The current edition of Warhammer 40,000 is nearly one year old, and what a year it’s been – Mortarion decimating the loyal Imperials, Dark Angels teleporting in to bash some heads, and the Drukhari tearing out of the webway even more terrifyingly than before.
Alongside the impending arrival of the Chapter Approved Grand Tournament Mission Pack 2021, which includes some pretty sizeable points drops for a range of units, a series of FAQs and updates have been put together by the Warhammer 40,000 Studio team to address your burning questions and clarify key details to make the game even better.
In addition to several clarifications and designers’ commentaries on rules requested by our players, a few tweaks have been made to improve the overall matched play experience and set the stage for upcoming tournaments like the Warhammer US Open Series.
Take a look below to find the FAQs for your own faction – but to whet your appetite, here’s a summary of some of the key changes.
Strikes First and Strikes Last
As one of the main areas where interpretations of the rules differed, the Studio team has supplied a comprehensive visual guide to determining the order in which models fight when affected by ‘Always Strike First’ and ‘Always Strike Last’ abilities or both. In short, each combat is split into three separate steps:
Players take it in turns to select units affected by ‘strikes first’ abilities, including those that have charged, one at a time, beginning with the player whose turn it is.
Players take it in turns to select units either affected by no ‘strikes first’ or ‘strikes last’ abilities, or affected by both, one at a time, beginning with the player whose turn it isn’t.
Players take it in turns to select units affected by ‘strikes last’ abilities, one at a time, beginning with the player whose turn it is.
For a guide including picture references and examples, with words from Warhammer 40,000 rules master Robin Cruddace, check out the FAQs below.
Drukhari
Currently enjoying a dominant position across many tournaments, the dark denizens of Commorragh have seen a few tweaks. In particular:
The Dark Technomancers Obsession for custom Covens no longer impacts weapons that automatically hit.
Several questions have been answered regarding ‘exploding’ hits (rolls that generate additional hits on a certain result) and how they interact with some Character upgrades.
Deep Striking and Reserves
Due to some quirky interactions with vertical distances (and some fascinating Pythagorean loopholes), certain units and Vehicles could be charged easier than others by units arriving from teleportation chambers or other similar rules.
As much as we’re fond of bringing ancient geometry to our tabletop battles, it didn’t treat all models fairly. To ensure there’s a level playing field the Studio team have clarified these distances. Now, you’ll always have to make that 9” charge to reach your foe on the turn you arrive.
Imperial Armour
To bring them up to speed with the units from their recent codexes, Forge World miniatures for the Death Guard, Adeptus Mechanicus, and more will be gaining the appropriate faction abilities and keywords where necessary. That means you can field your Secutarii straight away without needing to worry about them falling behind their comrades.
