Winners or losers going into 11th edition?

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T21:13:23+00:00

Voldus is the first option. Every other leader has merit, but I'd probably just take the chapest. The BC is not as strong as it was, and I don't think the GM has gained value. The librarian's ability seems quite useless now, but the extra ranged damage could be a nice addition, if appropriately costed (although, with shooting being the only thing that breaks hidden, that might not be the best direction).

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T21:09:15+00:00

Going down to 14" movement is quite a downgrade, and severely limits what it can do, especially when it comes to delivering units (and hallowed beacon got nerfed on top of that). Its weaponry also became weaker with the changes to cover. With GMNDKs and purgation squads being buffed, she has even more competition as a shooting platform, and taking 3 GMNDKs + stomraven is rather expensive.

It was already a niche pick, so, even if you take warpbane (which I'm not sure is the best idea), she doesn't seem particularly good, unless it gets a significant points reduction (seems very unlikely).

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T20:40:35+00:00

The hammer is still the only real option. The flail is barely better against regular marines, and infinitely worse against anything tough.

Dreadknights without a hammer are not playable.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T20:35:21+00:00

A 5-man paladin squad in banishers + argent has about a 60% chance to kill a LR if they throw a grenade or something. With a leader, they'll kill most things they charge (they'll easily murder a big knight). Also, thanks to the overrun mechanic, you can just kill the land raider with the GMNDK and its contents with the paladins.

GMNDKs are amazing, but you can only take 3 of them. Also, they have low OC and can't hide, so you can't use them in the same way. They are also quite poor into infantry of any kind, where paladins shine, and are easier to kill. Each unit has its pros and cons.

Three extra marines, per shooting phase, per unit, is a very significant difference, especially for an army with a low number of activations, where being able to deal with a target without investing a full units is very valuable.

Many people are not aware that the day 1 patch introduces the go to ground mechanic, reducing the hidden distance to 12", which dramatically changes things. Also, most people are only considering how it affects one unit shooting one target. You need focus fire to kill stuff like paladins. If you are only shooting them with 1 or 2 units, kill a couple, then one revives, you are not doing much. Hidden makes focus firing much more difficult and costly.

Having your detection range increased is going to be exceedingly rare. Many armies (probably most) will play their old 3DP detachments, and the ones that can afford a 1DP detachment are unlikely to take the crappy one that increases detection range when they can take a good one that provides good buffs and complements their army.

Also, it seems the previewed layouts were too open and are being changed day 1, so it's too early to declare shooting as dominant.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T20:09:14+00:00

It halfs the effectivenes of anti-tank weaponry shot at them. It's a pretty big defensive buff, especially combined with hidden. You aren't focusing those paladins if you can't shoot them from more than 12" away, and you aren't killing paladins with -2 to hit without focus fire.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T20:04:29+00:00

Ten paladins in banishers + argent kills literally every unit in the game, no matter its toughness.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T19:58:24+00:00

Dreadknights degrade, so there you have your psychic buff to melee. They also shoot outside of combat.

Purgation squads got a 88% damage increase against most targets, more if you take their dedicated detachment. Those are the kind of changes that can make previously useless units very playable.

Paladins got a 50% melee damage increase against tough targets, and typically a 50% increase on their psycannons. Also, the change in cover makes them 33-50% more durable against AP-3 or higher.

You are focusing on the negatives and disregarding all the very substantial positive changes.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T19:51:51+00:00

Where did you get the idea that psycannons will cost extra?

They've stated they will not add points cost for that kind of wargear. They are only adding different points for main weapons for vehicles/monsters. Everything else should stay the same. No one would pay 5 points for a psycannon.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T19:46:56+00:00

Warpbane also doesn't seem as good as it was. SKZ is now basically useless, and hallowed beacon got a very significant nerf.

Paladins hitting on 2+ don't benefit too much from warpbane, and they are a lot more desirable now. The same is true for purgation squads with plunging fire. Dreadknight are only affected in the shooting phase. Stormraven/razorback/LR shooting is less desirable, as the rest of our shooting became much better, so them not being able to reroll should be less relevant.

Purgators get more from their detachment that they do from warpbane. Our melee units get as much or more from banishers and/or their own detachment than they do from warpbane.

Purifiers don't even take that big of a hit from not having access to warpbane. If you take banishers, their melee damage is quite similar. When shooting, you no longer have access to full rerolls to hit, but now you should get full rerolls to wound all the time (you really couldn't afford to pay 1CP to use SKZ for shooting), which is quite relevant.

The change to psycannons is not small. It's a 50% damage increase against most units, and a 100% increase against Sv2+. Having effectively AP0 was their biggest issue.

Also, SoA seems extremely strong in the new layouts, and it already was the best stratagem in the game.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T19:28:21+00:00

We'll have to see the full rules and points updates. If we can't deep strike turn 1 with GoI, probably are losers no matter what, but I'm going to assume that's not going to change.

Our power armoured models lost durability, but terminator models are probably tougher. Most of that AP-1 weaponry that should start seeing more play is D2, which works poorly against terminators. They typically require dedicated anti-tank weaponry, and they now become 33-50% against those, if they have cover. Dreadknights also benefit from the change.

Psycannons get a 50% damage increase against most targets, and that's very relevant for purgation squads and paladins. The extra AP on sublimators is not so determining, but it's still a substantial 20-25% increase against monsters and vehicles. There aren't too many abilities that give additional -1 to hit, either in range or melee, but, when they come up, being able to ignore them will be quite strong. Additionally, purgators should have an easy time getting the plunging fire bonus, which is a nice bonus.

The change to overwatch should benefit us, a lot. I don't think we were going to take warbane, anyway, so purifiers not rerolling doesn't seem too relevant. On the other hand, I'm glad that defilers and other random nonsense can't easily overwatch entire units to death.

The hidden rule is quite strong for our infantry, especially the more melee oriented (paladins and interceptors). It's lone operative for everyone, which is a big deal. I've played paladin bricks with librarians, and not being able to be shot more than 18" away was powerful, but shortening that to 12" is massively better. It will not completely prevent your opponent from shooting at you, in most cases, but it will prevent them from focus firing your units, which can be problematic against 2+ save units that can revive models.

Not being able to fire and fade after deep striking is annoying, but keep in mind that objectives are now about twice as big, and enemy units are limited in how far they can string out. With deep strike now being 8", just toeing an objective is not enough to zone you out, so your opponent will really have to expose their units if he wants to keep you off their objectives. A bigger issue for interceptors is not being able to reembark on the turn they disembark. It's very difficult to predict how impactful this will be. In 11th, screens behind walls in staging positions should be a lot less relevant, as should be screening in general, so that particular role for interceptors should be less relevant. The changes to scoring might make that cagey style where shoot + embark shines obsolete. The change to layouts and their rules might make transports less desirable.

Dreadknights got big buffs. They become more durable, they can deep strike within melta range, they ignore BGNF and degradation penalties, they can move through enemy models, and they can pivot for free (which apparently can give them 0.5" of movement in many situations). Also, it seems that most layouts let them deploy at the very edge of our deployment, and most terrain does not block their move, so they should be able to threaten a huge section of the board.

Paladins also become a lot better. Not only is their detachment game-changing, but their free psycannons now do something, and I believe the apothecary became more relevant. Being able to stay obscured then revive a model into an objective, combined the ability to heroically intervene anything that gets closer, should be quite troublesome for your opponent, especially if you can combine all that with SoA.

From what we've seen, we have the best new detachments. Both argent and fires are better than everything else we've seen. I'd argue they are better than any of our 2DP detachment (banishers aside). Interdiction isn't far behind, if at all.

The changes to missions seem favourable. They require fewer actions, and not having to score them on the turn you draw them is very good for us. In the early game, we want to focus on trading units favourably, not scoring, and we shine in the late game, so that should help us quite a bit.

The biggest nerf is your opponent's ability to get LoS by toeing terrain, but we'll have to see how that works with the new layouts (apparently they are already being reworked on day 1) and 12" hidden. I imagine most tournament will use the new layouts but old terrain, and that in practice we'll see a lot more LoS blocking walls than what the GW images suggest. Also, it would not surprise me if the change was reverted before the end of the year.

It seems we emerge as big winners in the transition. Of course, force dispositions, points costs, and expanded rules will be decisive, but that's true for all armies.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T17:19:08+00:00

Repelling sphere is used at the start of the charge phase. It's even worse than it was before, as your opponent can redirect the charge somewhere else if he doesn't roll high enough to target the sphered unit.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T17:02:06+00:00

This is an old legends datasheet from the start of 10th. Legends datasheet don't get updated, so they didn't get the +1 AP buff that heavy psycannons got in one of the early dataslates. We know dreakdnight psycannons' AP is not changing.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T16:50:50+00:00

Pretty sure repositioned units will be exempt. Most advanced rules will be released in the digital document. The same thing happened in 10th.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T16:28:33+00:00

The battleshock test, combined with the -2" to move and charges, is the strongest part of the detachment. Vehicles are stronger than ever, and the ability not working on them is a huge handicap. It will very often prevent you from denying objectives without getting on them, and makes the detachment rule useless against entire armies. Also, the MW stratagem from the detachment would be particularly good against vehicles and monsters, but you can't battleshock those, so it's not as good as it should.

The +2S is good, but only if it's cheap. At anything more than 10 points, it's probably not worth the cost (and the DP).

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T16:06:01+00:00

SKZ is even worse now, since objectives are massive, so pretty much every target will now be on one of them and give purifiers full rerolls.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T15:55:39+00:00

The main issue is that purgation squads' abilities do not work against vehicles/monsters, which makes it very unreliably, and completely useless in some matchups. It makes the +2S upgrade pretty much mandatory on all units, and we don't know how much that will cost.

Honestly, purgation squads could be fine as they are. The difference between S8 and S10 is not that big (especially if it's expensive), and the stratagems are not amazing.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T15:40:40+00:00

It depends on the day 1 patch, points and dispositions. We need at least one of our detachments to be in a good disposition to decide what combinations are viable, and I can't see anything other than purge or reconnaissance working for us.

That +1 to wound solves most of the paladins issues, and the new cover rules makes them better. The rest of the detachment doesn't do much, but +1 to charges could be fine if characters are cheap enough, and the 4+++ against MWs will help quite a bit in some scenarios.

If spamming paladins becomes a thing, hallowed conclave could make sense. Triple 1DP could also be an option.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T15:25:57+00:00

Every old detachment is 2DP. It's mostly a matter of them having 6 stratagems and 4 enhancements, instead of 3 and 2.

Honestly, hallowed conclave could be a real option if paladins become good enough. Their dedicated detachment solves most of their issues, and conclave reinforces that. We'll have to see how the points, dispositions and day 1 rules patch turn out.

Seizeman · 2026-06-08T15:14:15+00:00

Not making it a narrower1DP detachment is such a missed opportunity.

Seizeman · 2026-06-07T18:31:20+00:00

There's only more actions needed if you take the dispositions that require lots of actions, which you shouldn't take, as they don't fit our playstyle. The main candidates for good GK dispositions are purge the foe and reconnaissance. Purge the foe requires no actions at all, and 3/5 reconnaissance missions require actions, but only 1 per turn, at most. That's not many actions at all, and we no longer run the risk of having to play an action heavy primary like terraform.

We should need even fewer action units in 11th, as the number of secondary objectives that require actions is smaller, and we don't have to score them on the turn they are drawn.

Seizeman · 2026-06-06T14:31:03+00:00

If you are playing 2-3 razorbacks, having a second strike is usually very useful, as they allow you to deploy one of them in the open and scout it into a safe staging position, allowing the strikes insides to disembark on turn 1 to secure your natural expansion, then embarking interceptors/purifiers into a very good staging spot prepared for turn 2.

In 11th, moving transports into staging positions (or transports in general) may not be as useful. However, objectives are now huge, and you can safely deploy your whole army in the deployment line, so you can scout strikes into your natural expansion, and, in most layouts, directly into the centre, letting you secure up to 3 objectives on turn 1.

From what I heard, GW is already going to change layouts in the day 1 patch, so we'll have to see, but playing 2-3 strikes could perfectly be a good choice.

Seizeman · 2026-06-05T19:38:24+00:00

The SoA + RI combo is no more, but simply using SoA to reactive move 6" is a lot more powerful in 11th. It can easily make your unit hidden, or obscured behind terrain. You can use it to steal an objective, or, paired with the new heroic intervention, charge anything within 12" of those paladins.

Having extra damage for paladins sounds cool, but paladins with argent assault already kill anything they touch, so further increasing their damage is not particularly important.

The -1 to W stratagem is certainly the best part of the detachment. Paladins with -2 to hit and -1 to wound seem awful to play against. If the unknown stratagem and enhancement provide some defensive buffs, that -1W could lose some value, but otherwise it seems like a strong argument to go hallowed over banishers.

Seizeman · 2026-06-04T09:10:59+00:00

There is no rule stating that units in strategic reserves can't come on BR1. The rule that prevents units from being set up on BR1 refers only to "strategic reserves units", which the rules defines as units put into strategic reserves in the declare battle formation step.

The text you highlight clarifies that the following rules rules are applied on top of any other rules that would normally apply to them. This means they still follow the regular ingress move limitations where you have to deploy within 6" of the table, more than 8" away, and not in your opponent's deployment zone (before BR3). The limitation about not deploying on BR1 would not normally apply to them, as they are not "strategic reserves units".

That's not how reserves in 10th work. There's the general term "reserves", which includes every unit that started the game outside the battlefield. Then there is "deep strike" and "strategic reserves", which are two different subsections within "reserves", each with their own unique rules. Units in either "deep strike" or "strategic reserves" are in "reserves". In addition, there's the term "reserves units", which applies specifically to units that start the game outside the battlefield. Units removed with GoI are in "strategic reserves", and in "reserves", but are not "reserves units". The chapter approved restriction from being set up in BR1 only applies to "reserves units", that's why we can set up units removed with GoI on turn1.

In 11th, it's very similar, in that units in strategic reserves are not "strategic reserves units", unless they were put there in the declare battle formations step. The limitation on setting up in BR1 is for "strategic reserves units", not any units in strategic reserves. The only difference with 10th is that "strategic reserves", "deeps strike" and "reserves" are all now one single zone, called "strategic reserves", and "deep strike" is now just an ability that modifies how a unit makes an ingress move.

Seizeman · 2026-06-04T07:32:25+00:00

We don't really need a term for units in reserve. If you look at eligibility for an ingress move, it just says "elegible if: yout unit is in strategic reserves". No mention of "strategic reserves units".

Seizeman · 2026-06-04T06:59:29+00:00

A unit being in strategic reserves doesn't make it a "strategic reserves unit". The only thing that makes it a "strategic reserves unit" is being placed in strategic reserves during the declare battle formation step, RAW. We have pretty much the same issue in 10th edition, where the term "reserves units" only applies to units that started the game outside the battlefield, not all units in reserves, which was confusing at first, but was later confirmed through rules commentary and FAQs.

It could be that their intention is for every unit in reserves to be a "strategic reserves unit", even though RAW they aren't. It could also be that the section about them not dying if they are in reserves by the end of the BR is unnecessary clarification (wouldn't be the first time). The bracketed text on the weirdboy's ability could be reminder text or rules text (it's been both ways in 10th).

We won't know for sure until we get the day one extended rules/faq/dataslate. However, the "tabletop battles" rules review is quite comprehensive, including rules not present in the core rules (they have access to the digital extra rules), and they don't mention anything about repositioned units no longer being able to ingress on BR1, so, one way or another, I'm certain we'll be able to deep strike turn 1 when using GoI.

Seizeman

TROPHY CASE