Balance Dataslate - Q1 2026

[Joe]

 

WarCom Article.

 

Releasing this week, although the downloads aren't available on WarCom yet. Downloads are now available on WarCom. Goonhammer has jumped the gun and posted their reviews.

 

https://www.goonhammer.com/40k-goonhammer-reviews-the-q1-2026-balance-dataslate/

https://www.goonhammer.com/the-q1-2026-balance-update-imperium-factions/

https://www.goonhammer.com/the-q1-2026-balance-update-space-marines/

https://www.goonhammer.com/the-q1-2026-balance-update-xenos-factions/

https://www.goonhammer.com/the-q1-2026-balance-update-chaos-factions/

 

 

Edited yesterday at 10:32 AM by Joe
Adding.

[Rhavien]

Me likes 

[Mogger351]

The "game is done, this is a token litter picking effort because I'm ready to move on" vibe is strong.

[Kaiju Soze]

Unsurprised at Renegade Warband losing access to Cults of the Dark Gods.

[Orange Knight]

38 minutes ago, Rhavien said:

Me likes 

 

Massive

[Lord Marshal]

47 minutes ago, Kaiju Soze said:

Unsurprised at Renegade Warband losing access to Cults of the Dark Gods.

 

Could they not have just turned off their ability to use Not!Oath instead or am I missing something?

[Kaiju Soze]

10 minutes ago, Lord Marshal said:

 

Could they not have just turned off their ability to use Not!Oath instead or am I missing something?

Even without Vendetta, giving Rubrics and Noise Marines the Assault rule on all guns is pretty strong, as is Fall Back/Advance+Charge on Berserkers.  It was pointed out when the detachment was released that Cult Marines are stronger in Renegades than other CSM detachments.

 

There's also the given thematic reason mentioned in the article: Cult marines make less sense in what is supposed to be the freshly gone rogue detachment.  The article may even be honest in this being the primary reason.

 

In any case, Cult marines are - for the moment - still available in Renegade Raiders and Huron's Marauders.

[JaqTaar]

I like how the article specifies that the changes for Agents are only for when they're allies, so as not to raise any hopes Agents on their own would get anything. 

[Mogger351]

There's a lot of very angry people who seemingly over live in the moment over on Reddit. People expected wholesale balance overhauls, rules updates and internal balance shakeups, done well, to cover the final 12 week period.

 

I can't fathom why so many people have gotten so sulky and invested in demanding sweeping changes for the final 3 months of an edition when they will likely need partially throwing out after.

[DemonGSides]

18 minutes ago, Mogger351 said:

There's a lot of very angry people who seemingly over live in the moment over on Reddit. People expected wholesale balance overhauls, rules updates and internal balance shakeups, done well, to cover the final 12 week period.

 

I can't fathom why so many people have gotten so sulky and invested in demanding sweeping changes for the final 3 months of an edition when they will likely need partially throwing out after.

 

I didn't see that type of behavior in any more excess than there is in any GW announcement. There's always going to be whiners, just like there's people here who basically have an auto post set up to complain about whatever is the newest GW thing.  Hard to attribute that to anything other than there's always going to be those types of people. 

 

The big complaint is that Necrons are basically going to remain insanely strong for however long 10th remains the de facto game, and more annoyingly for any ongoing crusades or groups sticking to 10th for a bit while 11th gets its legs.  Personally, I agree. C'tan are still over powered and under costed and they, worse, skew the entire meta by being so powerful in a way that other skews don't (All the Ultramarine stuff was pretty nasty as well at first, but it's tempered by virtue of being on infantry bodies).

 

I'm not seeing the clambering for overhauls.  In fact what I saw was multiple people complaining that there were any changes at all.  I also wouldn't really care or worry about what anyone is saying in the default 40k subs. At least the competitive sub is grounded in actual numbers. Most of the standard 40k sub couldn't wrap their heads around statistical math if they took a course on it. 

Edited yesterday at 02:17 PM by DemonGSides

[Mogger351]

2 minutes ago, DemonGSides said:

 

I didn't see that type of behavior in any more excess than there is in any GW announcement. There's always going to be whiners, just like there's people here who basically have an auto post set up to complain about whatever is the newest GW thing.  Hard to attribute that to anything other than there's always going to be those types of people. 

 

The big complaint is that Necrons are basically going to remain insanely strong for however long 10th remains the de facto game, and more annoyingly for any ongoing crusades or groups sticking to 10th for a bit while 11th gets its legs.  Personally, I agree. C'tan are still over powered and under costed and they, worse, skew the entire meta by being so powerful in a way that other skews don't (All the Ultramarine stuff was pretty nasty as well at first, but it's tempered by virtue of being on infantry bodies).

 

I'm not seeing the clambering for overhauls.  In fact what I saw was multiple people complaining that there were any changes at all.  I also wouldn't really care or worry about what anyone is saying in the default 40k subs. At least the competitive sub is grounded in actual numbers. Most of the standard 40k sub couldn't wrap their heads around statistical math if they took a course on it. 

I've seen a lot of gripes from orks and nids players in particular. I'd argue if it's a crusade it'd be wise to simply amend within the group as needed.

 

The vast majority of players will simply butterfly to 11th in 3 months though.

[DemonGSides]

7 minutes ago, Mogger351 said:

I've seen a lot of gripes from orks and nids players in particular. I'd argue if it's a crusade it'd be wise to simply amend within the group as needed.

 

The vast majority of players will simply butterfly to 11th in 3 months though.

 

Right but someone complaining they didn't get buffs (and tyranids are for sure one of those that probably deserve it), that's not clamoring for sweeping overhauls. That's asking for a crumb of help. 

 

Sweeping overhauls would be asking for admech levels of changes that were necessary. I don't think there's any faction (besides the pseudo non faction of Imperial Agents) that's completely unplayable at any caliber of the game. And that's a positive. Orks got gutted so I can understand wanting some more of that power back too; they got some back with ghaz during the last datasheet, but I can understand wanting more as they do seem a bit anemic, but that's also not asking for sweeping overhauls.

 

I dunno, the game seems like it's in a mostly good place, but would be better if C'tan were toned down or made way more expensive (and personally, if they made the LRTC worthwhile). Otherwise the game seems pretty good.  I'll also add in my normal "remove Titanic units from the game" but otherwise, solid edition. 

Edited yesterday at 02:27 PM by DemonGSides

[HeadlessCross]

2 hours ago, Kaiju Soze said:

Even without Vendetta, giving Rubrics and Noise Marines the Assault rule on all guns is pretty strong, as is Fall Back/Advance+Charge on Berserkers.  It was pointed out when the detachment was released that Cult Marines are stronger in Renegades than other CSM detachments.

 

There's also the given thematic reason mentioned in the article: Cult marines make less sense in what is supposed to be the freshly gone rogue detachment.  The article may even be honest in this being the primary reason.

 

In any case, Cult marines are - for the moment - still available in Renegade Raiders and Huron's Marauders.

Hurons Mauraders is officially the better detachment now. 

[Mogger351]

41 minutes ago, DemonGSides said:

 

Right but someone complaining they didn't get buffs (and tyranids are for sure one of those that probably deserve it), that's not clamoring for sweeping overhauls. That's asking for a crumb of help. 

 

Sweeping overhauls would be asking for admech levels of changes that were necessary. I don't think there's any faction (besides the pseudo non faction of Imperial Agents) that's completely unplayable at any caliber of the game. And that's a positive. Orks got gutted so I can understand wanting some more of that power back too; they got some back with ghaz during the last datasheet, but I can understand wanting more as they do seem a bit anemic, but that's also not asking for sweeping overhauls.

 

I dunno, the game seems like it's in a mostly good place, but would be better if C'tan were toned down or made way more expensive (and personally, if they made the LRTC worthwhile). Otherwise the game seems pretty good.  I'll also add in my normal "remove Titanic units from the game" but otherwise, solid edition. 

I'd argue that anything that goes beyond a few minor point tweaks to a handful of units, or a small rules tweak is an overhaul. If you need to introduce more detachments, re-point 50%+ of the faction or change army rules - which is where nids, orks and IA are at - thats a big overhaul for the faction.

 

I'm glad you agree that largely people shouldn't expecting a load at this stage though.

[DemonGSides]

23 minutes ago, Mogger351 said:

I'd argue that anything that goes beyond a few minor point tweaks to a handful of units, or a small rules tweak is an overhaul. If you need to introduce more detachments, re-point 50%+ of the faction or change army rules - which is where nids, orks and IA are at - thats a big overhaul for the faction.

 

I'm glad you agree that largely people shouldn't expecting a load at this stage though.

 

I don't think either of those factions need those things. Point tweaks and maybe a datasheet change or two.  Orks were a tier 1 faction at one point post codex so it has nothing to do with losing access, it was rules changes and points. Tyranids might hew closer to overhaul but even then I think a few tweaks would do wonders to help them out.

 

I think you're just wrong about that. And most of the people you're agreeing with are the constant complainers, who I thought you were saying were wrong initially but I guess I misread you. 

 

Game isn't perfect, but it's pretty good. 

Edited 23 hours ago by DemonGSides

[Jscarlos18]

1 hour ago, Mogger351 said:

I've seen a lot of gripes from orks and nids players in particular. I'd argue if it's a crusade it'd be wise to simply amend within the group as needed.

 

The vast majority of players will simply butterfly to 11th in 3 months though.

I'm just perplexed that they didn't add the new Prime to the units that need the Tyranid Warriors keyword for the WBO detachment. Seems GW forgot to update that part of the pdf, or at least put that keyword on the new datasheet.

 

But I expect they will put that keyword in 11th for all the Tyranid Warrior models(Lash Whip, Winged, Ranged and Melee).

Edited 22 hours ago by Jscarlos18

[DemonGSides]

1 hour ago, Jscarlos18 said:

I'm just perplexed that they didn't add the new Prime to the units that need the Tyranid Warriors keyword for the WBO detachment. Seems GW forgot to update that part of the pdf, or at least put that keyword on the new datasheet.

 

But I expect they will put that keyword in 11th for all the Tyranid Warrior models(Lash Whip, Winged, Ranged and Melee).

 

As mentioned in the other thread, there's a balancing reason why they didn't and the model will end up with the keywords you want anyways so no real worries. 

Edited 21 hours ago by DemonGSides

[Orange Knight]

Just watched a YT vid about the balance patch (from Art of War). Gave a pretty decent rundown.

 

The "experts" think Necrons are still number one, and the C'Tan will continue to dominate.

 

The Field Manual has removed Marneus Calgar in Gravis Armour + his 2 bodyguard, but the unit remains in the app. Maybe it's a mistake, or maybe they plan to send him to Legends. Unknown at this point.

 

The new Tau twin commanders are the best Epic Hero unit in the game, bar none. 

 

That's about it

[Mogger351]

5 hours ago, DemonGSides said:

 

I don't think either of those factions need those things. Point tweaks and maybe a datasheet change or two.  Orks were a tier 1 faction at one point post codex so it has nothing to do with losing access, it was rules changes and points. Tyranids might hew closer to overhaul but even then I think a few tweaks would do wonders to help them out.

 

I think you're just wrong about that. And most of the people you're agreeing with are the constant complainers, who I thought you were saying were wrong initially but I guess I misread you. 

 

Game isn't perfect, but it's pretty good. 

No, I don't think GW should be spending anything or trying too hard right now as it'll all be imminently irrelevant and just cause (more) moaning to make wider changes.

 

I am disagreeing with the people who are complaining at the lack of content. Not based on whether the factions need it or otherwise, but because it seems utterly irrelevant for the short span of time vs the volume of chaos it would apply.

[Orange Knight]

We could potentially get the announcement for 11th this month, so I also don't expect any great shake up. The game as it currently exists will only do so for a few more months.

[Jscarlos18]

1 hour ago, Orange Knight said:

We could potentially get the announcement for 11th this month, so I also don't expect any great shake up. The game as it currently exists will only do so for a few more months.

When is next preview and which one announced 10th last time? I think rumours mention there's at least another campaign book after Eye of Terror?

[Larkhainan]

We're supposed to get the 11th preview end of the month at adepticon

 

allegedly

[Orange Knight]

16 minutes ago, Larkhainan said:

We're supposed to get the 11th preview end of the month at adepticon

 

allegedly

 

That does make perfect sense in fairness!

Edited 14 hours ago by Orange Knight