Warhammer 40K: New ‘Balance Dataslate’ Released For Matched Play
Games Workshop has unleashed a new Balance Dataslate for Matched Play to help bring some balance back to the meta. Big changes ahead!
It seems like GW is looking to bring some more rules updates to Warhammer 40,000 with a bit more frequency. They are looking for that sweet, sweet Game Balance and it’s quite the task. However, the new Balance Dataslate is looking to make that happen. These changes are for Matched Play and that means you’ll probably see them filter down to most other formats in some form or fashion. This one is BIG in terms of impact but honestly not that long of a list.
“Warhammer 40,000 is a game with a lot of moving parts. New codexes, campaign books, White Dwarf articles, and more are released all the time, all of which have an effect on balance and the meta. Nevertheless, the rules team are committed to ensuring the game stays fun for everyone, no matter what army they play. This is especially important in matched play, where the principle of fairness is key to the format – not least because it’s where so many players meet for a game for the first time, in clubs and at tournaments.”
Well they certainly aren’t wrong. The new Balance Dataslate is an attempt to help wrangle in some of the outliers. Each quarter GW is hoping to release a short set of “rules tweaks” to help with the overall balance of the game. These might boost a faction to help hone their “killer edge” or it might clip the wings of some of the top-tier armies in the competitive scene. You can download the rules below and we’ll cover the changes, too.
Download the Balance Dataslate HERE
As you can see, there are quite a few changes to various armies. There are also some points updates to both the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Drukhari. You can check the Balance Dataslate for those points update. But let’s talk about some of the big rules changes.
Flyers Adjusted
There is now a limit on the number of Aircraft models you can have in your lists based on the size of the games you are playing:
Yep. Now you’re limited to between 1-3 Aircraft in your army. That’s gonna sting for certain builds out there!
Buggies Got Limited
Apparently GW wasn’t a big fan of seeing just one type of buggy “spammed” in the Ork lists. Now you’re also limited on to 1-3 based on the unit limits.
Again, most of those units are 1-3 so you can still have 3 of a single type of buggy – you just can’t have multiple units of the same type driving around.
Astra Militarum Boosts
Get ready for an increase in tanks as the Leman Russ now has a 2+ save!
There’s also some more changes to their orders and it does seem like an overall boost to the Astra Militarum.
Go Knight-Knight!
Chaos and Imperial Knights just got a HUGE boost as well. They can now take objectives easier and Armigers are also about to see a rise in value for their Objective Secured ability:
Taking and Primary and Secondary objectives are kind of a big deal…so this should definitely help.
Chaos Rising?
It seems like Chaos Space Marines are about to get a little scarier in Close Combat across the board now, too:
They are longer limited to getting the benefit on JUST Imperial units. That should help out for all those Close-combat dedicated units out there.
Necrons Get A Core Update
The Necrons are also getting a BUNCH of updates to what counts as Core for their army now. Check out this list:
That should open up a TON of potential builds for these units as they can now get benefits from abilities that only impact units with the Core keyword. Destroyers are about to obliterate things!
Again, it’s a relatively short list of things but there are some HUGE meta-shifting changes in this update. We’ll have to wait and see how the players adjust but I’m betting we are going to see a whole bunch of shifts in the “top army” positions very soon.
What do you think of these changes? What are you most excited about?
