Casual Friday: Tune Down For What?

Many of our writers and readers are into competitive play, or at least attempted competitive play, but many people also eschew that and just want to smash models around and don’t care so much about their win-loss record. This one is for you. 

Hello and welcome back to Casual Fridays, where we take a look at (hopefully) more relaxed ways to play Warhammer 40k. In our last article we went over why anyone should bother with a casual game, and also got to see what a giant harpoon does to a mech suit when they collide at high velocity. In this one, we’re going to focus on how to make lists for casual play, as well as how to take a list that you play in a competitive setting and transform it into one more appropriate for a lower-stakes game. Are you dominating your local crusade, and really want to stop being the guy who always wins? (GREGNOTE: coward) Trying to recruit newer players into the game via practice sessions but the only list you’ve played all year is the one you’ve been using to get ready for LVO? Maybe you’re simply too good and never knew a life being bad and wanna see what’s up with that. If any of these apply, read on!

A lot of the resources out there are understandably focused on telling you which units are optimal and how to use them as effectively as possible. But if you’re going into a casual game, you probably don’t want to bring a hyper-tuned GT list – or maybe you do, in which case as long as your opponent is cool with that you can stop reading this and go play the hell out of some Maelstrom of War. Go on! Get!

Okay, did that dude with the triple Telemon list leave? Cool. Let’s talk about a couple of ways you can approach building a casual list.

First and probably coolest for anyone who loves the lore of the 40k universe is building a thematic list. There’s something fundamentally very cool about someone showing up to the table with an exodite Drukhari army that leans heavily into beastmasters, or a Black Legion force that draws on specialty marines from all(?) four chaos gods and has some daemons in there for added flavor. If you’re a Grade-A masochist, maybe you want to build and paint a Craftworlds army made up almost entirely of Wraith Constructs in 6 weeks for an event like some kind of crazy person. You know, just to throw a random hypothetical out there. On an entirely unrelated note, meet the Unquiet Dead:

I (Joe) ran these funky blurple zombie elf robots at the Goonhammer Open US Narrative event, and had a lot of fun with them. I even managed to not get completely mutilated in most of my games. This is an army that just flat out does not work in most GT missions, for reasons that range from starting down 4 CP without much upside to having a total of 18 models in a 2000 point list (Objectives? What objectives?). What they can do is kill the absolute hell out of things and look good doing it. Plus I got to use the Hemlock Wraithfighter and the Skathach Wraithknight, two of my favorite models in the Craftworlds line.

The other approach we really like to casual list building is to start with That One Unit. Every codex has a unit that you would really love to bring in a GT mission if only it were competitively viable. Hell, some have several. Maybe it’s overcosted, maybe it’s got a 4+ ballistic/weapon skill for no good reason, or maybe it has more than 18 wounds and no invuln. But you know in the depths of your soul that this unit is absolutely, mind-numbingly, kickass. Case in point, one of the things I (Norman) love putting on the table is a Dreadclaw Drop Pod filled with Death Guard Possessed. Gross daemonified marines hurtling out of the sky to throw general stinkitude and 40 high-powered attacks into your enemy’s face? That rules. Unfortunately it also puts you in the unenviable position of having paid 355 points to deliver a unit onto the table that then has to make a 9” charge to really do what it came to do. In a competitive setting that’s going to make them pretty tough to justify, but in casual play you can just go for it and let the smelly chips fall where they may! Got a Land Raider that you’ve had for 8 years? Screw it! Plop that thing down with some terminators in it. Wanna use a goddamn Stormsurge? Of course you do, who wouldn’t want to shoot 4D6+12 rockets at some losers? Well, now’s your chance.

Tune That Shit Down

“But guys”, you scream at us, presumably while weeping uncontrollably over a bottle of spilled nuln oil and your seventh half-paint​​ed Talos, “I already have a list I really like that I use for competitive play! How can I bring that to a casual game without being That Guy?”

This is where “tuning down your list” comes in. If you’re worried we’re about to tell you to take the list you spent the last year tweaking to make it as competitive as possible and actively make it worse on purpose, good news! We definitely are.

The principles of tuning down a list are very similar to the principles of building a casual list that we just talked about except that instead of starting from zero you pick some of the more competitive or oppressive units in your existing list and replace them with things that are either thematic or just plain cool, but fill a similar role in your overall list or strategy. For example you might replace your Strike Squads in a Grey Knights list with Terminators, who are significantly less points efficient but still cool and serve a similar, if beefier, purpose. Instead of VolCons (dual-Volkite Relic Contemptors) and Redemptors, bring three Ironclad Dreadnoughts like an absolute hero. Their hammer is flat 5 damage, and don’t even try to tell me you don’t want to do that to a Starweaver, Venom, or an unfortunate character.

The other thing to consider is taking a less optimal detachment structure. Is there a unit (preferably one that isn’t stupidly good) that you’re taking 1 or 2 of due to not having enough battlefield role slots for more of them? Patrols and Battalions are for chumps, roll up with a Spearhead or Outrider instead and give up a few CP in order to field an objectively cooler army.

Legends Never Die

Last but certainly not least, don’t forget about Legends datasheets. Once these units are consigned to the dustbin of 40k history many players treat them as having been unceremoniously ejected from the game, never to be seen again. But what if we told you that legends units actually have rules in 9th edition? That’s right, dear reader! There’s a pdf on the Warhammer Community website with rules for all of those units. If you miss bringing your Mortis Dreadnought and your opponent is cool with it, great! You want your Emperor’s Children to have a Sonic Helbrute? Bring the noise! You’re not sure who the hell Kutlakh the World Killer is, but you’re pretty sure he would be fun at parties? Do some conversion work, put him on the board, and kill some worlds or whatever it is that he does! Casual play is the perfect place for Legends units to rise from obscurity and shoot, punch, or stab their way to glory.

Let’s Talk Lists

So what does this look like in practice? We took some lists from our estranged sister series Competitive Innovations for inspiration and then actively undid someone’s large amounts of work!

Here’s Jesse Melvin’s Death Guard list, which he piloted to a 3rd place finish in the Tables and Towers Flames of Autumn Major.

Jesse's Death Guard

That’s some durable, hard hitting, gross stuff right there. But let’s take a look at how we’d keep the spirit but make it a bit less exorable, and a bit more interactable.

What can stay:

• Mortarion. I know what you’re saying: “But he’s so cool and strong and crazy”, and he is! But he also has downsides and is a really flavorful pick for a Death Guard army so we’re gonna work with this list as “Mortarion Honor Guard”.
• Deathshrouds. There are a lot of them, but they’re also Mortarion’s personal guard. We probably won’t keep ALL of them (there are so many) but we can keep a few.
• Daemon Engines. These rule and I won’t hear otherwise.

Whats gotta go:

• The VolCons. They just do too much work. These dudes into an untuned list leads to a pretty bad time.
• The Plague Skull of Glothilla. I’m not saying it’s OP, and honestly I wouldn’t be too upset to see this in a casual list, but it is uninteractable mortal wounds which is rarely fun for the opponent.
• The Death Guard Chaos Lord. I just think they’re lame and the Terminator Lords are way cooler, and I’m writing the article so that’s what I’m gonna do.

So in tuning down here I want to preserve Mortarion, some hard hitting melee units, and a shooty support structure while removing the uninteractive and unexciting picks made for the sake of efficiency. With that in mind I present Morty’s Big Day Out.

++ Supreme Command Detachment 0CP (Chaos – Death Guard) [25 PL, 12CP, 490pts] ++

Plague Company: Mortarion’s Chosen Sons

+ Primarch | Daemon Primarch | Supreme Commander +

Mortarion [25 PL, 490pts]: 1. Miasma of Pestilence, 5. Curse of the Leper, 6. Gift of Plagues, Ferric Blight, Warlord

++ Outrider Detachment -3CP (Chaos – Death Guard) [78 PL, -4CP, 1,510pts] ++

Plague Company: The Inexorable

+ HQ [7 PL, 140pts]+

Lord of Virulence [7 PL, -1CP, 140pts]: 5. Rotten Constitution, Acidic Malady, Plaguechosen

+ Troops [14 PL, 290pts]+

Plague Marines [6 PL, 115pts]

. Plague Champion: Boltgun, Plague knife

. Plague Marine w/ 2nd plague knife

. 2x Plague Marine w/ boltgun: 2x Blight grenades, 2x Boltgun, 2x Krak grenades, 2x Plague knife

. Plague Marine w/ flail: Flail of corruption

Plague Marines [6 PL, 125pts]

. Plague Champion: Boltgun, Plague knife

. 2x Plague Marine w/ boltgun: 2x Blight grenades, 2x Boltgun, 2x Krak grenades, 2x Plague knife

. Plague Marine w/ cleaver: Great plague cleaver

. Plague Marine w/ flail: Flail of corruption

Poxwalkers [2 PL, 50pts]

. 10x Poxwalker: 10x Improvised weapon

+ Elites [18 PL, 315pts]+

Biologus Putrifier [4 PL, 65pts]: Plaguebringer

Deathshroud Terminators [14 PL, 250pts]

. Deathshroud Champion: Plaguespurt gauntlet

. 4x Deathshroud Terminator: 4x Manreaper, 4x Plaguespurt gauntlet

+ Fast Attack [21 PL, 415pts]+

Foetid Bloat-drone [7 PL, 135pts]: Fleshmower

Foetid Bloat-drone [7 PL, 140pts]: Heavy blight launcher

Foetid Bloat-drone [7 PL, 140pts]: Heavy blight launcher

+ Heavy Support [18 PL, 350pts]+

Plagueburst Crawler [9 PL, 175pts]: 2x Entropy cannon, Heavy slugger

Plagueburst Crawler [9 PL, 175pts]: 2x Entropy cannon, Heavy slugger

As you can see, some similar themes here. I traded out the VolCons for Foetid Bloat Drones with Heavy Blight Launchers because they do well into elite infantry and have some great range. It also helps hammer home the Daemon Engine theme. I added a second Plagueburst Crawler (PBC) to help with the ranged threat. In addition, while I kept the big unit of 5 Deathshroud I side-graded their support by replacing the Blightspawn with a Biologus Putrifier. The Blightspawn’s effects mostly made the Deathshrouds miserable to fight in melee, whereas the Biologus can still make them horrific offensively without causing your opponent undue grief. This makes for a fun combo that you can use to punish your friends for not dealing with them. I gave him the Plaguebringer relic because I never take it, and I think having him be able to get his hands dirty is neat. I also added some Plague Marines since they can still be a nifty threat but they’re very removable with gunfire, unlike the terminators, and you probably have some you have painted and want to mess around with. Finally, I used some points I had left over to make an ultra tough Lord of Virulence to hang out with the Deathshroud just to have a neat beatstick for when that unit of Terminators gets stuck in.

Overall it’s still a very functional list with more room for tuning down (replace the PBCs with Myphitic Blight-haulers since they have a bit more interactivity without the indirect fire), but this would do just fine in most casual games all while keeping the spirit of the original list, and largely keeping the same gameplan intact.

Next we have Christophe Fiedler’s 5-0 first place Grey Knights list from Games of Westeros X.

Christophe's Grey Knights

This list is, and I say this with nothing but respect for Cristophe, a full-on thoughtcrime. It has six Nemesis Dreadsknight, which of course means that three of them are Grand Masters, and twenty Interceptors to boot. Basically this list takes the minimum number of strike squads required to be able to bring three Grands Master in Nemeses Dreadknight and then fills all remaining points with regular Dreadknights and Interceptors. Even with the small number of datasheets available to Grey Knights, this list leans hard into the codex’s best units.

So what can we do to tune it down to something that you won’t get punched for bringing to a casual game?

What can stay:

• Some of the Dreadknights. While they are in my opinion the single best unit in the codex right now by a decent margin, they’re also super iconic. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be bringing some. I would say two total across both variants is safe to bring for a casual game, with three being sort of borderline. Anything past that and you’re in risky territory.
• One squad of interceptors. Having a single 10-man squad you can combat squad if you want to is good, but not oppressive.
• The Strike Squads. Though we may want to replace some of them with Terminators.

What’s gotta go:

• The rest of the Dreadknights. Bruh.
• The second squad of Interceptors. Having 3 or 4 squads of interceptors (after combat squadding) zipping around the board is pretty rough for a lot of opponents to deal with, especially given how easily Ethereal Castigation lets them get anywhere on the board they need to be for scoring purposes.
• At least one detachment. The triple patrol structure is there purely to allow us to bring 3 Grand Master Dreadknights, which we’re not going to be doing anymore. In addition, Prescient Brethren GMNDKs are so good with the associated stratagem that I’d probably avoid that combo entirely for a casual game.

Personally I think that thematic Grey Knights lists should lean hard into a particular brotherhood, which means you end up with likely a single detachment. The Swordbearers psychic power works extremely well with Dreadknights, but since we’re moving away from Dreadknights as the focus of the list and as I mentioned, Prescient Brethren GMNDKs are straight up scary, we’re going to refocus this list on Rapiers – meaning we want units that are going to get into melee and hits things real hard.

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Imperium – Grey Knights) [108 PL, 11CP, 2,000pts] ++

+ Configuration +

Brotherhood: Rapiers

Armoury of Titan [-1CP]: 1 Additional Relic

+ HQ +

Brotherhood Librarian [6 PL, 110pts]: 1: Gate of Infinity, 5: Warp Shaping, Artisan Nullifier Matrix

. Nemesis Warding Stave

. Storm Bolter

Grand Master in Nemesis Dreadknight [10 PL, 215pts]: 2: Empyric Amplification, 3: Unyielding Anvil, 4: Vortex of Doom, Dreadfist, Dreadknight teleporter, Gatling Psilencer, Heavy Psycannon, Nemesis Greatsword, Sigil of Exigence, Warlord

+ Troops +

Brotherhood Terminator Squad [12 PL, 210pts]

. Grey Knight Terminator Justicar

. . Nemesis Force Sword

. 4x Terminator (Sword): 4x Nemesis Force Sword, 4x Storm Bolter

Brotherhood Terminator Squad [12 PL, 210pts]

. Grey Knight Terminator Justicar

. . Nemesis Force Sword

. 4x Terminator (Sword): 4x Nemesis Force Sword, 4x Storm Bolter

Strike Squad [6 PL, 110pts]

. 4x Grey Knight (Sword): 4x Nemesis Force Sword, 4x Storm Bolter

. Grey Knight Justicar

. . Nemesis Force Sword

Strike Squad [6 PL, 110pts]

. 4x Grey Knight (Sword): 4x Nemesis Force Sword, 4x Storm Bolter

. Grey Knight Justicar

. . Nemesis Force Sword

Strike Squad [6 PL, 110pts]

. 4x Grey Knight (Sword): 4x Nemesis Force Sword, 4x Storm Bolter

. Grey Knight Justicar

. . Nemesis Force Sword

Strike Squad [6 PL, 110pts]

. 4x Grey Knight (Sword): 4x Nemesis Force Sword, 4x Storm Bolter

. Grey Knight Justicar

. . Nemesis Force Sword

+ Elites +

Purifier Squad [14 PL, 230pts]

. Knight of the Flame

. . Nemesis Force Halberd

. 5x Purifier (Halberd): 5x Nemesis Force Halberd, 5x Storm Bolter

. 4x Purifier (Incinerator): 4x Incinerator

+ Fast Attack +

Interceptor Squad [14 PL, 240pts]

. 9x Interceptor (Sword): 9x Nemesis Force Sword, 9x Storm Bolter

. Interceptor Justicar

. . Nemesis Force Sword

+ Heavy Support +

Nemesis Dreadknight [8 PL, 185pts]: Dreadfist, Dreadknight teleporter, Gatling Psilencer, Heavy Psycannon, Nemesis Greatsword

+ Dedicated Transport +

Rhino [4 PL, 80pts]

Rhino [4 PL, 80pts]

++ Total: [108 PL, 11CP, 2,000pts] ++

There are two main challenges that come into play when tuning down a Grey Knights list. One is the relatively small number of datasheets in the codex, but compounding that is the fact that the quality floor on those datasheets is really quite high. Even the “less competitive” units, like terminators, aren’t so much bad as they are overcosted compared to what you can get from other units in the book. A GK terminator is exactly as scary in melee as a strike marine – it just costs more. That being said, it is definitely possible to restructure a list to lean less into the most powerful, most efficient units – and that’s what we’ve done here.

The first thing I did was collapse everything into a single Rapiers battalion, for the reason I mentioned earlier. This means we immediately go from three GMNDKs to one, and keep only a single regular dreadknight as well. In the spirit of trying to maintain elements of the original list where possible, I kept that GMNDK’s loadout almost completely identical to one of the ones that was already there. The only change I made was to swap its psychic powers for the powers one of the other Grand Master Dreadknights had, mainly because the way I addressed the loss of Dominus powers known from the two missing Grand Masters was to put in a Librarian, and his powers made more sense on the Librarian and vice versa, since having Vortex of Doom on a Librarian makes way less sense than having it on an in-the-thick-of-battle Dreadknight unless you’re going for the mortal wound bomb Librarian tactic, which we obviously are not here.

I also swapped one of the interceptor squads for Purifiers. Purifiers are a bit of a weird one in brotherhood theme lists, since as Honored Knights they aren’t members of the brotherhood. But also, they’re cool as hell and four of them can take incinerators. I think we can all agree a unit called Purifiers should have flamethrowers. By adding two Rhinos to the list, we create plenty of flexibility around delivering some of the strike marines and the purifiers (either as a 10-man or combat-squadded into a melee unit and an incinerator squad) to where we want them to be.Sprinkle in some terminators for flavor and to hold backfield objectives or choke points, and we’ve got a list that has lots of nasty melee units, but isn’t as oppressive defensively or in shooting as a dreadknight-heavy list and more reliant on transports to get units into combat than a list that runs lots of interceptors.

This list is still pretty scary, to be honest, but it does primarily leverage models that most GK players will probably have. It’s easy to swap interceptors to strikes or purifiers if you have magnetized the backpacks (which I highly recommend). If you’ve started collecting GK more recently you might not have the terminators or rhinos handy, as they haven’t been super prevalent in 8th and 9th edition other than that weird period of early 9th where we all went terminator-crazy, but they’re never a bad thing to have. In a pinch you could put in a couple of Dreadnoughts, ideally the non-venerable version to maintain the brotherhood theme, if you’ve got those and don’t have some of the units in the list above. Alternatively if you want to lean further into living that Terminator Life, you could swap the Purifiers out for Paladins.

Final Thoughts

Warhammer has a lot of cool models with bad rules. Does this mean you shouldn’t put those models on the table? Absolutely not. Stepping away from the competitive scene allows for all kinds of interesting and fun lists, both narratively and aesthetically. Hopefully this article helped you think about some of the ways you might want to make use of that flexibility. So in your next game, maybe bring some Firestrike Servo-Turrets or rock an all beast Drukhari list with as many Razorwing Flocks as you can muster – but whatever you do, make sure you’re having fun.

Thank you Joe and Norman for showing us new ways to be bad at Warhammer, and Rocco for doing whatever it is you did here? If you want to yell at us for more Casual Content, let us know at contact@goonhammer.com or in the comments below.