Warcasters and warlocks, the day has arrived! The mid-year update we’ve been threatening promising just released in the Warmachine app.
But before you all run off to update, stick around!
Why? Because our lovely gameplay team have put together an article just for you, explaining the whats, whys, and wherefores of every change. You wouldn’t want to make them sad, would you?
What is the Mid-Year Update?
(Skip this part if you know already)
Warmachine gets a big annual balance update every January. This year's update was ambitious (to say the least) and much needed. The response has been genuinely positive around enhanced gameplay, reduced lethality, and increased back-and-forth play.
Even with the copious testing we did before release (with the help of our wonderful playtesters), when introducing a change this big, it's no surprise some models need a little tweaking that can't wait until next January.
So, this year, we're deploying a mid-year update with some targeted fixes to further fine-tune the balance and keep Warmachine in a fantastic place.
First announced in our Preview stream at Lock & Load EU, this is a small, focused pass, not a game-wide overhaul ("a little tickle", as Warmachine's Creative Director, Mat Hart, put it in the Preview).
Mat, Jamie Perkins, and the gameplay team have spent a lot of time talking with playtesters, creators, and community members to make sure we're tweaking the right things, and we're confident these adjustments will redress the balance without disrupting everything that's working well.
In short:
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One annual update to Warmachine is frequent enough to keep the game fresh and interesting, but not so frequent players can’t keep up
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We reserve the right to break glass on the “off-schedule update” box where we feel there’s a need, this being the first time we’ve done it
To be super clear, this is not a change to Warmachine’s annual update schedule. We very much intend for this to be a one-off, and to continue with the annual January update as normal.
Now, on to the actual update!
What are we trying to achieve?
As with the January update, we set overall goals. Each model’s changes must be in service of at least one of these goals.
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Models included in this update will help adjust the overall win rate and play rate of their army as a whole
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Models included in this update will be redeveloped into a more fun play experience
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Models included in this update will help to curb the perceived dominance of ranged combat
We also set guidelines to help us achieve those goals:
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Models included in this update will mostly consist of reductions in power (nerfs), with a smaller number of improvements in power (buffs)
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Each model included in this update must justify its inclusion as a “meta outlier” through one of the following criteria:
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The model is not fun to play against
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The model is outside the barriers of acceptable win rates (high or low)
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The model is outside the barriers of acceptable play rates (high or low)
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Models included in this update must be as few in number as possible while achieving the other goals
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Models included in this update must receive as few individual changes as possible while achieving the other goals
What does this all mean?
Well, it means we want to introduce small, targeted changes to key outlier models. We’ve changed only the models we feel really need to be changed right now, and nothing more. This isn’t a full January update. This is, in video game language, a patch.
To reassure folks, our intention is not to remove powerful models from the game, nor to supercharge weak models into the stratosphere. The aim is always to adjust outlier models to help their win rates move closer to 50% and for play rates to be less concentrated around specific leaders.
One last note regarding statistics:
We do review the win rates and play rates of models as shown on Longshanks. However, this is only one aspect of data we review to inform changes.
The Warmachine team remains committed to regularly playing games at clubs, events, and on our own kitchen tables. Between our own experiences, the incredibly valuable feedback of our playtesters, and available public data, we strive to be as well-equipped as possible to make judgement calls for the good of Warmachine.
What’s changed?
Cryx Necrofactorium
Mortenebra Perfected
Mortenebra Perfected finds herself in the unfortunate position of having the lowest win rate, and one of the lowest play rates, in Cryx Necrofactorium. The good news is that means she’s a good candidate for seeing improvements.
Mortenebra has the hallmarks of a good battlegroup-focused warcaster, particularly in her spells. Where she’s let down is mostly to do with her feat. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is vulnerable to “removed from play” effects that prevent it from working, and the model she returns isn’t capable of making attacks the turn it appears.
We’ve changed the placement rules on her feat from completely within 3” to just within 3”, allowing the returned warjack to be positioned more aggressively. We’ve also allowed the returned warjack to choose whether to forfeit its Normal Movement or its Combat Action.
This means Mortenebra could charge up the table, place her returned warjack 3” ahead of her, any close by Necrosurgeon Initiates can give the returned warjack focus points with Empower. Then the warjack could activate and forfeit its movement to attack anything close enough. If you can put that warjack at the end of a Synergy chain, that’s quite dangerous for your opponent!
Mechanithrall Swarm
The Mechanithrall Swarm is a mainstay unit of the Necrofactorium army. Or, rather, it should be.
Most of the time, this unit is relegated to serving as ranged defence thanks to the Skarlock Lieutenant granting nearby Mechanithralls Shield Guard. The other main use of the Mechanithrall Swarm is the bonus unit Sepsira receives as her feat effect, Graveyard Shift, serving as a powerful instant strike with a long charge range.
We’d love to see Mechanithrall Swarms used more as, well, swarms. Necrofactorium should be able to field multiple Mechanithrall units to bury opponents in cheap infantry that can be a real threat through numbers, when the Necrofactorium warcaster has weakened enemies through spell effects, or both. Part of the problem is, because Mechanithrall Swarm units are limited to 5 models, it’s relatively simple to wipe out whole units at a time, preventing them from reappearing via strong recursive mechanics like Grim Returns on Necrosurgeon Initiates.
To help these issues, we’ve done a few things. Firstly, Sepsira no longer has Elite Cadre [Mechanithrall Swarm] granting Combo Strike. That’s because all Mechanithrall Swarms now have innate Combo Strike regardless of which warcaster you use them with. They hit hard all the time.
Secondly, Mechanithrall Swarms will receive a new Command Attachment later this year, the Mechanithrall Swarm Warden.
Mechanithrall Swarm Warden (New Release)
The redevelopment of Mechanithrall Swarms inspired the creation of the Mechanithrall Swarm Warden, a Command Attachment for Mechanithrall Swarms. The Swarm Warden will be a new model released for Cryx Necrofactorium toward the end of July 2026.
The Swarm Warden is still in development but we can give you a sneak peek at its intended role. The Swarm Warden will have similar abilities to other Mechanithrall Swarm models, including Vengeance. Because they’re a “swarm” model, they’ll also gain Shield Guard while close to a Skarlock Lieutenant.
The Swarm Warden Command Attachment will be more resilient than regular Mechanithralls, with a new rule called Corpulent Flesh. When an AOE attack directly hits the Swarm Warden, you don’t resolve any blast damage rolls, meaning nearby Mechanithrall Swarm models will be more protected from AOE weapons.
Cygnar Gravediggers
Major Allister Caine
(Changes duplicated within Cygnar Storm Legion)
Major Allister Caine's inclusion may surprise some, but not others. The raw win rate stats for Caine don’t scream that he needs a power adjustment. However, because most of the power adjustments for leaders in this update are concerned with those with a powerful ranged game, that necessitates a closer look at Caine.
Caine isn’t necessarily dominating the meta game. But if Caine is left unchanged while most of his competition sees adjustments, he could become too powerful. So, we’re anticipating and adjusting accordingly.
Caine’s answer to stealth is a little too powerful, so he no longer has Mage Sight. Instead, Caine has a new spell called Arcane Sight. Arcane Sight costs 1 focus, lasts for one round, and grants Caine True Sight. Caine personally can see through clouds and ignore stealth, but he can no longer extend that benefit to other models in his army.
Captain Cynthia Rosko
Captain Cynthia 'Cyn' Rosko’s inclusion is similar to Mortenebra’s. She’s a Gravediggers warcaster with a poor win rate and play rate that we’d like to see improve.
You wouldn’t know it from Cyn’s locked changes, but we originally planned for her to receive Mage Sight as an improvement to Second Sight. However, during testing we realised we were re-creating the same concern we had with Caine. Instead, we took a different route that still makes Cyn a stronger model.
Cynthia has lost Arcane Precision but retained Second Sight, so can use that on herself to ignore clouds and stealth. She’s also gained some new skills.
Firstly, Witch Hammer now has Reload [1], so Cyn can buy an extra shot of her gun every turn. Cyn’s feat, Firefight, no longer grants Cyn herself an extra shot, just her warjacks. This makes sense given she just gained Reload [1].
The biggest change, however, is Cyn gaining a new ability, Augmented Munitions. Augmented Munitions affects Cyn and the warjacks in her battlegroup when they use an Ammo Crate to gain +2 POW. When Cyn or one of her warjacks uses an Ammo Crate, they also gain +2 RAT for that attack.
Cygnar Storm Legion
Stryker Heavy Warjack
Cygnar Storm Legion have been struggling across the board. Giving them a helping hand requires more than just tweaking a warcaster or two. For an army with so much warjack support, it’s about time those warjacks were effective again.
Cygnar is one of the most technologically advanced civilisations in Western Immoren. So, we’re making the Stryker more difficult to destroy. Not by increasing its ARM, but by increasing its chassis DEF from 12 to 13 — a rarity for heavy warjacks, let alone non-character ones.
Additionally, two of its melee weapons have had POW increases. The Voltaic Halberd has increased from POW 17 to POW 18, and the Voltaic Hammer has increased from POW 18 to POW 19. Bring the thunder.
Courser Light Warjack
On to the Courser! The other side of the Storm Legion warjack coin, of sorts.
We’ve made a similar change here. The base DEF of the chassis has increased from 13 to 14, making the Courser more difficult to destroy. This meant we had to increase the Dodge head cost from 1 to 2, because Dodge on a base DEF 14 warjack is, to put it mildly, rather good.
We’ve made a few other adjustments for combat effectiveness. The Stormthrower has reduced in cost from 3 to 2. The Voltaic Broadsword increased in POW from 12 to 13, and the Voltaic Spear increased in POW from 12 to 13.
Dusk House Kallyss
Hellyth, Scyir of Nightfall
Hellyth, Scyir of Nightfall isn’t on the Dusk list because she’s too powerful. She’s on this list because playing against her isn’t as fun as it could be. So, we’ve adjusted her playstyle.
In powerscale terms, this is what’s called a “sidegrade”. Hellyth’s different, but her power level shouldn’t be affected.
The issue was mainly caused by Fire Group. This spell pushed the distance of the ranged attacks in her battlegroup to just outside the reach of most retaliation. This meant Hellyth’s army could too often attack the opponent, leaving opponents with little to no way of engaging in return.
Hellyth no longer has Fire Group. Instead:
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Her personal Magelock Pistols have increased from range 10 to 12
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She’s gained the Force Aura spell. Force Aura is identical to the animus belonging to Khymaera’s Trikhymaerax, providing a friendly model/unit with Force Barrier for one round
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We’ve tweaked her feat, Blessings of the Void. This feat now grants its +2 ARM bonus to all friendly faction models, not just warrior models.
Overall, this means Hellyth’s army needs to play closer to the opponent to deal damage, but she now has extra tools to keep her army alive at those distances.
Khador Old Umbrey
Kapitan Yana Kovoskiy
(Changes duplicated in Khador Winter Korps)
Old Umbrey have one of the highest win rates in the game, so it’s probably no huge surprise they’re getting some mild power adjustments. Of their leaders, Kapitan Yana Kovoskiy has high play and win rates combined.
We’ve partially reverted her feat, Path of Destruction, to grant Cleave rather than an additional melee attack. Additionally, it functions as an aura rather than a pulse. This means friendly models only benefit while they’re within her control range, and they lose the effects if they leave it.
Lastly, we’ve included a small gift for Khador Winter Korps players, who Yana also plays for, and where her win rate actually needs some help. For Winter Korps we’ve added a new rule called Imbued Wrath. Warjacks in Yana’s battlegroup can gain up to 4 focus instead of 3.
Bohdan Lesnoi, Apostle of the Witch
Bohdan Lesnoi, Apostle of the Witch has a lower play rate but an even higher win rate than Yana, meaning he, too, needs some adjustments.
The combination of Befuddle, with a very high AAT rating, improved further by Incite, Befuddle can be channeled, increased in range with Craft Talisman, and ignore line of sight blocking elements thanks to Birds Eye. It can even be cast by Primeval Heavy Warbeasts with Geomancy. Basically, dragging enemy models out of position, or even into Incite ranges, is very powerful.
Befuddle has been replaced by a new spell, Winged Nuisance. Winged Nuisance is similar to Befuddle but has 2 less inches of range. Instead of forcing the target model to advance 3”, it places them completely within 2”.
Next up, Inviolable Resolve was pushing Bohdan’s defensive game a little over the top. The ARM bonus from Inviolable Resolve wasn’t as much of a problem as the immunity to crowd control effects like pushes, slams, and knockdowns it grants.
Inviolable Resolve has been replaced by a new spell named Sacrilegious Fervor, which targets friendly warrior models. Sacrilegious Fervor grants those models +2 ARM and means Bohdan can gain 1 fury point each time an affected model is destroyed.
Khador Winter Korps
Kommander Valerii Savaryn
Winter Korps have had some struggles, too. Unlike Storm Legion, their warjacks are generally solid, so we’ve made adjustments to certain leader models such as Kommander Valerii Savaryn.
Savaryn has a lot of powerful tools, but not quite enough resources to make use of them. He’s gained a new ability called Arcane Authority. Savaryn can now upkeep spells on warrior models without spending focus.
Kapitan Zahara Vilkul
Kapitan Zahara Vilkul was a regular feature in Winter Korps armies in 2025 but has dropped off in 2026. The tweaks to Vilkul are intended to give her a little more to do turn over turn while she waits for her opportunity to dart forward and threaten assassination.
Vilkul’s Thrown Axe has gained Reload [1] and Weapon Master. She hits harder with it, and can throw it twice.
We’ve also given her a unique version of Alchemical Mask that lets her ignore all forms of concealment, not just those caused by cloud effects. This mainly means she can ignore the concealment granted by her own spell, Fog of War, but will likely come in handy at other times, too.
Kapitan Ekaterina Baranova
We considered this one carefully. Kapitan Ekaterina Baranova is a strong warcaster in an overall underperforming army. We thought about leaving her alone, but ultimately decided she needed a slight power adjustment alongside the three Winter Korps leaders getting improvements.
In January, we increased Baranova’s ARC from 7 to 8. We’re reducing it back to 7. She keeps her large control range, but will have to more carefully consider which spells to cast turn to turn, and weigh that against how many focus points she keeps on herself to defend against enemy attacks.
Sergeant Goran Lazarenko, the Jackal
Steamroller 2026 highlights the importance of ambush models. Winter Korps don’t have one and their struggles before this update can be partially attributed to that. We also don’t see enough of Sergeant Lazarenko so improving him here solves two birds with one stone.
Lazarenko gains Ambush and increases from ARM 14 to ARM 16. He’s also picked up Unstoppable to resist being stuck in melee.
Because Lazarenko’s an ambush model, we needed to review his offensive capabilities to ensure they’re still fair considering he can deploy from the sides of the table, mid game. So, he’s lost Reposition [3”] and the range of his ‘Jack Buster bazooka has dropped from 12” to 10”.
Khymaera Shadowflame Shard
Lylyth, the Raven Vengeance
One of the posterchildren of this Mid-Year Update, Lylyth, the Raven Vengeance has dominated play rates for Shadowflame Shard since January. While we’re loving seeing her on the table, after seeing so little of her pre-January, we’d also love to see the other Shadowflame warlocks being played more.
So, first up, Lylyth’s Hush Full Draw attack has reduced in range from 12” to 10”. Her critical stagger shot remains a powerful attack at the cost of being more tactically risky. The most common use for this shot type is to deny colossal and gargantuan models their impressive suite of initial attacks with critical stagger. With a 10” range, it’s less likely Lylyth will be able to catch a second destroyable model with her spray to trigger a retreat to safety with Run & Gun. In addition, Lylyth will be 2” closer to anything she shoots at with Hush Full Draw.
Lylyth’s second change is also simple: she loses Warping Winds. Shadowflame Shard already has access to this ability with the Wraithwing Paragon. If Lylyth wants to make use of this ranged defence ability, she’ll need to pay for a Paragon in her army list like everyone else.
Incarnate Knights
Incarnate Knights are a unit of much discussion among Shadowflame players.
They’re far less offensively dangerous than most cavalry units. However, that’s never been their role. We gave them +1 ARM in the January Update to emphasise their usefulness as a fast resilient unit. The issue was we emphasised it so much it’s more likely you’ll see two units of Incarnate Knights in every Shadowflame army list than not.
The change here is also simple: we’re reverting their base ARM back to 18 to increase the variety of Shadowflame units we see on the tabletop.
Orgoth Sea Raiders
Kishtaar, the Howling Silence
Kishtaar, the Howling Silence is here for similar reasons to Hellyth. While Kishtaar’s win rate is largely fine, she can shoot from such distances that the opponent can struggle to interact with her army in return.
Therefore, Kishtaar’s also lost the Fire Group spell. In return, she gained Banishing Ward, which is fitting for the Orgoth Sea Raiders’ secondary theme of having reasonable access to Spell Ward and Magic Resistance-like effects.
Kishtaar’s own ranged weapons, like Hellyth’s, have also increased in range from 10” to 12”.
Sabbreth, the Eternal Annihilation
Sabbreth, the Eternal Annihilation is here for similar reasons to Caine. She’s currently in a second tier of sorts and we’re preemptively taking action to defend against her dominating the game after her predators have been nerfed.
Right now, Sabbreth literally has the best list of spells in the game. She can definitely stand to lose one. We’ve analysed her gameplan and feel she can rely more heavily on her very powerful offensive gameplay. Therefore, she’s lost Inviolable Resolve to shave a little off her defensive gameplay.
Southern Kriels Brineblood Marauders
Captain Firequill
Captain Firequill is a fascinating Brinebloods character to work on with his rich theme as a short-ranged yet powerful gunslinger. That said, Firequill has perhaps one too many tools to enable close range firepower. Many ranged weapons in Firequill’s army already have pistol, so Field Marshal Blackpenny on top of that can feel excessive.
We wanted to replace Firequill’s Field Marshal with something equally thematic. Instead, Firequill now has Field Marshal Runic Ammunition. This effectively gives his warbeasts an animus-related version of Blood Boon. When they destroy an enemy with a ranged attack, they get to use their animus without being forced.
Secondly, Firequill’s feat turn was feeling a bit too oppressive, so we’ve tuned it down a little. It still grants boosted ranged damage rolls to everything, but it’s only Firequill’s battlegroup that gain True Sight rather than everything in his control range.
Lochabash Brothers
The Lochabash Brothers are an excellent contesting unit. They’re very difficult to destroy. Too difficult, some might say. Their base ARM and DEF have both been reduced by 1.
Southern Kriels Kithguard
Trapdoor Markers
We’ve mentioned this one in passing when discussing Kithguard’s Trapdoor markers with players in person and in the Warmachine Discord. We’re making it so Trapdoor markers can be destroyed by both colossals and gargantuans (note, not all 120mm based models), as well as the Demolition ability on Powder Keg Defenses.
Convergence of Cyriss
Axis
Axis is part of the update both as a preemptive preventative measure, but also because we felt we could do better. While Axis’ play rate is quite low, his win rate is very high. High enough for us to want to play more test games with Axis internally, from which we concluded changes were needed.
First up, Axis’ feat could be simplified. It’s hard to use, but also very powerful because it can do so many things. It also had the side effect of partially invalidating other Convergence of Cyriss warcasters that do similar things, like Aurora.
So, we’ve streamlined Axis’ feat by making Axis a more dedicated control warcaster. His feat no longer grants offensive bonuses and its defensive elements are stronger. Instead of catching enemy models, his feat now catches enemy models/units. Additionally, his feat triggers on enemy models activating within Axis’ control range, meaning Axis can now activate his feat and run.
We’ve also updated Razor Wall to be a more effective spell. It now functions like a Rock Wall but with the added bonus of damaging nearby enemies. Finally, we’ve increased Axis’ melee range from 1 to 2 to let him swing those hammers at enemies a little further away.
Grymkin
Zevanna Agha, The Fate Keeper
With a high play and win rate, Grymkin’s Old Witch has a lot of tools on her card. We determined Zevanna can stand to lose a little something and still be effective. She no longer has Arcane Calibrations as one of her Arcane Machinery options.
Slaughterhouse
It’s been genuinely awesome to see this model on tabletops around the world since March. Admittedly, we’ve perhaps seen a little too much of the Slaughterhouse, ingeniously referred to as “the housing crisis” by players. Our intention isn’t to crash the housing market. We’d like to keep seeing it being played, so as with all our changes here, our adjustments are carefully measured.
The Slaughterhouse has a reduced Fury stat, from 5 down to 4. With plentiful access to free charges and animus castings, as well as substantial accuracy and damage buffs, the Slaughterhouse still hits like, well, a house, with Fury 4.
Into the Light is a little too difficult to counterplay. To mitigate that, it can now only drag enemy models through terrain features, not other enemy models.
Infernals
Agathon, the Voice in the Darkness
Similar to Khymaera’s Incarnate Knights, the change we made here in January was a small step too far. Agathon’s play and win rate are both very high, so they need an adjustment. We’ve removed Field Marshal Sacred Ward.
New Command Cards for everyone
Finally, the new universal command cards we previewed at AdeptiCon and Lock & Load EU have become event-legal as of today!
The larger deck of older command cards has been replaced by five cards used by everyone. Army-specific command cards like For the Motherland are all unchanged, as well as the respective handsizes for armies like Grymkin and Cygnar Gravediggers.
Defenses now have a points cost and are added to your army when you construct your army list. Their rules are unchanged except for Demolition (see below) and you can take up to three defenses in any combination you like. Barriers cost 2 points each; Firepits, Powder Kegs, and Spiketraps all cost 1 point each.
As mentioned in the Kithguard section, Powder Kegs now enable the destruction of Trapdoor markers with the Demolition ability.
And that’s all, folks! Don’t forget to update your app and if you have any questions, come chat with us in the Warmachine Discord.
You can also download a handy PDF of all the changes right here:
- Mid-Year Update (2026) Changelog (black and white)
- Mid-Year Update (2026) Changelog (colour)
