The latest Warhammer 40k balance update went live on Wednesday, bringing stat changes to units to Space Marines both loyal and fallen in almost half the armies in the game. GW followed this up on Thursday with a Warhammer Community article aimed at everyone who isn’t playing Space Marines, hoping to reassure them that yes, Space Marines have gotten more elite, but no, this doesn’t mean the game is suddenly broken. Many xenos players have responded with skepticism, and are braced for a thorough thrashing delivered by the Emperor’s Angels.
In the r/Warhammer40k subreddit, the most active post discussing the topic starts with the comment “Is this GW’s way of saying ‘Get good?’” Over in r/Drukhari, the conversation is led with “GW’s response to Drukhari players: you are going to suffer“. In r/Tau40k, there’s derision at the article’s suggestion to “use a 215 point Riptide to kill 4 marines on average“.
How bad is it for the non-Space Marine Warhammer 40k factions? Space Marine chainswords, boltguns, and melta weapons have all gotten stronger or more damaging; Marines in Tacticus and Terminator armor get more toughness, while those in Phobos armor get more movement speed. Points have gone up, but many people adapting their existing armies report needing to cut roughly one unit.
T’au players have little reactive movement and no melee punch, and rely on eliminating enemies with shooting before they close the distance – what if they can’t focus a critical mass of ranged damage to remove targets completely? Aeldari and Drukhari players already walk a knife edge that relies on positioning and alpha strikes – does that work when basic marines are better equipped to survive the alpha and punch back harder? Genestealers are no longer the marine blending machines of the fiction; termagant hordes fall like wheat under scything bolter fire.
This kind of dread is inevitable when there’s a big change – I’ve already argued that GW really should have done this at the start of the edition. And it may be warranted. Warhammer 40k has shipped massive balance errors before, notably the Mortal Wounds and Titanic rules problems at the dawn of 10th edition.
The discussion in r/WarhammerCompetitive may give xenos players reason for hope – or different things to worry about, at least. DailyAvinan shares an insight, reportedly from world leading Warhammer 40k player John Lennon, that the relatively low points increases to Marine lists reflect their composition: Gravis Marines and vehicles haven’t had across-the-board stat boosts, and their points stay relatively static. Commentors with Tacticus and Terminator heavy lists report points increases ranging from 100 to 200 points.
Suitability for a role isn’t measured in a unit’s raw power or survivability. User rmobro says “specifically for intercessors, they lost [objective secured] and went up 15/25 because they’re tougher and do more damage, but… without sticky you’re not going to see them anymore because that was the reason you took them”. Calgar43 argues that for “about a third to half of the units, they are more powerful per model, but less useful because of being too expensive or their role vanishing.
Brother Tobias meanwhile argues “Phobos Marines moving 8″ is WAY better than Intercessors being T5 because movement wins games and T5 will not save a unit from concentrated effort”. If these attitudes prevail, the threat players will have to watch for is faster Marines, not tougher ones.
Laruae suggests that “part of the issue here is that if you compare points costs of units in say, SM versus other factions… the points are weirdly close despite SM units typically enjoying great saves, good BS, good number of shots”. They add “SM players see their stuff as getting worse as it’s not as perfect of a tool [for a specific role]. Others see the units that cost roughly the same as their units, but do much, much more”.
I’m not going to bet folding money on whether or not this update is balanced. Evaluating the raw points efficiency of units in terms of damage and survivability is useful, but it doesn’t tell you how they perform in the context of an army, how that army interacts with other armies in different scenarios, and what new challenges will be created when the meta responds.
GW’s original article has a suggestion I haven’t seen xenos players engage with much: half the meta is Space Marine equivalents, so Space Marines have to be ready to face Space Marines. That’s going to shape the way Marine armies are built, and it may create niches that other armies can exploit. I’ll be watching the tournament reports with interest to see how this shapes up.
If you want to theorycraft your answer to the newly empowered Space Marine menace – or just plot your migration to an Adeptus Custodes army – come and join us in the Warhammer channel of the Wargamer Discord community.
Source: Wargamer
