GW just nailed the Warhammer 40K 10th Edition meta-bullies. These armies are rising to the top!
As you saw last week, we had some points adjustments that hit three armies. This was designed to curtail some of their power down a bit. These armies were the best “armies” out there for the current iteration of 40k. I don’t think they were as broken as some of the older edition’s best armies. I just think all three of these factions felt like they had too much stuff on the tabletop. With these bruisers hit, what other armies feel a bit too strong and what needs to get worked on?
I still think the 3 armies hit are going to be fine. Death Guard’s rules are just strong and the changes just tweak some of the common “best” armies. Heck the two Knight books are still well suited to be midtable bullies with match ups determining if they make the top or end the day undefeated. I don’t think these three armies are unbeatable just still going to reward strong play and smart leadership.
Thousand Sons
The next army that might start to show up even more could be Thousand Sons. It is one of the few armies that can just about kill anything and while they took a nerf a few months ago they are still strong as heck. Those pesky Tzaangor Enlightened with Bows are insanely cheap and effective little units. They still can throw out a ton of damage. The biggest hit on them is they are not an “easy” army to play, and any one mistake can cause your choices to collapse quickly. I still expect to see more of this pop up as people figure things out, get the missing pieces painted up, and start wrecking me with so called psychic damage.
Leagues of Votann
We have Votann incoming too and I wonder if will see a list pop up that goes hard into Knights and figures out the game. It is going to be weird a bit, but the army feels like it can pour out the damage as needed. I don’t think we have a ton of players rocking them which should help those players stay under the radar if they stay good. I am interested in seeing what they end up doing. I don’t have a lot of love of the Squats, but it is more my hatred of any kind of shooty army.
World Eaters
I know we are going to see some other update coming so who knows what happens to my favorite army right now. The World Eaters feel ok and while they are doing ok in games – usually only losing 1 in a lot of big events and winning a few. Right now, the list is somewhat solved but seeing the French WTC massed Berzerker list do well makes me wonder if that style of army has legs in a single event. That many bodies is hard for Knights to get through and even rolling into Death Guard they can just overwhelm people with Lethal/Sustained/Devastating wound combos to wreck stuff. I hope they bring some points down on a few things but will see.
Space Marines / Blood Angels
My worry in the upcoming meta is that Marines are always ok and if they get pushed too much we’ll end up with an army that showcases a lower win rate than is army rules present due to player skill. This would also be how some of the “Supplement” books work out with my fear that Blood Angels will secretly be bonkers. Of course, this would be a nice knife to my gut as I just played them terribly when I brought them to an event. Will just have to wait and see.
CSMs
Finally, I think Chaos Space Marines are also a heck of a lot better and if they are left alone or pushed a bit will see an end of year of the bad guys again. They have so many options, so many play styles, and just can do everything well it can become an issue. They still have Vindicators and while that Casino gun can be bad at times their ability to get sustained and rerolls is a very powerful drug. I know I keep thinking of pushing a Pactbound List at an event and they are still king of the pressure builds right now between massed Possessed or piles of Accursed Cultists.
Are you excited with even more changes coming? Do you think your army is going to be awesome? I also get the feeling Imperial Guard will be all right with a few strong players rocking them and winning most of their games – especially in the UK tournament scene. I would say the same with GSC too as a few amazingly strong players are wrecking fools with those pesky Cult neophytes.
Who do you think will be the rising stars of the meta?
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.