Warhammer 40K: Top 5 Things About Codex: World Eaters 2.0
Goatboy here with a quick breakdown of the top 5 things I liked from the new World Eaters codex. It’s good!
I have been a pretty heavy World Eaters player these last few months as the army just speaks to me. I think it fires off the style of play I like with an aggressive punch and some decent units. This new codex does a lot to flip the script on what was good before and while some people might not enjoy the shift I am very excited about the book. Let’s dive into a deeper breakdown of the top 5 things I liked in the new 10th Edition codex. These are just the things I liked that stood out to me from reading and digesting the book. These are the things I like and have me feeling excited to play the army since it is most likely what I will be bringing to the Challengers Cup in September for the giant team event.
5. Berzerkers Are the Backbone of the World Eaters
The index version of the army was a heavy push into using and abusing as many Eightbound as you could. Piles of these giants filled to the brim with daemonic fortitude became the calling card of top armies. A few scout moves, a roll of double 6’s on the blessings, and you got a pile of jerks crashing into your line. Sure you had a Rhino full of Zerks helping as wave 2, but a lot of the time the army just shifted into more angry bulky dudes rushing at you ready to punch their way to victory.
This new book brings the Zerks to the front with a ton of extra cool rules throughout the World Eater Detachments. The main Berzerker Warband lets them be the only unit to get an Advance & Charge as well as some amazing maxed Blood Surge movement if you so wanted. You mix this in with the units being 10 to 20 and you got a pile of angry dudes ready to do some damage. Their points are not shifting from the codex to official release so it is a bit hard to fit 20-man units in but the ability to bring a Khorne Lord on a Juggernaut to increase the movement to 10” means a large unit could be a really quick bully option for the army.
4. Both Daemon Princes Look Great
Both of these options got a nice glow up in the new book. The foot prince seems poised to be the must take in the army with its ability to get Lone Operative when near Infantry units, Devastating wounds on their Damage 3 weapon on the charge, and CP discounting for units nearby. All of these things combo into a really powerful piece to have running around your Jakhals, Zerks, and Eightbound you will still be taking. It is a great time to have this model show up in a good Combat Patrol for the World Eaters so be on the look out for a few to show up on the table tops.
The Winged one also looks good too with a lot of movement and some fun Mortal Wound options if they fly over the enemy. I like that you could set up some old school strafing runs with these guys as they still hit pretty hard with Damage 3 attacks and that oh so sweet 14” movement. They will get somewhere and most likely punch something which is just want you want your Monsters to do.
3. Two Powerful Detachments, Two Interesting Ones, Plus Decent Deamons
There is no fluff in their army build options and that is a good thing. You have the updated Index Detachment that matches the Blood Angels with +2 strength and +1 attack on the charge. It is powerful with the suite of options from before which we know is good. Again they get the Advance & Charge Strat for the Berzerkers and I get the feeling this will be a heavily used option. They have a mixture of protection options, better movement options, and even getting sticky on an objective after dying.
The Goretrack Onslaught is the other strong option in that it pushes Zerks, Rhinos, and other vehicles to the forefront. Their rule grants units that disembark from transports a +1 to their charge and Lance on their melee attacks. This is pretty good and you mix this with a lot of cool enhancements like a no Overwatch option as well as a once per game Fights First. The big sweetness from this is its slew of stratagems that do all kinds of fun disembarking stuff. Beyond just getting out at different phases in your enemy turn or moving after getting shot you also have the ability to let a vehicle “go through terrain” like it isn’t there. This could be very powerful for the nicely glowed up Helbrute that just loves to keep attacking if someone decides to pay attention to it.
The interesting ones in my opinion are the Possessed Slaughterband and the Cult of blood. The Slaughterband amplifies your Possessed models (Eightbound and Exalted) with a blood surge like rolled called Brazen Fury if they get shot. There is a Strat that lets you add +1 damage to the Possessed units and it might be the defining feature of the army. They also have an auto fights on death as well as a -1 to wound Strat too. I think the detachment might be good if the Eightbound units drop in price more.
The Cult of blood is fun with the whole theme of worshiping monsters and titanic vehicles. The Lord of Skulls got a glow up that lets it ignore terrain like a knight, shoot more with rapid fire weapons everywhere, and move faster by going up to 12” now. They increased the cost from the book so we’ll see if they show up. Still it is pretty neat to see these big idols of doom give out cool buffs to your Jakhals and Goremongers.
The combo Khorne Daemonkin seems cute but with the ability to not gain any Blood Tithe points if you kill something (happens on a 3+) means that it is hard to guarantee you can activate stuff. I kinda wish it was like the Emperor’s Children Coterie detachment in that you get points and complete things that stay active the entire time. Will see if this is the way any other Daemon + Something will combo for armies in the future.
2. Many Units Get Glow-Ups
The Chaos Spawn got a nice glow up in this codex. It moves faster, still has Feel No Pain, has a scout move, and punches harder. Heck a ton of things punch harder with more attacks, faster movement, and just more damage potential. Yes the army now hits on a 4+ for shooting but with so much Rapid Fire options it starts to even out. Yes the World Eaters Land Raider has a Rapid Fire 2 Lascannons on it. It seems pretty dang awesome!
The Forgefiend will be the backbone of the army right now with its Rapid Fire 1 Blast Plasma Cannons as well as having the ability to reroll all hits if it is shooting the closest target within 18”. I have used these guys a ton and they stayed nice and cheap with the points. I would advise all World Eaters players to go find some and paint them red.
The Helbrute kept the ability to attack back anything that targets it as long as he hits what he targets. You mix this with the new 6” pile in and consolidate power for blessing and you got a dreadnought that can charge, punch something, consolidate into 2 things, get punched, punch those guys back, and then probably punch again as the other units has to punch him. That is a heck of a lot of punching for a model with 8+ attacks and a lot of attitude. Oh they stayed super cheap too so they will be showing up with their 9” movement and terrible disposition.
1. Blessings Feel More Brutal, The Army Has New Vibe
I was tired of the old blessings and the hope for either Angron to come back or you got the Yahtzi first turn charge nonsense. It made the army feel very one dimensional when you played it and you somehow oops into a win. I like that all the changes pushes it to a much more grinding style of play that will push you to get a ton of attacks and activate that lethal/sustained combo you always wanted. The ability to get Devastating Wounds versus infantry is very cool and having it activate off of double 6’s or 3 3+ means it should have a better chance of happening if you needed it. The rest of the rolls should be easier to get and let you as a World Eaters player have some fun.
I really like the changes overall as the army before felt like a weird version of the new Emperor’s Children with pushes to get Advance and charge. Now it feels like a unique pressure army with a bunch of mid field pressure, MSU style damage options, and even powerful shooting. Overall I like it and feel like it fits into what I want to play. I was never a big fan of taking Angron and he isn’t really worth it now so it matches my army style.
Skulls for the Skull Throne!
