Warhammer 40,000 rules

Core Rules

22. Other Rules And Abilities

22.00Other Rules And Abilities#

In addition to the core abilities presented elsewhere, many units have access to other rules and types of abilities that function as described below.

22.01Aura Abilities#

Abilities that affect models or units within a stated range are aura abilities, and are tagged with the word ‘Aura’.

While a model with an aura ability is on the battlefield, it is always within range of its own aura ability.

A unit can be affected by more than one aura ability at a time, but if a unit is within range of the same aura ability more than once, that aura ability only applies to that unit once.

22.02Faction Abilities#

Some abilities are common to each unit that belongs to a particular faction – these are faction abilities (also known as army rules), and are listed in the Faction Abilities section of a datasheet.

Unless otherwise stated, a unit’s faction abilities only apply if the army faction you selected while mustering your army matches a faction keyword listed on that unit’s datasheet.

22.03Psychic Abilities#

Abilities tagged with the word ‘Psychic’ are psychic abilities. If a psychic ability causes a model to lose one or more wounds, each of those wounds is said to be inflicted by a psychic attack (this can be important for the triggering of other rules).

22.04Wargear Abilities#

Abilities that are gained when a unit (or one of its models) has a particular item of wargear are wargear abilities, and are listed in the Wargear Abilities section of a datasheet.

If a unit has an item of wargear that has a wargear ability, that ability applies to that unit. If a model within a unit has an item of wargear that has a wargear ability, that model is the ‘bearer’ of that item of wargear and that ability applies until that model is destroyed.

22.05Plunging Fire#

Each time a model makes a ranged attack that targets a visible unit containing one or more models on ground level, if one or more of the following conditions apply, improve the BS characteristic of that attack by 1:

  • The attacking model is on a section of a terrain feature that is 3" or more in height.
  • The attacking model has the TOWERING keyword and the target unit is within 12".

Plunging Fire

All the attacking models in unit *A* are on a section of *terrain feature* that is 3" or more in height, and the target unit contains models on ground level, so *Plunging Fire* improves the *BS* characteristic of those attacks by 1.

Attacking model *B* is on ground level, but has the Towering keyword. The target unit is within 12" and contains models on ground level, so *Plunging Fire* improves the *BS* characteristic of those attacks by 1.