A reference summary of rules and changes confirmed for the upcoming 11th edition,
compiled from publisher reveals and the official Q&A.
Source & compilation
This compilation was originally produced by The Red Path.
Full credit for collecting and organising these notes goes to that channel.
Detachments cost 1–3 Detachment Points. 70 new or reworked detachments are released for the new edition. All Faction Focus detachments are confirmed at 1 DP. All codex detachments are confirmed at 2 or 3 DP, with the majority at 2.
All currently released codexes and campaign books remain legal until they are replaced by their 11th edition equivalents. Space Marines and Orks codexes are confirmed to be new at launch.
During a game, players will be able to view their opponent's list rules via the 40k app. The exact implementation has not been disclosed.
Some Enhancements are now categorised as Upgrades. An Upgrade may be applied to up to three units while occupying a single Enhancement slot.
The Enhancement limit at 2,000 points is increased from 3 to 4.
Every detachment has one associated Force Disposition. An army with multiple detachments must choose one Disposition from among them at list-building.
Every unit in the army benefits from all applicable detachment rules. Units may therefore benefit from multiple detachment effects simultaneously.
Attached characters are divided into two types:
Support – must lead a unit; their "while leading" effects are always active; they cannot operate solo.
Leader – may lead a unit but is not required to (provided a valid target exists).
Attachments are declared during list-building rather than during deployment.
A unit may have at most one Leader and one Support attached, for a maximum of one of each type.
Because attachments are fixed at list-building, a unit no longer "splits" when its bodyguard is destroyed. A lone character whose bodyguards have been removed takes Battle-shock tests at full health.
Points adjustments will follow gameplay themes: fast combat infantry are strong and may rise in cost; artillery is less effective and may drop. Overall army sizes are intended to remain comparable to 10th edition.
Most datasheets are unchanged. A large FAQ accompanying the edition launch will adjust underperforming datasheets and revise points.
Granular weapon points return in a limited form. Where a specific weapon meaningfully changes a unit's role, it may be costed separately from other weapon options. This applies primarily to larger units rather than battleline.
A 2,000-point army will typically have access to either 6 or 9 stratagems in a game.
Allies function as in 10th edition (e.g. a Chaos Knight may be taken in any Chaos army). Full faction "souping" does not return.
All Combat Patrol rules will be available free of charge in the official app.
Crusade players continue to use the 10th edition Crusade rules until a new codex is released. Further Crusade content will arrive in supplementary publications.
Secondary Objective Changes
Secondaries no longer require discarding. Players still draw two per turn and may retain them until scored. A secondary need not be scored even when it is eligible, and at least one secondary scores higher when held into the opponent's turn.
Both primary and secondary scoring is capped at 15 points per battle round, preventing the deferral of all scoring to turn 5.
A card may still be discarded for 1 CP, but this is no longer mandatory.
New secondaries identified: Plunder, Outflank, Centre Ground, Forward Position, Burden of Trust, Beacon.
Secondaries not yet observed in any reveal or stream game: Storm Hostile Objective, Establish Locus, Cull the Horde, Marked for Death, Area Denial, Sabotage, Recover Assets.
Centre Ground is the renamed Area Denial and functions identically.
Plunder – action on a terrain area outside your territory. Scores 5 VP. May be redrawn if Cleanse is also active.
Burden of Trust – nominate one unit to guard each objective. Score 2 VP for each objective still guarded at the end of your opponent's turn or at the end of the battle.
Forward Position – 5 VP for holding your opponent's home objective or all expansion objectives. May be redrawn in Battle Round 1.
Outflank – 3 VP if one or more units are within 6" of a battlefield edge and not in your territory. 5 VP if two or more units are on opposite battlefield edges (one of which may be in your territory).
Beacon – nominate one unit on the battlefield (or in a transport) as your beacon. At the end of your opponent's next turn (or end of the battle), score 3 VP if the beacon is on the battlefield and outside your deployment zone, or 5 VP if it is on the battlefield and outside your territory.
Display of Might – the existing conditions are retained. Now scores 2 VP in your turn or 5 VP in your opponent's turn.
Engage On All Fronts – the two-quarter scoring tier is removed. Scores 3 or 5 VP (or 2 or 4 VP as Fixed).
Bring It Down – may now be discarded and redrawn if no enemy models with 10+ Wounds remain. Scores 5 VP (Tactical, capped at 5 VP) or 4 VP (Fixed) per destroyed enemy model with 10 or more Wounds.
Defend Stronghold – adds a bonus mode. 3 VP for holding your home objective at the end of your opponent's turn, with a +2 VP bonus if there are no enemy units in your deployment zone.
Mission & Maps
Objective markers are removed. Objectives are represented as terrain pieces.
Objectives are categorised into three types:
Home – the home objective.
Central – the centre objective.
Expansion – the mid-board flank objectives.
The Disposition matchup between the two armies determines the Primary Mission each player plays. Unless both players share a Disposition, each plays a different Primary Mission. Consequently, any given list plays only 1 of 5 Primary Missions per matchup, and each Mission has 3 maps — a total of 15 maps per list.
A new terrain keyword, Closed, is introduced. It specifies that the lower 3" of a terrain piece blocks line of sight regardless of any apparent gaps or windows in the model.
Miscellaneous Rules
Each unit may be the target of only one stratagem per phase.
Engagement Range is 2". Engagement Range does not apply while units are moving.
Heal effects may now resurrect destroyed models in all cases.
Desperate Escape, Hazardous tests, and disembarking from destroyed transports are consolidated into a single category: Hazard rolls.
A Hazard roll fails on a roll of 1 or 2.
A failed Hazard roll inflicts 1 Mortal Wound on Infantry, Beast, Swarm or Mounted units, and 3 Mortal Wounds on Monsters and Vehicles.
Hazard rolls from Hazardous weapons no longer target the weapon bearer specifically; the Mortal Wounds are applied to the unit.
Fast dice rolling is the standard method of play. Attacks are grouped into batches sharing the same profile, with hits, wounds and saves resolved simultaneously within each batch.
When fast-rolling saves, the defender declares the order in which models will take saves. All save dice are rolled simultaneously, then assigned in ascending order: all 1s are allocated first (through the declared order), then all 2s, and so on. Whether the declared order must be by model type or may be model-by-model has not been confirmed.
The above means models with invulnerable saves are more resilient when allocated last, since lower save results are spent on other models first. Conversely, allocating an invulnerable-save model first will see it removed by the lowest save rolls.
Coherency is revised. Each model must be within 2" of at least one other model in its unit, and within 9" of every other model in its unit. The 9" measurement is base-to-base, effectively extending the bubble by the models' base sizes.
When a transport is destroyed, disembarking models must be set up as close to the hull as possible. If the transport is destroyed in close combat, disembarking models may be set up directly in combat. Deadly Demise is resolved after disembarkation, so disembarking models may take further damage.
The Command Re-roll stratagem is amended. When re-rolling a multi-dice roll (e.g. a 2D6 shot weapon), only one die may be re-rolled. The exception is a Charge roll, which is re-rolled in full.
Before Turn 1
A unit with both Scout and Infiltrate may use only one of the two abilities.
A Scout move may be used to move into Strategic Reserves instead of making a normal Scout move.
Command Phase
Battle-shock has no expiry. Once Battle-shocked, a unit must pass a test to recover. Insane Bravery does not remove the Battle-shocked status.
A unit takes Battle-shock tests when at or below half strength (previously below half strength).
Battle-shock now sets a unit's OC characteristic to "–" rather than 0, preventing OC modifiers from raising it above 0.
Movement Phase
Movement through terrain depends on terrain type:
Exposed / Light – all models may move horizontally and vertically through the feature.
Dense – Infantry, Beast, Swarm and Mobile models may move horizontally through the feature; Infantry, Beast and Swarm may also move vertically. Any model may pass through sections that are 2" or less in height; otherwise vertical movement must be used.
Overwatch occurs at the end of the opponent's Movement phase and uses snap-shot rules. Hit re-rolls are not permitted on Overwatch attacks.
Overwatch may target any visible enemy unit within 24"; it is no longer restricted to units that have moved.
All Ingress moves (Deep Strike, Reserves entry, Rapid Ingress) are prohibited on Turn 1 unless an ability explicitly states otherwise.
Ingress moves may be made outside 8" of opposing models (reduced from 9") to compensate for the Charge changes below.
A unit making an Ingress move may not make any other move prior to the Charge phase. Drop-shoot-move sequences are not possible.
MOBILE – a new keyword permitting movement through terrain.
Swarm and Infantry units may now move through walls. Beasts retain this ability.
Aircraft begin the game in Reserves, enter via an Ingress move as in 10th edition, and are removed from the battlefield at the end of the opponent's turn, ready to re-enter later.
Take to the Skies – Fly units may pay a flat 2" of movement to ignore terrain and all models during their Move and Charge phases.
Pivoting is free. A model may freely rotate around its centre point at no movement cost. This may increase a model's effective range; it may not be used to shorten a charge.
If a transport is surrounded such that disembarkation within 3" is impossible, a Combat Disembark within 6" may be made instead. A Combat Disembark forces a Hazard roll for each model, Battle-shocks the unit, and prevents it from declaring a charge that turn. It does, however, allow set-up within Engagement Range of enemy units that are in Engagement Range of the transport. Standard 3" disembarks otherwise function as in 10th edition, with the additional requirement that a unit disembarking from a transport that has not yet moved must do so immediately.
Shooting Phase
Cover is revised. It no longer grants +1 to saves; instead it applies a –1 modifier to the BS characteristic. As a BS modifier, it stacks with hit modifiers.
An Infantry, Beast or Swarm unit gains the benefit of Cover simply by being on a terrain feature. Other unit types receive Cover when a terrain feature obscures line of sight to part of the model, as in the existing rules.
Stealth is reworked. It grants Cover anywhere on the battlefield and does not stack with terrain-based Cover.
Line of sight through terrain is amended. A model no longer needs to be wholly within a terrain piece to see through it; toeing into the feature is sufficient. This effectively extends 10th edition Towering rules to all models in terrain.
Plunging Fire is revised. It now grants +1 to BS rather than +1 to AP. To gain it, the attacker must be at least 3" higher than its target and the target must be at ground level. Towering models always gain Plunging Fire when shooting ground-level units within 12".
Hidden – a 15" Lone Operative effect for Infantry, Beast and Swarm units inside terrain that have not shot.
Indirect Fire may target Hidden units, but always hits on a 6. If a friendly unit can see the target, Indirect attacks hit on a 4+ as normal (spotting).
Lone Operative now also confers non-visibility outside 12". Indirect Fire still cannot target Lone Operatives beyond 12".
The Grenades stratagem is reworked into a "Grenades / Explosives" effect usable by any unit with the GRENADE or EXPLOSIVES keyword. It functions identically to the existing rule and may be used by any eligible shooting unit with the required keyword.
Smoke is amended. A unit with Smoke now confers the Smoke benefit to friendly units when the opponent's line of sight crosses a model with the Smoke keyword.
PSYCHIC attacks ignore all modifiers to BS, WS and hit rolls.
Heavy is amended. It grants +1 to hit when the unit is not engaged, did not set up this turn and has moved no more than 3".
Pistol is renamed to Close Quarters. It functions identically with the additional restriction that Close Quarters weapons cannot be fired if the unit Advanced that turn.
Precision is significantly more effective. The defending player may be required to allocate saves to Characters first. Because saves are now allocated in ascending order, the Character receives the lowest save rolls first and is markedly more likely to be killed. The interaction between Precision and Devastating Wounds has not been confirmed.
Charge Phase
Charge targets are declared after the charge roll. The 2D6" roll establishes the charging unit's range; any units within that range may then be declared as charge targets, provided the actual charge move can bring the unit within 2" of each declared target.
All charges are 1" longer this edition. A charge roll must be sufficient to bring the unit base-to-base with its target; a unit 9.1" away must roll a 10 rather than a 9. To compensate, Reserves and Deep Strike entries are now made outside 8" of opposing models, preserving 9" charges from Reserves.
Charging models must finish within 1" of the target where possible. Any model able to end within the 2" Engagement Range must do so.
Heroic Intervention is moved to the end of the Charge phase and has two modes:
1 CP – charge any unit within 12" that made a charge move.
2 CP – charge any unit within 6".
Heroic Intervention may now be used by Vehicle Character units as well as Vehicle Walkers.
Tank Shock is reworked and renamed Crushing Impact. It may now be used by Vehicles and Monsters. The user rolls the same number of dice as before, inflicting a Mortal Wound on the target on a 5+. Each result of 1 inflicts a Mortal Wound on the user.
Take to the Skies – Fly units may pay a flat 2" of movement to ignore terrain and all models during both the Move and Charge phases. Whether this is declared before or after rolling for the charge has not been confirmed.
Fight Phase
Pile-in moves are now resolved simultaneously, beginning with the active player. The same applies to consolidations.
Pile-in moves are amended:
If the unit is engaged, it selects every unit it is engaged with as a pile-in target.
If the unit is not engaged, it selects one or more enemy units within 5".
Each moved model must end its move closer to the nearest pile-in target, and within Engagement Range if possible.
Consolidation now has three modes:
Ongoing – if the unit remains engaged, models either remain stationary or consolidate toward the nearest unit they were already engaged with (and into Engagement Range if possible).
Engaging – mandatory if the unit is within 3" of one or more enemy units. Select one or more such units; each moved model must end closer to the nearest selected unit, and within Engagement Range if possible.
Objective – available only if neither of the other modes applies and the unit is within 3" of one or more objectives. Select one such objective; each moved model must end within range of the objective if possible (or closer to it otherwise), and the unit must end with at least one model in range of the selected objective.
Base-to-base second-rank fighting is removed. A model may fight if it is within the 2" Engagement Range.
Cleave – a new keyword functioning as Blast for melee weapons.
The active player fights first within Fights First timings. Players then alternate normal fights based on who activated a Fights First unit most recently. For example, if the active player activated the most recent Fights First unit, the inactive player activates the first normal-timing unit; if each player activated one Fights First unit, the active player goes first in normal fights.
Overrun – a unit that was eligible to fight at the start of the Fight step but is no longer engaged (because its opponents were destroyed by an earlier activation) may make an Overrun fight: it performs a pile-in and fights as normal. This permits multiple charging units to pass screening lines more effectively, and prevents units already in ongoing combat from being denied a fight by the removal of a few models.
PSYCHIC attacks ignore all modifiers to WS, BS and hit rolls.
Precision is significantly more effective. The defender may be required to allocate saves to Characters first; because saves are allocated in ascending order, the Character receives the lowest save rolls first. The interaction between Precision and Devastating Wounds has not been confirmed.
Consolidation around objective terrain treats the entire terrain footprint as "the closest objective", allowing models to move around walls or in otherwise unexpected directions while still moving "closer" to the objective.
These notes describe rules previewed prior to release and are subject to change in the
final publication.
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