Warhammer 40,000 allows you to fight battles with armies of creatures and supporting units of tanks and guns. It is up to you as general of your forces to find the best way to use your vehicles and infantry to achieve victory. Of course, soldiers tend to band together to fight in squads, teams, sections, etc - individual warriors do not normally go wandering off on their own for obvious reasons! In Warhammer 40,000, we represent the way that real infantry fight by grouping them together into units.

Units of warriors fight in loose groups with gaps between each model. This gives the troopers the freedom to move over difficult terrain quickly, and enables them to take advantage of such things as minor folds in the ground, scrub, and other small features, to shelter from enemy (ire. Similarly, artillery batteries consist of the guns and the crew that fire them, vehicle squadrons are made up of a number of vehicles and so on. The different elements of the unit have to stay together to remain an effective fighting force. This is detailed more fully in the Movement section.

A unit will usually consist of several infantry models or small vehicles that fight as a group, but it can also be a single, very large and/or powerful model, such as a battle tank, a monstrous alien creature or a tone hero. In the rules that follow, all of these things are referred to as units. In order to make it easier to learn the core rules the sections covering Movement. Shooting, Assault and Morale are written with respect to Infantry units, because these are by far the most common unit type in the game. The other unit types are explained in later sections, covering specific rules for Jetbikes. Monstrous Creatures and so forth. The main unit types for non-vehicle models are as follows.

Infantry units include all types of foot soldiers, whether human or alien. A typical unit of infantry is between five and ten models strong but are often much larger. In rare cases, a unit may comprise of only a single model. Infantry are fairly slow moving but can cross almost any terrain (given enough time) and make the best use of cover to avoid enemy fire. Infantry are the most common and dependable units in Warhammer 40,000 and the bulk of the core rules are concerned with them.

Jump infantry are equipped with jump packs, jet packs, sometimes wings, teleport devices or other means of moving quickly over short distances. They commonly take advantage of these by dropping onto the battlefield in the midst of the enemy -heroically or foolishly depending on your perspective. Jump infantry can move like normal creatures on foot or kick in their jump device to make a high speed move, combining some of the best elements of both mounted and ordinary infantry. Jump infantry usually come in units of five to ten models and tend to be a rare and valuable commodity in most armies.

Consisting of particularly vicious hunting animals or | a rider with a living mount, beasts and cavalry are I able to swiftly carry the battle to the enemy. Beasts and cavalry have a profile like other infantry but are able to make use of a special faster move when they charge an enemy unit.
These units tend to be powerful in open terrain where they have room to manoeuvre, and move like infantry in denser areas, such as woods or buildings. Beast and cavalry units are typically quite small, with one to six models in a single unit. Note that riders may not dismount during the game and that cavalry models have a combined characteristic profile that factors in both the beast and rider.

These units are riders mounted on a variety of conventional bikes or jetbikes. They are capable of moving really quickly, and will often have weapon systems mounted on their bikes. Their only major weakness is the risk of crashing when moving through difficult terrain, Both types of bike manoeuvre much faster than infantry and jetbikes are able to glide over obstructions, such as scrub, without being slowed. Bike and jetbike units normally number from three to five models.

Some creatures are just too big to fit into the ordinary infantry unit category; towering giants that are capable of crushing a lank - like the Tyranid Carnifex, a creature bioengineered and evolved especially for killing - or a living engine of destruction, like the Eldar Wraithlord. While Monstrous Creatures use many of the Infantry rules, their size and destructive capability make them closer to vehicles in other respects - A Monstrous Creature unit will usually consist of only a single model.

These units represent large weapons and their crews, the gun models themselves being large enough to be removed separately in addition to crew casualties. Artillery units count as infantry in all I respects, but when they are fired at, hits can be scored on the guns or the crew. The guns themselves have vehicle-like characteristics. Note that these units should not be confused with the I heavy weapon teams found in some infantry units (such as Imperial Guard or Eldar, for example).

Vehicle units include all kinds of war machines. Space Marine Land Raider tanks, Rhino personnel carriers, Dreadnoughts and Ork Wartraks all fall into this category. Some vehicles can move more rapidly than infantry but need I to stick to open ground to avoid getting bogged down. Vehicle units are represented by single models, in the case of tanks and other large vehicles, or as a I group of one to three smaller vehicles. Vehicle crew members - the drivers, commanders and gunners - are assumed to be an integral part of their machine, and I if their vehicle is destroyed they are considered to be lost along with it.