New Salamanders detachment rules let flamers fire while locked in combat, giving Warhammer 40k’s fire-loving Marines a nasty new trick.
The Salamanders didn’t just get a solid detachment; GW gave them a way around a restriction everybody else in Warhammer 40k 11th Edition has to deal with.
Torrent weapons picked up a fixed number of shots with Blast this edition, which means flamers can’t fire while they’re engaged, even into Vehicles and Monsters. Everybody else has to live with that, but the Salamanders have spent ten thousand years pointing flamers at things, so GW made it “rules canon” now.
This is day four of the Codex: Space Marines reveal run, following the opening detachment dump, Blood Angels, and Space Wolves. Plus, it’s not just Salamanders, as the Raven Guard got their turn the same morning, and what they picked up may be even more annoying than Salamanders.
- Forgefather’s Seekers: an extra Devastator doctrine use per game, and flamers that still fire while locked in combat.
- Shadowmark Talon: Stealth on every ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit by default, plus 3″ shaved off Phobos and Scout detection.
- Three more Chapters: Ultramarines, Iron Hands, and Imperial Fists each pick up four enhancements and six stratagems.
Salamanders Got Written Out of the Rule That Benched Everyone Else’s Flamers
We didn’t expect GW’s answer to the Torrent problem to be “Salamanders don’t have to care,” but that’s pretty much what Forgefather’s Seekers is. Forgefather’s Seekers works with the Devastator doctrine from the new Combat Doctrines army rule, which already gives your guns Assault, then lets you use that doctrine one extra time each game.
Vulkan He’stan gets more mileage out of his Infernus Squads, too, because they can now perform actions after advancing or falling back. On missions where you’re constantly deciding between doing the job and firing the flamers, units no longer have to make that choice. They can advance or fall back, handle actions, and still do what you brought an Infernus Squad to do.
Forged in Fire is where things get really different, because flamers across the board can’t fire while engaged now that Torrent has fixed shots with Blast. This stratagem, though, removes those downsides and lets the Salamanders keep torching things at point-blank range anyway.
Best of all, if staying locked in isn’t what you want, Wrath and Ruin covers the other option by activating an alternative doctrine so you can fall back and shoot instead.
GW can call that Chapter flavor, but it’s still a faction-level exception to a restriction everybody else has to follow. The Salamanders were already showing up at the top of events before any of these new rules arrived, so we’ll see how these boost them.
Raven Guard: Hand Your Whole Army Stealth Before a Single Model Moves
Raven Guard aren’t getting the same kind of rules exception, but Shadowmark Talon instead makes the whole army harder to shoot before anybody has even moved a model. Phobos-armored units are already faster this edition in exchange for wearing lighter armor, and now the old 12″ gate on Benefit of Cover is gone.
PHOBOS and SCOUT units then shave another three inches off their detection range, while Aethon Shaan can still disappear back into Strategic Reserves for free once per battle round. Stack all of that together, and the problem isn’t a few sneaky units hiding around the board. It’s getting a clean shot at the Raven Guard army at all.
Suppressed Weapons look especially nasty. One INFANTRY unit gets to unload with everything and stay hidden from return fire, and the rule isn’t restricted to the Phobos side of the book. So nothing stops you from putting it on Eradicators with Heavy Bolters and hosing down a screen from across the table.
Ultramarines, Iron Hands, and Imperial Fists Detachment Previews
GW crammed the other three Chapters into one paragraph, but there’s still a lot going on once you look at the detachment points. Ultramarines, Iron Hands, and Imperial Fists all get updated special detachments with four enhancements and six stratagems each. Iron Hands and Imperial Fists both come in at 2DP, so you’ve still got room to pair either one with one of the Codex’s 1DP detachments.
- Ultramarines, Iron Hands, Imperial Fists: all three get updated special detachments in the Codex.
- Four enhancements each: per updated Chapter detachment.
- Six stratagems each: per updated Chapter detachment.
- 2DP price tag: the Iron Hands and Imperial Fists detachments both land there, leaving room for a 1DP generic alongside.
- Named pairings: Ceramite Sentinels with Gravis Siege Force, Shadowmark Talon with Phobos Shadow Force.
Final Thoughts on Salamanders Detachments
After four days of these reveals, the DP costs are becoming just as important as what the detachments actually do. Forgefather’s Seekers and Shadowmark Talon are good examples, because now the decision isn’t just whether you like what a Chapter detachment does. You’ve also got to decide whether those tricks are worth 2DP when cheaper 1DP options are a thing too.
After Saturday, we’re more curious whether Forged in Fire stays a Salamanders oddity or starts a pattern. GW is willing to let a faction step around a core weapon restriction when it fits the army, and if more of those exceptions start appearing in future codex releases, every new rules update may be just as exciting as today!
🔗 Related Reads:
- New 11th Edition Space Marines Detachments Drop Big Buffs For Every Major Chapter
- Space Wolves Detachments Split Grey Hunters Into Two Squads
- Blood Angels Detachments Hit 2DP, Lion Gets Toughness 10
- Warhammer 40k 11th Edition Rules: Release Date, Detachments + Every Change
- 40k Salamanders Guide: Vulkan, Nocturne and the Promethean Cult Explained
- Space Marine Chapters Explained: Top Chapters, Tactics, Key Units and Lore
- 40k Codex Release Dates: Orks, Space Marines and 11th Edition
Are the new Salamanders detachments the pick of the Codex: Space Marines run so far, or is Shadowmark Talon the one you’d actually field?
