Crusade Vows. Before the first shot is fired, the crusade binds itself to one Vow for the whole campaign — a chosen, fixed, double-edged oath, re-sworn between battles but never set down mid-fight. Swear Suffer Not the Unclean to Live and the brothers add +1 to their melee Hit rolls on the charge, yet the gang may never choose to fall back out of combat. Swear Uphold the Honour of the Emperor and every fighter shrugs off the first Nerve test of each round across the whole gang, yet suffers -1 to Hit when shooting past 12", for a crusade closes the distance and will not skulk at range. Swear Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Odds and a Templar who charges a foe of greater Wounds strikes with +1 Attack and +1 to Wound, yet must always hurl himself at the largest enemy he can reach. Whichever oath is taken sits over the gang's Combat Doctrines and tilts the whole force toward Assault. It is no token and no spendable currency — only a vow the crusade holds to until the day it swears anew.
Signatures3
Combat Doctrines. The disciplined heart of the Astartes way of war, and the mechanic that sets a Chapter apart from any warhost that merely brings guns to a fight. At the start of each round the controlling player declares the strike force's stance, which may shift one step along the ladder from Devastator to Tactical to Assault. Under the Devastator stance the gang fires with lethal precision, adding to its ranged Hit rolls or re-rolling misses. Under the Tactical stance the brethren move with purpose, gaining ground and seizing objectives. Under the Assault stance they close for the kill, striking harder on the charge and running down a fleeing foe. A Chapter cannot hold every advantage at once; it flows through the phases of battle as its commanders read the field, and each brotherhood leans toward the end of the ladder that suits its character.
Finest Hour. Once in a battle, a commander seizes the moment the whole war seems to turn upon and drives his brethren to their greatest effort. Once per battle a Captain or Lieutenant may call upon it. Until the start of the next round the commander himself gains an additional Attack, and every friendly fighter within 6" re-rolls failed Wound rolls, the strike force striking as one at the instant it matters most. It is a single, decisive surge rather than a lasting boon — spent in the crisis of the fight, it does not come again. A wise commander holds it for the stroke that breaks the enemy rather than the one that merely bloodies him.