Balance Dataslate: Be careful what you wish for edition

Well.

You wanted it to do something.

It’s time for another Balance Dataslate, and this one is probably the biggest one yet in terms of changes. As with all Balance Dataslates, this latest one is the version in use as it replaces the previous one, and you can absolutely choose to ignore it- if you’re playing non-Matched Play games. 

Now you’ve got to remember this is used in conjunction with the latest Munitorum Field Manual for points (see HERE for our comparison breakdown), as well as the Arks of Omen GT Mission Pack (Be sure to check out the Secondary breakdown HERE), so make sure you account for those when reading through these, as I’m not touching on them in too much detail here, if at all.  

So, grab a hot drink, or something stronger, cos you might need it…

Armour of Contempt

Gone.

No ifs ands or buts. Kaput. Finished. Laid to rest. Sent to the Black Ships. Offered up to the Dark Gods. Failed to cross the Rubicon. 

This is a massive change in survivability for many armies, whilst upping the killing power of several others by proxy. Whilst a contentious rule, regardless of how you felt about it, it was pretty vital for keeping MEQs around, and so will cause big waves for sure. The common complaints about the ineffectiveness of AP1 Weapons by all those people that forget armies other than Space Marines exist can finally stop at least. 

Note this also means that Salamanders, Iron Warriors and Valorous Heart revert to their Codex versions, so back to AP reduction and no more Wound preroll prevention. Obviously. See literally the 4th sentence in this article about how this replaces all the previous stuff, and so anything not in here, no longer applies.

Is this a good thing? I’m not convinced, as the game is still hugely killy, and now nearly half the field will be a lot more susceptible to the sheer amount of AP in the game. This is tempered somewhat by the other changes in here and in terms of points, but the initial gut feeling is this will probably neuter most, if not all Power Armoured armies and remove all but the most hyper efficient from the meta. On the flipside the game will be quicker as there’s less maths and more stuff will just die or not be allowed saves. So that’s cool?  

Aircraft

In addition to the limits based on game size (so a max of 2 in Strike Force missions), all AIRCRAFT now have to start the game in Strategic Reserves, though remember in Arks of Omen Missions they won’t cost you CP at least. In addition, bombs and other abilities can’t be used when you fly off the board anymore. This limits the output of Aircraft quite a bit, making them have zero impact on Turn 1, and unable to use bomb style abilities until Turn 3 at the earliest. Whilst nice to stop those fringe lists that can nuke units with bombs Turn 1 with no counterplay, this is overall a pretty hefty nerf to those units, and could see Aircraft drop off quite a bit in use. 

Indirect Fire Weapons

This remains as is, making sure that weapons which ignore Line of Sight aren’t as dominant as they used to be.

The line about Guard not being affected by this is gone, so they do suffer the -1 BS and the +1 Sv penalties.

If you honestly thought it was going to be kept, then I also have a bridge to sell you. 

Bodyguard

It’s the same. Good.

Chaos Daemons

Flamers now no longer auto-hit with their Flickering Flames. An odd change, but it does neuter their output by about 1/3rd, as well as making them susceptible to modifiers, and not effectively impossible to charge through Overwatch. Pure Tzeentch armies can still get them effectively autohitting with Warp Storm buffs and a Lord of Change or Prince nearby, but that of course requires significant investment.

The Designer’s Note also needs calling out, specifically saying that yes, you do need to roll to Hit, now that the rule that says you automatically hit has been removed. This should go without saying, but man it says a lot that it was felt necessary to include this. 

Space Marines

So you lost Armour of Contempt, though you did get cheaper in the Munitorum Field Manual (the jury’s out on if it’s an equivalent exchange).

You do get two other little boosts though, the first of which makes Combat Doctrines essentially the same as their 8th incarnation. For those joining us in 9th, Doctrines now don’t have a ‘must’ rider on changing. So you can stay in Devastator Doctrine all game if you like. Get to Tactical Doctrine and like the extra boons you get there? Stay in it in Turn 4 and beyond if it pleases you. A nice little boost to the shooty Marines, and as we all know, what the game needed was more AP, on more guns, more of the time.

In addition, all your Troops make Objectives you control at the end of your Command Phase remain under your control even when you move away, letting you put a bit more pressure and output elsewhere in the game without needing to babysit a home or out of reach Objective. It’s fine, especially since your Troops aren’t generally the best anyways, but having any incentive to run Troops in Arks of Omen is nice.  

These buffs are neat, offering a bit more viability to ranged Marines, as well as some options for Objective play, but the real telling point will be if the points drops and changes to other armies are enough to account for losing Armour of Contempt.

 Death Guard

No changes, but the loss of Armour of Contempt will of course sting quite a bit. Your points changes are reasonable enough, though hardly earthshaking, so it’s a bitter pill to swallow in terms of overall survivability, especially given they were already in a bit of a rough spot.

Drukhari

The Agile Hunters custom Obsession is now back to a 4” Mv. Which is a change I suppose. No other changes here, but the adjustments to other armies should help out by proxy.

Harlequins

Ready for a big ol’ bag of mixedness here?

To start with, the changes to Luck of the Laughing God, the Light Saedath and the Dark Saedath are still here. For those keeping track at home that means you still can only get Luck Rerolls by rolling for them, Light only works vs attacks 18”+ away and doesn’t let your units inside TRANSPORTS count as Remaining Stationary, and Dark only do a single Mortal on a 4+ when dying.

Fine.

They’ve also removed the changes to the Mirror Architect Pivotal Role and the Favour of Cegorach Warlord Trait. So the aura of being 6” further away is back, as is the hyper shredding Harvester of Torment. These did get some points hikes, but still, that’s a big return of effectiveness for the Seer and Jester.

Buuuuut…everyone has their Invulnerable Save reduced by 1, including via Stratagems etc.

Ooof.

Yeah, that’s a significant drop in overall survivability, making you much more susceptible to high rate of fire, as well as not being nearly as tanky vs big hitting attacks either. You still hit like trucks and are insanely fast, but the clowns will need to be a bit more cagey in picking battles and utilising terrain to get to places unscathed. You’re still very good at that, but you will not last nearly as long once your task is done. 

Asuryani

Pretty much remains the same, with the only difference being the removal of the “once per game” limit on Fire and Fade, which is fine given the cost. Remember Arks of Omen is quite a bit more lenient in army building, so you’ll generally have more CP to play with without needing to worry about pesky things like Troops or “making your army look like an army”.

Chaos Space Marines

Creations of Bile now only fight on death on a 4+, and count as having 1 Wound remaining when they do so (for things like VEHICLES). A pretty significant debuff, being no longer automatic means that efficient trading (my favourite term of all time, I’m so glad it’s part of 40k nomenclature now…) is much less likely, though still potent indeed on things like Possessed.

There’s no other changes. So you can have your removal of Armour of Contempt and slight points adjustments and deal with it, I guess. We might see a drop off in CSM as a result of these combined overall changes and no real gain compared to other factions, but time will tell.

Adeptus Mechanicus

So with the advent of the previous reversion of all changes, you’re now back in the Slate, but only with positive changes now. At last, Cawl decided his KATAPHRONS are CORE, giving them access to some actual buffs and abilities. 

Oh and then anything that has Bionics, gets it improved to a 5++. 

So that’s a thing. 

Everyone worried about losing the Skitarii Veteran Cohort, fear not, as you have the Invulnerable part baked in at no extra cost anymore, and also applied to the Kataphrons and Chickens as well (and Servitors, but who cares), and can mix in the CULT units more freely. You lose the other stuff sure, but whatever, you’ve basically saved about 120+pts just on your basic Infantry.

So now add that to the Armour of Contempt removal, points drops in the Munitorum Field Manual that effectively puts you back to the Codex state,  some extra points drops on top of that, and more survivability on units that didn’t have it before…AdMech are back in a big and scary way. 

It’s release day AdMech, but cheaper and better, outside of Plane spam.

Yay?

Tyranids

Tyranids continue to have their previous changes (so a TYRANT has to be your WARLORD, your WARLORD has to be on the board to get Imperatives, you have to have the Adaptive part of your rules written on your list, Leviathan nerfs, and Reaper of Obliterax capping at 3 Mortals), and have two new ones to add in as well. Hope you’re keeping up.

The first is that now Overrun can only be used on CORE units now, so the age of hit and running Tyrants and other big gribblies is gone. They’ll just have to stay where they are if they kill their foe.

The second is that Spore Mines and Mucolids made by Biovores, Harpies and Sporocysts are no longer free, so you’ll need to spend Reinforcement Points on them. This is helpfully explained by the Designer’s Note, cos clearly someone, somewhere, will still argue that they’re free despite the entire sentence saying they’re free is removed you’reliterallytheworst. This removes a little bit of utility from them, as you’re no longer able to spread out free move blockers and chip damage pieces, not without being under the points limit at least (which is probably not worth it given the increases they got).

These are relatively minor changes that will only impact certain lists and scenarios, but welcome ones to remove some frustrating mechanics nonetheless. 

Adepta Sororitas

With the removal of Armour of Contempt, Valorous Heart reverts to its previous version in the Codex. You keep the Miracle Dice generation at the start of each turn still, which is good.

Necrons

The only change here is the ObSekh Dynasty is dead…sort of. You can no longer combine it (Eternal Conquerors, specifically) with any of the Circumstances of Awakening, so no more pregame move on armywide ObSec, to use the standard example. This is good for the game, don’t get me wrong, cos it’s super boring to play with and against. 

However…

With the fairly ineffectual points changes, this could result in a hit to playing the missions, as with the early edition blues running rampant through their datasheets and rules, it was pretty much the only way to really compete with the newer books. 

Realistically though, it just means most people will pivot to the Nihilakh Dynasty so they still have “Oops All ObSekh”, but with the side bonus of the AP1 reduction in your Deployment Zone and their Stratagem. A downgrade compared to the pregame move of course, but as I say, it makes the army build only sort of dead.

On the flipside the Armour of Contempt removal does help your hitting power somewhat, but that’s not really useful against non Marines.

Adeptus Custodes

FINALLY get Objective Secured back on their CORE INFANTRY, so whilst you won’t be able to use your Characters to steal an Objective, this might make the Terminators and friends vaguely viable. The “once per game” limits have also been removed from Esteemed Amalgam, Emperor’s Auspice and Martial Discretion Stratagems, which is fine I suppose.

Orks

No changes. You’re fine it seems lol.

I mean again, the removal of Armour of Contempt helps you a bit, but it helps others just the same, who also got more buffs…

Some Stratagem cost reduction would have been nice, given how meh they generally are. 

T’au Empire

No changes.

Well, you’re a tiny bit costly on Suits, but Armour of Contempt is gone, so you can enjoy watching your opponents just not rolling Saves again.

Astra Militarum

You got a new Codex. You’re safe from the nerfbat.

For now.

Just know I will advocate for Kasrkin and Regimental Tactics, especially on Tanks, to be toned down until it happens. My patience is short and my influence mediocre. 

Grey Knights

Chef’s Note – When I was writing this article, I had to come back after I finished as I completely forgot to mention the Grey Knights. Which is very appropriate given GW did too.

Nothing for you. No sticky Objectives like your non magic counterparts, nor easier ways to manipulate your “Doctrines”. Yeah you got cheaper somewhat, and will be better vs Power Armour to a degree, but you still suffer from being just a bit weird in design, and have lost some defences to boot. 

Thousand Sons

No updates here, and losing Armour of Contempt makes a chunky dent to your survivability, alongside the changes to Flamers hitting your output, for those of you that can’t help but soup. With minimal points changes, you’ll benefit from the flipside of the Armour of Contempt removal by making your Inferno guns much better in the pseudo mirror match, but with all your Mortal Wounds that wasn’t always a concern. We’ll see how they settle.

Imperial & Chaos Knights

No changes here, but as noted almost ad nauseum at this stage, they benefit from the AoC removal quite a bit. They seem reasonable in terms of WR at the moment however, so we’ll see how the changes elsewhere impact them by proxy.

Leagues of Votann

No changes, frustratingly. Yeah yeah, “BuT ChEF theY’Re FiNe, ThEY’Re OnLy WiNNing 60%+ gAmEs, jUSt doN’t TakE FuN LisTs aGAinST THeM!”. 

Yeah, no. No that’s not a good take.

They’re still hyper efficient, and you get a lot of bang for your buck despite their additional points increases. And remember we’re entering an era where Armour of Contempt is gone, other heavy hitter armies have received nerfs too, and you’ve got greater flexibility in the army building stage.

Truly their WR will be balanced in the face of such overwhelming odds…

Judgement Tokens need to drop off when used ala Markerlights, or at least be harder to generate- not being given to units that dare to do Actions or stand near Objectives would be a start.

Genestealer Cults

I honestly don’t know what GSC did to be ignored for so long. Maybe it’s part of a masterminded scheme for a glorious Day of Ascension? Regardless, with some overall meh points tweaks and no direct changes, they’re relying on the other factions’ changes to be sufficient to let them claw up the rankings. 

No, their 50%ish WR with like 2 people playing them with very specific lists doesn’t mean they’re in a good spot. They really need some help at least with not being reliant on Stratagems in an age of reduced CP, and some boosts to synergy with Crossfire and Melee.

And so we finish another Dataslate

Well, another Dataslate, and another round of me wondering how this all means and what this leaves us…wait.

So, the removal of Armour of Contempt, in case you couldn’t tell what with how often it was mentioned, both directly and indirectly affects pretty much every Faction, and is the big takeaway from this Dataslate. Pretty much every army has received a semblance of an offensive boost by virtue of it going, so I won’t repeat it again (and again…and again…). The impact of the MFM and GT Missions, whilst not really explored too much in here, will also of course have an effect on the meta at large when combined with these changes, so we’ll need to see how all three of these elements settle. 

In terms of the Factions themselves, Space Marines get some cute boosts which probably won’t help them overall compared to what they lost, whilst their Chaotic cousins receive nothing in kind for being essentially the same statlines whilst also now often being more expensive, and the same defensive reduction. I don’t subscribe to the “GW hates Chaos” rhetoric (seriously, if they hated them, why would they sell them at all? Don’t be silly.), but I understand why it might feel that way at times.

Sisters, Grey Knights, Thousand Sons and Death Guard are in a similar boat, the loss of Armour of Contempt likely going to be felt in the Win Rate as the weeks tick by. Genestealer Cults might get more varied lists, but will be totally reliant on other factions suffering rather than themselves getting a boost, which is both a good indication of how generally balanced their book is, and how bad it is to be a balanced army in 40k.

Custodes might see some list variety again with ObSec Infantry an actual option once more, whilst Asuryani and Drukhari are unlikely to change massively in playstyle. Orks receiving no changes is… a choice, but I suppose there’s only so much they can be attempted to be polished. 

Necrons and Daemons had two crutches kicked out from them, so they will probably dip a little, though they have workarounds, and also benefit from others being reduced in effectiveness. 

Harlequins should still do well in theory, though with their 50/50 chance of surviving a hit now reduced to only 1 in 3, they could be in greater danger of earlier tablings in certain match ups. Tyranids didn’t receive massive rules overhauls, just quality of life changes for their opponents, but their points hikes could be their death knell. 

With brand new Codexes, I wasn’t expecting any changes to either Guard or Votann, but I feel like they’ll be the new bullies in the playground, especially as they enter an era with substantial nerfs to the other big hitters, and able to make a mockery of anything with Power Armour. The same goes for AdMech, who whilst they needed help for sure, are now pretty much back to the way they were, but with better stats and synergies on many units, which just feels unnecessary. Likewise, the T’au emerge basically unscathed barring some minimal points changes, offset by the greater freedom in army builds in Arks of Omen. I expect these four will be the big nasties to watch out for going forward. 

This Dataslate will definitely shake up the meta, but I’m not convinced it’s for an overall healthier or more balanced one, instead merely shifting around who’s vying for the top whilst everyone else shuffles their feet around near the bottom in the hopes they don’t play against the big boys in a tournament setting, so they can have actual fun in a game.

Cos you know, it’s a game and we should all be having fun.

Not being a community that clearly needs Designer’s Notes to tell you that removing a sentence of rules means you indeed can no longer benefit from said sentence of rules.

Seriously. 

👨‍🍳