Factionless units?

[Ghostofman]

So looking at the rules, and through various codex I'm noticing a trend that never really clicked before. On the new FOCs they list restrictions, and that typically is: "All units must be of the same faction (or of a specific faction) or have no faction.)

This got me thinking: Are there currently any units without a faction?

I confess I don't have every expansion dex, white dwarf issue, and dataslate, but I have enough that I think I would have seen or at least heard of one by now...

If there is no (or very few) factionless units this also could be the answer to the question of what GW plans to release after all the dexes have been revised.

Think about it. From a business standpoint factionless units could easily be the new hotness to the GW bosses. Units that could be used with almost any army, or almost any build, with little to no penalty could be sold to any player no matter if they have one army or six. Take a $30 to $100 factionless model + $10 to $20 worth of two or three pages of dataslate + ? = Profit!

The Gamer in me is of course excited at the prospect of new models and units. Not to mention if there's enough variety the possibility of having essentially an entire new faction that can use whichever FOC most benefits the intended playstyle that week.

The Cynic in me of course just sees this as another stupid business trick to try and boost numbers, with the units rules probably turning out to be game-breaking must-haves, or completely lacking value beyond looking cool when painted by someone with way more free time then I.

So what do you think? Is there a factionless unit that has slipped through the cracks? Or are we looking at a possible future of the game?

[DWest]

I believe buildings are considered factionless?

[Captain Bubonicus]

I believe buildings are considered factionless?

Good call. I was thinking the "Neutral Planet" on Futurama.

[Ghostofman]

I believe buildings are considered factionless?

True, but the "factionless" restriction is included on FOCs that don't even have fortification slots. I really took notice in the Realspace Raiders FOC from the DE dex, but it's in others too. Even in the core book the Allied Detachment doesn't have a fortification slot while still requiring the detachment be composed of units from the same faction or no faction.

[Tyrendian]

can't really imagine what a factionless unit could be fluff-wise though... I mean some of them are very neutral, but only in a "We will just kill everybody the same way" sense, and the existing races are by design waaay to different for all of them to accomodate (or even leave alive) the same thing...
Even things that seem very generic, like say the Giant Death Robot With A Mighty Cannon And A Big Honking Sword (aka Knights), won't fit into everything - in this case Nids who just don't have and (in all likelyhood never will have) anything with vehicle rules, period.

[DWest]

True, but the "factionless" restriction is included on FOCs that don't even have fortification slots.
I would suspect that's boilerplate language that gets copy-pasted on to each FOC.

[Denzark]

I think there are some dataslates maybe - but if you mean within combined arms detachment - then no, can't think of any although some forgeworld would be considered multi faction - ie it would be acceptable for codex space marines, blood angels or space wolves - all of which are separate factions.

[ShadowcatX]

Cypher's probably the closest thing I can think of, though I believe GW dropped the ball not making assassins factionless.

[Ryan Sharp]

Perhaps they are leaving the possibility of a mercenary dex/dataslate open?

[Rothgar]

one old possibility was the kroot mercenaries, they technically worked for anyone so long as they got pay in food and money. :P

[0rph3u5]

First thought I had when reading the "factionless"-part for the first time was that it is a safeguard because the 6th Ed. Codizies don't have factions written into their profiles yet ... but on the other hand, Harlequins were removed from the Dark Eldar Codex to possibly be dataslat'ed like Imperial Assasins, the might come out be factionless and legal to include into both Eldar and Dark Eldar detachments without being assigned to the Dark Eldar or Eldar faction (so they don't get be an allied detachment like Imperial Assasins)

[Darren Richardson]

hmm, perhaps they really are preparing for the re-introduction of Rogue Traders, they would ally themselves with anyone given the right circumstances, similar thing with Orc Freebooters, they also would ally with anyone who pays them....

[JMichael]

I will ally myself with whoever has warm chocolate chip cookies.

[Ghostofman]

I would suspect that's boilerplate language that gets copy-pasted on to each FOC.

I thought this might be the case as well, but then I looked at the various new dexes and saw that it isn't. One will specify "Faction or No Faction" the next "Faction or any Fortification" and the next "Only this Faction."

So it's not just copied and pasted. Some allow for factionless units, and other don't.

If the rumors are true that a Nid expansion dex is coming that might be a bigger clue. Nids don't seem like the merc hiring sort (some kind of puppetmaster brain-bug option aside of course). So if there's a new FoC there that only allows Nid faction units, that might mean something...

[Cactus]

Imperial Knights maybe?