Warhammer 40K: The Most Important Units Of 2019
With the year drawing to a close it time to look at the units that really impacted 40K in 2019.
2019 was another banner year for Warhammer 40,000. We saw a whole ton of new books (like, really a ton) come out, as well as new units and models. Players had to navigate a sea of changing metas and FAQSs. Throughout 2019, there have been a number of units that really got people talking. Maybe it was because how they dominated the meta, or maybe it was just their potential. So as is now my tradition, here are the units that had the biggest impact on the game this year.
5. Lord Discordant 
Coming out at the start of the year the Lord of Disco made a pretty big splash. Though he never quite lead Chaos to meta dominance as it seemed he might, he’s still been a player in the meta. More then his power, the Lord Discordant gets on this list because he is the perfect 8th Edition unit. The Lord Discordant is an over the top model with billions of details and a crazy design. Rules wise he’s got given a million complicated attacks, with a host of weapons. On top of that we’ve got an aura (with two effects!) and a bunch of special rules. This guy is extra y’all. Lastly we’ve got the promise of Chaos being good, which is quickly squashed. If that doesn’t sum up 8th, I don’t know what does.
4. Imperial Knight
With how dominant Marines have been the last couple of months I think people forget that for most of the year it was Knight lead Imperial Soup lists that was the top faction. 2018 saw the rise of the Smash Captain/Loyal 32/Dominus list, which had a lot of steam going into the start of this year. However a changing meta and nerfs to the big Knight saw us come full circle back to the regular Imperial Knights. Lists with 3-5 of them backed up with swarms of Guardswomen quickly took over. Later the Chaos version, the Renegade Knight had brief run, with our own Goatboy leading the charge! All together for about a full year, only ending this September, Knight based lists ran the meta, and more than any other Knight, the humble old Questoris Class was doing the work.
3. Assault Centurions
Assault Centurions made a decent impact in the meta at the end of this year. While they’ve haven’t won a ton of big events, they’ve been part of a lot of winning armies. They’ve also made some decent waves among competitive players and people who like to partake in Thoeryhammer. Given a guess I’d say they are a unit set to really explode next year. The real reason they are on this list is as a poster boy for all the random, old, and forgotten units in the Space Marine codex that suddenly “got gud”. From Centurions, to Whirlwinds, to Thunderfire Cannons and number of Forgeworld units, there are a host of random bad units that the new Codex and supplements made good. Likely this was unintentional, they seem to be beneficiaries of buffs aimed at other units, but thanks to unintended consequences they’ve blown up. It turns out when you give armies blanket buffs without thinking things all the way through, you get OP units. A lesson we should have all learned by now.
2. Tau Drones
Does this really need an explanation? T’au are broken and these are the guys responsible for it. This class of model is responsible for what is otherwise a low tier army winning a host of major events and having a strong meta presence. It’s also twisted the whole Tau army into a narrowly defined play style (even more then they where before). On top of all that I think this is has to be the most complained about unit, both both Tau and non-Tau players, of the year. Here’s to you little drone! You’ve proven that it doesn’t take a gun to win games. BRAVO – you made the list!
1. Space Marine Intercessors 
2019 was the year of the Marine. We saw a ton of Marine focused releases drop all year long and the steady rise of the Marines from a lower tier army (that could play well in soup) to the meta dominating juggernaut they are. No unit is more representative of that then the basic Intercessors. This year saw them rise form an expensive non-competitive troop choice to to major players, armed with a good mix of weapons and ultimately edging basic Marines out of the game. This year saw the Primaris as a whole come into their own and start to take over, but more than anything is saw Intercessors really take their place at the heart of the book. Even narrative players and those who don’t care about the meta have reaped benefits from Intercessors getting better. For the first time they really feel like they live up to their hype and can take over as the poster boys of 40K.
Let Us Know What Units Had The Biggest Impact This Year, Down In The Comments!
