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Armour-breaker (X) in Warhammer: The Horus Heresy: How It Works

Armour-breaker (X) can add 1 Damage in Warhammer: The Horus Heresy—but only after a Penetrating Hit and a successful threshold roll.
WorldWarhammer: The Horus Heresy: How It Works Length2 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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“Armour Breaker” can refer to more than one thing. Here, it means Armour-breaker (X), a special rule in the official Warhammer: The Horus Heresy rules material—not a standalone game title. The rule can add 1 Damage to a hit, but only after an Armour Penetration Test produces a Penetrating Hit and a separate die roll meets the rule’s threshold.

How Armour-breaker (X) works

The rule’s official appendix says attacks with Armour-breaker (X) “can sometimes inflict an extra point of Damage.” The sequence matters: Armour-breaker is checked after a Penetrating Hit, not when making a Wound Test. Games Workshop’s rules appendix provides the operative definition.

  1. Make an Armour Penetration Test for the attack.
  2. If the test results in a Penetrating Hit, roll a die for Armour-breaker (X).
  3. If the die result is equal to or higher than X, increase that hit’s Damage Characteristic by 1.

If the Armour Penetration Test does not produce a Penetrating Hit, the rule does not add Damage. A successful Wound Test alone does not trigger it.

What the X threshold means

X is the minimum die result required by that weapon’s version of the rule. For example, an official Talons of the Emperor rules PDF lists the Twin Corvae las-pulser with Armour-breaker (4+): on a qualifying Penetrating Hit, a result of 4 or higher adds 1 Damage. That profile is an example, not a general rule for other weapons or miniatures. See the Talons of the Emperor rules PDF.

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Which rules document applies?

Armour-breaker (X) appears in official Horus Heresy rules material, but the applicable text and weapon profiles depend on the edition and the rules document being used. Check the rules for the game you are playing and the relevant army list or weapon profile rather than assuming the example above applies to every force.

Games Workshop’s 10 July 2025 article on Horus Heresy Titan rules and Engine Kill missions points readers to Liber Questoris for those Titan rules. It provides setting and rules context, but does not establish that every Armour-breaker (X) reference is in that book. Read the Warhammer Community article.

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