GW just released a ton of rules on how to build Arks of Omen army lists for boarding actions and what each faction can take!
We recently saw how boarding actions work (which you can check out here) this time, though, we get to see how you actually build army lists with the new book.
GW Unveils How to Build Arks of Omen Warhammer 40k Army Lists
Warhammer Community unveiled a bunch of rules and even a downloadable sheet for building army lists for all the different factions in Arks of Omes. Let’s take a closer look!
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.”
Well, this is definitely interesting, as some armies can’t take a fast portion of their units. Still, it makes sense on a ship, you have more troops flooding in. You don’t even have to take a certain amount of anything. If you want, you can take three elites and have your whole force!
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 faction has an errata of sorts regarding what units they can take and what those units do. You can download everything for all the armies here!
Sample Army Lists
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.
It’s just pretty interesting to see how to build your armies!
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.
Obviously, you’ll still have to bring a decent number of minis for an IG list!
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.
It’s cool to use your Voidscarred for a game like this, as they were basically meant to do this!
Download All the Faction Rules Here!
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
