Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K Metawatch – OMG, GW Balanced The Game!
Goatboy here and I can hardly believe it – but I think GW balanced 10th Edition – no REALLY!
We have finally reached a better sense of balance in the meta soup we live in for 40K. There are some “better” armies out there but everything seems to be able to be beaten. Which I think is most important in all of this as it helps create a sense of “skill” to an army instead of just the pure beat down of math and busted OP factions.
If you step back and think of where we started it is a pretty big shift to see the game as whole getting a heck of a lot more balanced. Yes we needed some actual rules changes and clarifications but for the most part a lot of the initial 10th Edition datasheets seem to be sticking. I think a few still need some tweaks but we’ll just have to wait and see as Codexes finally start trickling out. The nightmare of everything staying the same from initial card release has been dealt with by swift and hard action against the game’s most OP factions.
Now You can Play the Faction You Like!
But what does this all mean? Well it means that instead of picking the best army you could pick the army that suits your style the most. Or the army you want to actually paint as having all your models painted is an important factor in all of this. Which of course is one of the bigger factors keeping a lot of players throwing down with this game.
We have two more codexes inbound in the next few months and if the last couple didn’t destroy the meta I am hoping these two don’t either. There is the factor of keeping some of the core faction rules the same. So if the armies are balanced out right now then it should factor in that things stay balanced even with codex releases. I think that is one of the over arching things GW pushed for with these new releases. While we feel like there are some missing “cool” factors in some of the armies it does lend itself to a whole new idea that new rules don’t completely destroy the meta like they used too in past editions. It seems like GW’s new codex philosophy in 10th is to introduce new models, to get faction players excited, but not fundamentally rewrite the faction rules compared to the Index dataslates.
Is Codex Creep Dead?
Does this mean the end of true Codex Creep? Or does it mean a better shift in controlling the overall experience/narrative of Matched Play? We need a few more codexes to really know. I just can tell you limiting the type and volume of new rules that get pumped into the game on a new release is one of the ways to control the mutating monster that is the meta.
Will Missions Define the New Meta in 10th?
Beyond just new codexes I do think will have a big shift coming when missions are refreshed. There is a lot of play in that realm of the game that we haven’t seen nearly as much. Older players remember the old days of events running their own missions which could cause a massive shift in what army is good and what isn’t.
Just like terrain set ups, missions can be a big crutch to list designs. If someone created missions that you needed all “unit” options to try and score all things then these combat patrol style armies would do better. If all the missions were basically kill everything games then armies that excelled at that would do the best.
Which leads me into hoping we have a really interesting refresh on the missions at hand. I think a ton of the stuff right now is not nearly as interactive as they should be. There isn’t much beyond needing to get to a specific area and your opponent blocking you from getting there. I don’t know if this needs to have more “action” based stuff like moving things around but it is something to think about. I don’t always like a goldfish scoring game where the only true interaction is your opponent shooting your stuff as you move around.
Welcome to the Balanced Meta – For Now
So what is the point of all of this? Well it’s to say the Meta is still resolving, it is in a heck of a better place than before, and I expect more tweaks to come. Especially with that World Championship FAQ that came out for that event. There are a few really good things in there and a lot of head scratching stuff.
Is this new balanced codex philosophy here to stay? Maybe. Of course those things are going to be awhile before we see the majority of codexes released – we all can dream. Until then we can just keep throwing dice, wrecking things, and feeling like we could take whatever army we want and still have a chance to win.
Happy Balanced Gaming
