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Makes no sense... I get the aspect of a morale check. However some units are more hardened and are fearless. What I don't get is why they have to take extra damage? What basis in realistic warfare does that represent?

This would be a question for general discussion as you dont seem to have a question about the rules themselves. I.E. you know how the rules function, you just dont agree with it from a background perspective.

Its because they are so determined not to fall back they get hit more than someone with brains who would fall back.

they are willing to go against the tide of war, when being vastly outnumbered then the chances are you will be dragged down in combat.
and since when did 40k have to make sense?

Fearless = too crazy/dumb/mind controlled to know when to run.

Its not any longer strictly an advantage as it had been in prior editions, which given its commonailty is to my mind a good thing.

Jack

I think the new representation of "Hardened Troops" comes in the form of Stubborn.

Even Hardend troops can run, but for game terms they have an equal chance of sticking around reguardless of the odds and/or circumstances.

Fearles now just means your bat s**t crazy and live or die, its all Skulls for the Skull Throne.. err Glory for the Emperor

Fluff-wise, the idea is that they just continue fighting despite the odds being against them, without really caring about their safety. The wounds are an abstract way of representing this.

In the reality of the rules, it was just a game mechanic introduced in 4th edition to balance out the sheer number of Fearless units there were (are) in the game without having to change it in every Codex.