Between a large universe of playable factions, steady Codex releases, rules interactions, and supplements, game balance is a constantly moving target. The release of the Balance Dataslate at Warhammer Community marks the first of a now quarterly series of adjustments. These adjustments are based on competitive events with a view towards equalizing over and under underperforming forces.
Buggies and Flyers
The inaugural dataslate takes to task two seperate lists that have been dominating matched play lately; Buggies and Flyers.
With high speed, good weapons, and Ramshackle, Ork Buggies dominate their lists. Consequently, Ork armies will be limited to one unit of each of the different buggy types. You’ve still got lots of room for a wide assortment of buggies, but you’ll have to choose from over the range.
The rise of Flyers comes from speed, armament, and the lack of fire arcs. Flyers have the speed to reach almost any part of the board. Their firepower may then be put to maximum effect. Plus, Flyer rules make them harder targets to almost ever other unit on the board. While anti-air units might have been an answer, many factions didn’t have access to one and they’re sub-par against everything else. Consequently, GW has limited the number of flyers based on game size. From 1 in Combat Patrol and Incursion games to a grand total of 3 in Onslaught.
Army Buffs
Five armies gained buffs to their forces; Astra Militarum, Chaos Space Marines, Imperial and Chaos Knights, and Necrons.
Astra Militarum
The Imperial Guard received a boost to Leman Russ saves and an expansion of Tank and Infantry orders.
The venerable Leman Russ family of Battle Tanks improved their save to 2+.
A Tank Commander issuing a Tank Order may issue it to a vehicle instead of just a Leman Russ.
Officers with the Voice of Command after issuing an order to a target unit may issue the same order to one or more infantry within 6 inches of the target. Not only does it greatly expand the range your order reaches, but also the number of units. A full list of affected orders is in the Dataslate.
Chaos Space Marines
Punch harder with Death to the False Emperor. Instead of extra atacks the ability now scores an extra hit on 6+.
Imperial and Chaos Knights
One of the perennial problems in a Knights list was controlling objectives. These towering engines of destruction only counted as one model and could have control wrestled away by a pair of guardsmen. Now Vehicles with the Imperial or Chaos Knights keyword gain Towering Foe. These models count as 5. Meanwhile, Titanic vehicles count as 10. That should give you a fair chance!
If your army is faction pure, excluding Agents of the Imperium and Unbound units, then your Armiger-class and War Dog models gain Objective Secured. Time to take and hold!
Necrons
Due to a lack of CORE units in their Codex, Necrons have experienced difficulty using their auras and commander’s other abilities. The following additional units now gain the CORE keyword; Canoptek Reanimator, Canoptek Wraiths, Flayed Ones, Lokhust Destroyers and Heavy Destroyers, Ophydian Destroyers, Skorpekh Destroyers, and Triarch Praetorians. Rebooting the CORE protocols forges a stronger Dynasty.
Point Changes
All of the above adjustments took one page to detail in the Balance Dataslate. The last two pages display reevaluation of Adeptus Mechanicus and Drukhari units in the face of actual play. The intricate details of point values are a bit beyond me, so I’ll leave that to players of those books to argue for and against.
That’s it for the first quarterly Balance Dataslate. These rules will be in effect for official Games Workshop events. However, these are considered optional in other settings. Talk with your players, keep what you like, and ditch the rest. It is your game. Play it your way!
