Grotmas brings with it a whole new Balance Update, and today we’re unpacking all the changes as we find out which factions have ended up on Da Red Gobbo’s naughty and nice lists.
This article covers the Space Marine factions. You can find the rest of our coverage via the links below:
We would like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of the balance update for review purposes.
Space Marine Codex
Anyone who’s seen the recent dominance of Space Marines - particularly the Ultramarines lists packing a horde of Victrix Guard - won’t be surprised to see the faction getting toned down a bit. As such, Space Marines are here with a host of changes - mainly focused on knocking Shadowmark Talon down a peg or two and a minor adjustment to Victrix Honour Guard points.
Points Changes
- Aethon Shaan up 25 points to 110
- Aggressor Squad down 5 points for 3, 10 points for 6 to 95/190
- Cato Sicarius down 25 points to 95
- Centurion Devastator Squad up 10 points for 3, 20 points for 6 to 175/350
- Eradicator Squad down 10 points for 3, 20 points for 6 to 90/180
- Kor’sarro Khan down 10 points to 60
- Lieutenant down 10 points to 55
- Storm Speeder Thunderstrike down 15 points to 135
- Vanguard Veteran Squad with Jump Packs up 5 points for 5, 10 points for 10 to 100/200
- Victrix Honour Guard down 10 points for 3, up 30 points for 6 to 120/240
Rules Changes
- Shadowmark Talon’s Hunter’s Instincts has been errata’d to be in “your movement phase” which prevents it from being used to Rapid Ingress in the first battle round. No change to the same enhancement in Stormlance Task Force.
- Terminator Assault Squad has an updated datasheet; key changes from baseline datasheet:
- Thunder Hammer upgraded from WS 4+ to WS 3+
- Twin Lightning Claws attack count increased from 5 to 6
- Terminatus Assault datasheet rule (each enemy unit in Engagement Range must take a Battle-shock test) now triggers at the start of every Fight phase, as opposed to each time they end a charge move.
- Captain with Jump Pack wargear tweaked - can now equip a Relic Shield if they are equipped with a heavy bolt pistol and an Astartes chainsword but cannot then replace the heavy bolt pistol and Astartes chainsword.
Impact
Slight Loser
Thoughts
Space Marines have been quite average in terms of event performance as of late, but the arrival of the new Victrix Honour Guard datasheet did a considerable amount to raise their stocks. This update tones down that hype and also makes a much-needed series of adjustments to Shadowmark Talon.
Curie: Something interesting to note about the performance of this specific detachment: Space Marines as a whole (excluding codex-deviant chapters) have been hovering around a 49-51% win rate through the last couple of months, which on its face looks quite good. However, Shadowmark Talon makes up a third of these games and has managed a 57-61% win rate in that same time period. Definitely a skewed internal balance, one that Games Workshop appears to be attempting to correct with these points adjustments.
Buffs to gravis units (Aggressors & Eradicators) could open up some avenues of play for armies like Forgefather’s Seekers, while the Thunderstrike reduction is a lovely buff for armies running them as support.
TheChirurgeon: Victrix Guard are still extremely playable at +30 points and will likely still show up in lists. For the life of me I can’t figure out why Oath still gives +1 to wound, especially to Ultramarines, where there are now more special characters and extra units than there are for Blood Angels, Black Templars, or Space Wolves.
Black Templars
The Black Templars are the least represented lot of Space Marines right now, lacking some of the more interesting tricks available to Blood Angels and Space Wolves. That said, they’ve performed fine since their Supplement dropped, almost entirely using Gladius builds packing Sword Brethren and superior RepExes, and haven’t struggled to put up TiWP results and event wins despite a lower overall win rate.
Points Changes
- Castellan up 10 points to 70
- Crusade Ancient down 10 points to 55
- Emperor’s Champion up 10 points to 100
- Execrator down 10 points to 60
- Gladiator Valiant down 10 points to 150
- Repulsor Executioner up 15 points to 235
Rules Changes
None.
Impact
Loser
Thoughts
A welcome adjustment to Repulsor Executioners, but not one that was necessarily needed. Tangentially, the Gladiator Valiant is now the same cost as the base Space Marines version so it gets a free multi-melta!
Otherwise, there’s not much to like here if you’re a Black Templars player, and seeing the Castellan and Emperor’s Champion go up in cost is going to hurt, no matter how much it’s designed to improve internal balance - these are load bearing units for a melee force. Going through all of the top performing Black Templars lists of the last few weeks, nearly all of them are going up 60-70 points.
Blood Angels
The Blood Angels are a middle of the road faction right now, with a win rate and a TiWP ratio close to the middle of the pack. In addition to the changes here, they
get a new Detachment - the Rage-Cursed Onslaught - that looks to give the faction an interesting new way to play.
Points Changes
- The Sanguinor down 10 points to 130
Rules Changes
None, but they did get a new detachment!
Impact
Winner
Thoughts
The Sanguinor going down is just a nice little treat, and even better when you realize he’s hard-wired to ruin the day of every Chaos Space Marines player on the planet running Warp Talons. Blood Angels also gain a little bit from the change to the Assault Terminator datasheet - extra attacks mean a little more when they’re equipped with WS3+ Thunder Hammers. Aggressors and Eradicators currently aren’t seen in competitive Blood Angel lists, and their minor point drops probably won’t change that much.
Dark Angels
The Dark Angels continue to evolve to fit whichever play style works best for their current unit mix and costs, and most recently that’s a mix of “Wrath of the Rock” and “Ironstorm,” with a sprinkling of Stormlance for good measure.
Points Changes
- Azrael up 10 points to 125
- Ravenwing Black Knights down 10 points for 3, down 20 points for 6 to 80/160
Rules Changes
None.
Impact
Winner
Thoughts
We haven’t seen much out of the Company of Hunters Detachment since early September but it’s possible the change to Black Knights could shift that, making larger groups of bikes a more viable option. That said, lists were just running Command Squads before and Black Knights may still be too fragile to be worth taking in large squads. Wrath of the Rock lists shouldn’t have too much trouble making room for Azrael at his higher cost. Azrael going up does hurt a bit, but he was ridiculously valuable at 115 before, and will still be near-mandatory going forward.
Deathwatch
After being toned down earlier in the year the Deathwatch have been mostly quiet as a mid-tier Space Marines faction that tends to run super-elite. That said, their units hit like an absolute freight train and that damage output can be pretty shocking if you aren’t ready for it.
Points Changes
- Indomitor Kill Team up 15 points to 265
Rules Changes
None.
Impact
Loser
Thoughts
File the Indomitor Kill Team under that list of units with “staggering amounts of damage output.” The top lists for the faction were running two units of these, and finding 30 points won’t be easy in an army with so few units. Even dropping the Beacon Angelis won’t cover the cost here.
Space Wolves
The Space Wolves have seen some decent results since the Q3 dataslate, primarily with the Saga of the Beastslayer and Stormlance Task Force Detachments. With this new update they gain a new option -
Saga of the Great Wolf - which gives them a Gladius-style setup of their own.
Points Changes
- Bjorn the Fell-Handed -10 points to 160
- Grey Hunters -15 points to 165
- Iron Priest -5 to 55
- Murderfang -10 to 150
- Venerable Dreadnought -10 to 130
Rules Changes
None, but they did get a new detachment!
Impact
Slight Winner
Thoughts
Garebear: Some of the harder armies for Wolves to play into took a hit, and Wolves got some very minor points drops. They really could have gotten away with more drops in a few targeted places, but it's better than the alternative, and none of our strong units took a hit.
The real winning happening here is that there is a new detachment to play with that seems to have legs. Space Wolves were propped up hard by Stormlance and a 4++, and this new detachment may provide a viable way to play going into the new, increasingly deadly late edition meta. Time will tell, but more is better than less, so it’s a place to start.
TheChirurgeon: At the very least these point changes are all taking things down and while I don’t think you’re going to start playing Grey Hunters even in the new Detachment, getting a discount on Bjorn is nice.
Wrap Up
Did the Red Gobbo bring you all the buffs you wanted? If he didn't, can you at least salve the blow by pointing and laughing at elves? Make sure to check out the rest of our coverage from the links up top.
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