Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Movement 101

This page indexes how movement works in 40k:

How Movement Works

You measure. You move. Six inch movement, 12", or running? You decide. If your dudes have jetpacks, they can move 2d6 in assault phase. Most weapons can't fire after moving 12", instead making a Snap Shot at BS1.

Common Rules Mistakes

• Vehicles must pivot on their center when turning, rather than moving to the sides.
• Unless you have been Rammed by another vehicle, you may not end your move within 1" of any enemy unit. Unless you are a Skimmer, Jump Infantry, Jet Infantry, or Jetbike, you may not come within 1" of an enemy unit at any point in your movement.
  • This means your 1" wide terminator cannot move through a 2.5" gap created by two enemy units.
  • This also means that a line of models in unit coherency (2" separation) cannot be moved through by enemy infantry, allowing you to stop an enemy from assaulting a critical unit with a line of expendable or powerful models. This technique is called bubble wrapping.
• Remember that not all of the unit has to move as long as they maintain unit cohesion. This means that you can have the models with heavy weapons staying still while your assault or rapid fire weapons move up.
• Remember that a "Jet Pack", mostly seen on Tau Battlesuits, is not a "Jump Pack" and thus does not allow to move 2d6 in your normal movement phase. It has some other features on movement, see the Jump_pack Page for more details.

Basic Advice

• Unless your strategy depends on it, keep your units from being strung out. You never know when an enemy may change tactics and a unit may need fire support quickly.
• Unit cohesion means models in a unit must be within 2 inches of each other, but that doesn't mean you want your blobs of troops in base contact at all times. Keep your models in loose formation; horrible things happen under blast templates.
• Remember, every inch counts. If you run and you roll a 1, tough, one inch can reform your entire squad from a jumbled mess to an orderly squad in tip top shape.
• Good god people, remember when moving your vehicles and walkers which side their heaviest armor is on. So if you have a Leman Russ and you see the enemy has Lascannons, point the front of the damn tank towards them, or eat shit and die.
  • Additional note: Be VERY careful when shooting tanks with fixed forward guns, (Vindicator I'm looking at you), like a real world tank destroyer if you try to turn to one target, you may well leave your self open.

Accurate and predictable measuring

Use a tape measure. With the start of 6th edition an continuing in 7e you can measure anything at any time.

Countering Enemy Movement

• Someone who wants to flee will attempt to get away any way they can. Do not focus on directly pursuing an enemy unit, instead you should cover their escape routes.
  • Sometimes, the bait they throw out to cover the retreat of their unit is worth killing, even if it's small-fry by comparison.