Mustering Your Army

Before a single model is placed on the battlefield you have to muster an army: pick a faction, agree how big the game is, and fill out an army roster that fits inside the points limit. This page walks through that process in order, from a blank roster to a legal list.

Starting your army roster

An army roster is simply the written record of what you are bringing: the faction, the battle size, the Detachment, every unit and its wargear, and the total points cost. Write it down before the game rather than during it. Your opponent is entitled to see what they are facing, and a roster settles almost every argument that would otherwise happen mid-battle.

You muster from the models you actually own, so the roster is really a question about your collection. If you already track what you have, start there and work out what fits; if you have a list written elsewhere, you can import it rather than retype it.

Selecting your army faction

Every army is built around a single army faction: Adeptus Astartes, Aeldari, Orks, Tyranids, and so on. Picking it is the first real decision, because it governs everything downstream: the units you can take, the Detachments open to you, and the faction rules your army plays with.

As a rule, every unit on your roster must have the army faction's keyword. A handful of units are written to be allies and can join an army of a different faction, but they say so explicitly on their datasheet. Assume a unit cannot be taken unless it carries the keyword or names the exception. Our faction pages list what each faction can field, along with its rules and Detachments.

Selecting a battle size

The battle size sets the points limit and, with it, how long the game takes. The three standard sizes are:

• Incursion: 1,000 points. A short game, usually about two hours, and a good size for a weeknight.
• Strike Force: 2,000 points. The default for matched play and for tournaments, at roughly three hours.
• Onslaught: 3,000 points. A big, long game for a full afternoon.

Both players muster to the same battle size, and your army's total points cost must not exceed the limit. There is no requirement to spend every point; coming in a little under is perfectly legal and sometimes the right call.

Battle size also sets your Detachment Points budget in 11th edition: 2 DP at Incursion, 3 DP at Strike Force and 4 DP at Onslaught.

Filling out your army roster

With a faction and a battle size chosen, the roster gets filled in.

Choose a Detachment

A Detachment is your army's plan of attack. Each one comes with its own rule, its own Stratagems and its own Enhancements, and choosing between them changes how an identical collection of models plays. Detachments cost Detachment Points, which is why the DP budget above matters: a cheap Detachment leaves room for a second one, an expensive Detachment takes the whole budget.

You can find every Detachment for your army, with its stratagems and enhancements, on your faction's page.

Add units

Add units one at a time, paying the points cost printed for each. A few things constrain the picks:

• Unit size. Most units can be taken at more than one size, each with its own points cost. Pay for the size you are fielding, not the smallest one.
• Wargear. Options listed in a unit's composition are included in its cost. 11th edition does not charge separately for wargear, so take what suits you.
• Repeat limits. Some units are limited in how many times they can appear in one army; anything unique can be taken once only.
• Leaders. Pairing a Leader with a Bodyguard unit happens here, while mustering, and never during the battle. Write the pairing on the roster.

Every unit's points cost lives on our unit pages, which stay current with the latest points update.

Take Enhancements

Enhancements are upgrades bought for CHARACTER models from your chosen Detachment. Each costs points on top of the model carrying it, each can be taken only once in an army, and a single model can carry only one. They are the cheapest way to give a character a job beyond what its datasheet already does.

Nominate your Warlord

One CHARACTER model in your army is your Warlord. Nominate it as you build the roster and mark it clearly; some missions and rules care who it is.

Check the total

Add everything up and confirm you are at or under the battle size limit. That is a legal army, ready to deploy.

Frequently asked questions

How do you muster an army in Warhammer 40,000 11th edition?

Work top-down: the faction decides which Detachments and units are even available, and the battle size decides the points and DP you have to spend on them. Newer players pick units first and a Detachment last, then find the Detachment they want costs more DP than the budget allows. Leader pairings and the Warlord are roster decisions too.

What are the battle sizes in Warhammer 40,000 11th edition?

Incursion, Strike Force and Onslaught, at 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 points. Most published missions, and every tournament pack, assume Strike Force, so points changes and unit limits are tuned around 2,000. A 500-point learning game is not a standard size; agree with your opponent how many DP it grants.

How many Detachment Points do you get in 40k 11th edition?

One more per size step: 2, 3 and 4 DP. The budget is what lets a Strike Force army run two cheap Detachments where an Incursion army gets one, and it is a hard cap rather than a target. Unspent DP buys nothing.

Does wargear cost points in Warhammer 40,000 11th edition?

No. What you pay for is the unit at a given size, and the options in its composition come free with it. Two things still change the price: taking the larger unit size, and Enhancements, which are bought separately for a CHARACTER and are not wargear.

Can you take more than one faction in a Warhammer 40,000 army?

Only through units whose own datasheet says they may join another faction's army, such as designated allies or agents. Everything else must carry your army faction's keyword. Note that a second Detachment does not change this: both Detachments belong to the same army faction.