Has the Balance Arrived Already? : Warhammer 40k Tournament Results

by | Sep 17, 2023

Over the past weekend, 4 major Warhammer 40K events took place, with a minimum of 26 players participating in each event. The process of determining the top three players is based on their win records and total battle points, rather than the strength of their schedule. Throughout the weekend, a total of 27 Warhammer 40K 10th edition lists were featured, representing 18 distinct factions. Now armed with a large sample of events and tons of results, we can see that the balance update may have, at the very least, given hope to a ton of factions that had none just a week ago. While Aeldari still sits on top, it certainly now has a ton of competition with some of the best parity numbers we haven’t seen since 9th edition.

Torneo Nacional:  Top 3 – 55 Players 

Luis German Giles 1st Place Torneo Nacional 2023 – Thousand Sons – Chaos Daemons

  • Record: 6-0
  • Total Battle Points: 507

Xavier Barrera 2nd Place Torneo Nacional 2023 – Aeldari 

  • Record: 5-1
  • Total Battle Points: 517

Damian Flores Díaz 3rd Place Torneo Nacional 2023 – Aeldari – Drukhari

  • Record: 5-1
  • Total Battle Points: 481

Showdown at Frogtown: Top 3 – 26 Players 

Thomas Ogden 1st Place Showdown at Frogtown 2023 – T’au Empire

  • Record: 5-0
  • Total Battle Points: 446

Manik Gudimani 2nd Place Showdown at Frogtown 2023 – Tyranids

  • Record: 5-0
  • Total Battle Points: 428

Garrett Stacy 3rd Place Showdown at Frogtown 2023 – Death Guard – Chaos Daemons

  • Record: 4-1-0
  • Total Battle Points: 324

Iberian Open Replay La Marca d’Egara: Top 3 – 40 Players 

Roger Boira 1st Place Iberian Open Replay La Marca d’Egara 2023 – T’au Empire

  • Record: 5-0
  • Total Battle Points: 426

OuX ™ 2nd Place Iberian Open Replay La Marca d’Egara 2023 – Imperial Knights

  • Record: 4-1
  • Total Battle Points: 431

Nymerio Stark 2nd Place Iberian Open Replay La Marca d’Egara 2023 – Space Wolves

  • Record: 4-1
  • Total Battle Points: 426

Throne of Skulls: Top 3 – 79 Players

Piotr Hirnle 1st Place Throne of Skulls 2023 – Deathwatch

  • Record: 5-0
  • Total Battle Points: 446

Alec Courtney 2nd Place Throne of Skulls 2023 – Astra Militarum

  • Record: 5-0
  • Total Battle Points: 428

Riccardo Milella 3rd Place Throne of Skulls 2023 – Death Guard – Chaos Knights

  • Record: 4-1-0
  • Total Battle Points: 324

Lakes of Blood: Top 3 – 41 Players 

Hamish Reeve 1st Place Lakes of Blood 2023 – Chaos Knights – Chaos Daemons

  • Record: 4-1-0
  • Total Battle Points: 448

Haydn Korach 2nd Place Lakes of Blood 2023 – Aeldari

  • Record: 4-1-0
  • Total Battle Points: 429

Joshuah Megchelse 2nd Place Lakes of Blood 2023 – Imperial Knights

  • Record: 4-1
  • Total Battle Points: 454

War for the Forge GT: Top 3 – 30 Players

Larry Paladin 1st Place War for the Forge GT 2023 – Dark Angels

  • Record: 5-0
  • Total Battle Points: 362

Shawn Bair 2nd Place War for the Forge GT 2023 – Adepta Sororitas

  • Record: 4-1
  • Total Battle Points: 383

Jimmy Stoker 3rd Place War for the Forge GT 2023 – Leagues of Votann

  • Record: 4-1
  • Total Battle Points: 383

Fields of Damnation: Top 3 – 51 Players 

Morgan Smerek 1st Place Fields of Damnation 2023 – Adeptus Astartes

  • Record: 5-0
  • Total Battle Points: 410

Adam Green 2nd Place Fields of Damnation 2023 – Adeptus Astartes

  • Record: 4-1-0
  • Total Battle Points: 435

Orion Croteau 3rd Place Fields of Damnation 2023 – Space Wolves

  • Record: 4-1
  • Total Battle Points: 457

No Surrender: Top 3 – 30 Players

Vinnie Purcell 1st Place No Surrender 2023 – Chaos Space Marines

  • Record: 5-0
  • Total Battle Points: 362

John McLachlan 2nd Place No Surrender 2023 – Tyranids

  • Record: 4-1
  • Total Battle Points: 426

Alex Towse 3rd Place No Surrender 2023 – Chaos Knights

  • Record: 4-1
  • Total Battle Points: 393

Ratcon: Top 3 – 89 Players 

Rhys Cunningham 1st Place Ratcon 2023 – Drukhari

  • Record: 5-0
  • Total Battle Points: 464

Boyd Morrall 2nd Place Ratcon 2023 – Grey Knights

  • Record: 5-0
  • Total Battle Points: 435

Christian Pearse 3rd Place Ratcon 2023 – Thousand Sons – Chaos Daemons

  • Record: 4-1
  • Total Battle Points: 457

Army Breakdown (27 Lists, 6 with Allies) 

 Army Faction1st Places2nd Places3rd PlacesTotal Placings
1Chaos Daemons2024
2Chaos Knights1023
3Aeldari0213
4Thousand Sons1012
5Drukhari1012
6Death Guard0022
7Tyranids0202
8Adeptus Astartes1102
9T’au Empire2002
10Imperial Knights0112
11Space Wolves0022
12Grey Knights0101
13Deathwatch1001
14Astra Militarum0101
15Adepta Sororitas0101
16Chaos Space Marines1001
17Leagues of Votann0011
18Dark Angels1001

At the very least, the Balance Update has done a great job of pushing many armies up the ladder, giving opportunities to so many of them. As the meta settles down, we will certainly see some level of homogeneity form while players experiment. The biggest surprise, though, from the week, is seeing Chaos Knights doing well either as an add-on or going solo!