Balance data slate

 So, the new balance data slate is here and there have been a few changes to guard, some big and some small. 

The main balance data slate saw just 3 changes this time around, but two of them were linked to the Bridgehead detachment and are part of an effort to nerf the detachment. Firstly, the detachment rule changed from plus one to the wound roll to plus one to the hit role. A minor change in the wording but a big change in the result. Adding one to the hit roll make the detachment significantly weaker overall. The reasoning does make sense though, as the data slate ability in the new codex is based around wound rolls. The second change is to the firing hot stratagem, which received a double nerf, with a CP hike to 2CP but also a range restriction to 12 inches. Doubling the cost to 2CP is a huge nerf, there are very few 2CP stratagems and they are rarely used. I could have agreed with the price hike alone, but adding in the range restrictions just kills it completely. Really, it should have been an either/or not both, as the stratagem is not expensive and restrictive. 

The only other change was to the DKoK Engineers remote mine ability. This also received multiple changes, the first of which was to alter a range restriction and adding a line of sight requirement. Both of these are reasonable and bring the ability in line with other similar abilities. The other change was to the damage output, dropping it to D3 or 3D3 for vehicles. This brings it inline with abilities like the Kasrkin melta mine, so is reasonable. However, I have a couple of issues with the changes. Mainly its still goes off on a 3+, unlike pretty much every other similar ability, which is a 2+. If it was more powerful but harder to get off, such as going off on a 3 or even a 4 plus, it would be fine, or drop it to a 2+ and make it weaker, yet again they have made it weaker and still harder to get off. I also don't see why you couldn't just drive it round a corner before exploding it, but then again, why cant you lob a mine over a wall, so I guess that's fair.

Over all these changes seem a little bit harsh, I understand why they did them, but still, I feel that they are a little harsh. Time will tell how much of an impact they will have. Unfortunately for the Bridgehead strike force they weren't the only adjustments.

There were also a number of points changes, with Scions and Scion command squads both going up in points, 5 points a piece I believe. I say I believe, as GW in all their wisdom have removed all the colour coding to the point updates, so its had to see what's gone up now. The Cadian and Catachan heavy weapons teams also went up in price, 15 points this tie though, to bring them inline with the DKoK ones. Finally, the Field Ordnance Battery went up in price, although I don't know by how much at the moment but I think it was only a few points. In addition to the unit points rises, the bridgehead -detachment received the addition price hike to the Bombast-class Vox-array, which went up by 15 points (I think!!)

Again, most of these price hikes are due to the Bridgehead strike force detachment, so in addition to the rules changes, the units used in the detachment got more expensive. So realistically, this detachment will drop from being the best guard detachment and arguably the best 40k detachment to one of the lowest performing detachments. I may be wrong about how bad it will get but I think it will drop quite a way down the list and will not be the best guard detachment going forward. 

So overall, not a great day for the guard, especially if you run bridgehead, as pretty much all the changes were aimed at pulling the detachment down a peg or two, or a dozen as GW seem to have done. 

There were some other changes to the codex, but theses were mostly just adding keywords that had been missed or weapons profiles that should have been in the units options. There is nothing there that is worth talking about. 

My personal opinion is that this wasn't great for guard, not terrible but not great. We got almost all nerfs and some of the things that needed looking at were ignored as the whole focus fell on the Bridgehead detachment. I would like to have seen some changes to other units, but it was not to be and to be honest, they probably work fine as they are. I don't have access to all the data like GW has and even if I did I don't have the time to plough through it all. None of these changes will affect how I will play or even what I will play, when I actually get a game that is! There were no changes to the Blood Angels, which are the army I'm wanting to play at the moment, so that's good.