New Warhammer 40K changes fix one of the game's most unfair rules

The Warhammer 40K rules have been given another massive shakeup, and some loopholes that were being exploited in 10th Edition have been closed. 

The biggest alteration is levelled at the 'Devastating Wounds.' Now it doesn't cause mortal wounds (e.g. wounds spilling over to other models in a unit) if you get a 'Critical Wound,' AKA a six on your to-wound roll. That's a seismic change so far as Warhammer 40K rules go; back when the 10th Edition launched a few months ago, it allowed certain units to pinball massive damage across a squad just because they rolled a six, potentially wiping out a handful of miniatures at once. Few benefitted from this more than the Aeldari, and they became infamous in the community for becoming wildly overpowered overnight (it's something we brought up in our Warhammer 40K 10th Edition first impressions piece, actually). Now they should be reigned in a little, and as noted in the announcement itself, "You cannot now shoot an infantry unit with an anti-tank weapon and expect to wipe out the whole squad in one hit because you rolled a 6."

Combined with Overwatch stratagem revisions and a change to the 'Towering' keyword that allows units to hide from them, this will make the likes of Aeldari Wraithknights less overwhelmingly deadly.

However, that doesn't mean you should abandon plans to field the space elves. Because core rules are changing rather than the army itself, they'll still be powerful but are no longer able to take advantage of unfair loopholes (something anyone who plays against them on the regular will appreciate).

Judging by social media, the response to this particular tweak has been positive on the whole. The Reddit thread discussing it all is generally in favor of the move, with comments from many users pointing out that it brings anti-vehicle weapons back in line with their original function - laying the smack on tanks, not infantry. 

Similarly, the Overwatch Stratagem has been tweaked too. Now, you must have line of sight to activate it, and 'Titanic' models aren't able to make use of it at all. 

Still, not all the changes were so popular. Point updates were rolled out for many units across army ranges, and that includes Tyranids. In other words, the upcoming Tyranid Codex has already been outdated so far as points costs go, and consternation at this isn't hard to find in responses to the Warhammer Twitter post revealing those changes.

Fortunately, it's not a loss-loss for Tyranid players. I asked our own Guides Writer Will Sawyer - GamesRadar's resident 'Nid-liker - what he thought about the rules drop, and he noted that the 'Insane Bravery' stratagem is now able to be used once per battle, helping Tyranids because their battle-shock abilities like Shadow in the Warp should be much more reliable.

You can see all the changes for yourself here.

For recommendations on what you should play when not painting or gaming with Warhammer, check out our guide to the best board games or these board games for adults. As for where you should start with the wargaming hobby, we've got advice on the best Warhammer 40K starter sets.