Warhammer 40K: Ah, Games Workshop Has Decided They Want A Balanced Game After All

Let’s take a look at GW’s latest effort to make Warhammer 40K a balanced game.

This week GW surprised us all with a  pretty large balance update addressing some major game issues. While we hadn’t been expecting this, we also weren’t sad about. The game has been in a rough spot lately with a few armies really dominating for most of 9th Edition.

This isn’t the first time we’ve gotten a big FAQ or update, but it is the first major one in 9th. Coming over a year into what some could say is one of the most unbalanced editions ever, it’s a great move in the right direction. Adam has already given an overview of what changed, and Goatboy chimed in with his thoughts, so now lets take a look at what this means for the big picture.

Targeted Nerfs Killed Two Of The Meta’s Most Powerful Armies

Right now two armies had been really taking over the meta. Admech flyer spam and Ork buggy/flyer spam. These were super powerful lists and super hard to deal with. This update effectively killed their current forms, and it did so in different and interesting ways – GO Design Studio!

Admech suffered two major types of nerfs. The first was a lot of points bumps on the more popular stuff. This includes buffs on core troop choices, so there isn’t really a great way to build around them. Overall the more popular Admech armies went up around 200-250pts, meaning cuts will have to be made. But this update wasn’t just about points, which is good.

It also limited the number of flyers Admech (or anyone) can take, to 2 in a standard 40k game. This cuts in half the number of flyers Admech will normally be bringing, as four was a super common number. These double whammys won’t kill off Admech, and it’s still a powerful army, But they do take it down a notch, and the list we’ve all been dreading to fight just doesn’t work anymore. BRAVO!

Orks on the other hand suffered a different kind of nerf.  Now they also got hit with the flyer nerf, which hurts them as they were used to running 4 flyers as well. Unlike Admech they didn’t get hit with major points changes, which generally indicates their points were alright. What they did get hit with was a bespoke rule limiting them to only take one unit of each type of buggies. A number of lists were either running 6-9 of one type of buggy, or at times running lots of single buggy units.

This change really kills that and forces Orks to run more diverse lists. This is a nice change that curbs the worst excesses or Orks but doesn’t leave them dead in the water.  Lists running 4 flyers and 9 of one buggy are gone for good, or 8 single buggy units like this one but there is room to adapt.

Dark Eldar Got A Lesser Nerf

Drukhari didn’t get any rules changed, but as the other major meta army they did get some point nerfs. A number of things got bumped up that will make running lists a little worse. Sure this might cause some pain, but ultimately isn’t that where they get their power from? The Drukhari players should take delight in it. The big worry for me is that with Orks and AdMech taking a beating Drukahri might make a quick resurgence as they still have a powerful list. We will have to wait and see on that front.

A Deft Hand, But A Mixed Bag

Overall I think this a standout attempt to help balance the game. I think in a lot of cases GW really hit it out of the park. A combination of points buffs and some new rules was able to target some abusive builds without, I think, totally destroying armies. We’ve seen some heavy handed nerfs come down on armies before that completely made them non-competitive, and I don’t think that’s the case here. The changes to AdMech, Orks and Drukhari, all seem well placed and target abusive lists without hurting the overall army too much.

We feel …happy! DOES NOT COMPUTE!

The other changes were a bit more of a mixed bag. I think the buffs to Knights and Necrons are great and go a long way to making those army playable. On the other hand the CSM and IG buffs just don’t go far enough. It’s nice to get some love, but I don’t seem them making a real difference. I still really like what has been done and look forward to more like this from GW.

Let us know what you think of the changes, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.