Warhammer 40K: New Balance Dataslate Changes & Points Updates
Games Workshop has dropped a new Balance Dataslate along with a new Munitorum Field Manual for Warhammer: 40,000.
Get ready for a metashift to what folks have been calling Warhammer: 40,000 – Edition 10.5. The downloads are free and available to everyone online.
Munitorum Field Manual – Version 1.11
Points-wise just about every single army in the game got changes with a few exceptions. The Leagues of Votann, Blood Angels, Agents of the Imperium, and Adeptus Titanicus were the only ones that didn’t get any direct points changes. Blood Angels is a weird one because the Space Marines did change so that will impact them.
Balance Dataslate – Changes Ahead
Now, in terms of what’s changed in the Balance Dataslate… a lot. If you’re playing Warhammer 40,000 you’re going to want to check out the full list from Games Workshop with a fine-tooth comb. I’m going to hit on every single thing but I did want to touch on a few that impact everyone. That being the change to Stratagems:
In order, let’s touch on each of these sections. First up, we have the Modifying a Stratagem’s CP costs section. The first change is basically a change to how reducing the cost of a stratagem works. Things like Captain’s Rites of Battle ability now reduce the cost by 1 CP. Also, if you’ve got a model with an ability that once per game increases the cost of your enemy’s stratagems, there’s now a new Aura that replaces that ability. Lord of Deceit (Aura) has some new targeting requirements and really tones down the power of that ability.
Next up we have the Stratagems that can be used more than once per phase/turn section. In most cases a Stratagem can only be used only once per phase/turn as listed on the Stratagem. However, there is now an exception that allows you to use a stratagem twice in the same phase ONLY if the name of the Stratagem is specified in that rule. Once again, in the example Captain’s Rites of Battle is used to clarify how this works. Effectively, that ability should now read:
“Once per battle round, one unit from your army with this ability can use it when its unit is targeted with a Stratagem. If it does, reduce the CP cost of that use of the Stratagem by 1 CP.”
That’s a pretty big change and will probably take some time to digest the full implications of that one.
Stratagems that prevent units from being targeted is the next section and it changes the ranges at which these Stratagems work. Many of these used to be 12″ and now they have been changed to 18″ — until the start of your next movement phase. The example used is the Grey Knights Haloed in Soulfire Stratagems which, again, pushes the range out to 18″.
And finally, we have the Stratagems that add new units to your army section. These Stratagems have had a new restriction added of “once per battle” — which is a big (and probably needed) nerf.
There’s even more changes, too. One that isn’t listed but was mentioned by GW was a change to movement — specifically pivoting Monsters and Vehicles that aren’t on round bases:
The first time you need to pivot a Monster of Vehicle that isn’t on a round base, you have to pay 2″ for the movement. From that point, your model can pivot freely. Again, there’s loads more changes. I highly encourage you to check out the breakdown directly from GW. You can read that all here. Additionally, there’s a video from GW going over “what’s new, why they’ve been made, and what to expect.”
It’s a long one but if you’re playing 40k, it’s worth watching!
This really does feel like a 10.5 edition update.
