This past week saw the release of the first Balance Dataslate of 2026 for Warhammer 40K and probably the last one of 10th edition. This Balance Dataslate wasn’t exactly earth shattering and quite honestly, while most fans were left thinking “this wasn’t enough” I think it’s probably just the right amount of fine tuning we need for an edition that is most certainly entering its twilight phase. As the sun begins to set on Warhammer 40K 10th edition, I present to you the Grimhammer Tactics Faction Tier List for 40K for 2026. So, let’s get into it.
Warhammer 40K Faction Tier List: A-Tier Factions
I want to preface this simply by saying that currently I do not believe that there are any factions in 40K that are sitting in an “S-tier” category. Which is to say, that is a good thing especially as we get ready to close out 10th edition with a new edition most certainly coming this summer. All the faction codexes are out, the game is in a pretty great state from a balance standpoint. That said, there are definitely some factions that are setup to land in the A-tier category.
Thousand Sons – Thousand Sons have certainly had their ups and downs in 10th edition and have, at times, been a fairly difficult faction to balance, notably because of their Cabalistic Rituals ability. Thousand Sons were already seeing a large degree of success in events recently and having received no real changes to speak of in the Q1 2026 Balance Dataslate, are set in a really good position moving forward to being a more highly represented top-table threat. The most popular build coming in the form of a Magnus-centered Grand Coven build.
Necrons – Necrons have seen the highest win rate of any faction since the update to the C’tans datasheets giving them almost Daemon Primarch statlines. The Balance Dataslate saw them take an increase in points with the C’tans as well as their “upgrades” in the Pantheon of Woe detachment. While I think this was certainly a good step in the right direction, it didn’t outright cut their legs out from under them, which is a good thing. Necrons are still poised to be very good moving into the latter days of 10th edition and will still most certainly remain an A-tier faction with more builds probably leaning into the Cursed Legion with maybe 1 or 2 C’tans instead of 3-5 of them.
Space Marines – Space Marines, and by that I mean Ultramarines, are poised to remain an A-tier faction moving forward. The Marneus Calgar Gravis armored version with his 2 Victrix Bodyguard bros looks to have disappeared entirely from the Munitorum Field Manual, while still remaining in the app. It is likely that version of Calgar is going away to be replaced by his standalone model in terminator armor. Wardens of Ultramar saw a point increase along with some of the factions other biggest offenders such as Repulsor Executioners and Redemptor Dreadnoughts. That being said, they did not lose the +1 to wound the Oath of Moment target, and still have some great units to choose from for their builds. Space Marines are in a perfectly good spot moving on to the end of the edition.
Deathwatch – Deathwatch players have quietly been performing well for some time now with their Black Spear Task Force detachment. They received no updates in the Q1 2026 Balance Dataslate and seem to remain poised for success for the remainder of the edition being one of the more formidable versions of Space Marines. With Indomitor and Fortis Kill Teams and Deathwatch Veterans leading the way, it appears the men in black are well positioned for late 10th edition success.
T’au Empire – T’au have already been doing well in the top ends of the meta. Simply look back on several of my Meta Monday articles and you’ll see multiple T’au armies having success in the largest events. With a points drop on Stealth suits and the introduction of the new Twin Lance, it looks like T’au are going to be a big contender for the rest of 10th edition.
Chaos Space Marines – CSM are in a solid spot with the release of the new Red Corsairs units and the Renegade Warband and Huron’s Marauders Detachments. Renegade Warband took a bit of a hit losing the ability to include units like Noise Marines and Rubrics, and the change to their Weaponised Hatred Enhancement now requiring line of sight from the bearer to pick a new “Oath” target (albeit at a much discounted price point), this is still a faction with a decent suite of datasheets to choose from and even moreso now with the inclusion of Huron and his Masters of the Maelstrom unit. I expect CSM to be in a very good position moving forward and certainly an A-tier faction heading into 2026.
Warhammer 40K Faction Tier List: B-Tier Factions
Most of the factions in 40K will sit pretty firmly in the B and C-tiers as to be expected. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are bad, but will perform more closer to average than their A-tier counterparts with a 46-50% win rate usually. That is not to say that players can’t or won’t win events with them from time to time. That’s sort of the wonderful thing about where we are now is that even armies that aren’t considered “top factions” can still perform well enough to pull down great finishes and even some event wins along the way. I don’t think we will see these factions consistently in the top ends of events, but will sometimes pop in there.
I’m not going to speak on every faction present here as most of them didn’t really get any major changes from the Q1 2026 Balance Dataslate, but I will highlight some of those that did and how that might impact their current ranking in the tiers.
Blood Angels – Blood Angels have been performing about average for quite some time now floating just around the 50% win rate area and have notched an event win here and there. While they might have been closer to C-tier before, they received a nice boost with the Sanguinary Priest now being able to lead Bladeguard Veterans, something that was noticeably absent for all of 10th edition as this was really the only unit you’d ever WANT the Sanguinary Priest to be leading anyway. Well, Blood Angels players may rejoice, if only for a few months with their 5+ Feel No Pain Bladeguard Vets tossing around nasty attacks at AP -3. It’s probably enough of a boost for them to bump them up into upper B-tier and an argument could be made certainly for A-tier as well. It’s a pretty massive shift for the faction really.
Astra Militarum – This was the only army I actually thought was “S-tier” upon release of Grizzled Company initially. I feel somewhat vindicated in that regard as they went on to win a multitude of major events in the wake of that release, however shortly prior to the Q1 2026 Balance Dataslate they received a pretty significant nerf losing the re-roll Wound rolls of 1 against enemy units on objectives. This has certainly had a major impact on their power level and has dropped them noticeably from contending at the higher ends of events. Funny how one simple change can have such a massive impact. And it should also be noted that Rogal Dorn tanks also saw a point increase in the Balance Dataslate update as well. That said, I do still think Astra Militarum are very good and sit now in the B-tier category. Certainly capable of having a large amount of success, but maybe overshadowed by Necrons, Space Marines and now T’au.
Adeptus Custodes – Some may disagree with my placement of Custodes in the B-tier. Custodian Guard went back up in points as did Inquisitor Draxus in Imperial Agents, a Character that had become a staple in many Custodes builds. The real offender in all of this was the Venerable Land Raider as the most notably successful Custodes builds were those running 2-3 Land Raiders in the Talons Detachment to do a full reactive move and re-embark on the opponent’s turn. The Land Raiders did not see a point increase, so the change to points for Custodian Guard unit really only hurt those players not using this strategy. But, when you hit a faction like Custodes with multiple 10+ points increases it adds up very quickly in such an elite army. I think it’s safe to say that they sit very comfortably as a B-tier faction now.
Chaos Daemons – After briefly seeing a massive surge with points changes to the Lord of Change and Fateweaver, Scintillating Legion was having a large amount of success, particularly in teams builds. All of those units went up in points again in the Q1 2026 Balance Dataslate and this change probably is enough to drop them out of A-tier and back down to B-tier moving forward.
Other B-tier Factions – Leagues of Votann, Adeptus Sororitas, Orks, and Genestealer Cults all poised to do slightly better than before with some natural predators still out there however. These factions round out the B-tier.
Warhammer 40K Faction Tier List: C-Tier Factions
There’s not a lot to say here about the armies sitting in the C-tier. Most of them were already here really having pretty bad-to-average win rates before with no real significant changes to them in the Q1 2026 Balance Dataslate. The fact that this Balance Dataslate didn’t see a ton of moves except really in the very upper problematic areas, leaves most of these factions pretty much where they were before which is to say middle of the road. While some of them did see some points drops here and there, most of them were on units that aren’t really going to move the needle all that much for their factions.
C-tier Factions – Grey Knights, Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Black Templars, Chaos Knights, Imperial Knights, Tyranids, Drukhari, and Emperor’s Children
Warhammer 40K Faction Tier List: D-Tier Factions
These factions were really struggling before the Q1 2026 Balance Dataslate boasting noticeably sub-50% win rates and really had no impactful changes to boost them up. Death Guard, for example, terrorized the top tables for several months before finally being reigned in and saw their win rate plummet as a result. They got no changes at all in the Q1 2026 Balance Dataslate and likely are essentially where they are. Aeldari is another example. After wreaking havoc on 10th for most of the edition, they were finally neutered to the point that only the highest level skilled players could really get much out of them. They saw a random point increase to Asurmen (who wasn’t even being taken to begin with really) but did see some points drops to some of their Wraith Construct units, although these datasheets are largely viewed as not very good anyway and thus won’t likely be enough to push them up to a higher win rate.
D-tier Factions – Adeptus Mechanicus, Death Guard, World Eaters, Aeldari
Warhammer 40K Faction Tier List: E-Tier Factions
Imperial Agents. That’s really all there is to say here. They have been, and still remain, the worst faction in Warhammer 40K and doesn’t appear that GW is interested in changing that as the edition begins to sunset.
Final Thoughts
The Q1 2026 Balance Dataslate has come and the factions seems to be set for what remains of the life cycle of the edition, or so it seems. GW is adding some new units in sort of a 3rd wave of faction releases with things like Red Corsairs for CSM, Twin Lance for T’au and minor unit additions like the new Tyranid Prime for Tyranids and the new Berserker character for Leagues of Votann. The worst offenders of high win rates (Necrons and Space Marines along with Astra Militarum) have been reigned in a bit, but still have the tools to perform at a very high level. Now we enter this lull period where we wait for the news of the release of 11th edition for 40K which is likely coming soon at Adepticon 2026 if I had to place a wager. We will see.
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