Your guide to the latest Warhammer 40k Balance Dataslate 10th Edition Update, including points changes from 2024 through August 2025.
Updated on August 22nd, 2025, by Rob Baer with the latest points and Balance Dataslate updates from Games Workshop.
Warhammer 40k just got another Balance Dataslate, and you know what that means for the meta: fresh rules, point tweaks, and a shake-up that could flip your army list on its head. Since early 2024, Games Workshop has been fine-tuning the game with updates that reward clever list-building and punish lazy choices.
This guide breaks down the newest changes in 10th Edition so you can see what got buffed, what took a hit, and how it all stacks up at the table.
Latest Warhammer 40k Balance Dataslate Update
GW released the latest full 10th Edition Warhammer 40k Balance Dataslate in June 2025, 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 rules change right here.
August 2025 Update To Knights and Death Guard
Imperial Knights and Chaos Knights were stomping around with too many oversized toys on the field, thanks to bargain-bin point costs. The fix? Price hikes across the board. You can see the full list of updates here.
Big Winners & Sad Losers: 40k Rules Updates By Faction
The latest Warhammer 40k Balance Dataslate updates are here, and as always, they will shake things up across the battlefield.
Winners: Imperial Factions
- Adepta Sororitas have a lot to celebrate. The revamped Champions of Faith Detachment gives players more room to experiment without getting punished for creativity. Pair that with a handful of points cuts and some long-overdue buffs to less-used units, and Sisters are shaping up to be a surprise contender. Don’t be shocked when they start popping up near the top tables again.
- Blood Angels have more reasons to play with their own toys again. Death Company units are cheaper and easier to support, which gives them a stronger identity apart from vanilla Marines. There’s still a slight weirdness with the Death Company Captain disabling his own aura, but overall, the tradeoff seems worth it for players looking to bring more flavor back into their lists.
Xenos Faction Winners:
- Drukhari’s wager system finally feels like a gamble worth taking. The Reaper’s Wager Detachment now rewards both winners and losers of the wager mechanic, which adds some depth to a faction that often felt too feast-or-famine. Expect clever list builders to wring more out of this than we’ve seen in the past few months, especially with the points drops as well.
- T’au Empire saw one of the biggest rewires. The Observer system now works more intuitively. If you shoot at an observed unit, you’re guided. No need for mental gymnastics. Combined with datasheet adjustments across the army, this could be what finally lifts T’au lists out of the mid-table.
- Leagues of Votann got a “quality of life” change that actually matters. Attendants for characters like the Grimnyr no longer eat transport slots, meaning cleaner list construction and fewer movement headaches. It’s not flashy, but it makes running these units less frustrating.
Chaos Factions
- Chaos Space Marines are on the upswing too. Daemon Princes got the Lone Operative treatment, giving them more board presence without becoming liabilities. Updates to Lord Discordant and Vashtorr also suggest the faction’s unique characters are finally catching up to their narrative hype.
40k Dataslate: Losers
- Aeldari, especially those leaning hard on Devoted of Ynnead, are getting a leash. The Lethal Intent ability has been narrowed, making it less of a hammer in every situation. Aeldari were arguably overperforming before, so this tweak is less a punishment and more of a calibration, but it will sting players who’ve been leaning on that ability too often.
- Space Marines, or more specifically, Ultramarines, took a hit to their Command Point engine. Guilliman’s ability now works once per battle round, and Calgar only brings his CP regen if he’s your Warlord. The popular combo of “infinite CP” just got a lot more finite.
- Tyranids didn’t walk away unscathed either. Hive Tyrants have to pace themselves now that Will of the Hive Mind is limited to once per battle round. That’s not a death sentence, but it does slow down some of the faction’s strongest plays. On the flip side, Psychophages got a glow-up, so there’s a consolation prize in the mix.
Mixed Bag
- Astra Militarum saw a lot of shifting numbers on the spreadsheet, points going up and down depending on the unit, but the biggest functional change is that Lord Solar Leontus can now issue orders to Titanic units. That’s a subtle but powerful option for players running super-heavies. It won’t change every list, but it opens a door that was firmly shut before.
- Orks are speeding toward relevance at breakneck pace. With Speed Freeks units getting points reductions and their Adrenaline Junkies Detachment delivering faster, scarier charges, green tide lists just got a major injection of tempo. It’s fast, it’s fun, and it hits harder than you’d expect. However, they did get quite a few point NERFS, so it’s a bit of a mixed bag here.
40k Munitorium Field Manual Points Updates Across Factions
One of the most eagerly anticipated aspects of any 10th Edition Warhammer 40k Balance Update is the changes to the points. These adjustments can dramatically alter how armies are built and perform on the battlefield, sometimes providing balance themselves.
You can read more in our Munitorum Field Manual changes article, which breaks down each faction in detail.
40k Balance Dataslate: Final Thoughts From Us
Alright, that’s the state of the 40k meta until GW decides to shake the snow globe again.
Knights got their knees capped, Death Guard had to put down the plague spreaders for a minute, and a few surprise winners quietly crept up the rankings while the usual suspects took a hit. It’s not a total overhaul, but enough to keep list builders awake at night.
See you for the next balance dataslate, that’s not far off in September 2025.
New Munitorum Field Manual 40k Points Update
What do you think about all the latest rules and points changes in the Warhammer 40k 10th edition balance dataslate?
