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How Do Tactical Secondaries Work in Warhammer 40,000? (2026–27)

Tactical Secondaries use a shuffled personal deck: keep up to two active cards, replenish in Command phases, and manage when to score or discard them.
WorldWarhammer 40,000? Length4 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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In Warhammer 40,000’s 2026–27 Chapter Approved missions, Tactical Secondaries are changing objectives drawn from your own shuffled Secondary Mission deck. You can have up to two active cards; score a card and discard it, or hold it for a later opportunity. Tactical players choose this system instead of selecting two Fixed Missions before the game.

How the Tactical Secondary card cycle works

  1. Choose Tactical or Fixed before the game. Players secretly note their choice and reveal it. A Fixed player also selects two Fixed Mission cards; a Tactical player shuffles their Secondary Mission deck. Follow your event’s current companion if it changes the procedure. Games Workshop’s Chapter Approved Tournament Companion sets out the current sequence.
  2. Draw two cards to start. At the start of your first Command phase, draw two Secondary Mission cards. They become active objectives.
  3. Replenish at later Command phases. At the start of each later Command phase, draw until you have two active cards, if enough cards remain in your deck. You do not have to score a card as soon as its condition is possible; you may keep it active for a later opportunity.
  4. Optionally replace a card with New Orders. At the end of the Command phase, the New Orders Stratagem lets you discard one active card and draw a replacement. Check the applicable rules and event pack for the Stratagem’s CP cost or any changes; the current companion’s card-flow description alone does not establish a cost.
  5. Resolve scored cards at turn end. At the end of each player’s turn, discard any Tactical card that scored at least 1 Victory Point (VP) as achieved. On your own turn, you may also discard one or more unachieved active cards; doing so grants 1 Command Point (CP) under the companion’s procedure.

If your deck runs out, you cannot generate more Tactical cards. The current Chapter Approved explainer also sets a ceiling of 15 secondary VP per turn. See Games Workshop’s current Chapter Approved explainer for the current-season scoring guidance.

What makes a Tactical card achieved?

For this card flow, a mission is achieved when it scores at least 1 VP: it is discarded during the end-of-turn resolution. A card whose condition has become achievable but has not scored can remain active. That distinction matters: you can wait for a better scoring opportunity, but waiting also occupies one of your two active-card slots.

Discarding an unachieved card on your turn is a separate choice. It clears that card and grants 1 CP under the companion’s procedure; it does not count as scoring or achieving the mission. The optional New Orders Stratagem is another replacement route, used at the end of the Command phase rather than as part of that end-of-turn discard procedure.

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Tactical versus Fixed Missions

Feature Tactical Fixed
When objectives are chosen Drawn from a shuffled personal deck during the game Two cards selected before the game
How objectives change Active cards replenish at the start of later Command phases; achieved cards are discarded The selected objectives remain active throughout the game
Repeat scoring A card scoring at least 1 VP is discarded as achieved Fixed objectives can be achieved multiple times
Discarding You may discard unachieved cards on your turn and gain 1 CP; New Orders can replace one at the end of the Command phase Fixed cards ordinarily cannot be discarded
Planning style More changing opportunities, with card timing and discard decisions to manage More predictable goals selected in advance

The first four comparisons follow the Chapter Approved Tournament Companion; the planning-style distinction follows from those card-flow rules.

How to manage active cards

  • Check the scoring window. A card may be worth holding if you can score it later, but holding it uses one of your two active slots.
  • Compare the card with your next turn. If its condition is unlikely to produce VP soon, consider whether keeping it is worth more than freeing the slot through a discard.
  • Separate score from replacement. A card that scores at least 1 VP is discarded as achieved. An unachieved card can be voluntarily discarded on your turn for 1 CP, or replaced through New Orders at its specified timing.
  • Track the secondary ceiling. The current Chapter Approved guidance caps secondary scoring at 15 VP in a turn, so consider that limit when several scoring opportunities overlap.
  • Keep an eye on deck exhaustion. Once the deck runs out, there are no more Tactical cards to draw.
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Which rules apply, and what deck do you need?

This explanation concerns Warhammer 40,000’s 2026–27 Chapter Approved card flow. Tournament packs can set mission combinations or procedures of their own, so use the current companion for your event rather than assuming every event follows the same setup.

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Older 10th-edition explanations may describe a completed Tactical Mission being replaced by a randomly drawn card. Games Workshop’s 28 April 2023 overview described an earlier card cycle; it should not be treated as the current Chapter Approved procedure. The current guidance instead describes replenishing during Command phases and permits holding a card without scoring immediately (current Chapter Approved explainer).

The Warhammer 40,000: Chapter Approved Mission Deck 2026–27 includes Secondary Mission cards, as well as Deployment, Force Disposition, Primary Mission, and optional Twist cards. Games Workshop announced the deck on 13 June 2026.

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