The official 40k digital app will update along with all unit points for 11th edition.
Armageddon is just days away, and with it the official launch of 11th edition of Warhammer 40,000. For weeks now, we’ve seen previews for every army, insights into the new mission system, radical changes to how terrain works in the game, and, of course, the entire full rules. Now, Games Workshop has announced the schedule for the remaining pieces of the 11th edition puzzle. The official 40k app and all unit points will be updated and released this Wednesday, June 17th, just two days from now.
Big Changes to the Official 40k App
The official Warhammer: 40,000 app is getting a big update on Wednesday. The app’s content will include all the unit points for list building in the new edition, but it sounds like considerably more dramatic changes are coming as well. Fortunately, Games Workshop has also promised that any Codex rules you unlocked with purchases from 10th edition will remain accessible (presumably until they are superseded by their 11th edition Codex release).
The updated app is fully integrated with the game’s new core rules as we’ve come to expect, alongside new features like the “War Journal,” a new way to track your games. As well, you’ll now have the ability to view your opponent’s army rules and datasheets during play. If they get this right, it could be a really huge improvement to play. Not having to ask your opponent to pause and explain their own rules will be a huge time saver, so fingers crossed that this is a polished function.
Updated points will also be available on Wednesday via a new interactive Munitorum Field Manual releasing thorugh Warhammer-Community.
New Edition Points Shakeup
It looks like there are some major changes coming to the way points are valued across the game. Changes to the core rules, particularly relating to the way terrain functions and the standardized mission layouts, have spurred some serious reevaluations of broad categories of units. The studio staff announced the following items to look out for when reviewing your army points on Wednesday.
- Vehicles with powerful mid-range firepower benefit from being able to more easily open wide firing lanes by moving partially into terrain, and so many go up in points.
- Large combat-leaning monsters and vehicles generally find it much easier to reach and charge enemy units, and so many go up in points.
- Infantry units that are both fast and powerful in melee tend to have gone up a bit in points.
- Large models that fly now have a much easier time navigating the battlefield – expect many of these to go up.
- Titanic units (with the Towering keyword and the Plunging Fire bonus to shooting) become particularly lethal at short range. Expect several to go up in points.
- Units that can manipulate battle-shock become more powerful – several will see their points increase.
- Models with Psychic weapons now ignore many negative modifiers to their attacks when fighting, so many also see a point increase.
- The ability to re-roll charges has become very useful with the added flexibility of picking targets after you roll – expect some units with this ability to cost more points.
- Surge Moves are now more likely to catch enemy units with the changes to engagement range (now a flat 2”) – these units will likely cost more points.
- Fights First, while still a useful ability, is less dominating than in the last edition, so many of these units will cost fewer points.
- Large units of 20 or more models, which were previously used to fill up large parts of the battlefield, can no longer spread out as much, due to the 9” coherency rule. Many of their points go down.
- Units with both Infiltrate and Scout now need to choose which rule to use each game – they can’t do both, so have seen a points reduction.
- Stealth is now a more situational rule, as it doesn’t stack with Cover, and so many units with Stealth are set to go down in points
- Indirect fire is now weaker against distant targets that no model in your army can see, and so many artillery units have gone down in points when taken individually.
There’s a ton to consider here, but there are a few standouts to me. At the top level, it looks like dedicated, elite melee troops are going to see their points rise as charges are now more reliable, while big units of cannon fodder will become even cheaper due to the new coherency rules. It also looks like mid-range weaponry that packs a moderate punch is going to see its stock rise in the dense terrain of the new missions.
Additionally, as we learned last week, wargear points are returning to 40k for the first time in several editions. Some units will need to pay more points for particularly powerful options. The Redemptor Dreadnought, for example, has had its base price dropped, but you will now have to pay an additional 10 points to upgrade its heavy onslaught gatling cannon to a macro plasma incinerator.
And finally, stepped points are being instituted for the most powerful units in the game. Only the Defiler has been called out so far (surprising no one) but a selection of units are going to have their points increase for each you add to your list after the first. This is intended to help regulate competitive play without punishing players who just want to take their favorite unit.
40K’s Future Balance
The edition may launch this weekend but the rules work will be ongoing. Games Workshop has announced that regular balance updates will continue on a quarterly basis in the new edition. However, because the launch of an edition is a volatile period, balance updates may initially release at a faster pace. Depending on the urgency of individual rules issues updates may come as often as monthly for the first three months of the edition. The first update is due in late July.
It’s going to be a busy week for 40k fans but Armageddon is almost here!
What changes are you expecting to your army’s points?
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Simon Berman has been a wargamer since 1993 and has worked in the tabletop games industry since 2008 as a staff writer for the first three editions of WARMACHINE and HORDES. These days he’s the General President of the Brush Wielders Union, a worldwide organization of miniatures painters of all skill levels, a freelance games writer who has contributed to a number of roleplaying games like Eclipse Phase, Dune: Adventures in the Imperium, and The Hammer and the Stake. He runs his own small-press publishing company, Strix Publishing, and paints more miniatures than he can keep track of. Simon lives with his wife in Tacoma, Washington along with a number of cats and a pack of savage wiener dogs.
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
