Examples of Hand-to-Hand Combat

 

Example #1: Simple HtH Combat

Let‘s say Roy has a Tyranid army and Bob is fighting with the Space Marines. In this example, one joe-average Space Marine fights your run-of-the-mill Genestealer. It is Roy‘s turn, and in his Movement Phase, he declares the Genestealer to be charging (23) the Space Marine. He moves his model into base-to-base contact with the Space Marine. Here are the characteristic profiles for the Marine and the Genestealer:

 

Troop Type	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
Space Marine	4	4	4	4	4	1	4	1	8
Genestealer	6	7	0	6	4	1	7	4	10

 

Later in Roy‘s turn, it‘s the Hand-to-Hand Combat phase — the part where Genestealers shine. Roy looks at the

‗Stealer‘s profile, and sees that the creature has an Attacks characteristic of 4 (the entire profile can be seen on page 196), so he takes four six-sided dice. Bob looks up the Marine‘s profile, and is disheartened to see that his Marine has only one Attack, so he takes one six-sided die. However, the Marine is equipped with a Chainsword and a Bolt

Pistol. These are both Close Combat weapons, and since the Marine has at least two of them, he gets to roll an additional Attack die.

 

The dice are rolled — four for Roy, two for Bob. Roy rolls a 6, a 4, a 3, and a 2. Bob rolls a 3 and a 4. The Chainsword that Bob‘s Marine carries allows one parry (33), which means he can force Roy to re-roll one of the dice he rolled. He makes Roy re-roll the 6, and Roy rolls a 4 the second time around. Roy picks his best roll — one of his 4 ‘s — and Bob picks his 4 as his best roll. So each player has a Combat Score of 4 at this point.

 

Roy‘s Genestealer has a Weapon Skill (WS) of 7, so his Combat Score is improved to 11. Bob‘s Marine only has a WS of 4, so his score is 8. To make things worse for Bob, the ‗Stealer charged this turn, so gains an additional +1 bonus, upping his total to 12. Thus Roy wins the round of combat because his Combat Score ends up higher than Bob‘s.

 

Roy‘s Genestealer scores 4 hits on  the  Marine  (12   minus   8).  Since  the  Genestealer  uses  nothing  but  its  claws  and jaws, these hits are resolved not with the Strength of any weapon but the Strength on the creature‘s profile. As the

‗Stealer has a Strength of 6, Bob‘s Marine takes a saving throw penalty of –3. Needless to say, the outlook is not so good for Bob‘s Space Marine.

 

 

Example #2: Multiple Combatants

In this example, the same two players are using the same army types —  but  this  time,  there  are  more  models involved. It is Bob‘s turn, and the remnants of a squad of Space Marines have been ordered to charge the remnants of a brood of Genestealers.

 

So Genestealer A has Marines 1 and 2 to deal with, and Genestealer B has Marines 3, 4, and 5 to deal with. Since it‘s Bob‘s turn, he gets to decide which combats happen first, and nominates Marine 1 with Genestealer A.

 

As in the prior example, Roy rolls four dice because of the Genestealer‘s high Attacks, and Bob rolls two dice because the Marine has two close combat weapons (to keep it simple, let‘s say all the Marines have Chainswords and Bolt Pistols). Roy rolls a 6, a 3, another 3, and a 1. Bob rolls a 5 and a 4, and since the Marine has a sword, he parries Roy‘s 6. Roy re-rolls the die, and ends up with a 4. So Bob‘s Combat Score is 5, and Roy‘s is 4.

 

The WS of each model is added appropriately to result in Roy= 11, Bob= 9. However, Bob‘s Marine charged this turn, and so gains a +1 bonus. In addition, one of Roy‘s rolls was a 1, meaning the Genestealer fumbled — maybe it slipped on some gore or something. The ‗Stealer takes a –1 to its Combat Score. Thus the Combat Scores are tied at 10 apiece. However, no one walks away empty handed from a close combat round, so we compare the two models‘ Initiatives to break the tie. The ‗Stealer has an I of 7, and the Marine‘s is only 4 — which means the Genestealer wins the tie, inflicting one S6 hit on Bob‘s Marine with a –3 save modifier. Roy rolls for damage and wounds the Marine, and Bob fails his armour save, so the Marine is slain.

 

Bob grits his teeth — that was so close! But fortunately, he‘s not licked yet — the fallen Marine‘s comrade, Marine 2, jumps into the fray and hacks away at the murderous creature. As before, Roy rolls four dice, but this time Bob rolls three dice — one for his Attacks, one for his close combat weapons, and one because he is the second model to wallop on the Genestealer this turn — Marine 1 distracted the ‗Stealer enough so that Marine 2 could get in some extra swipes. After rolling and parrying and re-rolling as before, the ‗Stealer has a Combat Score of 4, and the Marine a score of 6. After adding WS, the two scores are ‗Stealer 11, Marine 10.

 

Now it‘s time to add bonuses — the Marine gets +1 for charging, plus another +1 because he is the second model to fight the ‗Stealer this turn. This brings the Marine‘s Combat Score to 12, beating the ‗Stealer‘s 11! Bob now gets to resolve one hit on the ‗Stealer, and he can pick either the Chainsword, the Bolt Pistol, or the Marine‘s Strength and Save Modifier to resolve the hit. Since they all have S4, mod –1, he picks the Chainsword. Bob is extremely lucky in rolling, and wounds the ‗Stealer. Roy fails the ‗Stealer‘s saving throw, and the ‗Stealer is slain. Bob cheers, and Roy grimaces. Bob‘s Marine may now make a follow-up move (33), and chooses to move into combat with Genestealer

B. Note that although Marine 2 is now in base-to-base contact with Genestealer B, the two models may not fight

each other this turn. If the Genestealer survives the onslaught of Marines 3, 4, and 5, it may fight Marine 2 at the end of Roy‘s turn, which is coming up next.

 

 

Psychic Phase

Players new to the game of Warhammer 40,000 might wish to skip this phase until they feel more comfortable with the rest of the rules. This is the only optional phase in that if neither side‘s army has any psykers, you don‘t have to do anything in the Psychic Phase. Additionally, if there are no psykers capable of using powers, and there are no psychic powers in play, you don‘t have to do anything.

 

The Psychic Phase

 

At the start of the Psychic Phase, roll n D6, where n is the number of psykers on both sides who are capable of using powers. Deal this number of Warp Cards (37) between players. Only shuffle the warp cards when you run out of cards altogether. The side whose turn it is may pick one of their psykers, and that psyker may use one psychic power if there are enough Force cards available in the Warp Cards that have been dealt to that player. Each power requires a certain amount of Force to activate. If the player does not have enough Force cards available, or does not wish to play a psychic power, he may pass his turn. The player whose turn it is not may now undergo the same process. This process repeats until there have been two passes in a row or both players are out of Warp Cards. Warp Cards not used in the Psychic Phase are placed aside in a discard pile with those that have been used, and shuffled when the Warp Deck is depleted.

 

Once a power has been activated, it succeeds automatically unless it is Nullified (37) or another affect cancels it. If the effects of a power last for several turns, the Power Card is left face up on the table to indicate that it remains in play. A power may not be used again while it remains in play.

 

Psychic Powers versus Vehicles

Psychic powers will only affect vehicles if they inflict hits with a Strength value stated on the power card or if the card itself includes rules for how it works with vehicles. No other psychic powers may affect vehicles. Powers affecting vehicles will hit the first Location in its path — no normal hit location roll is required. If the armour  penetration is not listed on the power card, the penetration is equal to the Strength of the attack + any variable damage it inflicts + D6 + bonus dice as follows:

 

Psyker Strength	1-3	4-5	6-7	8-10
Bonus Dice	None	+1D6	+1D12	+1D20

 

Psykers

 

Mastery Level

The Mastery Level of a psyker determines how many powers he has and his prowess at each of these powers. A psyker may have a Mastery Level between 1 and 4. Unless otherwise stated in a unit's description, a psyker may

have a number of Psyker Powers equal to his Mastery Level.

 

Psychic Disciplines

Each race has its own psyker powers. There are 9 basic Psyker Disciplines: Librarian (43), Inquisition (42),

Adeptus (38), Ork (44), Eldar (41), Squat (45), Tyranid (45), Slaanesh (40), Tzeentch (40), and Nurgle (39). The individual Psychic Powers for each Discipline are explained in detail below, and are broken down by Disciplines. All of a psyker‘s Powers are generally of a single Discipline, but very powerful psykers may pick the powers of other Disciplines. Every psyker has one Primary Discipline, and some psykers have one or more Tertiary Disciplines. Psykers must always take at least one Power from their Primary Discipline.

 

 

Psyker Type	Primary Discipline	Tertiary Discipline(s)
Space Marine Librarians	Librarian	Inquisition, Adeptus
Inquisitors, Grey Knights	Inquisition	Librarian, Adeptus
Adeptus Psykers	Adeptus	-
Squat Ancestor Lords	Squat	Adeptus
Ork Weirdboyz	Ork	-
Eldar Warlocks, Farseers	Eldar	-
Chaos Magus	Slaanesh, Tzeentch, or Nurgle*	Adeptus
Daemons	Slaanesh, Tzeentch, or Nurgle*	-
Hive Tyrant Genestealer Patriarch	Tyranid	-
Genestealer Magus	Tyranid	Adeptus

*Chaos units derive their psychic power from one and only one Chaos God.

 

Dealing Psyker Powers

Deal all primary Discipline powers first, starting with the psyker with the highest Mastery Level (roll D6 if two or

more psykers share the same Mastery Level). Then deal any tertiary Discipline powers, again using Mastery Level to determine dealing priority. Note that psykers may not use each other‘s powers even if they share Disciplines.

 

Power Use

Each psyker may use each of his Psychic Powers once per Psychic Phase, and may continue to use them on successive turns.

Warp Cards Daemonic Attack

Play this card when an enemy psyker uses a power. The power is automatically nullified. In addition, roll a D6; on

a 1-3, a Daemon effectively destroys the enemy psyker. The enemy psyker adds his Mastery Level (36) to the die roll, and deducts the number of Force Cards used to cast the power. This card will only affect Grey Knights and Ork Weirdboyz on a roll of 6 on D6 because they are especially resilient to Daemons.

 

Destroy Power

You may keep this Warp Card until you wish to play it. If a psychic power is used against one of your psykers or on a model within 6” of one of your psykers, this card may be played immediately to prevent it from taking effect. The power being used is instantly and automatically nullified. In addition, roll a D6, and add +1 for each Force Card you are willing to sacrifice from your hand. The enemy psyker does the same, and both players reveal their total score. If your total is lower than your opponent‘s, the destroyed power is returned to the opponent‘s hand as normal. Otherwise, the enemy psyker loses the ability to use the power that was destroyed for the rest of the game.

 

Energy Drain

This card may be played at any time during the current psychic phase instead of using a psychic power card. The psychic phase is ended instantly; any warp cards still held in the hands of either player are immediately placed in the discard pile — including those which may be kept until needed. All psychic powers currently in play are instantly and automatically nullified.

 

Force Cards

The most common type of warp card, these are use to fuel psychic powers. Each power has a Force cost; that is the number of Force Cards which must be played to use that power. If you do not have enough Force Cards in your hand, you may not use that power.

 

Nullify

Use this card to cancel a psychic power that your opponent is attempting to use or to cancel an existing power. Roll D6; on a 4+, the Nullify succeeds and the power is either cancelled or removed from play, respectively. If used against an existing power, you may make only one Nullify per turn; otherwise, the first Nullify attempt against a particular power is assumed to be made by the psyker you control with the highest Mastery Level (36). If

 

 

this fails, the next attempt is made by your next highest level psyker, and so on. If all your psykers have tried and failed to nullify a power, you can still use Nullify cards, but you must roll a 5+ to succeed. Psykers who are of a higher Mastery Level than the psyker who creates/is creating the power they are attempting to nullify gain +1 to their die roll. If your psyker is of a lower Mastery Level than the psyker who is using the power you are nullifying, you take a –1 penalty to this die roll. A Nullify can only be used against a psychic power and not another Warp Card.

 

Psychic Duel

Pick an enemy psyker and a friendly psyker. Each player rolls a D6 and adds the their selected psyker‘s Mastery  Level (36) to the roll. The player with the highest total wins the duel, and drives one psychic power out of the

mind of the loser. The winner may choose a power at random from the powers the enemy psyker may use and discard it. Ties have no effect on either psyker.

 

Reflection

May be kept until you decide to use it. May be played against a psychic power used on one of your psykers or on a model within 6” of one of your psykers. The power is automatically reflected 4D6” back in a straight line toward the psyker who used it. The reflected power passes over terrain features but will affect the first eligible

target in its path.

 

Ultimate Force

Use this card as a power is being used; this card counts as 3 Force Cards on its own. The power chosen may not be nullified, reflected or destroyed on the turn in which it is cast.

Adeptus Powers Assail

Force 1, Range 24”

Targets any single model within range. You may move the victim up to 6” in any direction, even into hand-to-  hand combat (32) or onto blast markers (29) or dangerous terrain (24) and choose its facing. This attack will knock models out of Overwatch (24). Assail will not move a vehicle around, but it will cause a moving vehicle to go out of control (26) in its next movement phase on a D6 roll of 4+.

 

Carmine Assassin

Force 1, Range 18”

Pick a single model within range; the victim must roll under its Toughness on D6 or it is slain. No armour save is permitted. May be used to attack a single crewman but if the vehicle is enclosed the victim may roll 2D6 and pick the lowest value when attempting to roll under his Toughness.

 

Displacement

Force 2, Range 3D6”

User may teleport a friendly squad or single model across the battlefield in any direction. Troops are moved up to 3D6”, ignoring obstacles and intervening terrain. Troops may be moved onto a roof, rocky pinnacle or other elevation, and may be used to move troops into hand-to-hand combat (32), in which case they fight in the next

combat round and count as charging (23) in that round.

 

Gate, The

Force 1, Range 18”

Place two markers within 18” of the user. Any models which move into one marker reappear instantly out of the other; models expend no movement moving through the Gate, and may charge (23) or make run (24) moves as

normal through it. Only normal foot troops may move through the Gate. Remains until nullified (37) or the caster

is slain.

 

 

Hellfire

Force 2, Range 24”

Place the special Hellfire template (2” blast template (29)) anywhere within range of the user. Each model touched by the template suffers an S4 hit. The template blocks Line of Sight and any model touching it will suffer

an S4 hit. Remains until nullified (37) or the power is used again.

 

Lightning Arc

Force 3, Range 24”

Strikes the first model in a straight line within range. The target sustains an S6 hit causing D3 wounds. If the first target is killed by the Arc, the psyker may cause it to hit another model within 6” of the first, inflicting damage as before, and so on, causing up to 6 hits in succession. If a vehicle‘s armour is penetrated by the Arc, the psyker can cause it to strike another model within 6” or a different location on the same vehicle.

 

Machine Curse

Force 2, Range 24”

Place the Machine Curse template (2” blast template (29)) anywhere within range of the user. Anything partially

or fully under the template will be affected. All ranged weapons affected will be unable to fire (including pistols

(240) used in close combat (32)) and robots, Terminators, Dreadnoughts or vehicles will be unable to move until the curse is nullified (37). If an object is take out of the area, it will start working again, and any troops may fire into or through the area without penalty. Remains until nullified or the user is slain.

 

Scan

Force 1, Range 36”

All hidden (23) enemy models within range are detected automatically (the user will communicate their position to friendly troops). If any enemy psykers are within range, you can examine his opponent‘s hand of Warp Cards (37); you may also look at one random psychic power card of each psyker in range.