Posted November 24, 2023 by HH: Age of Darkness
Liber Panoptica changelog version 5.0
In an effort to be more transparent with what we do accept, reject and why we’ve decided to put together a changelog for this version of Panoptica. This outlines all the changes we’ve made, and all the major request we’ve denied, and explains our reasoning behind it. We hope this document proves helpful to you, and would like to hear your opinions on it.
As always no change is ever final, so please continue to give us feedback on the changes we’ve made.
We’re always thankful for all the feedback we receive, though. Thank you for helping make Panoptica as good as it can be!
Note ~ All the changes here should reflect the changes made in the noted version of Liber Panoptica, if for any reason the changes noted here are different to those in the main book then use the ones found in the main release.
Rejected Changes:
Developer Note ~ In this section we will go over the major recurring pieces of feedback that we’ve received, which we have decided not to implement. Many of these bullet points will aggregate wider points so if you see your feedback has not been addressed directly it may either have been folded into another similar acceptance/refusal or may have not made the cut off time to end up in the current version of the book. There’s some feedback that we may also not address as we’re waiting to see if we get any more which lines up, this is usually the case for units that get a single piece of feedback about buffing; we’ll wait and see if anyone else submits suggestions before we act.
We’ve had a number of requests about giving Secutarii the ability to gain Line, the team has decided to reject this change due to it opening up incredibly cheap Line choices to armies which otherwise may not have access to them. This is mainly due to how Titan Maniples are an Optional Detachment so the opportunity cost of spending your single Allied Detachment on a cheaper army to make up for lack of Line in your primary is missing from them.
We considered allowing them to gain Line in armies with Mechanicum Primary, however we’ve already got Skitarii available in Liber Ingenium which should provide the same role without having some unintended knock on consequences across the whole game
We’ve had a few in depth requests into the form based around Unwieldy becoming an (X) value special rule which either drops you by that much I or sets you to that I. The team has decided to reject these changes simply due to the colossal amount of work that would be required in going through every Unwieldy weapon in the game and assigning it an Unwieldy (X) value. This change would also necessitate taking one faction as ‘default’ and so, unless each faction had their own unique version of many common weapons, other factions would be affected by these changes far more/less than the ‘default’ selection.
A few people have requested that Salamanders Adherrants should lose Support Squad in Awakening of Fire, the team has some concerns around the balance that would come from just straight allowing this so has decided to put this change ‘on hold’ until we do our next balance pass on Liber Centura where we can make sure everything is working ok after this change
There have been a number of different requests into the inbox about changing how reinforcement points work, some revolving around points calculations and others around setting a specific reinforcement value for each unit. The team has decided to not pursue this at this time, due to the sheer time investment it would take to test all of these implementations. We’re still open to the idea in the future when we’ve got a much clearer pipeline, but at the moment we’ve got a lot more really cool content for the main game we want to make for you instead! Please keep submitting feedback about this though, if we notice lots of people still want it then we can look at re prioritising our workflow.
We had a LOT of ideas into the feedback form for Liber Imperatus, and we’ve taken quite a good chunk of that through into the book itself, such as having most of the plastic IG range available, rebalancing some units like the cavalry and command cadres, ‘paragon warsuit’ like units and much more. Because of the level of interest people showed we had a lot to go through, but that means that some of the units didn't make the cut. So if you don't see the unit or balance changes you requested in the book then we apologise, it was a rigorous playtesting period and a number of units/ideas got cut or merged by the time of final release
We received a request for comment on the Iron Hands Head of the Gorgon RoW, which lets you take Castellax as elites and then sys ‘all models in such units gain the It Will Not Die (5+) special rule’. The querier was asking if this applies to all Castellax in the army or just those taken as elites, the team believes this is quite clear in only affecting the Elite slot units so we’ve not included an FAQ in the main doc.
We’re aware there’s a lot of chat in the Panoptica channels on the discord around reigning in Thunder Hammers, however we dont really see much of that discussion filter into the feedback much. One we have seen is the request to move their version of Brutal to some kind of ‘proc on X To Wound’. Due to the ubiquity of Thunder Hammers across so many units in the game, finding a sweet spot with this has proved to be quite difficult as such we’ve decided to hold off on this change for now. Consider this a request to the community, please submit more ideas on how you’d like to see Thunder Hammers handled. If it just goes in the discord but not the forms then its hard for us to go back and check the nuance of any suggestions.
We’ve had quite a few people submit detailed requests about porting the Objective Control system from 10th edition 40k into Horus Heresy. Whilst the team understands the 10th ed system is fun and dynamic, the entire game was built around it being there whereas HH was built with a much more restrictive scoring system utilising Line units. As such we don't wish to implement this on a game wide basis due to it having lots of knock on repercussions for the game and list building. However if people are keen let us know, and we’ll see if we can put a set of missions together using OC.
We’ve had a number of requests to change how Augury scanners operate, some of these as part of larger requests around reducing the effectiveness of Infantry units with heavy weapons. In addition we’ve had a number of requests for minor tweaks to the ‘less used’ forms of reserves
The team has rejected these changes as we believe a holistic look at reserves is required, we’ve got this on the cards but no delivery date set for it. If you have any thoughts on the reserves system please submit them to the feedback form. We’re interested to see if there’s appetite for some more sweeping changes, or if you’d rather we keep these light touch.
We’ve had a number of requests through focusing on opening up additional Astartes weapon options, most of these seem centred on Veterans and Breachers. We’ve decided to postpone any but the most immediately needed changes till next year when we do our next version of Liber Centura where we can review these units in situ. Also just for everyone's awareness, if you think units need new wargear options can you submit that feedback to the appropriate Liber X (Centura, Ingenium etc) where as if its Special Rules, base Wargear or cost then those requests can keep coming to Liber Panoptica.
As with options around marines, we’ve received a number of requests for new Daemon Engine weapon options and more integration between Mechanicum characters and the Daemon Engines. We have a new Liber Ingenium version on the horizon which will include our clanking daemony robots, as such we’ll be looking at the changes surrounding them then.
Though some characters appear a few times, we’ve had a variety of requests asking for most older characters to get their old 1.0 Warlord Traits back instead of either their 2.0 ones or being able to pick from the generic lists. A lot of these 1.0 traits would require a large amount of changing to get them to fit the power levels of 2.0 WLT’s, and would also require us to lock characters to them which would thus feel bad for people who enjoy running these characters with the stock WLT’s. As such we’ve elected to avoid this mainly, as we dont want to step on too many toes. Again this is a call for feedback requests, if you’d like us to expand the generic WLT list for each faction or if there are specific characters who you believe have had previously iconic identities eroded due to no longer getting access to unique WLT’s then please let us know.
We’ve made a very minor change to some named characters so far, by adding a special rule that lets them class as X consul upgrade for RoW’s, but we’re still in the early stages of implementing this. We plan to role this out far more widely in the future, but that will be done as part of our new Centura version.
A few requests we’ve had through are to mirror buffs we’ve given to larger vehicles (mostly tanks) to smaller chassis, e.g The volkite cannon on predators has picked up pinning in PanO, and we’ve had requests to make that available on the Sabre. Generally we’ve touched up these bigger weapons as the platforms they’re on are quite expensive so we’ve used additional utility rules as a way to make these units better instead of just increasing the damage output of these weapons, though for some of them we have increased the damage output. The reason we’ve not made these changes more generic to the weapon type is that the lower costed, smaller scale, variants of the weapons dont need the help as much or at all.
Though everyone loves to hate Erebus, and hates to love him, we’ve had a number of people inform us that from a lore point of view he’s meant to be a skilled duellist. In game he only has WS5, however he still performs very well as a unit, providing great bonuses to his army. As such we’ve decided not to increase his WS in line with his fluff, as from a gameplay point of view he’s performing pretty well. Take it less that he’s not as good a duellist, but more everyone pauses mid combat to heckle and throw rotten tomatoes at him because everyone hates him.
A number of people have submitted changes to request the Vehicle Damage table, these changes from bumping Explodes to an 8+, changing explodes to loosing D3 hull points or tweaking some subtypes to let them downplay or ignore more of the damage table. These changes would have incredible ramifications for the game, especially for human armies who very frequently have large walls of Av 14 vehicles. We understand the vehicle damage table can feel punishing for armies running one or two tanks, but our playtesting has shown sweeping changes to the damage table makes other factions much stronger. As such we’ve decided not to implement any of these changes, if there are vehicles that require individual help we’d rather look at them on a case by case basis (Like we’ve been doing with the Malcador and Macharius).
Someone’s asked why we’ve let Custoed Tribunes be taken in 2k point games instead of the 3k point games initially allowed. As the questioner pointed out, Valdor doesnt have any of the restrictions on points allowance and he’s instead allowed to be taken in any games that are big enough for him to not be over the primarch points allowance. As such we dialled the Tribune points entry cost back to match, as we would rather allow the Tribune than disallow Valdo from these games. It also just means people who prefer to 2k or 2.5k games get to play with their special HQ’s, like other armies do at that points level.
We’ve had a couple of requests through to buff destroyers as they’re not performing as expected, and compared to some legion specific destroyers they’re quite weak. Basic destroyers are however usually around half the points of the 2W legion specific variants and come with a bunch of interesting special rules. As such buffing these units by increasing their wounds would also require a rebalance of a unit that we’ve seen be quite popular. So for the moment we’ve rejected this change, this is another call out to the community; would you like to see these units receive some substantial buffs and appropriate points increases? Or would a generic ‘veteran’ destroyer option be something people prefer instead? Please let us know..
The Shock Pulse change was made due to the chassis that mount it being a lot cheaper, generally more effective and the weapons generally being stronger than 1.0. With things like predators having access to it when they didn't before. As such we decided to tone it down on Super Heavies, as we received a lot of feedback about having your knights, titans or other big tanks turned off by this being a big feel bad. This suggested change outlined buffing it for Ordnance and Destroyer weapons, but almost all Shock Pulse weapons are Ordnance anyway and the Destroyer weapon list is so small that we’d rather target these platforms individually. As such the team has rejected this change and will look at the platforms that are suffering.
There’s been a lot of feedback about the new Legiones Hereticus (X) force added in the new Exemplary Battles book. We’ve made a couple of very light touch changes to Legiones Hereticus but at the moment we’re holding off on a deep dive until we do our next version of Centura next year. We’re hoping that GW will release some clarification FAQ for the book before we get around to Centura, but if they don't then we’ll start making some of the more substantive changes that you’ve all come to expect from us. Till then we want to play it safe whilst we’re focused on other projects, but fret not we will be returning to this.
Theres been a few requests in to look at the Legion Kratos, by giving it things such as Power of the Machine Spirit or a -1 to damage table change. We have some changes to the Kratos lined up for playtesting in the near future and we want to see how they pan out in further testing and release before we make even more changes to the chassis. So at the moment we’re not making any changes to the Kratos, but it is on our plan to make some tweaks.
This is a change that's come up a few times, we’ve already made some changes to Ravening Madmen this version which is having the -1 S actually reduce the S value for instant death. This has made the units with it a lot more interesting during playtesting, and we want to see how this survives contact with the outside world more before we make any further changes to the rules. As such we wont be implementing this +1 attack change for now, but if these units are still struggling then we can come back and re-assess it.
Universal Rules:
This has been a question we’ve seen popup a lot recently, especially in light of the Fulgrim release, as such we’ve just clarified that in the case required rules don't let you break core game rules then you may select which instance of that rule takes priority (in case none of them specify). So rejoice people who like running multiple Champions in a unit.
Another query we’ve had through a lot recently about units triggering multiple reactions. We’ve just confirmed that yes thats how it works, so watch out for big aggressive plays which your opponent can counter with multiple reactions in the same phase. Bear in mind though you’re still only ever allowed to react with a unit once unless otherwise stated.
Something we’ve been asked to clarify a number of times is the interaction between non targeting shooting replacements and the FAQ which states you have to target the unit that shoots you when you make certain reactions. We’re just noting that you’re free to do things which aren't shoot, much like in the shooting phase normally, but you’re still bound by the restrictions that if you’re shooting a gun (be it physical, psychic or robot magic) you still have to shoot it at the unit outlined in the reaction.
A few eagle eyed individuals spotted that page 211 of the core rulebook says that each Jump and Jetpack has its own rules but there are common rules about Jump and Jetpack equipped models not being able to be transported in transports that arent flyers. The section says that each Jump and Jetpack will remind you that you’re not allowed in flyers, unless otherwise stated. Annoyingly no other Jump or Jetpack has this text saying you cant get into flyers, not even the default ones found earlier in the book, though Mechanicum Jump and Jetpacks do have text saying they ARE allowed in non flyer transports even though they’re not normally allowed to. As such we’ve elected to have this section on page 211 act as people expect, so unless you Jump or Jetpack says so, you’re not allowed in transports.
Due to Gargantuan units being a later addition, and not found in the core rulebook, they’re missing from Monster Hunter. As such we’ve extended the special rule to affect them now as well. Now you can follow in the footsteps of the great Praetor Quixote and slay the largest of enemies with, slightly, more ease
Siege of Cthonia:
“If the Player with Strategic Advantage elects to not activate Night Fighting, the Opposing Player may still have the Night Fighting Rules in effect on a roll of a 4+.”
Some feedback we’d received from players was that losing the ability to interact with Night Fighting if going second led to some unfun play patterns, with some melee armies feeling that they lost at the first dice roll. As such we’ve decided to let the player going second roll for Night Fighting if the first player doesn't want it. This should still let players who do not want to deal with Night Fighting avoid it but it also gives second players the chance to bring it into play if they think they need it.
Units with either the Tercio or Strength in Numbers Special Rules do not pay the Reinforcement Points cost per unit as normal, instead paying only once per Force Organisation Slot option for all units taken as a single Force Organisation Slot selection.
Another request we’ve had through a lot is some clarity and balance around human forces in ZM. Both ICM and SA have to pay their reinforcement points for each squad in a Tercio/SiN to be able to bring them on, leading to hugely inflated reinforcement point costs for armies which are also not very suited to the horrors of close combat void warfare (Ironic for the Solar Aux, we know). As such we’ve decided to allow these groups to come in all at once, which should give these armies a bit more of a bite in these circumstances. But beware, you still need the room to actually deploy your 100’s of normal linesmen before you send them to their death.
It should be noted that the usual method of summoning Daemon units into play (via Anathemata Psychic Powers) cannot be used in Zone Mortalis as this game mode does not use Reserves.
This is a request that came through more before the Daemons of the Ruinstorm list came out, however we just wanted to make sure that anyone who wanted to use Bound Daemons still had the opportunity to do so in Zone Mortalis. As the game mode doesn't use the standard variation of reserves we’ve elected to just have your daemonic palls function as normal units for entering play.
We’ve had a number of queries into the feedback form about if things which create Difficult or Dangerous terrain (Grav guns, Phosphex, Reductor Archmagi etc) still function in ZM. In our opinion ZM only replaces the rules for actual terrain pieces not created ones, as such anything that makes nasty bad ground patches still continues to do so and any rules/wargear that interact with them still do in the same way as the main game
Liber Astartes & Hereticus
Even after a number of changes reducing their lethality, Contemptor Dreadnoughts are still swinging above their weight. The changes to the fist profile from previous versions of Panoptica have helped tone down their melee power, however many ranged builds were still incredibly efficient, as such we’ve bumped the price of the base unit cost up a bit. We’ll continue to keep an eye on Contemptors as we know they’re still a problem unit in some people's eyes, according to feedback we’ve received, so we hope this will help alleviate some of that concern.
“In a Detachment using this Rite of War, a single Legion Sicaran Squadron, Legion Predator Squadron, or Legion Kratos Squadron, composed of only a single model, must be selected as a HQ choice. This model gains the Master of the Legion Special Rule and must be selected as the army’s Warlord and must use the Master of Armour Warlord Trait (as follows). In this case, the model must be selected as the Warlord despite having the Vehicle Unit Type, and regardless of any other rules that would require another model to be selected as the Warlord (note this means that some units and Characters cannot be selected as part of this army, such as Primarchs).”
We had a number of requests asking if we could expand the type of tanks available to Master of Armours. As such we’ve sent out our best tank pilots to teach Kratos crews the meaning of leadership. These venerable tanks will soon be spearheading armoured columns of starters tanks, and looking quite suave as they do so.
We recently made some changes to the Baneblade cannon, upping its effectiveness, and we’re now porting some of those changes over to the Fellblade. These tweaks should give the Fellblade some 2+ save cracking potential on its massive blast profile, like we gave to the Baneblade.
Volkite Carronade | 45” | 8 | 3 | Ordnance 1, Heavy Beam, Deflagrate, Rending (5+), Pinning, Wrecker |
The glaive has still been underperforming even with the tweaks to the Carronade we’d already made, as such we’re turning the dial up on it slightly so it should now be slightly easier to flash fry your enemies with beams of red light.
Liber Astartes:
Any model with both the Independent Character and Legiones Astartes (Imperial Fists) special rule that does not also have the Unique Unit Sub-type may take a Vigil storm shield for +15 points. Any model with the Legiones Astartes (Imperial Fists) special rule and Legion Cataphractii or Legion Tartaros Terminator armour may exchange a combi-bolter for a Vigil storm shield for +10 points each.
We made some tweaks to bring down the power of Imperial Fists in 4.1, but as part of that change we forgot to change the cost of the Vigil storm shields to reflect their nerf. As such we’re correcting that by shifting their cost to be in line with Dragonscale shields
As part of a ‘post Morlock’ pass of Iron Hands, we decided to remove this effect from the CoBI. The Rite of War was performing well without it, and as Morlocks themselves did not come with Bitter Duty when they were released into their Exemplary Battle, we felt that it made little sense that individual models with Gorgon Terminator Armour acquired that change as well. We realise we’ve made a number of changes to Gorgons in this update, so will be keeping an eye on their performance and any feedback related to them.
We’ve had a large amount of feedback about the fact that Gorgons and Morlocks have a very similar role under Panoptica, and that people have had issues playing into a large amount of battle hardened units. As such we’ve removed the battle hardened provided by Gorgon Terminator Armour and instead given the wearers some even fancier bionics. This provides the same 5+ Damage Mitigation save but is not turned off by Instant Death like feel no pain is. This should let the Gorgons still feel tanky, but in a different way to Morlocks.
As mentioned above, this change will help bring down the survivability of the Gorgons but still leave them with a unique identity of their own
We wanted to clarify that Logos Lectora does not grant you an additional HQ slot for the other compulsory HQ it forces you to take, Rite of Wars which grant you an additional HQ slot outline that in the Effects section (such as the Salamanders ‘The Awakening Fire Rite of War or the Night Lord ‘The Swift Blade’ Rite of War) which this does not. As such we’ve elected to rule that Logos Lectora simply requires you to take 2 HQ’s, instead of gaining an extra slot for them.
Liber Hereticus:
This was a question we’d received through a number of times, so we’re just confirming that yes Lucius can take the Laer blade if you run him alongside the new Fulgrim Transfigured. At this point in the story Fulgrim had gifted Lucius the blade full time, after getting some new weapons as befitting his big-snakey stature.
Thanks to some observations in the feedback form and amongst the team it has come to our attention that World Eaters were so angry that they were letting non Legiones Astartes (World Eaters) models get +1 Attack for just hanging out with them. Though they’re angry they’re not quite that angry (yet) so we’ve cooled them down a bit and removed their ability to hand out this bonus attack to non World Eaters.
The Ravening Madmen upgrade was quite a punishing upgrade, due to making you much easier to hit, and the upside it provided was incredibly fringe. As such we’ve changed the curriculum of berserker school and there’s now a whole extra class on ‘being too angry to die’ for them all to work through. This means the Ravening Madmen upgrade should now be a more interesting pick.
“In any given turn Angron may make as many Challenges as there are enemy models with the Chosen Warrior Special Rule, Character Sub-type, or Primarch Unit Type locked in combat with him, up to his current number of Attacks.”
After many reports to Panoptica HQ we’ve dispatched some Alpha Legion agents to Angron to gently remind him that he’s allowed to challenge non commissioned officers as well. We didn't hear back from those agents so we assume he killed them in delight. So watch out, he’s now out hunting Chosen Warriors for the thrill. This change should allow Angron to fulfil the fantasy of taking on an entire unit on his own. Just make sure he doesnt bite off more than he can chew!
We’ve had a good number of items into the feedback form over the past few months asking us to tone down the Dark Brethren RoWs effectiveness on other parts of the army. As such we’ve restricted Favour to only affect models from the detachment with this RoW. This means you’re no longer able to juice up any Daemons or other allied Marines like you were previously, but you can still do sickening combinations inside the detachment.
Though being able to play a Loyalist equipped with a Warpfire weapon, a tainted blade and with the Corrupted Sub-Type was funny we thought it was generally contrary to the intention and lore of the book. As such Loyalist Word Bearers will have the traitors toys taken off of them, i'm sure their valiant adherence to the Emperors light will carry them through this dark time
Though these weapons are thematically very spooky, they’re not seen very often and their impact on the table is quite low when they are seen. Luckily Panoptica HQ has unearthed a cache of dark relics, and is now offering a 50% deal on tainted weapons. Available only whilst stocks last, talk to your local Chaplain for more info.
A highly requested change for Zardu has been the ability to join units and bring his Blade Slaves along for the ride. We think just opening him up to joining any units with them is asking for trouble but we thought it would be good to clear up that you can buy a retinue for Zardu as he is a model with the Master of the Legion special rule. He’s just a 3 for the price of 1 package.
Astartes Legacies:
As with our changes to Contemptor Dreadnoughts, Castra Ferrums are still swinging well above their weight. We’ve elected to increase their price by 25 points to hopefully make the units less hyper efficient.
Malcadors have been struggling even after some of the buffs that they have received in Panoptica previously, as such we’ve gone back over them and made some tweaks to hopefully bring them up to a similar level to the existing tanks in the game. The Fast unit sub type will bring back some of the speed that they had in 1.0, and alongside the Independent Fire Control changes can still zip around and bring their demolisher cannon to bear. The prices of lascannons in their side mounts have also been brought down to fall in line with lascannons on other platforms in the game. The reduction in Demolisher cost should make it a more interesting choice. These changes should make people more interested in dusting off their Malcadors, especially in combination with the expanded wargear options we’re giving the chassis in Imperatus
This quick change simply allows Minotaurs to actually fire their hunter killers, as whoever was doing the generic wargear upgrade for this tank seems to have forgotten that Minotaurs main weapons are rear mounted
As with the Malcador, some of the bigger tanks are still struggling to find a place in the game. As such we’ve made some minor changes to their main weapon to make them a little more effective without standing on the toes of the new kids on the block, the Praetorian tank. The Macharius chassis still offers a far more rugged and up gunned death dealing platform than the new hotness, which has a stronger main gun.
“Any attacks made against a unit with the Shackled Artificia Unit Type are resolved as if the model had the Dreadnought Unit Type, for the purposes of resolving these attacks. Note that this affects any Wargear, Weapons, Special Rules, Psychic Powers, or any other abilities.”
Something that’s been raised to us is the fact Excindio’s unique Unit Type make it essentially immune to a lot of weapons which could otherwise combat it (Haywire, Cybertheurgy, Melta bombs etc). As such, like how we have done for the Armiger and Mechanised Unit/Sub Types we’ve elected to simply make them class as Dreadnoughts for the sake of rules interactions. This now means things that you think should work against everyone's favourite artificial intelligence murder robot now do.
Due to this unit being a Fortification it doesn't have the concept of defensive weapons like vehicles do, and as such it cannot actually shoot all its heavy bolters at different targets. This change allows those commanders brave enough to deploy a Hammerfall to split your shots in the same way that you think you should have been able to the entire time, thought with added flexibility as you’re not forced to target the closest infantry unit with PotMS.
Exemplary Battles Volume One:
“Any model in the unit may replace its bolter for one of the following:
The new Santifier squad is all about bringing to bear the salamanders ‘ethical’ version of mass murder. We’ve got on the vox to Legion command and asked them to stop being so stingy with their new rotor cannons. As such every Sanctifier can now bring The Emperor’s / The Warmaster’s [Delete as appropriate] mercy to their enemy via application of bullets, instead of that nasty nasty phosphex the other legions use. This should help the Sanctifier squad have more teeth and a more cohesive niche compared to base destroyer units.
Balance Change - Any unit entirely composed of models with the Daemon Primarch Unit Type may choose to ignore the Heroic Stand Special Rule, ignoring any penalties normally applied for declining a Challenge, unless the Challenge was issued by a model with the Knight, Gargantuan, Titan, Primarch, or Daemon Primarch Unit Types.”
We’ve received a lot of feedback both internally and externally about the state that the new Legiones Hereticus supplement is in. As a team we’ve decided to make some exceptionally light touch changes to this rule, until we can sitdown and look at the rules holistically. In the mean time we have confirmed that Daemon Primarchs may join units as if they were their choice of Primarch or Daemon.
In addition we have expanded the existing Heroic Stand changes which we added to the Primarch unit type.
As mentioned previously, we’re trying not to delve too deeply into these units just yet. We are aware of the issues with daemon Fulgrim and will be looking to apply more serious fixes alongside the next version of Liber Centura if Games Workshop have not released any FAQ’s for this book. In the meantime we have elected to increase his Weapon Skill, befitting a 600 point model. In addition we have made some core game FAQ’s clearing up what happens if you have multiple different mandatory requirements, confirming you can run a Champion alongside Fulgrim incase you really dont want to challenge on turns his Warlord Trait forces him to charge.
Errata - For the purposes of all rules interactions (excepting Rites of War) within a Detachment, all instances of the Legiones Astartes (X) Special Rule should be replaced with the Legiones Hereticus (X) Special Rule.
The intention for this Errata is that all standard units, Wargear, Special Rules, and so on should function as expected. That in mind, the original prohibition in GW’s writing on Standard Rites of War is retained as a result of our wording. That said, as this only effects interactions within a Detachment, any enemy models which would have rules, wargear, or abilities that hinge upon the Legiones Astartes (X) Special Rule would not interact with a model with the Legiones Hereticus (X) Special Rule. This is meant to be a very light touch change, in case Games Workshop releases any FAQ’s or new books which expand on the Legiones Hereticus special rule. We plan to take this light touch approach with everything Legiones Hereticus until either GW releases more information to us or we get to the next version of Liber Centura.
As we’ve mentioned before we’re trying to keep a bit of a light touch on the Legiones Hereticus things at this time, however as The Stage is Set does not count as a specific type of reserve entry that allows charging then Fulgrim was stuck sitting around for a full turn. As such we’ve confirmed that Fulgrim is allowed to act as if he’d come in via Deep Stike Assault; letting him fling himself into the fray like the Rite of War says he should.
Custodes:
We’ve had a bit of feedback about the shockingly lacklustre AP on the Firepike making it lag behind the other choices a bit. In addition we’re taking a look at the Adrathic weapons in this update so have decided to make sure the Custodes players are getting only the finest promethium and as such upping the Firepikes ap value to 4. This should really cement their role in close range anti infantry fights and bring their AP in line with the larger flame weapons
The Adrathic weapons are relics of a bygone age, technological marvels that the Emperor levelled civilisations to acquire due to their power. Oddly their stopping power in this edition leaves a lot to be desired, due to their native AP3. Especially in comparison to the space marine Disintegrator weapon, who have native AP 2. Due to Adrathics being a lot more common in their armies than Disintegrators we have decided to give them the Breaching (5+) special rule, and will monitor their performance from now on.
Custodes players can zip around the battlefield even faster now though we have elected not to add the Battle Hardened (1) special rule to this model as they’re already Toughness 5 and we felt that it would be overkill to do so
SoS:
Knight Abyssal’s, much like the majority of other Liber Imperium HQ choices, have lost their ability to freely switch melee and pistol weapons in any combination. As such we’re reverting these so people are free to combine their melee and pistol weapons however you want to open up access to getting the extra attack from two specialist weapons or simply for those who like running two pistols on their HQ’s.
As with the Knight Abyssal this update brings these HQ’s in line with the Astartes standard for melee and pistol weapon mixing.
Feedback we’d received internally and through the forms outlined that a lot of the Sisters of Silence retinue options felt very flat when compared to other units in the army that performed basically the same role. As such we’re taking a pass on most of these units to try and make them feel more unique.
The first of these is the Questora Cadre, their special rules and background text pushes them towards being a ranged weapon squad however they are still BS 4 instead having a higher WS. We’ve switched these numbers around to help give the unit some more play in its intended role. In addition we’ve decided to upgrade these retinue units to artificer armour, like astartes Command Squads, to reflect their ‘best of the best’ wargear. These changed should help give the Questora’s more of a solid role compared to the Raptora Cadre, and with their better BS and Sv really help them stand their ground
In the same vein as what we’ve done with the Questora Cadre, we’ve elected to give these units Artificer armour. This brings these in line with other Retinue units, namely Astartes ones, and helps them be a bit more of a bulky in the melee combat they inevitably want to wade in to.
Knight Vestals come equipped with Vratine Armour and as such their armour save value has been corrected to a 3+ from the 2+ it was erroneously shown as. These models don't natively have the ability to upgrade to Artificer armour, potentially due to confusion around their save value being listed as 2+, so we have elected to give them the ability to purchase artificer armour like their power armoured counterparts
The changes here allow for Knight Vestals to cover a much larger amount of your army, whilst also stopping enemies with Preferred Enemy (IC) from getting re-rolls against the majority of your forces. As we’d already changed Vigilant Covenant previously to restrict these models to only Sisters of Silence units we decided to strip out the rule entirely and replace it with one which functions like the Astartes Apothecaries. This should let Sisters of Silence players get a lot more value out of this unit, whilst also removing one of the main problems with this unit which was forcing all of the models within to be deployed in coherency with each other. These changes are seismic and as such we will be keeping a close eye on how this unit performs
Another unit with a substantial amount of changes, this unit felt in a very odd position in Liber Imperium. These units costed and were statted the same as the troop choice Prosecutor Cadre, as such the stats on this unit have been brought into line with their melee counterpart the Oblivion Knight Cadre and they have picked up the Voidsheens these units have as well. These changes should make them actually feel like a more elite version of the Prosecutors, as their lore describes, and makes them an interesting choice compared to the Oblivion Knights in the same slot.
Vigilators being one of the scant Troops choices in this army and on top of that being gated behind Oblivion chamber access made for some unintuitive and cumbersome list building options that usually meant these models never saw much time on the battlefield. Though maybe in slight contradiction to the new Chamber of Oblivion lore we felt the Vigilators felt most at home in the Chamber of Vigilance as they carry their namesake and the free access means these may be taken in lists over Oblivion Knight Cadres who previously ate up the same Chamber allowance.
Change the upgrade cost of Pursuer or Pursuer Mistress models purchasing an Execution Blade to ‘5 points each’
The ‘beastmaster’ type units have a very odd initial points value, in the case of Pursuers costing 10 points per model but with the base unit costing 65 points. As such we have brought this down in line with the costing maths elsewhere in the book. In addition we’ve reduced the cost of the Execution Blade to bring the per model cost closer to what other units are paying for a single model with an Execution Blade.
Adrathic weapons are very deadly, and the changes we have made previously to allow Expurgators to the upgunned version of this weapon have proven quite popular. One complaint we have received is the lack of mobility this unit has when using this weapon as the unit doesnt really have any good ways to get next to things and even when it does they’re unlikely to survive till next turn to make use of their full Ballistic Skill. As such Suspensor Webs allows them that ability to play danger close, however the even shorter range really makes this a risky proposition. We think this will encourage an interesting play pattern whilst also helping this unit out.
The Anathema subtype comes with a Leadership penalty for all non Anathema models who are in a unit with an Anathema model, however all the Anathema IC’s are at least Leadership 9 so 9 times out of 10 this doesnt actually do anything as you’d just use the Anathema models Leadership instead. As such, to reflect peoples unease at following the orders of the Sisters, we have expanded that -1 penalty to the Anathema units as well. This means you still can pop the SoS HQ’s into your deathstar squads but you’re going to have to deal with a reduced Leadership for everyone. In addition the -2 Leadership mallus which originally only applied to the Corrupted sub-type has been expanded to Daemons as they’re not really big on the whole psychic blank thing. These should help the SoS have some more play against the foes they are specialised against.
A model equipped with an Etinyes jetbike must change its Unit Type to Cavalry (Antigrav, Skirmish), keeping any other Unit Sub-types it previously had, changes its Movement Characteristic to 18 and gains the Battle Hardened (1), Shrouded (6+), Skilled Rider and Deep Strike special rules.’
We’ve done a cleanup pass on the Erinyes to bring it in line with the other Jetbikes out there, formatting wise, and have added the Battle Hardened (1) and Skilled Rider special rules for consistency’s sake.
Solar Auxilia:
This has been a talking point in the feedback form and between the team for a while, from what we have seen the majority of players have always played like they are able to mix and match whereas a smaller minority have thought that you haven't. In our opinion this is ambiguously worded and could go either way as such we’ve decided to make a ruling just so players have a touch point on what the Panoptica teams view is on this. We have elected to err on the side of what we’ve seen most people play it as to hopefully reduce disruption to your games.
Though the aged veterans of the Auxilia are undoubtedly brave fighters we’ve had some chats with their Legate Marshals about their zealotry and devotion to duty being higher than that of the Primarchs and asked them to pull it back a bit as it was making everyone else look bad. As such we’ve capped their Leadership at 10, still incredibly respectful, so as to slightly dial back the already great power of Reborn.
• “A Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine may select Auxilia Armoured Tercios as Troops choices. An Auxilia Armoured Tercio selected as a Troops choice may only consist of a single unit”
Add the following bullet points to the Effects heading:
• Auxilia Armoured Tercios selected as Compulsory Troop Choices in a Primary Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine gain the Line Unit Sub-type
• The first time in a game that any models with the Infantry Unit Type Disembark from their own Dedicated Transport, they gain the Relentless special rule until the end of that turn.
Replace the first Limitation bullet point to read as follows:
“All units composed entirely of models with the Infantry Unit Type must begin the battle Embarked on a model with the Transport Unit Sub-type or in Reserves, unless the unit has the Mechanised Unit Sub-type.”
Add the following bullet points to the Limitations heading:
• A Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine may not include any models with a Movement Characteristic of 0 or ‘-’.
• An army which includes at least one Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine may not select any Fortifiction choices.
As part of our work on Liber Imperatus we’ve decided to take a look at all the original Cohort Doctrines found within Liber Imperium. A lot of the original Cohort Doctrines are quite low impact, and still come with some harsh downsides. The base game Armoured Fist forces you to take a warlord Command Tank and also lets you tank Armoured Tercios made up of Strike Squadrons as non compulsory troops. The changes we’ve made reflect to similar vehicle focused marine detachments, allowing any Leman Russ squadrons to be taken in Troops and for them to get Line, though still restricting them to a single unit in that Tercio. This should really help players lean in to the armoured feel, especially alongside picking up Relentless when disembarking from transports, which should allow larger 20 man lasrifle sections in Dracosans to all disembark and still shoot properly. These changes collectively should make the Cohort Doctrine a lot more interesting, instead of Reborn always being the default choice.
• “Any model with the Infantry Unit Type in a Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine may replace a lasrifle or volkite charger with a lascarbine, lasgun, stubcarbine, autorifle, Laspistol and Close Combat Weapon or shotgun for no additional points cost. In addition, one Auxilia in any Solar Auxilia Rifle Section may replace a lasrifle with a heavy stubber for +5 points per model.”
Add the following bullet points to the Effects heading:
• “Any model in a Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine may replace a Close Combat Weapon with a Chainsword for +1 point per model”
Penal pattern cohorts have been a way to run less regimented lasrifle sections, but giving them access to a far wider variety of weapons. This change has also added Laspistol + CCW to that list of available options, and lets any model switch a CCW for a Chainsword; this opens up a lot more modelling opportunities for those who want a big more rowdy up close units whilst also letting the Furious Charge provided by the CD pay off more.
• “All models with the Infantry Unit Type from a Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine gain a bonus of +1 to their Weapon Skill, to a maximum of 5, for the duration of any player turn in which they make a successful Charge”
• “Any model in a Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine may replace a Bayonet with a Chain Bayonet for +1 point per model”
• “Any model with the Character Unit Sub-type in a Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine may exchange a Close Combat Weapon for a Chain Axe for +2 points per model.”
As with Penal Pattern Cohorts the Feral Cohort is a close ranged, but more melee focused CD. In the base version of the book Feral doesn't actually provide any melee bonuses, as such we have applied some of the Feral Provenance bonuses from the Imperialis Militia list, but kept them suitably flavoured around regimented line infantry. The +1 WS should make these units a bit more deadly on the charge, whilst access to chain bayonets for all (and chain axes for characters) gives them a unique ‘bayonet’ flavoured melee focus unique to the army. Our hope is these changes will allow a more interesting melee focused ‘elite’ human army to see some play.
• “A Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine may select Auxilia Artillery Tercios and Solar Auxilia Armoured Batteries as both Elites and Heavy Support choices. In addition, they may select Solar Auxilia Artillery Battery squads as both Heavy Support and Fortification choices.”
Add the following bullet points to the Effects heading:
• “Any unit eligible to purchase a Dedicated Transport may instead elect to purchase a Defence Line without occupying a Fortification Force Organisation slot, but the cost in points must be counted towards the army total as usual.”
• “When a model from a Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine makes a Shooting Attack with any weapon with the Barrage special rule, if the enemy unit they are targeting is in Line of Sight of a friendly model equipped with a Command Vox then you may always fire directly at that enemy unit, even if it is outside of Line of Sight of the firing model.”
Replace the first Limitations bullet point to read as follows:
“All units in a Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine with the option to select a Dedicated Transport must select that option, or have purchased a Defence Line, at the normal cost in points – If a Dedicated Transport was purchased for a unit, it does not have to start the battle Embarked on that Dedicated Transport.”
Add the following to the Limitations bullet points:
“A Detachment using this Cohort Doctrine may only be selected for anarmy’s Primary Detachment.”
Siege Pattern Cohort has undergone a number of changes due to a number of previous changes made in Liber Panoptica, by adding Nuncio Vox’s to Command Vox’s we’d already removed the thing that made this doctrine unique. As such they have acquired older artillery spotter rules from 1.0, allowing anyone with a Command Vox to spot for them and make them more accurate. In addition they may now pick up multiple Defence Lines so you can re-enact your favourite trench warfare moment by digging in and burying your opponent in artillery. Because of these changes, namely the ability to buy a lot of Defence Lines, we’ve decided to restrict this Cohort to a Primary detachment, for ease of play.
As mentioned in this version's Sisters of Silence section, we’re aiming to bring the Liber Imperium HQ in lines with the other books by allowing them to free reign to mix and match pistols and close combat weapons as they like. Dual Pistol enjoyers, or people who just like a good Paragon Blade x Thunder Hammer combo rejoice.
Another command squad we’re looking to spruce up in this balance pass, the Veletaris Command Section had all the problems of the Line Command Section whilst not even coming with the increased statline those models came with. As such the prices and size of these squads have been adjusted to be closer to regular Veletaris squads. As before this should make the command squads a bit more attractive and let players feel happier about including additional command sections to defend against any unhappy accidents with their Legate Marshals
A number of command sections in Liber Imperium have a drastically increased cost and reduced maximum squad size whilst providing little to no benefit. As such we’ve touched up some of the more egregious offenders. For the Lasrifle sections we have brought these costs down, and allowed for a standard 20 man squad, to let a Line Command Section function as an active part of a Tercio albeit one at a slight premium. This should make the option more interesting to players, where previously they saw little to no play
Due to a potential oversight by Games Workshop the Solar Auxilia Rapier Battery found itself equipped with a Gravis multi-laser battery, a weapon which unfortunately does not exist. As its quite helpful to have rules for your ranged weapons we have replaced this with the profile for a Gravis multi-laser, a weapon which does exist and appears on no other unit in the book and as such leading us to believe the ‘battery’ at the end of the rapier is a typo.
Malcadors have been struggling even after some of the buffs that they have received in Panoptica previously, as such we’ve gone back over them and made some tweaks to hopefully bring them up to a similar level to the existing tanks in the game. The Fast unit sub type will bring back some of the speed that they had in 1.0, and alongside the Independent Fire Control changes can still zip around and bring their demolisher cannon to bear. The prices of lascannons in their side mounts have also been brought down to fall in line with lascannons on other platforms in the game. The reduction in Demolisher cost should make it a more interesting choice. These changes should make people more interested in dusting off their Malcadors, especially in combination with the expanded wargear options we’re giving the chassis in Imperatus
In line with our changes to the Malcador chassis in general, the Valdor has reaped the benefit of the speedy engine it always should have had. This extra mobility should help get its nasty main gun into side armour arcs with greater ease
As with all the other Malcador chassis, the Infernus now can zip around the battlefield bringing flaming death to your foes. Tis the season for roasting marshmallows after all.
Cyclops demolition vehicles have been in a bad state this edition, not able to explode till Initiative 1 and RAW not even being able to charge. We’ve fitted a much bigger engine to the cyclops allowing it to actually charge, as well as explode at initiative 10 like it used to. These little siege weapons should now be appropriately spooky on the battlefield.
Currently Independent Fire Control is quite a restrictive special rule, being a version of Power of the Machine Spirit that also comes with a -1 Ballistic Skill penalty and is printed on a model who doesnt even have sponsons. As such we have touched up the rule slightly, allowing the less reckless armoured commanders amongst you to retain the ability to split your fire but without the BS penalty, whilst confirming that you can fire ordnance whilst you do so. This, alongside our existing Malcador changes, should make the tank a lot more interesting when compared to the Russ.
As pointed out by members of the community, the Solar Auxilia Command Tank rule had some weird interactions with Armoured Command Sections purchased as part of Armoured Support Tercios; as there were no Leman Russ squadrons for them to join. As such we’ve made it clear the Command Tank just needs to join any unit from their Tercio. In addition we’ve had feedback that the Command Tanks themselves are not an interesting option due to eating up one of the three slots in your Tercio. As such we’ve given the unit some top of the line training to make sure they’re still able to fire their weapons in the turn they hand out +1 BS with their Cognis-signum, reflecting the crack tank crews of the Solar Auxilia. We’ll be keeping an eye on these units to make sure no additional future changes are required.
Charonite Ogryns are the premiere melee unit for Solar Auxilia but they struggle in to most units, their high base Strength and Toughness are helpful but against most other melee units their average Weapon Skill, poor Initiative and low number of attacks per point can cause them some trouble. We’ve given their Charonite Claws a bit of an upgrade by upping the weapons Strength and making it a modifier as well as adding in Murderous Strike (6+). This means the hits that do land against T4 units should now be a lot more impactful.
Solar Auxilia Legacies:
Its been reported to the Panoptica battle bunker that nobody had told the Navigators they were actually meant to open their third eye when channelling their psychic might. It seems they’ve just been gesturing to it, and its only been the politeness of their opponents to sometimes fall down that stopped the Navigators from noticing. We’ve sent out some missives and the Navigators finally understand what they should be doing.
The Carnodon is a nice mobile tank for the Solar Auxilia, however we’ve received a good amount of feedback about the fact that the sponson mounts had very odd pricing. With no real consistency between the cost on the Carnodon compared to any other tank in the game. As such we’ve normalised the cost to bring them in line with what Astartes players pay for their sponsons. This should make tooling up Carnodons a more appealing decision for players.
This quick change simply allows Minotaurs to actually fire their hunter killers, as whoever was doing the generic wargear upgrade for this tank seems to have forgotten that Minotaurs main weapons are rear mounted
- Add the Shellshock (1) special rule to the Macharius battle cannon profile
- Add the Exoshock (4+) special rule to the Macharius Vanquisher cannon profile
As with the Malcador, some of the bigger tanks are still struggling to find a place in the game. As such we’ve made some minor changes to their main weapon to make them a little more effective without standing on the toes of the new kids on the block, the Praetorian tank. The Macharius chassis still offers a far more rugged and up gunned death dealing platform than the new hotness, which has a stronger main gun.
Imperialis Militia:
“Any attacks made against a unit with the Mechanised Unit Sub-type are resolved as if the Armigers have the Dreadnought Unit Type, for the purposes of resolving these attacks. Note that this affects any Wargear, Weapons, Special Rules, Psychic Powers, or any other abilities.”
We’ve received a number of pieces of feedback about the odd game feel of Mechanised units, them being immune to some things which effects Dreadnoughts but not others. As such we’ve decided to just normalise this completely, and have now made them just class as Dreadnoughts for all special rules interactions. Once again you can finally grenade or melta bomb Sentinels. Because of this we’ve made some changes to Militia Sentinels to reduce their cost.
We’ve received a lot of feedback that the changes we made previously to Abhuman Muster (altering it so their base S values are increased) was welcome but the provenance was still incredibly punishing. As such we have decided to incorporate the extra pip of Movement that beastmen have had in previous editions, as well as make the Hammer of Wrath provided by this Provenance a lot more widely available. This should help make the goats a lot choppier, to make up for their poor Ballistic Skill and the restriction on allies that this provenance comes with.
This change is twofold, the first is allowing Discipline Masters to join some of the exciting new units from Liber Imperatus and the second allows Discipline Masters to hang out with artillery crew and execute encourage any militiamen of wavering faith. This was a request we’d had through in the feedback forms quite a bit, and the ability to bump up the Ld of these squads should help them be more interesting picks compared to squids that are less concerned about Leadership.
Another highly requested change, Milita Command Cadres are just Grenadiers in flak armour. For some reason these were initially priced at 8 points per model, we found this quite ridiculous and as such we’ve sent out some missives to the Excertus Imperialis informing all bodyguards that their pay is getting slashed. Bodyguards will now have to subsist on slightly less than Grenadier pay and as such have been reduced down to 5 points each, with the upside of the existing changes of additional Lieutenants still in play we elected not to give them carapace armour stock. These tweaks should hopefully let the Command Cadre see some more play
We’re just wanting to clarify that yes, models without Expendable which join units that do have it, still reward victory points when they die. I know many amongst the Legiones Astartes care not for the regular humans that fight alongside them but we do as without their blood to grease the wheels how would the Imperium even function? Oh and dont forget their taxes, too!
Fire Support Squads are a dialling back of the power of man portable heavy weapons, with reaction restrictions, reduced movement and a special rule that causes death on fallback these units are far more susceptible to tech play. We feel these restrictions are good for the unit, however the cost of these units as printed is astronomically high, as such we have reduced their price by a good chunk to bring them more in line with other heavy weapon toting infantry units. As such it will now be easier to get more FSS’s on the field and have them die gloriously in the name of the Warmaster/Emperor (delete as appropriate)
In the arsenal of the new Field Gun batteries the Kalliope mortar is a clear winner. It slices, it dices, it pins and you get to an excuse to play Katyusha sound bites when you shoot them. Though undeniably very cool the price point on this weapons makes the other options look a little unappealing and as such we’ve decided to bump it up slightly to give the Thunderblast and Heavy Lascannon a bit more breathing room.
This was a piece of feedback we got constantly into the feedback form, a lot of these requests also came with the desire for Battle Hardened (1) as well. After doing some digging into statlines for older editions we found most Imperial Guard cavalry ended up at around the 15 point mark with 2W and either T3 or 4. However due to Cavalry starting at 8 ppm with no requirement to purchase the lances or carapace that would get them up to that cost point, we decided to split the difference. The extra wound will allow them to have more play against small arms fire, but their big nemesis weapons (such as volkite or multi-lasers) will still have you hurling your cav back into the dead pile like before. This change hopefully gives players a bit of the staying power they felt cavalry was lacking whilst also avoiding a bit of a nightmare situation where cavalry are so cheap and hard to shift that they just become the defacto unit on the battlefield.
- Add the Light Sub-type to the Militia Handlers
- Reduce the units base cost to 30 points
A number of the beasts that the handlers chase around come with the Fleet (1) special rule, however the normal handlers themselves do not have the ability to gain the Fleet special rule. As such Militia Handlers have been sent on a training spree and now have the Fleet (1) special rule and the Light Unit Sub-type to keep up with their rowdy pets.
As with with SoS Pursuer Cadre the base costs on these units are a lot higher than they should be. Currently the Beastmasters are 8 ppm and the unit comes with 3 of them, but costs 50 points base. As such we have reduced the base cost of this unit down to 30 to more accurately reflect the units per model cost.
Sentinels are a good play piece for the ICM, fast and hard to shift; they provide some much needed mobile fire for the army. At the moment they’re quite pricey for their cost, though, so we’ve struck some deals with the Mechanicum and managed to get the cost of these walkers brought down a bit. We’ve gone for quite a conservative cost reduction to begin with, and will keep an eye on how these units perform in the wild.
Malcadors have been struggling even after some of the buffs that they have received in Panoptica previously, as such we’ve gone back over them and made some tweaks to hopefully bring them up to a similar level to the existing tanks in the game. The Fast unit sub type will bring back some of the speed that they had in 1.0, and alongside the Independent Fire Control changes can still zip around and bring their demolisher cannon to bear. The prices of lascannons in their side mounts have also been brought down to fall in line with lascannons on other platforms in the game. The reduction in Demolisher cost should make it a more interesting choice. These changes should make people more interested in dusting off their Malcadors, especially in combination with the expanded wargear options we’re giving the chassis in Imperatus
Mechanicum:
We’ve seen people get a bit confused about this advanced reaction before, so we just wanted to clarify on this one that yes you do get to shoot people before they shoot you as this Rection procs when you’re targeted. So feel free to unleash the Omnissiah fury, though we recommend letting your opponent know how it works before they inflict said fury upon themselves
Thanatars get a huge amount of upside out of the Paragon of Metal upgrade, and as printed in the book the upgrade costs the same no matter the platform it is on. As such we have decided to increase the cost of this upgrade on Thanatars, so you’ve got to pay a bit more to have them bringing their guns to bear in reactions. This should hopefully make it slightly more of an automatic choice about where PoM goes, or at least tax it on bigger robots.
The Porphyrion is overperforming for its cost, as such we’ve decided to remove the Twin Linked from its Magna Lascannons. This should bring down its reliability a chunk, but we’ll keep an eye on the behemoth to see if it needs further tweaks.
“Instead of making a Shooting Attack, a Cybertheurgist with this Cybertheurgic Rite may select a single enemy unit with a model within 12" that is entirely composed of models with the Vehicle, Dreadnought, or Automata Unit Type (but not any models with the Super-Heavy, Lumbering, Titan, or Knight Sub-types). The Cybertheurgist’s Controlling Player may immediately make a Shooting Attack as if they controlled the chosen unit – this Shooting Attack may target any unit that is considered an enemy unit by the Cybertheurgist’s Controlling Player and is made as Snap Shots. The Cybertheurgist may choose to make a Cybertheurgy check before making this Shooting Attack, and if successful the Shooting Attack is made using the Cybertheurgist’s BS and is not made as Snap Shots. If the Check is failed then the Cybertheurgist suffers Cybertheurgic Feedback and no Shooting Attack is made. An enemy unit used to make a Shooting Attack with this Rite may attack normally in its Controlling Player’s turn and gains the Hatred (Cybertheurgists) Special Rule for the rest of the battle.”
We’ve added Dreadnoughts to the list of targets that can be subverted with this special rule (and due to the changes to Armigers, Mechanised and Shackled Artificia them as well) and removed Knights, Titans and Super Heavies. This should let you have a much wider array of targets to control, but should stop any of the feels bad moments that come from stealing someone's titan for a turn to bully their entire army.
In addition, a model with this Special Rule gains the Bulky (X) Special Rule, where X is equal to the model’s starting Wounds Characteristic.”
Though large and imposing, a lot of abeyant models dont have any sort of Bulky value, so they can be outnumbered by a single terminator. As such we decided that these abeyant bound models can pick up an appropriate Bulky (X) value to let the game flow a bit more smoothly.
Volkite Chierovile | Range | S | AP | Special Rules |
| 45” | 7 | 3 | Heavy 10, Deflagrate, Breaching (5+), Pinning |
| 30” | 8 | 3 | Ordnance 1, Heavy Beam, Deflagrate, Breaching (5+), Pinning, Wrecker |
We had a lot of feedback from Knight players that the Styrix was really underperforming, even after some of the gun changes we’d made to it previously. As such we’ve upgunned the Chieorovile even more to make it a worth knight grade weapon, its gained a few extra shots in its standard mode but now comes with a mini Carronade alt fire. This should make the knight a more interesting choice versus its other Questoris brethren.
Many of the Mechanicums Automata faced some stat downgrades with the edition change, but Scyllax have been hit by a number of changes that have severely hampered their ability to function in their intended roles. The Magi have updated the Scyllax with new software, as such they’ve remembered that their Dismemberment weapons should be used to dismember people. This should be a nice bump to their melee against pesky Astartes armour. We’ve elected for a light touch approach with this change and will keep an eye on everyone's favourite robot murder squids to see if anything else needs tweaking
A number of Magi have pointed out an error in the design schematics of the Incunabulan Jet Packs, Stratos Thrusters and Utan Jump Boosters. There was an issue with the power systems of these devices, leading to insufficient boost output, as such the warriors of the Mechanicum could not get enough ground clearance to soar over the heads of friends and enemies alike. As such we’ve re-circulated the correct design schematics, and sent the Magi and labourers in charge of schematic design and creation for re-education. Rejoice as the warriors of the Machine God now soar through the skies once more.
Also, good news everyone. Mars has recently come into a surplus of servitors, please complete form ZY-1K8R if you require additional units.
Mechanicum Legacies:
Born of Steel lets Inar decide before deployment if they want to gain a Patris Cybernetica, but then they’re locked in for the whole game. This change lets people continue to play Inar as they are at the moment, or to play them more like in 1.0 where they could hang around with other robots.
This quick change simply allows Minotaurs to actually fire their hunter killers, as whoever was doing the generic wargear upgrade for this tank seems to have forgotten that Minotaurs main weapons are rear mounted
Daemons of the Ruinstorm:
“Any unit entirely composed of models with the Gargantuan Unit Type may choose to ignore the Heroic Stand Special Rule, ignoring any penalties normally applied for declining a Challenge, unless the Challenge was issued by a model with the Knight, Gargantuan, Titan, Primarch, or Daemon Primarch Unit Types.”
In line with all of our other publications, the DotR book has had out pre-existing Gargantuan changes ported over to it for consistency
“2 - Lashing Pseudopods: Reach (1), Rending (6+)”
The second result for this Dominion was significantly weaker than the other two options, as such we’ve decided to give in Rending; which should mean no matter what horror beyond mortal ken you end up rolling you’re going to be happy with the result.
Change the cost of exchanging Sovereign Armaments for a Sovereign Greatblade to +40 Points
Change the cost of selecting Immaterial Wings to +50 Points
A large amount of the Daemons power currently comes from the Sovereign, as such we’ve decided to reign in their royal decadence a bit by increasing the cost of some of the best upgrades they can have. Fear not foul heretics, the army has received some touch ups in other places which means we’re comfortable humbling our royal overlights just a little bit
A lot of this armies power is tied up in Sovereigns and as such we’re attempting to lift up a number of other key units in the force. To this end the Daemon Hierarch has now picked up the IC special rule, allowing you to pop it in whatever unit you like. This means you can get your Warlord Trait wherever you want it, and also gives a reason to take the Hierarch over the Sovereign. Access to Sovereign Armaments also lets Hierarchs still retain a real nasty melee punch, but using their new IC status to join units will usually slow them down quite considerably. We hope this is an interesting wargear choice for this unit.
Daemon Attendants are currently the same statline as Brutes but cost 5pm more. To make this unit a bit more interesting we've decided to increase the save on these models to a 3+ as you’d want to keep the most well armoured nightmare creatures as bodyguards. This should make the unit more attractive as a whole, both compared to Brutes and the already competitive HQ slot
Add the Furious Charge (1) and Scout Special Rules to this units profile
Daemon Beasts are currently an odd unit, with speed only just slightly higher that Bruts but with worse stats across the board for generally a comorale price. As such we’ve decided to tune them up a bit, instead of making them cheaper. These good daemon doggos now hit more and harder, as well as coming with Scout to get them into combat a lot quicker. These changes should make the choice between these two units more of an interesting decision than what it is now.
We’ve trimmed the unit tax off of the Lesser Daemons unit, as they dont have any Sgt equivalent. This should hopefully lead to more of the rank and file on the table, instead of just Sovereigns and Brutes like we see at the moment.
Add the Hit & Run, Hammer of Wrath (1) and Bulky (2) Special Rules to this units profile
Daemon Cavalry currently have one of the worst Leadership values in the army, so we’ve upped this to 7 so its now in line with that of Lesser Daemons. In addition we’ve added some cavalry rules to the unit, so it should actually function like the cavalry it looks like. These changes should give the unit more play and bring them closer in line with their expected function.
Add the Deep Strike Special Rule to this units profile
Harriers are currently quite the pricey unit for their statline, being Lesser Daemons with flight and +1Bs but -1 A. We’ve decided to revert this attack, so the Harriers now have the same offensive output as Lesser Daemons, but their slot and fixed squad size makes them generally less attractive overall.
Change the profile on this unit’s entry to have a Strength and Toughness Characteristic of 6
Add the Bulky (5) Special Rule to this units profile
Greater Beasts are currently incredibly overpriced, having an almost Brute statline but with much worse Ld for about 3 times the cost. As such we’ve increased the base stats on this model a lot, which should make it far more interesting. We’ll keep an eye on this unit to see if it needs some more attention, but this should hopefully let some of the larger non HQ gribbly monsters see some more play.
Change the profile on this unit’s entry to have a Leadership Characteristic of 8.
Another one of the non HQ big monster units that struggles a lot due to an odd statline, we’ve decided to increase the WS on this one to give it more of an identity when compared to something like the Daemon Beast. This should solidify its role as something that can duke it out with other WS5 units in the game, and even carve some dreadnoughts up as long as you survive long enough to swing your Behemoth Blade.
Add the Warp Resplendent Special Rule to this units profile.
As with the Daemon Sovereign, the Arch-Daemon pays a pittance to upgrade to wings; as such we’ve decided to increase this cost to make wings a bit less of an auto include. In addition to that we’ve added the Warp Resplendent Special Rule which ups any Templated to Hellstorm, Blast (3”) to Blast (5”) or doubles the range of anything not blast or template. This should help with the scaling of some of the Armoury upgrades which are statted for much smaller Daemons. This should hopefully help make the unga bunga smack daemon build slightly more expensive, whilst also making some of the ranged weapon options a bit more interesting
Cor’Bax is the only one of the big Daemons missing Bulky, or missing a rule which effects how many models they count as, as such we’ve elected to give them Bulky (6) so there’s some parity cross the models.
Lance
Exoshock (5+)
Daemons struggle to deal with vehicles, with only really their HQ and LoW slots having units that can do any real damage to high armoured targets. As such we’ve elected to give the Behemoth Blade some anti vehicle options to let the non HQ/LoW parts of the army shine a bit more. This should help Behemoths find a bit more of a niche in the list, as well.
The Burning of Ohmn-Mat
Cor’Bax is the only one of the big Daemons missing Bulky, or missing a rule which effects how many models they count as, as such we’ve elected to give them Bulky (6) so there’s some parity cross the models.
“Any unit entirely composed of models with the Gargantuan Unit Type may choose to ignore the Heroic Stand Special Rule, ignoring any penalties normally applied for declining a Challenge, unless the Challenge was issued by a model with the Knight, Gargantuan, Titan, Primarch, or Daemon Primarch Unit Types.”
In line with all of our other publications, the Bound Daemons book has had out pre-existing Gargantuan changes ported over to it for consistency
Liber Panoptica Missions and Game Modes:
These changes are all just updates necessitated by the expansion of options in Liber Imperatus, and should all be relatively self explanatory
A unit with any variant of the Retinue Special Rule should be generated as per any other unit, having its own Crusade Card representing the unit. Because of their requirement to be attached to a Character before the game begins, however, in order to select these units as part of an Army List, they must be assigned as per the requirements of their variant of the Retinue Special Rule. These units gain the same amount of Experience and points towards Agendas and Combat Tallies as the Character they are attached to, but generate Battle Traits and Battle Scars separately from any attached Character. In addition, they are affected by and may effect an attached Character with any Battle Traits, Battle Scars, or Relics either unit possesses.
We’ve added some much requested clarification on how Retinue units function in Crusade games, this should hopefully make running these units easier from now on!