The latest Warhammer 40k balance dataslate is here. Check out the changes that actually matter and how they’ll shift the competitive 40k meta now.
The latest Warhammer 40k balance dataslate has landed, and it’s shaking things up where it counts. Some armies just got new life breathed into them, others are sweating as their favorite tricks get trimmed, and the whole competitive scene is bracing for impact.
If you want to know which changes actually matter and how they’ll bend the meta, this breakdown cuts through the noise and highlights the updates that will decide games at your next event.
The Most Important 40k Dataslate Changes
Challenger Cards are GONE!
I’ll admit, I’m shocked and wildly impressed with GW on this one. Challenger cards were nearly universally disliked, but what’s truly impressive is GW’s ability to admit they made a mistake and course correct.
GW’s move to dump challenger cards is such a welcome change when it comes to competitive. Historically, GW has been slow to walk back problematic changes, but this is another instance of them realizing a problem and fixing it abruptly. I can’t praise them enough or say how excited this makes me for the future of the game.
I was expecting a change to the cards and not just a full removal. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see them come back in the future with more care put into the mechanic, and I’m excited to see what the team will cook up.
Grade: A+, it’s so beautiful, that could have been the whole dataslate and the Warhammer 40k world would rejoice, but we get more!
Orks Is Back!
Orks probably saw the most care put into their faction this slate, and they definitely needed it.
Points drops on nine different datasheets will definitely make list building more interesting; they can be seen here in the Munistorum field manual.
Ghaz appears to be most impacted by the changes, as he can now lead Boyz and Nobz, and his transport capacity has been increased to four, making new delivery packages more interesting. Not sure what could survive a charge from 20 Boyz and Ghaz, but my guess is nothing?
The other massive change is to the Kill Rig. It’s now become a monster, which mostly means two things: it can’t tank shock, but it shrinks to the size of its base when moving. This makes it a lot easier to get around the board and gets you away from pesky Anti-Vehicle weapons.
Kommandos have also become an auto-include. They now Combat Squad, which means they can split into two units of five, so that’s two great five-man trading units for only 60 points each.
Slaughter In-Bound!
World Eaters got some points adjustments to exactly the units you’d expect: Chaos Spawn +10, Forgefiend +20, and Kharn +15. All of which were seen in every list, and often in triplicate.
They also saw drops to other datasheets, with the most impactful being the drops of both Eightbound (-15/30) and Exalted Eightbound (-20/40).
Exalted will likely be seen more frequently due to their lowered points and new datasheet ability, which grants +1 damage against Monsters and Vehicles for their unit. That means it includes the Slaughterbound if attached!
Slaughterbound also saw his Strength increase from 8 to 10, which makes him considerably better against all midrange targets in any detachment. In Berserker Warband, he’ll reach a shocking S12, which is just about enough to wound anything on 3s now.
These changes open up a considerable amount of flexibility to list building and make one of the strongest factions out there, much more challenging to plan against.
Thousand Sons Got Dusted
The Thousand Sons have been a powerful army since their codex release, but wow, did the dataslate come down hard on them.
The major change we see is Tsons can’t keep trying to cast spells after they fail outside of exclusively the Incandaeum Enhancement that allows a second cast of Doombolt. When they fail, they fail for real now, a change I think most people expected.
They’re also receiving a massive amount of points increases; that whole page is red. Losing lots of points and the failsafe of trying multiple spells makes this army’s margin for error essentially non-existent. If anything doesn’t go as planned, they just won’t have the resources to continue a battle.
I’m sure we’ll see expert pilots turning people inside out with this army, but an already enigmatic army just became even more obfuscated for the time being.
Surprising Exclusions/Inclusions:
Death Guard are still strong and a meta bully likely to be seen at most events. GW probably didn’t feel like there was enough data to give them another tap, but I know a lot of us were hoping for some datasheet changes given the state they’re in.
Aeldari have probably been arguably the best army of the last couple of months, and it looks like only Liam VSL was nerfed. Eldar Union might be too powerful to test.
T’au Empire has seen some interesting buffs to the Riptide Ion Accelerator with the strength increasing to 9 and 10 when Supercharged. Coupled with only green on their field manual points changes, this army is definitely poised to Mont’ka the meta.
Lastly, Deathwatch… Won LVO, refused to answer any questions, and then left… Now they’re getting some huge points reductions to all of their kill teams. As a Xeno player, I’m concerned for my safety.
Final Thoughts From Us: 40k Meta Now
The dataslate landed like a squig in a china shop, and it looks like GW finally flexed some balance muscles in the right places. Orks get to krump with style, World Eaters have fresh tools to cause headaches, and Thousand Sons finally feel the sting of limits.
Toss in Tau warming up their big guns and Deathwatch quietly sliding into meta menace territory, and we’ve got a whole new game to play.
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