Welcome to Competitive Innovations, our weekly feature for a number of game lines across the tabletop wargame space. Each week our army list and tactics experts canvass the top tournaments for their game of specialty, looking at the week’s top match-ups and how they played out on the tabletop to let you know what’s hot, what’s not, and what might be coming next as the competitive meta evolves year-round.

We’ve had quite a year in Competitive Innovations land, including an absolutely relentless last few months, but it looks like the endless thirst for 40K has finally been somewhat sated, and we’re winding down for Christmas. I’m sure everyone is busily painting up whatever toys their Grotmas detachment has massively amped up (I know I’ve got some Necrons on my painting table for Purposes), so in the new year we’ll have a new avalanche of events to unpack. For now, however, if this is the last column of the year (jury’s out, mid-week Christmas makes it more of a toss-up), thanks to all our wonderful readers, and huge thanks to my constant co-conspirator Lowest of Men for sharing the burden and privilege that writing this column has become.

Today I’ll be covering:

Battle for the Fort GT
40k Winter Wars Hybrid GT
Winter GT – A Wh40k Grand Tournament

On Friday Lowest of Men will look after:

Warhammer: 40,000 Charity GT by Rogue State Games
Coastal Assault
The Fight Before Christmas 2024 Warhammer 40K Grand Tournament

We’ve had one final round of Patron voting before democracy dies in the darkness of midwinter, and our Showdowns will be:

Thousand Sons vs. Thousand Sons at Winter Wars, because truly the Patrons will not be satisfied till they have tortured me one final time.
Creations of Bile vs. Aeldari at Rogue State Games, because they can at least be distracted by shiny novelties.

Battle for the Fort GT

47-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Columbus, GA, United States on December 14 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Kyle Jackling – Blood Angels (Liberator Assault Group) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Blood angels Columbus gt 1.1 (2000 Points)

Space Marines
Blood Angels
Liberator Assault Group
Strike Force (2000 Points)

CHARACTERS

Blood Angels Captain (90 Points)
• 1x Heavy bolt pistol
• 1x Relic weapon
• Enhancements: Rage-fuelled Warrior

Chief Librarian Mephiston (125 Points)
• 1x Fury of the Ancients
• 1x Plasma pistol
• 1x Vitarus

Commander Dante (130 Points)
• Warlord
• 1x Perdition Pistol
• 1x The Axe Mortalis

Lieutenant (90 Points)
• 1x Bolt Pistol
• 1x Master-crafted bolter
• 1x Master-crafted power weapon
• Enhancements: Speed of the Primarch

Lieutenant with Combi-weapon (85 Points)
• 1x Combi-weapon
• 1x Paired combat blades
• Enhancements: Gift of Foresight

The Sanguinor (140 Points)
• 1x Encarmine broadsword

BATTLELINE

Assault Intercessor Squad (75 Points)
• 1x Assault Intercessor Sergeant
◦ 1x Plasma pistol
◦ 1x Power fist
• 4x Assault Intercessor
◦ 4x Astartes chainsword
◦ 4x Heavy bolt pistol

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Impulsor (80 Points)
• 1x Armoured hull
• 2x Fragstorm grenade launcher
• 1x Ironhail heavy stubber
• 1x Shield Dome

OTHER DATASHEETS

Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs (90 Points)
• 1x Assault Intercessor Sergeant with Jump Pack
◦ 1x Heavy bolt pistol
◦ 1x Power fist
• 4x Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs
◦ 4x Astartes chainsword
◦ 3x Heavy bolt pistol
◦ 1x Plasma pistol

Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs (90 Points)
• 1x Assault Intercessor Sergeant with Jump Pack
◦ 1x Plasma pistol
◦ 1x Power fist
• 4x Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs
◦ 4x Astartes chainsword
◦ 3x Heavy bolt pistol
◦ 1x Plasma pistol

Baal Predator (135 Points)
• 1x Armoured tracks
• 1x Baal flamestorm cannon
• 2x Heavy bolter
• 1x Hunter-killer missile
• 1x Storm bolter

Bladeguard Veteran Squad (180 Points)
• 1x Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant
◦ 1x Heavy bolt pistol
◦ 1x Master-crafted power weapon
• 5x Bladeguard Veteran
◦ 5x Heavy bolt pistol
◦ 5x Master-crafted power weapon

Gladiator Lancer (160 Points)
• 1x Armoured hull
• 1x Icarus rocket pod
• 1x Ironhail heavy stubber
• 1x Lancer laser destroyer
• 2x Storm bolter

Sanguinary Guard (270 Points)
• 6x Sanguinary Guard
◦ 4x Angelus boltgun
◦ 6x Encarmine blade
◦ 2x Inferno pistol
◦ 1x Sanguinary Banner

ALLIED UNITS

Callidus Assassin (100 Points)
• 1x Neural shredder
• 1x Phase sword and poison blades

Exported with App Version: v1.23.0 (3), Data Version: v507

Archetype

Herohammer All-Rounders

Thoughts

There’s a lot of Chaos afoot this week, as you’ll see in earnest in part 2, but there’s one faction that famously won’t stand for that sort of thing, and standing shiny and proud at the top of the standings for this week’s biggest tournament are the Blood Angels. This is a classic use of their Detachment ability to power an all-rounder list – everything with a melee profile punches a lot harder than it would anywhere else, and Marines have some great options for minimal effort shooting support in Lancers and Vindicators.

You also, thanks to Speed of the Primarch, get a lot of leeway to tinker with Bladeguard, making them far more versatile than they are in most armies, and here a Lieutenant ensures that even the scariest stuff can’t expect to safely charge and pin them down, as Savage Echoes for extra attacks combines nicely with Lethal hits to take a chunk out of almost anything on the Fight First swing. Round out with great unique datasheets (particularly the Sanguinor and Mephiston, who both warp opposing plans around them), and you have one of the hottest current Marine options, well piloted by Kyle for a win here.

The Best of the Rest

There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

2nd – Gabriel Nixon – Death Guard (Plague Company): Crunchy Death Guard with lots of hulls, Mortarion and one big Deathshroud unit.
3rd – Noah Neundorfer – Death Guard (Plague Company): The other end of the Death Guard spectrum, using lots of Plague Marines in Rhinos and Infantry Characters.
4th – Weston Slaght – Space Wolves (Champions of Russ): An unusual combined arms Champions list, mixing shooty Dreadnoughts and Storm Speeders with three brawling melee units, specifically Logan with some Terminators and two Bladeguard/Judiciar squads to bully melee armies.
5th – Matt Trebuchon – Chaos Space Marines (Pactbound Zealots): Double Accursed commune with a wall of shooting (including two Helbrutes to amp it up) behind.
6th – Steven Tosky – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Mixed Hypercrypt with two decked-out Immortal units working alongside a Monolith and two Doomsdays (no Szarekh).

40k Winter Wars Hybrid GT

36-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Coraopolis, PA, US on December 14 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Scorched Earth – Inspired Leadership – Crucible of Battle

Malaki Fowler – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic)
Army List - Click to Expand

“After this, I finally rest and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe”

– Magnus, before retiring as the Second Necron Winter sets in

Thousand Sons
Strike Force (2000 points)
Cult of Magic

CHARACTERS

Ahriman (140 points)
• 1x Black Staff of Ahriman
1x Inferno bolt pistol
1x Psychic Stalk

Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (150 points)
• 1x Arcane Fire
1x Force weapon
1x Inferno bolt pistol
• Enhancement: Lord of Forbidden Lore

Infernal Master (130 points)
• 1x Force weapon
1x Inferno bolt pistol
1x Screamer Invocation
• Enhancement: Arcane Vortex

Infernal Master (125 points)
• 1x Force weapon
1x Inferno bolt pistol
1x Screamer Invocation
• Enhancement: Umbralefic Crystal

Magnus the Red (465 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Blade of Magnus
1x Gaze of Magnus
1x Tzeentch’s Firestorm

BATTLELINE

Rubric Marines (200 points)
• 1x Aspiring Sorcerer
• 1x Force weapon
1x Warpflame pistol
1x Warpsmite
• 9x Rubric Marine
• 9x Close combat weapon
9x Warpflamer

Rubric Marines (110 points)
• 1x Aspiring Sorcerer
• 1x Force weapon
1x Warpflame pistol
1x Warpsmite
• 4x Rubric Marine
• 4x Close combat weapon
4x Warpflamer

Rubric Marines (200 points)
• 1x Aspiring Sorcerer
• 1x Force weapon
1x Warpflame pistol
1x Warpsmite
• 9x Rubric Marine
• 9x Close combat weapon
9x Warpflamer

OTHER DATASHEETS

Mutalith Vortex Beast (160 points)
• 1x Betentacled maw
1x Mutalith claws
1x Warp vortex

Thousand Sons Cultists (55 points)
• 1x Thousand Sons Cultist Champion
• 1x Brutal assault weapon
1x Cultist firearm
• 9x Thousand Sons Cultist
• 9x Brutal assault weapon
6x Cultist firearm
1x Flamer
1x Grenade launcher
1x Heavy stubber

Tzaangor Enlightened (50 points)
• 1x Aviarch
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Fatecaster greatbow
• 2x Enlightened
• 2x Close combat weapon
2x Fatecaster greatbow

Exported with App Version: v1.24.0 (64), Data Version: v525

vs.

TJ Lanigan – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic)
Army List - Click to Expand

Guy with Belt Buckle walks into a gaming convention (1975 points)

Thousand Sons
Strike Force (2000 points)
Cult of Magic

CHARACTERS

Ahriman (140 points)
• 1x Black Staff of Ahriman
1x Inferno bolt pistol
1x Psychic Stalk

Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (150 points)
• 1x Arcane Fire
1x Force weapon
1x Warpflame pistol
• Enhancement: Lord of Forbidden Lore

Infernal Master (130 points)
• 1x Force weapon
1x Inferno bolt pistol
1x Screamer Invocation
• Enhancement: Arcane Vortex

Infernal Master (125 points)
• 1x Force weapon
1x Inferno bolt pistol
1x Screamer Invocation
• Enhancement: Umbralefic Crystal

Magnus the Red (465 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Blade of Magnus
1x Gaze of Magnus
1x Tzeentch’s Firestorm

Thousand Sons Sorcerer (105 points)
• 1x Fires of the Abyss
1x Force weapon
1x Warpflame pistol

BATTLELINE

Rubric Marines (110 points)
• 1x Aspiring Sorcerer
• 1x Force weapon
1x Warpflame pistol
1x Warpsmite
• 4x Rubric Marine
• 4x Close combat weapon
1x Icon of Flame
1x Soulreaper cannon
3x Warpflamer

OTHER DATASHEETS

Mutalith Vortex Beast (160 points)
• 1x Betentacled maw
1x Mutalith claws
1x Warp vortex

Tzaangor Enlightened (50 points)
• 1x Aviarch
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Fatecaster greatbow
• 2x Enlightened
• 2x Close combat weapon
2x Fatecaster greatbow

Thoughts

An almost pur mirror match for my last Showdown of the year. Truly the malevolent energies of our patrons rival those of the Chaos Gods themselves. Anyway, there’s the tiniest bit of clear blue water between these builds for me to lean on, so let’s go. Both of these are classic Tsons builds, but TJs goes a bit harder on filler and scoring pieces, while Malaki builds in some larger Rubricae units for big flamer plays. Both respectable options, how do they match up? Probably in TJ’s favour, because:

Thousand Sons are prepostorously lethal, so more stuff to throw out you don’t massively care about losing is good.
Big flamer Rubricae units are fairly poor at killing Mutalith Vortex Beasts, so given that’s what they’re going to get pressured with, they don’t add enough value to offset the scoring advantage of TJ’s build.

Obviously we’re still talking Thousand Sons, and both builds are powerful, so it could go either way, but that would also mean betting against TJ in a Tzeentch-off, which I’m not about to do (even though Malaki has make a respectable number of showings in this column as well). Sure enough, TJ took down yet another event with the faction he’s been rocking all Edition.

Result

Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic) Victory – 80 – 65

TJ Lanigan – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Guy with Belt Buckle walks into a gaming convention (1975 points)

Thousand Sons
Strike Force (2000 points)
Cult of Magic

CHARACTERS

Ahriman (140 points)
• 1x Black Staff of Ahriman
1x Inferno bolt pistol
1x Psychic Stalk

Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (150 points)
• 1x Arcane Fire
1x Force weapon
1x Warpflame pistol
• Enhancement: Lord of Forbidden Lore

Infernal Master (130 points)
• 1x Force weapon
1x Inferno bolt pistol
1x Screamer Invocation
• Enhancement: Arcane Vortex

Infernal Master (125 points)
• 1x Force weapon
1x Inferno bolt pistol
1x Screamer Invocation
• Enhancement: Umbralefic Crystal

Magnus the Red (465 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Blade of Magnus
1x Gaze of Magnus
1x Tzeentch’s Firestorm

Thousand Sons Sorcerer (105 points)
• 1x Fires of the Abyss
1x Force weapon
1x Warpflame pistol

BATTLELINE

OTHER DATASHEETS

Mutalith Vortex Beast (160 points)
• 1x Betentacled maw
1x Mutalith claws
1x Warp vortex

Tzaangor Enlightened (50 points)
• 1x Aviarch
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Fatecaster greatbow
• 2x Enlightened
• 2x Close combat weapon
2x Fatecaster greatbow

Archetype

Double Mutalith Go-Wide

Thoughts

He’s done it again, and as mentioned in the Showdown has done so by squeezing the middle of his build hard – very few Rubricae in favour of extra, reliable scoring and as many Characters as you can cram in, keeping the Cabal Point count high even with two Mutaliths. Seems to have paid off in spaces, well done to TJ once more.

The Best of the Rest

There were 3 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

2nd – Malaki Fowler – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic): See Showdown.
3rd – Lawrence Paladin – Genestealer Cult (???): Genestealer Cults add an extra level of mystery by not including an army list. Devious.
4th – Patrick Logan – Ultramarines (Ironstorm Spearhead): Bobby G and a bunch of Dreadnoughts/Vindicators alongside a couple of over-excited Reiver units who’ve arrived early.

Winter GT – A Wh40k Grand Tournament

34-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, Reino Unido on December 14 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Jak Payne – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ FACTION KEYWORD: Imperium – Adeptus Astartes – Dark Angels
+ DETACHMENT: Gladius Task Force
+ TOTAL ARMY POINTS: 1995pts
+
+ WARLORD: Char1: Azrael
+ ENHANCEMENT: The Honour Vehement (on Char1: Judiciar)
+ NUMBER OF UNITS: 13
+ SECONDARY: – Bring It Down: (2×2) – Assassination: 2 Characters
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Char1: 1x Azrael (115 pts): Warlord, Lion’s Wrath, The Sword of Secrets
Char2: 1x Judiciar (85 pts): Absolver Bolt Pistol, Executioner Relic Blade
Enhancement: The Honour Vehement (+15 pts)

5x Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs (90 pts)
• 1x Assault Intercessor Sergeant with Jump Pack: Heavy Bolt Pistol, Astartes Chainsword
• 4x Assault Intercessors with Jump Pack: 4 with Astartes Chainsword, Heavy Bolt Pistol
5x Deathwing Knights (250 pts): Mace of absolution
• 4x Deathwing Knight: 4 with
• 1x Knight Master: Great Weapon of the Unforgiven
5x Deathwing Knights (250 pts): Mace of absolution
• 4x Deathwing Knight: 4 with
• 1x Knight Master: Great Weapon of the Unforgiven
5x Deathwing Knights (250 pts): Mace of absolution
• 4x Deathwing Knight: 4 with
• 1x Knight Master: Great Weapon of the Unforgiven
5x Incursor Squad (80 pts)
• 4x Incursor: 4 with Bolt Pistol, Occulus Bolt Carbine, Paired Combat Blades
• 1x Incursor Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Occulus Bolt Carbine, Paired Combat Blades
6x Inner Circle Companions (180 pts): 6 with Calibanite Greatsword, Heavy Bolt Pistol
6x Inner Circle Companions (180 pts): 6 with Calibanite Greatsword, Heavy Bolt Pistol
5x Scout Squad (65 pts)
• 2x Scout
1 with Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Missile Launcher
1 with Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Scout Sniper Rifle
• 1x Scout Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Astartes Chainsword
• 2x Scouts: 2 with Bolt Pistol, Boltgun, Close Combat Weapon
5x Scout Squad (65 pts)
• 2x Scout
1 with Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Missile Launcher
1 with Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Scout Sniper Rifle
• 1x Scout Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Astartes Chainsword
• 2x Scouts: 2 with Bolt Pistol, Boltgun, Close Combat Weapon
1x Redemptor Dreadnought (210 pts): Icarus Rocket Pod, Redemptor Fist, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Twin Storm Bolter
1x Vindicator (175 pts): Armoured Tracks, Demolisher Cannon, Hunter Killer Missile, Storm Bolter

Archetype

Deathwing GTF

Thoughts

Clock up another one for great unique Marine datasheets, with this build going a bit narrower on the board than some in order to ensure that it can still field maximum Deathwing Knights and a healthy crop of Inner Circle Companions to boot. It’s a fairly lean but extremely mean killing machine, and there are still plenty of armies that just cannot handle having fifteen DWKs Advance/Charge at them, and it’s nice that all those models people hurridly painted up haven’t been immediately punted out of the metagame. Well done

The Best of the Rest

There were 4 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

2nd – Kian Tan – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame): Flame Sisters with hulls , one Dominion unit, and the Triumph
3rd – Gustavo Sousa – Deathwatch (Black Spear Task Force): Deathwatch check back in with a heavy infantry-centric build using missile Terminators and two brutal Indomitor teams with three flamer aggressors to turn them into all-rounder bruisers.
4th – Luca Kordbache – Black Templars (Righteous Crusaders): Go-wide melee Infantry with a Land Raider as an anchor.
5th – Clement Ambrosi – Chaos Daemons: The premium monster mash of the Gift GUO, Be’lakor, Shalaxi and a Keeper.

Wrap Up

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[40K] Competitive Innovations in 10th: Chaotic Christmas pt.1

Battle for the Fort GT

Kyle Jackling – Blood Angels (Liberator Assault Group) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

40k Winter Wars Hybrid GT

The Showdown

Scorched Earth – Inspired Leadership – Crucible of Battle

Thoughts

Result

TJ Lanigan – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Winter GT – A Wh40k Grand Tournament

Jak Payne – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Wrap Up

Related

Related

[40K] Competitive Innovations in 10th: Chaotic Christmas pt.1

Battle for the Fort GT

Kyle Jackling – Blood Angels (Liberator Assault Group) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

40k Winter Wars Hybrid GT

The Showdown

Scorched Earth – Inspired Leadership – Crucible of Battle

Thoughts

Result

TJ Lanigan – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Winter GT – A Wh40k Grand Tournament

Jak Payne – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Wrap Up

Related

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