In a surprise move, Games Workshop have released a bonus Grotmas balance dataslate and updated Munitorum Field Manual. After a relatively quiet update back in October, this dataslate brings much more significant changes all across the game, with multiple factions getting major revisions. It’s an exciting time for Warhammer 40,000 – in this article we’ll look at the impact of the combined dataslate and MFM changes to the forces of Chaos. You can find our coverage of the other factions on the links below:
Thanks to Games Workshop for providing us with a review copy of these updates.
Edit: We did not receive review copies of the errata/FAQ changes that were published alongside the Balance Dataslate and Munitorum Field Manual. We will update these articles as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience.
Chaos Daemons
Chaos Daemons were in a decent spot coming into the end of the year. StatCheck had them sitting at a 53% win rate at GT-sized events, with a fair amount of variety in their builds – it turns out that you don’t actually need to have the 4+ FNP Great Unclean One in every single list, and Greater Daemons of all varieties have play. That said, there were a few areas Daemons players wanted to see some changes, mostly to see more viability among lesser Daemons and making units like Daemonettes and Bloodletters feel like key parts of the army. This update is a mixed bag for Daemons, but generally they emerge as slight winners.
Points Changes
- Bloodletters -10 points
- Screamers +10 points for 3/+20 for 6
That’s a very light touch for a faction taking a bigger adjustment in the rules changes. Bloodletters are probably still too expensive, but we’ll take it. The Screamers increase is surprising until you see their profile upgrade, and then you’re more than happy to pay it. Screamers were already a sneaky good unit and having WS 3+ is a big help.
Rules Changes
- No more Deep Strikes inside of 6” more or less ruins the Denizens of the Warp Stratagem
- Screamers’ Lamprey Bite is now WS 3+ and have ANTI-MONSTER 4+, ANTI-VEHICLE 4+
Screamers get a big upgrade here, and it’s well worth the points for a unit that was already pretty damn good. The Deep Strike adjustment is on par with changes to every other faction and makes the Denizens of the Warp Stratagem pretty useless considering you can already get 6” deep strikes from your Shadow of Chaos (and without a limitation on charges). That said, it still has some use for those times you need to drop something in your opponent’s deployment zone.
Impact
Overall Status: Slight Winner
Thoughts
TheChirurgeon: Daemons could largely win here by standing still, though I think they emerge slightly ahead thanks to some improvements to Screamers and Bloodletters. They’ll likely suffer a bit with Space Marines improving, but the deep strike changes don’t hurt them nearly as much as some other armies.
Mike P: I’m fine with this update. Screamers being able to punch up helps them serve as more than just mere mission play units, and Bloodletters getting a tiny points drop helps them see more play. They were already quite solid when supported.
Now the most important thing for Daemons players to do is wait and see what happens with their four Grotmas detachments, because the shakeups they get there will likely be far more important than these small touches here.
Chaos Knights
Points Changes
- War Dog Executioner -10 points
- War Dog Huntsman -5 points
- War Dog Stalker -5 points
- Lord of Dread Enhancement -10 points
Rules Changes
The army rule has been changed to allow Doom and Darkness to be active all game, not just from round three onward. This means your army rule will be relevant 2-3 times a game instead of 1-2. Traitor’s Mark changes to forcing a battleshock test in the movement phase within 12”. This is mostly because the old rule just gave you what the army ability does now, but it’s a solid ability (not more solid than sticky objectives though).
Impact
Overall Status: Winner
Thoughts
MildNorman: These are some great changes to Chaos Knights. On the points side of things, you can now comfortably run 14 dogs if you run some executioners instead of some brigands. This is interesting but ultimately I think 13 dogs still wins out, with the whole army hitting on 2s. With the points reduction on the stalker, you’ll have room to test out the new Traitor’s Mark in the 13 dog list if you find yourself not needing a sticky stalker. I wish bigs got some love in this update, though. The 13 dog list didn’t need any help, it’s a really strong list with great utility. Meanwhile there’s less and less of a reason to bring a big in the index detachment.
On the rules side, the change to the army rule is a nice step in the right direction, I don’t think it fully fixes it. You still need Battle-shock to go off for anything to matter and with almost everything in the game making that test on a 7+ (even with the -1 thanks to leaders) they’re more likely to pass than fail it. The change to Traitor’s Mark may be what the army needs to get there, though: having extra Battle-shock tests is exactly what the army needs.
Chaos Space Marines
Points Changes
- Chaos Bikers: -10 Points to 130, only for the larger unit size (six models)
Rules Changes
- Stratagems which worsen AP: Now only last until the end of the activation
- Predator Annihilators: Re-roll all damage rolls against Monsters and Vehicles
- Screaming Descent in the Dread Talons Detachment now only allows your unit to be set up more than 6” away, but the battle-shock target can now be 9” away
Impact
Status: Slight Winner
Thoughts
Mike P: This will sound snarky, but I promise it’s not: I’m genuinely impressed that GW not only remembered Dread Talons exist and had a 3” deepstrike stratagem, but that they also changed the battle-shock target to an enemy within 9” instead of 6” so it still functioned with the change to being set up 6” away. Well done! Hopefully this means Dread Talons get a closer look for other updates in the future.
The points change to Bikers is pretty meaningless, but a nice reflection of the fact Bikers can’t take additional weapons like Power Fists when they double their squad size. The change I’m actually excited for is the buff to Predator Annihilators. CSM struggled to find any anti-tank weapons with longer than 24” range. Predator Annihilators getting full damage re-rolls vs Monsters/Vehicles means you’ll actually consider running them, rather than just sticking Lascannon sponsons onto your Predator Destructors. Getting a rules buff without a points increase means they are legitimately an interesting option at 130 points.
The game-wide -1 AP stratagem nerf is a net benefit for CSM. Two of our best detachments (Veterans and Raiders) had stratagems like that which will be nerfed, but on the flip-side CSM have a lot of medium AP damage that will only get better. If you weren’t playing Veterans or Raiders this is a pure buff, and even if you played those two detachments you are still feeling okay about this change.
TheChirurgeon: It’s a mixed back for Raiders and Veterans, even – you get more value out of your offensive boosts, but at the cost of your own AP reduction. You can generally find other things to spend your CP on if you’re really looking. Chaos Space Marines are another detachment where we’re largely left to wonder if not changing means they’re in a better place or a worse one. And yeah, I think they’re slightly better off, since the 3” deep strike abilities were a bigger pain for them than their opponents.
Death Guard
The Death Guard have been doing pretty well in Pariah Nexus, riding some relatively cheap Plague Marine units and the flexibility of contagions to one of the game’s higher win rates. They can be run effectively a number of different ways, from infantry-heavy builds relying on Plague Marines and Deathshroud to vehicle-heavy builds, and builds incorporating Mortarion or Chaos Knight allies. They still have clear weaknesses and aren’t dominating by any stretch, but they’re also just a very solid faction.
Points Changes
- None
Rules Changes
- Mortarion gains the Deepstrike ability
- Predator Annihilators: Re-roll all damage rolls versus Monsters and Vehicles
Mortarion has inexplicably been without Deep Strike all edition, and this shores up one of his big missing abilities. The Predator change opens up opportunities for them to return to Death Guard lists.
Impact
Status: Slight Winner
Thoughts
Mike P: Mortarion gaining Deep Strike is pretty meaningless, although I’m sure there will be some fun casual games where someone deepstrikes Mortarion behind the opponent’s army and things get really wild.
Predator Annihilators gaining the re-roll any damage rolls buff is interesting, but likely not a big deal. In the Flyblown Host DG players are largely eschewing tanks entirely, but in the index detachment you could start to see Predator Annihilators replacing Predator Destructors/Brigands as shooting options depending on the exact list.
TheChirurgeon: I’ll disagree with you there – Deep Strike on Mortarion is a big deal in any game where you want to start him off the table in Reserves. Since the change to Indirect that’s been a much larger number of games, as he’s no longer really providing a ton of turn 1 value on ranged attacks. This change means he can now drop in on your opponent’s turn via Rapid Ingress and make a charge, or just drop in to provide aura support on turn 2 without being in a position to be shot on turn 1. He may not be TITANIC, but it can still be difficult to hide him fully on tables without putting him in a spot that he has to spend two turns moving out of. You aren’t going to plan on Deep Striking Mortarion all the time, but it’s important to have it as an option.
The change to Annihilators is a big buff, and they used to show up a lot more as one- or two-offs in Death Guard lists back in the dark times of Wraithknights and overwatching TITANIC units, but the meta shift toward heavy infantry threats has seen them take a back seat to Destructors, which piggyback off -1 to saves to become pretty deadly threats.
These changes do absolutely nothing for Flyblown Host armies, and the Death Guard largely sit still in this update. The good news is they have to worry less about 3” deep strikes, but the changes to marines mean that standing still isn’t necessarily a good thing. That said, Astra Militarum armies taking a hit is good for them, and they net out slightly ahead. We didn’t mention it above but the change to Stratagems that worsen AP is also good for Death Guard, as they have a lot of AP-1 attacks and don’t have an Armour of Contempt of their own.
Thousand Sons
The Thousand Sons got hit hard in the last balance update, and since then have fallen considerably in power – though they’ve still managed to make the podium many times since, even running multiple Mutalith Vortex Beasts. They still have a ton of damage output, and while their Grotmas Detachment, the Hexwarp Thrallband, was pretty bad, the Cult of Magic is still absolute fire and available for use. The Thousand Sons are a faction who could win in this update by staying put.
Points Changes
- No Changes
Everything stays exactly the same. You can argue this isn’t flavorful for the army dedicated to the Changer of Ways but it’s a good thing this time around.
Rules Changes
- Predator Annihilator: Now re-rolls damage rolls against MONSTER and VEHICLE units
This is a bigger deal for other factions – it’s nice enough to have, but Predators don’t see much play because they don’t give you Cabal points. That said, Thousand Sons can struggle with lists that are heavy on vehicles and this might provide a relatively cheap answer.
Impact
Status: Slight Winner
Thoughts
TheChirurgeon: The Thousand Sons win here by staying put. Nothing got more expensive, they don’t have an AP reduction Stratagem or the ability to Deep Strike within 3”, and nerfs to the Astra Militarum are just great news for a faction that can struggle with its combination of deep-striking Aquilons and multiple tanks outfitted with Rubric-smashing guns. Buffs to Knights and Chaos Knights aren’t necessarily great news, and Marines getting better could be a concern, but it’s hard to feel like the Thousand Sons lost this time around. And at 130 points apiece, it may be worth considering an Annihilator or two for handling vehicle targets.
World Eaters
The World Eaters are a tough faction to balance. They tend to be pretty one-dimensional in terms of what they do, even if they have multiple builds for doing it, and as a result, a lot of their performance will be based on trends around enemy factions and the amount of table/staging areas available on tournament tables. They’ve been sitting pretty comfortably in the middle of the pack since the last balance update.
Points Changes
- No Changes
Rules Changes
- World Eaters Daemon Prince, Infernal Fortitude: This now only grants a 4+ invulnerable save if you already had a 5+ invulnerable save.
- World Eaters Predator Annihilator: Now re-rolls all damage rolls against MONSTER and VEHICLE targets
This first change closes a loophole which allowed Jakhals to gain a 4+ invulnerable save by using the Go to Ground Stratagem, which would give them a 6+. The second change is the same we’ve seen for the Annihilator across every marines faction. It means the least here, where World Eaters just aren’t super interested in taking tanks for ranged damage output.
Impact
Status: Slight Loser
Thoughts
TheChirurgeon: Someone over at the GW rules studio really, really hates Jakhals and playing against them and a Daemon Prince because they keep handing out nerfs specifically aimed at changing this. Which is hilarious because I went back and looked at every single top 4 World Eaters list from GTs played after October 1st, 2024 and not a single one of them had a World Eaters Daemon Prince (one had a Winged DP, but he has a different ability). The amount of petty spite it takes to nerf something no one is using that can happen at most once per turn with the use of a specific Stratagem is pretty wild.
Anyways, a nerf is still a nerf, and with no other changes, I have to say that the World Eaters caught the slightest of nerfs this time around, even if this particular thing isn’t part of top list tech.
Final Thoughts
It was a pretty quiet update for Chaos this time around, all things considered. That’s not terrible for some factions – Thousand Sons players have to be feeling a bit of relief they went untouched this time around, and Rubrics staying put is good for Chaos Space Marines players. But it’s hard to shake the thought that space marines got some major buffs and that may make standing still more of a net negative than it normally is. At least, it will certainly feel that way because well, those guys are incredibly lame.
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