Warhammer 40K: Give The Leagues of Votann Their Time To Shine
Are the Leagues of Votann busted? Yeah, probably. But give them 6 months to shine before they get their rug pulled out from under them.
There’s a lot of hand wringing and worrying going on about the Leagues of Votann. Are they a powerhouse? Yeah that’s pretty obvious from their rules. Are they going to shake things up? It’s already started. Are they bad for the game or a boon to new players? Yet to be determined. What I do know is that it’s all going to change in 6 months.
Haven’t We Been Here Before?
Let’s take a step back into the old remembrance machine and think about the 2019/2020 release of the Sisters of Battle. I know, I know…things are fuzzy from the before times but here’s the basics: Everyone was freaking out about them. Their miracle dice, their weapons, their new units — it was a strong release! They made quite the splash on the tourney scene and definately shook things up. We got their initial release with the Army box and a few core units. Then the second wave arrived later…
This book added even more units and rules for the Army. It filled out some of the “holes” in the codex and gave the Adepta Sororitas as better book — but was the army even more busted? Not really. The community adapted to the previous incarnation and after more tweaks and FAQs and their current codex they are sitting in a good spot. They aren’t as scary as everyone thought they were from their initial return but they weren’t a push over either. In fact, they are army that can still hold its own. That’s a good thing, right?
Does any of that sound vaguely familiar? A “new” army comes out of the gate over tuned and looks pretty scary on paper. Their book is solid but feels like there’s some stuff missing. But then a few months later GW releases another wave of miniatures, patches those “holes” in the army, and gives us a brand new book that tweaks some things. While the army feels bigger and has more options, it’s actually more in line with the rest of the books and armies in the game.
And we already know that the Leagues are getting more units later on…
But hey, this is the internet! There’s a new shiny thing and it’s uber powerful and it’s going to break the game we all love to play armchair quarterback with. I get it. There’s no room for nuanced discussion or shades of grey here! …Or something like that.
Look, I’m not saying the army doesn’t have some rules that probably need to get tweaked. And I do think they are an incredibly forgiving army for new players and can make one tough gunline. They are going to get to play in all the phases and their only really “weak spot” seems to be their lack of speed and weak secondary objectives. On paper, they seem really strong. And I say let them be good for a while. Folks have been waiting for 30 years for the Squats Leagues of Votann to come back and be an army. Let them have their fun! It’s a drop in the bucket in the span of 40k.
In 6 months there’s going to be a new busted thing we’re all going to be worried about. If it’s the second wave of Leagues of Votann stuff then so be it. I doubt that will be the case but we’ll see. I’m very curious to see what the summer of ’23 brings for 40k. And hey, we still have both the Astra Militarum and the re-done World Eaters to fret over. And if the Power Creep is real then watch out for those!
Let the Leagues of Votann have their fun…you only get to be brand new and the top dog once.
