Warhammer 40K: Is 10th Going To Be A Hero-Hammer Edition?

Big heroes might again dominate the tabletop in 40K 10th. Hero-hammer could be back in fashion.

Each edition of Warhammer 40K tends to have its own bit of character. Some types of units are favored, and others are ignored a bit. Some editions have favored infantry, others armor, in 9th transports were pretty out of favor. One aspect we’ve seen in a lot of editions is something called “hero-hammer”. During these editions, much of the game is decided by big heroes rampaging around and smashing everything they contact. The game can become a simple background for their actions. Looking at the 10th rules we’ve seen so far, I wonder if this isn’t going to be the case again. Let’s take a look.

Less Deadly, Except To Infantry

10th Edition is supposed to be a less deadly edition. At least in theory. However as I’ve mentioned before it’s not really clear this is true. At least not when it comes to infantry. It seems that in general, weapons that are aimed at anti-infantry have not really gotten any less deadly. In fact, a few that we have seen have gotten better. However, weapons’ on their own are not the be-all and end-all of deadliness. Unit and army rules can add a lot to the damage output. Blanket AP bonuses changed a lot. However even if the game is a bit less deadly, it doesn’t seem like that change will really effect infantry much. 

Indeed from what we’ve seem infantry might be less survivable this edition. Weapons have gotten a lot more accurate. Anti-infantry firepower isn’t down a ton. To top that off a lot of the army wide rules and auras that buffed infantries survivability seem to be done away with. All that is to say, that while infantry might be great at holding objectives, I don’t think this is an edition that’s going to be dominated by them.

Big Damn Heroes

One the other hand we’ve seen data cards for a handful of the really important heroes in the game, like Guilliman, and they seem bonkers. Guilliman for instance is like, really, really good. He’s more durable than he was before with a T of 9 and rules to avoid getting shot, and to come back to life. Even with only being able to attack with one of his weapons, he can still wipe whole squads on his own or take down tanks.  He’s a total beast. On top of that his Author of the Codex rule is very good, with all three options being powerful. This is the kind of character you want in any army. And with his rules affected any Adeptus Astartes you can have him in a lot of armies. 

It’s not just Guilliman either. A lot of the armies have at least one of these big damn hero characters to lead them around. They come with strong stats, good offence and the kind of special rules you can’t get elsewhere, at least as far was we’ve seen. The edition has by and large made them better, and harder to kill with rules like leader. It really seems like GW is pushing these guys to be big, major forces on the tabletop.

The Rules You Need

Now a lot of characters seem to have gotten some nice buffs this edition. Overall I think putting them in units will make the character themselves better, even if it might lessen their impact on your army without a ton of auras. However what we are seeing is that the big named characters seems to be one of the few ways to actually get aura’s. They bring things to the table that others don’t. Guilliman might only give you re-rolls against a 2nd enemy unit instead of for re-rolls for all nearby units. However, that might be a better rule in 10th than it was in 9th. Re-rolls were a dime a dozen in 9th, if 10th has less of them, Guilliman is even more important.

Pushing The Herohammer

We don’t know for sure, but it does really seem like this edition is leaning into playing up big named characters. They seem very powerful in combat, In addition they have by far the best abilities and buffs we’ve seen. On top of that they are simply some of the most interesting units around. Most other units are locked into one rule. Pyskers only get a set psychic power. However the big characters get to pick buffs each turn. They also buff wider parts of your army. This all sure seems like the ideal army is one lead by a big named heroes that dominates the tabletop. Lesser heroes are likely also to be very good, but they will blend into units. Meanwhile your army needs a centerpiece. A hero to drop the hammer.

Let us know if you think this edition is going to be Hero Hammer or Zero Heroes, 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.