The latest edition of Warhammer 40,000 landed with shockwaves in June, heralding a new era of simplified rules and streamlined gameplay. It emerged with a complete set of Indexes covering every single unit in the game – including many rarities and Forge World exclusives – for a total of more than 2,000 datasheets, plus full army rules for every single faction in the game.
This was a mammoth project on a game redesigned from the ground up, and issues with balance are an inevitability. The Warhammer Studio didn’t want to make knee-jerk changes, however, preferring instead to wait for a suitably substantial number of games to be played at every level. The watching period is now over and the massive new Balance Dataslate is here – alongside a comprehensive interview with Warhammer 40,000 Studio Manager Stu, who’s here to explain the rationale behind some of the changes.
Here are just a few of the highlights – there are plenty more in the Dataslate itself, which you can download below.
Devastating Wounds no longer cause mortal wounds, but instead bypass armour saves and invulnerable saves. Weapons with this ability can still put out plenty of damage, but it arrives in a single chunk, as normal – a change which makes Devastating Wounds more situational, and which should have a significant impact on the power of the Aeldari in particular. For example, you cannot now shoot an infantry unit with an anti-tank weapon and expect to wipe out the whole squad in one hit because you rolled a 6 to wound.
Harsher restrictions are now in place for reusing and discounting your Stratagems. You now need line of sight when activating the Overwatch Stratagem – meaning no more Indirect Fire Overwatch – and TITANIC units can’t use it at all. And talking of giant-size threats, you can now hide from the gaze of TOWERING models behind Ruins… provided that the unit doesn’t move up next to the ruins to see over them.
Many Factions also see changes to their Army Rules or Detachment abilities. Genestealer Cults are no longer infinite – their units must now always make a dice roll to return, including BATTLELINE squads. Imperial Knights have been outperforming Chaos Knights, so now only the ARMIGER squires in Imperial Knights armies benefit from Bondsman abilities.
On the buffing end of things, Death Guard get a whole new aura ability which you can choose and tailor to your opponent. Leagues of Votann meanwhile get a boost to Judgement tokens, while the Adeptus Mechanicus have reinforced the armour on their Skitarii footsoldiers.
Some powerful units have their numbers capped – including certain squads of Adeptus Custodes and Space Marine Desolation Squads.
Needless to say, there have been plenty of points changes to further adjust each faction’s power. Of note, this means that Codex Tyranids – which is available for pre-order now – has seen some points updated too. As always, the points listed in the Munitorum Field Manual and on the Warhammer 40,000 App are the most up-to-date. In fact, the new codex even includes a QR code pointing to the latest points values online.
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Download the Balance Dataslate and the Munitorum Field Manual above. It contains great stuff for players and fans of every faction and at every level. There’s also been an update to the Rules Commentary, which provides answers to any obscure questions – the new editions are in red to make them easy to find.
And remember, if you have further suggestions and queries, send them to 40KFAQ@gwplc.com.