Our Warhammer 40,000 Faction Focus series continues with a look at the Space Marines, and their non-Codex brethren. Learn how they play and get an exclusive first look at their new detachments.
This article covers many of the highlights, and the accompanying video dives into even more detail, particularly on the Chapter-specific detachments:
We begin with a deeper delve into the Fulguris Task Force.
Fulguris Task Force
If you like anti-grav speeder units – like the new Land Speeder from the Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon boxed set – this detachment is for you. Load up on Land Speeders and Storm Speeders, and you’ll be able to make an ingress move on turn one.*
SKYSTRIKE
With howling engines and a buffeting of anti-gravitic forces, a Chapter’s massed combat skimmers plunge into the midst of battle with guns blazing.
Friendly LAND SPEEDER/STORM SPEEDER HAILSTRIKE/ STORM SPEEDER HAMMERSTRIKE/STORM SPEEDER THUNDERSTRIKE units have SPEEDER.
In your first Movement phase, friendly SPEEDER units can make an ingress move.
This is a great way to drop a number of devastating heavy weapons exactly where your opponent doesn’t want to see them, right at the start of the battle. Blast apart enemy fortifications with a Hammerstrike, destroy vehicles with a Hailstrike, or gun down infantry with a Thunderstrike.
The Bellicose Weapon Spirits enhancement makes it more likely that one of your speeders will do some serious damage after its unexpected arrival. As an upgrade, it can be given to one of your non-character units to make it even more dangerous.
BELLICOSE WEAPON SPIRITS (Upgrade)
Entreated by veteran gunners, this skimmer’s potent weapons unleash their spirits’ wrath in bursts of excoriating destruction.
SPEEDER unit only. This unit can re-roll:
Damage rolls.
Rolls to determine the A of a weapon.
It’s unlikely your enemy will take all that firepower to the face without wanting some level of vengeance. Thankfully, you can use the Reactive Evasion stratagem to help keep your speeders out of reach.
REACTIVE EVASION (1CP)
FULGURIS TASK FORCE STRATAGEM
Triggering sudden flows of power to engines and manoeuvring planes, aggressive advances by the foe can be left foundering in a skimmer’s wake.
WHEN: Your opponent’s Movement phase, when an enemy unit ends a move within 8" of a friendly unengaged SPEEDER unit.
TARGET: That SPEEDER unit.
EFFECT: Your unit can make a normal move of up to D3+3".
Librarius Conclave
If you prefer to use mind bullets rather than actual ones, or like to gang up to claim fines for the late return of books, the Librarius Conclave is for you. The Librarians in your detachment get to choose a Psychic Discipline to specialise in. Then they, and any unit they join, will benefit from the bonuses relating to that discipline.
PSYCHIC DISCIPLINES
Librarians spend their lives mastering psychic disciplines, learning how to manipulate the energies of the Immaterium to confound their foes and embolden their battle-brothers.
At the start of the battle round, select one of the following Psychic Disciplines abilities. Friendly ADEPTUS ASTARTES PSYKER units have that ability until the end of the battle round.
Biomancy Discipline: This unit has +2" M.
Divination Discipline: This unit’s attacks can:
Re-roll hit rolls of 1.
Re-roll wound rolls of 1.
Pyromancy Discipline: This unit’s ranged attacks that target an enemy unit within 12" of this unit have +1 AP.
Telekinesis Discipline: Ranged attacks that target this unit have -1 S.
Telepathy Discipline: This unit’s attacks can ignore modifiers to BS, WS and hit rolls.
Each discipline also opens up access to an additional psychic power. If your Librarians are experts in telekinesis, not only will their units be harder to wound, but they can also use Temporal Corridor to disappear at the drop of a hat, only to reappear via Deep Strike.
TEMPORAL CORRIDOR
Folding existence around an invisible path along which time is altered, the Librarian propels his allies across the battlefield with supernatural swiftness.
ADEPTUS ASTARTES PSYKER model only.
At the end of your opponent’s Fight phase, you can place this unit into strategic reserves.
If this unit has the Telekinesis Discipline ability, this unit has Deep Strike.
With this, you can open up new tactical options, such as zipping across the battlefield to claim any unprotected objectives.
Subversion Assets
Finally, there’s the Subversion Assets detachment, which focuses on Scout Squads and Phobos-armoured Space Marines.** There’s no place to hide*** from these elite infiltrators thanks to their detachment rule – once they’ve detected an enemy unit, then the rest of your army also know where it is.
NOWHERE TO HIDE
With transhuman instincts, auto-senses, and more specialised equipment, a Chapter’s masters of clandestine warfare are able to unmask the foe, leaving them ripe for swift eradication.
Friendly PHOBOS/SCOUT SQUAD units have the following ability:
Transhuman Perception: In your Shooting phase, this unit can select one visible enemy unit within 12". That enemy unit is detected:
While a unit is detected, that unit has +3" detection range.
Usually, a unit is no longer Hidden after it has shot, but your Phobos and Scout squads are so skilled and sneaky that your enemy still won’t know where they are, even after the bullets start flying. Simply Strike from the Shadows. Shoot down enemy troops and ensure that your foe can’t retaliate.
STRIKE FROM THE SHADOWS (1CP)
SUBVERSION ASSETS STRATAGEM
Holding to the shadows and choosing victims with care, stealthy warriors winnow the enemy ranks without ever revealing their positions.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase, when a friendly PHOBOS/SCOUT SQUAD unit has shot.
TARGET: That PHOBOS/SCOUT SQUAD unit.
EFFECT: Those ranged attacks do not prevent your unit from being hidden.
You can also make one of your Characters more covert and clandestine with the Shroud Field enhancement.
SHROUD FIELD
This camouflaging field projector employs a chameleonic twisting of emissions whose secrets the Techmarines cannot reproduce. It mantles its bearer as if with a spectral shroud and masks his approach to his doomed target.
PHOBOS model only. This model has:
Lone Operative.
Stealth.
Combined, these two abilities make your Space Marine even more survivable.
LONE OPERATIVE
Assassins and other covert agents are difficult to pinpoint in the storm of battle.
Unless part of an attached unit, this unit is not visible to enemy models unless they are within 12" of this unit, and it cannot be targeted by [INDIRECT FIRE] weapons unless the attacking model is within 12" of this unit.
STEALTH
The stealthiest warriors can evade the attentions, and the bullets, of their foes.
If every model in a unit has this ability, each time a ranged attack targets that unit, that unit has the benefit of cover against that attack.
This doesn’t quite make them into a one-man army, but it does mean they can scamper around your enemy’s backfield, claiming objectives and generally making a nuisance of themselves.
Black Templars: Living Miracle
The Black Templars also get three new detachments, including one that enables you to field an even more powerful Emperor’s Champion.
ANOINTED CHAMPION
The warrior anointed as Emperor’s Champion by a crusade's Chaplains is marked as such by the divine omens which assail him. With these visions as a guide, and having devoted what remains of his existence to the rigorous perfection of the blade, the Emperor’s Champion becomes a force of righteous and unerring destruction.
When a friendly EMPEROR’S CHAMPION unit is selected to fight, that model’s melee attacks can:
Re-roll one hit roll.
Re-roll one wound roll.
Enhancements selected from this detachment do not count towards the total number of enhancements in your army.
Restrictions: Your army can include BLACK TEMPLARS units, but it cannot include any ADEPTUS ASTARTES units drawn from any other Chapter.
An Emperor’s Champion is already pretty handy in a fight, but this can make them a true close combat beatstick. Why not try two extra attacks, Devastating Wounds, and causing mortal wounds when your enemy falls back? It’s what the Black Sword was made for.
GUIDING OMENS
The holy visions which fill the mind of the Emperor’s Champion on the eve of battle are clear to those of unwavering faith: they tell of the foes he will strike down, of the pious deeds he must commit, and the paths to be bloodily carved in his merciless crusade, all in the God-Emperor’s name.
EMPEROR’S CHAMPION model only. At the start of the first battle round, you can select up to three of the following abilities. This model has those abilities until the end of the battle:
Instrument of the God-Emperor (Once per battle, per army): In the Fight phase, when this unit is selected to fight, if this unit is engaged with an enemy CHARACTER unit, you can use this ability. If you do, this model’s melee attacks have [DEVASTATING WOUNDS].
Foreseen Paths of the Unholy: This unit has -3" detection range.
Vision of Momentous Brutality: This model’s melee attacks have +2 A.
Augury of Retribution: Melee attacks that target this unit have [HAZARDOUS].
Omen of Sacred Intervention: When you target this unit with the Heroic Intervention stratagem, that use is -1 CP.
Harbinger of Judgement: When an enemy unit (excluding MONSTER/VEHICLE units) engaged with this model is selected to make a fall-back move, roll one D6: On a 2+, that enemy unit suffers D6 mortal wounds.
Blood Angels: Wrath of the Doomed
The Blood Angels are still pretty angry about the death of their Primarch, and one of their three new detachments focuses on the Death Company.
FANATICAL CELERITY
The madness of the Black Rage burns through the mind of the Lost Brethren with a speed and ferocity matched by the warriors in battle. Swept up in visions of the Primarch’s darkest days of wing-swift fury, they push their bodies past their limits in efforts to emulate his rapid wrath.
When a friendly DEATH COMPANY unit is selected to make an advance move, you can use this ability. If you do:
That unit suffers D3+1 mortal wounds.
That move does not prevent that unit from being eligible to declare a charge.
This detachment has the DOOMED tag and cannot be taken with another DOOMED detachment.
Restrictions: Your army can include BLOOD ANGELS units, but it cannot include any ADEPTUS ASTARTES units drawn from any other Chapter.
D3+1 mortal wounds are going to kill one or two Death Company Space Marines, so it’s better to use this on a larger squad, but being able to crash home with the rest of your squad can tilt a battle in your favour.
You can even get angry on your opponent’s turn with Instinctive Interception.
INSTINCTIVE INTERCEPTION
Proudly is Sanguinius remembered for his rapid intercession in the protection of his gene-sons. Driven on by deathly visions, this lost warrior is a tragic monument to such glory.
DEATH COMPANY model only. When you target this unit with the Heroic Intervention stratagem, that use is -1 CP.
The Heroic Intervention stratagem has been updated for the new edition, with a second level added at the cost of an additional CP.
HEROIC INTERVENTION (1CP)
CORE STRATAGEM
Voices raised in furious war cries, your warriors surge forth to meet the enemy’s onslaught head‑on.
WHEN: End of your opponent’s Charge phase.
TARGET: One friendly unengaged unit within 12" of one or more enemy units. You can only select a VEHICLE unit if it is a CHARACTER/WALKER unit.
EFFECT: Resolve a charge with your unit. While doing so, before making the charge roll, you must select one of the following modes:
Leap to Defend: When selecting charge targets, you can only select enemy units that made a charge move this phase and are within the maximum distance.
Into the Fray (+1CP):
When making the charge roll, if the result is greater than 6 (after modifiers), change it to 6.
When selecting charge targets, you can select any enemy units that are within 6" of your unit and within the maximum distance.
So, with Instinctive Interception, you can Leap to Defend for free or charge Into the Fray for just a single CP.
You can even get closer to your enemies in their Shooting phase. After your unit has been shot at, it can make a surge move towards whoever it was that was foolish enough to shoot at you.
RAGE‑FUELLED RESPONSE (1CP)
WRATH OF THE DOOMED STRATAGEM
They may no longer recognise the foe before them, but the Lost Brethren are sane enough to identify an attack and capable of responding with a violent surge and a howl of wrath.
WHEN: Your opponent’s Shooting phase, when an enemy unit that targeted a friendly unengaged DEATH COMPANY unit has shot.
TARGET: That DEATH COMPANY unit.
EFFECT: Your unit can make a surge move of up to D6"
A surge move is a normal move where you must try to finish engaged with the closest enemy unit. That means you can get your vengeance in early.
Dark Angels: Dark Age Arsenal
The Dark Angels love their plasma weaponry, and Dark Age Arsenal lets you unleash it to its maximum destructive effect.
INVOCATIONS OF ANCIENT FURY
Amongst the ancient mysteries that the Dark Angels keep is knowledge of potent invocations to the most esoteric and mercurial of weapon spirits. With these, their battle-brothers are able to rouse their plasma weaponry to a destructive power that burns like the fiery hearts of stars.
Friendly ADEPTUS ASTARTES units’ weapon profiles with ‘Plasma’ in their names are plasma weapon profiles.
Plasma weapon profiles have +1 S.
Restrictions: Your army can include DARK ANGELS units, but it cannot include any ADEPTUS ASTARTES units drawn from any other Chapter.
This is great for making your Hellblasters even more powerful. But what happens if your enemies try to stay out of range, thinking themselves safe from your wrath? The Petition of Stability upgrade adds 6” to the range of your plasma incinerators. That’s a whopping 25% increase.
PETITION OF STABILITY (Upgrade)
With the correct runic activation sequence – and whispered appeals to the plasma coils’ stability matrix – the effective reach of a weapon’s killing power can be extended.
ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit only. This unit’s plasma attacks have +6" R.
And when you simply have to obliterate every enemy in the way, it’s time to use the No Sacrifice Too Great stratagem.
NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT (1CP)
DARK AGE ARSENAL STRATAGEM
In extremis, the invoking of plasma coils’ output may be pushed past even the tolerances proscribed by Mars. The price is one the Chapter is prepared to make.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase, when a friendly ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit is selected to shoot.
TARGET: That ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit.
EFFECT: Your unit’s [HAZARDOUS] plasma ranged attacks have +1 S.
This makes your plasma incinerator S10 (8 from the supercharge profile, +1 from the detachment rule, +1 from the stratagem). That’s some devastating firepower.
Space Wolves: Champions of Fenris
Like their friendly rivals, the Dark Angels, the Space Wolves are also getting three detachments. The Champions of Fenris is based around mighty heroes and their saga-worthy deeds.
THE GREAT WOLF WATCHES
The battle-brothers of this Great Company know what their lord expects of them and stand ready to pounce the moment the foe arefool enough to stray within range.
Friendly ADEPTUS ASTARTES INFANTRY CHARACTER units have the following ability:
Countercharge: (Once per battle round, per unit) You can target this unit with the Heroic Intervention stratagem, regardless of any other uses of that stratagem this phase. If you do:
That use does not prevent any uses of that stratagem on other units this phase.
Restrictions: Your army can include SPACE WOLVES units, but it cannot include any ADEPTUS ASTARTES units drawn from any other Chapter.
Space Wolves aren’t mindless berserkers, but prefer to set cunning traps for their enemies. Being able to countercharge with multiple characters (and their attached units) in a single enemy charge phase is a terrifying prospect for your opponent, especially with the changes to the Heroic Intervention stratagem we saw above.
You can name one of your characters as A Giant Amongst Giants to make them even mightier.
A GIANT AMONGST GIANTS
Likened to a walking pinnacle of Fenrisian granite come to life, this hulking champion is an echo of Russ himself.
ADEPTUS ASTARTES INFANTRY model only.
This model has +2 W.
This model’s melee attacks have +1 S.
This means that your Wolf Guard Battle Leader with storm shield and thunder hammer now has 8 Wounds and hits at S9 in combat. The skjalds will surely be singing of his deeds.
Finally, the Stalk Between Worlds stratagem helps keep your champion and their squad alive, thanks to the Stealth ability.
STALK BETWEEN WORLDS (1CP)
CHAMPIONS OF FENRIS STRATAGEM
This champion possesses nigh‑preternatural stealth and cunning, stalking their prey like some predatory terror circling the dying campfire of its doomed quarry.
WHEN: Your opponent’s Shooting phase, when an enemy unit targets a friendly ADEPTUS ASTARTES INFANTRY CHARACTER unit.
TARGET: That ADEPTUS ASTARTES INFANTRY CHARACTER unit.
EFFECT: Your unit has Stealth.
This can be useful if your unit has found itself out in the open, having slain their foes, and now needs to rely on their guile to survive.
Space Marines are already elite and adaptable, and their new detachments open up even more tactical options for budding Chapter Masters. Over the coming days and weeks, we’ll continue our look at the new detachments for the other factions in Warhammer 40,000 – make sure you’re signed up to our newsletter so you don’t miss your favourites.
* An ingress move is the new name for arriving from strategic reserves, regardless of whether you’re deep striking, teleporting, or using more arcane methods to arrive.
** We’re sure that Raven Guard fans will love this one.
*** Remind yourselves of the new Hidden rules in our article about terrain.
