If you’ve been playing Warhammer 40,000 recently, you’ve probably noticed some armies dominating the tabletop more than expected.
Thousands of events around the world generate mountains of data for the Studio, and this allows them to see which factions are overperforming. They use these insights to tweak points and rules to keep the game fun for everyone, whether at a Grand Tournament or a casual kitchen table. Recently, Imperial Knights, Chaos Knights, and Death Guard have been running rampant, and the Studio has stepped in to rebalance things before the next dataslate. These changes aim to keep matches challenging and fair, while ensuring that no single army overwhelms the table.
Knight Updates: Bigger is Not Always Better
The main issue with Knights came down to points costs. Essentially, the bigger Knights were too cheap, which encouraged players to field massive numbers of these tanky monsters at the same time. If you weren’t explicitly building an army to counter them, your game could feel punishing. To fix this, the Studio has increased the points on the larger Imperial and Chaos Knights by 15 to 30 points. The Cerastus and Questoris variants got heftier increases between 30 and 40 points, and Canis Rex jumped by 35 points. Even the Warp-borne Stalker upgrade received a 15-point bump.
What this means in practice is fewer Knights will appear on the table for the same points, which forces players to think carefully about their army composition. As someone who’s faced multiple Questoris Knights at a tournament, I can tell you this tweak will make battles more strategic rather than just surviving a tidal wave of armor.
Death Guard Adjustments: Tough, but Not Untouchable
Death Guard also got a careful overhaul, mainly because their combination of toughness and damage output allowed massive armies to dominate games. The Studio opted for smaller, incremental increases across many units rather than huge spikes on a single model. Key changes include points bumps for Biologus Putrifier, Deathshroud Terminators, Foetid Bloat-drone, Foul Blightspawn, Lord of Virulence, Myphitic Blight-haulers, Plagueburst Crawler, Poxwalkers, Tallyman, and Typhus, ranging from five to 20 points.
These incremental changes are clever because they subtly reduce the number of units Death Guard players can field in standard-sized games, usually one or two fewer units per list. The result is a more balanced game where Death Guard remain dangerous but no longer overwhelming, and the typical player doesn’t feel their army is gutted.
Wrapping Up
The recent tweaks to Knights and Death Guard show the Studio’s commitment to keeping Warhammer balanced and enjoyable. By raising points costs strategically, the number of massive threats on the tabletop is reduced, and games feel fairer and more competitive. Players who love building lists with big, stompy Knights or plague-ridden Death Guard can still do so, but they’ll need to think a bit harder about their army composition. These changes should improve matched play immediately, while the next dataslate continues the process of refining all factions. If you’ve been frustrated by overpowered Knights or unstoppable Death Guard, your battlefield is about to feel much more manageable.
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