Weapon Abilities

Weapon abilities are the keywords printed in square brackets beside a weapon's profile: [SUSTAINED HITS 1], [MELTA 2], [DEVASTATING WOUNDS] and the rest. Each one bends the attack sequence in a specific way, and because they are defined in the Core Rules they read the same on every datasheet in the game. This page explains all of them.

Reading a weapon ability

Weapon abilities apply to the weapon that carries them, not to the model and not to the unit. If a model is armed with two guns and only one has [HEAVY], only that gun's attacks benefit.

Several abilities take a number: [MELTA 2], [SUSTAINED HITS 1], [RAPID FIRE 3], [ANTI-INFANTRY 4+]. Always read the value printed on the datasheet; the same keyword can appear with wildly different numbers on two weapons.

Abilities that change when you can shoot

ASSAULT

An [ASSAULT] weapon lets its unit use assault shooting. A unit that made an Advance move can still shoot in the Shooting phase, but only with its [ASSAULT] weapons. Everything else stays silent.

CLOSE-QUARTERS

[CLOSE-QUARTERS] weapons let a unit use close-quarters shooting while it is engaged, which is otherwise impossible. Under any other shooting type, each model chooses between firing its [CLOSE-QUARTERS] weapons or its other guns; it cannot do both in the same phase.

PISTOL

[PISTOL] behaves identically to [CLOSE-QUARTERS], which supersedes it: the unit can shoot while enemy models are within Engagement Range.

HEAVY

[HEAVY] rewards a gun crew that has settled. Add 1 to Hit rolls while the unit is unengaged, was not set up on the battlefield this turn, and no model in it moved more than 3".

ONE SHOT

A [ONE SHOT] weapon can be fired once in the entire battle. There is no reloading it, so choose the moment.

INDIRECT FIRE

[INDIRECT FIRE] lets a unit use indirect shooting, targeting an enemy unit that none of its models can see. The trade is that any target attacked this way is treated as having the Benefit of Cover.

Abilities that change hitting

TORRENT

A [TORRENT] weapon automatically hits. Skip the Hit roll entirely and go straight to the Wound roll. That also means no Critical Hits, so anything triggering off them does not fire.

SUSTAINED HITS

[SUSTAINED HITS X] turns lucky rolls into extra volume: each Critical Hit scores X additional hits on top of the one it already scored.

LETHAL HITS

A Critical Hit from a [LETHAL HITS] weapon can be taken as an automatic wound. Because you skip the Wound roll altogether, you also give up any chance of a Critical Wound from that attack, which matters when the same weapon carries [DEVASTATING WOUNDS].

PSYCHIC

A [PSYCHIC] weapon makes psychic attacks, which interact with the various anti-psyker rules across the game. You may also ignore any or all modifiers to the attack's Ballistic Skill or Weapon Skill and to its Hit roll.

Abilities that change wounding

TWIN-LINKED

[TWIN-LINKED] gives you a re-roll of the Wound roll. It stacks well with anything that pays off on a Critical Wound, since the re-roll gives a second chance at a 6.

LANCE

[LANCE] rewards momentum: add 1 to the Wound roll if the bearer's unit made a charge move this turn.

ANTI

The ANTI family ([ANTI-INFANTRY 4+], [ANTI-VEHICLE 3+] and so on) specialises a weapon against one type of target. Against units with the named keyword, an unmodified Wound roll of the printed number or better counts as a Critical Wound.

MELTA

[MELTA X] adds X to the weapon's Damage characteristic against a target inside half of its Range. It is the classic reward for walking a melta gun up to a tank.

Abilities that change damage and saves

DEVASTATING WOUNDS

A Critical Wound from a [DEVASTATING WOUNDS] weapon ends the attack sequence there and then, and instead deals mortal wounds equal to the weapon's Damage characteristic, one model per Critical Wound. No save of any kind is taken.

IGNORES COVER

The target cannot have the Benefit of Cover against this weapon. That covers terrain-granted cover and anything that merely treats a unit as having cover, so it also shuts down abilities such as Stealth and the Smokescreen Stratagem.

PRECISION

[PRECISION] attacks can be aimed at a Character group inside the target unit rather than the rank and file shielding it, the way a sniper reaches a warlord hiding in an attached unit.

HAZARDOUS

[HAZARDOUS] weapons are dangerous to their bearers. Once the unit has resolved its attacks, make one Hazard roll for every [HAZARDOUS] weapon it fired.

Abilities that change the number of attacks

BLAST

[BLAST] scales with the size of the target: add one extra attack dice for every five models in the enemy unit. Blast weapons cannot be fired into a combat.

CLEAVE

[CLEAVE X] works the same way but pays more. If every one of the weapon's attacks is directed at a single target, add X extra attack dice for each five models in that unit.

RAPID FIRE

[RAPID FIRE X] makes X extra attacks when the target is no further away than half the weapon's Range, the reward for closing to effective range with a rifle.

EXTRA ATTACKS

An [EXTRA ATTACKS] weapon is made in addition to the model's other melee attacks rather than instead of them. When the model fights, it uses all of its [EXTRA ATTACKS] weapons plus one of its other melee weapons.

Frequently asked questions

What are weapon abilities in Warhammer 40,000 11th edition?

The bracketed keywords on a weapon line, and nothing else: a rule in a model's Abilities box is a model ability even when it changes how a gun shoots. The distinction matters when a rule grants or removes "weapon abilities", since the model's own rules are untouched.

Do LETHAL HITS and DEVASTATING WOUNDS work together in 40k?

They compete for the same 6. Converting a Critical Hit straight into a wound removes the Wound roll that [DEVASTATING WOUNDS] needs, so on any given attack you get one or the other. Against a high-Toughness target take the automatic wound; against an invulnerable save, roll to wound and hope for the mortal wounds.

What does TORRENT do in Warhammer 40,000 11th edition?

It removes the Hit roll, so every attack proceeds to the Wound roll as though it had hit. The cost is that [SUSTAINED HITS] and [LETHAL HITS] on the same weapon never fire, and neither do hit-roll modifiers in either direction. Flamers are the usual carriers.

How does IGNORES COVER interact with Stealth in 40k?

Stealth grants cover rather than a hit penalty, so [IGNORES COVER] switches it off completely, along with Smokescreen and any terrain the target is standing in. It does nothing against rules that subtract from your Hit roll directly, which are a different mechanic.

What is the difference between BLAST and CLEAVE in Warhammer 40,000?

The multiplier and the targeting condition. [BLAST] is a flat +1 attack dice per five models and applies whenever the weapon fires; [CLEAVE X] pays X dice per five models but only if the weapon's whole output goes into one unit. Both count the target as it stands when you shoot, so a squad whittled down to nine models gives one fewer dice than a full ten.