Warhammer 40K: Can Tanks Dominate In 10th Edition?

Today we take a detailed look at the role tanks will play in 40K 10th Edition.

Warhammer 40,000 10th Edition is looking to shake up the game a lot. We’ve gotten looks at a ton of changes, both big and small. One of the biggest changes is the redoing of all datasheets. This is a good time for GW to really shake things up and decide what kinds of units are going to dominate the game in the future. We’ve talked about how the edition seems like it heavily favor characters and turn into another round of herohammer. This seems to have really come at the determent of infantry. However another section of units seems like it might be poised to make a major comeback. Let’s take a look at how vehicles will do in 10th.

Their State Right Now

In general 9th Edition has not been a great edition for tanks. As a very deadly edition, there are a ton of units that can one-shot even the best tanks with relative ease. Placing that many points in a relatively fragile package is often not a great choice. At the same time tanks often don’t have the heaviest fire power around, with many of them being rather outdated. With one or two exceptions, transport are pretty useless and don’t really see play.

What you do see used pretty heavily is light vehicles. These tend to be taken in large numbers and have some way of reducing damage, or are hard to hit. Ork Buggies, Dreadnoughts and the like. All of these types of units saw heavy play in parts of 9th. An additional reason for the poor performance of tanks in 9th was missions.  Vehicles tend to be bad at taking and holding objectives. On top of that many secondary’s actively punished tank-heavy armies. Overall it was just a bad combo.

10th Changes

10th Edition is bringing some major changes to vehicles. Overall they are broken down into two main groups. The first is that transports have gotten a pretty major overhaul. Additionally tanks are getting tougher and harder to kill. These two changes might make tanks a lot better.

Transports Should Be Good

Transports have been pretty ignored for the past two editions. However 10th really seems about to turn that around. The biggest change is simply that units can disembark after movement. This is a huge buff that by itself would make transports a ton more useful. Historically, editions that have had rules like this have seen a heavier use of transports. However GW has gone even farther with a lot of transports getting special rules to buff things.

Rules like the Falcon’s Fire Support are aimed to improve both the transport and the transported unit. This is a great way to make transport better. Overall it really does seem like they are going to get some nice play.

Are Tanks Tough Enough?

We’ve seen a fair amount of the updated tank data cards so far. As GW promised they do have some major improvements. Toughness has gone up across the board, making them harder to wound. In addition the degrading stats of 8th and 9th are gone. Instead a large number of tanks get worse when they have only a few wounds remaining, but this is only a -1 to hit.  The old decrease in attacks and BS have been removed. Both of those changes do make tanks better. There has been some changes to wounds and armor saves, but its not a lot, and not to all units.

On the other hand it seems, from the limited sheets we’ve seen, that most of the old damage reductions rules are gone. Based on the Ballistus at least, it seems like Dreadnoughts don’t reduce damage any more. This is a major nerf and more than counteracts the toughness buff. In addition the buffs to toughness might not make as much of a difference as it seems. They will have pretty much no effect on light infantry weapons, S3-S4, which already wounded on 6s. The change mainly impacts S5-S9. Most infantry-carried anti-tank weapons fall into this range and are likely worse now. On the other hand a lot of anti-tank weapons got heavy strength buffs. A number also got damage buffs. This means that they have just as easy, if not an easier time, at killing tanks as before.

What Does This Mean For Tanks In 10th

I think overall tanks will be better in 10th then they are in 9th. It’s clear that transports have gained a lot and are likely viable. In addition the new OC stat, and the way Battleshock works, makes vehicles more viable for taking objectives. They aren’t great, but can manage it at times. The changes to tanks’ toughness may not actually lead to an overall improvement in durability, but they do seem to improve the survivability of tanks vs infantry. Its starting to look like the best way to kill tanks is with other tanks. That’s maybe not a bad thing. I don’t know if tanks will, or should, dominate in 10th Edition, but I do think they will have more a place in the game.

Let us know how good you think tanks will be in 10th, 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.