Should you Take LEADERS on Your Warhammer 40K Units? Rules Overview, Character Thoughts + Tactics

[@benjaminfrancis8274]

I am particularly fond of the Phobos Lib attached to a 5 man infiltration squad with the gauntlet and array. Can’t be shot outside of 12, deep strike denial, and infiltrate makes them kinda fun to play all over

[@yongkoolee3130]

@@Happy-zg4zd no, some don't

[@bram8731]

​@@Happy-zg4zd Librarian still says 12"

[@Happy-zg4zd]

​@@bram8731 Balance Dataslates overrules the datasheet

[@carlbozeman7154]

​@@Happy-zg4zd Those modifications have been done to the strats giving "Lone Op"

[@billehhancey6429]

I really enjoy the Phobos Lt with Execute and Redeploy Enhancement with 3 Las Fusil Eliminators, 36" range, Lone Op, 3 Las Fusil shots, M-S-M full 6", if even needed, and the Librarian can bring a bit of a bonus if they do end up in melee or within 24" The Fusils are swingy, but I really enjoy them, and with the Lt you can take 3 instead of the Instigator Carbine.

[@loopfruit2256]

Donˋt be silly! Every squad of Immortals needs an Overlord, Royal Warden, Scarab Swarms in the front for screening, a Canoptek Reanimator in the back, and two Monoliths for when you need backup infantry.

[@idc681]

You forgot the absolute MVP for support to Immortals, the Obelisk

[@bighairguy7]

Swap that warden for a cryptek and add in 2 thralls to eat the first 6 wounds

[@Tommy-j6x]

I play death guard and often run my 10 man plague marines with both a biologus putrifier for full lethal hits for unit, crits on 5's and free grenades, and a foul blightspawn for the extra torrent weapon plus fights first.

[@kevinplant2128]

This^ my DG friend does this exact thing. He only rocks 1 squad because that unit comp is WILD

[@ScroungerKing]

sounds like a man of culture to me, take solace in that fact you have an excellent taste in friends :)

[@VigorousBeef]

What sort of weapons do you take? Do you go full on ranged, melee or a bit of both?

[@ScroungerKing]

@@VigorousBeef my unit comp is: 1x champion - heavy plagueweapon and plasma gun 2x special weapon plasma guns 2x plague spewer 1x blight launcher 4x heavy plague weapons so maxy heavy melee weapon plus some shooty bois

[@ScroungerKing]

ps: i am the OP just phona acc/pc acc are different lol

[@wyatttyson7737]

I’m a little surprised that it wasn’t mentioned as an example, but for Guard the only way to have a unit benefit from the army rule basically to have an attached character. Each non-epic hero officer has 1 order meaning they can give our army rule to 1 unit, while the on foot epic heroes can do 2 and the Lord Solar can do 3. However the Lord Solar usually requires doubling his points cost to get all 3 to usable ranges. Most of the time most of a Guard army doesn’t get the Army rule. Guard leaders are necessary but if you want every unit or even most units then half of your army list is leaders.

[@Jon-t1z7z]

I run one or two platoons of either Cadian shock troops or infantry with Veteran heavy weapons teams, add their respective Command squads, add in either a Castellan or Epic hero, AND then add in either an Ogryn bodyguard or Nork Deaddog. There is a lot to be said for combining buffs and having the ability to broadcast an order to an unattached unit at the same time.

[@giantnanomachine]

Guard also typically has quite a few units that aren't valuable enough to get ordered though. E.g. since the indirect fire nerfs, some artillery pieces benefit far less from Take Aim. Or a cheap home objective sitter, cheap "go to the corner and do an action, I don't care if you come back" squads, cheap "go contest that objective and die" squads to prevent scoring for one round. Plus some squads can order themselves; and ofc order or not, every unit always gets their detachment rule lethal hits. And a lot of the time the situation on the board would bnenefit more from an extra squad or tank somewhere than an extra character in one of them. I think I've never added leaders to more than 1/2 of my units in Guard. Typically I think I'm closer to ~1/4, so 80%/20% of entires in the list. All my regular and cadian infrantry squads typically don't get a leader, unless I build a big tarpit unit - but for that I usually want DKOK or Bullgryn instead. My Catachan also often go leaderless, if Iron Hand disappears with the codex release probably won't ever get a leader again. And I like some units that can't get leaders. Bullgryn, Hellhounds, Basilisks, Sentinels. To be more thematic I probably should at least finally paint my commissars and add them to the lines, but they are the old, slightly goofy looking ones XD

[@Jon-t1z7z]

@giantnanomachine I really wish Commissars weren't limited to the two orders they can give. Their abilities, plus regular orders, would make them auto-includes for me. As it is, I use Castellans more than Commissars now...and it just feels wrong.

[@giantnanomachine]

@@Jon-t1z7z yeah, I hope the codex gives them at least also move move move and first rank second rank. If they get the full range of orders I'd even still be happy if in exchange they lost their invuln and went from W3 to W2.

[@crsmith6226]

Lieutenant with bladeguard is absolutely nasty in the liberation assault group

[@InsongWhang]

I usually rock Bladeguards with Judiciar. I love that fight first

[@ianslothower4225]

Throw speed of the primarch on the lieutenant and you’ve got one spicy meatball

[@MostlyFunktionalNinja]

Is that primaris LT or regular LT

[@jackburlison7761]

​@@ianslothower4225 I usually use speed of the primarch on a chaplain but I'll try out the lieutenant next game

[@crsmith6226]

@InsongWhang the fall back shoot and charge is really good for blade guard so every turn they can get the bonus

[@grifferman]

I run an Awakened Dynasty Necron list so pretty much every unit has a leader attached for that sweet, sweet +1 to hit buff

[@HeroRyzeD]

*Smiles in Vindicare Assassin*

[@Ginger33333]

​@@HeroRyzeD Smiles in Characters avoiding LoS to the Assassin and using Eternal Revenant if caught out.

[@MrUdarr]

@@Ginger33333 sure you can revive the Leader once per game with the strat but he don´t join back as a leader to the Squad he was or does he?

[@Ginger33333]

@@MrUdarr He sure does, Friend.

[@9237]

​@@HeroRyzeDnot enough punch to kill important characters

[@Donovaneagle2098]

I play Wolfspear, the stealthy Phobos focused Space Wolves successor. My list is based more on lore accuracy rather than efficiency, and so I run Vanguard Spearhead with a Space Wolves list. I know theyre not a popular pick, but I get a lot of use out of the Phobos librarian with a pack of Hounds of Morkai, and the execute and reseploy enhancement. Mobile, unable to be shot outside of 12 inches, and able to move shoot move with devastating wounds for some chip damage makes them a good pick for a list like that.

[@Jason-wh7in]

I’m fond of running the Phobos lieutenant with incursors. Taking the haywire mine on them. They’ve got like 18in threat range, 24in with scout turn 1. They are good for buffing shooting accuracy and then can charge some stuff to tie up things and pop their mine for extra damage.

[@william9557]

I failed 3 mines in a row. Safe to say incursors aren't my thing

[@SorcerySpeedConcede]

5 nobz with a warboss is another great example of a unit that doesn't want to go max size. 10 with a warboss would be dramatic overkill for many targets, at least during the Waaagh turn, where 5 man squads are easier to hide and still deliver plenty of death without the extra bodies

[@Ghouleh3133]

Another popular solo leader is the Thousand Sons Exalted Sorcerer on a Disc, who can zoom around the board, do objectives, and use its all-powerful Binding Tendrils ability to hand out -2 to Move and Charge to enemy units, which is often really powerful. I once kept an entire Nidzilla list at bay with just two of those slowing down their most valuable pieces.

[@xxSandt21xx]

I can’t imagine a world where I don’t have a leader Commander Dante with my unit of 6 Sanguinary Guard

[@LettersFromLynx]

Great guide! I think it would be improved by a section about multi model Leader units, such as Celestine. Their interactions with wound allocation and Precision seem to be very confusing for a lot of players.

[@chardensama]

He did mention that the minions are regular models and can be allocated damage without precision, is there anything else in question?

[@LettersFromLynx]

@chardensama Oh, I missed that. Thanks! I will have another look :-) Further example: Precision can target Celestine when she is part of an attached unit, but not when she is with only her two Geminae.

[@AgoristDryad]

I run 120 Termagants alongside a Tervigon and the enemy wastes two turns killing termamommy while her children swarm the objectives. She doesn’t attach but rather charges their big heavies with her crusher claws.

[@DeathInTheSnow]

Back when he still existed, the Exalted Champion was a great example of unit synergy. When backed with (already broken) Chosen, he not only enjoyed their extra speed, but because he added +1 to hit, their immense mêlée went to 2+, and their array of combi-weapons went from 50% to 66%. That's a huge improvement. But then GW said "NO! FUN IS BAD!", and put him in legends. Which is pretty much 10th in a nutshell.

[@Internetbutthurt]

Seconded. I didn’t know he went to legends but that makes sense.

[@fluiypj]

The Moe is better imo, chosen guns are great at shaving a wound from a vehicle or a model from a squad to trigger his melee rerolls, and he can generate CP and has much better individual melee

[@GaryP336]

Oh. Your one of them. ""Fun is bad" and then they took away and old model that didn't sell well that I liked" . I'm sure that's why they did it. Sigh

[@GwainSagaFanChannel]

Casual reminder you can still use that model just because it is in legends doesnt mean GW forbids you from playing it

[@aheroforfun6401]

I felt the same way when they took away 80% of the options for Terminator Captains. And took away the Sanguinary Priest with Jump Pack. Etc, etc.

[@lorenzkroh755]

a captain with power fist, honer vehement leading assault intercessors. when you pop his ability in the assault doctrine you get 10a at strength 10 dev wounds and potentially rerolling wounds. if you use his free strat you can even boost your ap by 1 and get lance on that combi to destroy most tanks by himself

[@frostypineapple]

I like to run a castellan with my primaris crusader squad under the sustained hits melee detachment. Whole squad gets lethal shooting on 6s, and lethal and sustained hits in melee on 5+. And he lets them fall back and charge to reposition

[@texassasquatch5734]

Im a disabled 55 yr old man who has played RPG and War Games for 45 yrs....Learned to play 40k watching yours and Mordian Glory's Videos....Thank you

[@AgoristDryad]

Chaplain with Jump Pack and Inferno Pistol and the Ghostweave Cloak from Vanguard Spearhead. Then Kayvaan Shrike with a squad of Jump Pack intercessors. Lone Operative Mortal Wound heaven.

[@Majere613]

Saint Celestine can do a pretty sneaky version of the hanger-on-tank trick. If she's leading a unit of Seraphim/ Zephyrim, you can take damage on her Geminae and make use of their 2+/4++. Then if they do die, you can still use her rule to bring one of them back again. Combined with cover and whatever the SoB version of Armour of Contempt is (because I can never remember the name) it can make what's usually a pretty fragile unit quite tough to dent.

[@juliancontreras7113]

I take way too many leaders for my own sake

[@The-realAlpharius]

Same

[@Tosolo-dh2co]

Currently running 760 points worth of characters myself and it's working out great 👍 SW CoR is the exception to the rule

[@damiengore]

Successful wounds are allocated to characters when using precision. Important as you still use the units T for the wound roll

[@PlasmaPea04]

Wraithblades/guard basically are required to have a spiritseer attached, lethal hits and revive is of course part of the reason, but most importantly unlike previous edditions where they hit on 3+ like most of the army they hit on +4 now normally. This unfortunately also includes the wraithlord.

[@giantnanomachine]

Wraithguard/Wraithblade without Spiritseer is definitely doing it wrong. Or letting the Visarch run around alone, or Yvraine. But Spiritseer tops that list easy.

[@henrymng]

Don't forget the lethal hit

[@henrymng]

​@@giantnanomachineYvraine can make harqulins extra tanky(but actually still fragile)

[@HelterSkelter199]

Favorite force modifier leader's use was Firestorm Adrax Agatone, Sword'nBoard Lt.(with ignore modifiers enhancement), 3 BG Vets in an Impulsor. Ignore modifiers, +1 to wound strat to punch up into armor, 2 plasma pistols + Grenades for sneaky shooting to go along with 23 ap 2 2 damage melee attacks with multiple reroll options and lethal hits. Chefs kiss.

[@OrkWarbossThrakka]

I’ve personally done quite well with a Fateskimmer with 3 Screamers in the squad. Especially with daemon saves keeping them luckily in the game.

[@Deathgaming112]

10:42 I love how the technomacer can teleport the wraiths with a monolith

[@mossykid]

My latest overpriced gimmick leader move has been to bring Abbadon in a Soulforged Warpack, as his AoE reroll leadership bubble really helps daemon engines with no access to icons pass Dark Pacts at -1 Ld. Hardly competitive, but loads of fun!

[@brettschow1191]

LT in phobos armor with reivers for 6 inch scout move, move shoot move shenanigans with the option to deep strike the back line and take your enemies home objectives

[@lordfenix17]

As a causal getting into it, I sure as hell am.

[@matthewclements3476]

I’ve got four command squads in my guard list (2 infantry, 1 Cadian, 1 tempestus). My current pet peeve is that there’s no way to put a 15 man squad into a chimera or taurox, and no way to have a joined unit split between two transports.

[@jmswillow5969]

Like the captain with jump pack wielding thunder hammer and shield. Rage fueled. Leading Sanguinaryx6. Sustained hits 3 once and +1 str after ending a charge. chaplain in terminator armor leading terminators. Gives the squad 4+ feel no pain. I like those 2.

[@Deathgaming112]

9:17 hey inner circle companions can get a medic it's awesome getting 1 back in your command phase!

[@AntiEyeglassman]

I often play Orikan and an overlord with 20 warriors

[@MrUdarr]

i tend more to a Royal warden for the Fall Back shoot and maybe charge back in (in Awakened for the +1 to hit and the Strat for +1Str and +1 Ap)

[@AntiEyeglassman]

@ I just love when I have 20 warriors with a 4+ invulnerable save, and then a reanimator nearby

[@MrUdarr]

@@AntiEyeglassman yeah Orikan for 4+ Invul, Royal Warden for fall back and shoot (maybe charge) in Awakened with Stratagems is quite a Wall to punch

[@giantnanomachine]

While I wouldn't say it's wrong, Custodean Wardens without a Blade Champion is slightly odd. When not using them to charge, may as well use the cheaper Guards instead, and even when not charging they really want a leader to be able to shrug off anti-tank better.

[@chriscannon7065]

One important thing to remember about precision…you don’t have to declare that it is being used until after you roll to wound. So you can wait to declare it until you see if you get devastating wounds, etc.

[@CarnageCoon]

precision attacks should target the leader before rolling anything normally it comes down to the same stats either way but wounding typhus on T4 poxwalker just doesn't feel right

[@miguelperez9906]

Chaplin with a cadre of blade guard or librarian terminator with a small unit of terminators are personal favorites speed of the primarch and gift of foresight really do make them that much better. The one leader I’ve sent solo in a hand full of games without worry it’s Kharn because even by himself he hits like a brick

[@Djones0125]

My two best combos is a Lieutenant with Hellblasters and a Gravis Captain with Aggressors.

[@isaacgraff8288]

Now I feel weird because I like having leaders in squads. Chaplain with assault intercessors to let them punch up a little Apothecary to help keep a squad of intercessors alive so they can shoot and take objectives Jump Captain with Jump intercessors to yeet a free grenade before chargine.

[@PitFriend1]

These rules really make the Riever Lieutenant so baffling. You would think he’d be custom made to go with Riever squad but since he can’t Deep Strike doing that removed one of the only things the Rievers are good for in the first place.

[@tripledot3]

For CSM lone op+stealth deceptors enhancement is great on a solo terminator lord who already has damage debuffs 👌

[@IHADTHECAKE]

DW knights with maces and a chaplain in terminator armor is chefs kiss

[@schrislp]

I like to take Ragnar Blackmane with a Lt with Shield and Sword together with 6 bladeguard. Am I right that the Lt and Ragnar are boosting each other too? The rules are for the whole unit right?

[@greg_mca]

Yeah they affect each other. This is a very popular combo

[@heartwork7977]

As long as the Bladeguard live, the whole unit benefits from both Leader Abilities and both Leaders benefit from the Bladeguard ability, yes. When the bladeguards die, Ragnar and Lt become two separate Units and no longer benefit from abilities that say „while this model is leading a unit“.

[@bog300]

You are correct yes, the Leutenant gives the buff to the unit, Ragnar is in the unit

[@marechal_joukov2375]

Epic challange with assassination on T5 is very climatic like scenario 👌I like the idea.

[@danielmartinezmartinez441]

This video is very useful for necrons if you play "awakened dinasty".... so tachyon arrow re-roll 1s to wound if overlord joins a squad of immortals

[@LScrofoIII]

Im running Abaddon for a 1000 pts army, not sure how smart that is

[@beardwierd2783]

Still running the helbrect with casellen and sword brethren combo and jump pack chaplains with vanguard s5 and +1 to wound.

[@jacktaylor7967]

So when destroying a bodyguard unit and also the leader does that count as having destroyed 2 units?

[@liliathprod]

yes

[@AnderLander]

Is it true you use the toughness of the bodyguard squad for the character when they're being attacked with precision?

[@mattyorshin]

Love running my warriors with the tyranid prime

[@braverzero3709]

Big-time casual-ethereal-chilling-in-the-back-by-themselves enjoyer here

[@MrBones-nr4pj]

The humble chad ethereal farming command points for the greater good

[@DTdu92]

I want to play a guard army : I believe it was possible to attach several characters to the same unit. Like attaching both lord solar and a command squad to give a vox to leontus. Is it still possible ? I mean the commissar "political overwatch" ability does implies to have another officer in the same unit so it should be possible right ?

[@sheevpalpatine9532]

Man, I hate the leader system of 10th. Why does every battle sister squad need a cannoness. There is just no consistency with army substance. I really want forced oraganization back.

[@Commander-Gribbly]

big one that sticks out to me is Plasmancer with immortals

[@jonathanthompson4734]

why on earth does the whole squad get the key word, especially psyker??

[@torgranael]

I completely missed the line that say the defending player isn't allowed to select the leader. In my first game, I had a neurotyrant soak some light wounds, failed a single one, only for a much scarier unit to attack the same squad. Being able to bait out leaders was rather clever.

[@m33ddyhv]

vulkan He'stan with 10 infernus marines will delete infantry

[@Majere613]

This brings to mind a question that keeps coming up- if you use Precision to kill a character like a Painboy who's giving his squad a 5+ FNP, does the rest of the squad immediately lose the benefit, or does it keep applying until the attacking unit has finished making its attacks? I've seen this ruled both ways, often with a quite confusing explanation.

[@masterch33fII7]

Rules as written, all attacks happen at the same time. So yes they’d still have 5+fnp. It wouldn’t matter if the opponent rolled the precision attack at the start or end, it happens all at once. If they argue, just tell them to finish all their attacks before allocating the wounds haha

[@diniiantares]

Do I get that correctly, that when I use Lord Invocatus and lead a unit of Khorne Berzerkers first the berserkers don't get scout except for when I use the Ability of Lord invocatus on the unit specificaly AND that Lord Invocatus doesn't profit from the Infantary Key Word and is not able to run through terrain?

[@aitoriri1]

I sure do, I play Awaken Dinasty

[@johnwicksdog6234]

I’m new to this whole hobby and have a few questions. I have the captain from company heroes bolt (pistol and power) and captain with jump pack (bolt pistol power sword) is it worth running the normal captain along with the jump pack captain. I also have a normal lieutenant (bolt pistol power sword) (I like bolt pistols and power swords)

[@chardensama]

With the example of the Inner Circle Companions, it's important to mention that one of their abilities doesn't work if they don't have a leader

[@SmashingSnow]

Why does their Enmity for the Unworthy not work without a leader? It states that when a model in this unit makes an attack that targets a character unit, add 1 to the hit roll.

[@chardensama]

@SmashingSnow oop remembered it wrong, you right

[@SmashingSnow]

@chardensama All good! I had to go check to be sure myself. What do you run them with leader wise? I was thinking of a judicar or maybe Azrael or Asmodai.

[@chardensama]

@@SmashingSnow I love a Judiciar and Azrael for 2x5 ICCs - sometimes in Impulsors, sometimes not. Asmodai just doesn't get it done for me sadly

[@SmashingSnow]

@@chardensama Fair enough. I love my Judicar model and need to get Azrael built up for his 4+ invulnerable save and CP generation.

[@Lexautralatis]

Been a good while since a rail cannon was this fast ?

[@huffinLeeroy]

I miss my deathwing command squad 😢...

[@niacyn2548]

if character joins unit, dpes unit get character keyword? for the sake for "anti-character" abilitites

[@marechal_joukov2375]

12:13 no more true for Uriel with is aura now ! You wang him at 12" of the ennemis if you want ti trugger it

[@Tosolo-dh2co]

ROFL XD SW CoR player here running 8 characters and 1 imperial agents character (and you can't guess which one)

[@unclebubblegum1084]

I’m pretty new and I was wondering if, say you had a squad of 10 intercessors, when you add a leader to that squad, would you remove one model from that unit and replace them with the leader? Or just have 11 models?

[@brendanmckenna7613]

11 models. I think the only scenario where you'd cut a member of a squad is if you wanted to fit them into a transport and a max size squad + leader is 1 model too much.

[@No_nameOG]

@@brendanmckenna7613most transports offer an exception for leaders attached to units, allowing for more than their capacity for units with attached leaders.

[@sweetsilver8016]

I either take to many leaders or one leader and all army

[@peterpienczuk2664]

i feel epic challenge is way under used its constantly performing wonders in our games when we remember its a thing

[@Cake92077]

I will always take asurmen with 10x dire avengers

[@sagebrown5643]

I have found most characters are a lot worse to take compared to just more actual units. There are some exceptions and some armies have more, but mostly all of them are bad

[@Steamthrower1]

my Wardens get lonely if they dont have a leader attached

[@---iw5gj]

Astorath+10 death company assoults intercessors with strategem go brrrrrr

[@ccggenius]

What kind of absolute animal attaches a shokk attack gun to a minimum strength boyz squad? That is NOT enough firepower to justify using boyz as ablative wounds.

[@MyChannel-tl8ms]

If a squad with 2 leader and the unit they are destroyed, can I still shoot them as normal from the attack which destroyed the unit that they r leading

[@jampine8268]

They split into 2 units, but the remaining attacks csn still.be allocated to one of them, but I'm a bit unsure which player gets to decide which one takes them.

[@heartwork7977]

@@jampine8268the player whose unit is targeted decides where the attack is allocated unless Precision comes into play, afaik

[@jampine8268]

@heartwork7977 good to confirm it, been running that with the local guys, but a second opinion never hurts.

[@averagekreiger]

Yes

[@Brother_Rony]

*laughs in knights*

[@oliverp3545]

I'm hoping for the Eldar Codex that all Phoenix Lords are finally worth taking, currently 3 are considered competitive out of the 8.

[@goforitpainting]

Cool 👍

[@kevinjanok]

“Fairly scary in melee”

[@BillWD]

Sometimes.

[@elfmastercool4734]

Have you got a cold?

[@Damnedlegion40k]

Add a comment...😮

[@seanbutler4251]

Would a video about what detachments eavry race is getting for christmas be a good idea

[@codyott1982]

If we had any of that info, it would be. Sadly, even auspex has no way of knowing. He gets his information and rumors from the same web pages that are available to all of us. Many of us come here because it saves us from having to search for hours online, because auspex has already gathered that info, and put it into a PowerPoint for us.

[@jampine8268]

Given we don't know what they are yet, that is somewhat impossible.

[@seanbutler4251]

@@jampine8268 as in what they need not what they will get

[@eskhaphey2873]

yes, you should take leaders, they are the only way to make units usable since they are basically just unit upgrades and arnt really characters they're just sergeants :|

[@Nocturne_Paintings]

20 seconds ago!😂

[@nate_orious0002]

2 min for me lol