The latest warhammer august update is not a quiet rules tweak.
Instead, it reshapes points, keywords, and faction details across the game. However, this is not really a core rules overhaul. For players, the main job is checking every list again. Because of that, tournament prep just got more interesting. This post was made by referencing the excellent change logs for Factions and Core Rules found from gdmissions.
Faction Points and Keywords Get a Broad Cleanup
This update hits a massive spread of armies, so almost every regular player should take a look. Adepta Sororitas receive several notable wording changes, including Celestian keyword support and updates to Saint Celestine’s Healing Tears. Also, Acts of Faith now shifts Miracle dice generation from each battle round to each turn. That could matter a lot during tight scoring turns, especially when Sisters need clutch dice at exactly the right moment. Meanwhile, Adeptus Astartes see targeted increases on strong pieces like Centurion Devastators, Land Raider Redeemers, Terminator Librarians, and Vulkan He’stan. That feels like a nudge against some of the more efficient Marine staples.
Adeptus Custodes also get pressure applied to repeated elite choices. Allarus Custodians and Vertus Praetors gain extra selection costs when spammed, which makes list construction less automatic. However, Adeptus Mechanicus players get more cheerful news. Kastelan Robots, Pteraxii, and the Tech-Priest Dominus drop in points, while the Datasmith keyword situation gets cleaned up. That should make some classic robot-heavy builds feel less punishing to fit into a list.
Astra Militarum changes are especially spicy. Cadians, Catachans, and Death Korps infantry get cheaper, which helps Guard play the board. Also, several Leman Russ variants drop significantly. However, some Russ wargear now costs extra, so tank commanders still need to do the math. Asuryani players also get several discounts, including Dark Reapers, Dire Avengers, Storm Guardians, War Walkers, and Warlocks. Meanwhile, Warlock units moving into Support changes how attachments and list slots feel.
Winners, Losers, and Army Identity Shifts
Black Templars, Blood Angels, and other melee Marine builds get some welcome breathing room. Sword Brethren, jump Death Company, Sanguinary Guard, and The Sanguinor all become cheaper. Therefore, aggressive power-armour armies may feel a little easier to build without sacrificing support pieces. Chaos Knights receive a mixed pass, with several big knights and War Dogs going down. However, repeated picks get pricier, which discourages copy-paste skew lists.
Death Guard look like one of the clearer winners. Blightlord Terminators, Mortarion, Myphitic Blight-haulers, Plagueburst Crawlers, and support characters all become cheaper. However, Nurgle’s Gift changes in a more complicated way. It now gives enemies cover against ranged attacks, while still keeping melee penalties. That makes Death Guard tougher to evaluate at first glance, since they gain points efficiency but lose some shooting pressure.
Necrons take heavier hits, especially around Lokhust units, Warriors, and key characters. Meanwhile, Cosmic Precision now keys off ingress moves, which reins in some movement tricks. Orks mostly receive wording updates, but Careen!, Mekanised Brutality, and Green Tide all get important clarifications. T’au take increases on Starscythes, the Tiger Shark, Twin Lance, and Strike Swiftly. Finally, Tyranids receive useful monster discounts and clearer Harpooned wording, which should help big-bug fans.
Core Rules Updates
The core rules update is mostly a clarification pass, but it touches several rules that actually matter at the table. The biggest additions are Assault Disembark Move and Shock Disembark Move, which give transport-based armies cleaner language for getting units out and setting them up within 3 inches. However, the Shock version is the nastier one, because engaged models must stay engaged, and enemy units that have not fought yet may become eligible to fight.
That matters a lot for melee armies and transport delivery tricks. Meanwhile, Splitting Units now requires the two new units to be as even as possible, even when Leaders or Support models make exact starting strengths messy. Psychic abilities also get a firm limit, as a Psyker unit cannot use the same Psychic Level ability more than once per phase.
The Deadly Demise wording is cleaned up so it keys off models with the ability, not models “in this unit.” Several FAQs also sharpen real game situations. Embarked unit abilities can still function, but only when their requirements work from off the battlefield. Fight on Death models remain present for rules purposes, which affects measuring, visibility, stratagems, and engagement. Also, charge target selection now uses modified charge distance, while Flying units must declare taking to the skies before rolling.
Finally, Snap Shooting only hits on 6s, destroyed models stop contributing keywords, line of sight uses any part of both models, and Insane Bravery cannot target Battle-shocked units. Overall, this is cleanup, but useful cleanup.
Summary and Final Thoughts
Overall, this warhammer august update feels like a broad balance sweep. However, it does not feel like a full rules reset. The core game remains mostly stable, while faction balance shifts underneath it. Guard, Death Guard, AdMech, Asuryani, Tyranids, and melee Marines gain interesting new room. Meanwhile, Necrons, T’au, Custodes spam, and repeated elite picks feel more constrained. For players, the takeaway is simple: open your list, check every cost, and expect the meta to move.
