Let’s Learn How to Play Warhammer 40k – Part 3 End

Hey PI-Warhammer Recruit!

Have you been paying attention to our previous lessons? In yesterday’s article, we learned how to Charge and Fight, today, we will learn about the Command Phase and play a game with all we’ve learnt!

A quick break down of the core game play articles:

• Part 1 – Moving and Shooting
• Part 2 – Charging and Fighting
• Part 3 – Command Phase and Applying All We’ve Learnt

In today’s set up, we’re going to use all the models in our Recruit Edition box.

On the Necrons side:

1 Royal Warden (1 model)

1 unit of Necron Warriors (10 models)

1 unit of Canoptek Scarab Swarms (3 models)

On the Space Marines side:

1 Primaris Lieutenant (1 model)

1 unit of Assault Intercessors (4 Intercessors, 1 Sergeant)

Before we begin, let’s talk about the Command Phase

The Command Phase

Both these armies have units from the same faction. eg. All are Necrons, all are Space Marines. This is known as a Battle-Forged army.

Battle-Forged armies gain 1 Command Point (CP) at the start of the Command Phase. This Phase takes place before Movement.

But what are CP for? We can spend them on powerful abilities called Stratagems.

Stratagems

There are many different Stratagems: there are generic ones found in the core rule book, there are specific ones found in respective army Codex rule books.

To use a Stratagem:

1. Pick one out of a list from either the Core Rule Book or Codex
2. Check if you have the CP to pay for it
3. Check if you can use it per its individual description

a useful generic stratagem found in the Core Rule Book:

Command Re-Roll (1 CP) – This one allows you to re-roll 1 die again if you got an undesirable result. This can be for a hit roll, wound roll, damage roll, saving throw, advance roll, charge roll to name a few.

For a full description and to check out more Stratagems, refer to the core rule book.

In our example game, we’ll show you how this Stratagem works.

Let’s Play a Quick Game!

Mission Objective

The objective is simple: whichever side eliminates the enemy Character model first, wins!

We’ll be playing the Necrons side and our opponent will be playing the Space Marines

Move, Shoot, Charge, Fight

While following the steps from the previous articles, we’ve been fighting a furious battle with the enemy Space Marines! But taking out their small squad of Assault Intercessors isn’t our objective…

…it’s taking out their Character, the Primaris Lieutenant! And we’re going to do that with our Necron Character, the Royal Warden!

Let’s talk about Character models and what makes them so special

1. Characters are powerful leaders – they have better characteristics and equipment compared to other troops and elite units.
2. If they have a characteristic of 9 Wounds or less, they can’t be targeted by shooting. Unless they are the closest visible model to the nearest enemy shooter – this is known as a ‘Look Out, Sir’.
3. They can interrupt an enemy after they charge – As the enemies charge towards your forces, heroic Characters aren’t just going to stand by idly while their men get attacked. You can send your Character to move 3″ into that charging enemy unit. This is known as a ‘Heroic Intervention’. It allows them to join the fight and show off their martial prowess.
4. Characters can choose to use special saves that are not affected by AP weapons, if able – this is called an ‘Invulnerable Save’. eg. the Primaris Lieutenant has a Storm Shield which allows him to have an invulnerable save of 4+

It’s a Showdown!

The enemy Primaris Lieutenant swings his Master-crafted power sword at our Royal Warden. That’s 4 attacks rolling to hit. He hits on 2+, looks like he failed 1 hit.

However, our opponent really wants to get the extra hit in, so our opponent chooses to spend 1 CP to do a Command Re-Roll. After the re-roll, the hit lands! All 4 hits go through!

The enemy player now rolls to wound. The Primaris Lieutenant is Strength 5 vs our Royal Warden Toughness 5. So rolls of 4+ will wound. It looks like 2 wounds went through. As much as the enemy player would want to do a Command Re-roll, it is not possible as the enemy player lacks the CP to spend.

Our Necron Royal Warden’s Sv is 3+, we rolled the 2 wounds to save: 1 barely passed (even with the Primaris Lieutenant’s sword of AP-3) but 1 wound went through. It deals the Royal Warden 2 Damage! He only has 2 wounds left!

What will happen next to our Necron Royal Warden? Will the Space Marines defeat our Necrons even though we outnumber them? Or will the tides turn and we can eliminate the Primaris Lieutenant in time?

To Be Continued…at the store!

We hope you enjoyed reading this 3 part article series on learning how to play Warhammer 40,000!

Now it’s your turn to decide which army to command! The best part is, you can customize your army however you like: want to paint your Marines purple and fill your ranks with lots of fast moving Outrider bikes? Yes you can! Or would you command bright orange Necrons with swarms of Scarabs to rush towards your enemies and munch them to shreds?

The beauty of Warhammer 40k is: your army is personal to you!

Learn the game live in the store! Book and attend a free ‘Learn to Play’ demo! We’re running a promotion where you can get 1 chance to win a limited edition Warhammer 40k Indomitus Box Set when you attend! If you bring a friend along to learn the game, you get 1 chance! Your friend ALSO gets 1 chance! Click the image for info!

Pick up the new Recruit Box which has all the models shown in this article and more! We’re also doing a bundle set of 1 Recruit Box and 1 Hobby Starter Set for only $100! Head down to the store to check ’em out!

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