Warmachine January 2026 update preview (Part 1)

Recap 2 – Lethality update

‘Lethality’ is a shorthand for how much effort it takes for a model or unit to destroy an equivalent enemy model or unit. 

Slowly but surely, lethality has crept up until it’s reached boiling point. It now takes very little effort to destroy enemy units, and that problem has been warping the core experience of Warmachine.

Let’s take a Brineblood Marauder Crew unit, for example. A base MAT (Melee Attack) of 6 is fairly standard for a rank-and-file combat unit like this. Combine that with Gang, however, and they’re essentially MAT 8 even before you dish out accuracy buffs. 

In addition, Dual Attack lets the Marauder Crew melee attack with Hand Weapons and follow up with ranged Heavy Pistols. The result? This six-point unit is peppering enemies with ten attacks a turn, five of which are highly accurate. 

If this crew charges any other equivalent unit in the game — Stormblade Legionnaires, Gravedigger Rangers, Liegemen Wardens, Talon Lashers, and so on — then, barring some unusual dice rolls, you’d expect the Marauder Crew to wipe out the enemy in most cases. 

This level of lethality is leading to standoffish battles where, unless your army has substantial defensive effects, such as a Horruskh or Shyryss feat, most players aren’t willing to put their models at risk of a total wipeout. 

It’s important to state we’re not making a drastic lethality change. In most places, only small tweaks were needed. MAT, RAT (Ranged Attack), or AAT (Arcane Attack) has only dropped by 1, and Dual Attack has been removed where it doesn’t make sense. Often, we’ve made no adjustments at all. 

Basically, we don’t want the Marauder Crew to charge and miss every attack. But, they should miss sometimes. And perhaps most of the time, they should leave one or two models alive when they charge. 

The Marauder Crew still have Dual Attack, they still get to make ten attacks, and their Hand Weapons have increased from POW (power) 11 to 13. But without Gang, they’ll be relying on their base MAT 6 more often, and they’re not as devastatingly accurate.

Now, suddenly, it takes more effort to destroy that enemy unit. Maybe you need to cast another buff spell, or move in a Vorogger with its Paralysing Gaze. Either way, you need to commit more forces to achieve what you’re looking to achieve. We’re keen to see how minor lethality tweaks like these play out on the table.

Warmachine will still feel like Warmachine, but with the excitement and intensity dialled right up. Instead of standoffish battles where no one wants to make a move, you’ll see more models engaged across the field, giving you even more interesting tactical and strategic decisions. 

Instead of, “what can I attack next?”, you’ll be asking, “what will I attack next?”

Redressing the balance

This part happens every year, so won’t be a surprise to the vets. For a game with as many combinations of models and abilities as Warmachine, there are always quality-of-life adjustments to be made to models who didn’t see as much table time as we’d have liked within the last year. On the flipside, some model combinations and abilities come up a little too often.

Either way, it’s time to redress the balance. To help with all this, we rely on our experience and judgement to make appropriate adjustments, as well as the incredibly valuable data provided by our playtesters to help inform our decisions. We also keep a close eye on community stats and play rates. 

Side note: shout out to the four people who seem hell-bent on keeping Skorne Exalted at the top of the win rates*.

*Don’t worry, Exalted will be handled fairly; we recognise these are the efforts of a few dedicated army fans.

Now, how about we look at some of the armies?

Cryx Necrofactorium overview

Necrofactorium is in a good place overall, giving you the authentic undead horde experience. That said, Khythos is definitely propping up the Nightmare Empire right now, so he’s been reminded to let the other warcasters shine. The Sludge Thralls and Malefactor were also getting a little too big for their points booties, so they’ve been taken down a peg.

The Necroharvester hasn’t been seeing enough action for such an intimidating engine of war, so its claws have had a base POW bump from 12 to 15. Now, it hits as hard as it looks like it should. The scrap thrall necrotechs also finally pulled it back into the workshop to give it corrosion resistance, in case any Corpse Crawlers explode nearby. Just sensible engineering, really. 

Speaking of Corpse Crawlers, now’s a good time to mention a new, global rule that’s been applied to most models created during games, as well as a few immovable models: Inconsequential. 

Inconsequential means a model can neither contest nor score objectives. No more racking up points with disposable chaff! Instead, you’ll need to contest objectives with models in a way that feels more fair to everyone. Anyway, back to Cryx.

Lich Lord Dekathus was only seeing action on special occasions against specific enemies, so we’ve given him a more well-rounded plan with a new rule: Soul Generator.

At the start of his activation, provided there are no enemy models with souls within 12”, Dekathus gains d3 soul tokens. This gives Dekathus some souls to work with against soulless armies, like Khymaera Shadowflame Shard. 

It also gives armies with souls a way to counter, by leaving at least one model with a soul within 12” of Dekathus to stop him generating free souls.

But wait, there’s more! Dekathus has gained Knowledge of the Damned. This means he can spend souls to cause attack and damage rerolls at any time, not just when using his feat! And since his feat doesn’t provide his army with rerolls anymore, it now grants friendly faction cohort models Overtake. Berserking Malefactors, anyone?

Lastly, in lieu of the spell rack, Dekathus received Ghost Walk and Deathward as his fixed spells. Probably not a huge surprise, given both were previously on the Necrofactorium spell rack.

Want another? Sure! Lethality adjustments have brought Mechanithrall Brutes’ MAT down from 7 to 6. However, they’re also a point cheaper at 7 points for a unit. Roll up, get your bargain thralls!

Cygnar Storm Legion overview

The story of Storm Legion in 2025 is a tale of two leaders: Raef Huxley and Madison Calder. These two menaces were a common pairing for Storm Legion, with the occasional showing for other ‘casters. 

We’ve rebalanced here to give more reasons for you to give the other leaders a second look. Otherwise, Storm Legion’s win rate is in a fairly good place.

Speaking of leaders, Athena di Baro’s done some soul searching. Having looked into her history with the assistance of Warmachine’s lore master, Sherwin Matthews, it turns out Athena’s a devout Morrowan, and she’s been slacking in making use of her faith on the field. Now, Athena’s learned to harness the power of religion, which any good devotee knows manifests as incredibly bright, retina-searing light. 

In place of Open Fire, Athena learned some new spells. Banishing Ward, an upkeep(able?) form of Spell Ward; Blinding Light, an offensive defense debuff that prevents enemies making ranged or arcane attacks; and a brand new spell, Hand of Morrow — a friendly upkeep spell which gives a model or units’ weapons blessed and magical attack advantages!

Athena’s devotion has also given rise to a blinding new feat, Call to Penitence. Now, enemy models in her control range will suffer -2 DEF and SPD (speed) as Morrow’s light obscures their vision. Meanwhile, friendly models get Reposition 3” under the benevolent glow of their leader’s faith.

In a less theocratic vein, Athena still has some of the most resilient warjacks in Cygnar thanks to Defense Formation, and has also picked up Resourceful to help fuel all those friendly upkeeps as long as they’re on models in her battlegroup. A great way to save focus for casting Blinding Light, if you ask me…

Will the Stormguard Legionnaires have a tough time breaking through Inviolable Resolve on Tyrus’ Shielded Eidolon? With Athena’s Hand of Morrow, that resolve won’t be so inviolable. In fact, it’ll be as though it isn’t even there.

Speaking of Stormguard Legionnaires, as Storm Legion’s resident cohort hunters, were you ever frustrated by them seeming to only be effective against ‘jacks? So were we! Which is why they’ve traded Brutal Charge and Jack Hunter for a new rule called Big Game Hunter. 

Think Jack Hunter, but instead it works against all cohorts. Now, the Legionnaires get an additional damage die whether they’re attacking warjacks, warbeasts, monstrosities, or horrors!

What? Another one? Oh, go on then. It is the holiday season, after all! The Storm Legion Sky Raider and Sky Bomber were both called back into the shop for an electrical weapons upgrade. Not impressed? Check out Ionization, which you’ll find on models like Sparkhammer, to see why this is a big deal. The possibilities are electrifying…

Khador Old Umbrey overview

Warmachine’s newest army until the Kithguard come barrelling through the trees early next year, Khador Old Umbrey have already carved their mark into Immoren. 

Their leaders are solid, their spell and ranged defense is strong, and they handily sidestep ‘on destroyed’ triggers by shapeshifting into beasts, preventing enemies from triggering Alpha Hunter, Conferred Rage, and so on. 

Immoren hadn’t fully adjusted their tech to deal with the presence of this animalistic new threat, which meant Umbrey’s win rate had been drifting too high. Now, with January’s updates, Khador’s folkloric force still has plenty of sharp teeth, but it’ll find the rest of Immoren a little tougher to chew through, and it’ll need to better protect its hide against ranged attacks. A well-placed shot in a weak spot can take down even the biggest game.

Azlanov will now be the only Umbrey warlock with Windstorm, which has been globally updated to reduce the area of effect from within 8” of the spellcaster to within 3” of the spellcaster. In exchange, it’s less expensive to cast, at cost 2 rather than 3.

The Shearlings’ Scapegoat ability no longer triggers on ranged attacks, morphing it into a melee equivalent of Shield Guard. Instead, the Ursine Shifted and Ursine Alpha are there to provide dedicated ranged defence.

Jezhana Agha, the Old Witch’s Dark Sister, went and stole Live Deliciously from the Shearlings. These capricious goats and their nomadic shepherd now cost just 4 — a bargain for keeping your lawn trimmed; your fury managed; your weapons magical; your sight, eyeless; and your melee attacks absorbed. 

Plus, Jezhana can now collect corpses from 10” away rather than 5”. Waste not, want not!

Mercenaries have gotten wind of the new army that’s shaking up the kingdoms, and a couple have made themselves available for hire: Alexia, Queen of the Damned, and Koldun Lord Damien Korovnik. Alexia’s been working on her health, too, which is now up to 8 from 5.

Returning to homegrown Umbrey, Strix has been starving for combat (and flesh). To enhance its appeal, Strix gained a new chain attack effect: Shifter. There’s a good chance Strix learned this from Bohdan Lesnoi, Apostle of the Witch, with whom he’s closely bonded.

After Strix strikes an enemy with his Claws, he can make a third attack that, if it hits, lets him be placed anywhere in base contact with the model he attacked. Need to snag that enemy leader hiding behind a colossal? Claw the colossal, leap to its far side, and say hello!

Khymaera Shadowflame Shard overview 

With no real need to feed or rest, few can slow the relentless procession of Rhyas and Saeryn’s flesh-crafted dragonkin… except us, with the January update. 

Shadowflame Shard have slithered on at a steady win rate for most the year, with a few outliers to be brought to heel. 

Having been rack 3 with access to Silence of Death and Dragon’s Blood — particularly useful for the Trikhymaerax — the loss of the rack hits Shyryss in particular. Instead, she’s received Host of Shadows (from the Shadowflame spell rack), Mirage (currently found on the House Kallyss spell rack), and Distraction (currently found on Ashlynn and Helga). Lastly, her feat no longer prevents enemy charges. Instead, it inflicts a -3 speed penalty to enemy models that charge, in keeping with her stealthy ways.

Meanwhile, that tricky ol’ Trikhymaerax had developed a bit of an attitude — not surprising, with three heads to fuel its ego — and needed quite specific tech to deal with, so we've taken it down a peg. The cost of the Negation Tail has gone up by 2, and all of its 14” ranged weapons have been reduced to 12”. 

It’s still a resilient gargantuan with Rapid Healing, but its costs are more fair, and it’ll have to rely more on that resilience to survive if it wants to shoot at you.

Two warlocks in particular have been benched a little too often: Lylyth, the Raven Vengeance, and Vallyx, Fate’s Eclipse.

Vallyx has had a more significant rebuild, so we’ll save that breakdown for another day. Suffice to say he now functions a lot more like a Talon Lasher warlock than he did — 3” melee weapons with drag, chain weapon, weapon master, and critical knockdown, anyone?

Meanwhile, with the removal of the spell rack, Lylyth is the Shadowflame Shard leader who’ll be keeping the melee-hitting power spell, Silence of Death. Lylyth also heralds the return of a spell last seen on Dominar Morghoul in legacy Skorne: Night’s Reflection, a cost 3 offensive spell that blinds enemies from 8” away. Lylyth had previously learned to cloak herself in shadows. Now, she turns those same shadows into weapons, smothering her foes in blinding darkness.

Of course, we know a key draw for bringing Lylyth to unleash Hush on the unsuspecting. Her trusty warbow no longer has Reload [2]; instead, it’s straight-up ROF (rate of fire) 3 on those nasty POW 14 shots. 

Speaking of models who’ve been hiding in the shadows for too long: Regulus, the Espionage solo of Vallyx’s Shard Nocturnes. Still cost 4, this character solo’s plan is all about getting the game-changing Espionage ability to come to fruition. Now, to facilitate that, Regulus picked up an ARM (armor) point to become ARM 13, and his Reposition 3” has stretched to Reposition 5”. 

That’s not all: if your opponent misses Regulus with any attacks against his against his respectable DEF 15 and Annoyance, he’ll escape to safety with Dodge.

Finally, Wyrmspine Cinderbacks are now more economical at cost 8 instead of 9, and they’ve also picked up Prowl. Now, when they shoot and drop those clouds on themselves, they’ll gain stealth for their efforts.

Crucible Guard overview

Crucible Guard have been re-released as part of Warmachine 3D, which means they already spent time in the lab for a recent big rules update. As many of you guessed, that update was calibrated to a power level appropriate for 2025, so the adjustments here are to bring the Guard inline with the global January changes. 

In multiple places across the game, spray attacks with 10” or 12” range have come down by 2”. This means the Antiminator sprays on the Railless Interceptor have come down from range 10” to 8”. In addition, in line with the lethality update for 2026, the Railless Interceptor no longer needs the supreme protection of a Shield bonus on its Bash attack. This +2 ARM bonus has been replaced by a Buckler granting a +1 ARM bonus instead.

Another way we’ve adjusted army-wide hit buffs has been to reduce the number of models with the Veteran Leader ability, which adds a passive 10” aura of +1 to hit for specific model types. In the case of Prospero, the specific model type was Crucible Guard warjacks. In exchange for dropping Veteran Leader, Prospero now costs just 3 points instead of 4.

Chemical Warfare set the kingdoms ablaze, and raised some eyebrows with its devastating impact on single-wound infantry through preventing continuous fire and corrosion effects from expiring. It still causes double damage from continuous effects, but it no longer prevents their expiration. Roll and pray.

Infernals overview

Infernals will soon get the re-release treatment, similar to Crucible Guard and Dark Operations. This means Infernals saw a more substantial rework as part of the January update to prepare them for their return. 

As happened with Crucible Guard and Dark Ops, some models in the 2025 Infernals Prime army will move into Legacy: Eilish Garrity the Occultist; Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor; Saxon Orrik, and Croe’s Cutthroats.

But fear not! As with the other re-released Armies of Legend, Infernals are receiving a brand new model. Teased in our debut TikTok livestream, Infernals  will indeed receive a fourth Infernal Master: Vorgoroth, Conduit of the Abyss. 

Where Zaateroth focuses on ranged defence and accuracy, Omomodos on hitting power and high armour, and Agathon on spellcasting offence and defence, Vorgoroth is the ultimate summoner. Her plan is to bury the opponent in a tide of horrors! For news on Vorgoroth (and to get the first look…), sign up to the newsletter and select ‘Warmachine’.

We’ve frequently been asked about Infernal Summoning and whether we’d be revisiting the rules around how extra horrors are created during games. No core rules have been changed in the January update, which means Summoning still works exactly as it did. 

As an army, Infernals had a strong win rate for all of 2024, which led to some power adjustments. With their win rate remaining high for 2025, we’ve come back for more.

Zaateroth, the Weaver of Shadows, your time as the Infernal Master for every situation is at an end. Zaateroth’s feat now grants a +2 bonus to DEF rather than +3. Like Windstorm, Zaateroth’s Dark Legacy aura has been reduced from 10” range to 5”. In addition, she’s swapped the Scything Touch spell for Carnivore.

This is a targeted change to put the hardest-hitting power firmly in the court of Omodamos, leaving Zaateroth to focus more on having the best ranged defence of the Infernal Masters. 

Carnivore as a spell has had global improvement, now granting +2 to attack rolls against enemies of all types, not just living models.

Meanwhile, we’d love to see a little more Agathon on the tabletop. To that end, we’ve given this spell-focused Infernal Master Field Marshal [Sacred Ward]. With it, horrors in Agathon’s battlegroup can only be targeted by friendly spells, not enemy spells. 

Finally, the iconic Infernal Gate commands some attention. The Gate of Worlds ability, which lets you spend a soul to move a friendly model 2”, is no longer capped at once per turn. Each model can still move just 2”, but you can now move as many models as you have souls to spend!

(Sea Raiders fans, take note for Oriax, the Soul Slaver...)

Thornfall Alliance overview

Stampeding into Warmachine 3D from January, Thornfall gets the same treatment as the other re-released Armies of Legend: new models, model shifts, and a rules update!

Starting with the shifts, Talon, Rover, Nomad, Mule, Alten Ashley, Gobber Tinker, Gudrun, Raluk, Viktor, Linus & Edrea will no longer be playable in Prime Thornfall army lists, but will still be playable in other Prime Armies of Legend lists.

Meanwhile, new to the Thornfall army menu, we’ve got a character warbeast, solo, and cavalry!

We previewed the character warbeast in the Lock & Load keynote, Lytiersis, whose rules release early January ahead of the big update. Arc node? More like pork node.

Next up is a brand new Valkyrie solo, Brynhildr, bringing valuable Battle Plans to the Farrow army including Desperate Pace and Stir the Blood.

Finally, we’ve got a brand new Farrow cavalry unit: the Chainbelchers. Critical Knockdown, Trash, and Improvised Harpoons? These cav fight dirty.

Of course, it only makes sense for Lord Carver, BMMD, Esq. III to step in as a Thornfall warlock — but not as you’ve previously known him. To represent Lord Carver as leader of your porcine army, you’ll use the Carver Ultimus model, now on a 40mm base and packing the Swine Ripper weapon.  

Carver Ultimus won’t be available as character solo for Thornall, but Warboar MMD47 will still be up for grabs as a character warbeast at the low, low cost of 17 points. 

Otherwise, Dr Arkadius picked up Field Marshal [Channeler] (even more pork nodes!) as well as replacing the Watcher spell with Pursuit, also seen on Lylyth, Herald of Everblight. 

The War Hog and Road Hog, coming to Warmachine 3D this month, both fattened up from ARM 18 to ARM 19, and the War Hog’s War Cleavers went from melee range 1” to range 2”. 

Ever dreamed of running 30-50 feral hogs? Well, sadly, field allowances don’t stretch that far, but you can run eight Razor Boars that have traded Brutal Charge and Unyielding for Flank [Razor Boar] and Extended Control Range.

Send that pack of Razor Boars — also coming to Warmachine 3D this month — charging up one side of the battlefield and cackle like the evil pig-wielding genius you know yourself to be!

Armies of Legend overview

With fewer balance outliers at the top end of the scale, Armies of Legend needed fewer unique changes. These armies already didn’t have spell racks, and already had lower base stats, which meant they were already closer to where lethality needs to be for 2026. Basically, we’ve avoided tinkering for tinkering’s sake, focusing on where the global updates would have a positive impact and searching for underplayed models. 

A common change you’ll see across most Armies of Legend is the removal of Veteran Leader abilities, which we’ve already touched on for Prospero in Crucible Guard. The ability is removed and the model costs 1 less in exchange. 

As for underplayed models, some have had point reductions to make them that much more enticing. For example, the Trollbloods’ Dire Troll Mauler and Skorne’s Titan Gladiator now cost just 12 and 13 points respectively. 

Elsewhere, High Allegiant Amon Ad-Raza of Protectorate of Menoth’s Temple Guardians has gone back to battlegroup school and returned with Resourceful, letting him upkeep spells on battlegroup models without spending focus. He’s also seen an improvement to his feat, Union. Previously granting 1 bonus focus to each of his warjacks, it now grants 3 focus to each instead.

Feats as powerful as Rhul Guard’s Gorten Grundback need careful handling, but, we can allow him to use it more aggressively. With his Eruption spell traded for Boundless Charge, Grundback now gains access to free and extended charges to models in his army. Gorten can also cast Boundless Charge on himself if he needs to charge further up the field before using Landslide.

For Legion of Everblight players fielding Dragon’s Host, Typhon trades Forced Reload [2] on Blight Breath for ROF 3. Such a vast improvement in offence needs to come at the cost of an extra point, taking Typhon from cost 17 to 18. Six initial attacks, though — ooft!

Steamroller 2026 spoiler

That’s all for today’s preview! You can expect Part 2 in the next couple of weeks, with an overview of the remaining Prime armies. And — sorry? Oh! Yes, we have one last thing:

Early intel on Steamroller 2026 indicates the cap on objectives has been lifted. 

What does this mean? Well, one of the new scenarios requires four flag objectives. Another scenario requires four 40mm objectives. Definitely worth bearing that in mind when you’re preparing to play with the new scenarios at the end of January!

Finally, Steamroller 2025 left solos feeling a little left out with no specific objectives to score. So, in Steamroller 2026, solos and leaders will be able to score objective terrain without needing a second model to help!