Come see a curious reply from the Games Workshop community team, and what it may mean for the game of 40k!
Both myself and another hobbyist realized that the digital version of the Space Wolf codex lists the Iron Priest on Thunderwolf mount as a Toughness of 5, while the paper copy lists a Toughness of 4.
After confirming the difference between the two rules sets I messaged GW on their Facebook page, and sent them an email about it. My friend did the same as well. Nearly two weeks later only he received the following reply:
That’s a great question!
Us guys and gals here in the Community Team can’t give you official answers to rules questions; official rulings can only be made by the Games Designers. What we will do is feed your question back to the rules guys so it can be considered in the next FAQ update (at the moment these are every 3 months or so, but don’t panic if it takes a little longer).
If you subscribe to Warhammer Live over on our Twitch channel (twitch.tv/warhammer) you’ll have opportunities to pitch your questions to the rules guys as part of our Thursday programming, and you might even see the rule being discussed during the Wednesday and Friday games.
In the meantime, we’re happy to give you some guidance (ie not an official ruling!) based on how we play our games here in the office.
We play it that the Iron Priest himself is T4, and increases in Toughness if he gets on a bike or Thunderwolf as per normal.
We hope that helps. Have fun!
So while the difference in toughness really doesn’t matter for most game play, I found this response very curious.
next FAQ update (at the moment these are every 3 months or so, but don’t panic if it takes a little longer).
What do they mean by the text highlighted in red? There are nearly Twenty codex books with first draft FAQ’s releases that have not yet been finalized yet. Does this mean each one will take 3 months to release or they are released in batches every three months, or perhaps even just the main FAQ itself will be updated every three months?
Is Games Workshop adopting a similar FAQ update schedule as the ITC does?
At this point it is hard to say really what it means, but as a policy it seems to have been well known enough around Nottingham to have trickled all the way down the chain of command to the customer service rep answering Facebook messages.
Has anyone else received a similar message to their rules queries?
Current GW FAQ Bulletin
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.
