerOfficers cannot issue orders to Marbo, and Marbo cannot be your Warlord.Master of AmbushAfter your army deploys, Scouts redeploy and Infiltrators deploy, but before the roll to Seize the Initiative, Sly Marbo may booby trap three pieces of battlefield terrain on the table. Each piece of battlefield terrain should be marked with a small marker to remind both players that it has been booby trapped. Enemy models treat booby trapped pieces of battlefield terrain as dangerous terrain. Note that having multiple units booby trap the same piece of battlefield terrain has no additional effect.Tactical Objectives
Presented below are six Tactical Objectives to use in your games of Warhammer 40,000 that are exclusive to Astra Militarum players. They reflect the hammerblow tactics used by the forces of the Imperial Guard. If your Warlord has the Astra Militarum Faction, these Tactical Objectives replace the Capture & Control Tactical Objectives (numbers 11-16).If a Warhammer 40,000 mission has the Tactical Objectives special rule, players use the normal rules for using Tactical Objectives with the following exception: when a Astra Militarum player generates a Capture & Control objective (numbers 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16), generate the corresponding Astra Militarum Tactical Objective instead, as shown in the table to the right. Other Tactical Objectives (numbers 21-66) are generated normally. ARMOURED ASSAULT The Astra Militarum are the unsubtle hammer of the Imperium’s forces, their massed tank brigades putting the armoured companies of their enemies to shame. 11 Score 1 Victory Point at the end of your turn if at least one enemy unit was completely destroyed during your turn by a unit with the Tank unit type. Type: ASTRA MILITARUM FIX BAYONETS! Countless battles have been won by the timely charge of a platoon of Astra Militarum infantry, bayonets fitted to their lasguns and battle cries in their throats. 12 Score 1 Victory Point at the end of your turn if one or more Astra Militarum units made a successful charge during your turn. Type: ASTRA MILITARUM STRENGTH IN UNITY Each warrior in the Astra Militarum is but a cog in a greater machine, useful only while he carries out his assigned task. 13 Score 1 Victory Point at the end of your turn if you successfully issued at least three orders. If you successfully issued six or more orders, score D3 Victory Points instead. Type: ASTRA MILITARUM HOLD YOUR GROUND Static gun lines and emplacements are key to many of the strategies composed by Imperial tacticians. The Astra Militarum are expected to hold their ground, no matter the cost. 14 Score 1 Victory Point at the end of your turn if at least half of the units you have on the battlefield (rounding up) are within your deployment zone. Type: ASTRA MILITARUM OVERWHELMING NUMBERS One of the Astra Militarum’s greatest strengths is its endless supply of recruits. Common doctrine involves swamping enemy positions with bodies, living or dead. 15 Score 1 Victory Point at the end of your turn if you control more Objective Markers than your opponent. If you control at least three more Objective Markers than your opponent, score D3 Victory Points instead. Type: ASTRA MILITARUM STORM OF FIRE The lasgun may pale in comparison to the weapons of the Imperium’s enemies, but a hundred can bring down any foe. 16 Score 1 Victory Point at the end of your turn if at least one enemy unit was completely destroyed during your Shooting phase. Score D3 Victory Points instead if at least 3 enemy units were completely destroyed, or D3+3 if 6 or more enemy units were completely destroyed. Type: ASTRA MILITARUM
Warlord TraitsWhen generating his Warlord Traits, an Astra Militarum Warlord may either roll on one of the Warlord Traits tables in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook, or instead roll on the table below. Note that if your Warlord is a Tank Commander, he must roll a D3 on the table below instead of a D6 – he can never roll on any other Warlord Traits table.
Wing LeadersValkyre Wing Leaders
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