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.

This week we have a smaller set of events. A larger event in Oslo Norway and then back to the US for a smaller GT in Indiana. Once again we see very little hide or hair of Nighthaunt and Lumineth, so it seems like the adjustments are working. However, on the horizon a new Demonic threat seems to be rearing its head.

2d6 Carnage 2024

70-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Oslo, NO on November 02 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission – Border War

Ole Vatland – Sylvaneth
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vs.

Ronya Andersson – Disciples of Tzeentch
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Thoughts

Oh this is a rough one for Sylvaneth. This is a very elite list with little in the way of ranged attacks, which means it’s going to need to attempt to find openings to try and get the more important units. They also struggle with damage output, which means removing the Horrors is going to be a nightmare.

It ends in a strong victory for Tzeentch. but be aware this event was using a point differential system so it’s not actually a shutout.

Result

Disciples of Tzeentch Victory – 50 – 0

Ronya Andersson – Disciples of Tzeentch – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Horror Spam

Thoughts

Oh man. So this is basically hell.

The thrust of the list is the same as most of the Tzeentch lists we see making their way into this article series. Kairos is your support caster, giving +1 to casts for those around him and almost guaranteeing his own roll. His warscroll spell also does an excellent job shutting down problem units with the very flexible Arcane Suggestion. The generic Lord of Change is more of the blaster, with Tzeentch’s Firestorm doing a fair amount of mortal wounds (and it’s a Wyrdflame spell!).

The real frustrating part of this list is the Pink Horrors, along with everything built to support them. On their own, they’re not too awful. Two wounds a piece with a 6+ Save and 6+ Ward and an unremarkable attack profile isn’t too much, but if they die they can either respawn as a blue horror in a nearby unit or do spite mortals on a 4+. They’re also -1 to be hit thanks to the Lord of Change and they can be rallied back easier thanks to the Changecaster and also return from the dead thanks to the Lord of Change. And there’s a lot of them.

In this subfaction Wyrdflame adds a -1 to wound to Burning units, so it has to be managed very carefully or cutting through 20 wounds worth of the stuff is suddenly a lot more difficult and while you’re tied up in the muck, you’re getting incinerated by Flamers and spells. It’s a tough list if you don’t have a lot of ways to move around the wall of chaff keeping the casters safe (and seizing objectives).

Geir Vedeld – Ossiarch Bonereapers – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

The List

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Archetype

Deathrider Spam

Thoughts

Deathriders are arguably the most efficient damage per point unit in Ossiarchs right now, so it makes a lot of sense to lean in on them as much as possible.

Katakros, naturally, leads the pack by making sure Relentless Discipline can hit the entire army as easily as possible. This is in addition to the other useful abilities he brings to the table like boosting saves for 3 units and shutting down Commands on a 5+.  The Soulmason is a requisite enhancement holder and casts the absolutely vital Empower Nadirite Weapons and his warscroll spell, Soul Guide for First Strike. Immortis Guard mostly exist to protect both by boosting their Ward, but they’re solid fighters in their own right.

The bulk of the list is covered with Kavalos Deathriders which are a very straightforward unit: They charge, do a ton of damage if the enemy survives they can Power Through to fall back and try again next round. While their damage is pretty mediocre if they get charged (like most cav) they are resilient, and can often hold on for a round before falling back with the Relentless Discipline Reform Ranks to charge again.

hugo jonquiere – Ossiarch Bonereapers – 3rd Place (Undefeated)

The List

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Archetype

Elite OBR

Thoughts

The list lives up to its name. This list forsakes any enhancements by having two named characters which is definitely a bold play, and doesn’t concern itself with chaff.

As with the above list, Katakros is an excellent support piece, and can fight in his own right. Arkhan is the best caster in the army, and can negate spells on a 4+ within 18″ which is really strong against the right matchup. He’s not a great fighter but can hold his own as well. The Immortis guard mostly exist to shield both.

The Archai are a favorite hammer unit, as they are incredibly durable with their 3+ Save and 6 wounds, and cut through almost anything. Deathriders, even not reinforced are pretty devastating when properly buffed. The Teratic Cohort is also pretty respectable damage and is a deep striking unit, something OBR deperately wants to have.

Overall it’s a bit of a janky list compared to more straightforward playstyle of most OBR lists, but it’s hard to argue with the results.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 4th – Damian Grzybek – Disciples of Tzeentch: Tzeentch good stuff.
• 5th – Tomasz Mucha – Skaven: Thanquol, engineer and Ratling guns.
• 6th – Sindre Kjølvang – Nighthaunt: Nighthaunt good stuff.
• 7th – Kuba Kostrubiec – Idoneth Deepkin: A midrange list with lots of infantry.
• 8th – Jonas Rådemar – Hedonites of Slaanesh: Dual Keepers and a solid mix of infantry and cav.
• 9th – Abbe Al-Hayali – Ossiarch Bonereapers: Nagash and Deathriders
• 10th – Jesper Melander – Ossiarch Bonereapers: Ossiarch Good stuff, but surprise addition of an Ossifector and Crawler.
• 11 – Ole Vatland – Sylvaneth: See Showdown.
• 12 – Geir Vikan – Stormcast Eternals: Bastian Carthalos, Lord Relictor and Knight-Arcanum with a mix of the best infantry Stormcast has to offer.
• 13 – Adam Sääf – Kharadron Overlords: A bit of everything, riding in an Ironclad.

Battle of the Bend 2024

31-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in South Bend, IN, United States on November 2nd, 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission – Jaws of Gallet

Michael Rausch – Gloomspite Gitz
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vs.

Austin Thimesch – Fyreslayers
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Thoughts

These are two very resilient lists coming to blows, which leads to an interesting matchup.

While Troggs are generally tough, they can still punch pretty hard if they have to. Fyreslayers are a very resilient army, but the decision here to run Four magmadroths creates a very different sort of game than we’d normally see. In short it’s much more aggressive.

The Fyreslayers player is going to struggle on scoring, as the only real scoring options are the Hearthguard berzerkers (who are much slower) but taken together it is a potentially solid matchup.

Result

Gloomspite Gitz Victory – 44 – 32

Michael Rausch – Gloomspite Gitz – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Troggs and Gitz

Thoughts

Troggs are pretty damn resilient and with proper buffs they can rock a 3+ Save, 5+ ward and be -1 to hit from Sneaky Distraction all while healing damage off. Their damage output is a bit swingy but when it hits it crushes.

Squiggs are added to a lot of Trogg-focused lists to try and pad them out with a faster vanguard unit. Troggs are slow and can be pretty swingy at damage. Squiggs are fast and cheap, so it’s ok if a few die while you set up on the objectives.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd – Justin Crandall – Gloomspite Gitz: Troggs and Squigs.
• 3rd  – Jack Cawood – Hedonites of Slaanesh: Keeper with lots of Blissbarbs and seekers.
• 4th – Austin Thimesch – Fyreslayers: See Showdown.
• 5th – Paul Hinderman – Nighthaunt: Nighthaunt Good Stuff.
• 6th – Joshua Zirl – Disciples of Tzeentch: Tzeentch Good stuff, with addition of some Enlightened.

Wrap Up

Another interesting week. As Nighthaunt and Lumineth seem to be on a steep decline in light of their recent changes, Tzeentch is looking ascendant as the new threat to be taking on. There’s still plenty of time until the next balance patch so it’s going to be interesting to see if this becomes consistent or is just a hiccup on the way.

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