Space Marines are known for being shockingly adaptable when it comes to battle, as their limited numbers always need to be used as effectively as possible, and the wide variety of Detachments at their disposal is testament to their mastery of organisation and tactics. Accordingly, there are three new Detachments coming in 500 Worlds: Titus,
First up, is there anything more Space Marine-y than a storm of Drop Pods smashing into a battlefield and disgorging armoured death? We think not.
The Orbital Assault Force is exactly what it sounds like, specialising in the pinpoint deployment of powerful units where your opponent really didn’t think they would be. It not only gives the Deep Strike rule to a bunch of units that would otherwise have to use their mundane legs, but also cranks up the killing power when they arrive – doubly so if they tumbled out of a Drop Pod.*
DETACHMENT RULE
Orbital Assault Force:
RAPID-DROP DEPLOYMENT
Through the use of teleportation, Drop Pods and gunship insertion, entire strike forces of Space Marines and even their armoured support can deploy from orbit in a matter of moments, a capability that in and of itself has won entire wars.
At the start of the Declare Battle Formations step, select a number of ADEPTUS ASTARTES units (excluding TITANIC units) from your army based on the battle size, as shown below. Models in those units have the Deep Strike ability.
BATTLE SIZE | NUMBER OF UNITS |
Incursion | 2 |
Strike Force | 3 |
Onslaught | 4 |
Each time an ADEPTUS ASTARTES model from your army makes an attack, if it was set up on the battlefield this turn, re‑roll a Wound roll of 1. If it disembarked from a DROP POD this turn, re‑roll a Hit roll of 1 as well.
Note that it just says ‘ADEPTUS ASTARTES’ units. Go ahead, drop in that Land Raider. You’ve earned it.
As you might expect, movement is a big factor in this Detachment, and its Enhancements hand out the Scout rule, redeployment tricks, and the much-loved ability to re-roll Charges on the turn a unit arrives. Terminators (who already have the Deep Strike ability) aren’t left out, as assigning your Captain a Dedicated Gunship means he can scoop his bodyguard up and take them elsewhere at a moment’s notice.
ENHANCEMENT
Orbital Assault Force:
DEDICATED GUNSHIP
Bulky and somewhat lumbering as they are, Terminator squads – or even particularly vital officers wearing Terminator plate – may be assigned a gunship for swift combat extraction and relocation mid‑battle.
ADEPTUS ASTARTES TERMINATOR model only. Once per battle, at the end of your opponent’s Fight phase, if the bearer’s unit is not within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units, the bearer can use this Enhancement. If it does, remove the bearer’s unit from the battlefield and place it into Strategic Reserves.
A common manoeuvre when Space Marine strike forces drop into battle is to eradicate enemy leadership as fast as possible, ensuring their troops are left disorganised after a Tactical Decapitation. Keeping freshly deployed units safe from return fire is also a top priority – especially as they’re often standing on open ground for a whole turn – leading to the development of precogitated Blind Screens that extend smoke launcher benefits from nearby vehicles to their allies.
TACTICAL DECAPITATION
ORBITAL ASSAULT FORCE – BATTLE TACTIC STRATAGEM
By rapidly eliminating localised enemy leaders, the Space Marines keep the foe off balance and hamper organised resistance to their onslaught.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase or the Fight phase.
TARGET: One ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot or fight this phase.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, weapons equipped by models in your unit have the [PRECISION] ability and each time a model in your unit makes an attack that targets a CHARACTER unit, add 1 to the Hit roll.
BLIND SCREEN
ORBITAL ASSAULT FORCE – STRATEGIC PLOY STRATAGEM
Autolaunchers spit a precogitated spread of blind grenades to baffle organic and mechanical targeting.
WHEN: Your opponent’s Shooting phase, just after an enemy unit has selected its targets.
TARGET: One ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit (excluding TITANIC units) from your army that was selected as the target of one or more of the attacking unit’s attacks and one friendly ADEPTUS ASTARTES SMOKE VEHICLE or DROP POD unit within 9" of it.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, models in your units have the Stealth ability and each time a ranged attack targets one of your units, models in that unit have the Benefit of Cover against that attack.
On the other end of the spectrum, Space Marines are equally able to form impenetrable defensive lines that blunt enemy attacks and weather furious assaults behind a wall of ceramite. The Bastion Task Force is all about getting the most out of BATTLELINE units, who can quickly reinforce key objectives and guide their more heavily armed comrades onto priority targets.
DETACHMENT RULE
Bastion Task Force:
INTERLOCKING TACTICS
Employing the full breadth of combined arms tactics taught by the Codex Astartes, mainstay squads hit and fade, blunting enemy attacks while acquiring auspex data to guide the targeting of their more heavily armed comrades.
ADEPTUS ASTARTES BATTLELINE units from your army:
Are eligible to shoot and declare a charge in a turn in which they Advanced or Fell Back.
Are eligible to start to perform an Action in a turn in which they Advanced or Fell Back.
Each time an ADEPTUS ASTARTES BATTLELINE unit from your army is selected to attack, after resolving those attacks, select one enemy unit hit by one or more of those attacks. Until the end of the turn, that enemy unit is auspex scanned. Each time an ADEPTUS ASTARTES model from your army makes an attack that targets an auspex scanned unit, re‑roll a Hit roll of 1.
The Bombast Omnivox Enhancement can be a powerful source of extra Command points when applied to a Captain whose Rites of Battle ability will discount a Stratagem each turn, as you’re odds-on to gain one back even if you didn’t spend anything in the first place. One of our personal favourites, though, is the deceptively simple Hero of the Chapter – the mind boggles at the possibility of giving a unit the BATTLELINE keyword when it wouldn’t normally have it, for both Detachment rule purposes and the wide variety of missions that care about it.
ENHANCEMENT
Bastion Task Force:
BOMBAST OMNIVOX
This remarkable technological relic is mounted within the bearer’s armour gorget and facilitates code‑hardened, rapid‑exchange intelligence dissemination while in battle.
ADEPTUS ASTARTES model only. Each time you select the bearer’s unit as the target of a Stratagem, roll one D6, adding 1 if the bearer’s unit has the BATTLELINE keyword: on a 4+, you gain 1CP.
HERO OF THE CHAPTER
A storied and inspirational exemplar of their Chapter’s virtues, this war leader is an inspirational presence amongst the ranks of their battle‑brothers.
ADEPTUS ASTARTES model only. While the bearer is leading a unit, the bearer has the BATTLELINE keyword.
The theme of auspex scanning with BATTLELINE units continues with the Detachment’s Stratagems. Marking an enemy target can be used for defence as well as offence, such as shutting down their movement with Guided Disruption, but if you just want to get stuck in as fast as possible it gets no better than Heresy Undone – letting your melee specialists charge after Advancing when an ally has scanned the target of their ire.
GUIDED DISRUPTION
BASTION TASK FORCE– STRATEGIC PLOY STRATAGEM
Employing auspex data to reveal weak points in the foe’s formation, the Space Marines exploit these to sow confusion and suppress their targets.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase or the Fight phase, just after an ADEPTUS ASTARTES BATTLELINE unit from your army has finished making its attacks.
TARGET: That ADEPTUS ASTARTES BATTLELINE unit.
EFFECT: When an enemy unit is auspex scanned as a result of those attacks this turn, if that enemy unit does not have the MONSTER or VEHICLE keywords, until the start of your next turn, it is pinned. While a unit is pinned, subtract 2 from that unit’s Move characteristic and subtract 2 from Charge rolls made for that unit.
HERESY UNDONE
BASTION TASK FORCE – STRATEGIC PLOY STRATAGEM
Tactical scans and cogitator analysis have revealed the enemy’s debase schemes, rendering their movements easier to anticipate and counter.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase or your Charge phase.
TARGET: One ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit (excluding BATTLELINE units) from your army.
EFFECT: Until the end of the phase, your unit is eligible to shoot and declare a charge in a turn in which it Advanced or Fell Back. If it does, every target of that charge and every target of those attacks must be an auspex scanned unit.
The book also contains a Detachment specifically for the Ultramarines that’s all about brawling over objectives, to represent their ardent reclamation of the 500 Worlds, but after all that business with the pro-Macragge protestors the other week, we think it’s best we hold this one until they’re all added to the Space Marines faction pack. Wait, that’s happening today? Awesome!
Pre-orders for 500 Worlds: Titus are up on Saturday, don’t miss it!
* It’s also guaranteed to make your friends really good at spacing their units out to try and stop you appearing behind them like a horror movie villain.
