Age of Darkness-Warhammer 30k/2.0 Tactics/Movement
This page is about movement rules in Horus Heresy 2.0, due to significant departures from both the OG ruleset dating all the way from 3rd edition and post-8th edition 40k. Go to the previous 2 links if you want more information on those other editions.
How to move[edit]
You generally move in your, uh, Movement phase. Decide which unit you want to move where, measure if you have enough move distance, make the move if you think it's worth it. Unlike in previous editions, you're no longer automatically assumed to move 6"; instead, all models get an actual stat for movement. For instance, humans generally move 6", but Space Marines move 7" because they're gene-forged supermen, while Cavalry and jump units can move further still. You are not allowed to move within 1" of the enemy unless you're charging. If you move, you Snap Shot Heavy weapons and cannot fire Ordnance unless you have a special rule that lets you do so.
Your Run move is no longer random or in your Shooting phase. Instead, your non-Vehicle units move additional inches equivalent to the lowest Initiative stat in the unit (so no making your Space Marines magically run faster because you have an IC). That said, it still prevents you from shooting or charging, so more or less the same. Vehicles don't get to move beyond their movement stat, and indeed take penalties to shooting for moving at full speed. Instead, you give up movement to shoot at full effectiveness; stationary vehicles get full accuracy on everything, Combat Speed (up to half) can either fire all non-Ordnance/Destroyer weapons at full accuracy or fire one of those and Snap Shot everything else, while Cruising Speed (over half) means you fire one non-Ordnance/Destroyer gun, Snap Shot everything else, and outright cannot fire Ordnance/Destroyer guns. Flat Out no longer exists except on Fast vehicles.
You can also make a move in the Assault phase to get into melee, known as charging. This works more or less the same as in 7th; if you're within 12" of the enemy, you can roll 2D6 for charge distance, and if your result lets your nearest model reach the enemy unit, you succeed. However, the new movement stat also gives modifiers to your charge distance because some models are quicker. Thus, while infantry generally charge 2D6" as per normal, their Cavalry friends generally charge 2D6+3". You're still capped at 12", but it means pulling off successful charges is a lot easier with faster models. If you fail the charge, you move half the charge distance towards the enemy. Vehicles get something similar known as Ramming; in this case, they don't roll Ram distance and simply move in a straight line up to their movement stat.
Special rules and circumstances[edit]
You're now allowed to move outside your own turn using the new Reaction mechanic. In general, if an enemy unit ends its move within 12" of one of your own units, your unit can either move towards (known as Advance) or away from (known as Withdraw) the enemy unit a number of inches equal to the highest initiative in the unit. There are also various Advanced Reactions generally unique to various factions that allow movement or even charging outside your turn, so keep an eye out for those.
Flyers, being aircraft, are much more mobile than land vehicles and have a Zoom move where the movement stat is instead their minimum speed, while their maximum is twice thereof; if they're ever forced to move less than their movement stat, they instantly die. This allows them to fire up to 4 weapons. Flyers are uniquely able to Zoom off a table edge, causing them to enter Reserves; unlike 7th, Ongoing Reserves is no longer a thing, so you have to follow normal Reserves rule to summon the Flyer again. Flyers with Hover sub-type can also behave like vehicles instead, ignoring the rest of the paragraph.
Infantry can in general board vehicles known as Transports, which follow all of the rules for Vehicles. You generally want to do this because the Vehicle is tougher and/or faster than your infantry; for instance, Rhinos have twice the movement of normal Space Marines, and still move quite a bit faster than Running Space Marines, while a Land Raider moves at roughly Running speed for Space Marines, but protects passengers from enemy fire because it's a heck of a lot tougher. However, remember you can only Disembark if the Transport has not moved more than half its movement and that you make a normal move after exiting the Transport, with the implied effects on firing Heavy/Ordnance weapons. Moreover, unless the Transport has Assault Vehicle, you cannot charge after Disembarking.
Further, there is a host of new special rules/old limitations from wargear now codified as rules in themselves:
- The new unit subtype system works somewhat like a post-8th edition keyword in the sense that they're words that appear in the unit entry which automatically modify the relevant models with rules beyond their normal unit type. Some of these affect movement, usually your ability to Run.
- Heavy subtype and Slow and Purposeful prevents units from Running. You don't care about this on long-ranged units, but this seriously hurts most melee/short-ranged models because you lose what is basically half of your movement; if you're outside range, you can't shoot anyway, so you would have been Running. Vehicles have similar subtypes like Bombard/Slow, which limits the model's access to Cruising Speed or otherwise impose heavier penalties for being there.
- Conversely, Light subtype and Fleet (X) lets you add X to your Initiative (take X as 1 for Light) for the purposes of Running. Moreover, Light lets you Run and still fire Snap Shots. Snap Shots are generally ineffective at actually killing the enemy, but you can still use it and trigger other special rules relating to causing wounds/unsaved wounds; Concussive/Pinning come to mind.
Common mistakes[edit]
General tactics[edit]
- Learn from historical formation fighting. Units (particularly shock cavalry) generally hit harder when in a wider formation because more men can reach out and touch the enemy, but a narrower formation is a lot easier to handle. What does this mean? Spread out into a line directly before a charge/before you get into range so that more models can engage the target. However, if you spread out too early, you run the risk of not being able to deal with units on your flank, simply because some of your models are out of range and you not having the movement to rectify that.
- This is particularly important if you hit before the enemy on the charge. Due to elimination of compulsory Pile-in, enterprising players can and will kill off all of their models in base contact with yours to waste large parts of your wound pool, and then Pile in afterwards with their remaining models, who more often than not will come with Unwieldy weapons that hit much harder. If your frontage is larger, you can kill more models and thus have fewer wasted wounds. If your unit is wide enough and your models have enough movement, you might even be able to wrap around and attack models in the back. Likewise, units with lots of models that get bonuses for being in base contact (Reaping Blow, Hammer of Wrath, etc.) should spread out so that as many of them get in base contact as possible. Conversely, if you just want your unit to survive, adopt a thick narrow formation so you can waste enemy attacks by removing all models in base contact, forcing the remaining attacks to be discarded.
- 2.0 has kept the old Vehicle facing mechanics. How you face your Vehicle matters, both in terms of what can shoot the enemy and where it gets shot. Thankfully the Mechanicum is generally not stupid enough to put Hull mounts other than on your front where you want to face the enemy anyway, but pivoting so you can fire your Hull and/or right Sponson mounts at that Land Raider coming down your left can mean giving up an open shot to those Autocannons on your right facing. Grognards dating from 7th Edition or before will know this like the back of their hand, but newer players who are used to everything being oversized infantry ruleswise in 8th and beyond may need some time.
- In particular, the new Centreline mount is very limiting; the Hull mount at 45 degrees used to be the most restrictive mount type, but Centreline only lets you shoot something between the extended lines drawn from the 2 side facings of your hull; that is to say, something your model is literally pointed at. This shows up very often on Flyers, as well as your stereotypical artillery vehicles.
Countering the enemy[edit]
Both of your Movement phase reactions are built for this, and your Assault phase Reactions depending on how you view charging as Assault. Withdraw is particularly useful because it lets you move away from the enemy and potentially frustrate whatever he was trying to do by getting closer, while having Hold the Line makes getting charged less impactful.
| Warhammer 30,000 Tactics Articles | |
|---|---|
| General Tactics |
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| Legiones Astartes | |
| Mechanicum | |
| Imperial Army | |
| Agents of the Emperor | |
| Agents of the Warmaster | |
