Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K: Top 5 Balance Dataslate Misses
Goatboy here. As we continue to digest the 40K Balance Dataslate, I wanted to go over what was missing from the update.
But first – I am still very happy we got the January 40K Balance Dataslate. It is a really great time to see GW care about the meta, how the game is working, and just creating some kind of balance for the system we are obsessed with. It is a nice change of pace and while I don’t agree with everything – I do think it was needed. So with that out of the way let’s dive in.
Updates for Recent Codexes Please
The first and most obvious one is to not really looking at the newest Codexes to try to alleviate some issues within. We have talked a lot about the Necron codex so we’ll not rehash that and instead look at Ad-Mech and how the book isn’t really clicking that well. This might be a case of not having enough time to figure out a clean update, but it does feel like something that could have been looked at. It could just be a simple “updated” all-wide army rule or maybe a new Detachment. I could imagine a repeat of the old Ad-Mech that utilized Knights in some kind of cool combination. I am not a fan of the army, so really, I don’t have much more to give than we should probably figure out some way to make them better – besides points. I still really think points should only be used to tweak how they want armies to look on the tabletop and not as a method to control an army’s meta power level, etc.
Imperial Knights Still Suck
The Second thing is I felt they didn’t do enough to help out Imperial Knights. Yes, we know they were too powerful initially, but that wasn’t just the fault of their faction rules. It was more so the core rules of the game. Those interactions have been tamped down so now we are left with an army that doesn’t feel like it is working. I don’t think we can see sub 300 point Bigs as a method to help them out. GW probably needs to look at how to build them in ways to make them better. I would think a new “updated” detachment” like the Dark Eldar got, would be the best. I would probably lean heavily into the Ad-Mech side of things and go for some cool ancient tech aspects. You would give them some cool enhancements or some kind of empowering option that would utilize a circuit of Knights to do something cool. This would go away from the Bondsman type thing and just really heavily emphasis that these are giant robots connected with ancient AI and other fun stuff.
Chaos Knights Are A Two-Trick Pony
On the other side of that coin will look at the Chaos Knight side of things. This army lives and breathes on having two extremely efficient WarDog options to create an army of math busters. How many times have you remembered their rules and just utilized two powerful Datasheets to get the army working? How much do you miss the old days of a crazy Storm of Chaos bearing down on an army. Why not make things better for them too? Or at least interesting. I would love the bigs to be useful again and think some kind of cool Storm mechanic that utilizes the Bigs as central points and has spiraling arms of War Dogs as the other aspects. Don’t make it Battle Shock based but have it be something like the player can shift the storm depending on needing to be more aggressive or be more protected turn by turn. You can utilize how it is a Shadow of Chaos-like effect and then have the bigs “spread” it around to help things. The War Dogs don’t spread it but are able to be affected by it within range of the Auras of the Bigs. Then you would have cool enhancements that work off of this and end up being rules that always work instead of hoping your opponent fails a Battleshock test when you remember they need to take it.
Space Wolves & Blood Angels Feel Left Out
On the Marine side of things, I feel like there could have been some updated “detachments” for the Space Wolves and Blood Angels to allow them to not just be a differently colored basic Marine. It might have been tweaks on what they use most of the time. But it just feels like a bit of a miss for armies that are popular and could use some simple love. I like the idea of a basic new detachment added to armies like the Dark Eldar got as it gives you a glimpse into GW’s plans as well as just some simple love given to armies that are not getting codexes for a while. I love new minis, but a few pages of rules do wonders to breathe life into your plastic models.
I Am BEGGING For New Missions!
Finally I really wish the new 40K Mission season started with this update. Just as LVO finishes off the year we can easily have a new mission deck, new rules, and just a refresh to ensure we don’t land into a spot where the competitive scene is run by those armies that can lock in choices and thus lock in points turn after turn. It just feels like a missed opportunity. I expect we’ll get an update at some point this year – but still. Please hurry!
What do you think was missed by this update? Are you just scared of the pain that Necrons are going to be bringing to the table tops? Are you out hunting for Silver Primer and readying your pops of dark washes to get ready? Are you a robot in disguise?
