Here is the list of faction keywords that gain the Objective Secured special rule! Please note, this article pre-dates Chapter Approved and since that book’s publication, is no longer valid. Reference Chapter Approved for the current rules.
Read the ITC FAQ, here.
For convenience, here is the pertinent verbiage:
On August 9, 2017, the Warhammer Community site introduced the Objective Secured rule. Since Chapter Approved is still forthcoming, Games Workshop clarified for us which Factions gain Objective Secured for the ITC community.
If your army is Battle-forged, all Troops units in <Faction> Detachments gain the Objective Secured rule, so long as every unit in a detachment has the same faction keyword from the following list: Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Deathwatch, Astra Militarum, Adeptus Mechanicus, Adeptus Ministorum, Asuryani, Drukhari, Harlequins, Chaos Daemons, Renegades & Heretics, Thousand Sons, Death Guard, Necrons, T’au Empire, Orks, <Hive Fleet>, and Genestealer Cults.
Troops units with Objective Secured that are within range of an objective marker (as specified in each mission’s rules) control it even if there are more enemy models within range of it. If an enemy unit within range of an objective marker has a similar ability, then it is controlled by the player who has the most models within range as normal.
Note: Codex: Grey Knights, Codex: Chaos Space Marines, and Codex: Space Marines are explicitly not covered by Objective Secured because their Codexes provide a similar rule (i.e. Defenders of Humanity).
These rules are effective immediately in the ITC. Also, you will see these in effect at many events around the world including the NOVA Open, SoCal Open, etc.
And to clarify this further, a detachment that was comprised entirely of say, Dark Angels, would get ObSec. A detachment with Dark Angels and an Assassin in it, would not. Every unit in the detachment has to have the same faction keyword from the list above to trigger the rule. If even one unit does not have the same faction keyword from the list above as every other unit in the same detachment, that detachment will not have ObSec.
Another example: a detachment wherein every unit has the <Black Legion> faction keyword would get ObSec but a detachment with <Black Legion> units and Brimstone Horrors would not. Note: if you summon in a unit, it is not a part of the detachment and therefore does not alter it’s composition. Summoned units would therefore not gain ObSec nor would they take it away from a detachment.
A third example: a detachment wherein every unit has the Asuryani faction keyword would gain ObSec, but one with Asuryani and Ynnari would not.
Enjoy!
Interesting, this is official from GW but given to you early right? I know people were afraid that “Imperial Soup” lists would be a thing when they previewed the new ObSec stuff (which, personally, I think it needed to stay gone for everyone), good to know that it’s not going to be allowed. Kinda weird that Ynnari isn’t there though.
Well Ynnari are kind of the ‘Eldar soup’ equivalent to the Imperium so it kind of makes sense.
Yes, Ynnari soup is not going to grant ObSec.
What if you have a two detachment Ynnari army – one detachment with the Yncarne as your Warlord, and then a Pure Craftworld detachment that’s Ynnari since your Warlord is the character.
Can that pure Craftworld detachment be ObSec even though it’s Ynnari?
Yes.
Dope. Makes Harlies pretty interesting.
Doesn’t do anything for Wraithguard Ynnari tho lol. But who needs ObSec if you table your opponent?
But there’s a difference to Imperium soup. Ynnari can’t split their Detachments so easily like Imperium or Tyranid/Genestealer etc.
AND they get a new shared keyword “Ynnari” in addition to Aeldari. Imps don’t.
They also are forced to take one of three specific models in order to field the army, whereas Imperials can bring any HQ they please.
It doesnt really prevent anything…
The army size used for most tournaments is 2000 points and the BRB suggest that players can use up to three detachments at this size (which most of the tournaments just adopt)…
So just take one (batallion) detachment from a single faction where you gather all your troops for obsec (and potentially some other units from thát faction, if they are usefull) and then add two further detachments for your “soup” in which you can freely mix and match what you like and whatnot
Chaos Daemon isn’t a faction.
There is Chaos and Daemon.
Does that just count as Chaos Daemon, then?
Yes. If you have the Chaos faction keyword and Daemon keyword on every unit in a detachment, you are good to go.
This is actually pretty cool – you could take Possessed and Daemon Engines in your Battleforged Chaos Daemon army and still get Obsec.
Actually you can’t unless they changed something in the codex from the index (mine is still on its way).
GW, very deliberately I feel, put the ‘daemon’ keyword under the regular keywords on units like Possessed and all of the daemon engines in the heretic astartes section of the index. Meaning they are not faction keywords and will turn your daemons into a ‘Chaos soup’ army if they are included in the same detachment.
Cool! That makes total sense. Thanks!
Yeah I think it makes sense as those units are truly Heretic Astartes and not daemon so ‘daemon’ shouldn’t be in the faction keyword section.
But, on the other hand, it still works for an auras/buffs that effect “____ daemon” units so there is some synergy there.
Every unit has to be both Chaos faction keyword and a Daemon to count for that that detachment.
Love it. Thanks, guys!
You got it =)
That would be great and make sense, except that daemon engines of X deity have the Chaos faction keyword and have the Daemon keyword, but don’t have the Daemon faction keyword?
So do they count as Faction Chaos Daemons for obsec purposes or not?
Every unit has to be both Chaos faction keyword and a Daemon to count for the detachment to gain ObSec.
Actually ynari could still be obsec. Only requirement from the FAQ is the warlord be one of the characters. Then you can declare any unit in your army as ynnari. So the detachment with the character would not get obsec but any others could.
Yes, that is correct.
And sometimes it’s really easy to manipulate your force orgs so that it doesn’t actually hurt you.
I.E. you take the Ynnari character in one of the HQ-only detachments or you take them in one of the other ones that don’t require troops. And then stick all your troops in a detachment that would get ObSec.
Glad you guys posted the list, I was a little worried that Drukhari would be broken up into or , etc.
Happy to help.
So if i did this i would get obc sec
Battalion Detachment
Harliquins, Yanari
hq1 ShadowSeer (Harlequins Yanari)
hq2 Shadowseer (Harlequins Yanari)
T1 Troupe x 5 Players (Harlequins Yanari)
T2 Troupe x 5 Players (Harlequins Yanari)
T3 Troupe x 5 Players (Harlequins Yanari)
T5 Troupe x 5 Players (Harlequins Yanari)
T5 Troupe x 5 Players (Harlequins Yanari)
Supreme Command Detachment
Yanari
The Yncarne (Warlord Yanari)
Yvraine (Yanari)
The Visarch ( Yanari)
My 5 units of Troops would have obsec yes?
Correct.
Could I have a detachment of Raven Guard and a detachment of astra militarum and they would each benefit from their own rules on a detachment level? Raven Guard detachment gets defenders of humanity and all their Chapter stuff, etc. the Astra militarum detachment does not, etc.
GW officially responded on Facebook that I could do that but last signals from the frontline you guys said I couldn’t.
No, you can. What did we say that made you think we couldn’t?
If you mix them together in the same detachment, no (which is what we’ve been trying to communicate). If you have an AM detachment, then they get all their cool stuff. If you have a Raven Guard detachment, they get all their cool stuff. If you have also an Ultramarines detachment, they get all their cool stuff, etc.
This is also why we’ve been pushing to have each detachment look visually unique if it is not the same as other detachments in your army.
Perfect that’s what I thought but on the signals it sounded like you were saying the whole faction had to be SM to get their stuff but good to know it’s for sure just by detachment.
Thanks so much.
With Flying Monkey GT coming up in just a couple weeks we needed some clarity, and are happy to have it.
You got it! Good luck with the event!
So as new codexes coming out granting their own versions of the obsec will they fall off this list?
Yes.
Ok. That makes total sense.
If I was running my Eldar in the ITC right now, this would have been more complicated to wrap my head around with the Ynnari. But, with Blood Angels being good again, I’m running them. That makes it simple.
lol, nice.
So, if I understanding correctly, adding an Inquisitor to an imperium detachment, to make an Inquisition force, means the detachment loses Objective Secured?
Yes
I’m not clear on why adding the Yinnari keyword invalidates the Obsec from troops if all troops choices also share either the drukhari or aeldari keyword. It seems like ruling it that way would mean that guardians could start in raiders. What am I missing?
If you have a unit in the detachment that only has the Ynnari Keyword (such as the Yncarne) then you lose it.
If the detachment is only Asuryani, but also has Ynnari, you are good to go.
And no you cannot ride in other faction’s transports unless you have a rule that specifies you can.
Got it, it’s the HQ missing the keyword that’s invalidating it thank you
You got it!
So no ObSec Custodes… Shame.
Not at this time, no.
Actually further query, does this mean adding a Valkyrie or Scion squad to my guard will cause issue?
As I read it as they all share the main faction Astra Militarum there is no issue, but it’s already being argued locally.
I’m confused, i thought the rule applied to detachments, not army wide. Like you can have 1 detachment in your army that fits one of the listed keywords with the troops getting obsec, and another detachment that is soup and not getting obsec. Am I right for thinking this?
It is per detachment, yes. What makes you think it is army?
Only skimming rules and not bothering to actually read it, lol. I can see it now.
=)
So if I have three identical detachments of AM, and I add an Assassin to one detachment, then the two detachments without the assassin get Objective secured, and the one with the assassin does not?
Makes sense!
Correct =)
Oh boy, my head hurts..no really. (tired)
Seems like good news but to clarify I never play “soups”, ever but want to throw in a few games where I take a little of everything, thus:
A battle forged army that consists of:
1 SM detachment
1 gk detachment
1 ig detachment
Where each one has their own hqs and troops. What would count as obsec?
Example two:
The same army but with SM hqs and added GK and IG troops.
Would there be any obsec? Would the SM “parent” detachment have their troops be obsec?
I have this vision of getting one IG squad of each IG model range (cadian squad, vostroyan squad etc etc) and use them as cheep troops in a main GK or SM army because the models look awesome (look, I´m not complaining, quick, get a screenshot) but am unsure how the obsec would work if doing this.
Plus I need a time machine since painting all this would take a life time for me.
Example 1, they all get it.
Example two, none of them that are mixed get it.
And you can’t mix keywords in the same detachment and retain your benefits.
On a side note, how about making a place in here for people to show their painted/converted models and share ideas?
I would love to see other peoples minis. I often find inspiration from other fellow hobbyists project as well as love to help others improve.
Did you just buff Tyranids? Ripper swarms are ObSec?
So SM cant take cannonfodder, cultist equivalent units without loosing obsec. Damn.
Sure they can… just put them in a second detachment.
2 commanders and 3 conscripts in a second detachment and you’ve got your “cultist” screen, it’s ObSec and with a Commisar, fearless!
Throw KDK a bone and make Khorne a faction?
Put your Khorne Heretic Astrates units into one detachment and your Khorne Daemon units into another and your problem should be solved
Plus everything summoned doesn’t ruin ObSec
You guys are right. The IG screen is so simple I didnt think about it (especially with the cheap hq options IG have) but then again.. my gawd I am so tired its not even funny (need to stay awake to do night shift).
:/
So to clarify once more it is the detachment not the army affected by this. We could take all mechanicus in one spearhead and a batallions of salamanders and the troops in both would be obsec or their codex rule equivalent correct?
But mixing different Ork Clans in one detachment or different Necron Dynastys in one detachment still gives each detachment ObSec, right?
For now they do. Once they get a codex and get some actual bonuses for those dynasties/clans then they likely will not because they will be covered by their codexes version of ObSec. Which, if the current codexes are any indication, they will need to all be from the same sub-faction.
I think it would be cooler if horde troops would have a minimum requirement for ObSec. 10 models or maybe even just 5, meaning a lone Tactical would control the objective versus 4 gaunts and be overwhelmed otherwise.
From the little I had time to read so far the obsec-approved is a fail because it´s so “fun” playing against 160 fearless obsec conscripts.
I thought the idea of obsec was to balance out against the horde insanity and away from things like two ork boys claiming an objective from an imperial knight.
Hope I missed something regarding this.
ObSec has never been about balancing hordes vs elite troops.
In the old days troops were the only ones that could hold objectives. That was overly punishing for armies that didn’t have good troops or couldn’t afford to take many, many units of troops so GW made it so everybody could hold objectives but troops got a bone in ObSec so they were still important.
That’s all ObSec was created for. To make troops (regardless of whether they were expensive troops or hordey troops) worth taking. It just changed a bit this edition when there was a general change that makes the person with more models hold the objective (before it was contested regardless of the number of models).
The problem you describe isn’t a problem with ObSec it’s just a problem with Conscripts. They are far too efficient for their points (especially combined with comissars) and that means any bonus they get makes them even better. Nerf them and ObSec is working as intended.
Agreed, the problem is with conscripts. I’ll never understand why 40K has a whole “morale” and “leadership” rule, then goes out of their way to make things immune or resistant to it!
I don’t even mind when a character like Abaddon gives fearless in a 6″ bubble, but more universal rules such as Synapse, Comissars, Mob rule, ends up meaning that a very few units in the game actually even need to worry about it…
Of course the way the rule is written it DOES devastate hordes. I wish they could have balanced it so losing half your squad of SM or Conscripts had similar impacts, only your leadership made SM better able to deal with it.
As it is, easy to remove models, taken in bulk, almost guarantee losing more models in the morale phase if they are paid attention to by your opponent. It’s a huge force multiplier.
I don’t mind having ways to make people resistant to morale. I think it makes sense that some armies like Necrons or SM are resistant just in their base profiles while others like ‘Nids are resistant when their big buddies are there to mind control them.
It just has to all be in balance. If you’re resistant to the effects of morale then that should be reflected in how much your units cost. In the case of 35pt comissars and 3pt conscripts… I think it’s hard to argue the points value of morale immunity is accurately reflected.
And maybe it turns out that there’s no point value that makes sense for Conscripts to be morale-immune because it’s just to strong on 50 man squads who can camp for days. So instead they just get lesser immunity. But either way something definitely needs to give with them.
I didnt know ork players needed to be encouraged to take boys by giving them obsec on top.
Some armies troops are amazing as they are even with no obsec. Want to give conscripts and boys obsec then by all means do nerf them in return.
But then again, no matter how you try to polish the turd geedub has failed in some instances to price certain troops and what they can do correctly.
Just go look at the BnC GK terminator threads and laugh.
But I have still a little hope about all this as geedub has shown to be willing to affect balance so in the future maybe we´ll see more balanced troop choices among the current slightly failed (to strong or to weak) ones so that we see or dont see as many units of a certain type on the table any more.
So, to clarify, if I want a ynarri batallion, the troops won’t get obsec if I include yvraine or the yncarne? I have to take 2 other hqs and put Yvraine/yncarne in a separate detachment?
Correct. The three triumvirate characters (Yncarne, Yvraine, Visarch) do not have any of the faction traits listed in the ObSec document, and thus including them in any detachment will prevent you from benefiting from it. Other detachments in your army, however, are able to.
Reece does this make the game more complicated with some troops having ObSec and some troops not? I’m envisioning trying to remember which of my opponents units have ObSec because they’re from a detachment that has the same faction keyword and which ones don’t and it seems like it will get confusing. Hopefully I’m wrong!
That makes pure heretics astartes armies almost pointless to summon in daemons troops. Its a borderline requirement to include a chaos daemon attachment to summon obsec daemons. Maybe this will be faqed?
Summoned units don’t get ObSec regardless. They aren’t part of any detachment.
Makes sense i guess. Not going to expect any Daemon bomb type armies unless they change that.
Summoning is still super, super good when used correctly. It allows you to customize your army and you can bring in large numbers of daemons when you want and where you want them. 30 bloodletters slogging across the map would get obliterated. 30 bloodletters being summoned 9″ away from the enemy with an instrument is terrifying.
If anything, the fact they aren’t part of a detachment is a net good thing. Otherwise they would be useless for CSM because, not only would the new daemons not get ObSec, they would actively take it away from that detachment as well as any other legion trait or detachment-based bonus.
Exactly. It’s not the free points nonsense that it was, now it’s tactically flexible and super useful.
commissars don’t have … so that breaks obsec much like the ynari thing… that said I think you can give the conscripts the keyword commissars do have. The restricted Militarum tempestus but not officio prefectus
Commissars DO have “Astra Militarum” as one of their faction keywords