Buildings in 40k are a pretty recent addition and in that short time they have already had 3 iterations of rules. Let’s take a closer look!
At some point it just got easier to pretend they were a box of 4+ cover on top and 4+ cover behind. After spending some time finally looking into what buildings can really do for my Wraithguard blitz (and other short range units), here is my take away.
In this article will go through the very basics of using buildings in 40k. In the next two articles I will go over some snazzy tactics and tricks I learned to bring buildings to the next level as well as a more in depth look at some basic tactics and strategies for the buildings in Stronghold Assault. If you are already use buildings frequently, you may pick up a thing or two from this article, but the next two articles are definitely for you.
Let’s start at the absolute basics.
What on earth is a building anyway?
-Most, if not all, buildings can be bought as part of your army.
-Buildings take up a Fortification slot.
-Buildings can be part of neutral terrain on a board and thus brought by neither players list.
-Some buildings have a transport capacity.
-Some buildings have guns that can be fired automatically, some can be fired by models in the building.
-All purchasable buildings are fortifications. Not all fortifications are buildings.
-Buildings are immobile.
-Buildings can be controlled by any player throughout the game.
-Buildings follow most of the rules for vehicles.
Ok, so hopefully you have at least a basic idea of what a building is, even if you aren’t sure how they work. I will be referring to 2 books during this article. The 7th Edition Rulebook (BRB) and Stronghold Assault (SA). So feel free to follow along.
Let’s start at the very beginning
Before you can put your models inside a bunker to go “pew pew pew” at your enemy’s forces, you need access to a building and so does your army list. All of the common buildings are no longer found in the BRB. To see the rules for them, take a look inside Stronghold Assault. When looking at entries there, you may notice that they all have that same symbol from the BRB p.119. This tells you that they are a fortification. This is important, as the new Decurion type formations including the Gladius Strike force don’t have access to fortifications. A Combined Arms Detachment is the most common way to gain access to a fortification slot.
On the battlefield
Ok, now that you have a building in your list, let’s put it on the table. Things changed from 6th to 7th, so be careful. Buildings are now deployed with the rest of your army during deployment (BRB p.130). This means that buildings also have to be inside your deployment zone completely. And BRB p.135 mentions that units that can’t move after being deployed (this means you, buildings) are destroyed if they are not deployed. Long story short, don’t put them in reserve. Deploy them in your deployment zone.
Things of note:
-Once deployed, you are allowed to deploy other units inside of the building (if it has a transport capacity) during your deployment.
-You do no need to wait for the first turn of the game to do so (BRB p.132).
-You are also allowed to deploy units on top of buildings that have battlements. The battlements are the roofs of buildings typically defended with walls.
-Being on the battlements grants you a 4+ cover save.
The ins and outs
Getting in and out of a building is fortunately very easy. It works just like a vehicle. Feel free to embark or disembark from a building’s access point (usually a door). One difference here is that you are free to disembark onto the battlements or embark into the building from the battlements.
One big note here is the Repel the Enemy rule (BRB p.110). Unlike with a normal vehicle, you are permitted to assault after disembarking from a building!
Firing a buildings weapons
Some buildings have built-in weapons. The Bastion is a great example. It has some heavy bolters on the sides, it has some fire points, and it has battlements on top where another weapon can be placed. So let’s run through how all of these features factor into your shooting phase.
-Emplaced Weapons (weapons built-into or on the building) can be fired by a model inside the building instead of firing its own gun.
-Emplaced Weapons can be fired automatically by the building at BS 2 at the closest viable target.
-An added gun (like a quad gun) placed on the battlements counts as an emplaced weapon.
-2 embarked models can fire out of each fire point.
To kill a building
So, how do you destroy a building? First of all, a building has to be “claimed” by an opponent to be attacked. Whoever purchased the building in their army list automatically claims it at the start of the game. So right off the bat you are free to shoot away at enemy buildings and they are free to fire upon yours. Neutral, unclaimed buildings cannot be shot or charged until someone claims it by embarking or landing on the battlements. In a similar fashion you can claim an unoccupied enemy building.
Things of note:
-When attacking a building use the same rules as vehicles.
-All buildings should have a size rating that give it a number of hull points and its transport capacity (BRB p.110).
-The building’s armour value is listed in its unit entry.
-Buildings are immobile. So you hit them automatically in close combat.
-Buildings have their own damage chart (BRB p.111)
In conclusion
If school has taught us anything it is definitely that all essay type papers require a conclusion section or somehow people won’t remember anything that they read in the rest of the paper.
In conclusion, buildings are basically vehicles that can’t move. While a building is claimed by you, it is a unit in your army and acts as such (BRB p.112). You can shoot out of fire points. You can fire the buildings weapons (be sure to make “pew pew pew” or “dakka dakka dakka” sounds when firing weapons in 40k). You can embark, disembark, and charge out buildings. You can even steal one from your opponent. As with flyers and superheavies, they may be new but they are here to stay. So you might as well get to know them.
And lastly, be sure to stay tuned for the next installation of Mastering Buildings. Part 2 and 3 will cover some basic tactics as well as some very spicy tactics (as Kenny Boucher would say).
