Are you tired of your cool Warhammer 40k vehicles collecting dust on a shelf? Here are our thoughts on how to make every 40k vehicle good again, overnight!
40k might have a ton of vehicles to choose from but players in the competitive scene keep going back to a few certain units like Knights, Leviathans, Contemptors, etc. What do all of these have in common? They all have invulnerable saves.
Not Having an Invuln Takes Them Out of the “Meta”
Let’s start off by saying that we don’t think every vehicle should have an invuln. GW has already handed out invulns like candy in 8th edition. However, there are a couple of units that you might have scratched your head at in the past as to why they don’t have better protection. Some units like:
- The LOW Land Raider Spartan
- Primaris Repulsors
- Wave Serpents
- Crimson Hunter Exarchs
- etc
These units we feel could at least have a 5++ invuln in their stat-line. The Spartan LOW is from the Horus Heresy and can transport a stupid amount of infantry. It also costs as much as a Knight and comes with eight Las Cannons. You’d think it might have a little protection, right?
We can even make a case for the Crimson Hunter Exarchs. These guys are special Psyker planes and albeit, they have a -1 to hit because of the Airborne keyword, a little 5++ would be insanely useful.
Bottom line, any moderately scary vehicle you might have in your list is going to get wiped off the board turn one if you go second and it doesn’t have an invuln. That’s why you don’t see non-FW Dreadnoughts, Land Raiders, or just single Repulsors (people have to spam them to get value).
What Could GW Add to the Game?
Like we’ve said before, not every vehicle in the game should have an invuln on their stat-line. So to fix the issue, how about a nice 2CP stratagem to give any Vehicle Keyworded unit a 5++ invuln. We say vehicle only because if someone was playing the Abaddon/Cultist spam list and gave them a 5++, you’d want to pull your hair out.
But if this stratagem was available, it would at least take away some of the feels-bads of dropping 400+ pts on a unit to see it get helplessly melted by Las Cannons on turn one. It would give the defender a chance at not scooping up their dope vehicle, and make an attacker think a tad more tactically. It could function something like rotate ion shields so when anything was targeted you would use it then, in the normal fashion. Perhaps it should be locked to keyword Imperium, but it’s hard to tell from this angle. Would Xenos Spam armies be too hard to chew through with a once per phase 5++? Our magic 8-ball says ask again later…
While there are some factions that can give units invulns through Psychic powers, it’s just not enough. Especially when you’re running more than one of the unit. A vehicle invuln stratagem could inspire some players to start bringing more units out of their army’s collection and begin to shake up the meta more.
With an invuln stratagem on the table, would you like to see this added to the game? Would it be busted or be balanced enough to make sure a player doesn’t get their vehicles wiped turn one? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and sign up to get your free hobby updates newsletter each morning as well!
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials:@RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
