Veiled Blade Elimination Force: The 11th-Edition Imperial Agents Assassin Detachment

Officio Assassinorum units from your army can use the Overkill, Soulless Horror and Shieldbreaker abilities twice per battle instead of once per battle, but cannot use such an ability more than once in the same battle round.

That first half is straightforward and good. Those three abilities are the signature once-per-battle tricks on the Culexus, Eversor and Vindicare datasheets, and doubling them roughly doubles what an assassin contributes over a five-round game. The battle-round cap stops you firing both uses in one turn, so it is a spread rather than a spike.

The second half is where it gets complicated. The rule continues: when mustering your army, each Officio Assassinorum unit from your army has the relevant Extremis ability shown on the right, and you must increase the points cost of each of those units by the amount shown. If this causes your army to exceed the points limit for the battle you are playing, you cannot include that unit.

Read the words must and each. Under the pack's printing this is not a choice. Bring four assassins and you pay four surcharges, whether you wanted the corresponding abilities or not, and if the total pushes you over the limit you simply cannot field the model.

And this is where the two official documents part company. The Munitorum Field Manual version 1.3 lists the same four entries as ordinary enhancements, at lower values, selected the way every other faction's enhancements are selected. That is a completely different rule.

The next section lays out both readings in full.

All three of our sources agree on what these four do. The disagreement is entirely about what they are and what they cost, so read the effects with confidence and the prices with none.

Decoy Targets. Callidus Assassin models only. Twice per battle, in your Movement phase, select one other friendly INFANTRY model on the battlefield and not within Engagement Range; that model is destroyed, ignoring any rules triggered when a model is destroyed, and this model is removed and set up again as close as possible to where that destroyed model was, not within Engagement Range. Not more than once in the same battle round. A teleport that costs you one of your own models, which is a genuinely unusual price and worth thinking about before you take it.

Esoteric Explosives. Culexus Assassin models only. Each time this model is targeted with the grenade-throwing stratagem, 1 mortal wound is inflicted for each D6 roll of 3+ instead of for each 4+. A naming variance to be aware of: the pack calls the triggering card the Grenades Stratagem and the mirror calls it the Explosives Stratagem, which looks like a core rules rename rather than a rules difference.

Intraneural Biotech. Eversor Assassin models only. You can target this unit with the Heroic Intervention stratagem regardless of any other uses of that stratagem this phase; that use is 1 Command Point cheaper, and it does not prevent other uses of that stratagem on other units this phase. The Munitorum Field Manual spells this one Introneural; the pack and the mirror both read Intraneural, and we use the two-to-one spelling.

Micromelta Rounds. Vindicare Assassin models only. This model's exitus rifle gains [ANTI-MONSTER 4+] and [ANTI-VEHICLE 4+]. The simplest of the four and the only one that is purely a weapon upgrade.

Now the disagreement, stated in full.

• The Faction Pack version 1.1 prints them under a heading reading EXTREMIS ABILITIES, at +40, +40, +35 and +45 points, and makes them mandatory per-unit surcharges.
• The Munitorum Field Manual version 1.3 prints them under a heading reading ENHANCEMENTS, at 15, 10, 15 and 20 points, which is how a selectable enhancement is listed.
• The community mirror uses the pack's heading and the Munitorum Field Manual's numbers.

Why it changes your list rather than your maths. Under the pack's reading, a list with all four assassins is paying 160 points it did not choose to spend, on top of the models. Under the Munitorum Field Manual's reading you pick a couple from the ordinary enhancement allowance and the rest of your points are yours. Those are different armies.

So no figure appears in the enhancement list on this page, which is the only card on this site where that is true. Check the Warhammer 40,000 app before you write a list, because this is exactly the sort of disagreement that surfaces at a table.

One observation, offered as an observation. Across this series, every other 1 Detachment Point detachment lists two enhancements and three stratagems. This one lists four entries and six stratagems, which is the 2 and 3 Detachment Point pattern. That is consistent with the four not being ordinary enhancements. It is a pattern, not evidence, and we are not using it to decide.

Six stratagems on a 1 Detachment Point detachment is unusual, and the design running through all of them is more unusual still: each one has a base effect and a temple-specific upgrade. Which assassins you own changes what this card does more than in any other detachment in the faction.

Prime Target (1CP, your Shooting phase or the Fight phase, Battle Tactic). Target one Agents of the Imperium unit that has not shot or fought. Each time a model in it attacks a Character unit, re-roll a Wound roll of 1; and if that attack is made by an Officio Assassinorum model against the enemy WARLORD, re-roll the Wound roll entirely. Note the upgrade is gated on the Warlord specifically, not on any character.

Hyperstimms (2CP, your opponent's Shooting phase or the Fight phase, just after an enemy unit has selected its targets, Battle Tactic). Target one Agents of the Imperium CHARACTER unit that was selected; +1 Toughness until the end of the phase, and Feel No Pain 4+ if it is an Eversor Assassin unit. The card's only 2 Command Point spend, and the Eversor clause roughly doubles what you get.

Will-sapping Salvo (1CP, your Shooting phase, Strategic Ploy). Target one Agents of the Imperium INFANTRY unit that has not shot; its ranged weapons gain [SUSTAINED HITS 1], and if it is a Culexus Assassin unit, change the Damage characteristic of its ranged weapons to 3. Read the upgrade as a change to a value rather than a bonus: it is a floor as well as a ceiling.

Orbital Oversight (1CP, your opponent's Shooting phase, just after an enemy unit has selected its targets, Strategic Ploy). Target one Agents of the Imperium INFANTRY unit that was selected. Until the end of the phase it can only be targeted by a ranged attack if the attacking model is within 18 inches, or within 6 inches if your unit has Lone Operative.

Assassins carry Lone Operative, so on the models this detachment is built around the operative number is 6, not 18. That is a very strong protection and it is the reason a lone assassin can hold a forward position.

Blind Grenades (1CP, your opponent's Charge phase, just after an enemy unit has declared a charge, Strategic Ploy). Target one Agents of the Imperium GRENADES or Vindicare Assassin unit that was charged and is not within Engagement Range. Subtract 1 from that enemy unit's Charge rolls, or 2 if your unit is a Vindicare Assassin.

Ensnaring Trap (1CP, end of your opponent's Charge phase, Strategic Ploy). Target one Agents of the Imperium INFANTRY unit within 6 inches of an enemy unit it would be eligible to charge. Your unit can declare a charge, must select one of those enemy units, and does not receive a Charge bonus this turn; and if it is a Callidus Assassin making that charge move, add 1 to its melee Wound rolls until the end of the turn. A charge outside your own Charge phase, at the price of the bonus.

This detachment is in every two-detachment Imperial Agents army, and that is arithmetic rather than a recommendation. Four detachments cost 2 Detachment Points, this one costs 1, a Strike Force budget is roughly 3, and 2 plus 2 is 4. So there are exactly four legal shapes and this card is in all of them.

Plus [Ordo Xenos, Alien Hunters](/40k/armies/imperial-agents/detachments/ordo-xenos-alien-hunters) (2 DP, total 3). A Deathwatch line with three once-per-battle Mission Tactics, plus assassins to remove the characters a Deathwatch line struggles to reach.

Plus [Ordo Malleus, Daemon Hunters](/40k/armies/imperial-agents/detachments/ordo-malleus-daemon-hunters) (2 DP, total 3). That detachment's rule covers INQUISITOR, INQUISITORIAL AGENTS and ORDO MALLEUS models, and assassins carry none of those keywords, so the two cards divide your army cleanly rather than stacking on the same models.

Plus [Imperialis Fleet](/40k/armies/imperial-agents/detachments/imperialis-fleet) (2 DP, total 3). The one pairing where the partner's rule does reach your assassins, because At all Costs buffs every AGENTS OF THE IMPERIUM model against a nominated target or objective, and assassins carry that faction keyword.

Plus [Ordo Hereticus, Purgation Force](/40k/armies/imperial-agents/detachments/ordo-hereticus-purgation-force) (2 DP, total 3). A horde-clearing rule with a Chaos keyword gate and a five-model floor, patched by assassins that specialise in the single high-value target it is worst against. Read that page's disclaimer first: its rules text is mirror-sourced.

No Unique Tags are involved in any of this. This faction has none, in either official document or in the mirror.

At Incursion, with roughly 2 Detachment Points, you would take this detachment alone with a point unspent, or one 2 DP detachment instead. There is no two-detachment Imperial Agents army at 1,000 points.