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 the Imperium. 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.
Adepta Sororitas
Points Changes
- Castigator +10pts
- Exorcist +20pts
Rules Changes
- Major changes to the army rule to reduce Miracle Dice generation:
- You gain one dice per Battle Round instead of per turn.
- You can only gain one dice for a unit being destroyed per phase, and it happens at the end of the phase.
- Triumph of St. Katherine sets your Battle Round dice to a 6 instead of giving you an extra 6.
- The Bringers of Flame Detachment gets several nerfs:
- Increased Strength on ranged attacks from the detachment rule now applies within 6” instead of 12”.
- Blazing Ire changes to 2CP.
- Cleansing Flames changes to 2CP.
- Rites of Fire now works within 6” instead of 12”.
- Shield of Aversion gets the general Armour of Contempt nerf.
- Activating the Penitent Host detachment ability is now optional, so you no longer have to use up all three Vows in the first three rounds.
Impact
Status: Major Loser
Thoughts
Ouch. Sisters get a second tap after their hit in the last Dataslate, aimed squarely at the two best builds. Bringers of Flame hull spam gets a variety of points and rules hits, while Army of Faith is heavily constrained by the changes to Miracle Dice generation. The only point of upside is an improvement to the Penitent Host detachment that makes it more flexible, and the hits elsewhere are vicious enough that people will probably at least re-test that detachment.
This is too much – the Bringers of Flame hull spam build wasn’t particularly fun, but even just the point changes might have been enough to deal with that given that it was no longer terrorizing the meta after the last round of nerfs. This, instead, is a full spectrum stomping, and will definitely kick Sororitas out of the top tiers. Either this should have been less brutal, or should have come with meaningful point reductions on Infantry, as the Miracle Dice changes are substantial enough that reverting the previous changes there would have been reasonable.
The (admittedly small) silver lining here is that this will provide future opportunities for build diversity, and we may finally see a role for datasheets that interact favorably with the Miracle Dice economy like Aestred Thurga or Retributors if points are suitably adjusted. In the meantime expect both the Sisters win-rate and play-rate to fall as the faithful persevere through a few months of penance while the less-committed experiment with the sea-change in other factions.
Adeptus Custodes
Points Changes
- Shield Captain on Dawneagle +20pts
- Vertus Praetors +5pts/model
This may seem absurd buuuut…
Rules Changes
- Shield Captain on Dawneagle goes to T7/8W.
- Vertus Praetors go to T7/5W.
- Salvo Launchers go to S10, AP-3, Damage d6+1 and gain Twin Linked.
- Jetbike bolters go to AP-1, D2.
- Quicksilver Execution can be triggered on a Normal Move, not just an Advance.
Impact
Status: Winner
Thoughts
Jetbikes are back!
It is truly a mark of how hard done by Custodes were by their Codex that, even as a veteran of 8th and 9th, I’m happy to see Bikes be good again. Custodes desperately needed these to be a real unit to stop their roster being one dimensional (especially players without Forge World stuff), and this looks like a very credible attempt to do so. The new salvo launcher profile returns these to being credible anti-tank threats, but the bolter is also now a real choice as well, ideal for menacing random Marines or putting some chip damage into larger targets (thanks to them already being Twin-Linked). Letting Quicksilver Execution trigger on a Normal Move is also great for setting up a go turn or handling Damage Reduction targets. Finally, 5W rather than 4W is critical for making these survivable enough to actually do something. Expect to see one unit of these popping back up in plenty of lists, and at least some experimentation with more.
Adeptus Mechanicus
Points Changes
- Kastellan Robots -10/20pts
Rules Changes
N/A
Impact
Status: Mild Winner
Thoughts
Adeptus Mechanicus mostly sit still, with their only change here being a small reduction on the cost of Kastellans. That’s fine though, and leaves them in a nice spot – they were fine pre-Dataslate, the top armies get hit, and that unit of Kastellans you might consider taking in Haloscreed is cheaper now (even if Hunter Cohort is still probably just better). No real complaints, and options opened up a bit via one unit getting pushed and an additional meaningful detachment to play with.
Agents of the Imperium
Points Changes
- Allied Vindicare Assassin -25pts
Rules Changes
- Etheric Emergence on the Culexus only works in your Movement Phase (and gets the general change to 6”).
Impact
Status: Mild Winner, maybe?
Thoughts
Look, Agents would need a Space Marine level review to make all their stuff viable, but at least the best factions drop off a bit, and the Veiled Blade Elimination Force gives you a second actual Agents Detachment you might consider running. Fundamentally, you’re still playing them to do something unique rather than the best possible plan, but you have slightly more valid ways of doing that. Also worth noting that the discounts on Armigers are particularly helpful for Imperial Agents, as taking them as Freeblades can help mitigate some of their weaknesses.
Astra Militarum
Points Changes
- Cadian Shock Troops +5pts/+0pts
- Catachan Jungle Fighters +10pts/+10pts
- Chimera +15pts
- Gaunt’s Ghosts +10pts
- Hellhound +10pts
- Solar Leontus +25pts
- Ogryns +0pts/+10pts
- Tempestus Aquilons +20pts
- Tempestus Scions +10pts/+20pts
Rules Changes
- Aquilons can only do a Precision Drop in your turn, and it’s now 6” rather than 3”.
- Lord Solar can only order Regiment and Squadron units, which meaningfully excludes Ogryn, Bullgryn, Planes, and Super Heavies.
Impact
Status: Major Loser
Thoughts
Wings: Guard were a solid second behind Genestealer Cults as a metagame menace going into this, so it’s no particular surprise to see them take hits on several angles (though they’ve been hit harder than the Cults). Wide ranging small increases on staple units ensure that almost every list is going to take a meaningful points hit, both on utility tools and alpha pieces like the big Scion unit and Leontus. Leontus also gets dialed back to only being able to order stuff that can normally take orders, which mostly stops him being able to make Ogryn MSUs improbably good at shooting, or Bullgryn from suddenly swiping an objective.
All definitely a heavy hit, overall, but the faction was definitely ahead of the pack prior to this, so it’s probably warranted.
Scott: As a bit of selfish editorializing, the double nerfs to Leontus are poorly thought out. It doesn’t accurately target the abusive lists we’ve been seeing at the top of play. I’ve been beating this drum since the beginning of the edition: James Workshop has made Leontus so critical to the function of your army rule (orders), that he is nearly an auto-include no matter what level of play you’re at. I’m not going to shed any tears for Bullgryn/Ogryns losing access to orders, but I will admit to being irked that the faction no longer has the ability to apply its army rule to its super heavies, who are counted among the coolest and most iconic of the faction’s model range. As Wings mentioned above, I wholeheartedly agree with the level of level of nerfs we’re seeing here, but I will bemoan my midtable kings and queens who are going to have a much harder road to 3-3 with their beloved Banesword. In reality, this is a flavor fail over a competitive concern, but I’ve got an obligation (ab)use this platform to get that message out.
Wings: Thanks Scott. As always, your insight is very valued. You’re also very skilled and handsome. With hits to Chimeras and big Scion units, look for more people trying the Scion Command Squad/MSU in Taurox Prime setup, as it has both put up good results, and increases a lot less in points than a lot of other core choices. Spamming Hydras also survives, and honestly gets better thanks to the Armour of Contempt changes. Certified losers, but still workable.
Grey Knights
Points Changes
- Nemesis Dreadknight +5pts
Rules Changes
- Game-wide changes to:
- Truesilver Armour
- Prognosticated Arrival
Impact
Status: Mild Winners if Warpbane Task Force gets there, Losers if not.
Thoughts
Yeah, so having to review Warpbane Task Force yesterday was rough, because the changes to Truesilver Armour and Prognosticated Arrival make it substantially more likely that it’s worth leaving Teleport Strike Force behind and learning to love hit re-rolls. Grey Knights have some of the best big Terminator bricks, plus army-wide 2+ Armour Saves, so are probably the biggest losers from the general Armour of Contempt changes (although they do have a decent amount of mid-AP weaponry, so in games against other AoC armies there’s some give-and-take). They also really liked access to 3” drop to lock in scoring or Secret Missions to boot, since they have some of the most resilient Battleline in the game.
All these changes mean that people are definitely going to try Warpbane in earnest, and substantially boost the chance of it becoming the default option for running the army, mostly just because stacking the Grey Knight army rule with the Detachment Ability provides such good all-rounder power that the mixed bag of other stuff doesn’t super matter.
If that turns out not to be good enough, however, this is kind of a disaster, and probably kicks people back to boring many Dreadknight ultracrunch builds. We’re cautiously optimistic that Warpbane does get there, but we have to acknowledge the possibility that this ends up a case of a faction paying hard for the sins of others.
Imperial Knights
Points Changes
- Armiger Helverin -10pts
- Armiger Warglaive -10pts
Rules Changes
N/A
Impact
Status: Winner
Thoughts
?
???
We are very confused as to how the decision to buff Armigers and War Dogs and leave big Knights as-is was arrived at, but sure, go nuts Knights players. It makes slightly more sense over in Chaos Knights where the ones matching the Imperial builds were being overshadowed by Karnivores and Brigands, but here this is just handing a substantial buff to the faction on some of their best stuff. You probably also need to take another look at whether you want to add these in for other Imperium armies, especially if you’re trying to make Imperial Agents work.
Curie: Well this was a welcome surprise but also really didn’t need to happen. Helverins and Warglaives were just fine where they were. This also makes for some very interesting choices for Knight allies in some builds, where before Canis dominated perhaps 3 Helverins will take their place.
Final Thoughts
That wraps up our look at Imperium armies. If you’re keeping score at home that’s solid wins for Imperial Knights and Adeptus Custodes, mild wins for the Mechanicus, minor loss for Grey Knights (potentially), and major losses for Adepta Sororitas and the Astra Militarum. As with any update of this size, it’ll be impossible to fully predict how things will shake out, but we’ll be following along with results as usual every Wednesday in Competitive Innovations and updating our Start Competing guides accordingly.
Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.
