Warhammer Day 2023

EDIT: This is almost a full week late!  This week has sucked for many reasons, but I still can't believe it took me that long to get one blog post done!

I know I'm late on this one, but I crashed right after watching it.  I noted my reactions down, but I'm going to file this under "Not So Live Blog."  My attempt to revive this blog is off to a fantastic start!

Which makes it only slight worse than this set of Warhammer Day reveals!

I won't bury the lead hear.  GW put a lot of marketing and hype into the 40th Anniversary of Warhammer.  But I feel they definitely overhyped this.  It's not that there weren't any big reveals, but nothing on the scale of Leviathan.  I wonder if they were originally intending to announce Leviathan at Warhammer Day, but then things got changed to keep their summer launch cycle.  I've started having more than a few suspicions and question regarding that release.

One issue is with the need to make sure there are regular news and announcements.  I feel things that maybe should have been a part of something like Warhammer Day ended up preempting it.  Leviathan may be the obvious one, being delivered at Adepticon instead of a GW event, but both new seasons of WarCry and Underworlds were announced less than a month prior.  As a result, there was really only one big reveal for this 40th Anniversary blowout and I feel like it's half missing.

And it sucks, because what was revealed was great!

But enough preamble, let's see what was unveiled!

WARHAMMER 40,000

With all the major news for 40K happening this past summer, we're now into our standard Codex and miniature release cycle.  For Warhammer Day, it was Necrons and AdMech!

Necrons

The greatest military mind the galaxy has ever seen returns!  Imotekh the Stormlord is back and free from Finecast resin!  This new model looks fantastic!  While Immotekh isn't currently a very potent model, there are plenty of ways that could change with Codex Necrons.

Speaking of which, we got some teases as to what the new Detachments will be, including a Stratagem and Enhancement.  In addition to a Canoptek detachment and a Destroyer Detachment, we got a direct reveal for the Hypercrypt Legion.

The Hypercrypt Legion is all about movement shenanigans, using teleportation and gate technology to get your legions into position.  They demonstrated this with Hyperphasic recall, which lets you take a wounded Necron unit and move it to a Monolith.  It's 2CP, but there are lots of evil things you can do with this.  Your opponent always wants to make sure they destroy your units, and with some Necron bricks that can definitely take a few units worth of shooting.  Removing a group of Necron warriors out of the line of fire, only to then Reanimate them could be a frustrating trick.  It'll be even crueler if you have the tools to then send them back into the fight.

Next we have the Destroyer themed Eternal Madness.  As long as this isn't too expensive, this is another winner.  Fight on Death is a powerful ability.  Just the threat that a Destroyer Lord could be taking a unit with him will make opponents think twice.

All and all, some fun previews for the Undying Legions.

Adeptus Mechanicus

I'm just gonna start by putting this right here.

This model is so crazy and I am so here for it!  Eddie with Warhammer Preview described it as being "a little bit Marmite."  I'm sure a lot of people are going to think this goes too far, but I think it's perfect.  The Sydonian Skatros will also be a cheap Lone Operative, so it will definitely be a useful addition to nearly any AdMech army.

AdMech will of course also be getting some new Detachments with their Codex, which are much needed.  In addition to Detachments themed around Tech-Priests and Cybernetica, we have the Skitarii Hunter Cohort.  

Unfortunately, the second part of this Detachment rule will rarely matter in game.  But the first part will increase the durability of your Skitarrii and Ironstriders, the first of whom have already gotten a nice durability buff.  Providing the Stratagems and Enhancements are good, I'd probably always take this over the Rad-Cohort.

And speaking of Stratagems . . .

Binharic Offence is 2CP to give two of your Skitarii units an additional pip of AP against one chosen enemy unit.  This is huge!  AP is at a premium in 10th Edition, and anything that improves it is more than welcome.  All and all a great start to the Hunter Cohort.

With that, we move away from mainline 40K.  Though we're not quite done with important reveals for my favorite game just yet . . .

AGE OF SIGMAR

And again, I'm gonna just put this here.

Do I really need to say anything?

I never dived particularly deep into AoS.  I've read the Daughters of Khaine Battle Tomes for 2nd and 3rd Edition, plus Morathi, and I've read the 3rd Edition book.  I also used to follow Warhammer Weekly pretty faithfully, but haven't caught any episodes since shortly before the reveal of 10th.  I like the game, though there are a few bug bears I have with it (one of which has snuck into 40K.)  But the models are just amazing!  The writers and artists for this game have just done fantastic work creating a familiar fantasy setting that is still very much its own beast.

Just amazing!

These miniatures are part of the ongoing narrative arc, Dawnbringers.  And here is where I have to reveal some of my ignorance.  How long has AoS had Armies of Renown?  I know they have Warscroll Battalions, but are these new to the current campaign?

Regardless, I am here for both of these miniatures!  Alarielle is still my favorite plastic miniature, possibly my favorite GW miniature period, and I'm going to eventually want Belthanos to go with her.

KILL TEAM

After teasing us before the reveal of Belthanos by accidentally starting the wrong video, we got the reveal of the next Kill Team season and our first two Kill Teams.  There's two big pieces of news here, while not a lot of actual detail about the new season.

The big reveal is that the first new Kill Team set will include the new Striking Scorpions.  I was just talking to a friend the other day about the fact that Aeldari still needs to finish their range refresh.  There's no sign of Uncle K yet, but this is still great news.

The second big reveal is this season of Kill Team will not be sold with huge terrain sets.  GW isn't giving up on Killzones, but they'll be available separately now for all of us that already have a huge assortment of Kill Team terrain.  Hopefully, this means the Kill Team box sets will be much more affordable, especially for anyone that wants to get their hands on either the new Scouts or the new Striking Scorpions.

On a side note, I never blogged about how confusing the whole Scouts thing was.  They removed Scouts to Legends, then released new ones.  Why not just update the Datasheet in the Codex?  I thought Scouts going to Legends was weird to begin with . . .

What was surprisingly missing from the reveal is anything regarding what this new Season is about.  The Gallowdark has fallen to this ocean world and now various factions have pursued it there.  That's about it.  We know the first Killzone will be set on a derrick in the middle of a hostile ocean.  They even mentioned that the waters with be deadly, with a joke about SPEHSS PAHRAHNAHS!  But there was no real mention of any overarching story or theme for this season.

THE OLD WORLD

At last we come to it - what could be considered the big reveal of this Warhammer Day.

The Kingdom of Bretonia!

And if you've been following GW reveals, you know why that's a bit underwhelming.  We already know Bretonia is coming for Old World and will be one of the first armies we get.  Still, let's start with the good stuff.

Again, just looks at it!  The new Lord on Pegasus looks amazing, as does the alternate kit for a Baron on Pegasus.  There's a lot of incredible detail, personality, and life in this new miniature.  And we can see that in all the new miniatures.

But that's where the cool stuff stops.  The new Kingdom of Betonia set is bringing some new models, but the bulk of it looks to be returning models from classic Warhammer.  And as you can see . . .

Some of them just don't hold up well next to the new miniatures.  While it's great that you can still use your old miniatures to play, one of the pains of having a game shut down is the loss of new and updated sculpts.  I know there are plenty of classic Warhammer fans that were hoping for more.

The next bugbear to tackle is the Forge World kits.  For various reasons, GW often uses Forge World to support their "Boxed Games."  Despite originally being a mainline game, I think we all suspected that when The Old World released it would be supplemented by Forge World.  But it looks like it's going to be a lot of kits.  Anything new not coming out in the launch box appears to be Forge World, including that Handmaiden above.  My guess is that anything that was a pewter kit will also be Forge World, since that's one of the reason GW still uses resin.  We already know the Field Trebuchet will be returning as a Forge World kit.  All and all, there doesn't appear to be anywhere near the plastic support for The Old World that The Horus Heresy got.

Finally there's the fact we're still getting drip-fed the previews, even though it's Warhammer Day.  I don't understand why they couldn't just give us some more substantial reveals.  We know basically every kit we're getting for Bretonia in the launch box, but we don't have the reveal of the launch box.  While we're pretty sure who their opponent will be, they haven't official revealed them, let alone new miniatures.  Finally we know that The Old World will release in "early" 2024, but nothing more solid than that.

Though, to be fair, that last one is consistent with GW marketing and their seeming refusal to give us launch dates until they're almost on us.  Doesn't anyone in their marketing team understand the concept of saving up for things?

All and all, this reveal is taking away from the impact a final Old World reveal could have.  It's weird because GW can be so good at maintaining hype through previews and teasers.  Maybe they're hoping that when they announce the second faction and drop its new miniatures, it will make up for it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Like I said, I feel for the 40th Anniversary of Warhammer, this Warhammer Day preview is just lacking.  It needed something to help make it a celebration of these great games and this great hobby.  Hell!  As I'm finishing this there have been more products added to the Warhammer Day celebration.  The best one wasn't even revealed during this Preview - a reprint of the original Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader.  I don't understand how they could build up so much hype and momentum for the 40th, only to let it hit so lightly.

The new miniatures are still awesome, especially for AOS, and I'm still glad to see The Old World returning.  But as companies before them have learned the hard way, if you're going to build a ton of hype, you need to have a payoff for it.

Let's Talk About Oath of Moment

I've been meaning to start this back up again, and with Warhammer Day and the release of the Space Marine Codex tomorrow, this seems like a good time.  I'm still struggling with my health, and I'm still trying to put as much time and energy as I can into my big project, but this hiatus has gone on long enough.  Plus I made a new Tumblr and it's time that got some love.

So let's talk about Oath of Moment.

When Oath was first unveiled in the previews leading up to 10th Edition, there was more than a little gnashing of teeth from the community.  GW had claimed they wanted the game to be less lethal and have fewer re-rolls.  But then they dropped Oath of Moment giving Space Marines full re-rolls to hit and wound.  More astute players weren't as phased by the unveiling, seeing the limits behind the rule and room to play around it.  But many people couldn't see past the apparent power on display.

As things have been, Oath has definitely been powerful.  It essentially lets the Space Marine player delete one unit off the board each turn.  It's particularly powerful when combined with Indirect Fire platforms such as Desolators and Whirlwinds.  But Space Marines have plenty of ways to get around the board and secure good firing angles.  So unless a player is really reaching they'll almost certainly kill their Oath target.

But while I think you'd be hard pressed to call Oath of Moment a weak rule, or even say that Space Marines lack good rules period, none of this made the faction overpowered.  Space Marines kicked off 10th Edition pretty close to a 50% win rate and only fell from there.  While they never approached the kind of levels that armies like Votann and Death Guard suffered, they struggled to hang with the more potent armies in the game.

Now unlike those other armies, this was almost certainly a pure points issue.  Space Marines definitely have rules, of which Oath of Moment is only one.  But this does seem to suggest that Oath of Moment really wasn't overpowered.

So why did GW change it?

If you somehow haven't heard, do I have a spoiler for the Codex release tomorrow!

Oath of Moment is no longer granting re-rolls to Wound against your chosen target.  This may be the most significant single nerf a faction has ever received.  Losing the re-rolls to Wound is definitely losing the better half of Oath of Moment.  Space Marines normally hit on 3s.  So while re-rolling Hits is definitely a buff, Space Marines still hit decently well without it.  But in a world where Plasma and Melta are wounding big targets on 5s, re-rolling Wounds is huge.  Add in abilities like Dev Wounds, and it becomes really big.

Chances are that well built Space Marine lists will still be able to eliminate their Oath target each turn, but harder targets are now going to take a lot more work.  This also shifts weapon priorities in Space Marine lists.  Combi-weapons have suddenly dropped in value while weapons with Lethal Hits or Twin-linked really matter.

Do you hear that?  That's the sound of thousands of players snapping off arms and guns.

Unlike other rules changes, GW has been pretty quiet about this one.  Because of this, we can only really guess why they decided the rule needed to be nerfed.  While I know there are some people seeing nefarious intentions here, I'm pretty sure the goal is to make the game easier to balance.

When GW is writing rules for units or deciding what their points value will be, they need to take Army and Detachment Rules into account.  The more powerful these rules are, the harder the unit is to balance.  We can see this illustrated plainly with Aeldari, the faction that arguably has the best rules in the game.

Even before we get to the new rules in the new Codex, Space Marines already have two good sets of rules.  Not only is Oath of Moment a good rule, but so are Combat Doctrines.  So when balancing Space Marine units, GW has to add in these rules.

But to make matters worse, both of these rules spike a Space Marine unit's power.  If the rules were bonuses that applied consistently, the design team could just lump them in with what the unit can do.  But not only does Oath of Moment apply to a single enemy unit each turn, each Combat Doctrine is also only once per game.  So when balancing something like the new Jump Intercessors, they have to not just consider what the unit can do on a turn by turn basis, but also what happens the turn they have Assault Doctrine and an Oath target.

By removing the re-roll Wounds, it becomes much easier to balance Space Marines.  Now their units will still spike occasionally, but it won't be as huge a spike.  This also helps internal balance as well.  Units that GW wanted to make good at killing certain targets with re-roll Wounds now matter more.  Why take a unit that gets re-roll Wounds against Monster and Vehicles when you're probably going to get it from Oath of Moment?  Now that unit has a definitive purpose in the army.

But let's not sugar coat it.

Regardless of why GW made the decision to nerf Space Marines, this is still a nerf and they're going to feel it.  There are some interesting rules to play with coming in the new Codex, though Gladius is probably still going to be the Detachment to beat.  But none of these rules are going to make up for the change to Oath of Moment.

Space Marines have gotten further points changes, and there are some significant buffs, but they weren't looking like an A Tier army after the last balanced pass.  While it remains to be seen just how bad this is going to be, I feel like Space Marine players have a bumpy road ahead of them.

10th Edition Tyranid Codex Review Part Three - Datasheets

Before I begin the major thrust of this review, can I just say I'm glad they moved the Invulnerable Save to the Profile.  I think as soon as we saw this formatting in the Imperial Armour sheets, we all wanted every Datasheet to use it.  We're also getting unit composition on each page, though they'll probably still use the flip side for the physical Datacards due to size.

I also want to explain that I'll be judging these finalized Datasheets based on their theme and not just their power.  I've already heard some whispers of things happening to the Tyrannofex.  But remember that Stu said they wanted to create a game in which you looked at a model on the table and new roughly what it would do.  Did -1 to Damage help define the Tyrannofex for what it was, a big bug with a big gun?  I'm going to be keeping an eye on any changes for whether they feel like they're improving the theme of the unit too.

Now, let's see our new Datasheets!

Hive Tyrant - 235 pts

At 220 pts, the Hive Tyrant was good.  Not standout, but still good.  Now Will of the Hive Mind has been nerfed, and they increased the cost of our leader bug by 15 pts?  This feels unnecessary to me.  I think it's probably still good?  We have good Battle Tactics, so getting one for free each turn is a good thing.

Winged Hive Tyrant - 210 pts

Okay.  I was about to rail that, "people weren't taking this model at 195 pts, so why would they feel the need to nerf it?"  Then I saw the Keywords.  Even with the fact it has Vanguard Invader now, I still think they should have kept it at 195 and seen if people actually used it in Vanguard Assault first.

Winged Tyranid Prime - 65 pts

This may be the most improved model in the book!  Winged Primes felt pretty underpowered and overcosted before, especially since you were almost always going to have SUSTAINED HITS on your models.  But now it can grant SUSTAINED HITS where you wouldn't already have it.  And 65 pts feels like a great price for it.  Also, there's Vanguard Invader again.

Neurotyrant - 105 pts

Nothing new here.  If you're going to try and play around Shadow in the Warp, you can easily take it.  If not, you can easily leave it at home.

Norn Emissary - 290 pts

I don't get it.  First, I feel like this is probably fine at the book price of 285.  But this actually took a nerf in the Balance Dataslate too, with Unnatural Resilience becoming much less useful.  It's only 5 pts, so it's probably still fine, but I just don't get it.

As far as the model itself, I feel like this works best as a midfield objective holder.  I talked about this before in the preview, but that FNP is very nice.  I just don't think it fits the purpose of a hunter very well.  It's too big and it doesn't actually hit that hard.

Norn Assimilator - 310 pts

Again, this weird 5 pts bump before it ever hits the table.

This model feels like it hits much harder.  I'm disappointed it doesn't get to fire with both of its harpoons, but at least it gets them as extra attacks in melee.  So here, you're obviously trading durability for damage.  I'm much happier having this go off after a target than the Emissary.  I find it weird that it does Mortal Wounds when an enemy falls back, instead of forcing Desperate Escape tests like other similar rules.  That would have made falling back much more frightening.

Neurolictor - 65 pts

Another new model, another 5 pts bump.

These look pretty good.  At worst, they're a 65 pts Lone Operative.  But if you're trying to build into Battle-shock, say because you're trying to run a Nexus, you'll want to bring these along.  Otherwise, you're probably better with regular Lictors.

Broodlord - 90 pts

As was hinted at before, Broodlords are now a Vanguard Invader.  While Dev Wounds have been nerfed, that doesn't matter for the Genestealers it leads.  This unit also received a 10 pts buff, so very nice.

The Swarmlord - 270 pts

While the generic Hive Tyrants got nerfed and also went up 15 pts, the Swarmlord gets nerfed and goes up 20 pts.  Malign Presence now only affects Battle Tactics, so some of the key Strats we used to use it on, like Overwatch, can no longer be targeted.  We can still ping the Command Re-roll.

Old One Eye - 140 pts

Unchanged and unnerfed, Old One Eye is still a fun and fluffy leader for your Carnifexes.

Parasite of Mortrex - 80 pts

The Parasite gets two buffs in our new book.  First, it gets Vanguard Invader, so it can take full advantage of the Vanguard Assault Detachment.  Next, it got dropped 10 pts.  It's still a bit expensive, and we have better units for harassing our opponents.

Gargoyles - 75 pts for 10 models (7.5 pts per model)

Gargoyles also got the Vanguard Invader buff, but are otherwise unchanged.  This means all my comments about running a Gargoyle heavy force for an Unending Swarm definitely still apply.

Hormagaunts - 65 pts for 10 models (6.5 pts per model)

Going down in cost, Hormaguants are still a fast and fun unit to play with.  They'd also make a decent unit to play around in Unending Swarm with.  Or you can put them in a Vanguard Assault to have more Advance and Charge for your opponent to deal with.

Termagants - 60 pts for 10 models (6 pts per model)

Termagants get a bunch of new bio-weapons to play with!  The new special weapons we've seen are limited to one of each per 10.  And you'll want to take all of them, as they're all improvements on the standard weapons.  

While Unending Swarm feels built for Termagants, I think they'd be evil in the Assimilation Swarm backed by Tervigons.

Tyranid Warriors with Ranged Bio-weapons - 70 pts for 3 (~23.33 pts per model)

Tyranid Warriors have received no direct changes from this book or the Balance Dataslate.  However, some of the Enhancements in the new Detachments might work well with a Warrior blob lead by a Prime.  This might get some players looking at these again.

Tyranid Warriors with Melee Bio-weapons - 85 pts for 3 (~28.33 pts per model)

Melee is not in a good place right now, though changes to Towering might help there.  Still, apparently GW hasn't gotten that message just yet.  These have no business being more expensive than ranged Warriors.

Genestealers - 85 pts for 5 (17 pts per model)

With so many Space Marines being cheaper than this now, Genestealers are going to start looking really expensive.  Still, this is a nice buff when combined with the drop in the Broodlord.  They've got new toys to play with, the return of Advance and Charge being the best one.

Neurogaunts - 45 pts for 11 (~4.09 pts per model)

Our newer, cheaper guants are still a nice option to fill out a list and plug up holes in our Synapse nets.  You'll want these most in the Nexus, where making sure you keep all your bugs in Synapse is the most important.

Raveners - 75 pts for 3 (~25 pts per model)

Do you have Raveners with just melee weapons?  Well don't snap those arms off, as you can now field these with a 4+ Sv.  Honestly, you're probably still better with the guns, but if you don't want to remodel you collection this at least gives you that option.

Otherwise, these haven't gotten any real benefit from this book.  They're not Vanguard and we didn't get any kind of Jormungandr style detachment.  So they're still just a potential Deep Strike unit.

Barbguants - 60 pts for 5 (12 pts per model)

Hey!  They got the change to Barbguants in!

While these got hit by a pretty big nerf, they honestly needed it.  These are still really good, and will make an essential part of any board control strategy.

Biovores - 75 pts per model

The new, larger kits have come with a slight boost in durability.  It's a nice touch, but was never needed.  The big change here is that only one of your units can Spawn Spore Mines again.  This is honestly an important nerf and needed to happen.  You're still going to take one or two to mess with your opponents movement and score missions.  Just don't be surprised when missions are changed next year.

Pyrovores - 30 pts per model

Pyrovores also got a nice little boost in durability but with no commiserate points bump.  Although slow moving, these are still really good for 30 pts.  Remember that their ability may as well read, "improve the AP of your shooting by 1."  But the big thing here is the introduction of the Harvester keyword.  If you're running the Assimilation Swarm you're probably taking three units of these.

Carnifexes - 125 pts per model

Nope!  Couldn't make that monster Datasheet fit on half a page!

Fully loaded out and lead by Old One Eye, these are a fun unit to have.  Otherwise, you might find them not hitting quite as hard as you need them to.

Deathleaper - 70 pts

Deathleaper gets two buffs, going down 10 pts and also getting a slight durability boost.  In addition to being a Vanguard Invader, Deathleaper still remains a potential tool for getting the most out of any Battle-shock strategy.

Exocrine - 135 pts

Another unchanged unit, the Exocrine will probably still remain a potent fire support piece for the Tyranids.

Harpy - 215 pts

Another post I had wanted to make, and might still make, is why Aircraft are struggling.  The nerf to Spore Mine Cysts was necessary, but the 15 pts buff doesn't even come close to making up for it.  These were bad before and are still bad now, even with Vanguard Invader.

Hive Crone - 200 pts

They were terrible before.  Just giving them Vanguard Invader doesn't change that.

Haruspex - 125 pts

The Haruspex was already pretty good before, and it will definitely like that Harvester keyword.  The Assimilation Swarm might want three of these.

Hive Guard - 110 pts for 3 (~36.67 pts per model)

Hive Guard aren't bad, but they don't do a lot of damage for their cost.  As such, you almost never see them.  Yet despite not being taken, and not having any relevant Keywords, and not getting anything resembling help, GW decided to hit them with one of their inscrutable nerfs.

Lictor - 60 pts

GW has apparently decided that Lictors apparently don't need their Invuln.  But even with that bit of bad news, they're still great.  I'm pretty sure they're our cheapest Lone Operative, and they work well with the Vanguard Keyword.

Maleceptor - 170 pts

Another Inscrutable GW Nerf TM.  Oh well.

Mawloc - 145 pts

Huh!  I'm pretty sure Mawlocs are assimilators.  Oh well!  Mawlocs are a unit GW just refuses to make work the way they should.  As they stand, the Mawloc isn't bad and remains not bad.

Mucolid Spores - 50 pts per model

As I said in my discussion of the Balance Dataslate, this cost just hammers home that you are never taking these as part of your army list.

Psychophage - 125 pts per model

As soon as I saw the rules for the Assimilation Swarm, I knew that the Psychophage would be a Harvester.  These will make good units to help form the backbone of the army.  I still find it strange they don't have any rules for the psychic spore they emit.

Ripper Swarm - 20 pts per model

Hah!  Ripper Swarms are Harvesters!  And while they've gone up in cost, you can now just take them as single bases to either run missions or harass the enemy.  But in the Assimilation Swarm, you can hide them around your units to keep feeding them.  And if you're opponent kills one, for 1CP you get to mark that unit for death!  Hilarious!

Screamer-Killer - 170 pts

The Screamer-Killer is almost certainly still overpriced.  But they at least gave it a little nudge in the right direction.  If they get a little cheaper, they might have play in the Synaptic Nexus.

Spore Mines - 55 pts for 3 (~18.33 pts per model)

Again, you are never just taking these; you'll always be spawning them with Biovores.  Honestly, this price is so silly it has to be a meme at this point.

Sporocyst - 145 pts

Oh wow!  While I'd toyed with the idea of putting this in a board control list, GW seems to have decided to nerf it into oblivion!  No Mucolids for you!

Tervigon - 190 pts

The Tervigon got a small buff!  Nice!  I can definitely see fielding these alongside Termagants in an Assimilation Swarm.

Toxicrene - 180 pts

Ah!  Poor Model Impossible to Play!  Maybe someday GW will come up with a reason for us to take you.  But it is not this day.

Trygon - 180 pts

Trygons are also still a bit too expensive and didn't get any love this time around.  Popping them up next to a unit only to unleash a mere 6 shots with SUSTAINED HITS 1 at BS3+, S5, AP0, and Dmg1 is just not worth 180 pts.

Tyrannocyte - 105 pts

Tyrannocytes are also considered a Vanguard Invader, and so get to have some fun with the rules in that Detachment.  They're honestly a pretty good means of Deep Striking a unit that couldn't otherwise do so.  We might see some more play with them now.

Tyrannofex - 245 pts

Oh wow!  That is one hell of a nerf!  And again, I don't know what the heck this has to do with the Tyrannofex.  While this does allow the Tyrannofex to survive a single attack that might have otherwise killed it, the original rule made the unit much more "resilient."  I just don't know what's going on here.  Players weren't taking these because they were super good at 200 pts.  They were taking them because we need AP.  Just a little frustrating.

Tyrant Guard - 95 pts for 3 (~31.67 pts per model)

Tyrant Guard were an almost mandatory escort for our Hive Tyrants before, and they remain that way now.  Nothing really different here.

Venomthropes - 70 pts for 3 (~23.33 pts per model)

Venomthropes aren't bad, but their ability might as well read "non-Tyranid Monsters gain Stealth."  And again, here's another one I'm pretty sure is an Assimilation organism.  Oh well, I know for a fact the Malenthrope is, but I doubt we'll see it get the Keyword, since it's in Legends.

Von Ryan's Leapers - 75 pts for 3 (25 pts per model)

Okay, why do the Leapers keep their Invuln but the Lictor loses it?  I'm beginning to think someone forgot to move the Invuln save when copying the Datasheet.  Oh well!  Hopefully it'll get fixed in the errata.  This is a model I'm betting will see a lot of play in the Vanguard Invasion, though they may get shown up by Genestealers.

Zoanthropes - 110 pts for 3 (~36.67 pts per model)

Another edition, another ruleset for Zoanthropes makes them auto-include, and another nerf that just means we get less points for our army.  Oh well.

Some Thoughts

Honestly so many of these changes are just baffling.  The only ones I understand are the changes to Spawning and the reduction in the base number of Rippers in a swarm (though I still wish we could take 6 of them).  Again, I'm pretty sure the Lictor change was a mistake, whether they own up to it and fix it will be a different story.

I'm also a little bit disappointed in the uneven nature of the new keywords.  Vanguard Invader got given to anything that flies or sneaks.  But Harvester only got given to a few units, completely missing over other organisms that should have qualified for it.

I honestly wasn't expecting many changes besides the new models.  As I said before, this probably went to the printer some point in June, July at the latest.  While it's clear they got some changes in when they realized the problem with Barbgaunts and Biovores (again), its also obvious they were pretty happy with most of the Datasheets as they are.

I'm actually hoping things stay that way.  The more in line with the Indexes the Codexes are, the less creep there will be and less this will feel like the start of 3rd or 8th.

CRUSADE RULES

If you've managed to get through the rest of this review, you're probably expecting my comments on the Crusade Rules to be similar for the Lore section.  However, I'm nowhere near as disappointed here.  First of all, while there is still a ton of copy/paste, someone did at least go through and convert the rules to 10th Edition.  Second, although having some additional rules would have been nice, keeping the same Crusade rules from edition to edition helps maintain continuity.  If you were in the middle of an ongoing Crusade campaign, or were still developing a Crusade army when the edition changed, this will help you convert your force.  So this is one case where being faithful, even if lazily so, actually helps out.

That being said, that doesn't mean I don't have any criticism for this section.  In addition to not converting everything from the original book, there's nothing new either.  The whole Crusade section revolves around your army taking part in the devouring of worlds.  They could have taken the new Detachments in the book, and woven them into these rules.  There could have been a requisition available at each stage of the invasion that lets you change your Detachment to match.  It's such a simple and obvious thing, and it's just one of the many things that could have been added.  This section reeks of laziness.

So while I am not disappointed, and even glad, that the Crusade section is just a direct, if incomplete, conversion of the original rules, I am still frustrated with the lack of effort on display.

FINAL THOUGHTS

After three massive sections covering this book, I can finally get to a conclusion.

The 10th Edition Tyranid Codex is an argument for purely digital rulesets.

If someone from GW came up to me and told me that 10th Edition was never intended to have Codexes and they threw this book together at the last minute I would believe them.  This book just feels so disgustingly lazy and unnecessary.  It offers a single thing of value: the Detachments.  That's it.

Want the lore?  Find a copy of the 9th Edition book and a copy of the Leviathan Core Rules.  You miss out on some old lore you can find online.  Want Crusade rules?  Most players probably could have come up with similar conversions from 9th Edition.  Wanna just play 40K?  Other than the nerf to Spore Mine generators and the crushing nerf to Sporocysts, nearly all the changes are small enough to keep playing with the Index Datasheets.  The only thing you're missing are the new sheets, which of course aren't packaged with the models anymore.  If you need those, and want to get them through official means, get the Datacards instead.  If you are a casual or narrative player or hobbyist, you can legitimately skip this book.  Competitive players are a little more SOL, though I think most tournaments would be fine with the Datacards if you're running the Invasion Fleet.

And again, we're paying more money for this!

I'm reminded of something Bellular News keeps saying about Overwatch 2.  As a game, as a set of rules, this is great!  Warhammer 40,000 and Codex Tyranids are in pretty good shape, especially post Balance Dataslate.  I hope GW is able to keep improving the game the way they are.

But as a product, as something competing for our limited money, this is garbage.

10th Edition Tyranid Codex Review Part Two - Detachments

THE SHOWCASE

Although GW has been slowly trying to make the transition into a modern, IP-based corporation, miniatures and hobby supplies still make the bulk of its revenue.  And not only does GW still make some of, if not the best miniatures in the world, but they have become masters of demonstrating that fact.  The miniature showcases in the Codexes expertly display their work in stunning dioramas and centerpiece displays.  If you love this hobby at all, it's hard to look through one of these and not be inspired by the work on display.

If I have one criticism here, it's that this section lacks any display of the various Hive Fleets and is too focused on the new models available.  It would be nice to have the full Tyranid range on display.  Still, the photos are stunning and give a fantastic vision of the army.

COMBAT PATROL

We start the Combat Patrol section with a new display diorama that points out all the units in the new box, giving a brief description of their role in the game.  It's a nice touch, especially since this is now supposed to be the introductory game mode for each faction.

We then get a painting guide for a basic Leviathan color scheme.  Unfortunately, this is the exact same painting guide WarCom released for free on their website.  Additionally, despite displaying it prominently in this section, there are no tips for painting the neuro-connection between the Barbgaunts and their weapons.  It would have been nice if this section included web addresses for where to find GW's many painting guides, then focused on some new and exclusive guides just for this Codex.

The rest of the section is nearly identical to the Combat Patrol rules we already have.  The only change I found was that they removed the part about your Winged Prime being your Warlord.  Barbgaunts remain unchanged in these rules, and no changes have been made to any of the documents on WarCom either.

It's nice to have this here, but this should have been a completely additive part of the Codex.  Instead, it feels like parts of the Codex might have been removed to make room for it.  Considering this is an otherwise free ruleset, it makes it feel like lost value instead of added value.

FORCES OF THE TYRANIDS

Finally we come to the meat of it and, unfortunately, the only thing with a chance to redeem this book.

We start off with our Army Rules, unchanged from the Index.  Unfortunately these have proven to be a bit off a loss for us, as both of these rules revolve completely around Battle-shock.

Before getting sick, I'd meant to do a post on the state of Battle-shock as a mechanic.  I might still do that, but for this review all you need to know is that Battle-shock is at best an interesting skill check, and at worst a nuisance mechanic.  There are just too many ways around it, and the nerf to Insane Bravery doesn't really fix what's wrong with it.  So unless your army can really play into it, Battle-shock just doesn't have the impact I feel it was intended to have.

With the exception of ally rules, Tyranids are the only faction in the game with two Army Rules.  And we need them both, because taken separately they are, hands down, the worst Army Rules in the game.  Combined they are still probably the worst rules in the game, though you could make a case for Chaos Knights.

That leaves it to our Detachments to make an impact on how our army plays.  Fortunately, the Invasion Fleet is an A Tier Detachment.  I really like it.  In addition to a fantastic Detachment Rule, it has good Stratagems and Enhancements too.  As far as I can tell, this Detachment remains completely unchanged.  It will thus be the gold standard by which I judge the new Detachments.

Crusher Stampede

We've already had the Detachment Rule revealed, and it's not very good.  Your opponent just isn't going to let you use it, so at best it forces them to overcommit to killing your big creatures.  But this might end up discouraging some opportunistic shooting, lest you end up with a bonus in the following turn.

Ominous Presence is useful, but not very standout.  I don't understand why Enraged Reserves isn't just Fight on Death, though 20 pts isn't bad.  Null Nodules is completely inferior to Adaptive Physiology, but at least it's cheap.  And Monstrous Nemesis is at best okay.  I'd probably take Enraged Reserves and maybe Monstrous Nemesis, but I could happily drop one if I needed to.  If I had the points, I'd go ahead and grab Ominous Presence.

We do get some good Strats though.  Corrosive Viscera is one of those fun rules that allows you to automatically trigger Deadly Demise.  Rules like that aren't very useful, but they're fun to trigger if you can get a decent benefit from them.  Rampaging Monstrosities and Savage Roar are both Battle Tactics that improve your units effectiveness in melee.  Use the first against more stoic units like Space Marines or the second against a unit that is Battle-shocked or that you might want Battle-shocked.  Untrammelled Ferocity is situational, but can help get around move blocks when you need to.  Swarm-Guided Salvos is a fantastic Battle Tactic letting you both ignore cover and BS and Hit modifiers.  Finally Massive Impact brings back the fun of crashing your big monsters into enemy lines that they had in previous Editions.

Games Workshop has a bad habit of punishing things for past sins instead of balancing them around the game as it is.  At one point Crusher Stampede was an unholy terror on the competitive scene.  It remains one of the few armies to have been actually banned by the major tournament organizations.  Unfortunately it looks like it's paying for that time in the spotlight.  While it does have some fun strats, it's completely inferior to Invasion Swarm.

I am noting, however, that I'm not seeing anything actually restricting what you take in this detachment.  Very interesting . . .

Unending Swarm

Insurmountable Odds on the other hand is a pretty good rule.  While you have to move your units towards the closest enemy unit, free movement is always good.  If you have big bricks of gaunts, there's a good chance they will survive at least one unit shooting at them and get to use this rule.  Under the right circumstance, you might be able to make these moves in a way that protects the unit from further damage that Shooting Phase, though skilled opponents will make sure that doesn't happen.  On rare occasions you might be able to use this to contest an objective, bait your opponent into charging out of position, or even get into combat.  Because this rule is so easy to play around, though, I'd definitely say Hyper-Adaptations are superior.  But this is still a fun rule that might create some engaging play.

For enhancements, Relentless Hunger is generically useful, as additional movement is always good.  It also gives us potential point cost per inch of movement that GW might be using.  Naturalized Camouflage let's you select three units to get Cover.  But Cover is hardly difficult to come by, so 30 pts is just way too much.  Piercing Talons is very good though.  AP is already hard to come by, but Tyranids in particular have difficulty getting it.  The additional movement from Adrenalised Onslaught is also nice.  The only problem with these two enhancements is that Tyranids don't have a lot of options for Leader units to benefit from them.  Probably the best recipients would be Broodlords or maybe a Prime leading some Warriors.

As for the Strats, Synaptic Goading lets you get a little bit more out Insurmountable Odds.  It would be nice if you could use this on Termagants' Skulking Horrors too, as this is really situational.  Still, you'll occasionally be able to use this to steal an objective.  Unending Waves is 2CP but let's you return a destroyed unit in full.  If Gargoyles still have Deep Strike their stonks just went up.  We get three Battle Tactics in Teeming Masses, Swarming Masses, and Bounding Advance.  The first is a defensive Strat that will help keep our big bricks alive.  And we'll want to keep them alive to use Swarming Masses, as this gives us both SUSTAINED HITS 1 and potentially Crits on 5s.  Bounding Advance helps us get those bricks into position to use these Strats by giving us an automatic 6" advance.  All and all some good reasons to bring a Hive Tyrant with our gaunt carpets.  Finally we get Preservation Imperative, which allows a unit to effectively ignore BLAST for a shooting phase.

There's good stuff in this Detachment, but I still think it's inferior to the Invasion Swarm.  Still, I feel like there's some fun tech you can do with Gargoyles here.  They probably get the most benefit from these rules, especially with a Prime leading them.  Some big bricks of Gargoyles with their incredible mobility could be an absolute nightmare to deal with in this Detachment.

Assimilation Swarm

Wow!  This one is big!  Feed the Swarm is a slightly weaker Reanimation Protocols.  You have to be on Objectives, but Tyranids don't have a lot of problems with board control.  Once you're there, you start to regenerate your models every round.  It'll probably take a lot of practice to get the most out of this rule, but if you like a more defensive playstyle it's really good.

Regenerating Monstrosity lets you target an important unit with this rule twice per round.  Despite the name though, you can't use it on a Monster.  This is still a great Enhancement to have on a Broodlord with Genestealers or a Prime leading some Warriors.  Instinctive Defense, on the other hand, is hilariously good!  Free Heroic Intervention and Fights First for 15 pts?  Yes please!  This might be the best Enhancement in the book.  Biophagic Flow doesn't do anything on its own, but improves the Feed the Swarm abilities of your Harvesters.  At 12" it's a huge aura, which then lets your Harvesters extend their ability out a further 3".  You're taking this Enhancement.  Finally, Parasitic Biomorphology is another fantastic Enhancement for Leader units.  Again, I'm thinking a Broodlord and some Genestealers would love this.

For Strats, Broodguard Impulse seems situational.  But the flavor text suggests Rippers might be Harvesters.  Can you imagine getting +1 to Wound against you for killing a Ripper Swarm?  Reclaim Biomass lets you regenerate another unit when your opponent destroys another one.  A bit of a consolation prize, but possibly useful.  Tyrannoformed seems like a bit of a waste though.  This Detachment wants to be on Objectives, so being able to sticky them isn't very useful.  You could potentially use it to hold your back field if your opponent doesn't have Deep Strikers, I guess.  Ablative Carapace is a bit expensive for a FNP Strat, but if you're doing your job right you should always be getting the 4+ out of it.  Secure Biomass is potentially amazing though!  For 1CP, one of your harvesters gets LETHAL HITS and 5+ Crits.  Fantastic value!  Finally, the sole Battle Tactic for this Detachment is Rapacious Hunger.  This lets you regenerate a unit after it successfully killed something in the Fight Phase.

This Detachment is a winner!  Though it's got some misses in the Stratagem department, it's overall a fantastic defensive toolset.  Tyranids currently have some amazing tools for board control.  If they haven't lost them, then this detachment could be a potentially dominant playstyle.  If you like taking the board and putting the pressure on your opponent to figure out what to do about it, this Detachment is for you.

Vanguard Onslaught

Questing Tendrils was revealed earlier, and it's a fantastic rule.  Depending on how many units have the Vanguard Invader keyword, you can end up with a large number of units with Advance and Charge.  While not covering your whole army, and not as flexible as Hyper-Adaptations, any amount of Advance and Charge is fantastic and army-wide Fallback and Charge is still good.  Being able to field Deathleaper as your Warlord is pretty good too, since Lone Operative can make it tough to score Warlord kills on him.

Hunting Grounds is a pretty good enhancement for countering enemy Deep Strike.  Bringing in a Deep Strike unit then immediately targeting it with a Stratagem is a common play.  While this is far from reliable, interfering with this plan will occasionally save you some pain.  I'd still only take this if you have other units that let you benefit from the Battle-shock like Neurolictors.  We discussed Chameleonic before, and that this basically gives you Stealth.  But 15 pts for -1 to Hit isn't bad.  Stalker only works against a single unit, so it's pretty situational.  Still we already know Assassin Beasts is a thing, so this might help you kill off an enemy Character you want to remove.  Neuronode, however, is absolutely amazing!  It may only affect Vanguard Invaders, but those will be the units that will benefit most from this.  Even at 30 pts, you will always take this to take advantage of being able to aggressively deploy your units to your advantage.

We start Strats with our two Battle Tactics for this Detachment.  One is the already revealed Assassin Beasts, the other is Surprise Assault.  This Strat gives the Detachment another means of Battle-shock while also granting bonuses.  It is honestly probably best used against units that are already Battle-shocked.  Next we have Seeded Broods, an incredible Strat that gives this Detachment some serious alpha strike potential.  This is an almost build around Stratagem.  While pricey at 2CP, Hypersensory Scillia is another incredible Strat.  It gives you the ability to make sure you'll always get to pick your combats with many of your units.  Continuing this roll, Unseen Lurkers lets you either give Lone Operative to a Vanguard Invader unit, or improve Lone Operative on one.  Combined with Hypersensory Scillia, this will make many of your units almost impossible to pin down.  Finally, Invisible Hunter lets you put units in Strategic Reserves, giving you a huge amount of mission play.

This Detachment is incredible!  While it's primary rule may not be as broadly good as Hyper-Adaptations, it's still fantastic.  And with a fantastic Enhancement and some high level Stratagems, skilled players will have a field day with this one!

Synaptic Nexus

Synaptic Imperatives are back!  While these buffs only affect your units in Synapse Range, you get to choose them at the start of each Battle Round.  They're still only once per game, but you can use them at key moments to get ahead of your opponent and leave them trying to catch up.  Honestly, I'm struggling to decide how this compares to Hyper-Adaptations.  These are more generically useful, especially since you can trigger them when you need them.  But Hyper-Adaptations last for the entire game and drastically improve you damage against the chosen threat.  This is one I think we'll need to get some games in to decide.

You'd think that for a detachment based around Psykers you'd always take Power of the Hive Mind.  But currently it's just the Neurotyrant that can benefit from it.  Maybe this book will have more later.  You are probably going to always take Psychostatic Disruption though.  Deep Strike denial is always useful, and the chance to push a Reserve unit back to Turn 3 is good to have in your pocket.  Synaptic Control is another auto-include, granting -1 Damage to one of your big bugs.  Finally, if you're trying to build around Battle-shock, The Dirgeheart of Kharis gives you another way to impact enemy Leadership.

Speaking of which, The Smothering Shadow gives some additional bite to your Battle-shock tests.  On average, it'll deal 4 Mortal Wounds each time you use it.  For Battle Tactics we start with Synaptic Channeling.  It's situational, but it will help fill any holes your opponents make in your Synapse network.  Irresistible Will is interesting, granting re-roll 1s for Hits and Wounds to nearby units against a single target.  While it requires the Synapse unit to have not shot or fought yet, there's nothing there requiring that unit to be eligible to shoot or fight or stopping it from doing so.  I'm wondering if that's an oversight.  Even if it is, it makes it situational but still good.  The final Battle Tactic is Reinforced Hive Node, which gives a Synapse unit Armour of Contempt.  Combined with Syanptic Control, this can make your big bugs really hard to take down.  Next we have Imperative Dominance, which lets you give an Imperative to a unit in place of any active ones.  You can use this on Imperatives you've already used, so it's most useful at making sure a beneficial Imperative stays active on key units throughout the game.  Finally Override Instincts lets you give a unit in Synapse Range Fall Back and Shoot and Charge.  These are all incredible Stratagems that will allow skilled players to really get a lot out of this Detachment.

Conclusions

If this is the level of Detachment abilities we'll get for all the Factions, this could be one hell of an Edition!  Yeah, Crusher Stampede is really disappointing and Unending Swarm is probably underpowered too.  But Invasion Fleet remains a potent detachment, and three of our new ones are really good.  I think Vanguard Onslaught is probably the best, especially if you want a fast, offensive based playing style.  Meanwhile the Assimilation Swarm supports players that like controlling the board and forcing their opponents to act.  Finally, the Synaptic Nexus is another broad detachment like the Invasion Fleet, but it might play into the Tyranid bag of tricks more and reward more skilled players.  I may have been disappointed by the Lore, but the rules are definitely making up for it.

10th Edition Tyranid Codex Review Part One - Lore

The time has finally come!  I have my copy of the 10th Edition Tyranid Codex in my hands!  And as it sits here, still in the shrink wrap, I prepare to dive into a nearly blind review of this new tome.

Now I say nearly blind, as there's been more than a little buzz over points changes in this Codex.  But this brings up a point I haven't seen anyone mention in all of the discussions about the nerfs that came in Thursday's points update.

It is my understanding that doing a production run of a book like this is no small endeavor.  For most companies, a turn around of about 90 days is about the best you can hope for.  Even for a big company like Games Workshop, that kind of turn around is still the norm.  While yes, they can throw money around to get things done faster, the scale of a printing the number of necessary Codexes for all the various territories takes up any advantage they have.  So in all likelihood, this book was already on its way to the printers before any of us had our hands on 10th Edition.  This means the book probably predates everything GW has learned since release.  Or, to really hammer the point in:

This book was balanced to play into unnerfed Eldar.

That being said, I'm going to be judging this book on the current point values for each unit.  This will be a temperature test opinion, with maybe a little napkin math to backup any thoughts I have.  I'm still planning on doing the deep dive, but health issues have greatly slowed my progress.  Hopefully it won't be too much longer, and it'll be more useful to have the deep dive for the Codex instead of the Index.

With all of that said, let's finally dive into this book!

THE BOOK ITSELF

Let's start with the good.

I much prefer this new style of Collectors Edition cover to the one for 8th and 9th Edition.  The unique art is much clearer, the purple stamped lettering is much easier to read, and the trim on the pages is gorgeous.  The book looks really good!

However, while the art itself is very nice, I don't feel like it makes a good Codex cover.  It's just a single Tyranid beast.  And while that monster is beautifully depicted and looks quite towering and menacing, it doesn't really tell you anything about the faction just from looking at it.  On a similar note, I'm really bothered by the fact they recycled the 9th Edition artwork for the standard Codex.  I think this might be the first time GW has done that, and it makes a bad precedent.  Plus, as others have pointed out, it makes it difficult to distinguish the 10th Edition Codex from the 9th Edition one.  I'm worried some unscrupulous sellers might try to take advantage of this.

As things stand, the art on the 8th Edition Collectors Codex remains my favorite.

Also, on a smaller note, the Codex looks a little smaller.  This isn't necessarily a big deal, as faction rules are greatly compressed.  The official page count is only slightly smaller, but I do think it's important to point out the GW is charging more for less book.

Also, I note as I open the Codex to proceed, can we please get rid of this stupid face texture on the inside of the cover in the next edition?

Also also, I like this table of contents.  I think this is one of the most well designed and clean tables I've seen in a book like this.

LORE

The Codex begins with a first hand account of a successful Tyranid invasion.  It's an incredibly well written and gripping read.  One thing I like is they've avoided a pet peeve of mine where they name every unit or model taking part in the battles.  I don't know why this always kills the immersion for me, but at the very least the prose of "x was doing this, while y did this, and z did this" for multiple paragraphs is bland and clumsy.  For Tyranids, it's especially important that the account given here doesn't name any of the creatures seen.  It drives home the unknowable, alien nature of the faction.  We're off to a solid start.

We then come to the standard faction introduction.  This particular work has been repeated in one form or another throughout the editions.  I'm not sure how old it is, but it's been a while.  This isn't a negative for me, it's like the classic "Grim Dark Future" opening to the setting, or the Emperor's "And They Shall Know No Fear" edict that's been in probably every Space Marine Codex.  It's nice to have these little touchstones.

The sidebar of the next page actually begins with some notes on Hive Fleet Jormungandr.  Nice to see one of the lesser known Hive Fleets get such immediate love.

From there, things get less glowing.

Everything from until page 14, including some of the sidebars, is a nearly identical reproduction of the lore from the 9th Edition Codex.  I know there's only so many ways you can retell the same lore, but did they even do an editorial pass on this?  This feels very lazy.

Again, they charged more for this book.

After this section we get some rarely discussed lore in the actual makeup of the Hive Fleets themselves, including the inside of Tyranid ships.  We're also introduced to Tyranid Narvhals, which I don't think have ever been covered in the base game before.  These are definitely some welcome additions to the Codex, and it's good to see them.

Next we get the Tyrannic Wars, and, as before, the first three are a copy/paste from the last book.  We do get an absolutely striking piece of artwork for the Norn Emissary here, a new lore snippet for Hive Fleet Kraken, and some updates on Baal.  Speaking of the Norn Emissary, that beast is all over this section with four pieces of artwork dedicated to it.

After some more teasing about the enigmatic Hive Fleet Tiamet, we get to the Fourth Tyrannic war and the new lore of this edition.  While this is only an abbreviated telling of the lore from the Leviathan Core Book, it is still a welcome addition.  Finally we end this section with a little snippet about a war between the Tyranids and Huron Blackheart.

We then get another short story to introduce us to some of the new horrors we have at our command.  It's not a bad short story, though I don't think it's as good as the one that kicked the book off.  Additionally, it ends on a weird sentence.  I'm pretty sure the author meant to write, "driving its filthy teeth into the flesh of her neck," but the sentence instead ends, "driving its teeth into the filthy flesh of her neck."  For a short story like this, that last sentence should really punch home, but, whether a mistake or deliberate choice of wording, this fails there.

Another piece of striking new artwork is paired with some copy/paste text.  Well, mostly copy/past this time.  While I'm not going to go back and see if there were any similar changes to the previous sections, I did spot some edits to the section on Devourers and an entirely new part under Barbed Strangler to cover stranglethorn cannons.  The art here is also reused, but I'm less upset here as one, it's good, and two, this art has been reused before because it's good.

So it does at least look like someone at least went through these sections one or two times to try to make some improvements.

Why This is Bothering Me

So I guess I should talk a little about why I don't like how much was copied from the last Codex.  After all, while it might seem lazy, they did already put the work in.  The lore section of the 9th Edition Codex was good.  Maybe they shouldn't change it?  After all, as I mentioned earlier, there's only so many ways you can tell the same lore, right?

The thing is, you really can.  In fact they really should, considering the direction the story began for 10th Edition.  You see, while the facts of a lore section will mostly be the same, you can still put new perspectives on it, new angles, or just bring up specific details.  And the perspectives, angles, and details you use can carry themes and ideas on them to emphasize the kind of story you want to tell.  This is one of the reasons why the lore in the 9th Edition Codex is so good.  

Previous versions of the Tyranid Codex always looked at things from the perspective of the defenders.  Despite this being our faction's Codex, the focus was nearly always on the battles from the side of The Imperium or the Aeldari.  But in the 9th Edition Codex, they tried to shift it.  They couldn't really tell the lore from the Tyranid's perspective, especially with the new push to emphasize just how alien the faction is.  But they shifted the feel to put the focus more on our faction.  In addition to focusing on the monsters and horrors in the Hive Fleets, they dehumanized the enemy forces often in the text.  While important characters and victories were still mentioned, more often the opponents on the other side weren't valiant defenders or heroes of the Imperium.

They were just prey.

And this change of focus and theme really hit home for me in the 9th Edition Codex.  For all the unbalanced mess the rules were, the lore really delivered.

They could have done that again here.  They had the opportunity to go further, rework things even more to keep the focus on our faction, and emphasize how our foes are nothing but food to us.  They could made the Codex solidly about the Tyranids, the mystery behind them, and the sheer alien majesty and horror of the faction.

Or they could have gone with another angle.  One of themes that keeps popping up in the lore around the Fourth Tyrannic War is that the Imperium is just never ready.  They're always underestimating us, always dismissing the warnings, never taking the threat seriously.  And even when they do realize the threat, even when the veterans of the last three wars are on the front lines, we always prove their experience meaningless and their confidence unjustified.  If they had rewritten the lore, focusing on the prey's complacence and arrogance, and how we come back from each defeat stronger, the codex would have resonated with the wider story being depicted so far.

Instead we get a slightly photoshopped cover and copy pasted lore on a book that, I will continue to emphasize, we payed more for.

Finishing the Lore

We end the lore section with a final short story, and it's definitely the weakest of the three.  In it, we meet a new Inquisitor that has taken the obsessive path Kryptman did in dedicating his life to fighting the Tyranids.  One interesting thing from this short story is that it features a ton of quotes.  The Inquisitor is going through reports, and in them we get quotes from previous lore, including short stories in this book.  I didn't recognize all of them, but I caught enough of them to find the call backs amusing.  The overall tone was to emphasize just how desperate the fight against the Tyranids is, how seemingly inevitable the fate of the galaxy and humanity has become.  While it's not the team's best work, it's still a great note to end the lore section on.

But it definitely doesn't save it.  Because that is, indeed, the end of the lore section.  If you've read one of these Codexes before, you know that this is a pretty lackluster section.  Not only was the vast majority of it copied from the last book, but there's so much that isn't here.  Sections covering the hive fleets were replaced with little notes in the margins, and sections on the stages of Tyranid Invasion and the types and purposes of bio-forms are gone.  The last book had a two page spread with lore and analysis for the Parasite of Mortrex.  But not even our new big bad, The Norn Emissary, gets such a treatment here.

This may legitimately be the worst lore section we've ever had.

The First Balance Dataslate of 10th Edition

Just because I'm on hiatus doesn't mean I'm not paying attention to 40K right now.  Especially since I'm still planning on doing that "What I Got Wrong" post, I've been trying to keep an ear to everything that's going on.  Plus it's pretty relaxing to just kick back with a Survivor style game and listen to competitive 40K podcasts and news.

As such, I'm very aware that competitive 40K is not in a good place right now.  Just when it seemed that the nerfs to Aeldari might have had an impact, the Eldar players went back to their Index and came back with some new strategies.  Hell!  Some of them are still just bringing double Wraithknight and getting results!  And to make matters worse, there are Meta boogiemen like GSC, Custodes, Imperial Knights, KSons, and Necrons that are just waiting for Aeldari to get hit with the nerfbat.  My subfaction in particular is poised to rise up and overthrow their pointy-eared overlords the moment GW strikes.  Of course, they're also very much on the radar for the nerf bat, so the factions beneath them are what fans are really worried about.

At the same time, nearly a third of the factions are struggling to the point they just aren't showing up anymore.  Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Sisters, AdMech, Death Guard, and Votann are in some of the worst places a faction has been since 8th Edition.  Between players tired of elf covered podiums and players that just want to play their army, fans have been all but holding their breath for today.

THE METAWATCH ARTICLE

Warhammer 40,000 Metawatch – Changes Abound in the First Balance Dataslate of the Edition

Stu popped onto Metawatch again to talk about the changes and the reasoning behind them.  While the article itself goes into some of these changes, Stu went through more and detailed them out a bit.

Towering

Towering units like Knights no longer have a blanket ability to see over all ruins on the board.  Instead, Knights now need to toe into a ruin to see over it.  This means it will be easier for units to hide from Towering opponents.  I'm curious to see the exact wording, as they mentioned Towering targets will also be able to hide behind ruins.

Overwatch

Overwatch is now once per turn, unless a rule specifically references it, and requires line of sight.  They're also making changes to how many rules that give you free Stratagems work using the Stratagem categories that had returned to mostly being flavor.  Now most of these rules will only allow you to use Battle Tactics Stratagems.

Insane Bravery

Unless you have specific rules to take advantage of it, Battle-shock just isn't very useful.  And if your army needs Battle-shock to function, then for 1CP your opponent can turn it off for an important unit.  Now Insane Bravery can only be used once per game and needs to be used before the roll.

Devastating Wounds

According to Stu, Dev Wounds were always supposed to be a rending ability.  But by giving them Mortal Wounds, they've become all purpose.  So now, Dev Wounds will only bypass saves and no longer deal Mortal Wounds.  This will also affect the few rules that give FNP vs. Mortals.

Custodes

The biggest problem with Custodes is that they are a gatekeeper for any melee army.  Since their Fights First Strat isn't a Battle Tactic, they won't have as much access to it any more.  Additionally, their unit size has gone down.

Aeldari

Oh boy.  This could be 9th Edition Drukhari and Tyranids all over again.  At least Phantasm is getting a change.  Stu is gambling on the other rules fixing things.  But I think Aeldari's rules are just too good.  At least they're getting points changes.

Genestealer Cults

GSC is getting a nerf to their rules, though.  So the absolute top army with two overpowered rules is fine, but second place is too good?  Still, this is a good change.  I'm just worried that Aeldari is going to 65%, while GSC might drop quite a bit.

Imperial Knights

The fact that Imperial Knights are doing so well but Chaos Knights are fine sent the message that something needs to change here.  So Bondsmen abilities will now only affect Armigers.

Thousand Sons

Cabal Point generators are going up in points, but that appears to be it.

Desolators

For one final note on nerfs, Desolation Squads will be going down from 10 mans to 5 mans.  Not sure this will make them any less auto-include, but Space Marines aren't really overpowered currently anyway.

Adeptus Mechanicus

In addition to points buffs, Skitarii have had their durability increased.  Hopefully this will help, but their rules are what really need the buff.  Still, their Codex is on the roadmap at least.

Death Guard

Death Guard are getting one of the most comprehensive changes, now getting selectable contagions!  I'm curious to see what these exactly are.

Leagues of Votann

The Kin are getting a change to their Detachment Rule, getting far more Grudge Tokens at the start of the game.  I still think they need more here, but apparently they're getting some heft points buffs too.

Tau Empire

Tau are getting some points buffs, but that appears to be it.

THE BALANCE DATASLATE

But enough preamble!  Let's take a look at the actual document!

First, I just want to mention I like the formatting here!  It starts with a section clearly labeled CORE RULES and uses the same page numbering the Core Rules do.

Devastating Wounds

As above, no saves can be made against Dev Wounds now.  An interesting note is that attacks that trigger Dev Wounds are allocated last.  I'm pretty sure this means you'll roll all the attacks for your Dev Wounds weapons at once as normal, then you'll assign any normal wounds, then you'll assign the Dev Wounds, then you'll move onto the next weapon type if any remain.  Since this wording only applies to attacks that actually trigger Dev Wounds, I'm pretty sure this doesn't affect the order you actually shoot your weapons.

Stratagems

We're adding a whole new rules text to the Core Rules here, some of which I'm pretty sure is from the Rules Commentary.

So first of all, you can't modify the cost of a Strat that affects multiple units unless all the units have the same rule.  For example, I can't use Will of the Hive Mind to target two units with Adrenal Surge for free, as this ability only lets me target one unit with a Stratagem.

Next is the nerf mentioned above that it can only affect Battle Tactics.  They leave an exception here for all the Titan abilities that nerf Stratagem costs.  Finally, they end with the nerf that you can only repeat a Battle Tactics Stratagem unless a rule specifically says otherwise.

Fire Overwatch is nerfed as above, though I forgot to mention that you can't use Fire Overwatch on Titanic units now.  Same thing with Insane Bravery.

Towering

Wow!  That was more economic than I was expecting!  Just two sentences!  And I'm pretty sure it does the trick too!  Towering might legitimately be fixed!

Adeptus Custodes

Wait!  Why are Vertus Praetors getting nerfed?  Sometimes I think GW predicts problems that aren't really a thing.  Maybe they're worried that point nerfs will make Praetor spam attractive?

Adeptus Mechanicus

Still need to see the point buffs, but I don't think AdMech had a durability issue.  Still, they need these units to get many of their rules to work.  Keeping them on the table longer isn't a bad thing.

Aeldari

. . .

There better be some massive nerfs in the Field Manual.

Agents of the Imperium

Here's the nerf everyone was asking for!  It's not that you have the point values backwards for two of the Arbites units, it's that Exaction Squads were too big!  This'll bring those top armies in line!

Sheesh . . .

Death Guard

Oh wow!  It's a Detachment Rule!  That means you get Gifts and you get this new sickness!  That's actually a pretty nice change!  And it doesn't replace the old rule either!  It's completely additive!

Skullsquirm Blight is a penalty to Ballistic Skill and Weapon Skill, not a penalty to hit!  That's really good!  Rattlejoint Ague hits their Save characteristic, which is awesome in 10th edition!  Finally, Scabrous Soulrot hits their Leadership and OC.  I guess they can't all be winners.

I still think Death Guard need a toughness boost, but this is definitely a cool rule that will hopefully have a big impact on the faction.

Deathwatch

Deathwatch is currently the only really successful Space Marine Chapter.  I'm guessing they felt they needed a preemptive nerf, plus something that might bring them more in line with the Gladius.  Now all of the Special Issue Ammunition Stratagems only affect bolt weapons.  While that's a lot of guns in a Space Marine list, that's still a significant blow to Deathwatch.

Genestealer Cults

Oh wow!  That's a huge nerf!  I'm actually kind of grinding my teeth here.  That's a significant nerf to their rules, while Aeldari got a slap on the wrist!  It basically means that if you get hit by an alpha strike, you're probably going to lose those units.  Still, they needed the nerf.  Hopefully the points changes are on the light side.

On a plus, they gave a small bonus to Atalan Jackals to try and make them a bit more useable.

Grey Knights

Again, what?  I know this might be future proofing, but what?  Grey Knights did not need a nerf!

Imperial Knights

In addition to the Bondsman ability nerf, they're also changing several of their Stratagems.  This could actually be pretty huge.  We'll have to see how this effects their standing with their traitor counterparts.

Leagues of Votann

Ruthless Efficiency is now based on the battle size.  A competitive game will let them select 4 units to have 2 Judgement Tokens at the start of the game.  Additionally, while they only get the CP bonus once per game, destroying any of those units grants them the bonus.

I think the Kin need more than this.  This is definitely not even close to the buff Death Guard got.  But we've still got to see points.

Space Marines

We end with the change to the Desolation Squad.  I still think you take three of these, depending on points.  And speaking of which!

MUNITORUM FIELD MANUAL

I'm not going to go through every change here.  I'm going to mostly look at the each factions page and see what the overall temperature is.  I'll probably pick out a few key units to see how they're doing.

Adepta Sororitas

Sisters have gotten points drops across the board!  The only thing that went up were the Crusaders.  Other than that, nearly all of their units got some buffs.  Some of them are significant too, with Warsuits going down 40 pts.  This is a promising start to this document.

Adeptus Custodes

Wow, these are some interesting changes.  A lot of tournament staples have been nerfed, but many of the Custodes units have actually been buffed.  Some of them, such as Vertus Praetors, really needed it too.  It looks like just because the community is calling for heads to roll, that doesn't mean that the rules team isn't trying to get some balance within the faction as well.

Adeptus Mechanicus

Again, sweeping buffs!  Probably the most notable ones are the buffs to Skitarii, which were already getting a durability boost from the Dataslate.  Rangers are now 9 pts a model and Vanguard are now 8 pts.  AdMech armies are about to get much bigger.

Aeldari

Oh boy, the community is not going to be happy.  While there are significant nerfs here, I'm sure people were wanting more.  Combined with no further addressing of the faction's rules, there are going to be a lot of people claiming they didn't go far enough.

As far as actual nerfs, Farseers have gone up 15 pts, which is a lot but won't stop them from being in every list.  Fire Prisms went up 30, which might be enough to have an effect.  The Yncarne went up a whopping 80 points, which will likely take it off of auto-include.  War Walkers went up 15 pts, which I don't think will affect them much.  Warp Spiders went up 3 pts per model, which is pretty significant but probably still has them seeing play, same with Wraithguard.  I wonder if maybe they should be locked at 5 mans.  The Wraithknight went up a further 35 points.  Combined with the other nerfs, that might actually bring them somewhat in line.

All and all, I'm still very worried about Aeldari.

Agents of the Imperium

I don't know what is going on here.  The Exaction squad is now more in line with the other Arbites squad, going up a whopping 3 pts per model.  But I have no idea what's going on with Voidsmen or the Callidus.  Voidsmen didn't need a nerf, and the Callidus definitely didn't need a buff.

Astra Militarum

Guard got buffs to nearly all of their infantry and vehicles.  Catachans are down to 5.5 points per model, hopefully making them playable for their fans.  Some of Guards artillery pieces took further nerfs, though the Basilisk wasn't one of them.  Strangely, the Thunderbolt also took a small nerf.

Black Templars

Black Templars are one of the few Chapters that competes with the Gladius, so this might be predictive of some overall Space Marine buffs.  Nearly every model got a buff, with the exception of the Lancer and the Marshal, both of which took 5 pts nerfs.

Blood Angels

Blood Angels are in much more need of help, and they've got sweeping buffs too.  Everything but the Baal Predator, Corbulo, and both Tychos got help.  Death Company with Jump Packs went down 5 pts a model and San Guard went down 8 pts.  Their detachment still needs help, but maybe they'll get more options when their Codex drops.

Chaos Daemons

The Neverborn aren't in a terrible place right now, so it looks like GW is trying to address some internal balance.  Many tournament staples got nerfs, such as Be'lakor and Shalaxi, while a handful of other units got some buffs.  I won't lie, I don't know enough about the faction to know if these buffs are enough to shift the way Daemons are usually played.

Chaos Knights

The same thing appears to be true for Knights, though I know a bit more here.  Right now, Chaos Knights are heavily dependent on War Dogs with some lists being made up entirely of these smaller patterns.  Apparently, GW is worried Knights might rise a bit in the rankings, as nearly all the War Dogs have been nerfed.  But the Karnivore went down.  Other than that, the Rampager got a small buff.

Chaos Space Marines

Like their former brothers, CSM could use a little love but might just benefit from having the top factions brought down a peg.  Their points changes are much less sweeping than the two loyalist Chapters we've seen so far.  Some of their staples have gone up in points, such as Abaddon, Forgefiends, and Oblits, but mostly it's good news.

Dark Angels

Again, it's all good news, though not as sweeping as Blood Angels or Black Templars.  Dark Angels make pretty good use of the Gladius Taskforce, so this isn't too surprising.  Again, it's their Detachment that really needs fixed.

Death Guard

This is a substantial buff on an already substantial buff!  Nearly everything has gone down, including Mortarion, Poxwalkers, and Typhus!  Only the Predator Annihilator and the Plague Surgeon were untouched.  Plague Marines are now 16 pts per model!

Deathwatch

In addition to their Stratagem nerfs, Veterans and the Proteus have both gone up in points.  Meanwhile the Spectrus and Bikers have gone down slightly.  This is nearly all internal balance, so it's clear that the strats are supposed to bring Deathwatch in line with the other Space Marine chapters.

Drukhari

Again, we have a struggling faction, and again it's all good news.  Ravagers have taken a nerf, but other than that it's sweeping buffs.  Even Lelith went down in cost.

Genestealer Cults

Again, we deserve it.  But again, I just don't feel like these nerfs are in line with Aeldari.  At least our Genestealers went down.  We're definitely going to need to be much more careful with our resources now.

Grey Knights

Despite the slight nerf in the Dataslate, these are some really good buffs.  I feel like Grey Knights are one of those faction you need to take light touches to, though.  Their mobility is really potent.  But at the end of the day, they lost a lot of striking power.  Something needs to make up for it.

Imperial Knights

Oh wow!  What is this?  Both Armigers went up to 150 pts while Canus Rex actually went down to 460!  Chaos Knight players are not going to be happy.  The nerf to Bondsmen better be enough.

Leagues of Votann

Every datasheet!  Every.  Single.  Datasheet!  Einhyr are now 30 pts per model.  The Sagitaur is 100 pts.  Hearthkyn are now 11 pts per model, below where I said they needed to go.  And probably most importantly, Kâhls went down 20 pts.  This is a good start to getting Votann back in the fight.

Necrons

Necrons are in a spot where they could potentially become the next faction to beat.  They have some incredible toughness and were untouched by the Dataslate.  But GW has decided to focus on internal balance.  Many of their problem units have taken nerfs though, including the Reanimator, Lychguard, and the Transcendent C'tan.  But Warriors actually went down to 11 pts per model.  Necrons could be in really good shape for the new meta.

Orks

Again, GW looks to be taking an opportunity to address some internal balance.  Only a handful of units took nerfs though: the Beastboss on foot, Mek Gunz, Trukkz, and Big Trakkz.  All the rest is good news, including a buff to Kaptin Badrukk.

Space Marines

The poster boys need some love this time around, and they're getting it.  Lancers, Inflitrators, Hailstrikes, Thunderstrikes, Sternguard, Guilliman, and, strangely, Assault Terminators went up.  But other than that it's all buffs and lots of them.  I'd say over half the index got buffed, and that's a lot of datasheets.  Oh, and Desolators went up to 40 pts per model.  Get wrecked!

Space Wolves

I was a little worried when the last metawatch somehow had Space Wolves in the clear, that they weren't going to get the love they needed.  Other than a nerf to Wolf Scouts, though, it's all good news for them.  Again, they need their Detachment fixed, probably more than any Chapter, but this should help a little for Space Wolf players willing to run a Gladius.

T'au Empire

Again, it's all good news.  There's honestly too many good and meaningful buffs here, that I'm a little worried T'au might be too good.  At least I would be if Eldar hadn't gotten such a light touch.

Thousand Sons

This isn't all bad news, as there does appear to be some genuine attempts to improve internal balance here.  But it's still mostly bad news.  Every character went up considerably, and it's definitely going to hurt.  Hopefully KSons players can still take advantage of some of the other faction nerfs.

Tyranids

Our Codex technically isn't out yet, but we're getting some preemptive point changes.  I don't know if these are nerfs or buffs from where they are in the codex, so I can't really speak here.  I knew there were some odd costs though, almost certainly due to the book going to print before certain other changes were made.  But it's clear they're trying to do some internal balance passes here.  Oh, and they're very obviously nerfing Biovores further as well as making sure you never take Mucolids or Spore Mines.  I also see a weird change to Ripper Swarms where you take them per base.  I guess that works better with the way the kits work.

I need to see the codex before I'll comment more, though I think it's clear I want to.

World Eaters

Melee armies are in a bad spot and that means World Eaters are in a bad spot.  So with the exception of Forgefiends, it's buffs across the board!  Of note, the obviously overpriced flavors of Eightbound have both gone down a significant amount of points.

RULES COMMENTARY

But wait!  There's more!

The Rules Commentary was also expanded.  Let's see what questions have now been answered.

We get another clarification on when a model is eligible to shoot.  If a model has a ranged weapon and fires, it is no longer eligible to shoot until the next phase.  This honestly was obvious based on the rules for the Shooting phase, but there it is.

We also get a clarification to how Vehicles with bases work that was obvious based on the Commentary for base-to-base contact.  Still again, it's nice to have it spelled out somewhere.

And . . . that's it!  That didn't actually address any of the questions I've seen in community posts about rules interactions.  Hopefully we'll start getting FAQs to go along with the Codexes again.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Fool me once, shame on you!  Fool me twice, watch out!  I'm huge!

I was one of the players that believed that the changes to Aeldari were going to be meaningful before.  But Aeldari players just kept showing how good their faction rules were.  GW believes the changes to the Core Rules and Phantasm are enough that now the faction just needs points changes.  But I'm worried we've seen this story play out before.

GSC on the other hand feel like they've been nuked from orbit, with significant changes to their Army Rule and heavy points nerfs.  Those that were nipping at their heals for second place have also gotten some pretty heavy hits with the nerf bat.  Of them, Necrons feel like they're walking away in the best position to challenge the throne.

For the other factions, we'll have to see.  The bottom factions all got significant buffs.  Most of them should be in better position now, especially Death Guard.  But some of them, such as AdMech, need rules not models.  And they're not getting them.  Votann, well, they need rules and Datasheets.  Hopefully they have more coming when their Codex comes around.