So it’s that time of the year! A new FAQ has landed for Warhammer 40,000, and it has some interesting changes afoot.

What I’m going to present here is not the full down of all the major changes or codex errantas, as that’s a lot to cover.

If you’d like to check out the full changes, head over to this link right here. You can find the individual Codex FAQs and Errantas via the same website.

Anyway, so lets press on with the main changes…

Side note: I am not what one would call a rules specialist, competitive gamer or rules fanatic. I may very well get some of the following points wrong, of which I apologise for. If you spot a mistake either comment at the bottom of the article or let me know via @SpruesandBrews on Twitter or Facebook.com/SpruesandBrews. These views are also my own, Matt may think differently!

Emergency Disembarking

This one never really occurred to me, however now mentioned as one of the first points in the FAQ, I kind of get it.

The general conscious was that some gamers would throw their transports forward, in the hope they’d get blown up, allowing the contents to be close to the enemy to declare a charge. Sneaky! That is one way of getting around the normal rules of disembarking prior to moving your transport.

To combat this, should your unit have to disembark a destroyed vehicle they would be unable to declare a charge. Lore wise this reflects the poor troops inside moving away all the debris.

Dave’s Reaction: Good Change!

Flying in the Charge Phase

…otherwise known as slowing my Hive Tyrant down.

So this rule turned a few heads when it became a thing. Whilst during the movement phase you could happily use any model with the Fly keyword to roam about at will, it was introduced last year that the same was not so during the Charge phase.

Want to charge over that wall? You’ve got to ensure you measure the height and take that into consideration for the length of the charge. Trees? That’s gonna cost you some inches. You get the general idea.

This rule still stands, however what has changed is the ability to move over models. You can now charge over units, but not ‘Buildings‘, thus getting around the fact that a building such as a Bastian is a ‘model’.

Whilst I appreciate this change, I personally think a unit that can fly, such as the ever favourite winged Hive Tyrant, should be able to fly over a small piece of terrain to get into combat. Flying over a building to get into combat, yeah, that’s a bit busted so happy that is still not allowed.

Dave’s Reaction: Better, if still a little hmmm

Aircraft Changes

Due to the Warhammer 40k rules of not being able to move within an inch of a model, GW have spotted a number of people are utlising flyers to block the movement of the enemy. This in a lore sense makes well, little sense, as the flyer will be up in the skies and not hugging the ground stopping your Guardians from moving between two buildings, for example.

The keyword Aircraft is now a thing, and has been added to all flyers that have a minimum movement characteristic, such as the Corvus Blackstar. This means other units with the Fly keyword, such as say a Custodian Jetbike don’t gain the Aircraft keyword.

If a model has the Aircraft keyword you can happily move within an inch of it, whilst also being able to move over the base as if it wasn’t there. Makes perfect sense to me.

Dave’s Reaction: Great Change!

Re-Setting Up Models

Nowadays theirs a fair amount of psychic powers or Stratagems that allow you to ‘re-deploy’ or move a unit from one side of the battle to the other.

Games Workshop have clarified a few things in regards to this based on feedback, including any buffs that were affecting the unit, such as Weaver of Fates for example, would stay on the model should the unit be moved somewhere else. They also clarified that any abilities that trigger when coupled with acting as reinforcements also come into effect.

The wording on re-deploying, or re-setting up as reinforcements were used to stop people from thinking they could then move the models. If a unit is re-deployed using a relic, strat, power, etc, then it subsequently can not move as it has already ‘moved’.

Dave’s Reaction: A good deal!

Onto finalized match play rules. These are beta rules which are now locked in. Most have undergo some changes, so lets have a peak.

Bolter Discipline

A very positive change for your run of the mill Marine bolters, this beta rule allowed you to fire at rapid fire if you hadn’t moved, whereas before it was only if you were within half range with your bolter weapon. Suddenly Intercessors that haven’t moved were firing twice at full range. Talk about Dakka!

What this rule also allowed was for Hurricane Bolters to fire twice on vehicles, even if they moved. Amazing for stuff like Storm Ravens, Land Raiders and co.

Well…if you hadn’t taken advantage of this, then you have lost your chance. The rule has come into full effect, however now it does not affect vehicle mounted bolters. Dreadnoughts and Hellbrutes however can still partake in some serious shooting, as well as Centurions and Terminators.

Another change only affects Deathwatch players. Due to those to play Deathwatch having special issue ammunition, should you use one of these you cannot also use the Bolter Discipline rule. As a Deathwatch player at heart, this makes me a little sad, however it did seem pretty over powered. Should you choose not to fire special issue ammunition you can instead take advantage of the Bolter Discipline, so in certain situations this could still be useful.

Oh, and Adeptus Custodians and co, consider yourselves fully shot down. Your not getting the Bolter Discipline. Full stop. Not happening.

Dave’s Reaction: Sorry Deathwatch fans! It was fun for you folks whilst it lasted! Still a great rule addition.

Prepared Positions

I’ve not used this yet, however have had situations where I have been super tempted. This new universal stratagem was introduced last year and allows those commanding an army going second in the first battle round to ‘dig in’, giving you a nice cover save (should you not already be in cover).

This rule is now also locked in, albeit with a slight change. If you have a Fortifications or Aircraft keyword you don’t get the cover save for obvious, your either a building or your flying, reasons.

Dave’s Reaction: Thumbs up right here!

Tactical Restraint

Another new beta rule fully added to the roster of rules.

Slight change, this also 100% affects those psychic powers which regen command points, and you cannot in anyway refund any CPs spent before the game begins, such as spending CPs during army building to add extra relics.

Dave’s Reaction: A wondrous nod of approval

Interim Balance Reviews

Instead of me going all in on this section, I’m going to quickly go over some of the key points.

Imperial Knights have once again been hit hard by some changes. The ever popular Rotate Ion Shields strat has undergone a slight rules edit. It now cannot be used to increase your invulnerable save to beyond 4+. No more 3+ inv saves on Knights!

Mental Onslaught, a (annoying after facing Matt’s army) psychic power hailing from the latest Genestealer Cults Codex has undergone a slight change of ruling. Now, regardless of modifiers, models with low leadership could prevent themselves from being instantly destroyed by rolling a 6.

Operative Requisition Sanctioned, a neat new stratagem introduced in White Dwarf when the rules for Imperial Assassins were updated has now gone up a command point to the revised cost of two. Still a powerful strat that allows you at the start of a game to bring an assassin into your Imperium army without worrying about detachments and the like.

Popular Craftworld Eldar psychic powers Jinx, Doom and Reveal can now only be used on Asuryani units, so no buffing your Dark Eldar allies!

And finally to wrap up these balances the points costs on some of the weapon options on the Knight Castellans have changed. See below.

What do you think of all the above changes? Have you noticed anything in the army errantas that has raised your eyebrow, or caused you to face palm? Let us know via the comments or on social media!

We shall also be discussing these changes on the next podcast. Missed the last show? Check it out here!

Published by David Jennings

Born and raised in Crewe in Cheshire, Dave is a geek through and through. Enjoys designing and managing websites. View all posts by David Jennings