Don’t miss these 8 big gotchas to remember when playing with or against Chaos and loyalist Space Marines in 8th Edition Warhammer 40k now!
For every faction, there’s always something players get wrong. Check out a few rules from Chaos and Space Marines that are a big help to remember.
You might be tempted to start a new faction with all of the Shadowspear Box Set previews dropping, so we figured we would go over a few rules for Chaos and Space Marines that you’ll want to remember. This list was inspired by a tactics post on Reddit but has been expanded on from there.
Chaos Marines Ins & Outs
- One of the most common rules across the entire faction is Death to the False Emperor. This lets you get extra attacks on something with the IMPERIUM keyword on a 6+ (not unmodified roll of a 6+). This means that power fists that are naturally -1 to hit can never get extra attacks. Sorry Power Fist Berserkers!
- The Scorn of Sorcery stratagem is a huge help to negate enemy Psychic powers. However, did you know that you at least get an attempt to deny it? That’s right! If you’ve got a Psyker on your side, you can try to deny it, but if you fail and you’ve got some World Eaters on your team, you can pop 1CP and roll 4+ to negate the effects of the psychic power.
- Speaking of Psychic powers, Warptime is one of the most commonly used powers in the game. But it only has a 3″ casting bubble. However, if you play Thousand Sons, the range is boosted to 9″. Also even if you don’t select it at the beginning of the game, if you catch your opponent slipping you can always play Chaos Familiar and switch it and watch the good times roll.
- This should go without saying, but you also can’t use Daemon stratagems on anything unless it has the faction keyword Daemons. Ahriman becomes a Daemon if he is on a disc!
Things To Know on Space Marines
- Space Marines can’t always have a Captain sitting around. So, they have a stratagem called Wisdom of the Ancients. This lets friendly units within 6″ of a Dreadnought reroll 1’s for the phase. Not the entire turn. Just remember that you can always pop the stratagem in both the shooting AND combat phase. They are separate parts of the game.
- Looking at Psychic powers, Might of Heroes lets you select one model out of a unit to get +1 Strength, Toughness, and Attack. This is usually for characters, but you can always pick someone like your Sergeant in a Tactical Squad to get the bonus. Just keep in mind that the entire unit doesn’t get any bonus… just the model you selected.
The Complexity of the Company Ancient
- Do you like hoarding up your Space Marines around characters to get the maximum benefits for auras? Well, you may want to look at the Company Ancient one more time. While most characters out of the Space Marine codex have auras that affect units within 6″, the Company Ancient only give you the bonus to attacking after dying for models within 6″. This means you’ll really have to scooch up close to the banner holder and pluck the models that die right next to him.
- Still looking at the Company Ancient, if you’ve got Plasma within his bubble and you overcharge your shots on overwatch (and it Gets Hot), then you will technically get to shoot again at your normal ballistic skill thanks to the Ancient. His rule states ” on a 4+ that model musters one last surge of strength before succumbing to its wounds. It can either shot with one of its weapons as if it were in the shooting phase…” Technically, you are not firing overwatch (because you’ve already fired). This is a separate instance of shooting from an ability that lets him shoot as if it were in the shooting phase. We’re certain this won’t come up too often but it’s a neat little trick to have in your back pocket.
These rules aren’t game-breaking but definitely come up in competitive play. Make sure you read the fine print on the rules of your units when you start a new army and remember to have fun! Let us know what rules you used to always get wrong in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
