HUGE Buff for Marines and Sororitas! (Warhammer 40K Balance Dataslate Q2 2022)

 Hey all! I know I'm a few days late to the party (I was busy) but this week GW rocked their meta with a knew balance update for 40K. This update saw changes to several key mechanics within the game, as well as some various faction-specific tweaks in an attempt to bring an end to the meta dominance demonstrated by the Harlequins and Adeptus Custodes (May they rot in hell). I'll only be covering adjustments to 'Universal Matched Play Rules' as I feel these are the most important. However, if you're looking to see how your favourite faction dealt with this update, you can find that here!

So, let's take a look.

Armour of Contempt

'Each time an attack is allocated to an ADEPTUS ASTARTES, SANCTIC ASTARTES, HERETIC ASTARTES or ADEPTA SORORITAS model, worsen the Armour Penetration characteristic of that attack by 1.

This rule does not apply to any of the following:

• Models equipped with a storm shield, a relic shield, or a combat shield (or a Relic that replaces one of these shields).
• Models with either the Sacresant Shield or Force Shielding ability (CELESTIAN SACRESANT and NEMESIS DREADKNIGHT units).
• Models that are under the effects of any other rule that worsens or reduces the Armour Penetration characteristic of an attack.'

A phenominal buff to Astartes and Sororitas that left most confused. To summarise what's written above, models belonging to the Space Marines, Sisters of Battle, Chaos Space Marines, and Grey Knights now reduce the AP of incoming attacks by 1. 

For example, your Space Marine Intercessor is hit by an AP-1 Bolt Rifle. Before the update, this attack would increase your 3+ Armour Save to a 4+, obviously making it harder to save, this is no longer the case as you would decrease the incoming fire's AP to 0, allowing you to save on your normal 3+. This also affects weapons with higher AP. A Melta, an AP-4 weapon is now survivable on a 6+ without the need for cover or Invulns. This is not a phenominal save by any means but a 6+ is better than nothing.

Giving Chaos Cultists what effectively equates to a 4+ in cover is pretty damn tasty, as well as giving Space Marines a push in the meta, as they haven't been much of a presence for a good few months. Most surprising is the avenues this opens up for the Black Templars. While before, 'Uphold the Honour of the Emperor' was the go-to Vow for most lists, with it's main selling point of a 5++ now not even kicking in until AP-4 Weapons are used, the other vows are looking a lot more viable. It almost makes you wonder if this was the plan all along... (I'm onto you, GW.)

All in all, a welcome, albeit confusing, buff for power armour users. 

Bodyguard

Change the end of all ‘Bodyguard’ abilities from:
‘enemy models/units cannot target that CHARACTER unit with ranged attacks.’ 

To: 
'that CHARACTER unit can use the Look Out, Sir rule even if this unit contains fewer than 3 models.’

 

Bodyguard rules seem to be getting a kick while they're down. From their ruling back in 8th Edition that allowed them to intercept wounds on nearby characters, to their 9th Edition ruling that allowed them to deny ranged attacks against nearby characters, we now arrive at this. Bodyguard abilities now allow a unit to provide the Benefits of the 'Look Out, Sir' rule, despite having less than 3 models. 

Anyone who knows how the 'Look Out, Sir' rule works will tell you this is not really an improvement at all but for those who don't; the rule basically denies Player A from making ranged attacks against player B's Character unit if a Player B has positioned a unit containing a vehicle or at least 3 non-character models in the firing line. 

All this new ruling does is allow a unit to be under that 3 model threshold and still provide that benefit. It still has it's place but it's much less interesting than it was before, at least in my opinion.

Indirect Fire

An Indirect Fire weapon is one that can target units that are not visible to the bearer (e.g. mortars, smart-missile systems, impaler cannons, etc.). If such a weapon targets a unit that is not visible (i.e. no models in a target unit are visible to the firing unit when you selected it as a target), then each time an attack is made with that weapon against that target this phase, worsen the Ballistic Skill characteristic of that attack by 1 and add 1 to any armour saving throws made against that attack.

"Dear Grid Coordinates...."

Now this rule was an interesting one, not only granting a -1 modifier to a unit's hit rolls when blind-firing over terrain, but also providing the target with a +1 mod to their saves! This strikes me as a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to the performance the Tau have been putting out. Especially since, later on in the dataslate, it is noted that Astra Militarum are completely unaffected by this rule, allowing them to blind-fire their artillery wherever they like without consequence. I get it from a lore standpoint but if you're gonna nerf Tau, just do it. It should be noted that this also affects units like the Tyranids' Hive Guard. 

So thats the Q2 2022 40K Balance Dataslate (what a mouthful). It's nice to see GW actually trying to fix the meta, even if they are doing it with the grace of an Imperial Knight in giant Crocs. 

I'd also like to take a brief minute to congratulate Karl of Atlas Tabletop Gaming who opened their doors in the Gloucester Quays this week. Atlas Tabletop Gaming is a wonderful hobby shop ran by a great guy with great customer service. Atlas offers numerous major tabletop systems like Warhammer, Bolt Action, and Kings of War, and they're opening world-wide shipping soon! You can find them on their website or on social media!

Cheers,

Ryan