For those who are plugged into the 40k Crusade world you may have noticed when Goonhammer took the initiative to release their own balance update for the system. I am a big fan of community and house rules so I thought it would be a good idea to go over some of the changes and render my verdict on what I felt they did well, and any suggestions I might have.
Major Changes:
A big part of this update revolves around closing many of the small loopholes that have been created as GW adds new faction rules. They fixed issues regarding vehicle squadrons (does the unit get the ability or just the model?) weapon upgrades and tried to re-balance some agendas. They also took aim at two specific factions the Ynnarri and the Blood Angels who at completely different ends of the “fun” spectrum. Beyond this, they also tried to tidy up the rules for most other crusade factions.
What they Got Right
- I like the change to the Ynnarri. The changes to the point values and operations of certain Soul Bonds was necessary as they were completely out of whack. I also appreciated the fact that they didn’t completely neuter the ability and also added in the option for Drukhari units to get Soul-Bonded relics. Many other army-specific abusable agendas were also tamed down (*cough* Know now Fear *Cough Cough*)
- The buffs and nerfs to the book agendas are great, though less pertinent now that every army has its own set of agendas.
- Their changes to the missions are also good, closing down the deployment loopholes on the relic mission and slowing down how far objectives move on the Supplies From Above Mission.
- A lot of the faction updates are good, for the Aeldari allowing units with a star glaive to get the legendary weapon is great! The changes to the Drukhari are mostly necessary especially looking at capping requisitions or Raid Spoils that don’t normally have caps.
- The changes to the Blood Angels rules don’t go far enough but finally provide a buff to the poor marines as well as their standard drawbacks.
What Could Be Improved
- I think the document focuses too heavily on the Drukhari and Ynnari where there are other factions (CSM, Tyranids and Guard) that all have mechanics that are equally bad if not worse. I know the Guard book just came out but it has some obvious flaws.
- I don’t know why they removes to Sororitas relic the Chaplet of the Reverent as the Sisters already have a better version of the relic. Maybe they didn’t want two characters getting a 4++ and 4/5+++? I felt like some of the other changes to Sisters and some other factions are too heavy-handed but I haven’t faced them in Crusade so maybe not.
Conclusion:
Overall I think the Goons got most of this dead on. I like their changes and plan on introducing this FAQ (with some tweaks). I am very happy they stepped up and took the initiative to create this document as it greatly improves the crusade experience. I doubt GW will ever release FAQs for the Crusade system, now or in 10th edition. This it is up to the community to take the initiative to fix it. What are your thoughts? Did you agree or disagree on any of their changes?
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