Shall They Know Fear ...

The Bolter & Chainswords guide to playing Space Marines in 5th Edition - Version 1.13

INTRODUCTION 2 Written By: OwlandMoonGuy, Bannus, Morticon,

SHALL THEY KNOW FEAR? 3
RULE CHANGES 5
SPACE MARINES 21
BLACK TEMPLARS 25
CHAOS MARINES 29
DAEMON ARMIES 32
DARK ANGELS 38
INQUISITION ARMIES 42
SPACE WOLVES 56
BLOOD ANGELS 59
WHY 5TH EDITION? 69
Iago, Brother Nihm, Isiah, Chaplain Lucifer, Lord
Ragnarok, Littlbitz, Number 6, SCC, Gillyfish,
Sigismund Himself, Battle Captain Corpus &
Brother Argos.
Cover Art: Mad Scuzzy.
Conceptual Design: Brother Argos.
Illustration: Mad Scuzzy, Nalro, Bloodsaint,
Brother Argos.
Production: Brother Argos, SCC, OwlandMoonGuy.
Special Thanks: Mrs. Argos

Produced by The Bolter & Chainsword

Copyright © The Bolter & Chainsword 2008. All Rights Reserved.

The Bolter & Chainsword litany and The Bolter & Chainsword Skull emblem are © The Bolter & Chainsword 2008.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
INTRODUCTION
elcome to ‘Shall They Know Fear?’, an electronic
W magazine produced by the Bolter and Chainsword, the
Ultimate Space Marine Resource Site, as a guide for Power
Armoured armies at the dawn of Warhammer 40,000’s recently
released 5th Edition. Created in secret by the Moderating Team
of the B&C as a surprise for our members and the general
40K community, we hope that you enjoy our guide and find it
useful as we all begin to deal with the changes brought on by
the revamped rules.
‘Shall They Know Fear?’ is laid out simply, the first section
deals with the changes and additions to the core rules of 40K,
the second section deals with the effect thes new rules have
on the specific armies that the B&C caters for. Last but not
least you’ll find some articles that don’t fit neatly into either
of those categories throughout the e-zine, these pieces give
the opinion of members of the B&C Moderating Team on 5th
Edition, both on specific issues and on the general state of
the new rules too. Please bear in mind that these are our first
impressions and they’re most definitely subject to change,
we’re not making any claims of 5th Edition omniscience here
but we believe our analysis to be sound, though we are a little
worried about our ‘MathsHammer’!
As one of the editors I’d like to take the time here to say a
very special thank you to all of our contributors and especially
to our leader, the man who kick-started this whole project
- Brother Argos. Without his drive and enthusiasm, not to
mention his layout skills, ‘Shall They Know Fear?’ would just
be a good idea sitting on a shelf somewhere gathering dust.
SCC - Editor
2
A Living Document?
We like to think that ‘Shall They Know
Fear?’ is a little different from the
average, run-of-the-mill web based 5th
Edition guide, it’s been designed to be
a living, evolving document. ‘What does
this mean?’ we hear you ask?
Well, it means simply that this guide
will be updated over the coming months
to catalogue the experiences, good,
bad and in between, of Space Marine
armies across the world as they adjust
to the new rules. If you feel you have
something to contribute that others
would benefit from, you can simply
click on the B&C emblem at the end of
each article to take to you the
discussion forum for that
article, where you can post
your ideas and discuss these
articles with other players.
In addition we invite you to join us at
www.bolterandchainsword.com where
you can join a variety of activities such
as rules debate, painting and modelling,
writing battle reports or simply taking
part in the Ultimate Space Marine
website.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
SHALL THEY KNOW FEAR?
o, here we are, 5th Edition is officially upon us,
S the rumours have been confirmed or denied
and we’re finally able to begin assessing what
the changes mean to the armies of the Bolter &
Chainsword. Before we begin to examine the effects
upon specific armies and the changes to individual
rules let’s take an overview of the changes and the
implications not just for the Astartes but for the
game itself.
4th Edition was something of a mixed bag for many
40K gamers, whilst GW began to tighten up the rules
and tried to present a generally more coherent game
many players actually found the game less fun than
previous versions. Evidence of this can be found
on 40K forums across the web and in GW stores,
basements and spare rooms around the world, even
within the confines of the Bolter & Chainsword we
saw many veteran gamers give away the game during
4th Edition. Some argued that the background had
gone stale, others that real life - a partner, a career,
a mortgage and even darker and more dreaded
things such as children! - had finally caught up with a
generation of gamers, but most simply drifted away
from a game that no longer intrigued and excited
them. Even younger gamers weren’t immune to this
perceived 4th Edition malaise, many were caught
by the models that seemed to get better with every
release or the novels or computer games but few
ever seemed to really get caught up in actually
playing the game on the tabletop.
Warhammer 40,000 is hardly threatened with
oblivion as a result of 4th Edition, but it may be in
danger of losing some of the passion that makes
the 40K community once of the most vibrant on the
‘net and that makes playing a game of 40K against
a fellow enthusiast one of the best ways to spend
an afternoon, evening or even a whole summer
vacation. Can 5th Edition bring back the ‘golden days
of yore’? Can it entice a new generation of gamers to
the tabletop or, indeed, an older generation back?
The team behind ‘Shall They Know Fear?’ have
immersed themselves in the rules and regulations
of 5th Edition for the past few weeks in preparation
for the release of the B&C’s first e-zine and we’ve
reached some broad conclusions about 5th Edition.
They’re not definitive, they’re not even unanimous
D awn broke over the horizon and the roar of
bolters and the harsh buzz of chainswords
faltered, then fell away entirely as the enemy hordes
retreated. The long night was over and the Brothers
of the Legio Bolter & Chainsword had once more
vanquished their enemies. For four days now they
had battled their foe. On the first there had been a
welter of confusion as Astartes and their foes had
slowly come to grips with the battlefield and their
place on it. On the second day the heroes of the
Legio had stood tall, their equipment and power had
swept the enemy from the field and even the enemy's
champions had struggled against these mightiest of
Marines.
O n the third day the efforts of the Battle
Brothers of the Legio had been the key, the
weakness of one shored up by another, though
slowly the enemy had gained the upper hand in the
ever changing conditions. On the fourth day once
again it was the Brothers of the Legio who held the
key as their Power Armour and boltguns had seen
them through once more, the battle had been more
ordered but the Angels of Death had been dull-
eyed throughout the day, the joy of battle in the
Emperor's name dulled by some unnamed sorrow.
The fifth day though was upon them now and each
weary Astartes warrior wondered what changes and
challenges it would bring...
but they’re representative of our thoughts, and we
think, the thoughts of much of the community out
there.
GW have actually been listening
I know, I know, it’s a surprise but it does seem GW
have paid some attention to the problems of 4th
Edition and gone some way to try to address them.
We don’t agree with all the answers by any means,
but by and large we like the direction and shape
of 5th Edition. One of the key changes here is the
emphasis through the book on having fun whilst
playing, in the past GW books have paid lip service
to this ideal but one gets the idea that in 5th Edition
it’s at the forefront of their vision. Scattered
throughout the book are helpful hints on simple yet
3

common problems like ‘Wobbly Model Syndrome’ or
‘cocked dice’ that should induct a new generation
of players into a manner of playing ‘hard but fair’
that will be appreciated by veterans and fellow
new-comers alike.
GW have at least re-read the rules they’ve written
this time
Unlike some recent (and not so recent) GW
publications, 5th Edition has at least been proof
read and someone has asked the seemingly obvious
questions, the type that players have been asking
Rulez Boyz for years, of the developers. As a result
there are more, and clearer, explanations of rules in
5th Edition. The language used for actual rules has
also been tightened up in many cases, though we’ve
already seen in the production of this e-zine and on
the Bolter & Chainsword forums some ‘enthusiastic’
discussion of some of the finer points of the rules.
It’s not all about fine-tuning an army list any
more
It’s an old argument that we’ve all heard during the
reign of 4th (and even 3rd) Edition 40K - he with the
most powerful (or ‘cheesy’ or ‘beardy’) army list
wins. And in many cases it was true, the old rules did
tend to produce very focussed army lists designed
with making the most of the limited options available
to players during deployment and, tactically, on the
tabletop once the game had begun. In 5th Edition
though all this is shaken up a bit, missions and
victory conditions have been re-designed and games
are now of variable length, thus forcing players to
act throughout a game rather than sit and wait until
the last turn to show their hand.
And you'll now need a battle plan in
addition to an army list!
And you’ll now need a battle plan in addition to an
army list and 3 colours on your models to really play
a game of 40K, for the changes to deployment, the
first turn, objectives, line-of-sight, reserves, victory
points and more core mechanics, as well as the
addition of new rules like ‘Run!’ or ‘Go to Ground!,’
have made the 40K battlefield a more tactically
open place than ever before. Only time will tell how
well these changes hold up to the addition of revised
Codices and new supplements, not to mention the
ingenuity of players, but we think the core rules of
40K are stronger, more flexible and better written
than ever before.
4
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
None of this is to say that 5th Edition is perfect, it
isn’t and there are always going to be elements of
the game that chafe some players more than others.
We predict that the change to ‘True Line of Sight’
is going to cause as many headaches as it fixes and
there are undoubtedly still areas of the rules where
a rules lawyer can find loopholes and wriggle room.
For all of that it’s the collective opinion of the team
behind ‘Shall They Know Fear’ that 5th Edition is a
Good Thing™ and that Space Marine, Chaos Space
Marine, Inquisition and Daemon players are going to
have more fun, less hassles and generally enjoy 5th
Edition more than 4th Edition. Whether it heralds a
return to the faintly remembered and oft-lamented
‘Golden Age’ of 40K (whenever that was for you dear
reader) we’ll leave it to you to decide.
If you wish to comment on, discuss or
submit an article for review concerning
this section please click on the B&C
Emblem
Beyond the Rules
Despite early rumours that GW might
decide to move the storyline of the 40K
universe on such isn’t the case, at least
not yet. What GW have done instead is give
us more detailed fluff than we’ve seen in
many years, the newly expanded Imperial
History timeline is one of the highlights.
Much of the focus of the additional
background is on ‘The Time of Ending’,
where a detailed timeline covers the last
250 or so years of Imperial History and
catalogues the increasing catastrophes and
setbacks that the Imperium has suffered.
For Marine players especially there’s some
interesting stuff there and some interesting
debates sure to be had as a result, for
example why do the Imperial Fists, and
their Successors, seem to be the most
interventionally inclined of the Astartes
and what do the increased responsibilities
and freedoms granted to many Chapters in
‘Mankind’s darkest hour’ as a whole mean
for the Legiones Astartes?
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
RULE CHANGES
UNIT TYPES
From an introductory perspective, 5th Edition bears
a strong similarity to its predecessor. Those familiar
with 4th Edition will find that the basic structure
of game has remained the same. As before, there
are seven Unit Types that define models on the 40K
table top:
• Infantry
• Beasts
• Monstrous Creatures
• Jump Infantry
• Artillery
• Bikes & Jet Bikes
• Vehicles
There are a few points of note that will be elaborated
on further in this series of articles.
Though there are some exceptions, for most armies
only infantry units that fall into the Troops slot on
the Force Organization Chart (FOC) count as “Scoring
Units” in two of the three standard missions. Infantry
will gain a whole new level of importance in the 40K
gaming experience..
Vehicle rules underwent a large number of changes
so their basic role remains the same but their specific
use changes somewhat tactically. The concept of,
“Vehicles shooting while moving” remains the same
in principle but certain parameters have changed;
“Defensive Weapons” were reduced to Strength four
(S4) or below. This will further constrain the amount
of damage a vehicle can dole out while moving. Tank
commanders will need to plan their shooting attacks
much more carefully on 5th Edition battlefields .
The rules for Transports are where the Vehicle
rules and the Infantry rules meet. Previously it was
somewhat ambiguous as to what transported models
could do on the tabletop. 5th Edition has clarified
that, given certain limitations, transported infantry
are still considered, “on the table.” This means that
transported Troops/Infantry can claims tabletop
objectives from within their transports. Also the
concept of, “Dedicated Transports” has changed.
Now, any appropriately sized infantry squad can
board a friendly transport, not just the dedicated
squad. Those two rules combine to allow a lot more
options and flexibility to the concept of transporting
models on the battlefield.
In the sections that follow, further treatment will
be given to the specific changes surrounding each of
these Unit Types in turn and how that will affect the
outlook of 40K gaming of the near future.
CHARACTERISTICS
Those gamers familiar with 40K will note that the
statistical attributes assigned to each model match
those found in 4th Edition. There are a few new
rules to mix in with the established concepts behind
certain attributes that are worth noting:
Ballistic Skill: In previous versions of the rules,
there was no reason for a model to have a BS skill
above five (5). This represented a shooter that
would hit on a 2+. The “To Hit” table for shooting
has now been extended so that models with a BS
skill between 6-10 will enjoy increased chances to
hit in the Shooting phase.
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 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide

Leadership: A model’s (or unit’s) leadership has

always had an influence in 40K games of the past.
The concept of the Morale check remains the same
but the armies of 5th Edition may find some new
negative modifiers applied to their Leadership
saves, especially in the Assault phase. Upon losing
a close combat, the hapless unit will suffer a -1
modifier for every wound they sustained beyond
those their enemy sustained. A wide margin of loss
after a particularly large scrum may impose some
significant modifiers to his roll. Thankfully, there
is the “Insane Heroism” rule; if you roll a two (2)
on 2D6 you always stay in the fight no matter the
odds.

Point Values: In the 40K missions of 4th Edition

(and earlier) a unit’s point value was relevant to
determine the Margin of Victory. 40K was not just
a win/lose/draw proposition but measurements
were in place to dictate the degree of one win
versus another. This was calculated by comparing
the number of Points Value in unit costs that were
destroyed by both players. Beyond the victory
conditions of the mission itself, given the level of
play, Victory Points separated the Solid victories
from the Victorious Slaughters. These concepts are
now removed from the 40K system, thus the actual
points spent on a given unit are only relevant for
army building purposes.
THE TURN
The familiar three-phase turn of 40K remains the
same but 5th Edition has done well to differentiate
the “Game Turn” and the “Player Turn”. This is
actually the same concept described in 4th Edition
but the authors have put in the necessary clarifying
language to make the term ‘turn’ clear as it applies
to different events on the gaming table.
A Player Turn is one where one side conducts all their
Movement, Shooting and Assault phase activities,
one after the other until finished.
A Game Turn is where both players complete their
respective Movement, Shooting & Assault phases.
So in Game Turn 1:
Player 1 Moves, Shoots & Assaults; (Player 1’s Turn 1)
Player 2 Moves, Shoots & Assaults; (Player 2’s Turn 1)
In Game Turn 2:
Player 1 Moves, Shoots & Assaults; (Player 1’s Turn 2)
Player 2 Moves, Shoots & Assaults; (Player 2’s Turn 2)
This is of special importance when determining the
frequency and duration of the affects of special
abilities and psychic powers. When a rule states
that it can be used “once per turn[” it’s important
to note if that’s a Game Turn or a Player Turn.
Determining “Who goes first?” is still determined by
a die roll but a new twist has been added to the
“First turn advantage.” In 40K games past, there was
a real value to going first; i.e. Player #1’s position
above. The first player will get their first chance to
shoot at enemy units before they are able to take
any action. Therefore, that first turn of shooting
could remove valuable military assets before the
other player could make a move.
Now the standard missions dictate that whoever
deploys first, must deploy all their models at once
and then also take the first Player Turn. The rule
where units were deployed, one at a time, going
back and forth between players is gone. The player
that gets the second turn gets to deploy their
forces with the full knowledge of the enemy’s exact
placement. This might be seen as an overwhelming
advantage for Player #2 but also note that new rules
have also been added to the Movement, Shooting &
Assault phases. The 5th Edition 40K game is much
more dynamic; many models can move farther,
shoot straight through area terrain, etc. Expect this
to add a new dimension to army deployments and
the downstream effects to game thereafter.
To mix this up even further there are times when
players may take action in their opponent’s Player
Turn. The “Go to Ground” rule is one example.

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 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
In this case, after a player has finished a unit’s
shooting, recording the number of hits and wounds,
but before saves are rolled, the defending player
can declare that the affected unit is going to “Go
to Ground” or best attempt to use cover to reduce
shooting casualties.
The End Game and Victory conditions have changes
as well. All standard missions come with a random
game length; lasting 5-7 Turns and also have different
criteria for holding objectives and even annihilating
units. Please refer to the articles following for a
full description of these impacts to the 40K game
system.
MOVEMENT
One of the most exciting changes about the Movement
Phase is the addition of the ‘Run!’ universal rule.
Now all infantry units & Walkers in every army have
the ability to move up to six additional inches during
the shooting phase instead of firing a weapon. The
most significant impact of this rule is that it reduces
the advantage of the ‘Fleet’ Universal Special Rule
for those elements that could employ it. The only
advantage units with Fleet have will be the ability
to assault after the special move – which is still
significant. But when your opponents can match you
move for move before the assault begins, its effects
will be reduced.
Overall, the new rule will make those distances
between the deployed armies seem much shorter
than before. Setting up more than 24” apart
meant that an assault for conventional infantry
units marching across the tabletop towards an
opponent’s defensive position was at least four
turns away. With a good roll, it can now be done
by the third turn. This will give armies that depend
on shooting less opportunity to wear down their
opponents before getting to grips and those armies
that depend on assault will suffer fewer casualties
as a consequence. It isn’t as bad as it seems for
the ‘shooty’ army though, since it is possible for the
game to end earlier than before.
Moving units to claim or contest an objective can
be done from further away with the ‘Run!’ rule,
so it will be critical for players to lock opposing
units in place that are within 12” of an objective
or risk losing their prize when the game ends. One
fortuitous roll of the dice could snatch victory from
defeat or vice versa.
Whether you look at it as advantageous for your
army or not, this change will certainly add more
than a few surprises to the game.
THE SHOOTING PHASE
True Line of Sight
We’ve all seen it, the Daemon Prince mounted atop
an outrageous pile of skulls on a 40mm Terminator
base, yep it’s dramatic and showy but had no real
in-game consequences – apart from allowing you
to identify him quickly – due to how models were
categorised and sized by type.
Until now that is. Due to the new TLOS (True Line Of
Sight) system that has been included in 5th Edition,
anything on a base that is deemed to interact
unfavourably with the rules is now an opponent-
ask item. So yes you could refuse that beautifully
painted and based Chaos Lord to play in the game.
Seems a bit churlish? Maybe but it’s for a good
reason. There is much to be gained by mounting your
model on a bigger base. Imagine our Daemon Prince
was a psyker with the Lash of Submission psychic
power that requires line of sight, being mounted
on a tall scenic base would give him an obvious
additional advantage, an unfair one maybe, as he
could see over intervening models and cover using
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 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide

TLOS. However, it must also be said that this works an issue not worth taking the risk over, but for a
the other way too because he might well himself be game with a mate over the dining room table maybe
easier to target by enemy shooting. it isn’t such a big deal.

So the logic of GW’s thinking here is plain – using non- Either way, basing is one of the many subtle changes
standard bases is having an effect on how the game in 5th that, easily missed, can creep up and cause
mechanics works with that particular model and is embarrassment... Forewarned is forearmed.
something to be avoided. By making dramatic bases
an ask-only item, GW is sending out a clear message
that gaming and modelling are in this instance quite
separate entities. Incidentally using ‘out of the box "The roar of your bolter
bases’ extends to skimmers too that are now quite
clearly required by RAW to be mounted on their
is not your own but a gift
flying base, an inconvenience because these often
break off – but it does mean they can’t sneak about
from the holy Emperor of
on cut down flying base stems hugging cover – unless Mankind"
permission is granted of course.
- Sgt. Moon
So does this mean re-basing some of your precious
models? Yes, I think it does if you want hassle-free
gaming. In a tournament setting I can see this being

8
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide

COVER & ‘GO TO GROUND’

I’m sure it has happened to you at least once: One
of your units attracts a bit more attention than you
expected and takes far more wounds than your battle
plan intended. You had no choice but to remove the
casualties and figure out something else to do to
achieve your goals.
Well, now there is another option: ‘Go to Ground’
allows a player the option of his unit to shrug off
some of those wounds and possibly live to fight
another day.
It works like this: After your opponent has made his
rolls for hits and wounding – but before making any
saving throws – the unit may ‘Go to Ground’ and
receive a +1 to the already generous cover saves
provided by the terrain (or a 6+ cover save if caught
in the open). However, the unit must sacrifice its
actions (other than defending itself) for the complete
turn following. This is a desperate measure in most
circumstances, but can mean the difference in the
right situation. Here’s one particularly valuable
scenario: It could prove particularly valuable for
a scoring unit holding onto an objective against than on the current To Hit dice. This is a big, big
overwhelming opposition. Remember that in 5th change as overall the chance of an assault cannon
edition units are still scoring down to the last man in the hands of a Space Marine rending has gone
and the Last Man Standing rule has been removed. down from 1/6 to a measly 1/9 per shot. The other
Where before a defending unit may face assured difference is that Rending now confers an automatic
annihilation, a few models may now survive to hold AP2 wound, this is quite good as it’s enough to get
the objective and win the game. by the most toughest of armour, with invulnerable
and cover saves allowed for those that have them
Even when marines are caught in the open there’s of course. But, the target has the option to “Go
a use for this new rule. Given the myriad of AP3 To Ground” (covered elsewhere in this guide) and
weapons there are out there, some save is at least ignore the rends anyway! Hmm.. maybe we’ll
better than no save at all. This rule sheds a ray be seeing a little less AC spam in Deathwing and
of hope against the blast of a Battle Cannon once Ravenwing armies.
more.
Against vehicles

RENDING AND ASSAULT
CANNONS
A remarkable combination of changes has been made
to this weapon, unfortunately changes that aren’t
good for us. Well actually that’s an understatement,
but before we all panic let’s have a look at what’s
happened to the most feared weapon in the Space
Marine Armoury – and then panic!
Against infantry
Against infantry etc, the assault cannon now rends
when a 6 is thrown on the ‘To Wound’ dice rather
Against vehicles is operates pretty much the same
way as currently – but with a twist. So, it rends on a
6 of the penetration dice, but is now just has a +D3
bonus, not a +D6. This makes little difference to the
best result possible as it adds to 15 anyway which is
enough to pen AV14, but it does effect the chance
of getting to penetrate AV14 when using this bonus
dice. The chance of getting the required 15 on any
rending shot has decreased from 2/3 (a 3, 4, 5 or 6
on the D6 bonus dice) to 1/3 (a 3 on the D3 bonus
dice). Quite a change.
So providing you rend, the minimum result per shot
against armour will be to penetrate anything up to
AV12 or glance AV13 which is as now. But the average

9

rend will fall to penetrate AV13 or glance AV14, from
the 4th edition’s penetrate AV14.5 or glance AV15.5.
This is quite a reduction in capability caused by the
armour rending bonus dice now being a D3 rather
than a D6.
The combination of rending reduction and the cost
of the weapon (especially in the DA/BA codexes)
makes this change quite brutal, so much so that
the assault cannon has probably lost forever the
‘cheese’ tag it once had. It’s by no means bad, it’s
just not as good as it was. Still given the alternative
weapon options for some units the assault cannon
should remain a staple of Space Marine armies - it is
still a 4 shot S6, AP4 weapon after all.
In terms of game mechanics the use of this weapon
has been brought into line and tidied up. The
rending on the ‘To Hit’ roll (first dice) versus non-
armour AV targets was different to the rending on
the Penetration roll (second dice) versus AV targets.
At least now rends are only occurring on 6s on
the second dice against both target types. Logical
maybe - but not without significant ramifications to
the weapon’s hitting power.
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Where it’s going to hurt most are in certain units
where only one heavy weapon is permitted, as
although still pumping out the shots, those shots
will be for the most part more survivable. Even so
on a Dark Angels or Blood Angels Dreadnought I can’t
help thinking that the four dice is still marginally
better than the single of the auto-hit/scatter
plasma cannon for example – but only just. With the
Codex Space Marine Dreadnought (currently), the
assault cannon is still the cheapest weapon option
available so stick with it – what are the alternatives
for general usage?
This will all change when the 5th Edition of the Codex
Space Marines comes out and assault cannon costs
are hiked to match the DA/BA levels. It seems to
me GW have overcompensated in the double-hit of
price increase and effectiveness decrease.
Don’t expect the assault cannon to reap all
before it as it once did, as even if they are still
being used to the same extent, it will no longer
be the weapon to fear.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
PLASMATASTIC
For those who love plasma weapons within Space
Marine armies (and being a Dark Angel’s player I
certainly do), it might be worth a quick run through
on the subtle changes that have occurred to them
in 5th Edition.
Gets Hot!
Plasma weapons on non-vehicle models are still
subject to overheating. There is nothing wrong with
overheating providing that you a] never throw 1s,
or b] always make your armour saving throws; and
after all it’s only a 1/6 chance right? Plus, it also
helps to have an Apothecary nearby too to negate
any overheats.
Overheating impacts on individual plasma weapon
types in different ways and as shown below – the
picture is quite complex.
Plasma blast weapons
As we have seen plasma blast weapons are,
unfortunately, still subject to overheat despite all
blast weapons in 5th Edition no longer throwing a ‘To
Hit’ dice. Here ‘Gets Hot’ is determined by throwing
a separate D6 to see if an overheat occurs, prior to
using the scatter dice. Where a 1 results you have
overheated and must take a wound, saving throw
allowed. The overheat 1 also means the shot has
missed.
All this will enevitably have an impact on Marine
armies. Massed blast plasma cannons in a squad are
obviously preferable given that overheat potentially
kills off the single shot weapon plus the benefit of
giving you more chances of making those vital HITs
on the scatter results. So if you are really unlucky
with your dice throwing then four plasma cannons
in a Devastator squad would seem sensible in order
to make the shot at all, rather than taking just a
single plasma cannon in a Tactical squad, and that’s
not even considering the effects of scatter which
complicates the issue somewhat. Overall the weapon
is better and I expect to see many more plasma
cannons around in 5th just for the fun of them.
Also just to point out that Sammael (BS5) on his
jetbike is now the proud owner one of the most
accurate plasma cannons around in the 40k universe!
And I say again that blast plasma weapons on vehicles
do not overheat.
Plasma rapid fire weapons
These have changed too and for the better. When
rapid firing you now benefit from needing to throw
just a 1 on either of the two ‘To Hit’ rolls rather
than a 1 or 2 as currently – this is effectively cutting
your overheat chance in half on any one shot. How
good is that!? But to counter that, the rapid-firing
model might actually end up with two wounds – not
so good.
Even so plasma guns are now a great choice as the
specialist weapon in a fire support combat squad,
even if you can’t shoot and assault with it. Or
indeed in any bike squad that can take them where
on bikers not only are you safer from overheat, but
due to the Relentless universal special rule you can
fire them to full effect and still charge. Also expect
to see more Plague Marine squads with two plasma
gun specialists.
Combi-plasma weapons
Despite being rapid fire the plasma element is still a
one-turn wonder and I’ve never been a fan of their
use anyway (preferring the combi-melta). Granted
the reduction of risk of the overheat has conferred
a slight boost and makes them worth looking at
for ICs (who also might have extra wounds to help
with overheating), Veteran Sergeants/Veterans and
anyone else who might have access to them. But
even for someone addicted to plasma like me, to be
honest it’s not one I would want to bother with.
Plasma pistol weapons
Pistols are now Assault 1, which means you miss
the double-tap if you remain stationary, which is a
shame. As a result the plasma pistols are not looking
so great given their points cost and overheat risk.
So for the sergeant of a Tactical squad or an IC
they are not the no-brainer they might have been
when paired with say a power fist or power weapon.
Funnily enough this doesn’t affect Space Marine
Assault squads so much because they rarely double-
tapped anyway (prior to assault) so they are probably
still an OK choice in that context, especially given
the lack of alternative weapon upgrades available
to them.
Conclusion
As we have seen a few changes here and there
have been incorporated to freshen up the family
of plasma weapons, mainly based around the new
individual ‘Gets Hot’ roll and new blast rules that
might make plasma cannons more popular; and the
plasma gun with only a 1 resulting in overheat on
each shot; while the change in type of the pistol
11

weapon will undoubtedly make the plasma pistol
less popular I think. But that won’t matter to some
– so for plasma lovers everywhere, screw in those
plasma containment flasks and bless the weapons’
Machine Spirit.
Go light something up!
POWERFISTS
The powerfist has always been the staple choice
for the humble Veteran Sergeant and an ignored
weapon for any HQ character. A number of reasons
were present for this under 4th Edition Rules. But now
we are into a new Edition and the winds of change
have not left the power fist untouched. But are they
enough to hurt the popularity of this choice?
The old Lightning Claws rule of only being able to
get the bonus attack for a second close combat
weapon if it was paired with another Lightning Claw
now also applies to powerfists and thunderhammers.
So taking that ridiculously cheap bolt pistol will
no longer give you another attack. Only by taking
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
two powerfists or two thunderhammers will you
be able to get that bonus for having two close
combat weapons, at a ridiculous cost. This is only
an option in the current Space Marine Codex, Black
Templars Codex and Space Wolves Codex. Don’t go
out converting models with twin powerfists as this
option will probably vanish in a few months time in
the new 5th Edition Space Marine Codex. It looks like
Calgar is really quite unique and will only get more
unique under the next Space Marine Codex.
So will this weapon see a decrease in use by the
Veteran Sergeant? One of its primary reasons for
inclusion was so that a Tactical Squad could not get
locked in combat with a walker or other enemies
it couldn’t wound with their normal strength. With
the new Run rules applying to walkers, this reason
will only be magnified. The powerfist’s potency has
been increased against all the other vehicles as it
can now knock with S8 on the back door of a vehicle
while assaulting any part of it. Less attacks but more
potency against vehicles. However, the potency
against Infantry remains the same but the amount
of attacks decreases. A number of players now may
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
consider the cheaper option of the power weapon,
given the lower price and more attacks that you can
put out with it. But it is likely that the powerfist will
still be chosen over.
Will HQ characters consider taking these weapons?
The large amount of attacks on their profile is now
important as Sergeants cannot match them but the
loss of initiative is still a large hurdle. Add this to the
fact that having two different “Special” weapons
(for example, a powerfist with a Force Weapon or
power weapon aka. Crozious) means that the extra
attack for two close combat weapons cannot be
gained. So you cannot give a Chaplain a powerfist
and get that extra attack for two close combat
weapons. Also the prohibitive cost of giving the two
powerfists or thunderhammers to a commander is a
large incentive not to, since there is not an option to
take a pair at a discount, like there is with lightning
claws.
So will this change affect the choices of players?
I don’t particularly believe so. It will cause some
more thinking than it did before but the powerfist
will more than likely continue as the weapon of
choice for the Veteran Sergeant and continue to be
ignored as a HQ choices weapon. It is a not a death
blow for the no brainer choice but it will have some
impact, causing players some thought on what their
veteran sergeant will be armed with.
SNIPER WEAPONS
Sniper weapons have changed quite a bit from 4th
to 5th Edition. On the one hand they’ve gained the
‘Rending’ USR, on the other hand they’ve lost the
ability to always hit on 2+.They’ll hit less now but
in return they’ll be more lethal with those hits,
especially against the foes that they were most
often used against - high Toughness creatures. Also
note that the changes mean they can start to put
some dents in foes that previously simply shrugged
off their shots, for example units with the “Feel No
Pain” USR.
The new True Line of Sight rules also mean some
changes for sniper weapon equipped squads, where
previously a Scout Squad could only dominate a fire
lane or two, nowadays they can see through some
terrain/cover and thus are often able to engage
more targets at longer ranges, keeping them safer
from the enemy’s return fire. Additionally, snipers
rifles are now likely to force an enemy unit to ‘Go
To Ground’ effectively depriving them of further
activity for the rest of the turn in return for a cover
save against your fire.
Against vehicles, a 10 man sniper squad can, on
average, expect to at least glance light vehicles
(AV10-11), although it should be done as last resort
since it’s against infantry that they shine.
USING BLAST TEMPLATES
One of the major changes to 5th Edition is how blast
weapons now operate. In Space Marine armies this
will effect plasma cannons and frag missiles, also any
psychic power that uses the small blast marker. This
article does not cover large blast Barrage weapons
which work in a slightly different manner.
The good news is that all blast weapons are now
auto-hitting, in that they do not need to make a
‘To Hit’ roll – the bad news is that they are subject
to and must roll for scatter. Scatter is resolved by
throwing a 2D6 and subtracting the firer’s Ballistic
Skill from the result. The other good news is that any
part of a target model caught under the template
will count as a full hit, there are no more partial
hits anymore.
The way this works is that you first declare your
target and check that the weapon is in range, if
it isn’t then you miss obviously. You then roll the
scatter dice to determine if you get a ‘HIT’ or not.
If you hit great, any model or part model under the
template is a casualty and takes a wound or against
vehicles the effects of vehicle damage is determined.
Should you scatter, throw the two dice, consult your
firer’s BS value and work out how far and wide you
go. Move the template as scatter directs and then
determine hits on whatever is underneath.
Ork Kannon is just as likely to hit the
target before scattering as is a Space
Marine frag missile!
On the face of it all very straightforward, but it
does mean an Ork Kannon is just as likely to hit the
target before scattering as is a Space Marine frag
missile (33%) and to me this seems odd. The only
thing that renders the Ork less accurate is when
scatter is considered. If it scatters, average distance
scattered by a Space Marine trooper firing will be 3”
(coincidentally the diameter of the template), the
Ork 4” (based on Gretchin BS). Also just to point out
that if your shot scatters onto another unit/vehicle
then those models under the template become
casualties as well as or rather than the aimed-at
target – this aspect is great and is one way of making
up for the loss of outright accuracy.
13

Now the example above was with a single weapon
firing, so what happens with multiple blast weapons,
for instance multiple frags or plasma cannon shots
from a Devastator Squad? Well exactly the same
thing – with every model testing range and scatter
etc individually. But the casualties are not removed
until all templates have been placed.
Blast and multiple blast weapons shooting
at vehicles
Against vehicles the scatter mechanic is slightly
more complex. The placement of the first template
is exactly the same as above with the centre over
the vehicle’s hull. However any subsequent blast
weapon’s marker are centred and stacked directly
over the first. Now test for scatter for each weapon
firing. If you hit all well and good and you work out
the damage result based on the face of the vehicle
that is presented to the firing unit. If you scatter,
then any markers that are not over the vehicle’s hull
at all miss the vehicle (but remember could obviously
stray upon other targets). If some markers stray so
that their holes miss the vehicle but the template is
still over it, then the armour penetration is worked
out using the face of the vehicle nearest the hole’s
centre and the weapons Strength is modified 50%
downwards. Sounds complex and it is as it’s certainly
different to the way multiple blast weapons fire at
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
infantry and I can see this causing some confusion
to be honest. Nevertheless, with a Space Marine
averaging a 3” scatter, over a big vehicle you could
get lucky and still score a hit. Here’s hoping.
Conclusion
So is it a better system? Well of course assuming the
weapon is in range, in 4th Edition a Marine would hit
with his frag missile on average 66% of the time,
in 5th Edition it will be 33% of the time as a direct
HIT, or 66% of the time with some scatter. Without
‘Mathhammering’ it I think it’s pretty much even
with one weapon but the amount of damage you can
cause rises more in your favour with multiple blast
weapons firing from a single unit as you have more
opportunity of getting ‘HIT’s using multiple scatter
dice. Not only that, but multiple blast templates
can cover a lot of ground, and even with a degree
of scatter, as all hits count as full there is a lot of
potential for good results. So I can see plenty of
missile launcher and plasma cannons in Devastator
squads, and two Cyclone Missile Launchers form a
cheap and effective weapon for Terminator squads
while they can still get them.
On the face of it only hitting what you aimed at 33%
of the time might not sound too brilliant. But the
thing you can’t quantify is what happens when it
scatters. Yes it could just hit fresh air, but, it could
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
also scatter into the unit next door. As such it will
be a blast (no pun intended) to use against massed
Orks, ‘Nids or IG or against anything where tightly
bunched or large or multiple units are fielded, as
you can still scatter a long way and hope to hit
something.
What about if you’re the target? Spreading out
to maximum coherency is going to help versus a
single incoming blast to minimise anything caught
underneath scatter or not. But against multiple
templates it isn’t so simple – if you’re tight and the
templates HIT then you are doomed – your hope then
is scatter and pray it’s dramatic! But if you spread
out, even with scatter large areas of ground can
still be covered, in fact with scatter spreading out
could work against you as potentially more models
will still be covered by the multiple templates, but,
there will of course be less models under any one
template.
All in all the new rules are fun and intuitive, don’t
appear to downgrade blast weapons’ capabilities
and only marginally slow up gameplay. So go forth
and smite.
CHARACTERS
There are some major revisions on how characters
operate in 5th Edition. It appears that Games Workshop
is trying to ensure that characters, and more notably,
Independent Characters (IC) are affected by each
phase in the game. For example you can no longer
can rely on the old ‘Target Priority’ rules to prevent
the enemy targeting an IC when another squad is
closer. Let’s look at the major changes in detail.
Shooting at Independent Characters
Unlike 4th Edition you may now target ICs like any
other unit in the game. The IC no longer has to be
the closest unit when targeting units for shooting.
This change is big news as many players were good
at positioning their IC’s in the open, offering them
greater fields of fire or more opportunities to charge,
by ensuring other units would be closer targets. For
example, a powerful IC on a Space Marine Bike could
formerly be screened by running them up a flank
with a few regular bikes in front. Your enemy would
be required to target the Bike squad first and only
after all were dead could they target the IC. The IC
receives no such protection now, so watch where
you place them!
Independent Characters joining and
leaving units
ICs now automatically join a unit if they are within
two inches of it. If within 2 inches of multiple units
you now have to declare to which unit your IC is
attached. If you do not intend to attach your IC to
any unit you must not move them within 2 inches
of an eligible unit. Once the IC is attached, the
unit may not move further in the movement phase.
Further, unlike the 4th Edition rules, the 5th Edition
rule set clearly explains that ICs that join and leave
a non-moving unit do not change the status of that
unit from non-moving to moving.
Now it should be clearer, through measuring, whether
the IC is attached or not. In 4th Edition players could
run IC’s right next to a squad and it was unclear
whether they were indeed part of the unit or not
causing confusion for example, when shooting at an
IC adjacent to, but not joined to a unit.
Also note an IC may now join other ICs and form a
single unit! They follow the same rules as joining a
traditional unit. I can’t think of a very good reason
to do this as in most cases it is much more cost
effective to have your IC join a squad of troops.
Typically most armies may only field two ICs and
having two expensive models attached at the hip
would make a delicious target for any enemy general
worth his salt. Still, it does offer the chance to mix
and match the skills and equipment of various HQ
units, for example you could have your Commander
or Librarian re-rolling wounds thanks to a Chaplain’s
abilities, whether this is worth the risk is debatable
however.
Further, if your IC joins a unit that has ‘Gone to
Ground’ they immediately ‘Go to Ground’ with that
unit. He may not leave as long as the unit has joined
is still under the ‘Go to Ground’ strictures. This also
applies in reverse if a unit joins an IC which has
gone to ground. One hugging the deck, all hugging
the deck is the order of the day.
Independent Characters in Reserve
One really fundamental change to reserves generally
and one that will come into play many times, not
just in Space Marine armies but in pretty much any
army. In 5th Edition ICs held in reserve can now be
attached to any unit also held in reserve prior to the
start of the game. This means that squad plus any
attached ICs can roll just one reserve dice roll for
all them to come is as opposed to one for the squad
and one for each IC. The other thing to mention
is that you must declare your reserve intentions to
15

your opponent and this includes letting him or her
know which IC is joining which unit and in which
transport.
The advantage for Marines is that you are not forced
to take proper Command/retinue squads with your
ICs giving you a lot more flexibility in squad size/
choice and weapon options. I suspect that in the
forthcoming Codex Space Marines (5th Edition),
retinues as we know them will be no more anyway
as they will go the way they have in the DA and BA
books. So for now for many Marine armies this isn’t
currently an issue as you have proper retinues that
are fairly flexible.
But for DA for example it is a great boost as it
allows an IC to tag along with a Veteran squad and
in their transport too, dropping in via Drop Pod if
desired. Currently there is no way we can do this.
So will we see many more jump pack Chaplains and
Assault squads coming in from reserve, or Company
Commanders and another IC attached to Company
Veteran squad tooled for close combat packed
into a Rhino? Maybe. Whether we do or not isn’t
the issue but to have that kind of option is a great
improvement.
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Retinues
For those few armies which still have a Retinues rule
your IC now counts as an upgraded character for
that unit until all its members are killed. Only once
the Retinue is destroyed does the character become
an Independent Character as per the rules.
This now means your IC cannot be targeted singly
in close combat until his entire bodyguard is dead.
If you have some type of uber IC this will provide
extra time to hack your foes to pieces. This is muted
somewhat by the new wound rules where each
model takes a wound, but still a boon.
Independent Characters and Assault
ICs now have to move first during consolidation
moves or when reacting to being assaulted. This is to
ensure they have an opportunity to fight, otherwise
models in their unit may block them from getting
into base to base contact.
This means that if you were planning on hiding your
IC from combat by keeping them out of base to
base contact you can forget about it, they are now
forced to take every opportunity to get up close and
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
personal with the foe during an assault.
Special Characters
The 5th Edition book mentions that Special Characters
and special upgraded characters are ‘Unique’ and
may only be selected once when fielding an army.
You cannot have multiples of Ragnar Blackmane for
example. The updated rules also remove the old 4th
Edition language which suggested that you needed
the consent of your opponent to field Special
Characters, this should make life easier for those
who enjoy the unique abilities of these characters.
VEHICLES
Battlefield Taxis
The new 5th Edition rules give one very important
boost to dedicated transport vehicles; whereas in 4th
Edition every dedicated transport seemed to contain
a jobs-worth driver who refused to transport anyone
not in the unit he was deployed with, this has now
been jettisoned and any transport can transport
any unit once the battle has started (provided they
can fit into it of course – you still can’t transport
Terminators in Rhinos).
This, combined with the increased durability of
vehicles, means that you will be able to zoom about
the battlefield, transporting your marines to where
they are most needed. This will be particularly
important for the objective based missions where
you’ll want to get your units onto an objective to
claim it or, at least, contest it. So with only a few
Rhinos and/or Razorbacks you can radically increase
the manoeuvrability of your army.
Passenger Survivability
Another boost that has been given to transport
vehicles is the fact that their occupants are far
safer than they were in the past. In 4th Edition, all
occupants of a vehicle would magically pop out of
every available exit as soon as a shot went through
their vehicle’s hull. The cowards! Now this no longer
happens; units can happily hunker down inside
their vehicle until it’s turned into a smoking wreck.
Even then, they’re only likely to be injured if the
vehicle actually explodes. Interestingly, each model
now takes an automatic hit at a defined Strength,
rather than rolling to see if they were hurt, so high
Toughness, good Save models are going to be safer
than say, guardsmen.
This makes transports a far safer place to travel in
and, since units can claim objectives from within
a transport, it is entirely possible to have a Troop
unit in a Land Raider sitting on an objective at the
end of the game (it’s not very heroic, mind you).
Since units can still shoot out of vehicles this could
potentially turn your transport into a mobile bunker.
Transports may finally be a truly useful addition to
your army. Perhaps even a ‘must have’.
Pedal to the Metal: Ramming
One neat addition to 5th Edition is the ability to use
your tanks as mobile battering rams to cinematically
smash into enemy vehicles with the aim of destroying
them. Perhaps this should have been included long
ago (I have certainly seen plenty of homebrew/
house rules around for this) and I certainly like this
new toy. OK, it could be considered a bit gimmicky,
but it does have the potential to be a game-winning
gimmick, besides let’s face it, it isn’t going to
happen in many games anyway.
It's basically a glorified Tank Shock
A quick test drive
It’s basically a glorified Tank Shock. Any Tank vehicle
can be the rammer, even a Skimmer Tank. During
the turn that the ramming Tank makes its move it
may not fire. The other thing to mention is that, like
Tank Shock, you must declare how far your ramming
vehicle will move. So you need some degree of
accuracy in guesstimating distances in order to
actually make contact with the target vehicle – no
easy task in the heat of action.
Without giving the actual rules away in their
entirety, ramming takes place during movement
where the ramming tank is moved towards the
target vehicle and placed against one of its front,
sides, or rear facings. Damage is determined by a
simple calculation of each vehicle’s mass, armour
value and the velocity of the ramming vehicle to
determine the strength of hit each vehicle will
confer. Resultant hits are immediately taken on both
vehicles involved using the standard vehicle damage
table. Now it gets interesting. If a vehicle suffers a,
“destroyed” or “explodes,” result it is removed from
the table. If it is the target vehicle that is removed,
then the rammer can continue its declared move (if
it has any move distance left) to either tank shock or
ram something else or roll onto an objective or just
move on. If no vehicles are removed, both remain
on the table and the ramming vehicle can make no
further move that turn.
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Due to the nature of the determining factors used,
we can see that “tanks” with heavy armour, moving
fast, hitting side or rear armour will get greater
strength hits in most collision/ramming scenarios
– which means something for Space Marines Land
Raiders. That’s not to say a Rhino won’t be just as
effective against lighter vehicles, it will just be more
a matter of the careful positioning of it first and some
mental distance and attack angle reckoning to work
out if the ploy is to have the desired effect. At first
glance fast vehicles will benefit from the additional
movement bonuses to offset their lighter armour,
however confusingly these movement bonuses also
help the target vehicle!
Seat restraints on...
So when to use it? Well the obvious use is against
enemy vehicles when your own vehicle has had all
its weapons destroyed – give it something useful
to do, why not? Using it at any other time means
you can’t shoot. Shooting is usually preferable in
most situations when the vehicle can bring to bear
weapons of similar strength to ramming. For those
vehicles it might not get used that frequently.
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Skimmers can also be rammed, but due of their
additional mobility they get a special “dodge”
roll which means that they could move out of the
way at the last moment to save themselves from
any damage. Given their largely lighter armour,
etc. they are hardly ever likely to win out in any
aggressive ramming move anyway. Note that when
a Tank skimmer attempts to ram another skimmer
there is no dodge throw.
Dreadnoughts : Death or Glory!
Dreadnoughts can be rammed, in which case they
can choose to attempt a “Death or Glory!” attack
against the ramming Tank, in which case this is
resolved in a similar way to that of infantry version.
If it fails however, the poor dready is considered
hit in the rear armour. If the dread chooses not to
“Death or Glory!” then ramming damage is resolved
as per against any other target vehicle. Fun and
games to be had there I suspect.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Another by-product is the ability to trap a transported
unit within their transport. A unit may not get out
of their vehicle if all the exits are blocked and can
only Emergency Disembark if within 1” of an enemy
model. So one could ram it and remain against an exit
point for instance, forcing the unit to disembark via
another access point – certainly a nifty tactic versus
any transport with only one exit point (Chimera
for instance) or with other already blocked access
points. And don’t forget if the passengers can’t get
out and the vehicle is “Destroyed – Wrecked” then
they are lost.
...for a white knuckle ride
The ramming rule works for your opponents too
though, things to watch for would be Imperial Guard
with lots of armour coming at you as I am sure that
many treadheads with plenty of Leman Russes will
love this new ability and will use it to target your
own transports and tanks. But in Space Marine armies
the main threat will be from Land Raiders – which
combined with other changes are now looking so
good in 5th Edition – it’ll give Crusaders something to
do once their cargo is unleashed. Not sure how often
you’ll see a Tau Hammerhead ram anything mind,
but with front armour 13 it could be a handful.
So, the 5th Edition battlefield has just become even
more of a hazardous place than it was already.
Vroom Vroom...
SETTING UP A BATTLE
Like many aspects of the 5th Edition rules,
‘Organizing a Battle’ shares much in common with
its predecessor. Agreeing to a points limit and force
organization charts remain largely unchanged but
suggestions are included concerning the sizes of
battles relative to experience or time allowed. A
few clarifications are also included to round out this
section and leave little guesswork.
The ‘Preparing a Battlefield’ section offers a plethora
of recommendations (but no hard and fast rules) on
how to set up the tabletop for a fair and exciting
game. A particularly helpful addition is a ‘checklist’
of sorts for defining each piece of terrain before a
game begins to reduce (if not eliminate) potential
confusion later on during the game. There are even
a couple of example battlefields provided to give
new players some ideas on the way the tabletop may
be set up and demonstrating the pro’s and con’s of
each of the suggested setup methods.
This is where the similarities end. A marked
changed from 4th Edition is ‘Selecting a Mission’ and
‘Deploying the Forces’. In 4th Edition, the mission
determined the deployment. In 5th Edition, mission
selection and deployment are chosen separately.
With three standard missions and three methods to
deploy, there are already nine possible scenarios to
play. Add to this that all games are random in length
(between five and seven turns) and it means that no
two games will ever be the same.
Another interesting (and somewhat controversial)
change from 4th Edition deals with Scoring Units.
Not just mandatory army selections anymore, the
units coming from the Troops allowance are the
only scoring units (except for vehicles and swarming
units, among others). The rationale behind this is
that the more valuable and exotic selections must
continue to move forward pressing the initiative
(keep in mind a 1500 point game in 40K isn’t much
more than a large skirmish), while the more mundane
units secure the ground gained until reinforcements
arrive. Whatever the reason, it should increase the
presence and importance of these often-shunned
under-valued units. It is significant to note that while
only Troops may hold an objective, any other unit
type may contest it. This caveat alone will provide
players with a variety of strategies to employ.
Victory and defeat are no longer
measured in degrees, but are now
all or nothing!
The missions themselves have been overhauled
and streamlined. Victory and defeat are no longer
measured in degrees, but are now all or nothing.
There are three mission types: Seize Ground,
Capture and Control and Annihilation.
The first two are variations of the age-old ‘capture
the flag’ – where scoring units will play a major part.
The final mission type, Annihilation - as its name
implies – is all about wiping your opponent’s army
from the tabletop. Gone are adding up the points
costs of the units and credit for dropping a unit
below half-strength. Only completely destroying a
unit will earn you any points – one for each unit and
one each for a character and his retinue.
As mentioned before, deployment is now completely
autonomous and any deployment method may be
19

combined with any mission. Like the mission choices,
there are three deployment options: Pitched Battle,
Spearhead and Dawn of War. Pitched Battle follows
a typical deployment with each player choosing
a side and deploying no closer than 12” from the
centerline of the table. Spearhead is similar to
table quarter deployment in 4th Edition except that
neither side may deploy any units within 12” of the
center point. So it is no longer possible to back your
opponent into his corner by deploying first. Finally,
Dawn of War allows players to set up anywhere on
their own half of the table, so long as it isn’t within
18” of any of their opponent’s units. This scenario
is also the only one with a deployment restriction –
only allowing up to one HQ and up to two Troops to
initially deploy.
An interesting change is that players no longer make
separate rolls to choose sides, to deploy and to start
the game. Now only a single roll is made, the winning
player getting to choose to go first or second. The
player who goes first gets to pick his side of the table
but must set up the entirety of his army before his
opponent – much like the in real life, the side who
picks the battlefield prepares for the arrival of the
enemy. All missions allow the Reserves and Deep
Strike rules to be used. No special restrictions are in
effect. To place a unit in reserve, all a player has to
do is inform his opponent.
A few nice additions provide some explanations about
handling dedicated transports and some suggestions
(not rules) about how and when to reveal your army
list to your opponent.
Absent from 5th Edition are the Alpha, Gamma
and Omega levels. Players are free to individually
choose whether or not to hold units in Reserve,
Deep Strike or Infiltrate. The new Reserves rules are
I LIED!
There is one more time when a player can
roll to see who goes first. In an interesting
twist, GW has provided a new rule called
‘Seize the Initiative!’ Where the player going
second can attempt to change the order by
rolling a D6 - if he rolls a ‘6’, he may seize
the initiative and go first instead.
20
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
clear and simple. They cover what units can be held
in Reserve and clarify what happens with dedicated
and undedicated transports and characters joining
units. There should be no more guesswork involved
in what has been previously a confusing situation.
Reserves and units Deep Striking deploy pretty much
the same as they did in 4th Edition, but there is an
all new ‘Deep Strike Mishap’ table that can make for
some interesting outcomes should the scatter dice
roll unfavorably. The Deep Strike rules are better
defined than before and even include which level
of a ruin a unit will appear on should they land in
one.
There is also a new option for units with either the
Infiltrate or Scouts USR called ‘Outflank’. A player
may elect to keep any units with either of these
abilities in reserve and have them arrive from one
of the other table edges other than the opponent’s.
However, you are not always going to have a choice
as to which edge! It certainly would be a bold gamble
for any bold commander. Night Fighting – as always
– remains an optional rule for any scenario to add
further variety and is always in effect for the first
turn of the Dawn of War deployment.
I think players will be very happy
with the new missions
While the missions and deployment options seem
to have been simplified, the sheer number of
combinations allows for a greater variety of gaming
possibilities than allowed in the previous edition.
New options like ‘Seize the Initiative!’ and ‘Outflank’
will add a level of boldness to any plan and the
random game lengths will ensure that players don’t
hold back and make a decisive push in the final turn
because neither player will know when that will
be! Overall, I think players will be very happy with
the new missions. They are also free to invent their
own.
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 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
SPACE MARINES
5th EDITION SPACE MARINES
A PROLEGOMENON
With a new Codex looming on the horizon, the changes
this year for Space Marines will be many indeed. But
what does 5th edition bring to Codex Chapters in the
meantime? What effect will 5th edition have on our
current Space Marine armies? For a time, we will be
employing a 4th edition Codex with the 5th edition
rules. While we have heard a number of rumors
concerning the future of our beloved Chapters, this
article focuses on the present.
Seize the day, as it were.
The Space Marine Codex represents the vast
majority of the about one thousand Chapters serving
the Emperor of Mankind and there is a tremendous
amount of diversity between them. Combine the
flexibility of the Codex list and the Trait system and
you have a bewildering variety of possible armies. To
attempt to explain how the 5th edition rules would
affect each and every one would be a daunting task
and a difficult one to do justice. So for the sake of
efficiency and clarity, this article will cover these
concepts only with broad strokes of the brush and
leave the subtle nuances to each Space Marine
Commander.
So what will impact Codex
Space Marines the most?
So what will impact Codex Space Marines the
most? That is hard to say for sure. But we can
make educated guesses based off of our previous
experiences – and that is what I will attempt to do
here. I have played 40K and Space Marines since the
days of Rogue Trader. I have seen the game change
many times and I have seen how those changes have
affected the way the game is played. So this article
is not based solely on theory – nor can it be claim
that it based completely on fact either. It is simply a
guess and an opinion. Opinions can vary and opinions
can be right or wrong. I don’t expect this article to
be 100% accurate, only time will truly tell just how
close it will be to the mark. This is its face value - so
take it for what it is.
In my opinion, the three most significant changes
for Space Marines will be intervening models, cover
saves and the new vehicle rules.
Intervening Models
Intervening models will play a big part in how a Space
Marine army will deploy and operate throughout
the game. In a nutshell, the new rules concerning
intervening models allows a unit to fire through
another unit (be it friend or foe) to hit another
target (be it a unit, vehicle or monstrous creature)
without taking any kind of priority check – but the
target receives a 4+ cover save instead. As a general
rule, Space Marine armies have fewer models that
can take a lot of punishment. This will be both a
strength and weakness under this new rule. The
boon is that the vast majority of our armies will be
able to maintain clear lanes of fire with few friendly
units actually blocking the shot. Consequently, the
bane will be those units will be fired upon in return
and cannot be effectively screened.
This rule will also have a significant impact on our
opponents as well – especially horde armies. Horde
armies will find themselves with serious logistical
problems in dealing with this rule. Place their assault
units forward and their support elements will not be
able to fire effectively. Place the support elements
in front, then they will have to advance to allow the
assault elements to close and reduce their effective
firepower.
On the flip side, by careful placement and
maneuvering of units, a Space Marine player will
be able to “shield” particularly vulnerable units
until they are ready to make a contribution on the
tabletop. A few examples include a unit of Tactical
Marines screening an Assault Squad until it gets
in range to assault the enemy; a Land Raider can
maneuver to shield a Tactical Squad from some small
arms fire that is less likely to damage the tank; a
Tactical Squad could shield a Dreadnought from a
specialized anti-tank unit and ensure it advances
across the battlefield uncontested.
If such tactics become prevalent, the ramifications
may be that we may see the death of the specialized
shooting units in favor or more flexible compositions,
Rhinos may screen their charges instead of
21
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide

22
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
carrying them (or vice versa for a Razorback) and
Dreadnoughts will no longer need drop pods to close
with the enemy, just to name a few.
However, it will no longer be possible for a Tactical
Squad to screen a Devastator Squad – as the
Devastator unit will not be able to fire through
the Tactical Squad without conferring a 4+ cover
save on its intended target either. The best place
for Devastators will remain the high ground. Be
sure to keep your IC’s attached to other units – as
they can be singled out at range now and don’t be
afraid to join a Devastator Squad. They will still be
considered as stationary if they didn’t move – even
if the Independent Character moved to join them.
Cover Saves
Cover saves have become very, very generous in
5th edition. While our power and Terminator armor
provide impressive protection for our own units,
cover saves will make our opponents far more
resilient. A clever opponent will be able to protect
his cheaper and numerically superior units to a
similar degree as our own simply by placing them in
the appropriate terrain. This will have a significant
impact on traditional “shooty” Space Marine armies.
Armies of this type may struggle more with these
changes to the rules since their opponents will
be able to absorb a lot more firepower than in 4th
edition. It could lead to players adjusting their army
lists in favor of more balanced capabilities. Because
they provide no cover save, the humble flamer and
heavy flamer may appear in greater numbers to
counter this obstacle. Cleanse and Purify armies will
be especially pleased to find that hits and wounds
are determined before any models are removed. So
it is possible for multiple template weapons to inflict
a horrific number of wounds if positioned correctly.
Even without the Cleanse and Purify trait, there
are a number of Space Marine units that can take
more than one flamer and these units could prove
invaluable against poorly armored opponents.
Vehicles
The vehicle rules have changed how all vehicles
will operate in 5th edition and Space marines will
be no exception. Overall, vehicles will gain some in
survivability but lose some in offensive capabilities
as a trade-off. Vehicles can gain some hansom
protective qualities by using the terrain around
them. Vehicles with sponson-mounted weaponry
could fire against the enemy with near impunity if
placed properly. Dreadnoughts can benefit from this
clever tactic as well.
Defensive weapons are now Str4 and under instead
of Str5 and under. The Crusader will not be affected
by this change at all, so expect it to continue to
as the most popular Land Raider variant. Because
barrage weapons are treated just like blast weapons
when they have line-of-sight, it will be interesting
to see if the Helios variant gains any popularity as
a Space Marine “Leman Russ”. I wouldn’t try this
tactic with the Whirlwind. Its weak frontal armor
won’t tolerate the attention that would be lavished
upon it when it moves into the open.
When it comes to being assaulted, a vehicle is only
as good as its weakest armor. Consequently, the
Land Raider will excel at surviving such an attack,
while all of our other vehicles – with their very thin
rear armor – will be quite vulnerable. As history
continues to prove, tanks are vulnerable without
proper infantry support.
Hardest hit by the new rule changes will be the
dreaded Land Speeder Tornado armed with the
assault cannon. Under the new rules, it will have
to poke along at a sluggish 6” to use its weapons
to full effect. I suspect this variant will be dropped
in favor of the basic Land Speeder equipped with
a heavy bolter or multi-melta. The points saved
will be better spent elsewhere. It isn’t all bad for
the Land Speeder though. They receive a generous
cover save if they move fast (but cannot shoot when
they do) and effectively have the benefit of extra
armor when formed into squadrons.
Rhinos and Razorbacks will not be negatively
23

impacted by these changes. As dedicated transports,
it is nice to see that they can transport other units
and become true “battle taxis” once the game
begins. This could be invaluable as they could get a
scoring unit that lost its own transport into a critical
position as the game draws to a close.
Dreadnoughts gain some and lose some too. While
their firing arc has been reduced, they may run!
like any other footslogger and can be screened
by intervening models as mentioned earlier. So a
Dreadnought can now survive marching across the
tabletop. Other vehicles may benefit from the
intervening models rules too. They can be protected
by the Marines in front of them or by screening the
Marines themselves instead.
The ability for units to run will
make the battlefield more fluid
than ever before.
Running
The ability for units to run will make the battlefield
more fluid than ever before. The new run rule is
similar to the current “fleet” ability. Those units
with fleet will be able to assault after running in
5th edition, while those without the ability cannot.
You may think that this change will reduce the
dependence on transports and make the Rhino all
but useless. I don’t think we will see this happen
because the game will now be variable in length.
Getting troops to objectives quickly will be crucial
and should not be left up to the variables of fickle
dice. In either instance, expect to see armies
getting to grips with each other more quickly than
ever before. It will even be possible to see units
in close combat that are not normally expected
to. The new run rule (which allows units to move
an additional D6” instead of shooting) will have an
impact on all armies and bring them closer together
in fewer turns. Combine this with the brutal new
assault rules and we should see more close combat
upgrades throughout most Space Marine armies than
before.
Close combat
Speaking of brutal close combat, the changes to close
combat and weapons may affect the traditional mix
of weapons we see as being the “norm” for Space
Marine armies. Power fists and thunder hammers
now join the lightning claw as an “awkward” close
combat weapon that gets no bonus for a second
24
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
weapon - unless it is the same type. While it does
reduce the effectiveness of these weapons, I don’t
think it will eliminate them from the tabletop.
Instead, we may see a few more power weapons
among the ranks of the Space Marines. The new
assault rules will ensure that units will remain fully
engaged throughout the turn. It will no longer be
possible to strategically remove models to prevent
the slower power fists from attacking at the end of
the round. With this in mind, Independent Characters
with these slower weapons will be formidable.
Make sure they are equipped accordingly as it is
now mandatory for them to “lead the charge” and
engage the enemy fully. You do not have the option
of holding them back. Also note that the formerly
“hidden” power fist is no longer hidden and larger
units will be favored in this respect. This applies
equally to removing casualties from shooting and
close combat. As casualties mount during an assault,
morale will be a key factor in keeping your units
from breaking. The “Rites of Battle” ability will be
highly valued among Space Marine players.
Rending
Rending gets a few tweaks. This will have a positive
and negative impact on Space marine armies. As a
whole, rending will be less effective against units and
has a marginal reduction in its anti-armor capability.
This will reduce the appeal of the assault cannon
somewhat. On the upside, rending now applies to
our sniper weapons (but BS now determines the
chances to hit instead of the previous 2+ roll). This
will improve the effectiveness of our sniper units –
especially against monstrous creatures. With a unit
of up to ten Marines firing 36” range weapons that
can rend, “nidzilla” armies may prove to be more
vulnerable.
Conclusion
These examples concerning the rules and their
effects are by no means exhaustive – but serve
only to inspire Space Marine Commanders to think
outside the box and develop new tactics for a new
game. There is no doubt that the game is changing
and we must change with it. Some of the changes
favor our armies and others do not. Regardless of
the circumstances, the ability to prevail against our
opponents is there, all we must do is exploit it.
May the Emperor guide you and victory be yours.
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 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
BLACK TEMPLARS
o this author 5th Edition actually feels like a
T different game. The addition of running makes
infantry almost as fast as vehicles (albeit with a good
roll), this adds a lot to the game as many armies
are now a lot more mobile. Each game now also
has a random game length, this can be from 5 to 7
turns, this change alone comes with great tactical
implications, will you dive for the objectives early
in the game and commit or will you gamble for a
longer game and wait till the last moment? I have
played, collected and modelled Black Templars for
nine years and have seen the advent of 3rd and
4th Editions on the Black Templars and now I shall
impart my thoughts on 5th to you, the avid Black
Templar general.
"Let Him be the judge of our
deeds. Our Crusades are his
benediction, His strength our
resolve" - Marshal Augustine
SPECIAL RULES
Below is an examination of the effect 5th Edition
has had on the Special Rules of the Black Templars.
These rules are key to defining a Templars army
and a solid understanding of the implications of 5th
Edition on them is crucial.
And They Shall Know No Fear: ATSKNF itself remains
unchanged from how it worked in 4th Edition.
Righteous Zeal: The rulebook now clearly states
that the move granted by the Righteous Zeal rule
is “up to” D6 inches. The greatest change here is
that consolidation moves can no longer be used
to engage an enemy in close combat. This means
that enemies will no longer have to fear firing at us
when they are up close for fear that they will lose
the charge. This has happened to me a few times,
charging a large unit into a smaller one , eliminating
it and then getting fired on and losing a substantial
number of models
Changes to the way consolidation moves work will
also come into play when you eliminate an enemy
after a close combat as you can no longer sweep into
another enemy unit, this could leave you stranded
in front of a firing line if left unsupported.
Mixed Armour: This often confusing rule is now
gone! No need to worry about it ever again.
Kill Them All: Becomes a redundant rule, as target
priority is a thing of the past.
Abhor the Witch: As with ATSKNF the switch to 5th
Edition has no major impact on this rule.
VOWS
Accept Any Challenge No Matter The Odds: This
Vow gives everyone, except neophytes, the Preferred
Enemy Universal Special Rule (USR). This Vow is now
worth its hefty price tag. Give it is useful against
everyone it seems like this will become the default
vow for many Templar commanders. Templars
essentially become a “Master Crafted” army, so sit
back and watch your opponent cringe!
Suffer Not The Unclean To Live: Grants everyone,
except Neophytes, +1 strength in close combat,
but at a cost of -1 Initiative. Less useful now that
the revamped grenade rules allow you strike at
initiative when you charge. Given the small number
of circumstances where this rule provides a major
advantage it is unlikely to be a common choice
for Templars except against opponents themselves
burdened with a poor initiative.
Uphold The Honour Of The Emperor: Cheapest
of the Vows, it provides a 6+ invulnerable save all
around. However given that it stops us benefiting
from cover saves and, since 5th is the edition of
cover saves, thamakes this vow in my opinion, fairly
useless. With the amount of 4+ saves you can get
from intervening units, I would rarely trade that for
a 6+ invulnerability save.
Abhor the Witch, Destroy The Witch: No major
changes for most games of 5th Edition. The extra
move granted if there is a witch amongst the enemy
can almost guarantee a first turn charge, especially
in Dawn of War style missions were you to deploy
25

18” from the enemy and in a Land Raider Crusader,
this would take any army by surprise. Not so good
against some of the new “shooting” powers like the
ones the new deamon codex has, because they are
not “powers” but weapons
HQ UNITS
Marshal: In this edition the commander will be
the backbone of any force. His high Initiative and
Leadership will come in handy with the new assault
rules as frag grenades make you strike at initiative.
A power weapon will be a popular choice as it will
allow for a cheap extra attack together with a bolt
pistol.
The ever handy Holy Orb of Antioch will also become
even deadlier with the new blast rules as there
will be no partial hits, more hits means more dead
enemies of the Emperor, a situation any Templar
worth the name would approve of.
26
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Chaplain: Will still be a popular choice for many,
but due to the change in the ‘Accept Any Challenge’
Vow many armies will see less of them as most units
will already be granted a Close Combat re-roll. The
benefits of fielding a Chaplain remain that he can
control the direction and increase the speed of
‘Righteous Zeal’. Consider using one in conjunction
with large foot slogging squads, together with his
Cenobyte Servitors and the new ‘Run’ USR this could
potentially mean an extra 5 to 15” of movement per
turn (if we ran previously) if the unit is the target of
heavy incoming fire.
Emperor’s Champion: The Emperor’s Champion
is slightly improved by some of the 5th Edition
changes, especially when paired with the ‘Accept
Any Challenge’ Vow. This Vow allows him re-roll his
attacks, making his relatively low Attack value less
relevant.
Command Squads: One of the most overlooked
units under 4th Edition rules this is likely to change
under the new regime. In 5th Edition characters
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Ploughing across the derelict square the
Black Templar Razorback slewed to a halt.
Thudding shots barked from the heavy
bolter turret as the squad advanced out of
the rear ramp, bolters blazing in short bursts.
Chainswords rose and fell for what felt like
a lifetime to initiate Falko as he snapped a
pistol shot at another target in the whilring
melee. Parrying quickly, he slid his sword
under the Necrons guard and plunged it
fully to the hilt in its baleful glowing chest.
Drilling a round through its eye, Falko tore
his sword free and turned to find the rest of
his squad finishing what remained.
"Good work brother Frako!" Sgt Decius'
shadow fell over him, his gauntlet resting on
the smaller mans shoulder, "Well executed!
Templars redeploy for the second phase!"
with a retinue become what are called ‘upgrade
characters’, this means that they become like
Veteran Sergeants in regular squads and cannot be
targeted independently in CC. It also means that
the whole unit, command squad and attached
character(s) will only count as 1 kill point to the
enemy.
Taken to extremes the Black Templar commander
could potentially take a Marshal with Command
Squad and attached Chaplain and it would all count
as 1 kill point and would provide the characters with
much needed support against power fists and the like.
The same applies to Terminator Command Squads
and characters although their greater survivability
naturally comes at an increased points cost.
ELITES
Sword Brethren: Probably the unit that is most
improved by the new rules. With so many, now,
effective, wargear and skills options this unit is now
worth taking a serious look at. ‘Infiltrate’ will allow
you to place the Sword Brethren up close as normal,
but you could also outflank the enemy with them
to compromise a static opponent. Alternatively you
could use them as your elite shock troops and give
them the ‘Counter Attack’ USR. Pair this up with
Terminator Honours and close combat weapons, you
will then get a unit that should get 4 attacks both on
the charge and when being charged.
Although you pay a premium price, this will be a
unit that the enemy simply cannot afford to take
lightly. For a more mobile ‘tactical reserve’ type
unit, arm them with bolters and mount them in a
Rhino. This gives them greater mobility, protection
and fire power and still leaves them a formidable
opponent in close combat.
Dreadnought: 5th Edition vehicles are harder to
kill all around with changes to cover rules and the
new damage chart. Given the relatively low price
BT armies pay for Dreadnoughts and their increased
survivability (and mobility - Dreadnoughts can now
‘Run’) expect to see many Dreads in BT armies, even
with the changes to the rending rule toning down
the power of Assault Canons.
TRANSPORTS
Rhino: The workhorse transport unit of the Astartes
benefits from several key changes to the rules
under 5th Edition. The new damage to passengers
table makes transporting units less hazardous and
the ability to act as a ‘battle taxi’ for any friendly
(non-Terminator) infantry unit make the Rhino a
much more viable purchase than in 4th Edition. With
a guaranteed 12” move and the infantry being able
to disembark and ‘Run’, getting units into place has
never been easier. And with only a guaranteed 5
turns and variable game length in every game speed
now counts more than ever on the 40K battlefield.
Drop Pod: Cheaper than in any other Codex Drop
Pods give the BT commander the ability to drop a
unit on top of an objective and either take it or
contest it. Its value has increased now that the
Emperor’s Champion can be attached to a squad
inside a drop pod before the battle begins, this
means that the full drop pod army is now viable for
the Black Templars!
Combine this with counter charging Sword Brethren
and you have a very nasty army, especially with the
revised rules for drop pods landing in deadly terrain
or on top of enemy units. These changes now allow a
chance for the unit in such circumstances to survive
rather than automatically leading to the destruction
of the Drop Pod and unit, in turn this encourages a
more aggressive use of Drop Pods as befits the most
zealous of the Astartes.
Razorback: Do not underestimate the razorback,
for cheaper than a 5 man squad with a heavy bolter
you get one that is twin linked and can move and
fire. Usually take 2 in competitive lists, this adds
27

some anti infantry to the bulk of my force. With the
new rules, especially in “dawn of war” deployment
missions you should rely on them to be able to get
their squad to where they are needed the most and
support them with either anti tank or anti infantry
support. This combined with the added suvirvability
of tanks will add up to better tougher razorbacks.
TROOPS
Crusader Squad: The only Troop choice available to
BT commanders is also one of the most flexible of
any army. The ability to take up to 20 men in one
Troop choice makes this a very attractive option as
Troops now count as scoring to the last man, so the
enemy will have to kill a lot of Marines to prevent
you taking or contesting an objective.
The ability to ‘Run’ combined with ‘Righteous Zeal’
also means that the enemy will have to take into
account the possibility of such a large squad moving
rapidly even without transport. Adding a Chaplain
and Cenobytes can further increase this movement
taking away much of the safety cushion enemies
previously enjoyed against large Crusader Squads.
FAST ATTACK
Assault Squads: Yet another unit benefited greatly
by the new rules. Not only can they run, almost
guaranteeing a second turn charge, but they benefit
from vows. This makes them as good as a squad
with a chaplain, if you by accept any challenge,
but without spending the points on the chaplain.
Assault squads should be used as close support for
your larger crusader squads. Take them in smaller
units so that they do not eliminate units in one
go. They will tie up more shooty units so that the
large crusaders are safer from ranged damage after
eliminating units and not being able to consolidate
into a fresh enemy.
Bikes: Mobile anti tank support. They zoom in get
a few shots off and continue, or zoom out. With
their boost movement of 24” they move faster than
almost anything in the game. A mobile multi-melta
attack bike is a good addition. You could also take 3
power weapons and launch them into combat, but I
would only do this with accept as the re rolls would
help against the low number of attacks.
Land Speeder Squadron: Now, take them in
squadrons. They will benefit from the new vehicle
squadron rules, they are more fragile now but if you
play with them correctly they will be able to turn the
tide of battle in your favour, land speeder tornadoes
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
are still a force to be reckoned with. In addition
they can deepstrike, and vehicles that deepstrike
count as moving at “cruising speed” so landspeeders
can still fire one weapon after deepstriking, this
makes multi melta landspeeders quite attractive as
the enemy will have no one safe from the heat of
their guns.
Attack Bikes: Decent option, tough use them in a
dedicated role, so dont mix and match. Use them
wisely and in close support to your army, you dont
want them to get stranded and assaulted now do
you!
HEAVY SUPPORT
Land Raider/Crusader: The new vehicle rules has
made these vehicles the monsters they are supposed
to be on the battlefield. Expect them to survive the
entire game, and soak up a lot of damage! Not much
more can be said on these other than fill them up
with troops and grind the enemies bones beneath
your tracks.
Predator: As always very flexible, a workhorse
gunship if you will. If you give is sponsons do not
expect it to go very far as it will have to remain
stationary to fire at full effect. But I can see
predators with a stormbolter and just the main gun
moving and firing.
Vindicator: This beast has become so accurate on
the move that the enemy will tremble at the sight
of them. The removal of partial hits makes this
behemoths gun one o the most feared weapons in
the space marine articles. As black templars we can
still purchase power of the machine spirit for these
nasties!... so go forth and pound the enemy into
submission!
CONCLUSION
The changes that us Black Templars have to endure
make us, now, one of the hardest armies out there
in both friendly and competitive play. The positive
greatly outdoes the negative and I predict Templars
moving up the charts pretty quick. Our hard hitting
troops, game breaking vows and plethora of options
in the form of wargear will see us through a Golden
Age, and don’t expect a new Templar Codex in the
near future, so sit back and just enjoy the ride.
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 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
CHAOS MARINES
he following sections are a brief analysis of
T some of the changes that Warhammer 40,000 5th
Edition will have on your Chaos army's composition,
play style and tactics.
MAJOR CHANGES
Scoring units: Or why we may need to load up on
basic CSM. All units taken from the Troop section
are now the only scoring units in the game. This
includes Troops that are inside a transport (and
where applicable - within range of the objective).
Also, a unit reduced to below 50% etc. still counts
as a scoring unit. Other units (Elites, Heavy Support
choices etc.) can contest objectives but they
cannot claim them. Note that Swarm and vehicle
Troop choices do not count as scoring units. This
new rule favours Horde type armies but it will also
be useful to us if we can keep our (normally) small-
medium sized CSM squads relatively safe.
Kill Points: Victory Points are gone. They have
been replaced by 'Kill Points'. Some missions have
specific criteria that must be met to claim a Victory
and in those Kill Points do not apply then but there
are however, some missions where at the end of
the game, each player receives one Kill Point for
each enemy unit destroyed (completely). The one
with the highest number of KP wins the game.
Defenders React: Or Counter attack for everyone!
That's right, all units being assaulted must move all
models not in base-to-base contact up to 6" so that
they end up in base contact with the enemy. This is
a huge buff for Chaos Lords with Daemon Weapons
as it lets them use their superior initiative against
basic troops to put a ton of wounds (or stand
around and do nothing, depending on the will of
the Dark Gods) on the enemy unit. Note that the
counter attack Universal Special Rule (USR) has
been changed so that it now gives bonus attacks
(for charging) to the 'reacting' defenders.
Transports: Entanglement is gone, it has been
replaced with the need for embarked infantry
to disembark and take a pinning test should the
transport vehicle be Wrecked or Destroyed.
Dedicated transports may (after the game begins)
transport any friendly infantry unit, subject to the
normal restrictions on capacity etc and unit type. Is
that a rebalanced Rhino rush I hear in the distance?
True Line of Sight: Line of sight must now be traced
from the eyes of the firing model to any part of the
body of at least one of the models in the target unit.
The torso, legs and arms fall under this but, wings,
tails, banners, weapons etc. is a no-go. This should
encourage and validate existing and impressive
converted models!
Intervening models: Or Target priority tests are gone!
The Target Priority checks have been removed and
replaced with an interesting rule called Intervening
models. Now, if a target is partially hidden from the
firer's view by other models (including your own), it
receives a 4+ cover save. I wonder if this will make
spawn useful as screening units now, or does their
low unit sizes restrict them? Interesting change to
say the least.
"The warm embrace of endless life is ours.
Mortality is overrated." - Typhus
Powerfists: Powerfists now only give a bonus attack
now if they are paired with another powerfist,
thunder hammer or lightning claw. (Editors note:
There has already been some debate on this issue,
hopefully GW will clarify this shortly.) I don't see
this as a problem for Khornate champions as they
get a bonus attack from their Mark/Icons. Nor should
it change much for Deathguard/Nurgle players as
their (DG) low initiative and resilience is a fairly
good reason to go for a killy weapon. Overall though
I don't think that powerfists are the no-brainer
choice that they used to be. This new rule may
mean that Power weapons will be used more often.
It is something to consider when you're outfitting
your Champions.
Run Forrest, run!: All units can now forego shooting
and move an extra D6” in the shooting phase, they
may not assault after running however (unless they
have the Fleet USR). And on that note, running
Dreadnoughts are also a possibility now! This makes
our (currently too unstable) Dreadnoughts a bit
more attractive, if only just a little - our Defilers
remain a potent melee threat.
29

MINOR CHANGES
Psychic Shooting attacks (and Daemon Princes)
: Daemon Princes can use two different psychic
powers that counts as a shooting attack in the same
turn. This may make a walking, and thereby a non-
winged, Daemon Prince a valid choice for a gunline
CSM army.
Vehicle Defensive Weapons : If a vehicle moves at
Combat Speed (up to 6"), it may only fire a single
weapon and all defensive weapons (S4 or less).
This means that Lascannon + Heavy Bolter sponson
Predators may only fire a single weapon when on the
move. If not for Tank Shock and the following rule
I might be tempted to leave my Predators on the
shelf, in favour of Obliterators.
Ramming: It's back, and better than ever :
Should your tank find itself shaken and/or without
any weapons left, ramming enemy vehicles is an
interesting (and fun!) option. The strength of the
ramming attack is based on several factors.
30
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
If the ramming vehicle is a tank the strength is
increased. If the ramming vehicle has an AV higher
than 10 the strength is increased. For each full
3" moved, the strength of the ramming vehicle
is increased, if all these factors are considered
ramming attacks can cause some serious damage to
even the hardest targets.
Template weapons: No more partial hits ! Any
models under the template, regardless of whether
they are fully or partially covered by the template,
are hit. Also, wounds from template weapons can
be put on any model in the unit and doesn't have
to be put on the models actually covered by the
template. I predict a resurgence of flamers in CSM
lists, especially in small Raptor squads where their
higher mobility helps you chose when and where to
'light a fire'.
Blast weapons: 2D6-BS scatter unless you roll a Hit.
Models no longer roll to hit when firing blast weapons,
you roll the scatter dice and unless a 'Hit' is rolled,
the blast marker scatters 2D6" in the direction show.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Restrictions like range, scattering off the board
(but not scattering beyond the weapon's range) still
apply. Finally, as with template weapons, any model
whose base is completely or partially covered by
the blast marker is hit. Note that you still roll a die
to check for 'Gets Hot!' prior to rolling the scatter
dice.
An interesting side-effect of these changes came
up during my first game under 5th. Where one of
my Obliterators fired his Plasma Cannon at an
Ultramarine player's Rhino. The shot scattered
8" and landed on top of a Tactical marine squad
walking behind the player's 2nd rhino. The result
wasn't pretty. Blast weapons, from the mighty battle
cannons to the lowly frag missiles will be a good way
to deal with screening units.
Plasma weapons and Rapid Fire: Rapid Firing
plasma weapons in 5th Edition will only 'Get Hot' on
the roll of a 1. Note that several wounds may be
suffered this way if you roll 'snake-eyes'. (e.g. one
wound for each roll of 1' that comes up)
SPECIFIC UNITS
Below are some comments specific to units or
characters only available in certain units, by no
means are these the only changes to look for, just
some of the more obvious or important.
Chaos Undivided: Of the fearless units that we
have access to, Plaguemarines will probably be
the ones least affected by the “No Retreat!” rule.
For Undivided/unmarked armies, the Icon of Chaos
Glory looks a lot better now and is worthy of serious
consideration.
Armies of the Fell Four:
Typhus and the Manreaper: Under the 'Poisoned
Weapon' rules if Typhus's Strength is the same, or
higher than the Toughness of his victim, then Typhus
must re-roll failed to wound rolls in close combat.
Very nasty!
Force Weapons, The Mark of Tzeentch, and Daemon
Princes: The wording on the rules for psykers has been
changed and it now allows for a Tzeentch marked
model to use a psychic power and the powers of a
Force Weapon in the same turn. Thousand Sons and
Rubric users rejoice! Also, Force Weapons are now
considered to inflict 'Instant Death', as a result our
Daemon Princes are immune to its psychic effect
making Space Marine Librarians and similar units
less of a threat to these expensive characters.
Feel No Pain: Feel No Pain cannot be used against AP
1 or 2 weapons, power weapons, perils of the warp,
rending weapons that roll a 6, and wounds from
weapons that never allow an armour save etc.
"Fear? Fear?! I have spoken to daemons and
whispered to gods. Know fear through me!" -
Unknown Marine of the Wordbearers
Assault grenades & the Mark of Slaanesh: The effect
of assaulting into cover and frag grenades have been
changed. More on this: here (link to article). I find
this particularly beneficial to Slaaneshi champions
who are wielding power weapons. Combined with
their superior initiative a Slaaneshi champion can
reap a bloody harvest on the defenders before they
get to act.
CONCLUSION
Having played Warhammer 40k since Rogue
Trader, I welcome the changes in 5th Edition. After
having played 6 test games, both against friends
and strangers, I find the new rule set to be more
streamlined, better balanced (though there will
always be issues) and more fun in general. And
having fun is what it is all about.
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Bolter casings cascaded briefly, flashes of
muzzle fire strobing the darkness. Blood, thick
and sticky, washed over the helm of Grake as
he flung casings
Bolter the chainaxe in abriefly,
cascaded wide arc. Its edge
flashes of
bit chunks from the chest of the Blood
muzzle fire strobing the darkness. Blood, Angel,
before the World Eater fell on him. Hammering
thick
the and Angels
Blood sticky, helm
washed overhisthe
with helm
fists of
Grake
Grakeinastriumph.
roared he flung the chainaxe in a wide arc.
Its edge bit chunks from the chest of the
“Blood for the Dark Gods!”
Blood Angel, before the World Eater fell
on him. Hammering the Blood Angels helm
with his fists Grake roared in triumph.
"Blood for the Dark Gods!"
31

DAEMON ARMIES
W
ith its recent inception, it’s somewhat
difficult to discuss the impact of 5th Edition
40K as it relates to Codex: Chaos Daemons.
40K gamers have hardly found time to play the
army within a 4th Edition context. Suffice to say, the
codex was written in the full light of the new core
rules and was certainly play-tested accordingly.
With the number of rule changes, it’s still important
to draw out some integral points that are sure to
have an impact on Daemon armies on the 5th Edition
tabletop.
DAEMONIC DEPLOYMENT
Among the special rules for Daemons are the
Daemonic Incursion rules governing how they
deploy. This rule, above all others, differentiates
the Daemons among the armies of 40K. This rule
alone makes it difficult to draw examples from the
playing styles of other armies. The closest parallel
is the all-Drop Pod deployed, Loyalist Space Marine
army. This is the only other case where an entire
force is deployed from Reserves, via Deep Strike.
The Drop Pod assault army has one very distinct tactic
to leverage. When arriving on table, transported
models must disembark and then all the typical
Deep Strike limitations apply; they can shoot as if
moving and can’t assault.
"I feel your doubt, your moment
of anxiety Space Marine.
Your determination shall only
prove to unbind you"
- Quilaxos the Keeper of Secrets
The tactic is straight forward and initially very
deadly. Drop close in to your enemy, unload all
Rapid Fire and Assault weapons into your foe, hope
for withering losses and failed break tests to ruin
your enemy’s line. Since the troops involved are
Space Marines, their power armour and Dreadnought
support helps keep them around for subsequent
turns.
32
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
In the case of Daemons the Deep Striking limitations
are the same but there are some additional and
distinct disadvantages. They don’t have Drop Pods
to ensure that they will be delivered unfailingly
to the table. Likewise, there’s no mobile cover to
hide behind. Most daemons don’t have any shooting
attacks at all to leverage when they arrive.Most must
rely on a 5+ INV save to protect them if exposed in
the open. At times like these, a 3+ regular armour
save would be much more welcome.
That being said, there are still many new rules in
5th Edition that can be leveraged to turn the tide in
favour of the marauding Daemons.
WHO GOES FIRST? OR BEING
DAEMONICALLY CORDIAL
When dicing off for, “who goes first” the Daemon
player almost always wants to take the second turn
for several key reasons. First and foremost, daemon
units must avoid coming under heavy fire. Deny your
opponent a turn of shooting and that’s one less turn
of dodging bullets for the daemonic ground forces.
Since half the daemon army arrives from reserves,
winding down the clock only helps speed their
arrival.
The Reserves Table has changed in 5th Edition. The
version that we were used to in 4th included the
chance that certain units held in reserve may never
reach the table. Rolling consistent ones (1’s) in
the final turns could leave hapless units out of the
game. No longer in 5th. The new table indicates that
all reserves will arrive on the 5th turn unfailingly. All
your Daemonic forces will now get their turn on the
table every game.
All standard missions also have random game lengths.
Typical 40K games in 5th Edition will last between 5
and 7 turns determined randomly. Despite that fact,
it’s still to the Daemon player’s advantage to grab
objectives with newly arriving Troop units. Daemon
players will be wise to exploit these benefits to the
utmost whenever possible.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
THE PERILS OF DEEP STRIKING
FROM THE WARP
Two new rules make Deep Striking a more interesting
prospect; taking Dangerous Terrain tests and rolling
on the Deep Strike Mishap Table. Each one will have
a bearing on where a Daemon player chooses to set
units on the table.
In the past, models arriving via Deep Strike could
arrive safely within Difficult, Area Terrain. In the new
rules, models arriving via Deep Strike count Difficult
terrain as Dangerous terrain on the turn they arrive.
It won’t take much of a bad scatter to place a full
unit of daemons in harm’s way. Thankfully, a 1/6
chance of loss per model is fairly low. Yet, given a
bad day a greater daemon may drift off course and
effectively get telefragged by an errant tree branch
or outcropping of broken rockcrete. Such risks may
further force the use of Chaos Icons to remove the
risk factor for such valuable assets. That’s relatively
high cost war gear but carries with it a high tactical
value with these new terrain rules to consider.
At the same time, the new Run rule allows a unit
to make a D6” move during the shooting phase if
they opt not to shoot. These D6” are unhindered
by the same difficult terrain that made deployment
more challenging in the first place. A Run move can
be performed after arriving via Deep Strike. This is
important for several reasons. Via the run move,
the daemon unit can spread out their formation
making them less vulnerable to template and blast
weapons. Also it presents the opportunity to get into
cover without incurring the dangerous terrain test.
In the past, Deep Striking onto other models, on
top of impassable terrain or even off the table edge
resulted in the worst possible outcome; the unit
was simply lost as casualties. In 5th Edition, this is
not always the case. If an arriving unit cannot be
placed legally for any of the above reasons they
are not immediately lost but a roll is made on
the, “Deep Strike Mishap Table.” One third of the
time a “Terrible Accident!” occurs and the unit is
lost, removed from the game as a casualty. Equally
likely a “Misplaced” result could occur which lets
the Daemon’s opponent place the unit anywhere on
the table they want (dangerous terrain checks still
apply). The final result is “Delayed” in which cases
the unit to be placed back in reserves and will show
up again later on in the game. So 2/3’s the time, the
unit is still able to contribute to the game. This may
embolden players to attempt more risky placement
of arriving troops.
33

TRACING LINE OF SIGHT
Another factor that proves daunting to Daemon
models are the new rules governing Line of Sight
(LoS). In 4th Edition, the torso of the model had to be
visible along the “model’s eye view” of the enemy
shooter. In 5th Edition, the model’s legs and arms can
also be targeted for the purpose of determining LoS.
Also, if any model in a unit is visible the entire unit
may be hit by incoming fire, even if the rest of the
target squad is outside of LoS and the max range of
the shooting attack. So one arm of one Bloodletter
model is all it takes to provide enough visibility to
jeopardize an entire squad of 10+ daemons.
The Soul Grinder, as impressive looking at it is,
makes for a very high profile target, literally. The
new rules for tracing LoS to a vehicle’s hull now
specifically includes Defiler legs. LoS also works
in three dimensions so the Grinder is both tall and
covers a very large area. That will make claiming
the “hull down,” 4+ cover save very difficult for
them to achieve.
Winning the Daemonic game will rely heavily on
exploiting terrain to be effective. Players need to
make sure that they understand the terrain rules.
This includes the terrain being employed on any
given table. Agreeing with your opponent on what
terrain models invoke which rules was always
challenging. Now that these rules are much more
WYSIWYG, agreement before the game begins
becomes an even more challenging but all the more
important issue for the Daemon player.
Chaplain Xerxes slid noisily down the glacis,
his armour smoking. Painfully he raised his
head, warning runes flashing before him.
Ignoring the pain Xerxes rolled onto his
knees and hands, retching blood from his
visor's mouth piece. The ground itself shook
as the Blood Thirster smashed before him.
Pulling himself to his feet, the Chaplain
brought his Rosarius up in his left gauntlet,
flaming whip chains hammered down at him
as the Daemon of Khorne bellowed.
Braying at the thunderous sky the Daemon
glared down at the chaplain with pure hatred
seething from his form!
34
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
DAEMONIC FIRE SUPPORT
The Daemon’s shooting game is a difficult prospect
even under the most ideal circumstances. Most
shooty daemons have Ballistic Skill three (BS 3)
and most of the really heavy firepower resides with
the unique characters and HQ choices. At the same
time, almost all daemonic shooting is classified as
‘Assault’ fire and therefore can be shot freely on the
same turn they arrive from Deep Striking. Likewise,
such Daemonic shooting can always be conducted
after moving and thus enables the canny Daemon
general to optimize every shot fired despite terrain,
LoS or other issues.
It will be a real temptation for Daemon players to
Deep Strike their shooty units with an immediate,
clear line of fire to their enemy. A word of caution
here comes in carefully considering the enemy’s
response on the following turn. A large squad
of Pink Horrors can lay down a lot of shots, their
Warp Fire attack being Assault 3. Yet, at BS 3 they
will only be hitting half the time. At S 4 they will
only be wounding Marine Equivalent opponents (3+
save, Toughness 4) with half the hits scored. At AP
4, many units will still get armour saves further
reducing enemy casualties. Horrors themselves are
Toughness 3 so they will often times be wounded on
a 3+. Their 4+ INV save will be of great help to keep
them around but they will find it difficult to win the
sustained shooting game.
It becomes clear that the real strength of the
Daemonic army lies in their close combat abilities.
And yet, the best assault units in the game must still
be supported as they close with their opponents.
In every case, the daemon player must force their
opponent to make hard target priority decisions;
“Do I concentrate on the advancing ground troops or
try to keep from being shot by their fire support?”
To fulfil this role, one unit in particular makes some
massive strides forward in the 5th Edition shooting
phase. The Soul Grinder is the only vehicle in the
Daemon army list and carries along with it a wide
range of particularly deadly weaponry. This includes
the Harvester gun (Assault 6, S4) and the Maw
cannon that can be upgraded to fire in three modes:
Template (S6), single shot (S10) and large blast (S8,
AP 3).
Vehicle rules in 5th Edition have also changed
considerably. The multiple vehicle damage tables
have been reduced to one table that governs all
vehicle damage with modifiers based on different
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
factors, e.g. Open Topped, Glancing hits, etc. The
Soul Grinder is AV 13 front and sides and ignores
all Stunned and Shaken results. Since it is a Walker,
all close combat attacks must be against its front
armour (as opposed to the rear armour for all other
vehicles) and boasts four Dreadnought Close Combat
weapons. The fact that it is also Fleet makes for
quite a deadly shooting and close combat platform.
Expect this to become a well feared element to any
Daemonic force on the table.
"Again and again the dead arose.
Lasrifles spent we laid in with
our blades, yet they come, like an
endless tide of filth ..."
Last Diary Entry : Sgt. Hawkins, 5th Nadir Regulars
DAEMONIC ASSAULTS
What Daemons lack in the Shooting phase they more
than make up for in the Assault phase. Bloodletters
are Weapon Skill 5, Furious Charging and all come
equipped with Hellblades – effectively two handed
power weapons. Daemonettes boast 3 Rending
attacks (still powerful even with changes to the
Rending rule) striking at Initiative 6. Plaguebearers
are Toughness 5 and have the Feel No Pain Universal
Special Rule (USR). Daemons literally span the entire
spectrum of highly skilled close combat abilities. As
stated above, Daemons become particularly deadly
in assaults and 5th Edition has introduced several
new rules in the assault phase worth some infernal
attention.
Area Terrain : more of a curse than a blessing (or do
Daemons prefer curses?). Terrain rules underwent
significant revisions between the 4th and 5th Editions.
As a net result, Daemons have a lot less to hide
behind than they did before. In the last edition,
all Area Terrain would block Line of Sight (LoS) for
those models positioned behind it and 6” within
it. This is no longer the case. Not only can you see
through it freely, only under certain circumstances
will it confer cover saves. Daemons do not weather
well vs. shooting attacks and the terrain board of
5th Edition 40K offers less cover for the intrepid
Daemon player.
To make matters worse, when launching an assault
from within, across or into area terrain, the attacker’s
initiative is reduced to one (I 1). To clarify, say a
Daemon unit skulking in cover starts the assault
phase in charge range of an enemy unit in the open.
Even if the Damon unit passes their difficult terrain
test, they still fight at Initiative one (1). The target
unit being in the open does not negate the penalty.
The fact that the daemons started in terrain is
enough to invoke the initiative penalty.
The Slaaneshi faction has a good grip on the use
of grenade like rules to help offset this penalty;
i.e. the Aura of Acquiescence. This serves to
further reinforce their role on the table. Get your
Daemonettes through cover, fleet to clear it and get
them into close combat. Their offensive grenades
allow the she devils to leverage their high Initiative
unhindered. After they have engaged the enemy,
bring in your non-grenade equipped assault elements
behind them. Once the enemy unit is fighting in a
close combat, intervening cover no longer imposes
the I 1 penalty no matter what terrain may be
involved.
Flesh Hounds of Khorne, especially lead by Karanak,
have a nice collection of advantages given these
changes. Karanak provides the Move Through Cover
USR while the fact that they are Beasts gives them
the Fleet rule and gives them a 12" assault move.
A very nice combination with these new terrain
impacts considered.
All Daemons are also Fearless so the result of losing
a close combat automatically invokes the “No
Retreat!” rule. In 4th Edition, overwhelming odds
dictated how many wounds the enemy unit would
sustain. In 5th Edition it’s all about the number of
unsaved wounds inflicted vs. the number of unsaved
wounds sustained. If the Daemon player inflicted
two (2) unsaved wounds and received four (4) back;
4 - 2 = two (2) additional wounds that require (INV)
saves from the losing daemons.
Non-fearless units are subject to taking Morale
checks when losing close combats. Based on the
same equation mentioned above, more unsaved
wounds equates to a negative modifier to that
morale check. In the same equation above, if the
Daemons inflicted four (4) unsaved wounds and
sustained two (2) unsaved wounds their opponent
would make their Morale check at minus two (-2).
Note well the Instrument of Chaos war gear item
available to many Daemon units. Having a few of
these available in a Daemon army will turn drawn
combats into minor victories for the Daemons.
35

Force Weapons: Formerly the Bloodthirster’s
bane, Space Marine Librarians equipped with Force
weapons used to be the sure cure for rampaging
Greater Daemons. All daemon models, both great
and small, have the Eternal Warrior USR which
makes them immune to Instant Death. The killing
blow of the Force Weapon is now considered an,
“Instant Death” result, the same as being struck
by a weapon that has a Strength value double the
target’s Toughness. All multi-wound Daemons are
now immune to the “soul drinking” power of the
Force Weapon. The “Blessing of the Blood God”
even passes along a 2+ INV save vs. such attacks.
Space Marine Librarians will now need to direct
their multi-wound killing powers elsewhere.
DAEMONIC END-GAMES
The following are a few special considerations for
Chaos Daemon armies as they relate to some of the
new Missions and Deployment patterns found in 5th
Edition.
Seize Ground: For this mission, 3+D3 objectives
are set about the game table, each player placing
an objective in turn. The Daemon player’s tactics
must be put into play at this point. Objectives that
are close to cover, outside of enemy shooting lanes
make for the perfect opportunity to exploit the
unique way Daemons deploy to the table. Note that
there is no longer a sense of the Margin of Victory
as with 4th Edition missions. If you hold one more
uncontested objective over your opponent you win
the mission.
"More! Bring me more skulls!
My Lord needs MORE!"
- U'Zuhl the Skulltaker
Troops in Transports: 5th Edition has now adopted
the rule that units in Transport vehicles are still
considered, “on the table” for scoring purposes (and
most others for that matter). This will be a big boon
for armies that have excellent transport options like
Tau and Eldar. Unfortunately, Daemons don’t have
any at all. More unfortunate is the general lack of
anti-tank the Daemon army can bring to bear. This
rule may mandate that Daemon armies leverage
what anti-armour units they do have. Screamers and
other Tzeentchian units with high Strength attacks
could become very popular for this purpose.
36
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Bone splintered as the Daemonette drove
the smooth claw clean through the shoulder
of the Marine, leaving a foul wound behind.
Bringing her face close to his, she tilted her
head to one side as if in consideration, lifting
the Space Marine clear of the ground as if he
weighed nothing. Curling like a snake, her
tongue darted forth and coiled round his
neck guard, grinding the vertebrae tighter.
Her taut purple skin shivered in delight.
"Blood Raven ..." her voice was as silk and
honey, as a razor across palid skin. Streams
of her hair fell about her perfect face.
"Thank you for this sumptous moment!"
The crux of both the Seize Ground and Capture and
Control missions require that Infantry units from an
army’s Troop choices capture the mission specific
objectives. Such units must be within 3” of the set
objective without any other enemy unit, of any
type, in the same range in order to fulfill the victory
condition. Nurgle units represent some of the hardest
Infantry/Troops in the 40k game system. They are
Toughness 5, have a daemon typical 5+ INV save and
a 4+ Feel No Pain (FNP) roll vs. most attacks. (Note
that the rules for FNP have changes so they will not
get this save in all cases.)
Plaguebearers become the ideal, “take and hold”
unit for these mission types. Deep Striking allows
the unit to quickly seize the objective. Deploying
from reserves keeps them safely off-table until the
later turns of the game. Once in place, the unit can
freely “Go to Ground!” the new rule that increases
a unit’s cover save by +1 while forfeiting their next
turn’s actions. If an objective is in or within 3” of
area terrain, the stalwart daemons could also be
protected by a 3+ cover save on top of their other
defensive attributes. Note also that in 5th Edition, a
unit is still considered “scoring” until the last model
is removed from the table. Given such hearty troops,
killing them to the last man is a difficult task.
Capture and Control: The primary difference
between this mission and Seize Ground is the number
and placement of the objectives. In this case there
are only two objectives, one in each of the player’s
deployment zones. Again, Deep Strike deployment
can be leveraged to make this work out well for the
encroaching Daemons.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
For this mission, most armies will need to “castle”
up their defenses while sending out an attack group
to take the enemy’s objective. They cannot just
sit back and shoot and still expect to win. This is
the perfect mission to draw your opponent down
table and into the open. Note that the mission
requires that only Infantry/Troop units can claim
the Daemon’s objective or hold their own for that
matter. In most cases, they must foot slog or rely
on troop transports to make their way across table
to win the game. The new Run rule will help them
but running units aren’t shooting which again works
well for the Daemon’s cause. Use your first wave
of Daemonic incursion to foil the advancing units.
Once overwhelmed, use the units coming in from
reserve to mount the Daemonic attack against the
enemy defensive to secure the win.
Dawn of War: This is one particular deployment
where the Daemon army may have a distinct
advantage over others. The 5th Edition rules clearly
state that army specific rules found in the various
codices supersede those found in the core rules.
In the mission setup rules for Dawn of War, not all
units start out on the board at the beginning of the
game. Therefore, a full half of the daemon army
will arrive on the first turn compared to a relatively
small number of units on the part of their opponent.
Also, enemy units arriving from reserves must come
on from their own table edge while the daemons
retain the full reign of Deep Striking anywhere.
"Magick, spells, call it
what you will human, it is
all the Lord of Change.
And you will feel him
upon you this day."
- Psaros the Seeker
This is one instance where the daemon player may
want to ‘Seize the Initiative!’ and try to take the
first turn advantage. Fewer enemy guns will be
on the table to hassle the arriving daemons. Take
full advantage of having more of your army on the
table sooner. Concentrate on eliminating enemies
piecemeal, always attacking with overwhelming
odds.
SOME FINAL REMARKS
The Daemon army is by no means a “power army” to
any extent. Veteran 40K players have noted that GW
usually errs on the side of caution when introducing
new armies to the game. That may well have been
the case with Codex: Chaos Daemons. Winning with
Daemons will take a lot of quick thinking and for
many, a little luck too. The Daemon player must
constantly be accounting for bad scatter results,
failed reserve rolls and lots of other factors left to
the mercy of the Dice Gods. It’s a thinking gamer’s
army, one that requires constant spontaneity and
improvisation in each and every game turn until the
final roll of the dice.
"Child...why waste so much time
for a life so short? Let the pain
become a tool, let Grand Father
take you in his warm embrace?
Yes?"
- A Preacher of Nurgle
That being said, the 5th Edition game of 40K may lend
itself nicely to strong assault armies. The Horde may
still rule the day but Daemons have their own anti-
horde elements to rely on. Overall, compensating
for weaknesses is the first order of the Daemonic
tactician. That’s the army’s acute downside.
Naïve opponents may see how Daemons struggle
in the first few turns and become overconfident.
The satisfaction will come when the close combat
strength of the army is brought to bear. Lofty
overconfidence will fall quickly at the mad slashing
attacks of U’Zuhl the Skulltaker, backed up by his
entourage of blood drenched Crusher and Letter
units. But don’t let Khorne have all the fun. Proper
placement and leveraging opportunity will let all the
four faces of Chaos combine into one horrific visage
for those who dare oppose the marauding denizens
of Chaos, spurred to war.
If you wish to comment on, discuss or
submit an article for review concerning
this section please click on the B&C
Emblem
37

DARK ANGELS
th edition should benefit the Dark Angels; after
5 all, the Codex was designed with the new edition
of the game in mind. Indeed, when you read the
rulebook there’s a new sense of understanding
towards over some of the rules queries you might
have had. For example, it’s now explicit that
characters can be deployed attached to units from
reserve without making a separate roll for them; a
great boon for Deathwing Assault!
The new rules will change the way that the army
plays as a whole, with some units getting a nice
polish and others losing a little power. I’ll go through
each section of the army list and highlight the areas
that I think will change before discussing how this
might affect Deathwing, Ravenwing and mixed wing
forces.
HQ UNITS
The big change here is that it’s clear in the rulebook
that you no longer need your opponent’s permission
to field named or special characters. So they’re
all up for grabs. In addition, HQs can be used to
deny your opponent an objective in the endgame,
so holding one with the ability to move rapidly may
well be of use.
Company masters, Azrael, Belial and Sammael:
Generally speaking, Rites of Battle will become
even more important than in the past; with the
ability of troops to count as scoring until the last
Cream robes spattered with gore, Ishmael
reversed his broadswords grip as he drove it
down through the abdomen of the Striking
Scorpion. His green armour glinting in
the dawn, he leaned on the pommel for a
moment then slid it free of his enemy. The
stark white symbol of the Dark Angels
shone at his chest as the sun rose on the 12th
day of fighting.
"Brother Ishamel to Azrael, northern
quarter still holds."
38
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
man you’ll want to ensure that they don’t run away.
The possibility for heavier modifiers as a result of
combat is also going to make this a key ability,
ensuring that your units keep fighting until the bitter
end. The ability to take standards that allow re-rolls
for morale and pinning may also be very helpful and
the new emphasis on simply causing more casualties
in close combat means that the benefits offered by
the Deathwing, Ravenwing and Chapter Standards
are going to be more attractive than ever before.
"The Fallen I will not speak of" - Imrael
I would expect to see a lot more of both Belial and
Sammael, even in mixed armies, simply because they
give you the added leadership bonus of a company
master and they allow you to take Deathwing or
Ravenwing units as troops, giving you the option of
making even more of your force count as scoring.
There’s been some debate about which version of
Sammael should now be taken, with some people
viewing the Landspeeder as redundant as it can
neither stand its ground in close combat nor fire
as effectively as before. I suspect that the jetbike
may now be the preferred option, but I wouldn’t
completely discount the speeder; it’s still hard to
shoot down and is now more durable than ever with
the new vehicle damage table. In addition, it gains
a nifty saving throw if moving quickly, making this
an HQ to use at a distance.
Librarians & Ezekiel: Librarians have proved to be
extremely unpopular since the Codex came out.
However, with the advent of 5th they now get a slight
polish. First of all, their shooting power has one
ability that will be important in 5th – it ignores cover
saves. So units you’ve pinned in place or which are
lurking in cover will be vulnerable to this attack,
making a bike mounted librarian rather attractive
(and don’t forget characters still get skilled rider and
move through cover). The other reason is the new
wound allocation rules; now if you’ve taken a lot of
wounds and it looks like you may lose a specialist or
two, allocate one of those wounds to the libbie to
save with his psychic power, allowing your special
weapons to survive that little bit longer.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Chaplains: Chaplains have lost out a little in the
new rules; they can no longer consolidate into a new
unit which means they will have to weather return
fire before charging again. That said, the ability
to run combined with the new assault calculations
mean that their ability to give re-rolls on the charge
could prove to be deadly. In addition, their ability to
make their unit Fearless may also be a boon. I would
also expect to see a little more use of the Sacred
Standard, to make a Dark Angel gun-line or troop
units parked on objectives that little bit harder to
shift.
"I said I would not speak!" - Imrael
Command Squads: With the potential for a
greater number of casualties from incoming fire,
apothecaries will become even more important
than before, as will standard bearers. They will still
perform at their best in a supporting role, either
shooting at threats to your troops or pitching in to
turn the tide in close combat. Given the new assault
rules, command squads will make a brilliant second-
line support unit, able to counter-charge or pour in
fire as necessary.
ELITE UNITS
Deathwing: With the new deep strike rules,
Deathwing Assault is far more viable without the
Ravenwing, meaning that the Deathwing could
cause some real havoc on turn one, teleporting onto
objectives and putting pressure on your opponent
right from the start. Even if the teleport scatters,
the run rule means that the Deathwing can try to
dash behind cover or wherever else you wanted
them. However, terminators may now be more
vulnerable to close combat specialists because of
the very same run rule, meaning that it will be
harder than before to stay at range. As before,
combat should generally be avoided unless the unit
is tooled up for it, although those units may be more
deadly than before as they can close more quickly
with the enemy.
Dreadnoughts: Dreadnoughts are now worth their
higher cost; unlike most other vehicles they can
move and fire at full effect but they still benefit
from the new damage chart. The prospect of several
venerable dreadnoughts is now more attractive
than ever. However, the new assault rules may make
dreadnoughts more vulnerable in close combat than
before as ‘hidden’ powerfists are almost guaranteed
to get a chance to attack.
39

Techmarines: The ability to repair vehicles may be
more annoying for your opponent than before, but
otherwise techmarines remain mostly unchanged.
Company veterans: Company veterans will primarily
see changes in the way they are equipped, with cc
veterans squads gaining combat or storm shields for
powerfist-armed models to try and ensure they get
to strike. Shooty vets may also be more attractive
given the new line-of-sight rules.
Scout squads: Scout squads are now a far more
attractive proposition. Their infiltrate ability will
either allow them to deny an objective to the enemy
(or at least threaten it) or give them the option of
appearing later on the game in your opponent’s half
of the board. Whilst that may leave them stranded
on the wrong side, it also means that they can
seriously disrupt your opponent’s battle line, with
option of destroying vehicles, launching assaults or
otherwise making a nuisance of themselves without
facing enemy fire. The combat squads option also
means that you can attack multiple targets.
"Clad in bone, with weapons of
zeal we will hunt the fallen!"
- Deathwing catachism
TROOPS
Tactical squads now have a bit of a polish. The
combat squads rule means you will be able to have
multiple scoring units and there’s the possibility of
using one squad to screen the other to grant the all-
important cover save. Smaller squads will remain
vulnerable in cc, but will be less vulnerable to blast
markers and will remain scoring to the last man.
Every tactical squad is now a threat to the majority
of enemy tanks and the polish to frag grenades
means that an assault into cover can be more viable
than before.
FAST ATTACK
Assault squads: Assault squads have a lost a bit
of their bite in that they can no longer sweeping
advance into another combat, leaving them far
more vulnerable to enemy fire. They are also more
likely to suffer from dangerous terrain tests. On the
40
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
"Descend 3rd Squadron, for the Lion!"
Screaming like an avenging angel the
Ravenwing speeder punched down from
the thunderous clouds, rolling on its axis
as incoming tracer fire stitched between
its wings. Three more swooped after it,
their assault cannons roaring shells, heavy
bolters pounding with their stocatto
barks.
plus side, they can run, allowing them to close more
quickly with the enemy and you can screen them with
your own units, to protect them from incoming fire
(or even use the combat squads ability to do that).
Deep strike may now be more viable, especially if
done with an attached character, and you can run
afterwards to protect you from shooting.
Ravenwing Attack Squadron: Just as with Scouts,
Ravenwing bikes and attack get the option to make
an outflank move which can seriously ruin your
opponent’s day (multi-meltas turning behind an
opponent’s tank and within 12” anyone?), especially
since most Ravenwing bike units have relatively
short range weaponry. This may be of use if you want
to Deep Strike Terminators accurately towards the
end of the game. A question remains about whether
you can use the outflank move with only one combat
squad or if you bought a Landspeeder as part of the
squadron (the rulebook would suggest you can, the
Codex that you can’t).
The Ravenwing see a slight downturn in the usefulness
of turbo-boosting, but they also gain the option
of going to ground to improve their survivability,
although that isn’t an option that should be taken
lightly.
Ravenwing Support Squadron: This is now a far
more interesting option. Although vehicle shooting
on the move is less effective, Landspeeders can still
move a little and fire at full effect. They also get a
save if they move fast enough. Individual skimmers
are no longer destroyed if they are immobilised,
making a single speeder slightly more durable.
However, squadrons become more interesting as
they treat all stunned results as shaken. Given the
amount of cover saves available in 5th, expect to see
more Speeders with heavy flamers.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide

HEAVY SUPPORT that they keep away from close combat. With the
new vehicle assault rules they will see an increase
Devastators: Devastators are pretty unchanged; in their effectiveness vs. armour.
combat squads are still a useful viable form of
deployment. Expect to see more plasma cannons,
especially against hordes. Missile launchers may "You will break!
once again become the predominant weapon, given
their dual abilities. You will bleed!
Tanks: All tanks have gained a increased measure of
You will tell me all!
survivability in the new addition. That said, expect Before this day is done
to see fewer Predators, as they are, once again,
reduced to being mobile pillboxes. On the flipside, Traitor!"
Land Raiders are now more potent than ever as they
don’t have the same close combat problems that
- Interrogator Chaplain Vareus
other tanks have. In addition, power of the machine
spirit will ensure that the Land Raider can fire
Mixed forces: Using all elements of a Dark Angel
more weapons than other tanks when on the move.
army should now be an attractive option. With the
Vindicators become more mobile as they can fire
ability to make certain unit types count as troops
their demolisher cannon whilst on the move without
a DA army can be varied whilst still having a high
ill effect. Whirlwinds also offer an interesting option
number of scoring units. The new deployment rules
with their castellan missiles meaning that cover
for Scouts and Ravenwing bikes combined with a
saves are ignored.
less risky deep strike option and cheap transport
vehicles means that the DA can be extremely mobile
and apply pressure anywhere on the board. The
DEDICATED TRANSPORTS combat squad rule will mean that tactical squads
could be extremely useful, giving the DA player an
Gone are the days when a ten-man squad was stuck
even greater advantage in the number of scoring
with a Razorback because the unit was in reserve.
units they can have over other MEQ armies.
The rules would suggest that combat squads
can always be deployed separately. In addition, If you wish to comment on, discuss or
dedicated transports can ferry any unit round the submit an article for review concerning
battlefield, allowing a Rhino or Razorback to take this section please click on the B&C
your units to where they are most needed. Drop Emblem
pods no longer give away victory points so they are,
if anything, more attractive than before.

"Stand firm brothers! Hold the line!"

ARMY SELECTION
Pure Deathwing/Ravenwing: The ‘pure’ armies still
seem to be viable, although both types may need to
include additional ‘troop’ units in order to ensure
that they score. Mechanised Deathwing are still
likely to a force to be reckoned with, although they
may need to tool up a unit for cc to counteract the
danger posed by units such as large ork mobs or cc
specialists that use run to close with them.
Ravenwing may have problems holding objectives,
although they also have an advantage in going for
‘objective grabbing’ towards the end of a game.
In addition, the new benefits of the scout rule will
mean that the Ravenwing will be a hard army to
predict. However, it will be more essential than ever
Tactical Squad Memnes fanned out,
whining lethal discs zipped around them,
some ringing out as they hit power
armour. Bolters at their shoulders, the
squad pounded forward, snatching shots
off in brief bursts. Dark green armour
glinted in the pale sun above as the Dark
Angels swept into the ruins, a scream of
energy as the plasma gun blew another
wall down.
"Hold the line!"

41

INQUISITION ARMIES
he 5th edition rules introduce a vast amount of
T changes to the 40K rules set, both large and small.
Games Workshop claims that these changes were
necessary to make the play less “gamey”, abstract,
and technical and more cinematic, dynamic, and
fun. Only time will tell whether they succeeded,
though, personally, I tend to believe that 5th edition
is indeed a significant improvement to the system.
OVERVIEW
In general, the new rules seem to favor hordes. They
reap all the benefits of the new system without
suffering any noticable downsides. Such armies have
increased maneuverability and protective options
well beyond what they had under 4th edition. This is
especially true if it’s an assault-oriented force, but
will also be applicable to shooty, infantry-centric
armies as well. Horde armies are much harder to
kill, and they will hit harder both at range and in
close combat.
Mechanized forces also got a slight boost, as vehicles
overall have greater survivability, if having their
shooting potency weakened by the redefinition
of “defensive weapons”. Even so, vehicles have
been made more attractive by the new rules, and
Screaming lances of raw energy speared
the dusk. Pounding legs, flailing arms
and horned features streamed towards
the outpost. Justicar Pablo adjusted
his incinerator before unsheathing his
force sword from his back sling.
"Time we stemmed the tide
brothers!"
He cheered as he leapt to the ground,
pulsing bursts of promethium pouring
forth.
42
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
as successive 5th Edition designed Codexes arrive,
they will only become more so as heavy weaponry
becomes both more scarce and more expensive.
Shooty forces, on balance, don’t appear to be
helped or hurt by the new rules. Static gun lines
will no longer be rolled by a single squad of assault
specialists, and the new WYSIWYG terrain and LoS
rules mean they’ll be able to draw beads on more
targets than ever before. As mentioned above,
vehicles will be tougher to damage as well. On the
flip side, vehicles with multiple weapons systems
must remain still to be fully offensively capable, and
almost everything that the army shoots at will likely
have a significant cover save. Two steps forward,
two steps back.
Assaulty forces got a slight boost in potency. Even
without transports or Fleet, such armies can get to
grips with their foes in a hurry, and bounce from
cover to cover while getting there. And once in
close combat, they’ll be able to inflict the maximum
amount of damage, more than was possible under
4th edition. The danger is that they may be so
effective that they end up stranding themselves
in the open once too often (it is no longer allowed
to consolidate into the enemy) and get shot up or
counter-assaulted as a result.
THE MOVEMENT PHASE
The most significant change here is that infantry
and walkers have gained the ability to Run. This is
exactly the same as a Fleet move under 4th edition.
(I.e., instead of shooting, a unit may opt to move
an extra D6 inches.) Units that Run may not initiate
an assault, however, unless they actually have the
Fleet USR.
One new twist is that units that arrive via Deep
Strike may actually Run upon arrival, but not even
Fleet units can initiate an assault upon the turn they
Deep Strike. Also, the Deep Strike mishap table is
significantly more forgiving. Only 1/3 of the time
is a unit destroyed by a bad landing. (1/3 chance
of being legally redeployed by your opponent, 1/3
chance of remaining in Reserves.)
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Units that have either the Scout or Infiltrate USRs
may be put in Reserves and enter play via a special
“Outflank” maneuver. When their Reserves roll
is made, such units will entire along either of the
short table edges. (1/3 chance it’s the left edge,
1/3 chance it’s the right edge, and 1/3 chance the
owning player gets to choose.)
Finally, dedicated transports may now transport any
friendly unit. Only the unit the transport was bought
with may begin the game embarked, but other than
that restriction, the transport is free to be used by
any eligible unit.
OPPONENTS
Running makes assault-oriented forces significantly
more dangerous. Such armies can more easily cross
the battlefield hugging the safety of cover and
more quickly position themselves for their assault.
Because of the adjusted Deep Strike mishaps table
and Run, Deep Striking will likely be seen more often
and more decisively as the consequences aren’t
quite as dire as they once were, and landing units
will have an opportunity to adjust their position
favorably upon arrival.
Daemonhunters: Kiting, where you maneuver
your units in a shooting, fighting retreat, hugging
cover as much as is possible, is still probably the
best defense. You should already have learned that
Grey Knights are no match for assault specialists,
and nothing about 5th edition changes that. Sadly,
Run means that we are likely to have even less
time to effectively whittle down opponents with
stormbolters before they reach our lines. The upside
is that we can’t be rolled by these guys any longer;
no more consolidation into enemy units! Thus it can
be practical to feed a few smallish, sacrificial units
to the assaulters and set them up for a shooting
or counter-assault trap. Using small IST squads,
or those inducted Guardsmen, would do the trick
nicely. Never forget that Grey Knights work best
when supported. Keep them together to maximize
their potency on the battlefield.
"May He pass judgement on you through me"
On the offensive end, it’s difficult for me to envision
any real benefit to Running our Grey Knights
around. It’s a rare situation in which no targets
present themselves for stormbolter dakka, and such
43

opportunities should never be wasted. Of course,
if no shooting is possible, then making a quick Run
towards armour, cover, an objective, etc., is at least
now in our toolbox.
Using unmounted ISTs, however, suddenly becomes
significantly more viable. Take small squads to serve
as speedbumps, or large squads to take objectives
and harass the foe. Getting your ISTs a transport
is probably still preferable in most situations, but
no longer will it be a virtual necessity. However, in
a pinch, you can use those Rhinos or Chimeras to
pick up some Knights and get them someplace fast
and in relative safety. (And so the dream of truly
“mechanizing” our GKs has finally come to pass....)
Witch Hunters: Running breathes new life into the
Witch Hunters. Rarely used units like Arco-flagellants,
Sisters Repentia, and Penitent Enginges can all
make excellent use of this new rule. Run also makes
footslogging Sisters a much more viable choice, and
so-called “horde” Sisters builds are entirely viable
in 5th edition. No longer will mechanized Sisters be
the only “competitve” army build; every unit in the
army will have the capability to get up close and
personal in a hurry!
ISTs in Hereticus armies can be used pretty much
exactly as they would be in Malleus armies (see
previous section), although, clearly, you don’t get
the same value per point that you do with Sisters.
Unless you have a soft spot for the models you’re
using, or the fluff, or Chimeras, or plasma guns (none
of which a Sisters force really need), why bother?
"Arco flagellation awaits you heretic..."
- Inquisitor Arquemis Flambaeu
THE SHOOTING PHASE
Most of the rules changes here can be summed up
thusly: if you can see it, you can shoot it, period.
You never have to take a LD test to shoot at a more
distant unit, there are no special protections for
Independent Characters, etc. If you can see it, you
can shoot it. This may mean that our basements and
game stores will require a bunch of new terrain,
because now the game is “true line of sight”. Unless
the terrain actually, really blocks the line of sight
from the model’s point of view, then the guys hiding
inside or behind it can be seen. “Area terrain” has
been redefined to simply mean that models inside
the terrain may take a cover save if being shot at.
44
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Rolling the venomous pocked blade to one
side, Brother-Knight Zandat blew the plague
bearer apart with a flurry of bolter shells.
Greasy, foul vapour washed over him as
paced over the remains, his stern face grim
with determination he swung the halberd
in a double handed arc, carving two more
down.
Crackling energy ran its course down the
weapons haft, illuminating the dank tunnel
with its raw glow. Zandat tore through the
remaining abominations like a whirlwind of
vengeance..
Area terrain does not block any lines of sight beyond
what the modeled terrain really, truly blocks. To
offset this somewhat, most terrain provides a cover
save, and more often than not, this will be a 4+ save.
Even intervening models, be they friend or foe (but
not including those models that are part of the
firing unit itself), count as terrain for this purpose,
providing a 4+ cover save to units behind them. So
while you don’t need a LD check to hit such units,
they are well and truly screened by those units that
are closer, shrugging off wounds they might not
normally be able to under the 4th edition rules.
Also, wounds inflicted may be put on any models in
the target squad, even on models that are neither
in range of the firing weapons nor in line of sight
of any of the firing models! That is, it is no longer
possible to “snipe” enemy models with clever
positioning. So long as at least one model in the
target unit is in range and line of sight, the entire
unit is eligible to receive wounds, at the target unit
owner’s discretion.
Speaking of which, wound allocation has changed.
The owning player decides which models receives
wounds. The only restriction is that wounds must
be distributed as equally and evenly as possible
throughout a squad. No doubling up on wounds until
every model has at least one. No trebling up on
wounds until every model has at least two. And so
on. Once wounds are distributed -- and the owning
player may distribute the wounds from sources with
differing AP values in any way s/he sees fit -- you
pick up the dice for all the models with exactly the
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
same game characteristics (i.e. same statline, same
weapons loadout, same special rules, etc.) and roll
all their saves at once, removing as many models
as failed saves. Then you pick up the next group
of all-the-same dice, and continue until you’re all
done. (When you have squad upgrades like a model
carrying a special weapon or a veteran sergeant, it’s
entirely possible that some of these model groups
will consist of just one model.)
In general, this means that special/unique models
buried in squads are both more and less survivable
than before. They’re more survivable because you
can, initially at least, pawn wounds off onto the more
basic models in a squad. Less survivable because, if
the unit suffers enough wounds, you may be forced
to put one or more onto these important game
pieces. It’s a double-edged sword, to be sure.
Regarding cover, infantry units have the option to Go
To Ground. You can decide to do this after wounds
are calculated but before saving throws are made.
Going to ground means you voluntarily pin your unit
but in return it gains a +1 bonus to its cover save, or
a 6+ cover save if in the open. The downside is that
the unit remains pinned until after its next turn.
While vehicles can’t Go To Ground, they will have
ample opportunity to benefit from 4+ cover saves,
outright nullifying glancing or penetrating hits. The
revised damage table also means that glancing hits
can do no worse than immobilize a vehicle. (Only
when a vehicle is immobilized and all its weapons
systems destroyed might it be possible for a glancing
hit to destroy it.) All in all, vehicles got a massive
survivability boost in 5th edition.
"By order of the Ordo Malleus I sentence you
to battlefield excommunication ... Sinner!"
- High Inquisitor Balorphin
Opponents: Screening will actually mean something
in 5th edition. Expect cheap troops to be used as
fodder and protection for more valuable units
behind, especially for hordes and assaulty armies.
This tactic will be far more effective in 5th edition
than in 4th edition. Gun lines won’t be quite as
offensively effective as before because of the
common availability of 4+ cover on the average
game board. Even the army’s own units will provide
cover, so deployment strategies will have to adjust
accordingly.
On the other hand, you can probably expect to
absorb more firepower, as there will be much less
totally sight-blocking terrain on most tables. Those
cover saves will be very important! As of this writing,
it’s unclear whether or how much players, clubs,
stores, and tournaments will revamp their terrain
collections such that there will be a decent amount
of sight-blocking terrain (or at least sight-blocking
terrain available in the amounts that we might be
currently used to it).
Daemonhunters: When facing hordes, which are
typically weakly protected, we need to ensure that
we’re minimizing the amount of cover available to
the enemy. Be sure to spread your GKs out, never let
your units unintentially screen the enemy. (Assaulting
units can no longer consolidate through firing lines,
so spreading out carries less risk for the force as a
whole.) Spreading your models has the additional
benefit of increasing the number of models that can
potentially deny cover. The more models that can
draw unobstructed lines of sight to enemy models,
the more likely it is that you can deny cover and
insta-gib them with stormbolter dakka.
Against relatively well-armoured foes and enemies
with a significant amount of AP 3 or better firepower,
it’s more important to take advantage of cover, using
our own units to screen ourselves if need be. The DH
army’s capabilities slide off significantly with just
a few losses; it’s usually safer to err on the side of
caution and conservation. Our traditional scoot-n-
shoot, mobile firepower force isn’t going to be hurt
too badly by all the cover in many, perhaps even
most, game-time situations.
Sprinting from cover, Sister Grace snapped
up her bolt pistols. Chattering death they
pummelled apart the Dark Eldars Incubis
armour.
Throwing herself forward, she slid on one
side through the next doorway, spewing
rounds at the gaurds above her, watching
them tumble bloodily to the floor.
Rolling to one side she hammered the
pistols on full auto at the floorboards above,
splintering the wood into shards. Screams
sounded, then heavy thuds as blood soaked
and dripped down.
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 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide

Overall, I would expect the new shooting rules to

mean much more reliance on our power armour and
cover. Especially in the early game, the Shrouding
will be tested more often than usual. It can prove
to be a game saver, so be sure to deploy with that
special rule clearly in mind. If you can position
your GKs about 30” away, the Shrouding will,
statistically, deny about 50% of the incoming shots,
yet a single turn’s worth of movement will bring your
stormbolters into range and able to effect every
model of the enemy provided you can get sightlines
and range to at least one model.
Sadly, the increased vehicle survivability rules
exacerbate what is already the greatest weakness
of the army. All we can do is maximize our access to
lascannons, missile launchers, and melta weapons
in every way we can. Despite the increased need to
bulk up on Troops choices, no Daemonhunters army
can afford to shortchange themselves on anti-armour
weaponry. This is even more true in 5th edition than
in 4th edition.

Witch Hunters: As with the Run rule, the ability

to use your own units to screen other units adds
entirely new tactical dimensions. And again,
seldom-seen units in 4th edition (like Repentia and
Arco-flagellents) come out as the clear winners. Run
them behind your footslogging or mounted Sisters,
and then clear a path for them once in assault
range, leaving the bolter-toters free to seek out
other targets.
"Sisters of the Rose vanquish all who sally
forth!" - Cannoness Angelique
And because most Sisters shooting is handled at short
range, it should be easy to provide cover saves for
your own troops while minimizing the amount that
is available to the enemy. It is highly unlikely that
vehicles will benefit from a cover save when you are
in melta gun or inferno pistol range. Really, only the
Exorcist is significantly effected by the new cover
rules when considered from the offensive angle.
As with the Daemonhunters, you should expect your
Sisters to have to absorb more firepower than before,
relying on their power armour more than was usually
necessary in 4th edition. Fortunately, unless you feel
you really need those 3+ invulnerable saves, there
should be enough 4+ cover available to save you the
need of burning Faith points to keep your girls alive
as you make your approach.
THE ASSAULT PHASE
There are five significant changes to assaults, which
combine to make them quicker, deadlier, and more
decisive than in the 4th edition.
Firstly, when a unit charges into assault, the
assaulted unit must consolidate into the assaulting
unit, exactly as per the 4th edition Counter-assault
USR. (Counter-assault, under 5th edition, gives a +1
Attack bonus to the assaulted unit if the unit passes a
LD check.) The rules are unambiguous and designed,
through step-by-step instructions, to ensure that
the maximum number of models are in base contact
and/or engaged (within 2 inches of a model in base
contact with the enemy).
Secondly, the concept of the “kill zone” has been
eliminated. Wounds may be allocated to any model
in the enemy squad, even those that are neither
in base contact nor engaged. In fact, wounds are
allocated and saves are rolled in exactly the same
manner as for shooting. (And thus special or unique
models are both more and less vulnerable than
under 4th edition.)
Thirdly, each and every model that began the close
combat in base contact or engaged, and that is still

46
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
alive when its Initiative step arrives, will get to fight
even if the model is no longer in base contact nor
engaged! That is, the tactical element in 4th edtion
combats of deciding which models to remove as
casualties as a way to control who gets to fight in the
later/slower Initiative steps is no longer possible.
Each and every model that began the combat able
to fight will fight, so long as it is alive to do so when
it’s turn comes and there are enemy models.
Fourthly, the winning and losing of close combats is
decided purely by the number of unsaved wounds
inflicted. There is no more outnumbering, or ratios.
If one squad inflicts at least one more wound upon
its enemy that it receives, it wins the combat, pure
and simple. Furthermore, the losing squad must
take a Morale check to remain locked in combat, but
taken with a negative modifier equal to the number
of wounds by which it lost the combat! (Fearless
units who lose close combat must instead take a
number of additional wounds, which can be saved,
equal to the number of wounds by which it lost the
combat!) We can expect to see units fleeing from
combat much more often under 5th edition than
under 4th edition.
And as I’ve noted elsewhere, units who win assaults
are no longer allowed to consolidate into a fresh
enemy unit. This includes close combats that are
already underway.
Assaulting into cover has changed under 5th edition
as well. Instead of the defenders going at Initiative
10, the assaulters go at Initiative 1. If the assaulting
troops have “offensive” grenades (e.g., frag
Grey Knight Makro pitched sideways, his
chest plate spraying blood and gore. Bounding
over his glinting armour the Blood Letter
howled, lapping at the spray of crimson liquid
briefly. Flaming bolter rounds punched its
arms wide, cutting it to ribbons. Striding
forward, Justicar Agamennon laid done a
sheet of fire as he grabbed Makro's backpack,
hauling him away from the daemons reach.
"Throne! Begone filth!" Light flared for a
blinding second as Agamennons screaming
halberd beheaded the Blood Letter to his
right, another fallling to his left from the
chattering storm bolter at his wrist.
grenades), then the assaulters get to go at their
usual Initiative.
Finally, while vehicles are harder to kill from range,
they are easier to handle in assault. Assaults against
vehicles are now always resolved against the rear
armour.
"Faith in the God-Emperor is my shield!"
- Holy Prayers of the Sisters VII-XX
Opponents: These rules changes combine to
make it virtually impossible for an assaulting unit
(or army) to roll through a series of enemy units,
significantly altering the way assault specialists
have been traditionally employed in 4th edition. One
lucky charge will no longer be enough to decimate
an enemy. Assaults will have to be coordinated and
supported if they are to be converted into long-
term gains. It is otherwise far too easy to strand
one’s assault units in clear sight, sitting ducks for a
barrage of enemy firepower or a decisive counter-
assault. Now an opposing general will be required
to put at least a modicum of thought into organizing
his or her forces, rather than just pushing them
forward, rolling the dice, and watching the carnage.
Units like harlies and DC are almost too effective in
5th edition. When they rush into combat, they are
highly likely to run their opponents off the table
(if not slaughter them outright), and then strand
themselves in the open.
Assaulting hordes are the great beneficiaries here.
Not only will they be more likely to make it into
assault, thanks to the generous cover save rules,
but once they charge in, they will be able to inflict
significantly more damage than was often possible
in 4th edtion. They can also absorb significantly more
damage without hurting their assault potency. Having
a high Initiative is still of paramount importance
in close combat for many of us. But if you’re a
horde your supreme weight of numbers will often
be enough. Units on the receiving end will have
to generate a massive amount of wounds to offset
those that they themselves will be receiving.
Daemonhunters: The altered consolidation rules
have to be seen as a great boon for us. Despite
the best of intentions and game plans, sometimes
there is just not enough time to halt or weaken the
advance of one or more dangerous assault units.
There is nothing sadder than watching a squad of the
Emperor’s finest get rolled by a squad of Harlequins
or Death Company ... and then to suffer the indignity
47
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide

of having them dance on over to the next unit of Valuable Troops they may be, but in pinch you can
Knights and watch the whole fiasco repeat itself. At feed them to the wolves as bait and setup for a
least now we will have an opportunity to recover shooting/counter-assaulting trap. Even if they are
from such an ignoble beating. If you see something easily wiped to a man, ISTs can make fantastic speed
like that coming, at least now you can set up our bumps for a fast/assaulty army, forcing them to
other units to pounce on the enemy once they’ve digest what you toss them and setting them up for
done their initial damage. some righteous retribution from your more capable
Grey Knights units.
Somewhat offsetting our increased difficulties with
"Hatred and fear are merely vessels of Chaos
armour at range, our Grey Knights are now capable
that we shall crush" of destroying any vehicle short of a land raider,
- Heard at the Siege of Athros VI monolith, or soul grinder in an assault. Melta bombs
should rarely be taken (those points will be more
valuable spent elsewhere in the army), as it will
However, being on the losing end of an assault is
almost always be more beneficial for our Justicars
much more dangerous than before. 5th edition
to take 3 swipes with his S6 NFW than just one with
will be the game of large units, especially large
a single melta bomb. All of the aforementioned
Troops units. Buying 8 to 10 models for virtually
vehicles were always best dealt with at range
every power-armoured Grey Knights squad will be
anyway; 5th edition doesn’t change that calculus.
a practical necessity, else the consequences for our
Fearless troops, should they lose an assault, will be Witch Hunters: Overall, the new assault rules are
dire. In fact, we should be even more careful about a great boon for the Sisters of Battle. In a game
initiating assaults ourselves. Not only must we be dominated by MEQs, Sisters are at the lower end
relatively certain that we can win them, but we of the assault power spectrum. The fact that close
must be prepared for the consequences of beating
the enemy off. Be certain that you are ready to
have your Knights exposed after every assault. Don’t
leave them isolated and easy pickings.
Also, it is no longer enough, when facing a foe
with superior assault capabilities, to simplay kite/
backpedal your way into cover so that we can at
least fight simultaneously. Many such foes will have
superior Initiative stats and also frag grenades or
equivalent, meaning their assaults will be just as
deadly whether or not our Knights are in cover.
This simple rules change, when combined with the
inability to consolidate into fresh enemy units, has
such a huge impact on how we deal with foes like
Tyranids, Eldar, Death Company, etc., that I feel
the very nature of the Daemonhunters army has
changed. In 4th edition, it was almost perfectly
balanced between shooting and assaulting, but
in 5th edition it is a majority shooting army. Our
default tactical approach will, more often than not,
consist of scooting-n-shooting, trying to remain at
some distance to take maximum advantage of the
shrouding and our stormbolters. Assaults will only
be used as a last resort, when forced upon us by
circumstances, or when facing an enemy with clearly
inferior fighting abilities (e.g., Imperial Guard).
While ISTs are no better, perhaps even worse, in 5th
edition assaults than they were under 4th edition
assaults, now they can at least serve a true purpose.

48
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
"Switch targets daughters of the
Emperor!"
Commanded Sister Chel, her auspex
chiming a warning. With a grace not easily
achieved in ceramite the four battle sisters
swung their heavy bolters up and over
the parapet once more, tracking the lead
vehicle. Runes blinked red then green one
by one in Chels helm, indicating the squad
had range and target priority.
"For Celestine!"
Booming rounds spat from their position,
the vibrations shaking debris and rubble.
Chel aimed her own storm bolter, sending
two howling shots into the furious
explosions and dust.
combats will result in more casualties than before is
easily outweighed by Faith, the relative inexpense
of Sisters, and most importantly of all: the Book
of St Lucius. That little item alone makes Sisters
effectively Stubborn (a new USR in 5th edition), and
means that you can depend upon your troops to hold
the line no matter how grisly things get, thus giving
you ample time to appropriately respond with the
rest of your army.
On top of that, even if the girls finally get beaten
down, that leaves the victors open to a brutal
Divinely Guided fusillade of retribution because of
their inability to consolidate into another unit.
On the other hand, if you want to go looking for
a fight, the Sisters are amply prepared for it. Frag
grenades are available virtually everywhere (and
with Faith, means that you can always fight ahead
of MEQs whenever you want, even if they’re being
cowardly and hiding in cover), along with plenty of
flame templates for denying those precious cover
saves. And the new rules for template weapons
means you’ll be inflicting more wounds than ever
before. The number of wounds are calculated all at
once instead of one template at a time, which could
add up to double or more the number of wounds
possible under 4th edition.
As with the Daemonhunters, you will want to
maximize the sizes of your squads whenever
possible. So long as a Book of St Lucius is near, you
will probably be able to keep them around down to
the last model. Take 10 models in mounted squads,
14, 16, maybe even more in footslogging squads!
Such large squads can actually perform reasonably
well on 5th edition boards. Besides, shifting 16 or
more Sisters off of an objective would be no mean
feat ... for anybody. They make ideal objective-
takers.
MISSIONS AND GAMES
There are now only three standard missions: Sieze
Ground, Capture and Control, and Annihilation.
However, there are also three variant deployment
patterns: Pitched Battle, Spearhead, and Dawn
of War. Both the mission and deployment are
determined randomly at the start of the battle,
resulting in 9 different possible games.
Sieze Ground and Capture and Control are both
objectives-based. Victory is determined solely by
who claims the most objectives. Importantly, only
non-vehicular Troops units can claim objectives
(though a Troops unit mounted in a vehicle can
claim objectives while embarked). Any unit can
“contest”, or deny an objective, but only Troops
can score them. Troops are scoring down to the last
man, and non-Troops are capable of denying so long
as they, too, aren’t completely destroyed. (Thus,
"For Celestine!"
Was the last thing she could have
heard as Sister Feria pitched suddenly
back, a mist of ruby where her helm
had been.
Snatching the heavy wepaon up in a
second, Sister Chel cycled the feed
belt into action once more. Swinging
to face the rapidly approaching vehicles
quickly, Sister Chel pulled hard on
the trigger of her heavy bolter.
The thumping vibrations shook her
diaphragm as she avenged the young
sisters death.
49

an immobilized Rhino, providing it’s sitting on top
of an objective, can still deny that objective to the
enemy!)
In Annihilation missions, players score one “Kill
Point” for each enemy unit they entirely destroy.
Whoever has the highest tally of KPs wins. There are
no Victory Points. VPs are mentioned, as a smallish
footnote almost, at the very back of the book as an
option that might be beneficial for tournament use,
or perhaps for “bragging rights” in drawn games.
But they aren’t even mentioned in the main rules of
the game. It’s unclear how often they will actually
be used.
Pitched Battle is the normal deployment pattern
(you have a 12 inch swath along your long table
edge). Spearhead is table quarters deployment.
Dawn of War is a new deployment. The board is
divided in half and each player deploys two Troops
and one HQ, everything else is off-table. (Note that
dedicated transports do count as a Troops unit for
this purpose! However, if you deploy the transport,
then the unit for which it was purchased must also be
deployed, though not necessarily embarked.) Night-
fighing rules are in effect for the 1st game turn, and
you have the choice of placing the off-table units in
Reserves or simply moving them on from your own
long table edge during your 1st turn.
Speaking of Reserves, you may place as many units
as you wish in Reserves. All, one, some, or none, it’s
entirely up to you. In Reserves, you may elect to
join Characters to other units so they will arrive at
the same time, or embark a unit in a non-dedicated
vehicle (perhaps with a Character joined as well!),
and they will all arrive at once. There is much more
flexibility than before.
And as I noted above in the Movement Phase section,
Fire swam across the surface of the planet,
levelling all to ash. As a ball of flaming
death the planet was cleansed in seconds.
Inquisitor Hannos watched from the thick
amroured glass of his battle frigate. Lance
cannons withdrew behind shuttered port
holes, their use now done.
"And with that, I declare this world fit
for Imperial rule once more."
50
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
units that Scout or Infiltrate may either be deployed
normally or they may be placed in Reserves and
arrive via Outflanking.
The other new twist regarding deployment is that
whoever wins the roll-off for first turn deploys his or
her entire force first. Only then does the opponent
who lost the first turn deploy his or her army. Then
the player who deployed first takes the first turn of
the game. If the losing player chooses, they may try
to “Sieze the Initiative”. If they choose to do so,
and after all deployment can roll a 6, they get to
go first.
"So it is, heretics and daemons all,
my Knights will win this day!"
- Inquisitor Hannos
Finally, all games will have a random length. 1/3 of
them will go just 5 turns, 1/3 will end after 6 turns,
and 1/3 will end after 7 turns. This is likely to create
quite a bit of excitement as both players scramble
to consolidate their positions while simultaneously
preparing for an uncertain future. You will never
know whether a next turn will actually be played
until it is time for it to (possibly) arrive.
Opponents: The pressure to include more than
the required minimum of two Troops choices is,
obviously, great. And unless one likes playing for
draws, a practical necessity. At least three Troops
will be necessary in games up to 1500 pts, and 4 or
more Troops will probably be required for games of
1500 pts or more. Armies with great Troops choices
(e.g., Chaos Space Marines, Orks, Necrons) have
every incentive to load up on them.
Daemonhunters: The necessity to maximize scoring
Troops effectively sounds the death knell of the
Fast Attack teleporting Grey Knight squad. There
will never be a strong enough incentive to sacrifice
a scoring unit just so you can Deep Strike. Deep
Striking will now be under the exclusive purview
of our Terminators. Besides, having Fearless Troops
that are as potent and capable as Grey Knights must
be considered a huge advantage for the army, one
that we should push for all it is worth.
The Annihilation mission may actually be an
advantageous mission for us to play. The DH is
commonly outnumbered, both in model count and
in unit count, and victories have almost always
required us to kill much more than we lost. That is,
the DH won’t have a vast amount of KPs available
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide

for taking and we’re already accustomed to accruing

them at a faster rate than we lose them. It’ll simply
be business as usual.
Witch Hunters: The new missions and deployments
don’t really affect Sisters army lists other than to
make the taking of additional Sisters Troops virtually
mandatory. Fortunately, they are excellent, flexible
units. And while taking more Troops might inevitably
mean fewer specialists (like Seraphim, Retributors,
or Celestians) because of the tightening points
pressures, it’s not like you’ll be trading down very
far.

ARMY LIST SELECTION

Daemonhunters - HQ
One change to the rules that has not yet been
mentioned is that Independent Characters that have
a dedicated retinue lose their IC status and instead
become just another model in the squad. This was
always a contentious issue under 4th edition because
GW never FAQ’d whether the verbiage in the codex
was overridden by the advent of the 4th edition
rules, so there was considerable confusion as to how
Grey Knight Heroes should be treated while they
had their retinue. At least now the 5th edition rules
and the rules in the codex sync up perfectly. And it
also makes retinue a very attractive option, more
attractive than buying a lone GK Hero and joining
them up to an Elites Terminator squad, even with
the changes in deployment rules.
Morale tests are a subset of LD tests, a unit containing
an Inquisitor Lord can, so long as he is alive, hold up
an assault indefinitely. Not being Fearless, the unit
won’t suffer automatic wounds for losing an assault,
yet it will never have to make a break test, either!
It will either stick around or flee, at your pleasure.
While a very expensive option, building a close
combat Inquisitor Lord squad can prove valuable
just because of Iron Will, making it the one of the
ultimate tar pit units in all of 40K. (Can anyone say
“Inquisitor Lord Coteaz”?)

"Warp spawn filth! Let my force weapon be as
the Emperors vengeance on you!"
- Brother Captain Jurgens
Deep striking our GKT HQs is also more attractive
than before. Not only has Deep Striking become
less risky, but now our power-armoured Knights
cannot afford that luxury. (They will be required to
fulfill Troops obligations of claiming objectives.) I
have always been a fan of foot-slogging GKT squads
with a pair of psycannons (so much so that I rarely
deployed them via Deep Strike), and that will still be
viable under 5th edition. But there can be no denying
that the fluffier Deep Strike delivery method for our
Terminators should be seriously considered.
Daemonhunters - Elites
Sadly, painfully, the new assault rules have
significantly nerfed the combat effectiveness of
assassins. Unless you send them up against relatively
small or weak units, they are very likely to lose after
the initial round of combat and either die outright
or by taking additional wounds as a result of being
Fearless.
Death Cult Assassins must be bought en masse
and used together to have any effect whatsoever.
However, not being a unit, they can’t actually be
used to provide cover saves to units behind them!
The Eversor is no longer able to smash through unit
after unit; he’s hardly going to be capable of taking
down even one unit anymore!

Constructing shooty Inquisitorial firebases is still The Callidus will largely be useful just for A Word In
going to be the most effective build for them, but Your Ear, as she’s hardly likely to do much beyond
Iron Will has grown in power under 5th edition. Since kill a couple of models in assault before biting it.

51

Snow gusted round the kneeling silver
armoured warriors, their heads low
in prayer. Ancient words echoed in
the circle, swords held upright, their
surfaces burnished gold. Helms lay at
their feet, angular plates with ornate
scripture adorning them. Glowing
runes hazed their suits power units,
the exhausts gently idle.
With a final word the Grey Knights
stood as one, sheathing their swords
into place. The Justicar placed his hand
upon the sacred text, the mem-pages
barely flicking in the strong winter
gale. Each man placed his gauntlet in
turn upon the book, saying a concluding
private benediction before battle.
The Vindicare -- already a subpar choice because
of his inability to predictably inflict wounds (he
averaged less than 3 wounds per game under 4th
edition) -- has been rendered virtually useless by
the wide availability of cover saves. Even with his
special rules, most units will be granted at least 5+
cover saves to his shots.
Perhaps the only assassin that comes out looking
better is the Culexus. He was never that effective
in combat anyway (except in very limited
circumstances), but his ability to force basic LD
down to 7 could potentially prove invaluable in
quickly running enemy units off the board. Keep him
nearby in an assault, and even a slight victory could
force the enemy to flee.
About the only thing that brightens up the picture
for assassins is their ability to Outflank. Even with a
much less effective assault impact, getting several
DCAs and/or an Eversor to suddenly appear on the
flank could potentially cause enough mayhem to be
useful. Of course, Reserves and Outflanking make the
timely appearance of the assassin(s) unpredictable,
so it’s nothing you can count on. With a little luck,
however, they still have the ability to swing a game
in your favor.
Regarding Elite Inquisitors, without Independent
Character status protecting him any longer, the
psycannon-sniper-supreme is a thing of the past.
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
It’s still an OK option if you want a cheap but at
least somewhat effective way to unlock assassins
(assuming you still think they’re worth the
investment), but a shooty retinue is really a superior
option, considering. Certainly, one psycannon-
toting model may not seem like much of a threat
to the enemy, and you may even be able to sneak
him over to an objective and contest it as a result,
but he’s nowhere near the trouble-maker he was
in 4th edition. And if you’re going to build a shooty
Inquisitor, why not get an Inquisitor Lord? Iron will
alone is worth the 25 pts, easily.
Everything noted above about Grey Knight HQs
applies here as well, of course, being virtually
identical in nature.
Daemonhunters - Troops
Grey Knights, Grey Knights, Grey Knights ... and
more Grey Knights. Always highly regarded (if
expensieve), 5th edition makes our GKs one of the
best Troops choices in the game (even with the
expense). Load up on as many as you can afford.
But be certain to get large squads, 8 to 10 models,
every time. Small squads are just not going to have
that great of an impact when push comes to shove.
5th edition is a game that encourages and practically
requires large Troops units to carry the day.
There is still a use for “mini-purgation” squads
(5-6 GKs, 2x psycannons), but they should be set
up as firebases to hold an objective near or in your
deployment zone. (Or just to rain dakka down upon
the enemy in Annihilation missions.) If you really
want to deep strike psycannons behind enemy lines
for shots at rear armour, use Terminators instead.
"Run! They come! The Grey Knights come!
We will all be dead by noon!"
- Heretics at the Wailing wall on Askeron V
Inquisitorial Storm Troopers are very attractive
choices, too. Their transports are more survivable,
and even when damaged, won’t necessarilyy cause
any harm to the guys riding inside. (The new damage
results rules are quite forgiving.) And, of course,
those Rhinos and Chimeras can conceivably be used
to shuttle some Grey Knights around the field, too!
Mounted or unmounted, ISTs can take objectives,
screen other units, and serve as speed bumps to
slow the advance of fast assault forces. There are
very few downsides to these guys, almost no matter
what configuration you take. (But always remember
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
to double up on special weapons, especially meltas
or plasmas, as those weapons provide capabilities
that GKs themselves simply cannot match.)
That said, the “doormat” squad (5+ guys w/2x meltas
or plasma, IST vet sgt with a TP homer, Rhino) is
no longer as useful for bringing in GK reserves. It’s
unlikely that our forces can afford more than a single
Terminator squad (probaby as the HQ) to perform
that role; all our power-armoured Knights should
be bought as Troops. And with that few teleporting
squads, plus the less harmful Deep Striking mishaps
results, there is little need to waste the 20 pts on
such an upgrade. In fact, there is no good reason
to invest in IST vet sergeants that I can see. Those
points would inevitably be better spent on just
another IST model, if nothing else.
If you’re playing pure GK, you should shoot for at
least 3 Troops choices in games up to 1500 pts (24-
30 Knights), and 4 or more Troops GKs (32+ Knights)
for larger games. You will never have enough.
Daemonhunters - Fast Attack
There was never anything other than Teleport Attack
Grey Knights here, and I cannot think of any good
reason to ever use them again. The army was always
short of small “t” troops, and the new edition now
requires a hefty amount of capital “T” Troops. Grey
Knights are needed on the ground, so don’t bother
with these guys anymore. Fast Attack is now for
the exclusive use of allied or inducted units (e.g.,
Seraphim) ... if you can even afford the points for
such extravegances.
Daemonhunters - Heavy Support
Despite the absolute necessity to fill up on Troops,
the DH army’s shortcomings in the heavy/anti-armour
weaponry department have only been exacerbated
by the 5th edition rules. Dreadnoughts with TLLCs
and MLs have always been the traditional mainstay
in this department, and they should continue to be
so going forward. Unlike most tanks, they can fire
all their weapons on the move, and they stand to
benefit from the superior cover rules even more
than other vehicles because of their relatively small
physical profile.
It is difficult to imagine any reason to not use the
TLLC/ML weapons loadout on every GK dreadnought.
GKs can pretty much tackle armour in an assault just
fine in 5th edition, and are already superb at taking
apart infantry from range or up close. What they
don’t have is long-range heavy firepower: so that’s
what dreadnoughts are for in this army. Assault-
oriented dreadnoughts -- or any other weapons
loadout -- are either suboptimal or redundant, or
both. Don’t bother.
Land Raiders, like other vehicles, got both nerfed
and boosted. They’re more survivable than before
because of the new damage reduction table and their
ability to take advantage of cover saves. (Though
it’s such a large vehicle that gaining Obscured status
will be a bit more difficult to pull off.) However, the
redefinition of defensive weaponry means that, on
the move, a land raider can only fire a single one of
its weapons at full BS.
Land Raider Crusaders fared much better because
not only did their survivability increase, but along
with a Machine Spirit, remain capable of firing all
of their weapons systems while on the move. While
Land Raiders, in my opinion, still have a slight edge
(because of our desparate need for long-range heavy
firepower), the Crusader has become considerably
more attractive.
Orbital Strikes can still be fun, I suppose, but the
pressures and requirements of 5th edition army lists
has changed so much that I don’t see myself ever
using them again. Sure, they can be targeted to
an objective and cause havoc that way, but all I’ll
ever see are points that could have gone to my anti-
armour needs or to another precious 3 Grey Knights
or so. It’s highly unlikely that a Strike could, on its
Shards of light imploded around Trooper
Jense as he was blown clear of the column.
His back slammed against what he thought
were a statues legs and he scrambled for his
las-rifle but it was nowhere to be found.
Gaping in awe at the lurching Death Guard
mounting the steps he made to get up.
Firm, strong silver gauntlets gripped him
even as the traitors swung their bolters up
at him.
"Stay down for a moment brother!"
Dragging him behind his armoured
protection, Grey Knight Orpheo put
himself between the Trooper and the plague
Marines, ricochets whining from him as
the dark enemies weapons coughed shots at
him.
53

own, prevent an objective from being claimed. Most
objectives will be placed in terrain, and thus any
potential claimants would benefit from 4+ cover
saves.
Daemonhunters - Allied and Inducted
Units
Sadly, the points pressures on a Daemonhunters
list are so extreme that the use of allies will need
to be minimized. Inducted Guardsmen can help to
bring mobility (in the form of Armoured Fist squads)
and long-range heavy weaponry (in the form of
lascannons and missile launchers), but they take
up precious Troops choices that are probably better
left for Grey Knights or ISTs, both of whom are more
survivable and capable.
Allying in units from the Witch Hunters remains an
excellent option, and there’s nothing wrong with
Sisters of Battle for Troops! However, in an army
without much Faith, Seraphim remain the single best
allying option for the DH. Even without Faith, they
supply speed and -- with a pair of inferno pistols and
an eviscerator on the Veteran Superior -- excellent
and much-needed anti-armour capabilities as well.
The problem is that Seraphim are a significant
investment, and that usually means they enter
the list at the expense of some precious Troops or
a precious Heavy Support choice. They may still
add something to the army, but there can be no
question but that, under 5th edition, they come with
drawbacks that must be weighed carefully. (See the
Witch Hunters Fast Attack section, below, for more
on Seraphim.)
Of course, Radical DH gamers may have little
choice, and for them inducting in some Guard or,
preferably, Space Marines will be a necessary step in
maintaining a viable list. Allying in Sisters of Battle,
anywhere and everywhere, should also be a strong
consideration.
"Flame and faith Sisters! Let the Letters of
Blood know banishment of this realm!"
- Sister Jannice
Witch Hunters - HQ
As with Grey Knight Heroes, the Sororitas Heroines
benefit from the new retinue rules, which are really
a throwback to the 3rd edition (see that section,
above). While the flying Canoness is still a superior
54
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
option -- she even has the option to Deep Strike,
thanks to the new jump pack rules! -- building a
Celestian retinue around around a Canoness or
Palatine has been made significantly more attractive,
and would make the perfect HQ for a footslogging
Sisters “horde”. The increased survivability of
vehicles and their occupants also makes mounting
such a squad attractive and viable, no matter what
kind of list you have.
See the Daemonhunters HQ section, above, for my
thoughts regarding Inquisitor Lords in 5th edition.
Witch Hunters - Elites
As I mentioned earlier in this article, Arco-flagellants
and Sisters Repentia deserve a second look in 5th
edition. Running, the ability to Go to Ground, and
the ready availability of cover saves makes both of
these units entirely viable, even in a competitive
environment. It will be much easier to deliver these
units on target than ever before, and thus their
inclusion should open up new vistas of tactical
options for the canny Witch Hunter general.
For my comments regarding Inquisitors and assassins,
see the Daemonhunters Elites section, above.
Witch Hunters - Troops
Sisters, Sisters, Sisters ... and more Sisters. What
more needs to be said? Yes, you can also take ISTs (and
for my thoughts on them, see the Daemonhunters
Troops section, above), but really, why would you?
You’d have to really love their fluff or their models
to consider it. Sisters are superior Troops choices in
virtually every way. You should aim to field at least
three Sisters units in games smaller than 1500 pts,
and four or more Sisters units in every game of 1500
pts and larger. Filling out all 6 Troops choices with
Sisters will not only be possible, it could even prove
useful and decisive. I’d do it in any game I played
that was at least 2000 pts in size.
Another option worth considering is to ally in a
squad, or even two, of Grey Knights from the
Daemonhunters. A significant investment, to be sure,
but they bring quite a bit to the table, including
a MEQ statline, significant dakka at a longer range
than the Sisters can generate, and superior close
combat capability among the game’s elite units.
They would integrate well with a footslogging Sisters
force, drawing a significant amount of attention and
laying down plenty of dakka -- and the threat of a
decisive assault -- while the Sisters line up for Divine
Guidance and/or a counter-assault of their own.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Being Fearless means they’ll have to be killed to
the last man to be denied an objective; they can’t
be run off the table by anything.
Witch Hunters - Fast Attack
Seraphim are still the clearly superior Fast Attack
option. And in 5th edition, they have the option to
Deep Strike! You can even join a flying Canoness to
them while in Reserves, and that single unit can
enter play together on a single Reserves roll. Running
them on the board is still viable -- and there should
be plenty of cover for protection as you do so, and
Run makes them even faster! -- but at least now you
have a choice.
On the other hand, Seraphim have also been nerfed
slightly. Firstly, they can only successfully Hit and
Run out of combat with a successful Initiative test.
1/3 of the time, therefore, they’ll stay put. Also,
they cannot use their jump packs when exiting area/
difficult terrain without suffering dangerous terrain
rolls. Even so, Seraphim still represent a serious
threat to virtually any enemy asset, and are easily
worth the investment.
Dominions still don’t seem to be worth very much,
especially considering the new reliance on Troops
to claim objectives. The ability to double up on
special weapons pales in comparison to the need to
have as many Troops choices as is possible. If you
want an Immolator that badly, take Celestians, or, if
you have the slot available just get an undedicated
Heavy Support Immolator.
Witch Hunters - Heavy Support
Exorcists and Retributors have always been and
still remain superior options. Both units provide the
only long-range firepower in the army, making them
invaluable additions to any kind of list you make.
Both units should be more survivable and have more
shooting opportunities in 5th edition.
Immolators are undoubtedly cool, but should
typically be bought as a dedicated transport for
Celestians. But if you can spare the Heavy Support
choice, then go for it.
As mentioned earlier, Penitent Engines got a major
power boost thanks to Run and the increased
availability of cover. These machines of mayhem
should be seriously considered for every Witch
Hunters army that is intent about getting right up
into the opponent’s face.
Measured against this embarrasment of riches,
Orbital Strikes simply don’t measure up. See the
Daemonhunters Heavy Support section, above, for
my thoughts regarding them.
Witch Hunters - Allied and Inducted Units
Other than bringing in some Grey Knights allies, there
is virtually zero reason to consider bringing in units
from other Codexes. Inducted Guard can help you
out in the ranged firepower department, but as with
the Daemonhunters, they cost you precious Troops
slots that would be better spent on more Sisters.
Besides, between Exorcists and Retributors -- and
the ability to bring innumberable melta weapons
to bear very quickly -- the need for Guard, their
weaponry, or their vehicles is practically nil.
Playing a radical Witch Hunters force is not even
possible, rules-wise, like it is with the Daemonhunters
(who can at least take Daemonhosts to represent
such heresy), and I’ve never seen anybody even
attempt it (except as the base for their radical
Daemonhunters army!). There’s just no reason to
consider inducting Space Marines when you can
bulk up on Sisters and Faith ... not to mention the
superior fluff and flavor that comes with them!
CONCLUSION
While I believe that Daemonhunter army list building
changed radically -- and might even have become,
necessarily, somewhat more restrictive -- the army
has become somewhat more competitive under the
new rules set. Grey Knights are among the game’s
most potent, flexible, and valuable Troops, and that
is worth a lot in 5th edition. Land Raiders, despite
their expense, give the army significant advantages
in surviability and mobility over and beyond what
the average 40K army has. And our Terminators have
been freed of the need to conserve Victory Points
or take objectives themselves, and thus can be let
loose to do what they do best: rip apart enemy foes
with slashing Nemesis Force Weaponry.
For the Witch Hunters, the 5th edition rules set has
expanded the tactical toolset immeasurably. Built
upon a solid core of dependable and capable Sisters,
Witch Hunters generals no longer need believe that
mechanized Sisters be the only practical army build
of any significant strength.
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55

SPACE WOLVES
hen discussing Space Wolves and 5th Edition
W things can get a bit tricky. In this article I
will discuss the changes and how they affect SW
armies. Where things are not clear, I will give the
consensus opinion of myself and my fellow B&C Mod,
Lord Ragnarok. Note that my gaming group and I
have been using these decisions in our 5th Edition
play testing and have found them to be the most
reasonable on the table interpretation of the SW
Codex and 5th Edition rules. Having played a couple
of games now using the 5th Edition rules I must say
that over all the system strikes me as superior to
4th Edition and the changes made in regards to my
beloved Space Pups are generally for the better.
What follows are some comments on specific changes
and perhaps more tellingly some comments on how
my army changed from 4th to 5th Edition to make the
most of the new rules.
HQ UNITS
The ‘Retinue’ rule is a great boon here. As my
group understood it and as we’ve been playing it,
an Independent Character (IC) with a Wolf Guard
bodyguard effectively becomes simply an upgraded
character for the squad (much like a Codex: Space
Marine Veteran Sergeant). This means that in close
combat he cannot be singled out and also means
that he only has to be within 2” of a friendly model
to strike into close combat.
ICs without a Retinue also benefit, as they can now
be attached to a designated Pack prior to the game
and come in a Drop Pod at the same time as the squad
they have joined with a single Reserves roll. The
rules for ICs joining squads have also been clarified,
please see the article ‘Characters’ elsewhere in this
edition for further information.
ELITES
Wolf Guard Bodyguard units are now affected by the
altered ‘Retinue’ rules and if attached to an IC now
benefit from the changes outlined above. Changes
in the way in which extra close combat attacks are
granted by specific gear have affected many of the
56
The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
potential upgrades available to a Wolf Guard unit.
In particular Power Fist (PF) wielding models may
now be better off with a combi-weapon of some sort
now, as a pistol or CCW won’t grant an extra attack
to a PF user (only another Power Fist will) and ‘True
Grit’ isn’t going to help with a PF either.
Our Wolf Scouts now gain the advantage of having
the ‘Out Flank’ USR, at least for the time being,
making them perhaps the most flexible Scouting unit
in the game. The ‘Out Flank’ USR allows scout units
to come into play from reserve along the sides of the
battlefield, potentially giving the controlling player
the chance to, well, out flank their opponent. This
also makes it viable for more than one Scout pack in
an army now. One can be use the ‘Operate Behind
Enemy Lines’ rule from the Codex whilst the other
uses ‘Out Flank’ giving you two elite units attacking
from the weakest points of the enemy’s line.
TROOPS
Grey Hunters don’t really change much with the
new rules, they remain perhaps the most flexible
tactical squad in the game but still lack the skills
offered by more specialised units. Note that the
benefit of a Wolf Guard Pack Leader with Terminator
Armour is much more noticeable now with the
new allocating of wounds rules. The changes to
the ‘Counter Charge’ USR rule don’t really benefit
us right now as we have True Grit, so the number
Wolf Guard Raffon let the wolf in
him have its head as he barrelled into
the Thousand Son, smashing the hated
enemies form across the plaza with his
power fist. Swinging his ancient storm
bolter up he blazed rounds into the
recumbant traitor, shredding power
armour.
Fangs bared he grinned in triumph,
before continuing the hunt.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide

of attacks we make stays the same regardless of

passing our Leadership check or not. I expect our
new Codex will bring us back into line with other
armies however, as I believe the True Grit rule will
be removed from the rulebook and that we will be
equipped in a very similar way to Chaos marines
with a bolter, bolt pistol, and close combat weapon.
But, this is purely an educated guess on my part.

With the loss of an attack with Power Fist wielding

Grey Hunters (as noted for Wolf Guard), Power
Weapons become a more attractive option and
those who mixed bolters and pistols within a Pack
to maximize the effectiveness of PF wielders on the
charge may as well go ahead and add those extra
bolt guns in place of the pistols.

I have been using the new ‘Run’ rule to great effect,

by fielding a large Ten man pack with a Pack Leader
in Terminator Armour, all on foot. With the new
scoring unit rules in most scenarios this Pack is often
the key to capturing an objective and are very hard
to shift once they decide they are going to dig in
somewhere.

Blood Claws suffer the most from the changes to how

additional attacks work with Power Fists, especially
in after the first round of a close combat. As a result
I’ve been working on making some changes from my
standard PF heavy squads to a more Power Weapons
oriented list. I think PFs are going to be the sole
property of the Pack Leaders in these Packs for me.
An interesting note here, the wording of the ‘Counter
Attack’ USR and that of the ‘Berserk Charge’ Blood
Claw rule leads me to believe that if a Blood Claw
Pack passes its Leadership check when it is charged,
it gains not one, but two attacks! This would make
Blood Claws a much better supporting unit as they
could then receive a charge effectively. Hopefully
the upcoming FAQ will clarify this situation.
Plasma cannon toting Pack or a Pack armed with
Missile Launchers very interesting. You can find the
new rules for ‘Blast Weapons’ elsewhere in ‘Shall
They Know Fear?’
As for Vehicles, these act in much the same manner
as their Space Marine Counter parts, you can find
more information on issues such as the new and
improved Rhino ‘Battle Taxi Service’ and the changes
to survivability of embarked troops in transports
elsewhere in our e-zine.

SPACE WOLF RULES &

"Russ was my lord, miss him? No!
He returns to us at the Wolftime!"
- Bjorn the Fell Handed.
HEAVY SUPPORT & VEHICLES
Long Fangs, like their younger Grey Hunter brethren,
stay much the same with the updated 5th Edition
rules. I would be remiss however if I didn’t mention
that the changed ‘Blast Weapon’ rules will make a
WARGEAR
As mentioned before the True Grit rule has been
removed from the Rule book as a Universal Special
Rule, this means that until we are told other wise
we revert to the wording in the Space Wolves Codex.
Now, I have previously heard some arguments that
the codex allows us to use combi-weapons with
True Grit but I have to say here that I’m not wholly
convinced, the wording seems clear to me that it’s
only regular bolters that are of use with this rule,
but in the end as GW would say these rules are just

57

guide lines and the aim is for you and your opponent
to have fun, so if you agree otherwise then have at
it by all means.
The ‘No Matter the Odds’ rule is worthless as it
is written, being outnumbered in close combat
matters not at all in 5th Edition. The way my group
and I have been treating this rule is that we ignore
Modifiers for losing close combat. This seems to
be the logical extension of the rule until the FAQ
is released, when one of two things will happen.
Either the rule will go away, or they will modify it.
Again, reach a consensus with your opponent before
the game starts on this rule.
The ‘Wolf Pelt’ has now become a very worthwhile
piece of war gear now, plus one attack on the
Counter Charge, especially for only a few points,
represents great value. I am taking these by the
Packload whilst supplies last.
‘MUST HAVE’ UNITS
There are now two units that I consider a must take
for my armies. First is a Troop choice as Troops are
the name of the game these days, only they can
capture objectives in 2 out of 3 standard 5th Edition
scenarios. As I said above I have been using a large
Grey Hunter pack as my core Troop choice whilst play
testing the 5th Edition rules, the squad is configured
as follows:
"Ale, bring ale
for this foe is almost done with!"
- Althred the Thirsty
10 Grey Hunters: 2 with Power Weapon and bolter,
2 with Plasma Pistols, 1 with a Plasma Gun, 5 with
bolters. They are joined by a Wolf Guard Pack
Leader with Terminator Armour,Runic Charm, Power
Fist and a Combi-Plasma.
This has proved to be a good solid core for my Army.
With the ‘Run’ USR they can get where they need to
be and are good in both short ranged fire fights and
close combat.
The second ‘must have’ on my list is my primary
HQ - a Rune Priest in Terminator Armour with a pair
of Lightning Claws and a Wolf Pelt. He is followed
by a retinue of 4 Wolf Guards in Terminator Armour,
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Runic Charms, and Wolf Pelts. Two have Assault
Cannons and a Single Lightning Claw, 2 two have
Combi-Plasmas, one of these has a Lightning Claw
and the other a Thunder Hammer. Used to support
my Troops units they generally start on foot as does
the bulk of my army.
This pack is nigh on perfect for standing, shooting
and then taking an opponent’s charge. In fact they
are better when receiving the charge due to the
‘Counter Attack’ USR and their Wolf Pelts with an
awesome 19 Lightning Claw attacks followed up by
4 Thunder hammer attacks. Go ahead, charge these
guys, I dare you...
As you can see from my two new ‘must have’ units
and the analysis a foot slogging army is a much more
viable selection with the 5th Edition rules than it
was during 4th, a fact that should have Space Wolf
commanders across the Imperium rejoicing. I am
finding however that either some fast elements or
at least some transports are going to be needed
in order to handle all of the scenarios, and I am
currently working on a couple of Rhino Transports to
fill the gap. Keep an eye on ‘Shall They Know Fear’,
as a living document it will be updated to reflect
ongoing changes and challenges.
"Young Ragnar?
Aye, he is still a pup!
But with a fierce bite!"
- Njal Stormcaller
CONCLUSION
Over all the Space Wolves have seen some much
needed improvements with the 5th Edition. We are
still in need of an update, and some of what has
been discussed may become null in a few weeks
when the FAQ is released but for now Wolf Lords
have much to be thankful for.
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 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
BLOOD ANGELS
ine years after the release of a very powerful
N and forever despised/fondly remembered Blood
Angels Codex (depending on your side of the table),
June 2007 saw the long awaited, highly anticipated
renewal of the Blood Angels. However, for many
players our swift following of suit after the Dark
Angels Codex left many players with either a bitter
taste in their mouths or a complete loss of passion
for the army – and ‘optional’ rending DC just wasn’t
enough to re-ignite that doused fire.
"The Inquisition and the Administratum say
we are weak, because some of us have given in
to the Black Rage- they are fools! The Black
Rage makes us strong, because we must resist
its temptations every day of our lives or be
forever damned!"
- Chaplain Argustes"
Unbeknown to all but GW’s inner circle, the BA ‘dex,
much like the DA ‘dex was done not only with the
‘new codex style’ in mind but, more accurately, with
the new game system fully taken into consideration.
Many of the missing puzzle pieces players had just
assumed we’re non-sensical and simply the result of
poor game design, suddenly fall into place when you
look at the 40k 5th Edition rulebook.
Going ahead to state the blindingly obvious, 4th
Edition BA play decidedly differently from 5th
Edition BA – much like every other Codex out there.
However, we have the added benefit which we share
with only 4 other Codices. We were designed for 5th.
It is really important to note that while the majority
of the puzzle pieces are in place, there are still one
or two mysteries remaining. These unknown factors
will only come to the fore 2-3 months down the line
with the release of the new Codex: Space Marines
and its subsequent interaction (if any) with our
favorite .PDF.
ARMY OVERVIEW
As a general overview and introduction into this
BA 5th Edition Tactica, I’ll review our army unit by
unit. I will do my best to avoid prescriptive advice
and try stick to the facts and let your play style
dictate your unit selection based on the information
available. Also, please note, that this Tactica is
written with a very broad reader base in mind. It
tries to accommodate the readers that have not
been scouring the internet for months on end for
5th Edition rumours and as a result the very basic
changes that many (especially the online savvy) may
already be aware of have been included.
Special Characters – a quick note
The concept of ‘Opponent’s Permission Special
Characters’ was a decision that GW must have been
regretting from very shortly after it went to print
until now (Much like their fumbled: ‘A Word about
Secrecy’ rule - which they have since changed too.).
What inadvertently happened was players were no
longer able to use ‘cool’ special characters in their
pick-up games because opponents would simply not
grant permission for them to do so.
GW caught on to this fact very quickly and started
excluding the ‘opponents permission’ Special
Character provisory as early on as the last Necron
codex. However, it wasn’t until the most recent
Eldar codex where the concept of the ‘Special
Character’ was totally abolished and replaced by
‘Named HQs.’ While this difference may be a mere
matter of naming convention for some, it is in fact
a decidedly different style of thinking that needs
to be acknowledged by all. Too many players still
post online saying they are unable to field a ‘Special
Character’ in the tournaments or the gaming groups
that they are playing with.
Now, if a player is wanting to handicap or limit
themselves for fluff reasons or personal justification
that they don’t feel they should include a named
HQ of legend on account of his rarity – great. They
are more than within their right to do so. No-one
can tell them otherwise. However, telling others
to do so is exactly the same as telling your friend/
opponent that Dreadnoughts/Terminators are rare
and you should not play with more than one, if any
at all, or tantamount to prescribing what army their
opponents/friends play. Furthermore, having an
event (tournament) that specifically excludes certain
aspects of your army which has been balanced for
59

5th Edition on account of a 3rd Edition throwback is
certainly beyond unfair – it’s blatantly stubborn.
My advice to new and old players who experience
unwarranted and unjustified pressure to not play
named HQs is to simply ignore it as much as you can.
Don’t use the named HQ as a crutch. Don’t model
your army around one power piece and continue
using it as a beat down stick to torture poor 12
year olds who can’t get around it, but don’t feel
bad about including it to give your army a bit more
punch. That’s why they’re there.
HEAD QUARTERS
Lemartes & the Death Company
Blood Angel lists for the last year have been dominated
by one universal point of obviousness. What person
would not take +1W and a special ability to reduce
the Leadership of the enemy for an extra 5 points?
Couple this with the requirement for us to be able
to control our ‘optional’ Death Company, the new
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
DC rending ability and a Chaplain’s ‘Litanies’ rule
and you pretty much have your first ‘no brainer’.
Unlike other Space Marine chapters, the use of our
Chaplains ties in directly to the use of the DC. We
don’t have the luxury of using the Chaplain as a
regular or veteran assault squad booster. 5th Edition
will see no difference in this for people wanting to
play a Chaplain with a jump pack.
However, 5th Edition has allowed us to open up some
previously un-thought of possibilities which may see
us experimenting without the standard jump pack
Chaplain.
Points Of Change
Gentle Jogging: The ability for all units to now ‘Run’
(a D6” move) allows for the previously slow Corbulo
to get a little more speed and possibly a little more
action regarding DC control allowing our Chaplain to
support elsewhere if needed.
Mounted Support: It may be ambiguous but
mounted troops may score from within a transport.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
As a result, there is precedence for models being
able to use their controlling influence from within
a vehicle. This allows for Corbulo or a Chaplain to
control the DC from within a vehicle.
Additionally, models with ‘Rage’ (a new Universal
Special Rule – and undoubtedly a rule targeted at
the Death Company) do not have to disembark from
a vehicle to engage enemies, nor does the vehicle
have to move if a unit with ‘Rage’ is embarked.
Vehicles now follow a single damage table and are
somewhat sturdier and more difficult to kill.
This in turn may allow for us to use an entirely
different primary HQ – Librarian/Master without
fear of ‘wasting’ the points spent on DC.
There are no more consolidation moves of 3”. Every
consolidation move in combat is a D6” move.
Additionally, if you wipe out your opponent you may
NOT consolidate into a new opponent.
The days of leap-frogging into clusters of weak
enemy units using our DC as a steamroller are dead
and gone. A good assault from DC will leave our
main enemy dead and our DC standing in the middle
of the battlefield with their collective chainswords
in hand waiting for the next volley of enemy fire.
Chaplain + DC on the attack
A squad of 8 DC led by a Chaplain that charges
a squad of 10 MEq will do an average of about 8
unsaved wounds and then, in all likelihood, with
minimal return attacks will either fail their LD, be
forced to take a barrage of extra saves or be wiped
out by the massacre move. All of which will leave
our DC out in the open.
Remember to work out the new wound allocation
correctly as it will sometimes help you on the attack
with enemy special weapons.
We now need to use the DC much, much more
cleverly and carefully than before, or make sure
61

they don’t wipe out what they hit in one turn. All of
this at least gives us more than just one ‘no-brainer’
to work with.
With 5th Edition Rending and 5th Edition wounding
allocation.. ie: on 6s to wound- not to hit.
Regarding Rending: It is important to note that Vs.
WS4+ the new ‘Rending’, even with re-rolls to hit,
has taken a huge powering down with a loss of about
50% rends. (4 down from 8 in an 8man DC squad).
Vs. WS3 or lower ‘Rending’ is only slightly better
than WS4. (Almost 5 down from 8 in an 8man DC
squad).
"Rage and strength lend us bearing
in times of strife."
- Mephiston
Mephiston
Feel no Pain. No longer works with AP1 and AP2
weapons or weapons that ‘always’ ignore armour
saves (including Perils and Dangerous terrain).
This small ability which allowed Mephiston to shrug
off Lascannons and lasguns with equal ease is now
gone.
Force Weapons – Now count as Instant Death
wounds. Our big name bug killer and uber Chaos/
Eldar Character killer - gone.
While Mephiston is still the squad killer he always
was, he is now even more vulnerable to incoming
fire and less useful as a big gribbly hunter. This
may not be enough to dissuade many players of his
usefulness in their lists, but it will definitely make
them think twice about other options.
Corbulo
Combined with the above mentioned factors, and
the fact that only Troops are scoring, Corbulo’s
ability to boost BA units may see him getting much
more use than ever before – with or without a power
weapon….which is sadly not the case with…
Tycho
Tycho now gets a minor buff against Orks in that
Preferred enemy now grants re-rolls to hit as opposed
to hits on 3s. Sadly this is the limit to his usefulness
as he is still merely a Captain with a special ability
for himself vs. Orks.
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Dante
As useful as Mephiston was in 4th, Dante will be in
5th. Preferred enemy to all BA in 12”. Coupled with
his Death Mask, Rites of Battle, his mobility and
Melta gun – you have yourself an incredible unit that
simply boosts the potential of your army many times
over.
Dante & Corbulo are already working their neo tag-
team way into BA players lists online, trying to usurp
the power from the previous Lemartes/Mephiston
tag-team of devastation.
Other Options
The other non-named HQs will more than likely
take a back seat to named characters for most
tournament players.
Librarians -
Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, I see the
lowly BA librarian falling to the bottom of the list of
potential HQs. Why? I’ll give you a few reasons.
• The forceweapon’s poor ability to kill
big critters as mentioned.
• Poor synchronicity of powers (ie: you
need to use wings to get to combat
then can’t use your combat power/
weapon)
• Leadership 9 psychic hood breakdown:
• Chance to beat opponents power on
your roll
1. Impossible
2. Impossible
3. 16.7%
4. 33.3%
5. 50%
6. 66.6%
Chaplains
Chaplains retain their usefulness, Lemartes will
remain No.1 for players wanting a JP chaplain.
Other configurations could see more use though, but
possibly only as a secondary choice.
Sadly, Special Weapon limitations - Models with
two different special CCWs (eg; powerfist/Power
weapon) will lose their +1 attack bonus for hand to
hand weapons.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Captains
A lot of the Captain’s use will now rely on what GW
decides to do with Rites of Battle. (This is relating
5th Edition Codex rumors rather than rulebook issues
as the Captains of the new C:SM do not have rites
of battle). Should GW decide to keep Rites of Battle
as a BA/DA ability, then we may see some more play
considering how important leadership is now.
Foot slogging captains may become a little more
popular with mechanized options becoming more
prevalent, but those wishing to play a jump
pack captain will always be conflicted with the
fundamental question on BA players minds; why not
pay an extra 65 points and get Dante?
Honour Guard
It’s my belief that the honour guard will start seeing
more play than before. Two of its most important
abilities will now be even more invaluable to army
commanders.
• The Narthecium of the Sanguinary
Priest – preventing leadership checks
from shooting or wounds within 6” (if
we are to follow the DA description).
• The re-roll of leadership given by the
banner bearer within 12”.
Add this to the fact they can get a similar selection
of weapons as the VAS then you have a great support
unit! Also – remember that just because they have
a base of two attacks does not mean they need to
be armed for close combat. Bolters will be a great
weapon load out for a support unit.
Also, to minimize the new wound allocation issues,
don’t forget to arm your upgraded characters with
your special weapons. This may seem like putting
your eggs in one basket, but it can be wonderfully
minimized by the priest.
"Forward? What other direction is there?"
- Blood Angel Marine : Armageddon
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ELITES
Since I’ve already discussed the DC in depth we can
move on to discuss the other elite choices available
to us. In the last year, almost every BA list included
at least one unit of VAS. For near identical points
cost as a RAS we could get an 8 man VAS squad with
more attacks and more weapon options. Likewise,
very few lists had terminators, fewer still had
scouts, regular dreadnoughts barely made it onto
the field except in the cases of tread-head lists and
techmarines were something that some players had
“heard of somewhere.”
5th Edition will see the opening up of the gaming
playing field so much more. More succinctly, players
will find their own balance of what works in relation
to killing ability vs. claiming ability. It will be entirely
list and player dependent and finding that balance
will be so much more difficult because of the way it
will interact with the enemy lists.
The “rock-paper-scissors” aspect will become much
more widely defined in that general, uber powerful
all-comer lists seem like they will be much more
difficult to produce leaving us with big choices to
make. The choice of a troop heavy army may see us
being torn apart by elite heavy armies, while elite
heavy armies may see themselves being unable to
claim objectives. The majority of this list play will
revolve around the selection (if any) of our Elites.
"Our father helped fell Horus...who are you
to question our honour or loyalties?"
- Captain Corpus
Dreadnought
While there is not likely to be a dreadnought
revitalization revolution, they are much more likely
than before to see the field.
• Power fist attack reduction – Due to the
loss of attacks on hidden fists, we can
maybe get a bit more life in combat.
• New vehicle rules – As mentioned above,
vehicles are much more resilient
• Infantry provide vehicle cover saves- If
50% or more of the walker is blocked
by intervening infantry, you get a 4+
save. This adds a LOT to the walker’s
survivability.
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Outnumbering no longer exists like before, so dreads
can rarely get dragged down. Death company and/or
Venerable upgrades seem like they will be well worth
their points and Extra armour- even at its exorbitant
pricing will be(/should be) stock standard.
Furioso Dreadnought
Mobility has always been the Furiosos #1 issue – the
result of which being that most players would only
ever field one mounted in a Drop Pod. With the new
Run rule, coupled with the above-mentioned factors
we may see more use out of these guys.
Scout Squad
• Outflank – The new ability which allows
us a chance to come on from reserve
onto the left or right board edge will
be the driving force behind taking the
scouts.
• Sniper Rifles – Although losing their “hits
on 2+” gain rending and retain pinning.
Another very good reason to use them.
Seeing a 5/10 man squad come in from a side
board allows us a lot of tactical play in objective
interference. Not to mention, a side placed heavy
weapon could come in handy. Scouts are nowhere
near a “must have” but will fall into play more often
than before – especially in certain assault heavy BA
lists.
Terminators
With regards to normal terminators, there is nothing
that has changed from 4th to 5th rules wise that will
make a monumental difference to the incentive
behind taking these boys. The only two things I can
think of are:
• Initiative rules change in combat – ie:
Models that were able to attack at the
start of their initiative turn will still be
able to strike if models in the attack
zone are killed when it rolls around to
their initiative. What this means is, the
power weapon Sarge won’t mess things
up for the Powerfists. A tiny change:
• Wound Allocation – Small squads both
benefit and are disadvantaged by the
wound allocation system which may
allow us to wrap around low AP shots.
However, beyond rules changes per se are the meta-
game changes that may make these guys worthwhile.
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
Horde Orks is becoming/has become the primary
concern for many players out there. Horde Nids are
also looking feasible. Furthermore infantry will be
seeing the field more and more. Combine this with
increased pricing of low AP weapons and you will
start to see more high rate of fire weapons over low
AP weapons. This makes for an excellent counter
balance to use terminators. Hard as nails unit with a
likely 2+/4+ (from cover) and some great shooting.
Assault terminators benefit a lot from the new Run
rule and that along with the new vehicle rules will
make the Land Raider a VERY attractive option in
higher point games in the new rules.
Techmarine
*sigh*
Veteran Assault Squad (VAS)
What a monumental conflict. Our 2nd most prized
unit just received a heavy beating as far as use
vs. cost comparisons are concerned. As mentioned
before, coming up with the balance of units that can
kill and units that can claim will be the foremost of
any generals army design.
VAS will form a very big part of this thought process.
The usefulness as far as pure power and in-unit
versatility cannot be argued. However, putting
in the 270 points for everyone’s favorite “Melta,
Flamer, Thunderhammer” jumping squad will be
taking 270 points away from scoring units. For some
the pros still outweigh the cons, for others it’s the
opposite. For some still, it’s tougher now more than
ever to make a decision. Add to that the fact that
the enemy will now be focusing on taking out your
scoring units, you may even get the chance to keep
them alive longer than before.
There are some observations which will weigh
heavily on people’s minds.
Initiative rule change: As with the terminators, the
ability to take mixed initiative based weapons (i.e.:
Fists/Hammers and PWs) are now a blessing.
Abundant Cover: The prevalence of cover in 5th
Edition is what has made the Flamer a VERY powerful
weapon. In fact, I will go as far as saying that IF
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the only reason GW had to remove flamers from
DA assault squads was to prevent BA assault squads
from getting them in 5th, then they were VERY smart.
It may seem a tad unfounded but I believe if our
jumping Troops were to get flamers BA could easily
be shifted into a top tier army. To cut a long point
short – Flamers on jumping squads will be golden.
Now, having a mobile close combat assault squad
that is less able to kill, but able to claim will form
the biggest point of contention for our list design.
The awesomeness of the VAS will not decrease, but
its frequency in players lists may do so as a result.
Subsequently, players may find that different
combinations work now, where they didn’t before.
They will be more happy to branch out try new
options which may or may not leave room for the
VAS.
their options are severely limited and the DC price
inclusion makes them somewhat unattractive when
compared to the VAS. This was an obvious no-brainer
back in 4th Edition. However, claiming changes this
all. Just remember… Entering and Leaving difficult
terrain now causes Dangerous checks
If you never took RAS or VAS before, then it’s highly
unlikely that you will now. If your list focused on
multiple VAS before, you may see a shift towards a
single RAS. If, like so many of us, you just took one
squad then you will find yourself in a tough place
trying to decide.
What I foresee happening is more use of RAS with
Corbulo or Dante as support. Or alternatively,
minimized 5man squads to use as last minute
claimers.

TROOPS HEAVY
Tactical Squads (TACs) Predator

Undeniably and unequivocally, the unit that is going
to find its way into our lists once again. And find its
way with due force, I feel.
• Now true LOS (TLOS) is used, the need
for screening Rhino’s (that can ram at
S8) will be plentiful.
• Objective Claiming by Troops only
• New Vehicle Movement - Up to 6” and
fire one weapon, 12” fire nothing
• New Defensive weapons Strength – ie:
4 means that HB preds can no longer
move 6” and fire everything
• Vehicles are hit side armour by barrage
weapons

• Availability of weapons to Tacs – flamers/ • Vehicles are hit rear armour in close
plasma/heavies etc. combat.

• No consolidation into new combat -

Makes bolters (and even the flamer)
very attractive.
• Dawn Of War – The “new escalation”
can see us putting down 7 units. (4
combat squads, 2 razorbacks and HQ)
as opposed to most peoples 3.
With arguably more tactical flexibility in that
(for example) we can get 10 Tacs, a HB Razor, a
Lascannon, a Meltagun and a power weapon for 5
points more than 10 RAS with 1 Power Weapon and 1
Plasma Pistol, you can place money on seeing more
of these guys in our lists.

Regular Assault Squads (RAS)

We have a distinct advantage over most other
marine players in that we can take assaulters as
Troops. The disadvantage to this however is that

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 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
This sounds like “the end” of Preds, but it actually
opens up the doors for all the variants of Preds now.
Their durability also goes a long way to mitigate the
above mentioned factors. So, choosing what weapon
make up we want will be the biggest factor. Expect
to see more Autocannon, Las sponson preds.
Baal Predator
• Over-charged Engines.
• The ability to move 6” and still lay down
a hail of fire.
• The ability to ram at Strength 10.
The Baal becomes a HIGHLY attractive option.
Sadly, heavy flamers are still not the best idea,
but depending on how you play the Baal, this could
change too.
"Stand with us or against us. A simple
choice really don't you agree?"
- Sgt Bartica
Land Raider & Crusader
• New vehicle damage system – Means that
AV14 all around will only get destroyed
by Missile Launchers by 5 hits thereafter
all rolling 6s, and finally thereafter all
rolling consecutive 5, or 6s. Anyone
want to do the math on how many times
you have to fire a ML to kill a LR?
If we get the new Power of the Machine Spirit rule,
(again C:SM) where we can move and fire everything,
then this will be a very attractive choice. Not even
as far as transport capability is concerned, but the
ability to block LOS to other units, vehicles or the
ability to be an actual support tank firing everything
on the move makes taking a LR seem like a wise
choice. Of course, Melta and Lance weaponry are
still abound to ruin its day. The Crusader has the
added advantage of being able to fire all those
bolters with no penalty either! Bonus!
Whirlwind
• New ordnance rules – Give us the ability
to move 6” and fire the weapon, if we
are firing it directly however, firing out
of line of site scatters 2D6” (totaled –
and no subtraction of BS).
The whirlwinds offer missiles with the ability to
ignore cover – again invaluable in 5th Edition At 85
points, many armies may opt for this. Add the above
mentioned ability to move and fire and we gain more
tactical flexibility than before.
Devastator
• All blast markers scatter 2D6”- BS.
Additionally, you tally up ALL the wounds before
you roll saves. Devs with the standard 4ML seem
even more attractive than before in their multi-role
purpose. Plasma barrages seem terrifying, but as
always, the lascannons still seem overpriced unless
your army is really lacking tank hunting.
Dedicated Transports can transport any unit in your
army eligible for a ride – Need a ride for your HQ
or the second half of a combat squad’ed VAS? No
sweat. Makes for great support, albeit pricey.
Vindicator
Other than the template weapon changes and
universal vehicle changes mentioned already, not
much has changed for the trusty vindicator. The
template may scatter an average of 3” but Partial
blast marker hits count as full – The temptation to
field one grows!
• Hull mounted weapons have a 45degree
arc of fire- This means more exposed
side shots
If you were a fan before, you will be a fan now. If
you were not a fan before, you may find yourself
wanting to try fielding one.
FAST ATTACK
Attack Bike Squad
• Kill Point Missions - There is a standard
mission type where every unit killed
grants the opponent 1 Kill Point (KP).
This means that single “sniper” style
attack bikes will be useful for claim
distraction, but vulnerable in KP
missions.
• AP1 & Melta Rule - AP1 gives you +1 to
your vehicle damage result and Melta
gives you a better chance of the Pen.
All in all- VERY good against the added
durability of vehicles.
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• NO MORE Last Man Standing - There is

no more last man standing, giving us no
more fear to use units of 2 bikers.
• Turboboost – Grants us a 3+ cover save
now.

Regular Bike Squad

Sadly, they’re still not inexpensive enough to warrant
anything of serious merit. Their mobility is hindered
by terrain (dangerous checks), but their toughness
is good and their ability to dish out good firepower is
there if they have numbers. Also, they are another
unit that can give you a mobile flamer!

"This is fair resistance at best. I weep for

their lack of determination."
- Tycho

Land Speeder Squad

• Skimmers like all models use TLOS – this
makes the previous practice of dictating
the skimmers height as your felt a thing
of the past.
• Skimmers moving more than 12” get a
4+ cover save - There is no longer the
skimmer moving fast rule where you
only get glances.
• Skimmers only crash on an immobilized
result if they move over 12”
• Skimmers lose the ability to be hit on 6s
only in combat.
• Vehicles in vehicle squadrons treat
stunned results as shaken but treat
immobilized results as destroyed
These changes do not bode too well for the cardboard
armour skimmers who relied on the glances to save
them.
Additionally, moving 12” will allow them to fire 1
gun. This means two variants may see more play-
1. The Typhoon. On account of the range
2. The Multi-Melta /Heavy Flamer, since
they can only fire one weapon anyway,
neither weapon is “wasted”.
IN CLOSING
Change is something that old and new gamers
alike struggle with. It’s something we don’t like
to welcome with open arms as it wanders over to
our house, wakes us up, and drags us kicking and
screaming out of our comfort zone and forces us to
think in different ways about things we were more
than content having thought about previously.
Admittedly, we can all acknowledge that this fact is
not necessarily a bad thing. We may or may not like
it. We may or may not welcome it but it’s certainly
not a bad thing.
Opening our minds to new changes will only make
our lists and our gaming stronger. Trying things
that have never been tried before will expand our
gaming borders and develop our gaming experience
which will, in turn, evolve into a much richer and
rewarding experience. Fear not fellow BA Brethren.
The BA are here to stay. And the BA are strong. The
Blood Angels are as strong as ever before, if not
imbued with a little more potential for victory in
5th Edition.
If you wish to comment on, discuss or
submit an article for review concerning
this section please click on the B&C
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68
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
TH
WHY 5
The following is an editorial counterpoint to the
release of 5th edition and as such offers a different
viewpoint to previous articles.
The latest edition of Warhammer 40K is upon us
and maybe a bit earlier than expected. Before
making judgement calls on whether or not 5th
Edition is an improvement or a step backwards it’s
only fair to lay out the criteria by which we are
making that judgement. Here is a quick summary of
considerations without spending time defining them.
That will become much clearer in the context of the
material following. For now, consider the following
for evaluating the merits of 5th Edition 40K on a
change-by-change basis:
• Does the change make the game more
streamlined; therefore faster and easier
to play?
• Does the change make 40K more of a
‘real-life’ simulation; i.e. does the rule
just make sense?
• Does the change simply make the game
more fun to play? (this is a game after
all)
• Does the change make good business
sense?; i.e. it serves as a catalyst to sell
models
You just can’t disregard that last one. Note also
that each of these qualities come as an asset and
a liability. A game that’s too streamlined can also
be seen as overly simplistic; forfeiting simulation,
fun game play, etc., etc. So change is change but
change coupled with improvement equals progress.
That being said, here is one gamer’s gut reaction
to the latest incarnation of the Warhammer 40,000
rule system.
Why did they change the Terrain & Line of Sight
system?
Is it all about the business?
The new terrain and Line of Sight (LoS) system
begs some questions concerning the designers’
motivation. What was wrong with the 4th Edition
system? I can’t think of a single time I ever heard a 40K
player complain about how terrain worked in a 40K
context. It was abstract but that wasn’t necessarily
EDITION?
a bad thing as it kept the game easy to interpret.
You didn’t have to worry about crazy large model
bases or extremely dynamic poses. Likewise, Area
Terrain seemed to make sense. A piece of cut felt
could easily represent a clump of trees. Individual
tree placement didn’t matter; a given model was in
or out and cover was clearly evident at a glance for
both players.
Not so any more. The two basic abstractions
common to the 40K system, height and area, were
replaced with the new WYSIWYG system. Formally,
a shooting model needed to be able to draw LoS to
the torso of the target model. This was a good rule.
The model could be dancing on their tip-toes with
arms outstretched dressed in pantaloons but still
be hiding behind some area terrain. Now, if a fine
tuned laser pointer can tag the outstretched arm,
that twirling dervish of a warrior can be shot at,
along with his entire troop of buddies hiding behind
him, even those outside of the range of the weapon
firing. Huh?
Whatever happened to
the principle of,
"if it ain't broke don't fix it?"
Whatever happened to the principle of, ‘if it ain’t
broke don’t fix it?’ Admittedly, the three height
levels were a bit odd but it kept 40K easy to follow
on a two dimensional plane. Exact height and scale
didn’t matter so much which only encouraged more
elaborate and dynamic model conversions. So net/
net, seems like this change didn’t help much in
the area of streamlining or taking a ‘make sense’
approach but what did it do for game play?
Q: How much terrain does it take to lend a
4+ save to a Land Raider?
A: A whole lot.
For those of us who now have a copy of July’s White
Dwarf (US 324), check out that set-up in the Capture
& Control battle report starting on pg. 48. I believe
that gaming table tells it all when it comes to the
most ideal way these terrain rules are meant to be
used. Too bad we all don’t have studio artists at
69

home to help build such elaborate set-ups. In the
mean time, I suppose we can always draw trees on
our pieces of cut felt and just claim that they happen
to stand a foot tall. At least until we buy ourselves
more of those GW forest terrain models. How much
do those cost again? Ah yes, that will make for some
good business for GW.
Streamline the gaming experience
With good cause, some cumbersome rules in 4th
Edition were thankfully dropped. Chief among them
was the Mixed Armour rules. For the unfortunate
few units that were forced to make them, a ton
of potentially argumentative issues could arise.
Now, just like the mixed Toughness rules, the save
of the majority of models in the unit defines the
roll required. Nice, very straight forward, easy to
remember and leaves no room for dispute. If only
all rules were like that.
So far, those who have played a few 5th Edition
games report that a typical game doesn’t take
quite as long as it use to and it’s easy to see why.
Mission objectives have been simplified making it
very straight forward to determine who won or
lost (or more often tied). Kill Points now replace
Victory Points when it comes to determining the
outcome of the Annihilate style missions. It doesn’t
take much to count up the number of units killed to
the very last man. When you compare rule changes
like this to Warhammer Fantasy Battles one might
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The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
wonder about the discrepancies.
WHFB players don’t seem to mind
the arithmetic needed to gain a
more fine-tuned measure of what
happened during a given battle.
They also don’t mind the concept
of a Margin of Victory, another
end of game activity which has
been removed from 40K.
The new Wound Allocation rules
The one new element that seems
to run counter to the Streamlining
goal of the revised rules lies
in the new Wound Allocation
system. Previously, the defender
always could minimize losses by
removing any model of choice
after determining the outcome of
a shooting or close combat attack.
In the new system, every wound
scored must be assigned to a
specific model and multiple wounds
cannot be assigned to the same
model until they “wrap around”
all the models in the target unit. The defender still
retains some control. Say, given a certain shooting
attack, five (5) power armour equipped models
sustain six (6) wounds from shooting; four (4) from
bolters and two (2) from plasma. The defender must
apply one wound to every model in the squad and
then there’s one left over. To minimize losses, he
rightly applies both plasma hits to the same model
thus ensuring that he can take four (4) 3+ armor
saves on the other models. In 4th Edition, those two
plasma hits would remove two models outright. In
5th, given enough other wounds, they may only claim
one. It’s easy to see the effects of this rule on the
game. Upgraded models and special characters are
always in the line of fire right along with the rank
& file troops. Therefore the chance of losing one of
these models before they can use their upgraded
gear is much higher.
This change seems to be a bit of a wash from a
net effect to the game. It’s perhaps a bit more
real, or makes more ‘sense’ from a simulation
perspective (though that’s stated reluctantly). In
4th Edition, why did the Sergeant always seem to
be the last man in a squad to go down? Is this a
military game or a Hollywood screenplay? As far as a
cumbersome element is concerned, it’s not all that
difficult to master. Frequent gamers will have this
system memorized quickly and be able to resolve
very complex turns without much delay. So from
 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide

an evaluation standpoint it seems like a wash. One ‘stealers on the near flank of the marines in cover
‘gamey’ system was exchanged for another with a purposing leaving 5” or so between them and the
slight net loss for the defender (see below). far edge Marine. The important thing here is that
the closest stealer must be able to draw a line to
Why make changes to the Assault system? one marine without crossing over the barricade.
On pg. 27 of the July White Dwarf (US WD342) When the assault goes down, only the first stealer
the designers note that certain aspects of the 4th reaches b2b contact and the rest line up behind him.
Edition assault system were ‘gamey’. To put that Because of the reaction move, the hunkered down
into context: Marines all jump 6” over the barricade to make
contact with the encroaching ‘stealers. The bugs
One of the banes of close combat squads in the now get to retain their superior Initiative. Since
previous edition was the way that casualties could none of them had to cross the intervening terrain
be removed during assaults. Called Tactical Casualty they never suffer the penalty. Because of the new
Removal in certain circles, this often led to canny wound allocation system, even non-engaged models
players deliberately choosing casualties in contact can suffer casualties. The bugs still might not kill
or close to powerfully armed models, such as off all the Marines but negating the cover in this
characters with low Initiative, who could not fight fashion makes for a much more successful assault,
when it was their turn to strike. Although this was as counter intuitive as the actions of the Marines
sensible, viable tactic in 4th Edition, many found it might seem.
very ‘gamey’ and counter-intuitive.
Why are Infantry/Troops the only scoring units?
Without question, this is another way of saying that
the designers were actively attempting to make 40K To make the game more of a simulation.
more make-sense from a real world perspective and As we have discussed in the sections above, despite
laudably so. its fantastic elements, 40K supposedly mimics certain
Example of ‘gamey’ rules in 5th Edition; Drawing qualities of real-life combat tactics. It becomes
enemies out of cover more, ‘real’ when the fiction involved seems to be
consistent with our perception of warfare. Just like
There are still certain ways assault based armies when we read any kind of fiction, the, ‘suspension
can, ‘work the system’ to their advantage. Take the of disbelief’ is a wilful act on the part of the reader.
new, Combat Reaction rule. This rule states that We know it’s not real, but it’s at least believable.
once an assault has been successfully initiated and We suspend our unbelief for 40K in the same way
that all enemy models have made their
assault move, the defending unit must
move 6” in an attempt to get as many
models in base to base contact as they
can.
Take for example a squad of ten (10)
Space Marines lined up behind a
barricade. At the start of the enemy’s
turn, a squad of ten (10) Genestealers
starts out within 10” of their position on
the opposite side of the barricade. The
SM player thinks that this combat won’t
be all that bad. The ‘stealers will have
to cross over terrain to reach combat
which will reduce their Initiative to one
(1). It still won’t be pretty but with
the nerf to the ‘Rending’ USR the line
should still hold after the first turn of
combat.
However, the savvy ‘Nid player has
another plan in mind. During the
movement phase, he places his

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as we do when we see a sci-

fi genera movie, read a novel,
etc. No matter how high one
suspends their unbelief, it’s
always humorous when players
state that such-and-such a
40K rule is more ‘real’ when
compared to others. So has
5th Edition made for a more
‘realistic’ simulation?
For the standard missions, the
new definition of a ‘scoring
unit’ is Infantry derived from
the Troop slot on the FOC. So
for objective based missions,
one Infantry/Troop unit must
be within 3” of an objective
marker without any other
enemy units in the same range.
So only Infantry/Troops can
claim an objective, but any
unit can contest the claiming of
an objective marker. Common Ultimately, our criticisms as 40K players inevitably
wisdom seems to dictate that this is much more went back to the game designers. If only they would
reflective of real life. Elite forces go in and perform play test these rules thoroughly enough, they would
surgical tasks and then the ground troops move in find the abuses and remove them from the game. If
to claim the objectives. Without disputing this fact there are no beardy rules to exploit then there are
from a real life perspective, let’s examine it purely no beardy power gamers either.
from a 40K perspective and see if it holds up:
Making things more fair and balanced
For the Dark Angel & Blood Angel Codices, Scouts
were removed from the Troops slot and made Elites, So did this rule make 40K more fair and balanced?
while other units moved into the Troops slot, namely As Infantry/Troops now step into the limelight,
Assault Marines for BA armies. So the argument here their role on the table cannot be disputed. It’s not
is that the Troops slot position on the FOC really just because the FOC requires that you take two
means, ‘can claim objectives’, and has little to do of them. There is now a very real game mechanic
with what it means to be Troops, or Elite, or Fast, that forces more Troops to the table. Show up with
literally. So Blood Angel Assault marines are able to only two units at your own peril. Your enemy may
claim objectives and all other SM Chapters’ cannot. show up with 6+ and walk away with an easy win.
What do the BA’s know that other marines don’t? The question here then rests on the qualities of the
Regular Assault Marines of the BA ilk can capture Troop choices themselves. Among the armies that
objectives while Veteran Assault Marines cannot (The clash in the 40K universe, not all troops are created
same being true for DA Tacticals vs. DA Veterans). equal.
Perhaps the training to claim objectives is forgotten
when a regular assault marine gets their promotion Though this is a bit debatable, most of the 40K
to the 1st Company? Codices were not written with this rule in mind.
When army rules were written, Troops were
The simple fact of the matter is that typical 40K just Troops, one of several kinds of scoring units
games are conducted on must too small a scale that could make up a given army. They weren’t
to consider the larger roles of military units in a necessarily seen as the core driver that made
combat theatre. A 40K game is barely a skirmish. that army balanced in comparison to all others. In
The rule is just a rule that does nothing to help the fact, it can be argued that some armies had their
relative suspension of disbelief. While it may fail in Troops toned down to offset very high quality Elites,
that regard, does it offer other benefits to the game Heavies or Fast units found in the rest of the codex.
overall?

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 The Bolter & Chainsword 5th Edition Guide
All that sort of balancing is meaningless now as
Infantry/Troops are the sole winners of the 40K
tabletop in 2/3rd’s of all standard missions.
Armies that now have a wide and effective set of
Infantry/Troops choices have a whole new lease
on the game. Armies that have few choices and
those on the weaker end of the scale might find
themselves struggling to keep up with the more able
codices. So did this move balance the game or did
the balance of power just shift? Did mechanized Tau
& Eldar armires have their day in the sun during 4th
Edition only to give it up to a horde of Orks in 5th?
The 5th Edition rounds of the GT will tell the tale no
matter what the case. Unfortunately, this change is
a poor replacement for writing balanced army rules,
something that GW continues to struggle with.
Making the game more fun to play
This was a very bold change to 40K and one that may
have the most impact as it changes the entire game
top-to-bottom; from army make-up to how units
interact on the tabletop. Whereas it may not make
for more of a simulation or do much to balance out
the armies it may just end up making 40K more fun
to play.
The rule does serve to create more tactical interplay
between units. Desperate gambits might pay-off as
the last model of the last scoring unit climbs the hill
to claim the final objective at the bottom of seventh
turn. List crafters now have a new factor to consider
when meticulously composing their lists. Should the
army take on more Troop choices to mitigate the
risk of loss or do you focus on raw killing power to
ensure that your enemy has zero scoring units left
to challenge the victory? Will one Codex’s strength
bear more toward killing opponents while another is
steadfastly holding the objectives? The change does
open up a lot of new considerations to contend with.
It will go a long way to make for more interesting
scenarios as the game plays out on the table.
So has 5th Edition improved 40K gaming?
Let’s go back to the original criteria and see how
we fared:Did the changes make the game more
streamlined; therefore faster and easier to play?
For the most part yes, with some exceptions and
at times this was taken too far. Calculating Victory
Points and determining Margins of Victory was a plus
for the game not a minus. Why couldn’t they have
kept the VP system as an optional rule for standard
missions? So yes, determining the winner is quicker
and easier but the old system wasn’t all that bad
either. It may have been best to keep the Alpha,
Gamma, Omega tiers they once had and retained
the best of both systems.
Did the changes make 40K more of a ‘real-life’ and/
or a ‘makes sense’ simulation? Hmmm, uh, no. For
every, ‘gamey’ rule they removed they replaced it
with one that was equally or even more ‘gamey’. Not
that this is really a big fault. The designers should
strive to make the game intuitive and to respectfully
simulate the tactical aspects of real warfare. Many
other games take this much more seriously and
therefore make for more realistic war gaming. That
being said, 40K has such a fantastic setting that it
can hardly be held to the same standards as other
genres, i.e. historical war games. So this is a bit of
a fine line. It would be nice if 40K took this aspect
more to heart when creating new game rules. Being
able to shoot models around a corner or outside of
the maximum range of the weapon might have been
one to leave out for example.
Hopefully, fun gaming will
also make for good business.
Did the changes simply make the game more fun
to play? Given the sweeping new rules made to the
game’s tactical dynamic the early outlook seems
like this is an overwhelming yes. The game moves
faster, units on the table have more options and the
new mission goals keep players guessing from one
game to the next. The changes between 4th and 5th
are much more extreme than the transition from
3rd Edition. It’s a whole new 40K with enough of the
classic element to keep the diehard fans engaged.
Hopefully, fun gaming will also make for good
business. I would be ideal if every good gaming
decision GW made to also yielded the best financial
reward but that’s not always the case. Here’s hoping
that the improvements made to 40K will also come
back to reward the designers for their efforts.
5th Edition will now be the rule of the land for the
next four-five years. Fans of the game should look
forward to some great experiences through this
chapter of Warhammer 40K gaming.
If you wish to comment on, discuss or
submit an article for review concerning
this section please click on the B&C
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Finally - A quick ‘Hello and we did follow all the rules!’ to James and Talima
@ GW Legal if they ever read this.