The Imperium is mind-bogglingly vast, under constant attack from unknowable terrors within and without – and it is only by the daily sacrifice of innumerable Astra Militarum troopers that the darkness is held back. The Imperial Guard is the only organisation enormous enough to protect Humanity’s realm from one galactic edge to the other, built upon the blood and grit of the men and women who hold the line against aliens, mutants, and heretics.
With a new Tyranid invasion bursting out from an unexpected quarter, the Astra Militarum are harder pressed than ever… but they do have the bulwark of some tasty new rules.
Overview
One ordinary mortal can’t hope to stand against the galaxy’s worst nightmares alone, and the commanders of the Astra Militarum know this well. Synergy is the name of their game, so bellowing officers demand the best from their troops while artillery thunders and tanks bury the foe in high-explosive mayhem.
The across-the-board boost in vehicle Toughness is a gift from the Emperor himself: the Leman Russ and the Baneblade are both armoured up. Backed up by double-size units of Guardsmen, they present an impenetrable wall of steel that few foes will have the firepower to break through.
Faction Rules
They might be expendable mortals thrown into hellish war zones with little more than a lasgun and a prayer, but the Imperial Guard have one thing that makes them the envy of foul aliens and vile heretics the galaxy over – a highly skilled, much loved, and totally meritocratic OFFICER class.
The Voice of Command army rule gives these battle-tested tacticians access to six specialised Orders, allowing you to micromanage each of your units for the situation at hand.
With Command Squads and Castellans urging on your infantry assets, Tank Commanders directing your armoured squadrons, and the Lord Solar bellowing inspiration at just about everybody, there's an Order for every occasion – and an ear for every Order. Just be careful not to target squads on the brink of collapse – if they fall into Battle-shock, your Order will have been wasted.
Unit Spotlight
The humble guardsman is the beating heart of the Astra Militarum, and few have as great a reputation as the Cadian Shock Troops. Trained practically from birth to hold the line against the Imperium’s foes, these model soldiers can use their Shock Troops ability to secure vital objectives in moments before pressing on with the assault. Similar abilities can be found on the core troops of many factions, allowing players to free up resources from camping objectives and take the fight to the enemy.
Keen-eyed commanders will notice that the Cadian Shock Troops can now form squads of 10 or 20 models – and they’re not alone. Catachan Jungle Fighters, Death Korps of Krieg, and classic Infantry Squads can all double-up their numbers, meaning each of your Orders can affect up to twice as many troopers as before.
On the opposite end of the scale is the legendary Baneblade, a titanic war machine that revels in its upgraded durability. This massive tank can share some of its improved resilience with its smaller comrades courtesy of the Rolling Fortress ability, which turns it into a mobile piece of cover.
Weapon Spotlight
The rhythm of an Imperial assault is the constant dull thud of battle cannons firing up and down the line, as Leman Russ Battle Tanks lob shells into enemy positions. These hefty guns have always been a great all-round weapon for tackling light and heavy targets alike, and they earn a welcome boost to their Strength.
Yet even this battle cannon looks like little more than a peashooter next to the true king of battlefield firepower – the volcano cannon. The Shadowsword super-heavy tank is essentially a delivery system for this behemoth, and its raw power is exactly what you’d need in a dedicated Titan-killer.
Stratagem Spotlight
As numerous as your massed conscripts are, there often comes a time when the noble sacrifices pile a little too high, and more able bodies are needed for the Emperor’s service. Fortunately, commanders of a Combined Regiment Detachment can call upon fresh Reinforcements! when things get a bit dicey.
What sorts of units have the REGIMENT keyword, you ask? Your core infantry squads, of course, but also the big guns of Heavy Weapons Squads and Field Ordnance Batteries, elites like Tempestus Scions, and even fast-moving Rough Riders and Sentinel teams! Your reserves are truly as limitless as your devotion.
The Word from the Studio
As James from the Warhammer Design Studio told us, “with the Combined Regiment Detachment, we wanted to evoke an Astra Militarum force drawing on all of its human courage to stand firm against the foe. Picture Guardsmen and tanks hunkering down to blast the oncoming enemy, and you have the Born Soldiers Detachment rule, which confers Lethal Hits on ranged attacks made by units that Remained Stationary.”
“The Enhancements you can give to CHARACTERS play into this further, whether you use Drill Commander to lend your stationary units Critical Hits on rolls of 5 instead of 6, or the Death Mask of Ollanius, which sees the Objective Control characteristic of the bearer's unit drop only to 1 while Battle-shocked, rather than 0. With a flexible crop of Stratagems on top of this, a Combined Regiment Detachment promises to be a well-rounded fighting machine capable of anything High Command might ask of it!”
Black Library
No literary exploration of the Astra Militarum would be complete without the legends of the Tanith First and Only, colloquially known as Gaunt’s Ghosts. Led by the indomitable Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, this regiment is a pivotal participant in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, an epic tale starting from their first adventure First and Only by Dan Abnett and stretching across a vast catalogue of novels and short stories.
More recently, the adventures of Minka Lesk have given readers a trench-level view of the Cadian war machine in the wake of Cadia’s demise. She first appeared in the short story Battle for Hive Markgraaf, and has since blossomed into a regular Black Library feature* through several novels by Justin D Hill.
Want to learn more about the factions of Warhammer 40,000 and their rules in the new edition? Check out more of our ongoing series to scope out the opponents you’ll be meeting on the battlefield.
* She’s so prolific that she even has her own miniature.