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Hi everyone,

I've been into 40k since it first came out but don't really game it as such as I am more of a painter than anything else. I keep seeing people refer to formations as a formal thng and was just wondering what they are? Also, decurions etc? Any info would be very welcome indeed,

Cheers

Ace

A formation is a grouping of units which are taken together (in lieu of a CAD). That grouping of units confers a benefit for taking that formation (e.g., +1 BS to all of the units in that formation).

The decurion is the main Necron formation.

It receives a lot of hype (personally, I don't think that the formation is worth the hype) . Basically, it turns the 5+ FNP that (a lot of) Necrons have into a 4+ FNP.

As Traditio said, they're a grouping of different units that must follow certain restrictions in order to gain certain bonuses.

The most basic one is a Combined Arms Detachment and its counter-part, the Allied Detachment, which are both found in the BRB.

They essentially reward you for sticking to a bunch of restriction with Special Rules that you wouldn't otherwise get. For example, a CAD will offer you the Objective Secured Special Rule for all troop choices in the detachment as well as being able to re-roll your Warlord Trait if it's your Primary Detachment.

And you can take more than one detachment (and each detachment can be taken more than once). For example, As a Space Marines Player, I can take two Combined Arms Detachments and an Armoured Task Force (a formation from the Space Marines Codex).

Thanks guys, that was very helpful and much appreciated! Cheers!

I love threads like this answered in 2 pots

Ace From Outer Space wrote:
Hi everyone,

I've been into 40k since it first came out but don't really game it as such as I am more of a painter than anything else. I keep seeing people refer to formations as a formal thng and was just wondering what they are? Also, decurions etc? Any info would be very welcome indeed,

Cheers

Ace

Detachments are what basically replaced your Force Organization Charts. The basic ones were already mentioned, the CAD and the AD.

Formations are a special kind of detachment, they usually don't use the traditional slots of HQ, Elite and so on. Instead they give you a more specific list - for example: 1 Techmarine and three units choosen from: Predators, Vindicators and/or Whirlwinds.

"Decurion" is the name of a Necron detachment that became the common name for a new type of detachment - since GW simply didn't give them an identifying name. When people speak of "Decurions" outside of Necrons, they usually refer to other detachments that work similar to the Decurion.

What makes the Decurion special is that, instead of saying "Pick 1 HQ, 2 Troops" like the CAD, or "Pick 1 Captain and three Tactical Squads" like a Formation, it says "Look. You have to bring 1 Core Choice and 1 Auxiliary Choice, and you can bring more of those and/or add Command Choices." These Choices come with a list of options attached - so you can bring either Formation A, Formation B or simply Unit Whatever as an "Auxiliary Choice" - it completely depends on the list provided with the Decurion detachment.
By now there more than 10 other Detachments that are build very similar, e.g. the Gladius Strike Force. They differ in how they work exactly and what kind of benefit they provide, but the basic idea stays the same.

It is worth noting as well that the trade-off of formations and in particular Decurions is that to get at the very nicest of benefits, you need to take a large number of mandatory units.

For instance, to get one of the commonly considered "most powerful" decurions, which is the Gladius Battle Company (All dedicated Rhinos, Razorbacks and Drop Pods you select as Transports have a base cost of 0 is the big benefit)

You have to take:

6 Tactical Marine squads
2 Fast Attack squads (assault marines, bikers etc)
1 Captain and 1 Chaplain
2 Devastator squads

compare that to your 1 HQ 2 Troops from the CAD. This makes them fairly powerful in large games, but the 'old style' power gaming tactic of just taking your 1HQ 2 Troops then spamming whatever the most powerful thing in the codex is over and over is less prevalent.

That is the perceived upside of Formations. Many people gripe about them, but to be totally honest, I played less powerful more fluffy armies all through fifth, sixth, and now seventh, and I have much more fun playing against a guy bringing a whole variety of interesting looking Necron units to power-game and stomp me into the dirt than I did in 5th, playing against "OK I brought Draigo and 2 min sized squads of troops, then PALADINS PALADINS PALADINS DREADKNIGHT DREADKNIGHT DREADKNIGHT"

You're still going to lose to a power-gamer just the same, but at least there'll be a little variety in the units involved.

Thank you so much guys, really enlightening, cheers!