Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K: The Top Armies are Shifting
Goatboy here to talk about 40k’s top armies and where they are headed.
This next week the GW Austin GT hits the scene with a grand event in the middle of downtown. I was going to be playing but GW asked me to help out with some things (talking, seeing games, maybe judging, lookin good, etc) and I said yes. Lucky for me I got an event left for my year so I can get some game time in before we start so fresh and so clean in 2022. With that – let’s talk about some things especially with the big FAQ this past week.
BIG Update!
What a doozy of an update right? These are the things I like to see from GW and I wish we saw more for some other armies – but I suspect they got a shiny new codex coming soon. This is most likely the reason why we didn’t see an extra wound for CSM. I don’t think will see CSM as a codex but something else that gets split out of the book and completes one of the Chaos God Faction books like Death Guard or Thousand Sons. Still – there is some CSM thoughts utilizing the things that would get extra wounds or have multiple ways to get extra hits or better ways to hit. We’ll talk about it on an army list at some point as I feel there could be something interesting due to the nature of the game with fast units that can pump out some damage.
Drukhari In the Balance
The Meta – if the event is playing with all the nerfs/bonus stuff – should see an interesting shift. The two meaner armies out there will have to either take less models, rebuild how their army works, or just shift into other good things in their book. This last bit is especially true for the Dark Eldar in that the army will just shift to something else – like say Meat Mountain (Grots, Cronos, Talos) builds that rely on being fast, deadly, and hard to move. This is why I don’t see DE shifting a ton out of the top spots beyond just shifting how the army looks. There is a reason all the big time players still think it is one of the best books as there really isn’t a bad unit choice in there.
Everything has a place and everything is pretty good at killing your enemy. The interesting thing as a player who plays against them is, Drukhari aren’t a “confusing” army to play against. It also doesn’t feel nearly as draining as the army kills really well but it isn’t hitting you with multiple layers of rules. It also means it is one of the easier armies to play when put in the hands of a competent player. It is also why points seem to be the most effective way to balance them too as it isn’t a plethora of rules that beat an opponent down other than just playing the game rules well.
Ad-Mech Took It On the Chin
Admech probably took the biggest hit because it attacked them in two directions – points and their flyer base. Is this enough to take them out of the top spots? Maybe a little bit till players figure out the best balance for an event. Their damage potential is shifting again but the book is still full of some interesting options. Will see as some of the better players figure it out and stop relying on flyers shooting lasers you can’t hide from.
Da Orks Are Still Fightin
The next mean list is the Freebootaz that got toned down a lot. I don’t think it will just go away as a lot of armies will just go to two crazy bomber flyers and then units of buggies. It will be easier for opponents to deal with as targeting a unit of 3 buggies is much better than hitting at a single model. The army I think we might see show up is the Army of Renown Speed Freeks list as it does a lot of interesting things in the Meta. The biggest issue with that list is figuring out your 3rd secondary as Engage is easy or Stranglehold but without any infantry a lot of the no brainer ones are just gone.
From there you have to look at the Kill options like Grind them Down and then hopefully something else. Or you go full in with the Orks Warlord killing stuff and the Deffkilla going to town on things. Heck – there is a Killrig army just waiting to rear its head so maybe will get a Squig army with it. I have pieces to build it I am just swamped under commission work at the moment. I am hoping I can get some breathing room for LVO but who knows what will come at the beginning of the year.
Necrons Rising
The Meta from here gets interesting. The Necron update is neat but I feel they need more tweaking with their points as they still feel like they don’t have enough on the table top. We’ll see if I am proven wrong by what I see during the GW event as I am sure will see a fast assault Necron army. Heck that is what I wanted to build out at some point but with all the Destroyer stuff going Core there has to be some way to utilize all those snap fit guys in an assault list with Wraiths and what not.
Say Hello to Armigers
I think Knights get a big win and probably one of those sleeper armies to make sure to pay attention too. I know there is a Chaos Knight Armiger list with a big bad voodoo daddy knight in the back and as many Armigers you can shake a stick at. They can move so fast, only have one Titanic model to worry about for easy scoring, and if you just take a ton of the buzzsaw/melta guys you can do some fun advancing on objectives and shooting melta at enemies. Plus it is a very fast army that isn’t nearly as hurt by terrain as you are utilizing small bases for most of your stuff. The Volcano cannon can also put out a ton of hurt on tough stuff by melting the enemy away. It will be there and in the hands of a tough general will be hard to take off objectives. It will just play the mission and be prepared.
Grey Knights Smiling
I think the true winner out of all of this is going to be those Grey Knight Players as they match up really well versus a lot of the armies. They hurt DE by having powers that can just go off all game versus them and a ton of bullets. The Thousand Sons don’t like them as much as they can stop spells and get saves versus Mortals. The Death Guard also do not like how much they teleport around as well as most armies having one psyker so those armies lose out on an easy Abhor the Witch Secondary. The Freeboota nerf also helps too as they have access to some Strength 8 shooting to help ignore Ramshackle. I think players need to makes sure when playing versus Grey Knights to not give them bad trades on important factors of your army. Also remember they can teleport a lot.
Black Templars
Finally we have Marines and while this next weekend won’t see Black Templar yet it is something to think about as we continue on with events for the year. I think the little supplement is interesting as it plays into what already was making Marines good with Dreadnoughts and friends. Giving them a flat 5++ and 6+ FNP means these Redemptors can live a lot longer than expected. Throw in some Tech marines and you start to heal things up turn by turn as you move to take the middle. I still think they could have had a better “core” refresh like Necrons but that book is so bloated it becomes a problem when you throw that rule out on too many units.
Event Time and a Piece of Advice…
Alright that is enough dancing around – expect my next article to talk about the winner of the GW GT, my own experience of walking around, and just what I see in this big tournament. It is pretty neat to have events again and I am excited to be a part of them.
Oh and one last thing – for event organizers – if someone is being a dbag kick them out. This game doesn’t need this negative crap to over shadow the fun we have. We do not need a few terrible people to ruin an event and all the time you spent as a TO getting it together. Trust me – just removing people will not hurt you in the long run as long as you have merit to do so. Some of the things we have seen from last week were awful and this game does not need this in it. It isn’t fair to other players, it isn’t fair to the game, and it is especially not fair for someone to threaten your event/money/etc because they are a terrible person.
Cya tableside in Austin!
