GW just dropped new points for 40K 10th Edition. But do the updates do enough to fix the Death Guard & Knights?
Goatboy here to talk about the quick 40K points update we got outside of the normal data slate/game shift we see. This one seems well pointed to attack the current three meta darlings we have right now in hits to the: Death Guard, Imperial Knights, and Chaos Knights. There is most likely going to be another hit to Imperial Knights whenever their new codex comes out but for now I will just talk about the points we have and what they could mean. I don’t think it is fully enough on the Death Guard side but will see as this comes out right before Nova and will see if it is implemented for that event.
The points updates see specific army hits and then the new codex points for the Votann. There were no other changes to any other armies (why do you keep Eightbound so expensive and free my Lord of Skulls dangit!) so this will be a discussion of the 3 big shifts. Overall I think the hits are going after the Knight side of things and while that is good for the meta you can see from the last batch of events Death Guard seemed to have solved the whole big stompy boi problem on their way to a bunch of top 8’s.
Death Guard Updates
Let’s talk about the Death Guard changes. Overall we saw almost all the stuff you see currently in lists go up by some amount of points. Each option looks to have gotten a 10 point hike which usually means you are losing a unit or two from the common armies we see. I don’t know if it is enough as again the armies feel like losing a single unit might not be worth it. But it is a start and I wonder if this will end up being 10th Edition’s Dark Eldar like we had before. The army took multiple hits and each time something new bubbled up as it was left too cheap.
Which leads me to thinking the army might end up shifting to a massed Plague Marine option as they stayed the same points-wise. This was already on the edge of being good with a powerful Battleline choice that can just about do everything. It can punch cup, shoot well, and just be a threat wherever they go. On top of this they can also ride in a Rhino which does a lot for the army. It lets them move faster, gives them a body that is not “easy” to remove, and it can push their Aura out quickly and easily if they happen to not be too close to the enemy initially. Look at this pile of Plague Marines and what could be showing up, as a common core of future Death Guard lists:
10 Plague Marines
10 Plague Marines
5 Plague Marines
5 Plague Marines
5 Plague Marines
5 Plague Marines
Rhino
Rhino
Rhino
Rhino
Pts: 1100 points
Yeah this seems like a lot of plastic dudesmen, but they can do a lot of things on the tabletop. You play the Virulent Vectorium detachment to get everything sticky and then throw in some Predators that didn’t go down in points, a few cool characters, and then a Daemon Prince and you got a real pain in the butt pile to chew through. The Plague Marines can kill a lot of stuff as needed too which is just pretty gnarly. Also – that 1100 points is basically 10 units that can do all the things you need in a game.
Chaos & Imperial Knight Updates
Next up we got the Knight chassis fixes. It would appear to be that having 6 big knights is something GW doesn’t want players to have right now. It makes sense and again when anyone is building a new army that includes buying new models they really need to wait a bit if something feels to be too good. Especially if the too good option is a 170 dollar kit you have to get a few of. Overall I think the changes are good for the Knights as they increase their costs by 15-40 points depending on the chassis. A few of the small ones got hit on both sides and again they are trying to keep the overall vibe of big knights to be less oppressive.
We are waiting on the Imperial Knight codex release to really see how the army fills out but on the Chaos Knight side I can see both the Lords of Dread and Infernal shifting to 4 big knights at most or really looking at 3, some War Dogs, and then whatever Daemon friends they want to add. This is better for the game as a whole as the mid table bully will most likely be played less. It also means I might try them out more once I finish my World Eaters tour and look to something less model heavy on the tabletop.
Those are the big changes that is coming from the points update and while I think they are good for the meta will see if it truly removes us from the filthy gross stank summer meta we are currently in. I expect Plague Marines to come back, Death Guard Predators to show up more, and more people wondering where these players got all this gross Nurgly stuff.
May you always roll 6’s!
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Thomas Reidy, aka Goatboy, the ever-evil member of BoLS. I do arts, play 40k, and even paint a lot of stuff. I have been playing Warhammer 40K since the 1990s, and have won multiple national events including Adepticon and GW GTs. I’ve been writing for BoLS for 15 years. Look at my Instagram to see what I am working on – or working on for someone. I am always doing something hobby related.