Warhammer 40k might focus on the big name Space Marine chapters, but part of the fun of the setting has always been creating your own custom army with distinctive paint scheme, backstory, and miniature conversions. We’ve put together a free 40k detachment that allows any Space Marine chapter to field mounted marines riding monstrous cavalry, to encourage more awesome conversions.
Beastrider Cavalry is a free, unofficial Space Marine detachment. It costs one Detachment Point and its Force Disposition is Reconnaissance. As this is a fanmade detachment you’ll need your opponent’s permission to use it – so if you think anything is unbalanced with it, make like a Techmarine and adjust it. Let us know in the Wargamer Discord community what changes you made and why!
You can download the detachment as a PDF here.
I was inspired to make this detachment by some excellent Howling Griffons demigryph-riders, and there are a lot of great monster mounts that will work as the basis for conversions – Stormcast Eternals mounts, the Kroot Lone Spear’s Kalamandras, even weirder creatures like the Sylvaneth Spiteriders or Idoneth Allopex could work.
To keep the rules simple, the units use the unaltered stats for Thunderwolf Cavalry. A choice of four enhancements (all of them Upgrades) then allow you to better tailor them to reflect your conversions.
- Predatory Haste – re-roll advance rolls.
- Stealth Predators – gain Scouts 12″.
- Living Bulwark – attacks that target the unit have -1D.
- Relentless – gain Mobile.
The three Stratagems are inspired by those available to the Thunderwolves in various detachments; one to give them some extra damage on the charge, then two out-of-turn movement tricks, one to lock enemies into melee, the other to reposition away from shooting.
- Linebreaking Charge – inflict mortal wounds after charging.
- Relentless Pursuit – a D3+3″ surge move after an enemy unit falls back from engagement.
- Calculated Withdrawal – a D3+3″ reactive move after an enemy unit shoots.
If you test this detachment out and have feedback, or have an idea for a narrative detachment you’d really like to see, let us know in the Wargamer Discord community. We’re slowly developing a little library of Highly Unofficial detachments:
Source: Wargamer
