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[40k] Competitive Innovations in 10th: The Only Good Elf pt.3

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.

It’s part three, there’s more Warhammer, and today it’s Lowest of Men in charge. Today we’re covering:

  • NRW 40K Singles 2025 – Alpine Cup
  • 22 & 23 Feb 2025 – OWN’s Breaking Point GT at Primal Nerds
  • Fire & Blood GT
  • DaBoyz GT Golden Sprue 2025 40K 1v1
  • I Torneo Iberian Open 2025 Cripta de los Héroes

On Wednesday we covered:

  • Cherokee Open 2025 – 40k Champs
  • 6. Corsair Open GT
  • Heroes of the mid table winter 2025
  • Top Gun: Callsign Chilli
  • Toys of Mass Destruction – Hertfordshire Spring GT

On Thursday we looked at:

  • Milwaukee GT III
  • Oxford Onslaught 4
  • Waterloo Games Store Championship 40K Event Hosted by Away Games
  • casi casi GT 2.0
  • HWP Salty Classic GT February 2025

NRW 40K Singles 2025 – Alpine Cup

95-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Schmallenberg, NRW, Germany on February 20 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

William Fuhrimann – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders) – 1st Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Renegade Raider Hulls

Thoughts

A tank heavy spin on the old RR blueprint takes the first place here, as Predators and Vindicators with access to SUSTAINED continue to get things done. The Bile / Chosen brick continues to do work as a hammer piece, and bikes and Rhinos provide the utility and scoring. Very speedy, very effective! Well done on the top placing.

Paul Bridge – Adeptus Custodes (Solar Spearhead) – 2nd Place

Telemon Heavy Dreadnought
Telemon Heavy Dreadnought. Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Solar Spearhead Goodstuff

Thoughts

The blueprint for Solar Spearhead has consolidated in recent times – having some level of infantry Custodes (in this case a Warden brick) helps to get around some of the issues all vehicles would otherwise have. Telemon then provide an anchor, and Caladius win the ranged duels. A powerful detachment and this is a very effective take on it, really well done!

Liam Vsl – Chaos Daemons (Legion of Excess) – 3rd Place

Credit: Liebot – https://instagram.com/liebot_pics

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Slaanesh Rush

Thoughts

Slaanesh continue to cause all sorts of mischief and Liam goes wide on Daemonettes here to compliment the usual Keepers and Fiends. You can block off the board very happily with the former and then smash your heavy hitters into whatever areas the enemy is daring to try and exist. May someone have mercy on their souls, because you certainly won’t! Really well done on the top placing.

Charel Jentges – Grey Knights (Warpbane Task Force) – 4th Place

Grey Knights Nemesis Dreadknights. Credit: Colin Ward

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Warpbane Dreadknights

Thoughts

The Warpbane Taskforce amps up GK shooting to 11, and picks the opponent out of hard to reach spots via full rerolls on Purgation squads. If you can’t drop multiple Dreadknights quickly you are going to find yourself picked off. This list builds very heavily into the ‘lift you from the board’ approach, with minimal supporting scoring, but that makes it all the more deadly. Really well done on the top position.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 5th – Luis Stiemerling – Astra Militarum (Bridgehead Strike): Massed Bridgehead Scions with some Kasrkin and Engineers.
  • 6th – Mathieu Clerc – Leagues of Votann (Oathband): Fifteen Hearthguard, some Sagitaur and bikes.
  • 7th – Manuel “BEL” Wieczorek – Astra Militarum (Siege Regiment): Siege Regiment with lots of Death Korps and Canis in tow.
  • 8th – Pascal Haberstroh – Adeptus Mechanicus (Skitarii Hunter Cohort): Massed Hunter Cohort infantry with some Skorpius in support.
  • 9th – Christian Schachmann – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Glorious bricks of Wardens and Allarus.
  • 10th – Daniel Klammer – Adeptus Custodes (Talons of the Emperor): Triple Blade Champ / Wardens.
  • 11th – Ben Hackländer – Death Guard (Plague Company): Tank car park Death Guard.
  • 12th – Jakub Leitner – Astra Militarum (Bridgehead Strike): Massed Scions, Taurox and Engineers.
  • 13th – Guillaume Dusaussois – Astra Militarum (Bridgehead Strike): A Rogal Dorn anchors the usual Bridgehead infantry.
  • 14th – Vojtech Čistecký – World Eaters (Vessels of Wrath): Three full bricks of Exalted Eightbound, because that’s what heroes do.

22 & 23 Feb 2025 – OWN’s Breaking Point GT at Primal Nerds

53-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Yukon, OK, United States on February 22 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Scorched Earth – Inspired Leadership – Crucible of Battle

Cody Middleton – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Colin Kay – Aeldari (Devoted of Ynnead)
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

An intriguing match up here that throws raw skew potential in the Imperial Knights against the deeply underhanded antics of the Ynnari. Lethal Intent blows match ups open and is seeing Ynnari establish itself as the favourite at this early stage of elf-mate. Being able to move in full knowledge of your opponent was, well, way too good in the Phantasm era, so this latest version of it is proving too hard to resist.

The IK aren’t without plays here – they have so much high toughness durability on display that if the Fire Dragons can be drawn out and dealt with things could spiral. If the Yncarne gets involved too early it will simply melt, and agressive play that forces the elves to start burning through resources is probably the way here. In the event it looks like we had an absolute barnstormer, with the elves scraping the win by a single point!!!

Result

Aeldari (Devoted of Ynnead) Victory – 91 – 90

Colin Kay – Aeldari (Devoted of Ynnead) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Ynnari Incubi

Thoughts

The death brick of Incubi in Ynnari is one of the spicier tech pieces to emerge as the meta takes shape. Nasty fights first elves lurking to do mischief, with the option of simply pushing forwards up the board if the opponent gives you the space to do so! Otherwise it is MSU elf nonsense as usual here, with the Yncarne providing support. Wraithlords are a nice anchor  for the rest of the list to pivot around. Very difficult to deal with, very well done on the event win!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Cody Middleton – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): The Canis / Armgiers build from the showdown.
  • 3rd – BamBam Hunter – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force): Proper Wolf Jail lives on!!
  • 4th – Lewis Hersman – Dark Angels (Stormlance Task Force): Storm Lance with the Lion and some DWK.
  • 5th – Hunter Boyd – Tyranids (Crusher Stampede): Big bug monster mash.

Fire & Blood GT

38-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Arona, CN, España on February 22 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Eduardo Cortell – Chaos Daemons (Legion of Excess) – 1st Place

Credit: Charlie A

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Double Battery Slaanesh

Thoughts

The Contorted Epitome wound transfer antics go up another level here, with TWO slabs of 4+++ in the list for causing mayhem as the opponent tries to tag you back. The Soulgrinder is another nice option for passing off wounds, ensuring that the real damage (Fiends, Keepers, Daemonettes) can keep on swinging until there are no foes left in front of them. Really punchy and effective, well done on the event win!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Jose Arturo Pérez Díaz – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): Old school Daemons with a Great Unclean One, Kairos, and a Lord of Change!
  • 3rd – Nelson WiRm – Chaos Space Marines (Creations of Bile): 20 Chosen, 20 Possessed, and 10 Warp Talons in Creations.
  • 4th – Jacinto López – Aeldari (Aspect Host): Go wide Aspects and Transports with Asurman leading the charge.
  • 5th – Luis Fernando Barrios Faramín – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs): Massed HM characters with the Vahl brick.
  • 6th – David Hernández López – Chaos Daemons (Legion of Excess): Double Epitome Slaanesh.

DaBoyz GT Golden Sprue 2025 40K 1v1

30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Schenectady, New York, US on February 22 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Alex Miller – Death Guard (Plague Company) – 1st Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Oh, oh no.

Thoughts

42 Nurgling Bases, lots of Poxwalkers, and Mortarion and some HQs stood behind them. A brutal stat check slog to get out of Nurgle jail awaits you! This is devilish in design and function and I absolutely hate it. Really well done on the event win.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Ed Miller – Adeptus Custodes (Solar Spearhead): Massed Spearhead vehicles.
  • 3rd – Joseph Sault – Deathwatch (Black Spear Task Force): Multiple Kill Teams with some Terminators out front.
  • 4th – Bill Shyne – Adeptus Mechanicus (Skitarii Hunter Cohort): Lots of trash bodies ahead of Dunecrawlers and Disintegrators.
  • 5th – Ryan Snyder – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): A grab-bag of Custodes bricks including a Bike stack with Captain.

I Torneo Iberian Open 2025 Cripta de los Héroes

29-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Badalona, Catalunya, ES on February 22 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Pepe Andreu – Aeldari (Aspect Host) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Aspect Host Wave Serpents

Thoughts

A loaded up Aspect Host with triple Wave Serpents and some supporting Shadow Weavers here. The latter are great in the mirror and against Bridgehead, whittling away at cheap troops and inflicting additional mortals. Autarchs continue to head up Aspect units where they can pull neat tricks for free (Ignore mods, re-embark, etc). Aspect Host has the most consistent output of the new elf detachments outside of Windrider, and gets a song out of the many flavours of hard and soft target removal you will need! Really well done on the event win.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Manel Tulla – Space Marines (Astartes) (Gladius Task Force): Ultramarines Gladius goodstuff.
  • 3rd – Espinosa Cripta – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): Canis, lots of Armigers and two Assassins.
  • 4th – Lewis Aepda – Astra Militarum (Bridgehead Strike): Double Dorn and lots of infantry in Bridgehead.
  • 5th – Marc Suiles “Akhab” 🍉 – Chaos Daemons (Legion of Excess): Triple Keeper Slaanesh, yikes.
  • 6th – Ferran Villegas – Aeldari (Aspect Host): Aspect Host with the Avatar!

Wrap Up

There you are folks! The elves are out and about, Slaanesh continues to do colourful things to it’s opponents, and Bridgehead is still slam dunking people to boot. Who can stand against them? We may find out next time!

Lowest of Men, out.

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