Warhammer 40K: GW’s Stealth Update’s Biggest Changes
Goatboy here and I want to talk about the top rules shifts in the new stealth update we just got for the 40K. The meta is ever-changing!
The recent Core Update wasn’t nearly as ground-shifting as the initial Balance Dataslate but it did answer some questions we had and shored up some “holes” left by trying to resolve things. Overall the update is pretty neat and while I think we could use some changes (like fixing Enhancements that don’t work right now) it is still good to see tweaks done outside of the normal six month updates.
Aircraft Get Nerfed – Yay!
The biggest change that would affect things in the game is removing the little line of text that says Aircraft that didn’t fit on the table could ignore the whole – not being able to shoot clause. Now these giant things have to come on, be within 6”, and if they can’t fit… they don’t get to shoot. This turns off the whole Tiger Shark issue which is a good thing. It wasn’t very fun for the metagame. Plus you couldn’t buy the model right now so it really wasn’t a healthy option for the game.
Pivoting Defined
The next shift was an update to the whole Pivot rule with some removal of vehicles on circle bases not having to pay for pivots. They also shifted those non vehicle models on oval bases by giving them a 1” pivot. This helps those biker armies and other options with those specific oval bases.
No-LoS Weapons Nerfed
From there those Torrent weapons that could get indirect fire are no longer able to Torrent you out of LOS. This hits Thousand Sons and Grey Knights which is a good thing. They are really working on keeping no-LOS weapons down a bit in the game and I am all for that. It is just not that fun to have your models hit by stuff that isn’t seeing you while you are moving.
Shooting Odds & Ends
Continuing on the shooting from – those units that are mixed with MC’s and non MC’s (looking at you Nids) now also get the full Big Guns never tire rule. This means they do get a -1 to shoot if they are stuck in combat. It really just hits Zonathropes as they seemed to be the big abuser of this. I am sure it also cleans up some other stuff coming in the future.
GSC & Sisters
There are a few other things that are not nearly as exciting as the two FAQ updates to help and hurt some armies. I expect to see a few more of these in the future but will just have to wait and see. The winner is of course GSC that lets those models that come back with Cult Ambush they can now Deep Strike if they have the rule instead of coming off of that Ambush Token. This is pretty helpful as it at least lets you get the unit back without having to worry about your icon getting spooked if the enemy gets too close.
The nerf is to Sisters of battle and a change to Devout Fanaticism and needing the unit to be shoot before they can surge forward. The old way would let a unit that is in close range, get targeted and all of a sudden be in Engagement range. It was a gotcha and probably a good thing to get cleaned up. Still it sucks as it was an interesting rule.
Unexplained Mysteries
We still didn’t get an answer to the whole Archon and Lord of Deceit. Oh and of course no shift in the Puretide Engram Neurochip and how it just doesn’t work. I get the feeling these updates are going to come at some point.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
