Warhammer 40K: 10th Ed Rules Preview – Astra Militarum Brings The Big Guns
It’s the Astra Militarum’s turn under the spotlight with their new 10th edition Warhammer 40,000 rules. Call in the big guns!
Games Workshop is continuing their faction focus articles and today it’s the Hammer of the Emperor’s turn. The Astra Militarum is a vast organization with a reach that stretches the length of the Imperium itself. So what will the weapons of war look like in Imperial hands? Let’s get to the rules to find out!
“The Imperium is mind-bogglingly vast, under constant attack from unknowable terrors within and without – and it is only by the daily sacrifice of innumerable Astra Militarum troopers that the darkness is held back. The Imperial Guard is the only organisation enormous enough to protect Humanity’s realm from one galactic edge to the other, built upon the blood and grit of the men and women who hold the line against aliens, mutants, and heretics.”
Faction Rules
Army Rule – Voice of Command
Commands are back and function in a similar way as before. Officers can issue commands to units and they get the respective benefits. Most of the time a unit can only be under the effect of one order at a time. As you can see from the rule above there are once again 6 orders and they are all specialized for what the task is at hand. A cunning general will be able to make the most of the orders on a per unit basis — just bring enough officers to carry out your orders!
Stratagem – Reinforcements!
This is kind of a big deal! For 2 CP you can bring back a Regiment unit that has been destroyed. But what qualifies for that? Good question.
“Your core infantry squads, of course, but also the big guns of Heavy Weapons Squads and Field Ordnance Batteries, elites like Tempestus Scions, and even fast-moving Rough Riders and Sentinel teams! Your reserves are truly as limitless as your devotion.”
Now, we don’t have graphic for the Detachment, but we do have a name and a rough idea of what it does:
“As James from the Warhammer Design Studio told us, ‘with the Combined Regiment Detachment, we wanted to evoke an Astra Militarum force drawing on all of its human courage to stand firm against the foe. Picture Guardsmen and tanks hunkering down to blast the oncoming enemy, and you have the Born Soldiers Detachment rule, which confers Lethal Hits on ranged attacks made by units that Remained Stationary.’ “
So keep an eye out for the Combined Regiment Detachment. I’m sure we’ll be seeing lots of mixed-arms style armies in the new edition with the Astra Militarum.
Astra Militarum Units
Cadian Shock Troops
The Cadian Shock Troopers are still standing in 10th. With a plethora of options you’ll be able to bring the right tools for the job for each unit. The basic stats are probably what’ you’d expect from Guardsmen as well. One thing worth noting is that a squad can either be 10 or 20 man strong now as noted in the unit composition. They can also have leaders attached to the unit and then they function as bodyguards, too.
The Shock Troops ability is also great for taking an objective and it allows them to move off the objective and continue to press on as your opponent has to take it from you in order for it to no longer be in your control. Additionally the Vox-caster can refund CP on stratagems that target the unit on a 5+.
Baneblade
The mobile fortress that is the Baneblade is back and it’s packing an entire armory! With 13 toughness and 24 wounds on a 2+ save good luck to anyone bold enough to attempt to tear this tank down. The Baneblade has some serious firepower options and it’s certainly worth a closer inspection. If you can manage to tag this tank with a Take Aim! order then Emperor help the poor targets of it’s wrath.
If you wanted to go with an alternate to the Baneblade perhaps the Shadowsword is more your style. With the insane Volcano Cannon this beast can slag a titan! I’m also pretty sure that Strength 24 is the highest strength we’ve seen (so far) in all the 10th edition previews.
While it’s not quite Volcano Cannon impressive the Battle Cannon on the Leman Russ is still quite deadly. It’s going to tear-up mass infantry units and can threaten targets in a wide range of toughness brackets. At 3 damage a pop it’s no joke!
The Astra Militarum are rolling out the big guns and preparing for war in Warhammer 40,000: 10th Edition! The Hammer of the Emperor is coming…
What do you think of the latest Astra Militarum rules?
