Assassins are about to get one last 40k rules boost before 8th Edition comes to a close, as the pages from War of the Spider have hit the web.
One of the best surprise units the Imperium has to offer are Assassins. With the sheer flexibility they have due to Stratagem support, they dominated the meta for quite some time. Now, they’re getting another rules wave inside of Psychic Awakening: War of the Spider. Here are the pictures of their rules that were spotted on Imgur.
New 40k Officio Assassinorum Rules Revealed
Laying the groundwork on the Assassins, they’re the same points cost and don’t break any faction rules like Doctrines, etc now. Plus, they all have a deepstrike ability and have a 4++ invuln.
Yeah for Space Marine and mono faction armies!
The Vindicare looks unchanged. With a 72″, cover ignoring rifle that always wounds Infantry on a 2+, this dude is still an attractive option for any Imperial list wanting to 86 some characters.
Slight wording has been changed on Sentinel Array. However, it has the exact same effect. You get to pull out your gat on dudes that think they can get away.
Callidus looks untouched.
Culexus looks unchanged.
Moving into the Stratagems, these four were first seen a while ago out of the White Dwarf support. It looks like they’ve finally made it into an official binding.
Shadow Assignment is new at 2CP, it lets you swap out an Assassin with another one, as now you just get to field one in your army per the Agent of the Imperium rules.
However, it”s similar to what looks to be the “retired” (as in its not part of these new rules) Operative Requisition Sanctioned strat that let you basically do the same thing.
So now you’re still essentially picking an assassin after you see your opponent’s army, then spending two CP to immediately swap it out again… Or no Command Points to just keep the assassin you showed up with anyways. Interesting change on GW’s part, but it seems more streamlined now?
Priority Threat Neutralized looks to only net 2CP now if you kill the Warlord. However, at 0CP and having the ability to pop it whenever an enemy character is destroyed, this is a great way to farm CP through Assassins. That’s a mechanic some armies struggle with.
All in all, the changes in the War of the Spider book for the Assassins are a little like the Deathwatch support in the White Dwarf. Not a lot changed at all and the support that they DID get, was stuff we’ve already seen.
After looking at the ever so slight tweak to the Assassinorum, do you think we’ll still see Imperial lists bring them? What is your favorite Assassin to choose from?
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About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
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About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
