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Hey All,

Just getting back into 40k as a GW store looks like it's opening near me soon (what whaaat!) I used to be a pretty avid IG and 'nid player, what's changed in the last year and a half? Anything in particular to look for? Also what's the general meta these days? Last I played it was all tau all day, tell me things have changed?

Thanks!

Well, you were around for 7th edition so no rules have changed since then. There's been quite a few codex changes though.

Necrons, Tau, Space Marines and Eldar were updated to 7th edition codexes and they all got treated well. So the meta hasn't changed much. The only different is that everyone uses formations from these new books.

Necrons became super resilient. Reanimation Protocols now acts like Feel No Pain. When used in their special 'Decurion' detachment, their RP save is 4+ instead of 5+. (BTW, a 'Decurion' detachment is a special detachment that includes multiple formations within it. Every codex after the Necron codex gets such a detachment and many are simply referred to as 'Decurion') Necrons also became pretty good in a melee, so melee is no longer the answer to Necrons. You're not going to table them, so you mostly just out-maneuver them and play the objectives.

Eldar got buffs across the board, and their jetbikes can all take scatter lasers now (not just 1 for every 3... all of them). They also buffed the Wraithknight to a GMC and gave him D weapons, and they made Warp Spiders annoying as crap. Everyone expected Eldar to be nerfed but almost everything in the book was buffed. It still baffles me. Eldar also got a 'Decurion' style detachment but it's largely unused in the competitive environment because Objective Secured jetbikes and unrestricted FOC slots is more appealing. There are a couple good formations though that get used a lot. Mostly a formation that allows them to mix any 3 units of Aspect Warriors (usually Warp Spiders and Swooping Hawks) and give them all +1 BS or +1 WS.

Space Marines got a 'Decurion' detachment that allows them to take free transports, but the detachment is very restrictive in what they can take (Gladius Detachment). Despite this, it's a strong detachment because of Objective Secured. The Space Marine codex overall is a fairly balanced codex.

I can't speak much to the new Tau codex since I have little personal experience playing them. From what I can tell, they were also treated nicely with the new codex.

IG still suck mostly. Sorry.

Tyranids did receive some love though. They have some new units but I don't recall where you can find them. (Some were in White Dwarf and others in another book, check the Tyranids mega thread maybe) The main competitive approach for Tyranids now is to take a formation that allows 3 HQ slots... fill it up with Hive Tyrants, take this new troop thing called a Mucolid (it's like a giant spore mine) simply because it's cheap, take Mawlocs, then repeat that with a CAD. Non-competitive tyranids are quite fun though.

Also, Genestealer Cult was just recently released. It's not a full codex but it's enough to allow you to make a decent army or allied force. And they're the only true allies Tyranids can get.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

That's a great description of things that have happened I'll have to look at all these new Tyranid goodies to play with!

It seems like with eldar being buffed, taudar would be even MORE powerful? Does that still feel like the case? So excited to get back into the game. Also what's the deal with these admech guys? Is that an army that people play???

eclipseoto wrote:
That's a great description of things that have happened I'll have to look at all these new Tyranid goodies to play with!

It seems like with eldar being buffed, taudar would be even MORE powerful? Does that still feel like the case? So excited to get back into the game. Also what's the deal with these admech guys? Is that an army that people play???

Ah yes, admech is a new thing. There's been quite a few smaller codices for completely new armies. Admech is one (Adeptus Mechanicus). They're humans who worship the machine god by replacing as much of their bodies as they can with mechanical arms. Still Imperial though.

There's also Harlequins which includes some pretty cool units. Nothing game breaking though. Allies to Dark Eldar and Eldar.

Genestealer Cult I already mentioned.

Khorne Daemonkins is a significant one. They include 'D-Thirsters' which are Blood Thirsters with D melee weapons. I believe they're also GMC but I'm not sure on that. Khorne Daemonkins is one of the few armies that can be competitive with a mostly melee army in 7th atm.

Taudar is still a thing and is indeed more powerful than before but now there are several armies close to the same level of cheese, so it doesn't have as much of a dominating lead like when you last played. Also, many tournaments (like ITC) have house rules that specifically nerf units in Eldar and Tau. ITC rules are becoming more common in the tournaments in the US due to their attempt at making a more balanced game (I say 'attempt' because there's only so much you can do with the hogwash of codices out there). UK has a whole other set of tournament house-rules they like to follow but I can't think of the name of their main one.

Nah, the new Bloodthirster is still just an MC.

Taudar is strong, but as allies of convenience, it's not nearly as strong as it was in the days of 6th Edition. No more Prescience on Riptides and Forewarning on Crisis Squads

eclipseoto wrote:
Hey All,

Just getting back into 40k as a GW store looks like it's opening near me soon (what whaaat!) I used to be a pretty avid IG and 'nid player, what's changed in the last year and a half? Anything in particular to look for? Also what's the general meta these days? Last I played it was all tau all day, tell me things have changed?

Thanks!

Have something to kill Wraith KNights. Have something to ignore cover and to kill Jet bikes. have something fast to get to objectives and a way to defend it for a turn.

Try that. =)