Can you believe the ‘new’ edition of Warhammer 40,000 has been with us for half a year already? Bolts have been fired, Necrons have risen, the forces of Chaos have reaved, and Orks have Waaagh!ed.*
While 2020 may not have been kind to competitive gaming events, many of you found a way to roll dice, pore over rulebooks, build armies (on your phones), and send in your feedback to the rules team. They’ve read it all, and put together a series of updates and FAQs to answer your questions and make your games more fun.
Before we dive in, we want to extend a massive thanks to everyone who took the time to send in their thoughts – you’re essential to making Warhammer 40,000 even better.
Here’s what’s new in the war-torn 41st Millennium.
A full suite of FAQs for Warhammer 40,000’s rulebooks, codexes, and expansions
Adjusted points costs, covering every model in every faction
Tweaks to first and last turns, and scoring mechanics for the Chapter Approved: Grand Tournament 2020 Mission Pack
Let’s dig a little deeper into each category.
FAQs and Designer’s Commentary
The Warhammer 40,000 rules team have taken in feedback for every army in the game and addressed the most pressing concerns. These updates also include the first FAQ doc for the Blood Angels codex supplement, which was the last book to launch in 2020. You won’t find too many big surprises here, but you WILL find some added clarity to help your games run smoothly.
Points
You’ll also be able to download a comprehensive updated points list covering all the current units in Warhammer 40,000. Take a look at your favourite army builds and see what’s new.
Some overperforming units have seen a slight increase in points to better reflect their effectiveness – including Space Marine Outriders and Eradicators, as well as the C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer. Other units, such as the Canoptek Reanimator, have seen a modest drop in points to make them a more appealing option against some of the other choices in the Necrons codex.
A further doc detailing the full Warhammer 40,000 Power Level listings is available to download today. Not only does it reflect some of the changes in recent codexes, but it also shines a light on new units that have joined the game.
These new points values will be updated in Warhammer 40,000: The App within the coming days. And for those of you who prefer all things paper, a dedicated points booklet is coming in White Dwarf later this year.
Turns and Objective Scoring
Probably the biggest change applies to matched play games – more specifically to the first turn and scoring in the Chapter Approved: Grand Tournament 2020 Mission Pack. Broadly speaking, these updates make it less of a disadvantage to go second, softening the blow if your opponent gets to take the first punch.
The first turn now always goes to the player who wins the roll-off. The first few months of the new edition’s missions made it clear that choosing to have the first turn is a much bigger advantage than just getting it on a roll. This also cuts down on the 'analysis paralysis' at the start of the game and gets you to the action a bit quicker.
Primary objective scoring in the final battle round has changed so that the player going second now scores at the end of their turn instead of at the start. This was changed for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it helps to address the first turn advantage by giving the player going second a bit of a swing in the last turn. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it keeps the game interesting and worthwhile for both players in the final turn. Games can be decided on the last dice roll in the final combat for that ultimate objective – there’s every reason to keep pushing.
Secondary objectives have also seen a few small changes. Bring It Down drops in victory points, so as not to discourage the taking of (very cool!) vehicles and monsters in armies. The victory points available for the Abhor the Witch objective have been lowered too, as scoring against psyker-heavy armies like Grey Knights and Thousand Sons had become all too easy.
That covers the big stuff, but you’ll want to have a good look around the updates for your favourite armies (or the ones you face most often) to seek out some hidden gems.
As always, you can find the new docs on the FAQs and Downloads section of this very website.
The next round of game-wide FAQs and updates is expected in summer, so there’s plenty of time to play some games and send your feedback in by shooting an email to the rules team at 40kfaq@gwplc.com.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar players, you’ll need to hold on just a little bit longer, but keep your eyes peeled for a similar update later on this month.
* We’re not sure if that’s how you say it, but Orks probably don’t care much anyway.