This section of Warhammer 40,000 details the rules of the game – the nuts and bolts of how different troops move and fight on the battlefield. You do not need to have learned all the rules to begin playing, in fact if you try to learn everything at once you may end up over-stretched and confused.
If you've never played a game like Warhammer 40,000 before, we recommend you read 'To Battle' at the back of this book, and work through the example combats shown there before you start reading the rules properly.
Very few games of Warhammer 40,000, especially if you are just starting out, will involve all of the rules given over the following sections. Our advice is to have a quick look through the rules once. You don't have to read every word, just get an idea of what's going on and where different rules can be found. After that, the best idea is to get stuck in and play a few games! As you come across situations you're not sure how to deal with, look up the relevant section and read the rules as you are playing. In particular, the sections on Characteristics, The Turn, The Movement Phase, The Shooting Phase, The Assault Phase and Morale contain all the basic rules you need to play.
By starting this way you'll find that you pick up the core rules in a few games and will be able to play most of the time with just the information on the playsheet. As you introduce other elements into your games, such as heroic characters, lumbering tanks and Dreadnoughts, read through the appropriate rules and refer to them while playing.
- What You Need
Lists the physical items needed to play a game beyond the rulebook itself: players, miniatures, a battlefield, terrain, measuring tools, and dice.
- Dice Rolls
Explains how dice notation like D6, 2D6, D6+1 and D6x5 works, and how to simulate a D3 using a normal six-sided dice.
- Scatter Dice
Describes how to use a Scatter dice (or a D6 fallback) to randomly determine the direction and accuracy of certain weapons.
- Re-rolls
A re-roll means rolling the dice again and using the new result, even if worse, and no single dice may be re-rolled more than once.