Rob Woods, a member of our Facebook group Game Talk for Gamers asked, “how do you disembark from vehicles and what kind of rules are involved?” Which is great for our Beginners Series like How to use a Pistol.
There are two main rules to Disembark in Warhammer 40K
1. If you get out of a vehicle before the vehicle moves, the vehicle can then move afterwards.
2. If the vehicle already moved this turn, you cannot get out of the vehicle.
This is understandably confusing. You probably want to drive across to the opponent’s battlefield so you can get out and start doing something.
And in old editions of Warhammer 40,000, that is how vehicles worked.
But in 9th edition, if the unit is inside a vehicle at the start of the movement phase, and then that vehicle moves, the unit inside is not allowed out. So you cannot disembark from a vehicle that’s already made a move.
Exceptions do exist
Now, there are some exceptions to Disembark in Warhammer 40K. For example, the Impulsor does allow you to leave at the end of movement. And there are even some stratagems that some armies have. The white scars have one that will enable them to get out at the end of the movement instead.
But for most armies, you’re going to have to get out of the vehicle before the vehicle makes a movement, if you want to get out.
When you get out of the vehicle, you have to be set up wholly within three inches of the vehicle. When you leave a vehicle, you can then move, shoot, and charge.
Now there’s actually a very good reason why you may still want to use units inside vehicles. And it’s not necessarily as a taxi service, to zip around the battlefield. It’s the keep the unit safe.
When it’s your first turn you can drive to where you want to be. And then on turn two, you pop out and do whatever it is that you want to do. But there are a lot of other reasons why you may want to do that. For example, putting a heavy unit like Havocs inside a Rhino on turn one. On turn one when your opponent is shooting, they can’t shoot the havocs. But then the havocs can jump out on your next turn and start blasting their heavy weapons without the -1 penalty.
One of the reasons I like using it is actually the three inch bump. So because you have to set up within three inches, it gives you a 2 to 3 inch movement for one of your models. They can then still move their 6 inches and charge, which kind of gives you an 8 to 9 inch movement.
So you have to disembark before the vehicle moves.
But start thinking of a vehicle, not as a taxi service, but instead of something that can move on to objectives. Or as something that can block line of sight. Or as something that can engage enemy units in close combat to stop them from shooting.
Now, if you’ve got questions that you’d like us to answer about the rules, or maybe you want to learn more about strategies you may want to join our Facebook group – Game Talk for Gamers.
You can talk to James, Adam and the rest of the Night’s crew and ask any questions you want and we’ll use it as inspiration for a future article!
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As always thanks for reading!
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