Warhammer 40K: What Mini-Detachments Mean for You!
Goatboy here to talk about how mini-detachments, and how they should shake out on the tabletop.
Goatboy here and as we continue to inch every closer to 40K 11th Edition, we are getting a lot more information. The big discussions have been on how armies are changing but what excites me the most is the return of customized army builds. I know that at one point the older editions had the ability to make custom Marine Chapters and all these new ones give me the same vibes.
Mix & Match Detachments
Now this isn’t to say it is a direct copy previous edition rules, but being able to take another Detachment to get a few extra rules for specific units and some cool upgrades really feels like the old days of creating a unique set of chapter rules. I do think will end up with armies that still feel solved in a little while but that is always the case in a game where every rule and interaction does not match the same power level. I just like the idea that we can slap on a few extra rules and create something a bit more unique.
I do worry the detachments will end up being too heavily focused on some units that might have been updated and gotten overpowered. You could see this with a Daemon Engine mini detachment and the new Defilers – The World Eaters‘ Brazen Engines. If you mix something powerful given to all the possessed engines of war and the newest one that is tuned to be too awesome – well it just makes the whole army too good. We’ll just have to wait and see.
I think the detachments are really going to depend on a few factors on if we really see them used. The first one is if the “best” original codex detachment is a 2 or a 3 in cost. If they are a 2 and the things in it are already good and adding a simple one just makes it better – well then that specific detachment will always be taken. If you army has an amazing option but it is a 3 cost option then will probably never see any of the new mini ones chosen (cough cough – Gladius… Starshatter).
Mini Detachments Enhancements & Stratagems
I do look how the enhancements on the mini detachments appear to be unit upgrades – which is a great way to get those extra points utilized in your army. It also lets armies be a bit smaller which is a good thing for your wallet and paint time. I still think will see the game go hard into an MSU style of play but not needing as much to be competitive will be a cool thing.
The other crazy thing is adding in more Stratagems is cool – but we are still limited by our CP pool. This means those armies that can easily get an extra one per turn will be powerful in the sense of utilizing more options to wreck you. They of course need to have good units that can utilize the extra little detachment as well as whatever “trick” you get to play on the enemy. It is going to be a wild time trying to think about all the combos you can do and if you can even do them more than once in a game.
Mini Detachments – What To Look Out For
I think the detachments that will end up being the best are the ones that don’t need to spend a resource to activate and just always works. It is why the reroll 1’s on a lot of default army options are just too good. It always works and it is always useful. The ability to have something never get turned off is just too good and too consistent to pass up for a lot of armies. Our games only last till turn 5 (maybe turn 3 now if things look as deadly as they feel). You only have so much time to implement your grand strategy on the enemy.
I wonder if will see all the “good” codex detachments sit at 3. I don’t know if they should but if they are always used all the time then it might force players to shift how they build their armies. I don’t think the Berserker Warband is nearly as good as the Gladius is but that one is the solved option for World Eaters right now. We do know Pactbound for CSM will most likely be a 3 but Creations of Bile is very strong too? If Gladius goes to a 3 but Blades of Ultramar stays at a 2 you would see most blue marines (or those that pretend to be blue marines) shifting to that choice to get access to a mini detachment and its extra rules.
It’s about to be a whole new (Mini-Detachment) world out there on the tabletop!
