The Astra Militarum and Orks aren’t the only ones getting in on the vehicle action in the Armageddon: The Return of Yarrick expansion – Space Marines also have two new Detachments, and they’re opening the garage for some serious armoured warfare.
Space Marine tank crews are already the equivalent of most factions’ elites, so when they become one of the vaunted tank aces among their Chapter, you know they’re among the best in the galaxy. The Headhunter Task Force Detachment collects a bunch of these TANK ACES together into a supremely effective force, able to scoot around the field or slow down and focus on accuracy with the Target Sighted rule.
DETACHMENT RULE
HEADHUNTER TASK FORCE:
TARGET SIGHTED
Space Marine crews are relentless in their pursuit of assigned targets, coaxing every last trace of power from their war machines and demonstrating exemplary gunnery even under heavy fire.
Each time a TANK ACE unit from your army (see below) Advances, do not make an Advance roll for it. Instead, until the end of the phase, add 6" to the Move characteristic of models in that unit. Each time a TANK ACE unit from your army shoots in your Shooting phase, if that unit did not Advance this turn, you can re‑roll the Damage roll.
KEYWORDS
ADEPTUS ASTARTES VEHICLE units from your army (excluding FORTIFICATIONS, DROP PODS, WALKERS and units that can FLY) have the TANK ACE keyword.
In the Muster Armies step, you can select up to three TANK ACE units from your army to gain the CHARACTER keyword.
Designer’s Note:This means that the selected units can be given Enhancements, and one of them can be selected as your Warlord
Up to three of your Tank Aces can also be CHARACTER units, giving them access to Enhancements and letting one be your Warlord – so if you’re a die-hard treadhead, you can bring nothing but tanks all day every day. The Enhancements are a quality bunch too, with Redoubtable Machine Spirit keeping a Vehicle going through the rigours of war while Gunnery Honours turns a low fire rate, high damage weapon into a reliable workhorse you’ll want to fire every turn.
ENHANCEMENT
HEADHUNTER TASK FORCE:
REDOUBTABLE MACHINE SPIRIT
This ancient war machine has endured millennia of battle, and its belligerent machine spirit has only become more obdurant.
ADEPTUS ASTARTES VEHICLE model only. The bearer has a 5+ invulnerable save and, at the end of your Command phase, the bearer regains 1 lost wound.
GUNNERY HONOURS
The crew of this war machine demonstrate exemplary gunnery and have earned the highest honours for their craft.
ADEPTUS ASTARTES VEHICLE model only. Once per phase, you can re‑roll one Hit roll, one Wound roll and one Damage roll for the bearer.
The Stratagem library is equally impressive, with some stand-out options that make it much easier to fight against your opponent’s armoured vehicles. Kill Shot joins a long line of immensely useful To Wound buffs that can let lighter vehicles punch up against enemy tanks,* while those who prefer to punch through armour without worrying about accuracy can Target Weak Point to ensure their devastating attacks sail right through whatever they hit.
All of this vehicular power calls for the biggest and baddest tanks you can muster. Throw caution to the wind and enlist three Repulsor Executioners to evaporate any shred of enemy resistance, or send a fleet of Impulsors forward to disgorge dozens of Space Marines and sweep the board’s objectives.
KILL SHOT (1CP)
HEADHUNTER TASK FORCE – BATTLE TACTIC STRATAGEM
Space Marines are ruthless in culling weakened foes.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase.
TARGET: One TANK ACE unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot this phase.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit makes an attack that targets a MONSTER or VEHICLE unit, re‑roll a Wound roll of 1. If the target unit is below its Starting Strength, you can re‑roll the Wound roll instead.
RESTRICTIONS: A unit cannot be targeted with this and the Target Weak Point Stratagem in the same phase.
TARGET WEAK POINT (1CP)
HEADHUNTER TASK FORCE – BATTLE TACTIC STRATAGEM
Targeting vulnerable joints or seams between armoured plates, Space Marine gunners increase the effectiveness of their weapons.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase.
TARGET: One TANK ACE unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot this phase.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit makes a ranged attack that targets a MONSTER or VEHICLE unit, improve the Armour Penetration characteristic of that attack by 1.
RESTRICTIONS: A unit cannot be targeted with this and the Kill Shot Stratagem in the same phase.
Actually, if surging ahead with a rolling stampede of transport vehicles is your thing, you’ll love the Armoured Speartip Detachment. Your toughest people-movers get designated as HEAVY TRANSPORT, while your troops practice leaping in and out of vehicles until they can hit the ground running with some extra movement from a Rapid Deployment.
DETACHMENT RULE
ARMOURED SPEARTIP:
RAPID DEPLOYMENT
Land Raider, Repulsors and other armoured transports plunge headlong into the heart of enemy formations, weathering heavy firepower to deploy their cargo of elite Space Marines into battle.
Each time an ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit from your army disembarks from a TRANSPORT (excluding AIRCRAFT) that made a Normal or Advance move this phase, that disembarked unit can make a Normal move of up to D6", or a Normal move of up to D3+3" instead if that TRANSPORT is a HEAVY TRANSPORT (see below).
KEYWORDS
ADEPTUS ASTARTES TRANSPORT units from your army (excluding AIRCRAFT) that have a Wounds characteristic of 14+ have the HEAVY TRANSPORT keyword.
Such a mobile and aggressive force can sometimes have trouble keeping hold of their back line objectives, at least without leaving a poor straggler behind, but the Liberator Enhancement cleans that up neatly. In fact, if your Character is riding in a Heavy Transport, they don’t even need to hop out – just roll onto an objective with your Land Raider in one turn, then go hunting for another while the first objective stays firmly under Imperial control.
ENHANCEMENT
ARMOURED SPEARTIP:
LIBERATOR
A dauntless conqueror and liberator of worlds, this intimidating champion inspires confidence in their battle‑brothers and abject fear in the enemy.
ADEPTUS ASTARTES MODEL only. If you control an objective marker at the end of your Command phase, and the bearer’s unit (or any HEAVY TRANSPORT it is embarked within) is within range of that objective marker, that objective marker remains under your control until your opponent’s Level of Control over that objective marker is greater than yours at the end of a phase.
The six Stratagems included in this Detachment all lean into the transport role first and foremost. Machine Wrath is a great way to ensure an untimely vehicle death doesn’t drop all of your best lads right into the middle of an enemy horde, and if they do have to bail out and assist with the firefight, they can put out a world of hurt with Purgation Doctrine’s boosts to both Hit and Wound rolls.**
MACHINE WRATH (1CP)
ARMOURED SPEARTIP – EPIC DEED STRATAGEM
In a last act of vengeance, the doomed crew of this burning transport drive into the midst of the enemy.
WHEN: Any phase, just after a HEAVY TRANSPORT unit from your army is destroyed.
TARGET: That HEAVY TRANSPORT unit. You can use this Stratagem on that unit even though it was just destroyed.
EFFECT: Your unit can make a Normal or Fall Back move before you roll for its Deadly Demise ability, and before any embarked units perform an Emergency Disembarkation. When making this move, your unit can move through enemy models (excluding MONSTERS and VEHICLES) and can move within Engagement Range of such models, but cannot end that move within Engagement Range of them, and any Desperate Escape test is automatically passed.
PURGATION DOCTRINE (1CP)
ARMOURED SPEARTIP – BATTLE TACTIC STRATAGEM
Emerging from their transports, Space Marine infantry ruthlessly clear enemy positions.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase.
TARGET: One ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot this phase.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit makes an attack, add 1 to the Hit roll (if your unit disembarked from a HEAVY TRANSPORT this turn, add 1 to the Wound roll as well).
That’s it for Armageddon’s three main factions – Astra Militarum, Orks, and Space Marines – and you can download the new Detachment rules right now. There’s still more to come from Armageddon: The Return of Yarrick, and tomorrow we’ll be looking at the tank- and vehicle-filled new game mode, called Armoured Gauntlet.
You can now find all the points for units from Armageddon: The Return of Yarrick in the updated Munitorum Field Manual on the Warhammer 40,000 downloads page.
* Plus, you get to shout “Kill Shot” when you’ve made a kill shot.
** They only get the Wound boost when leaving a Heavy Transport, but… Land Raiders and Repulsors are right there! Use them!
