Today Games Workshop released a massive update for Warhammer 40,000 giving us a huge shake-up for competitive play. In addition to the balance dataslate for Q1 2024, we also saw the release of a new game-wide points update, rules/FAQ updates and errata, datasheet updates, and an entirely new detachment for the Drukhari.
There’s a ton here and nearly every faction in the game is affected in one way or another. While we’re covering the specifics of each released document in its own article to help make clear where things are changing, it’s important to note that these changes have combined effects.
Finally before we dive in, we’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing an early copy of these updates for review purposes.
First up we have the (varyingly) loyal forces of the Imperium – let’s find out how they’re going to fare.
Adepta Sororitas
Status: Narrow Winner
Changes
- Arco-flagellants +20pts for 10
- Exorcist +20pt
- Dominions -10pts
- Paragon Warsuits -30pts
- Morvenn Vahl +20pts
- Repentia -10/20pts (for 5/10 respectively).
- Zephyrim -10pts
- Retributor Squad -10pts
- Triumph now only allows units to perform two Acts of Faith a phase instead of unlimited
Impact
Wings: Sisters have been performing well recently, and there are a few hits for them here, but it’s also not all one way. The Arco-flagellant change is pretty much expected – the buff to them should never have been made in the first place, and they’re still fine at this price. Repentia do now compete with them more aggressively as threat projection though – going from a 0pt difference in cost to a 40pts gulf is obviously massive, and the clarifications in the rules commentary around how Fight-on-Death (which they can get from a Stratagem) interacts with below half-strength bonuses makes killing them in melee a huge pain if you keep 2CP up.
Elsewhere, Exorcists get a bit of a hit in line with most other good indirect, and the specific plan of parking a bunch near the Triumph gets a look in the balance dataslate as well. My suspicion is that you’ll still see this combo played – the Triumph interaction that people may stop building around is putting a Dialogus with Retributors for endless 6s or alongside a Palatine in a Battle Sisters squad for an all-round blender . Saying that – Retributors got cheaper and are absolutely fine on their own terms now, and Dominions join them in coming down a bit, so expect to see a unit of them with an Immolator (splitting up so you then have a Scout transport packed with good guns and a Scout unit of leftover chaff) more often. Also dropping a bit are Zephyrim, and while I don’t think that gets them to the point of being a melee killer unit, having a 10pts cheaper alternative to Seraphim for pure objective play is a useful asset for list tinkering.
Finally, there’s some shuffling around Morvenn Vahl and Warsuits, with Vahl going up 20pts but the Warsuits coming down 30pts. This works out as great news for the Sisters – the Vahl/Warsuit unit is in most lists, so that’s 10 free points, and Paragons at 170 are creeping towards being something you’d take on their own terms.
What’s Next
All things considered, and particularly considering the harder hits to CSM and Aeldari, this looks like good news, with the only question mark for the Sororitas being whether they can deal with the Necron matchup – they struggle with both Wraiths and C’tan.
Adeptus Custodes
Status: Big Winner
Changes
- Aegis of the Emperor now gives you a 4+ Feel No Pain against damage taken from Devastating Wounds
- Custodian Guard -5ppm
- Custodian Wardens -5ppm
- Allarus Custodians -5ppm
- Shield Captain on Dawn-Eagle Jetbike -40ppm
- Vertus Praetors -5ppm
Impact
Curie: Two major changes here – their detachment ability now (again) works against Devastating Wounds, and the point hikes they had applied to their infantry models in the previous dataslate were reverted. The devastating wound change is probably the most impactful – as they effectively take half damage from all sources of dev wounds. The point decreases are nice, but not substantial enough to add more than a single proper Custodes model to a typical list. Where there might be some play is in the now considerably cheaper jetbike captain and vertus praetors as a fast-moving mission play piece.
What’s Next
Lowest of Men: Honestly, it could be a good few months for the golden boys now as they count down towards a full codex. Three of their big meta problems (Eldar, Votann and CSM) have all taken hits, they can now absorb dev wounds again, and they’ve got that bit extra on the board to play the game with. They still have incredible fight phase control and a massive amount of output in close quarters, and builds that use the Caladius also have some really potent ranged threat too. A big determinant of their ceiling will be how they go into new Necrons – Trajann being able to have his way with a C’tan certainly helps, and Guard are going to do pretty horrible things to anything on an objective, but is it enough? We will know soon.
Adeptus Mechanicus
Status: Loser
Changes
- Commentary on disembarking from Reserves is good for Duneriders.
- Commentary on Redeploys is good for Hunter Cohort.
- Literally nothing else
Impact
Wings: One of the flaws with this Dataslate is that it looks like it had to be finalised early enough that Adeptus Mechanicus and Necrons missed the boat. This is bad news for AdMech, because although people have been finding a bit more life in the book than expected, it’s still clearly underpowered and needs a few point cuts. The only point of light is that a couple of rules Commentary bits help the Skitarii Hunter Cohort, which has been one of the better performing options. Still clearly not enough, and hopefully GW are keeping a close eye on them.
Pendulin This hurts. The codex certainly breathed some life into the faction: Dunerider re-rolls, a separate datasheet for Dragoons with Taser Lance that finally make it a compelling option, and some pretty solid detachments for different playstyles. The issue is that those changes can’t prop up a codex full of datasheets that struggle to do anything more substantial than exist on the battlefield, and be a speed bump your opponent has to drive over on their way to the objective. Like we mentioned in yesterday’s Meta analysis – there are some matchups where you just crumble.
Lowering points doesn’t fix this. Cheaper units just mean Admech deploys more speed bumps. Sure, it’s the simplest knob to adjust, but the faction needs more. It’s disappointing to see so many datasheets relegated to the display cabinet because they bring nothing to the table.
Though dropping Belisarius Cawl’s points would be extremely welcome. Please. I’m begging you.
What’s Next
Skitarii Hunter Cohort is still a top-pick for most players. Stealth is a solid ability, and with this detachment you can potentially have it army-wide (though you still want some Kataphron Breachers to actually, you know, kill things). Additionally, the Redeploy changes from the Rules Commentary mean that Hunter Cohort can make use of its Infiltrator abilities while redeploying, which can lead to a powerful board presence at the start of the game. Hunter Cohort has been a solid pick for Admech since the release of the codex, and we expect this to continue into the new metagame. People are also locking on to just how good Duneriders can be now, and this is one of the best places to use them.
There’s an outside chance that Data-psalm or Explorator find something cool to do with Duneriders, and there are some interesting ideas with Cybernetica Cohort. Not so much for the namesake Cybernetica units, but mainly because the detachment stratagems and enhancements interact with all Admech vehicles. There’s also been a strong showing with the new (and improved from the index) Rad-Zone Corps detachment, which may continue to see some play.
Astra Militarum
Status: Loser
Changes
- Manticore +30pts
- Officers can now issue Orders when they either disembark from a Transport or are Set Up.
Impact
Wings: So on the one hand, Guard players have started to find a bit of a groove with some builds that work, in particular using MSU Bullgryn as the glue the army was lacking. On the other hand, the Manticore is one of their best units, and it goes up in price without drops elsewhere.
The only tradeoff is the ability to issue Orders more dynamically, and there certainly is some value there – it gives you scope for, say, putting Tank Commanders in Strategic Reserves, or making use of nasty Scion/Tempestus Command Squad bombs, which is nice, but there definitely needed to be a few 10pts drops scattered around as well.
What’s Next
Scions, probably – this update suggests that GW is really sure that there’s a build there if you can Order them on arrival, so let’s see if guard players can find it. Otherwise, things look relatively rough – yes the top factions got hits, but it seems pretty likely that one or more of the heavily buffed factions will pose a real challenge to Guard.
Black Templars
Status: Neutral-ish
Changes
- +25pts each on Helbrecht and Grimaldus
- Various points increases to Firstborn Crusader squads (+10pts on 5 being the relevant one)
Impact
Wings: Given Templars are up there as the best Marines, seeing some specific changes to them isn’t surprising. Helbrecht and Grimaldus both add just a bit too much oomph for their previous price tags, and you were seeing them in pretty much every build. Honestly, you probably still will, because they’re extremely good models, though of the two Helbrect is probably a bit more cuttable, as he’s “just” a force multiplier/heavy hitter rather than an enabling piece. I’d be pretty astonished if stashing him and Sword Brethren in a Transport wasn’t still a good move for lists doing that, but if you’re ramming loads of Primaris Crusaders onto the table then you might look harder at Judiciars etc. instead.
The other change is an increase to the cost of Firstborn Crusader Squads, where someone has noticed that half a Tactical Squad, but with still all of the upgrades a full squad would get, should probably not only cost 40% of the price. They should also not only cost 47% of the price, and I am unclear what the particular challenge of writing “80pts” next to this unit was, but hey, at least we’re closer.
What’s Next
Taken together with the changes to Space Marines, this relatively light touch basically just cements Templars even harder as the best Marines (unless 30 Wulfen properly pops off, which is somewhat plausible).
Blood Angels
Status: Slight Winner
Changes
- The Red Thirst detachment rule now gives you +2 Strength and +1 Attacks to your melee weapons the turn you charge.
Impact
That’s pretty much it for Blood Angels, who otherwise are looking at the same changes the rest of the Space Marines have to deal with. That said, being able to hit at S6 on the charge with chainswords is pretty solid, but it’s also not enough to make the Red Thirst Detachment worth taking over your other options.
What’s Next
Waiting for Sanguinary Guard to be playable, really. There might be a sicko list out there which runs a buttload of Assault Intercessors planning to drown opponents in volume, but it’s not clear how it’d be better than Black Templars list.
Wings: I do think it’s worth highlighting that Blood Angels are particularly good in the Firestorm Assault Force detachment, and that gets a lift from the clarification that effects like Champion of Humanity bypass Damage Reduction. We recently looked at a list in Competitive Innovations that was using a Rhino with 2×5 Death Company with a Chaplain each as an ersatz version of the Chaos Chosen Rhinos, and adding Champion to one of the Chaplains in that creates an extremely lethal staged unit.
Dark Angels
Status: MIA
The Dark Angels appear to be absent from this update. Their book isn’t on sale yet, so we’re in the incredibly odd position of Games Workshop issuing an update that has to address the points for the current index and not the Codex hitting shelves in four days. We expect them to release new points for Codex: Dark Angels at some point next month (or whenever the standalone book lands), as the current Munitorum Field Manual does not line up with the upcoming codex in terms of the units available.
There actually are some changes here, minor drops to quite a few units, so if you’re running Dark Angels in the interim, enjoy.
Deathwatch
Status: Loser
Changes
- None
Impact
The Deathwatch were pretty much killed by the last dataslate and never recovered. This new update does nothing for them specifically.
What’s Next
Continuing to play your Deathwatch as regular marines in a more competitive detachment.
Grey Knights
Status: Winner
Changes
- Brotherhood Librarian +10pts
- Buffs to Nemesis Dreadknight weaponry
- Kaldor Draigo can use his Charge boost from Teleport Strike.
- Grand Master’s ignoring Damage Reduction is really good.
Impact
Wings: Grey Knights biggest problem is their lack of access to good anti-tank weaponry, and it looks like the planned solution to this is significantly buffing the weaponry of Nemesis Dreadknights. Specifically, the heavy psycannon goes up to AP-2 and gains Ignores Cover, while both beefy melee options see their WS improved by 1 (so 3+ on the hammer, 2+ on the sword). These are definitely good changes – the psycannon moves to being a genuinely potent all-rounder weapon, and the chance of either flavour of Dreadknight just whiffing in a fight goes down significantly, particularly the Grand Master with his re-rolls. The tradeoff for this is that Brotherhood Librarians have received a small points increase.
On top of that, there are a couple of changes in the commentary/errata that are small in size but hefty in impact. First up, is Draigo being able to use One with the Warp from Teleport Strike. This means you can deploy his unit on-board and threaten a turn one assault if you go second, and lose nothing if you go first. Draigo is in most real lists, and this adds to their already formidable early threat projection, so provides a nice general improvement. Second, Grand Masters handing out Ignore Modifiers is now extremely real, and makes a big squad of Paladins a severe threat to things like C’tan.
What’s Next?
The question is basically whether the Dreadknights are now good enough to make it into lists reliably – I think the answer is probably, but this is one of those slightly risky changes where the buffs to a weak faction are landing on units that are currently seeing fringe play at best. Sometimes those work out, and were I a Grey Knights player I’d certainly be lining up lists with one of each Dreadknight flavour to test, but sometimes they don’t.
Even without that, Grey Knights should probably see a bump in success. Army-wide 2+ and access to ignoring Damage Reduction is extremely good into the presumptive heirs to the metagame throne, and fewer Night Spinners should make the 2W Marines more viable. The only curveball they might face is if Custodes soar up the rankings – Grey Knights can find themselves outmatched on the melee front in that game, making it tough to use their output to full effect.
Imperial Knights
Status: Big Winner
Changes
- Big Knights down 25-40 pts (more for the Asterius).
- Helverins and Moiraxes down 10pts.
- Lay Low the Tyrant improved to allow a re-roll of one hit and one wound roll, instead of only rolls of 1. Watch out 2s, your days are numbered.
Impact
Wings: So points wise the changes to Imperial Knights are pretty much the same as those for their Chaos brethren, but they’re much better placed to take advantage of it, especially with the improvement to one of their Army Rule options (which you were already taking 95% of the time, now it’s a clear 100%). The support that Imperial Knights provide to bigs is superior to what Chaos has, and the existence of Bondsman abilities incentivises mixing larger Knights and Armigers.They also have Canis Rex, who is Just Better than any other big knight at the same price, loves the improved re-rolls and benefits from the Rules Commentary change that makes Command Re-roll explicitly target the unit using it, so it’s eligible for his free Stratagem use.
Taking that together with hits to Aeldari and the shooting of Chaos Space Marines, it feels like there’s a real chance for Imperial Knights to make a splash. As a starter for 10, Canis, Crusader and lots of Armigers still feels good, and the points being back to a spot where you could add a third (Errants love the new re-rolls, Paladins look appealing) and still have the points for four Armigers and the Enhancements you want feels very interesting. There’s also scope to build around a Valiant, as Mysterious Guardian is excellent on them, and maybe play in exploring Moiraxes with a claw/beamer setup, as the re-rolls are particularly good for that exact combo. Finally, I do think there’s an outside chance that the really big Forge World Knights are good now – they’re nightmarishly tough to put down at range, and without needing to worry about riding the Wraithguard train to explosion town, they’re obviously more appealing. Good news for Imperial Knights all-round, and I think they’re one of the most improved factions out of this.
What’s Next
TheChirurgeon: Expect to see a resurgence for knights, probably running three bigs and four armigers.
Space Marines
Status: Loser
Changes
- Aggressors +10pts/3
- Centurion Devastators +10pts/3
- Inceptors +20pts/3
- Redemptors +10pts
- Scouts +10pts/5
- Whirlwind +35pts
- Assault Intercessors -5pts/5
- Heavy Intercessors -5pts/5
- Infernus Squad -5pts/5
- Intercessors -5pts/5
- Outriders -15pts/3
- Roboute Guilliman -10pts
- Sternguard -10pts/5
- Champion of Humanity in Firestorm gets way better.
Impact
Wings: Space Marines once again suffer the curse of being a very broad faction here – the best non-Templar Marine build (the Vanguard Ultramarine list) did legitimately need tuning down, and sure enough the units it deployed get a hit here. Unfortunately, these are also just the best Marine units, so less pushed build suffer too. I think it would have been better to go for smaller changes on some of the units that get hit here and put some of the tax on Marneus Calgar and Uriel Ventris instead. Whirlwinds also get hit with a big hammer like most other Indirect, and I think there’s a decent chance you see people using one squad of Desolation Marines again – one of their problems is that they lose a shoot-out with vehicular indirect platforms, so with all those getting worse, they’re a maybe.
The buffs are fine, but don’t do anywhere near enough to counterbalance the changes for most Marine builds. Outriders is the only one where it’s big enough to potentially make serious changes to some calculations – running six-model units with the new Ravenwing Command Squad already looked plausible, this is obviously even better. There are some Firestorm Assault Force lists making good use of a full Infernus unit with Vulkan as well, and those get a bump, particularly as Champion of Humanity is now a fairly premium. I could certainly see trying a Devastator Squad with a Librarian, or perhaps Bladeguard with a Judiciar or Lieutenant, especially as the detachment supports those units pretty effectively anyway. The Ultramarine Vanguard list does remain pretty good still despite everything – you probably have to drop a unit, but it’s a really strong army right now so it can probably take it, especially as it can sweep Necrons pretty effectively.
What’s Next?
Vanguard Ultramarines or Firestorm Salamanders are still your two main reasons not to dip into a non-Codex chapter. Ironstorm gets relegated to just a gatekeeper list, while I think the hits on the units are probably enough to push the Shrike Vanguard builds out.
Space Wolves
Status: Winner
Changes
- Sagas are now activated at the end of each player turn, not the end of the battle round
- Wulfen thunder hammers go up to S6, 2 damage
- Wolf Guard Pack Leaders now have the correct number of attacks
Impact
TheChirurgeon: The Space Wolves get a small number of interesting buffs which have some interesting effects. The Detachment is now more interesting, but still not worth taking over some of your other options, but the Wulfen are now much more viable with their buffed profiles. Sure, they’re still only AP-1 but the increased wound probability and damage makes them legitimately spicy.
Wings: Yeah Rob is spot on here – it’s nice that the detachment gets better, but it still makes you jump through lots of hoops to get bonuses that other Marines can just have.
What’s Next
Wulfen are only 80 points for a unit which suddenly got way deadlier, are pretty fast, and in the right detachments can advance and charge. That’s enough for some sickos to build around them in what’s otherwise a melee-focused Space Marines list.
Wings: I fully expect to see a 30 Wulfen list on my desk in the not too distant future.
Wrap Up
That wraps up our look at the Imperium factions, but there’s a ton more going on with this update. If you missed any of our other articles, it’s worth heading back to the home page to check them out, and we’ll be covering the other faction groups in other articles as well. Over the next few weeks we’ll also be doing deeper dives into these factions and updating our Faction Focus series to incorporate these changes, so stay tuned for that.
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