Warhammer 40k Balance Dataslate: August 2026 Rules Changes Winners & Losers

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40k Balance Dataslate guide for August 2026 is here! See what changed, the biggest buffs/nerfs by faction index, and the official PDF downloads.

Want the quick version of the latest 40k Balance Dataslate changes? Head straight to the Quick Reference for the official download, version notes, and a fast TL; DR. We also have a full breakdown of all the winners, losers, and mixed bags for all the factions.

Be sure to read all the latest changes to the Warhammer 40k Missions in the Event Companion and all the Munitorum Field Manual points updates in our coverage articles as well.

Latest Warhammer 40k Balance Dataslate Update 

Updated on August 26th, 2026, by Rob Baer with the latest Balance Dataslate changes from Games Workshop.

August 2026 40k Balance Update: What Changed

• Points move, rules mostly hold: the August 2026 40k balance update is a points pass, delivered through a new Munitorum Field Manual rather than a fresh faction-rules document.
• Who moved: GW put slight points increases on Chaos Daemons, Emperor’s Children, and Adeptus Custodes, and targeted points reductions on Astra Militarum, Death Guard, and Aeldari. Orks were skipped entirely because their new Codex is on pre-order.
• Two new core rules: Assault Disembarks and Shock Disembarks (disembarking after a transport Advances) are now core rules, and those core rule changes live in the app.
• Cadence: GW says September’s update is the last of the monthly balance passes, after which the 40k dataslate update schedule goes back to quarterly.

The faction-by-faction Warhammer dataslate breakdown below is still the July 2026 Universal Rules Update 1.0 pass, which remains the current rules document for every faction.

40k Balance Dataslate: Quick Reference 

Biggest Balance Dataslate Changes TL;DR

• August’s update is mostly surgical: GW isn’t blowing up 11th Edition yet, with most changes aimed at fixing interactions, tightening wording, and giving a few struggling rules some extra juice. The newest Warhammer 40k rules update is a points-only pass in a new Munitorum Field Manual, plus two new core rules (Assault Disembarks and Shock Disembarks); the faction rules below are unchanged from July.
• Transport tricks are one of the biggest themes: the Universal Rules now formally define Assault and Shock Disembark Moves, while Space Marines, Drukhari, and Emperor’s Children all get clearer ways to hop out of one Transport and climb back into another. 
• Sisters get one of the best buffs: Acts of Faith now generates a Miracle die every turn instead of every battle round, effectively doubling their passive Miracle dice income.
• The Lion gets much harder to pin down: Lion El’Jonson can now disappear into Strategic Reserves in the Command phase and return through ingress later that same turn, while Dark Angels also pick up two new counter-charge tricks.
• Chaos gets a pile of reactive movement: Chaos Space Marines gain new surge moves, Strategic Reserve escapes, and post-shooting movement, while Chaos Knights can now use Storm of Darkness against melee attacks too.
• Orks score a useful Green Tide ruling: a mob’s invulnerable save is locked in when it’s targeted, so dropping below 10 models midway through an attack sequence no longer downgrades that save halfway through the shooting.
• Tyranids get better objective and monster-hunting tools: Synaptic Goading now pushes units toward objectives, while the Norn Assimilator gets +2 to charge after tagging a Monster or Vehicle with its harpoon.
• Guard and Space Wolves take the clearest nerfs: Titanic Astra Militarum units lose Stealth from Recon Element, while Old Greymanes now has to split Grey Hunters into two roughly equal units instead of peeling off tiny utility squads.
• Aeldari, Death Guard, Necrons, Thousand Sons, and World Eaters are mixed bags: each gets something useful, but pays for it with Leader swaps, weaker reactive rules, or Heldrake changes including 12″ Move and OC 0.
• Several factions simply escape untouched: Custodes, Grey Knights, Imperial Agents, Genestealer Cults, and Votann get no meaningful changes this round, which isn’t a bad place to be when GW is still tuning the first months of 11th Edition.

Changes Index: 40k Balance Dataslate v1.2

Most Warhammer 40k Event Layouts Just Changed

The latest Warhammer 40k Event Companion update changes almost every terrain layout in the pack, so tournament organizers aren’t dealing with a handful of minor map tweaks this time.

Games Workshop also recommends cycling layouts in order through A, B, and C, repeating that sequence for however many rounds are being played. A five-round event would use A, B, C, A, B, while a six-round event simply runs the full sequence twice.

Two Chapter Approved questions were cleaned up as well. Plunder’s “not within your territory” requirement applies to the terrain area, while a destroyed Beacon unit can’t be replaced. If that happens, you might as well discard it for the CP.

Check out our full look at the updated Warhammer 40k Event Companion for all the major changes

Universal Rules Changes for the 40k Balance Dataslate

Alongside the points and faction changes, GW released a separate Universal Rules Updates document with the overall changes. There’s one big change to the Universal Rules this time, and it cleans up exactly what kind of move a unit makes when special rules let it disembark after its Transport has already moved.

GW has now split those situations into two specific move types, depending on whether the Transport made a Normal Move or Advanced. Here’s what changed:

• Charging after a Transport moves now uses an Assault Disembark Move: If a rule lets a unit disembark from a Transport that made a Normal Move and still remain eligible to declare a charge, that unit now makes an Assault Disembark Move instead of a regular Disembark Move.
• Disembarking after a Transport Advances now uses a Shock Disembark Move: If a rule lets a unit disembark from a Transport after that Transport made an Advance Move, the unit now makes a Shock Disembark Move instead of a regular Disembark Move.

GW released the latest full 11th Edition Warhammer 40k Balance Dataslate via Universal Rules Changes in August 2026, along with updated point changes to the Munitorum Field Manual. 

Keep reading for the latest shifts in the 40k meta, and don’t forget to grab the full download of every faction’s new 40k dataslate rules change right here.

This guide breaks down the newest 40k rules updates for 11th Edition so you can see what got buffed, what took a hit, and how it all stacks up at the table, until the next balance dataslate drops, that is.

Big Winners From The Balance Dataslate, 40k Universal Rules Update

The latest Warhammer 40k Balance Dataslate featuring 40k universal rules updates is here, and as always, it will shake things up across the competitive and casual meta.

This pass feels more like nudges and corrections than a full-on reset, which is often the healthiest kind of update. It still changes army list points, mission planning, and what you can get away with in-game, but it does it without nuking every archetype.

It’s also worth noting that GW published some changes in each of the new Faction Packs, and not a big FAQ document. 

If you just want the fast hit list, the Change Index up top is perfect for a quick scan, while the sections below are the “why this matters” version.

40k Balance Dataslate Winners: Imperial Factions

Adepta Sororitas

• What changed: Acts of Faith now grants a Miracle dice at the start of each turn rather than each battle round, effectively doubling your passive dice income. Smaller moves alongside it: Divine Intervention is narrowed to returning a single Adepta Sororitas Character model instead of a unit (nerf), Celestian Sacresants gain the CELESTIAN keyword, Celestian Insidiants are folded into the Champions of Faith and Sacred Champions detachment rules, and Saint Celestine’s Healing Tears is rewritten to return 1 Geminae Superia model in your Command phase.
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: Adepta Sororitas Faction Pack v1.2 p13

Twice the Miracle dice changes how every phase of a Sororitas game feels, because Acts of Faith stops being a rationing exercise and starts being a resource you actually spend. The CELESTIAN keyword threading through Sacresants and Insidiants quietly turns both units into real detachment payoffs rather than filler. 

Adeptus Custodes

• What changed: Nothing
• Verdict: Win
• Official ref: Adeptus Custodes Faction Pack v1.1 p35

Adeptus Mechanicus

• What changed: Cybernetica Datasmith drops INFANTRY for VEHICLE and picks up Data-severed, which gives INFANTRY back and strips VEHICLE any time there are no KASTELAN ROBOT models left in its unit. That is the only entry on the update page.
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: Adeptus Mechanicus Faction Pack v1.2 p18

Attached to Kastelans, the Datasmith is no longer the one soft INFANTRY model riding inside a robot unit, so it stops dragging the squad into anti-infantry rules and stops being a keyword-specific target. Once the robots are gone, it flips back to INFANTRY and behaves like the little tech-priest it looks like. 

Black Templars

• What changed: The only red change is the Companions of Vehemence detachment’s Heresy Begets Retribution Stratagem, Target Section, dropping from 9″ to 8″.
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: Black Templars Faction Pack v1.1 p5

Honestly, this is one inch shaved off a single stratagem’s target range, and that is the whole pass for the Templars. 

Blood Angels

What changed: Changes to Upon Wings of Fire Detachment Rule, they now must ingress next turn, and Miraculous Saviour Ability doesn’t stop the Sanguinor from moving. 
Verdict: Buff
Official ref: Blood Angels Faction Pack v1.0 p9

Overall, these just add a little bit more movement to the army, even if some of it is forced. 

Adeptus Titanicus 

• What changed: Nothing
• Verdict: Win
• Official ref: Adeptus Titanicus Faction Pack v1.1 p1

Dark Angels

• What changed: Lion El’Jonson’s All Secrets Revealed becomes Mist-wreathed Shadow Realms and now triggers in your Command phase, so he can drop into Strategic Reserves and ingress in the same turn’s Movement phase. The pack also red-flags two counter-charge Stratagems, Inescapable Wrath for Lion’s Blade Task Force and Leonine Aggression for Wrath of the Rock, both letting you charge at the end of your opponent’s Charge phase with no Charge bonus. What’s New confirms FRAME comes off the Ravenwing Talonmaster Legends datasheet.
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: Dark Angels Faction Pack v1.2 p10

A Command phase trigger means the Lion can vanish and come back down inside the same turn, which makes him far harder to pin and much easier to swing toward whatever objective actually matters. The two changed Stratagems reward keeping Deathwing tight, because a failed enemy charge can now be punished immediately instead of next turn. 

Grey Knights

• What changed: Nothing
• Verdict: Win
• Official ref: Grey Knights Faction Pack v1.1 p9

Imperial Agents 

• What changed: Nothing
• Verdict: Win
• Official ref: Imperial Agents Faction Pack v1.1 p10

Imperial Knights

• What changed: The only red-flagged update is Gate Warden Lance’s Dauntless Defenders rule, which now specifies circular 40mm foundation markers and draws your defensive line from any part of one marker to any part of the other. Nothing else in the pack is changed this pass.
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: Imperial Knights Faction Pack v1.2 p27

Measuring edge to edge instead of a single fixed point gives you a noticeably wider band of board that counts as your defensive line, and on Knight-sized bases that difference decides whether Against the Horde is live on turn two. Ignoring Hit roll modifiers plus SUSTAINED HITS 1 is the whole reason to play this detachment, so anything that makes it easier to stay switched on can be huge.

Space Marines

• What changed: Rapid Embarkation now lets your unit embark within that transport in a turn it disembarked from a transport, a real buff for Armoured Speartip. Stoic Defender is retuned as well, with Feel No Pain 6+ now tied to being within an objective you control, and Battle-shock halving Objective Control instead of removing it.
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: Space Marines Faction Pack v1.2 p1, p60

Transport shuffling is the whole point of Armoured Speartip, and being able to bail out of one hull and climb into another in the same turn turns your Repulsors and Impulsors into a relay system. Stoic Defender moving its Feel No Pain onto objectives you hold pushes the Anvil list forward instead of parking it at home.

Chaos Factions: 40k Balance Dataslate Winners

Chaos Knights

• What changed: Storm of Darkness now triggers in the Fight phase as well as your opponent’s Shooting phase, while keeping its Stealth plus -1 to hit against melee attacks effect. That’s the only change in the pack.
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: Chaos Knights Faction Pack v1.2 p25

Traitoris Lance can now hold one CP for either half of the opponent’s turn, which makes the stratagem much harder to bait out with a throwaway shooting attack. Dropping enemy melee to hit by 1 on a big Knight after charges are locked in can swing a whole combat, and it stacks with the Dread ability you were already running. 

Chaos Space Marines

• What changed: Four new reactive Stratagems came in with changes, handing Cult of the Arkifane a Toughness bump on a Soul Forge unit under fire, Huron’s Marauders both a D6″ surge move after taking wounds and a board edge escape into Strategic Reserves, and Renegade Warband a D6″ Normal move after being shot (buff). The only real nerf is the Heldrake, dropped to M12″ with an Objective Control of 0.
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: Chaos Space Marines Faction Pack v1.2 p8, p14, p16, p37

Encircling Surge is the one to watch, because Huron’s Marauders can now peel a unit off a board edge at the end of your Fight phase and drop it back in wherever it hurts most. Pair that with Reavers’ Reaction and Traitor lists get to play the same reactive shell game the newer books have been enjoying.

40k Balance Dataslate Winners: Xenos Factions

Drukhari

• What changed: The Venom’s Aerialists ability now says a unit can embark in a turn it disembarked from a transport rather than from this transport, and a new FAQ confirms that reading outright. FRAME also comes off the Raven Strike Fighter, Reaper and Tantalus Legends datasheets.
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: Drukhari Faction Pack v1.2 p1, p8

This is a one-word fix with real teeth, because now a Kabalite squad can pile out of a Raider, do its work, and get scooped up by a Venom at the end of the Fight phase. 

Genestealer Cults

• What changed: Nothing
• Verdict: Win
• Official ref: Genestealer Cults Faction Pack v1.1 p7

Leagues of Votann 

• What changed: Nothing
• Verdict: Win
• Official ref: Votann Faction Pack v1.1 p11

Orks 

• What changed: A new FAQ locks Green Tide’s Mob Mentality invulnerable save to the model count at the moment the unit is targeted, so a mob standing at 10 or more models keeps its 5+ invuln for the entire attack sequence instead of sliding to 6+ mid resolution. Careen! in War Horde now resolves its Normal or Fall Back move before embarked units make an emergency disembark, and the Kustom Boosta blasta’s Rivetin’ Dakka is rebuilt around the suppressed keyword for its minus 1 to Hit.
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: Orks Faction Pack v1.2 p27

The Green Tide ruling is the one that changes games, because it means a 20 strong Boyz mob no longer gets progressively more fragile inside a single shooting attack the way careful opponents were arguing. Bring the big blocks, keep them above ten, and force the other guy to fully commit rather than chip. 

Tau Empire 

• What changed: Legends vehicles had FRAME removed, but this doesn’t really change anything with matched play. But, if you still use those Legends units, this is worth looking at. 
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: T’au Empire Faction Pack v1.2 p19

GW must have just forgot to make these changes when 11th Edition happened, as this isn’t really a buff or nerf, more just matching things to match 11th Edition.

Tyranids 

• What changed: Synaptic Goading is rewritten around surge moves, letting you re roll the D6 and send the unit as close as possible to the nearest objective marker instead of the nearest enemy unit. The Norn Assimilator’s Harpooned ability is also reworked, giving +2 to charge rolls when an enemy Monster or Vehicle within 12″ was hit by that weapon this turn, with the catch that the unit must end that charge engaged with it.
• Verdict: Buff
• Official ref: Tyranids Faction Pack v1.2 p19

Pointing a re-rollable surge move at an objective rather than the closest enemy is a scoring tool disguised as a movement rule, and Endless Multitude bricks are exactly the units you want appearing on a marker your opponent thought was safe. The Harpooned rewrite turns the Norn Assimilator into a reliable monster hunter instead of a coin flip, since +2 on the charge after tagging something with the harpoon is close to guaranteed contact. 

 The Losers From 40k’s Balance Dataslate

Astra Militarum

• What changed: The Recon Element detachment rule Masters of Camouflage is rewritten to read “Friendly ASTRA MILITARUM units (excluding TITANIC units) have Stealth”, carving Baneblade chassis super heavies out of the army-wide Stealth blanket. Nothing else on the update page is flagged this pass, so the 9″ to 8″ trims and datasheet edits are carryover.
• Verdict: Nerf
• Official ref: Astra Militarum Faction Pack v1.2 p23

Any Recon Element list that was parking a Shadowsword or Baneblade under free Stealth just lost a full point of accuracy protection at long range, and that is the exact matchup where those hulls were surviving. Guard infantry and standard tanks keep the benefit, so the detachment still plays the same screen-and-shoot game. 

Space Wolves

• What changed: The Old Greymanes detachment rule in Veterans of the Fang now requires a Grey Hunters split into two units of as equal a size as possible, and you have to note which models form each new unit. No other changes in the pack.
• Verdict: Nerf
• Official ref: Space Wolves Faction Pack v1.2 p1

Cutting a 10-model Grey Hunters pack into 5 and 5 is a completely different tool than shaving off a two-model chaff squad to screen a charge lane or run out and tag a far objective. Wolves players now have to commit real bodies to both halves, which costs them the cheap actions. 

Balance Dataslate 40k’s Mixed Bag

Aeldari

• What changed: Six new reactive Stratagems were added in red across the pack’s three newest Detachments, giving Serpent’s Brood, Eldritch Raiders and Corsair Coterie ways to move, vanish into Strategic Reserves or blunt incoming fire on the opponent’s turn. The nerf sits on the datasheets, where The Visarch, Warlock Conclave and Warlock Skyrunners all lose Leader and gain Support instead, with the Conclave and Skyrunners losing their Leader sections outright. Ghosts of the Webway also picked up a red bullet letting you name a Harlequins Character as your Warlord.
• Verdict: Mixed
• Official ref: Aeldari Faction Pack v1.3 p7, p9, p11, p30

Aeldari already punished you for stepping into the wrong place, and now three Detachments get to answer your shooting and your Fight phase with a free reposition. 

Death Guard

• What changed: The Mortarion’s Hammer Stinking Mire Stratagem is fully rewritten, now targeting one friendly unengaged Death Guard Vehicle and giving a visible enemy unit within 12″ -1 to charge rolls. Nurgle’s Gift also has the ranged half of Skullsquirm Blight rewritten so that ranged attacks from an affected unit grant the benefit of cover, and the melee half still applies -1 to the Hit roll.
• Verdict: Mixed
• Official ref: Death Guard Faction Pack v1.2 p7

Stinking Mire becoming a vehicle-anchored charge denial bubble hands Death Guard a way to keep fast melee units off a Plagueburst Crawler for a turn. The Skullsquirm rewrite is subtler and pays off most against armies that shoot from open ground. 

Emperor’s Children

• What changed: On to the Next in Rapid Evisceration now explicitly lets your unit embark within a Transport in a turn it already disembarked from one, closing the loophole that killed the combo. The offset is the Heldrake, whose Objective Control drops to 0.
• Verdict: Mixed
• Official ref: Emperor’s Children Faction Pack v1.2 p9

That embark clause is the difference between a stratagem that reads well and one that actually functions, because the whole Rapid Evisceration pitch is pile out, kill something, and vanish back into the box before the return fire lands. Pair it with Mechanized Murder and your Rhino contents get to keep re-rolling ones every turn without ever standing in the open.

Necrons 

• What changed: The Monolith’s Eternity Gate now sets a unit up wholly within 6″ of the Monolith and unengaged, even inside your opponent’s deployment zone, which is the headline buff. Cosmic Precision’s target line now reads “arriving using an ingress move this phase,” and Unnatural Aggression takes a nerf that denies your unit any Charge bonus even when the charge lands.
• Verdict: Mixed
• Official ref: Necrons Faction Pack v1.2 p1, p29, p30

The Monolith just became a teleport beacon parked wherever you want it, dropping Warriors and Immortals right on top of a midboard objective instead of scattering them 8″ away from everything. That is a genuine board-control tool for a faction that usually has to walk.

Thousand Sons

• What changed: The Heldrake’s Objective Control drops to 0, so it can no longer contest or hold anything, alongside its move going to 12″ and the AIRCRAFT keyword coming off. The pack also hits the Hexwarp Thrallband’s Kaleidoscopic Tempest Stratagem, which gives a targeted Thousand Sons Psyker unit Stealth plus -3 detection range while wholly within your Flow of Magic.
• Verdict: Mixed
• Official ref: Thousand Sons Faction Pack v1.2 p10

Zeroing out the Heldrake’s OC turns it back into a pure damage dealer that cannot sneak onto an objective late, which kills one of the cheapest scoring tricks Tzeentch lists had. Kaleidoscopic Tempest pays some of that back by making your Psykers genuinely awkward to shoot once they are inside the Flow of Magic. 

World Eaters

• What changed: The Heldrake loses the AIRCRAFT keyword and drops to M 12″ with OC 0, the biggest single change in the pack. Khârn the Betrayer’s The Betrayer ability now only fires at the end of your Charge phase while his unit is unengaged.
• Verdict: Mixed
• Official ref: World Eaters Faction Pack v1.2 p7, p8

The Heldrake is now just a big fast skimmer, which means it can be charged and shot like anything else instead of skating over the table untouchable. That cuts both ways, because it also stops having to fly off the board edge and can actually sit where you need it. 

FAQ: 40k Balance Dataslate

What is the 40k balance dataslate?

It’s Games Workshop’s official “live update” document that adjusts rules interactions and clarifies how things are meant to work in 11th Edition 40k, alongside points updates in the Munitorum Field Manual. People search for it as the balance dataslate, the Warhammer dataslate, or just the 40k balance update; it is literally the same document.

Where do I download the Warhammer 40k balance dataslate?

The official download is hosted on Warhammer Community. The current download link is included at the top of the Quick Reference section.

Does the balance dataslate change points?

The dataslate focuses on rules updates, while points changes are handled in the Munitorum Field Manual.

When is the next 40k balance dataslate expected?

The August 2026 balance update landed on August 26th, 2026. Games Workshop has said September’s update will be the last of the monthly balance passes, after which 40k goes back to quarterly releases, so expect one more monthly pass in September, then a quarterly cadence.

How should I use these updates in casual games?

If your group wants smoother games and fewer rules arguments, using the current dataslate and points is usually the easiest path. If you prefer “printed book only,” just agree on it before the dice hit the table.

Do all factions get changes every dataslate?

Nope. Not every faction gets touched every time, and honestly, “no change” can be the best change. If your faction shows up in the dataslate but there’s nothing meaningful adjusted, that’s basically GW saying “we looked at you, and you’re not the problem right now.” If your faction isn’t listed at all, it usually means there were no amendments worth publishing for it in that pass.

How do I tell what text changed?

In the official PDF, GW makes it pretty easy to spot edits. New or revised wording is shown in red text, and highlights are used to flag earlier revisions inside the document. So if you want the exact “what changed since last time” answer, skip the vibes, open the PDF, and follow the red like it’s a trail of hobby glue on your desk.

Warhammer 40k Balance Dataslate: Final Thoughts From Us

Overall, the 40k Balance Dataslate keeps shaking things up, and this round proves no army is safe from a good old-fashioned points increase. Some factions are cashing in on discounts, others are footing the bill, and everyone has new tech to test. 

So, if you’re already wondering “When is the next 40k balance dataslate?”, the August 2026 balance update has already landed, and GW has confirmed September’s update will be the last of the monthly balance passes before the schedule goes back to quarterly releases.

If you missed it up top, version notes and the official download link are in our Quick Reference. But for now, grab the new 40k universal rules updates, rebuild your 2,000 points, and run some practice games until the muscle memory clicks.

🔗 Related Reads:

• Download the latest Balance Dataslate here
• Latest Munitorum Field Manual 40k Points Update
• 40k Chapter Approved Missions & Tournament Companion Guide

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