Arks of Omen: Abaddon kicks off a grand new future for Warhammer 40,000 with the most important narrative leap since the Gathering Storm. Alongside this hefty chunk of groundbreaking lore, the series lays out rules for a whole new game mode – Boarding Actions bring the full Warhammer 40,000 experience into the close confines of a ship-to-ship assault.
We’ve already taken our first peek at the rules for this new expansion. Today, we’re joined by Rich Butler from the Warhammer Studio team to have a look at the armies you’ll be building.
Mustering the right force for a Boarding Action presents its own strategic challenges, as the unique environment revokes access to some of the fastest and biggest units available to most factions. VEHICLES, MONSTERS, BIKES, and CAVALRY are out, as well as anything with a JUMP PACK or some other way to FLY about. You can also only take a single CHARACTER – no sense risking your whole command corps inside a shadowy space hulk.
Instead, Elites and Troops take centre stage in the new Boarding Patrol Detachment.
“The immediate difference between the Boarding Patrol and other Warhammer 40,000 Detachments is that nothing is compulsory,” Rich explains. “It's perfectly viable to take no Troops or HQs whatsoever, allowing lists to lean into clear concepts like an all-Navy Breacher force, or take nothing but Khorne Berzerkers – the gentleman's choice.”
Several factions get special dispensation to bend these rules. For instance, T’au Empire Boarding Patrols can take a unit of Crisis Battlesuits provided they shut off their jet packs and promise not to FLY, while Space Marines can slip a squad of Hellblasters or Eradicators past inspection, despite not normally having a Heavy Support slot.
“In some cases there were units that weren't HQ, Troops, or Elites, but that we wanted to include anyway because they’re cool,” says Rich. “The idea of Flesh Hounds rampaging down a corridor alongside Karanak is awesome, so we allow Chaos Daemons to take a Flesh Hounds unit despite them being Fast Attack.”
Each Arks of Omen book will contain specific tweaks to Boarding Patrol Detachments for a number of factions, plus an arsenal of Enhancements and Stratagems designed for use in Boarding Actions. To let you get started building your Boarding Patrols right away, the Warhammer Studio has prepared a downloadable Mustering Rules document with each faction’s restrictions and exceptions.
The Warhammer Community team has come up with a few of our own sample lists to see what’s possible.
Terminators have always loved storming space hulks, and their armoured bulk is the perfect spearhead for blocking lines of fire as your Assault Intercessors and Primaris Chaplain take an aggressive close-range approach to spreading the good word of the Emperor. Such power does take up a sizeable chunk of your 500 points, so you can bulk out your Boarding Patrol with a squad of Imperial Navy Breachers.
The (tweaked) Agents of the Imperium ability allows Navy Breachers to join up with any IMPERIUM Boarding Patrol – appropriate, as it’s their job – and means they won’t even disrupt the Chapter playbook.
This list is built like a brick wall and has plenty of close combat punch, so you can muscle your opponent away from their objectives while the Breachers – split up into two squads of five due to the new Boarding Squads rule – secure your own.
While the small scale of Boarding Actions restricts many factions to a handful of models, the Astra Militarum have no trouble flooding the board with bodies. This Boarding Patrol takes advantage of the new Cadian range – using a Command Squad, Shock Troops, and Kasrkin units to pack a serious ranged punch into a tight package, backed up by two squads of hulking abhumans.
Ogryns might not enjoy tight spaces, but they certainly thrive there – their new Point-blank Barrage ability allows them to blast away with ripper guns even when they’re locked into close combat. Combined with their brute strength and durability, they’ll find their true calling amidst the Arks of Omen.
Boarding Actions are an excellent way to build small, thematic armies that can’t fill the full-sized battlefields of Warhammer 40,000, such as these Aeldari Corsairs. Prince Yriel of Iyanden leads his Eldritch Raiders into the bowels of a great Ark, filling all three Corsair squads with mid-range troops that can load an ungodly number of power swords into a cool 499 points.
The Corsair Voidscarred bring all the toys from their Kill Team set, taking up the lion’s share of the points but punching far above their weight with psychic powers, blasters, fusion pistols, and a shuriken cannon. The Voidreavers deploy light with a pistol and power sword each, but have the option of switching to long-ranged shuriken rifles should you be raiding an area with plenty of fighty foes like Tyranids and Orks.
“Tactically, boarding actions lists are all about navigating the new challenges of a space ship – and each mission brings fresh challenges,” Rich adds. “For example, which unit will you walk through a furnace to score Victory Points, and which unit do you task with guarding the OFF switch for said furnace? Building your ideal Boarding Patrol is the first of many decisions you’ll need to make.”
Start preparing your Boarding Patrol now by downloading the rules PDF, and share your creations with us on our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages. Arks of Omen: Abaddon is coming to pre-orders imminently – stay tuned to this channel for more information.