How to Play Astra Militarum in Warhammer 40,000 11th Edition

The headline for every faction in 11th edition is the shift to Detachment Points (DP). Instead of picking one detachment, you now spend a DP budget to field one to three of them, each pushing your list toward a sharper identity. The Astra Militarum did not get a new codex on day one; instead it keeps its 10th-edition codex and picks up a free Faction Pack (the Imperial packs landed in June 2026) that adds three new 1-DP detachments. Under the hood, most Guard vehicles and the Aegis Defence Line gained the FRAME keyword, tying them into edition-wide rules for large armoured units. The core feel is unchanged, orders, bodies and guns, but list-building is more modular. Verify exact wording and points in the official pack and the 40k app before you build.

The Guard's identity lives in Voice of Command. In your Command phase, friendly OFFICER models issue Orders to nearby units, and each datasheet lists which orders it can receive under its Commanding Authority. The staples are the ones every Guard player learns by heart: better shooting, extra attacks, more movement, better cover and objective control. The multiplier is Regimental Tactics: when an officer issues a Regimental order to a unit with that ability, other PLATOON units within a short range can also be swept up by the same order, letting one well-placed officer light up a whole firing line. Orders reward planning and tight positioning, you are choosing which slice of the army performs each turn. Getting officers into range safely, and keeping them alive, is the real skill of the faction. See Goonhammer's Orders breakdown for the mechanics.

In 11th edition you get 2 DP at 1,000 points and 3 DP at 2,000 points. Detachments cost 1 to 3 DP: narrow, unit-focused ones cost 1, while army-wide power detachments cost 3. That budget is the fun part for the Guard, a horde army with many sub-themes. At 2,000 points you might spend all 3 DP on one big detachment, or split into a 1-DP plus a 2-DP pairing to bolt a specialist package (drop troops, abhumans or scouts) onto a heavier core. Tags stop you doubling up on the same archetype (you cannot take two ABHUMAN detachments, for example), and one Force Disposition is chosen for the whole army, which matters for matched-play missions. The three new Faction Pack detachments are all 1 DP, making them ideal splash options. Confirm every DP cost against the current pack.

Your detachment menu comes from two places. The 10th-edition codex supplies the established, heavier detachments, the all-comers combined-arms build plus focused themes like massed tanks, mechanised infantry, siege gunlines and forward recon. These tend to sit at the pricier 2-3 DP end because they buff large parts of the army. The 11th-edition Faction Pack then adds three cheap, characterful 1-DP options: Abhuman Auxiliaries (Ogryns, Bullgryns and Ratlings as a real subfaction under commissar orders), Bridgehead Strike (Tempestus Scions dropping from the sky as the army's core) and Designation Force (Sentinels and scouts marking targets for the gunline). Because the new three are so cheap, many lists will run one of them as a splash beside a bigger codex detachment. Treat exact codex names and costs as subject to change until an 11th-edition codex confirms them.

Start from the models you enjoy, then let the DP budget shape the pairing. Want a classic gunline of Guardsmen, Leman Russ tanks and artillery? Lean on a big codex combined-arms or gunline detachment and pour your DP there. Love a theme? The 1-DP Faction Pack detachments are built to splash: bolt Bridgehead Strike onto a core for a deep-striking Scion hammer, take Abhuman Auxiliaries if you have a pile of Ogryns and Bullgryns you want to actually use, or run Designation Force if you like a Sentinel-and-sniper screen feeding a heavy gunline. Beginners should pick one detachment and learn it before mixing, splitting DP adds list-building depth but also more rules to track. Whatever you choose, plan your Force Disposition, since it steers your matched-play mission. Browse builds against the army hub.

Three habits win Guard games. First, sequence your Orders before you move anything: work out which units need to shoot, run or hunker, then position officers so one order reaches the most models via Regimental Tactics. Wasting an order because a unit drifted out of range is a real cost. Second, spend Command Points deliberately. Guard stratagems reward reactive defence and concentrated firepower; hold CP for the swing moments rather than dribbling it away turn one. Third, accept losses and trade up. This army expects to lose a lot of models every game, that is the plan, not a failure. Use cheap infantry to screen deep strikes, hold objectives and bait, while your tanks and artillery do the killing from safety. Protect your officers and heavy shooting above all; the bodies are ammunition, the command structure and guns are the army.

The Astra Militarum is a genuine horde army: expect to buy and paint a lot of models, and to lose a lot of them each game. Go in eyes open, the painting workload is the single biggest commitment, so pick a scheme you can batch quickly. The Combat Patrol box is the standard on-ramp, giving a command element, a squad or two of infantry and some support to learn the core loop of orders plus shooting. From there, a Leman Russ and an artillery piece teach you the heavy-hitting half of the faction. Build toward a solid infantry core, one or two officers, and a couple of tanks before you chase a full 2,000-point list. New to the hobby entirely? Read our best beginner 40k armies guide first, then browse starter boxes to price out your force.