Warhammer 40,000 6th edition

This page is in need of cleanup. Srsly. It's a fucking mess.

>

File:40K 6th rulebook.jpg

The fact that the Space Marines are on the cover is no surprise. The fact that it's the Dark Angels instead of the Ultramarines is.

Basically Fantasyhammer 40,000.

Wards Ultra cross Tau isn't fluff (yet). And the Emperor is still alive.

Matt Ward did, however, manage to sneak his ugly mug into the first few pages of the book (god dammit), giving us that cursed endless smile on the "Playing a Game" page (which are, ironically, Blood Angels versus Necrons).

New Army Codex

As with any edition there have been new codex coming out of the works. Surprisingly none have been written by Matt Ward.

• Chaos Marines by Phil Kelly. Introduces Heldrakes, Helbrutes, Forgefiends, Maulerfiends, Warpsmiths, Warp Talons, and all new warlord, psychic power, and boon tables.
• Dark Angels by Jeremy Vetock. Brings back Asmodai the Interrogator Chaplain. Introduces Deathwing Knights, Ravenwing Black Knights, Ravenwing Dark Talon, Ravenwing Dark Shroud, Land Speeder Vengence, and Nephilim Jetfighter. Also new warlord table, psychic powers, and an armory of aertifacts.

Crunch Updates

Anything we don't talk about, assume that it's the same as it was in 5th edition (for example, Cavalry/Beasts still have Fleet even though we don't outright say so in their section below).

Game

• You may pre-measure to move and shoot. (p 12)
• Snap Shots- Heavy weapons that are not blast or template may shoot after moving at BS 1. (p 12)
• Wound allocation - Wounds are allocated against the closest model to the attacking unit. (p 15)
  • If there are 6 models that have the same save which would receive the first allocations, before a model with a different save, roll up to that many dice and remove the failures. Repeat until the buffer of same-saves is depleted, then change the save and roll individually. (p 16)
  • If a target unit is in partial cover (some models take cover saves, some do not), you may declare focus fire. Declare you wish to focus fire before rolling to hit. Then declare a cover save amount (from 2+ to 6+, or no cover save at all). Wounds will only be allocated to models that have that cover save or worse. Go to ground does not alter which models may take wounds. You can not hurt any model whose cover save is better than the value you declared. (p 18-19)
  • Template weapons ignore focus fire restrictions. (p 52)
  • Wound groups — you may choose the order in which wound groups from different weapons are allocated. I.e. you may choose to allocate plasmagun wounds (S7 AP2 wounds from two different plasmaguns) first, then bolter wounds. With clever positioning this allows you to kill off specialists more easily.
  • Line of Sight and Range Limits - If a model part of a unit is out of sight or out of range from those shooting wounds cannot be allocated to them.(Errata)
• Character models (Sergeants etc.) may use the "Look out, Sir!" rule when allocated a wound. A 4+ is a success — you may reallocate the wound to any model (even not within range or LoS) within 6" of the character. (p 16) the closest friendly model to your character (since latest FAQ)
  • Independent Characters make "Look Out, Sir!" rolls on 2+. (p 39)
  • "Look Out, Sir!" also works in assault. (p 26)
  • You can only make "Look Out, Sir" roll BEFORE you roll to save. No, you cannot fail a save then attempt to Look Out. This has just been FAQ'd as true for anything even same armor saves. The reason is that if you roll everything at once (for equal saves) and fail enough saves to kill a character or IC, then you can allocate them using LoS! With the FAQ now you don't know if your character or IC will fail the roll or not so you have to take a risk. Either LoS! or save.
• If a model is 25% obscured from the point of view of one model in the firing unit, it receives a 5+ cover save. (p 18)
• Area terrain grants 5+ cover instead of 4+, but you receive +2 to cover save when you Go to Ground. (p 18)
• After declaring an assault, the unit being charged may take an "overwatch" shot at the charging unit. This shooting is a snap shot, and follows all rules for those. Overwatch may not cause pinning or morale checks. Blast, ordnance and template weapons may not participate, templates get d3 auto hits. (p 21)
• Assault range is now 2d6, not 6 inches. (p 21)
• Models pile in before they attack (at their Initiative). Note that currently Unwieldy weapons and charging through cover don't change your Initiative, so models suffering from these penalties pile in at their "normal" Initiative. This is likely to be FAQd, though. (p 23)
  • Pile in moves are 3". (p 23)
• If a unit's weapons cannot damage the unit it is in combat with, it may choose to auto-fail its morale check at the end of the combat. (p 26)
• Multi-assault negates +1A charge bonus. (p 27)
• Can no longer take any saves against Perils of the Warp. (p 67)
  • You CAN take Feel No Pain against Perils, though. (FAQ p 4)
• Deny The Witch: an enemy targeted by a psychic power can roll a d6. On a 6, the psychic power is canceled out completely. Psykers add +1 to their Deny The Witch rolls (or +2 if the target psyker is of higher Mastery Level than the attacking psyker). (p 68)
  • Psychic Hoods now have a 6 inch range, and instead of rolling off and adding Ld, you just make a Deny The Witch roll. (p 68)
• Vehicles now use a Wounds system called Hull Points. Glancing hits do not roll on the vehicle damage chart; the vehicle simply loses a Hull Point. Penetrating hits both inflict a Hull Point's worth of damage and roll on the vehicle damage chart. Vehicles with no hull points left are wrecked. (p 72-4)
  • Immobilized result from failing a Dangerous Terrain test does subtract a Hull Point.

Universal Special Rules

Rules in italic only require one model in a unit to work on the whole unit.

• Acute Senses - The unit may re-roll to see which table edge they enter from, should they be arriving from a random one (usually due to Outflanking attempts).
• Adamantium Will - The unit receives a +1 bonus to "Deny the Witch" rolls.
• And They Shall Know No Fear- Now a universal rule instead of exclusive to Space Marines. Automatically pass all regroup tests, can move-shoot-assault normally after regrouping, and grants immunity to the Fear rule below.
• Assault Vehicle - Units disembarking from transports with this USR may assault on the turn they do so, even if their disembarking was caused by the vehicles' destruction. All Open-topped transports are Assault Vehicles. Orks will be pleased.
• Armorbane - Models or melee weapons with this USR rolls 2d6 to pen vehicles. Straken should have this.
• Blast & Large Blast - These old standards work pretty much the same as 5e. It's noted however, that a Blast which scatters so that its central hole is off the table misses regardless of what's under the rest of it. Additionally, Blast weapons cannot fire Snap Shots (including Overwatch).
• Blind - Shooting USR, target takes an initiative test, if failed, WS & BS are set to 1 until the end of their next turn.
• Brotherhood of Psykers- Resolve Perils of the Warp against the character if he is alive/exists, or if not against a model in the unit if he is not. Use the character's LD if he is alive/exists, or the unit's if he is not.
• Bulky - Counts as 2 models in transports.
• Very Bulky - Counts as 3 models in transports.
• Extremely Bulky - Counts as 5 (0_0) models in transports.
• Concussive - Any models that's taken an unsaved wound from a Concussive weapon is reduced to Initiative 1 until the end of the next Assault phase.
• Counter-Attack - The unit may make a Leadership test whenever they're assaulted. Should they succeed then the unit receives a +1 Attack bonus as if they charged themselves. They don't receive any of the other bonuses for charging (Furious Charge etc.) and can't use this ability if they were already locked in combat.
• Crusader - Roll an extra d6 for run, and take the highest. Add d3 to sweeping advances total.
• Daemon - The scions of the Warp get a 5+ invuln and the new Fear rule. Pity about Eternal Warrior though.
• Eternal Warrior - Character with this rule is immune to the Instant Death rule.
  • He still can't take Feel No Pain (see below) against anything that would normally cause Instant Death.
• Fear - In combat, before any blows are struck, the unit without this rule takes a leadership test. If it fails, it is reduced to WS 1 for the remainder of that assault phase. Fearless provides an immunity to this of course, as does And They Shall Know No Fear. It's worth noting that having the Fear USR does not make one Fearless by default however.
• Fearless - Still provides an immunity to Pinning and Morale tests along with the new Fear rule and automatic passing of Regroup tests. However, Fearless unit cannot Go to Ground or choose to fail a Morale with "Our Weapons Are Useless!" No Retreat wounds are no longer taking which makes facing down large Ork mobs even scarier than before.
• Feel No Pain - 5+ instead of 4+ (by default anyway, specific units may have different values). Only instant death ignores it (i.e. power weapons do not).
• Fleet - no longer allows you to run and assault, it now allows you to re-roll your rolls to run and charge.
• Fleshbane - always wounds on a 2+ against non-vehicles.
• Force weapon - Works the same way, but you expend one warp charge to use it. This means more potent psykers can use their force weapon and cast a power.
• Furious Charge - +1S on the charge.
• Gets Hot - Same as before, except it now effects weapons on Vehicles as well. Infantry take their armor/invul save as before, while Vehicles take a 4+ save against it or lose a Hull Point.
• Hammer of Wrath - Units with this USR get 1 auto hit when they charge into combat, at AP-, the model's unmodified S, and I10.
• Hatred[_______] - In the first round of combat against the named foe, re-roll to hit.
• Haywire - When shooting vehicles, Armor Penetration rolls are resolved differently: guaranteed Glancing hit on 2+, guaranteed Penetrating hit on a 6.
• Ignores cover - Self Explanatory.
• Instant Death - Unsaved wounds by this weapon caused instant death regardless of victim's Toughness.
• Interceptor - At the end of the enemy movement phase, this gun may be fired at any unit that arrived from reserve, and is within Line of Sight and range, instead of firing during the next turn of the player who owns it.
• It will not die - If the model has less that its full wounds or hull points, roll a d6. On a 5+ that model regains a wound or hull point.
• Jink - 5+ cover save if the unit moved, 4+ if it moved flat out or turbo-boosted.
• Missile-Lock - d6 scatter instead of 2d6.
• Monster Hunter - A unit containing one or more model with this USR rerolls failed to-wounds against Monstrous creatures and Flying Monstrous creatures.
• Move Through Cover - now ignores Dangerous Terrain.
• Night Vision - Ignores night fighting.
• Poisoned- Same as before, but with new additional benefits: now Poisoned CC weps must reroll failed To Wound rolls if the wielder has equal to or higher S than the target's T. Additionally, Poisoned guns defualt to 4+ when unspecified, and have a default S of 1.
• Power of the Machine Spirit- Now a universal rule instead of exclusive to Land Raiders; vehicles not moving flat out can fire 1 additional weapon, and it doesn't have to be at the same target as the other weapons.
• Preferred Enemy[_______] - When shooting or assaulting the named enemy, any To Hit and/or To Wound rolls of 1 can be rerolled.
• Rage - now a good thing for some reason. Gives +2A on the charge in Assault, and doesn't make you move towards the nearest enemy.
• Rampage - if a combat has more enemy than friendly models, the model(s) with rampage get +D3 attacks.
• Shred - Reroll failed To-Wound rolls.
• Shrouded - +2 to cover saves, counts as having 5+ cover save even when standing in the open.
• Skilled Rider - Automatically pass Dangerous terrain tests, +1 to Jink saves.
• Skyfire - Uses full BS against flyers but BS1 against non-flyers and non-skimmers. Interceptor rule negates this penalty.
• Slow and Purposeful - No longer counts as in difficult terrain. Identical to Relentless, but can't Run or Sweeping Advance. For vehicles, replace "can't run" with "can't Turbo or Flat Out". Also can't fire Overwatch.
• Smash - All close combat attacks are AP2 (except hammer of wrath) and can halve attacks to double strength and re-roll armour penetration rolls.
• Sniper - Now allows to allocate shots that scored a 6 on a To Hit roll.
• Split Fire - One model can shoot at a different target than the rest of the squad (if it passes a Leadership check first).
• Stealth - +1 to cover saves, cumulative with Shrouded.
• Strafing Run - +1 BS to hit non-flyers and skimmers with assault, heavy, rapid fire or salvo weapons. Shots count as pinning, too.
• Strikedown - Causes models hit by attacks with this rule to move as if in difficult terrain, and halves Initiative.
• Stubborn - Affects Pinning tests along with morale checks now.
• Supersonic - Vehicles with this rule must Flat Out at least 18 inches, and up to 36. Supersonic Flyers can't Hover.
• Swarms - Blast and Ordnance inflict two wounds instead of one. Swarms have Move Through Cover except they still test for Dangerous Terrain.
• Tank Hunters - Allows rerolls of failed penetration rolls, no longer a +1 pen. Also doesn't provide immunity to tank shocks.
• Torrent - Weapons with this place a template within 12".
• Twin-Linked - Now a special rule, provides the same effects.
• Two-Handed - Weapons with this special rule allow no extra attacks from using two CCW's.
• Unwieldy - Strikes at Initiative step 1, unless a walker or monstrous creature.
• Vector Dancer - Allows a 90 degree pivot at the end of the movement phase. Making the pivot disallows flat-out moves.
• Vector Strike - Flying monstrous creatures can make d3+1 ap3 hits on a model they passed over while swooping. Counts as shooting one weapon.
• Zealot - Give the Fearless and Hatred USR's.

Unit Types

Bikes

• Bikes/Jetbikes have Hammer of Wrath, Jink, and Relentless (see above). As of the FAQ they also have Very Bulky.
• The +1 to Toughness a bike gives now applies to Instant Death. In other words, Space Marine Bikers now only suffer Instant Death from Strength 10 weapons, not Strength 8 as before.
• Turbo-Boosting is now done in the Shooting phase. Bikes turbo-boost 12 inches (including the Movement phase, that totals 24 inches per turn) while Jetbikes turbo-boost 24 inches (total of 36 inches per turn). Eldar Jetbikes turbo-boost 36 inches (total of 48 inches per turn!!) Turbo-boosting does NOT give you the 3+ cover save anymore, but due to Jink gives you 4+ instead.
• Bikes/Jetbikes can't Go To Ground anymore, which also means they can't be Pinned.
• Any "can move 6 inches in the Assault Phase, even when not assaulting" rule is now 2D6 inches.

Artillery

• The Artillery Gun models themselves are now T7, W2 and have 3+ armor. All gunners also have T7 when shot at (but not when assaulted) as long as at least one gun is alive.
  • During wound allocation, wounds are allocated to the closest model as if the gun models were regular infantry.
  • "Look out, Sir!" must be resolved amongst the crew (unless you have a gun that somehow counts as a Character).
• Artillery guns cannot Snap Shot.

Jump Infantry

• Jump Infantry is now Bulky (see above).
• If a unit uses their Jump Packs to charge, they may re-roll their charge distance, and gain Hammer of Wrath (see above).

Jet Pack Infantry

• Jet Pack Infantry are now Bulky and Relentless.
• Any "can move 6 inches in the Assault Phase, even when not assaulting" rule is now 2D6 inches.

Monstrous Creatures

• Very streamlined. All MCs have Fear, Hammer of Wrath, Move Through Cover, Relentless, and Smash (see above).
• MCs no longer roll 2D6 for armor penetration in CQC (see Smash's rules for exactly what they can do).

Flying Monstrous Creatures

• This is a completely new unit type, and it takes up a whole damn page (p 49). No damn way I'm reprinting all of that shit here.
• If you want an easy visualization, Gliding FMCs are literally "Monstrous Creatures with Jump Packs". Swooping FMCs are more complicated, but for the most part are "Monstrous Creatures that move like Flyer vehicles".

Cavalry and Beasts

• They move 12 inches in the Movement phase now. Both ignore Difficult Terrain (including while charging), though Cavalry takes Dangerous Terrain tests.
• Beasts have Move Through Cover, Cavalry have Hammer of Wrath (see above).

Characters

• Characters have Precision Shots and Precision Strikes. All rolls To Hit of a 6, both Shooting and Assaults, those hits are allocated by the Character's controlling player instead of "randomly, closest to furthest".
  • Precision Shots/Strikes are still subject to any "Look Out, Sir!" rolls the target chooses to make.
  • Snipers also score Precision Hits on a 6.
• Characters may issue Challenges to each other. This is complicated and takes up two whole pages (p 64-5), but it basically forces two Characters to only allocate wounds onto each other.

Weapons

• Models with two Pistols can fire both in each Shooting phase.
• Models with Rapid Fire weapons now fire one shot at max range or two shots at half range (15" for Pulse Rifles), regardless of whether or not they were stationary in the Movement phase.
• Grenades can now be thrown in the Shooting phase:
  • Frag Grenades are 8" Assault1 S3 AP- Blast weapons.
  • Plasma Grenades are 8" Assault1 S4 AP4 Blast weapons.
  • Krak Grenades are 8" Assault1 S6 AP4 weapons.
  • Haywire Grenades are 8" Assault1 S2 AP- Haywire (see above) weapons. They can also be clamped onto vehicles like Krak Grenades.
• In addition to their old effects, Defensive Grenades now grant Stealth against all shooting attacks. This only applies if the unit with Defensive Grenades hasn't Gone To Ground, and is within 8" of the unit shooting at them.
• During Assaults, Krak Grenades and Melta Bombs can now be clamped onto Monstrous Creatures as well as Vehicles.
  • Krak Grenades are S6 AP4, while Melta Bombs are S8 AP1 with Armorbane and Unwieldy (see above).
• Generic "Power Weapons" no longer exist. Power Swords, Power Axes, Power Mauls, etc. have different statblocks.

Vehicles

• Defensive Weapons no longer exist.
• Vehicles moving at Combat Speed fire one weapon at full Ballistic Skill, and all others as Snap Shots. Vehicles moving at Cruising Speed fire all weapons as Snap Shots.
  • Fast vehicles fire all weapons at full moving at combat speed BS and TWO (not one) at full BS moving at full cruising speed
• Vehicles that fire an Ordinance weapon can only make Snap Shots with all other weapons.
• New Vehicle Damage Table:
  • 1-2 = Crew Shaken, 3 = Crew Stunned, 4 = Weapon Destroyed, 5 = Immobilized, 6 = Explodes.
    • If already Immobilized, 5 = Lose a Hull Point (on top of already losing one for a Penetrating Hit).
• During Assaults, non-Walker Vehicles that moved last turn are Weapon Skill 1. Otherwise, all non-Walker Vehicles are Weapon Skill 0.
  • Immobilized counts as "didn't move last turn" even if it did, and is thus WS0.
  • Flat outed vehicles count as WS2 (it matters only against Tau)
• All vehicles (except walkers and heavy) can flat out 6" instead of shooting
  • Fast vehicles flat out 12"
  • Fast skimmers flat out 18" (if this even this not enough, buy star engines or œthersails)

(This list is not yet complete)

Fluff Update/Business as Usual

General

Disclaimer: In no way has the Fluff deviated from the 5e, as of yet. Anything specific will most likely be changed in that faction's Codex(eg Heldrakes, Helbrutes...). This is just highlighting points of interest that may or may not have been in previous rulebooks.

Craptons of fluff. Explanation on daily life in the Imperium, how the Imperium is governed. The Imperium is even more almost-doomed than before. Timeline mentions vast swathes of the Imperium falling to rebellion ,alien attack and Chaos rape. Lots of detail on stuff not usualy mentioned. It appears that those that wrote about each army are fanboys of that given army. As such you will not find too much negative comments in a race's description. Pages 166-177 are mostly filled with old lore, nothing new at all in those pages. As such expect to see a lot of copy and pasting from previous Codexes, giving not even the Lexicanum anything interesting to write about in 6th edition that already hasn't been written about.

• The Golden Throne is failing and the Techpriests say it is impossible to repair. As usual.
• 13th Black Crusade is still underway as it was apparently back in 3rd edition. Against all odds, Abaddon has managed to take half of Cadia and is continuing to gain ground.
  • Possible Update - Abaddon has nearly captured Cadia and rumors have surfaced of the Daemon Primarchs leading the charge through the Eye of Terror. Though this could be a typo.(Codex: CSM)
• The Time of Ending - Basically boils the entire 40k universe into a retelling of the Rapture. Humanity is in decline, and every alien race is trying to kick their ass, yet all evidence points to them failing to do so.
• Ultramarines and Tau dislike each other.(pg 177) Two times it is pointed out that the Ultramarines regularly fight Tau, with one reference stating "After killing a bunch of Tau, the Ultramarines...".

• Squats and Beastmen/furries on page 405.

Space Marines

Arguably more favoritism to Dark Angels. Ultramarines are still used in crunch diagrams, but other than that the Dark Angels minis and illustrations are slightly more numerous than the other chapters (Dark Angels get almost no fluff, though).

• Six Marine Chapters are given little summaries. Ultramarines, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, Imperial Fists, and Grey Knights.(pg 187)
• Deathwatch still Ordo Xenos specialists.
• Grey Knights still Militant arm of the Ordo Malleus.
• Primarchs given a page dedicated to them. Not much detail, though it does say "One by One they Disappear..." (pg 186)
• Astral Knights kick some Necron Ass, destroying a Necron World Engine.

Imperial Guard

Now it sucks more than ever to be in the IG. Apparently so many Catachans were thrown at the Tau during the Damocles Gulf crusade that they almost ran out of laser-bullets.

Sisters of Battle

Actually presented as a competent military force. Otherwise nothing new.

• Given one page dedicated to them. (pg 185)
• Section dedicated to their retrieval and protection of Artefacts, both real and Fake. Implying that even when faith is misplaced in something it is still enough to piece the toughest armor.
• Sanctuary 101 is talked about. All Sisters are killed and even though no evidence is left, everyone figures out its the Necrons.

Orks

• Waaagh! Grax. Took over a bunch of Forge Worlds and moons. Also the Crimson Fists are now hurting because of it. (pg175)
• Waaagh! The Beast. Nearly took over the Galaxy... One sentence long description. And it can't be Thraka, "the Beast of Armageddon," since the description says this warboss is "known only as the Beast," which obviously isn't true in Thraka's case.
• Octarious Empire and the Tyranids are still in perpetual stalemate.

Otherwise business as usual.

Eldar

The Eldar description on 205 is dripping with arrogance.

• Necrons got their chocolate space ships inside Eldar's peanut butter webways, but webways are still under Eldar control.(pg 205)

Dark Eldar

• Nice artwork, though that is not fluff.
• Black Library description is there.
• Imperium is racist enough to not be able to tell the difference between Eldar and Dark Eldar.
• Dark Eldar are Battle Brothers with the other Eldar, but are not good friends with anyone else, including the Grey Knights, even though Dark Eldar don't use Psykers for fear of Chaos.

Necrons

• Allies of Convenience with Grey Knights. Guess the Xenophobia towards "monkey upstarts" isn't quite so prominent.
• Tombs upon activation send signals, it doesn't appear to be to attract prey as Necrons are weakest in this state.

Tau

• Imperium still doesn't know why Tau are able to convert people so easily. The idea that a generic hippy/communist/socialist attitude is part of the reason is not brought up.
• Hive Gorgon heads towards Tau and the Imperium does nothing to warn them.

Tyranids

• Hive Mind believed to be a single host organism that the Tyranids originated from. (pg 215, The Hive Fleets)
• At least 9 Hive Fleets known about or worth mentioning.

Chaos Daemons

• Still have the Big 4. (pg 222)
• Eye of Terror is still there.
• Any time a Chaos God has majority control those outside of the warp feel it. ie. Khorne brings war, Nurgle brings disease, Slaanesh brings hedonism, and TZEENTCH brings confusion?...maybe? FUN* (fluff changes?)(pg 221)

Chaos Space Marines

• Get a fluff piece detailing the traitor legions and the forces that took place in the 13th Black Crusade.
• Chaos renegades known as The Purge kill billions. Now for the weather.
• Helbrutes replace Dreadnoughts as the main walker of the army. The transformation can even turn loyal space marines into mindless killing machines of Chaos.(CSM Codex 6th)
• Warpsmiths are Chaos Techmarines, Masters of the Daemonic Soul Forge. Techmarines that love merging daemons and machines. Responsible for the creation of Forgefiends and Maulerfiends.(CSM Codex 6th)
• Maulerfiends and Forgefiends, melee and ranged daemon engines respectively.(CSM Codex 6th)
• Warp Talons are special Raptor Marines, that have lost themselves to the Warp. More like attack dogs than Space Marines.(CSM Codex 6th)
• Mutilators are the melee equivalent of Obliterators. (CSM Codex 6th)
• Heldrakes are the Chaos Fliers. Originally Space Marine fighter craft that has become possessed by a daemon, the pilot is absorbed into the metal much like Helbrutes.(CSM Codex 6th)
• Cultists are back. Considered a good choice for both size and cost.(CSM Codex 6th)
• Dark Apostles are back. Chaos aligned Chaplains who are so charismatic they can turn entire Guard and Space Marine regiments.(CSM Codex 6th)

*The Chaos Gods do not guarantee fun. Fun subject to early termination at Tzeentch's discretion. Fun is to be taken in context of Dwarf Fortress.

Allies Matrix

Overall the Allies matrix is a nice addition, though it shoots itself in the foot a bunch of times.

The Allies Table is an Emperor damned mess. The Eldar and the Tau have a higher Allies rating than the Sisters of Battle when dealing with the Black Templars (obviously because the Black Templars are known for their great love of Psykers and Aliens)... Oh look at that over there, a universe just exploded.

Also, the Imperial Guard are Neutral to both Chaos armies. Finally, they're throwing a (very roundabout) bone to Lost and the Damned fans as these IG guys are bloody obviously meant to represent PDF and IG that have fallen to heresy.

Bizarrely, the Necrons are actually friendlier to Grey Knights than they are to the Blood Angels... well, Grey Knights sure as hell aren't making their OWN Tesseract Labyrinths, so I guess this is for players who want to recreate the Grey Knights or Necrons whilst they were still on trading terms. (and grey knights are just as friendly to most aliens as they are to other marines)

Pros

Allowing for team ups is a great idea that many people have probably experimented with already. For example you can have Chaos Imperial Guard now, along with Blood Axes working together with the Imperial Guard. The Rule that even Battle Brothers can't use your transports helps stop other armies from using Drop Pods when they shouldn't. All in all will allow for a lot more different army combinations, such as having Orks act as muscle for the squishy Tau instead of Kroots.

Cons

For the most part it seems that the Allies table is written from the viewpoint of one of the two races instead of both races together. As such you have alliances like Grey Knights and Necrons, because Necrons are not affected by Chaos. Even though Necrons hate every other race (actually, knowing the Grey Knights, this alliance still shouldn't work, but that's a discussion for another article). Also Tau are so peace, love, and friendship that they are best friends forever with everyone except Dark Eldar and Sisters of Battle. For some reason Tau are able to see past the cold inhuman exterior of Necrons and reveal that they are puppies needing a good hug, or GW is still trolling us with the suggestion that Farsight is under Necron influence. Tau would be allies with Tyranids if they could just get past the language barrier... and of course the constant eating of their diplomats.

Allies Matrix

• Space Marines - Battle Brothers with every Space Marine Chapter, including Tau and excluding Grey Knights. Rumors says its because Tau are the Emperor's artificial race, because they are not affected by Chaos, though whenever Tau is mentioned in passing Space Marines are killing them. Dislike Sisters of Battle for some odd reason, probably because part of inquisition. they are Sons of Rawboat Girlyman Matt Ward.
• Black Templars - Same as Space Marines, though they hate the Tau and for some reason hate Sisters of Battle, and will never work with Orks. They will work with the Eldar though (because the Black Templars are so renowned for working with Aliens and Psykers...How many roleplayers had to die to make this possible, we do not know).
• Blood Angels - Same as Space Marines, though hate Tau and will never work with Eldar or Orks.
• Dark Angels - Same as Space Marines, though dislike Space Wolves and Tau.
• Space Wolves - Same as Space Marines, though Dislike Necrons and Tau.
• Chaos Daemons - Battle Brothers with Chaos Space Marines. Will never work with anyone else, except Imperial Guard. Sometimes they work with Dark Eldar (WHAAAAAAAT?!?) Orks or Tau but they hate them.
• Chaos Space Marines - Same as Chaos Daemons, though they are better allies with Tau, Orks, Necrons and Dark Eldar for some no discernible reason.
• Dark Eldar - Battle Brothers with Eldar, because as long as they are close to the same race everything is cool. Hate everyone, but especially Necrons, Blood Angels, and Dark Angels.
• Eldar - Generally dislike everyone, but will never ally with Necrons and all of Chaos. Also hate Orks and Sister of Battle. Battle brothers with Tau for some reason yet again.
• Orks - Neutral to Imperial Guard, Necrons, Tau, and Chaos Marines. Hostile to Black Templars, Blood Angels, and Sisters of Battle. Desperate Allies with everyone else.
• Tau - Overall Neutral to everyone except Tyranids. They're even Battle Brothers with Space Marines and Eldar... this probably has more to do with the Tau themselves rather than the Marines/Eldar. I guess all that Greater Good idealism is contagious.
• Necrons - Before you ask, yes: Necrons and Blood Angels can be Desperate Allies. So can Necrons and Black Templar, so take it with a grain of salt. Otherwise Necrons pretty much dislike everyone except Orks and Grey Knights (WTF?!?!). Also, they're hostile to Chaos Daemons, but Neutral to Chaos Marines... yeah.
• Sisters of Battle - Battle Brothers with Imperial Guard, Hostile to Chaos and Orks, and different shades of Neutral with everyone else. They dislike the Black Templars and Tau, though.
• Grey Knights - Same as Space Marines, but with all Battle Brothers replaced with Allies of Convenience. Oh, they're also friendlier to the Necrons than the Blood Angels.
• Imperial Guard - Battle Brothers with (almost) all other Imperium forces, neutral to everyone else. Yes, they're even Neutral to Chaos.
• Tyranids - ALLIES WITH NO ONE!! EVER!!

Current Rules Debates

• Character Squads - Because Characters are described on a page as sometimes being Sergeants of squads, there is beginning to form a group of people who believe that certain Squads made up of only Characters should not be considered such on the table. Examples:
  • Ork Nobs, since the Nob statline is used for both the leaders of Ork Boy squads and for every Nob in a Nob squad. As such all Nobs are considered characters, even though characters are defined as either sergeants or independent characters.
  • Space Wolves' Wolf Guard, since a Wolf Guard Pack Leader is considered a character by the FAQ, which some think mean that since its a character the others are not.
  • RAW - Errata'd. At one point they were all considered characters as long as their statline said so. That meant that the Character Type was non-conditional, meaning that Character Type did not disappear if in.
  • Resolved - Nobz, Wolf Guard etc who were considered characters are now listed as Infantry. Only the Sgt upgrade is considered a Character. Paladins are also no longer considered Characters. On a related note, Look Out Sir can only be given to the closest model to the Character, meaning no more distribution of wounds.
• LoS and Perils of the Warp - The Use of Look Out Sir with Perils of the warp. In RAW LoS is only mentioned as being possible for Assault and Shooting. But because there is nothing written in the Psyker section, some people believe it is possible, because its still a wound. Even though the book states only for shooting and assaulting.
  • Resolved - Perils cannot be LoS, but it can be saved using Feel No Pain instead.
• Mad Dok's Gift - Ork HQ Mad Dok Grotsnik is allowed to give Cybork bodyparts to any model in the army. Does that extend to Allies? Could Imperial Guard take Cybork bodyparts? There is no limitation of it for Orks only.
  • Resolved - Allies of Convenience(Highest Allies Orks can have) cannot be targeted by Abilities of the primary army.
• Template Weapons and Swarms - When using an insta-kill template weapon on swarms does it cause double the number of insta-kills? If the weapon is AP as well do said swarms die horrible horrible deaths? eg. 4 scarabs hit with 8 insta-kill attacks?
  • Resolved - It deals an Instant Death wound to each swarm wounded by the weapon, and then doubles them. 4 Scarab Swarms hit with a Flamestorm Cannon, if wounded 3 times, will lose 3 bases. Essentially, the wound-doubling is lost unless the Swarm in question has Eternal Warrior (Nurglings).