Age of Sigmar April 2026 Battlescroll Winners, Losers, and Key Balance Changes

The April 2026 AoS Battlescroll dropped on April 1 (yes, really) and immediately reshuffled which armies deserve the next spot on your paint station. Games Workshop's quarterly update delivered a broadly downward points sweep, with targeted rules fixes aimed at Disciples of Tzeentch and Lumineth Realm-lords, two factions posting quietly strong win rates that escaped with a lighter touch than many expected.

Nurgle came out among the cleaner winners. Festus the Leechlord shed 30 points down to 290, with errata clarifying that his Annelid Engorgement rule grants Control Score per point earned this turn rather than compounding exponentially. The Great Unclean One also received a 30-point reduction, making it the headline bargain of the update. Rotigus absorbed a 10-point increase in standard form, but the net swing for Nurgle's daemon core is a faction that just became meaningfully more viable and, crucially, more worth committing to a full paint project.

Gloomspite Gitz received arguably the broadest single-faction treatment in the update. Points fell on Droggz Da Sunchompa, both Snarlboss variants, multiple Loonboss configurations, Snarlfang Riders, Fellwater and Dankhold Troggoths, Mangler Squigs, Doom Diver Catapult, Sneaky Snufflers, and the Rabble-Rowza. The Snarlboss's Great Snarlin' Howl picked up a direct buff as well, now boosting both Rend and Attacks on Companion melee weapons on a 3+. Pre-update tracking had the Gitz sitting dead last in win rates across Grand Alliance Destruction. The gap between their competitive standing and their painting potential, Squig herds, Trogg mobs, glowing fungi, has always been glaring; this patch closes the competitive half of that equation in one update.

Sons of Behemat collected a clean round of discounts on King Brodd, the Gatebreaker, Kraken-eater, Warstomper, and Mancrusher Mob, with no offsetting nerfs attached. Since a competitive Sons list can run as few as four or five models, every saved point generates genuine list flexibility. Ironjawz picked up cuts on Ardboyz, Brutes (20 points off specifically), the Megaboss, Ardboy Big Boss, Weirdnob Shaman, and the Maw-grunta with Hakkin' Krew, plus a timing fix to Bash 'em Ladz! and Killa Beat so both effects now persist until the start of your next turn.

Cities of Sigmar landed net positive despite internal corrections. The Runelord/Hammerers combo and Sorceress pairings with Aelf units absorbed 10-20-point increases, but Zenestra, Tahlia Vedra, Cavaliers, and Wildercorps Hunters all dropped 20-30 points. Tahlia's regiment options were also expanded to include 0-1 Freeguild Veteran from any Cities of Sigmar regiment.

The update's most systemic change targets auxiliary spam. Duplicate auxiliary picks now carry compounding points costs, with Seraphon's Spawn of Chotec specifically cited. Flesh-eater Courts also had Delusions and Madness tightened to close the mid-game Delusion regiment-ability swap exploit.

With a new General's Handbook already signalled for post-AdeptiCon 2026, this Battlescroll reads as a stabilising pass rather than a wholesale overhaul. The paint-queue signal, however, is concrete: Nurgle daemons, Gloomspite Gitz, and Sons of Behemat are the armies most likely to crowd tournament tables next season. Anyone sitting on a boxed Squig collection gathering shelf dust should note that the Gitz just jumped from the bottom of the Destruction meta to the most-buffed faction in a single quarterly update.