Specialties used to be locked to your squad type. Every Interdictor squad ran Duty Before Death. Every Despoiler squad ran Pain Is Strength. The mission, the matchup, your own preferences, none of it mattered, the specialty came bolted on the moment you picked a squad type.
That's gone now. Each squad can now choose one specialty from a pool of three, and that specialty applies to the whole squad. Pick the one that fits the mission in front of you, not whatever the squad type happened to ship with.
Praxium Corps are the only exception: they don't get a specialty. We've said it before and it's still true, they're individuals, not a unit type built around sharing one trait.
Hegemony Doctrines
The Interdictors run on rehearsed doctrine. Pick the line drilled into every operative before they ship out.
- Doctrine Terminus (Duty Before Death) gets one free action out of a unit the instant it would otherwise drop to
0 HIT, useful for finishing an objective with a unit that was already lost anyway.
"The mission comes first, complete it at all costs." - Doctrine Ferrum (Iron Discipline) turns a failed enemy strike into your unit's free counter the moment it takes no damage from it.
"An unanswered strike is a debt and is always repaid in kind." - Doctrine Ignis (Concentrated Fire) strips Cover from a target the instant two Squadmates both have line of sight on it. Spread your shooters out and Cover stops being a plan.
"Coordination is efficiency. Efficiency is victory."
Outer Claim Vows
Claimant Warband and Despoilers squads choose from the same three Vows, personal oaths sworn by people who have already lost a homeworld once.
- The Exile's Vow (Disengage) applies an
ATTpenalty on enemies performing Attacks of Opportunity, so pulling out of a bad spot costs less than it should.
"Strike and move, stay mobile, keep them guessing." - The Scar Vow (Pain Is Strength) gives a wounded unit attack re-rolls based on its own lost
HIT, and heals it back on a melee kill. The harder it hurts, the harder it swings.
"Cut me and I will not slow. I return every wound twice over." - The Debt Vow (Vengeful) rewards a unit with attack re-rolls for every Squadmate already Taken Out this mission. Bad start to a fight, dangerous finish.
"A death dealt is a death owed. Our fallen brethren will be avenged."
Swarm Strains
Nothing in the Swarm explains itself. These read the way a squad that survived an encounter with one would write it up afterward, because the Swarm has never once tried to describe itself to anyone.
- Strain Caustic (Acid Blood) deals melee damage to everything Adjacent the instant it hits
0 HIT.
"Don't get close to the dead ones. They're not finished yet." - Strain Ravenous (Feeding Frenzy) trades a melee attack re-roll for a flat
+1 ATTfrom Support, decided before the dice hit the table.
"One bite and every one of them comes running, no matter how far out it started." - Strain Resonant (Hive Mind) keeps the squad's Leader bonus active even after the Leader is Taken Out.
"We took out the one giving the orders but still they come."
Grutak Clans
Grutak don't recite doctrine, they brag. Whichever Clan you field, the boast comes standard.
- Clan Ironjaw (Call Dat A Krump?) turns a failed melee hit against your unit into a free swing back, same shape as the Hegemony version with none of the ceremony.
"Dat all ya got? My turn now." - Clan Warherd (Gang Up!) grants
+1 ATTin melee whenever a Squadmate is also Adjacent to the same target.
"Ya brought one mate. We brought ours too. Count's still ours." - Clan Boneplate (Hard As Nails) hands out a Save die re-roll every time the unit is hit in melee. Nothing fancy, just hard to remove.
"Took worse than dat and kept walkin'. Try again."
Eidolon Dynasties
Relict Wardens speak like something that expects to still be standing long after everyone reading this is gone, mostly because they've already done it once.
- Undying Dynasty (Arise!) gives a unit a chance to recover
1 HITat the start of every turn. Slow, but it adds up across four turns of attrition.
"We have been buried and unburied more times than the histories bothered to record." - Baleful Dynasty (Defensive Weave) deals automatic damage to anyone who moves through or ends a move Adjacent to the unit.
"We have answered every uninvited hand for longer than our House has had a name." - Veiled Dynasty (Phase Shift) grants a Save die re-roll against ranged attacks.
"What strikes this House strikes only what we allow to be seen."
Crimson Shroud Houses
The Silent Choir doesn't raise its voice, even talking about itself. Pick the House and the cell falls in line behind it.
- House of the Eye (Mind's Eye) gives ranged weapons No Cover, full stop.
"Hide if it comforts you. We do not need to see you to find you." - House of Fate (Silent Choir) grants Brutal 1 on melee weapons whenever the Leader is in Line of Sight, no order spoken, no signal given.
"You won't hear the order, but you'll feel the blade move truer for it." - House of Shadows (Stealthy) adds an extra Save die re-roll against ranged attacks while the unit is in Cover, stacking with the re-roll Cover already grants.
"Stay in the dark long enough, and it stops being something you're hiding in."
These updates are live now in the app and on the faction pages. As always, the rules are free, the squads are yours to build, and any feedback helps.
The doctrine is yours to choose. The consequences are yours to live with.