Astra Militarum

How Astra Militarum play

The Astra Militarum is the game's artillery-and-attrition army, and it plays unlike anything else. Individual infantry are close to worthless in a fight; the army works because it has an enormous volume of cheap bodies to hold ground and a battery of tanks and artillery that can delete a target from anywhere on the table. Your infantry are not there to win combats, they are there to exist on objectives and to feed orders.

Orders are the mechanic that makes the army function, and they are what new players underuse. A Guard squad that receives an order does roughly double the work of one that does not, so your officers' positioning is a real tactical constraint every single turn — not an afterthought.

The army's identity is that it out-ranges you and then out-numbers you. If the game turns into a series of melee fights in the middle of the table, you are losing.

Building a Astra Militarum army list

Guard is the faction most affected by the Battleline duplicate multiplier. Battleline infantry can be taken up to six times at Strike Force rather than three, which is the entire reason a Guard list can field the body count it needs. Check which squads your detachment makes Battleline before you fix your unit choices.

Budget for command. Every order-issuing character is points not spent on guns, and the temptation is to cut them. Do not — an under-officered Guard list is a collection of bad statlines.

Dedicated Transports sit outside the duplicate limit, with six allowed per army. Chimera-style transports are one of the few ways Guard infantry reach the middle of the board intact.

Astra Militarum FAQ

Is the Astra Militarum hard to play?

Harder than most. The units are individually weak, so the army only works if you use orders correctly, position your officers safely, and accept losing infantry as a plan rather than a failure. It rewards patience more than reflexes.

How many models does a 2,000 point Guard army need?

Typically sixty to a hundred, depending on how much of your points go into tanks. It is one of the largest model counts in the game and worth knowing before you commit financially.

Can Astra Militarum fight in melee at all?

Barely, and you should not plan to. A handful of specialist units can hold a fight briefly. The correct answer to a melee threat is to screen it, shoot it before it arrives, or accept the trade with a cheap squad.