Attached Units (Leaders)

Characters rarely fight alone; they join squads to form attached units that move and battle as one. This section explains how a Leader or Support unit attaches to a bodyguard unit, how such combined units are targeted and destroyed, and how their keywords and abilities carry across.

Forming attached units

A unit qualifies to lead others if its datasheet carries the Leader ability or the Support ability — these are known as leader units and support units. Both let the unit attach to a friendly bodyguard unit, and once joined the two count as a single unit for every rules purpose. A leader or support unit can only attach to the specific bodyguard units permitted for it, as listed in the Warhammer 40,000 app.

You commit to these pairings before the game. During the Muster Armies step, each leader and support unit you field may be assigned one friendly bodyguard unit to lead; that pairing holds for the whole battle. Unless a rule says otherwise, no bodyguard unit may have more than a single leader unit plus a single support unit attached at once.

Attacking an attached unit

Because the combined unit is a single unit, attacks are declared against the whole thing, and its Toughness is set by its bulkier members. Each time an attack targets an attached unit that still contains one or more bodyguard models, use the highest Toughness characteristic among those bodyguard models while resolving the attack — even if the attached leader or support model has a different Toughness. Only once every bodyguard model is gone, leaving nothing but leader or support models, do you switch to the highest Toughness among those remaining models.

Rules that fire when a unit is destroyed wait for the whole attached unit to go. They trigger only when the last model that began the battle as part of that attached unit is destroyed, not when a component unit is wiped out mid-fight.

Keywords in attached units

An attached unit holds all the keywords of all its component units at once, so any rule that keys off one of those keywords affects the combined unit. Importantly, individual models do not gain keywords they lacked — the keywords belong to the unit, and attacks target the unit, not the model.

This matters for keyword-triggered weapon abilities. If a leader model carries the PSYKER keyword, its whole attached unit counts as a PSYKER unit while that model is present — so a weapon with [ANTI-PSYKER 4+] treats any unmodified wound roll of 4+ against the unit as a critical wound, even when the attack is not allocated to the psyker himself.

Abilities in attached units

How an ability spreads depends on what it targets:

• An ability or rule that names a single specific model — for instance one granted by an Enhancement or a piece of wargear — only ever applies to that one model, even while it is part of an attached unit.
• Any other ability that affects a unit (or the models in it) applies to every model in the attached unit, right up until the source of that ability is destroyed.

The exact cut-off depends on the source:

• An ability from the leader or support unit lasts until the last model in that leader or support unit is destroyed. Notably, a leader or support unit continues to enjoy the "while this model is leading a unit" abilities it holds even once its bodyguard unit has been wiped out, provided it started the battle in an attached unit.
• An ability from the bodyguard unit — such as a datasheet ability — lasts until the last model in that bodyguard unit is destroyed.
• An ability tied to one specific model, like the bearer of an Enhancement, lasts until that model is destroyed.

In each of these cases, if the last model was destroyed by an attack, the ability it was granting keeps applying until the attacking unit has finished resolving all of its attacks — so a character cut down mid-volley still shelters the squad for the rest of that volley.

Frequently asked questions

What is an attached unit in Warhammer 40,000 11th edition?

An attached unit forms when a unit with the Leader or Support ability joins a friendly bodyguard unit, after which the two count as a single unit for all rules purposes. You commit to these pairings during the Muster Armies step, and unless a rule says otherwise no bodyguard unit may carry more than a single leader unit plus a single support unit at once.

How do you target an attached unit with a Leader in 40k?

Attacks are declared against the whole combined unit, and while it still contains one or more bodyguard models you use the highest Toughness characteristic among those bodyguard models — even if the leader or support model has a different Toughness. Only once every bodyguard model is gone do you switch to the highest Toughness among the remaining leader or support models.

When is an attached unit considered destroyed in Warhammer 40,000?

Rules that trigger when a unit is destroyed wait for the entire attached unit to go — they fire only when the last model that began the battle in that attached unit is destroyed, not when one component unit is wiped out mid-fight.

How do keywords work in an attached unit in 40k?

An attached unit holds all the keywords of all its component units at once, so any rule keying off one of those keywords affects the whole combined unit. Models do not gain keywords they lacked, but since attacks target the unit, a leader with the PSYKER keyword makes the whole unit count as a PSYKER unit against something like [ANTI-PSYKER 4+].

Do a Leader's abilities keep working after the bodyguard is destroyed in Warhammer 40,000 11th edition?

Yes — a leader or support unit's ability lasts until the last model in that leader or support unit is destroyed, and it continues to enjoy the "while this model is leading a unit" abilities it holds even once the bodyguard unit has been wiped out, provided it started the battle in an attached unit. If the last model is killed by an attack, the ability keeps applying until the attacking unit has finished resolving all of its attacks.