Army Morale
An army can only take so much punishment before it becomes ineffective and unable to undertake offensive actions, or loses its will to fight altogether.
These rules represent the fighting spirit and operational readiness of the opposing armies, as they wear each other down or get a boost from some spectacular success on the battlefield.
| To be clear, when we refer to the end of the Rally phase in this topic, we mean specifically during step R4. Check the game end conditions. |
The Army Morale value
In scenarios that use Army Morale:
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The opposing armies each have an Army Morale value.
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At the start of the game, your Army Morale value is simply the total of all Detachment Morale values in your army.
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Each player’s Army Morale value will change throughout the course of the game as your armies clash, and as you vie for control of objectives.
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The goal is to reduce your opponent’s Army Morale value to zero or less before they do the same to you.
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At the end of the Rally phase, after you’ve applied all modifiers that have triggered:
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If a player has an Army Morale value of zero or less then the game ends and the other player is the winner. (We assume that the player’s army is no longer effective and disengages from the enemy.)
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If both players' Army Morale values are zero or less then the game ends and the player whose value is highest is the winner. (A Pyrrhic victory, perhaps!)
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Detachment Morale values
When you build your army in the standard way, you calculate the Morale value of each detachment and record this alongside other features of the detachment. The formula for the Morale value of a detachment is as follows:
A detachment that has a points value total anywhere in the range of 201 to 250 points has a Morale value of 5.
Army Morale effects and modifiers
There are lots of effects that can modify your Army Morale value. We list the main ones here.
Morale effects can be either ongoing or one-time:
- Ongoing morale effects
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These effects can repeat in a given context, such that we apply their modifiers multiple times throughout the course of a game.
We check for ongoing morale effects every turn, at the end of the Rally phase. We apply the appropriate modifiers for any ongoing morale effects that are applicable at that time.
- One-time morale effects
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These effects do not repeat — we apply their modifiers only once for a given context.
In general, one-time morale effects can become applicable at almost any time — although there are some that we check at the end of the Rally phase. (This is also a good time to double-check for any that we might’ve forgotten to apply during the heat of battle!) We apply the appropriate modifier immediately whenever a one-time effect becomes applicable.
Morale: Blast markers on your detachments
Ongoing morale effect: Check at the end of each Rally phase.
For each Blast marker that remains on any of your detachments, deduct 1 point from your current Army Morale value.
Morale: Detachment reduced to half-strength
One-time morale effect: This applies no more than once per detachment.
When a detachment in your army is reduced to half of its initial strength, subtract its Morale value from your current Army Morale value.
[TODO: It’d probably be best to define a term such as 'Detachment Strength' — perhaps in the 'Common rules' section — and then use this term throughout the project wherever it is relevant for Leadership tests, assaults, Army Morale, and so on.]
Before the start of the game, your Imperial Guard Infantry detachment had 20 units. It suffers losses to the extent that only 10 or fewer units remain. When this happens, you deduct the Morale value of this detachment from your Army Morale value.
Before the start of the game, your Imperial Guard Super-heavy Tanks detachment had three Baneblades, each with a Damage Capacity value of 4 — a total Damage Capacity of 12.
It suffers damage to the extent that the remaining Baneblades have only 6 or fewer points of current Damage Capacity left between them.
When this happens, you deduct the Morale value of this detachment from your Army Morale value.
Morale: Enemy War Engine unit destroyed
One-time morale effect: This applies no more than once per War Engine unit.
Where an enemy War Engine unit suffers a Catastrophic Damage result of Destroyed — not merely Wrecked — add half of that unit’s Morale value to your own Army Morale value. [2]
Note that this applies even in detachments that include two or more War Engine units — add half the value of the individual War Engine unit, not half the value of the detachment as a whole.
Morale: Blast markers on a destroyed detachment
One-time morale effect: This applies no more than once per detachment.
When one of your detachments is completely destroyed, immediately deduct 1 point from your Army Morale value for each Blast marker that was on the detachment at the time!
Morale: Objectives
A summary of the morale effects of the standard objectives — for full detail see Objectives.
Take & Hold
Ongoing morale effect: Check at the end of each Rally phase.
For each of your Take & Hold objectives that you control, add D3 points to your Army Morale value.
Rescue
Ongoing morale effect: Check at the end of each Rally phase.
For each of your units that has a Rescue objective (that is, for each of your units that currently count as an escort unit), apply both of these modifiers:
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Add 1 point to your Army Morale value.
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Your opponent must deduct 1 point from their Army Morale value.
Cleanse
Ongoing morale effect: Check at the end of each Rally phase.
For each of your Cleanse objectives that you control, add 1 point to your Army Morale value.
Bunker
One-time morale effect: Each time you destroy one of your bunker objectives.
Roll a D6 — your opponent must subtract the score from their Army Morale value.
Capture
One-time morale effect: Check at the end of each Rally phase.
For each of your Capture objectives that you control, choose and apply one of these effects:
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Capture: Roll a D6 — add the score to your Army Morale value.
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Destroy: Roll a D6 — your opponent must subtract the score from their Army Morale value.