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IronBob wrote:
I would argue that what GW does is make a new Codex strong. People then go out and buy the FOTM models that are seen to be OP. Months later it gets nerfed, rinse and repeat each codex. They are a business and in it to make money and Codex creep is their way to do this. Balance is not one of their issues. If it was we would not have the broken system that we have now.

GW is in it for the short haul of making money for shareholders. If it wanted long term balance it would make a long term plan to write all codex's at the same time. Models can be designed from a rules perspective rather than what seems to be the other way round for each codex enabling them time to design the mini's. They would still have the sales because of the new models but you would have a balance system.

The thing is, balancing a game the size of 40k is incredibly hard because there are way too many levers and moving parts to it. It's absolutely impossible to not have units and armies that simply are better than other ones. And with armies having different strengths and weaknesses, you can't create a situation without bad matchups and the like. And those will perpetuate to create a situation where some armies simply are seen as being the best.

That said, GW also doesn't care that much for game balance for some pretty obvious reasons. Whether or not they do doesn't have much of an impact on sales. There are very few people who buy armies just because of their power. Sure, those people will be overrepresented at some tournaments, but even there most people play the armies they always play.

Primarily, they sell miniatures which is why rules will always follow minis and not the other way around. The rules are just there to provide a use for said figures. I have no clue what the numbers are but wouldn't be surprised if there actually were more people who don't play the games than people who do play the games in the customer base.

 ClockworkZion wrote:

Is that why Thousand Sons weren't dominating the tournament scene when they came out?

A fit of incompetence.

 ClockworkZion wrote:
Is that why Thousand Sons weren't dominating the tournament scene when they came out?

They were kept down by other too strong codexes coming out before they did. As were Sisters and Grey Knights (for a time).

It is the same for GSC now. Powerful codex into most opponents, but Custodes & Tau are on another level.

I find it helps to look at the codex release order to visualise the issue:

9.0 Codexes
Necrons October 2020
Space Marines October 2020
Death Guard January 2021
Strong when they came out, but in moderation. There were plenty of 8th edition books that could challenge them. You could also see significant flaws in the Necron and Death Guard codexes straight away. Space Marines, less flaws more just a bit overpriced everywhere (or sensibly priced if the below codexes didn't exist).

9.1 Codexes
Drukhari March 2021
Adeptus Mechanicus May 2021
Stupidly overpowered. Across the board nearly every datasheet looked undercosted.

9.2 Codexes
Adepta Sororitas June 2021
Grey Knights August 2021
Thousand Sons August 2021
Orks September 2021
Much stronger than 9.0 Codexes but no where near 9.1 Codexes. Except for a few datasheets in the Orks that were 9.1 levels of OP and a few datasheets in the Grey Knights that were slightly too strong. You could see flaws in the Sisters and Thousand Sons codexes that would hold them back from consistent top place finishes.

9.3 Codexes
Adeptus Custodes January 2022
Genestealer Cults January 2022
Tau Empire February 2022
Eldar (probably) March 2022
A new level of power over the 9.2 Codexes and easily a match for the un-nerfed 9.1 Codexes. GSC would be cleaning up if the other three weren't there to spoil their fun. You could make a case for it being a lone 9.25 Codex or putting pre nerf Orks in with them.

We might have to see if Eldar is a 9.4 Codex as well, if it is it will be because it an even higher level of power to the 9.3s.

I doubt eldar are going to be that problematic. It looks like a small number of 'must haves' and little staying power, with a few gimmicks that people will exploit well or fail utterly at exploiting.

Definitely better than the start of edition books, but nowhere near as problematic as recent ones. I'm not even sure they'll match Dark or AdMech levels of problematic.

With the caveat of the book as a whole. There may well be the wombo-combo point and click internet list that 'everyone' complains about, that works against a broad swathe of opposition, featuring (of course) a farseer (or Uldrad, as people are most positive on Ulthwe and BT), the relic bike, shining spears and a couple other things.

But Bob from the Gaming Store is probably going to be bitter that half his army is gone by turn 2 and key pieces are not fitting together right in the remnants.

I agree, I think Eldar have a very large toolbox of good units now, but are hampered by poor troop choices, glass cannon non-wraith infantry and being a very CP hungry army. I foresee them doing very well but not as well as Tau/Custodes.

To use Eightfoldpath's system, I'd put Eldar in the 9.2 category of power level.

With the levels of power some of the most recent codex have I would kind of like to see all the NERF'd codex running as printed to see how everyone stacks up. It would certainly be interesting to see where the dust settled.

 laam999 wrote:
With the levels of power some of the most recent codex have I would kind of like to see all the NERF'd codex running as printed to see how everyone stacks up. It would certainly be interesting to see where the dust settled.

Ad Mech and Drukhari would make a small comeback, as would sisters to a lesser extent. Orkz would still be hosed. Buggies just wont hold up in a meta with Voidweaver spam.

The fact that Death Guard were nerfed is hilarious.

Current Custodes vs. Release Drukhari DT Liquifier Spam

I mean, with the new balance dataslate hopefully toning down Harlies, Custodes, and Tau. It’d be nice if we could see some of the nerfs to the mid and bottom tier factions in CA2022 reversed.

For example:

Space Marines:
- Revert Primaris Chaplain on Bike increase and instead drop the other Chaplain options by 5 - 10 points to make them more viable.
- Keep the Relic Contempor Dreadnought Volkite increase, but drop the platform itself by 10 points to make the base weapons more viable.

Death Guard:
- Just revert all the nerfs and keep the buffs. They aren’t turning heads.

Imperial Guard:
- Get rid of the Manticore nerf. It’s not even that good for its cost.
- I’d also suggest dropping the Basilisk by 5 points, drop the regular Taurox by 10 points, and drop Wyvern by 10 points. If they want to make it a vehicle focused change.