Dakkapedia
List building
A step-by-step guide to turning a faction into a legal, points-balanced Warhammer 40,000 army you can actually field.
Battle sizes
Incursion (1,000 pts)The smallest standard list-building bracket. You get fewer enhancements (2) and a smaller command-point economy, and it suits a more compact playing area and shorter games.
Strike Force (2,000 pts)The default size for matched play and almost all tournaments. It allows up to 3 enhancements and a full-size board, so most published list advice assumes this bracket.
Onslaught (3,000 pts)The biggest standard bracket, for sprawling games with more units on a larger table. It uses the same enhancement cap as Strike Force (3) but lets you field far more of the army.
Pick a faction and a Detachment
Choose one factionPick a single Faction Keyword such as Adeptus Astartes or Orks; every unit in the army must share it. There is no longer a Force Org Chart, so you build freely within the roster caps.
What a Detachment isA Detachment is a self-contained rules package that defines your army's playstyle: it bundles a Detachment Rule, a set of stratagems, and a list of enhancements for your characters.
One Detachment per armyYour codex offers several different themed Detachments, but you choose exactly one for the whole army. Swapping it changes your stratagems, enhancements, and army-wide special rule.
Army Rule vs Detachment Rule
Army Rule (from your faction)The Army Rule comes from the faction itself and applies to almost every unit no matter which Detachment you take. For example, Space Marines' Oath of Moment lets them re-roll Hits against one chosen enemy unit each turn.
Detachment Rule (your choice)The Detachment Rule is an army-wide passive that comes from the specific Detachment you picked, and it changes whenever you swap Detachments. It layers on top of the fixed Army Rule rather than replacing it.
Enhancements
Bought from your DetachmentEnhancements are upgrades drawn from your chosen Detachment's list and attached to Character models during list-building. At Strike Force you can take up to 3 (only 2 at Incursion).
One per character, each onceA given Character may carry only one Enhancement, and each Enhancement may be used only once across the whole army, so they are individual named upgrades rather than stackable items.
They cost pointsEach Enhancement adds points (roughly 15-35) to the character carrying it, and these are the only per-model extras you pay for beyond the unit cost.
Not on Epic HeroesOnly ordinary (non-Epic-Hero) Characters can take Enhancements. Named Epic Heroes such as Marneus Calgar can never be given one.
Roster limits
Datasheet capYou may include at most 3 copies of any given datasheet in your army, which keeps lists from spamming a single powerful unit.
Battleline and TransportsUnits with the Battleline or Dedicated Transport keyword raise that cap to 6, letting you build a core of cheap, objective-holding rank-and-file like Intercessors.
Epic Heroes are uniqueYou can field only 1 of each named Epic Hero, though you may bring several different ones in the same army.
Designate a WarlordExactly one of your Characters must be chosen as the Warlord, gaining the Warlord keyword.
Wargear & points
Wargear is freeIndividual weapons and upgrades cost nothing; you simply pay for the unit and equip it within the loadout options the datasheet allows. This is the biggest costing change from the previous edition.
Points are per unitUnits are priced in model-count bands (for example a 5-model squad costs one figure and a 10-model squad another), so the only extra points beyond the unit are Enhancements.
Points come from the MFMAll unit and enhancement costs live in the Munitorum Field Manual rather than the codex, which lets points be updated without reprinting books.
Command Points & Stratagems
Starting CPBoth players begin the game with 0 Command Points, making CP a genuinely scarce resource compared with older editions.
Gaining CPYou gain 1 Command Point at the start of each of your Command phases, so your stratagem budget grows slowly over the course of the battle.
Spending on stratagemsCP is spent on stratagems: your Detachment provides 6 of them, plus universal Core Stratagems like Command Re-roll that any army can use.
One stratagem per phase per unitA given stratagem is generally usable only once per phase rather than repeatedly on the same unit, which limits how much you can stack effects in a single phase.
A worked 2,000pt list
Gladius Task Force exampleA representative Strike Force list takes Adeptus Astartes (Oath of Moment) with the Gladius Task Force Detachment: a Captain in Terminator Armour as Warlord (~115) and a Lieutenant (~105), each with one Enhancement, plus Epic Hero Marneus Calgar (~185) who takes none. Battleline Intercessor squads (~200/~100) and Assault Intercessors (~150) hold objectives, backed by Sternguard (~200), Ballistus Dreadnought (~140), Gladiator Lancer (~160), Repulsor (~180), an Impulsor transport (~80), Infiltrators (~100), and Eradicators (~95). It shows one faction plus one Detachment, a single Warlord, only 2 of the allowed 3 Enhancements used, free wargear, and the total tuned to exactly 2,000 points against the current MFM.
Keeping a list legal & current
Munitorum Field ManualThe MFM is the living master points list for every unit and enhancement, updated roughly each quarter, so always build against the latest version because costs shift often.
Balance DataslateThe Balance Dataslate updates rules rather than points (keywords, abilities, Detachment tweaks) and lands roughly every other quarter, with emergency updates as needed.
Ways to playMatched play uses equal points and the full muster rules where the MFM and Dataslate matter most; narrative play tells a story with deliberately unequal games; and Crusade is the persistent campaign system where units gain experience, relics, and scars across many games whether they win or lose.