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[40K] Competitive Innovations In 10th: Gold Medal pt.2

By Lowest of Men

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.

More? You want more Warhammer? Even after the world Championships. Shocking.

Today we’ve got:

  • Fantasia Fanatic XLVI – 40K
  • DaBoyz GT Rochester 2024 40K 1v1
  • GT Terra’n’dins
  • ALL STARS COOL DOWN – Hellstorm’s 40K Tournament Series
  • The Whitby GT
  • Battle Shocked GT

Wednesday:

  • 2024 Warhammer 40,000 World Championships of Warhammer
  • Renegade Open 2024 – 40K GT
  • GERMAN MAJOR HAMBURG 2 – 2024
  • The Guardian Gobbler GT
  • AZ Warhammer 40K League 2024 Fall Championship
  • Warhammer 40,000 – Dynasty Slayer

Saturday:

  • Celtic Cup Grand Tournament 2024
  • Obsec presents the 10th Annual Perth 40k GT
  • 1.Gt Canes Belli
  • Cross-Swords War At The Westward VI
  • Toys of Mass Destruction – Hertfordshire Winter GT

Fantasia Fanatic XLVI – 40K

99-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Västerbottens län, SE on November 23 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Tim Nordin – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment) – 1st Place

Rogal Dorn. Credit: Rockfish
Rogal Dorn. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Triple Dorn!!

Thoughts

Guard continue to may hay with a wide range of builds post-slate, with this one keeping a little bit of defensive stodge in a Bullgryn brick and a large slab of Kriegsman, to stash in front of three Rogal Dorn battle tanks. A lot of fire power, some nasty overwatch lanes and plenty of mission play ahead of it thanks to those pesky Aquilons. A very effective build and it’s cool to see someone pushing the Rogal Dorn rather than the Leman Russ. Really well done on the event win!

Mattias Lindvall-Östling – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Thousand Sons Rubricae Fire Team Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Thousand Sons Goodstuff

Thoughts

Thousand Sons – not out for the count just yet! This list builds around the Stealth aura of the Daemon Prince to provide some solidity in quite a shooty meta. He’s a nice little counter charge piece too which can help for when the magic castle gets pushed. Otherwise it’s business as usual here- a great suite of tools shaking off the latest round of nerfs ready to go again! Amazing work.

André Persson – World Eaters (Berzerker Warband) – 3rd Place

Credit: Ian Doughty

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

World Eaters Terminators / Eightbound

Thoughts

This WE list leaves Angron at home in favour of less roulette and more infantry bodies. Take the Terminator build, AND the Eightbound build, shove them together and produce something that blends both the added durability and bodies with the enormous reach and punch. A little more terrain proof than Angron and a lot less sweating over rolling 6s to get him back, I can see the appeal! Well done on the top placing.

Axel Linder – Dark Angels (Unknown Detachment) – 4th Place

 

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Dark Angels Mixed Arms

Thoughts

The detachment here is unknown but going on the mixture of tools I would guess Gladius. Dark Angels continue to perform well despite taking some points hits, and the Lion has finally had his ‘points cost checks out’ moment and slide into a bunch of lists. He is an astute meta pick, slicing through certain meta menace units like Aberrants with gleeful abandon and providing a Lone Op melee puzzle to solve too. Fantastic work on the top placing.

The Best of the Rest

There were 10 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 5th – Axel Rydén – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame): Vahl, Paragons, the Triumph, and some battle tanks in BoF.
  • 6th – Victor Åström – Chaos Daemons: Shalaxi, Belly and the super GUO with some chaff scoring.
  • 7th – Simon Selberg – Astra Militarum: Triple Tank Commander and double Dorn for a very hefty build.
  • 8th – Niclas Bengtsson – Chaos Daemons: Lots of infantry, Nurglings and some cheaper monsters in the Bloodthirster and Keeper.
  • 9th – Razvan Alexa – Emperor’s Children (Veterans of the Long War): Emperor’s Children Veterans of the Long War with a big brick of Terminators.
  • 10th – Rickard Wallin – Adeptus Mechanicus (Rad-Zone Corps): A shooty Rad Zone build with triple Disintegrator behind the wall of bodies.
  • 11th – Arvid Kaykhosravi – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Monolith / Destroyer Hypercrypt with a twenty slab of Warriors.
  • 12th – Sebastian Magnusson – Genestealer Cult (Biosanctic Broodsurge): Massed Metamorphs and Aberrants in Broodsurge.
  • 13th – gustav Setterberg – Ultramarines (Gladius Task Force): Gulliman and Calgar in Ultras Gladius.
  • 14th – Patrik Nygren – T’au Empire (Mont’ka): A grab bag of MSU shooting in Mont’ka.

DaBoyz GT Rochester 2024 40K 1v1

70-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in West Henrietta, New York, US on November 23 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Chris martens – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 1st Place

Avatar of Khaine. Credit: Rockfish
Avatar of Khaine. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Eldar Hulls and Aspects

Thoughts

I don’t want to alarm anyone, but the signs are that Eldar are creeping back into relevance. A fair few people are trying out builds at the moment and finding some success. It’s not as easy as it used to be, but the dying elves have some fight left yet as they await their new book. This list takes advantage of some recent cuts on Falcons and Fire Prisms and then puts plenty of Aspect Warriors into the fray as well. They have the speed and non-interactivity to bamboozle several of the meta darlings and just have to duck and weave the Exorcists. Excellent work on the event win!

John Davison – Space Wolves (Champions of Russ) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Credit: “Contemptor” Kevin Stillman

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Wolf Jail

Thoughts

Wolf Jail lives! As the list title alludes, it is still very much going to run for your deployment zone with a vast array of 4++ toting wolf riders. You may be able to stop it, you may not. Often not. Extremely well done on the top placing.

Steven Horowitz – Blood Angels (Liberator Assault Group) – 3rd Place

Commander Dante by Craig "MasterSlowPoke" Sniffen
Commander Dante by Craig “MasterSlowPoke” Sniffen

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Triple Vindicator BA

Thoughts

BA are finding some success by moving away from all in melee and packing some firepower to support their fantastic combat. Triple Vindicator leans hard into 2+ save, chonky tanks to cause problems in the midboard, and this list goes wide on supporting units which I think is broadly the way to use BA at the moment – your individual small squads can hit so hard that there’s no need to over-invest. Really well done on the top placing.

Trevor DeVantier – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 4th Place

5 Deathwing Knights with Power Swords in the Rainbow Warriors scheme
Rainbow Warriors Deathwing Knights by Craig “MasterSlowPoke” Sniffen

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Lennon-style Gladius Dangels

Thoughts

A top placing for the Dark Angels build of yesterday, which still packs an enormous punch via the Eradicator brick of doom and the supporting melee units. Versatile, and dangerous, this list has to use every asset carefully now as it lacks redundancy, but applied correctly it can simply brutalise mech heavy builds in particular. Really well done on the top placing.

The Best of the Rest

There were 8 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 5th – Joseph Sault – T’au Empire (Retaliation Cadre): Massed Crisis and Triple Riptide in Ret Cadre.
  • 6th – Perry Spilman – Death Guard: Huge slabs of Blightlord Terminator and Deathshroud.
  • 7th – Christopher Drazan – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force): Techy mixed arms Dark Angels with some Hellblasters and plenty of combat.
  • 8th – Burton Wright – Imperial Knights: Canis, an Atropos, and plenty of little Armigers.
  • 9th – Neil Burns – Astra Militarum: Leman Russ / MSU infantry Guard.
  • 10th – Jade Smith – T’au Empire (Retaliation Cadre): Double Riptide, Crisis and scoring chaff in Ret Cadre.
  • 11th – Ryan Thesing – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): Zoan brick Invasion Fleet with a grab bag of monsters and chaff.
  • 12th – Alden Rubin – Imperial Knights: FIVE BIG KNIGHTS! FIVE BIG KNIGHTS! Double Atropos, double Gallant, and an Errant. My heart sings.

GT Terra’n’dins

52-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Torelló, CT, Espanya on November 23 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Falco La_Orden – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault) – 1st Place

Credit: Keewa

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Skysplinter Talos

Thoughts

Alright, this one makes me happy – Drukhari steal another event win after a rough few weeks following the slate. This Skysplinter list shores up some durability and anti-tank by packing in four Talos, but otherwise leans on what has worked for Skysplinter since the summer – going fast and hitting things with Incubi in boats. Glorious work on taking an event win in a reasonably hostile meta for the Druks!

Manel Tulla – Genestealer Cult (Biosanctic Broodsurge) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Credit: BuffaloChicken

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

All-in Broodsurge Melee

Thoughts

Biosanctic lists that go completely in on regenerating combat infantry are becoming very popular now, and this one is no exception, packing in multiple large combat bricks in the Purestrains, Melee Acos and Metamorphs and then complimenting them with buckets of smaller squads. If it makes some early res rolls things can snowball radically out of hand. A beautiful nightmare. Well done on the top placing!

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 3rd – Héctor sola arroyo – Death Guard (Plague Company): Double Plague Marine brick, multiple Karnivores and supporting Deathshroud.
  • 4th – Dekkers 🦭🤖 – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Silent King / Triple DDA / Monolith Necrons.
  • 5th – Igthis RR – Astra Militarum: Double Tank Commander / Triple Rogal Dorn, ooft.
  • 6th – Sergio caballero SK – Chaos Daemons: Cheeky Beasts of Nurgle frolick as big scary Greater Daemons go to work.
  • 7th – Marc Suiles “Akhab” 🍉 – Chaos Daemons: Full on Nurgle party with triple GUO, Rotigus and Soul Grinders.
  • 8th – Mikestation Señor amable desde la silla – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Silent King / DDA / Monolith Hypercrypt.

ALL STARS COOL DOWN – Hellstorm’s 40K Tournament Series

40-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, United Kingdom on November 23 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown – Tyranids (Crusher Stampede) versus Imperial Knights

Purge the Foe – Rapid Escalation – Crucible of Battle

Michael Duff – Tyranids (Crusher Stampede)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Thomas Dodsworth – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance)
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

A finely poised, but swingy match up of titans for this Showdown, as monster skew Nids takes on the innate vehicle skew of Imperial Knights. On Purge the Foe this has potential to snowball but both armies have a lot of shooting and a relatively low unit count, so there is always scope for one of them to have a bad turn and find themselves pegged back again on the score sheet.

I like the Tyranids a little more for this one as they have the BANANAS anti-tank heft of the Rupture Cannons to fall back on – it is very hard to win ranged duels with a Tyrannofex at the moment and Mike is packing three. He is also tall, handsome, and very huggable. Lictors ensure some mid board presence and scoring and give him some Lone Ops to cause mischief with as well. The Knights list has some heavy lifting from Canis and the Warden, but is very low on things to play mission with whilst keeping up with the Nids in the battle for kill more / hold more. I don’t think the Tyranids get it all their own way here and there is a win path for the IK if they can simply open up multiple Tfex quickly enough, but they are up against it both in the material and attrition war here. In the end, they faded out.

Result

Tyranids (Crusher Stampede) Victory – 90 – 72

Michael Duff – Tyranids (Crusher Stampede) – 1st Place

Credit: PierreTheMime

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Crusher Stampede Nids

Thoughts

A build popularised at WTC takes some names, as Mike continues his run on the big bugs. More of a scuttle, really. A menacing scuttle. This list shoots extremely hard and has the knee capping power of Shadow in the Warp to fall back on in tight games as well. In a tank and skew heavy game, the Tyrannofex is eating well. Fantastic work on the event win Mike, you truly are the best Duff brother.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Charles Gould – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment): Leman Russ / Hellhound heavy Guard with MSU Ogryn ahead of them.
  • 3rd – Carl Cooke – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): Canis, an Errant, and plenty of Armigers.
  • 4th – Thomas Dodsworth – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): The Warden / Canis list from the showdown.
  • 5th – Jamie Chapman – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders): Double AC/DC and Warp Talons Renegade Raiders, spicy.
  • 6th – Dawid Szmyt – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders): MSU Legios with plenty of tanks behind.
  • 7th – Jay Middlecote – Chaos Knights: A Rampager, massed War Dogs, and some sneaky Poxbringers for scoring.

The Whitby GT

30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on November 23 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

David Leniewski – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion) – 1st Place

C'tan Shard of the Void Dragon. Credit: Rockfish
C’tan Shard of the Void Dragon. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Yes We C’tan

Thoughts

Hypercrypt remains the vehicle of choice for Necrons players, and this build dials it back and brings the C’tan. These faded out somewhat when Sisters were a meta menace but with those on the down the skew works into a better range of match ups than before. Really good to see them out in the wild. Can anything stop Hypercrypt?!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Stephen Platten – Genestealer Cult (Outlander Claw): Go-wide MSU Outlander with some Purestrains.
  • 3rd – Ratnu Vaidya – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance): Massed War Dogs and Rotigus.
  • 4th – Joshua Melding – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame): Vahl, Junith, Paragons and tanks in Bringers of Flame.
  • 5th – Jerome Connolly – Astra Militarum: Four Leman Russ and a Dorn for punch.

Battle Shocked GT

29-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Redwood City, CA, US on November 23 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Ruben Zhao – Ultramarines (1st Company Task Force) – 1st Place

Roboute Guilliman
Roboute Guilliman. Credit: Corrode

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Ultramarines What the Hell

Thoughts

Ruben has played Utras for a long time – the specialism is truly at work here as I am utterly bamboozled as to how this list works. Some hefty staging transports, Gulliman for counter charge, a solitary Reaper, multiple Storm Speeders, hell even a Reavers squad. 10th is a beautiful thing – if you put your mind to it you can get incredibly creative and win GTs. Amazing work on the win!!!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd (4.5-0.5) – Eulis Sanders – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Silent King / Monolith Hypercrypt with a brick of Warriors.
  • 3rd – Joshua Howard – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment): Leman Russ / Infantry heavy Guard.
  • 4th – Dash Leeds – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty): A slew of characters in Awakened Dynasty.
  • 5th – Majd Kuteifan – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame): BoF hull spam with some Novitiates and Seraphim in support.

Wrap Up

There we are folks! A diverse meta continues to throw up all sorts of winners and also rans. Guard and GSC are punching things up on the regular but they’re not locking out the event wins, and there are so many builds thriving as we head into the Grotmas season, where things should get even wilder!!

Lowest of Men, out.

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