Warhammer 40K: Balance Dataslate Update – The One About The Harlequins
Games Workshop is taking aim at the Harlequins in this new Balance Dataslate. But there are more changes ahead.
If you’re not familiar with the Balance Dataslate it’s essentially Games Workshop’s way to push out some quick fixes to 40k. These are designed to be more frequent and agile updates that respond to the “meta” faster than previously. Today, GW is taking aim at a few outliers that need some reining in. They’ve also made some more changes to quite a few other armies, too. Let’s take a look.
“Warhammer 40,000 has become more lethal over time, leaving Power Armoured factions slightly behind the performance curve. Enter Armour of Contempt, a new rule which reduces by one the armour penetration of attacks that target ADEPTUS ASTARTES, SANCTIC ASTARTES, HERETIC ASTARTES, or ADEPTA SORORITAS models. With a handful of caveats, this should bulk out most Space Marines and Battle Sisters just enough to keep them in the fight.”
Download The Balance Dataslate Here
So how does the new Armour of Contempt work? It’s a flat buff to most power armoured folks with a straight up “worsen the AP characteristic of an attack by 1” rule. There are some very specific caveats where the rule doesn’t apply however. Make sure you familiarize yourself with those.
Personally, I’m not sure how to feel about this one. The whole point of increasing the AP was supposed to be to help kill these targets. Now GW is undoing that by buffing Power Armour. AP -1 and 2 Damage weapons are now slightly less effective against them. But it’s also going to be funny to see things like Plasma, Melta, and Lascannons bounce of their Power Armour now. We’ll have to see how this plays out.
Another big change was made to Indirect Fire weapons. If the weapon is firing at a target that is not in Line of Sight to the shooter the target now gets a bonus to their Armour save by +1. Additionally, the attacker’s BS for the shot is worsened by 1. This should make those indirect shots less effective.
That said, directly below those changes there is another caveat for the Astra Militarum who aren’t impacted by the change at all. Go-Go mortar teams!
Bodyguard abilities also received a big change, too. Now, instead of the character being untargetable, the can now use the Look Out, Sir rule even if the unit contains less than 3 models. Effectively, it’s the same thing although Look Out, Sir does have a few other restrictions that prevent the untargetable loophole (which is a good thing). Players using Bodyguard units will need to think a little more about positioning now.
Aside from those big changes there are lots more little tweaks as you can see. We’re up to 3 pages for the Balance Dataslate which is quite a bit to chew on. We encourage you to check out all the tweaks. That said, we know what you’re all thinking: How did they nerf the clowns?! Let’s take a closer look.
The One About The Harlequins
First up, you’ll note the changes to Mirror Architect and Favour of Cegorach. Those are the small fries, folks. They are important and all but the BIG changes are the increases in points for the Starweaver and Voidweavers. Starweavers are now 95 points per model up from 80. Voidweavers are up to 130 points per model up from 90!
Harlequin players can still take them in units of 3, but that triforce of pain goes from a super discounted 270 points up to 390! You’ll probably still squads of them see them, but you probably won’t see 3×3 squads of them. Or if you do there won’t be quite as many other Harlequins to deal with.
Will this change be enough to unseat these court jesters from the throne? We’ll have to wait and see how it shakes out. There were also changes to the Adeptus Custodes and the T’au as well. It does appear that GW is taking aim at the top of the meta with these changes to help bring them down a touch in power.
Buffing The Little Guys
On the other end of the spectrum GW did hand out a few buffs to the Astra Militarum. We’re not going to cover the new Hammer of the Emperor detachment ability — read that above. However, we do want to call out one change in particular:
Well, well, well. Looks like someone nailed this one on the head. To quote Abe:
60 points and free weapons? Yep! Way to go Abe! Turns out if you want to know how to fix an army a great place to start is to ask someone who plays them…
There’s lots more to see in the new Balance Dataslate. What changes do you like/dislike?
