[AOS] Competitive Innovations in the Mortal Realms: 2024-11-11

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 weekā€™s top match-ups and how they played out on the tabletop to let you know whatā€™s hot, whatā€™s not, and what might be coming next as the competitive meta evolves year-round.

Just 2 events this week folks, but one is a massive Supermajor in Germany with almost 200 players. The switch ups in a post Nighthaunt and Lumineth world are still happening and there’s some real surprises in here, I promise you.

Raccoon Rumble 2024: Age of Sigmar

192-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Hof, BY, Germany on November 08 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Alexander Spƶrl – Disciples of Tzeentch
Army List - Click to Expand


Disciples of Tzeentch
Wyrdflame Host

Kairos Fateweaver (440)
[General]
– 1 x Chaos Spawn of Tzeentch (60)
– 6 x Flamers of Tzeentch (240)
– 10 x Pink Horrors (150)
– 10 x Pink Horrors (150)

Lord of Change (380)
[Rod of Sorcery]
[Illusionist]
[Nine-Eyed Tome]
– 20 x Blue Horrors and Brimstone Horrors (260)
– 20 x Blue Horrors and Brimstone Horrors (260)
– 1 x Chaos Spawn of Tzeentch (60)

[Lore of Change]
[Morbid Conjuration]

2000/2000pts
2 drops

Generated by Listbot 4.0

vs.

Dario Grohmann – Ossiarch Bonereapers
Army List - Click to Expand


Katakros Deathrider 2000/2000 pts
—–
Grand Alliance Death | Ossiarch Bonereapers | Kavalos Lance
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of Ossian Sorcery
Manifestation Lore – Horrors of the Necropolis
—–
General’s Regiment
Katakros, Mortarch of the Necropolis (500)
ā€¢ General
Kavalos Deathriders (360)
ā€¢ Reinforced
Kavalos Deathriders (360)
ā€¢ Reinforced
Kavalos Deathriders (360)
ā€¢ Reinforced
Mortek Guard (120)

Regiment 1
Mortisan Soulmason (160)
ā€¢ Helm of Tyranny
ā€¢ Aura of Sterility
Teratic Cohort (140)
—–
Faction Terrain
Bone-tithe Nexus
—–
Created with Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The App
App: v1.3.1 (13) | Data: v167

Thoughts

Gotta say on paper I would assume that the Disciples of Tzeentch have this. Ossiarchs tend to struggle with armies with lots of ranged attacks as they lack a lot of their own ranged options and often get stuck in extended fights that they want to grind out. The goal to winning with Ossiarchs here is holding objectives, and playing aggressively with Deathriders. Given all these Deathriders, you can see the play.

Deathriders do play out pretty well here, they can hop over infantry on the charge, doing mortal wounds in the process and if they getĀ really lucky on the charge, possibly hit the Lords of Change hiding behind all those demons.

Ossiarchs get a surprisingly solid victory.

Result

Ossiarch Bonereapers Victory – 41 – 29

Dario Grohmann – Ossiarch Bonereapers – 1st Place

Teratic Cohort. Credit: Fowler

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Deathriders

Thoughts

Really, the list here is quite simple. Katakros is the main pillar of the army with his versatile abilities. He makes sure that with his 18″ Relentless Discipline Aura, then all the Deathriders units will benefit from it. He also hands out +1 to save to them all, and +3 to objective control which helps more than you’d think.

The Deathriders themselves are the bread and Butter, if they charge they do some solid damage, the 4+ to wound is less impressive but Katakros can use the Bludgeon relentless discipline to give them that crucial +1 to wound. Then they do 31 Damage 2 attacks, enough to run over a lot of units in the game. So the whole game plan is time it so the Deathriders get the charge in, and pick up anything they can. If they don’t kill the unit, they can power through to prepare for a charge next round.

The Soulmason supports the list both as a carrier for enhancements and the honestly solid OBR spell lore and endless spells. His warscroll spell also grants first strike, very helpful if you want to charge in with 2 deathriders units.

The Mortek Guard and Teratic Cohort are both filler but the Mortek Guard give a much needed screen to keep the deathriders from being charged, and the Cohort are the only form of Deep Strike in the army, so they can be helpful for picking up unattended objectives or attacking vulnerable heroes from behind.

Dominik Ceyhun – Disciples of Tzeentch – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand


Warflock Party 1980/2000 pts

Disciples of Tzeentch | Tzaangor Coven
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of Change
Manifestation Lore – Morbid Conjuration

General’s Regiment
Kairos Fateweaver (440)
ā€¢ General
Tzaangor Skyfires (340)
ā€¢ Reinforced
Tzaangors (300)
ā€¢ Reinforced
ā€¢ 8x Savage Greatblade
Tzaangors (300)
ā€¢ Reinforced
ā€¢ 8x Savage Greatblade

Regiment 1
Tzaangor Shaman (160)
ā€¢ Illusionist
ā€¢ Nine-eyed Tome
Jade Obelisk (100)
Tzaangor Skyfires (170)
Tzaangor Skyfires (170)

Created with Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The App
App: 1.3.1 | Data: 167

Archetype

Birds

Thoughts

Foot Tzaangors have gotten a bit of a bad rap, though they’re not irredeemably bad. They reward a more aggressive playstyle, pushing up into opponent’s lands to get Exploding crits. They also have a lot of wounds, which can make them annoying to get through. They’re fine, but if you need an anvil you usually go with horrors, especially in Tzeentch which rewards hanging back and flinging spells.

This goes for the more aggressive sytyle with aĀ ton of of on foot tzaangors, and Skyfires to pelt the enemy from behind. The shaman is a neccesary support piece, granting run and charge to the tzaangors and some recursion to further cement their status as frustrating chaff.

Kairos remains because, well, he’s really good. You don’t wanna leave without him.

The Best of the Rest

There were 13 more players on 5-1 or better records. They were:

  • 3rd – Patrick Rieser – Slaves to Darkness (5-0-1):Ā Slaves to Darkness good stuff.
  • 4th – Matthias Brinkert – Nighthaunt:Ā Nighthaunt good stuff.
  • 5th – Andreas Hƶlter – Gloomspite Gitz:Ā Troggs and Squigs.
  • 6th – Locky Reid – Skaven:Ā Ninja Gunline.
  • 7th – Alexander Spƶrl – Disciples of Tzeentch:Ā See showdown.
  • 8th – knut vedeld – Ossiarch Bonereapers:Ā Katakros and Deathriders.
  • 9th – Tristan Paffenholz – Soulblight Gravelords:Ā Mannfred and Necromancer with wolves, black knights and skeletons.
  • 10th – Robert Krauzick – Disciples of Tzeentch: 2 Lords of Change with horrors and flamers.
  • 11th – Tom Mƶlders – Disciples of Tzeentch: Daemon menagerie.
  • 12th – Andreas Schwarz – Lumineth Realm-lords:Ā Teclis and the Hurakan special.
  • 13th – Lars Stork – Blades of Khorne:Ā A collection of about every mortal unit in the book.
  • 14th – Jonas Meinecke – Stormcast Eternals:Ā Krondys and Stormcast good stuff.
  • 15th – David Demmel – Beasts of Chaos:Ā Dragon Ogors and all the -gors.

AoS Feast of Blades ’24”

32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Bremerton, WA, United States on November 09 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission – Border War

Matt Beasley – Skaventide
Army List - Click to Expand


Dear sir, I hope this missive finds you well, enclosed please find the following selection of small miniatures representing rats.

—–
Grand Alliance Chaos | Skaven | Warpcog Convocation
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of Ruin
Manifestation Lore – Forbidden Power
—–
General’s Regiment
Thanquol on Boneripper (360)
ā€¢ General
Clanrats (150)
Clanrats (150)
Night Runners (260)
ā€¢ Reinforced
Ratling Gun (300)
ā€¢ Reinforced

Regiment 1
Verminlord Warpseer (340)
ā€¢ Foulhide
ā€¢ Scurry Away
Plague Monks (140)
Ratling Gun (300)
ā€¢ Reinforced
—–
Faction Terrain
Gnawhole
—–
Created with Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The App
App: v1.4.0 (15) | Data: v181
Also I have now played a game with it! It was much more fun! Stark still beat me though sigh

vs.

ALEXANDER Gonzalez – Nighthaunt
Army List - Click to Expand


šŸ‘»HOLD ON TO YOUR BOOTY IT’S ABOUT TO GET SPOOKYšŸ‘» 1970/2000 pts

Nighthaunt | Death Stalkers
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of the Underworlds
Manifestation Lore – Primal Energy

General’s Regiment
Awlrach the Drowner (160)
ā€¢ General
Bladegheist Revenants (320)
ā€¢ Reinforced
Grimghast Reapers (280)
ā€¢ Reinforced
Hexwraiths (360)
ā€¢ Reinforced

Regiment 1
Reikenor the Grimhailer (220)
Bladegheist Revenants (320)
ā€¢ Reinforced
Cairn Wraith (130)
ā€¢ Ruler of the Spectral Hosts
ā€¢ Lightshard of the Harvest Moon
Hexwraiths (180)

Thoughts

Ah Nighthaunt, there you are! After a couple weeks on hiatus the old boss is here with the new boss, the Skaven Gunline.

The Ratling guns are, naturally, going to present a bit of a challenge for Nighthaunt which lack almost all ranged attack options. The Skaven player is sure to keep these well defended as well, so it will be crucial to be able to leverage their Flying to get into the right targets as soon as possible.

That said, the Warpseer may have beenĀ just the tool for job here as it both includes a rampage to inflict Strike-Last and a spell that cuts down charges by one dice. While most Skaven players run the Deceiver, this turned out to be exactly the necessary Verminlord.

Both armies are very mobile, Skaven through their Gnawholes and Nighthaunt through Awlrach (and their general flight) so a lot is going to come down to outmaneuvering the other.

In the end the Skaven get a narrow victory.

Result

Skaventide Victory – 34 – 30

Matt Beasley – Skaventide – 1st Place

Skaven Thanquol and Boneripper
Skaven Thanquol and Boneripper – Credit: Matthew Ward

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Big Rat Gunline

Thoughts

This is more or less the schematic of the current Skaven meta as it stands. The Ratling guns under Warpcog Convocation are extremely powerful, with a reinforced unit firing 18D6 shots at 4+/3+ (with an additional Rend if you get lucky on the battle trait). They’re also difficult to pick up from a distance, as they’re untargetable when near clan Rats.

Thanquol is arguably the best Caster in the army, and he can scrap too, so he’s a popular include. For the Verminlord, Deceivers are usually more popular for their ability to ping pong over chaff and do mortal wounds on crits, but the Warpseer really isn’t a bad choice either as its rampage to cause a Strike Last on a 4+ and their spell to reduce charge dice is very useful utility. They’re not bad in combat either.

Plague Monks and Nightrunners round out this list as chaff. Plague Monks are good for dealing with high save individuals as they can explode on death, while Night Runners can sneak past ranged attacks, being untargetable near terrain.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Carson Whitlock – Slaves to Darkness:Ā Be’lakor with Chosen and Varanguard. Surprise Mutalith Vortex Beast!
  • 3rd – Mason Knox – Beasts of Chaos: Bring in the Bestigors!
  • 4th – ALEXANDER Gonzalez – Nighthaunt:Ā See Showdown.
  • 5th – Alexander Frias – Blades of Khorne:Ā Skarbrand and Bloodthirster with various chaff.

Wrap Up

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