Don’t miss this big reveal for how the new rules work with army factions, and Force Organization in 8th Edition 40k.
Scanner is at it again with the new Quick Reference card for 8th edition. First we saw the turn structure worked, then the movement phase, and attacking. Now were seeing how Force Organization and faction rules will work for 8th edition.
There’s the big Keyword Mechanic that GW had been alluding too over their month of teasers on the new edition. So if there is a restriction on a detachment then that tax must be payed, however it can be paid in several different ways per above.
Battlefield Role Slots
The icons on a Detachment are referred to as slots (see below). Each slot on the Detachment usually specify a single Battlefield Role, and allows you to take one unit. Red slots are compulsory selections and you must take the specified amount. Grey icons represent optional selections, and you can include up to that number of unit with the matching Battlefield Role in your Detachment. If you want to take additional units of the same Battlefield Role you will have to do so in a separate Detachment.
From time to time a Detachment will specify two or more Battlefield Roles, in which case you can use any unit that has at least one of the specified roles to fill that slot. If a slot does not specify a Battlefield Role any type of unit can be taken, or it will specify a particular unit or units, and in that case only those units can be taken.
Below are 2 examples of Detachments to give you a better idea of what all that means:
Certain missions will instruct you to select a Battle-forged army which means that you must organize all the units in your army into Detachments. A unit cannot belong to more than one detachment, and you’ll often need to use additional information from the unit’s datasheet to determine where it fits in a Detachment, such as Faction and Battlefield Role.
Each Detachment may contain the following information: Battlefield Role Slot, Dedicated Transports, Restrictions, and Command Benefits.
Restrictions
This sections of a Detachment’s rules lists any additional restrictions that apply to the units you can include as part of the Detachment. The most common Detachment restriction is all units must be from the same faction (which could be Astartes, or Imperium, etc..).
If they do not meet the requirements under the Restrictions section they cannot be included in the Detachment.
Command Benefits
Under the Command Benefits section on the Detachment it’s going to list any bonuses you receive for including that Detachment into your army. Most of the time it will increase the total number of Command Points your army has to spend on Stratagems.
Command Points & Stratagems
When you build a Battle-forged army it will have a certain number of Command Points, which can then be spent to use Stratagems. All Battle-forged armies start with 3 Command Points, and can easily be increased by taking more Detachments, many of which increase your total number of Command Points.
You can spend Command Points to use a Stratagem before or during a battle. Each Stratagem has a value that deducts from your Command Points every time you use them, so use these wisely. Stratagems can be used multiple times during the course of the battle unless otherwise stated. The different Stratagems available depends on the mission you’re playing.
You can always use the three Stratagems pictured above, but some missions, battlezones, and expansions may give you additional Stratagems to use during your battles.
Hungry for more? Checkout the rest of the pages from the 8th Edition quick reference that were spotted and judge for yourself if they will bring balance to 40k.
What are your thoughts on the new Force Organization rules for 8th Edition? Let us know in the comments below.
Latest 8th Edition News & Rumors from Games Workshop
About the Author: Rob Baer
