Building an army in the new edition of Warhammer 40,000

The new edition of Warhammer 40,000 has been announced, and you’ll be able to make more unique and effective armies than ever before with updated Detachment rules. 

After all, if you really like sneaky Space Marines AND heavily armoured elites, why should you have to focus on just one?

As we announced at the Preview Show last week, all your current Codexes will still be valid when the new edition drops, and you can use the Detachments from them that you know and love without shaking the game up too much. There will also be 70 new ones to enjoy, and each of them, both old and new, works with a system of Detachment Points.

Depending on the size of your game, you’ll be able to choose a number of Detachments based on their Detachment Point cost, ranging from 1 for those with gentler rules or narrow unit focuses, to 3 for those that affect your whole army with significant boosts.

This new system gives you greater flexibility to hone your army’s theme and make characterful unit choices without compromising on their strength, and also means that some of the bigger, splashier Detachments won’t have an outsized impact on smaller games. 

For example, as a dedicated Raven Guard aficionado, you might take a Detachment that focuses entirely on the Phobos-clad units, such as Infiltrators. Such a Detachment would offer you Enhancements and Stratagems that are laser-focused on the units you love to use. Combining it with a larger, more general Detachment that affects a broad array of infantry in a Strike Force battle means that you end up with an army bespoke to your playstyle.

Note, this doesn't mean that soup armies from lots of different codexes are back on the menu. You'll still choose your army from your Codex, in much the same way as you do now. The Detachments will then give rules that will apply to your whole army, though certain Detachments and rules may only affect certain units within it.

You might be thinking, “Hold on! What if that swanky new Detachment features a unit type that doesn’t have any Characters? Aren’t Enhancements useless?” and that would be a pretty good question. The new edition introduces the Upgrade tag on some Enhancements, which means they can be applied to up to three non-Character units while only counting as a single choice – though you will need to pay their points costs individually. 

This gives you even more ways to personalise some of your favourite units and mark them out as more elite or experienced warriors. Great for both gameplay and narrative purposes!*

As an aside, Characters that join units will now be designated either Leader or Support, and a unit can have one of each attached to it.** Some armies could do this before with special rules – such as for Space Marine Apothecaries – and now it cleans it up for everybody. You also pick which units they join when you build your list, rather than at the start of the game, which, let’s be honest, most of us were doing anyway.

Finally, Detachments will also grant you one or more Force Dispositions that you’ll pick from when building your army. There’ll be five in total, and when you get to the tabletop, you’ll compare yours to your opponent’s to find out which mission you’ll both be playing. 

There’s loads more to talk about as far as missions are concerned, so check back in with us tomorrow for a first look. Otherwise, the rules for building your army will be comfortably familiar, so you can focus more on coming up with cool thematic armies and mixing Detachments that call to your hobbyist soul.

* And opening up new possibilities for conversions!

** Leaders can run around on their own if they like, but Support units must be attached to a bodyguard. Important distinction.