Warhammer 40,000 Update – April 2019: Addendum

Last month, Warhammer 40,000 received it’s bi-annual checkup – as we rolled out one of our seasonal Errata updates.

As always, our rules team combined feedback from thousands of your players around the world, and input from our tireless playtester team, all with the aim of keeping the game we all love fun and balanced.

Any game-wide update like this tends to throw up a few extra questions, and there were some that our rules guys wanted to clear up nice and quick rather than keep you waiting – so we’ve gone through a few of the FAQs and made a few small changes. Don’t panic – there’s nothing huge changing here, just a few tweaks and clarifications we wanted to address.

As always, we’d like to say a big thanks to all of you who sent your questions in – keep ‘em coming and we’ll keep on making the game the best it can be.

You’ll find these in the Errata on the FAQs page, but to save you the trouble of picking through the updates for changes, here’s a quick summary of what’s new!

Rules Team: Hello there from the Warhammer 40,000 rules team! We’ve been working our way through all your feedback since we released the April Update 2019, making minor adjustments and clarifications, so let’s see what we’ve added!

1) Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook

We added an FAQ entry to this document to make clear what rules and Stratagems could be used when making an action out of the normal turn sequence. The final sentence of the answer to this question was added to clarify whether or not Overwatch counted as an attack made ‘as if it were the Shooting phase’. You guys noticed the word ‘not’ was missing from this sentence. As such, we’d like to clarify – Overwatch is resolved like a normal shooting attack, but it is specifically resolved in the enemy’s Charge phase. The complete entry is reprinted below with the corrected final sentence:

Q: When a rule allows a model or unit to take an action (move, shoot, charge, fight or attempt to manifest a psychic power) outside of the normal turn sequence, and that rule explicitly mentions to make that action as if it were a different phase of the turn structure to the current one, e.g. ‘That unit can shoot as if it were the Shooting phase’, do rules that are normally used during that phase (in the example this would be the Shooting phase) take effect? Is the same true of Overwatch attacks?

A: With the exception of Stratagems, all rules (e.g. abilities, Warlord Traits, psychic powers etc.) that would apply in a specific phase apply to actions that are taking place ‘as if it were that phase’. However, if a Stratagem specifies that it must be used in a specific phase, then it can only be used in that phase (e.g. you cannot use a Stratagem that says ‘Use this Stratagem in the Shooting phase’ to affect a unit that is Shooting ‘as if it were the Shooting phase’). For the purposes of this FAQ, Overwatch attacks are not considered to be attacks made as if it were your Shooting phase.

 

Keen-eyed servants of the Hive Mind might notice this is not consistent with the Codex: Tyranids FAQ. Well spotted – we’ve now removed the following FAQ entry from the Codex: Tyranids errata document:

Q: Can the Opportunistic Advance Stratagem be used when a unit is affected by the Swarmlord’s Hive Commander ability, the Overrun Stratagem, or the Mind Eater Warlord Trait?

A: Yes in all cases. Please note the FAQ above regarding moving multiple times in a single phase.

2) Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook

We’ve also added an FAQ entry to the Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook document that explained what happens when the Counter-offensive Stratagem is used on a unit that is under the effect of a rule that states that a unit cannot be chosen to fight until after all other units have fought.

Q: If a unit is affected by a rule that forces it to fight after all other units able to fight have done so, such as the effects of the Paroxysm psychic power, the Vexator Mask or the Armour of Russ, can it still be affected by the Counter-offensive Stratagem?

A: Yes, the Counter-offensive Stratagem allows a unit to fight outside of the normal fight order (i.e. the Stratagem does not give a unit the ability to fight first in the Fight phase, it simply instructs you to pick a unit and fight with it next).

 

We are also removing the following entry from the Codex: Drukhari errata document:

Q: Can the Counter-offensive Stratagem be used to negate a unit fighting last because of the Vexator Mask Artefact?

A: Yes, the Counter-offensive Stratagem allows a unit to fight outside of the normal fight order (i.e. the Stratagem does not give a unit the ability to fight first in the Fight phase, it simply instructs you to pick a unit and fight with it next).

 

We are also removing the following entry from the Codex: Tyranidsdocument:

Q: If a unit is under the effects of the Paroxysm psychic power, can the Counter-offensive Stratagem be used on it?

A: No, because it is not ‘eligible’ to fight until every other unit has done so.

3) Codex: T’au Empire

The T’au have a lot of Firepower – but not quite as much as we might have suggested in our previous update. We accidentally implied that the Fireblade’s Volley fire ability applies at all ranges, and so, to be extra clear, we’ve tightened up the wording on the FAQ entry in question.

Q: With regards the Cadre Fireblade’s Volley Fire ability, what exactly is meant by ‘may fire an extra shot’?

A: It means the player can make one more hit roll for each model that is firing at a target within half range. Note that for a model with a pulse rifle (a Rapid Fire weapon) this means that it would make three hit rolls if the target is within half range.

 

As we are making changes to this document, we thought we would take the opportunity to add the following Errata and FAQ entry that has recently hit our inbox:

Errata

Page 97 – Longstrike

Add the ‘Hammerhead’ keyword to this model’s Keywords (Longstrike) line.

Change this model’s Fire Caste Exemplar ability to read:

‘You can add 1 to hit rolls in the Shooting phase for friendly T’au Sept Hammerheads within 6″ of Longstrike.’

FAQ

Q: When do you declare which units will fire Overwatch as part of The Greater Good ability?

A: You must declare all units that wish to fire Overwatch at that charging unit before resolving any of these attacks.

4) Codex: Deathwatch

We made a change to the Special Issue Ammunition ability to explain how it combines with the newly added Bolter Discipline ability. We have received numerous emails asking for clarity about whether or not, when firing special issue ammunition, the normal rules for firing Rapid Fire weapons apply.

The answer, simply, is yes – when firing Special Issue Ammunition the modifications to the Rapid Fire ability that Bolter Discipline make do not apply. We have added the following designer’s note after this errata to clarify this:

Designers note: Note that the normal rules for Rapid Fire weapons, as described in the Warhammer 40,000 core rules, continue to apply when shooting a Rapid Fire weapon with special issue ammunition.

We have also recently received some questions regarding the weapon options on Veterans squads, and we’ve added the following errata:

 

Page 72 – Veterans, Wargear Options

Change the second bullet point to read:

• Up to 4 Veterans may replace their boltgun with an item from the Heavy Weapons list. If they do so, those models cannot be given any other wargear options from this wargear options list.

Change the third bullet point to read:

• Any Veteran may replace their boltgun with a heavy thunder hammer (pg 91). If they do so, that model cannot be given any other wargear options from this wargear options list.

5) Codex: Space Wolves

We made a special point in the Codex: Deathwatch errata to clarify how the newly added Bolter Discipline ability interacted with mixed units, particularly when only some models in a unit are clad in Terminator Armour. It was our intention to add a similar clarification into Codex: Space Wolves, to cover Wolf Guard Pack Leaders. As a result, please add the following to the Codex: Space Wolves errata:

Pages 93, 94 and 114 – Blood Claws, Grey Hunters and Long Fangs, Mixed Unit

Change the Mixed Unit ability to read:

‘For the purposes of determining what models a vehicle can transportand for the Bolter Discipline ability, Wolf Guard Terminator Pack Leaders have the Terminator keyword.’

 

And there you have it. We hope this clears things up nicely for everyone. Thanks again for your diligence and feedback. Remember to submit your suggestions to 40kFAQ@gwplc.com – the rules team will continue, as always, to read it all and make adjustments where needed.