Combat Doctrines. The disciplined heart of the Astartes way of war, and the mechanic that sets a Chapter apart from any warhost that merely brings guns to a fight. At the start of each round the controlling player declares the strike force's stance, which may shift one step along the ladder from Devastator to Tactical to Assault. Under the Devastator stance the gang fires with lethal precision, adding to its ranged Hit rolls or re-rolling misses. Under the Tactical stance the brethren move with purpose, gaining ground and seizing objectives. Under the Assault stance they close for the kill, striking harder on the charge and running down a fleeing foe. A Chapter cannot hold every advantage at once; it flows through the phases of battle as its commanders read the field, and each brotherhood leans toward the end of the ladder that suits its character.
Signatures3
Finest Hour. Once in a battle, a commander seizes the moment the whole war seems to turn upon and drives his brethren to their greatest effort. Once per battle a Captain or Lieutenant may call upon it. Until the start of the next round the commander himself gains an additional Attack, and every friendly fighter within 6" re-rolls failed Wound rolls, the strike force striking as one at the instant it matters most. It is a single, decisive surge rather than a lasting boon — spent in the crisis of the fight, it does not come again. A wise commander holds it for the stroke that breaks the enemy rather than the one that merely bloodies him.
The Hunt Rides. The White Scars declare a Combat Doctrine each round and shift it one step as any Astartes force does, but over that discipline three riders run permanently, and together they are the soul of the Chapter. First, every mounted fighter always counts one step further toward the Assault stance for its own Move and charge, whatever the gang has declared — the host is always racing ahead of the order. Second, mounted fighters may be held in reserve and Outflank, arriving from a chosen board edge from the second round onward, falling on a flank the enemy believed safe. Third, any Cavalry fighter that has made a Shoot or Fight action may immediately Hit-and-Run, a short free Move breaking clean of the enemy. There are no tokens and nothing to spend; the rule is simply mount and action, the strike and the wheel. A foe that means to beat the White Scars must catch them standing still, and the Hunt Rides is built so they never have to.