Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K: Did the Balance Datasheet Fix the Game
Goatboy here with why I’m excited about the Balance Datasheet and what it means for 9th Edition.
There are ton of other write ups based on the new Balance Dataslate so instead of going to a whole breakdown/review let’s just talk about why I am excited about it. Overall I am happy with it but I do find it somewhat annoying due to the nature of how the updates interacts with the books. In a lot of ways it invalidates some things but overall it is much better. There were a few rough things right now and hopefully this might make the top 8’s a lot more interesting to stream/watch/play.
Better Powered Armor
The biggest benefit from this update is that power armored armies are now much better. Like a ton better and that is a good thing. Marines are GW’s bread and butter so increasing the survivability on the basic joe is a very good thing. We all have Marine armies and the fact it helped all flavors – good, bad, and stinky – means the rule as a whole is better.
Of course with that better rule you should ask the question why did the game get so deadly that power armor didn’t matter but that is another question for a different article. A more soap box drama filled one where I cry about leaving power armored bros alone and what not.
I know I joked about just saying marines get a stratagem they can burn that says they ignore all AP modifiers to their save for a turn but this removal of 1 AP seems pretty good too. It really pushes the power of anyone in Terminator armor as sitting in cover all of a sudden means you ignore AP-2 which is pretty powerful. This activates a lot of armies that had ok Terminators that didn’t feel right with the point costs. Heck I think it also pushes some of the Vehicles up more too like Redemptor dreads, Rhinos, and other fun vehicles. If you can have a 2+ save you are not something to worry about (cough cough Land Raiders?).
How About the Bolters?
This doesn’t help the whole a Marine’s weapon feels kind of useless – but at least they can sit on an objective longer. This also does a weird job of invalidating the Doctrines vs other Marines as you conveniently ignore the AP benefit. It also pushes the other guns that have better AP or Marines that have options for better bullets (Deathwatch). Those negatives though are not enough to make up for just making popular armies better. That is what these balances are for as they are trying to make the game not filled with Murder Clowns and badly airbushed vehicles.
Harlequins Need More…
Speaking of Murder Clowns – the nerfs were not enough as while the points went up for the mini boats the regular Troupes and characters are still very powerful. With the added Nerf to No LOS guns (except for AM) this means an army filled with 4-6 units of Troupes running around the table top will probably be viable. That is a lot of randomly tougher little T3 bodies that can put out a ton of murder if they get there. I still think the army will be towards the top because they are still just good.
Craftworlds Rising!
It also gives some room to Craftworld Aeldari to be better. Which is probably a better thing. I really wish they had answered the whole how many rerolls can they use as taking 3 failed saves and rerolling 2 plus a CP reroll one if you want doesn’t feel nice. This is the same with Aeldari and their Fate dice too. Thankfully the Jumping Phoenix lord I don’t want to spell got a bit of a nerf as you can only hop around once per turn. Will see if they get hit again in a few months.
Hello Astra Militarum
Oh – how insane are Lasguns now? I remember a game versus Abe that had my Stompa die to Lasguns over 2 turns – and now it would be much faster. This is pretty nutty and I think they should have put in a little blurb saying it didn’t effect Vehicles but we’ll just have to see. I also do like how the Guardsmen troop unit is just a flat 60 points for all their upgrades. I am hoping we see this in other armies as it just makes it easier to build units. It allows you to make a sweet looking batch of guys with all their neat upgrades and interactions.
Sisters Prayers are Answered
Sisters of Battle got much better with more Faith points and just better armor. The switch to the Valorous Heart guys allowing you to not reroll is pretty dang neat. That is probably my favorite toughness update as it doesn’t remove your opponents ability to hit/wound – it just tries to eliminate the reroll nonsense. I am hoping we see it more as it is probably the correct avenue to go with the option of damage -1. I don’t like removing “successes” by things like only on a 4+ as it feels either too good or not good enough.
No LoS Nerfed – YAY!
I am so happy the no LOS change has happened. The whole stack of it means that units might start on the table and run around. It hits Tau pretty dang hard but it probably needed to happen. It hits a few other things too like the Plagueburst Crawler and Night Spinner but that is ok. AM still has it as the effects don’t both them but I get the feeling the Terminator meta that is coming will not care. Heck – Tsons and GK terminator spam is going to be nuts.
The Verdict?
Overall I like the update even though it is kind of clunky. Sadly the Knights lost objective secured but – the codexes are bringing it back so we don’t have to wait long. The worry right now is Nids are going to be nutty but if Terminators are good it might be less of an issue – especially with Grey Knights being a problem for those psychic heavy armies. Lastly Custodes got hit hard but I don’t think it is as bad as people feel. They will go Troop heavy and utilize the Bikes as problem solvers. I have found when playing mine I needed to be a lot less Yolo and instead play quick and smart with things like Stranglehold or Banners. This means not going for the throat right away and having Bikes turbo to hold things as needed. It also means the FW Custodian troops are going to be extremely useful as well as the Dense Cover Banner to help keep things alive.
~Do you think this fixed the game?
