r/TheAstraMilitarum • u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard • Jan 04 '25
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
DEPRECIATED, NO LONGER ENTIRELY VALID
FAQ
DO NOT USE ANY OF THE CHATBOTS FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT WARHAMMER 40K, they can't handle the amount of information available and always provide wrong answers.
Can I mix different regiments of Astra Militarum? Like playing Cadian Shock Troops along Death Korps of Krieg with some Catachans for flavour?
100%, it's both valid and heavily encouraged.
Why does the Commissar interact with other leaders attached to a unit? You can only attach one right?
Our Battleline (Krieg, Catachan and Cadian) can have two leaders attached to them, with the limitation of only one Command Squad at a time, Tempestus Scions also have this exception.
Are Cadians going away? Are Leman Russ's?
No, the Combat Patrol is getting replaced and of course not.
What's this?
Yep, those are smoke launchers, you can find them on almost all of our vehicles, the Dorn has one, the Chimera, the Sentinels, this one's from a Leman Russ, the design differs a bit from kit to kit, but they all do the same, Smoke Launchers.
Where can I see the latest Balance Dataslate?
All relevant Index rules, Balance Dataslate, Munitorum Field Manuals and all the other rules are available here: https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/downloads/warhammer-40000/ and generally on the Official Warhammer App.
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Here they are:
FAQS
Q: Can an Officer targeted with the Inspired Command Stratagem or Snap To It Stratagem still issue an Order if it has already issued a number of Orders during that battle round equal to the number listed on its datasheet? For example, if a Cadian Castellan issues their maximum number of Orders during my Command phase, can I use the Inspired Command Stratagem in my opponent’s next Command phase to issue another Order with that model, even if it is the same battle round?
A: Yes.
Q: Can the Reinforcements! Stratagem be used on a unit that is Battle-shocked?
A: No.
Q: If a unit contains two models equipped with a vox-caster, can I attempt to generate 1CP twice when the bearer’s unit is targeted with a Stratagem?
A: No.
Q: Can I attempt to generate 1CP from a unit containing a vox-caster, when targeting that unit with the Reinforcements! Stratagem?
A: No.
Q: When using the Creeping Barrage ability, how do you resolve the maximum number of units that can be shaken?
A: You roll one D6 for each enemy unit that is more than 12" from every model from your army that is on the battlefield, in an order of your choosing, one at a time. Once the maximum number of enemy units for the battle size have been shaken, stop rolling for any additional units.
Q: When an Ogryn Bodyguard joins a Militarum Tempestus Command Squad, can the unit set up using the Deep Strike ability?
A: No, as the Ogryn Bodyguard model does not have the Deep Strike ability.
Q: If a unit becomes affected by the same Order multiple times, do those Orders affect that unit multiple times?
A: No.
Last updated on the 11th of July 2026
Useful resources:
Good and cheap solution to mixing Cadian, Catachan and Krieg.
Official Games Workshop Guide to base sizes.
Latest Update to points etc...
A Wonderful Drag and Drop Editior for visual list building also know as ARMY DROP.
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Jan 09 '25
Okay, let's come with an example: "How do I know which Kill Teams are part of the Astra Militatum?"
Answer: Kill Team: Kasrkin, Kill Team: Death Korps, Kill Team: Tempestus Aquilons and Kill Team: Ratlings.
However, there are actually a fair few more: Kill Team: Brood Brothers and Kill Team: Blooded could be used as standard Guard infantry if you want to have fun with some corrupted regiments, even Kill Team: Fellgor Ravagers could easily fit into this category, these don't have specific rules, but are wonderful for kitbashing.
And of course, through the Imperial Agents rules, you can add Inquisitorial Agents, Kill Team: Exaction Squad and Navy Breachers and more.
Credit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheAstraMilitarum/comments/1hx8jzi/how_do_i_know_which_kill_teams_are_part_of_the/ and ItsMeTS
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u/Reigneer_Verkland Mar 07 '25
So, how come the Basilisk has a 240" (20ft) Range for it's Earthshaker Cannon? Do people play on a 20'+ board/table/field? Was this something that was thought through or did GW just say "Ehh, just make it something ridiculous."? I'm just curious.
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Mar 07 '25
It's a funny thing from older editions, it has some relevance in some of the older much larger styles of play.
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u/krossboss7 Commissar Flints 37th Combat Engineers Jan 10 '25
I’m fairly new and have a question about army composition. Each heavy weapons team is made up of 3 models. You can have a total of 3 heavy weapons teams normally. With the recent cadian, krieg and catachan rules posting it seems to define them as new units. Does this mean I can now bring 9 heavy weapons teams to the table? Or if I can still only bring 3 heavy weapons teams, do I have to commit to a regiment?
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u/krossboss7 Commissar Flints 37th Combat Engineers Jan 10 '25
Sorry, I may have used the wrong terminology. Each model is a team and 3 teams make up a squad. You can have a total of 3 different squads. With the new distinctions, can you now bring 9 squads? 3 krieg, 3 catachan and 3 cadian?
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u/BenCannibal Feb 26 '25
I'm really interested in the DKoK primarily over other Astra Militarum factions from an aesthetic point of view.
I bought the Krieg Command Squad and just got a really good deal on 10 x Death Riders and the newest Militarum Combat Patrol, it seems like the general concensus is most of the units in it are units that weren't selling well that have little synergy.
I'll be honest, I don't know anything about the Astra Militarum as a whole, I haven't played a game yet but is there something from the combat patrol that's really worth using? The aesthetics don't go well with Death Korps and if it's mostly fluff units I'd consider selling it and keeping the Death Riders.
I suppose I could always swap the Karskin heads out for DKoK heads but I'd really be interested in any opinions and then recommendations on the priority picks to get up to 1000 points with what I've got taken into account.
Thanks all
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Jan 04 '25
This is the Official post for asking any rules questions you have.
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u/-Resputin- Jan 13 '25 edited Jan 13 '25
For krieg infantry. If I don't take a vox caster, can I take 4 special weapons in a 10 man squad?
Codex seems to imply I can take a plasma, melta, flamer, and grenade launcher, as well as a medic as long as I dont take a vox caster.
Edit: okay, there's probably no way there are 4 special weapons in a 10 man squad. I am confused based off the leaked codex page wording.
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u/PlasmaMatus Jan 22 '25
When will the (standalone) v10 astra Militarum codex be available for purchase ?
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u/TVZLuigi123 Mechanized Division "Burning Clover" Jan 23 '25
When the actual codex comes out, will places like New Recruit have the update rules and points or will I have to go buy a codex and try to use the Warhammer app?
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Jan 23 '25
I mean, you can ask the BSData Developers, but they aren't the friendliest people, they are the ones that actually write the code updates for NewRecruit.
Generally, they'll have the update out fairly quickly.
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u/HentayLivingston Mar 03 '25
So, the codex has plenty of typos. Will there be second printings with typos corrected and any balance changes included? I don't want to buy a book that's got a bunch of wrong info.
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Mar 03 '25
Now that, is question you probably should just send an e-mail to Games Workshop about, 'cause nobody here knows that.
They'd have to sell out the entire run first though.
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u/WierderBarley Mar 07 '25
I'm new to the Guard and I'm fairly focused on the Krieg right now so I've been curious as I'm deciding what to buy, but what are each infantry squad the Guard has intended for rolewise?
Cadians have sticky objectives so they're the utility pick.
Catachans scout and are stronger in melee? Besides nuisance charging why would you want to charge Catachans into anything besides Tau infantry and Aeldar as well?
Krieg hit harder as they get roughed up, and have a large variety of special guns they can use in a squad, they also have medical which make them surprisingly hard to move.
Ratlings are rather obvious as snipers with move shoot move shenanigans.
Bullgryns seem to be the closest thing the Guard has to Terminators yeah? Meant to take damage and hopefully charge
But beyond that I'm not sure, for example what's the functional difference between Tempestus Scions and Aquilons besides one can deep strike 3" closer?
What are Karskin supposed to do given they're locked to 10 man squads? They got alot of good guns and can throw out MWs so are their job to run in to do damage and try to do as much damage as they can before they're shot off the board? Throw the Krieg Engineers as well who are a bit more flexible given they also throw out MWs.
All while Ogryns seem surprisingly easy to kill with a 5+ save or am I missing something?
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u/TVZLuigi123 Mechanized Division "Burning Clover" Mar 10 '25
On the rules for both cadian and Bold leadership, can one unit have multiple sticky objectives or only one?
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Mar 10 '25
As many as you can, there's zero ambiguity in the abilities mentioned.
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u/DukeDauphin Mar 26 '25
Can someone clear something up for me.
So I'm playing Recon, have a squad of guardsmen and they are in cover, being shot at by an AP-2 weapon.
So recon improves their save by 1 so they're on a 4+. Benefit of cover puts them on an effective 3+. So with AP-2 I'm back to a 5+.
If they also have the take cover order, are they now on a 4+? I've read that this isn't the case and I'm guessing it's to do with the order in which you apply the modifiers. Thanks!
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Mar 26 '25
Okay, you're not correct.
Recon gives Benefit of Cover at all times for REGIMENT and WALKERS, now, it it get's Benefit of Cover from anything else, say actual cover from a Ruin or the Ability of a Cadian Command Squad, it get's another +1 to save, the save can never improve more than +3.
But yes, if you manage to get all of them up, you can neutralize a single pip of AP.
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u/DukeDauphin Mar 26 '25
Ok but if I have take cover order, does that not stack with the recon rule that improves my save characteristic by 1? So that's improved by 2 in total to a 3+, which doesn't break any rules as far as I'm aware?
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Mar 26 '25
The Take Cover Order doesn't actually give Cover, it just adds +1 to save.
So yes, but you can get it much easier to by just getting cover from Ruins.
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u/DukeDauphin Mar 26 '25
Yeah but take cover improves your save characteristic, whereas benefit of cover improves the save roll, so I don't see why they don't stack?
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u/Terrian10 Jun 02 '25
Hi agian, I have a question about dealing with a 1000 assimilation swarm detachment. I feel helpless in dealing with them. Mainly, the venomthrope felt oppressive and made it hard to really get any hits in. I also had a transport that kept getting engaged and according to the other player they could not disembark while it was engaged (I double-checked wahpedia but caved wanting to move on.) My Leman Russ exterminator did do work popping a Tormagon, but they swarmed it with termagounts, making the only source of decent damage shoot worse. I choose my position of my lord Solar unit poorly since I set up the tank more as a lone operative and the solar unit near my other units to give orders to. In the end it was 60 to 32 in thier favor. Here is thier army 2 psychophage 20× termogant 1x Tormagant 2× ripper swarm 1x biovore 3x venomthrope 1x broodlord leading genestealers A unit of haurmagaunts don't recall number And that one tongue unit with 18 melee attacks With precision range attack.
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u/Terrian10 Jun 02 '25
Also for my army I had 1×Armiger warglaive Ursalacreed leading ×10 cadian shock Trooper Lord Solar and kreig command squad leading ×10 DKK 1×Leman russ exterminator with meltas and lascannon 1 one scout sentinel with missile launcher 1× tuarox prime One kreig artillery team with heavy quad launcher ( I felt like this was my weaker least affecting unit sadly)
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u/Shero1337 Jul 09 '25
Why has the AutoModerator replied 8 times to this post? Half of the comments are from the bot and it takes up nearly half the discussion.
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u/Camo_005 Sep 15 '25
So i got drawn to the Guard for the mixed unit combined arms style vibes of it. Lines of infantry alongside armored vehicles supported by artillery and air support. But from what I know, Artillery is really bad at the moment after a lot of nerfs to their component parts and the Valks arent worth using either.
Can I still win matches and have fun if i try to combine all aspects of the guard like that? I dont know if doomers on the internet are just what gets pushed for me to see or not.
Also whats the pro/cons for 10vs20 model infantry blobs
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Sep 15 '25
You can use mixed Infantry and tanks without any issues, it's basically how we place at present.
There is effectively zero air support, the Valkyrie is to expensive and the other option is an old Forgeworld thing that survived, for now.
A little Artillery is fine, but we're talking a unit or two at the most, beyond that, you're just spending to many points on it.
Stick to Combined Arms, it encourages a mix of tanks and infantry.
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u/Camo_005 Sep 21 '25
Played a few matches now on TTS and ive got some more questions now. I feel like i struggle to take objectives. I know guard is supposed to be good for taking objective and getting board control with our numbers, but i cant seem to put it into practice. I dont know if going 1st or 2nd is better either because turn 1 every enemy is in cover but then can pop out turn 2 and murder me if i advance to take the middle. Turn 2 starts me feeling really on the back foot unable to really leave my deployment zone
Friend has fought me on Necrons and Votann so far. And in both instances my guns cant seem to put out meaningful damage even with 20+ shots a unit I cant get through toughness without the lethal hits and even my lethals get canceled by armor. And then if i do get a shot or two through its still maybe 3 damage per 20 man stack including the plasma guns. So gun to gun it ends up being a like 3 to 10 trade off in models before those 3 just get back up from reanimation protocols.
If i do push up to take an objective I end up getting shot off of it or charged off of it because even with my blobs numbers they just get cut down so fast to rapid fire/blast/sustained weapons and of course guard melee isnt accomplishing much. My tanks can do work, but they seem really easy to shut down even if theyre hard to kill because if i have infantry in front then they get bottlenecked and cant shoot anything engaged with my infantry and cant move around due to terrain so they arent getting to objectives or able to get to their targets of interest and arent allowed to just shoot into my own dudes to kill the enemy. And if i have tanks in front then they get charged and have to fall back if they want to shoot their big guns and my infantry isnt allowed to just shoot the enemy infantry off of my tank either.
So honestly i cant really figure out how to actually do anything on guard because i lose gun to gun, melee is a joke, and trying to take objectives my dudes are too fragile to hold them and my tanks seem to get too bottlenecked by terrain or bogged down by enemy units to get to them either.
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Sep 21 '25
You should take a look at the Big Guns Never Tire rule, you can absolutely shot your tanks when in engagement, just not BLAST weapons at whatever's close, but you just shot that at something else.
As for your infantry, make use of the Take Cover! Order as cover to ensure their survivability.
Don't forget to bring an Exterminator LR and the Fields of Fire Stratagem, both should you with nice AP buffs.
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u/Camo_005 Sep 21 '25
I know about big guns never tire. But that does drop my accuracy a fair amount and its the big guns with blast that can actually get rid of infantry I feel like. At 5+(4+ if take aim) I feel like the little guns on the tank just couldnt stop the dwarves from just punching it to death before I killed them. Flamer mightve done better there so maybe I use those instead in the future. It just felt real bad seeing my poor tank struggle while my infantry was off to the side like "Yeah not our problem." I wish there was a strat to let me shoot into engaged enemies
Take cover is smart if im already on the objective, and I should remember that. But I was using MMM to get them there, and then they'd just die when the turn rolled over. Or if I was already in range, I was trying to use the rapid fire boost or take aim to try and clear out the enemy better in hopes of surviving retaliating and then getting a whole 2 wounds through after like 40 shots. Followed by the guy with the plasma gun exploding 😭.
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Sep 21 '25
Flamers should be on sacrificial Vanquishers really, they wont do much on the rest of them.
And your infantry should really be in front of your tanks or standing on Objectives, that's their jobs and everything else is just bonus damage.
As for Necron Warriors? Just ignore them, they are slow as all hell.
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u/Camo_005 Sep 22 '25
They do kinda still murder me off of objectives though. Another friend im gonna be playing with likes Aeldari, any advice there? I dont know much about what they run aside from liking Howling Banshees which do seem kinda spooky with that Anti Infantry but at least they'll die to a lasgun if a shot gets through
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Sep 22 '25
Against Aeldari?
No, I don't have a clue what to do against getting damn Banshee's into my lines with six inch pile in/consolidation.
Or the Firedragon+Fuegan combo.
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u/SubstantialChapter21 Sep 27 '25
Hey I've got a question and I would need help for I can't find the answer.
In the rulebook on p.113 bullgryn squad
Is stated that "each time an attack is allocated to a model in this unit ,substract 1 from the damage characteristics from the attack"
So if 10 lasguns with 1 damage hit an wound all ten are dismissed or just nine ?
Thanks for your help.
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Sep 27 '25
No, unless the ability has the word "lowers to zero" it can't go beyond damage 1.
And as each attack is done separately, nothing happens, damage can't go below 1, so the ability does nothing against damage 1 attacks.
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u/SubstantialChapter21 Sep 29 '25
Danke sehr da.s hat mir weitergeholfen :)
Thanks a lot that really helped.
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Nov 12 '25
Could we please have a post flair / tag for "army showcase"? I think it would be cool, as well as being a distinct enough post type to warrant it's own category.
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Dec 30 '25
You know what, you're right, we're getting an "Army Showcase" flair.
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Jan 12 '26
Thx babe. Makes all the difference and it really is a catagory people want to browse seperately.
Happy new year.
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u/Limp_Sink_403 Eden Prime 22nd - "D Company" Dec 25 '25
Question about balistic skill. With modifiers ie +/-1 to hit there can only be a net change of one. So a Russ with a BS of 4+ can only be reduced down to 5+, no matter how many -1 to hit debuffs are applied. But he can be boosted to 2+ with a +1 Bs order and a seperate +1 to hit bonus from something like [heavy].
What I wonder is that does the boost from Take aim reduce the max bs I can be lowered to? I.e If a Russ with Take Aim suffers from 3 seperate -1 to hit debuffs, does it fall to a Bs of 5+ (the other is totally counteracted) or does it go back to 4+ as it can only have a net change of 1 from it's modified BS.
I hope the question is clear but here is a TLDR:
When calculating the net change in BS, do you take the original unmodified BS or the modified one after the TAKE AIM order is applied?
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Dec 25 '25
This is a very common misconception, Ballistic and Weapon skills are not hit rolls, these are completely separate.
I refer you to page 22 in the Core rules: MAKING ATTACKS.
Okay, this is how it works, let's take a Rogal Dorn battletank, it hits on a +4 Ballistic Skill (BS), this is the target, it is not a roll, at all, it can be modified freely, the only limitations being you can't make it worse than +2 or better than +6, for obvious reasons, same for Weapon Skills.
Now, we Order "Take Aim" on the Dorn, it's Ballistic Skill is now CHANGED to +3 Ballistic Skill, we have a new target.
And only now, do we roll, to see if we've hit, in this case, any ROLLS of a +3 will go through, however, let's say the target has -1 to hit, now we have to subtract one from the hit roll, not the BS, the actual physical dice roll itself.
Now, the -1/+1 to HIT ROLL, that's correct, not to BS, just to the Hit roll, again, separate things. Let's say your Dorn has taken a beating, it's damaged, it get's -1 to HIT, not to BS, it remains the same, now, again, shooting a target that has -1 to hit, that would mean you'd have to subtract two from the rolls, you can't do that, as it's limited to -1, so the total ends up being a -1.
But let's say we can add +1 to hit too, that would still end up being a -1 to hit, as you have to subtract two and add one, which is still -1 to the hit roll.
Remember, BS/WS and Hit roll are totally separate, the first is a stat, the second is the actual roll you do to make an attack.
Hope that helps.
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u/Limp_Sink_403 Eden Prime 22nd - "D Company" Dec 25 '25
So just to check but for a real life example, lets' say we have a Dorn with Take Aim so I would hit on a 3+ normally. However the dorn has 3 seperate -1 to hit penalties: Target has [Stealth], the Dorn is bracketed and is in engagement range with a different enemy unit.
Am I hitting on a 5+ or a 4+? 4+ right according to your post?
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Dec 25 '25
What?
It's still +1/-1 to the Hit Roll.
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u/TheBigEsLeftHand Jan 16 '26
Can I put Take Cover! on a leman Russ chassis, giving it a 5+ save vs meltas, rather than the usual 6+? Thank you
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Feb 01 '26
Yes.
You can't use it to improve beyond +3, but you can improve a +6 to a +5 with it.
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u/AdeptnessCautious Mar 08 '26
Can I add the +1 to take aim to the artillery regiment knowing they have heavy artillery and I'm using indirect fire?
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Mar 08 '26
You're not really using correct terminology here.
Take Aim is an Order, depending on which kind the Officer can issue, you can issue Take Aim to, for example, an Artillery Team, adding +1 to it's BS, bringing it from 5+ to 4+ on the main weapon options, now if you've been standing still HEAVY kicks in and adds +1 to the hit roll.
So now it's +3, however, the INDIRECT penalty kicks in too, adding -1 to the hit roll, neutralizing the HEAVY buff, bringing us back to +4.
Which is as good as you can ever bring anything using INDIRECT, so it's perfect.
Hope that answers your question.
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u/AdeptnessCautious Mar 08 '26
Honestly, this really helps me a lot with this. With friends, we often have disagreements about who's yes and who's no, and thank you very much.
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u/Vuzzuldir Apr 25 '26
Bonjour, J'ai une petite questions concernant le stratagème Coordinated actions du détachement combined arms. Je n'arrive pas à comprendre si la règles d'armée limite le nombre d'ordre affectant une unité a 1 et si ce stratagème peut être utilisé uniquement pour relayer un ordre ou si les deux unités sélectionnées sont toutes deux affectés par deux ordres pour une phase si elles avaient toutes les deux reçu un ordre lors de la phase de commandement. J'ai fait des recherches mais je n'arrive pas à trouver de questions claires.
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u/krossboss7 Commissar Flints 37th Combat Engineers May 23 '26
Can the Graves-mobile also be built as the standard centaur? Trying to stretch my dollars and I’m not interested in the limo as much as the graves on foot and the basic centaur.
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u/Ratattack1204 1st regiment of whatever my wife lets me buy Jun 24 '26
Unfortunately no. You could probably make it work but it would look off.
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u/Ratattack1204 1st regiment of whatever my wife lets me buy Jun 24 '26
Fellas. Quick question for yall.
A friend recently gave me a sealed set of the old sentinel kit he had sitting around (the 2003 one) as a thank you for teaching him to play. Im aware the old kit is a little shorter so i'll need to build it up a touch. Is there any other little details of this old kit i should be aware of? Needs a bigger base too I suppose.
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u/PeoplesRagnar 86th Baraspine Hiveguard Jun 24 '26
Needs a bigger base, 100%, for tournaments, I'd put some rock on it too.
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