Armoured Infantry: The 11th-Edition Guard Transport and Order Detachment

Three parts: an Order-target expansion, a brand new Order, and a keyword grant that decides which of your vehicles qualify.

Squadron Command adds Squadron to the list of units each Officer unit from your army can issue Orders to, and adds the On My Signal Order to those listed in the Voice of Command ability.

On My Signal can only be issued to Armoured Skirmisher units: each time an enemy unit ends a Normal or Advance move within 8 inches of this unit, this unit can make a Normal move of up to D6 inches. Each unit can only move this way once per turn.

That is a reactive move on your opponent's turn, granted by an Order rather than a stratagem, which is unusual and very good. It means a tank can back away from a charge it does not want, or close on an objective the moment an enemy commits.

Keywords: ASTRA MILITARUM SQUADRON units from your army have the Armoured Skirmisher keyword, excluding Artillery units and units containing one or more models with a Wounds characteristic of 13 or higher.

Read that exclusion carefully, because it is the whole balance of the detachment:

• Your Chimeras, Tauroxes and Leman Russ tanks are Armoured Skirmishers. They get the new Order and every stratagem below.
• Your Baneblade and other super-heavies are not, because of the 13 Wounds threshold. If super-heavies are your plan, Steel Hammer is your detachment.
• Your Basilisks, Manticores and Field Ordnance Batteries are not, because Artillery is excluded outright. If artillery is your plan, Siege Regiment is your detachment.

So this is specifically the mid-weight vehicle detachment, and the enhancement section below is where its most famous effect lives.

Six, all 1CP, which is a generous toolkit for a 2-DP detachment. Three are movement, three are shooting.

• Order the Advance (start of your Movement). Target one Astra Militarum Officer unit; select one or more friendly Astra Militarum units within 6 inches of it, and until the end of the phase you can re-roll Advance rolls for those units. Note it keys off proximity to the Officer rather than an Order, so it can catch several units at once. It is a positioning reward.
• Mobile Firebase (your Movement). Just after an Armoured Skirmisher unit Advances or Falls Back, that unit is eligible to shoot in a turn in which it Advanced or Fell Back. The core mobility stratagem, and the reason a Chimera-based list can reposition without giving up its shooting.
• Burst of Speed (end of your Movement). Target one Astra Militarum unit that did not Remain Stationary or arrive from Reserves; it makes a Normal move of up to D6 inches. Deliberately broad, so hold it for the disembarked infantry squad that came up an inch short of an objective.
• Supporting Ordnance (your Shooting). Target one Armoured Skirmisher unit that has not shot; until the end of the phase, attacks targeting a visible Monster or Vehicle unit can re-roll the Hit roll. The detachment's anti-armour answer, and the reason a transport-heavy list is not helpless into tanks.
• Combined Fire (your Shooting). Just after an Armoured Skirmisher unit has shot, select one enemy unit hit; until the end of the phase that unit cannot have the Benefit of Cover, and each time an Armoured Skirmisher unit attacks it, improve the Strength characteristic by 2. Two large effects for one command point and the best stratagem here. Sequence it after your cheapest transport shoots so the rest of the squadron benefits.
• Opening Salvo (your Shooting). Target one Astra Militarum unit that disembarked from a Transport this turn and has not shot; until the end of the phase, add 1 to the Wound roll for every attack. This is the same effect Mechanised Assault gets as its entire detachment rule, available here for a command point on one unit per use.

The habit to build: Combined Fire is the swing stratagem, so plan your shooting order around it every turn.

Four, and the first one is the reason this page matters even if you never play the detachment.

• Exemplary Officer (20 pts). Infantry Officer model only. Each time the bearer issues an Order to its own unit, you can select up to two other Platoon units within 3 inches of the bearer's unit, and that Order is also issued to each of those units.

This is the effect widely described as part of the army rule, usually under a name like Regimental Tactics. It is not in Voice of Command. It is this enhancement, it costs 20 points, it requires an Infantry Officer, and it has two conditions that matter in play: the Order must go to the bearer's own unit first, and the other units must be within 3 inches. Positioning three Platoon units that tightly is the real cost, and it is exactly the kind of thing a hedged preview write-up leaves out. - Grand Strategist (25 pts). Officer model only. After both players have deployed, if the bearer's unit (or any Transport it is embarked within) is on the battlefield, redeploy up to two units with the Regiment or Squadron keywords, and you may place them in Strategic Reserves regardless of how many units are already there.

Watch the name collision. Combined Arms prints an enhancement also called Grand Strategist at 15 points that does something completely different: it lets the bearer issue one additional Order in your Command phase. Same name, different detachment, different effect, different cost. Check which one a list is using. - Master Manoeuvrist (15 pts). Infantry Officer model only. At the end of your opponent's Fight phase, if the bearer's unit is not within Engagement Range and every model is within 3 inches of an Astra Militarum Transport, it can embark within it. An escape hatch for a command squad that has done its job. - Omnissian Unguents (Aura) (35 pts). Astra Militarum Tech-Priest Enginseer model only. While a friendly Armoured Skirmisher unit is within 3 inches of the bearer, that unit has Feel No Pain 5+. The most expensive enhancement in the detachment and the only Aura. Feel No Pain 5+ on a Chimera or Leman Russ is a large durability increase, but the 3 inch range means your Enginseer travels with the squadron rather than hiding.

(Points come from the Munitorum Field Manual and move with updates; confirm in the app.)

• [Chimera](/40k/boxes/warhammer-imperial-guard-chimera-new) is the definitive Armoured Skirmisher: a Squadron transport comfortably under the Wounds threshold, so it gets the keyword, the new Order and every stratagem. Faction Pack v1.2 adds FRAME to its datasheet.
• Taurox is the cheaper transport and another Armoured Skirmisher; the pack adds FRAME to it as well.
• [Taurox Prime](/40k/boxes/warhammer-imperial-guard-taurox-prime-new) is the armed variant and a better Combined Fire trigger than a plain transport, because it has the guns to hit something before the squadron follows up.
• [Leman Russ Battle Tank](/40k/boxes/astra-militarum-leman-russ-battle-tank) is a Squadron unit under the 13 Wounds threshold, so it is an Armoured Skirmisher and can receive On My Signal. A reactive D6 inch move on a battle tank is the detachment's most distinctive trick.
• [Cadian Shock Troops](/40k/boxes/astra-militarum-cadian-shock-troops) are the Platoon infantry that ride the transports and that Exemplary Officer spreads an Order across. Three squads within 3 inches of one Officer is the shape this detachment wants.
• [Cadian Command Squad](/40k/boxes/warhammer-imperial-guard-cadian-command-squad-new) is the Infantry Officer unit that carries Exemplary Officer or Master Manoeuvrist. The pack rewrites its Cadia Stands! ability so a unit containing an Officer within range of an objective can re-roll Battle-shock rolls.
• Tech-Priest Enginseer is the only legal carrier of Omnissian Unguents.

One buying note. Taurox and Tech-Priest Enginseer have no exact entry in our catalog, so we link no box for either; the Taurox Prime box builds a different datasheet.

Armoured Infantry carries no Unique Tag, so all three 1 DP detachments are legal partners at exactly 3 DP.

• [Abhuman Auxiliaries](/40k/armies/astra-militarum/detachments/abhuman-auxiliaries) (1 DP) produces the most Order-dense army the faction can field without paying 3 DP for Grizzled Company. Your Officers order Squadron units and spread Orders across Platoons; your Commissars order the Ogryns nobody else can reach.
• [Bridgehead Strike](/40k/armies/astra-militarum/detachments/bridgehead-strike) (1 DP) adds arrival to Order economy. Remember the Bridgehead Warlord condition constrains who leads your army, but it does not stop an Infantry Officer elsewhere carrying Exemplary Officer.
• [Designation Force](/40k/armies/astra-militarum/detachments/designation-force) (1 DP) keeps cheap squads relevant. Infantry that designate early can still receive Orders and ride transports later, so the models never stop earning their points.

Take it when you own several transports and want them to be part of the plan rather than taxis, and when you enjoy actually using the army rule rather than treating Orders as an afterthought.

Be clear-eyed about the exclusions. Artillery and anything with 13 or more Wounds is not an Armoured Skirmisher, so this detachment does nothing for a Basilisk or a Baneblade. If those are your models, you want Siege Regiment or Steel Hammer instead. The detachment also demands a lot of positioning discipline: Exemplary Officer needs units within 3 inches, Omnissian Unguents needs a vehicle within 3 inches, and Order the Advance needs units within 6 inches.

Sample gameplan: pair with Abhuman Auxiliaries (2 DP + 1 DP). Run two or three Platoon squads in Chimeras with an Infantry Officer carrying Exemplary Officer, so one Order covers three squads. Use Mobile Firebase to reposition transports without losing their shooting, and Combined Fire each turn after the cheapest vehicle shoots. Keep the Commissar and Ogryns as a separate melee threat so your opponent cannot focus one axis.

For the fundamentals underneath all of it, read the Astra Militarum army guide.