While they may have been lurking around the darker corners of the internet for a little while, the Core Rules for the brand new 10th Edition of Warhammer 40,000 are now live on Warhammer Community! Thanks to Games Workshop we’ve had the change to dig into these and digest them for a little while, and so we wanted to share our deep dive and thoughts on the rules of the new edition!

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Before we get into the bulk of the article I just want to reassure people that while this is a new edition, we do not see a complete reset as far as the core rules go. This is still a D6 based game, you still roll to hit and wound and each player still takes turns. That said, theres a few things that have changed, some subtle some very much not so and it’s going to be really exciting seeing how things play out once we have some games under our belts!

So let’s start with the turn structure – you’ll see things have been consolidated and shifted a little into the following:

1. Command Phase
2. Movement Phase 
3. Shooting Phase 
4. Charge Phase 
5. Fight Phase 

Command Phase 

The command phase is split into two parts, the first part anyone who played 9th edition will be familiar with where both players gain command points to use on stratagems and use any abilities that specify being used in the command phase like I said anyone returning from the previous edition will be familiar with this part.

The second part is new to this edition which is the battleshock mechanic which is very different to morale in the previous edition, so any unit that is less than 50% of its starting strength ( units of 1 count as being less than 50% if they have less than 50% of its starting number of wounds ) must take a battleshock test by rolling 2D6 and comparing it to the lowest leadership value in the unit, if the test is greater than the leadership value then the test is passed and there’s no issue.

If the roll is less then the value then the test is failed and your unit is battle shocked. Units that are battle shocked change their objective control stat to 0, cannot be affected by stratagems and if they fall back must take desperate escape tests ( more on those later ) now thankfully the insane bravery stratagem still exists and allows a unit that has failed their battleshock test to count as having passed but with it being a stratagem you can only use that stratagem once per phase.

Movement phase

The movement phase is almost identical to the previous edition, you move your units first and then at the end of the movement phase you can bring on reinforcements, the movement phase specifies the different types of movement units can make:

• Normal Move = move a unit unto the value of its movement in inches.
• Remaining Stationary = simply stand still and do not move.
• Advance Move = your movement value plus a D6 but you cannot shoot or charge later in the turn.
• Fall Back move = This section talks about units that are in engagement range of enemy units ( within 1” ) and how that affects your units movement but the big change is fall back moves. So when you want to make a fall back move they must obviously be within engagement range of an enemy unit at the beginning of the movement phase and you can then make a move up to your movement value but your unit can move through enemy units as if they were not there, the only stipulation ( fancy word ) is that your unit does not end within 1” of an enemy unit. If any of the models in the unit have to move through enemy models in this way then you have to take a desperate escape test, basically roll a dice for each friendly model moving through an enemy model and on a 1-2 that model dies.

The rest of the movement section covers moving over terrain, which to put it simply if the terrain piece is less than 2” tall you can move over no problem if the terrain piece is more than 2” then you have to take the vertical distance as part of your move to move up or down the terrain, flying units simply measure from a birds eye prospective.

In the reinforcement step you set up units that you put into reserve ( like deep striking units etc ) the rules of which are detailed in the unit’s rules.

The last section in the movement phase is regarding transports.

We get a run down of transport capacity which is exactly as you would expect I.e. specifies how many models can get in a transport. The new and slightly altered rule is the Firing Deck rule which allows x number of models to fire out of the vehicle, the big change is that it is the vehicle that counts as firing the weapon not the model embarked within so as the vehicle takes damage and potentially gets a -1 to their to hit roll so does the weapon being fired from the firing deck.

We get a run down of how to embark on a transport by simply making a normal, advance of fall back move so that the whole unit is within 3” of the transport. Simples. The only big thing of note is that you cannot embark in the same turn you disembarked.

Speaking of disembarking units that start the movement phase on a transport can disembark (set up wholly within 3” of the transport) either before or after the transport moves, if a unit disembarks before the transport has moved that unit can acct normally if however the unit disembarks after the transport has moved the disembarking unit can not move or declare a charge that turn. Units cannot disembark in a turn in which the transport advanced or fell back as well just a little thing to be aware of.

The last part of the transport section is what happens to an embarked unit when a transport is destroyed, well simply put the unit is not affected by the vehicles deadly demise rule ( exploding ) but instead you roll a dice for every model in the embarked unit and on a roll of a 1 that unit suffers a single mortal wound, they are also automatically battle shocked and count as having normal move and are not allowed to declare a charge that turn.

If the unit making the disembarkation from a destroyed transport cannot be placed within 3” of the transport because of enemy models for example then they are placed within 6” and you make a desperate escape test that fails on a roll of a 1-3 instead of a 1-2.

Shooting Phase

The shooting phase is pretty similar to how it was in the previous edition but like the movement phase there are subtle changes, your units still cannot shoot if they advanced or fell back earlier in the turn or if they are within engagement range of enemy units unless they have an ability to allow them to on their datasheet. 

To start of with you select one of your units to fire their ranged weapons at enemy units that are visible to them by rolling to hit and to wound as normal then your opponent rolls their saving throws (after applying the AP modifier) and removes casualties as normal, you can still spilt your attacks by having a lascannon shoot a tank while the boltguns in the squad shoot at some nearby infantry for example.

The new Lone Operative rule allows models with this rule (normally characters that are not attached to units) to only be targeted by ranged attacks if the attacking unit is within 12” of them which will make these units very survivable.

There is also a new universal rule called Stealth which if all models in a unit have this rule they are -1 to be hit with ranged attacks which I imagine we will see on units like Elder Rangers or some of the Phobos marine units.

One of the more subtler changes in the shooting phase is to the Big Guns Never Tire rule which to our understanding is simply a -1 to hit for vehicles or monsters that are within engagement range of an enemy units, previously vehicles and monsters could shoot in combat but only at units they were engaged with but the new wording of this rule implies that you can still shoot and with the -1 to your to hit rolls but you can  now shoot at units that you are not locked in combat with but your vehicle or monster can also now be targeted by enemy ranged attacks as well. If this is indeed correct then that is a great change as it stops units like a Leman Russ battle tank from getting bogged down in combat.

The shooting phase also covers Feel No Pain rule as well as the Deadly Demise which both return from the previous edition. Feel No Pain for those who don’t know is basically a roll after your unit suffers damage that allows you to ignore the damage before removing casualties while the Deadly Demise rule is no the universal rule for when vehicles or monsters do mortal wounds when they die if their controlling player rolls a 6 on a dice roll.

Weapon Types  

While this section is covered in the shooting phase in the core rules I thought it would be best to cover the weapon types in it’s own section.

• Assault: Can advance and still shoot.

• Rapid Fire: At half the maximum range of the weapon you double the number of shots that weapon has so rapid fire 2 would fire 4 shots at enemy units with half range.

• Ignores Cover: Does what it says on the tin enemy unit do not receive the benefit of cover against this weapon.

• Twin-Linked: Twin-Linked weapons simply re-roll the wound rolls.

• Pistol: Pistol weapons can be shot in combat but if you shoot with a pistol weapon you cannot shoot with any other weapon the model may have.

• Torrent: Torrent weapons automatically hit.

• Lethal Hits: A Critical Hit roll (usually an unmodified hit roll of a 6) automatically wounds the target unit.

• Lance: On the charge lance weapons get +1 to wound rolls.

• Indirect Fire: You can target units that are not visible to the firing unit but the target unit gets the benefit of cover and the firer suffered -1 to the to hit roll.

• Precision: Weapons with the precision rule can target enemy characters when they are in attached units.

• Blast: Blast weapons get +1 to the number of attacks for every 5 models in the target unit but cannot be shot at enemy units in engagement range of friendly units.

• Melta: When shot at enemy units within half range of the weapon the damage of the attack is increased by a number ( Melta 2 would add 2 to the damage of the attack for example).

• Heavy: If the attacking model’s unit remained stationary in the movement phase you get +1 to hit with heavy weapons.

• Hazardous: After a unit attacks with a hazardous weapon you roll a dice for each hazardous weapon used and on a roll of a 1 one model with a hazardous weapon is killed, characters, vehicles and monsters suffer 3 mortal wounds instead.

• Devastating Wounds: A critical wound roll (usually a unmodified 6 to wound) does a number of mortal wounds equal to the damage of the attack instead of it normal damage.

• Sustained Hits: Each time a critical hit roll is made with this weapon you get a number of extra hits denoted by the number so sustained hits 1 you would get 2 hits for each critical hit, 1 for the hit and 1 extra for the sustained hit rule.

• Extra Attacks: Simply put the bearer can attack with a weapon that has the extra attacks rule in addition to any other they would be allowed to attack with.

• Anti: Weapons with the Anti rule will specify a particular target so anti – psyker for example will score a critical wound on a certain role against that unit type, so anti-infantry 4+ would score a critical wound on a 4+ against infantry units.

Charge Phase 

Still a very simple phase which is when your units charge into glorious combat.

Units that charge now get the fights first ability which is the same as it was in the previous edition but now is a universal rule, to declare a charge you must be within 12” of an enemy unit which still does not need to be visible (still annoys me that you can charge something you cant see) as long as your unit did not advance / fall back or is already within engagement range.

To make a charge roll you roll 2D6 and that is your total charge range that your unit can move, to successfully make the charge you need to end the charge move within engagement range (1”) of an enemy unit or units that you declared as your target and still be within unit coherency (models must be within 2” of a friendly model form the same unit). 

Similarly to the movement phase models with the fly keyword do not take vertical distance into account and you measure from a birds eye perspective while units that do not have the fly keyword only measure vertical distances if the terrain is more than 2” tall.

Fight Phase 

Now that your units have made that long charge it’s now time to chop up (not literally) your opponents models in the fight phase.

Both players take it in turn selecting units to fight starting with the player whose turn is not taking place, it is important to note that your units that made the charge have the fights first special rule and will still fight before your opponent selects their unit, for a unit to be eligible to fight in the fight phase a unit must be within engagement range of an enemy unit or have made a charge this turn.

To start a fight a player will pick a unit make a 3” pile in move so that any model that is not in base contact moves and tries to get in base to base contact if possible, a model can fight if after the pile in move is made it is in base contact with an enemy model or within an 1” of an enemy model.

You then select a melee weapon, roll the number of dice indicated on the weapons profile make your to wound rolls and then your opponent makes any saving rolls and removes casualties, after this your unit makes a consolidation move which is basically a pile in move with one small addition, you can move 3” towards an objective marker if there are no enemy models with engagement range and you end that move in range of the objective marker which is a subtle but important change. 

This process is repeated until both player do not have any units to select which ends the player turn and once all of the above is repeated for your opponent the battle round ends and a new round begins.

Deployment Abilities 

There are some abilities that units can have that allow them to deploy in certain ways which i’ll talk about here:

• Deep Strike: A unit with the deep strike rule can be set up in reserves and be deployed in the reserves step of your movement phase more than 9” horizontally away from all enemy models.

• Scouts: At the start of the first battle round but before the first turn starts units with the scout ability can move x ( x will be the number of inches as stated on the models datasheet ) as can any dedicated transport that unit is embarked on as long as all models in the unit have the scout ability, if both players have scout units then the player going first moves their units first.

• Infiltrators: Instead of setting up a unit of infiltrators in your deployment zone you can set them up anywhere on the board 9” away from enemy territory and models.

• Leader: One of the biggest changes in 10th edition is the leader keyword which allows leader models to be deployed into a certain unit for the entirety of the game which will be listed on their datasheet. This unit acts as a bodyguard for the hero and your opponent can only target the unit and not the leader model ( unless you have a precision weapon for example ) using the bodyguards toughness etc.

Stratagems 

One of the things that I really disliked about the previous edition was the sheer amount of stratagems which thankfully have been significantly reduced in number and are now a lot more organised, each stratagem has a colour which identifies when it can be used:

Green = Either players turn.

Blue = Your turn.

Red = In your opponents turn.

There are a number of stratagems in the core rules which add some nice flavour to the game which I think was what stratagems were always meant to do. Each stratagem costs a number of command points in order to use them.

Either Players turn 

Command re-roll 1 CP: You can re-roll one of the following for a unit in a phase, a hit, wound, damage roll, saving throw, advance roll, charge roll, desperate escape test, hazardous roll, the number of dice for an attack made for a weapon in a unit. 

Counter-offensive 2CP: Allows one of your units to fight after your opponent has picked on of their units to fight provided they haven’t already fought basically allowing you to pick a unit out of sequence to fight.

Epic Challenge 1CP: Gives one of you character models the precision rule.

Your turn 

Insane Bravery 1CP: Use after one of your units fails a battleshock test and you automatically pass, nice thing is you get to roll before choosing to use this stratagem and its not a one use anymore.

Grenade 1CP: In your shooting phase you can pick a unit with the grenade keyword to make a special attack where you roll 6 dice and for each 4+ you do a mortal wound to a single enemy unit within 8”.

Tank Shock 1CP: After a vehicle model finishes a charge you pick a melee weapon that model has and roll a number of dice equal to the strength of that weapon and each 5+ does a mortal wound to an enemy unit within engagement range.

Opponents Turn 

Rapid Ingress 1CP: You can use this stratagem in your opponents movement phase to bring a unit on from reserves provided it is on a turn it is allowed to.

Fire Overwatch 1CP: You can pick one of your friendly units to shoot at one of your opponents units (within 24”) when they are selected to move ( you can fire either before or after that unit has moved) in the movement phase or charge phase but you only hit on 6’s to hit.

Go To Ground 1CP: You can select one of your Infantry units when they are targeted by an enemy unit and your unit gets a 6+ invulnerable save and receive the benefit of cover (+1 to saves to a maximum of 3+)

Smokescreen 1CP: A unit with the Smoke keyword can use this stratagem to gain the stealth rule ( -1 to be hit ) and the benefit of cover.

Heroic Intervention 2CP: After an enemy unit makes a charge move you can a friendly unit that is not within engagement range to declare a charge if they are within 6”, the only restriction is that only vehicles that are walkers can use this stratagem and the unit that makes the intervention does not receive any charge bonus.

Strategic Reserves 

Strategic reserves are units that you place off the board at the beginning of the game and are  essentially the same as the previous edition just a little more streamlined, you can only put 25% of your starting army size into strategic reserves so for incursion games (1,000 points ) you can only put a combined points value of 250 points into strategic reserve.

Your strategic reserves come on in the reserve step of the movement phase and can come on from turn 2 onwards and if they are not brought on before the game ends they count as being destroyed.

Your units can be set up anywhere within 6” of the edge of the battlefield ( not in your opponents deployment zone ) on round 2 and in round 3 onwards they can be set up anywhere on the battlefield again within 6” of the battlefield edge, regardless of the battle round your unit must be more than 9” from enemy models.

Terrain Features 

So terrain in 9th edition was simply a bit of a pain to me and unless it was obscuring I pretty much just ignored it for the most part in the new edition terrain feels more streamlined which is really nice to see.

I’ve mentioned that your units can benefit from cover but what does that actually mean, well simply put units that benefit from cover get to add one to their saving throw rolls against ranged attacks which is really nice. There is a caveat that units with a 3+ save or better do not get this bonus against attacks that have an armour penetration value of 0 which stops some relatively survivable units from becoming indestructible ( well almost indestructible ).

There are different categories of terrain:

Craters: Simply give Infantry units the benefit of cover.

Barricades + fuel pipes: Models cannot end a move on top of barricades / pipes, if an infantry unit is wholly within 3” of the terrain piece and is not 100% visible to the unit shooting at them they get the benefit of cover, if an enemy unit is within an 1” of the terrain piece then your unit can charge them if they are a close as possible to the terrain piece and ends the charge within 2” of them.

Battlefield Debris: Basically a unit benefits from cover if they are not 100% visible to the firing unit.

Hill, Structures, Sealed Buildings, and Armoured Containers: Units can move over them following the normal rules for movement but models can only end their move on the terrain piece if their base does not overhang the base at all and units only get the benefits of cover if they are 100% not visible to the shooting unit.

Woods: So if a unit is wholly in a wood or a unit shoots at a target through a wood that unit always has the benefit of cover unless they are Aircraft or Towering units.

Ruins: Models in ruins now get a bonus to the armour penetration of their attacks if they are 6″ above the ground level and they shoot at units that are on the ground floor which is a cool addition but I wonder how often it will come up, models can only finish a move or be set up on ruins if their base does not overhang the floor or level of the ruin and like the previous edition units cannot see through ruins but can be seen and see units that are in ruins, Aircraft and towering models can be seen through ruins but only if they are actually visible.

Aircraft

Aircraft now automatically start the game in strategic reserves unless they have the hover keyword and choose to “Hover” at which point they no longer count as being an aircraft model and are deployed normally, aircraft still move by pivoting 90 degrees and then making a normal move which they can do regardless of enemy models, if an aircraft moves off the board they go into strategic reserves. Aircraft cannot charge or make pile in moves but can be charged by models with the Fly keyword.

Objective Markers

Objective markers are now 40mm markers that models can move over but never end a move on now which is a great little change. All objective markers are not controlled by any player so in order for a player to control an objective that player must move a model within 3″ horizontally or 5″ vertically to capture an objective marker and have a higher objective control characteristic then their opponent does at the end of any phase.

Units now have a new characteristic called objective control ( OC ) which you add up the total of all friendly models on an objective to get your control value and if yours is higher than your opponents then you control the objective.

Army Construction

One of the biggest changes in 10th Edition is how an army is built – things are a lot easier now in that you simply pick at least one hero, and then can take up to 3 of each non-battleline unit and up to 6 of each battleline unit. Each Epic Hero can only be taken once, but you can have multiple different Epic Heroes within an army. This creates so much freedom in how you now build armies, and I hope we start to see lots of variety in lists rather than being punished for taking something unusual or niche. We’ll be digging into how the various armies work along with some example army lists throughout the month of June!

Final Thoughts

So the mantra of this edition of Warhammer 40k has been “Simplified, not simple” and I feel that is true through these rules – while we havnt seen massive engine shifting changes to the core game, we see enough differences to make games more fun and engaging – The real reset here is going to be with the unit profiles, and the fact that ALL of the profiles for 10th edition are being released for free at the same time means that everyone will be playing at the same benchmark again, without the problem of newer armies out performing older ones – We’ll report back on how that holds up when the codexes start to be released, but based on this rule set I’m optimistic!

We’ll be doing a load of 40k content over the month of June, and make sure to come back to the site at 10am tomorrow as we dig into a much anticipated Launch Box with our full review and unboxing…

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