Psychic Phase

The Psychic Phase is the only optional phase in the game—if there are no Psykers capable of using powers, and there are no Psychic Powers currently in play, the phase is skipped entirely. It is recommended to master Movement, Shooting, Hand-to-Hand Combat before incorporating psionics into gameplay.

Psychic activity ebbs and flows like a tide across the warp. The Warp Flux determines how influential Psychic Powers will be during a battle.

Determining the Warp Flux

The Warp Flux is expressed as a number of D6 rolls—for example, 1D6, 2D6, 3D6, and so on. This number indicates how many Warp Cards are dealt in a given Psychic Phase.

The normal Warp Flux is 2D6. By mutual agreement, players may increase or decrease this value at the start of the game to increase or decrease the impact of the Psychic Phase.

Maximum Warp Flux

Regardless of the level chosen before the game, the Warp Flux may never exceed 1D6 for every psyker. Psykers which are killed, broken, or unable to use their powers no longer count towards this total.

The Warp Deck has 36 cards in total, composed of: 22 Force Cards, 8 Nullify cards, and one each of Daemonic Attack, Destroy Power, Psychic Duel, Reflection, Ultimate Force, and Energy Drain.

Dealing Warp Cards

At the start of each Psychic Phase, determine the Warp Flux by rolling the number of dice agreed upon before the battle and adding up the total. Deal out this number of Warp Cards, starting with the player whose turn it is.

The Warp Deck is only reshuffled if you run out of cards altogether and need to start the deck over again.

Once Warp Cards have been dealt, Psykers may begin using their powers. Play proceeds as follows:

Play alternates in this fashion until both players have no more powers to use. If a player plays Energy Drain, the phase immediately ends.

During the Psychic Phase, if Special Warp Cards are drawn, they may be played or retained as per the card's individual rules.

The effects of each Psychic Power are described on the card itself. In most cases this provides enough information to resolve the power's effects without issue. However, confusing or apparently contradictory situations can arise—these guidelines resolve the most common ambiguities. If situation arises where there is not a clear resolution, discuss it with your opponent and try to agree on a solution—If you cannot agree, roll a D6 to decide who is right, then carry on playing.

Shooting-Type Psychic Attacks

Quite a few Psychic Powers operate like firing a weapon in the Shooting Phase. These attacks are not limited by normal Firing Arcs, and can be launched in any direction from the Psyker. Shooting-Type psychic attacks do not use the rules for Choosing a Target, even when used by squads—such as Grey Knights or Daemons.

There are two kinds of Shooting-Type attack:

Strikes the First Model in its Path

The attack shoots out in a straight line and hits the first model in its path. A clear Line of Sight must be available between the Psyker and the intended target. If a target is nominated but another model—friend or foe—is found to be in the path of the attack, it will be struck instead of the intended target—players should be careful to check this before committing to their shot.

Draws a Straight Line

The attack affects every eligible target along a line up to the Psychic Power's maximum range. Unless specifically stated, these powers are not blocked by terrain or models and damage anything they pass over.

A variant of this type are Psychic Powers which allow the psyker to place a template in base contact and send it off in a specified direction. These work as described above and follow the rules for Remains in Play.

Other Psychic Attacks

Some Psychic Powers enable the Psyker to place a template within the stated range. These attacks do not require a line of sight and cannot be blocked by intervening models or terrain. The template may be placed freely—the player is not forced to pick a model as its central target. Models under the template are hit automatically unless otherwise stated on Psychic Power Card.

Other psychic attacks do not work like ordinary shooting and can be directed at a model or squad within the range specified on the card. Some Psychic Powers can only be directed at single models; others only at squads. If a Psychic Power specifies a single model as the target, it can be used against any chosen model within range, regardless of whether it is part of a squad. Psychic Powers which target squads can be used against any group of models moving together as a squad, support weapons including their crews, and character models or large creatures on their own and not within coherency distance of a squad. Hits are apportioned randomly in the same way as Firing Into Hand-to-Hand Combat.

Range

Range is measured from the base of the Psyker to the base of the target. In the case of Psychic Powers used on a squad, the power affects the squad if any of its models are in range.

Psychic Powers with a template may be placed so that the centre of the template is at the maximum stated range from the Psyker's base.

Some squads can use Psychic Powers. Their ranges are measured from the squad member nominated to use the power.

Armour Saving Throws

Armour Saving Throws apply against all psychic powers which inflict wounds, unless the power specifically states otherwise. If Armour Saving Throws do apply, they are modified based on the strength of the attack:

Characteristic Tests

Some Psychic Powers have saving throws which take the form of rolling a D6 against a certain Characteristic. These function in a similar way to Leadership Tests—a successful roll is either less than or equal to the given Characteristic, as stated on the Psychic Power Card. A score of 6 always fails.

If a power affects a whole squad, make one roll for the squad using the trooper's Characteristic. Heroic Characters—including champions—accompanying the squad roll separately using their own Characteristic.

Some Psychic Powers trigger Leadership Tests. As these affect the minds of their victims directly, re-rolls never apply, and Leadership is never modified for Heroic Characters being within Squad Coherency or the army Commanders being within 12".

Break Tests

Some Psychic Powers cause Break tests—a squad can suffer additional Break tests caused by a Psychic Power even if it has already tested earlier in the turn.

If a squad breaks and flees from Hand-to-Hand Combat during the Psychic Phase, enemy models can immediately attack them while they disengage. This is resolved using the rules for Breaking Off.

Split Up Squads

Some Psychic Powers trap models and prevent them from moving; others move models around the battlefield. It is entirely possible for models to be split off from their squads as a result. For models bound by Squad Coherency, the following rules apply:

• If a squad is divided by a Psychic Power, the two parts are treated as two separate squads until both parts are free of the power that split them—a part may be just a single model.
• Once no longer affected by the Psychic Power, the smaller part must attempt to rejoin the larger part as soon as possible.
• While trying to rejoin, the smaller part may not Declare Charges, attack enemies who are Breaking Off, or engage enemies in Hand-to-Hand Combat during Follow-Up Moves.
• The larger part may continue to act as normal.
• As soon as the two parts are within coherency distance, they act as a single squad again.

Remains in Play

Some Psychic Power Cards Remain in Play and continue to have an effect over multiple turns—to indicate this, they are placed face up in a suitable place on the table.

If a Psychic Power has ongoing effects, apply those effects at the start of each subsequent Psychic Phase—after Warp Cards are dealt but before any new powers are used.

While a card Remains in Play, it cannot be used again. It persists for the rest of the battle, or until: it is Nullified; the Psyker using it is slain (unless specifically stated); or the Psyker who cast it chooses to end it.

A Psyker may end a Remains in Play Psychic Power early. To do so, they must pick it up instead of playing a new Psychic Power. The card returns to their hand and cannot be reused until the following Psychic Phase.

Psychic Powers in Hand-to-Hand Combat

Psykers may use Psychic Powers while engaged in Hand-to-Hand Combat without restriction—some powers can only be used against opponents in Hand-to-Hand Combat with the Psyker.

Psychic Powers only affect vehicles if the power card specifies a Strength value or includes explicit vehicle interaction rules—no other psychic powers can affect vehicles. This distinction prevents unintended game-breaking scenarios like Teleporting Land Raiders.

Targeting Vehicles

Vehicles—including any passengers and crew—are valid targets for psychic powers that specify squad as their target type, treated the same as any other squad-sized unit. For powers specifying a single model as the target, the target may not be an entire vehicle but may be a single hit location such as a track, weapon, or a single crew or passenger model.

Vehicle Hit Locations

How vehicle hit locations are determined depends on the attack type:

Strikes the First Model in its Path

Roll to determine which location is hit, exactly as if shooting at the vehicle with a weapon.

Draws a Straight Line

A vehicle hit by this kind of attack suffers an automatic hit to the first location contacted. Any other locations crossed by the line are hit on a D6 roll of 4+.

Template Attacks

Each vehicle location covered or partially covered by the template is hit on a D6 roll of 4+.

Armour Penetration

Each hit inflicted on a vehicle requires a separate armour penetration roll.

Some Psychic Powers state an armour penetration value directly on the card, and some bypass armour altogether to affect a randomly selected crew member. However, unless specified otherwise, psychic attacks with a Strength value must penetrate the vehicle's armour or hit an exposed crew member to deal damage.

For Psychic Powers that do not specify an Armour Penetration value, it is resolved as follows:

The Strength of the attack + any variable damage it inflicts + D6 + a bonus penetration dice shown below.