Boarding Actions in 10th Edition Warhammer 40k
Boarding Actions is an expansion of the normal Warhammer 40k tabletop game that allows you to play battles in the close confines of space ships, underground bunkers or any similar environment.
The main Boarding Actions rules are available for free, as are the Mustering Rules.
There are a few differences between normal Warhammer 40k and playing Boarding Actions, the main differences of which have detailed out below.
Building an Army for Boarding Actions
You’ll need the Warhammer 40K 10th Core Rules and index cards for your selected units. The units you can take however are limited in Boarding Actions. The full list of what each faction can take are found in the PDF Mustering Rules 2.0. There are added rules, which modify the core rules in order to make playing in a Space Hulk thematically work.
In addition to these, there are faction specific rules. Think detachments, that are all found in the Arks of Omen campaign books. These will provide faction specific rules, enhancements(more on them later) & stratagems. These can be made available to players upon request.
Main Changes to Regular Warhammer 40k
Line of Sight Changes to Normal Warhammer 40k
- Line of sight is determined by drawing a line from the base of one model to another. In Boarding Actions neither line of sight or models may pass through other models. This means you cannot shoot past your squad mates or other units unless you can draw a clear line between the two model’s bases. This also applies to physic attacks.
- Another key difference linked to line of sight, is that shooting attacks can only be allocated to models that the shooting unit can see. An example would be that if a targeted unit has 2 models visible and the rest hidden out of sight round a corner. No matter how many wounds are caused, the attacking unit can not kill more than those two visible models.
- Line of Sight also effects a players ability to charge as you cannot declare a charge if you cannot see the unit. This makes positioning key in boarding action.
- All units are considered to have the benefits of cover unless it is fully visible to one or more model in the attacking unit. The save characteristic does not effect if a unit can benefit from cover in Boarding Actions.
Tactical Manoeuvres
Another key difference in Boarding Actions is that there are Tactical Manoeuvres & that actions remain in certain missions. Tactical manoeuvres are done in place of shooting and offer potential buffs such as securing objectives or free overwatch. These can be very useful when used smartly. Similar to actions though there are a series of criteria that a unit must make before it can preform either of theses options.
Consolidation Moves
Consolidation moves can only be made if the move would take the unit into engagement range with another unit or to within 1” of an objective. Units must be within 1” to score objectives in Boarding Actions.
Characters
Characters with the Leader keyword cannot be attached to units in Boarding Actions. Instead of this there is a new 1CP stratagem that allows the character to pass their leadership ability to an eligible unit within 6” for a turn. The unit does not need to stay with 6” of the leader to keep this benefit for the turn. The Leader unit does not however benefit from any abilities they would normally receive form leading a unit.
Enhancements
The last big change is the enhancements system. These are unique to boarding actions and are taken at no additional points cost but are limited to a single one on your warlord model. Players can choose from 6 options that provide additional benefits to your warlord and range from 2 additional CP at the start, improved weapons, personal teleportation and each faction also has addition unique options. (For the purposes of the Balecaster crusade, these can be taken in addition to any enhancements and changed between different Boarding Actions games.)
Want to know More about Boarding Actions?
Neil is our resident expert when it comes to all things Warhammer 40k Boarding Actions related. He’s always happy to answer any questions take people through an intro of Boarding Actions or help folks through a game.
You can usually find him along at the club most Thursday nights, he’ll be the one shouting WAAAAAAGHH!!!
You can also chat to him, or indeed anyone else that’s keen on Boarding Actions via our Discord Server.
