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This is SprueSentry strategy commentary, not official rules. The detachment rule, stratagems and enhancements below were checked against the official Space Marines Faction Pack v1.2, legal for matched play from the 26 August 2026 balance update, and any points against Munitorum Field Manual v1.3. Points move with balance updates, so confirm the current values in the Warhammer 40,000 app before a game.
Adeptus Astartes Vehicles that are not Walkers, Drop Pods, Fortifications or aircraft gain TANK ACE, and up to three can also gain Character. A Tank Ace unit that Advances adds a flat 6 inches to its Move instead of rolling; one that did not Advance can re-roll a Damage roll when it shoots.
1 CP. A Tank Ace unit re-rolls Wound rolls of 1 against Monsters and Vehicles, or all Wound rolls if the target is below its Starting Strength.
1 CP. Improve a Tank Ace unit's Armour Penetration by 1 against Monsters and Vehicles.
1 CP. A Tank Ace unit shoots back at the enemy unit that just attacked it.
1 CP. A Tank Ace unit within 8 inches of an enemy that just moved makes a Normal move of up to D6 inches.
1 CP. The unit can shoot in a turn it Fell Back.
1 CP. Worsen the Armour Penetration of attacks against the unit by 1.
20 points. Once per phase, re-roll one Hit, one Wound and one Damage roll for the bearer. Vehicle model only.
40 points. Aura. Friendly Adeptus Astartes Vehicle units within 6 inches gain Assault on their ranged weapons. Vehicle model only.
25 points. A 5+ invulnerable save, and the bearer regains 1 lost wound at the end of each Command phase. Vehicle model only.
20 points. The bearer's ranged weapons gain Sustained Hits 1. Vehicle model only.
The premier Primaris gun tanks and the obvious Tank Ace Characters.
See the box: price and offersHeavy weight of fire and enough wounds to anchor the Astartes Tank Ace aura.
See the box: price and offersCheap Tank Aces that make the three Character slots easy to fill.
See the box: price and offersA variable-damage demolisher cannon is exactly what the no-Advance Damage re-roll is for.
See the box: price and offersWalkers do not gain TANK ACE, so a Dreadnought-heavy list wants Ironstorm Spearhead instead.
At 2 DP it leaves 1 DP for a fast Speeder support.
Adds covert scoring to a tank line that cannot chase objectives.
How to play Headhunter Task Force in 11th edition — the 2-DP tank-hunter detachment, the TANK ACE keyword, guaranteed Advances, and how it differs from Ironstorm Spearhead.
Sprue Sentry strategy commentary for 11th edition, not official rules. Games Workshop updates points and rules regularly; always confirm against the current official rules and latest update before a game.
Headhunter Task Force is the Space Marines tank ace detachment: a 2-Detachment-Point package that promotes your vehicles into named specialists and points them at the enemy's biggest models. It reflects Warhammer 40,000 11th edition (launched June 2026).
This is SprueSentry strategy commentary, not official rules. Rules below were checked against the official Space Marines Faction Pack v1.2, legal for matched play from the 26 August 2026 balance update, and points against the Munitorum Field Manual v1.3. Points move with balance updates, so confirm the current values in the Warhammer 40,000 app before a game.
The rule first hands out a keyword. Every Adeptus Astartes Vehicle that is not a Walker, Drop Pod, Fortification or aircraft gains TANK ACE, and up to three of them can also take the Character keyword. That Character clause is the detachment's most distinctive feature: it is what lets a tank carry an Enhancement.
The combat effect is a choice you make every turn with every tank:
So each tank picks between guaranteed mobility and smoothed damage, turn by turn. That is a meaningfully different decision to Ironstorm Spearhead's Armoured Wrath, which just hands out a re-roll and asks nothing.
Every enhancement here is Vehicle only, which is why the rule's up-to-three-Characters clause exists — these go on your tanks, not your infantry characters.
Choose Headhunter when your collection is wheeled and tracked armour rather than Walkers, and when you expect to face Monsters and Vehicles — Knights, big Tyranid creatures, other armour lists — because both of its damage stratagems are written specifically against those targets.
The comparison people actually need is with Ironstorm Spearhead, the other 2-DP armour detachment. Ironstorm gives every unit in the army a free per-phase re-roll of one Hit, Wound or Damage roll, includes Dreadnoughts, and leans on Techmarine enhancements. Headhunter is narrower and sharper: only non-Walker Vehicles benefit, the payoff is a turn-by-turn choice between a guaranteed 6" Advance and a Damage re-roll, and its stratagems are pointed hard at big enemy models. Take Ironstorm for a broad, forgiving armour list with Dreadnoughts; take Headhunter for a mobile tank line into an armoured meta.
At 2 DP it leaves 1 DP spare at 2,000 points, so a Fulguris Speeder wing or Subversion Assets scoring package slots in nicely.
Sample gameplan: field four to six non-Walker vehicles and nominate your three best as Characters, carrying Gunnery Honours, Redoubtable Machine Spirit and, if you can afford it, Astartes Tank Ace. Early turns, Advance the flat 6" to claim firing angles without dice risk. Once positioned, stop Advancing so every tank has its Damage re-roll, and combine Target Weak Point with Kill Shot to delete the enemy's heaviest model. Answer incoming fire with Machine Vengeance, and use Rapid Gunnery to shoot your way out of anything that tries to tie a tank up in melee.
2 DP. At a 2,000-point (3 DP) game that leaves 1 DP for a support detachment such as Fulguris Task Force or Subversion Assets.
Target Sighted. Adeptus Astartes Vehicles that are not Walkers, Drop Pods, Fortifications or aircraft gain the TANK ACE keyword, and up to three can also gain Character. A Tank Ace unit that Advances adds a flat 6 inches to its Move instead of rolling; one that did not Advance can re-roll a Damage roll when it shoots.
No. Walkers are explicitly excluded, along with Drop Pods, Fortifications and aircraft. A Dreadnought-heavy collection is better served by Ironstorm Spearhead, which covers Walkers and builds its stratagems around them.
Both cost 2 DP. Ironstorm gives every unit in the army a per-phase re-roll of one Hit, Wound or Damage roll, includes Dreadnoughts, and uses Techmarine enhancements. Headhunter only helps non-Walker Vehicles but gives them a turn-by-turn choice of a guaranteed 6 inch Advance or a Damage re-roll, plus stratagems aimed squarely at Monsters and Vehicles.
Written by Sprue Sentry, grounded in the cited sources. Original commentary, not Games Workshop rules text.