Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K: Meta Hotness – Top 5 Units of 2022
Goatboy here at the end of 2022 with Warhammer 40’s best units this year.
I know we have 2 new books really coming next year – Astra Militarum and World Eaters – so anything from them won’t be listed. I am pretty sure those Kasrkins are going to be one of those units to watch in the coming year. Instead let’s look at 5 “best” units we have currently in the game. These are things you see all the time and make up the backbone of the soul crushing lists you see ruling the tabletops.
CSM Terminators
We’ll start with something that I utilize in my own lists – the Chaos Space Marine Terminators. They make up the backbone of most competitive lists as a super anvil of doom to watch your opponent smash up against. They are tough to deal with, take up a lot of room, and can dish out some serious damage if pushed into. You mix that with a ton of powerful upgrades due to having the CORE keyword means they are on the list as one of the best things out of the CSM close combat codex of doom. I think if they had access to ICONs they would be a might too much to handle, but as is, they are one of the more unique and better options in the CSM codex.
Flying Hive Tyrant
Next up, the consistent damage dealer from the Tyranid codex is the Flying Hive Tyrant. A total pain in the butt to deal with. A powerful set of stats, amazing relics, warlord traits, psychic spells, and stratagems make this a constant threat. He flies around, punches away above its weight, and then flitters away like a pretty dancing murder girl. The Nid book has lived thru so many nerfs it’s starting to feel a little like the early days of the Dark Eldar, where each cut just showcases another layer of the Tyranid murder onion. If you are playing versus a Tyranid player, you know you will see some kind of crazy jump Hive Tyrant set up with a relic of absolute death racing towards your army. You hope you can deal with it at some point, but you know it is going to cut out a couple of layers of your flesh.
Harlequin Troupes
The third one I want to talk about is the Harlequin Troupes. Who would think a Troop choice with an Invulnerable save, fast movement, deadly close combat, good shooting, and having access to a super sweet ride would end up being super good? The army is as thin as you can be, and it really only works due to having such an efficient troop threat. You know it is good when just taking more dancers in the light is the best choice for your army. They load up on pistols like they stole them and are just ready to ruin your day as your efficient guns get worse as the illusions of dancers flit through your head.
Flamers of Tzeentch
The 4th unit that shows up a ton and is one of the newest problems on the block – Flamers of Tzeentch. The unit is holding up the Daemon codex and feels like that high school quarterback who throws for 300 yards, runs for 100, and then plays defense on the other side of the ball. These guys are pretty dang amazing. They are cheap, throw out a decent amount of damage, and are hard to chew thru. Thankfully they are not too good in combat so getting into them just has them rely on having 3 wounds to survive your flurry of close combat punches. Thankfully for the Daemons, they have a ton of better close-combat friends. So while those poor little Flamers are stuck fending for their lives, their good ole buddy Bloodthirster can dragon punch their way to freedom.
Sisters Repentia
The 5th one is another amazing unit from the Sisters of Battle. I would almost say their Secondaries are the real star of the book – but that isn’t a unit I can talk about. Instead, it’s the Sisters Repentia that always punch way above their weight with a plethora of stacked auras, stratagems, and abilities to make an enemy squirm. They are the reason why my Terminators have Heavy Flamers as a charge from these angry ladies really put the hurt on any unit they get mixed in with. Those chainsaws go brrrrrr and quickly take your life as you sob quietly and pray your dice come up 6’s for your saves. Being able to fight on death is a huge ability. Combine that with a high damage potential means you can get there and get to work.
Honorable Mentions
There are a ton of other units out there that are pretty decent. The Votann are starting to show up, and I am sure their units are scary as heck too. The Dark Eldar still have some gas, even though a lot of players have moved on due to just seeing a new hotness to work on. It is really too bad not to see a true Marine unit up there – but that book needs a lot of work to get going. I would also point at some Ork stuff too, but the real “best-of” unit would be Ghaz.
What units do you think should show up in a top 5? I almost went with a Wardog for Chaos Knights. But that is less of a choice when your book really only has 3 choices with different gun options. Until next time and next year – keep rolling them 6’s.
