It’s Balance Dataslate time once more, bringing joy/terror to 40K players worldwide, and sowing the seeds of a whole new metagame. As always, we’re unpacking the changes and the impact across the game’s factions, and in this article we’ll be covering the Chaos factions. That means Chaos Daemons, Chaos Knights, Chaos Space Marines, and the four cult armies – Death Guard, Emperor’s Children, Thousand Sons, and WOrld Eaters.
The rest of our regular Dataslate coverage can be found at the links below:
This time around there are also four new Detachments and an Index update, giving three factions that have had their Codexes for a while some new toys, and unleashing a whole raft of changes and a new Be’lakor-themed detachment for Daemons. These can be found below.
- Index Chaos Daemons 2.0: The Goonhammer Review
- Detachment Focus: Shadow Legion (Chaos Daemons)
- Detachment Focus: More Dakka! (Orks)
- Detachment Focus: Lions of the Emperor (Adeptus Custodes)
- Detachment Focus: Experimental Prototype Cadre (T’au)
Thanks to Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of the Balance Dataslate and associated content.
Chaos Daemons
Mike P: Chaos Daemons had one of the most complete rebalances we’ve seen in the middle of an edition, getting a suite of datasheet changes alongside an entirely new Detachment, the removal of some datasheets, and some heavy nerfs to their best-performing Detachment.
Points Changes
- All Slaanesh Chariots completely removed from the game
- Karanak completely removed from the game
- Be’lakor +50 to 375
- Contorted Epitome +20 to 100
- Fiends +5/10 to 110/220
- Flamers -10/20 to 65/130
- Flesh Hounds +5/10 to 75/150
- Great Unclean One +20 to 250 (Endless Gift also goes up +15 to 45)
- Nurglings -5/10/15 to 35/60/90
- Rotigus +20 to 250
- Screamers -5/10 to 80/160
- Shalaxi -45 to 380
- The Masque +10 to 95
Rules Changes
- They’ve added an entirely new Detachment, and one that Daemons players (including myself) have been waiting all edition for. Read about it here.
- Slaanesh Daemon datasheets brought in line with Emperor’s Children Slaanesh Daemon datasheets, meaning mostly nerfed.
- Legion of Excess’s Thieves Of Pain stratagem doesn’t protect Soul Grinders anymore, and now is only 9” range and requires visibility.
- Legion of Excess’s Overwhelming Excess stratagem is now just a flat -1 to Hit in the Shooting or Fight Phase.
- Legion of Excess’s detachment rule only gives reroll 1’s to hit and wound (full hit rerolls in Shadow Of Chaos).
- Kairos CP generation is now a command phase leadership check.
- Buffs to some datasheets, especially Belakor, Great Unclean Ones, Skarbrand, Flesh Hounds and Beasts of Nurgle.
- The Screamers on Fateskimmers/Burning Chariots are now fixed to match Screamers from the last update.
Impact
Significant Loser if you play Slaanesh; Significant Winner for everyone else.
Thoughts
Mike Pestilens: Legion of Excess got absolutely hammered in one of the harshest combo nerfs we have seen in all of tenth edition. Much of it is justified. But the combination of Slaanesh datasheet nerfs from being brought in line with the Emperor’s Children datasheets, a nerf to the Legion of Excess detachment rule, and a nerf to the two key Legion of Excess stratagems means that the power of Slaanesh just dropped many tiers. I wouldn’t say the Detachment is dead, but it’s back to being a very niche army. It’s also extremely frustrating that GW just removed all of the Slaanesh Chariot datasheets from the game. I’ll keep it short here to avoid ranting, but these were extremely cool models that people had put a ton of hobby love into, and it’s disappointing to see them just entirely removed. The same applies to Karanak getting removed, albeit to a lesser extent. I also don’t really understand the Slaanesh points in the context of the rules nerfs. Keepers of Secrets lose a 5+++ Feel-No-Pain and go down just 10 points? Fiends get several rules nerfs and still go up in points? Alright.
Every other God and Undivided player was given huge reason to celebrate. The new Shadow Legion provides an extremely versatile way for Daemons (and Chaos Space Marine soup) players to play their army. It looks both fun and powerful, and Daemons players will have a lot of fun exploring all of the new combos.
The list of datasheet tweaks is too long to cover – we go into full detail in our review of the new Index here – but I’ll hit the key points here: Be’lakor’s datasheet got heavily buffed, justifying his +50 point cost. +1 Toughness and +1 Save and extra wounds will help him feel less fragile, and he now hits harder in melee. He kept his 18” unshootable aura, but his two other aura options are really good too.
Plenty of other datasheets also got buffed or reworked. Nurgle Daemons players will be happy to see Great Unclean Ones now have a +1 Toughness aura instead of the 6+++ aura and still kept their own Feel-No-Pain, meaning they are always T13 with a 6+++ Feel-No-Pain and can help friends like Plaguebearers, Rotigus, and Beasts hit key Toughness breakpoints. Rotigus innately has a 6+++ Feel-No-Pain now, justifying the slight point increase. Beasts of Nurgle now Scout 6”, helping Nurgle players grab objectives early. Flesh Hounds now can innately teleport at the end of the opponent’s turn. Kairos’s CP generation is now a leadership check in your Command Phase, keeping it more consistent over the course of the game. Skarbrand gained +2” movement and can always advance and charge, massively helping him reach combat to deliver his high damage attacks. In the one positive note for Slaanesh players, Seekers (along with every Daemonette support character besides Syll’Esske) gained Fights First.
I send condolences to any Slaanesh players for many, many reasons, but there’s a lot of stuff for Daemon players to be excited about too.
TheChirurgeon: Having just had to play two games at Clutch against Legions of Excess, all I can say is “good riddance” to that bullshit. I am merrily tapdancing on their grave. That said, it is a bit much, and basically combines with the datasheet updates to make mono-Slaanesh unplayable.
Everything else here, though? It’s all amazing. Nurglings may have lost their 6” aura but now affect all non-TITANIC units within engagement range, and I’ll take that tradeoff with the 5-point drop. They’re also insanely good in the new Shadow Legion detachment, where getting -1 to wound against most of the game’s attacks means they’ve become the ultimate speed bump. I’m generally very excited about the new Detachment – there’s a ton of cool stuff in there and the general power buffs to Khorne and Tzeentch units in particular are bonkers good, while the Chaos Marine units help the army shore up its biggest challenges by giving it access to the kinds of cheap MSU units it was missing.
Wings: I’ll chip in here and say that I think Nurgle Daemons are incredibly strong now. We’ve got a healthy number of players in the UK who have been making them work as both Daemonic Incursion and Plague Legion, and having faced them on the battlefield these buffs seem wild. They’re among my picks for the top faction after this, especially because you can sneak some Flesh Hounds in to take pressure off your Stratagems for scoring in Incursion, or add some much needed uppy-downy in Plague Legion.
Chaos Knights
Chaos Knights got some slight buffs, and can feel better about running a wider range of datasheets.
Points Changes
- Knight Desecrators -10
- Knight Despoilers -15
- Knight Tyrants -30
Rules Changes
- None directly, but buffs to their most commonly allied Daemon units.
Impact
Slight Winner
Thoughts
Mike P: Chaos Knights players should feel good about this update. The slight buffs to Desecrators and Despoilers will make it a bit easier to justify running them over War Dogs in your lists. I’m also very intrigued by the 30 point buffs to Knight Tyrants. Notably, this gets them under 500 points, meaning you can bring them in from Strategic Reserves. Despoilers and Tyrants get big buffs in the Fiefdom Detachment, so this update might encourage players to try it out if they haven’t already.
Norman: I’m a little more cool on the Desecrator and Despoiler drops, mostly because 10-15 points don’t change my list building a ton. That said the Tyrant dropping 30 is massive for making a really fun model less of an albatross to put on the table. I hope we’ll see it pop up in a few more lists but if nothing else I think this is massive for casual players looking to slam their biggest toys on the table.
More than anything else though, the daemon changes are a massive buff to the Chaos Knights gameplan. Flesh Hounds specifically are probably gonna end up becoming a staple in a lot of lists since we finally have access to an uppy downy unit. The only downside here is the need to take bloodletters, but those just become your home objective holders and they move 8” now, allowing them to get where they need to in a pinch. Nurglings getting cheaper is also nifty since they’re that much easier to squeeze into a list, and even with their rules change they still have a ton of value.
Chaos Space Marines
Chaos Space Marines largely stayed in place, which we’re perfectly fine with.
Points Changes
- Predator Annihilators +5
- Forgefiends -10
- Lord Discordants -15
Rules Changes
- None directly, but buffs to their most commonly allied Daemon units.
Impact
Neutral
Thoughts
Mike P: Very little changed for Chaos Space Marines. This is completely fine. We’re a strong army whose performance in a skilled player’s hands is slightly hidden behind a mediocre winrate. If I can get greedy, I would have liked GW to take more of a look at buffing Dread Talons (Night Lords fans have legitimate gripes this edition, as in most editions). I would have also preferred GW to take another look at the DiscoLord and Heldrake datasheets. But broadly speaking, CSM players can’t complain, and they remain strong and very fun to play.
TheChirurgeon: These changes are absolutely fine. Forgefiends back to 180 means there will be an opportunity to explore them again as 2- and 3-ofs in Veterans of the Long War, Pactbound Zealots, and Soulforged Pack lists, and I think that’s a good thing. A 15-point drop will still not help the Lord Discordant, who desperately needs to be a VEHICLE to have any chance at viability.
Death Guard
Death Guard largely stood still, which makes sense as they are in a very solid place.
Points Changes
- Predator Annihilator +5
- Predator Destructor +10
- Myphitic Blight Haulers -5/10/15
Rules Changes
- None directly, but buffs to Rotigus and Beasts and GUO’s helps indirectly
- Nurgling -1 to Hit in melee rule not being an aura indirectly nerfs DG debuff stacking
Impact
Neutral
Thoughts
Mike P: Death Guard continue to slowly trundle along as a solid army with basically no points changes or rules changes to them directly. If you were running a combination of Predators and Myphitic Blight Haulers and Nurglings, your list largely stayed the same in points. Death Guard have solid matchups into some of the game’s stronger armies now, meaning them are both a solid competitive choice and continue to be very thematic and fun.
I continue to hold out hope that GW realizes Plague Marines and Blightlord Terminators basically don’t have datasheet rules and gives them rules tweaks, but at this point it seems Death Guard are holding tight until they get a codex. That’s completely fine.
TheChirurgeon: Plague Marines do have a datasheet rule and I used it last event when I was trying to avoid failing Battle-shock tests against Legion of Excess. But I’ll argue that they straight-up don’t need one as the unit is one of the game’s best steals at 90 points. Blight-Haulers at 85 is cute, and if you’re taking three it’s nice to get 15 points back. Those will probably be used to cover the increase in your Predator costs.
Thousand Sons
Thousand Sons will have a bit more list variety now, but are still sitting firmly in the codex waiting room.
Points Changes
- Mutalith Vortex Beast +5
- Scarab Occult Terminators -10/20
- Predator Annihilator +5
- Predator Destructor +10
- Vindicator +10
- Terminator Sorcerer -10
- Cultists -10 if running a unit of 20, same cost for a unit of 10
- Tzaangor Enlightened -10 if running a unit of 6, same cost for a unit of 3
- Tzaangors -10 if running a unit of 20, same cost for a unit of 10
Rules Changes
- None
Impact
Slight Winner
Thoughts
Mike P: The main thing Thousand Sons have been lacking for a long time is variety in their lists and playstyle. With this update, Thousand Sons get a little bit of breathing room. The discounts to Terminators and their Terminator Sorcerers are especially intriguing. Large units of Cultists, Tzaangors, and Tzaangor Enlightened getting cheaper means Thousand Sons players also have more of a reason to experiment with chaff heavy playstyles. The nerfs to tanks doesn’t make much sense in the context of Thousand Sons specifically, but it’s a game-wide nerf to those datasheets so it makes a bit of sense.
Largely speaking, Thousand Sons lists will continue to look very similar. That is unlikely until they get a codex and GW has a more thorough opportunity to reevaluate how they want the army to look and play.
TheChirurgeon: The ongoing experiment to drop Scarabs until a 10-model brick is competitive continues. And god help me, they might have finally hit it. 360 for 10 Scarabs + 105 for the Term Sorcerer + the Umbralefic Crystal now runs you shy of 500 points, and that’s the biggest win in this update. Shaving 30 points off the army basically helps make my list from 2024 legal again, and that wasn’t exactly a strong option competitively. It may be that other armies have dropped to the point at which that list is better… but I doubt it.
World Eaters
While not much changes for the angriest army out there, their fans were given a few things to smile about.
Points Changes
- Daemon Princes -15
- Winged Daemon Princes -15
- Lord on Juggernaut -20
- Predator Annihilator +5
- Predator Destructor +10
Rules Changes
- None
Impact
Slight Winner
Thoughts
Mike P: World Eaters were in a solid spot, and some serious drops to both types of Daemon Princes and JuggerLords means they have some interesting character options to consider. Winged Daemon Princes are especially intriguing, as 155 starts to feel quite cheap for providing flat 3 damage and Fly access in an army that is mostly groundbound 1 or 2 damage models. Vessels in particular has some very potent enhancements they can put on Winged Daemon Princes, and this update slightly encourages players to try that detachment out. The Predators going up a tiny bit is a bit lazy, but frankly most World Eater players just want to go fast and punch their opponents with cool melee units. This update is either neutral or beneficial to your gameplan, depending on just how much you value Daemon Princes and JuggerLords in your personal list.
TheChirurgeon: Someone finally freed the Daemon Prince options from whatever jail they were in. The Juggalord was only ever an option as a cheap “paint the objective red on death” unit so it’s good to see him come back down. It’s really hard generally for World Eaters point drops to matter as they have so few units and options that if they’re running 1,970-point lists and you free up 20 more for them there’s still little they can do with it as they don’t have any units which costs less than 70 points.
Wrap Up
On the whole, Chaos factions got a lot of help this time around. At the very least, none of these factions is outright worse, and I’d argue that Daemons are on the whole better even if Legions of Excess took a massive hit.
That’s it for the Chaos factions, but there’s plenty more to unpack across the game, so make sure you check out the rest of our coverage, which you can find linked from the top of the page or from the Overview.
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