The Leagues of Votann are already banned at some tournaments worldwide before they have even been released due to player and TO perception.
It looks as if multiple tournaments are already throwing down the banhammer on the newest faction before they have even hit painting desks.
Both players and Tournament organizers feel they will dominate the meta way too much at this point to allow them into some events. While most new armies (or at least when armies get new codexes) are pretty strong, it seems the Leagues of Votann may take it a step too far.
Leagues of Votann Banned at Events Before Release
This comes from Reddit; from the looks of it, Germany isn’t having it. Well, at least some tournaments, so be sure to check with your TOs if you’re in Germany, as you don’t want to spend too much time preparing for a tournament and painting up your army if you can’t play with them!
It’s not just Germany either, one indursty insider has reported to us a number of the larger Canadian TOs there are banning Leagues of Votann starting with the Montreal Open.
Alot of fingers are point to the disconnect with this codex because it was playtested exclusively by GW themselves. You may remember GW fired, well, canceled contracts with outside playtesters, and now it seems this was the first release where GW may have just only internally tested the book.
We saw a similar problem with the 2″ engagement range in ruins that created such division that, some tournaments just didn’t use it. Eventually GW just relented and returned to the way it was by removing it from the September 40k FAQ.
Is Banning the Right Call?
We’ve seen this before, where a book comes out and people see the abusable combos and immediately start to look at banning the faction. However, on a large scale, we haven’t really seen how the faction will play out; keep in mind they are still just one wound for the most part, and pricy point wise.
In the past “broken” factions have fallen a little flat due to points, limitations, secondaries, and such when they actually hit the table.
Still, most of this is hypothetical, as no tournament has the raw data of actual numbers to see if they would really be that dominant.
A great quote against banning came from a recent Frontline Gaming article:
No army is written without some form of weakness (at least in GW’s mind), and it may be that these limitations equal or exceed the army’s strengths. Since we are in an environment that is still quite information-poor we may benefit from holding off on bans until they are established as a problematic army.
On the other hand, GW doesn’t seem too concerned with balance around the actual tournament-style play of the armies.
Especially without much testing outside of the GW circle, they may have just gone way overboard (and there are some insane synergies in the book) to help sell more models. When you consider how small the tournament pool of players is to the overall game, they don’t have much say in what an army can do.
Maybe this is a good move to actually get GW to NERF them on day one perhaps, as they almost always release a FAQ for each codex about 30 days after release.
So maybe the tournament ban is a good hold over until GW does the standard “correction” to the faction after they have sold the initial run. However though, with the staggered release of Votann, that might be further down the road than for something like Drukhari, who got it almost immediately (and consistently since).
If you love everything Squats, check out the latest on the new Leagues of Votann below.
- New 40k Squats Leagues of Votann Rules & Rumors
- Leagues of Votaan Squat Trikes Are Back!
- What the New ‘Votann’ Are in Warhammer 40k
- Leagues of Votann Miniatures & Rumors
What do you think about the Leagues of Votann getting banned at 40k tournaments already? Do you think it’s good or premature?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
