Hello everyone,
We’re back with the Imperial Harbingers, along with some freshly painted miniatures that you’ll discover throughout this article. As mentioned in our introduction article, we wanted a chapter that stands out from the ordinary, and the Imperial Harbingers fit that role perfectly. So here is an article reviewing our selection of miniatures, as well as the specific rules for the Boarding Patrol we’ve chosen for our upcoming Boarding Actions game.
Just like we did with our Death Guard list, we’ve put together a list dedicated to the Space Marines in preparation for our next battle report. We chose the Boarding Strike Force detachment, as it matches the miniatures we’ve already painted and offers great flexibility thanks to the number of units it allows us to include. In this detachment, the army retains its Oath of Moment rule.
Here is our army list for the Boarding Strike Force, built to be balanced against the Death Guard list, which also totals 565 points.
- Captain – Adept of the Codex: 100 pts
- 5 Intercessors: 80 pts
- 10 Assault Intercessors: 150 pts
- 3 Bladeguard Veterans: 80 pts
- Bladeguard Ancient – Artificer Armour: 55 pts
- 3 Aggressors: 100 pts
The Drive Home the Blade detachment rule grants the Sustained Hits 1 ability to ranged weapons of units that are within 1″ of a hatch and target an enemy unit on the other side.
This is an excellent bonus for a shooting-oriented army, providing a meaningful increase in lethality at close range. However, this rule offers nothing in melee combat, which can be a drawback in the tight, confined spaces typical of Boarding Actions games.
Enhancements:
- Adamantine Mantle: Reduces the Damage characteristic of incoming attacks by 1.
An excellent choice to increase a character’s durability, especially if they’re wearing Gravis armour, which already halves incoming damage. The combination of both makes the model extremely hard to take down. - Clavitine Reliquary: Allows the bearer to interact with a hatch while moving. Very useful for quickly securing access points and keeping up the pressure on the opponent in Boarding Actions missions.
Army Composition – Boarding Strike Force (Space Marines)
Characters (maximum 2, no duplicates)
- Infantry Character (excluding Terminators)
- Primarch
Include only one unit from the following list:
- Eradicators (3 models)
- Hellblasters (5–10 models)
- Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs (5–10 models)
- Death Company Marines with Jump Packs (5–10 models)
- Fenrisian Wolves (5 models)
- Sanguinary Guard (5–10 models)
- Blood Claws (5–10 models)
- Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs (5–10 models)
Units – Up to 1 of each from the following list:
- Aggressors Squad (3 models)
- Bladeguard Veterans (3 models)
- Company Heroes (5 models)
- Death Company Intercessors (5–10 models)
- Infernus Squad (5–10 models)
- Inner Circle Companions (3 models)
- Primaris Sword Brethren (5–10 models)
- Sternguard Veterans (5–10 models)
- Wolf Guard (5–10 models)
- Wulfen (5–10 models)
Units – Up to 3 of each from the following list:
- Assault Intercessors (5–10 models)
- Blood Claws (5–10 models)
- Crusader Squad (5–10 models)
- Deathwatch Veterans (5–10 models)
- Grey Hunters (5–10 models)
- Heavy Intercessors Squad (5–10 models)
- Intercessors Squad (5–10 models)
- Primaris Crusader Squad (10 models)
- Tactical Squad (10 models)
Certain specific rules and abilities are disabled in the context of Boarding Actions. As a result, affected units lose abilities such as Narthecium, Gene-Seed Recovery, Hammer of Wrath, Fury’s Exhortation, Master of Prescience, For the Chapter, Objective Secured, Tactician, Armor of Fate, Macragge’s Champion Knight, and Master of the Fleet. These restrictions emphasize the brutal and confined nature of shipboard combat, refocusing the game on mobility, positioning, and immediate lethality.
Stratagem
In the Emperor’s Name: Grants a Painbreaker 5+ to an Adeptus Astartes Line unit within range of an objective. Perfect for increasing the durability of key units during contesting or holding strategic points.
Duty and Defiance: Allows a unit to fight one last time after being killed on a roll of 4+, with a +1 bonus if it’s a Line unit. Ideal to maximize a unit’s impact even when it’s doomed.
Ceramite Bulwark: Grants +1 Strength and +1 Attack to the unit’s melee weapons. This rule only applies if the enemy target is completely on the other side of a hatch. Very effective for fights through locked access points.
Vox-Amplified Roar: After declaring a charge against one or more enemy units, those units must take a pinning test. On a failure, you can take control of an objective for that turn, potentially disrupting enemy plans.
It is entirely possible to create optimized or specialized lists, for example, a force composed entirely of Gravis armor, which is very resilient and powerful at close range. On our side, we preferred a more eclectic approach, favoring a variety of units rather than deep optimization. This allows for a more narrative-driven approach in preparing our battle report.
Don’t missed to support us on PATREON!
At the bottom of each post, you’ll find a list of all related blog entries, which we’ll update as the project evolves.
- Space Marines Project – Imperial Harbingers
- Space Marines Project – Imperial Harbingers Boarding Strike
- Coming soon…
Questions, ideas, spelling error or just want to share your thoughts? Leave a comment below! And if you enjoy our work, a little support would help us keep creating more and more content.
See you soon!
